Happy Halloween!

By MAGGIE WANG

Halloween was super fun this year. Sedona is learning to appreciate it.

Our pumpkins started the evening at 4 p.m. at the Hollywood Riviera, where we've trick-or-treated at the storefronts in past years.

Maven was happy about the concept of getting things ... even if she doesn't know what they are.

Picture of some of the gang: I didn't realize it was only the Asians! We did also see Riley, T.L, Raychel and Charlotte.

Riley was clearly the most enthusiastic fully attired pumpkin.

Finally something that wasn't candy... though not sure these annoying whistles were much better.

A sweet picture of our dear Maven.

We then hit Chipotle with the Williams-Boole family and Elkin family. When we got there, all these crazy people were dressed in aluminum foil. We mocked them until we realized they were getting free dinner for dressing as burritos, so we quickly wrapped ourselves up in their trash with aluminum scarves, arm warmers and hats!

I really wanted to bring the girls door-to-door at people's homes this year, because I thought Sedona would get the concept. The Mondellos (twins Siena and Jack are in Sedona's class) invited us over to their gorgeous home in the Tree Section of Manhattan Beach, so we headed over there and hit that lovely neighborhood for candy. The first of many well-decorated homes we knocked on told us, "Treats for the kids.Wine, pumpkin soup, pizza for the adults! Come on in! Stay and watch the football game!"  It went on from there!

Sedona's School Halloween Fair

By MAGGIE WANG

On Friday, Oct. 30, Sedona's school had a fair during school hours for parents to attend.

Pumpkin Sedona is with twins Jack and Siena (Superman and Supergirl), fishing for spiders.

Sedona and her buddy Regan took a breather from the action here.

That day was my first opportunity to witness the class "circle time" with Miss Brittany. It was adorable.

Sedona enjoyed her school-issued pizza and juice that day. (Our usual family system, which Sedona is fully aware of, is Mondays and Fridays are "juicebox" days for her to enjoy juice with her school lunch.)

Here's Sedona's primary teacher, Miss Valerie. We love her.

Our Pumpkin Patch

By MAGGIE WANG

Pumpkins were everywhere Friday... starting at Debbie and Greg's Pumpkin Patch in Hermosa Beach.

Sedona and Riley were petting bunny rabbits ... and then just being pumpkin-esque.

Someone found a good-sized pumpkin to hold.

Can you find our pumpkins?


At school on Tuesday (I was on parent-volunteer duty that day), Sedona made her first pumpkin spider.

In keeping with tradition established two years ago, our friend, Dr. Jason Chu, came over to carve a pumpkin with the girls.

Sedona requested the pumpkin take on the appearance of her favorite cartoon character (at the moment): Wubbzy!

Think Sedona was a little happy to have receive her first Wubbzy product? Her daddy had it delivered to her as a surprise.

Does it look like Wubbzy? Auntie Anita added the arms, feet and tail (not shown) as valuable finishing touches.

Thanks for carving pumpkins with us!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

By MAGGIE WANG

On Saturday, we hit the beach before all the cold and rain we've been getting the past few days.

Gosh, aren't we lucky?! I know I say it all the time to the point that it's annoying, but we can walk to this from our house! Different way of growing up from St. Louis or Houston.

Tuesday and Wednesday were all about girls being girls ...

Sienna, Raychel (not pictured here) and Sedona had a Halloween pedicure day at our house.

Sienna's brother, Ryder took a big interest in Maven. Maven ... not so interested.

Later, we did facials with Riley. Don't they look beauuutiiifull?!

Then we went off to Sedona's Manhattan Montessori Pre-school open house ...

Sedona more and more talks about her school friends: Hanoka, Katie Meggers (yes, Sedona uses the full name), Mateo, Maylin, Siena, Jack and Luka (the blond boy shown here). Luka has a major crush on Maven, by the way. When we pick up Sedona from school with Maven in tow, Luka will run outside to meet Maven and try to hug on her to the point that either Sedona or Miss Valerie always has to tell Luka to stay away because Maven really doesn't like it.

Let's hope she continues to ward off boys until she gets married. :-)

Sedona's Inaugural Tennis Lesson

By MAGGIE WANG

Given how much time I spend playing tennis, from USTA to Marine League, it should come as no surprise that I hope that my daughters also pick up the sport. Today, Sedona had her first tennis lesson with Lisa Ogren at my West End Tennis Club.

