Hello! Message from Sophia

Hello Everyone!  I'm feeling much better today (just don't look too closely 

around my crusty nose).

These are my older, cooler sisters!  I just love them so much!  They are reading a new book they got for Christmas.  I want to just follow them around all day.  If only I could crawl....then I can follow them everywhere.

Christmas Recap

Christmas morning at our house was crazy & fun.  The girls woke up at 6:15 am and was excited to run downstairs.  We didn't put the house alarm on that night since Rachel told us that Santa would have a heart attack if the alarm went off when he comes down our chimney.   And to everyone's amazement Santa came and brought the girls the very thing that they wanted.

Rachel got Biscuit the Dog.  He obeys 6 commands and is really cute.  He's not too bright since he mixes up the commands sometimes.  Silly Biscuit.  On Christmas morning Alex put on her wig so that she could wear the headband that her sister, Rachel had bought for her. 

Alex got a 'girl' Fox.  She LOVES this fox.  Santa (Thanks Susan for directing me to the right website to shop!) really knows where to find the best gifts.

Alex having a good time at Christmas dinner over at Silvano and Angela's place.  While we were getting dressed up for dinner the girls asked me to paint their nails.  So I agreed and Rachel, Alex and I were sitting on my bathroom floor painting nails while Papa ran in telling us that we were late and what in the world were we doing?  So the girls explained that they were getting fancy!  Poor outnumbered Papa.

The 4 girls together at Silvano and Angela's.  Alex with her beloved hairband (1st hair piece that she has ever worn) and Rachel with her hair curled and bangs gelled to the side.

Those Santa reindeers really did come.  See they left some poo to make their mark. 

Sophia with her Sophie the Giraffe Chew Toy. She loves this thing.

Santa brought Sophia this cute little pink piano.   Funny thing is that Alex and Rachel love it more than Sophia does at this point.

Oh yeah, and all the kids are sick.  We even had to bring Sophia to the emergency last night at 1am.  But she just has a really bad cold and cough.:(

Sophia getting a ride from Papa.  Alex and Rachel LOVE getting shoulder rides.  They are getting too big and their legs dangle far too down and they are super heavy.  Sophia on the other hand is just beginning to get the hang of it.

See you later guys on the next post!

Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope that everyone enjoys the holidays safe and sound surrounded by the special people in their lives.  We are SOOOOO excited for Santa's arrival tonight.  The girls have been looking forward to this Christmas for MONTHS now.  It is so fun to enjoy Christmas with kids around.  We feel so blessed.  I miss my family out east so much.  No matter how many years that it has been that I have lived away from them it doesn't get any easier for me.

So hug and kiss those around you and keep merry!

I love my neighbors

I love my 2 neighbors.  They are all 'family' people.  One neighbor has 2 young kids (1 who goes to the same school as the girls) and the other neighbor has 4 kids! and whose oldest daughter looks after the girls from time to time.  AND they both brought over Christmas treats tonight!  Rum balls (my favorite!) and cookies (yeah!).  I can't stop eating the rum balls.  Somebody stop me!

Our Day So Far

Hello!

Yum

Christmas Concert Time

Yummy snacks after Christmas Concert.

Sophia's New Big Panda Bear

Papa's Birthday Weekend

We celebrated Papa's birthday this weekend.  The girls painted him a beautiful canvas, made him a card and I made him delicious cupcakes and bought him beer.  He was happy.

Then we celebrated a 2nd night in a row at Papa's staff Christmas party.  We brought in a beautiful/wacky cake with a huge mouth, teeth and wacky tongue sticking out (I didn't bring my camera so no pictures).  After the party, Papa and his partner came back to our house and they drank all different kinds of fancy scotch.  Papa was happy again.

Last week, Sophia didn't have any teeth.  And this week, she has TWO bottom teeth!  Way to go Sophia!

When I'm lying in bed I can think of a million things that I should post on my blog but then now when I'm in front of the computer and can steal a few moments to upload some photos, my mind is blank.  So this will be a very short post.

Is it Sunday night ALREADY & yes, we now have KIMCHI!

