Yo Gabba Gabba Live {Nokia Theater}

pic was taken with papa dang's iphone camera.

i purchase the tickets to go see yo gabba gabba "it's time to dance" live for our family back in May/June timeframe since our little pumpkins are huge fan. i didn't realize how many other kids are into yo gabba gabba until i showed up at the show. it was amazing. the show was very fun for the kids, but to be honest, i really thought it was fun for us, too! however, a & d probably were the calmest in the clan, which is part of their nature. the look on their faces was priceless when they saw the characters. if you know the characters as well as we do, they were brimming with energy (as they should). Rapper Biz Markie came out and impressed all of us with his beat-boxing skills. Kids and parents were going cray cray! 

i love how they came out with lessons for kids to eat their vegetables with "party in my tummy". i mean, i've seen it numerous times on television and to see it live made it more amazing. it was a very inventive way to get kids to eat their vegetables because they're lonely. 

again, we took our boys to the show because they are fans and we wanted to make them feel special. it was a saturday well spent and i would never trade it for anything.



love my boys. xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving

coming soon

Morning Fun at the Park

it was one busy morning. i had to work, make breakfast, do some minor cleaning and laundry, play and watch my boys. yes, just doing my mama duties. i'm so thankful both boys are independent and can feed themselves. i made a deal with them that if they finished quickly we would be heading to the park and they both devour into their breakfast within 15 minutes. aiden wanted me to cook him fried rice and dilly wanted his usual cereal.

after i bathe both boys (yes, they shower twice a day), we headed to the park for some fun. it wasn't difficult being pregnant and taking both boys because both can walk and hold my hands. they can obey and play. if that wasn't the case, we would be stuck at home playing with toys or interactive games together. in our home, we rarely watch television and maybe just an hour a day (or less) - there are certain programs i believe in that promotes media education. i rather have them stimulate their mind through books and playtime for now. (edit: we do have movie nights at home - so we do watch more than an hour a day occasionally)

it was nice hanging out with my little "kings" and being around other moms with their kids too. it makes me miss being home with them during the day when i'm at work. i really wished i had this lifestyle of being a stay-at-home-mom, but we'll see where life takes me. afterwards, we grabbed some yummy ice cream for our tummy. mmhmm!


love my boys. xoxo.

A Letter to My Dilly

My handsome little man... why is it so hard to take pictures of you now? you can't stand still unless you're distracted. 

Where do I even begin? I am one month late and shouldn’t have any excuses, but forgive me. I was so busy working on the details of your birthday late at night when you’re sound asleep, plus I work and watch you when I get home. I wobble like a penguin and am the size of a dinosaur carrying your soon-to-be baby brother and always try to do everything, but there are times my body just can’t. Our weekends are always filled with events and I really should have made time. Sorry, baby.

Two years ago when I first met you, I fell in love. Really, I did. You looked exactly like Aiden when you were first born, but I can honestly say that you’re so much different than he is and I love you both equally.

It is you who have taught me every single day to relax and not to be afraid of your fearless way because you’re the biggest risk taker I know. I’m just being a worrywart. I am your mama. But, I do sweat at times.

It is you who will be protecting Aiden and your little brother from any harm. You are not afraid and care so much for people in your own way. No one understands you but Papa and I. You may not show that you’re affectionate, but you do so indirectly and that’s what matters. You have a heart that cares.

It is you who have taught me that love exist in so many different ways and there’s always enough of love around. You do everything for me and will struggle with Aiden to bring me whatever I ask. You’re a carbon copy of me and I didn’t realize this until a few months ago. You never liked anything and love, I mean love to drop everything you’re doing to just clean and cook. What have I done to you?

Everything you do now is always for “mom”. Every time you speak, you always have to say “mom”. I feel like we’re best friends and hopefully it stays this way forever.

I love the way you always negotiate with Papa that you want to be with me. I think he gets jealous at times, but I’m glad you picked me. They always say boys will be Mama’s boys and you definitely fit into that category.

Thank you again for teaching me the true meaning of unconditional love. This is the reason why I love having you, your brother and Papa around. I couldn’t live a day without any of you. You’ve all enriched my life.

Please know that I’ll always be here for you through your path in life. You don’t ever have to worry about getting support because I will always be there with open arms even when you’ve fallen and need to get back up. I will always be helping you along the way. Life isn’t about what you have, but who you have with you.

Please know that Papa and I threw you a wonderful party birthday to celebrate yet another year of your life because you’re so special to us. You only turn 2 once. There were nights I struggled to stay awake and was sleep deprived. I love you that much --- and should have taken better care of myself the last week prepping for your bash, but when I looked at you, I rather struggle with my inner self because I love and care for you more than words can ever express. Everything I do … I do for you.

My love, please dream big. You’ve been a true blessing.

I love you today, tomorrow and forever. Thank you for coming into my life.

XOXO, Mama

Batman Lovers

It was one of those crazy weekends last month (which I'm finally blogging). We had 3 events in one day. It started off with Jayden’s first birthday, then heading to meet Papa Dang at the finished line as he completed the Grand Fondo (oh, 107 miles!), and rushing home to make it to our BFF’s birthday dinner. It was one rough Saturday, but we made it somehow to all three.

