Free the Feet

For some reason, wearing shoes is SO HARD for Naomi.
I hear this phrase multiple times a day:
"Mommy, can I take my shoes off?"


In the grocery cart.
Sitting at a restaurant.
In the car seat.
At the sandbox.


Her little hobbit feet are apparently always desperate for some oxygen.


So of course, we are at the park, eating a nice lunch and immediately, the shoes are whipped off. 

I bet if I had listened carefully enough, there would've been an audible sigh coming from those toes.

All I can say is, 
I hope her future husband likes feet.


Meanwhile, Noelle, still immune to "shoes-off-disease", is happily exploring the playground.

Oh, and found that cute cap on sale for $7. So happy!
Until we couldn't find it one day, and I had to don my pink rubber gloves to wade through our kitchen garbage. 
Why hello Smelly-Cap-With-Tags-Still-On. 
Noelle doesn't discriminate when it comes to throwing things away.

The girls are playing together a little better these days..although squabbles over toys (and space, like the photo below), are an every day occurrence...

Can't believe April is right around the corner!

You can count on me...

...said the super hero baby.
(Or super hero toddler, excuse me)


Here I come!

Wait,
you did ask for me, right?
I'm on a very busy super hero schedule, so please don't call me unless absolutely necessary.

But I'll pose so you can check out my cool cape.
And my weapon of choice - pink blanky.
(Take my blanky away and you will become my mortal enemy.)

Gotta go guys

Another adventure awaits!

(Photos taken while cooking dinner....

peeked out of my kitchen to investigate the source of all the squealing and running...

this is how my husband occupies them when I need some time to cook!)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

I've been wanting to shoot some landscape photos lately but when you have two little ones running around, leisurely shooting landscape photos is not high on the priority list. (Is it ever? It should be!)


But my sweet hubby offered to watch the kids so I could go location scouting at Laguna Beach yesterday... WHAT???!


Out the door I go. You gotta strike while the iron is hot, my friends.


Unfortunately it's been rainy, cloudy and windy all week which has been soothing for my Seattle soul but not so great for outdoor photos - luckily the sun came out in time! But shooting at the beach wasn't as romantically awesome as I imagined it to be...overexposed photos, glare off the water, washed out skies filled up my memory card...I really need to practice!


For those like me that could use a few tips, read this great article on beach photography - very helpful.


Here are a few of my favorites....these were each shot at different points before and after sunset...love the difference a few minutes of light can make.

Slurp

Chocolate milk.
It brings out the inner child in all of us!
Especially if you drink it with a straw.
Happy Friday~

Four

Some glimpses of Naomi's 4th birthday party ...
but first, another "Quote by Naomi"
                                                   


The Day before her birthday
Me: Naomi, tomorrow you get to blow out your birthday candles and make a wish!
What do you wish for?
Naomi: Mmm... I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Me (laughing): Um... thanks but it's not Christmas ...what else do you wish for?
Naomi: Mmmmm....I wish for a baby brother!
Me: ..............
                                                   


I asked our cousin Tommy to help out with taking pictures on the day of - phew! - so I felt free to enjoy watching Naomi and Noelle play and hang out with our friends. Here are a few photos of our party prep and some snapshots of the details.

Crafting....

Party hats,  a special request from the birthday girl... 



I am officially in love with all things made of flags!

Sign made by Stella Lee, Craftmaster PhD. Stella helped me make all the crafts and set everything up - thank you soooo much!!

Naomi was over the moon about her party and didn't even nap before coming - the girl just couldn't sleep! (Party was held at My Gym, same place as JJ's party last year.)

Thirsty after all the playing!

Enjoying a video playback of the festivities with Stella

Bliss is eating a marshmallow on a stick

Fairy costume for the birthday girl~ they let her pick it out and I'm not surprised that she came out wearing all pink!

A special big thank you to Tim for watching the girls while mommy ran errands, to Stella for burning the midnight oil with me to craft away, to Tommy and Julie for taking pictures for us and helping clean up, to Bass and Diana for picking up food and always helping out with our girls, and to my in-laws who gifted Naomi with this party. 


