8 more days until Christmas 2023

 Christmas is my favorite time of the year because it feels like its a time to give closure and to reset for the new year and a reset is always good.  We are having fun here trying to get friends together one last time before 2024 arrives. Today we gathered with Scott's MISSA friends and the kids all had a great time together which was nice because they dont know each other well.  It's always good when the kids are healthy, comfortable and feeling well.  Amber, as always, got her hair done and dressed in her hawaiian dress.  We had food from King's hawaiian, egg rolls and rice krispies made with olive oil.  This was a super last minute gathering and it was nice to have people show up.  

 The office is also wrapping up for the year.  Looks like things are falling into place except we still dont have everything we need to fulfill all our backorders.  Our new building is going to be fun and there is still a lot of work to be done.  We managed to squeeze in a trip to Cabo on the first week of December to treat our nutcracker dancers after the weeks and months of practice for their performance.  

Ashley is now 2 and 2 months - she is really enjoying and aware of all things Christmas.  She met Santa and didnt like him at first set - although she loves waiving to him at a distant.  We saw the firetruck Santa three times last night.  She loves watching Christmas lights and has enjoyed lights since Halloween.  Her fascination and her understanding with the world is fun to see.  She picks up things quickly and cannot ask her to do things.  She will always do what you ask as long as you give her time.  She will eventually be ready.

Ashley's Update

 In another month, Ashley will be two! I am so excited that she is becoming more and more interactive.  She loves playing with her sisters, she is always asking about Jie Jie, Gor Gor, Ambers, Baba when they are not around.  She is not happy to say good bye to me in the morning when Nora arrives, as long as she had a good 10 hour sleep.  She is sleeping through the night.  The routine now is that I put her to sleep and Scott sleeps with her until it's time to wake up.  This school year, Adam is very ambitious to wake up early so we are all earlier, I make their lunches and leave by 7:30AM.  Adam gets really anxious to get to school early and the sisters all follow his timeline.  He can be very pushy and gives everyone a rude awakening but he is getting better.   

We dont have soccer anymore but Adam is enjoying to play baseball.  He is so good at it and I really want him to try to be in a league.  He is still doing ballet and piano.  Amber is now in level 3b and the both are taking a role in the nutcracker.  Alice loves talking about her friends and is recently saying her heart out in her showers all Taylor Swift songs.  She is currently playing Fearless on the piano and it's a slow start.  

Alice asks all the right questions and she is so smart but she doesnt know it yet.  Adam is starting to play Zelda, Amber is always surprising me with all her best intentions.  She is one who remembers about her ballet shoes, ballet class, homework, and helping me all the time.  She blows kisses and gives me a distant hug when she leaves to the school.  These are the days I just want to remember forever.  As much as I dread dropping them off and picking them up from school - I love how we get a chance to talk in that 15 min ride in the morning.  

As we are planning to move to our new location in Glendora, we might try to change schools because it is too hard to pick them up.  We ll see though...

Ashley right now still is a great eater.  She loves to build, loves to play with cars and loves Doreamon ever since we bought that diaper in Japan.  She is loud, loves to scream and screams louder when she dislike something.  She sings, a lot.  She loves Tearing up my heart, let it go and trolls songs.  She loves watching TV with them and I love it when she says "Mum-mum" when we go to any restaurant.  

Love these two together.  Ashley adores her big brother.

This little chicka is the cutest.  I loves me kissing her and I love to call her mika maka.

Last of Summer 2023

 The rest of the summer flew by with a wedding (Tammy's), birthday party with water slide (Chelseas), summer school, Jolie's birthday party, soccer camp with Gautum, night at a tree house in Brea, Yakult factory, Bradbury night out, and our Japan and Hawaii trip.  The kids did their part with work and I worked and just made sure they are all staying active.  

Our Japan trip finally happened after months and months of planning.  I think we did everything right except me not adding Ashley to Zipair until the very last minute which ended up into a very costly ticket by Hawaiian airline.  We also arrived in Honolulu on the day when Maui was indulged in flames by the heavy wind.  Luckily we were not affected (except our kayak tour got cancelled).  

The highlight of Japan was the Mt Fuji climb with my brother and Adam.  We started the morning with checking out of our airbnb and going to the ANA air hangar tour - then renting a car to drive to Hakone and made it in time to the last bus to the Fujinomiya trail (5th Station) to begin the ascend at 5PM.  Made it to the hut at 10PM and slept until 1AM/2AM and slowly got everyone up to see the sunset glow at 4:15AM.  We reached the summit by 6AM and started the descend at 7AM to the Gotemba Trail and arrived at the Gotemba 5th New Station at 12:45PM.  By then - your mind and body just want to reach the end  and basically started to question things like "are you ever going to make it out of here?"

