Saturday, February 28, 2009

Family Time at the Park


We took the kids to a nearby park this morning because it was such a nice day outside. It dawned on us that this was the first time that Jeremy got to "experience" the park on his own. It was fun to watch him climb up the playground equipment on his own, to go down the slide for the first time, to feed the ducks for the first time... Needless to say, it was fun!



Our kids are growing up so quickly... Grace saw the doctor this week to get her immunization shots for kindergarten. I can barely believe that she will be going to school in August! I actually got emotional waiting in the doctor's office. I commented to the nurse that it doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I brought Grace to the doctor for the first time after she was born! Wow... Anyway, kindergarten registration is taking place at the end of this month. Jeremy has been up to a lot, as well. Just this past week, he has decided to try to talk. In addition to baw (ball), and nana (banana), we have now heard him say hhhht (hot), tat (cat), tnk (thank you), chees (cheese), apa (apple), and buk (book). He continues to be such a bear, though. He really exhausts us, particularly when he doesn't get his way and throws huge tantrums. It's easier to deal with at home (walking away so he doesn't have an audience, and then coming back usually works), but what do we do when we're out in public? We haven't figured that out yet, aside from carrying a screaming and kicking kid out of the store (which Jason did earlier this week). He is also such a crybaby- how do you toughen up a kid? Suggestions anyone? Boy, it's a good thing that he's so darn cute when he's not throwing tantrums!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Feb. 14

We had a wonderful day today. Earlier in the day, we went with Jill, Adam, and Micah to see Fresno's Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown. I have no idea why the parade was held today since New Year's was on Jan. 26. Anyhow, for those of you who don't live in Fresno (actually, many who do live Fresno don't even know there's a Chinatown), it's not anything remotely close to what you'd expect. While Fresno's Chinatown is in the early stages of revitalization, they have a looooong ways to go. There are only a handful of businesses and they pretty much only take up about a block. Anyway, it was something new and different to try, and we were happy to spend time together and with the Lees. We thought it was a perfect occasion for Grace to wear an ao dai (traditional Vietnamese outfit) and for Jeremy to wear his. Adam got Grace the ao dai during his travels years ago, and Jeremy got his from Di Dao (my sister). Micah also celebrated with his own outfit! The kids got many compliments. There wasn't much to the parade (it wasn't very long, either), but the highlight was definitely seeing the lion dancers. Afterwards, we walked around and found a carnival ride for Grace to go on. We decided to eat lunch at the Central Fish Company, and since there was no room to eat inside, sat ourselves down and made ourselves comfortable right on the sidewalk!
Both kids enjoyed long naps when we got home. Jason's mom volunteered to watch the kids for us this evening so we could enjoy a Valentine's Day date. We couldn't have asked for a better day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
These pictures were taken a few weeks ago in celebration of the New Year (forgot to post them). Here is Grace in another ao dai (from Di Dao).

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Day Four- Kitchen Remodel

Yesterday was Ron's first day working on our kitchen. This is what we came home to! With the cabinets completely out, I am finding it much easier to visualize what the kitchen will look like. It really is a bigger space than I had thought. Tomorrow, Jason will go get our French doors and Mark will come and layout where the cabinets will go when they arrive... So exciting!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Day One of... How many?

Well, after many years of Jason and I dreaming about remodeling our kitchen, we are now officially going forward with it. Adam came over on Saturday and helped Jason begin the demolition process. Huge thanks to him (and Jill for letting us "borrow" him), as well as Jason's mom (who had both kids overnight on Friday) because we definitely couldn't have begun without their help!

We spent this past week packing up and trying to figure out how we're going to "live" in our house with all of this going on. It's not going to be done until, well, maybe the end of March? It's not just the kitchen- we're also changing our family room area to add a new dining area. So, that's a pretty big space we're portioning off. We've moved our fridge, dining table, and a couch into our living room (it's a separate room at the front of the house), moved our computer armoire into our room, packed away many toys, and will be washing our dishes in our laundry room. Phew! This is going to be a very interesting process, but at least this time (Jason remodeled our kitchen in our first home), there are at least 2 things we can be certain of: it won't take 7 months, and neither of our bathrooms will have to become our make-shift kitchen! We can also be certain that there will be many meals eaten out (feel free to invite us over, ha ha ha) and as a result, we might all gain a little weight from fast food! Just kidding. Check out the slideshow for more pics. Stay tuned for updates!


The kids' packing experience
Who needs toys when you've got boxes?! (Oh, except all of our boxes have been used for packing!)