Surprise in SF!

Nothing better than a week at home.

The kids and I flew to SF for the week partially for my work trip and mostly for family fun time. (Jack stayed back in CLE.) The boys were stellar on the plane, and warm weather greeted us.

 Within the first 12 hours, we found ourselves at the SF Academy of Sciences. Justin absolutely loved that place. He insisted on wearing his backpack all day.

 Spent time with hi-bachan.

And then SUNDAY finally rolled around. My parents retired last month, and Lori & I wanted to them to truly kick off their retirement with family and friends... So we threw a surprise party for them!! Got about 40 of their closest friends and Lori flew in for the surprise. We had the best time planning the party and getting the details in order. It all went according to plan and they were truly surprised!

We had a great time catching up with so many family and friends. Too many pictures to post, but thank you to everyone who helped us make this happen. And a very special Happy Retirement to my Mom & Dad - we are so thrilled that you two get to reap the rewards of all of your hard work! Travel the world and don't forget to visit Ohio!

After the party festivities, I had to do some work on Mon/Tues. So the boys were truly spoiled...I don't think they asked for me once. When I saw them on Tuesday night all I heard about were "so many sea lions" and "we went on a boat under the Golden Bridge, " as Justin would say.

Wed-Fri were spent hanging around the house and enjoying a few more outings. Did I mention that my parents have accumulated quite the toy stash? The boys love digging into these boxes on every trip!

 Quality time with Auntie Lori. Arts/Crafts & Book Store trips.

Have you met Pumpkin yet? My parents name their cars and my mom's new car is named Pumpkin. Perfect for city driving and for GIANTS FEVER! The boys went out with my parents to celebrate the Giants championship and route to the World Series.

 A SF trip is not complete without some Baby Lucas time. As soon as we got to my parents' house, Justin asked for Baby Lucas. Luckily we got to see him a couple times during our trip. By the end of our trip, Lucas was crawling from the front of the house to the back of the house trying to find the kids. He's the happiest, most content baby ever!

We enjoyed many family dinners and the best foods. I didn't pull my camera out at every stop, but luckily my sister shared this pic. Yes, J took his shirt off because he spilled something on it. He is a very particular little boy.

On Friday, we headed to Alamo's (my elementary school) Halloween parade and carnival. Miko and Rumi go to school there now my cousin is a 1st grade teacher. It was so great to see the kids together. Justin absolutely loves Rumi and followed her around everywhere.

 All 4 cousins (or 2nd cousins, I think). Justin, Rumi, Miko and Colin.

And something you don't find at Ohio school food booths - sushi, pot stickers and egg rolls. Oh, how I miss SF food!

I swear, the boys are better behaved in the air than on land. They are both such great fliers. Justin took his nap like this on the way back to CLE. haha.

It's always sad for me to leave SF, but this trip was a bit easier because we'll have Lori visiting us in November!!! Thank you mom & dad for making this SF trip fabulous - lots of good food and family time. Love you. =) We came back to lots of house improvements - Jack definitely kept busy. More house updates to post soon. =)

Island Happiness

I love islands - kitchen islands to be exact! haha. (well, I love beach islands too, but I don't live on one like a certain sister of mine.) Back to our kitchen island... The boys play, talk and keep busy on our island while I'm cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Friends gather around it while I can move about half-socializing and half-preparing food. I absolutely love it.

This week, clearly, has all been about our kitchen island and...drumroll please....WATER! We now have running water in the kitchen! Oh yeah!

Okay - so I had to document my first stove top meal in 2 months...Trader Joe's pot stickers. I was craving them for the longest time!! Colin and I scarfed down this whole pan-full.

After dinner, the boys cut their fruit for the next day's lunches. They love their kid-approved knives, and I love having them join in on the kitchen festivities. I'm a firm believer that I have our kitchen island to thank. It's just a great space for gatherings and for kids to get involved in things.

"What? This thing will wash dishes for us?" haha. For the first time in my adult life, I have a dishwasher. Well, I'll be honest, I had Jack before this piece of machinery. Life is good.

And here it is! Running water!!!! We love our faucet. Nice and high. And the end of it pulls out so we can spray things.

 I joked all week that when I got water, I'd have a "boiling water" party. Friends would come over and watch us boil water. In the end, I decided that having actual food would be far more fun for our friends. So less than 24 hours after we had water running in the house, we had friends over to help us celebrate! I cooked up 2 chilis and had warm apple cider. For appetizers we had cowboy caviar and brie. Full bellies and good friends!

 When it was time to eat, Justin volunteered to watch Baby Andy.

 Colin and Haoie constantly talk about each other and we're so happy that we can finally have guests over so these 2 can play more! (yes, Justin is rolling around in the background to keep Andy company. And no, we have not done any furnishing/decorating in the living room.)

I loved watching friends eat around our island. All of us hang out in the kitchen - while kids ran back and forth. It was the feeling that Jack & I wanted to create for our family - and it was amazing just to see it all play out. Love.

A wrap up on this week's house updates...

New outdoor carpeting for the sunroom. It has a warmer feel now and I am so proud of my internet-rug purchase! (C'mon, it takes guts to purchase a rug online. I have a new appreciation for customer reviews and now leave them frequently on items we've purchased)

 The guest bathroom has new flooring and toilet. Any thoughts on a paint color? (the old toilet didn't work and the flooring was a yellowish-brown color - sorry, no "before" picture)

My mom asked for a wide view of the kitchen. Here you go! (and the cabinet handles) We still have a handful more finishing touches - so we're not done yet!