This post doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Sophia started eating solids for a few weeks now but I thought if I didn't post any pictures at all, my parents would be disappointed.  But yes, Sophia has started to eat 'food'!  Yeah!  Nothing too fancy and mostly just rice cereal.

This weekend has FLOWN by.  I just can't believe it.  2 kids birthday parties and 1 early Christmas dinner with close friends and some awesome shopping (70 to 80 % OFF!) thrown in and all of a sudden it's Sunday night.  We really have not been home all weekend long except for quick meals here and there.  So when we got home tonight, the disaster/messy house was waiting for us.  Ughhh!  But the good news is that we have lots of Korean food (including the biggest jar of Kimchi!) stocked in our fridge and freezer!  We shopped at the Oriental food store which is about an hour from where we live and we don't go there very often so when we do, we stock up.  This makes Papa super duper happy.

Is the Day Over Yet?

I know that I am very fortunate and I love my three kids.....BUT I am VERY TIRED!!!!  The day is almost over.  But what does that mean exactly?  Seeing that Sophia is nursing as I type and she still sleeps in our bed waking me every few hours.  My 2 older kids are (finally) in bed.  But to get them there was a real struggle.  Being read 1 book each wasn't enough so I had to read them 2 books each tonight.  I caved and read them the extra 2 books because I felt badly that I yelled at them 3 times already today.  Once for taking their sweet time getting into the car and not putting on their seat belts quickly, second time because they were asking me to buy them a Hello Kitty sewing machine they saw at Costco and the third time because all afternoon long it seemed like one request after another without a break.  Then this evening I gave them a shower because it is easier and I was TIRED.  They complained that they liked baths much better.  Then I had to bathe my little baby, Sophia....with two 5 year olds leaning over the bath tub trying to 'help' by pouring water from a cup all over Sophia's face.  They are very sweet girls and I know what I'm complaining about is ridiculous stuff but I am tired and I need a break.  I just want my house to be organized, clean, the fridge filled with groceries, a healthy supper in the oven that my kids will eat but all that stuff never seems to be going as planned.  And because I'm trying to run to make these things happen and it's not, I get frustrated and take it out on my kids because it seems like they are always around me so closely that I will trip over them.  I don't know if this post makes any sense but I'm just ranting.  I feel like giving up the dream of a clean, organized house and just letting things slide to a huge mess and just play with my girls and do arts and craft all afternoon long and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Anyhow to deal with my crankiness, I find chocolate ice cream and cookies, and KFC lunches eases the tiredness (somehow...I don't know).  Which isn't helping at all with the weight loss but that's another post in itself.  

Fun Chaos Around the House

Down Memory Lane with the Ornaments

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday and I realized how special each and every one of our ornaments are.  So much love and memories are in each ornament that we put up on the tree every year and then store carefully away after the holidays.  These are a few I wanted to share with you.

I've had this on my tree ever since I was a kid.  Sisters, do you remember this one?

Tobi ornament that Susan bought us soon after we got Tobi.  I miss him terribly.

Carleen (Kaili's mama) had made these 'R' and 'A' balls for the girls the first year they were born.

Susan (she has bought so many ornaments for us) bought us this ornament the year that James and I got married.

One of the most meaningful ones on my tree.  We used to have 2 of these birds.  My grandmother would place them on the tree so that they could see each other.  I think this ornament is over 30 years old now.

Got to have a Baby's 1st Christmas ornament.

One of the hand made ornaments on the tree.  Reminds me of the lovely afternoon that Papa, me and the girls spent at the community centre when they were 3 years old.  We ate pancakes and then made about 4 different ornaments.  But at 3 years old they weren't able to make the crafts themselves so Papa and I had fun making it with them.

One of the ornaments that Kaili has passed down to the girls.  It used to be on her tree when she was growing up.  She gave it to the girls when they were really young and loved Winnie the Pooh.

The first ornament I bought for James after we were married.  We moved out here in B.C. and had NO ornaments for the tree.  So we started buying a few every year and building up our collection.

Joyce made this Santa and Mrs. Claus ornament for us.  We went to Walmart, picked up some crafty stuff and then made ornaments one afternoon, way before the kids were born.

