Tenley vs. The Seaweed

We went to the beach a few weeks ago and got these fun pictures of Tenley playing with all the seaweed she could get her hands on. Enjoy!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

1st Dance: 2010 Father/Daughter Dance

Ten has been very excited all week. Why? Because she knew that today was the Father/Daughter dance at her school. That meant she got to glam up and have Daddy all to herself . What could be better?

Last week I bought their tickets, found Ten this neon polk-dot number to wear (I loved the post-Easter 60% off, she loved the giant polka-dots), and orderd her a tiny Tenley-size corsage as a special surprise.

Then we made a plan: Jenny's Nails for a mani/pedi, and then to Aunty Meg's house to do her hair- because if anyone could get Ten's hair to curl (and stay curled) and look cute for 3+ hours, it was Aunty Meg.

Right after school, we headed to Jenny's where Ten chose neon green for her toes and neon pink with glitter over it for her nails. She sat very still, and by the time my pedi was done, she was all dry and ready to go get curls!


Aunty Meg and Uncle Dan celebrated the milestone of "1st Dance" by buying Ten her first piece of "real" jewlery. Ten was overwhelmed with this dainty little pearl and diamond on a 24k chain. They had the chain shortend so she could wear it, and it provided the finishing touch to her ensemble.

Aunty Meg had her arsenal of styling products and piping hot curling iron ready to go when we got there. She patiently pulled the front of Ten's hair back into three twists and then curled the whole thing in ringlets. She finished it off with ribbons and pink crystal hair screws.

We had just finished when the doorbell rang, signifying that her "date" was here to pick her up. She squealed and said "Wait! Don't let him see me yet!" as she ran down the hall to put her dress and sandals on.

Daddy presented her with her corsage. She didn't get it until we explained that it was a boquet you could wear. Roses you could wear??? She couldn't wait to show her friends!

I'm glammed up, wearing roses, and I'm the center of attention. Life is good!

The 2 best things that ever happened to me!

After patiently posing for the family paparazzi, they were off to the dance! I stuck around Aunty Meg's long enough to hand her kleenex as she teared up looking at Tenley's baby picture hanging in her room and muttering "Oh she's just so grown up!!"

The line for pictures was painfully long when they arrived, but Jeff & Ten dutifully waited so we could get pix of them before they were all sweaty and Ten's curls were gone.

About the dance itself, Jeff said:

" The dance was more crowded than I expected. My first thought was that all the dads would be lined up around the outside of the room while the girls stood in the middle giggling and talking to each other. To my surprise, everyone was dancing. There were girls of all ages, and Tenley immediately found her friends Emma, Ashlyn and Makeda. They were all so cute and loved comparing dresses and hair.

The DJ was playing all kinds of music- he had a pretty good mix. At one point he told all the girls to pay attention to the dads because they would know what to do with this song- and he played The YMCA. Tenley loved doing the hand motions, and I found it particularly funny when the DJ abruptly turned off the music and all the dads were singing.

We did The Chicken Dance, The Hokey Pokey and had a mean conga line going at one point. When the DJ played Butterfly Kisses, Tenley grabbed my hand and said, "This is slow sappy music. Let's go get a cookie." We got back in time for me to overhear one dad
tell another one that the next time he dances with his daughter to this song it will be at her wedding when he's giving her away.

All the girls enjoyed themselves, and I even got to take a little break when Tenley and Ashlyn decided they'd rather dance with each other.

Just a short while later, Tenley informed me that she would like to go to dinner now, because her legs were going to fall off. We collected her swag ( a pink carnation and a magic wand) and said good night to her friends. "

Jeff told Ten she could pick anywhere she wanted for dinner, and she chose......Coco's. Ok.

It was apparently during dinner that she asked her dad if he knew how to make spaghetti tacos. He was clearly confused, so Ten finally supplied that she was talking about the ones that Spencer makes on iCarly. Jeff inquired if she had ever had spaghetti tacos, and since she had not, how did she know she liked them? Her response was to fix her father with a what-are-you,-stupid?? stare and say "iCarly likes them!" with all the DUH! tone her little voice could muster. The woman sitting behind her nearly chocked on her $7.99 steak she was laughing so hard.