To refresh your memory.. here's the before and during!

In non-kitchen related news, Justin was invited to his friend's bday party. He had a blast playing with his friends, and I loved watching him have fun and had a great time meeting the parents.

 The kids were so well behaved during lunch; I was thoroughly impressed. All of us parents credited the kids' amazing teachers to help make this drama-free lunch possible.

In other Justin news, he's talking all of the time.
Justin: Look mom, the moon.
me: yes, you can see the moon.
Justin: The moon is broken! (it was a 1/8th moon day)

Justin: Mom, you're not paying attention to me. Look at me!

Colin: Here you go, Justin. (giving him some goldfish)
Justin: You're sharing with me? Mom, Colin's sharing!

Colin: (crying about something)
Justin: I'm not crying mom. Justin is not crying.

Justin: Mama, you're so beautiful. You're so pretty. =)

Justin: (after getting his bday party goodie bag). Mom, where's Colin's?
Me: Colin doesn't get one. This is just for you.
Justin: Oh.
Me: You can share with him if you want. Do you want to share?
Justin: I want to see what's inside. (then looks) No, I don't want to share.

And by now, you all know that Justin is particular about foods - especially veggies. Well, this week, he ate 2 peas and 1 piece of broccoli! Huge success. Admittedly, he was promised a "grandma-cookie" after eating the peas and broccoli. Bribery, it works.

Surprise!

A weekend split between the kitchen and good family time.

House updates:
Surprise! As you know, Jack works from 2-11pm. So on Friday, when the kids and I came home from school to Jack in the kitchen, it was a huge SURPRISE! He secretly took the day off and waited for our countertop installers to come. He made dinner and started to make our kitchen feel like home! He previously told me that the counters wouldn't arrive until mid-October, so I was WAY beyond excited!! Like I said before, he's mine. Best surprise ever!

Now that we have a kitchen island, we did some family shopping for bar stools. The boys loved testing them all out.

As you know, we've been doing the toaster over/microwave set up for 2 months. Well, today, that changed. I had to take a picture of our gas, heating/cooling guy, Zane. He came by the house just to hook up our stove!!!  Does anyone need any boiling water?

 

Oh yeah, the boys. Life for them is not centered around home updates. =) So here are some other happenings...
Colin was thrilled that I finally booked his birthday party location. He immediately started writing invitations. He wrote it out all by himself! Can you read it? "PLEZ KUM TOO MI PRD." It's also the first party with a real "limit" on friends and he had to write out his invite list. Kind of crazy that he has more friends than me.

We also pre-bought tickets to the kids' school's Fall Fest, so although it was rainy on Sunday, we still ventured out. The rocket car is always a big hit - unless it's raining. And I should have paid better attention when we got on this thing- the driver is actually wearing a helmet with a face shield. We were the only brave souls to go on, and I think they canceled this activity after we were done.

Mostly because the rain pelted our faces like rocks. The boys sat like this for the entire trip. My cheeks hurt and I spent the majority of the time using my hands to cover Justin's hands and face. So I was surprised when we got off and Justin screamed, "That was so cool! The best ever!" What?? Were we on the same ride?

 After the rocket car, I decided that we'd only do indoor activities: playroom, balloon twisting, gym playing, arts & crafts. It was nice, warm and fun.

Look at these boys! Growing up way too fast. Also, I want to cut the boys' hair, but people are telling me to keep it longer. Thoughts?

 We wrapped up Sunday with family time celebrating cousin Sam's birthday!! I can't believe you are 6!

 Yep, the kids had a blast scarfing down their cake and ice cream. 

 C & J are serious about their dessert. And they were the last ones at the table. Yep, they take after their mama. =)

Big Weekend

Oh, we had a HUGE weekend. Full of BIG fun and BIG house updates.

Aunt Natalie came to town. Mandatory squeezes. Colin was much happier than his face in these pics. Perhaps he was still adjusting to sharing Aunt Natalie "lap" space.

Friday, I came home to this beauty. Even if you aren't thinking it, go ahead and give me an "oohh" and an "ahh!" =)

 We immediately started unpacking boxes. Yep, we've been here for almost 2 months, and the majority of our kitchen goods were still in boxes.

 I told you we had a HUGE weekend - and it continued with cookie making with Grandma.

 Cookie making with sprinkles.. Could it get any better? I suppose one thing better would be eating said cookies. =)

The good times just kept coming. We made it out the Nick & Tami's huge annual Clam Bake. My oh my, it's grown over the years. They do a great job of having kids activities - pumpkin decorating...

 Pirate Willie...

 where Cousin Alex was a volunteer and drove the boat. Pretty, cool!

 Can't forget the clams lobsters! Jack & I chose lobsters this year. Lobster + butter = fabulous!

 And the highlight for the boys was Outback Ray and his wild animals.

 Colin & Justin soaked up every bit of what Outback Ray was teaching them.

 And yes, Colin got to help lift a snake!

 There were bounce houses and a basketball shooting game. Justin LOVED it.

 Colin loved the band.

Colin enjoyed a sleepover at Grandma's, while Justin came home with us and we finished installing these two bad boys. And "we" is the correct term as I helped hold the microwave up while Jack screwed it into place.

We wrapped up the weekend with tons of errands and house cleaning. As I prepared dinner, this was my line of sight from my kitchen window. The boys love their campfires. And yes, spiderman was out there!

We all love the new cabinets - here's why the boys love them....New hideouts!


 Next phase of the kitchen renovation: Countertops (and sink) should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Oh yeah! We'll be doing the "we've got water" dance soon enough!