我們的秋假

今年是我移民到美國二十幾年來第一次過秋假(fall break,) 不知道德州為什麼這麼特別，可是也是最後一次，因為州政府取消這個假期了。我就利用這幾天假帶小孩子去南加州看哥哥全家，也去disneyland和legoland玩，也許是the other way around，哈哈。雖然有一個禮拜的假期，我們只去了四天三夜。B不能去，所以還是不要分開太久。

第一天到了加州，先去吃午餐，然後就去laguna beach玩。 Zozo和Bobo一看到海就衝進去玩，完全不在乎身上穿的不是泳衣，到最後還在海裡滾來滾去，弄得全身濕淋淋，黏滿沙。nephew M只在沙灘上跑來跑去，不願意碰到水，還是他比較愛乾淨。

第二天，我們去legoland玩，天氣很舒服，人又不多，每個ride都不必等太久，玩的好快樂。 只是兩個小孩都不夠高，很多ride都要有家長陪，害我重複坐了好幾次，那時候特別想B。我們玩到關門才離開。晚餐去荳媽介紹的馬家，真得不錯吃，只是小孩子們實在太累了，吃不太下，我們就把一桌的菜打包回家當第二天的消夜。










本來沒打算去disneyland的，可是嫂剛好有多餘的票招待我們，所以第三天就去玩了一天。Zozo看到了她的最愛--Ariel!
這次小孩子都比較大了，就可以坐一些比較刺激的ride。最刺激的是splash mountain! Bobo坐在最前面，本來他很興奮地，結果衝下水幾次後，把他的face paint都沖掉了，他的結論是一點都不好玩! 我們坐的最後一個ride是winnie the pooh，坐到快結束的時候就壞了，後來我們是走出來的。我覺得蠻好玩的，第一次那麼近看那些set up。

最後一天除了要去吃拉麵外，就沒其他的計劃。早上讓小孩子盡情地玩，中午出發去買些東西和吃麵，本來要去的那家人太多了，等下去的話怕會趕不上飛機，(加州的traffic實在太可怕了，連週末都塞車。) 哥哥就改帶我們去mitsuwa。到了我才發現是荳媽介紹過的火頭山，麵好不好吃呢?不知道，因為被小孩子吃掉了，我是吃別家的蛋包飯。



這幾天的假期真得很快樂，Zozo和Bobo還是跟nephew M相處的很好，也看到超級乖寶寶nephew J長大好多，真得很謝謝哥哥和嫂嫂的招待。we'll return the favor when you guys come for thanksgiving!

還有更多的照片在這裡。

傢俱到了

今天新沙發送到了! 念大學的時候，就很想要pottery barn的傢俱，現在夢想終於達成了。可是沙發送到的時候，我第一個反應就是想要大笑，新的沙發跟我們另外一套幾乎一模一樣，只是size比較小一點，oh well.

現在需要買一些抱枕和毯子來accessorize我們的沙發，希望會很好看。

明天要去玩了，可是我好像生病了，從昨天開始就鼻塞，喉嚨痛，加上全身無力，B說可能是過敏，不是感冒。希望真得是過敏，這樣到加州後就會好了。

照片來了

上星期收到Zozo和Bobo的school pictures了。跟去年的照片比起來，兩個人真得長大了好多。Zozo的照片跟我在家裡照得差不多，可是Bobo的照片就太好笑了，難怪照像那天，他的老師跟我說他要學會怎麼smile without shutting his eyes!

Zozo今年的照片...去年的照片...

Bobo今年的照片...去年的照片...
這些照片的quality不太好，我是用相機照的。本來應該用scanner，可是還沒把它裝起來。將就一下，至少這樣不必等我把照片寄出去。

Puppet Show

Z girl has been fascinated with pirates lately. i think it might have to do with the blockbuster film that came out this past summer. it's amazing what advertising can do to influence our children. 2Z were not allowed to see the movie since it was too scary but they still got sucked into the hype through mcdonald's promotion and all the ads they saw on tv. the one good side effect of this "brainwashing" is that they used their imagination to create some art themselves. Z girl made a pirate jack puppet at school. then at home, she made a little ship for the pirate. the two of them put on several puppet shows to entertain us and gave us some good laugh.

