Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

(sometimes less is more, right?)

Let it SNOW!

Who says it does not snow in Texas? It surely brings back those wonderful memories of life in Utah and Idaho.

Good Job Sam

I am back to blogville! The past few months had gone by so fast. We went through Hurricane Ike with no damage to the house. Timothy started his preschool and had not been crying for two weeks in the row. Halloween came and passed with many parties in between. Samantha just learned how to ride the bike with no training wheels. She started to wear glasses because of astigmatism. I am getting busy at volunteering at school and watching friends' kids. And last time I checked, Thanh still has his oil job. This entry will be short and sweet. Not that I am lazy but looking forward to a new tomorrow. Samantha performed at her first Suzuki Annual Ribbon Festival

Off to Kindergarten!

Samantha got up 1:30 am this morning to brush her teeth. She really wanted to be ready for her first day at the kindergarten early. Luckily she went back to sleep right afterwards. I just tossed and turned the rest of the night. Because I already missed her terribly. While I wish I could hold her hand tight to walk her through every new step of her life, I know it's time to let her learn how to fly. I just have to be there to praise her when she soars, and to comfort her when she falls. Quality time sounds more real to me than ever. Timothy says that he really misses Samantha, too.
Today Thanh calls me from his office more frequent than usual. That's nice. My heartache will be 100% cured in about one hour.
The time on the picture is wrong. It's not 6ish, it's 7 something.

New Addition

And thank goodness it's not a human being. After much consideration, we'd decided to round up our family with a beagle named COSMO. He is much like an infant. Without a diaper. While kids enjoy his presence and playfulness, I am overwhelmed with his potty-training, emotional and physical well-being. I know our life and my sleeping hours will fall back to right track before long, but for now I want to say, "What was I thinking!?" And yes, he is way cuter than I'd imagined.

Picking up the puppy

This little thing is going to change our life and my carpet forever!

He sleeps like Timothy.

Welcome to our home, little bro!

Summer Days in South

I prefer feeling hot than cold (I mean temperature wise, mind you). And having resided in Houston for five years, I learn to overcome the heat with many water activities or simply just sweat it out. Here are some pictures for demonstration purposes. Oops, I forgot to rotate some pix first, it would be easier if you can just tilt your heads a little bit. ( Including you, grandma)

Catch me if you can!

Amazing, huh!

Samantha is fearless as usual.

I have to bribe Timothy with McDonald kids meal for him to jump with the coach.

Superman riding Spiderman bike

A new fountain pad to hang out with neighbor kids in the Woodlands

Look at my big smile, he says.

Breaking News!

This is just in. We are going to be Aggies!

Mr. Dao,

Congratulations! The Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University is pleased to admit you to the graduate program in Petroleum Engineering, beginning in the Fall 2008 Semester. Attached is an electronic copy of the official letter you should be receiving in the postal mail. Any questions don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy July 4th!

Hello, family blog, it's been a while since we chatted last time. Keeping up with a family blog is like keeping up with a diet plan--most times you don't. Since the summer vacation starts, we have been trying to keep the kids busy with almost daily swimming lessons, trips to Splashtown, and even matinee movies. We just got back from our trip to SeaWorld in San Antonio. Samantha was the brave one. She made us ride the heart-dropping rides with her. Hopefully we will start to keep up with our entries from now on.

Thanh still can't believe how much he paid for those pandas (not whales?). Wait until he sees the lunch bill...

Water, water, everywhere!

Market Square by the Riverwalk, similar to Taiwan's night market

All those swimming lessons are paying back.

Yes, we did the really thing.

To see the dolphins this close is my favorite part of the whole trip.

We are ready for some good dinner!

Fun Day Out

After Gymboree gym and art classes, the whole Dao clan when to the nearby Chuck E. Cheese for a good time. The above sentence is what I call a "family bliss." The kids have fun and so do we. Hope grandparents can move down to Houston some time soon!

Timothy Turns Three

Timothy says on his birthday," I am a big boy now--for real." Out of twenty toys that he asked for after being bombarded by kids TV commercials, we got him a Better Batter Baseball toy set. His best gift for his mama is being completely potty trained. There should be a birthday party for him, but someone just got lazy...

Samantha is Done with Preschool

The next graduation ceremony I will attend shall be my kids' high school graduation. That's gonna be a long way down. So today is a big day. It's Samantha's preschool graduation. Two years ago when she first attended the preschool, she would tell me when I picked her up that she actually "talked" that day. Now you can't get her to stop sometimes. Grandparents from Virginia come to visit just the right time. Daddy can't come because his work is more important. Samantha is also awarded as "the best dressed" student of the class. Should I be proud?

Thanh's New Ride

It is a historical day. Thanh thought he was going through a midlife crisis, and as a result of this very emotional stage, he went out and bought his dream car. It's Acura TL with Navi in Moroccan red. The dealer really wanted to sell him the car and gave him an incredible deal that any breathing man could not resist. The bottom line is--I am happy for him. He has worked hard all his life first to go through the college, now to provide for his family. He deserves it!

7 Weird Things about Leslie

In response to Mari's tag on seven weird things about me, it's weird that it took me almost three months to come up the answers. Originally I thought it would be a piece of cake to name them one by one, but it turned out that I am not that weird after all.

1. I read obituaries on newspaper.
2. Remember the episode of "Fear Factor" that made the contestants eat cows intestines? I would have won if I was on it.
3. I like pig's ears, too. They are crunchy and chewy at the same time. (If there's # 8, it would be the gizzards.)
4. I have this tremendous fear towards the germs living on the bottom of every single shoe in the world.
5. I am an impulsive buyer, and Thanh is an impulsive returner.
6. I can sew pretty dresses for Samantha. But I can't sew a loosed button for myself, or for Thanh in most cases.
7. I am 30 and I have a 5-year-old-daughter! Growing up I always though I would be a business woman, and I wouldn't be married until I turned 28. I am grateful that my life is the way it is right now, and I won't change a thing.

Glad to get this assignment off my shoulder, and I can finally sleep tight tonight.

Samantha turned 5!

In the past month since we got back from Taiwan, we'd been in a "leisure" mood. We took kids to Houston Rodeo, Downtown Aquarium, two outlet malls, and we even rented a nice hotel room in Houston Galleria area over the weekend just for fun. Now we are broke. So I have to go back to my family blog just to fill up my time. I am just going to skip on posting all those wonderful pictures of our mini trips for now. (Sorry, grandma) But definitely check out our Samantha's 5th birthday party. The most appreciated comment will be that I don't look like a mom who has a five-year-old.

All of Us are Together

All 10 of us are here together to share the joy of being one family. I am grateful for my parents' unselfish sacrifice and unconditional love for each one of us. They set the greatest example of humility and kindness for me, and I will always love and respect them.