静水盈盈

Summer Break!

5th Grade Legacy Project

For this year, the 5th Grade Legacy Project is the gate for the Sangre Ridge Elementary Outdoor Classroom. Laura took the lead, and worked hard on the painting of the door. Here is an excerpt from her Graduation Memory:

"... one of my favorite memories is definitely painting the 5th grade legacy gate. It's such an honor to be part of it. All those hours under the hot sun paid off. I enjoyed it immensely. It makes me feel proud to leave behind such a meaningful project. The gate was challenging, but that was why it was so fun. I learned much about working with oil-based paint. Be careful! You don't want any of it in your clothing or hair. I learned it hard way. It's quite permanent for a while! Anyway, every stroke was a stroke of enjoyment. I really liked working on it..."

On the last day of the school, a Ribbon-Cutting ceremony was held for the gate. Laura was chosen to do the cutting with the teacher. It was quite an honor.

What a great way to conclude the year!

 

5th Grade Graduation

American Legion Award ( One of six winners in the grade):

Presidential Academic Award ( Straight A in both 4th and 5th grade):

End-of-School-Year Gifts

For Sophie's preschool teachers, Sophie drew a frame, and a picture of her was put in the middle.

For Laura's teachers, several Laura's art works were printed out and put in the Frame Cards. She also did a portrait sketch for her 5th grade teacher.

Ready for Summer Break!

Last day of school tomorrow, then girls will have a long summer break. 

Cleared the patio, put up the table and chairs, spread the tablecloth, arranged a few vegetable flowers. The sun's warm, breeze is gentle. Are you ready for summer?

So grateful the storm was over and we're all OK. Thank you, my friends far and near, for your phone calls, your concerns and your prayers! 

And I couldn't help thinking of this song called "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by B.J. Thomas. (Can you believe it, it was on the top of the pop chart right when I was born. )

... ...  So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
          And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
          Sleepin' on the job
          Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'... ...

The power was out for a couple of hours last night. No TV, no Internet. By the candle light, Laura played Piano, Sophie played Cello. (Even when the power was back, Sophie insisted playing with only candle light). It was nice.

... .... But there's one thing I know
           The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
           It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me ... ...

初夏的菜园 Vegetable Patch in May

1. 青蒜       2. 茄子(Egg Plant)      3. Dill     4. 紫豆 （bean)    5. 辣椒 (Pepper)    6. 丝瓜     7. 秋葵 (Okra)     8.黄瓜 ( Cucumber)   9. 豇豆      10. 西红柿 (Tomato)   11. 香菜 (Cilantro)  12. 木耳菜     13.  油菜     14. 韭菜 

这是部分蔬菜。莴笋还是小苗儿，苋菜好像种子不好，苗儿小，长得非常的慢。空心菜还没有下地。秋葵是应小蛙的要求种的。她喜欢吃腌制的秋葵。茄子是细长条的品种。今年辣椒种的比去年少些，品种多些。西红柿比去年种的要多不少。紫豆只种了两株，去年太多了，吃不过来。

今年到现在还没有特大的暴雨和冰雹，所以小苗儿都“健康”地在成长。只是地里的鼹鼠猖獗，把菜地弄得千疮百孔。想必是地下的鱼骨埋得太多，土太肥，地里的虫子个个膘肥体壮的。

葱没照。嗒嗒每天最喜欢帮我摘葱。我只要一说，“去后院给妈妈摘几根葱！”嗒嗒就会扔下手里的玩具，一遛烟儿地跑到后院的葱圃前。人家可不是摘，人家是薅！连着跟儿薅呀！爸爸回来看到那凌乱不堪的葱圃，还以为被鼹鼠刨过了呢！

 

 

A Very Busy Saturday

Sophie had her first Cello Recital this afternoon at the OSU Seretean Center for the Performing Art.

As the youngest one in the Head Start Cello Program at the University, Sophie made her debut solo performance with two songs from Suzuki Cello Book I, "Song of the Wind" and "Go Tell Aunt Rhody". 

