Maddie and Amelia on Skype with me

It’s Halloween and I’m away at a conference. Andy is home with the girls this year, but I’m ALMOST there. This morning when Maddie woke up, she woke up in Shanghai. I woke up in Kota Kinabalu. We both logged into Skype at the same time and we connected. She showed me her costume… Amelia came over for a kiss…. we talked about all the silly things she had planned for the day… and then it was time for her to eat breakfast. Andy fed Amelia while I had conversation with Maddie. I finished

Maddie and Amelia eat Breakfast at Home via Skype

getting ready for my day ahead and she sat at the kitchen table babbling away. I harped at her to take another bite… it was just like I was there. But I wasn’t.

I still miss my girls terribly, but thank goodness for technology. I was able to connect with them and they were able to connect with me. You can’t replace a real hug, but virtual one sometimes does the trick!

Happy Halloween Maddie and Amelia!

The Final Product

Halloween 2008 has arrived!  We bought the family pumpkin over the weekend and when we got home today, we carved away.  Maddie has been planning out her ideal pumpkin face for weeks.  Of course, the face was full of hearts.  I had a hard time explaining that knives have a hard time making the rounded edges of hearts, but we gave it a go anyway!

Miss Amelia had to join in with us and scoop out the pumpkin

The Planning Stages

seeds – of course, she had to put that orange stringy stuff in her mouth – such a babe!!

Maddie and I headed over to the Haunted House after the carving and I held her hand all the way throughout.  She was genuinely scared this year!  I honestly think she was braver last year, but that’s the life of a 5 year old!  Andy will take her out Trick-or-Treating in a couple of days so this is just the beginning!

We love you girls!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Yummy Pumpkin Orange Stringy Things!

Making the Card for Ms. Tooth Fairy

So… you know the story, right?  Maddie swallowed her first tooth.  The Tooth Fairy refused to take the second tooth because apparently there’s this rule that the parents get to keep the first tooth.

So this one is a BIG DEAL!

Maddie lost her first tooth a couple of days ago and it was the first tooth that the Tooth Fairy actually took!  Maddie made her beautiful card for the Tooth Fairy and the stuck her tooth in the pocket of her little tooth pillow that she and I had made together.

Ms. Zhou and Maddie Pose

Maddie woke up the next morning with a note from what we found out was MRS. Tooth Fairy.  Who knew she was married?!  Her tooth was definitely gone from the pillow, which we still can’t figure out how the Mrs. Tooth Fairy managed to get without waking Maddie up.  Maddie did ask the question about “what does the Tooth Fairy do with all of the teeth?”

So, if you have any ideas on what the Tooth Fairy does with all of those teeth she gathers from children, please leave a comment and let us know.  We have our suspicions, but we’re just not sure…

Press play for the movie below!

Amelia, Daneah, Maddie and Jeff

For October Holiday this year the family headed to Bangkok.  This was Amelia’s first visit and Maddie’s fourth.  Bangkok and Thailand are so comfortable for us and it just felt great being there.  One of the best things about the trip was seeing Jeff and Daneah.  They had just received their shipment the week before we arrived so we headed to their place one night for another installment of Gourmet Geeks.  The next day we headed to the Weekend Market and then to one of our favorite restaurants!

Gourmet Geeks Unite!

I knew that I was in trouble tonight when Maddie asked to create another Voki instead of reading a book before going to bed.  Oh dear… what have I created?  If you haven’t seen Maddie’s Voki then please make sure and log into her blog and take a look at the newest and greatest widget!

She also decided to make a Geo Greeting to go along with her latest and greatest Voki message.  Words she knew how to spell:  Hi.  Maddie.  Blog.  What more is there to say?!!!