10!!

How did my baby turn 10? I think he did it while I wasn't looking. He insisted on having oreo pie. We still had some family over from New Year's so the two oreo pies lasted about 5 minutes! What can I say - anyone who knows my family - knows we love to eat.

Here's to another year!!
The boys have really really really been into their legos lately. This is a city they recently built - it appears to be on the verge of war with all those storm troopers walking around. They also refuse to take any of their legos apart - so in short - I avoid their room at all costs. The mess drives me crazy! They call it a creative mess.

S got baptized!!

If you are wondering how it feels to now have 2 children baptized, I'll let you know... a little scary! I thought I was doing so good blogging, and I thought I better blog J's birthday (because tomorrow is Sushi's birthday). Then I realized I haven't done S's birthday. This little man go baptized in December. It was so exciting and we were so happy he decided to do it. I think it is so cute how S is holding on to daddy's pinkie. :)

Daddy thought it would be OK to wear this tight white wetsuit. After much laughter and reasoning we got him to change. Thank goodness!!

What's a birthday without cake. In the picture below you can just see the wheels turning - 2 cakes! Why not?!


He got 2 cakes because not everyone in our family likes frosting. They sure don't take after me.
(J and K are the non-frosting people) This year I was going to do a combined party for both the boys at a bounce place in LA. Then I overheard them saying they wanted a game system. Me being the laziest party giver ever, made them an offer they couldn't refuse. They got the game system and I got out of giving a party!!! Too bad they didn't realize the game system only came with one remote - so they had to use their own money to buy another- life.

It was a fun day, and we were glad we could share it with friends and family.




The weekend before had been the Thanksgiving weekend and all of our family had been up visiting. The only ones who were able to make it the next weekend we David and Meghan and kids. Well and of course Grandma - but she has to come even if it's across the country. :) D&M drove up the morning of the baptism and drove home the next morning - that's a 4-5 hr. drive each way - crazy!

A little funny story is that Sushi was watching so intently while S got baptized. The minute he was brought out of the water she ran out of the room to the bathroom. I opened the door for her to see how the boys were doing and she made like a jet into the font. She wanted a bath too!! Your turn will come little lady... you just have to wait 6 more years... not long at all.

S - I am so glad you came to us a little over 8 years ago. It always amazes me at how perfectly you were placed in between J and Sushi. I look forward to the fun the future brings. We love you so much!!

A morning snack

The other morning I came into the kitchen to see K and the sushinator having a morning snack. You may think whipped cream out of a can is not so nutritious - but you know you would do it too!

This little girl is tuning 2 in a couple of weeks - oh where has the time gone? She currently is very demanding. Daddy is her favorite (without a doubt)! When he comes home she runs to him and then does not let him leave her sight until bedtime. She does not say much, but she has recently learned to say no. She says it in the cutest way - her lips are all puckered up and pushed out while she quietly says "no, no, no". As I was saying - when K comes home she greets him with a run, a jump, a big smile and a hug, all the while saying "daddy, daddy". She then promptly grabs his finger and leads him to where she requires him. She then points to where she would have him sit, and his night is over. If he were to want a drink of water, and were to stand up to go and get one, she would promptly run after him saying "no,no,no" and grab his finger to lead him back to where he was needed. What a pain you are probably thinking. The truth is written all over his face - he loves it. It also gets him out of a lot of work around the house. :)

It would appear Sushi needed a place to rest her chin.


Sushi also participates in family prayer. Well she folds her arms, hums while someone is saying the prayer, then adds to the prayer "daddy, daddy, daddy, mommy" and finishes her prayer before we are done with ours (in her defense - she really wants to eat). :) She is learning the concept of clothes. In the picture below she went into the laundry room and found a shirt she just had to try on. Then she added the hat to complete the outfit. She climbs on everything, gets into everything, and is enjoying being a little too spoiled.

A Star Wars New Year's Eve Party!

This year for New Year's we decided to have a party full of cousins. 5 of them came to stay with us for 5 days (without their parents). The boys are really into Star Wars and Harry Potter, but we decided to go with a Star Wars theme. Any good party starts out with FOOD! We all know that. Thank goodness for Little Caesar's and their professional chefs.

