Beijing, China

 I traveled to Beijing for a very quick guided tour by EF Tours.  It was my free training tour since I am taking students this coming summer.  It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip!  I ate with chopsticks the entire trip, and ate only Chinese food.  I didn't love it, but I survived and have many stories to tell.

I walked on the Great Wall of China!  I can't believe it!  The wall and the area around it are absolutely breathtaking!  It is unreal to stand there and think of how long ago it was built.

 I enjoyed hanging out with Jaime, my EF rep!  I was so excited she was able to go.  I was in a group of 40 teachers.  I loved Robert, our tour guide!

This is me in Tiannamen Square!  It was so much fun to visit a place that I teach about!  I cannot wait for my trip to Europe this summer!

My Visa is Here

I am so excited about going to China next month!  My visa came in the mail today.  It takes up an entire page in my passport!

Mary Frances Turns 6!

We celebrated Mary Frances' 6th birthday last Saturday! I can't believe it! Her biggest gift was a much-needed new and bigger bike! It is actually a little too big, but she is doing great on it!!
This was my first year not making the cake! I was just too stressed out with everything else going on to be able to do it with a good attitude! So, with all my experience with the best bakers in Houston, we went to KROGER to pick out a cake! I should have planned a little better, but the cake was good and perfect for a 6 year old!!
We did a Fancy Nancy Princess Tea Party. Mary Frances got the Fancy Nancy Tea Parties book for Christmas. So, we decorated for the party according to "Nancy's" instructions! It was so cute...lollipop place cards stuck in marshmallows, butterfly-shaped placemats lined with glitter and adorned with jewels, plastic spoons "engraved" with the girls' first initials and also adorned with jewels, and finally tissue paper flowers to top it all off.
We used our china tea cups and some special plates I picked up for the party. Mary Frances' place was set with her own china tea cup that she LOVES to take tea in!!
Thomas and Chase dressed as servers, something they say they learned from "Polar Express". Thomas sat by the door to welcome guests as they entered! He was perfect gentleman!
We played some fun games. In this game, they had a relay race to dress up and say "Happy Birthday Mary Frances" before tagging the next person to do the same. It was a cute game.

We also played telephone and "I'm packing for Paris" - 2 quiet games we played in a circle!
We were so excited that so many of the girls in Mary Frances' class could come. A few of our neighbors were able to make it too!
What a fun day!! Happy 6th Birthday, Mary Princess!!