Our Lives

Sewing Again

2012-01-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

First day back to a sewing class since my senoir year in high school. How fun it was. I will share more later. Now everyone is waiting for me to watch the movie Spider-man.

TTFN!

Cheers!

Long Day, Short Post

2012-01-27T23:04:00.000-08:00

We saw the movie Money Ball tonight at the $3.50 movie house. Cheap date but at least we are having date nights. :) This will be a short post as I had a long working day.

Frying up some red onion to go with our burger night.

Can't have home made burger without home made fries :) These are fried in peanut oil. Yum!

Guess what Peter grouped these into?

Yup! 3, 6, 9, 12. He had no clue why we were so excited over his grouping. He repeated the numbers after us but I don't think he understood what that all meant - yet.

I am one of those rare organized scrapbooking gal. I could not create when my paper supplies are in a mess. This is how I organize my big pretty papers and alphabet stickers...

Urg! the side way picture again!!! This is how I organize big pieces of scrap of papers...

and this is how I organize my small pieces of scrap papers (for all of my punch usage)

Here is another Valentine card for your viewing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Home Movie :: Green Veggies :: Fun Memories

2012-01-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

"Emmie, Jordi aaannd Jorsh!" Peter shouted out as the little home movie that Christine made with her brother and friends came to an end. Peter enjoys watching these little movies and I am completely ok about it. Hey, this is better than even a PG rated movie viewing nowadays!

Stir-frying green for a side dish again tonight. I really am enjoying this stir frying thing. It is so simple yet taste so good! This one I called it "When East meets West". Basically I stir-fry the veggies (whatever I have on hand) and add a small piece of Irish Gold butter at the end. Everyone is happy and that is what counts for me.

Robert and Josh went to the library to borrow this book (my kids' favorite cartoon book). When Josh flipped the cover...

This was what he saw! A little piece of clue that he put there two years ago for Christine's birthday scavenger hunt game. Brought back some fun memories for him but, ehem... yes, the clue paper needs to be removed before the book returns to the library again.

Tallying :: Pressing on :: Cards

2012-01-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

As the month of January coming to an end (!) I want to sorta tally things up to see how has this month been going with my mini goals.

In some areas I seemed to have improved a bit such as drinking more water and trying to go to bed by 10pm. I think last night was the only night other than New Year's Eve that I stayed up way too late. One thing I also like is seeing myself actually very mindful of putting things away right after I used them and pick up things that are on my path. I am also on target with completing mini projects (projects that are solely mine). I am also making it a point to spend some one-on-one time with my girl friends - whether it is a quick lunch, a little visit over tea or coffee or a mini trip. It truly takes two to build any relationship. I am grateful for the opportunities to meet with dear friends.

Other areas I need to continue to work harder is my daily devotion, I need a schedule that is more forgiving. My juicing suffered a bit this month (not sure why, maybe because the weather is cooler and I want to drink hot stuff = hot coco, latte. Things with a bit more sugar than I like. And then there is my closet. It is still not where I really want it to be just yet. Mind you, it is much better than a year ago. I have purged tons of stuff (such a wonderful feeling) that I don't LOVE or WEAR anymore. I need to work on a color palette. Even though I like all the colors but I think it would be neat to see if I can live with only a few.

I will continue to check my progress at the end of each month. It is probably easier to pull myself back up on a monthly goal fall off than a yearly one. Onward!

Speaking of mini projects, I just finished creating all the Valentine cards for my class next week. I like them all but will sneak in a few here for your viewing. I'd love to hear what you think of them. :)

Keesteen :: Red Chard :: Shirt Pouch

2012-01-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

I have been worried in vain about Peter not wanting to talk. This morning Peter came down stairs and turned around yelling upward: "keesteen, time to get up!" What happened to "Nie-Nie"? He used to call Christine "Nie-Nie" but I guess now he can almost say Christine! We love how he says it as "Keesteen" though. :)

Finished two more cards. I only have six more samples to make. I am on a roll. I did intentionally space out the activities as I do have other commitment/duties besides making cards! lol!

I have been shopping at Lassen's for fresh un-bagged vegetables and eat it the same day I got them home. All I can say is: Yes fresh green!

The picture is side way again! Urg! It is fine in my picture file but after I up loaded it, it turned this way and I can't make it right side up! Anyway, Stir frying red chard with mushroom was just heaven and simple, too.

The picture is a bit dark but I want to keep it because I love how he corrals all his wood blocks/toys using his shirt. He loves doing it this way as the shirt can gather quite a bit of the stuff he wants to carry from one place to another. I will try to get a better picture next time.

Another day wonderfully spent with my family. Praise the Lord!

Another productive Monday

2012-01-23T22:17:00.000-08:00

Just came in from watching Joshua get promoted to be a Cadet Tech Sergent at the Squadron. It was wonderful to see his hard work get paid off. So proud of him. For his next four years, I will treasure the time I have with him as he is becoming a young man and the time to spend with Mom is getting shorter. It will be Dad's time soon, and for the rest of his life, perhaps.
Anyway, here is a picture from this evening (this is the only somewhat clear picture out of the three a dad took for us) Bummer.

On a different note, I have been sketching up designs for my card making class. I think both scrapbooking and card making (or any crafts) is truly my creative outlet and I need them to balance the busy mom life a bit. Here are the first two cards I put together this afternoon (with tons of phone calls in between). Did you notice the subtle details on the red part of the "I love You" card? It looks way cool in person! One day I will have an Etsy shop...

What a productive day I had. I am beginning to like Mondays, I guess partly is because we don't have co-op classes on Mondays and also that I got fed spiritually from my Sunday school class.

One more thing... Happy Chinese New Year!

Workshop Weekend

2012-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend went by fast! I had my CM workshops last Thursday and Friday. It was a good turn out. I am a little tired but am pressing on to prepare my card making class for next month. This will a short and sweet post as we are dashing out to celebrate Josh's birthday!

my workshop set up crew!

The partition is up. I really like the look.

View from my kitchen. The room looks much lighter now.

view from the new room window. We will be painting the kitchen one day.

Our new TV center from Ikea. I really like their stuff now.

The old entertainment center is my CM product's new home.

I created this pair with my Cricut. So adorable and Peter said the boy is himself and the girl is Mommy! I tried but could not turn the picture to the right way.

Thought :: Wood blocks :: Orange Peels

2012-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

This year, my blog has acted as a diary to me since January 1st. It is a wonderful thing even though not everything happened in our lives got put in here but a daily reflecting on some parts of our lives is good enough for me.

As much as I want to write out goals and projects and tasks, I realized my life does not work like that at this point. It is funny to hear myself talk like this because I have loved lists, planning, scheduling (to the minutes - no kidding) for a long time. Something happened last year. Actually I think it was a few years before that. I started "go green" (or be a good steward with what I had been given), my life has gotten simpler and lots of things are more straight to the point to me since then.

Changing from paper towel to cloth is the biggest change in the housekeeping realm. Eating healthier in the diet realm has helped me to be aware of what I put on the dinner table. And "facing" myself (the hardest one) in the spiritual realm has caused me to cry out to the Lord more times than I want to remember. All of these are good. I always know things either go one way or the other, life never just stop at one point.
With that said, I do have goals, projects and tasks. They will all be unfold here as the days go by I am sure. I need to be content as where the Lord wants me to be at this point in my life.

Peter still loves playing with these wood blocks and he LOVES lining them up. He was with this activity for about an hour today and took them with him when he went down for the night (he put them on his "night stand" so he could see them first thing in the morning). Cute kid!

What is with the orange peels? Well, that was a lovely dinner dessert (very simple) and lots of conversations went on as I was peeling them and the kids eating them. The dinner table conversation is a very precious thing these days as Christine and Joshua both have busy extra curricular schedules. I completely lost myself in the occasion when this happens and I don't mind peeling all the oranges in the whole world for those priceless moments.

Monday Joy

2012-01-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

What a productive day it was today. I literally worked every single second of the day (at least it felt like I did). I found that when I fill myself with scriptures on Sunday, my Monday is anything but blue. I took some good notes from our Sunday school class and a great Google search on the net of some scriptures last night. I can't focus on Sunday's sermon at my church because I need to keep Peter in place during the service - I do this so my family members could hear what the pastor is preaching. The problem is that since I am not fed with the Word, I became stagnant in my walk with the Lord. I became depressed easily and just not motivated to do much. Yesterday was a good day. I am making it a goal to study the scriptures more diligently this year. I am thinking up a plan...

Peter drew this banana...

...and he is trying to write the word "banana". :)

A lot got done today. Praise the Lord!

Weekemd :: Game :: Project

2012-01-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

We seemed to spend all day yesterday at the basketball game event but it was only for one game actually. Perhaps I had been looking forward to this game with such eagerness that when it was actually here, I felt like I'd spent the whole day enjoying it!

I was excited about the game mainly because I finally can watch a game without bringing the stroller and diaper bag. Peter actually sat (ok, not the whole time) and watched the game with little problem. Peter has been doing much better in places we go now that I feel a little easier to take him with me to stores and events.

I like this shot of Josh running.

You can do it, Josh!

Christine said that Peter was the comic relief! Rightly so in this picture. :)

Our dear Jodi turned 16 that day! How time flies! Happy birthday, Jodi!♥

What is this? Well, this, my friend, is a project I have been wanting to do for AGES. We spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon planning and working on a partition solution. It is almost done. I will share as soon as it is all done.

Peter's Words

2012-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

"Mummy! Time to get up!"
"Mummy, I got my people!"
"Mummy, may I please have yogurt and syrup?"
"Mummy, come y(l)ook!"

Those were the words from Peter's mouth this morning. I was smiling inside. I have been so worried about him not being able to say anything clearly that when I heard all of these phrases, I knew he is going to be all right. He might just be a little late in his verbal skill but he sure is one little guy that is eager in learning e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!

Tonight he entertained us with some of the songs from the musical "Hello Dolly!" Peter loves musical movies. "Mary Poppins" was the first musical movie he saw and then "Sound of Music" and than "Hello Dolly!". I will continue to see what other appropriate Musical movie I can find for him to see.

Because movie watching isn't really that good for young children's brain waves, I have purposely cut back his movie viewing time. He has not watched any lately but I know he will get some in when I have my CM workshops. That is once a month. I just do not like the whining attitude he has after a movie.

Speaking of movie, I am off to have our Friday movie night (without Peter as his bed time is 7:30pm). We are watching "The Boy in Striped Pajamas".

Peter's fine motor skill is improving daily as well. He can now snap those little people's hands together. Something that requires both precision of sight and strength of the thumb and fingers.

Translating

2012-01-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

What a surprise it was when I received a phone call from a friend I have not seen for a long time. She was referred to me by a mutual friend of ours that I may be able to help her out by doing a little translating job.

Growing up I had three dreams and one of them was to become a language translator. I love different languages. To me learning a different language means learning about a group of people. I have always enjoyed making new friends from different parts of the world.

I still remember when I first came to America, Thanksgiving to me was merely another holiday the American people celebrate and a turkey must be served. Fast forward to today, after years of homeschooling and learning the American history lessons along side my children (whatever I could retain), Thanksgiving is an endearing holiday to me now. The reason alone of why we have Thanksgiving is enough for me to view this special holiday in a new way, not to mention the emotional attachment every American goes through with that holiday. This is just one of the many things I have come to understand that culture is much more than the language.

The translating job went well and I was encouraged once more that perhaps this dream would eventually be realized, Lord willing.

Math!

2012-01-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Pre-Algebra! Ah...
I have always wished to have a chance to review (or re-learn) Algebra. However, My first two kids' Algebra courses were taken while I had to care for a little one. This year, I am fortunate to have Christine as a baby sitter while Joshua and I go to his Pre-Algebra co-op class. I am the only "parent' student there but I don't mind. I am having such a great time refreshing my love of Algebra, this time with a much quicker and easier understanding of the math.
When we are home, I would ask Joshua for his homework assignment so I could do "my homework" as well. We love it and it creates such a special bond between my son and I through this fun class! So wonderful!

One of the subjects I will be taking in a college when my kids are all grown and left home. It sure will keep my brain from being too rusty by not using it. lol!

Overnight Steel-Cut Oats

2012-01-10T21:07:00.001-08:00

I have wanted to try this for a long time. I like having oatmeal for breakfast, except the fact that even with me piling up the toppings to the old fashion rolled oats, I still feel hungry about an hour or so later. I have heard about steel-cut oats but was frustrated about the cooking method and the length of time it takes to cook them. I decided to Google a better recipe in prepping the oats and I found it here. I tried it and it was a success! The meal was satisfying and sustaining. I did not feel hungry after breakfast until noon time. The best part, I am not the only one likes it. Now this recipe is here to stay for sure.

I soaked the boiled oats overnight and this was what I found this morning. So happy!

Delicious meal!

Peter ate up the whole bowl by himself - he only wanted maple syrup as topping.

Red Riding Hood

2012-01-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

"...and Granny, what big teeth you have."
"THE BETTER TO EAT YOU MY DEAR!" cried the wolf.

Oh yes. One of my children's favorite childhood storybooks. Red Riding Hood came to live with us since my oldest was about five. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I got a Scholastic catalog from his Foundation or Kindergarten class and was told there were some fun story books available to order as a fundraiser. I ordered the set of a few books that came with cassette tapes (yeah those good old days). We listened to them all. Since English was/is my second language, I so appreciated the story tellers' animated voices. It brings the story alive. My most favorite one out of the set, of course, was Red Riding Hood.

