Sweet summer days

I know I have probably said it a gabillion times, but I just love summer! Michael and I have been having some really sweet days and moments full of fun, hugs, and kisses. After our little rough spell there, we settled our matters and are back to having fun. I am a bit behind with my blogging because I took some pictures last weekend of our trip to rehoboth beach and various other activities. But for now, I wanted to write some things down before I forget. Last week was VbS at our church. I helped with snack. I am loving this helpful personality that Michael is starting to develop. Every morning he came in and asked to help with certain short tasks. One day, it was unwrapping tootsie roll wrappers. Another morning it was watching the huge drink jug get filled and telling us when it was full so we didn't have to stand there and watch it while it filled with water. I am thinking watching water boil is about the same thing. Yesterday, I was having trouble sanitizing my hands while holding all my stuff and Michael said to me, "mommy, let me hold your stuff for you so you can do that easier.". Without being asked! I am just so impressed with this. We want to encourage finding ways to be helpful without being asked so we are glad to see this come out in him. While we were eating lunch yesterday, I hear Michael say to brian:"daddy...daddy...hey dad." No response. To which Michael switches to: "tatdatahtadapolkadotafrotadatadafrocircus" from madagascar. Brian whips his head around and says, "hey Michael! What do you need?" Wow - apparently that's the way to get Brian's attention! While at the mall yesterday, we ran into an aggie family! Their son played soccer for Texas a&m and they lived in round rock! Small world!

Uncle John - the Blog Master

So i was going to download pictures off of smugmug to blog about Christina's wedding with the cousins (Michael/Quinn).  It was going to be fantastic.

Thankfully, Uncle John already did it!  And he did a super job.  So there's no reason for me to reinvent the wheel!  Pop on over there to see 2 cousins partying hard at a wedding:
Cousins at Cousin Christina's Wedding

Thanks, John!!

7:30am - ish ; Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

Michael lost his first tooth.

He left it on my black granite island countertop.  I almost thought it was a nut and put it in my granola cereal to eat.

Thankfully, I didn't.  I moved the tooth to the top of our little stereo, where I will feel less compulsiveness to clean it.

For those of you who do not have black countertops, it shows EVERY SINGLE SPECK of anything and EVERY water spot.  I have to OCD clean it otherwise it looks like I just eat on my counters every day.

So the tooth made me twitch and want to get rid of it!  Now, it is safely under Michael's pillow, waiting for the tooth fairy to show!

Herr's Zoo Day

Yesterday, June 11 - Herr's Potato Chip factory hosts an annual zoo day.  There were animals to pet like sheep:

Rabbits:

Here's Michael grabbing his tail:

A strange pig with a mohawk:

Spiky turtles:

We sanitized, of course.  But only after Michael decided to PICK his nose with a dirty hand.  Had to clean out those nostrils with a wipe.

Let's not forget the Flemish Giant Rabbit:

Then there was tomfoolery in the form of games!  

Michael was pretty serious about this putt putt.  I had to tell him that it was on an incline so there was no need to strive for perfection in this instance:

The Franklin Institute (science center in Philly) had a booth where they put alka seltzer in a film canister, added water, and put the cap on, which results in a mini rocket:

Stepping back to wait for the reaction:

I was impressed they could find film canisters still!

There were long lines for everything and we got there right when it started!  When we left at 11:45am, it was PACKED.

We had to get some lemonade and fries though before leaving with Colin:

Colin is Michael's Wii buddy, and they are on the same t-ball team together!  Their friendship is interesting to watch and presents new parenting challenges for me.

It was a very fun morning followed by spring rolls at our house with our neighbors.  Fun day!

We were able to do spring rolls because we went to Philly for Chinatown!  We  had dim sum in Chinatown on Sunday at Ocean City! DELICIOUS!!!  Very good.

On the way there though - driving through the ghetto that is Philly - Brian got into a mini fender-bender.  He gets out of the car, approaches the driver of the car behind him and asks:

"Do you have insurance?"

To which she replies, "What's wrong with your car?"

We took that as a NO.

Luckily, there was no damage to either car, and we drove off to have dim sum.

Now, we have bees coming into our house from somewhere.  I have to get my bump removed next week.

One day, I'd like to cut a break if that's possible.  It would be nice to not be a grownup for a while.

Mulch

So we got us some mulch.  The thing with nature is that it is expensive.  Mother Nature does not mulch herself.

Going Greek!

Nope, I didn't become part of a sorority!  Instead, we all three (+Abbey) took a field trip to the Greek Festival in Wilmington yesterday night!

It was SO fun!  We usually NEVER go anywhere or do anything neat on Friday besides t-ball.  :)

The Greek Orthodox church in downtown Wilmington does a fundraiser once a year and throws a 5 day greek festival full of greek food/entertainment/kids games.

Let me tell you - it is a heck of a fundraiser because we somehow threw down $60 in one night.  CRAZY.

