Good Investments - Kumon Workbooks

i've started aiden on kumon books when he turned 2.5 years old to prep him for preschool. i wanted him to be confident and motivated to learn. i always try to make it fun. they do have kumon learning centers, but i opted out and taught him myself. i started off with "my first book of tracing" and continued on with other books. it built such a great foundation in how to hold a pencil and aiden loved everything about it. it was also an incentive that every time he completed his "homework", he would be rewarded and would get to play a certain game he wanted.

Pumpkin Patch | Irvine Regional Park

Have I mentioned that our family lives for the holiday??  In preparation for Fall and Halloween, we visited our first Pumpkin Patch for 2011 at Irvine Regional Park (highly recommended). We didn’t mind paying the $5 parking fee for a little fun getaway. We love the view and scenery.  Admission to the Pumpkin Patch is free. Prices for activities vary, but they do have a child-friendly haunted house, picture stands, and a hay maze for free, if you’re not looking to spend money. Other activities included panning for gold, riding a hay wagon, carnival games, and pony rides. Sooo fun! I think I’m still a kid at heart and will always be.

Here are the loves of my life.

the haze maze was really fun for our boys. they were running everywhere. of course, dilly followed aiden in hopes of finding the exit. aiden was stoked when he found it and said "i did it!".

we can never get enough of all the pumpkins we saw.

our not-so-chicken son, dilly, went into the haunted house and wasn't even scared, while aiden declined and kept telling me he's scared of "monsters". we took our boys on the train ride around the park, but before we completed our trip, they had to ride on the pony. they are both obsessed with animals.

for $4 dollars, dilly got to ride on the pony while papa dang walked it. it was really cute. he kept smiling. a smile that melted my heart. they took the pony on 3 laps and then, it was aiden turn.

again, for $4 dollars, aiden didn't want the boring pony instead he opted for the horsey that jog trot. it was hilarious. he loved it when it was bouncing up and down. he didn't even want to get off of it. what a daring little man!

It was such a pleasant day spent with our boys and spending time together is always healthy. It wasn’t expensive and I hope that they understand one day that what makes a happy family is doing things together. It not only helps with building family strength but the importance of quality time spent together is what they should remember. Maybe, that’s why my life is so busy because I devote most of my time to them.  

Our weekends are always filled with activities, if we don’t have to be at any birthday parties or family event. However, our weekdays are kept simple. We don’t ever watch TV and lately started cuddling together in bed together to read Halloween books that our boys find to be exciting and enticing.  We’ve made it a part of our everyday routine each night before our boys go to sleep. It used to be on the floor in their bedroom, but we just recently changed it.
Love my boys. XOXO.

H&M presents Baby Loves Disco

We headed to the Block of Orange (it's called the Outlets of Orange now) to check out the Baby Loves Disco event. They had several activities for the kids and the DJ was great. The event was free. Our boys made their free puppet socks and got their balloon swords. Then, we headed home for our afternoon nap. Something I always look forward to, in order to refuel my energy.

Love my boys. XOXO

Sweet Love

this is what goes on in our home every 2 weeks. i'm glad our boys have their own personal barber aka papa dang. it makes it so much easier and doesn't even cost a dime!

Lion King 3D

We took our boys to see the Lion King on 3D. This was one of my favorite childhood Disney movies of all-time. We went for the experience with our boys even though we have the regular DVD at home. One, the immersive effect makes you think again plus the outstanding, exquisite animation won me over.  I couldn’t believe the movie made me cry again. I love how it teaches life lessons. It’s definitely a masterpiece drawn by the great music, storyline, and character development.

Aiden enjoyed the entire movie and didn’t want to leave. He asked so many questions and found the Timon and Pumba scenes to be hysterical. It cracked me up when he referred them to “Auntie Stinky”. Auntie Stinky is my goofy younger sister. Yes, that’s the name he calls her because she smells. Just kidding. Dylan was great for not being a TV or movie type of guy. He managed to sit still half the time until he decided to get up and walk. Not too shabby.