Aiden and Dilly had such a great time at Jayden’s first birthday that I wanted to capture pictures to document their day since Papa Dang was in route to complete the Grand Fondo and couldn’t be there. I was only able to capture the picture on our way back to the car since I’m a dinosaur. I had to tend to both kids and didn’t want to hold such a heavy camera around my neck.  

The birthday party was well-organized and had so many activities for the kids. Of course, we couldn’t leave without getting their face painted with the “batman” logo. I swear, they’ve never watched one episode of “Batman” before, but I guess since Uncle Jack introduced them to the Batman Lego game, they’ve became a huge fan. Aiden would call Dylan “Robin” and tell everyone else, he’s “Batman”.

Anyways, I always carry my camera around with me during the weekends even though there are plenty of technical things I still need to learn. I love putting my camera in front of the moment because moments like the first image I captured are full of emotion and memory. It makes me smile every time I look at this image and look at the bond shared between two brothers. A perfect photo always tells a story. Plus, it’s so important to capture “the” moment because one day these memories (pictures) would soak into the sight of our boys. It would lead them and tell them stories of who they’ve become from their itty bitty diaper days to adulthood. This is what I want to do and will continue to do for our boys.

Love my boys. XOXO.

Pumpkin Factory 2011

i know. i know. this is way past due. i'm going to be talking about our halloween fun in november, but i was so busy in october. we would see the pumpkin factory from the 405s and there was a batman inflatable jumping house. of course, aiden would ask to go there. he's a huge batman fan. we took both our boys after church one day. dylan spent most of his time running through the pumpkins and picking them up as though he's mr. buff boy. i dont know if papa dang enjoyed the heat, but we all had a blast!

Calling All Superheros - Dylan's 2nd Birthday (Part 3)

Ready for some more details from Dylan’s Birthday Bash? There are tons of amazing vendors out there and hopefully this will be an inspiration to other hostesses who are interested in using some of the ones we’ve used.

Everything came together so well and each vendor we’ve selected was such an important part into making the party a success. As mentioned in one of the previous post, Dylan’s birthday was supposed to be at Zoomar’s Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano, but due to the rain, we moved it (literally) last minute to Mon Cheri in Garden Grove (thanks to our good friend). The venue was perfect in every way and had such a modern touch to it. I was only afraid that it was going to be too big since it holds 400 people, but we made it work out where it didn’t make the party look so empty.

Vendor Credits:

Mon Cheri: Thanks a million to our good friend for pulling through to make this happen for us last minute. I am still thankful to this day that the venue was available! It’s a wedding reception venue / special events. If you’re getting married and want to keep it nice/classy, I would recommend coming here.

Instant Party Pix:  I can’t stop thanking our good friends from Instant Party Pix for coming through last minute for us. Their photo booth was such a hit at the birthday bash. IPP produces quality prints and amazing layouts. Did I mention – their prints print fast unlike other photo booth vendors? I highly recommend them for your next event!

Lacy Ink’s Art:  Oh, my caricature artist! We’ve hired her every single year for our boy’s birthday and have collected her caricature posters of our boys with their birthday theme each year. Her pricing is very reasonable and service is fabulous!

Art by Charlene Ngo: Charlene is a true artist full of creativity and is definitely gifted. We hired her for 3-hours to do face painting on the little ones and the line was ridiculously long! She’s my good friend's cousin and I remember going to church when I was younger and always thought that her family was so beautiful in every way. I wasn’t a stalker (OK, maybe a little). Charlene never ceases to amaze me and I’m glad I was able to book her last minute when the event was moved indoors! I have a feeling she’s going to be famous one day with her skills!

Taylor Cake Creation:  Taylor has made several cakes for us and I’m glad she was able to bring our theme to life with her “superhero” cake creation. Her design was fabulous.  She designed a 3-tier cake for our little man with red velvet and chocolate fillings. It was very moist and delectable! For someone with such a big sweet tooth, I was in heaven!

Have a Ball Catering: I was so impressed with Heather’s cake pop at my gf’s daughter’s birthday that I had to book her for Dilly’s bash. She was very accommodating and made a special delivery at no cost to my house.  She had 3 designs: superman and batman logos and spiderman face. It came out great and her cake pop was so yummy! Mhmmmm!

Vivian’s Cookies: Our good friend loves to bake cookies and make chocolate dipped pretzel sticks! Thanks for taking the time to make some yummy for our tummy.

Wiki Wiki Shaved Ice: Van and Sheri are amazing and always come through for us. Sheri kept texting me that day to make sure I was still having the birthday bash. If you ever had Matsumoto Shaved Ice in Hawaii, I would say that their shaved ice is ten times better!

DJ Dan/Triple D/Tdang:  The dynamic triple duos (our good friends / bro) for coming through and playing music during the birthday bash! Thanks a million. I know music is your life.

Stay tuned for Part 4…………