Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas eve


merry christmas eve! i worked in the morning then we got our things ready and went to mass at St Rose at 4pm. it was the childrens mass, so they had kids act out the nativity scene and the kids choir was too cute. afterwards, our families came over for dinner and to open gifts. m&m ended the night playing a new lego game on the xbox. they tried to wait for santa, but they were too exhausted.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

uncles

we had dad rollie's 40th day celebration today. it was nice, started with mass, then lots of eating, then just hanging out.

just this year, the kids started hanging out with their uncles a lot more, mostly because they are into a lot of the same things like video games.

the whole family even got into an app about superheroes and villains.

Friday, December 20, 2013

passion project

lia's been doing passion projects all year, most of which i didn't know about because she does all her work on her own now. but for this most recent one she made a little diagram with clay. she did it on the lion king, likely because she just had the show.

she can make super tiny things with clay. the whole thing is on a regular piece of paper. my favorite on this is the elephants graveyard.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

micah honor roll

micah got on the honor roll for his english class. he's doing awesome in spanish, but still has some struggles. he's done wonders in half a school year of spanish, more than any of us could ever do.  it's like pulling teeth to get him to do his homework, so this was a great boost for him to get this award. so proud of my little guy.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

snow in eastlake


we were heading home and i remembered they have snow in eastlake village walk. we just made it in time. with everything that's been going on, it was nice to see the kids faces light up. it's feeling a lot like Christmas.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

twin day

twin day at school. this is one of lia's BFFs, samantha. malia loooooooooooves her. she calls her sammie. sammie is so sweet, she bought lia a shirt just for twin day. lia's shirt fit perfectly, it's a size 5/6, too funny.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

we're HOME

we're home! our home! i don't think the idea will ever get old.

we got our keys today and moved a few things in. although we won't officially be here until the weekend, it's all ours!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

let's draw

it's a lazy sunday evening and lia says, "let's draw." so i sit with her and she's giving me instructions on how to draw mickey holding a pumpkin. and after a few minutes she shows me hers and mine looks nothing like hers and i want to throw mine away. she amazes me with her drawing talent.

pumpkin station with the cousins

the holidays are about to kick off and here i am again wondering where the time went and asking myself why are the kids so big.

as always, whenever we make it to the pumpkin station, i try to remember to take the same photographs of m&m. i would like to rewind the time please and make them like the first photo, thank you. but they are still fun now...sometimes.



we met up with the cousins and rode some rides, played some games. it's crazy that they still have the same rides as long time ago.




see you next year pumpkin station!

Monday, October 21, 2013

A.G.E. class

that's short for adolescent growth education. i already cringed at the idea of it last school year when malia learned about the female reproductive system and the possibility of getting her period soon.

then she thought she got her period but didn't. 

this year, they've been having more discussions. then she wanted to wear sports bras. i just laughed inside. she's so small, she doesn't need it at all.

last week they discussed bad touches, which was good so they could identify what molestation is.

but, still more discussions.

so today, this was our conversation:
Malia: oh my gosh mom, in a.g.e. class today we learned how a sperm gets to an egg, and eww!
Me: they taught you that?
Malia: some people asked, they wanted to know. i don't know if i wanna talk about it, it's gross!
Me: me either, but what exactly did they say?
Malia: they explained how the thing goes (she starts using her fingers to show me)
Me: ok we don't have to talk about it, and yes it's gross, but that's only for adults who are married and want kids.
Malia: but does that mean you did, umm i don't wanna talk about it. i don't like a.g.e. class anymore!
Me: i don't like it either.
 she went to watch tv, and i went to text Roel to never touch me again LOL.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

malia's first 5K

malia and i did the aloha run 5K this morning. she likes to run and it seemed like a lot of fun so i signed us up for it.

here we are waiting to start.


