Let it Snow

Yea, I'm pretty late about blogging lately!

I have had real clients for my business so I've been pretty wrapped up in that! Exciting times - but anxious times as I pray often that I can deliver a quality product to my clients and exceed their expectations as a photographer and as a business owner!

But anyways - this blog is about our family life - so back to the subject at hand.

As you all know, we had a pretty big snow. Brian's hairy chest pictures were not the only ones we took!

Abby came over one Saturday (probably 2 Saturdays ago) and played with Brian/Michael in the snow!

I love this picture of them:

They spent some time attacking Brian:
And doing multiple sled runs in many different combinations:
Here's a shot of them whizzing by:
Brian - proud of his built-in snow seat. It's the only kind of "built-in" we have in our home that's falling off our hill (we are seeing cracks in our crown molding. YIKES.)
And here are just some snowy winter pictures:



Yes, that snow accumulated SIDEWAYS (parallel to the ground) from our railing of our deck.
Brian had to go in to work all those days. He would shovel at midnight and shovel again in the AM. Pretty hard work for him! I was no help because I was battling extreme fatigue - REALLY extreme. I'd get a headache when I woke up and just wanted to take a nap all day. Useless. Glad that's mostly passed! I still have to pay attention to getting rest - and can't believe I'm getting OLDER.

WAH.

I digress. Up next, posts about Boston! I didn't take many pictures of Michael or us - I tend to forget with new subjects (Team Besancon Boston - soon-to-be Texas) to photograph! Can't wait to show those pictures! Some are really cute.

Love to all,

P

I'd like to nominate Phuong for best wife in the world. I leave for Japan tomorrow on business at 6:15am and I was loathing coming home and having to iron my shirts and pack everything. But I walked in the door and there was my bag with the shirts already ironed and folded and ready to go! What a wonderful woman to whom I am so lucky to be married!

Before I forget

Michael and I had the following exchange at bedtime about a week ago:

P: I thank God every day that I get to be your Mommy.

M: I thank God every day that I get to be your kid.

*melt*

Mother Nature

This is what Mother Nature thought of my Let it Snow garden flag:

And our mailboxes

Courtesy of Frenchie Alburtis:

SNOW - Again

When I bought this flag at Pier1 for 50% off - I just bought it for the color. Who knew it would be an omen:

We got 6"-8" of snow on Tuesday night. Which is normally quite exciting. But I decided to go to a movie that night with Michael (Tangled - it was great!) - and drove home - in the pitch black - on snow - down a huge hill - in the middle of a snow storm - did I mention pitch black?

It.Was.The.Scariest.Thing.I.Have.Ever.Done.

You can assume correctly, that I am not a huge risk taker to begin with.

Here's our little buddy - with his 360 ear muffs that he stole from Dad - ready to play in the snow:
The view of our trees in the backyard:
Michael trying to figure out his sled. He asked me for help. I told him a resounding no.
Fine, he'll play in the snow then. I am blessed to have a son who understands his mom is a wimp and will be ok to find something else to do:
And my grownup guy:
He asked me to make him a snowman, but I'm extraordinarily bad at that! The snow was really powdery and would not compact. I'm sure it was my technique.

And I leave you with this last picture of Michael, running around, looking at his footprints behind him:

11 Months of Michael

My friend, Brandi, had a great idea for a blog post - she posted one picture of her son from every month this year. It is great because as a mom, you don't see the changes in your kids, physically - you see them everyday! This is a great way to document that change, all in one place.

Michael is a bit older, so I don't see as drastic a change in him - but I'm going to do it anyways because I love the idea. Michael's personality has changed a lot in the last year - it is a joy to see who he is becoming - we can't help but love the kind boy he is.

Well, not everyday, but we all aren't at OUR best everyday are we?

SO here we go. 11 months because for some reason, in April - we only took pictures of the snake in our yard.

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

Last night, Michael ate ALL his food on his plate and asked for seconds.

JAW-DROP

Those of you who know Michael, know this is unheard of. My Picky Eater Extraordinaire. Who only feasts on gourmet food, my mom's cooking, and mac 'n cheese/ramen noodles/hotdogs/frozen peas.

Then, he turned to me, and said,

"Excuse me Mommy, thank you for my delicious dinner. It was so good. I ate it all up."

And gave me a very big hug.

Then asked for dessert.

