Santa House

We finally went to see Santa last night. We thought Monday night won't be that bad. Wrong! The line was so long and we waited more than an hour to see him. But it was well worth it. J and M each wrote a letter with printed pictures of toy they want for Christmas. Baby K was just in awe of the sight of all kind of lights and toys inside the Santa House. Best of all, we did the trip with cousins and had pizzas afterward. The only problem (forget the 20 degree weather and the hour-long waiting line and the 23 lb. baby on my hip wanting to move) that my sister-in-law's camera didn't have the memory stick and I ran out of battery for our camera! Luckily, thank goodness to technology and those smart phones, her husband's phone had a memory stick which can hold 2 pictures and my hubby took videos with his cell phone. Lesson learned? Check batteries (including back-up ones) and memory stick for your camera before you leave for a special trip, like, say, Santa House. For now, I just hope kids' little hearts will do better job than memory sticks.

Jotting down little things

I need to write things down before I forget...the things that I don't want to forget. It is a journal after all....(I may add some picture later)

Today was my first parent-teacher conference at J's kindergarten. J is just thriving in school, loving being there, and just enjoying everything about it. The teacher told us that J tells his teacher everyday, "Hi, Mrs. M. I like School." "Hi, Mrs. M. I like you. I'm glad you are my teacher." His teacher reminded us how fortunate he is to have both parents who love him and teach him. Yes, we are blessed to be together.
And my husband said to me, "You can do a lot of things, but I don't think you can be a kindergarten teacher." Yap, he is right. I am thankful for public school education!

Baby K turned a year-old. Always smiling, happy child. He had his first black eye yesterday by falling from a high chair at a friend's house. He was poked 6 times at the doctor's office the hour before (oh, poor thing). But my happy baby came back after the first taste of lollipop.

While my husband was driving with just M the other day, they saw a flock of turkeys. M said, "Mmmm, turkeys! I ate turkey at Thanksgiving. They are yummy. Mmmm, I want to eat turkey!" Yap. My kind of girl. She'll never be a vegetarian. Though I don't remember seeing her eating any turkey at Thanksgiving....

Today I made some reindeer (with a Moose-shaped cookie cutter) cookies with leftover gingerbread cookie dough with kids. We sang "Rudolph the red-nose reindeer" as we decorated.

Because of parent-teacher conference, J was home today. It was fun to have him home. He made funny faces and made K giggle so much that we all started giggling. K's smile is contagious, and his giggle is really contagious. I should video-tape next time.

J and I had our own cuddle time as I read books to him tonight. He told me many times that he loves me, and he loves being with me.
Yes, love is spoken here.

Birthday gifts for my niece

I know I have not posted Halloween pictures yet, and it is on my to-do list. But for now, I'm posting the pictures of "the products of the day". Yes, it was another one of those housekeeping strike days. And yes, I am making more flowers...

A pair of $1.00 gloves turned out pretty with beads embellishment.

I hope she'll like them.

I didn't know gingerbread man had bones...

Halloween-theme snack for J's class: "Ginger-Skeletons" (that's what J calls). The idea came from Family Fun magazine, and the recipe was from Allrecipes.com. This was my first time trying this recipe, but it was really good. I baked for 8 minutes just like the reviews, and they turned soft and delicious. It's definitely a keeper recipe.
The first thing J told me after he got off the bus today? "Mom! Everyone LOVED the ginger-skeletons!" Yay!

Obsession with flowers

It started as just to make gifts for little girls. But now, I like flowers on me. Me, the same girl as her wardrobe used to be consisted of pretty much black, white, gray, and khaki - the super basic, kind of boring, but the one you can wear for years (oh, maybe that's my problem...). I don't have the guts to wear these flowers on my hair, but I like them as brooches. Since I made the shirt with flower, I became okay with flowers. So here are the showcase of the week.

2 1/2 inch silky ribbon + candle light + glue gun = scarlet beauty

Inspiration from Etsy + pretty fabric from my friend = Christmas gift for a niece

I think this will look fabulous on my new $4 red sweater from Goodwill

Pretty vintage looking lace from a friend's "ribbons and stuff" box for a shabby look?

My mom would be so happy to see her daughter started wearing pink and flower again, because when I was 10-year-old I decided that I didn't like red or pink, or flower or lace or that line of stuff on me.
Well, maybe I'm maturing a bit.

Birthday Bash

We celebrated J and M's birthdays this weekend. It was a grand 5-day event!

We went to a zoo on Friday,
(kids being Rino - isn't that cute?)

and went to a children's museum on Saturday.

Then we had a family birthday party.
Here is J's cake - he requested a skate board.

Of course, M's request was a princess Barbie cake.
What 4-year-old girl doesn't want a princess cake?

And opening gifts, lots of gifts.

I think I took a break on Monday....I don't remember.

Then, of course, the cupcakes for J to share with his 20 some classmates on his birthday.

My husband picked up J from school at lunch time and they went for a special Daddy-and-son lunch. We had J's favorite dinner, home-made hamburger, in picnic style in our front yard enjoying cool fall air and colored leaves flowing by. And to complete, we received a box full of goodies and birthday gifts from Japan. What an event!

Bento faces

A friend of mine inspired me to make my son's lunch more fun - making Bento (lunch box) faces. I remember my mom making Bento faces for me. It was fun to open my Bento box to find faces. I can feel her love. Now as I do it every morning, I really appreciate all the time and effort she put into my Bento for many, I mean many, years. Thanks, Mom! And thanks to my friend for inspiration. I'm sure it's more fun for J to see these faces than just cookie cutter cut-out sandwiches (though I change cutters everyday from a car-shape to an airplane-shape to a train-shape).

So, here is some faces for this week.

"Hmm?"
(bread crust and craisins glued with beanut butter)

"Missing Teeth" - just like J, missing teeth, and has one wiggly tooth
(Ham & cheese sandwich, top piece of bread with a hole cut out to make mouth.
Decorated with cut out cheese - kitchen scissors does the wonder)

My absolute favorite:
"Blowing Raspberries"
(the orange color of Muester cheese edge inspired tongue,
sliced into the bread for the 3D action!)

I can only hope J enjoys his lunch.