i think she got too excited seeing everyone running, so she ran her heart out for the first mile. and of course, her "jogging" was equivalent to my fast running. i felt like i was chasing her or running away from something and my heart was going to come out of my chest. i don't run, i can jog slowly, but not for a long period of time. so she ran ahead of me and stopped every now and then to let me catch up.

but halfway into it, she ran out of steam, and my little hare became a tortoise. she just wanted to walk and even stop and sit down. i just encouraged her to walk slowly. it was hot, and her face was red. here she is with our little cooling towel.


we jogged through the finish line. and she was happy to get her hula girl medal.

the skirt moves, it's cute.

we ate all the free food afterward with arn, betty, and rose. it was hot, but we did it, and it was fun.

malia said she would do another 5K with me in the future. i told her we should train. i would love to be able to keep up with her one day. wait, what did i get myself into?

Thursday, August 29, 2013

ccd for micah

micah started CCD today. he was excited that jonah is in his class. he also was excited because one of his teacher's names is mr. steve, like steve from mine craft, goodness. he said class was fun.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

last hurrah at Disneyland (for now)

we won't be renewing our annual passes to disneyland this year since we are looking for a place to live. so we made some time for one last visit.

i was lucky enough to get the timeshare across the street. we went up on saturday night. we were able to watch the fireworks from our room.

hidden mickey!

 got to the park early enough before it got crowded and super hot.

we went to the pirates lair this time, something we've never done. there were lots of caves and other places to explore, plus the cool raft ride to and from the place.

i rode star tours with them this time. i usually just wait for them since i get motion sickness. but they wanted me to ride it with them, especially since we aren't coming back for a while. and of course, it was a mistake, i felt nauseous afterwards.

got the kids some yummy mickey beignets that they haven't tried yet. we usually get the ones in downtown disney.
  

it was sad leaving, knowing we aren't coming back in a while. we definitely got our money's worth from our annual passes. 

if they only knew where we will be headed soon =)...

Saturday, August 24, 2013

hunting for a home


we are currently looking for a place to call our home. it's exciting, exhausting, and stressful at the same time. we're looking for a condo. something that fits us just right, not too big though. that's what we've learned from sharing one bedroom right now. we're comfortable in close quarters.

so far we've looked at vacant condos, new condos, and a condo for short sale. everywhere we go, the kids choose bedrooms for themselves. they usually like most of the places, but that's not the case for me and roel. hopefully we'll find something soon. 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

school begins


malia was so excited for school to start, micah not so much. so now i have a 5th grader and a 1st grader. and my little 1st grader is in dual immersion. hopefully, he will enjoy learning spanish and become fluent in it. this will also help me remember the spanish i took long long ago and use none of.

uniforms are strict this year, no jeans and no leggings. and malia lives in leggings! so skirts for her for now until we can find pants that fit her tiny waist and hips, and stick legs. husky pants with elastic waistbands for the boy. and he can no longer wear his athletic pants with stripes down the sides, they have to be all navy blue. it's hard to find pants (for reasonable prices and meet all of their needs) for these two.

love the first day of school pic. don't let it fool you, they probably fought after this. at least they have their sweet moments.


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

music lessons



found a deal online for music lessons and jumped on the opportunity when micah said he was interested in learning guitar. it's rare that the boy is interested in taking classes. malia chose to learn more about the ukulele. so, first lesson down. they enjoyed it. and their instructor said they were good at getting the chords down. hopefully next week i'll have a better picture. i took piano lessons when i was younger. i don't think i was motivated to continue because i had a horrible teacher, the kind that hits with a ruler. so i'm so glad these kids are excited about their lessons.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

my college girl


malia, my dramatic girl, was in shock when i told her i enrolled her for college. she didn't even let me finish saying 'college for kids' and she was getting nervous. but she calmed down when i told her it was for kids.

college for kids has been offered for a long time. jos and i used to attend. but back then, the classes weren't as exciting. we took classes like keyboarding.

i enrolled malia for cartoon character drawing and web movies. she attended both classes monday through thursday from 1:30-4:30pm for 2 weeks.
 
