just because...

this picture makes me smile.  i didn't post it before (it was taken this past summer) because the background behind lauren is so messy and cluttered.  but i'm posting it now because like i said, it makes me smile.  and it reminds me that for this season of my life, having a perfectly clean house is not the goal and that someday, i actually may be able to have a perfectly clean home with everything just where i want it...  when no one else is living in it with me.  and so today, i have to remind myself (again) that the messy house with toys scattered all over is a very good thing because it means all my loved ones are home with me.  which also means, i get treated to big ol' cheesy grins like this to help distract me from getting upset over the clutter behind her.  just needed a little cheering up today because i lost patience (once again) with the kiddos because of the toys scattered all over the messy house.  again.

i'm trying to remember to spend little moments with each of the kids every day.  because even though i'm home with them all day everyday (except for preschool), sometimes it feels like i don't really spend time being with them-listening to them-playing with them, because i'm too busy doing laundry, washing dishes, making them food, cleaning up after them, changing diapers, and on and on.  it's hard to find the balance in there because as much as i'd like to be carefree and play with them all day, the work at home also continuously needs to be done to keep us all running smoothly- fed and dressed and somewhat clean, namely.

anyway, just some random thoughts running through my head today.  trying to learn to do it all better tomorrow.  thank you Lord, for giving us fresh new starts every morning.  and for sweet, forgiving children.

baby joy turns one!

two saturdays ago, we had the privilege of going to celebrate my niece joy's first birthday!  baby joy and her family have been through a lot this past year, including three major surgeries, being in and out of the hospital, and dealing with feeding and reflux issues.  so making it to this milestone first birthday was definitely a big deal.  and hearing my brother and joanna share about how their trust and faith in the Lord has grown as they've seen His faithfulness to them as He led them through each hurdle.  and about how much joy herself has taught them about being thankful and joyful in all circumstances.  and especially hearing my brother say that he's thankful that God knew they needed joy in their life more than she needed them.  baby joy got exactly the perfect name for her as she's brought so much joy to everyone she meets.

it was definitely an emotional moment to realize all they've been through and yet come through to this point with more love for one another than ever before.  God is good indeed.

it was also very cool to see so many of their friends and family gather around them to celebrate this special day with them.

i only took a few pictures at the party (for once!) since i went alone with the kids as phil was on call.  then allie ended up falling off of a chair and breaking her fall with her face.  the camera was put away for good after that.

perfect party balloons...

the grandparents with all their grandgirls.  :)

baby joy started off wearing a red chinese dress, then switched into a korean hanbok midway through.

here she is chillin' while everyone sang "happy birthday" to her.

group shot.

mikey taking a little break with his trusty old bear.

little kids and balloons go together like peanut butter and jelly.

this girl had a steady supply of almond joys coming to her, thanks to the grandparents.

happy, happy first birthday, sweet baby joy!  we are so glad you are part of our family and hope this next year is full of blessings for you.  we looooove you! 

dinosaurs to tinkerbell.

so last thursday morning, phil texts me to let me know he was on the way home (a post-call day).  then he asks, "wanna do anything today?".  i did a double-take.  this is usually unheard of for post-call phil who normally comes home and promptly falls asleep as soon as his head is somewhat reclined.  more than once, i've peeked out the window only to see him fast asleep in his car in our driveway.  he doesn't even make it in the house on those particularly busy and tiring nights.  normally, he gets somewhere between 30 minutes to two hours' of sleep during a 24-hour call shift and it normally means he needs to get some sleep while the kids and i go about our usual business during the day.

on this particular day, he still only got about two hours' sleep but somehow felt energized enough to want to go out and do something with the family.  after repeatedly making sure he really was feeling okay and didn't want to sleep first before going out, we decided to head over to the la museum of natural history.  this was with the intention of going to the fake kogi truck for lunch afterward.  unfortunately, we never did find the truck that day (and i'm still craving me some kimchi tacos), but still had a good time together anyway.

this one's a little random, but this is the face lauren makes when we ask her to pray.

she scrunches up her face and says, "de dah" ("dear God").  i wanted a picture

of her doing it, so i asked her to pray on our way to the museum.

ok, so there's not really that many dinosaur bones in the museum,

but this display right in the center is pretty impressive!

phil recently told me that he had always liked dioramas when he was a kid.