I love spending time with my boys even though there are days where they’re running a million miles an hour and I just wished that they would calm down. It’s the sugar, but more so, them being kids. Regardless, we are like peanut butter and jelly. I can’t live my life without them.

Love my boys. XOXO.

Week 24

i can't believe i've reached another milestone - yes, week 24 of my pregnancy and i'm feeling great.

　

our little peanut is such a night owl.  he's always awake when i'm about to get some shut eyes. i love all the dance moves he has been doing. as you've noticed, i'm getting big, but it's OK. i can't believe i have a little penis growing inside of me. i know that didn't sound so right, but i love everything about pregnancy minus the morning sickness. even with my pregnancy, i still clean DAILY. i can't stand a clutter house. while papa dang and our boys shower, i normally clean.  

　
my daily night routine:

- wash dishes and put them away in cupboard.

- clean toilet and make sure all the toilet seats are down. 

- empty all trash cans around the house.

- vacuum all the bedrooms. 

- double check to see if all the toys were placed back into toy box

- make sure kitchen counter is cleared of all trash.

- place dirty clothes from laundry hamper in bedrooms into another hamper for the following day wash

- get lysol wipes and wipe down counter or anything i see within sight that is dusty

- if our boys messed up our bed after their nightly pillow fights with papa dang, i will have to remake it before i lay back down to sleep. 

- take a shower and clean while i'm in there. 

　

after this is done, i normally prepare aiden's lunch and draw stick figures of our family on his ziplock bag with his snack inside. he always has a little message from me even though he can't read yet. 

　

i've always been this way and will never change. cleaning is part of my life.

tonight, after i finished my routine, we had art time and watched our boys paint for about 15 minutes. then, we called it a night by giving each other hugs and kisses. we have the same routine daily. it really helps because our boys are so used to it and knows when it's bedtime. basically, the moon is out. we pray. they get tucked into bed with their bears (yes, they sleep with their "friends"). the lights get turned off. we close the door. they quietly fall asleep. it's that simple.

　

love my boys. xoxo.

Pacific Coast Triathlon

He did it! He did it!

Yes, Papa Dang completed his first triathlon. He had this intrinsic motivation, which is basically the desire to do something from his own desire to accomplish his goal. If you know Papa Dang, he trained, but never thought he would be able to do it because of his pinched nerve on his lower back. But, he challenged himself to achieve things he thought was nearly impossible. This was one of his goals in life. What he learned after this first triathlon is that – never say never –

Let me tell you, it required ½ mile ocean swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3 miles run. He finished in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Sounds pretty impressive to me! He told me that he enjoyed it because of the camaraderie of being around highly motivated and passionate people. Most of the people were in their 40s, 50s and 60s and were extremely in shape! Hell, this is awesome! Um… there were teens as young as 13 years of age, too! Double awesome!

I went on the triathlon website several times during the week to look at the route and determine how I would manage to take our two boys and my pregnant body on a trek to the finish line to surprise Papa Dang. I had a plan, but was convinced by Papa Dang not to go. He knows me well enough to know that I would show up. Haha! He said, I would have had to park my car and walk half a mile uphill to the finish line, which was true. OK, so maybe I’ll struggle with the extra weight I’m carrying but I wanted to be there! Then the plan failed since we went to my sister’s housewarming party and lost track of time. We didn’t get home until 12:30 a.m. and it was way past our boy’s bedtime. My oh-so-sweet girlfriend, Anh, volunteer to take me and drop me off to meet Papa Dang. However, plan failed again. Our boys slept late and didn’t wake up until 9 a.m. – I wanted to wake them up, but couldn’t because they needed their precious sleep.

I stayed up with my husband who couldn’t even sleep until 3:15 a.m. He said there was so much adrenaline running through his body filled with excitement. He even pulled out his hair kit to give himself a nice haircut and tried on his wetsuit at 3 a.m.! What a sexy man! Yes, I tell him he’s sexy daily. Honestly, how he managed to get himself to physically, mentally and emotionally complete the triathlon the way he did was a CHAMP. You go, Papa Dang! We are so PROUD of you!

We love you! XOXO

- B. Spears, Batman, Robin, and Baby Batman