Somewhere in there, I hit "REC" in my mind's eye.

And if you are wondering what I made, this is it:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roast-Chicken-with-Herb-Butter-Onions-and-Garlic-104597

It's not for the faint of heart. But it's amazing. I don't ever buy that storebought chicken anymore.

Side dishes: Sweet potatoes with cinnamon/brown sugar/nutmeg, steamed broccoli

If this isn't worth blogging about, I don't know what is.

Oh yes, up next - answers to the questions from my tartiflette post.

Household Chores List

Hi All!

MoneySavingMom has a couple of great forms out for those who want to check it out:

http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads/household-management-forms

There, you'll find a customizable template for:

• Household chores for kids
• Daily/Weekly cleaning chores
• Her "Daily Docket" where she keeps track of her "to do" lists.

I printed out the household chores list for Michael and he's super excited about doing it. He gets a checkmark for each item he completes daily, and if he does them all week long (M-F), he gets a sticker for each row. If he gets stickers for each row (indicating he has done all his chores all week), he gets a treat on the weekend like ice cream or sukihana or whatever!

Love that's free, customizable, and printable!

P

Tartiflette

With the snow - the cold weather - the snow...it's a tartiflette kind of night.

Especially since we have been ransacking as many cheese shops on the East coast that we can for reblochon cheese...

Tartiflette is a fattening concoction native to the Savoie region in France, which is known for its snow/skiing/etc. It consists of potatoes, cheese, white wine, sour cream, bacon, and caramelized onions.

If you are interested in making this artery clogging item - click here for picture instructions:
http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/fr/recettes/tartiflette_ill.html

With the pictures, it's pretty easy to follow, I think. If you would like any translations, e-mail me. (I don't expect anyone to be doing this - but in case any one wanted to).

Culinary Goals for the year:

1. P: Get much better at making a pot of pho.
2. P: Attempt cassoulet - I'm hoping it's good the first time.
3. P: Cook more Asian dishes - especially since I have a rice cooker now.
4. B: Perfect baguette recipe to get the right flavor
5. B: Learn how to make pate from scratch.

Off to boil potatoes, caramelize onions, and saute bacon...

Week

I did a lot of cleaning this week. Having people come over forces me to clean my house. Because, honestly, I'm not going to clean it just for *my family and I* to live in right? ;o)

Now that it's clean - I just have to maintain that - which I can do. So this is all good.

Anyways, Friday we had a fun day so I am going to blog really quickly. MOPS playdate in the morning - fun times with the kids running around screaming. Some kids made it upstairs and told me that I was "REALLY messy." I said, yes, and now that the secret is out - I can breathe a sigh of relief.

The moms were great and left my house cleaner than when they came. THAT is a blessing after a playdate!

Then, Michael and I had lunch, played games, did workbooks, had a reading and math lesson - then off to run errands/buy gifts after it stopped snowing around 2pm.

Swim class with his favorite teacher after that. He informed me that he floated all by himself, front and back. I informed him that it was not true and that he needed to work on his front float. But his back float was looking much better. I keep it real, sorry.

Came home for dinner of guacamole and turkey burgers for the A&M game - yum...it was healthy and good for us - until I made some bacon and fried my turkey burgers in the rendered fat. YUMMMM...IN CAPITAL letters.

Now, Michael is playing in the snow with B. What a life. What are you guys doing this weekend?
P

Reading Program

I know I talk a lot about Money Saving Mom! There's a reason! There is a free teaching reading program to download:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/educational-freebie-free-funnix-downloadable-childrens-reading-program-249-value.html

I don't know if it is internationally renowned or particularly effective - but it's normally $250 and they are giving it away for free. SO I figure I can download it, check it out, and if I don't like it, I'll just delete it off my HD. Nothing gained, nothing lost! But if it IS good - I hope it is something ELSE I can do with Michael toward his reading goal!

Love,

P

Merry Christmas et Bonne Annee!

Did we have a White Christmas? Almost - does the day after count?

Our happy little gnome was excited about the whole affair:
Our snow covered house:
Well, even an inch of snow warrants breaking in one of our Christmas presents - the "vehicle of death". I kid. I meant - the sled.

Here's father and son at the top of our hill. Yep, this is a part of our land and they are up by the road:
You have to enlarge this picture - the expressions are priceless:
I love this picture of my love:
We spent a very quiet and relaxing Christmas at home. It was small, calm, and very nice! We played tons of games, did lots of puzzles, watched movies - stayed warm, cozy, and well-fed. It was great!