The group before the real fun began

What is a party without some homemade decorations. I had planned to do more decorations, but I was tired before the party even started. I consider it a huge success that we even had any party.

What kind of party would it be without some "bubbly". My niece wet the glasses, popped them in the freezer, and then dipped them in some sugar before adding the bubbly. So fancy!

What's a party without some nose picking, and how could we have a Star Wars party without Chewi in attendance. (what a cute Chewi she made:)) The boys are putting their light sabers to good use.

Here they all are dressed up and ready to go! Let the games begin!!
Some fighting to get the body limber.


The first of our games was an intense Slinky race. We had two winners - S and Rox. All the kids wanted to win because who wouldn't want a Slinky as a prize.

Then a little game of Twister. I imagined it would be a short game, but in the end we had to award 2 winners. The two in the middle must be made out of licorice because they just kept on twisting.

The last and craziest activity was a HUGE Nerf gun war. Thank goodness I was on K's team. He is such a strategist - even when it comes to Nerf capture the noodle. (we didn't have flags, but we had pool noodles) We won of course - well at least once. Some people asked me how I survived those 5 days. It all came down to 11 Nerf guns and 300 bullets. Every night and sporadically throughout everyday we had Nerf wars going on.

Most of the kiddos didn't make it till midnight. This little lady rarely made it past 8 pm any night. I think she made it to 10pm on the party night.

This, not so little lady wanted to give all those who slept early a surprise. A big red surprise!

Yep, she went around kissing all the boys on the cheek. Even K got one. The best part was some of the boys got all the way to church without realizing there was lipstick on their cheek! :) (poor guys)

All in all we had a blast!! Tomorrow the 23rd we celebrate another New Year - The Chinese New Year. I am sure it won't be as fun, but who's going to complain about red envelopes with money in them!

What do you do all day?

One of my favorite questions that people love to ask me is - "what do you do all day?".... Well who knows! Sushi on the other hand does A LOT everyday. Here are just a few of the cute ones.:)

CLIMBING and her recently aquired, MICROWAVING! Yep she has learned how to push over the stool, climb up, and start the microwave.


SUNNING!! Here she is preparing for her sun adventure - she is watching out for those wrinkles .

SMILING and LAUGHING!! She loves to do both - but not necessarily when you want her too.

RUNNING!

CRYING and TANTRUMING!

EATING - she picked those strawberries off my friends strawberry plant. She ate all of the ones she could see.

She likes to throw in some COOKING if there is time. (She got this awesome PINK kitchen hand-me-down from her cousins)

I almost forgot one of my favorites - RESTING!!

SLEEPING with her bum in the air.

First Day of School

They couldn't wait!!

They are so so handsome!

What a not so excited face. J is definitely not my photogenic boy. He hates to smile, and likes to make weird faces he then calls smiles. He just had picture day at school and he came home to tell me - "they had to take tons of pictures of me". I asked if it was because he was so cute. To which he responded -"no, they couldn't get me to smile" he then showed me his smile. Oh I can't wait to see those pics. :)
S gets home 1 hour before J does. It was in this hour the other day that I was looking at him and we had this conversation:

Mom - S you are so cute.

S - I know.

Mom - What! How do you know?

S - Everyone tells me that.

Mom - Like who?

S- Like my primary teacher, and lots of other people.

I visit teach his primary teacher - so I had to text her this conversation. Maybe he's not my most humble kid. What a face!

Here is S sitting at his desk. Does he look ready to learn or what? The thing about S is he doesn't like me to be around him at school. It embarrasses him - therefore he puts on a super grumpy face when I am around. In Kindergarten I used to ask him to give me a kiss goodbye in the car. We would be parked right in front of the school, so he would tell me to pull the car forward if I wanted a kiss. That way no one would see him do it. :)
Here J is meeting his teacher, Mr. Munsee for the first time. I have heard so many excellent things about Mr. Munsee. I know it is going to be an amazing year for J! (I am probably more excited than him) J on the other hand is fine seeing me at school. He even used to give me hugs when I would work in his class in 1st grade. This year when I work in his class he doesn't hug me, but he will stay in from recess to be with me. Got to love that kid!

Peek-a-boo

PEEK-

A-BOO