Reindeer Festival

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Here Comes the Winter

Malawaina came over to see Noah last Saturday.  It was so nice to see her!

Saya eating a cupcake Jen made for Xander's birthday.  I can't believe he is three now.

Noah had the cupcake, too.  It was dangerously yummy!

Saya playing with iPad.

I love our new door.

Sean now helps around the kitchen every night.  He loves to "cook" and serve food.

This is the funny birthday card I made for my father-in-law's birthday.  I cut out pictures from family group photo and pasted them on top of Mike's bike catalog picture.  He loved it!

Saya at soccer class on Friday. She is starting to pay more attention to the coach now.

Saya didn't get much sleep during Sean's sleep over, so she was tired!

 

November in Seattle is the wettest month of the year, usually.  This is the time when we start to feel the lack of the sun and reach into the cabinet religiously to supplement it by taking Vitamin D pills.  Seattle in winter can be down right depressing.  Everywhere you go, you feel trapped indoor and more importantly, the type of shoes you can wear becomes very limited.  Good-bye flats and converse, see you next spring!  I do love boots, but I just don't like being circumscribed! 

Besides being a little on the cranky side (as our neighbors could tell), we are doing well.  Mike is on a 10-day business trip to Shanghai and will be returning tomorrow morning.  It was hectic taking care of everyone especially in the morning, but I survived.  I even pulled several playdates and a sleep over!  If Mike asks me tomorrow how the week had gone, I would say "it went just fine".  The memory of stressful episodes are already starting to fade in me.  I call it my "coping skill" and it does come handy to keep on going!

We are excited that Aly's return date is fast approaching.  She will be coming home on Dec. 23 with my Mom.  Although I am happy, I also feel sad that she is leaving Japan.  I felt very connected to Japan for the past eight months because my daughter lived there.  She walked on the very road that I used to walk as a child, went shopping with my Mom to our neighborhood shops etc... I felt like I was living there myself through Alyson.  She did so well in Japan and was very impressed with her adaptiveness.  We are now busy getting her room set up with purple things, her current favorite color! 

After fretting about problems I face, I always come to the conclusion that I am a fortunate person.  Sometimes the reward comes much later and when it does, it returns the joy ten times greater than those attained faster.  So, I tell myself and I think it is true.

Go Daddy Go, Yeah!! - Seattle Marathon

Our super Daddy ran a tough marathon today!  It was his first and he did great.  The course runs through streets of Seattle which is extremely hilly like in San Francisco.  Due to running up and down for 4 hours, his knees are shot.  They started to hurt from 10 miles on, but he didn't give up. He ran the whole way.  We are very proud of our Daddy!  Sean and I went to cheer him on and thanks to a cool app which let me track his where abouts, I knew exactly when he will be passing where Sean and I stood.  We positioned ourselves near the finish line on top of a hard incline since I thought he would need a bunch of encouragements then.  We spotted Daddy climbing up and waved and cheered him on.  Sean proudly showed him a sign he made which said "Go Daddy, Go Daddy Go Go Go, Yeah!!" (he is good at picking catchy phrase and words).  I am pretty sure Mike was so touched by that.  It was a very chilly day here in Seattle and Sean's little fingers were losing senses as we were standing on the side for a good an hour.  He said "Mommy, I can't feel my fingers", but he held the sign tightly and didn't complain at all. 

Marathon is such a tough sport that tests the physical and mental ability.  Mike impresses me for taking on a hard challenge like this and keep looking ahead.  Being a Dad to four young children in itself is a big challenge and I am very proud of him for being out there and expanding his horizon.  Maybe I should consider doing a half marathon soon?  I have to think about that one...

A Visit to Christmas Tree Farm

It's that time of the year again~  The clan headed out to Carnation Tree Farm on Saturday morning to find the certain something that lights up the room and smells nice - a Christmas Tree!

It was a misty morning, but the faint orange in the gray sky was a sure sign the fog would soon burn off.  Jagged deep green of the trees was a great contrast to floating shapeless mist.  I could have stared at the scenery for a long time, but we had an important business to do!

