Saturday night was the night of the FCCA event - there was food, friends and entertainment! The event was held at a lovely Chinese restaurant that had a very big stage...
My parents were able to join us for the event...
As we waited for dinner to be served and before the talent show portion of the evening started, Briana and Chani decided to check out the stage...
Briana's dance teacher was seated at our table...
After eating, the girls got out of their red outfits and were ready in their dance gear...
The talent show portion of the evening was fantastic. There were musical acts...
And dance acts...
The ribbon dance was truly mesmerizing...
There was a fan dance...
It was finally time for our girls to come out. They did amazingly well - this was the first time Bri's teacher wasn't performing the dance with them. She stood in the aisle - trying to guide them. They were a little confused at first about when to start, but overall, I think they did fantastic!
The Grape Dance was next...
This girl performed a number on the violin. Briana and Chani danced as she played. It is super cute (see video below)...
A lion dance ended the talent show...
After the show was over, Briana and Katie played on stage a bit...
And the best part of the evening - the trophy! All the participants received a cool trophy for their efforts. Briana felt like a big star!!!!
I'll tell ya, I think this is the busiest Chinese New Year I have ever had. We did a lot! The new year has officially come to an end and now I must rest!
I know I said my next post would be about our CNY event, but I just had to interrupt with an important message - Briana lost her fourth tooth this morning! And it is a top one this time. It was dangling yesterday and Daddy managed to yank it out this morning. The one right next to it is loose too.
This kid is going to bankrupt the poor tooth fairy. :)
Last night was the CNY celebration put together by the FCCA (Families With Children From China In Atlanta). It was held at a Chinese restaurant that had a big stage for the talent show portion of the event. I plan to write a post about the evening, but I wanted to do this separate post on Briana, Chani and Katie in their red dresses. They all looked so cute - and the girls all wearing red dresses was not planned! We knew we would be meeting Kathy, Matt and Chani at the event because Bri and Chani were performing, but it was a nice surprise to run into Ann, John and Katie!
Love seeing these three friends together...
My parents were able to join us for this event, and Briana loved being able to perform for them. I just love my pretty girl...
It is way to early for me to stress about having a teenager (thank goodness) but a trip to my neighborhood playground a few weeks ago got me thinking about the future ahead. I arrived with Briana on a quiet Sunday afternoon a couple of weekends ago, and there were teenagers hanging out on the playground benches (see above pic). They probably ranged in age from 13 to 15. Briana started to play and paid them no mind, but I sat there observing them.
Oh good grief. Please tell me I was never that silly, juvenile and flirtatious at that age. I watched the girls that afternoon with their flat ironed bangs drooping in their eyes, heads cocked to one side trying to get said bangs out of their eyes, wearing their jeans a bit too tightly and rapidly texting on their cell phones. I watched the boys with Justin Bieber haircuts drooling at chasing the girls around the basketball court. They talked about school gossip, teen drama and learner's permits. I had a Coke can fly about a foot away from my feet without even an "I'm sorry" because they were throwing empty soda cans at each other. They are very lucky my 5 year old wasn't standing there at the time. Sigh. In their own minds and to each other, they thought they were being "cool." If they only knew how annoying silly they all really looked to the rest of the world that afternoon.
I know I was probably like that at their age. But honestly, I was a pretty tame teenager. I did like my parents (though there were times I thought they were ruining my life). I definitely had my moments where I had wished I had spontaneously combusted into life rather than actually admit that I had parents, but on the whole, I was tame compared to a lot of my schoolmates. I never skipped school. I got good grades. I didn't really date all that often (which at age 16 was pretty depressing) so boys weren't that big of an issue for my parents. When I was 12 years old, I did have someone that I really liked ask me to "go" (steady) with him and I told him no. I added, "We are only 12, where are we going to go?" I was probably a bit too mature for my age. That attitude made me popular with my parents, but not with the boys unfortunately. I think having labels of "girlfriends and boyfriends" in middle school is quite silly. It is ok to crush on someone, but I don't think Briana will be allowed to have an actual "boyfriend" in middle school. I think all that can wait until high school. My opinion, of course. I am sure her daddy wholeheartedly agrees with me. Except he will say she can't date until she is 40. I'm going to have to work on him on that one.
I know a lot of you reading are already dealing with teenage angst. I am so not ready for it. I love Briana's innocence at age 5. I love that she still thinks her dad and I are the greatest things since sliced bread. I love when I walk in her classroom and she yells, "Mama!!! My mama is here!!!" It is like she hasn't seen me in years even though I drove her to school that morning. I love her hugs and kisses. I love how much she loves me and I love how much I adore her. I wish I could just bottle her up and keep her at this age. It is such a wonderful age. Everything is still fresh, wonderful and exciting. She has her stubborn streak and we do fight at times, but for the most part, life is really, really good.
But if Bri doesn't go through the "teenage angst" years, I won't be able to see the woman she will become. And I know she is going to be awesome. I guess going through the teenage years is a rite of passage. Who knows, maybe her teenage years won't be so bad. Maybe she won't hate me or become embarrassed of me. I can only hope. I hope I can find the line between letting her be herself and allowing her to spread her wings while remaining her parent and setting the limits. I just hope she doesn't act too much like those kids did on the basketball playground the other day. Ugh.
This is the stuff that brings a smile to my face...
Like Briana getting across the monkey bars by herself for the first time...
Here it is in live motion...
I am going to continue to enjoy this smile and this innocence for now. Hopefully she will continue to like me for a little while longer.
As a kid, I used to love getting up and putting on a outfit for the day to go to school. I was bit of a fashion nut back then. I loved to color coordinate everything. And now, I get to help Briana pick out outfits for school. She loves fashion just as much as I did (and still do). She wore the above outfit yesterday and absolutely loved it because she was so pink. And below, she is wearing an adorable rabbit shirt...
You might be able to tell Bri and I did a little shopping on Sunday afternoon. She is loving her new tops. We took Daddy along on our shopping spree. As I was looking through the tops, Briana and Daddy were looking at this...
Not quite sure what to think of it - LOL! Daddy got it for her of course. She is super cute, but we haven't had much of a winter this year, so there really isn't a need for it. Well, unless the need is to wear a fuzzy pink leopard hat with ears. ;)
