The first part of January I had my mom and my sister here until the 9th. They took Reena to school every morning and did most of my chores for me. My mother's cooking was great. We invited a couple over for dinner and had Pho. He served his mission here in Seattle, Vietnamese speaking so there was some connections there. My mom was the strong force for our hike into the woods by our house. We took her on a 2 hr hike. She thought we would just go down to the pond and maybe go into the woods for a little bit but there were several paths that we could've taken and we probably took the longest. My mother also had some time for a few craft projects with me. A photographer friend of mine, who took Christmas pictures for us, brought over some cushions and needed some cushion covers made. She knew that I sew so she asked me to make them for her and since she took our pictures for us I thought I would return the favor. She brought it over when my mother was here and so I had my mother sew it for her. My mother is amazing. She was a tailor for 20+ years before becoming a nail artist and she amazes me still. Isn't there anything she can't make just by looking at it? Amazing. I miss her.
Brie's preschool
A friend of mine who is a nanny to a kid in Debrie's gymnastics class told me about the co-op playgroup/preschool and got me to join. It is a group of about 15-20 parents, mostly moms and each take turn each week to teach a class. Each week there is a new theme and the last 4 have been trees, Chinese New Year, Firefighters, and Valentine's. Brie was not quite thrilled with the idea of 25-30 other kids in the same room with her, but after 2 or so she started to open up. She's usually our not shy kid unless she's in a room with a lot of people. She likes small groups much more.
Brie's also my logical kid, although her logic doesn't always make sense. She has an answer for everything you ask. She copies everything her sister does, which is why we think she started potty training at 15 months and talking at 18 months and in full sentences at 24 months. She's just so excited to come to this world. Her delivery took only 3 pushes. It shows.
Lately the kids found TOY STORY. Really it's both of the kids but more so Debrie. It's like when she discovered Tangled, Megamind, How to train your Dragon, Tinkerbell, and Wall-E, she asks to watch it over and over and over again. Every time I need quiet mommy time I would ask her what she wants to watch, it's one of the Toy Story movies. It will be this way until we buy a new movie.
Reena and BYUReena has become quite the BYU fan after the Oregon BYU game. She likes to point out everything that's BYU. My hat, her daddy's sweatshirts, my sweatshirt, our BYU blanket, our BYU flag and diplomas. So we took advantage of the opportunity right away for her to see more BYU stuff. There was a BYU vs UW rugby game at UW and when we heard of it we took the kids to see it. Reena was very happy to be there.
So fun to see white and blue everywhere among the purple.
Winter Wonderland (The biggest snow storm since 1985)
It's winter wonderland in January. The kids woke up and said "it's Christmas again mommy and daddy" and were amazed by all of the flakes that fell from the sky. And seriously I did feel like it was still Christmas; we hadn't taken down our tree.
A nature-made igloo on our light posts which if we had already put in the lights would not have created this.
There were more people out sledding down our road on a snowy day than there were people outside on a sunny day. The kids got sleds for Christmas and finally got to use it! We didn't think we wouldn't have to go up to the mountains, which is really 25 minutes away, but it was still very nice to just take the sleds outside and have fun!
We just sled down the driveway. It was so much fun!
Then we took it to the backyard. What a sweet slope to sled down.
We got 8 inches of snow! The heaviest snow storm since 1985!!!!!!
Snow Days crafts
Although we were sort of trapped inside for a week, we made use of our time with crafts or fixing things. Making fabric flower hair clips and headbands has always been a time waster for me. I find them to take a little more creativity than simply gluing flowers together. Reena's old enough now to join in on the fun. She got to cut up and made some with me on those snowy days.
Dan fixed up my cracked phone!
The other fun thing that happened during the snow storm was the brown-out and then black-out. We weren't sure how long it was going to go on for because some neighbors told us that last time it happened there was a power outage for 4-5 days. We weren't prepared. It was sort of scary. We had food in our pantry as we're trying to build up our year supply but we didn't have fuel. We checked our grill which we haven't used for a while and there was not enough propane left. So what to do, what to do?? Ah, we have lighter fluid and coals and a package of stakes. That was all this country girl needed! Yeah! I got out the wheel barrel, pulled up my garage door and wham, built a fire and heated up my left overs and cooked my warm pot of soup. My family was not eating cold sandwiches that day. We had warm soup and smores!! It was great!!! After lunch they cleared out the road and our nice neighbors with the four wheel drive drove Dan to Home Depot to get more propane for the gas grill. That night we used the stove on our grill to warm up our food.
That night we lit up about 9 candles and sat around the fireplace to read our scriptures and books. It was so much fun. We really appreciated that fireplace and came to appreciate electricity very much. The candle lit romanticism and the aroma the candles created was worth it for one night. I said one night because it was really only for one night. Seattle brought in hundreds of electricians to fix the power lines that were dragged down by the snow. That night at 9:00 pm we got our power back. We were all upstairs ready for bed when Dan noticed the porch light turn on and said to himself "why is the porch light still on" and immediately realized he had a blond moment and then laughed to himself and we both ran out cheering!! Yay for power!!! We felt very thankful for a warm shower the next day and light!!! Many of our friends in other parts near Issaquah did not get their power back until 3-4 days later. 
My handy manI LOVE my handy man. He's my mechanic, my computer guy, my fence and wood working guy. He wasn't this way when I first married him but I definitely saw potential. We made a deal, I marry him, help him with his fashion and he in return becomes that man I need. He's a good man with a lot of potential and that's what I saw. He's also drop dead gorgeous in his 30's.
