Happy Chanukah with the Shields

The tradition of the Smith-Shields Chanukah celebration continues to year three! Last year we went to their place and this year we hosted. It was so much fun catching up with the family and watching the boys play. Kyer and Micah got along very well, so I think we have best friends in the making. When will we see them again???

4th night

Tonight we celebrated the fourth night of Chanukah with Bubbe, GA, GT, and some of Bubbe's close friends. We had a great evening at Bubbe's house eating good food, opening gifts, and playing games. Now that Noah understands the rules of the games, I think he enjoyed playing Dreidel and Go Fish with GA and GT more than the gift opening! When will we see them again???

Happy Chanukah

We celebrated the first night of Chanukah with Grandpa. We had matzo ball soup and latkes for dinner (well the kids had pancakes). Noah had a wonderful time singing "Chanukah oh Chanukah" with Grandpa. Noah is also old enough to understand the Dreidel Game and it was fun watching three generations spin for chocolate gelt. What will the next night of Chanukah bring???

4

Today we ventured to Disneyland for Noah's 4th birthday. Noah wanted to ride (in order) Dumbo, Teacups, and Small World. He also asked to see Minnie and we just happen to see her on our way out. His birthday wish came true because we were able to do everything (and squeeze in the Jedi Training Show). It was a relaxing day and so much fun to be my with my boys. When will we stay for the World of Color show???

Happy Birthday Halmoni

November is a busy month full of birthdays. My mom's birthday is the last one to celebrate this month. Kelly was still in town so we went out to dinner for her birthday in Century City. Wonder what she wished for???

Happy 4th Birthday Noah!!!

Noah's 4th birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year, so we celebrated at Halmoni's house. Emo made a delicious Barefoot cake with a star made out of raspberries and blueberries! Noah had a great time opening up all his presents... I think his favorite was the Obi-won spaceship Daddy bought him. I can't believe that Noah is already 4 years old... where did the time go???

Gobble gobble

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with traditional American fare and of course kimchi. This family get together was extra special because it was also Noah's birthday (see next post). Noah was too excited to really eat (who could blame him?) and Micah started off with meeyuk gook (Noah's birthday seawood soup) and some turkey... what will Thanksgiving be like next year???

Labor of love

Noah decided that he wanted chocolate cupcakes with Mickey Mouse decor for his class party. Since I volunteer on Mondays, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by having his party on my work day. I made the cupcakes last night and made a fatal mistake! Instead of baking soda, I used baking powder! When the cupcakes came out they were really tiny and dense. At this point, I did not figure out what went wrong, and I decided to scrap them and to purchase the treats on the way to school. But Jawsh helped me figure out my misstep, and I decided to rebake the cupcakes. So I started again after the kids went to sleep and finished frosting them at 12:30 AM. Labor of love. And totally worth it because Noah was so happy. Look at his face, wouldn't you agree???

Happy Birthday Reile!

Today Noah and I ventured to Woodland Hills to help celebrate Reile's 1st birthday while Jawsh took Micah out for some bonding time. Reile's mom, Jamila, and I were roommates in college. They now live in the Bay Area so it was really nice to finally meet her son and wish him a happy day. When will we see them again???

68

We celebrated Harabujee's 68th birthday today. Noah chose a card that had butterflies and dictated this to my mom who wrote the following in Korean: Happy Birthday Harabujee... I like you... Thank you for the love! Noah also drew a picture of him holding a green lollipop and a lighter! Wonder what he wished for???

Happy Birthday Kyer!

Today we celebrated Kyer's 2nd birthday at Underwood Farms! The boys had a blast on the hayride, climbing haystacks, riding trains, feeding animals, and riding ponies for the first time (whew!). I think it's so great that we live close enough to celebrate these special occasions together... wouldn't you agree???

Happy 50th Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty was celebrating her 50th anniversary at the Santa Monica airport. We thought that we would swing by to check out the art. The boys were saying, "Kaitlyn" the whole time because she likes Hello Kitty. It was fun for about ten minutes, but there was not much to do. The best part of the event (for me) was taking a picture inside of a Yogurtland cup. Hilarious, eh???

Family portrait

Noah drew the family... Daddy, Mommy, Noah, and Micah. Beautiful work, don't you think???

Halloween carnival

This year we went to Inland for the church Halloween carnival. It was such a nice set up. Amusement park rides, merry go rounds, jumpers, games, food, and live jazz music! The kids had such a great time. About half of the kids were dressed up and a handful of adults, so needless to say, Han Solo and Princess Leia stuck out a bit. A few people wanted our pictures but it's because we had such a great cast of characters... Han, Leia, 3 Jedis, and the cutest Ewok ever... who could beat that???

Halloween Party

Last year we were the Darling Family and this year Star Wars! As I mentioned in a previous post, Jawsh used the Jedi mind trick to get me to agree to not only be Princess Leia but to also don the itchy wig! The lengths that I will go through... This is us posing at Nicole's Halloween Party and having a great time. What will we decide to do next year???

Pumpkins!

We headed over to Santa Monica to visit a pumpkin patch after the boys' naps. Of course, it was nothing compared to Tanaka Farms as it sat on an empty parking lot, but the boys still had fun poking the pumpkins with their light sabers. I could not get a photo of both of them looking into the camera at the same time! It was so frustrating... but I finally knew when to quit and I let them get their sillies out on the jumper. When will they both smile and look into the camera???

Hot pizza

We were in line at Whole Foods waiting for a piece of pizza and Noah pointed to the word hot and recited the sounds to Micah and then said, "Mommy that says hot!" I asked him what the next word was (which was pizza) and Noah started to sound out the letters and using environmental clues, said, "pizza." It was very exciting! Will he love to read as much as his Daddy???

Noah's Ark

Today we ventured to the Skirball with friends from preschool). Although I would like for Noah to play with Y.H. and S.C? more, he is much more interested in following E.H. Y.H.'s older sister. E.H. and Noah bonded on the playground and now Noah just wants to hang with her... could it be her ability to speak French fluently? her gentle demeanor? or the fact that she is generous and gives him treats? Hmmmm... I wonder???

Tanaka Farms

This year we went to Tanaka Farms to check out the pumpkin patch. It was so awesome. 30 acres of sprawling fields with veggies galore. We ventured through the fields with Bubbe, Halmoni, and Kaitlyn and Co. and saw a pumpkin being launched from a cannon. Everyone really liked the corn maze (well, me not so much) and Kaitlyn and Micah enjoyed the petting zoo (Noah not so much). We are definitely coming back to this farm for strawberry season... wonder what that will be like???

Bippity Boppity Boo!

Tonight I tried a new recipe that I got from a blog called Week of Menus (my sister recommended it). Who knew this little pumpkin could turn into such a tasty dinner! The pumpkin was stuffed with rice, bacon, cheddar cheese, cream, garlic and chives. I wasn't sure how the boys were going to react but Noah loved it (he asked me to pack it in his lunch for preschool). Jawsh liked it as well... he thought it was comfort food and perfect for this cool evening. Micah asked for his usual rice, sesame oil, and soy sauce concoction. What recipe will I try next???