At 8:15 2 very excited dogs let me know that 1 very very tired little girl was home. I knew she was wiped by how heavy she was, and the fact that she begged me to take out her hair and get the dress off that just 3 hours earlier she couldn't wait to put on.

She managed to stay awake for stories, but she was gone the moment we turned out the light- my tiny Cinderella, dreaming happily of her first ball.

Smarty Pants

We always said Ten was a bright little bugger. Ever since she was a baby, we could see the wheels turning in her little mind. Brilliance would come in tiny kernels: "octopus" as a first word, the ability to add in preschool- although she didn't know what she was doing (look Mommy 2 Cooper cars, 3 Bugs, and 4 Elements...that's 9 cars!), and lately she has pushed herself to figure out cursive writing (2 years early) and it's frighteningly legible.

Every parent thinks their kid is smart as a whip...but it's nice to occasionally get validation. This year, Ten got an Academic Achievement Award in Jan., in Feb. she was sorted into the advanced reading group, and today she made the Honor Roll. Actually, she made the Honor Roll with High Honors - meaning that 80% or more of her 2nd Trimester grades are at "A" and nothing is below "P" (proficient).

Way to go Ten! We're SO proud of you!!

Mrs. G's Class High Honors kids: Connor, Michael & Tenley








Smart is Sexy: Tenley & her buddy Em both made High Honors!

Can't wait to frame this!

The Bunny

Spring has come once again, and with it comes our annual trip to visit the Easter Bunny. We have taken Tenley to visit the same Easter Bunny every year: he's the kid sized audio-animatronic one at South Coast Plaza. He's really cool because he's controlled by someone off site who has a camera and a microphone so he can talk to and interact with each kid individually. The other really awesome thing is that because we have gone every year, Ten's Bunny pix are a great chronicle of how much she's grown and changed during the year.

So here ( in order) are Tenley's Easter Bunny pictures. Hope you enjoy the stroll down memory lane as much as we do!

2006




2007

2008

2009

2010

Gymn Pix

So I don't think we've ever really discussed Ten & Gymnastics. Ten has always had oodles of energy- the kind that makes you, the parent, want to tear your hair out because she hits the ground running and never stops...and it's been this way since the day they handed her to us. As a result, we have constantly looked for new and fun ways to wear her out since she was 9 months old.

She started gymnastics in Aug of '08- right in the middle of the Beijing Olympics- because "China Sister" Lauren had her birthday party at her gym and Ten loved it.

In August of '09 she got her first trophy for one year of continuous attendance. She was so excited to finally get hardware!

In September, she turned 5, and about 3 days after her birthday, Coach Tiffany called to invite her to join Level 1 Team Gymn. You could have pushed us over with a feather. Really? Turns out that Ten really is really good at gymnastics...and considering the amount of time she spends vaulting around our living room, she should be!

Team Gymn is not what you see on TV at the Olympics- that's Artistic Gymnastics (and you must be at least 7 to compete). Team Gymn involves a team of no less than 6 girls and/or boys who as a group do: vault, floor routine, tumbling, and mini trampoline.

Here are some random pix of The Fireflies at their competitions!

The Fireflies

At march in

About to start their floor routine...

Ten & Em in bridge

At the top of her tumbling pass

About to take off for vault...

In flight... (check out her awesome form!!)


Ok, the last pic is a really unattractive shot...but I put it in so everyone could 1. admire her amazing form, and 2. admire her incredible muscles!

Look at her extended leg! You could bounce a quarter off her tiny booty!

Kung Fu Surprise

It's amazing to me that Christmas was only about 8 weeks ago. I know this because it was over Christmas break that Daddy bought Tenley a chocolate shake that turned out to be a mocha shake, and the resulting caffiene rush was what prompted us to enroll our child in kung fu that very hour.

Ten's been loving kung fu. For the longest time she said she wanted to "fight like Mulan"- and now she is. She pays attention in class (which has won her 2 t-shirts!), and is unafraid of taking on the boys in her class. The quality of her kicks improved as soon as we gave her a tv tray to use as a target and showed her how to send it sailing across the room.

