Our First Snow Trip

This was our first time in the snow with the boys. We went to Twain Harte with three other families from our college years. We rented a cabin in Mi-Wuk village. We had a scary experience as soon as we got to the cabin site. Even with chains, our Nissan van could not make it up the hill leading to our cabin. The car lost traction, slided back a little, and then wedge itself in a bed of snow. We can not go up or down. That was scary because everytime we tried to move the car, the snow wire created friction with the ground and generated sparks. So we got the kids off the car and walked up the hill to our cabin. Thank God the other family had a four-wheel drive and they made it up the hill ok. While my college roommate looked after my kids, Hebron and I took a few shovels and cleared away some snow so our van can slide back down the hill. The next day, our friend brought Hebron out to town to get better snow chains so we can drive home later. Despite of the little set back, our trip was alot of fun. Just three minutes walk from our cabin is a private sledding hill. We took the boys sledding there. The hill is steep enough for sledding but not so steep that it would be tiresome to walk back up. The sledding area is long with a large flat area at the bottom of the hill. With the large flat area at the bottom, we can be sure that we won't run into the brushes. Hebron's picture with the boys shows our sledding area in the background. This sledding hill was the perfect place because it was FREE and we had it all to ourselves. The snow was fluffy and soft and the weather was perfect. We had so much fun we didn't want to go home.


Caleb loved sledding so much that he requested to ride by himself. If you know him, you'll know that this is unusually for him. He usually wants us to ride with him. It just shows how much he loved it. Joshie is not as interested yet, mainly because he didn't want to wear all the snow gear. He didn't want to wear his boots, mittens, and hat. But he still had fun making snow balls.

Our Christmas Tradition

This must have been the 3rd year we did this. Our annual Christmas tradition includes the following:

1. Opening presents and dig into our stockings.

2. Reading of the Christmas story.

3. Playing the "Find the Baby Jesus" game where we dressed up as wisemen to follow the star in search of the baby King.

4. Attending Jesus' birthday party.

5. Making Christmas cookies

This year we didn't make as much cookies because Caleb and I already baked cookies for all his classmates the week before Christmas.

The boys loved being the star (i.e. holding the star) and guiding everyone to find baby Jesus.

Caleb's Christmas Play

This is Caleb's second year in a Christmas play. Last year he was the children wearing the green and the red in front. This year, he was a sheep. He actually participated and sang some songs. He loved playing the sheep and he was excited to see us. Can you find him?

San Jose Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum in San Jose with three of Caleb's friends from school. The boys loved the hands-on experiments. This is Curtis, the friend Caleb plays with a lot at school. Caleb even speaks Cantonese to him. For some reason, Caleb thinks he can only speak Chinese to Curtis. One time I told him to tell Curtis something in English, Caleb said, "Mommy, but Curtis speaks Chinese." Actually, I can relate to that. I only speak Chinese to certain friends.





The boys' favorite exhibit there is the Water Way. It's a water play area with lots of small pastic balls that you can put through tubes and specially designed paths so the water can shoot the ball up high or to another water tank.





Joshie must have spent half an bour here. He loved collecting the balls and feeding it through this tube. The tube sucks the ball in and shoots it out on top into a tornato funnel.


Dai dai loved touching everything.

Harvest Festival

This halloween we didn't go trick-or-treating because the Trans invited us to join them at the Harvest Festival at Joyleen's school. Caleb requested to be Bob the Builder because he wanted to wear the hard hat and the flash light on his head. Joshie was a lion. He didn't want to wear the costum. But we made him wear it anyways. After he got to the festival and saw that everyone wore a costum, he was glad he had one too. Then he quickly got into character and even gave out loud roars.

Melissa went with us, but first we stopped by Chipotle for our annual FREE halloween burrito. I think this was our third year where we wrapped ourselves in foil and got a FREE burrito. Even Caleb got one. Here the boys helped carved the pumpkin. They worked really hard at it.

I'm a Pro

Who's that handsome boy with a great smile?This was Caleb's second time as ring bearer. He's a Pro this time. He knew exactly what he had to do. He walked down the aisle smiling and at a good pace. He stood proudly next to the groom, one of his favorite teacher, smiling at Daddy for a good shot. I'm so proud of him. What a brave boy!