Brownie Girl

Zozo從去年開始就參加女童子軍的活動，kindergarten那一年叫daisies，制服是藍色的，一年級到三年級的troop叫brownies，制服是咖啡色的。開學到現在，終於開始聚會了。Zozo好興奮，她真得很喜歡童子軍的活動，可以做很多crafts，service projects, 今年她最期待的就是sleep over at the zoo! 其實只是下午去幾個小時，而且可能臭臭地，不知道小孩子為什麼想要跟動物睡覺!她們的制服其實只是這件小背心，每次參加聚會後發一個patch，我再把它縫在背心上。有些媽媽們居然是拿到外面給別人縫，一個patch兩塊錢，這種錢也要花! 我差點就說錢給我，我來縫。Zozo的頭髮很毛，加上baby hair很多，每次綁完不到一個小時就變成披頭散髮。上次去girl scouts shop買了一種鬆緊的髮帶，好好用，照片是下午回家後才照的，頭髮還是離眼睛遠遠的。下次要去target買別種顏色的來配。

愛撒驕的貓咪

mimi是我們的第二隻貓。牠是一隻超撒嬌的貓，沒搬家前還比較好一點。搬到德州後越來越嚴重，半夜時都偷偷的爬到我床腳睡覺，害我好幾次都被嚇醒。有時候我一坐下，牠就跑到我旁邊，要我抓牠，拍牠。我不動，牠還用頭來撞我。前一陣子，牠懶懶散散滴，害我以為他生病了，後來才發現是我們沒有pay attention to her. 我曾經聽說貓是很aloof的，不太甩人，我們的第一隻貓peaches就是這樣，mimi真是特別! 經常出現的不雅觀pose!

Saturday Night

the past saturday night, B and i sent the kids off to bed at the usual time. then, we lit some candles and listened to some music. i had my glass of water, and B had a little bit of cognac. all in all, it was a wonderfully relaxing evening to ourselves.

包裹

這週末又收到一些包裹，一個是姐姐寄來給我和Zozo的生日禮物。明明就送過了，可是她還是又寄了東西來。包裹裡有三隻stuffed cats和一個包包。Zozo選了黑白的兩隻貓，Bobo選了橘色那隻，還幫它取名叫peaches。它的顏色跟我們以前的貓一樣。
去年回台灣時，愛上了卡拉貓的產品，所以姐姐就寄來類似的包包。雖然不是真的卡拉貓，可是還是很可愛，不過我可能不太敢帶出門，怕被罵老女人裝可愛!

另外的包裹就是我從ebay上標到的保溫food jars和水壺。
粉紅色的當然是給Zozo的，本來幫Bobo標的是Spiderman，可是他看了就哭著要Superman。(他在學校的好朋友喜歡Superman，所以他現在也喜歡Superman。)
結果便成有三組。好家在，他們的好朋友Raymond喜歡Spiderman。這樣他們三個就可以有溫的午餐了。這些東西本來在Target有賣，我本來想等到sale的時候再買，結果就沒了。好險在ebay標到的價錢還是比原價低一點!

全家福?!

今天終於記得帶相機去學校把Zozo畫的全家福拍下來。我第一次看到的時候覺得很奇怪，怎麼多了兩個人出來? 後來問了才知道她把小表弟們也加進去了。 小女生覺得 extended family 和 immediate family 沒差，可是怎麼看都好像是把舅舅的兒子們搶來了! 好險她沒跟我們要多一點弟弟和妹妹。

He Loves Ice Cream

最近體操課的時間有變動，變成Zozo星期二要跟我一起等一個半小時，Bobo星期四等半個小時。這個星期二Zozo做了一些功課，然後也很有耐心地等到最後十分鐘才開使扭來扭去，我就帶她去吃了冰淇淋as a treat。Bobo下課出來後，也討著要。我跟他說等到星期四再吃，結果他就開始哭，等到家後還撲到床上哭。真是讓我看了又氣又好笑!

好不容易等到星期四，Bobo竟然還記得，把Zozo送去上課後，就馬上帶他去買了個ice cream cone.


他一個人真的把那麼大的cone吃完，真不可思議! 為什麼吃正餐的時候就都沒胃口?!

握筆的方式

小時候，為了握筆和拿筷子的方式，被爸爸念加罵到耳朵長繭，現在想起來還是很不爽。輪到Zozo和Bobo，我就讓他們順其自然，怎麼拿順手就怎麼拿。 Bobo可能是隔代遺傳，拿筆的方式跟爸爸以前教的很像，可是握不緊，寫出來的東西都在發抖。

Zozo的握筆方式卻超像姐姐的，這未免太奇怪了吧! 長的像姐姐，愛漂亮像姐姐，怎麼會這個也像姐姐，到底是誰生的女兒呀?!

I am in a BSF class!

i joined bsf for the first time last year. it was such an awesome learning experience, and i couldn't wait to join once we moved to texas. last wednesday, i went to the first intro class to get signed up and found out there are at least 50 women on the waiting list here. we were told that some of us might have to wait a while to be placed into a class. that was a major shock to me. i was disappointed that i might not be able to continue in the 7 year cycle. i kept this is my prayer and hoped for the best.

yesterday, i got a call from a discussion leader that i've been place into her class. i was so excited. it's going to be a lot of work but i just love being spiritually fed through this vigorous training. this year is a study on the book of romans. i hope i will gain as much as i did from the study on genesis!