By Wednesday, Dec. 29 we we drove to Washington DC for a bit of "big city" life! While we love it in the country - we also love being so close to 3 major cities. Since I am a city girl at heart, I find myself twitching if I don't get somewhere I can eat good Asian food!

We went to visit our good friend from grad school, Devina Pillay! She was an amazing hostess and Michael LOVED her mac and cheese! We stayed up until 2am both nights we were there playing Rock Band - an obsession was born! Sadly, we didn't get any pictures with her! But rest-assured - we loved seeing our friend.

We got there Wednesday afternoon and hung out around her neighborhood in Alexandria, VA. We took Michael to a nearby park, Brian taught him how to roll down a hill (super popular), and feasted on a delicious Mexican dinner.

Rock Band until 2am.

Back to being parents at 8am - WHEW. COFFEE please! On Thursday morning, we took the metro over to the Smithsonian area and went ice skating at the Sculpture gardens of the National Museum of Art. Here's the rink in front of the National Archives:
It was awesome. We love DC. SO very much. And I am so excited to get to see so much more of it at different times during the year. It's a pretty special place to me for a variety of reasons.

And our little guy? He did pretty well. After only 45 minutes, the kid was letting go and going on his own:

Finally got a picture of them with the National Archives in the background and Brian takes a cue from John Besancon on how to be in a picture! ;-)
I turned around while waiting in line to get ice skates with the boys and find this thing. WHAT a throwback for me. 2 years ago, we were ice-skating at Hotel de Ville, a 10 minute walk from a metro stop that looked just like this, Cite:
I made them go sit over there and snapped away:
I guess I only got that one shot.

After this, we had lunch and Michael fell asleep in the stroller. He woke up just in time to see Dinosaurs 3D at the IMAX and loved it (us, not so much!). We ran around the museum a bit, saw the Hope diamond, looked at dinosaur bones, and insects. Michael loved it!

After this, we met Devina at King Street metro stop and walked down Olde Town Alexandria a bit, since it is about a 15 minute walk from her place. She then took us to Honey Pig restaurant in Annondale (sp?!).

O.M.G.

I am no expert when it comes to bulgogi/etc - but it was really incredible. The place was PACKED with lots of Koreans - we waited for 30 minutes - but it was SO worth the wait. Michael gobbled it all up.

Rock Band again until 2am.

This time, Brian got up at 8am with Michael. We spent Friday morning hanging around Olde Town Alexandria and peeking into coffee stores, furniture stores, etc. Really loved it there! Had pizza at a delicious place there called Pizza Paradiso - there was a pizza there with a sweet sauce, duck, manchego cheese - drool...

And then we were out after a visit to Cheesetique in Del Ray - Brian got some great stuff that will make us fall off our diet bandwagon pretty early in the year!

And then, we were off. Glad to see our friend - who showed us a great time. Glad to spend some time in the big city. Glad to eat so well! But most of all, glad to have made some great memories as a family.

Hope your new year brings you all these great things in 2011! Bonne Annee et sante!

Love,

P

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years Everyone!

A quick re-cap of our new year - 1st goal - we stayed up until midnight. CHECK. That's a tough one. Glad we got that one covered.

Last night, Brian and I played a game we got for Christmas from Brian's mom called Carcassone, which is named after a medieval walled city in France that we visited 2 years ago. I hate to admit that I really enjoy the game because there is a fair amount of strategery and thinking (a little like Risk, but less complicated) - and I do not care for games that make my brain REALLY think. But this one is pretty cool.

About halfway through the game, we hear some pretty loud popping and banging. We immediately ran upstairs to check on Michael - then ran outside because we thought our chimney was blowing up since we have a wood-burning fireplace (AWESOME BY THE WAY).

Brian comes inside and says, "The House looks ok."

I look at the clock - it's after midnight. The new year has come and went and we were freaking out over the fireworks noise because we were so not aware.

Welcome to our life as old geezers. Carcassonne is THAT good.

Here's to hoping YOUR new years was much more exciting than ours!

Here's some New Years Resolutions for ya, because I was in the mood this year. Normally, I never make these resolutions because I am not disciplined enough to follow through...but this year - I am turning over a new leaf of self improvement.

