Views From Above

 So November may have gotten away from me a bit. I can admit that I suppose. My sister Natalie arrived at the beginning of the month and so we've been wonderfully distracted since then. For our first outing we grudgingly got out of our pj's and headed to the local grocery store. On our way there I took her up to our old house and then up the hill to the look out we used to walk up to. It was an insanely clear and beautiful day.

 Ander was enjoying the scenery as well, never mind that he was asserting his 2 year old will every time we got in and out of the car and wasn't letting me buckle him in. It had to start sometime.
Anyway, as I looked out at that crazy clear blue sky I knew that it was a truly rare day that would be perfect for visiting 101. Even on blue sky days it is often still pretty smoggy.  So even though we had basically just rolled out of bed (after a call to my neighbor to pick up the older 3 from the bus) we headed to Nathan's office and he took us down to 101.

 We absolutely made the right choice. There wasn't another day as clear and beautiful as this the whole time she was here. We rode the fastest elevator in the world (1010 meters per minute) to the top of 101. At the top you can get a hand held little thing that you press the buttons on and it will talk to you about what you are seeing out whichever window.

 Ander was obsessed with it. He walked around talking his jibberish back into the phone thingy and gesturing to people like he was talking on the phone. He was completely content with the situation.

 We thought this picture with 101's shadow was pretty cool.

 The wind damper is so cool. Google it if you care to learn more about it, I don't feel like I'm a sound authority on it. It's pretty amazing though.

 My home... crazy.

 The observation deck was open which was a first for me. We headed out to check out the view.

 Pretty windy, it was freakin me out.

 It really is an awe inspiring building. It's hard to understand just how ginormous it is.

When we got home this was the sunset from our yard, not too shabby. What a rare treat to spontaneously go sight seeing. It was a great start to Natalie's trip.

*Starly*

 Ander pronounces Scarlett as "Starly" and it didn't take long for that one to stick. Our sweet little Starly is still the most popular girl around these parts by far.

Shortly after she turned one month old she went from sleeping 6-8 hours a night to an impressive 10-12 hours a night most nights. I've had to increase how often she eats during the day to ensure she is getting enough since she is going so long at night. I am definitely not complaining though!

 She went through the baby acne/ growing out of her hair faze just as the rest of my babes did though thankfully it was fairly short lived.

 Her hair is coming in and looks really dark in some lights and quite light in others so the jury is still out on that one.

 Ander continues to love and be sweet with his Starly about 90% of the time. He will occasionally give her a little whack or push but it is always very half hearted- I know his strength and he is definitely being gentle with her even when he is testing boundaries.

 He also discovered that her silky pink blanket (circa Aly 2006) is quite a bit silkier than his own and has decided it should be his. He is now officially the household blanket bandit.

 Wait. Who is this?! Auntie Natalie came a long way to get a much needed snug from Scarlett. Aaand to increase my odds of survival while Nathan was out of town for an extended trip. LOT'S more to come on this topic.

 Scarlett is trying hard to be a self soother though she has yet to decide what satisfies her most. She will take a pacifier but can't keep it in on her own very well. Sometimes she sucks on the same fingers that Ander does but she goes to sleep most nights now sucking her right thumb. It's about the most adorable thing on such a little baby.

Halloween 2011

The recent Star Wars influence translated into Halloween costumes this year (Aly even explained her lack of smile was because princess Leia had "this face", giving me her best strong/stoic face). All except for our resident Indian, Sacagewea. I should note that all of the kids are self posed in these pics.
 We made do with what we could find this year and no costume cost more than $5. Not from want of spending, mind you. It was just the only costumes we could find were old and cheap. It worked well.

I was intending to reuse a costume of Kohen's for Ander this year but he was having NONE of it and I am having to choose my battles with him carefully these days. While I was getting Han Solo, Leia, and Sacagewea ready, Nathan came up with Ander's "Padawan in Training" costume. I was thoroughly impressed with his last minute idea. Ander was willing to sweat to death all evening if he got to swing a light sabre around. Daddy= genius.

It should be noted that each of the children chose their own poses for the pictures. Yes, that should definitely be noted.

Glad someone could tell me that my furry black cat ears could not be seen against my hair and in the dark. My attempt at some Halloween spirit was all for not. Oh well, the kidlets appreciated my attempt.

We headed up to Yangmingshan again this year where all of the Embassy folks live and where we can trick or treat American style to a handful of houses.

Surprisingly, Ander didn't care much about the candy. He really was content to hang on to that light saber and swing it around in the dark.

There were lot's of people and we ran in to a lot of friends. Impromptu light saber battles took place about every other house we stopped at. Kohen and Ander were in heaven and Kennedy's patience ran out waiting for us to drag the boys out of "fights" to move on. I couldn't blame her.