After the show, we took girls to go fishing at the lake. They did a little bit of fishing, and a lot more of sand playing.  They found a small sand pit right above the water( what a cute idea!) and played until the sun set. Sophie even made me a "sand cake" as the "Mother's Day" present. 

Galveston Beach 2011

Just watch them! How happy! I love watching them play! 

(Last time we took the girls to the beach is when Sophie was 2 and half. They also had a great time!)

Galveston, TX

A small town with more than 60 structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places,  Galveston is home to one of the largest collections of the nineteenth-century buildings. I learned that after the trip. If I had done a little bit research before the trip, we might like to spend more time on the visits to those buildings. But the reason we went there was for the girls to play on the beach.

We DID take a tour to one of the most famous structures on the island - the Bishop's Palace. An hour's long tour not only gave you an up-close glimpse into the Victorian architecture, its incredibly beautiful wood work and detail and care in each and every piece, but also the entire history of the district and the island. The guide was very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the building and what it had been went through. The gift shop downstairs is very cute and has quite a selection of the books about the island. I wish we could spend more time in there. 

They also offer tour to the historic buildings during summer weekends. If you get a great guide, engaging and funny, what a pleasant way to spend a few hours listening to the amazing stories behind those walls, admiring the splendid interior, enjoying the beautiful landscaped gardens, and feeling the ocean breezes under the giant magnolia trees. 

Sophie slept through the whole tour in Daddy's arms. Laura loved it, saying she would like to live in that kind of house some day. I like that idea. She's a good daughter. She would let me pick one of the rooms for my long visit.

Picture Slide is here.

Treasure Books

While we were shopping in the Chinese Town District in Houston, we saw a couple of Chinese Book Stores in the same shopping center. 

The Book Stores are small. They carry more music CDs, movies and videos than books. One of the book store has a little bit more selections on the children's books, which are all on the lowest shelf and on the floor. Easy access for Sophie. I had to kneel down to look for the books I want one by one --- since they're apparently not in any order.

New books, old books, out-of-print books, all together. Here is part of my lucky find. One particular, called "Weighing an Elephant" is the last copy in store. With damages on both front and back cover, it's not even in mint condition. But inside, it has 5 famous Chinese children stories, each beautifully illustrated in distinctive Chinese art style: traditional ink and wash, free style painting, fine brush painting, fan painting and paper cutting. Each illustration is a piece of art work by itself! It's a treasure book.

NASA

It's a great experience! It just could be better if we had more time. The guided tour to the Astronaut Training Facility at the Johnson Space Center was the highlight of the trip. But the long wait outside the building was quite challenging to the small kids. Even Laura at some point got impatient. 

A lot of things to see in the center. We changed out plan to stay longer so that girls could play more in there. If you go, give yourself some extra time.

Houston Museum of Natural Science (& the Water Wall)

It was a quick visit since we had other plans for the day.

It's not as big as I have expected. Of course, it's not Smithsonian. But still you could learn a lot if you took the time to see everything there. The best part of the museum is probably the Gemology exhibit, which we spent quite a long time wandering through the never-ending gem vault. My girls were oohs and aahs all along. They just love HUGE gemstones and diamonds. I don't blame them.

We also watched the 3D movie "Sea Rex" in the iMAX theatre in there. Sophie was brave enough to sit through the whole show, although I had to cover her ears, while she was busy holding on to the big 3D glasses to prevent it from falling from her small face. 

3 stars for the museum. The exhibits seemed old and haven't been updated for a long time. Some science exhibits don't work properly. The other star get subtracted because of the McDonald's in the museum. It gets messily loud during lunch time when it's crowded with people. Doesn't seem to go with the atmosphere of the museum. Besides, it's quite pricy for the whole family, and the Butterfly Exhibit is not even included. It could be a better museum. 

Overall, it was nice. 

The Water Wall we went afterwards was amazing. We all loved it. Laura and Sophie were chasing each other around and in front of the Wall. They played hard on the giant lawn in front of the Wall. They ran, they were hot, and they went to the Water Wall to cool down; then they went to play again... Definitely a good place to go in a hot summer day.