project 52, week 11

remember jonah's birth story?  i remember living that out literally yesterday.  pretty much every detail of it is still fresh in my mind.  because uh, it happened yesterday.  except that the calendar is telling me that this all happened exactly one year ago.  crazy business!

a whole entire year has passed by in the span of ONE DAY and now this baby of mine has sprouted six whole teeth, is standing up at will, taking a few steps, playing with the big kids, and pretty much taking this whole growing up thing in stride.  very unlike his mother.

so even though i'm not quite ready to realize it yet, my baby jonut is a whole one years old!  i find this impossible to believe.  seriously.

going to the snow, 2012 edition

two years ago, i wrote about going to the snow with my brother's family.  it was great fun.  we couldn't go last year because someone (read: jonah) was ready to pop out any minute.  and this year, try as we might, we couldn't find a good weekend that would work for both families.  we figured we wouldn't be able to go at all again this year.

but, because mikey kept asking when we'd get to see snow again (that kid has the memory of an elephant.  actually, the selective memory of an elephant) and because phil had a random few days off mid-week and because we were already planning to spend the weekend at disneyland, we figured we'd tack on a quick trip up to big bear since we'd be packed and loaded up anyway.

except that snow gear is very, very different from disneyland hotel gear.  minor details, phil says.

so we went for it.  two nights in a cozy little cabin up in the mountains with big plans to play in the snow and watch movies and play games and eat popcorn and s'mores and steak and hot chocolate and the whole bit.

and happily, we got to do it all.

except for the snow part.

we drove up there and much to the kids' disappointment, didn't see snow anywhere!

but!  there just so happened to be a small hill right behind the cabin we were staying in that had just the right amount of snow for three small kids to revel in for two days.

so we got all bundled up in coats and hats and mittens and two pairs of pants and socks and shoes (which again reminded me why i'm eternally thankful that we no longer live where it snows) and headed out for a real live snow day.

though there is something downright irresistible about two little sisters bundled up all in pink and topped with matching monkey hats.

there was a perfect-sized little hill for sledding (no races this year though).

but still just as much fun as we remembered.

our little thrill-seeker even wanted to go by herself.  daddy had her lie down though since she'd go pretty fast without some (ahem) adult weight to slow the sled down.

but a certain little someone tired of sledding before the others did and contented herself with this one perfectly sized snowball.

it fit right in her little hands.  never minding that her fingers were totally freezing in those thin pink mittens.

she gave it hugs.

she even sampled it.

she wanted to bring it home with her.  until daddy convinced her to put it down and help him make some more.

because, my friends, it was time for an epic tsai family snowball fight.  intense snowball-making preparations beforehand were required.

so she sacrificed her perfect little snowball.

and nailed her big brother with it.

then it was on like donkey kong.

she got her brother a few times.  he was a good sport about it.

and he did get her back a few times, too.

you can guess who their favorite target was, though.

she found herself the perfect little hiding spot.

and when she was too wet and cold and tired, we trudged back to the cabin while the others stayed behind to make a snowman.

and when they finally came in wet and cold and tired, i was ready for 'em.

they loved this.  me too.

so after a long day playing in the snow, it was awfully nice and cozy by the fireplace in the evening.

and in case you were wondering...  here he is!  we didn't have much in the way of snow gear for him, so inside he stayed for most of our time there.  he was happiest staying near the food, anyway.

daddy with the monkeys.

mommy with the monkeys.

good times for sure.  he wasn't ready for it to end so soon.

and we're definitely hoping to make it back next year with the whole family!

project 52, week 10

jonah's been standing by himself for longer and longer stretches lately.  and each time he does, he looks around expectantly for the cheers and applause from the rest of us.  and he always gets it.  and then he starts clapping himself.  and then he drops back down on his bottom.  and then he does it all over again.

it's a fun game.

and the big news this week is that he took his very first step wednesday night!  daddy was the one to see him do it and i have yet to catch him at it.  but i'm very glad daddy was here to see jonah do one of his "firsts" since he missed out on a lot of them with the other babies.  just something about seeing that Very First One that's extra special.

and now i must prepare myself for FOUR walking monkeys wreaking havoc on my sanity.  watch out world, cuz here they come!

project 52, week 9

we recently got to take a little trip up to big bear for a couple nights.  the whole story about that is coming soon.  but for now, i just wanted to share my favorite pic to date of my two favorite little girlies.  i love that they have a built-in best friend for life.  i love that they love each other (most of the time) and hope that only grows as they get older.  and most of all, i love that i get to be their mommy!  :)

project 52, week 8

this is me.  all smiles.  at wicked.

i've been wanting to see this musical for the past five years but babies, moving, husband's schedule, and life in general somehow kept getting in the way.  but phil surprised me with tickets when it was in town and off we went (right after getting the kids situated with their favorite babysitter).

and i don't know if it's because i haven't been to a theater experience in eight years, but i have to say, it was...  awesomely wonderful.  way better than i ever thought it would be and it's now my favorite.  the storyline.  the singing.  OH THE SINGING.  just loved it. 

