Monday, February 27, 2012

Back Bay Trail.

Yesterday, the girls and I went on a nature walk through the back bay.  It was a gorgeous day..and we had a picnic on top of a hill with a beautiful view (overlooking the wetlands).  Littlest Sister was in the stroller most of the time, but the two big sisters walked up and down the trails (even following two horses at one point!).  They all did great, and want to go back to explore the other parts of the bay!

Where we ate lunch...

Where I got stuck with the stroller and Abigail..and a very kind lady helped me get up the hill... ;)

Where we saw a lady taking an old horse for a walk...

Where the girls followed the horses...

Where we paused to enjoy the beautiful view...


Where Biggest Sister said, "Mama! Look! Heart-shaped rocks!" :)

Friday, February 24, 2012

Around Here...

Doing a little "science experiment".  The girls love anything with food coloring. 

Playing Bach as background music... to calm us all down. ;)

Trying to see the bright side of washing dishes all day, everyday.  Healthy kids, eating lots of food!

Early morning jog with Big Sister..while everyone else is still asleep...

Drawing.. coloring...and more drawing...(it's serious business for Biggest Sister).

Reading and learning about sea mammals!  We have a little surprise for the girls next week!!






Monday, February 20, 2012

The Getty.

The girls and I took a trip to The Getty Museum with my mom last Friday... The museum was busy due to Presidents Day holiday...but we all had such a great time!! The girls have been reading about Monet so they were interested and excited to see his paintings!!

They even have a "family room" with interactive art, which the girls really enjoyed!!




Biggest sister standing in front of one of Claude Monet's paintings...
 and Big sister riding on the museum tram...


 Littlest sister was pretty exhausted by the time we left...but overall, they all did really well..and I was pleasantly surprised at how much the two older sisters appreciated the artifacts and paintings that were displayed.  Excited for our next museum trip!!





Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love Day & Nature Walk.

Nature can not be replaced.  Obviously.  But this is what I was thinking while the girls and I were on a walk at a nature reserve in our neighborhood.  We were surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers...even the rays of the sun and the dirt on the ground were so beautiful and calming this Valentine's morning. :)



Biggest sister had fun looking for insects...and managed to bring a couple home..

This baby doll seemed to enjoy all the nature also. ;)


Big sister picked some pretty flowers.


Earlier today, we had "design your own pancake" as a family.  We had so much fun... we decided to make it an annual Valentines tradition. :)






We also made Sunflower Butter Cookies for the first time.  They turned out pretty good!



In the evening, we had a candlelight dinner (with a ton of candles)... and turned off all the lights.  The girls absolutely loved it (this may become a tradition as well)!  Who knew celebrating Valentine's day as a family would is so much fun!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine's Party & Jana.

We kicked off the weekend by going to a Valentine's Party at a nearby park.  The girls participated in decorating cookies, making crafts and exchanging valentine's.  It was their first time exchanging valentine's, and they enjoyed making and passing out their little cards with a heart lollipop attached.  Inside we wrote "Jesus loves you!" and "John 3:16"... Biggest sister was out on the playground passing out her valentines to kids she has never met.. and explaining to them what the verse meant... basically evangelizing!




That evening, for Friday Night Family Night, Bryant took biggest sister and big sister to the "World of Color" show at Disneyland/California Venture while I stayed home with littlest sister.  It was their first time seeing the show, and Bryant's first time going to Disneyland with just the girls... so they just all had a blast as you can imagine. :)

On top of that, the girls had the chance to see their favorite singer perform live at a local church.



Needless to say, the girls were pooped by Saturday evening...but we still made it to church this morning AND attend a meeting tonight!

Looking forward to this week... celebrating Valentine's with the family...and learning about God's love!

Friday, February 10, 2012

A Surprise.

Biggest sister has been waiting months for her Oji-chan (grandfather in Japanese) to visit so he can fix her guitar strings (on her toy guitar he purchase for her two birthdays ago).  She knows that whenever Ojichan visits, he brings a new set of strings and helps fix her guitar.

Oji-chan has been in Japan the last few months...and when she found out he was visiting this past week she was ecstatic.  She even reminded Oji-chan over skype that her guitar strings broke again and asked if he can help her fix it.

Well, to her surprise, when Oji-chan showed up at the door with Oba-chan last Tuesday he had another guitar with him! It was an OLD guitar that he had stored in the garage for a looong time. But biggest sister didn't care.  She was SO excited to have a bigger, and a REAL guitar to play with!! She immediately got the guitar out and started playing.. but of course, Oji-chan said "let me put new strings in first, and then you can play."  He spent most of the evening replacing the strings and tuning his old guitar and her toy guitar (which she happily gave to her little sister).

That evening both girls put on a great show with their "new" guitars!  And since then, biggest sister has written a song about each member of her family (including our dog Mochi)..

The simplest of things that brings JOY to our girls... The joy that comes from a new (even though old) gift... And the joy that comes from her grandfather's generosity and willingness to put the effort and time into something his granddaughter truly enjoys.


Notes.

Some notes from this week's bible study... 


* MODEL boldy.
* Use words that bring LIFE. 
* Be a JESUS kind of companion.
* Don't resist.  It will only delay the blessing.


...And my friend Sally's interpretation of Proverbs 3:5&6:


"Have confidence, be bold and feel safe in the Lord with all your soul.  Don't look for support to your own wisdom or insight.  In all your journey and habits of life, learn to know Him- recognize Him by experience and He will smoothly lay out and level your path."

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Inseparable.

These girls....









... are inseparable.
I hope and pray that they will always be this close. 

Monday, February 6, 2012

Around Here...

The simplest things that keep the kids entertained and intrigued...

Hot days= Playing with water/ Giving their baby dolls a bath :)

Sweet Bryant came home from work with a bouquet of four pink Ranunculus.. 
and says, "one for each girl that I love." :)

He also brought home this tall cherry blossom branch...and ALL the buds blossomed beautifully!

 Planted many Cosmos seeds in our side yard today...
in hopes to see their faces this spring!!