The last four Saturdays been busy for Dan. He spent a whole lot of time designing the fence and then spent a whole lot money on the wood for the fence and trellises. But we're saving a lot of money by having him do it rather than paying someone to do it. Although I did hire 2 Mexican guys to help carry those big 6x6 posts and dig the holes for him. We went with 6x6 instead of 4x4 because they look a lot more quality and are also prettier for the trellises, but they were HEAVY. I didn't want him to break his back for this. He also had a kid from our ward help him one Saturday. The kid is a 6'4'' 16 year old trying to earn some money for a trip to Vietnam for a cultural class trip so I hired him. I was impressed his parents wanted him to earn the money for this because his parents live in a million dollar home and are fairly rich people but they still value him working to earn the trip. Anyway he was a big help to Dan and kept him accompanied for an afternoon.
We worked 'til dusk every Saturday. Now the kids can go to the backyard and play without running out into the street.
Our matching outfits is fun and cute but the real art is standing in the background. He is one proud husband and daddy and maker of that fence. He used all of his tools for this project so it pays in the end. He just finished making a preschool table for us as well. I'm proud of my handy man.
They know how to have fun! Dan has been going into to work earlier and coming home earlier to work on the fence so when he's free, it's daddy trapping time.
The MetGlee had another concert this month around the Lunar Year celebration. We didn't really celebrate Vietnamese New Year so this concert was sort of a replacement of it for me. There was a ton of food and a lot of people showed up. The Seattle Jazz Glee performed with us as well.
From left to right. Me, Soprano I. Theresa, Alto II. Kristen, Alto I. Nell, Soprano II.
My GoodiesOne of the things the kids loved doing over the Christmas break was baking various different cookies and taking them to the neighbors each week leading up to Christmas. We didn't want it to be just a once a year event so we're starting it up again with baking goodies to give to families in the ward for Family Home Evening. I had them start with Warm Caramel Ginger Cake. Reena and Debrie measured the flour unassisted. It was sort of scary but it turned out so great. Our neighbors described it as "melt in your mouth delicious!" I don't know why I don't make this cake at every birthday party. It is really delicious. The real reason of course is getting the kids more involved in making Family Home Evening a success and for us to remember to do Family Home Evening.
I took this picture before I got the frosting on it. Last time I made it was for the Christmas party and it was gone in 5 minutes so I doubled the recipe and took some to visiting teachees and some neighbors.
Some things we've noticed living here: We're super young to be home owners. I mean I'm in my twenties and owning 2 homes. I feel a little out of place because the younger people we meet around here are in town homes still paying off their school debts. Big thanks to my parents for giving so much to us. They practically put Dan through school the last 2 years at BYU and put me through my master's degree.
I have a hard time sitting still. I love my new house and I love being in it. Some days I spend less time in it due to volunteering at Reena's school, gymnastics, preschool, playdates, etc... and I actually miss it when I spend a lot of time away. I realize that on busy days my laundry doesn't get done, folded and put away and that the dishes don't get done right away. But, I miss working and building up my resume. My biggest fear is when the kids are all in school and I can work that I wouldn't have much of a resume. Teaching preschool isn't really an ideal job so I'm looking for something around counseling. I only want to work maybe 10 hours a week or so. In other words, not much at all so that I could be a full time mom to my children. I've been looking and applying at a few places hoping for a few interviews just for the fun of it. In doing so I've really been appreciative of my husband and his job. He is such a great provider for our family and I'm so glad I'm his wife.
Amazon's Party
Amazon had their end of the year party just like they do every year. This time it wasn't at any museum. It was at CenturyLink Field which used to be QWEST field stadium. The theme was Carnival so they had people walking around on stilts, popcorn, cotton candy and a lot of food there. Several people in our last ward work for Amazon so we hung out together. The two bands they brought in, Out Like Pluto and Young the Giants were both great bands. We had a great night.
Reena's Kindergarten teacher whom I had become really good friends with had her twin babies this month. They were 15 weeks early. One of the twins didn't get enough nutrition and it was an emergency delivery in the attempt to save him but after 3 weeks he gave up fighting for his life. His daddy wrote a beautiful letter to him. It's so touching and made both Dan and I cry like babies. We are so sad for them. That kid had a purpose for being here on earth that short of time. He's touched a lot of lives, including mine. I want to have a lot of kids but I'm also afraid of things like this. I'm grateful for strong people around me for their experiences. I learn a lot from them.
I'm grateful for my little family. Even when they do silly things.
This is what happens around here when mommy takes a cat nap. My kids got creative with campell soup from the pantry.
A Little Big News of FebruaryOk I know it's February news but February is a good month. We had really good almost-a-Seattle-summer weather. We got up to the 6o's! But that's not why February is a good month. It's a good month because Reena LOST HER FIRST TOOTH!! We knew it was coming soon but we didn't know it was this soon. She lost it at school some time. She went to school with it and came home without it. She had no clue how she lost it. Must've been through the fruit snacks she ate. She might have eaten it. Who knows! But how funny. She had to write this IOU promissory note to the tooth fairy. I was very excited to help her. My facebook friends all chipped in to help. It's a very new tradition for me so I was in on it!
She got a silver dollar and a certificate from the tooth fairy!!! I'm a happy mommy!!
