Saturday, March 31, 2012

Little Helpers.

As the girls grow older (and as we are teaching/training them daily with their household chores and in their character), they are becoming such great helpers around the house and with their siblings. Bryant and I see, more often than before, Biggest Sister cleaning the table after a meal without being asked...or wiping Littlest Sister's hands and putting her dishes away... or reading to her before her naptime (Big Sister loves to read to her little sis too)... There are a few things in life that makes me happier than watching our girls helping and loving each other. 


Friday, March 30, 2012

Amusement...Parks!

This week was strange... mainly because our week was busier than usual... and I think it's the first time that I've taken the girls to the amusement park twice in one week!

The first one was a complete surprise and blessing! We were planning to visit a friend that is visiting from Korea in San Diego.. then my neighbor/friend told me she had four tickets to Legoland that was going to expire at the end of the week.  The girls have never been to Legoland and they have recently been really into playing with Legos.. so I knew they would love it! We ended up going on Tuesday with our friend (and her baby boy)...and it was SO much fun!  Legoland is such a great place for little ones.  And the girls LOVED spending time with Auntie L and baby J!






On Thursday we went to California Adventure for a birthday celebration.  We almost didn't go because Big Sister had a fever...but since it was for one of Biggest Sister's closest friends, Bryant stayed home with Big Sister (which she loved) while I took the other two girls.  I have never seen California Adventure so packed (because of spring break) but the kids got to go on several rides, watch a few shows and spend time with each other... so it turned out to be a great day! Big Sister was happy when we came back home...but I think she really enjoyed one-on-one time with Daddy and having the freedom to do/play with whatever she wanted at home! ;)



Monday, March 26, 2012

Mealtime.

Mealtime is a fun time for our family (usually).  One of the many blessings of homeschooling is that the girls can take their time (not have to rush out the door in the morning)  and eat good-for-their-body food (most of the time) 3 times/day everyday. :) 

Usually during mealtime, they are stuffing their little faces like this: 

And talking and giggling like this: 

And sometimes making silly faces like this: 


Majority of the time, they are doing all three at the same time. ;)

The Combo.


The blanket-thumb combo. ALL of my girls have a security blanket that they LOVE, and whenever that blanket is in their hand, the thumb goes in (and littlest sister's combo includes a baby doll)... I  didn't intend for this to happen.. it just did.  I'm glad that the girls have always had a way to comfort/soothe themselves...but now we have to figure out a way to help our 5 year old to stop the habit before there are repercussions (or so the dentist says).  I know some day I will miss the blanket-holding thumb-sucking days. ;)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Childlike Faith.

I wish I had a secret recording device and record every little prayer that the girls pray.  They are just too precious. I'm sure every parent feels the same when their child prays.  From "thank you God for this day" to "Jesus, come quickly.  I want to see your face"...and praying for healing for those they know and love.. "please heal Grandma Sanchez with her cancer and our neighbor Mrs. Debbie's foot"...every bit of it is precious beyond words.

I wonder what it is like to have childlike faith (literally)?  How does it feel as a child to be praying to God Almighty?  Not having been raised in a Christian home, I can't help but wonder... I wonder how my life would have looked if I started praying with my parents and siblings starting at age 0...

The girls are so blessed to know their Lord and Savior and to communicate with Him at such a young age!  Unfortunately the girls most likely will not remember the prayers that they prayed when they were 3 and 5 years old (and we sadly won't either..except for the ones we have written down)...but God will remember every. single. one.  And THAT is just so neat.  Thank you Lord!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

These Moments.

The other day, I caught Littlest Sister trying on Biggest Sister's pink shoes.. It was so fun watching her, trying so hard to put them on.  I took a ton of pictures during the process, because these moments are so precious and priceless yet so easily forgotten...

I love the curiosity, the persistence.. and the happy celebration dance when she conquered her mission. :)







Gardening.

Today, the girls and I started preparing the soil for our sunflower house! Our plan is plant the seeds this week and watch the flowers grow to full bloom in a few months!   Our hope is that the girls will have a fun and shady sunflower house to play in this summer!


Also, this weekend, we hosted a party for my dear friend who is visiting from Korea! And she brought her 2 month old with her!  Yes, she flew by herself 15+ hours with her first newborn! I'm so proud of her!  Anyway, we had not seen her in over year and obviously hadn't seen the baby in person.. so we invited her old friends, had an old-college-roomates reunion, had some GREAT potluck brunch food, and celebrated her and her SWEET baby boy!! :)


Prepared a few little activities for the kids to play with (there were 13 kids here!) because it was pouring rain on Saturday!!  Fun with stickers and decorating cupcakes with green frosting (for St. Patrick's day!).    


We had such a great time spending time with Antie L... and with old friends from college.  And the 3 infants and 10 toddlers played so well together (even though we were all stuck inside our petite-size home).     ;)




Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Arboretum.

A friend told me about an arboretum.. I looked it up and it was only 15 mins from our house.  I didn't know exactly what to expect.. but when I got there I was surprised by the beauty of this place... This arboretum sits on the edge of a college campus..but upon entering, it felt as though we were walking into a magical woodland.. The girls absolutely loved it as well... We were surrounded by beautiful trees, plants, flowers, insects, birds, fish, turtles... We were only there for a few hours, but we could have easily spent the whole day there wandering and exploring! Since we were only able to see about a fourth of the arboretum, we plan to go back some time soon to see the rest!













Monday, March 12, 2012

Work for Fun.

I get to work for fun, and have fun for work (at least part-time).  :)

This weekend, I had the privilege of meeting the founder/owner of the company that I work for.  She flew in from Japan on Friday and was visiting Los Angeles for the first time.  I was given the opportunity to drive her around LA and take her to places that she wanted to visit/shop.. We went to the Pasadena flea market, some vintage shops in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

Her and I had so much fun walking around the flea market since we both love vintage finds. :)




 These paintings were so beautiful (it's much better in person)... I wanted to come home with one!

So many fun shops that I'll definitely be going back to in the future....

She couldn't resist... some for work, and some for herself. ;)

Went to a couple fun stores after the flea market..

It was a fun day with beautiful weather and nice company. :)  I rarely get a chance to visit these places so it was such a treat for me!  Oh.. and I came home with this beauty (a vintage school desk/chair) and the girls are already getting good use out of it!