I picked the Fujinomiya trail because it was the shortest and easiest.  (yes and no).  We also picked the Gotemba trail because it was closest to our next destination and also it was the fastest. (yes and no).  Turned out that both of these were the most challenging according to another blogger/climber.  I would love to blog more in detail of our journey to Mt Fuji either on Youtube or on my pending travel blog.  Until then, I am trying to retain as many details as I can do I can share it.

So many memories from this summer, so many favorite memories.  As much as it was a lot of work, a lot of pressure, and can be exhausting, I always look back and I never regret it.  

Week 5 of Summer 2023

 This summer is going by so fast.  The 4 kids make everything go by so fast because it's never-ending demands, doing something, going somewhere.   I am actually very impressed that I have been keeping up with this weekly blog! This past week and weekend was super eventful.  The weekend was just jammed pack with things.  I make an effort to do playdates with their friends and also downtime for them to do what they want to do. 

Thurs was rock climbing day and concert at the park.  The temperature is definitely rising now and it was hot but thankfully, the weather cools down by 6PM.  We invited Shuka and his family to go and the dad came with the 3 kids.  They had fun and we brought our picnic mats and food for everyone.  At the end, we went to the dance floor and the kids had so much fun dancing.

Friday was movie night with Iris and Daniella at our house.  We watched Homeward Bound and they liked it! The kids made pizza, Ashley got her popcorn and they watched the movie until the very end.  All the parents came to pick up the kids by 8:30PM.  

Saturday: Morning was Science Saturday at City of Hope, then Tim's daughter 1st birthday party at the Duarte Senior Center.  Then, it was wedding time at NBC.  It was busy but the time gaps were perfect for Ashley's nap and just to recoup.  We left at 9:20 and got to bring the kids back to sleep by 10PM.

Sunday: Alice got invited to a party with a water slide.  That was nice and it was interesting meeting more moms today.  After that party was Jolie's 4th birthday party which the kids had so much fun.

Week 4 - Summer 2023

When there is so much to do, times just flies.  Fourth of July came upon us so quickly and all last minute plans were just what we needed.  Adam got to drive down on Sunday with his friend and spent a night with Bryan the first night.  We drove down the next day and I was lucky to get a tent site at the San Diego Koa Resort for one night when they required 3 nights for holidays.  We packed everything in the morning and forgot everything we needed.  We basically just brought the tent, 3 pillows, 2 sleeping bags and 3 pads.  We had to leave Ashley my mom who slept at Bryan's house.  

We drove down with uncle and met with Katrina/Shawn/ Toby and Charis.  The kids had so much fun at the beach.

Ashley was rolling on the sand and loving the sand play.  The kids can probably stay in the bay water for another hour but we left for dinner after 20 mins of play.  We went to Pacific Fish Shop which was a fish shop Bryan took us too long time ago.

We said our goodbyes with Toby's family and loaded Ashley in my moms car which she cried the whole way.  We then drove straight to KOA and set up the tent by 9PM.  The kids were so excited camping.  Amber told me " I am so happy" at least 5-6 times.  Before they all slept, Adam told me he loves me.  His favorite part was building the fire.  Alice just wants to rock climb.  We set up the tent fairly quickly but Scott decided to sleep in the van since we only have 3 mats.  It was too cold for him so he was only able to sleep for a few hours in the morning.   The kids asked to come back again so we will see.

I loved how the fire woods got delivered to us  quickly but we still had to step out to buy marshmellows for the s'mores.  

The next morning, we spent most of the days at Bryan's house, watching netflix and went to the park for a little in the morning.  We drove home after the bbq and now the kids are all asleep and asking about going back to the camp again. 

Amber's First Loose Tooth

 Amber finally lost her first tooth.  Adam and Alice both lost it in the beginning of Kindergarten and Amber lost it 2 weeks after Kinder ended.  I remember that she came up to me and said it felt weird and it hurt and we knew right away that her tooth is becoming loose.  She was freaking out and I remember her best friend Jackson sent me a video about him shooting his tooth out.  Watching that video made her laugh and calmed her down so we made it a mission to go do  the same with her best friend, and we did.  

Her loose tooth was extracted on 6/22.  It has been super wiggly but the root is still in tact.  Amber was ready but nervous.  She said " I was not scared but then got very scared thinking about it".  After dinner, we went to get souffle at Gram in Monterey Park and went to her friend's house to do this together.  They were so happy to see her and we settled in.  It was already late - almost 8PM when we got there.  They got carried away playing together.  Finally we got the nerf gun ready, tied the floss around the bullet and baba tied the other end on her tooth.  Again, she was nervous and even all the kids were too scare to watch it.  That was pretty funny.  When she pulled the trigger, she was startled but was so proud of herself.  All the kids though she was so cool haha. 

clean and painless

Next day at summer school was Hawaii Day

Summer 2023 Week 1

 Well, summer officially started and the two girls started summer school.  I was going to have them skip the first week and enrolled them in a day camp but the first day ended to be their last day.  They did get to ride bike home though with the big bro.  I drove behind them and along the side with them and love watching how they took care of each other.  