There were bouncy houses.  There were fun kid games (like air wiffle ball and fat cat, which is a throwing game where you toss bean bag sacks and try to knock over these stuffed fat cats).  There was very overpriced but good Greek food.  There was lots of Greek techno.  :)  There was Greek dancing.  There was Greek stands selling headbands, jewelry, and see through clothes with dangly clinky things.  I normally wouldn't have stopped, but I had a girl with me!  :)

We had a really fun time!  The kids had a really great attitude during the whole thing and gobbled up the delicious Greek food!

The whole event was a great time.

But what was really interesting to me the whole night was having Abbey with us because it really changed the whole dynamic of our experience.

Michael and Abbey had a great time playing the games together and doing the bouncy houses together.

She somehow noticed a woman wearing a cool headband with coins dangling from it so then we started shopping for that.

I took Abbey to the ladies' room.  Never ever taken a little girl to the ladies' room before.   Not that it's any different than taking a boy.

Michael and Abbey ran around together and had a great time.

On the way back home, Abbey actually asked Michael to repeat his first horrible joke.  Which had us in stitches because I couldn't believe 1) Abbey remembered and 2) his joke was requested.

Then Michael couldn't remember his joke, which was even funnier.

Then he told us a new one, which was equally as bad.

But the two of them cutting up in the back had Brian and I just laughing up front.

And it made me a little sad that I'll never know what it's like to have a family greater than 3.  I'll never know what it's like for us to have 2 kids who play together, joke together, and make us all laugh together. We'll never get to have another personality to know.

And then I think how God must have known that and had us live where we are living for a reason.  I wanted to go into a new housing development.  But those doors were shut to us pretty quickly and this was the easier option at the time.

What were the chances that we'd move next door to another Asian/American mixed couple with 3 wonderful children whose mother teaches at Michael's school next year?  In the middle of nowhere.  Whose daughter would be one of Michael's favorite people.

And so He gave us Abbey.  Who for some reason likes to hang out with us.  And for whom we are grateful.

Christina and Matt's Wedding Day - May 19, 2012!

The weather could not have been more perfect for a Houston wedding in May!  Sunny, gorgeous and highs in the 80's!!  

Here's Michael and the flower girl:

They did great!  And since they knew all they had to do was walk down the aisle and sit down, they practically FLEW down the aisle!

Here's the beautiful bride with Uncle Jerry:

Presenting The Schwegmans!

We had a great time being there!  I can't imagine being The Mom one day with a son who is 34.  Looks like it's a lot of fun!

Especially when you introduce Uncle John in the mix!  We missed Uncle Bill/Aunt AK/Aunt Kelli:

Here is Michael, playing around:

He did great with the pillow, especially since it held his great-grandparents' wedding rings.  *sniff.*

Here he is.  Not too happy with the posing, and I wish I had been more forward to step in and say, "No, this looks so stiff and disjointed.  Let's channel our inner Kate Middleton's gorgeous wedding photo with her jr. attendents please."

But I am happy to have a picture and I didn't want to step on any toes and be THAT Asian Photographer.

Aunt Sally and Uncle Bob with the lovely bride and her groom:

Christina being gorgeous:

Michael got himself stuck in the pew somehow:

Here he is trying to impress Uncle John who is a kind and patient man:

More pictures next!  I don't know how I didn't take any pictures of Quinn!  I am not a good multi-tasking photographer.  I knew I was taking pictures of Michael as ringbearer and that's all I did!  I will download pics from The Mom's smugmug album and post some reception pictures and our ONE family picture of us all dressed up.

HRMPH.  SO miffed we did not get a family picture.  I tried to do it at my house before we left and it just didn't happen.  I tried to do it before the ceremony but it just didn't happen.  There is a reason I have a tripod and just do it myself every year because if I want it to happen, I am the only one who can make it happen.

Fast Photo Shoot

My mom had a great idea for a fast photoshoot before the wedding since everyone is all dressed up.  

However, I didn't allow enough time for it really!!  So I'm pretty sad I didn't get ALL the shots I wanted.

But glad we got some!

My pink parents:

My Michael being silly:

Sometimes I feel like I blinked and my baby became a 5 year old:

My sister came down to visit us too, which was great!  The newest addition to our family, Cory, came with her:

My mom got some great pictures of ALL of us together on her camera! I hope I can get the file when I go home next time!

We loved spending some good quality family time together.  We just love Texas and miss our family.  Hoping to get back there one day, but we'll see where our lives take us!

Houston - Rehearsal Dinner

Friday, May 18th:  Rehearsal Dinner!

Michael had a great time being ringbearer.  These 2 were born only 4 months apart.

They were both so cute!  Holding hands wasn't too popular between the two of them, but it's just for one aisle:

And we were so thankful that all they had to do was walk down the aisle and sit with us!  Our ringbearer had to stand up front and present the rings!  I can't believe we made a 5 yr old stand there for the whole ceremony!

Christina and Matt practicing for their big day:

The rehearsal dinner was at Los Cucos - LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!  Margaritas, beer, fajitas - what's not to love!  It was delicious and we were so honored that they asked Michael to be a part of their special day.

