My mom recently brought back some Cornflake Butter Crunch cookies made by School Kine Cookies company in Hawaii. They are simply awesome! Buttery goodness + a great texture and crunch thanks to the cornflakes.
Maybe I should order more…?
Alice recently got a new role at work and has had to move offices. Her commute has increased by 10-15 min each way, which puts even more strain on getting back in time to pick up the kids. We tend to be one of the last parents to pick up at the daycare/pre-school on a semi-regular basis. We need more flexibility.
One of the big issues has been we only have the mini-van which can haul 3 kids around with. Yesterday that changed. We are getting rid of my lovely Acura TL (have loved this car) and took a trip to Car Max. We had a very good experience at Car Max, although they didn’t offer us as much as we’d like for our TL so we kept it. We ended up leaving with a 2003 Acura MDX. It has all the bells and whistles we’re used to and then some… It also has about the same mileage as my TL and is in good condition. It’s also relatively inexpensive, so we won’t be suffering financially. Plus it has 3rd row seating, so 
we’ve got another car that can handle 3 car seats - without having a 2nd mini-van.
On the way home I picked up 3 more car seats - (make sure you remember to ask for that Twin’s discount at Babies R Us) - and installed them that night. I bought 3 Graco Cargo car seats. Since these are our 4th or 5th ones, we know what features to look for now (ones that are important to us, I mean)… These were relatively easy to adjust and are a good value as far as we’re concerned. BUT, their true value showed up later in the evening.
We figured out we didn’t need to use the 3rd row seats afterall… All 3 car seats fit in the back seat (middle row) of the Acura MDX, side-by-side, easily! SWEET!!!
We have not been able to find a vehicle that can do it, except for the largest SUVs or a mini-van. MDX is neither and works for us!
Had gout in my foot in Feb. It decided to make a reappearance about 2 weeks ago. I even ended up in the hospital ER in the early morning on the 8th, and was unable to put any weight on it. They gave me X-rays and some pain relief, but essentially took my word at the fact that it was probably gout. I’ve been a tender-foot ever since. I’m no longer taking any pain killers - they didn’t seem to help too much anyways, they make you so sleepy… but I am still not in any shape to run or walk 100%. But hey, no pain when I put weight on my foot — that’s a very good thing!
I went to see my family doctor a couple days after getting out of the ER… I was unable to see my preferred doctor, so I saw another doctor in the practice. She was not helpful. She did give me a prescription for more pain-killers (again, not so effective, but sleepy)… but the worst was when I was asking her questions, trying to get advice - and her advice could be summed up by this simple sentence: “Just do some reading on www.webmd.com“. Heck, why not just tell me to Google for some info about gout?!? That’ll be $150 please… Sheesh… Next time, I’m going to insist on my normal doctor.
Thomas played a magic trick last night. He was waving Lauren’s princess wand and said, “Abracadabra Boom! Make Mommy disappear!” It just so happens that I was working downstairs in the office, so I wasn’t physically upstairs with the kids. Thomas figured that his magic trick must’ve worked since mommy wasn’t there.
Then Thomas tried to make mommy reappear again… except his magic didn’t work this time! Mommy did not reappear! Where did she go!?! Thomas, in a panic, started crying for mommy. Po-Po and Lauren were with Thomas. Po-Po said, “Thomas, STOP crying! You made mommy disappear, now just do your magic and bring mommy back!” “I can’t! LoLo - YOU DO IT! Bring mommy back!!!!” Thomas cried as he tried to shove the magic princess wand back into Lauren’s hands.
I still don’t know why he wanted to make mommy disappear, but I know he wouldn’t do it again! “It’s too hard, mommy!”
We take the twins to Chinese School every Sunday afternoon from 2-4PM. I don’t know if they are enjoying it or not, but I definitely dread going every week. Why? Well,… here’s a glimpse of what my 2-hour in the Chinese School is like.
Lauren & Thomas recently went through potty training (yes… you all know where I am going with this). They are not 100% trained yet, but I’d say they are 95% trained. A couple of Sundays ago, we went to Chinese School as usual. Shortly after the class started, Lauren said “mommy, mommy, my pants!!!” I look down at her pants and saw that she had already pee-peed in her pants. To my horror ~ I had to discreetly grab some tissue paper and wipe her seat while dragging her to the girls room down the hall! As we dashed for the Girl’s Restroom, I told Thomas to stay in the class room and wait for me. But of course, as soon as I got into the Girl’s Restroom, I heard him coming after us. “Alright, both of you, in to the stall with mommy. ” I quickly cleaned up Lauren as much as possible, but still needed to take her to the car to change her pants. Thomas went potty while I cleaned up Lauren. I took Thomas back to the classroom and asked one of the other moms to keep an eye on him for me while I run out to the car with Lauren.
When Lauren and I came back (which was no more than 5-10 min.), I noticed that Thomas was not in the classroom. “Where did he go?” I asked. The other mom said, “He wanted to go potty, so I sent my husband in with him.” Great, I thought. A strange man taking my son to the bathroom. I quickly went to the Boy’s Restroom just as Thomas was coming out. I thanked the man and took Thomas back into the class.
