Monday, May 30, 2011

bedtime excuses

in our house, bedtime is usually at 8pm. this gives the kids some time to settle down, and hopefully they are fast asleep by 9pm. sometimes micah gets some leeway since he's still in preschool, plus he's my shadow. so if i have a lot of things to do around the house, he gets up from the bed and looks for me.

getting them to get ready for bed and in the bed is not always so easy. especially when we're having fun playing or watching a movie, no one wants to go to sleep. so the excuses start.

here's a list of the most common excuses:
  • but i'm really really hungry (micah's favorite excuse)
  • i'm not tired (this one is usually followed by a yawn)
  • i have a lot of energy still (malia's #1 excuse)
  • but i'm still playing
  • the movie's not done yet (and they've watched it before, so they know the outcome)
  • but micah's not going to bed yet
  • i need to find a toy to bring to bed first (micah's 2nd favorite excuse)
  • but i didn't get to read a book
so when i remember, i announce when it's the last chance to eat again. and i announce that it's 10 minutes until it's time to get ready for bed. it doesn't always eliminate the excuses, but it cuts down the whining. and no whining makes a parent happy.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

my birthday at disneyland


i've never been to disneyland on my actual birthday. i got one of those birthday buttons and it was surprising how many cast members greeted me. it was really nice. micah's ninong arn was able to join us for the day.

micah's first ride choice was "the ghost ride", but since pirates was on the way we went to that first. we waited maybe 5 minutes for each ride. we were lucky because it got crowded right after we rode. they added some new things to haunted mansion, i was actually freaked out. malia just wanted to go to the tarzan treehouse.

the kids spent some of their money on sugar. then we headed to fantasy land. they rode the circus train for the first time. of course in the monkey car.


one of the highlights of this trip was seeing baby ducks walk across the way. micah is usually pretty good about just looking, but i turned around and there he was running after the ducks and trying to touch them. i don't know what got into him. i had to carry him away because he wasn't listening to me to stop.



malia also wanted to go see mickey in his house. i love that mickey's greeting place changes themes. last time he was in his sorcerer outfit. this time he was steamboat willie with his boat in the background.


the kids each chose 1 thing to buy. out of everything there is to choose at disneyland, malia picked a little tiara. she had me checking it the entire time to see if it was straight. micah picked a storm trooper figure. loved my thirty-something birthday.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

words of wisdom from micah

if you eat a bug you explode...because bugs have bombs inside them.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

happy mom's day

malia made this banner for me this morning. it's made out of 2 pieces of tissue paper and sticky notes. i loved it. the kids behaved in church. ate some pho. we watched Rio. it was a great mom's day.

Friday, May 6, 2011

my early mother's day


today felt more like mother's day to me.

i brought micah to school this morning because his preschool was having a breakfast for mother's day. not all together, it was optional, and you could take the goodies to go. i didn't go last year so i really wanted to go this time. they had all sorts of bagels, breakfast pastries, pound cake, juice, and coffee. it was really nice. i really don't know why i didn't take a picture of it.

i stayed for a little bit to have breakfast with my boy. and since he doesn't eat bread (except for breadsticks), he just ate the cereal we brought and had some juice.


when we were done, he gave me the things he made in class for mother's day. i gave him a big hug and had to go. i didn't really read the card and sign until i got to the car. then i started crying because it was so sweet. and then i started crying more because i started missing my mom. so there i was, crying while driving to work.



when malia came home, she brought me tulips and several cards she made. she wanted to get me blue tulips since i like blue, but since they didn't have blue, purple was the closest to it.



she made some cute cards, and then i noticed one was a book, about me. i was almost scared to read it because she can say some random things sometimes. but i loved it, and i was cracking up.


yes, i like to nap but it's rare that i get to. i normally joke around with her that napping is a fun game. nice reminder of how old i am.

that's the best one: my mom is african! hilarious. she has been saying this since she was learning the continents in preschool and i told her i was born in africa. she thinks daddy is hawaiian because he was born in hawaii.

i love mother's day! it's so emotional, but so much fun. and i love all these presents from my silly kids.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

lia's half birthday

happy 7 and a half birthday malia!

i came home and she was already in her bathing suit. she loves that thing. she will look for it and try to wear it in the winter time too. if she had her way, she would probably go everywhere in it. i think she has cheetos in her mouth in the picture. she's been working hard at school, they are doing the CA standards testing all week. so it's great that her half birthday came to help lift her spirits.