This one is 25 years old.  Can you believe it?  I have other ones that are older than that but this one actually has the year written on it.  Susan and Joyce, do you remember where this one came from?

Our tree is also covered in Princess, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Dora, Pillsbury Doughboy ornaments.  Ornaments that I'm hoping will be passed down to the girls when they are older and have their own homes.  I love our tree.  It's an artificial one and not all fancy smancy but it is so personal and so 'us'.  What ornaments are special on your tree?

Concert

Piano Recital & 1st Snowy Day

The pictures are not in order.  This is Sophia hanging out in the Exersaucer while her sisters are outside playing in the snow.  We skipped skating class this morning because I was feeling overwhelmed with a very messy house.  Kaili and Jaia were over and all the kids went outside to play in the snow while I made a feeble attempt at getting things organized.  We saw the skating teacher this afternoon at the piano recital (her daughter plays piano as well) and Alex went up to her and told her...Sorry we didn't come to skating class, I was making snow angels.  Totally busted with the truth by my 5 year old.
Alex and Rachel did so well tonight.  Alex played Eency Weency Spider and Rachel played Old McDonald had a farm.   It's amazing that they never get nervous playing in front of a crowd.  They had a great time.  A lot of their school friends were there playing piano so it was fun for them.  It was held at a Senior's Centre and the residents there looked so happy to see these young kids.  I always have a soft spot for Seniors.  I guess they always remind me of my own grandma.  

Sophia was awake for the whole recital.  Kaili got her dressed up.  I think this is the 1st time that she is wearing a dress.  She really likes crowds, people watching, noise, etc....

And this is the snow princess that the girls made this morning.

What's been going on

The girls didn't have school today because it was teacher/parent meetings at the school.  I met with the teacher in the morning and she just raved about how obedient, sweet, smart the girls were and what great role models they were.  It was really nice to hear all these good things from the teacher and made me feel very proud of these girls.  

Then the girls went for their very first playdate at a school friends' house WITHOUT me.  I didn't want them to go over to this certain friends' house.  She's a little crazy.  She jumps up and down, talks with this crazy silly voice, likes to lick my girls' faces and basically isn't what I would call calm and sweet.  But as you know we can't pick our kids' friends.  I encourage the girls to play with these other girls in their class ... but they LOVE this other little girl.  Anyhow I was pretty nervous dropping them off but to my surprise they did crafts and ate gingerbread cookies there and they had a great time.  I totally misjudged the mama and I feel guilty about it now.

Then in the afternoon my good friend, Cindy, took them to her work Christmas party.  She works at HSBC Bank and they threw a fantastic party for the kids of the employees that work there.  Cindy just borrowed my girls for the evening.  (BTW Cindy is the manager of Search and Rescue in this town so I had every faith that they were in the best of hands.  Come on...don't you know that I'm super paranoid about them?)  They made the crafts below (so so cute), decorated and ate gingerbread cookies (2nd time today!), decorated a Christmas tree and had a surprise visit from Santa and got a gift each.  Oh yeah, and they got to eat Cheese pizza, their favorite!  I wasn't even sure that the girls would go when Cindy invited them.  But they said YES without any hesitation.  When in the world did they grow up to be these independent little people?  It seems like it was just yesterday that they needed me 24/7.  Anyhow the funniest thing they said when they got back was that Santa lost so much weight. Hilarious.  It must have been some skinny dude that worked at the bank that got dressed up.

And totally off topic, Papa got a brand new bike.  It's an electric bike.  Because we live at the top of a very steep hill.  It was too hard for Papa to make it up the hill on a regular bike.  So this new bike will bring him back home without him even breaking a sweat.   The electric bike part kicks in only when you want it to and the rest of the time you ride it like a normal bike and get exercise.  Anyhow, he got all this fancy new gear to go with it and we teased him to no end the first time he went for a ride.  The girls said that he looked like a superhero.
It feels like the weeks are racing by.  This week has been very emotional for me.  I got terrible news from 2 different families about 2 little kids which left me with a very heavy heart.  I am trying to appreciate my life and my family every moment.  Sometimes I run out of patience with the kids just because it is never ending work but for the most part I look at them and marvel that they are my kids and I give thanks for them.