Disney On Ice

Up until now, I have not taken Caleb to see a movie or any kids's show. I fear that movies might scare him or that he won't like the show. And I didn't want to waste money if he didn't like it. My uncle gave us Disney On Ice tickets, so we took the boys. It was a two hour show and it was very entertaining. Caleb talked through the whole thing; asking questions about what he saw and telling us his interpretation of the show. Joshie was the complete opposite. He was sooo mesmerized that he didn't blink and kept his eyes wide open in fear that he might miss something. He also sat very still through the entire show. He didn't even want to eat his favorite gummy candies that I brought for him. He just didn't want to miss a second of the action. Now, they kept asking us to bring them back to the show.

Pumpkin Patch

We visited the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and some fall decorations. This was our third year going to G&M Farm in Livermore. It became one of our family's favorite tradition. We spent a couple of hours there and had a picnic lunch on site. Family with kids should definitely go, I am sure your kids will love it. We will head back to the farm next October. You are welcome to join us at our 4th annual pumpkin patch extravaganza in 2009. It will be the first week of October, so mark your calendar.

There were many fun things for kids to do at the farm. The boys worked their way through tunnels and dead ends in the hay maze.

The pony rides and cow train were popular kids' attractions. Picking out the perfect pumpkin was not as easy as it seem. Since all the pumpkins cost the same, we wanted the biggest and most perfect one.

This year the farm added a play structure and a corn box. What's a corn box? It's like sand box, but instead of sand, it's filled with corn. The boys loved it. They liked digging in it, being bury in it, and making snow angels. Oh no, corn angels.

Look, yi yi, the boys wanted to take this picture just for you.

Caleb said, "Where are my legs, yi yi?"

Joshie's nightly releases

Ever since Joshie was a baby, I enjoy going through his night time routine with him. Before he can talk, I enjoyed reading, singing, and cuddling with him before putting him to bed. As a baby, he would put his head on my shoulder and relax all his muscles while I sing him a lullabye. He usually waits for me to kiss him and say goodnight before he flipps over to sleep on his belly.
Now that he can talk and actually have things to say, our time together become a nightly venting session and a time where he tells me about different events. Our conversations usually take place while we cuddle in the dark. Here is a memorable conversation. Keep in mind that we communicate in Cantonese.

Dai Dai: Penguin! 哥哥 mo share bi dai dai uh. (This was triggered after he saw the toy penguin in his Toy Story book.)
Translation: Penguin! Big brother didn't share it with me.

Mommy: Penguin is 哥哥's special toy.

Dai Dai: Daddy thell chiew chiew.
Translation: Daddy threw away my golf club that I used as gun.

Mommy: Mo wan chiew chiew.
Translation: Don't play shooting with the golf club.

Dai Dai: 哥哥 chiew chiew dai dai uh.
Translation: Big brother shot me with those golf club gun.

Mommy: Mo, 哥哥 mo chiew chiew dai.
Translation: No, Caleb didn't shoot you.

Dai Dai: Sook sook gap gui dai uh.
Translation: That uncle squeezed me tight.

Mommy: Bin go sook sook? Sook sook hai ah yi tho?
Translation: Which Uncle? Uncle at Auntie Grace?

Dai Dai: Mm hai. Dai Dai hai quai.
Translation: No. Little brother is a good boy.

Mommy: Jian hai? Dai yow mo hum?
Translation: Really? Did you cry?

Dai Dai: Yow, buck goc Dai hai quai. Daddy fun giao.
Translation: Yes, but little brother is a good boy. Daddy is sleeping.

Mommy: Hai, Daddy fun giao. Dai fun giao too. Good night! I love you!
Translation: Yes, Daddy is sleeping. Dai sleeps too. Good night! I love you!

Dai Dai: Good night! I luv you too!

It's so funny he just jump to another topic. Sometimes in the middle of a sentence. Or maybe it's all related and he doesn't have the words to express it. Humm, who knows.

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.