Its moral was to teach kids to be aware of stranger with "charming manners" who could "eat" them up at the end if they disregarded mama's warning of "do not tarry, do not speak to any strangers".

Peter loves this story so much that it has become one of our night-time readings. I have misplaced the cassette tape but still remember how the narrator threw his voice around the story so I imitated him to the best of my ability. We have a great time reading that book nightly for over a month now. So when I heard him reciting the story to Joshua this morning, I chuckled. Yup! Another Red Riding Hood fan we have here!

The book is probably going to stay in the family for a long time. Waiting for our grandchildren to come over and be read to by me someday. Yes, I will be sure to throw my voice around the story to capture their attention. Promised.

Can you see all the marks on the cover? The book is so loved!

One Week

2012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

My doctor gave me one week to lay off my right arm/shoulder before he wants me to go get a MRI. I am being good about this as I really don't want to take another MRI especially when our medical insurance is still not in place yet.It is such a challenge as I am a right handed person and at times I just plain forgotten I am not suppose to use my right arm. Robert got me an arm sling and insists that I wear it so it will restrict my arm movement to the minimum.
I am being very cooperative as I want no complication to the shoulder.
At the mean time, slowly but surely, home improvement continues on...

Roller Blind

2012-01-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

So excited to have another project finished. AL though it took us all day to fit it, it is DONE!

For the longest time I have wanted something with very low maintenance as a window cover. The custom made shade is out of our budget at this point and I am so tired of cleaning the mini blinds. So I decided to give this old fashion roller blind a try.

The price is right for its quality and this really is a trial blind, if I like it then we may go on to the next grade up - custom made it.

The wrinkles look terrible in this picture. The blinds actually look good in real life. Mini Goal #3 - check!

Music to My Ears

2012-01-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

"Flip..., flip...", there it was again. In an half awakening stage of my nap I heard those wonderful page turning sound of books. I did not want to wake up as I was completely soaking myself in that familiar beautiful "music". The boys were reading!

I fell asleep because I have some how injured my right shoulder a while ago and it was flaring up this morning so badly that I poured out all of my energy to cradle the shoulder, which left me exhausted especially after moving the books from one bookshelf to another.

Even though I don't not enjoy moving books around I do enjoy the result of it, every time. For some wonderful reasons, my kids would almost always sink themselves into the piles of books and re-discover books they have "never" read before and they would do that for the remainder of the day.

Meet up with "old friends"

I have always love reading until recently when my eye sight got worse. I love reading with my kids. Not necessary reading to them, just sitting next to them and read. It is the most satisfying experience I ever have with my kids. I did it with my oldest son, then my daughter, then my other son, and now my toddler. Just love it!

Mini Goal #1 accomplished. Now I only need to nail the family portrait higher up and move the other picture frames on the floor to some walls.

Goal, Project, Task and God's Grace

2012-01-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

At the FLY meeting last night we talked about personal goals and projects. We were excited as to how we can get back on some of the routines we once were so diligent with.

On the way home, I was thinking about those three things: goals, projects and the tasks (aka to-do list).

Then I realized that planning and thinking (the activities) through and prioritizing them are the most important steps before I could even say, set goals.

What is goal? In my opinion, goal is something that takes the most effort and endurance and specific measures to accomplish.

My Goal: Drink more water.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? but it takes planning (what time do I drink most of the water so I don't end up running to the bathroom in the middle of the night.) It takes effort, or self discipline (I need to be sure I REMEMBER to drink the water at the planned time.) How much to drink (I have to be specific on the amount - basically the ounces of half of my weigh number - 84 ounces, which equal out about five 16oz. glasses.)
Now, that is my long term goal. It would take me a while to reach but it is worth all the efforts. I will know I have reached the goal when drinking water at the planned time becomes second nature.

My project (or Mini Goal): Finish painting the door and re-organize the furniture.

Project to me has always the feel of ACTION! It is something I know that has the beginning and the end (paint the room/doors and re-organizing the furniture). It is something I have already started either mentally or physically (one room is painted, now put the stuff back together). Something I just need to follow the steps and it will be accomplished (get the correct paint and finish the job.)
This project would probably take about one week to accomplish since we will only work on it at our spare time but I see the ending point.

My task: Keeping the sink clean at all time.

Who is with me on this one? :) This is basically my to-do (or established daily chore). It is something I only have a short spans of time to accomplish without suffering its consequences (pile of dirty dishes, which leads to lost motivation to cook which leads to the sabotage of the menu plan.) It is something I will reap immediate satisfaction once it is done (a clean sink, wanting to cook, menu plan followed.)
Tasks include but not limit to: bill paying, porch cleaning, homework assignment, etc. You get the picture.

God's Grace: I could never take on anything without His grace covering me.
As much as I know the "how tos", I would never be able to boast this or that was all due my efforts. Without God's grace being there every time when I messed up my goal/project/task OR life, I could never be able to pick up and start all over again. So praise be to God, WHO is the ultimate controller of all. Alleluia!

Mini Goal #2 - Good Sleeping Habit

2012-01-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

I sent Christine off to her last road trip this morning. Very disappointed that I could not accompany her. I hope she will enjoy all these "last time" high school activities as the graduation day is getting closer.

I did some errands today while Josh was in his class and overall, seemed to be a very productive day. Not much was done at home but some paperwork got sorted (that's a biggie).

Before I attended the FLY meeting tonight I wrote down some goals to share with everyone there. I had a list. I stopped writing when it got to the seventh or eighth goal. I was not trying to finish the list as I know it could go on and on and on. My point was to write down something I really want to accomplish for a while now. After all that writing, what stood out to me were the goals of early to bed, early to rise and drink more water. So going to bed by 10pm every night except Friday night and get up at 6:30am every morning (except Saturday morning) will be my mini goal #2 for this year. I want to do it for the next three weeks in a roll consistently as I know it takes at least 21 days to establish any habit. If I succeed, I would be so happy as I need proper resting desperately.

Looking at my computer clock - it says I have 6 minutes left.

Off to bed I go!

Love my new clock!

Peter and Mommy Time

2012-01-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

We got this easel from Ikea for Peter this Christmas. He loves seeing his names written all over the board. We "boxed" his names together and had a great time giggling with each other.

On the other side of the easel is a chalk board but since I don't like the chalk mess - at least not when the house is in its utmost chaos, I put in the paper roll and let him draw to his heart's content.

This item is totally worth the price tag of ten bucks!

A fun activity with my Peter. Need to do that again!

A Thoughtful Husband's Love & MG1

2012-01-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Christine had a mini photo session with J&C today and I tagged along so I could visit with them. It was very sweet of J to surprise his lovely wife C with a nice hotel stay (the one they got married at four years ago) as an anniversary gift to her. He set up the baby sitting, packed her clothes and even managed to have her pick out a color matching new outfit for the photo session. He should share this great "loving your wife" idea at a man's meeting to encourage other husbands to have gestures as such that the wives would truly appreciate their thoughts and efforts.

Back at the home front, there are still much to do to get the house back in order but I think everyone is tired of painting for a while and just wanted a break from it all. My to-do list was put on hold because I wanted to spend time with the family. However, I forgot today is Monday and that Robert and Joshua have CAP meeting so my plan was back fired. Oh well, I have at least 363 more days to finish this project (just hope it won't take that long) so I could relax a little. :)

Mini Goal #1: Find another place for the books from this bookshelf.

2012

2012-01-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

First day of a brand new year!

Feeling like the Lord has granted me a clean page for yet another chapter in my life.

I have a love for newness. It is like the old and undesired have been wiped away. Clean.

I have been thinking what would I like to blog in this coming year and quite frankly, I have no plan.

One thing I know though, is that I want to have mini goals and big hope to accomplish them.

So, I may just start with that. Small goal, big chance to attain it.

One of the mini goals includes blogging daily but with less words and at least with one photo but no more than three. I did this when I first started blogging back in 2009 and I remember being very satisfied blogging in this way.

So, here it is.

The first post of the year!

The picture?

It is up there on the banner! :)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T16:15:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was the quietest one we have ever had. Quiet but calm. It was different.
We had everything we wished to have done, done. Many events attended. Presents opened and were all well received. I did not get to go to church on Christmas morning due to Peter coming down with a head cold. I caught it in the following week. We are all on the mend right now, thank the Lord.
We had for the first time Pizza on Christmas Eve! Since Trader Joe's ran out of ham, we had steak for Christmas dinner instead. It was different but the family all loved it. I had no complaints. Not many dishes to wash - a good break for me!
Due to Robert's unexpected work schedule, we did not have any advent devotion this year. I missed that. When the older kids were little, we had advent devotion leading into Christmas Eve. I really treasure those fond memories. They are all older now and are very busy with their own schedules so many Christmas traditions were put aside.
I would like to start something for little Peter. It is a bit challenging as he is the only young child under 10. We will see.
Here are some recap of the Christmas 2011 with pictures:

This is one of our Christmas traditions - the youngest child is to point at the star when the tree was first set up.

One of the wonderful events we attended - the Children Christmas Choir. They did an excellent job on the play "The Next Leon". (Read leoN backward)

Peter's Christmas Stocking went missing and Joshua improvised an substitute. Cleaver boy! Looked like a Charlie Brown stocking. Love it!

One of the gifts we got this year for all of us - a TV and the cabinet. Joshua worked almost all day to put together this cabinet with wordless instruction (only pictures - he is very good in reading those type of instructions now).

The prettiest present I ever received. It was from a dear friend. I have always wished to have tea time with my friends but I never had a pretty tea pot. Now I am excited to see whom the Lord would bring over to have tea and fellowship with me.

The biggest gift my family gave me - painting the inside of the house. This is a project that may take a whole year to accomplish due to the fact we can only work on it at our spare time. None the less, it was started on the day after Christmas.

The hardest part of the painting has been having to work around the stuff. I can't wait to see how much stuff I will be getting rid of this coming year.

Photo by Christine

Last look at the Living/Family room before it got a face-lift!

Photo by Christine

Hope you had a joyous Christmas and happy New Year!

Before Christmas

2011-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe Christmas is right around the corner. I remember this time last year we were facing unemployment and our hearts were heavy. By God's grace, Robert has regained employment after five months. This year, for the first time in many years, we are able to have a "nice" Christmas. While I understand Christmas is more than gift giving, the fact that we are able to give gifts is a sign of blessing from the Lord.

We have not sent out any Christmas cards/pictures due to our busy schedule. I have decided this year we will do whatever we are able to do and not letting the busyness of the Holiday take over our life. We want to focus more on spending time with each other in our family (and friends).

Here are some snapshots since the beginning of December. With two to three weeks off school I am hoping to make some wonderful memories with my loved ones!

Joshua's last season in Soccer. His team won the championship game. A nice farewell to the sport for him. He has just started basketball as his high school sport. He's shown progress in that sport as well, according to the coach. You go Josh!

One of the fond family traditions we have around Christmas time is put together a Charlie Brown's puzzles. I love this particular puzzle as it has extra big pieces and very small pieces all in a box, suitable for all ages!

While trimming the tree, I made my first home made hot cocoa, a recipe from Kimi's blog post. The family loves it. I am learning to like hot cocoa - another beverage I did not grow up with.

I like the TJ whipped cream though. On the moderate level, I only had one cup. :)

The crew are hard at work making sure the tree is entered. We were blessed to get this 6-7' tree for half price due to the fact we got it late - I mean late in both date and time of the day (or night, rather). The store was ready to close the tree lot for the day (and season.)

This year, I surprised Robert with the twelve days of Christmas gifts. Each day since the 13th I have tugged in a gift for him to discover in the morning before he leaves home to work. He is really enjoying the surprises. I got this idea from one of the bloggers (can't remember where I got it...) I wrapped the surprises with the paper of the brown grocery bags (my favorite re-purposed item) and tied them with twine and a little tag I made with this Tag Maker.

I placed yesterday's gift on top of his lunch items in the fridge!

After about 25 years, I was finally gifted a new dryer. We got a great deal for it during the two-days sales at Sears. We put our old one up for free on Craig's list and it was gone within ten minutes! Of course, the big box provided hours of entertainment for the boys. Love it!

Christmas Band Concert! This is Josh's third year playing Tenner Sax in the band. He is doing very well and is ready to join the Jazz band next year!

Joshua brought in the car track and Peter was in race car heaven for hours! It used to be Erik and Joshua. The ten-year gap among them is giving me many flash backs!

Peter loves to help me bake and I am happy to have a helper to make the time more fun. I am not a baker but have loved making muffins with Peter. We are actually mixing waffle batter here though. :)

Christine is having so much fun with her photography club. I love watching her blossomed into a beautiful and God honnoring young lady!

Me and my beloved daughter. ~ ♥

Salad

2011-12-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started the Juicing journey, I have been eating more salads. It is a new thing for me as I did not grow up in a family that eats salad as part of a meal. We eat luttuce and herbs and other hard veggies such as cucumber and hiccama with cooked meat or egg rolls and rice pasta though. Just not a salad before main dish.

Then I came to America.

I first learned to eat sushi and I found out I like it but unfortunately I am the only one in my family who likes the raw fish. Joshua will eat the California rolls but that's all from the Japanese cuisine.

I still miss my noodles and rice soup for breakfast from time to time - those are my comfort food in the morning.

Then I discovered the organic food world. That has changed our entire eating habit. We now shop at Trader Joe's and Lassen's almost exclusively except for a few canned green chilies for a certain recipe I have to get at Pavilions and certain type of cheese from Costco. Our immune system has improved greatly due to a healthier diet.