this was the first day. i gave her the map and followed her 
as she looked for her classes. she looks so tiny. well, she is.

ready to start drawing

 on two occasions, i was able to take micah to play
with his god brothers while we waited for malia.


here are some of her drawings. she's really amazes me. and the art teacher, who used to work for dc comics said she was really good and that she should keep at it.

 my favorite one

she obviously enjoyed the drawing class more, but she is constantly making web movies at home. she doesn't want to post them on youtube though. i guess she's had a talk at school about posting content, or becoming friends with strangers on the internet, which is good.

she's already excited for next summer's classes.

Monday, June 17, 2013

micah's kindergarten graduation


i was worried there wasn't going to be a kinder graduation, but they announced it last minute.

all the kids wore felt graduation caps, it was pretty cute. my little boy is growing up!


micah got out early, so he and i went for frozen yogurt to celebrate. 

 

he's easy to please. he just wanted to feed the turtles, and (literally) throw food to the fish.


 in the bag full of art and school work was this funny thing:


he is sad to leave his teacher and his classmates, but is looking forward to first grade. i'm not looking forward to more homework, plus spanish homework. we will be very busy after summer break.

Friday, June 14, 2013

micah's baptism birthday


happy baptism birthday to my boy! since he doesn't eat cake, and i didn't get a chance to make it to hans and harry's, we stacked little cookies to make a 'cookie cake' out of lofthouse cookies. he loved it of course cuz it was super sweet. his baptism candle is in storage, he'll be able to blow it out next year.

Friday, June 7, 2013

honor roll


micah received an honor roll award today. this boy hates homework, but he does a good job in class. he is the one who is always asking for rewards for his good deeds. for this one, he got a lego army minifigure. 


the school year flew by, and this boy is graduating kinder on monday. my children just keep growing up.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

presidential award

malia received the presidential award today. this award goes to the top 3 students in each class. very proud of her, especially because this was a personal goal she set for herself.


it's a big deal to her to have the president's signature on her award (even though it's just a stamp). it's a big year for her. she will be 10 before i know it and will be entering 5th grade soon. i'm hoping she won't like boys until at least 8th grade!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

talent show girl


for this year's talent show, malia decided she would play her ukulele and sing "i'm yours" by jason mraz. she did really well, considering she learned it in a month.

she auditioned last month with the music since she didn't have the song down yet, so the choir teacher in charge of the talent show made her perform with the music. we weren't too happy about it, but what could we do.


she's my brave girl, we are so proud of her many talents.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

biztown


here's my Biztown girl. 4th graders go on a field trip to Biztown, a place where they get to have "real jobs" for a day, and pretend to be in the real world. she was so excited, she told everyone she was going, even though they had no clue what she was talking about.

she gave her teacher her top 3 choices, but her teacher handed out the jobs she thought was appropriate for each child. malia was given the job of CEO of Kaiser Permanente. that's a big time job.
 
here's my little CEO giving a speech in front of everyone.

here she is writing a check at the bank.
  

her ninong jojeann was able to be a volunteer for this field trip since roel & i couldn't make it. although he couldn't be in her group, he said he would look over in her direction and malia looked as though she were telling people what to do. just as a CEO should i guess. he was able to interact with her when she came to the bank. they had fun, and she was so happy he came.


can't wait to find out what malia will be CEO of when she grows up.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

grandma's coronation

roel's parents belong to a senior organization. it's good for them to be a part of it, especially because they are into ballroom dancing.

they had a spring dance, and roel's mom was chosen to be the spring queen.

it was interesting and cute to see so many old couples dancing. malia danced with grandpa & grandma.


micah wouldn't dance. i had to bribe him to dance with me. and he said he would only dance with me outside, oh my goodness.

did the electric slide and tried to teach lia.

here's grandma with her crown. of course, malia's eyes opened wide when she saw the crown.

two of my favorite people:

and here she is, trying on the crown. she said it was heavy.