Big Brother Caleb

Today, we invited the three couples in our small group over for dinner. Hung and Fanny brought Joyleen and Jalen. The kids played well and had a blast together. They chased and followed each other everywhere. Toward the end of the night, I gave each child some chips. Fanny told me that Caleb asked Joyleen if she wanted water and she said yes. Caleb then got her and Jalen some water. Wow! What a good host! I am so proud of him. Caleb is a good big brother. He used to help Joshie take off his shoes when we get home. Recently, he taught Joshie how to take off his own shoes. Caleb is a kind, gentle, fun loving, and obedient boy most of the time. He has his moment where he whines, does not do what he is told, and fight with Joshie. But overall, Caleb is a good boy and we are blessed to have him.

Good bye summer

Wow, I can't believe summer is over already and the school year have already started. This summer was eventful. We went to 7 birthday parties in three months. We didn't even attend all the parties we were invited to. The boys' social calendar is taking over ours. Let's re-cap all the things we did this summer.

- Celebrated Joshie's 2nd birthday at Gymboree.
- Went to Jadon, Jalen, Camden, Isabella, Nathaniel, and Andrew's birthday party.
- Camping at Lassen National Forrest with Uncle Hysan and Auntie Noel.
- Went on SL Marina for a picnic and kite flying.
- Rowed boat at Lake Chabot.
- Visited the Zoo many times.
- Went to a pool party and swam. The boys are beginning to like the water just a little.
- Went to Summer Reading Program carnival at the SL library.
- Went to bowling and miniture golf.
- Took a mini vacation to Gilroy Garden.

First day of school

Yesterday, I started graduate school. I was a little nervious, like I always am. I didn't know how I can balance it with a job and two kids. The first class was not as intense as I imagined. So praise the Lord for that. My goals is not only to get an MBA, but to do it with little or no disruption to the boys' life.

Mini vacation to Gilroy Garden

Since I am going back to school, I thought we need to squeeze a little more fun out of summer before starting the school year. So during the labor day weekend we took the kids to a mini vacation to Gilroy Garden. They loved it, there were lots of rides that's appropriate for their age. This is the symbol of Gilroy Garden. The theme park rescued many circus trees. This is a cluster of many trees grown together to make this shape. They have many other designs.

The boys loved all the rides. We spent a whole day there and we still have not gone on it all.

Joshie loved this fire truck ride so much that he went on it FIVE times. Two time was when we first got there. Then before we left he said it wanted to ride on it again. When I went to get him after the third time, he smiled at me and said, "Dai dai go again." He turned around and climb in by himself. The only way I can get him to stop going on that ride was to lure him to another ride.

This fish ride actually goes pretty fast. Joshie was willing to give up the fire truck ride for this one. He rode on it twice and had a blast.

The boys usually doesn't like to run through water parks, but this time they were willing to get wet. We tried to take them swimming and had water play with them this summer. I think that's one reason why they are willing to get wet. And because Hebron and I were in there getting wet with them. They were soaked.

Noticed my face in this picture. It was more work on this ride than fun. I had to hold on to Joshie so he won't fall into the water and peddle at the same time. To make it tougher, I can hardly reach the peddle. Things a mom is willing to go through for her son.

I can't believe Caleb would ride on this one. It actually spins pretty fast, like the tea cup at Disneyland. He even did it by himself.

My 21st birthday

I had a good 21st birthday (wink wink). The family went to play miniture golf. My sister babysat the boys so Hebron and I went to shop for jewlery and then to lobster dinner. We didn't do any special, but it was good to walk around with Hebron. We haven't done that in so long.

Caleb loves to miniture golf. Since we live so close to it, he would want to go everytime we pass by. He requested to go this time because he said we haven't gone for a long time. Ah, the future Tiger Wood. He doesn't actually know how to hit the ball. He just drags it into the hole. Joshie, is not much a golfer. He's just interested in throwing the ball and using the club as a pool stick.

A Terrible Day

Ahhhhhh, peace and quite at last. No more crying, whining or complaining for the day. Hebron and I had originally planned to leave the boys with my sister and hang out with some good friends in Sacramento and do fun things. I was looking forward to it all week because I had a hard week. While I was going through my week, I forgot to remind my sister about babysitting today. So she forgot and we ended up having to bring the boys with us on our 2 hrs drive. Like I mentioned before, Joshua hates car ride and cannot sit for such a long time. Basically, he will cry and whine until we let him out.

On the way there I was upset at my sister for ruining my plans to have some alone time with my friends and I can't stand Joshua's cry. So we caved in and gave him his pacifier and he immediately fell asleep. He played and did well at lunch. When 4 pm rolls around I knew he was tired because he didn't nap enough and was sick, but he didn't want to nap. So he was one grumpy child. He cried over everything and anything. That was really irritating because I was hoping for a childless day, but now not only do I have to take care of him, I have to bear his grumpiness. Then on the drive home he really needed to nap, but was soo grumpy that he kept fighting it and cried for an entire hour. He went from crying to whining to crying to screaming. Right there, I felt like my day was completely ruined and I was cheated out of a little adult time with friends.

I have always knew that being a parent meant to be willing to sacrifice and be selfless. And I am willing to sacrifice many things for my children. I would not buy things for myself and save the money to get things for them. I am willing to give up my career or slow it down for the sake of them. God has changed me so much inorder that I can be a good example to them. But I am still kinda selfish with my time. I really need and enjoy just a little time doing things that I like to do. Some times giving up my "personal time" is the part about parenthood that I am still struggling with. Now that Joshua is asleep and not irritating me, I have time to calm down, rest and come to my senses. Joshie is usually really good and enjoyable, but when he doesn't get his nap and is sick, then he becomes unbearable. Since I am a Mom at ALL times, I should learn to be willing to sacrifice my rights to "personal time."

Fun rides

We went to Oakland Zoo today and the boys got on many different rides all by themselves. After Legoland, Caleb began to like going on rides. Joshie have always enjoyed it, now he is actually tall enough for most kiddie rides. I have always had to ride with them, so now it feels like they are all grown up riding on their own. They are big boys now, but the sad side is that they are not babies anymore.

Boating at Lake Chabot

We had a picnic lunch on the boat. This weekend was family time galore. One would think that after spending so much time with the boys I would want to get away for awhile. But no, I was actually alittle sad that the long weekend went by so fast. We had lots of fun.

Joshie loves t-ball

Joshie loves playing baseball. Auntie Melissa gave him a T-ball set. He loved playing it so much that he quickly broke it. After that, he was just walking around and swinging his bat. So I got him another T-ball stand. He can hit that ball really hard and it goes far.

July 4th, 2008

We had lots of fun and lots of quality family time. In the spur of the moment, we went to San Leandro Marina to have a picnic. Caleb flew a kite for the first time. For some reason Joshie wasn't interested.