(i took three playbills so each of my monkeys could have one).

and the fact that i got to go on a date with my favorite guy?  well, that surely was the icing on the cake!

ps- the above picture is what happens when you forget to turn the camera to auto before handing it off to a stranger.  aigoo.

field trip!

yep, another one!  this one was back at the end of january.  i'm glad we made the most of those random days phil had off while moonlighting since they're long gone now.  :(

anyway, this trip was to the california science center.  can't beat free fun!

playing around in the fog machine.  (ps- she dressed herself that day.  just to clarify.)

it's blurry (kicking myself) but i still love it.

he loved this thing.

LOVED. IT.

actually, she did too.

daddy convinced them all to go in the wind machine.  78.7 mph winds.  while i stood outside with jonah and laughed at them.  best two bucks we spent!

actually four bucks since they wanted to go in it again!

little dude even got to break out of the carrier and play in the baby area for a bit.

the tsais in infrared!

fun stuff.  on the way home, daddy asked the kids what they learned.  mikey answered, "uh, science-y stuff?"  good enough with me!  ha.

100th day

my son went to public school kindergarten last year.  and in that public school kindergarten, they did a bang-up job celebrating the heck out of each and every holiday, special occasion, and birthday.  with whole-day long parties and games and prizes and happiness.  he probably ingested more cupcakes in that one school year than in the rest of his six years of life combined.  it really did make for fun memories for him, and for that i am thankful.

one such extravaganza was thrown in honor of their 100th day of school.  i remember having to count out ten jelly beans into ten sandwich baggies and stapling them to a poster to send to school with him.  i believe they did 100 different things to celebrate the 100th day.  because that's the kind of teacher he had back then.

so on our 99th day of school, it was inevitable that mikey would ask if we would have a 100th day party of our own.  and because i am rather proud that we actually did make it through 100 days of homeschooling and because i had a sudden burst of uncharacteristic energy, i said, "WELL, OF COURSE WE ARE!!"

ignoring the fact that i didn't have anything prepared for an epic 100th day celebration.  so after thinking long and hard late into the night (not really, i stay up late anyway), scouring through various and sundry resources for ideas (a quick search on the ol' internets), and planning out 100 different activities (actually, 5), i was all ready for 'em.

and so i present to you, our 100th day of homeschool celebration!  which we celebrated on february 1st.  please don't remind me that it's now march 1st.  thank you.

this is how mikey knew on day 99 that day 100 was coming.

they began with coloring and cutting out their own 100-day crowns.  because what's a party without crowns?

and then i had them place exactly 100 stickers onto their crowns.

this one got tired at about sticker 37 though.

but with mommy's help, she managed to get it done!

then the older two moved on to filling out their hundred charts.  because it's nothin' but fun around here.

still, he enjoyed doing it since it was an official part of our 100th day celebration.

her, too.

then they moved on to writing a story about when they are 100 years old.

mikey's story:  When I am 100 years old, I will look like this.  I will have a cane, maybe I will live on a farm, and I will go outside a lot.  I will have a dog named Max if its a boy.

allie's story:  When I am 100 yers I will have a cane and gray and white hair.  I will live in a city and I will knit baby hats and a sweater for me.


then they strung 100 cheerios onto string, in groups of ten separated by little straw segments.  that took 'em a while.  lauren decided she needed help after cheerio 12.

then we made snack mix baggies out of 100 (give or take, i was about done counting to 100 at this point) pretzels, raisins, and candies leftover from halloween.

i have no pictures of the above activities.  mostly because i was busy counting to 100 and putting cheerios on a string for lauren.

but we did it and ended up having ourselves a grand ol' 100th day celebration!  done all while baby brother took his morning nap.

mikey declared it the best 100th day party ever.  waaaay funner than last year's.  and with that, i felt a pleasing sense of vindication.

and look who woke up just in time to help eat the cheerio necklaces!