And of course, thank you to all our friends and family who have made Naomi's four years so amazingly wonderful  - we miss all our family in Seattle and wish they could've joined us but thankful for all our new friends and family down here in CA - we are blessed. 
                                                    


For those of you planning parties, all the party decorations were inspired by the talented creatives out in blog world...check these blogs out for some eye candy!
Hats:  Oh Happy Day
Marshmallow pops:  Hostess with the Mostess
Cupcake toppers: Butterflyfood 
Jelly sticks: avery and augustine 

P is for Print

I take a gazillion photos.
Like you didn't notice.
BUT
I rarely print them!


I am a hoarder....
....of digital images (hanging head in shame, while typing).
We should start a support group and call Oprah.


For my parents and in-laws, this is a cardinal sin.
Why take a bunch of photos of their precious flesh and blood and NEVER PRINT THEM?? 


Personally, I can skip around tra-la-la-ing in digital images all day long and never feel the need to print a single photo. I can just look lovingly at my shiny external hard drive and be content. 


Well, this is where my talented bloggy friend Jenny Chien came to my rescue! She did an awesome giveaway on her lovely blog - a $60 Groupon to Blurb - and I won! Luckily, I had a Blurb book all designed and ready for print from 2009 (yes, I realize it is now 2011) - and it arrived in the mail this week :)  


Thank you so much Jenny!





2009 was a significant year for us - a new home, new baby, new school, new church - so it was especially important that I documented all of it.
The book ended up being a whopping 150 pages - did I mention I take a gazillion photos???

Off to mail these goodies to rainy Washington....

and now on to getting our 2010 album completed!

Happy printing my fellow momtogs!

Take Your Vitamins

Your sunshine vitamins!

Opposites

My daughter says some wacky stuff.
She's almost four, very verbal and has no filter, which means either knee-slapping hilarity or mortifying public announcements.


I've decided to start blogging about some of her statements (with an accompanying photo of course) - partly to remember it and partly so you can laugh (or cry) along with me. God surely has a sense of humor and some of it spills out in the things kids say.


I'm calling this series:



... so if you see these posts spring up once in a while, get ready to hear pearls of wisdom come forth.

Today's Topic: Opposites
Photo: Big Japanese HK and small Hawaiian HK
____________


Last week, Naomi was practicing the concept of "opposites" at the breakfast table.


Naomi: Mommy, I'm big and Noelle is small..that's opposites right?
Me (with some pride): Yeah, you're right, good job! 
Naomi: Yeah, like how Daddy is tall....and you're....you're FAT! Is that opposites too Momma?
Me:.....
Naomi: Mommy mommy, is that opposites?!
Me: haha (fake laugh).. no, you mean Mommy is shorter than Daddy right? That's an opposite. And don't call people fat, that's not nice.
Naomi: Why?
Me: Because it's rude. Eat your breakfast.
__________


Have a great week everyone, and remember, 
it's all fun and games until someone uses the F word.

Comfort Food

What's your favorite comfort food?
I  L O V E soups.
Any kind.
But they must be piping hot. 
There is nothing more depressing than lukewarm soup.


Well, today I stayed home from church because my littlest was sick ...

... so resolved to make a nice comforting soup for my babies.


Hopped over to Pioneer Woman's blog and decided to try her Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika recipe.
Beef and paprika - match made in heaven.
I think if Tim would oblige, I would name one of our kids Paprika. 
Paprika Pak.
....... 
Anyhow, I don't have beer on hand (gasp!) but did have some red cooking wine, so I just used about 1/4 cup as a substitute. I love that PW uses photos for every step - for a visual learner like me, this is a huge help AND it encourages me to get out of a cooking rut. 


Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday with their families and friends~

A Special Haircut

Was going to cut it myself, but the first time I did that - she was 1.5 years old - I completely butchered it...think helmet head or very-cool-triangle bob.
Tim wisely suggested taking her to Sonya, this awesome lady at Supercuts that cuts his hair.


Thought it'd be a fun experience for our little girl - she was SO excited (and a little nervous) and felt like a little lady.
Another seemingly small rite of passage that means my little baby is growing up way too fast :( Moms, you know what I mean right?

Excited to see the cool animal print smock~

The peanut gallery

Usually scared of the blow dryer sound, but told me, "It's ok mommy, she can do it!", with her brave face on.

Her new do - she asked me if her aunties at church would notice that she cut it~ such a girl!