We knew what kind of tree we wanted, Nordman or Korean Fir.  Their needles are thicker than the typical pines and do not shed as much.  I held Noah's hand and he did great walking with me.  Sean and Saya ran ahead very excited.  We found "the one" shortly after we began our search.   We looked at it in all angles, close and far, shook it a bit, and it passed the test.  Noah and I stayed with the tree while the rest looked further to see if there is a better one.  Sean shouted "Mommy!!" and waved from the end of the farm.  They didn't find any.  Daddy cut the tree and loaded it on the trolley to have it netted.  Sean was happy and guarded the tree by walking right beside it.  Noah was a little whinny by then since he wanted to go check out the farmer's house (he loves front area of any houses, in particular the ones with some kind of statues), but he did surprisingly well walking with me.  Maybe we could become finally stroller free!? 

We had fun decorating the tree.  Sean and Saya competed against each other to put ornaments fast.  My only request to them was not to put the ornaments in the same spot and distribute them evenly.  I think they did a good job.  We like having a fresh tree for its natural beauty and calming scent.  Now it's officially the Christmas season in the Campbells household!

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Tina and Aaron brought beautiful flowers and lots of tasty wines.

As the head of household, Mike was responsible for carving the turkey.

Let's dig in!

My plate and looking back, that is a lot of food!

Noah had fun playing with Tina.

The dessert section.  I made the pumpkin pie and the apple pie in the middle.

We had grandpa Bob, Shasha, Nana, uncle Aaron and Tina over for Thanksgiving this year.  To reduce the workload of the Turkey Day, I started to prep for the feast 3 days in advance by baking apple pie, chopping veggies and pre-cooking the beans etc..  It was a good decision because Thanksgiving morning was hectic as I imagined.  I had to "borrow" Jen's oven to bake the stuffing and I was running around in the neighborhood with casserole dish in my hands. 

Menu:

Appetizer

Grandpa's famous hors d'oeuvres platter with oysters, olives, cheese, radishes and creamed herrings
Guacamole with tortilla chips

Main

Herbs, garlic, lemon and butter infused slow roasted turkey
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce


Sides

Sausage and Herb Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole with Homemade Mushroom Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Butter Loaf

Dessert

Crunchy Crumb Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie Tina brought
Vanilla Ice Cream
Canned Whipped Cream

The dinner turned out great.  Everything was made fresh except for canned pumpkin for the pie and the crusts.  The turkey was moist and the side dish had good flavors.  I will keep the recipes for next year.  One thing that I regret is not getting the measurements right on the crunchy apple pie.  I was supposed to add 1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP of flour to make the crumbs but only put 2TBSP hence not so crunchy topping.  I will be careful next time.  Good company and good food made the Turkey Day very special.  Thanks for coming family! 

You would think the night ended when the guest retreated and dressed in PJ, but I got a text from Jen at 10:45 pm asking if I want to head out to an adventure.  After all those talks about how crazy it is to shop on Thanksgiving day after dinner, my first words to her was "you are crazy!"  Ten minutes later, I was in her car heading out to Target.  The line at Target was winding between aisles towards the cleaning supply section, which took us about 25 minutes to get served.  I only bought a bag of coffee, but Jen saved $140 with her purchase.  It was a trip worthwhile for her and a fun one for me.  I secretly wanted to know what it's like to shop late at night in madness. 

It was a fun day all in all.  I am very thankful for my great family here in America.  They've always been good to me since the day we met in 1996.  Thanks for coming, Bob, Marsha, Jan, Aaron and Tina.  You were a great company and made the day perfect!

Baby Feet

I found a couple of pairs of Robeez in the closet and they reminded me of our sweet baby days.  Sean was willing to put them on for the photo and as I admired his feet he asked me, "are you sad Mommy?" sensing the emotion I was feeling.  "I am a little sad that you are growing up so fast," I told him.  I am bound to be one of those old ladies who talks endlessly about their grown children's baby days.

Halloween!

Beautiful home and presentation at Tom and Liz's house.

Saya was pounding the pumpkin away!

Halloween shaped sugar cookies are must have items for Halloween.

Noah at his school.  He looked pretty cute in his Buzz costume.