Zozo的新造型

今天早上太晚準備出門，去教會英文堂會遲到，就改去中文堂。這樣反而多出一小時，那就來玩Zozo的頭髮。
不知道為什麼每次幫Zozo綁不同的髮型，都看起來很俗氣，只有french braid最好看，但是綁久了又會膩。想要做點變化，就把緞帶編進她的braids裡。起先她不知道我在做什麼，綁好了才叫她去照鏡子，結果她好高興，直說cool!
by the way,今天下大雨，氣溫也降到八十幾度，我們都超興奮!

我的生日

真是辛苦的一天!

早上起床後，竟然沒有人wish me a happy birthday。問Zozo要不要給我一個birthday kiss，忙著看卡通的她，叫我自己過去親。我臉上出現三條線，好像看到未來她的teenage years.

中午吃完不怎麼樣的韓國拌飯後，就開始search for我們想要的新傢俱。老公好像很希望在我生日當天買到，所以看到晚上八點多才放棄，真是累死我了!從來沒有逛街逛到想哭，連我想吃的刨冰都沒時間去吃。之後老公還是帶了全家去買我想要的垃圾桶，就是為了讓我生日至少有收到一樣禮物。結果扛回家後，竟然是壞的，還換來他一句，決對不買這牌子的東西了。我又得再去選別種嗎?!

晚上睡覺前，老公說我好可憐! 其實想一想，覺得還是很不錯啦。媽媽和姐姐全家都打電話來，媽媽還送我那麼貴的垃圾桶!我整天都和家人在一起，(還不必煮飯洗碗，)真的很幸福耶!

Country Fair at School

星期五晚上在小朋友的學校有country fair. 傳單帶回家的時候，看起來蠻好玩地，就決定去參加。其實沒什麼，吃了超小的hotdog dinner，玩了一些很陽春的games，最後坐在parking lot上看了shaggy dog，小朋友看到最後都東倒西歪，他們已經太習慣八點就上床睡覺了。

他們在playground的時間比在玩games的時間還長。 不管去哪裡都一定要選tattoo或face painting。黏在臉上的tattoo最難洗掉，可是每次都還是要黏那裡。

參加這種學校的活動的好處就是會認識比較多其他的父母親，就可以開始set up playdates!

終於做完了!

這些小冊子就是我這兩天廢寢忘食地(好啦，沒有忘食)幫Zozo的班級趕出來的。 一年級總共有六班，每一班要有21本小骨頭冊子，每一本冊子加上封面共要5頁。 算一算，我總共要剪630個小骨頭!
我真的剪到快昏倒!到處都是紙屑，加上mimi看到紙就咬，我差點就抓狂了!結果拿去學校才知道我不必通通做完，只要做一部份，其他可以留給別的媽媽做。真是的!

今天要休息

這幾天一直做學校義工的工作，做到我快哭了!今天決定放假，中午要和老公去吃飯，再去逛逛街，也許看一下傢俱。媽媽打電話來說要送我相很久的垃圾桶。yeah! 老公現在就有點煩惱，不知道要送我什麼。哈，擔心什麼，我想要的東西可多的呢!

School Picture Day

今天學校要照相，所以昨天晚上帶Zozo和Bobo去買新衣服。因為要趕在八點bedtime前回家，我們就只去了talbot kids, gap, 和nordstrom。還好在nordstrom，Zozo就找到她喜歡的衣服，Bobo也接受我幫他選的襯衫，(he really has his own mind about clothes!) 加上兩個人都選了新的geox light-up shoes。大家歡歡喜喜地回家。

早上兩個人一叫就起床，還很乖得讓我幫他們梳頭、綁頭髮。希望他們到了學校還能keep the clean look。

每次照相都會裝淑女，其實是超好動地! 兩個人真的曬到黑的發亮! 教他笑自然一點，結果竟然是這樣子。前幾天，額頭又刮傷。問他怎麼弄傷的，完全不知道。 小吉普賽女郎、小Preppy和完全不配的球鞋!
怎麼看還是覺得他們超可愛滴!

運動

天氣熱加上蚊子太多,要去哪裡讓小孩子消耗體力呢?在我們家的話,就是去客廳了.每次他們在家裡打球,我就膽戰心驚,深怕東西被打壞或是窗戶被打破.

到目前為止是還沒發生什麼意外啦!真希望可以趕快找到我們喜歡的桌子,這樣就不能在家裡打球了.對了,還要把鋼琴運來,把客廳塞滿.哈!哈!

有沒有人能告訴我怎麼打中文的標點符號?

