Holly Jolly Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Just thought I would share some fun pics from our Christmas this year.

We went to a Christmas Eve service at a local church. When I told the girls to get dressed up, Joey came decked out in huge diamond drop earrings, her heart necklace, a pink ring, and a turquoise bracelet with a cross on it. The girl loves to accessorize!

Then the kids changed into their Christmas pajamas, a fun gift from a good friend!

The girls were so excited they didn't sleep until midnight.

Here are the Christmas cookies the girls decorated for Santa. We also left out celery sticks for the reindeer.

Santa's presents for the kids. He must get a discount at Pottery Barn Kids too because he got a Barbie bowl/dish/cup set for the girls and a Spiderman set for Sam.

Since I refused to buy the girls new costumes for Halloween this year, I got these costumes for next year. If you go right before Halloween to the Disney store, whatever costumes are left are usually 50% off.


Sam got two keyboards for Christmas! We also got an edible arrangement which came in this red tin drum. Sam found the drum and loved the sound it makes when he bangs on it. On his own, he made up his own little drum set. Then he has been turning on the percussion accompaniment song on the keyboard and banging around the drums.

Our goofball.

Day Two: I Only Had One Drink...

The girls are out of school so it's me plus 3 kids. Alright, so it ain't 8, but still, I consider it a great achievement that no one has run of out the house with their hands waving in the air like a mad man screaming, "she's really lost it this time!" Of course, the biggest potential culprit of such lunatic behavior would be me, but I have remained sane and sober--actually, that is the great achievement of the day.

In fact, not to toot my own horn, but yesterday, the girls and I made this together:


The hardest part of this project was keeping Sam from eating all the candy. I had to keep giving him other candy or white trash sugary snacks to keep him at bay (ehem...not that I actually have Twinkies or Ding-dongs in my pantry...)

Today, we spent the day at Giggles N Hugs. My friend chose a booth and she situated herself and her kid in a way that I had to have my kids sit in a row on one side and me on the other. My darling little angels were all sitting quietly and eating. My friend with her one kid was extremely impressed. "They're so good!" I smiled smugly and replied, "They ARE good. What can I say? I've trained them well." I couldn't help but feel like just maybe, I have it all figured out.

As we left the kiddie play area, Sam's didn't want to go. So I was trying to carry him in one arm, and three jackets and my purse in the other. I can only carry a screaming, squirming Sam for about 50 feet before he breaks free from under my arm (I usually carry him under my arm like I hold an evening clutch, though considerably less elegantly). After he breaks free, then I usually have to drag him by his arm. If people are around, I pretend to get him to stand up so it doesn't look too abusive. We got to the valet area and I just dropped him and let him roll around on the asphalt. I usually wait for the inevitable raised eyebrow from a nearby adult who could potentially call child protection services on me before I pretend to care.

Tonight, I wanted to go to Lawry's. Last year, we went and it was a wonderful experience. The kids were all so well behaved so the thought crossed my mind to make it a family tradition for Christmas. More logical parents would think twice about such an occasion considering the meltdown that I had just experienced at the other restaurant. But nope, the chance the eat at the happiest place on earth was just too enticing for me. I thought I would tempt fate.

Luckily we got seated right away but when we got to our table, I realized that it could not accommodate a high chair (i.e. Sam would not be strapped down). Again, I should have known better but the thought of waiting for a better table was unfathomable. Now, I wasn't just tempting fate, I was playing chicken on fate's high speed freeway.

A five inch smear of mashed potatoes on my dry clean only dress, and a dinner (for Sam) that consisted only of chips and hot fudge sundae later, we made it out alive. The girls were so well behaved. They were trying to choose between "O Holy Night" and the Chipmunk Christmas song for the carolers to sing, but decided to choose the former after finding out it was my favorite song.

Multiply that chip that Sam's holding by 20 and throw in some hot fudge sundae and there you will have Sam's dinner tonight at a prime rib restaurant.

Despite all the chaos (and a mischievous caroler putting his hat on my head), I was happy--prime rib, wine, and Christmas cheer. And, I got to wear my boots! What more can a girl ask for?

Merry Christmas!

Why Elysha Needs a Big Bed

Not Exactly a Lump of Coal...

Around this time of the year, I begin to hoard things for the kids. Stuff that they would normally receive right away, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste. All these items get wrapped and placed under the tree. They may not be the most exciting gifts but when wrapped in festive decorations, the wow factor gets kicked up a notch.

So on the dawn of Christmas morning, the kids will be getting goodies such as underwear, fleece pants, Scholastic books, and toothbrushes. I did get them a couple fun items too like:

For Joey

For Elysha

For Sam

The functional gifts remind me of the prizes we would win at picnics hosted by our 1st Generation Korean churches. After winning a potato sack race, we got to choose from an assortment of prizes ranging from toilet paper to bar soap. It was disappointing as an eight year old to walk away with toothpaste, but if it was wrapped in snazzy wrapping paper, I'm pretty sure I would have been more excited.

Flashfoward: Sam Playing Ukulele

A friend found this youtube clip. Chang and I think he is a future Sam...

A Christmas Miracle

There is stuff going on right now with my family which I'm not sure how to process. Nothing to do with Chang or the kids so no worries there. I probably will never go into detail because it is something that I've never dealt with properly on an emotional, mental, spiritual level. I was so young when it all began, and now, over 20 years later, there has been a drastic turn of events.

As I was praying tonight, I recalled desperate prayers I prayed as a teenager. The only way I could cope back then was to cry out to God when no one else could hear my anguish. As time passed, I lost hope and more recently, I became bitter. But I'm experiencing something of a Christmas miracle. It may be premature but hope is returning and I feel like God is reminding me that He heard me way back then, and He never forgot.

What I Got for Christmas

I am married to the best husband ever. After reading my post on what I wanted for Christmas, he somehow interpreted it as a desperate cry for the boots. The very next day, he went and got these beauties for me.




The leather is so soft I want to rub it against my face (which I might have done once or twice...or more). It has the Nike Air sole so it is ridiculously comfortable. I wear them around the house underneath my pajamas and sweats because I don't have a lot of outfits that can work with the boots (hint, hint, Honey).

What I Want for Christmas

I just found out that we can buy composting bins from the city for cheap. I've been wanting to compost for a couple years now but I didn't want to spend $100 on a bin. Now it looks like I don't have to...yipee! I was going to ask for some boots but I think I would rather spend the money and get a compost bin and some trees removed from my backyard. Then I can expand my veggie garden next summer, my soil will be black and beautiful, and my fruit will be abundant.

Isn't it gorgeous? And to think I wanted to get Cole Haan boots. Pfft.