Ping Pong, Fairs, and Fun

Lots to catch up on...so here we go.

Early October was the National Holiday around here. We returned from Thailand had a few more days off from school (to do the homework!), and get ready to start back. 

These kiddos...usually have each other's back...until they don't. 

 Now that Tobin is in Chinese first grade it is just G and me at home in the mornings, she misses her big bro to play with...but we have fun jumping on the trampoline, helping mommy bake,  helping mommy get ready for the day/week, and doing her own catechism/verses, tot school, and read aloud with mommy.

We went to a 'fair' during the holiday break and it was okay. Kids learned how to lose money. Tobin and Isabella proved to be pretty good shots.

 And then there was the ping pong tournament. My friend K and I often joke about how we never have any sort of normal week of Chinese School+ homeschool....we sometimes vent, we usually laugh, and remind each other that our kids' involvement and eagerness to participate is a good thing. So along came a ping pong tournament that took place about every afternoon (the time I homeschool). Sophia got chosen from her class and made it through the first round with some wins.

Then it came to the finals...we squeezed some schooling in, including on Saturday and we all went to support our budding ping pong enthusiast. She started practicing some right after school in the middle of the day and she improved so much through out the two weeks that she ended up fourth in her grade (about 450 students, though not all participated of course).

We never knew when the games were, they would announce day-of  (a common theme in the culture here) and then we still had to wait for her turn. One day I took Gabrielle with all of us, letting her miss her afternoon kindergarten...
she played while waiting to watch big sis.

Tobin also got recruited by his PE teacher to help count the laps her volleyball girls were running.

And then the action...

Sophia made some great new friends throughout this experience and had fun with some old ones. We were thankful for this opportunity for her to play Asia's favorite sport. Some of these kids were stellar ping pong players, and Sophia proved once again she's got heart and skill to match (and mommy and daddy better watch out, she just may beat us sooner rather than later).