Then entered the raw foodies I found on blog land. I read about them but eating raw food all the time is just not my cup of tea so I discounted it.

Lo and behold, after juicing for almost two months now, I have been eating many salads before dinner. Yeah... lettuce and all other raw veggies... I also have become a very discriminated salad eater.

~My salad has to be colorful and nourishing. Period.~

I can't just eat a green salad, it somehow just does not please my palates. I have to have the colors of green, red, white, yellow (no blue though) and something crunchy like croutons (most of the time I made them from scratch) in my salad bowl and the ingredients have to be nourishing at the same time. I normally put avocado pieces, sliced eggs, cransins, pine nuts, carrots, mushroom, green onion and of course Romain lettuce (please quit eating iceberg lettuce, it has no nutritional value what so ever. Romain on the other hand is a more hearty green for your health - just Google it and you will be surprised at the goodness this lettuce provides.)

Here is a blurry picture of my half eaten colorful salad...

Yummy...! and I eat a smaller portion on the main meal. So yeah, I still eat everything as I used to before my juicing life but now in a moderate portion (except the salad).

I purchased this book because I really like the author and her In-Law family. Of course I like the book as well as it is full of whole food info and just overall a very enticing book for a salad newbie as myself. Go check out her website. You will be glad you do. :)

Juice Pulp Recipe: Carrot-apple muffin

2011-11-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

One thing about juicing, you end up with bunch of pulp. My next research was to find out how to use these pulp to create something delicious and healthy. I (again) Googled and have found this recipe of using carrot and apple pulp to make delicious muffins.

Breakfast muffins! Moist in every bite! Even Peter likes them! Another winner recipe.

I forgot where I got this recipe (my bad). It was not a blog post but was a comment made in a blog post.

I make carrot apple muffins

by Heather
(

USA

)

Carrot Muffins (recipe found online) If you can’t use the pulp right away, freeze it in a plastic bag and defrost before baking. You can also use grated carrots – equal amounts apply. While I switched to whole wheat flour, you might experiment with other whole grains. Either way, it’s a delicious way to get your veggies and a healthy dose of fiber, starting at breakfast:) Makes 12-16 muffins: - 2 Cups whole wheat flour - 1 Cup extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup water - 1 Teaspoon sea salt - 2 Teaspoons cinnamon - 1 Teaspoon nutmeg - 2 Teaspoons baking Soda - 2 Teaspoons vanilla - 3/4 Cup Sucanat or brown sugar - 2 Cups carrot pulp which is CARROTS - 4 Medium to large pastured eggs - 1 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) (I use Pecan) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease approximately 12 muffin tins thoroughly. Mix the whole wheat flour, olive oil, water, salt, baking soda, eggs, and sugar first. After the first group of ingredients are blended, add in the remaining ingredients and mix again thoroughly. Put into muffin pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes and serve!

Juice Recipe: Carrot-Apple

2011-11-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

This juice has become not only my favorite but it has spread to the whole family as well. Ok, minus Peter. He only likes the cantaloupe juice so far.

The carrot-apple juice is very easy to like. It is super sweet and tasty. I juice mine with one apple, 1/2 lb. of carrots and a thumb-size fresh ginger root. The result is HEAVEN!

Joshua likes his with a little less of ginger while Robert and Christine just drink theirs with two apples and without the ginger root.

I googled the health benefit of carrot and I think it is by far the best vegetable for juicing. Our skin is softer and in general have more energy. Try it, you may like it, too.

I am not including the benefit finding here as it is so much easier for you to just type in "carrot" and get all the details. I am only reporting my personal result from this recipe.

Simple ingredients: 1/2 lb of carrots, one apple and a thumb-size ginger root.

Carrot goodness. Drink to better health!

Wait! What do I do with the pulp? Well, that's another post. :)

Juice Recipe: Mean Green

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Mean Green was the first juice recipe I was introduced to when I watched Joe Cross's documentary film "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead!"

After I decided to take on the JTH project, I knew I have to get my taste palates a good "tongue wash" by thinking vegetable cold soup instead of sweet fruit juice. Many of the juicing recipe ingredients involve vegetable, so I thought the sooner I get used to the idea of a soup taste instead of the fruit taste, the easier for me to drink them.

I was quite surprised when I juiced up the Mean Green recipe to find that it does not taste as "awful" as I thought it would be (provided I had switched the green apples to Gala apples). Because I am not tackling this project cold turkey style, I give myself plenty of time to adjust to he vegetable taste and also to slowly reduce the serving size of my meals. Honestly, it has not been easy to eat a correct serving of food after indulging myself with it for so long. But I know the reward with be worth it so I will press on!

Here is the recipe I found on his site (there are more). Try it, it really makes you feel healthy drinking it!

Mean Green
1 bulk of Kale
4 stalks of celery
1 cucumber
2 granny smith apples
1/2 lemon
Ginger root (thumb sized)

My breakfast - followed by a "second breakfast" with protein/fiber breakfast items in the correct serving size. :)

Drink to health!

Juice To Health

2011-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

I have come to an end with myself about what I have been putting into my body in the past twenty years.

My body has altered more times than I wished for. After four childbirths and not an avid exerciser, my weight has been in the biggest fluctuation in my adult life.

My energy level... well, there was no level. I was mostly flat. As women we sustain so much changes with our body in a life time.

My back started aching, my right shoulder was out and it seemed like I am in the bad mood more than I am in a good mood most of the time. Something need to be done but I was not sure what and how.

So one night I Googled about health, and one thing after another, I ran into this documentary film "Food, Inc." (this link is for the trailer) after I watched that, I completely lost interest in eating "ground beef" ever again. But what really inspired me to get into this Juice cleanser thing was another documentary film by Joe Cross, an (wealthy) Australian man who came over to America to loose all of the unhealthy weight he had gained because he got his priority in life upside-down.

Granted, I do not have that much weight to loose as Joe Cross (trailer of the movie he made) but it is enough to make me say, "I need to get on a healthier diet" to regain my energy so that I could better serve my family.

By the way, if you are thinking "Oh no, she is going to jump onto that "diet bang-wagon" and crash and burn in a few days!" Rest assured, I have no intention of launching a new eating project just because I was inspired. Instead, I prayed and asked the Lord to give me patience and to teach me that self-discipline is actually a key being played in this project.

So, I started this Juice To Health (JTH) on Monday October 10th (happened to be on the day of my twenty-four year old son's b-day). All I have been doing so far is drinking more water everyday, making myself move around more often (the dancing lesson on Tuesday evenings helps a great deal on the moving around part) and noted how much sweets I have been eating everyday, researching for a good juicer AND I weighed myself: 175 lbs. Ouch.

The number cracked the scale! No, just kidding. Something heavy dropped on the scale and cracked it. I will just use this one until I see some progress before buying a new one.

So welcome to my journey of JTH. I am indirectly asking you to hold me accountable with this project. LOL! I will try to keep you posted weekly as to see what eating healthily could change my life and the lives around me (namely my family).

Press on!

~ This post is linked to
AP Tuesday at Amy's
TNAT at Alicia's

September 2011

2011-10-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! Seems like I blinked and there went September. Getting back to a school-day routine has its challenge. How I wish I could blog everyday as I use to do. Anyway, I decided to post the pictures of our lives in this last month for you who are interested to see and for me as a documentary of our days. I did launch some craft projects and reorganization but those will be posts of their own.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of our lives...

School has been fun for Joshua this year. We have decided to sign him up for some Co-op classes and it turned out to be a good decision of doing so. Josh has mapped out a schedule for his homework (all on his own without my prompting). He has taken on ownership of his education. I am so happy that he understands this part of his schooling career. Without the "wanting to learn for your own and for His glory", education could only make one half-a-man, in my opinion.

Peter decided to join in the learning fun as well. Here is his name in free-hand style.

Guess who is driving now? Yup! My sweet Christine. She got her driver license a few days before she turned 17. She has been a great help to me since then. She runs some errands for me now, which leaves me more time to help Josh and Peter and work on the business.

Did I say Peter has been super busy? This is one of the many activities he has gotten his hands on. He thoroughly enjoys the cutting papers activity. To help control the mess a bit (for cleaning up purpose) I made sure he used a tray to catch all the cut pieces. Some still landed outside of the tray (and on his head) but it was much more manageable than if he did not use the tray.

A dear friend dropped by and blessed us with a bag of fresh oranges. We enjoyed this goodness immediately! Yum!!! OJ rocks in this house.

Joshua got promoted to be the Cadet Staff Sargent. He really works hard for all of these promotions. He said CAP is his life right now. I agree.

He also received an achievement award for outstanding professionalism and sportsmanship. This certificate has something to do with the Color Guard team being professional in their dealing with the competition. The Major has since framed the certificate for the team members who received the award.

Some one's birthday and it is not Peter's but hes was so excited that anyone sees this picture would think it is his birthday! This is our kids birthday breakfast tradition - Donuts. Yes, it was the 17 years old's b-day. :)

There are many reasons I homeschool my kids. One of them being able to "sit-in" the class and get up close and personal of my kid's learning. Here Josh was learning about density and I totally love the hands-on part of the class.

Another experiment to see how fast color diluted in hot and cold water - Atoms move faster in hot water.

and who says you can only write a letter "O"? Peter made the letter out of ice!

I serve M&M at my CM workshops. My friend's daughter was at one of them in September and she created this flower art with the M&M (and then she ate them all up). What fun!

This is the "must have" tool for every scrapbooker. Once you have this tool, you will make perfect circles and ovals EVERY TIME.

Another pretty pages created (all by hand-cutting). We collectively have accomplished over 200 pages since my returning to the business. I am so glad I could help motivate my friends/customers once again to work on their albums.

Peter has somehow developed a love of picture taking. I have decided to make a new label to journal his new interest as some of his perspectives are quite good.... maybe not this one, but I just love his face and the way he is so proud of his "end product". :)

Folks, this is not an ordinary ice cream treat. It is a celebration of the successful potty training!! It took ten days for the training and it is done. No bribing, no candies nor toys. Just the matter of fact training. So I decided to reward him for the effort when he did... ahem... you know... the big one all on his own. The "ur-oh" part was after this treat, he thinks every time when he wants ice cream, he'd just need to sit on the potty! Note: We have since retrain him that he could have ice cream without having to sit on the potty. Whew! Lesson learned: Give the treat a bit later after the business is completely done and so he won't associate the two together.

Peter's another self portrait - he is getting better...

Soccer season! This is Josh's last one. Robert is the coach of his team (not by choice but due to if he did not step up for the position, there won't be a team forming). He is so busy already, this really adds to the busyness quite a bit. Thank goodness though it will end before Thanksgiving.

Run, Josh, run!

They won this game 3 to 1. Everyone worked hard for it! Cheers!

Unfortunately at where we live, autumn is not easily detected. so when I saw the yellow top of this tree, my heart skipped a beat. I love autumn. Always do and always will.

A bit blurry in this picture but not the memory that stays in my mind of my kids playing together. I am very blessed that the fact my kids like to spend time with each other willingly. They have their difficult times but it's very rare. Thank you, Lord.

What a handsome album coverset all personalized for Peter's 2011 pictures of life. This is CM's special "You create it album coverset". I love it! If you are interested, my consultant ID is 57264686.

I just had my birthday too. My family treated me to a very nice Italian dinner place. The fries were so tasty that everyone helped me out with it.

This one was Christine's dinner. I am not sure of the name but it was delicious, too.

Here is Peter's light show.

more light show... I like light shows so these last two pictures really are for me. :)

Joshua parted Peter's hair right in the middle. He looked like an English boy with his hair like that, doesn't he?

Another picture from Peter's point of view. Never knew my old vertical blind can look so grand.

I love this perspective (courtesy from Peter, but of course).

Oh no! He took after his sister's favorite subject of shooting - foot, feet or shoes!!!

This one is so over exposed but I LIKE it!!! Peter really blesses me with what/how he sees through the lens.

Last picture from Peter - I could not believe the solemn mood he captured in this picture. He is only 3.5 years old. Good job, son.

Time Flies

2011-09-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

And we are having fun!

It has been a very busy, productive and overwhelming summer. So much have taken places and at times, I felt as though I could hardly keep up with life's pace. Life goes on regardless.

We have started school this past Monday. So far it has been nice easing into the new old routines again. Next week I will anticipate a heavier school week as some of the co-op classes will be starting up. I have not kept up with blogging nor taking much pictures. I have been busy but it is rewarding to know I could help supplementing with my CM biz.

Here are a little glimpse of our busy days... I just realized next year this time, Christine would either be working full time and taking on-line college classes at home or she would be leaving home to pursue her dream in the college campus.

Yes, time flies.

We finally painted the boys' room. Cool Gray was the color. I will post an after pictures when the room is completely done.

It helped so much with putting things back on when I grouped the parts of the hardware together during prep time.

Christine's wedding workshop. She has wonderful friends. Becky was the Make-Up artist besides being a bride's maid.

The "groom's men" getting ready.

A beautiful windy day!

Christine at work. I love the back ground of this shot.

and this one...

Really cute idea of wedding party shot.

The majesty of His handy work. Just beautiful.

The Bride and Groom. They were wonderful! I loved watching them. The love and adoration between the two were so spoken in their interaction.

Here is my budding photographer.

Yes, that's the letter "A". Free-hand.

He was trying for the letter "W" here.

At one of my crops. A page created by my customer/friend.

Some-one got hold of my camera...

and started clicking away.

Happy 18th.