Adam worked very hard in 4th grade.  In between soccer games, wushu (After school program really doesnt count, piano, and ballet), he maintains to be the top of his class.  He earns high grades and the teachers really say nothing but good things about him.  I cant be more proud to have him in our family.  He is only starting summer school the 2nd half and I am intentionally letting him be bored at home with a few things to do in the mornings and he has been going to the office in the afternoon and helping with repacking welding tape.  He is so motivated to work, learn and he will be the most valuable worker any company can have.

Ashley - loves - bubble - bath.  She loves bathes.  She is talking a lot more now and repeats one syllable words as long as she is in a good mood.  Most important milestone is that she is sleeping through the night and her long stretch is long - up to even 12 hours.  She does still asks for milk and boy is she happy when I give in.  My BFDing journey has officially come to an end.  I loved it because it gave Ashley such a happy and safe place.

Since the girls did not enjoy the day camp at Royal Oaks park, we went to the summer school that we were going to skip for the week.  It has been great since they get to see some of their friends.  They get to keep learning, have a little fun and we get to spend more time with them.  They are so perfect right now and wish I get do more fun things with them. 

Alice got to finally do a gymnastic class and on Friday we just stayed home for dinner. Scott went to Miami this week for 3 nights and of course it was the same week where Ashley was teething.  Sunday is father's day and we did a swim/bbq the cousins which Adam loves.  I also set up a balloon dart wall whcih was fun for the kids.

Memorial Day Weekend 2023

It was a great thing that we had NO plans for this weekend.  Amber got cellulitis and her right eye is swollen.  We got meds on Friday but the dosage wasnt enough and didnt help with the infection.  On Sunday morning, we went to Urgent care and got diagnosed.  On the way home, the car says I had 3 miles left before we run out of gas but my car will not go faster than 60 MPH on the freeway so I had to pull over and called Scott for help.  He came in about 10 minutes and we were able to go home.  Amber was really sad about her swollen eye and said she looks yucky and weird.  She also complained that it really, really, really, really, super really hurt.  I hope she feels better tomorrow.  

The whole weekend was just staying in.  Adam and Amber will have their June performance next weekend which will be so fun to watch.  I hope she gets better by then!!!

Thank God tomorrow is Monday and we have it off!

March, April May Recap

 These three months are flying by so fast!

March was all about getting ready for spring break - which was a 9 day trip to Hong Kong.  A lot of time was spent sleeping at hotels, visiting cousins, eating, taking the buses, MTR and buying snacks.  The kids had a lot of fun and the most memorable was staying at the Fullerton hotel in HK. 

April was all about getting ready for the tradeshow and traveling.  I spent a week in Charlotte, NC, stayed at a very old Airbnb and it was also getting the kids to the Spartan Race in San Diego which was a lot of fun. 

May was a lot of healing and resting. Adam was playing tag at school and tripped on a hole and fell on a rock.  His knees and elbows were busted and his right knee suffered a very nasty cut.  It wasnt a week later when I realized that he should have had gotten stitches.  It's been a month and he is still limping and the wound is still recovering.  Somewhere between April and May, Amber got the norovirus and now by near of May she got this really weird sinus infection which is forming a bubble of pus between her eye and nose. She is in a lot of pain and we hope this goes away soon.  I hate seeing her like this!

January/February Recap

 Shortly after school started - it was time to plan Chinese New Year.  The lawsuit for Uncle was coming to an end and the last day was sometime in mid January.  It was a long case and we are still waiting for the judges decision today.   There was a lot of time commitment with each trial, which involved going to Grace's office in Pasadena, logging on remotely which was a nice option that did not exist back then.  

Adam was recruited to be on the all star team so he started playing soccer right when school started.  His first game was playing all in the heavy rain!  His team was the Cameleons and they did not make it to the playoffs so we are taking a little break now until the next season if he gets to be on a team.  

Ashley is almost 16 months and she is still nursing and waking up in the middle of the night.  She says no by brushing you away and says yes by saying "ahem".  She knows how to say mama, baba, gor gor, che che, ye ye, po po and wo wo.  She says wo wo wo wo whenever she hears dogs.  I am looking forward to the day where we can bring home a dog for her.  

Today, Amber saw a flying woodchip.  I was showering Ashley and she ran out of her room screaming like she saw a bug.  And she did.  She saw a round thing and thought it was a wood chip and then it flew.  She was so scared to shower alone and I asked her to do her breathing exercises which helped a bit.  But she was freaking out over this moth.  Thank goodness, Adam spotted it later in the night and Scott killed it.  