Staff at Foundation.  The owner/director, Paul, is the only guy in there on the right.

Pathway leading up to our house.  There are giant spiders placed on the bushes on each side.

Saya being terrified.  She lost the sight of me and was screaming for Mommy a moment later.

The scary house.  There is always a crowd forming in front of their house.

Nana the witch, aka candy giver.

Sean trick or treating at Parker's house.

Visiting one last house before we end the night.

 

Every year, the Halloween gets more exciting.  Sean has been obsessed with our Halloween decorations outside and asked all visitors who come to our house if they were scared to pass the skeletons and spiders.  Sean and Daddy went nuts on decoration this year while I was spending peaceful time in Japan.  We had three ghosts hanging in a row at the front door, for example.  We were the second scariest house in the neighborhood, he said, the first being the "scary house" on the cop corner of our street.

We had another busy one this year.  Liz and Tom invited us to their annual Halloween play date and they'd outdone themselves again this year.  The treats, the table settings and decorations were so pretty, I could not help snapping away.  Sean was an Ironman this year again, Noah was Buzz, and Saya was a princess cat.  Alyson in Japan was Tiana from Princess and a Frog.  The kids had a good time playing at Tom's house and even Noah did well, playing with toys and stayed in the area he was supposed to.  It's always nice to hang out with the Mereckis family because they are so put together.  They inspire me to be on top of things and believe me, I really do need that kind of boost!

Noah had a Halloween party at his preschool, so Saya and I went to see him.  Saya dressed up in her costume and went trick or treating in the school with them.  Noah didn't want to put the hood on to complete the Buzz look, so he sort of looked like a race car driver.  We decorated Halloween themed cookies and Noah licked all the icing off and was wanting to lick the entire package of icing.  He has a sweet tooth, that boy. 

I took Sean and Saya to Foundation's (Noah's ABA therapy school) Halloween party as well on Wednesday.  Noah had therapies that day at Lakeside in Issaquah, so he could not attend.  The staff at Foundations are the sweetest and one of the most dedicated team I have ever worked with.  Kudos to them for being hands on and solution oriented with children who otherwise are thought to be incapable.  They give me hope and us parents need that light to be able to push ourselves further.  The party was great!  We met some new friends and the kids had a very good time.  They didn't want to leave but they agreed to since they wanted to be home for trick or treating.

Nana volunteered to hand out candies to little princesses and Spidermen at home so that we can go on to collect goodies.  Sean and Mike went first and I took Saya later.  Noah had to stay home because he is obsessed with going to people's yard and I knew that he would scream and cry if we don't let him go into the area where he badly wants to.  Saya was scared of going to many houses since it was dark out and was afraid of some decorations by the doors. 

There is a funny episode of Sean and Saya trick or treating at the "scary house".  The family there every year attempts and succeed in scaring the crap out of young and old with their theatrical approach to handling trick or treaters.  They have the dry ice machine spewing the mysterious fog and their house dark with only flickering light.  They have fake butchered body parts lying around on their porch and there sits a man with Jason mask.  Any adults would know the man is going to jump out, but little kids like Sean had no idea.  So, a group of little children including Sean went to their door, already a little terrified but decided to be brave.  They carefully approached the door and suddenly the man with chainsaw jumped up and chased them.  There were cries for Mommy, high-pitched screams and children scattering in all directions.  One of Sean's little friends were crying, but Sean would proudly tell you that he didn't.  In fact, he was brave enough to knock on the door again to get the treat.  He even agreed to shake the hand of the guy at the door with a zombie mask only to be startled again when his hand fell.  He was a good sport though and laughed.  He told us his brave story over and over again when he got home.   Saya had no chance surviving the "scary house".  She was frozen with fear and poor baby who still cannot tell what is fiction and what's not was terrified.  However, a candy is far more important to her than a moment of fear.  So, she decided she wanted to go to the door to get the candy.  She was very cautious and studied the man's mask and when the guy asked if she wanted a candy or not, she nodded and carefully picked a candy bar.  It's so fun to watch a little child weighing her options and problem solving!

So, we had a pretty cool Halloween.  What a fun event!  I love America!