Now, I know, you must be thinking… how bad can it be right? Well… it’s just about to get even worse. To make a long story short ~ Thomas ran out of the classroom 30 sec. before it was to end (I was packing up the book bags), tugging at his pants as he ran down the hall. “Wait, Thomas! Wait for me!” I chased after him out into the hallway, only to see him running with his pants down around his ankles… yes, I had a full view of his skinny little behind… and the parents (there must’ve been 4-5 of them standing in the hallway as Thomas ran towards them) saw EVERYTHING.
“I need to go potty!!!” Thomas yelled, as he laughed and ran down the hall to the Boy’s Restroom.
Sometimes I really wonder ~ why do I put myself through this “torture” every Sunday?!
Last year we took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Of course they were only 2, so they got tired very quickly. I think we went to 5 houses total and then they were too tired. They liked the candy though… Pics here. Of course, they still love candy today.
This year we decided to try trick-or-treating at the mall. For the kids, they loved it. They were dressed up as Doodlebops — Lauren was Dee Dee Doodle, and Thomas was Rooney Doodle. What’s a Doodlebop? They’re fun characters from a kids show out of Canada… We’ve actually been watching them for a while now, but they recently must have signed up with the Disney Corp because now they’re on the Disney Channel every day.
Sidebar: I’ve noticed that the production special effects have been ramped up significantly too. What used to be a pretty funny, low budget show is becoming more and more “digitized” with flashier animations and music. Ah, gotta love that Disney effect!
They got lots of candy and goodies from the mall. Trick or treating from store-to-store was good in that the kids got lots more candy per foot walked, so I think they had much more fun. Also the fact that many more people were around and it wasn’t dark outside helped too.
Some stores gave out candy, some store gave out stickers. Lauren and Thomas like both stickers AND candy, but I think Lauren likes candy even more. After she realized that some stores were giving out stickers instead of candy, she started being prejudiced. “I don’t want stickers… I want candy!”
I thought this was really cute, so I had to capture it.
Thomas was sick last week so I kept him home one day. Lauren came home from school and was so excited to see Thomas.
“Hi Tommy, are you feeling better?!”
“Yeah…..”
“Alright! High 5!!”
Out of the blue one day, Thomas ran up to me and said, “Mommy, I have a secret to tell you.” He then put his little skinny arms around my neck and whispered into my ear and said, “I love you, Mommy.” (awwwhhhhhhh…. doesn’t that just melt your heart?! For all the parents out there, you all know what I mean!) I gave him a big mamabear hug and whispered into his ear, “I love you too honey!”
Meanwhile, Lauren was standing next to us witnessing all this kissing and hugging between Thomas and I, she jumped in and said, “Mommy, I have a secret to tell you too!” Thinking that she’ll say something similar, I asked, “What? What’s your secret?”
“Mommy, you are SMARTER than you think.” (This was before Lauren turned 3.)
Apparently I’m not the only geek/gadget-guy in the house… My 3 yr old has figured out how to fly the mini-remote-control helicopter I got for my birthday. No, I did not show him how to do it. He learned by simply watching me. Kids are amazing.
October is a busy month for our family. We have 4 family members with birthdays in October - Lauren, Thomas, Nicholas, and Daddy! Not to mention all the friends and relatives who were born in this month as well… plus the holidays right around the corner.
This year, Lauren and Thomas turned 3 years old. They had a b-day party last year and we invited friends over with their kids, but last year they more played “near each other” than “with each other.” They’re finally at the age where they can genuinely appreciate the FUN of a birthday party with friends, and playing with other kids. Let the fun begin!
Birthday Party #1 - (Oct 6): We hosted a small get together of 40+ friends and family at our house to celebrate… most of the pics in the slideshow are from that event. You can see more here at my flickr account. Food from Buon Appetito (yummy!), 2 cakes from Costco (b/c daddy thinks we shouldn’t jip the kids and make them share a cake), a scavenger hunt produced by Aunt Kristin, cake, and a Doodlebop theme. My favorite pics are from when all the kids discovered the joy of lollypops + watching the Doodlebops… Believe me, the house was pretty quiet at that point.
Birthday Party #2 - (Oct 8): My dad was heading out of town on a business trip, so he was going to miss the kids’ actual birthday. So we decided to go out to eat and “celebrate”… This time to Tyson Buffet - a Chinese buffet restaurant (huge selection)! No singing, but no less a birthday celebration. Aunt Kristin and Uncle Minh brought their gifts for the kids — activity books/marker sets and several classic kids board games — Memory, Candy Land, Cherries something-a-rather… They like playing the games… but don’t understand the part about keeping your playing piece on the board. It’s a constant guessing game to figure out where their pieces go. Oh well…
Birthday Party #3 - (Oct 12): On their actual birthday, we got off work early and went to the kids’ school. We brought store-bought/pre-approved ice cream cups and Hostess cupcakes - b/c you can’t just make your own treats like we did when we were little, thanks to food allergies. We also brought several goodie boxes for the kids… which were also Doodlebop themed. Cute “pom-pom” headbands, musical instruments, stickers, etc. Here’s a picture of the sticker we put on their goodie boxes…
Birthday Party #4 - (Oct 12): Mommy and Daddy are getting a little tired of all the birthday celebrations, so we had a “quiet” dinner at home, inviting just my mom and sister over for dinner. Grandpa was out of town. Of course we still had to sing Happy Birthday, but instead of a full cake, we gave them left-over ice cream cups with whipped cream and a cherry on top — oh and a candle too.
Next year we’re gonna think about a combined birthday party including Nicholas… maybe… we’ll see…
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