She was out there with Riley and had a great time, which makes me happy.

These days when I put on my tennis clothes, Sedona knows what it means and says, "Mommy, you playing tennis?" It's super cute. Another new thing is that when you ask her what she wants to do when she grows up, she says, "Sell homes."

I definitely do not expect her to do what I do -- but I am enjoying her thinking she is.

Happy Birthday, Whitney!

By MAGGIE WANG

For Whitney's birthday on Wednesday, she and I went with Riley and Sedona to Disneyland to celebrate! It was a special day for all of us. Sedona got to skip school and spend a full day with her best friend.

On the way into "It's A Small World."

Sharing a green drink at the Blue Bayou, where Whitney claims to have had the best fries ever!

Making a wish!

Finally leaving at close to 5 p.m. after getting there when it opened at 10 a.m. Whitney treated the girls to anything they wanted and well, a Mickey Mouse back-scratcher is an outstanding choice!

Weekend Fun

By MAGGIE WANG

Last weekend was fun! The family saw Jimmy, Rosana and Ronin's future house for the first time. We hit up Glendale's Americana with everyone for lunch. And once Ronin took off for his nap, we hung out a while longer to shop (got awesome clothes for the girls at Peek ... Aren't You Curious) and then hit the Kidspace Children's Museum's Pumpkin Festival in Pasadena.

 

 

On Sunday, the girls and I went to the Hometown Fair in Manhattan Beach with Riley and Whitney.

Enjoying a cute two-girl hug.

Now a three-girl hug!

Maven's first (moving) pony ride.

We also headed over to Kevin's softball game (where they won and he played great!), where Sedona and Maven tackled A-Gu Felix at every opportunity.

We capped Sunday by having a very lovely and yummy gourmet dinner at Anita and Jason's house with the visiting Fu family. All the girls loved Anita's kid-friendly fake dog named Joe.

Schoolgirl Sedona

By KEVIN DING

Sedona returned from our New York trip and began the next stage of her life: school. Here's a little taste of how she was on her last day as an uneducated person ...

Her first school day -- Sept. 8 -- featured some typical anxiety. You can see it in her face even as she was leaving the Peck Campus for Montessori School of Manhattan Beach on that first day.

But we're proud of her that she overcame all that with the help of a behavioral star system we instituted to motivate her into a comfortable routine. Maven, meanwhile, had her own adjustments to make at home from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. without Sedona. Maven invariably would awaken from her nap and call out the Taiwanese word for "big sister": "Tje-Tje" and wander around the house in search of Sedona.

You've seen Sedona and Maven playing plenty of "Ring Around the Rosie" on these pages. Well, without Sedona around, Maven had to get resourceful.

Maven has learned about when it's time for Sedona to be picked up from school, and if Maven gets to ride along for the pickup, you can bet she's in the back, calling out: "Tje-Tje!" as the drive begins. However, it is understandably confusing for a 1 1/2-year-old to shuttle back and forth between playing by herself and with her sister. To that effect, I think the following video is the funniest one we've ever put up. Especially if you liked that "Candy Land" video, check this one out:

Maven has also pursued other interests at home, such as ...

Feeding herself with a spoon.

Looking outside for Sedona.

Potty training.

Sitting in Sedona's bed and gazing longingly at the photo-montage sisters poster I had made. Oh, the fond memories!

But at work week's end, there's always a celebration with Friday night being "Movie Night," a tradition inspired our visit to the Tsais' house in Connecticut. Whether just the sisters or with Riley over (and second cousins Timmy and Naya were special guests the Friday night of my grandfather's 95th birthday celebration weekend), "Movie Night" could just as well be dubbed "Popcorn Night."

 

But the bottom line is that Sedona is really getting a lot out of being at school. She has a growing pack of school friends and has definitely been showing more signs of fatigue later in the day from being mentally challenged at school. At home, Maven gets Nanny Linda or Mommy or Daddy all to herself for regular spells, which she deserves.

Maybe in the following video Maven knew it was a Friday with "Movie Night" coming up and Sedona's school week ending, but more likely Maven was just enjoying some time to herself without having to fight over toys or attention ...