Week in Review with the Tran kids

Today I will say goodbye to my favorite Asian munchkins in the whole wide world...the Tran kids.  I was fortunate enough to spend an entire week with them while their mom left for boot camp.  Surprisingly, the two hardest parts of the whole trip were being sick and having to still maintain their schedule, regardless of how I felt (I guess that's where my motherly instincts kicked in), and the second thing was of course saying goodbye to them.

During my stay we shared a few tears, tons of laughs, lots of cuddling, but more than that it was about creating memories.  I kept thinking to myself, if only someone could've taken pictures of our time together so I could cherish those memories forever on paper, but I'll just have to cherish them well within my heart.

I feel like after this past week I could write a book on kids saying the darndest things!  Ethan seriously said the cutest things all week, as well as his sisters, who for the most part just speak mumbo jumbo with occasional real words & sentences.  Some of the highlights of the week and what the kids said to me are as below:

Ethan...
- "Auntie Natalie thank you for watching me and my babies while my mom is away."
- "Auntie, I love you" (he said this probably on the hour, sometimes more)
- "Auntie, you are so good to me and my babies."
- "Auntie, I really hope you get better.  I wanted to get you a watermelon, because that always makes my throat feel better."
- "Auntie, if you make red soup (aka top ramen), that always makes me feel better.  You should try it!"

*My favorite thing he said to me came last night as he was playing his Wii sports game.  He was playing as 2 players with one remote in each hand.  Somehow my Mii won his Mii and so he said, "Auntie, you beat me again! I know how much you love beating me when we play the Wii!" It was the gosh honest truth coming out of his mouth and so adorable because for the first time he wasn't getting mad at me.  You see I'm beyond competitive...yeah you heard and read correctly, I don't even let my nephew or anyone else for that matter just win, because it's the right thing to do.  I know it sounds harsh, but losing builds character and why not start them out young?  I've finally proved my point with Ethan, that as long as you're having fun, it doesn't matter if you win or lose (for now that is...) =)

The few words/sentences the girls, Ellie & Avery could muster up all week that were so cute to hear were...
- "Auntie, I fall down!" (Avery)
- "Auntie, love..." (both girls)
- "Mommy, airplane" (Avery)
- "Kisses" (both girls)

We had such an incredible time at various parks, the mall, and of course at home.  I'll definitely miss my Asian munchkins, I'm just simply amazed at how fast they are growing.  I'm glad that I continue to have so many opportunities to be with them and help guide them along their way.  My life would not be complete without them.

Below are a few...ok maybe more than a few images from our time together.