I'm such a poor blogger

It's really a shame that I haven't kept up on these blogs in the past 6 years. Well, on this one. At least Riley's blog was updated 4 years ago.

I digress.

Haley is a lovely 14 year old now. Last post? She was 8! Goodness. We just took 12 of her pals to Southcenter to have a scavenger hunt a few weeks ago. That was actually pretty fun!

These days, Hay is in 8th grade, well, nearly a 9th grader! I can't believe it!

She plays bass clarinet in band (just like I did!), but I think she's gonna be better at it than I ever was. She's taking Chinese and I'm confident she can read and write better than I ever did, but she's super shy (almost violently so) about speaking it. Even when I try to talk to her in Chinese, she never responds.

She is still the smallest of all her friends. It's pretty funny, sometimes. I think she's not ready to grow up, either. All her friends are becoming, ahem, women, and Hay is still a girl. But she's getting there.

I've promised her that when she turns 16, she can have my car. Which gives me two years to get a raise and get me a newer car. Good luck to me.

Haley is pretty much still an excellent girl. She has gotten a hold of the temper tantrums she used to have all the time. She's thoughtful and smart and has awesome hair. She's got a hold on my heart and I love her a whole bunch.

Look who's 8!

Haley on Christmas morning

All alone

All alone
Originally uploaded by gwonchang

Haley loves ice skating. Here she is, taking a break.

10 funny things about Hay

After Halloween

1. Haley has lost about 4 teeth in the past few weeks. Her mouth looks like the proverbial picket fence.
2. She has a really math oriented brain. It's kind of cool. The concepts she's learning at school are tricky and she seems to know them quite well.
3. She is stubbornly independent and I am learning how to deal with that.
4. She is a Girl Scout Brownie and loves it. The timing is tough (late on Monday nights) but she looks forward to it every time.
5. As seen in the photo above, Haley's fall/winter style is a long sleeve under a short sleeve with jeans.
6. Haley does not like to let anyone brush her hair but herself. She won't even let me run my fingers through her hair.
7. She is learning to love reading. We've been hitting the public library a lot recently and she just loves it.
8. I think she's part deaf. At night, she'll have a CD on and it's so loud, we can hear it down the hall. But if we turn it down just a little, she complains that she can't hear it.
9. She loves fruit and vegetables. Definitely her mother's daughter.
10. She has very floppy fingers and hands. It's kind of strange.
11. Bonus: she is SUPER TICKLISH. Once she learns how to tickle back, I'm in trouble.
    

The kids

The kids
Originally uploaded by gwonchang

What's different?

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Hay and Dad

Haley did great seeing Dad today. In fact, after about 10 minutes of us being there and getting ready to go, she said she didn't want to leave yet. She just liked being there with him and us. It was sweet.

Yay Hay!

It's a Haley update!

Haley's in 2nd grade now and things are moving along nicely. No strike this year, no death in the family, so far so good.

Today we're going to go see Dad for the 1 year anniversary of his death. Haley knows about it but I don't think she knows today is the day. She still has a hard time talking about her grandfather's passing. She won't let us put a picture of him and her in her room because it makes her sad.

I think she's having a good time at school. Her friend Helen is in her class and they are a very good match for each other. It's a lot of fun being here to talk about what she's learned for the day (as opposed to when I'm working and don't see her until dinner time). She still has her moody moments, but we're working with a counselor to try to make our avenues of communication better.

I perused through this blog for a few minutes and realized that I hadn't posted much at all for her, so I hope to be able to remedy that in the future.

Haley lost a tooth!

Haley and Bella

What I need to remember is...

Patience is a virtue.

Haley vs H2O

Haley's 7th at home

American Girl Ivy. Pure joy!

Haley's 7th Birthday in Florida

Some of the things Haley did on her 7th birthday:

• Open presents.
• Go to Epcot.
• Have lunch with Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Ariel.
• Go to Hollywood Studios.
• See a High School Musical 3 show, featuring Dad as Dancin' Fool.
• Go back to Epcot and tour the nations at dusk.

Pretty memorable if you ask me!

We got egged!

Yesterday we went to lunch. When we got home, there was a little card stuck to our door. Looked like an Easter card. I pulled the car in the garage and Haley went to get the card. Then I heard her yell, "There's eggs all over the yard!"

Someone (we think it's the Easter bunny) came by and "egged" our house. The kids were super pumped.

Off they go!

Hands full!

I need a basket!

Checkin' the haul.

Quick pic

I came home from band practice at about 9:40. Marci said Haley should be asleep as the last time she came out was about 9:15. I guess Hay had a tough time tonight.

When I went in her room, she was out, but I saw why she had stayed up so late.

Evidently Marci gave Haley a new dry-erase pen to use with her new whiteboard we brought home from C&A.

I thought it was pretty awesome. Click on the pic to enlarge.

Haley reading

A few posts ago I noted how cool it was that Haley was reading so well now. I finally got around to shooting a short little video of her reading and here it is.

Temptation...

Haley's school had a fundraiser tonight. The school's classes all created artwork for people to bid on. Some moms also did some desserts to put up for auction as well.

Marci made a fishbowl cake. It was pretty awesome. She spent about 3 hours on it and here's how it looked.


On my way home from work tonight, I got a call from Marci. Evidently after finishing the cake, she went in to take a shower. When she came out, all the Nerds candy on the bottom of the cake were gone.

She asked if Riley ate them. He said no. She asked if Haley ate them. No answer. She asked again and Haley gave her standard "I'm busted" response:

"I'M SORRRRRRRY!!!!" followed by tears and hysterics.

Marci, needless to say, was quite hurt by the whole thing. Here she'd spent all day creating this beautiful cake, only to have Haley come by and mess it up a little. Luckily, she had more Nerds and was able to finish it again, but I think the bigger issue was the disappointment in Haley as we all know that Haley knows better.

When I got home, I didn't say anything to Hay because I knew she'd just freak out, but when I tried to talk to her about it later, she would just say, "I don't want to talk about it."

All in all, it was kind of funny (to me, at least), and Haley didn't have a good reason as to why she munched on all the Nerds. Marci's cake was the hit of the fundraiser and sold for about $35, I think.

American Girl Fashion Show

Here are pictures!

Marci and Hay before the big day.

Erin, Katri and Haley and their pals.

Haley and her new friends. The little one in front of Lyla in the orange is Haley's American Girl, Molly.

Haley and Lyla, Erin's AG.

Erin was nice enough to let Hay borrow Lyla for the night. That doll has not left Haley's side all afternoon. It's pretty cute. Guess we know what Haley's getting for her birthday.