Hmmmm..... I have a mouse named "Little Pete" in the house. He was busted while snipping away the sweetness.

I worked on Joshua's encampment graduation pictures. Using the CM Border Maker System for the fence border. Watch this video on how to use it. I am in love with this useful tool.

It was a memorable day for Joshua and for us.

Peter was just so excited to see his big brother looking so sharp that he wanted a piece of it too.

This was such a special picture that I decided to "frame" it with a jazzy border. Do you like it?

Having A Life

2011-07-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I read in a blog that the author felt like when bloggers stopped blogging it is because they have a life. I remember not completely agreeing with her (because I loved reading her blog).

This has happened to me this past month.

Ever since I returned to the CM biz, I have been devoting every single spare minutes I had to reconnect with my former customers and get the paperwork work part of the biz documented in a precise manner to avoid Income tax nightmare.

The result? The sacrifice of my blog time, both in reading and posting.

Today is Sunday and there is only Peter and I here in the house, I took a much needed rest on the "day of rest" and thought this might be a good time to catch up with a post.

Be warned, there are lots of photos in this post - I was having a life. :)

Another round of play time!

Peter lined these pins up in a formation of a triangle...

Why, it is for a bowling practice of course! Ur... Aren't you suppose to knock them down from the pointed end, Peter? Well, too late....

Let's try some stacking up with the pins...

or how about back to the slots they belong...

and turned them upside down!

The end. I am "it". You turn Mama!

Next day, still with the pins. This time Peter lined them up in rainbow color. I think Joshua showed him one time how to do it but I did not expect him to remember. Smart kid!

They both love looking at the outer space photos. I often found them sitting side by side like this. Love it!

Got this toy a few years ago. So glad Peter is able to build with it now. I put it away because when he was two he was just using the boxes for a throwing game. He was not ready for it. Now he is three and everthing seems to have changed for the better.

One of my favorite pictures - My kids playing with each other. You can guess their ages by the flexibility of the bending position of their legs!

I did say Peter likes Astronomy right? He has been looking at this book, like, for a long time.

A very sad day took place on July 12th. This precious lady passed away. She was a very dear step-mother-in-law to me. This picture shows her holding Peter when he was one month old, on our way to a baby shower for him. My SMIL drove down from Independence with my FIL. She went with me and Christine to the baby shower while the men/boy stayed at home. She was such an active old lady. I miss her. She was also one of the main reasons I blog so she could see how the kids were doing. Now that she is gone, my motivation on blogging also dampened.

Open Shop - got ready for the workshops

All of the merchandises were on display. Not to mention a clean garage!

We had so much fun! Cricut and all!

This page was created by my customer using the Cricut wedding cake die-cut and the new border system. Beautiful!

Sending my Joshua to his first CAP Encampment. He looked so tall...

Christine also left the next day to check out Patrick Henry college.

Peter played on as the only child left behind... Crayon airplanes, now why didn't I think of making these before?

More pattern play. This time he lined every pin in the middle of each tile square edge, creating a fantastic pattern. Did you see it too or was it just a Mama thing?

Since Pete loves the alphabets and the cookie eating, why not combine both? He loved it!

I created this folder game for Peter. He loves alphabets and sign language. He is able to match the ABC squares to the signing squares. He was not doing it here though.

He is signing the letter "b" here.

Letter "d".

Letter "e".

We attended Joshua's Encampment graduation yesterday. He had a big week. Very motivational for him to press on with his CAP program.

Ten years ago I had a similar picture with my oldest son. It seems like Joshua has gotten taller still...

My boys!

Well, that's all for now. Hope the posting gap won't be so big the next time.

Have a restful Sunday!

Busy Days

2011-06-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I have not blogged for ten days!
Life has been so full these days with all the grad parties we have gone to and the re-starting up of Creative Memories.
I have been taking photos though. Peter is loved and cared for even in the midst of these busy days.
Robert continues to work very hard at his temp job. He leaves at 4:30A.M. and does not return home until 4:00P.M. We so appreciate his diligence in providing for us.
Christine is busy taking photos (what else would she be doing? :)) and is getting so excited to check out a college summer camp and seeing her out of state brother and his family. She is also working hard in preparing yet another wedding workshop.
Joshua is all about CAP. Everyday last week he has been studying to pass a module test. He did so with flying color. So proud of him!
Peter, oh our little Peter! He is "reading" Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb! book by Dr. Seuss. Of course he does not read yet, but he turns the pages and read with sounds like "hend-hend, pingers, dumbs", he seems to memorize the whole book with each page's sound (what the phrases of each page sounded like to him - does that make sense?). That reminded me of my oldest son, who when he was younger, did the same thing. It is so wonderful to hear Peter "read". We read about 3-4 books before every nap time and night time. He won't let us lax on it!

Cutie-Pie!

Do you remember those birds that stayed on your ONE finger?

My hard working girl. She loves photography and is seriously paving that career path.

Boys at play!

Building super highway...

Nice job, guys!

Another Lego bridge. Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!

So glad to see Joshua building with his Lego again. He is very good with it. We had to put the whole collection away when Peter turned one. Now they enjoy building together!

Robert and Joshua went to a baseball game on Father's Day. Free tickets and all.

I did mention Peter likes to line things (or food) up, right?

A new wood construction. This almost look like the camp fire structure my older kids use to build when we camped. Time to take Peter camping!

Pattern... Here we go again...

More handy works!

Have a great week, everyone!

Home Made Granola

2011-06-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

I can't remember where I saw this recipe but I decided to give it a try since Robert really likes to have granola with his homemade plain yogurt. All I have to say is "Yummmm!!!"

I am posting the recipe I got from a blog (I have to find out where I got it) Somehow I got the original recipe owner but did not get the blogger who posted it. :( If you are the blogger or recognize it, would you please let me know? Thank you! :))

Nut & Seed Granola
from Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods by Cynthia Lair (shared with permission)
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
1/3 cup cold-pressed vegetable oil (we like to use coconut, though all wet ingredients need to be at room temperature to do so)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup or maple syrup
1/4 cup apple or orange juice (in a pinch, most other juices have worked for us too)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 300degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, seeds, almonds, flour, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine oil, syrup, juice and extracts. Slowly pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients, using a spatula to fold and evenly coat the dry mixture with the wet. Spread on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan and bake. Turn granola every 15 or 20 minutes so that it toasts evenly. Bake until granola is dry and golden (45-60 minutes). Store in an air tight jar.

My new favorite healthy snack!

~This post is linked to Alicia's TNAT link party

Oven Window Cleaning

2011-06-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! Last Tuesday at Amy's link party I read Ask Anna's post on cleaning the oven window and thought about mine. Before showing you the embarrassing pictures, I want to say that it does not work trying to justify my laziness such as I don't like to cook, hence not cleaning the oven window as often as I should. You see, the consequence of not cleaning it on a regular basis is the build-up I had to endure looking at every time I used the oven. My daughter-in-law is a great oven cleaning person, she has told me in the past that she uses salt (I think with some water, too) and a razor blade to clean her oven and her oven always look clean even if the rest of her house is not. Anna's method seemed easier and faster, so I wanted to give Anna's method a try first...

Ahem... just close your eyes for the "before" picture...

1/2 cup of baking soda and about 3/4 cup of water.

Stir it into a paste form.

Cover the window with the paste.

20 minutes later... Did not seem like they are coming off at all...

Maybe if I put some salt on the surface and cover it with the BS paste for another 30 minutes?

30 minutes came and went. ur-oh, guess the baked-on has somehow sipped in between the window glass panes. Nightmare.

Did the unthinkable. I unscrewed the oven door cover - something I probably should not do. However, since I am some what mechanically inclined so I took the chance, snapping pictures as I go, to ensure that I would remember how to put the door back together. Guess what I found out? The baked-on is on the outside of the window pane, not the inside! Put the door back together - took me almost 45 minutes as I was not strong enough to keep the door snap back together and locked it in place before putting the screws back on. Glad I fixed it before Robert got home from work.

Now that I realized where the grease lay, I had but to sit down and scraped it with the little knife I have.

A bit more salt on the wet surface and rubbed it with a half-wet paper towel and the green scrubby (gently) in a circle motion... Yes, I used paper towel for this job, as I was not sure how many clothes I would need to trash after the job.

It worked! Except it took a loooong time with that knife...

Ran to the Dollar store and got these blades...

Couldn't believe my eyes. The extremely thin razor blade picked up all the gunk I once thought was impossible. It did take some time, but I was willing because I was having a heart troubling matter in my mind that I needed to bring before the Lord, so I used that tedious labor as a time to meditate on the situation and asked the Lord to help me solve the problem.

Wow, look at the sparkling clean oven window! As for the prayer part, the Lord had caused me to be still while He brought forth the peaceful ending of the heart wrenching struggle. A clean oven window and a trouble free heart. You are so good to me. Thank you, Lord.

Anna's method would work, I think, if the baked-on of my oven window was not so ingrained. But with the length of time I had left the bake-on sat, the combining process of baking soda/water and salt/razor did the trick. Thank you, Anna and Emma!

Again, before...

After.

~ This post is linked to Amy's Tuesday's AP link party
~ And Wednesday's Raising Homemaker link party

Blogging For My Home Biz

2011-06-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have recently returned to be a Creative Memories consultant once more.

The business is not new to me. I have started it since 1997 so doing it again is easy. However, running a home business from typing up hard copies of newsletter and mailed them to emailing newsletters to my customers to now "blogging" about the newsletter is a new thing to me! So I am exciting to give this a try - blogging about what I do with the Creative Memories products so my customers (and my out of state families) could see the demo because they can't be here to see it in my parties or workshops.

My returning was due to the loss of our main income. Even though Robert has gained employment, it is only a six month assignment and there are no benefits nor insurance coverage. Trying to be his helpmeet, I thought about getting a night shift job but the reality is that I have young children and as you probably know by now that running a home is a full time job in itself. Creative memories is a business I know and love doing. Now with the digital album and other digital services CM is offering, I feel that it is the right decision to return to it instead of getting a night shift job.

I prayed and have asked friends to pray for me in the entire month of May. I needed to be sure this is what God allows me to do as well. The signs did come. I had 65% of my former customers responded to my initial survey letter, some of them said that they have stopped since I stopped when Peter was one year old (that sounded like an encouragement to me that I could help motivate them to make their albums). The next sign was that I needed money to restart the business and I did not want to touch the family budget (the business must stand on its own, financially). I was talking to a friend and said I do have some Longaberger basket sets for sale and she bought a set right off me and paid me more than enough for the sign-up fee (she said every time when she looks at the basket set, she will think of me and will pray for my endeavour - isn't that lovely? I told her it is for a good "cause". :)). Then I was at a blue light special selling some stickers, this lady came up and asked if I was a scrapbooker and I said I was praying about returning to the business. She said: "I am not sure if you remember an email I sent you earlier this year, I was looking for a consultant and was wondering if you are still doing it.". I had to pick up my jaw when I heard that! Then there is my family, my kids were so excited to have me doing it again, especially Christine, she misses our scrapbooking date (we used to do it every Friday when she was younger and while I was running the business. I have trained her to scrapbook since she was five).

These are the reasons why I am back to CM and trying something new at the mean time - blogging about it.

The only challenge I would have is to decide whether I should blog about it here or should I create a separated private blog to better serve my friends and customers. I will continue to pray on this one as I have always wanted this blog to be just a place to document our family life.

I am not sure why these two photos turned side way when I uploaded them... This above picture shows the pretty photo organizers. They named the line Daisy... dear me.

This is the protective case the digital album comes in. It is so pretty.

This is my personal favorite part - the personalized album cover!

Did you know the Storybook is stitch-bounded? That means the book (your work) will last and it allows the pages to lay flat when opened. Storybook offers pre-designed pages that makes your album creating a breeze. If you know how to drag and drop an image from your computer file, you can create a Storybook!

The best part, you can get this Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 for FREE! Just down load it and start playing! You don't have to order the album until you are ready (if budget is not a concern, you can have the book printed and delivered to your door when you finish creating).

Note (07-12-2011): I have decided to keep this blog just the way it has always been - things that happened and mattered to us, whether it was good or bad, business or not business. I could only do so much at this interesting season of my life. I eventually may have a separate blog just about CM, but for now. It will just be mentioned here and there in this blog. You are always welcome to place an order on my website and know that it is greatly appreciated. You could also let me know if you want more info about the products and I'd be happy to answer your questions.

~ This post is linked to Alicia's TNAT link party

LEGO Love

2011-06-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

LEGO building occupies Peter's playtime more than any other toys at this time. He absolutely loves to build - especially stairs or anything resembling stairs/steps. He is really fast in building them too. I can't help but keep snapping these creations of his every time I catch him building them. I have posted some in the past, here are some more. He is also very color coordinated, I noticed. He would insist on putting all the same color together to build a contraption! So adorable!

Pyramid or double stairs?

Here it shows how fast he was putting the apparatus together.

Done and added to the line.

Nice staircases...

Someone has to test it out.

More testing...

So fun...

Let's turn the staircases upside down... Still look like a staircase, just don't walk "in" it.

Even at breakfast time.

How about gymnastic poles?

Weeeeeeee.............

Look like someone can use a tricycle this Christmas...

Big brother built him this one for now.

A Christmas tree, Oh Peter. ♥

Natural Glue Remover

2011-06-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ever since I found out I could wash my hair and my face with baking soda and water (I already use baking soda for household cleaning), I have been on a mission finding other kitchen ingredients having usages for more than cooking.

