Doodle Dude

It's funny to see the differences between my 2 kids - a boy and a girl. M would just sit and happily colors with crayons for quite a while. On the other hand, J is all about actions - car crash game with riding toys, ghost hunting with his PVC pipe marshmallow gun, rock 'n' rolling with his pillow, etc. So I don't think he's got much of drawing practice per se. But his doodle guy has now have eye brows and eye balls! This guy below is a "Pirate Ghost" with "skeleton" body.

This is what it was like till only a couple of weeks ago

Yay!

Update on the cake post below

No, I did not get to eat a piece of it at all. In fact, the 9x13 pan came home CLEAN. My husband said that he originally cut the cake to 20 pieces, but the last 10 pieces were cut into smaller pieces which made it to about 30 pieces. And further smaller pieces so that more people could taste. His boss, who never eats sweets but obligated to eat her birthday cake, went back for her second! He made at least 40 copies of the recipe at his office.

Yes, it's that good. Try it, well, if you like German Chocolate Cake.

Not a good first impression, maybe

But give a chance, once. Maybe, just maybe, this guy looks ugly, with bumps and crevices. But it sure tastes good - BEST UPSIDE DOWN GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. My husband's favorite cake is German Chocolate Cake. I dared him this is better than actual normal German Chocolate Cake. So I made it for his boss's birthday party as a try-out. You know, just in case I failed, he wanted a good German Chocolate Cake for his birthday. Well, he didn't want to say out loud, but he admitted that it is better than normal German Chocolate Cake (at least ones he has had in his life). This recipe came from a volunteer at a local hospice where I work.

BEST UPSIDE DOWN GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut
1 stick butter
1 - 8 oz cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 German Chocolate Cake mix - the best is Betty Crocker Super Moist

Spray 13x9 pan with Pam spray. Sprinkle coconut and nuts in the bottom of the pan. Mix cake mix according to directions and pour over the nuts and coconut. Melt butter and cream cheese on med heat in large sauce pan. Add powdered sugar and stir until lumps are gone. Gently pour this mixture over the top of the cake batter. Bake at 350 degree for approximately 35 minutes. Insert toothpick if comes out clean it is done.

This cake will have peaks and valleys and crevices on the top. It is not pretty but is delicious.
Double the recipe for a crowd and use a 13x19 pan - baking time approximately the same.

My husband's grandmother might call it "a sweet spirit (i.e. ugly outside but pretty inside) ."
You never know what you are missing if you reject based on the first impression. Oh, I hope my hubby will bring a small piece home for me, but I fully doubt that....

Sleeping beauty and the beast

Lately, kids have been sleeping together. At first, of course we heard them playing and giggling for a long time. But nowadays, we hear one of them quietly shouts to the other "Shhhhh! Nite Nite!" Sometimes Mari in crib, Josh in bed. Sometimes both in bed. Sometimes both in crib.
We sometimes hear a big bang or two.This is what we saw after one of those. Both of them in deep sleep despite the fall...
I have to say, my husband and I love to peek in to see how and where they are sleeping, so that we can tuck them in nicely for the night.
Nite nite.

Oh, by the way, this is one of the best books I have read (Thanks to my sister-in-law). Our kids sleep well, and they are healthy and happy. And sleeping kids let mommy sleep, which creates happy mommy!

Belated Valentine's Day post

On Valentine's day, I made waffles and fruit smoothie for breakfast. "This is the second time in our 8-years of marriage that I didn't make breakfast for you. I'm sorry, honey." That's what my dear husband said. I wanted to make that breakfast for him while he was still sleep. And it was a very good breakfast. Kids ate better than usual. Somehow I fell sleep on the couch after that (Didn't I just wake up?). It was so warm and just comfortable. I don't even remember how much I slept. It was a good snooze. Then I heard "Vrrrrrrrrroom!" A sound of vacuum! From basement! I woke up. I didn't see kids around me or on me. They were downstairs in basement with their daddy. He was working on his Valentine's Day gift - Mission: Cleaning Up Basement and Getting Junk Out Of The House. He took kids to basement so that I could catch up on some sleep. He de-cluttered basement, boxed up stuff for either storage or trash, took them out of the house, and vacuumed the basement! He apologized me for the Valentine's day gift being lame. Lame? Oh, no! I LOVED that gift. For me, that sent me a message of his love more than he could have with a dozen of roses. Not that I don't like a dozen of roses or gifts, but I just LOVE when he does things for me, like fixing up around the house with power tools and stuff, you know? Thank you, honey! It was a good Valentine's Day.

Our new poppy

No, we didn't get another dog. Lately, our 2-year-old daughter loves playing being a poppy. She never barks, just like our dog never does. Or she never bites. She is a very friendly dog. She might lick your face, if she is really happy. She listens to commands for "sit" "shake" and "roll over." (Our dog doesn't roll over, so I don't know where she learned that trick.) She'll take a treat out of your hand, and drink water with her tongue. When she wants something, she sits and makes "a happy doggy face" - too bad she doesn't have a tail because I could see it wiggling. Did I mention her piggy tails? She is a cute poppy. Yeah, we'll keep this poppy.

Viva housewife!

Just because I have been busy this past several days (I don't even remember what I did, but at least I know I didn't do much of housekeeping...), today is my housekeeping day, including piles and piles of laundry. Somehow, it's not so painful today. At least for now *crossing fingers*. Maybe because I have not been home much lately and today seems like a day off. You know, one of those days that you just hang out at home. I love pictures of those 50's style good keeping wife with curly hair, perfect make-up, pretty dress, a pearl necklace, a lacy apron (let alone nylons), and high heals. I have to say, I'm glad I don't have to do any of that to be so-called "a good housewife." I'm all about comfort - T-shirts and jeans, no make-ups, and comfy slippers. Not to mention I almost never dust or wear rubber gloves to protect those pretty nails. But still, inside of me is viva housewife, at least for today.

Princess Mama

Lately, Josh is into the whole thing of gender difference, just being a typical 4-year-old discovering things everyday. He reminds me almost daily, "Mommy and Mari are princess. Josh and Daddy are Samurai and military men. Right? Mommy and Mari are girls. Josh and Daddy are boys. Boys protect girls from bad guys." So, he carries his PVC pipe marshmallow gun everywhere, just in case he finds ghosts and spiders and bad guys around the corner. He even sleeps with it every night, along with his favorite pillow - they are his security items. He has promised me that he and Daddy will always protect me and Mari, his princesses. Technically, if Mari is a princess, I should be a queen (oh, I feel old!), I think. But for now, I'll enjoy the title "princess." Princess Mama. Yeah, I like that sound.

Dear friends and families

One of my friends' blog post inspired me to post this - a thank you post.

I am so grateful for so many people in my life - my family, extended families, friends, and coworkers (Deanna, yes, that's you!). I am so lucky to have you in my life.
I love my family - my husband and kids. I cannot imagine my life without them.
I love my parents. I think they did a pretty good job raising me ;)
I love my extended families. I miss my own family in Japan, but I have many in-laws close-by, and I am so thankful for have them in my life. It gets crazy sometimes, but we all get along well and just fun to be with.
I love my sister-in-laws. I learn a lot from them, from sewing to decoration ideas to cooking to parenting. You name it. Full of knowledge and skills.
I love my girlfriends. I can just sit and talk and talk and eat and cry and talk....priceless.
I love my coworkers. I am so happy to be able to work with such wonderful people.
I love my friends who live so far away. Technology is filling a gap of distance!
I love those may not fit in any of the categories above. Title doesn't really matter, does it?

Laugh often. Love much. Live well.

My heart is full.