Backwards Day At Kevin’s School

Kevin shows how he wears his shirt to school on Backwards Day. This is the ‘back’ of his shirt. Here is the ‘front’ of Kevin's shirt on Backwards Day.

Justin Plays Dress Up

Justin decides to try on some costumes from our ‘outfits’ box. He usually doesn’t like to put costumes on (unless it is to get candy), but somehow Kevin convinced him that it would be fun. Here is Superman Justin. Justin then puts on a bumble bee outfit. Kevin helps Justin ‘fly around’ by having him sit on and hold onto a bed sheet while being pulled over the floors.

Justin’s Letter ‘V’ Crafts / Speech Class

Justin’s preschool class has been studying the letter 'V.' He made several crafts. This is his Volcano and Valentine’s Day card. In speech class this month, Justin’s teacher had a new grad student working with her. Today, the new grad student, Miss Brooke, worked with Justin on the letter ‘G.’ Miss Brooke read a book with all sorts of ‘G’ words and pictures.

Justin’s Class Has A Valentines Party

Justin’s class celebrates Valentines Day. I was one of the teachers’ helpers for the day, and had a great time doing crafts with the kids, and helping out with various classroom tasks. Justin’s class holding Valentines from each other In addition to their holder full of Valentines, the kids each had a bag full of goodies

Playdate / Kevin’s Valentines Cards

Two of Kevin’s classmates came over for a playdate. The three friends took turns riding the electric scooter, while the other two would run alongside, until they dropped (literally) from exhaustion. They decide to do something much less strenuous – play cards. After dinner, Kevin opens up valentines cards from his classmates. Here he is purple-mouthed from eating some Nerds candy.

Chinese New Year Get-Together

We invited friends over to celebrate the Chinese New Year and feasted on Mongolian Hot Pot, a type of Chinese fondue. In the center of the table, we had an electric hot pot with two halves. One side was for meat and vegetables, while the other was just vegetables. The hot pot was kept simmering throughout the meal, while the ingredients – green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, sliced winter melon, taro root, tofu, noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced meats, seafoods, and spices – were placed into the pot and cooked at the table. The cooked foods were then dipped into a sesame-based sauce, and eaten. Delicious! We added fresh foods to the pot several times until everyone had their fill. The kids ate American - mac & cheese, corn, turkey, etc. The kids (seven boys) 'pose' for a picture together

Chinese New Year Program / Skate Night

This is the Year of the Rat, marking the Lunar Year 4706. We attended a New Year celebration in which students from a local Chinese school performed. Below are pictures of some of the performances.

The Lion Dance - a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture There are two people inside each lion costume that perform together. They mimic a lion's movements to the rythmic beat of a gong and drum. Firecrackers are lit to invite the Chinese god of wealth to come. The red scroll reads 'Gong He Xin Xi' which means Happy New Year.











Students perform Chinese martial arts Wu Shu is the name of Chinese martial arts Chinese Shadow Puppets have been around for over 2000 years The puppets are made from translucent leather, intricately carved, and colorfully painted. A light from behind casts shadows of the figures onto the screen. A look behind the puppet stage - the puppet figures are held close to the screen by puppeteers using guiding rods.







Chinese yo-yo demonstrations

















Kevin tries the Chinese yo-yo during the hands-on activities Justin tries the Chinese yo-yo with help from Daddy Even Brian gives the Chinese yo-yo a try
SKATE NIGHT

Kevin tries out his new skates at the Valentines Skate Night













Kevin enjoys skate night with friends Justin is beginning to skate with a lot more confidence Justin laughs at the kids hanging on the skating train-line Justin falls right when I am taking a picture of him After falling down, Justin gets up and skates again

The Wu Boys - Chinese New Year

The boys wear Chinese outfits to celebrate the Lunar New Year Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year in Mandarin)

February Haircut Time / Inside Picnic

It is Cartoon Cuts time again. Brian’s hair is cut and blow-dried. Justin gets his hair washed Justin’s hair gets the blow-dryer Kevin relaxes as his hair is washed Kevin gets his hair styled with gel At home, Kevin and Justin decide to have a ‘picnic’ in the kitchen. They put down a sheet on the floor, and placed a laundry basket upside-down on it to use as their table.

National Geographic Museum / Fortune Star

This was our first time to the National Geographic Museum. There was an exhibit called “Frogs! A Chorus of Colors.” We saw a plethora of frogs in many different colors and sizes. The exhibit was educational, interactive, and fun. Justin and Brian enjoy finding the frogs in each aquarium Kevin is about to see how long a frog hop he can make One of the activities was to find frogs. A camera was housed within a large glass container full of small frogs. There were two joysticks that you used to control the movement of the camera, connected to a screen showing what was being photographed. Kevin figured out that if he stood right beside the glass in a certain spot, he was seen on camera. The boys ‘played’ with the camera controls for a long time, laughing and laughing. Justin finds a Kevin and a Kenton frog Justin takes a picture of a frog Justin poses with the frog that he just took a picture of Face To Face With Frogs, Photographs by Mark W. Moffett Kevin is king of the mountain - National Geographic courtyard The boys on the rocks - National Geographic Museum courtyard Nigersaurus: Africa’s Long-Necked Fern Mower The boys in front of the skeleton replica of a Nigersaurus – the most common herbivore dinosaur in Niger at that time Justin in front of a painting of what the Nigersaurus most likely looked liked Kenton and Brian in the lobby of Fortune Star Restaurant After the National Geographic Museum, we met up with friends at Fortune Star in Rockville. They were the ones that told us about this restaurant, and it is now one of our favorite places to eat. We’ve eaten there during weekend lunches, and each time the dishes have been fresh, delicious, and plentiful. At the regular buffet area you can get authentic Chinese dishes, dim sum, American-Chinese foods, salad, soup, and dessert. There is also a sushi and shashimi area, and a made-to-order grill area.

Kevin and Ethan find a new use for chopsticks