We have been experimenting the natural deodorant and have decided it works for us. Our next step was to clean out an used deodorant tube and to put the new natural stuff in it.

Well, cleaning off the old deodorant cake part was easy, but trying to clean off the glue from the peeled off label was a pain! I tried using a razor, rubbing alcohol and even soaked the tube in vinegar water overnight, but to no prevail. When I was about to give up, I glanced over the counter and saw my olive oil, then my womanly wired brain clicked - I remember reading somewhere that oil can actually cleanse... So I grabbed it and the rest was history.

Of course, there is Goo Gone but I wanted something natural and if the oil works, it is natural enough for me. :)

The sticky mess (this was after the overnight vinegar-water bath).

Just a tiny drip of olive oil on it.

Rub it in a circular motion with my finger. Ahem, someone needs some hand lotion badly.

When I got the knife to scrape the glue off, They all came off immediately, without any effort!

I proceeded to rinse the tube with soap water and a green scrub pad (very gently)...

Voila! Stickiness no more!

~ One more usage of olive oil besides cooking and polishing wood items. Woohoo!

~This post is linked to Raising Homemakers's Homemking link party

Zumba!

2011-06-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I never thought I would live to see myself doing this! What a work-out!

My friend invited me to join the class (all middle age women) and told me it is not the kind of exercises that would make you ache for days. I trusted her and went. It was the biggest, longest (one hour) exercise routines I have ever done! I am not terribly sore today probably due to the constant movement of the body, not bending or twisting in one same position too long.

I perspired the entire time there. I really like the workout part of it (burnt lots of calories) but am having somewhat of a hard time with the music and some of the hip movements (I just did not seem to get the twisting of my hip down - LOL!) The work-out is all about keeping with the rhythm of the Latin-tone music, perhaps that was my problem there.

Anyway, it was quite an experience. I said I would like to go back and do it again, but I am not 100% sure since Robert just started working again and it is a temp job. The class was a treat he gifted me.

If you are fit or are a dancer or just being younger, have a "fun budget" and the music does not phase you, you may enjoy this.

~This post is linked to Alicia's TNAT link party

Women's Ministry

2011-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

God's timing is always perfect. He will grand our hearts' desires even before we knew it.

I started social networking via Facebook and Blogger because of my son's family moving away. Learning a new way to communicate was challenging but fun. Little did I know that this learning and fun would become useful to the women's ministry in our church.

I have always wanted to be part of the planning team but it seemed to be a far fetch goal for me for years. This year, when the team was considering a new way to connect with the ladies in our church, I put in my two-cents about an online communication group. Guess what? I was blessed with the task of heading it up!

I started with the Facebook group and pray over it everyday. This group is by invitation only so it calms the concerns of privacy issue.

I pray that God will bless and grow this venue of reaching out to more ladies in our church. However, I am very mindful that the one-on-one is still the best way to build any long lasting relationship.

~ This post is linked to Alicia's Try New Adventures Thursday.

My Baking Soda Hair Wash Solution Experience

2011-05-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Two more days I will be on my fourth week adventure of this baking soda hair washing trek. I am still here and all the hair stay intact and doing just fine. :)

My experience has been a good one.

Here is how I have been doing it:

1) Thoroughly soaked my hair.
2) Mixed up one tablespoon of Baking Soda with 8 ounces of hot tap water. Using the plastic measuring cup and a wash pan I worked the solution onto my scalp. After the solution dripped through my hair into the wash pan, I poured it back into the measuring cup and repeat the procedure until I am satisfied with the knowledge that I have cleansed my entire scalp with the solution.
3) Thoroughly rinsed off the solution from my head (just like you would with shampoo, except it does not hurt if some solution got into my eyes).
4) Mixed one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar with tap water (hot or cold) and soaked the ends of my hair in it for 30-40 seconds (longer time if you have really drer hair). Removed my hair and poured the whole measuring cup of vinegar into my head and rinsed my hair off immediately (just like I would with hair conditioner).

Proceeded onto taking my shower.

That's it.

There IS a transitional period when your hair looked sort of mat-ty - mine last about one week. It did not bother me much as I was expecting it - my scalp was adjusting the production of oil that my hair need.

Note: My hair actually looked better if I don't wet my hair at all on the "off" days (I tried). I chose to wash my hair with only water on the no solution days plainly out of habit.

It may sound like work but once you get into the routine, it is really no big deal because you only do this two-three times a week.

To me, the benefit outweighed the "work":
1) My hair does not have funny smell in the morning any more (it makes sense - we put baking soda in the fridge to get rid of odor, right?)
2) My hair is soft and fluffy - I hope the silkiness will come after a few more times of coconut oil treatment.
3) My scalp is producing the amount of oil my hair needs! Double yay on this one!
4) No more itchiness. Does your head itch after a day of no shampoo? In the past, my head would, I have not itched my head for the last 19 days! What a pleasant suprise for me.
5) my perfume smells just the way it should and not have the shampoo-perfume mix.
6) Hair is easily to style especially with the blow dryer (I blew dried my hair to test it and it worked - I now will blow dry my hair for special occasion because I don't have to add on more hair care product - ie. gel, mouse, spray etc.).
7) My boys wash their hair with the solution and their head smell is almost gone.
8) My face and upper back of my body is smoother because the solution got on to those two areas (try this with the regular shampoo and I think the result would be quite opposite) - I have added baking soda as my facial wash and LOVE it! I have said it before, I will repeat it: my face skin is now even pored (on the areas that are not damaged), that's something I have not seen since my puberty year!
9) Yep, it is green. It is chemical free. A friend said Arm & Hammer baking soda has metal/chemical in it, I could not find any article about it. If you have any info on this one, would you please share?
10) you guessed it - it is economical. Very affordable. :)

Hope this helps for those of you who were interested in knowing how my "scientific experiment" has turned out. :)

Yes, I would highly recommend this to whoever wants to try it. Will I ever use regular shampoo and hair conditioner again? Well, let me just say that I have found a solution that works for my hair for now and I would rather save the money to get my favorite perfume/oil instead.

I also use baking soda to clean my house.

Little By Little

2011-05-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

My little office nook is forever changing. It is a bit difficult to play with this hall closet when there is a zero budget for it. We donated our piano and office armoir to a fundraising garage sale thus the change of the computer hosting place. I am still tweaking this little space of mine. Perhaps one day the closet will be what I envision it to be, at the mean time, I am just enjoying the little differences.

Putting the monitor in it made the place look all "grown-up"!

One day I will frame the butterfly card Christine made for Peter's first birthday. I really like this card as it reminds me how much Peter loves butterflies and that was the first "word" he uttered (yes, even before Dah-Dah and Mah-Mah).

Like my shoe box shelf? I love having green plant in my work environment.

Eggs

2011-05-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Peter loves hard boiled eggs. We have to hide them so that he won't be asking to eat them everyday. Obviously, he is not able to distinguish the hard boiled eggs to the raw eggs - yet. This morning before church, we found two raw eggs cracked open on the counter and the bottom shelf of the fridge. I cleaned up the mess. After church, when I was trying to crack some eggs to stir fry rice for lunch, this was what I got... it almost threw me off balance. :)

Yeah... Peter found the hard boiled stash and put them in with the raw eggs thinking himself being helpful...

Artichoke

2011-05-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

After thirty some years living in the Golden State, I finally steamed my first head of artichoke last Friday. Now that I have tasted it, I think artichoke is the next best thing to... well, to all the vegetables I like. I grew up eating some but my parents were the ones who prepared them and I don't think I appreciated the taste back then as much as I appreciate it now.

However, I also found out there are many ways to prepare and eat artichoke - depends on who you ask, an Italian or a Chinese or a Mexican... It doesn't really matter though, it tastes good no matter how one prepares the vegetable.

My first try was by way of steaming: I steamed the artichokes with water and white vinegar for 45 minutes and enjoyed the vegetable just the way it was. Then I tasted it again with olive oil and melt butter - it was heaven!

My friend just gave me three artichokes last night so I decided to cook it in water this time, as that's the way she does - with a little olive oil, a clove of chopped garlic and half of an lemon juice.

These are home grown artichokes from my friend's garden. Don't they look lovely? They are edible flower buds actually. The avocados are also gifts from another friend's garden. We are so blessed!

This time I tried the boiling instead of steaming method and find out it took just about the same amount of time. It has a pleasant aroma, must be of the olive oil?

After 45 minutes of boiling.

This is how I eat my artichokes. Peel off the petals and sank my teeth into them and "scrape" the meat off the petals. The ones closer to the heart has more meat than the outer petals.

Usually there are "hair" around the heart but this little one did not have any. It was the smaller and pointier type. The round looking ones seems to have lots of hair...

The hair...

The heart! Yum!

The end. Satisfied.

Simplifying

2011-05-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

This month is a month of prayer for our household. There are two important things we are praying for. Because of that, I need to simplify my life even more.

Our finance has been simplified thanks to the wonderful re-fi that took place right before the work reduction. Praise the Lord for His always perfect timing and provision.

Our errands and outings have cut significantly due to the increased price of gasoline. We have always mapped our errand routes, now we also map the days we do the errands.

I will post more as the events unfold. I just could not believe how God works things out yet I should know, because he has performed in my life so many miracles or things I thought were impossible - well, perhaps impossible to me but in Christ, all things are possible.

I am trying to cut down sugar snacks by making these sweet potato slices. Amy's picture shown red color but since I did not have yam, I made it with sweet potatoes. It was a hit with the kids, too.

I also got back to my monthly menu planning. I have to, in order to make things run more smoothly for the next months. The menu plan has proven to work beautifully in the past so it will work its magic again. I love my "Saving Dinner" cookbook. I have left-overs for lunch almost daily.

Simplifying my beauty routine is my current endeavour. The no-poo for my hair is working very well. I have also moved on to using baking soda solution for my facial cleansing and my back and feet care. The result stunned me. For the first time in my life since puberty, I have a clean, even pored face skin without spending major bucks for it. My heels? Nice and smooth. I am so thankful to have found these many great uses of baking soda!

~This post is linked to Raising Homemakers by Emily

No More Shampoo and Conditioner

2011-05-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Ever since I found out there is a way to save on shampoo, I had been thinking about giving it a try. It was not until I saw this post and the hundreds of comments it has then I decided to give it a whirl.

The experience is so far so good. I am on my day 4 - in the "two week" transition as she said.

My hair was fluffy on day one - felt like I had just visited an hair salon.

Day 2 was equally pleasant.

I washed my hair again on day 3. I had a very busy day that day and did not realize my hair looked a bit dry until Christine pointed it out. I thought I have very oily hair that was why I did not use the apple cider vinegar as Tsh suggested.

So this morning (day 4) I just washed in some apple cider vinegar, no baking soda mixture (you should leave the vinegar on your hair for two minutes if you have dry hair. If you have oily hair, you should just rinse it off after about 30-45 second on your hair.) I left the vinegar on for about two minutes thinking I could "catch up". Well, my hair turned sorta mat-ty, especially after sitting under the sun a bit longer than I should.

The beautiful thing to me about this adventure is that even when my hair looked mat-ty, it was not greasy when touched. my hair is softer and I could slightly styled my hair without needing any gel or mouse.

This is a completely new hair routine for me as I have (or had, rather) always washed my hair on a daily basis. This method is so frugal and it works with my hair. The bottom line? I wish I'd done it sooner.

Now that we saved money from buying commercial hair care products, perhaps I should look into using raw milk to make yogurt! :)

I washed Peter's hair last night with the solution (it is tear free by the way). He would be happy to not have shampoo in his head (he always cries whenever I poured the shampoo on his head and the shampoo was suppose to be tear-free). Since he is little and does not have lots of oil from his scalp, I would only use the solution on him two times a week. The rest of the time I would just wash his hair with good 'ol plain water.

He would not sit still for us to take this picture of his hair. This is the only steady picture we got of him. The lighting was not so good. Oh well, maybe next time it will be a better one.

~This post is linked to Alicia's Thursday Adventure link party

Recap

2011-05-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

In these busy days, I want to be sure I locked away these precious memories.

After that morning, I have been up when he gets up in the morning or before him. Can't afford to have accident on my laziness.

Peter copies everything we do. Including cooking. He was watching me stir fried rice the night before and this was what I found in the wok the morning after. He poured all of my oils into the wok (thankfully my olive oil was at the end of it but my canola oil was 1/3 full. What scared me in this picture was the Pam spray being so close to the stove range. Thankfully he has not figured out how to turn on the fire. He even took out the eggs and got a hold of my raw rice. He did not know the rice has to be cooked before you do the fried rice. LOL!

Afterward, he put together this Lego structure.

Looking at pictures of the Charlie Brown book. I love how he holds the book open.

More Lego building, I think this is a car garage???

Putting together Baby Moses in his basket. Peter learns quickly with hands-on activity.

A Saturday "field trip" with Dad and Mom at Lowe's build & Grow program. He was so into it here in the beginning of the building process.

Then he got bored....

Finally, a finished project - the bird house.

I used this egg plate for my devil-eggs (I wish there's a better name for this delicious egg recipe) - My friend Christine Hubbard made it. I bought it at a fundraiser boutique. I think that was one of the last pieces she created before she passed on. I remember her every time I see this plate.

Peter is learning the numbers. I hope he will master the concept of adding to 10's by playing with these beads.

More chess "game", this time with Mom. He is really getting a hang of the piece placement. It was so fun watching him "move" his pieces. He was all over the board, with patterns!!!

Another puzzle he knows by heart.

Moving on to stacking card house...