Adam is starting his soccer again for Spring U12.  It could be his last season of soccer.  Spring isnt as demanding so I am glad.  He is still taking ballet.  Amber started another ballet class on Tuesdays which is a higher level. 

Alice's birthday is coming up so soon!  We are having a birthday party for her, which will be so so fun.

Yosemite in Winter

 A few days after we came back from Seattle, we went to Yosemite National Park with Annie, Caitlin, Kylie, Sophie and Ryan and her mom.  We stayed at Rush Creek Lodge which was a very nice accomodation nestled at the north side of Yosemite.  The price was super reasonable since it was low season.  This happened to be close to the one restaurant we  visited in 2021 during the pandemic.  It was a time when no in door dining was allowed but this restaurant opened it anyways because it was so cold!

The kids loved playing in the snow and also sleeping over with their friends.  The drive there was good, it took exactly 6 hours to get there.  The drive back was not very pleasant.  It was pouring rain from the beginning to the end when it got super heavy.  I am glad we all returned home without a single scratch!  

Seattle/Vancouver

 Well, let's see - where do we begin.  My mom got covid, after my stepdad. Then brother in law and my sister also got covid.  Luckily, Avery dodged it.  Because my mom got covid, she did not come with us on the trip.  Numerous flights were cancelled because of the weather, holiday and system glitch.  My brother's flight was delayed twice but finally arrived at 11PM on the 3rd night.  Our amtrak to Leavenworth was cancelled so there goes that part of the adventure. 

Nonetheless, at the end of the trip, Amber said she loved the vacation and thank me for bringing her here.  Alice said - i like Seattle.  Adam is just looking forward to the next trip and the next meal.  They all couldnt wait to get back home and OPEN PRESENTS.  

The only mishap on the trip was the missing tamagouchi.  We left it at SWISH SWISH when Adam gave it to Ashley to play.

We rented the car via Turo and everything went well.  We gave ourselves so much time that there was no rush on the whole trip except for going back to sleep and/or putting the Ashley to nap.

When we came back, Amber started to cough really bad.  She was coughing nonstop today and she was so exhausted.  We drove out to La Quinta to meet with Sandy, Vince, Leang and Ivy for a few hours for new years eve, but we didnt stay because it was the Christmas dinner for Scott's family.  We drove back in traffic and thankfully Ashley slept (in my arms) while Amber was able to take a break from her cough and napped also.  Traffic was bad and we arrived at 7PM.  Since Amber was coughing so bad...we left early so she could rest.  This was the worst cough she has ever had!

The trip to Seattle was a good 7 days.  It was a different type of vacation since we gave a lot of flexibility on our agenda and just went along with what the weather allowed us to do.  There was so much rain that I did miss the sunshine.  The funny thing was when we came back from the trip, we brought back the rain too.  We continued to experience the rain from Seattle back home.  

It's February now and I am just able to upload those photos to the album.  Looking back, we did so much and its so rewarding to see their smiles and joy when we go on trips.  They have such a great time just seeing the world.  We went to Pikes Market Place multiple times, went Ice Skating at the Bellevue Ice Skating Rink, Ate a ramen place that Scott really liked, went to Vancouver and stayed at the Riverrock Hotel and they got to go on the water slide, we stayed at a lake side airbnb and also got to stay at the Fairmont Hotel for one night which was super nice because the in room dining of the dessert was so so good. We took a ferry to Victoria Island and went to an apple cider farm, went to eat at a greek restaurant and stayed at a hotel with unlimited hot chocolate.  Then on the last two days, my brother told me about the Starbucks Reserve which we indulged for 2 consecutive mornings.  The cornettos with prosciutto were so good and fresh.  I LOVE LOVE a fresh pastry!

We were going to go to Crystal Mountain so the kids can try snowboarding in Seattle but the weather was not good so we stayed in town on the last day.  With the extra day in Seattle, we toured the Seattle Public Library and the Space Needle.

CHRISTMAS IS HERE

Christmas tree is up right after Thanksgiving.  The children were eager to put up the lights because they can't wait to see Cutie Cutie. He arrived a week late because he had covid and the kids were very excited to see him when he arrived.

This year, Adam, Alice and Amber were so excited to prepare Christmas gifts for each other.  It was very nice to see.  I love seeing them brainstorming about what to get each other.  Little do they know, they know each other more than any of us.

Adam did his first nutcracker performance and he was splendid.  The performance this year was at Glendale City College and there were only two shows instead of 4. It was so much more manageable!

Last weekend, he went to church with Toby and ran into Danny and Bev L.  Felt like he was a little celebrity!  We also went to the farewell/Brooklyn's birthday party at Live Oak Park.  

Most of the shopping was done now and it feels great.  We are preparing for a trip next week to go to Seattle/Vancouver and I cannot wait!