1. Standard weight loss - Brian and both need to lose weight. I am about 20 lbs overweight. Brian is about 30 lbs overweight. Plan of action: Zero calorie soup already cooking. Egg white vegetable sandwiches for breakfast. Following Vietnamese cooking items and my parents' diet as of now. Sweets are being taken to Brian's work to be given away. Eliminate butter. Walk 5x a week. I got a hill that is pretty good.
2. Make a plan for my week during the weekend prior to it. This includes a blogging plan (outline 2 entries per week per blog). Menu plan (which also reduces my grocery bill, another goal). Items for my business plan. Chore plan for the house. Lesson plan for Michael. Craft plan for Michael. Helps me to be more efficient. I have already created my loose daily schedules for every day of the week depending on our activities (school/bible study/swim lessons)
3. In bed by 11:00 pm every night. This one is a bit tough. But I want to try as it makes me more efficient during the day.
4. Help get the Litrugy of the Word for Kids off the ground at my church. It would be something that Michael really enjoys - I need to be more proactive with the coordinator to make this happen as she is having trouble finding volunteers.
5. Spend more on others than ourselves at Christmas. We did this this year - we had a really small Christmas and easily spent twice as much on our extended family/charities than we did on our nuclear family. And it felt really nice. We may continue this for a while until we feel like we would like to splurge for a year! But seriously - we like to simplify at Christmas time and this really does it.
6. Reduce non-value added spending by 50%. At least. I have been really spoiled the last decade and did not have to budget. Now, it is time - being a one income family on the East coast and all. No more trips to Costco (eliminated my membership). No more trips to Marshalls until the end of the month after I have looked at savings/etc. No more spending on frivolous things. This one is going to be hard. And if I make it until next January - I will probably throw a party.

So now, it is in writing. And I'm off to post something similar on my La Lumiere Blog as I have resolutions/goals for my business too. It's easy to be lazy and not accomplish anything if you don't have goals. It's time to get back in the business of doing that!

This week, expect to see posts on:

1) Sledding with our fake snow storm.

2) Ice skating in DC and our visit with Devina Pillay! And an I-N-C-R-E-D-i-B-L-E Korean recommendation.

Off to tackle my hill after eating half a bowl of zero calorie soup. It's REALLY good with chili garlic (uoc) from the Asian store. That soup is not so pleasant without it. And then I'll be making vegetable stir fry to be eaten with my deliciously cooked rice from my rice cooker (THANK YOU MOMMY!)

Love,

P

Kaput

This morning, Michael found out he could wear the santa hat that has been sitting on our fireplace tools set. Of course, he wanted a picture:
Then, he wanted to take a picture of me doing the same, but with my little point and shoot. That does not have a wrist strap. Which never was an issue until today.

Michael was very excited about his picture of me. So excited he dropped my camera. And Brian says, "Oh Michael - it's ok. The camera will be ok."

This must be what "OK" is:

Hmm...when you turn it on, it just has a black screen and says "E18." I'm sure that is equivalent to being "Sad Mac'ed." - wonder who's going to get that joke. If you can identify what I am talking about, the first person will get a $5 gift card to Starbucks sent via snail-mail. Post in comments and I will verify! For reals!

Guess I'll be asking for a new point and shoot in my near future. As you know, it is 5 years old anyways - so it is time to upgrade my 5MP camera. NICE!

And my mother-in-law never asks us for anything - and she is so very generous to us all the time. So when she does ask us for something - we are happy to oblige. Except for the fact, that it's always a doozie:

Pictures of all of us in our unisex "Christmas Robes." For some reason, Brian found it necessary to take all his clothes off to wear the robe first.

Next post will recap Christmas - and summarize some traditions we'd like to keep, some we'd like to shed, and some we'd like to have. I will love to welcome you to share some of YOUR favorite Christmas traditions on that post too - so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a GOODNIGHT!

Love,

P

Butter and Santa

Michael and I have been discussing, in great depth, Santa and his arrival. It went like this:

M: Mommy, how does Santa get in the house?

P: Through the fireplace.

M: But how does he get in the fireplace?

P: Down the chimney.

M: What is a chimney?

P: It is a hole at the top of the house that goes all the way down into the fireplace. Santa goes in the hole at the top of the house and goes down into the fireplace.

M: But how does he do that?

