To my dearest 爸爸

Thank you for all your love!
We miss you so much!
Love you forever!

December 2004 with newborn Peter

March 2006 with newborn Natalie

April 2006 Easter

November 2008 with newborn Elaine

January 2009

Stephen G.T. Lau

April 4, 1932 - May 12, 2009

老公, 爸爸, 公公, Uncle, 劉繼志, Dr. Lau, Stephen...

No matter how you called him, no matter how you knew him, he was a man who asked for so little, but gave a lot. He was a man who was so dedicated to his family, to his friends, to his work and to his life. He showed his love and dedication primarily by his actions. He was a man of very few words, unless the topic turned to plants, fish or food. He could talk days about koi fish and orchids and persimmon trees and the best way to make curry. During a meal, he'd give other people advice on which piece of meat was the best, or what you could do to it to make it better. He was definitely a man with a great sense of humor.

Throughout his life, particularly during the past few years, Stephen enjoyed traveling around the world to many places. A month ago, Stephen traveled to Beijing, where he saw what he wanted to see, ate what he wanted to eat, and went to wherever he wanted to go. No matter how difficult the trip, he fulfilled his dream and embraced life.

Today we celebrate Stephen G.T. Lau. In his honor, we ask you to also fulfill your dreams. Travel, no matter how near or far. Eat the things you like. See the things you want to see and embrace life. Love one another as he loved all of us.

老公, 爸爸, 公公, Uncle, 劉繼志, Dr. Lau, Stephen:

We love you and we thank you. May God bless you on your next journey.

Dane's Farm Field Trip

Peter had another field trip last Thursday, this time to Dane's Farm. With Sam in Italy, I ended up being about to take both Elaine and Natalie on the trip as well. Natalie seemed very excited about her first time on a school bus, whereas Peter and his classmate Joseph seemed a little bored.


Elaine had a good time on her first bus ride too!

After several wrong turns and 30 minutes, we arrived at the farm. The kids got to hold and pet ducklings and chicks. I was amazed how brave the kids were!

Peter seemed semi-interested in the peacock.

After Dane's farm, we went to Dane's Dairy for some ice cream! Ms. Connie is always great in getting the kids together for pictures. We love her!

Peter's Bear Class:

Changing character

Ever since the debut of Kung Fu Panda at the Burer house, we've had a lot of role playing from that movie. Typically, Tai Long, Po and Tigress show up at our house at any given moment.

One moment, Peter and Natalie will be cute as two peas in a pod:



Then it's like someone flipped a switch and this is what happens:



Grrrr...

Snarl!

Yes, these are my darling children!

Peter's big boy bike

We got Peter a big boy bike with training wheels and all. It took him no time to get used to riding a bigger bike!

Natalie is still learning to use her legs to peddle. She's been getting better every time we go for a ride!

Peter has already shown that he's pretty good at steering!

Ronald McDonald 5k Race

No, I did not do a 5K with the kids. Rather I took them along the route to cheer on the runners, including our "Uncle" Tanner! Peter and Natalie were so excited to see him run. Here we are at the water table (and strategically near a porta-potty) cheering Tanner on!

Tanner managed to beat us to the finish line. Either it takes me a while to buckle 3 kids and drive 1/2 mile or Tanner is a fast runner! We still were able to get a shot at the finish line!

A dose of Elaine

YAY! Elaine is starting to use a sippie cup! Our washing the 6-piece baby bottle days are close to an end! She seems to enjoy it!

Must taste good!

And here's a little video where Sam and Peter were playing a game, and Elaine was finding it hilarious!

Elaine's 10th month birthday

April 23rd was Elaine's 10th month birthday!

What a big girl!



Peter and Natalie couldn't help themselves and wanted to have their own photo session.

Then came the wrestling.

Even amidst being attacked by Natalie, Peter manages to squeeze a nice smile for the camera!
And then the three of us (Elaine wasn't in the picture but she was biting on my leg at the time!)

Elainers!

Continuing the theme of being different, Elaine seems to enjoy chewing on her thumb...not quite sucking. She's probably getting new teeth in, but I wouldn't put it past her that she likes her thumb in her mouth!



Or a block in her mouth! This is how she's been transporting toys from one place to another. She'll stick in her mouth and start crawling away. She may be watching our dog too much!

Now, one thing that all of the kids have done is have this super attraction to Sydney's water bowl. Maybe because it's nice and shiny and full of water that makes it so fun, but it sure does cause a mess for Mommy to clean up! Here's Elaine making a run for the bowl!

And here's the "pure innocence" she gives me as if she's telling me, "I wasn't doing anything!"

Natalie's writing

Natalie has a new found love: writing!
Lately, you can always find her with a pen and paper, doodling or practicing her name. I often hear her ask "What comes next, Mommy?" One day, she asked me to spell 'Mommy'. As I worked in the kitchen, she sat at the kitchen table writing the letters I spelled out for her.
This is her work:


I think I helped her with her name, but 'Mommy' is all her!
Then, here's "what comes next"...

Happy Easter!

Easter Bunny came to our house!

Since it was so cold outside, the Easter Bunny hopped around downstairs, leaving behind eggs in our playroom!

The Easter Bunny was even in the dollhouse!

Everyone was happy with their basket of eggs. Looks like Natalie already got into her chocolate!

And get this:
We made it to 8am mass!?!?

Natalie still thinking about that chocolate!
Happy First Easter Elaine!

Me and my shadow

Elaine noticed "someone" new...it was too cute! :))

Peter's Easter parade

Peter's school had an Easter parade where the girls had bonnets and boys had ties.
Peter was lagging behind a little in the classroom...thank goodness for Mr. Nick at the end of the line!

So, this picture turned out to be a pivotal clue to our mystery question during the parade, "Where's Natalie?" In all the chaos of kids parading down the hall and parents snapping photos (including yours truly), Sam and I realized we didn't know where Natalie had gone. Sam followed our path back to the classroom, wondering if she had stayed behind to play. My heart raced until several of the parents said they saw her following Peter! Had I looked back in the photos I took, I would have seen her sneaking into the parade route!

She loved it and really enjoyed herself. Can I say, she's ready for preschool!?

Peter thought it was hilarious that Natalie joined their parade. Mr. Nick noticed the "new student" asking Peter "where did your little sister come from!?" It was all good, but now I know in the future to keep an eye on this little girl!

It was fun for the preschoolers to parade through their school. All the other elementary kids sat outside their classrooms, cheering them on. It was a very nice atmosphere!

Testing her chompers!

As Elaine enjoys having her first four teeth installed, I've noticed that she also loves testing them out on everything and everyone.
I can't count how many times I've taken a bite on my shoulder, neck, legs and cheek! She's found her crib rail to be a nice teething rail...as oppose to the 3 teethers in her crib. It got so bad, I had to make a cover for the rail! She still manages to pull it off after a while and now the rail has hundreds of teeth marks! So much for a new crib! :)

Natalie is stylin'!

Natalie got an Easter hat from "Aunt" Melissa. She loved it, but she also kept calling it her safari hat!


She is such her own little girl!

What do you see in this picture?

A lot of morning light comes through our front door's windows, creating "rainbows" and funky patterns on the wall. One morning, Peter caught this view and screamed, "It's my name in Chinese!"



Not quite right, but I thought it was funny! :)

Natalie's girly side

We don't see it often, but Natalie does have a girly side to her. Often, she likes pretending her Easter hat is in fact a safari hat or growling like Tai Long in Kung Fu Panda. Slowly but surely, she's beginning to discover what little girls like to do.

Exhibit A: Finger nail polish!



She did a nice job!