How'bout that!

Mouse: Hey kido, can you do this?

Ethan: Like this?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!

This is the 2nd cake for Ethan's 5-yr-old birthday. Mrs. Stern gave Ethan a birthday hat, which he was wearing to cut his cake.

Most kindergarteners are to celebrate their 6-yr-old birthdays so Mrs. Stern thought Ethan is turning 6 and wrote a "6" on the hat. Ethan was born two days before the cut-off entrance date so he will always be the youngest in his class.

Regardless, Ethan and Nathan enjoyed the cake very much!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Ethan Tang!

By Louisa

Poker vs 麻將

這幾年poker在美國異常風行

ESPN 每年都轉播World Series of Poker (WSOP)

其他大大小小比賽轉播更是不記其數

電影像是The Rounders 或Casino Royale也有推波助瀾的功效

今年一位業餘的賭徒 Jerry Young

憑著他心裡醫生的專業

抱走了大獎美金八百二十五萬

但是個人覺得

所有的賭博

都比不上麻將來的有趣

144張麻將牌

產生的變化千變萬化

實有無窮樂趣

到底該不該學才藝

Ethan真的長大了

現在該思考是否該讓他在週末學些才藝了

想讓他去上中文學校

或者游泳班

或者跆拳道

或者鋼琴或小提琴

或者足球隊或棒球隊

有太多的或者了

想想自己很懶

小孩說不定也是

Ethan也許更喜歡在家休息看電視呢

(PS - 是爸爸而不是媽媽懶)

HMO or PPO?

在美國看病真的很貴
想當初Ethan因為早產
在醫院住了三個禮拜才回家
稍後醫院送來帳單
竟然美金兩萬五千元
如果沒有保險的話
這真會是一筆不小的負擔

Anyway, 直到在美國工作
才知道這兒保險有HMO和PPO之分
看過John Q這部電影後
許多人大概都不敢用HMO了
其實
對大部分青壯年而言
HMO其實是較好的選擇
尤其是像懷孕或小孩看病等
相對於PPO會節省不少錢

HMO基本上你只能用保險公司醫療網路內的醫生
選好你的家庭醫生後
如有必要看專門醫生便請你的家庭醫生推薦
好處是費用少
每次看病只要付copayment約$15-$25不等
壞處是較麻煩
尤其是有疑難雜症時

PPO基本上你能用所有的醫生
但自付額高
尤其是你必須自付到某種程度後(我見過從$800-$3000 per person不等的)
保險公司才開始補助

究竟哪個好呢?
我覺得五十歲以前或小孩還沒上高中的話
HMO就足夠了
等到身體開始出現毛病之後
也許PPO會是較好的選擇

Pension Plans

基本上 Retirement plan 分兩種
一種是defined contribution (DC)
一種是defined benefit (DB)

Defined Contribution中最為人知的大概就是401（k)吧
顧名思義
這種計畫是由雇主決定你每年能放多少contributions
許多雇主會match你的contribution
Qualified plans (像401(k))由你自己做投資決定
你帳戶的balance隨著市場表現（與你每年繼續放入的contribution)而增加
到了退休年齡你可買年金或以其他方式提取

Defined Benefit也就是所謂的傳統退休金(traditional pension)
顧名思義是由雇主決定你退休金的公式
有可能是和你薪水有關
最後所得的是一個固定的數目
和市場表現是毫不相關的
Defined Benefit Plans 中有像Final Average Earnings Plan, Career Average Earnings Plan, Benefit Rate Plan,和現在較流行的 Cash Balance Plan

基本上
一般人在美國退休後
除了自己投資儲蓄外
退休後收入就大致來自Social Security, 401(k), traditional pension
並不是所有公司都提供401(k)與 traditional pension
根據Mercer HR Consulting與Hewitt的調查
在fortune500中
提供DC plan (401(k)) match 的大約有近70%
提供DB plan (traditional pension) 的大約有50%強
其中也有公司是都不提供
也有許多公司是兩者都提供
一般而言
沒有提供DB plan則401(k)會提供較優惠的match(如8%-10%)

其他還有公司提供一些零零碎碎的福利(如retiree medical/dental/life insurance)
但退休金大致如上述

Ethan Made it!