Well, it did not go so well. That's OK, just need more practice (the Ace card is set up firm between the crack of the table leaf as a "foundation". :)

For Joshua, after MANY practices, is able to make a two story card house.

Peter wanted to extend our staircase. Some times I want to be a fly in this kid's head.

Every child should have these stackable cups. This set was Christine's but every kid in this house play(ed) with it including my oldest son to my granddaughter.

Yeah... the cups kept him occupied for hours (and working his brain)! I highly recommend this toy!

Beach Day

2011-04-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day for our first beach trip of the year as a family. The cloudless blue sky tricked our minds thinking it would not be an overcast day and therefore, we would not get sunburn. We were so wrong but all the kids thought it was worth the pain for such nice day at the beach.

We met up with a few families and had a spring/summer kick off!

We saw a school of dolphins and we followed them until we couldn't see them any more. There were whales too. What an eye feast for us!

Love this picture and the boys in it!

Busy playing...

I love this following photo series of Peter digging in the sand...

"Let me help you, brother... to dig a hole.."

"Dad! I need some help...!"

"Why don't you try it over there?" Dad said

"OK..."

"Hmmmm.... this is easier... I am already in a 'hole'..."

"FUN!!!"

**************

Christine snapped a shot of me.

Peter enjoying a Jo-Jo at the beach.

Who wants peanut butter sandwich when there are Jo-Jos... Ditto for Pete!

Hello Ocean, I like you...

"I like the sand too."

Christine and Peter

Hello Kiddos!

The beach gang - memory made.

You can see how bright and sunny the day was from this picture. The yellow flowers were EVERYWHERE!

Table Skirt

2011-04-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

I have been working on setting up my scrapbooking center in my bedroom. It has been slow coming partly due to the fact that I felt like I was trading a part of my bedroom to something that should not be there.

Living in small space has its challenge. I am ever so careful at where I place what furniture within this 800 square feet of living space. For that very reason, I am in a process of giving away the office armoire that was given to us. I am hoping to be able to give it to friends before posting it on the freecycle.com.

Anyway, I have a few rules while putting together this scrapbooking center: All the organizing set-up must come from re-purposed items from our home; Taking my time to put ONLY what I really use in the shelves so it does not look like a place of pretty clutter; how to "blend" it into the bedroom so it does not look like a store set up and, without spending any money on it as I have zero budget for this project.

Using fabrics in this area has proven to soften the "office" look. To cover the bottom part of the table, I cut up my old fitted bed sheet and made a table skirt for it~

The "valence" was an after thought addition - Using the "fitted" part of the fitted sheet. It was so fun creating this table covering. Definitely a project that was made up as I went along! You can see the "after thought" from the waves of the valence. I hemmed it up so it does not look too raggedy.

~This post is linked to IHeart Organizing's Green challenge link party.

Soiree 2011

2011-04-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

It was finally here and now gone. What an evening it was for Christine and her friends.

Some moms from our homeschool group put together this annual elegant social for our high school students for years. Christine attended last year for the first time and this year the excitement mounted even higher as the days drawing closer. It was almost like she was preparing all the details for a wedding. So fun to go through that with her.

Remember I blogged about the purchasing of the dress on our girls' day out? You can see the dress in the pictures below. To follow the dress code (yes, no spaghetti straps or other over revealing attire is allowed in this event. If you violate the code, you will have to find something to cover your dress - and they do enforce that rule), Christine sewed on some sparkling sequence to expand the straps without taking away the airy feeling of the dress. It was such fun project for her to tackle.

What I want to remember in this post, though, is that she paid for EVERYTHING with her hard earned money. Ever since Robert lost his job, the kids knew if they want to do anything "extra", they would have to fund it themselves. Praise the Lord, Christine has done many photo sessions this past year to enable her to set a small budget for the event. She is such a good money manager. She does a good job with the bookkeeping of her income. She has managed to reinvested into her business, saving for the college summer camp and other things she wants to do that we consider them "extras". I am so thankful for Christine's keen awareness of her family's circumstance and so appreciate her cheerful attitude as she tackles away life's projects.

Without further ado, here are some of the pictures of that evening~

Rebekah and Christine

My girl ♥

Andy, Rebekah, Christine and Nathanael

Christine and Kasey

Just for fun, Christine added some peacock feathers on the back of her dress.

Some of the young gents.

What a fun evening they had.

The line-up

Yes... This was the theme of this year.

Vigilance

2011-04-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Vigilance, or the lack of it. It does not happen to everyone. At least I hope it does not.

For years, I have always been the first person get down stairs before everyone else in our home. I would pack Robert's snack and lunch and make breakfast for him to eat before he leaves to work. My children would almost always find me in the kitchen when they came down stairs. Even little Peter.

Well, when Robert became unemployed last Christmas time, we slowly started getting up later and later in the mornings (which I dislike very much) because we stay up later at nights (Dad doesn't have to work the next day).

We don't wake up until around 7:30 in the morning these days.

The problem is, Peter still gets up early due to his regular bed time at 7:30pm. I could not change it and make him sleep later even if I try (and I did try). This past Tuesday morning we woke up an hour later then 7:30 am (no class that day due to Easter break) because the boys came in late on Monday night with the CAP activity. The good thing was I slept through the entire night without waking up as it has been the pattern of late. My body must needed the rest. The bad thing was we knew something must had taken place - Peter was way too quite for a morning at 8:30.

Preparing ourselves, Robert and I went down stairs and the scene was exactly what we had expected:

All my new pre-shrunk sponges all got soaked and expanded.

Sorry for the blurry picture - I was a bit shaken up. He opened up all the drawers and went through everything in it. I am thankful he did not get cut on the foil paper roll's knife edge.

Yes, he managed to pull this heavy chair all by himself into the kitchen so he could use the faucet. The floor was wetter and the water more spread out than the picture shown here. I am thankful he did not find my knife tray.

Yes, all the drawers that contain things that are off limit to him all got touched.

The question was: Was he being disobedience or was I lack the vigilance to be the mother God wants me to be to Peter? Had I gotten up earlier as I have been for years until these past months, would this have happened? I don't know the answer. Peter was found guilty siting in the living room and his wet clothing gave him away for the mischievous act he conducted. He received the consequence for his disobedience on opening all the drawers that he was not allowed to and I received mine (cleaning up) for not waking up early.

The Lord has convicted me that morning once more. Regardless what our life circumstance is or will be, my duty as a mom will stay the same - being vigilant to my children and to my home. Thank you, Lord, for the reminder.

...to obey is better than sacrifice.... 1 Samuel 15:22

Ressurrection Egg Hunt

2011-04-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Easter is coming in a week. I saw blogs that have young children were all doing something to celebrate the holiday. That brought to my memory an unforgettable Resurrection Egg Hunt homeschool event years ago, when Christine was a little girl.

I did not grow up with Easter in my life so when I first encountered the ways my American friends celebrate Easter, I was wide-eyed. After I became a Christian, I had a hard time to celebrate Easter with bunnies, eggs and candies. Even though our children were not exposed much to the above mentioned from home, they knew about it from other sources.

Ten years ago, when our homeschool group decided to do a Resurrection Egg Hunt for the children, I was excited. The children had fun with the tradition and at the same time, learned about the true meaning of Easter.

I scrapbooked the event. It took me about eight hours to construct the eggs and the contents in them (scrapbooking was a new thing in those days and one always had to improvise.) I am so glad I did the pages. Now when I look at them I remember that day as if it was yesterday. ♥

Here is my double-spread pages on the event. I wrote the verses on the eggs and writings of what the children were learning outside of the eggs.

It was such a challenge to create the eggs and the contents in the eggs!

Christine in her pretty pink dress and her hat. She was (still is) my "hat" girl.

What a memorable day we had!

Busy Days

2011-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

It's been an extra busy week! In the middle of battling with a very bad cold (by now we all had it), life went on.

Peter thoroughly enjoys his daily activities. A thought hit me that while I am preparing Peter for his pre-school years, we are also preparing Christine's exiting of high school years. Wow.

Peter and his Button Bear puppet.

Peter loves hands-on activities. He is learning how to punch the leaves and gluing them on a piece of paper...

...and putting them on the Lego patterns he made. I have the butterfly punch, which would probably be more appropreate for the month of April but the "March leaf" punch was easier for him to punch the shapes out.

His "people" hugging his drinking glass.

Oh, let's remember to get in some hours of "photography" time. Hehe... No body is happier to see this picture than his very own sister. ♥

I love how he grouped the "people" into three different even number groups. Math seems like it would be a fun subject with him. (I am glad)

Playing a game of chess with brother. He posed here as if he knew what he was doing. LOL! He is learning the names of the chess pieces. When I told him that the "horse" is a knight, he said "wake up!" He thought I meant "night-(night)".

Attending Christine's Senior meeting brought me back to reality that I am having yet another child leaving the nest next year. Oh, how I have treasured these past years with Christine. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a gift of sweetness through her. I know I will miss her dearly if she is to go off to college in a different state.

My Favorite Household Item: Clothespin

2011-04-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows what a clothespin is. I grew up with clothspin as a mean of exactly what it was invented for: to hold the wet cloths up on the cloth line for drying.
Obviously, there are more things you can use the clothespins for than just holding the wet cloths to dry. I don't need to tell you, all it takes is to just Google the word "clothespin" and I am certain there will be tons of usages out there for you to try.

The use I discovered this morning may not be new but it was new to me: I have printed out a Buttermilk Pancake recipe and wanted to try it out right a way except I could not find a proper spot to place the recipe while I gather the ingredients and following the directions on how to make the pancakes. That's when I glanced around my kitchen counter and lo and behold, there is the clothespin! My problem solved.

Clipped right on the edge of my dish cloth basket - at a perfect eye level, too!

By the way, the pancakes were delicious! Thank you Rebecca. It is a keeper!

Home Remedy

2011-04-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

I have not been sick like this for a long while.

You see, I am a wimp when it comes to dealing with head cold/sore throat kinda things. A long while ago I tried to be my own doctor and treated my sore throat at home except to find myself in the doctor's office getting scolded for doing so. That sore throat almost cost my life - it lead to an ear infection and a giant headache. So, yeah, after that fiasco, I go to the doctor after the first sign of sore throat I get. Unfortunately, they ALWAYS prescribe anti-biotic to me. Needless to say, the discomfort of the soreness went away like magic. I experienced no further pain and life went on beautifully (even though, for my health, the anti-biotic is far more costly than it sounds).

Anyway, Last Saturday evening, I began to "feel" that soreness. My senses were all heightened because of it. I stayed low key and tried to relax (yeah, with a three years old by my side). By Sunday, it didn't go away and I became very upset. I could not go to the doctor this time because we have no insurance currently and all of a sudden I was at a loss in finding something at home to sooth my throat. Monday came, no use, still there, and it got worse at night time, I started to cough and having a sinus infection symptoms. Sitting up almost the entire night coughing and blowing my nose. By Tuesday, I was half gone. I showed up at the fs program and had to leave early because I was just too weak to help. On Wednesday, feeling a little better I thought I could fulfil an outside commitment but instead, found myself with no energy and I was excused from the commitment early. The moment I hit home, all I could think of was "please give me my bed and some hours to sleep in!"

Sleep deprivation can make you a very silly person. Case closed. I was so tired that I did not even think of Googling for something that might help without seeing a doctor.

Anyway, everyone I talked to during that time all have given me a remedy to try. You know what, I found out it is not a good thing to "try" remedy when you are sick and can not think clearly. I did the honey coated raw garlic with cold water, I rubbed on me heavy dozes of the dragon blood (Robert calls it that name) Chinese medicine oil (yes, the word dragon-blood is actually one of the ingredients listed in the oil), bunches of Vitamin Cs. A whole box of "throat tea", Ricolas, I tried the Wellness Formula Dietary Supplement and I even drank the really old "salty lemon gold nugget juice". After all of these intense doses of "home remedy", I finally gave "Airborne" a try, and bingo! I think we hit it right this time. I am now on my road to recovery, thank you, Lord. Now Peter is coughing and having a runny nose, so I am giving him 1/8 of a Airborne tablet in his diluted organic apple juice to drink three times a day and hope to prevent a fever from setting in.

I don't like to play doctor. This time we were fortunate to get the sickness down. This epic has caused me to want to look into the natural medicine realm as I am not sure how long this job seeking season would last.

Airborne - The winner for this bout.

Suwanee Soap Give-A-way!

2011-04-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Great news! If you like home made soap as much as I do, here is a chance to win one! Just go to Rebecca's blog (Mom's Mustard Seeds) and submit your comment(s) and you are in!
Have Fun!
Oh, be sure to wish Rebecca a happy birthday. It is her birthday today! :)

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

2011-04-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today I saw in two blogs I regularly visit have joined the Ultimate Blog Party 2011. So I thought I'd add my post to the party just for the fun of it.

If this is your first time visiting my blog, Welcome ♥

I started blogging as a means of staying in touch when my oldest son and his family relocated. Even though it also contains tips on home making, this blog is really all about our lives (hence the blog name).

Life holds so much for all of us. I savor all the little moments that took place - whether it was a joyous or sad occasion. My family is my focus. I have learned a great deal about the God I serve through the practicality of everyday life as well as the raising of my children.

The Lord has blessed us with wonderful children in His timing. We have four live children (in the span of twenty years) and we have one gone on to heaven recently.

Please allow me the pleasure to introduce my family to you ~

Daisy ~ My unborn child who taught me that the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Peter ~ My most energetic child, through him the Lord teaches me patience.