So far, trial run 1:  No ninja moves down the aisle.  That was our biggest concern.  We had to have a talk about that.  How ninja moves are not ok in the church down the aisle.  That's ANOTHER talk I never imagined myself having to have in my lifetime.

Texas Part One

We had a super fantastic 6 days in Texas.  Compared to our yearly pilgrimage to Texas for a month duration, the 6 days just FLEW by!

We were so excited to see my Mom for both her 60th birthday AND Mother's Day.

My parents picked us up from the airport and we had to immediately stop at the Asian super market (they have 3 within 5 minutes drive of them *super jealous am I*).  Upon driving up, I see the sign for:

"Live Crawfish."

Awwww yeaaaahhh...

One phone call to Brian later and we decided to have a crawfish boil the day Brian flew into town.

Here's Michael with his first up close look at a "mudbug":

This was just ONE small bowl of crawfish.  We bought 35 lbs.  For 4.5 people.  Go big or go home:

We sat down to some serious grubbin':

Michael is a brave one:

Baby Cat won't eat enchiladas or mexican food or a TON of other things.  But he gave crawfish a go!

I even heard him tell someone, "You have to suck the heads too."

NICE.  It is so interesting how he won't eat bell peppers.  But he'll eat crab, crawfish, fish sauce, cha lua (asian ham), all sorts of hard to eat Asian food.  Goes to show you some of your taste buds are inherited!

My dad seems to never age:

My mom either!  Look at her chowin' down.  Look at my DIY-er Mom strippin' her wall paper down!  So proud of the kitchen remodel she has started!

For the first part of our trip, we hung out with my mom and dad and they spent some great quality time with Michael.  He ate 6 bowls of pho in 2 days.  He just LOVES my mom's cookin'.  I can't hold a candle to it!

Play Time

I LOVE SUMMER!!  No having to be somewhere at 8:30am (THE HUMANITY!!).  No set plans.

I love it even more as a mom now than I did as a kid.

We put together his Hot Wheels Wall Track that Christina/Matt gave him for being ringbearer and it is pretty cool:

I am planning to repaint this room pretty soon.  so I'll have to take it down.  But it goes up with those 3M Commando stickie thingies so I'm hoping I can just get some more of those.

Now this picture, you have to enlarge using that new Blogger enlarge it function to barely see what is going on:

If you look closely - it is a long, WET, dirty, Muddy trail of footprints.

Michael and Abbey had a water gun fight and were reloading in the kitchen.  Luckily, I had to mop anyways so I let them REALLY muck it up because I  needed SOMETHING to force me to clean.  I am not a clean person by nature.

I love summer!  I might take a picture of our mulch pile next for you to see.  I've been spending some time with it lately.

Last Day of Preschool: June 6, 2012

Wednesday:  June 6, 2012

Michael's Last Day of Preschool.

They had a program, which was very well done!!  They had separate ones for every class this year, which was excellent.  Last year, they had ALL the preschool classes together and that was a little bit of mayhem.

Here they are:

There was a lot of variety in the program, which I loved!  They had each kid come up and say what they wanted to be when they grew up.  We got some great answers:

"When I grow up, I want to be a teenager"

"...A movie star"

This cuter than cute little girl came up and said,  "A COP!"

Unexpected and hilarious!

One little girl came down the stairs doing the cutest hops and skips.  But had to hop and skip back because they hadn't called her name quite yet.  And when they did, she did the same cute hop and skips back down.  I just love this age.

Michael came up and said, "An Engineer."

I may be Asian, but I can swear I'm not feeding him this stuff subliminally.  He wants to be just like his Daddy so we know this is the answer for now.  We'll see when he grows up.  But as engineers ourselves, we feel the need to really explain to him what engineering really entails.  For me, I thought I "liked calculus and chemistry" so engineering naturally.  CHEN204 came as one of the biggest shocks of my life.

I digress, back to my graduating Michael:

Then, came some cute songs and nursery rhymes and pledges.

Then some kind of bean bag dance:

Handbells wasn't so popular.  I was just excited Michael got the super mario one:

Michael with his just super sweet and wonderful teachers:

They both were excellent.  So great at feeding back and just being warm and loving with Michael.  They taught him so much and even had science programs for the kids.

I asked Michael where he wanted to go for lunch for his last day of school.  His initial answer was RITA'S WATER ICE!!

I told him that was fine AFTER lunch.

For lunch, maybe McDonalds?  Or Mi Cocina?  Or Capriottis?

Instead, Michael picked the place 40 minutes away:

Can't say I complained about that!  Here's Michael with his buffet plate.  He loves buffets where he can pick what he wants to eat:

No worries - we made it to Rita's!  For those of you who have never heard of Rita's, it's a water ice place.  Which is a fancy way of saying a "smooth sno cone in a cup."  It actually is quite good and we've been quite smitten with it as a family:

Here's Michael's Scrapbook from School.  I just love his self portrait and that silly picture of him on the cover:

This is a funny montage of Michael:

And again with the engineering:

 I like the way he has dad working at the computer.  It is partly true!  And only what he sees!  We need to drag him into a chem lab one day.  ;)

A perfect end to a wonderful year.