found something about them fascinating.  so this picture's for you, honey!  :)

this is how we roll these days.

this is mikey trying to hear the ocean in this shell.

that giant, ugly bug in the background totally grosses me out.  but i still wanted it
in the picture because i find something about this combination kinda funny.

this is what lauren was so fascinated by in the aquarium.

this one cracks me up.  people were actually staring at us

because i was laughing so hard while taking this picture.

then the little one wanted to try on a hat too. 

which had me laughing all over again.

this is me making sure she doesn't topple over.

and this is a giant triceratops skull.

after a quick, non-kogi truck lunch, we headed home and everyone took a nap.  because we had another surprise outing in store for that evening...

disney on ice's worlds of fantasy!

mikey loved when all the cars came out.  unfortunately, there were

too many people in front of us to get a good shot of them.

then ariel came out and i think allie actually screamed with excitement when she saw her.

she was transfixed.  he was trying to stay awake.

mikey wasn't quite sold on all the princessy business,
and kept wondering if the cars would come back out.

the grand finale.

big thanks to phil for sacrificing sleep in order for us to have another great family day together.  we love you, daddy!  :)

all grown up!

seems like it happened overnight (or is it just me?) but lauren's decided that she's a big girl now and has left her baby days behind.  : (

she's now a lean, mean, walkin' machine, full of her own opinions and independence.  she smiles proudly and nods when i ask if she's a big girl.  and she will let you know LOUDLY if she thinks you're treating her like a baby or otherwise withholding something from her that the big kids (her older brother and sister) are getting.

and here are the pictures that prove my point:

no longer will she accept bites off our food, she now requires her own separate sandwich.  here she is munching on a breakfast jack.

going to town on her very own peach

(none of us were too interested in sharing it after she got through with it).

no more sitting on laps for this girl.

poor allie, she really wanted a picture with her little sister.  lauren wasn't having it.

 she's happy to sit by herself and do her own thing.

just plop her down on a corner of curb with her own plate of snacks and she's a happy girl. 

she's also big on doing whatever her big sister is doing-- like playing dress-up...

wearing every single piece of princess jewelry...

and wearing allie's tap shoes.

though she's not above getting help from her big brother every now and then.  :)

so what is the return policy on this again?  (juuust kidding!)

naw, we'd better keep her cuz we love this girl to pieces!

and cuz she does stuff like this.

snippets.

here's a bit of the conversation phil and i had last night...

me:  what does good skin tone mean?
phil:  uh, not swarthy?
me:  huh?  what's swarthy mean?
phil:  having bad skin tone.

heh.  that guy has a such a way of clearing stuff right up for me!  :P

********

and a bit of conversation i overheard between the kids as they were watching the rose parade:

mikey:  i like all the parade people, even the pink princesses on the horses.
allie [wearing a pink dress and flowery crown]:  i'm a pink princess, do you like me?
mikey [trying to be diplomatic]:  well...  i like your strings.
allie:  mikey!  they're not strings, they're ribbons!

weekend fun.

on saturday, we had opportunity to have lunch with some of phil's college friends.  it was a great time-- really fun to catch up with old friends and meet their little ones.

all of us at buca di beppo: the soon-to-be lees, the rhees, the chois, and the tsais.  :)

all of us (well, except for me) again outside.

the fellas-- phil, thomas, marcelo, and james.

the next day, we headed over to pasadena after church for the post-parade float viewing.  i've grown up watching the rose parade every new year's day and was really excited to be able to see the floats in person.  they certainly didn't disappoint as they were massive and sooo beautiful.

as mikey said, "hey!  we saw that on tv!"

the ENORMOUS trumpet-player towered over the two-story houses and streetlights nearby.

like i said, the floats were huge and every last inch was covered with flowers and seeds.

lauren had the best seat for float-viewing...

not only did the flowers look beautiful, but they smelled wonderful, too.

the detail was amazing.

kumquats!

gorillas!

 nemo!

  dolphin!

phil tsai, following the directions of his motherland.

the sunburst on the back of the float from mexico.

amazing to see so many different varieties of flowers.

fighting through the crowds (and it was CROWDED!).  it helped to have a tank-like stroller to create space around us.  :)

i think the kids enjoyed seeing the floats too, but their favorite part was being let out of the stroller after we left the crowds and stretch those little legs.