Joshua ~ my young teen who is learning to stand firm on his convictions. I am encouraged through his effort in his character building.

Christine ~ my gracious daughter, whose beauty is endurance. Thank you Lord for your comfort through her.

Erik ~ my first born, through him I learn of God's grace and compassion. God is good, forever.

Emma ~ My daughter-in-law. Emma, thank you for loving my son. ♥

Ezri ~ My first grand-daughter, who is the cutest thing in her Grandma's eyes.

Roxas ~ quiet, but a little smart boy just like his daddy.

Robert and I ~ Life companion to each other.

~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

Weekend Recap

2011-03-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Last week Robert was gone with the two older kids to their speech tournament for four days. I had learned to adjusted to these go-away of theirs. As the kids grow older, they have a more active schedule to keep.
I had also learned to use these "alone" time more effectively. Even though I would still have Peter with me but he mostly just tagged along with whatever I was doing and surprisingly he was actually very mellow when his siblings were gone.
As usual, I always have a couple of "big" projects I would tackle and a whole bunch of little ones while a big part of the family is gone.
I didn't list the "projects" this time but I worked for almost a straight four days with the exception of watching two BBC movies on DVD - "Cranford" and "Wives and Daughters" on two separate nights. The movies helped me to relax after moving things around and cooking and cleaning at daytime.
Anyway, here are some of the things I did. Some of them are still in progress which is all right as I have not expected to have everything "accomplished" just because I had a chance to start the projects. Giving grace period to projects has been a big blessing for me on the realization that things do get done - in due time.

I set up my scrapbooking center in my bedroom. this will be a trial experience, I hope it will work out. I don't have it all the way set up yet. This is one of the projects that is still in progress.

I moved Peter's mattress out from under the bunk-bed. I am still searching for a bed frame to put the mattress on. I have to keep looking at Craig's List for it. I really like the idea of inserting Joshua's desk half way into the bunk bed to make the room not looking too crowed. We still need to repaint the wall. Another project in progress. I won't put the new comforter up until we got the bed frame. I don't want the comforter to be dragging on the floor.

I Googled for a natural home made recipe of "no-streak" mirror cleaner and found one that called for only two ingredients so I put it to a test...

There were no exact measurement - just half of a fresh lemon and some vinegar.

Well, it turned out I only need to use straight vinegar to shine the mirror without any streak at all! The lemon juice some how left a film looking layer over the mirror even after my great effort of buffing. So, STRAIGHT vinegar on a cotton rag (not the microfiber towel as the one shown here) works wonder.

I did find another good use for the lemon peels (removing all of the white parts). I put them in with some baking soda and leave them in the refrigerator to absorb the odor. Just need to refresh the content monthly.
Note: I had to throw away the lemon peels after a couple of days as the moisture in the refrigerator caused them to become moldy. I did not add any more fresh lemon peels, just keep the baking soda in there alone.

I simply put the date on a piece of scotch tape for reference.

While cleaning up boxes of books, I found this box full of more cookbooks that I have forgotten. I am not sure what to do with them just yet, so another ~~work~~ thought in progress...

This one was my most exciting experiment - the most frugal air freshener diffuser I have ever created. A recycled yogurt jar with some essential oil and some shes kabob sticks! The room has been invigorated with the refreshed scent for pennies!

More book repairs. We had these books since my oldest was a youngster. They are ~~tattered~~ loved very much by all the kids.

The weekend passed quickly and I may not be able to do these much plus more again perhaps until their next trip. But being productive while they were away sure was a wise use of time. I was having tons of fun with all the work and researching, but truthfully I was glad to be reunited with my family even though it meant being busy and having messes again. ♥

~This post is linked to Raising Homemakers

Cut flowers

2011-03-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

I love having fresh flowers in the house. Depending on the flowers, some of them last longer than others. Most of them, though, I could extend their displaying life a little longer by trimming them down and re-vase them.
It is not a new idea, but one that is so pretty to look at.

We got these purple (they look red in this photo) tulips from the FS program. They graced out dinning table for about a week...

Then they went wild.... still pretty, but too distracted to look at them.

Time for ~~an hair cut~~ a trim. Ahhh... much better. They will last a few more days.

A few short ones sit at the window sill next to my calendar.

(must clean those windows as soon as the rain stop)

Enjoy!

Knife Tray - Ergonomic Placement

2011-03-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was a young girl, I have always been fascinated with storage/organization ideas. The enthrallment deepened when I had my own home. I remember at one point, buying containers was my stress therapy. I love seeing things neatly stacked or nestled together. Then came the magazine lure. I remember daydreaming all the time how I would like to have my home look just like the way that favorite page of mine looked - with all the bells and whistles. I remember always coming home depressed (it is called coveting, now I know) after visiting friends' pretty houses and wondered why we could not move out of this tiny place. Those were hard years. Then I grew up. Lessons learned. I now embrace the ideas of "Less is More" and "Green Living" (aka to be a good steward with what we have been given). Not only I am contented to be still in this tiny place, I actually am thankful to be here. Knowing that what makes a house home is the people that dwell in it and not just the stuff has helped me organize my home with a new eye.

What does this has to do with my title of this post? Well, even though I am not buying containers any more, I do still have stuff that need to be organized. This is where the fun starts. I have to be creative and use what I have already owned or get them from the freecycle.com to create the storage I need. I have always kept this in mind that our circumstances change as we move through life and the way we set up house will reflect the current status of our life. Case in hand: I was giving away all Joshua's toy/baby things a year before we had peter. I thought Joshua was my last child. Surprise! The Lord's way is not our way and His thought not our thought. So true.

Anyway, here is where the knife tray idea came in. The other day when I was waiting for Christine to finish her Chemistry study with her friends in the library, I was looking through some organizing books (not magazines) and this picture made its way into my memory of my first love of storage/organized.

There's no way I will ever have that kind of shallow/spacious drawer in my kitchen or the handsome knife set, besides the fact that I can't have anything sharp located where Peter can easily reach. So, instead of a drawer, which I love how easy it is to retrieve a knife and look so organized, I used a jelly tray and lined it with an old place mat. I like how it looks already!

Did I say the knife set is old? Yeah, I have this set since 1984 (hence the peeling of the handle and some missing knives). They still work fine and easy to sharpen. I have replaced a couple of them (with very affordable price). The most tickling thing is that I decided to put the pair of scissor there just so maybe I would use it now that it is in plain view. Guess what? I have used it about five times on the first day I set this up!

Here is where the ergonomic placement part came in. I placed the tray on top of the microwave, underneath the cabinet, next to my food prep counter area. Boy, let me tell you, it was the most effortless way ever for me to retrieve the tools and returning them (after cleaning) to the same spots was a cinch! I am loving this placement so much that I was actually genuinely happy all day yesterday. A common sense idea that really works.

Neither the knife set nor the tray were anything fancy, but the placement idea was like a light bulb went on in my head. Now I am looking for more ways to tweak my other storage areas to make them more ergonomic friendly. So, after all, living in a small space can actually be a huge blessing!

Happy Birthday My Boy

2011-03-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Peter you turned three today.

A milestone for sure. It is for me, at least. I've had to learn how to raise a child all over again since your birth. It was not always a smooth path but one that I am glad to travel at anytime.

By God's grace, we both survived these last three years - with our hearts knitted tighter and our looks to each other better understood. Peter you are a high energy toddler and I am a much older mom when you arrived. People could visualize our days, couldn't they? :)

As usual, I like to write down your growth on this special day of yours as a mean of remembering all the big/small moments in your three years of life so far.

Peter, in no chronological order:

You still love to eat avocados seven days a week if I let you.

Egg is your upmost favorite food and like avocado, you could eat eggs all day if I let you (but I know better). You like eggs so much that you even learned how to spell the word! You are so cute.

You said your first short sentence two days ago to your sister: "Nie-nie Khizz broth..." (it meant Christine you kiss brother, too.) because you wanted to make sure your brother also got a kiss from your sister after she kissed you. You are so adorable! I hope to hear you repeat that short phrase again and again. ♥

You know how to count 1 - 10 forward and backward solidly. You blow us away every time you do that!

You like to count with mom at bed time to 100 and make up songs to go along with the numbers.

"The B-i-b-l-e" is your favorite "night-night" song next to the ABC song. You crack me up boy.

You dance to Christine's piano music.

You always point out cars and the moon!

The moon was your favorite object to point out before you watched the "Cars" movie. After that movie, you found your new pointing object - the cars!

Now you run up and down stairs as if you were born knowing how.

You like jumping on our bed.

You never call us Mommy or Daddy. It is always Mom and Dad. Short and sweet.

You used to call me "Ba!" and I couldn't wait for you to call me "Mom!" and now you do I actually miss the "Ba!". Oh, Mommy is so hopeless in letting you go (grow).

We all love your impressive faces and your ability to charm us to death.

I love doing craft with you. You are one intense learner!

I am glad you enjoy the Apple poem we are learning together. I love it so much whenever you pull me to sit with you and recite the poem.

You would wave and say "Bye! See you!" to us whether you are leaving from or staying at the house.

Here are the short phrases you copied from us without us knowing:

"Here we go!"

"What's it?"

"Let('s) go!"

"Raaaaaain!"

When we say "Ready, get set..." and you would quickly say "go!"

"NOoooo....!" (with the expression and tone just like us when we said it)

"Ph(p)leaze.."

"T(h)ank you"

"Mine!!!" (it's mine)

"No mine" (which means it is not mine or it is not what I want)

You love those "Gold Fish" crackers so much that we can have you do anything including leaving your beloved play grounds as long as we have that as a "bait". :)

You love doing puzzles. I can't wait to play chess with you!

Reading with the soft classical background music is still one of your favorite things to do. I love it so much when I see you enjoying looking at books.

You are just about ready to be potty trained and yes, We are ready when you are. ♥

I told you last night that you will be three today and you repeated the number but I don't think you are comprehending the meaning of aging but I do, and I am so thankful that the Lord allows you to be in our life and the joy you have brought us.

We love you, Pete!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

We will never forget the day you came into our lives.

We celebrated your one-year-old birthday.

Your two-year-old birthday...

...and now, your three-year-old birthday!

~In the morning...

Morning tradition

Let's go get some donuts for birthday breakfast!

"That one, Dad! That one!"

Praying with Dad before enjoying the treat...

...and a kiss from mom.

~In the evening...

(pictures by Christine)

Anticipation mounting... (Peter thinking: "I think they are bringing something out to me...")

Cake! More sugar treat!

I love this cake angle...

Yummy! Chocolate cheesecake.

Present

ABC game!!! Hooray!

That was a "B"...

This is an "H"...

The Penguin Marker for Pete!

We had a wonderful day with Peter. Thank you Lord, for given us a gift of life. So precious, so treasured.

Lacinato Kale

2011-03-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have heard so much benefits about kale but the truth is I never try cooking any of them (the varieties scared me off, I guess). This past weekend I came across this Organic Lacinato Kale from the Farmer's Market so I decided to give it a try. This vegetable has very hard stems (hence the name Dino Kale) and my common sense led me to rip the leaves off the stems before cooking them. I was glad to find out I did the right thing after reading about it from Google. It tasted so wonderful that I know I would do it again. It is loaded with vitamin K (680%!) besides all the other good nutrients it contains.

These dark leaves looked very interesting, they looked good enough to be a center piece on the dinner table, in my opinion. The dark green color made me feel healthy eating them.

We tried to put some water on the back of the leaf and voila! They looked like pieces of crushed ice. You have to see it in person to see the amazing effect!

I sauteed the veggies by following this supper easy recipe - I added some unsalted butter, some sweet corns and two small bowls of water (one bowl at a time as i sauteed it) to keep them from turning brown.

It was an yummy side dish with the "Dash" roasted chicken and rice. I will definitely make this meal again.

~This post is linked to Alicia's Homemaking

Peter Reciting His ABC's

2011-03-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Life went on as I was bed resting last month. Peter was learning his ABC's before I went down and when I got back on my feet again, he was singing the ABC song and saying the alphabets. It is so neat to hear him say the letters. Some of them you can definitely hear and others you can tell he is still working on them. None the less, he was saying them all. The "W" is my favorite. Now I need to go to the Dollar store to get him some ABC tracing books. I think he would be jazzed to learn to trace the letters.

Hair Cut

2011-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

I did it. I cut my hair and donated it to the Locks of Love.

It is easier to wash my hair now that it is much shorter. My body is healing slowly so I do not want to stand in the shower stall too long.

Emotionally I am still struggling with the loss. My hormone seems to be playing ping-pong inside me all day. I would be fine one minute and get teary eyes the next. It is a very exhausted experience.

In my heart, though, I hold tight to God's promise: He will never leave me nor forsake me.

Thank you, Lord.

This is my third time donating my hair to this organization and each time it blessed me to know that a part of me can be used to help others through a difficult trial in their lives.

My Daisy

2011-02-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

I will see you one day in heaven, my sweet baby. ♥ Mom.

Shocked

2011-02-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

To say that I was in an emotional roller coaster these last three days is an understatement. I am still processing the fact that there is a baby in my womb.

I looked back at my old blog posts and found this one which now I think was what my body was trying to tell me that I was with child. But because I thought I was on my way to another chapter of my life that I mistranslated the signs to be part of the menopause.

I have not had any morning sickness or strong craving of certain kind of food. Those two were the biggest signals during my pregnancies of other four children. Needless to say, last Sunday, when I was suddenly attacked by this incredible hunger while working alarmed me that something was not right with my body. The funny part was that I thought I had tapeworm. TAPEWORM!!! Who in the world would have such imagination? Anyway, I was trying to rule out the cause of this hunger, and while talking to my family, I don't remember who said: "would that be you are having a baby?"