Yeah, Ethan made it through his first day!

When mommy picked up Ethan from the after-school program, Ethan was busy playing Lego with his new friends. The program staff Cathy told mommy that Ethan is doing very well.

We are very proud of you, Ethan!!!

Ethan told Mommy he ate chicken noggets for the lunch and Mrs. Stern read a book called "The Night Before Kindergarten" to them. They also practiced fire drill on that day. Seems like Ethan was having much fun at school because when he got home he was very tired and fell asleep at 9 o'clock.

"First Day of School" Project by Ethan.

By Louisa

Ethan is getting ready for his first day kindergarten at the Flower Valley Elementary.




Ethan is very excited. He is wearing Flower Valley Spirate Uniform which has a bulldog on it.

On the way to school, Ethan recognized it was a different route than before and he asked: "Are we going to Flower Valley?" I said yes. Ethan said: "Ohhh, I'm going to miss Capital Kids..." with a very sad tone.

Mommy&Daddy

Yeah!

Let's run away from Baba....



So now it's very clear that who spent more time with kids.....

Nathan's Solo!

With Ethan being the first child, Nathan always has to try hard to obtain my attention... But I always tell everyone, Nathan is much less maintance than Ethan. He is an angel sent by God just to appreciate my efforts/energy/time spent with Ethan during the past five years.

Nate-Nate, Mommy loves you, even though I seem to spend less time with you than with your big brother. I can't wait to see you at your 5-yr-old birthday party!

遊樂園

小Nathan第一次坐火車

別怕

媽媽和哥哥都陪著你

Ethan's B-Day Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!



Ethan's buddy from Capital Kids: Spencer.

Chuck E and staff were singing the birthday song for Ethan.

一年一度的生日(其實還沒到啦)

Ethan今年在Chuck-E-Cheese's度過

(Mandy, Finna, Phoebe, Dash, Derchi, Derwei, Kyle, Curtis, Ryan and Spencer are the guests, with Baby Nathan and Baby Travis being apprentice observer.)

蛋糕是從Shilla買的

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Good Bye Capital Kids, Kindergarten Here I Come!

I still remember the first day Ethan went to the daycare center in Silver Spring. It was February 2004, he was just 18 months old.

We left him at the playroom with all the kids and went with the teacher to his classroom to set up his stuff. When we finished organizing his stuff I wanted to go back to give him a goodbye kiss but the teacher stoped me. She said if you let him see you now, he would cry. So I hid at the corner of the wall to peek; just want to make sure he was ok. And I saw Ethan also peeked through the wooden fence as if he was looking for us. I left the daycare crying like a baby.....

That evening when we picked him up, the teacher told me that Ethan did not cry at all. In fact he was laughing and playing well with everyone.

Six months later, Ethan entered Capital Kids, Washington DC; he was two years old then.

During these three years, Ethan was potty trained, learned all the alphabets, participated in the gym class, learned self-control and self-discipline. He can now write a simple sentence and read books up to the second grade level. He recites 44 Presidents in chronological order, 50 states in alphabetical order, pledge of allegiance, seven continents and three oceans; he can count to 100 and add and subtract.

One afternoon after Ethan and Daddy picked me up after my work, Ethan told me: "Mommy, I am going to be a Train Engineer when I grow up (Ethan has a huge fetish on trains). I will miss you when I go to work but I will see you again after my work..."

Five years, these was the toughest five years that I ever encountered in my life. But I am really thankful that Ethan turns out to be a wonderful boy for he is friendly, loving and smart. Thank you Capital Kids, for making my Ethan a fine boy! I would never be able to accomplish this without helps from all the teachers.

Ethan's last day at Capital Kids

明天是Ethan在Capital Kids的最後一天

下星期一他就要展開人生的新旅程

恭喜你 - Ethan