We Got a TV

after living with a tiny tv for the last three months, B and i agreed on a tv to buy for our house, just in time for football season. we are pretty limited by the size of our built-in shelf, so it really isn't that big. but it's a heck of a lot clearer and we can watch tv from our sofa. next time nephews S and A come to visit, they won't have to adjust to the lack of technology at our house as much now.
we also rearranged our furniture in the living and family room. it took us a long time to decide what to do since the size and shape of those rooms were really different from our previous house. we''ve had to think hard on what to do with our existing furniture, and i think we've come up with an arrangement that we can live with for awhile now.

we had such a happy weekend, not because we acquired more material things. it's because B and i were able to put our minds together to make our house better for us. it just felt like we've been out of sync for awhile with the stress of living apart for a couple of months, moving out-of-state, and getting used to the new environment. i am happy that this house is starting to feel like a home and that we are starting to put the stress behind us and enjoy each other again.

生日禮物

我的生日快到了! 前幾個禮拜跟姐姐講電話的時候,她就在網路上訂了一個包包給我.我很識相,沒有獅子大開口,沒有要Burberry啦.她送我的是一個手功的大布包,這樣我才能把小朋友需要的東西通通丟進去 我也買了東西送我自己-- 一本planner. 現在Zozo和Bobo活動比較多,加上學校有好多義工的事,不記下來會經常忘東忘西. 馬上就會把Zozo和Bobo的照片放進planner封面裡.最近超愛綠色,所以東西都買綠色的. thanks, jenn!

今天也收到我幫Zozo和Bobo訂的frogpod.他們之前裝玩具的網子一直掉,都用了六年,也夠本了.本來不確定還要不要買這類東西,到底Zozo和Bobo已經不是小小孩了.可是看了蠻多部落媽媽有買,問小孩們喜不喜歡,他們都說喜歡,就決定敗了.(我這個媽媽不能作決定時,都先問小孩,嘻!)為了這個東西我和小孩們跑了三家Target都沒貨,本來很想放棄了,可是Bobo很想要,到最後就只好在Babycenter訂了. 掛在牆上看起來整齊多了.我想把他們的浴室漆綠色,這樣就更好看.

老公有問我想要什麼生日禮物.很不好意思地告訴他,要一個垃圾桶.當然不會是隨便任何一個啦!是想要這個.會不會實現呢?再等七天就知道了! (媽--不要偷笑!)

這篇文章跟上一篇好像有點contraditory,我有說過簡化生活是說到比作到簡單啊!還有打中文真的很難耶!

Simplify Our Life

before we moved to texas, B and i decided to downsize and simplify our life. we bought a smaller house and gave away as much stuff as we can part with. however, once we moved into our new and smaller house, we found out that downsizing and simplifying is easier said than done. i've been trying to declutter and organize our house as much as possible but it's been a slow go. the hardest part has been trying to explain our new lifestyle to the kids. right now, donating and throwing away their extra possessions is the hardest thing for them to do.

in my rush to organize the house, sometimes i forget to relax and enjoy what we have here. even though the house is smaller, it is filled with beautiful features. our kitchen has granite countertops and tile backsplash that i used to dream of. there are crown molding throughout many parts of the house. my favorite part of the house is the stacked fire place mantel in our family room. the decoration we had in our old house fits perfectly on the mantel, too.

sometimes, i think i need something else to make the mantel look better. most of the time, though, i like it just the way it is.

i need to sit down at times to count the abundant blessings God has showered upon us instead of focusing on the negative aspects. sometimes, with an attitude adjustment, those negative aspects can actually be positive!

Long Weekend

we had signed up to go to the church retreat over labor day weekend a few weeks ago. right before the retreat, i had the urge to back out coz there just seemed to be so much to do at our house. and i had a nightmare that we didn't finish Z girl's star student poster before it was due. since we registered and paid for the weekend already, it was best that we attend. it wasn't one of the best retreats i've been to, but it was just what i needed. the time away from our "messy" house is just enough for me to get perspective on the never-ending organizational nightmare at our house. (okay, i know some people think it's organized enough but it's not good enough for the anal me!) the topic for the retreat was "an unhurried life" which is something i needed to hear. so now here i am, feeling more optimistic about everything and a slightly cleaner and organized house from today's effort! we were going to leave early from the retreat but 2Z had so much fun at the children's program that they didn't want to leave before their performance. Z girl is so used to singing on stage at our old church that she jumped at the chance to be able to do it again. when B was taking the picture of Z girl, i wondered why she was standing like that until i looked down and saw that i was standing exactly the same way!

after we got home from the retreat, Z girl and i tackled her poster while B took Z boy to the movies. we spent an hour and a half designing and working on the poster. it was so fun to work on it together. i think Z girl is ready for scrapbooking now!