"A BABY?" I said, rolled my eyes.

I assured them that it is not a baby, I am just hungry maybe because the horrible diarrhea I just had recently, and now my body is just trying to "restock".

To make them happy and prove them wrong, I asked Robert to run down to the store and get a home test kit. I was so calm and confident as I did the procedure of the test. But when I saw how quickly the two lines showed up, I had to sit down! It is impossible! But there they are, the two lines stared back at me.

I walked down stairs, my face must have said it all. Robert exclaimed: "Mommy is going to have a baby!!!"

The kids turned their heads from whatever they were doing and looked at me for confirmation. I showed them the test kit. They both rushed to my side and held me and made me sit down and get water for me and shouting: "We are going to have a baby! Yay!!!"

I was overwhelmed with their gladness of this shocking news. I have not been able to think clearly these three days.

But just as the sudden joy that took place, two days ago, I suddenly started bleeding, not heavily, but that's never this sign in any of my prior pregnancies. I was really panic, but deep down in my heart, I know God is in control of all things - big or small.

Because we only have about a month of insurance coverage left, I was trying to save money by skipping the doctor's confirmation visit, but the bleeding would not stop.

It was raining so hard yesterday. I felt like the heaven was crying with me as I was crying and praying so hard that the Lord will let us keep this baby.

Yesterday at 1:30pm, Robert and I were at the CPC but they could not perform the ultrasound exam because of my bleeding. They recommended us to see a doctor right away, as they said it might be the beginning of a miscarriage.

A miscarriage!

My heart sank and I cried out to the Lord: " Oh please, Lord, please let that not be a miscarriage... please..."

Dodging the rain, Robert and I made it to the doctor's office, five minutes before their closing time. The doctor performed the vaginal ultrasound exam and we saw the baby sack and some little dots. So, the "baby" is definitely there, but the doctor did not seem to be thrilled of the growth. According to the chart and the information I gave him the baby should be at about 8 weeks but the picture he saw seems to be at six weeks. I am very confused at this, because if we are calculating this according to the actual conception date, then it is where it should be but if it is base on the first day of my last menstrual cycle then the "baby" is off by two weeks.

Yes, I am emotionally beaten. But in my heart, I know that The Lord reigns and I have the peace only a child of God could relate.

I am still bleeding but I am accepting it. I pray when I see my doctor for my first pre-natal check up on Mach 1st, that the baby is still hanging in there with me.

Dick and Jane

2011-02-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

I love the Dick and Jane books. I found this book at a bookstore a few years ago. I did not know Peter would actually show interest in looking at it. I sat down and read to him and he seemed to enjoy the book tremendously. I kept seeing him looking at the book everyday.

I know I will always have a book mess when there is a toddler at home (it was the same with the other three when they were younger) but I truly don't mind the mess at all. It means they were having a good time reading. As my three older kids grew, they did learn to automatically put the books away when they finished reading. Peter will be doing the same when his time comes. :)

He's so into the book here that he didn't even pay any attention to me.

There's a lot of writing on this page but it started with just "Go, Jane, go." on the first page. The format of the book is so clever, as it really draws him into reading the following pages.

Peter's Valentine's

2011-02-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

Peter had his first group Valentine's with all his pre-school friends! Our school group celebrated it last Thursday. Since it was Peter's first year of participation, we got some See's suckers for his age group. They were well received. The tip of buying those suckers in a box is that you have a choice of the sucker flavor - chocolate, coffee, butterscotch or vanilla, at the amount you want - at half of the regular price.

We just punched out some heart shapes and tied them on the suckers and twirled some ribbons on it. It was simple but festive enough.

Peter checking out all of the goodies he got.

He had so much fun looking through all of the sweet cards.

My poor kid, he is so deprived. I took away all of the sugar candies after he looked through the bag and he did not even know the difference.

Look at all of the suckers he got! Well, they will be "inspected" and put away and probably will be distributed once in a blue moon. He could keep all his cards, games and pencils though. :)

~Photos by Christine with the exception of the first picture. Thank you, Sweetheart~

Revealing

2011-02-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes You can guess a person's diet by peeking into their refrigerator to see what is in there, or a little of their personalities (or circumstances) by the kinds of cars they drive, or their tastes of clothing by the way they dress, and so on. My case today is my kitchen utensils. Judging from the tools I have (or lack of), you can tell I am not much of a cook. I do cook, mind you, but only so that my family will not be starve. Occasionally I'd like to try some new recipes, very occasionally though. Anyway, Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons was wondering how readers keep their utensils - in a drawer or in a container? My answer to mine is both and more...

I am missing a couple of utensils here. They are in the sink to be washed. I use a small Spoon LB basket to house all the frequently use utensils here, next to my tray of cooking oils and sea salt. I have a small empty yogurt jar to hold the measuring spoons and mini spatulas. All within easy distance when I need them while cooking.

Directly down the counter top of the cooking utensils, I put all the non-sharp tools in this drawer. It took me a while to adjust to not getting knives out of there.

All the knives and cutting tools are lying in this extra baking dish inside the cupboard where Peter has not figured out how to get to them. We child proof the knives after Joshua woke up one morning seeing Peter waving two long chef's knives at him. Being scarred was an understatement.

I do re-purpose a pretty flower pot as a holder of the clean spoons, forks and knives that I just washed. I love how it looks by the sink. The flower pot was a Mother's Day gift. The tiny roses died and I just couldn't throw away a perfectly good pot. Here is another revealing, if you have not caught on yet... I am closer to a brown thumb than a green one. Ha!

This one was one of my favorite ways of storing the frequently used utensils and tableware. Unfortunately, they also met the fate of within the reach of Peter's hands and therefore, have been removed. I had this set up in 2009.

~This post is linked to A Bowl Full of Lemons at Toni's

Give-A-ways

2011-02-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have ever mentioned give-a-ways from other bloggers here, but there are these two give-a-ways that are worth looking into. Book and chocolates. What a combo from two generous bloggers whose blogs I so enjoy reading:

The Wholesome Womanhood is giving a way Kingdom's Dawn by Chuck Black, a YA fiction. From Melinda's review, it sounds like a very exciting book for boys (or/and girls) to read. Name drawing date is 2/16.

A Bowl Full of Lemons is giving a way some delicious sweets - The Dove Chocolate Discoveries. Looks delicious. Toni has pictures to show you what they look like. Name drawing date is 2/12.

Go and have fun putting your names in for some food for the soul and treat for the sweet tooth! :)

Cookie Baking Fiasco

2011-02-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

I know I have a long way to go when it comes to cooking, or baking in this case. I will be more specific here - cookies baking.

One would think how hard is it to bake cookies? A little flour, a couple of eggs, lots of butter and some wonder dust (aka sugar) voila! Cookies are made!

That may be easy for someone who LOVE to bake cookies, like Robert and Christine. It is some kind of mind block when I took on the task. So my cookies baking usually goes something like this:

"Oh, it feels like a day to have some home made oatmeal cookies..."

"Ok, dear/mom, you got it!"

Wasn't that simple and easy? I should have stuck with that method of cookies baking.

But I really want to try to bake them myself. So when the opportunity came, I took it.

I was approached a few weeks back to bake some cookies for a Good News Club. No problem, I thought to myself. It will give me a chance to practice my cookies baking skill. I jotted down the date I wanted to deliver the two dozens of cookies - three days before the event date.

Well, life happened and I got super busy. Monday came and gone. No cookies made. Tuesday came and gone, still no cookies. Today I told myself it is a top priority on my to-do list. Yep. You guessed it. One of our cars' motor belt broke (and something else - cost estimate $700 - $800. It doesn't rain here, it only pours) and I had a commitment in the morning that I needed to fulfill, so after the car went to the shop and Joshua off to the squadron (I think he lives there this week - preparing for the Color Guard competition this weekend), I found the recipe on-line (all of my fancy sugar cookie ideas were out of my head by that point. I just wanted to deliver those cookies I promised). In the midst of trying to get everyone ready to leave and trying to bake something I never done before, all I could say is, my friends, don't try it, it was not a good idea. I, a novice baker, did not read the baking instruction all the way through, ended up mixing all the ingredients together... I know, just pick up your jaws. Oh yes, the cookies still tasted good - Anything that pertain sugar, flour and butter are good! It was just that they didn't look much like the Chewy Oatmeal Cookies I had in mind.

See what I mean?

Now I was determined to bake those batches of cookies. I sent Robert to the store and got more butter, brown sugar and rolled oats. I mixed the ingredients again, except this time I followed the instructions to the "T" and had Robert by my side to "supervise" me. The cookies turned out much better and I felt better giving them out to the kids in the club.

Second try (and better lighting for the picture) :)

Will I bake cookies again? Sure..., I think so. My family loves cookies and they will like the cookies however way I mess them up... I think... I hope. Who knows, if I make enough mistakes the cookies may turn out marvelous an delicious one day. After all, failure is the mother of success. Right?

The bell just rang, my last batch of cookies is coming out of the oven. The room smells like yummy cookies and I am ready to pack the cookies up for delivery.

If you by any chance are baking cookies right now, Please think of me. :)

Girls' Day Out

2011-02-07T19:16:00.001-08:00

Two Saturdays in a row I got a chance to spend them with my sweet daughter. We went to two different malls to look for a dress for her soiree in March.

It is very hard to find something classy. The evening dresses are mostly short and strapless. Good thing we have about ten weeks to look for the right dress, so we were able to leisurely stroll around the malls and just chat.

Christine may be only sixteen (and a-half, she likes to remind me) but she definitely has a head on her shoulder. Very discerning with everything and every friend she encounters. I am thankful for her sweet spirit and her honesty. Her mind is so disciplined. It was wonderful to have a daughter, a friend. I love spending time with her.

Just as we thought that was another day of fruitless search for the dress, we found it! In a most unexpected store, too. It is a long blue-teal shimmering evening dress with draped front. It has spaghetti straps but we will fix that. It looks so elegant on her. we were very pleased with the price tag as well. It is very easy to find a nice evening dress but the cost usually starts around $200. This one we found is way below that price. Christine was most excited because she had allotted certain amount to spend on the dress and now she has money left over to get a couple of accessories to go with the dress. Did I mention she bought her own dress and paid for her own soiree? She did. Ever since Robert lost his job, Christine has been paying everything she would like to do with her earnings from her free lance photography business. We are proud of her, not just the fact that she paid for things, but that of her cheerful attitude in doing so. She is generous by nature and has great compassion toward those who are in need. She has many wonderful Christian friends and they adore her as well.

I will post pictures of the dress when the soiree day comes in March, until then, every one's dress is the BIGGEST secret! LOL!

Here is her last year's Soiree. Enjoy!

Small World

2011-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

When you live in the same town for all your life, chances of running into people you know way back when is very likely to happen. So far I had a couple of incidents where I have met up with my high school teacher and an old boss.

But today, today it topped it all.

Last night when Robert and Joshua came home and told me that they will be going to a cadet's home to study for the up coming Color Guard competition, I was not very happy as they have spent so much time at CAP this last couple of weeks and Joshua is still trying to completely recover from his sickness. Anyway, after I accepted the fact that they are going I saw this address on the table, I took a deep breath, and asked:

"OK, who pulled this address out of the address basket?"

I asked because that's the address I know by heart.

"Oh, that's where we are going tomorrow." They replied.

"NO!" I think I screamed under my breath.

Well, that's not just an address. That's the place I lived for five years when I first came to America. My parents lived there six more years after I moved out.

I have taken the kids there to show them when they were little but never thought I would be "able" to actually see the inside of the house again!

How amazing was that as soon as I told the cadet's mom why I showed up with Joshua, she was so kind to let me go inside and I was down the memory lane instantly.

Everything looked mostly the same (I only got to see the down stairs) except the paint color.

I remember sitting in front of the TV watching all those shows to "learn" the language.

I remember all of the Christmases that took place in the living room.

I remember my brother's and sister's weddings taking place there in that same living room.

I remember my father walked me down that staircase with my wedding gown and greeted my first husband.

I remember the kitchen where my mom and my dad cooked the most wonderful meals for us.

I remember my parents took care of Erik for me when I had to work as a single parent and that Erik took his first steps going up and down those stairs with my grandmother behind him saying "careful boy, careful" (in Chinese, of course. :))

I remember Erik had his first birthday celebration in the huge backyard.

and on, and on...

It was definitely a flashback!

As I was thanking the mom who let me into the house, I couldn't help but ask if she owns the house. She said they are tenants. Imagine my surprise when I found out we have (had) the same landlord's last name. She told me that the landlord's son (the current owner) is actually fixing the downstairs bathroom and he had just stepped out to get some parts and that his name is Joe. I thought to myself, could that be the same Joe I went to high school with?

Not sure when Joe would be back and not wanting to intrude the mom any longer, we went to do a quick shopping at trader's Joe's and when we returned, Joe was back and was working in the bathroom.

When the door opened, out came the mom and Joe. Yup! That's the same Joe I knew from the same high school. Can't miss those smiling eyes!

We had a great time catching up and I introduced Robert and the family to Joe. He is married and have six children (beating me by two). The interesting thing is that he has moved out of town for years and has just been coming to fix the rental property these last few weeks. Providence indeed.

I have been reminiscing since we parted. I forgot to ask for his phone number or gave him mine. Oh well, maybe somehow we will run into each other again, just hope not in another thirty years! LOL!