At first it was hard for her to understand why some of her classmates were getting belt promotions. We tried to explain that each belt color had certain moves that went with it, and you had to be able to do all those moves to advance. Every 8 classes (4 weeks) you get a "tip"- a tape stripe on your belt, and after 4 tips you can move up a belt color if you can do the form! Ten takes this very seriously, and has been practicing her white belt form almost as much as she practices gymnastics. She has 2 tips, and was happy to learn that Master Tim would be back from vacation before it was time to promote her.

So, we were totally shocked and unprepared at kung fu last Tuesday when Master Tim announced that he was promoting Ten to yellow belt 8 weeks early!! Seriously?? apparently he and Master Dan discussed it and felt that she was deserving of her promotion and felt no need to make her wait. She was over the moon- at last she too was getting a new belt!

Master Tim presented a very happy Tenley with her Yellow Belt certificate.

...and Master Dan got the challenge of tying the ginormous yellow belt around the very tiny warrior princess.

Afterwards, Ten and Master Dan posed with her certificate and new belt, and we did our best to get a good picture on our cell phones!!

Congrats Ten! We're proud of you!!

The League of Extraordinary Bowlers

Sat. Feb 20th marked a first for our family since Ten came home: this was the first year we have not gone to a Chinese New Year celebration. Although we welcomed the Year of the Tiger on the 14th, it seems that most public parades and celebrations took place last Saturday...at the same time as Alyssa's 6th birthday party. So, Ten had to make a choice: CNY or bowling with Alyssa friends. The bowling won.

Here we have The League of (Less Than) Extraordinary Bowlers who gathered for pizza and "Cosmic Bowling" (disco lights, glow neckalces and balls, loud dance music) to celebrate Miss Alyssa turning 6.

The League includes: Michael, Thomas, Isaiah, Briley, Makeda, Ashlyn, Emilee, Tenley and Alyssa.

The bumpers were raised, and they did have a slide to help them lob those oh so heavy 6lb balls down the alley, but they abandond the slide after the first couple frames and went with the "Fred Flintstone" softball pitch instead. Hilarious. I think there were at least 5 of them on each alley, and I'm not sure they ever actually completed a game; mostly because there were frequent stops for pictures, dancing, pizza and games of chase.

Jeff and I played 3 games on a neighboring alley, and were shocked to find that someone ( we have no idea who) managed to convince Ten to sit down and eat something. Had we suggested something so outrageous as stopping for food, the idea would have been immediately dismissed.

Getting them to stop bowling and sing "Happy Birthday" and therefore eat cupcakes piled high wih sugary frosting was not a problem at all.

2 hours and 20 minutes later we left with a tired, happy and hopped up on sugar little kid. Mom and Dad needed Ben Gay for their arms and wrists and some real food (ie. not bowling alley pizza), but a good party was had by all!!

Rainy Day & Tenley-isms

The Daily Tenley:

Having apparently spent too much time in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, Tenley has become convinced that the drawing of Mulan by Eric Robison that hangs in her room is blinking it's eyes and watching her. So at 10:30 last night, Dorian Gray called me to her room to cover the portrait and upon waking this morning reminded me not to uncover it. Apparently, it's companion piece, a portrait of Mushu the Dragon, is not evil and may remain visible.

For her viewing pleasure over her breakfast of waffles this morning, Tenley chose to watch Big Cat Diary and was treated to watching lions have zebra for breakfast. Then she saw cheetas have some sort of antelope thing. Feeling very confident, she told us she could outrun a lion. We told her she might if it was old and had a bad case of rickets. But this prompted a drive to school discussion of which animal was more dangerous: tarantula or black widow? Black widow or "brown culoose"? "Boa constructor" or rattlesnake? Python or "anacondo"? I'm going with "anacondo" as they seem to attract bad tennents and can be a bitch to unload in a good economy.

I Dressed Myself!

Cheerio !

Mommy bought the Wii Cheer game and now Tenley has decided to become a Cheerio!