A battle between our boys and our neighbor Carrie's two oldest kids still at home.

Scarlett is there under our favorite Halloween quilt (Thank you Debbie!), she was an angel for Halloween. No costume required. (Again, can't see my cat ears... How "ridicleeus" as Aly would say).

Here are my oldest 3 with my neighbor Brandie's youngest three. If you are doing the math, that means we are still missing 4 of our kids in this picture. We cause quite a scene when we get em all together. 

What I love most about Trick or Treating in YMS is that they get the real feel of what it is like but there isn't that much candy to worry about. After the kids gorged themselves with candy on the way home there was only about a sandwich sized baggie of candy left per kid. Hardly even enough for the parents to share. I said hardly...

Nerdery of the Highest Order

 Nathan and I decided it would be fun to have a Night Time themed game night with the kids. Without the time change here (LOVE THAT) it get's dark pretty early so we were able to play for hours and still make it to bed on time. (Love that too!)

 We started out with Glow in the Dark Bowling. Unfortunately, the glow sticks I was able to track down were mostly duds and the ones that did glow were kinda weak. But they served their purpose. The kids all took turns rolling a ball down the hall to knock down the "pins". Nathan would reset the pins each round while I kept Ander from running and kicking them over- trust me, that was a full time job.

 Next I set up the video camera out in our yard and we had the kids wait out there. We recently watched the 3 Star Wars movies, the older made/end of the story ones. All of the children's pretend games have been Star Wars themed since then.
Because Nathan works with all manner of Asian tech-y nerds (the ultimate super breed of nerds, if you will), he met some guy who could get him some "authentic" Light Sabers. Apparently they don't make them for just anyone, you have to go and meet with "The Maker" who will then ask you questions to determine what kind of "Force" you are channeling etc. We are talking Nerdery of the Highest Order. And though the meeting was taking things a little far in Nathan's book, I can't deny how excited he was to show the kids the Light Sabers.

 So anyway, our crew were waiting in the yard when Nathan and I came bursting out of the front doors engaged in a deadly battle between good and evil. The 4 of them were beside themselves cheering us on and whooping it up.
The Light Sabers make great sound effects when you are fighting with them and they are crazy bright. The kids were tripping over themselves trying to get in on the action. I eventually overcame Nathan - he had the red one so obviously he had to die- followed immediately by a chorus of, "Can I try?!" "I want one!" "When do I get to try?!". We brought out two other light sabers I had found at Costco and though they weren't approved by "The Maker", they served their purpose well enough.

 Epic Battles ensued....

 There were really only 3 light sabers to share between 5 of us because once Ander got his hands on one he was never letting it go. He had found a new calling for his Toddlerhood.

 It was a ridiculous amount of fun having duels and battles with the kids. We were all laughing and chasing and whacking at each other. The specialty Light sabers are crazy bright and made for some awesome pictures.

 We played until everyone was a happy, sweaty, and exhausted mess. When it was time to go in Ander still hadn't had enough. His meltdown was a performance worthy of the Dark Side. Luckily his dad swept him up and off to bed before it ruined the mood. It was such a great night.
Nathan having Nerd Connections has payed off again. Love him!

Kennedy's 9th Birthday

Kennedy was out of school for her 9th birthday because of Student Led Conferences. We spent part of the day at the school and part of the day scrambling to get her birthday ready. Nathan made a special trip to the store to get cabbage for her favorite salad. I cut it open to discover some sort of slug/worm thing had contaminated all of the innards leaving a slimy residue all over. Then Nathan went to BBQ the chicken and the propane was out. Add to that all the crazy we normally have and we were scrambling to get things under control.

Kennedy's closest friend and her little sister live just a few minutes up the mountain so they came down for a couple of hours to help celebrate.
Kennedy has been voicing how she wished she had bad eye sight so that she could wear glasses. She was ecstatic to discover the "fashion" glasses and panda scarf I set out for her to find when she woke up. Pandas are her favorite animal so the party was loosely Panda themed.

Scarlett giving her best "holy cow that flash is bright" face...

Kohen was in rare form since he was showing off a little for our guests. When he saw Kennedy's hat he sprinted from the kitchen and reappeared wearing his very favorite Robot Hat, doing his best Mr. Robot dance moves. If that doesn't impress a girl, what will?

We finished off the night watching Kung Fu Panda II after cake and ice cream. Like all Birthday Days, it was long but fun.
I am so grateful for a day each year where we get to focus on just one child and how grateful we are for them. As the oldest Kennedy walks that difficult and thin line between helping mom and trying to be the mom. Most of the time she is the best helper a mom could hope for. I couldn't ask for a better girl to be the example for her brothers and sisters. Love this happy, sweet girl. My one running complaint is that she is growing up entirely too fast.