P: He slathers himself with butter. This makes him slippery. And then he jumps straight down the chimney. The butter helps him to slide and then he lands on our fireplace.

M: Oh.

It is all very interesting to me because it has been a long time since I believed in Santa. Michael HONESTLY believes Santa is real and is coming. It is fascinating to watch.

Luke

Michael's school recently sent out a new devotional in time for Christmas that I really love.

So if you are a parent, check it out. I know I can relate to exactly what she's talking about - all the moments in my mind's eye that I cherish so much. I can't imagine being Mary and seeing all this unfold before you, knowing of God's promise for your son.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Scripture: Luke 2: 13-20

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

I was reading through the Christmas story the other day, and a verse jumped out at me in a way it never had before…I was struck by verse 19: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” This is only my third Christmas as a mom, so I suppose, in all those prior years, I never quite knew what this verse really meant…but now I think I do…

My absolute FAVORITE thing about being a mom is taking in those quiet, precious moments – those moments you wish everyone could see, but only you see. I love those moments when, unexpectedly, my daughter does something so adorable that I smile throughout my whole body….or those moments when she does something so funny I laugh until I cry….or (my absolute favorite) when she just stops what she’s doing and comes over to me and gives me a hug, and then goes right back to playing. Although I try to recount those amazing little moments to my husband or a friend later on, my account never quite does the moment justice. Those moments – shared only between a child and a parent, in a way only a parent can fully appreciate – are the ones that epitomize the joy of being a parent. I can replay them in my memory at any time, and they always bring a smile to my face. No one else quite understands those moments like me. No one else quite understands your special moments with your children like you do.

I believe that’s what Mary was doing here….while everyone was joyously celebrating and declaring the greatness of Jesus, she was breathing in the joy of being a mom. She was burning the image of Jesus’ little newborn face into her memory forever. She knew the importance of what was happening, but she had a perspective that was slightly different from everyone else. She was aware – even more than those around her – of the amazingness of the moment she was experiencing.

Unfortunately, Christmas has become a time of busyness and chaos for many families, but I believe Jesus would want us to celebrate His birthday in a more quiet and intimate way….just like His mother did. Don’t be afraid to back away from some of the typical Christmas activities and enjoy some special moments with your family.

Last year, my family decided to make some changes to our Christmas season, and we put most of our efforts into spending time together as a family. A year later, one of my favorite memories of my daughter is still her holding my hand and smiling up at me while we walked around and looked at Christmas lights last December. I don’t really remember much about opening presents on Christmas morning, but I remember clearly what her face looked like in that moment, and I treasure that memory.

Give yourself permission to set aside the tasks of the Christmas season and allow yourself to simply enjoy being a mom or a dad to your kids. That is, perhaps, one of the greatest ways we can celebrate the birth of Jesus…

Christmas Program

Michael recently had his Christmas program at his school - 3 yrs, 4 yrs, and Kindergarten classes all got together and sang on risers. The Kindergarteners knew what was going on. Michael's 3 yr old class was in awe to be in front of so many people!

Here's a picture of them up there with their hands up in the air:

Michael singing (SHOCK!):
This alternated between nervous scratching of his hands and scanning of the crowd - Michael is DEFINITELY not one to be up on the stage performing. No surprise considering he is his father's son:
One more class pic, vertical:
They were dressed as shepherds! Here's ours coming off the stage:
Glad my "trendy" plaid shirt came in handy. When I came home with that, Brian said to me, "Nirvana called from the '90s and they want their plaid shirt back."

All week long, I had been asking Michael, "What songs are you singing for your Christmas program?" "I dunno." Hmmm...I don't think that they're just throwing this thing all together Thursday morning. But then it turns out, he did know the songs and explained why he's been singing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" for a while! :)

It was so cute to see him up there. While Michael looks a lot like me, he has inherited a lot of his father's personality. Me, I was the one always chosen to be the lead singer, Cinderella, play the piano for the school, etc. I never minded being in the spotlight and loved it. So I'm going to have to get used to the idea of Michael being just like his dad and not wanting any part of that!

I apologize for the horrible lighting. I have no idea what to do with flash photography! :) Looks like something I'm going to have to work on. And my angles are awful as it would be pretty embarrassing for Michael to have me all over creation with my huge camera. I sat in my seat and tried not to get the bald guy's head in my picture.

Love,

P