It’s that time of the year again when we get to dine with this amazing couple!

Happy that we made it out to the city in the pouring rain!

our view from the table

From the 35th floor.

It was fun listening to these two analysing the each menu. For me and Andrew, all we said was “gooood”.

Recap of what we ate.

What an honor to know them and being able to spend time with them is a true blessing from God.

This afternoon we rushed eating dinner to go back to school for the kids art show.

Shane, downing that cupcake. Luckily, he dropped that cupcake after this picture so he didn’t get to finish it. Thank goodness!

Oh wait, so he got another cookie?

Playing with his best buddy.

Ms. C &  Ms. C. They are super excited about their play-date next week.

I was very impressed with the everyone’s creativity. Great job guys!

We invited some friends over for a bbq in our backyard today. So lucked out with a gorgeous weather!

While I was busy making Aloha cocktails (so yummy!),

Andrew was busy grilling.

I was up until midnight last night making burger patties and marinating chicken.

Hard work paid off. It was pretty good!

Friends brought great desserts!

kids table { before }

and { after }

Kids took out all of the beers from the ice bucket

and put their toys in there.

I made sweet and spicy chicken for the guest who stayed over for dinner.

Thank you for coming over to our party! We had a great time and hope you did too. 🙂

Chloe drew these after the guests left. Haha, I love it!

“Perfect love drives out fear.” 1 John 4:18

I had a wonderful time at woman’s retreat this weekend. Even though I was only an hour away from home (and it was only for a day and a half), I felt like I was worlds away.
Great speaker Tara Barthels of Peacekeepers Ministries spoke about Fear.  You can read about her here.

We went over to the Wei’s for a play date today.

They prepared make-your-own-pizza lunch which was really fun for the kids.

Gotta get more cheese!

Mr. Andrew was in charge of the oven department.

They also did lots of craft projects.

Now the tasting part!

Yum!

Then they went out side and did egg hunting.

hint! hint!

They found tons of eggs.

Love that smile.

Shane’s singing to get more eggs from auntie SJ.

endless counts of candies…

Now decorating more eggs.

My attempt to do ombré effect…

Cute moment: Shane, playing with baby Mikaela.

I wasn’t able to soothe her but Andrew did. He still got that magic touch.

Thank you guys for another fun-packed day!

Shane was invited to one of his classmate’s birthday party today. This is the first time I took him to his friend’s party.

Here he goes!

Look at that fierceness.

Here’s Shane’s best buddy, Sebastian. They are inseparable.

I wonder what they are talking about. Probably superheroes…

Toasting with juice boxes.

Those three are trouble.

Boys are rough! No wonder Shane’s always coming home with bumps and bruises!

Boys…

We went to my friend’s son’s first birthday party in Flushing, NY. At first when we walked in I thought we were going to a wedding.  This is definitely the most over the top, Korean style first birthday party I ever been to. I have to say I really enjoyed the food!

Happy birthday little Andrew!

Today we were invited to celebrate Mikaela’s 1st birthday.

Happy birthday Mikaela! Looking forward to celebrating many more with you. 🙂

My angel!

Here comes Shane!

As we’re walking out the door this morning, Shane told me his new pants were too big. He doesn’t have any belts so I searched for something in Chloe’s closet. Only thing I could find was her pink and green belt. I didn’t say anything as I was putting it on him and I thought ‘maybe he’s too young to notice or care if he’s wearing a girls belt.’ He let me put the belt on him then he said, “Mommy, make sure nobody sees Chloe’s belt, Okay?”

taking class pictures

Today we invited a few of Chloe’s friends from school so we could celebrate her 5th birthday.
My day started at 6 am running to the post office for jewelry orders (thanks to Alyson Hannigan who’s been featured wearing my baby pendants on peoplestylewatch.com.), then to the grocery store for last minute food shopping. Finally then picked up the birthday cake for the party while Andrew was busy entertaining the kids outside of the house so I could surprise the kids when they got back.

Dessert Table is ready, just in time.

This beautiful cake was made by Anna, who’s starting her own business soon. I’ll post her website when it’s up. Thanks Anna for the wonderful job!

I made these cupcakes using my favorite bakery, Magnolia’s recipe. Anyone who knows me well would know that baking is not my thing. But after today, I’m beginning to build my confidence. 🙂

There she is~ my birthday girl in a mermaid outfit.

and my handsome son who’s been eyeing the frosting since he came in.

Now the projects are ready and we patiently wait for the young guests…

Kids really enjoyed coloring the sea creatures.

Shane didn’t mind that he was the only boy at the table.

I experimented with my face painting skills for the first time on our lovely guests. One of the moms approved and said, I’m hired for her next party!

Now they’re decorating their own cupcakes.

Time for the cake!

What a successful party! I was a bit nervous having the girls over in the house for the first time, but now I feel like we should do this more often. The girls had such a blast doing projects, being silly, eating too much frosting and running around and locking themselves in Chloe’s room, shouting “no boys allowed” to Andrew and Shane. I think Shane had a blast as well. He skipped his nap, played with Chloe’s friends chasing after them, and probably over excited himself. When the guest left, I gave them a bath before dinner time and while he was sitting at the dinner table eating, I caught him passing out on his chair. Literally.

I LOVED seeing how Chloe and her friends interact. They were all very silly, all incredibly cute and so lovely… just like Chloe. 🙂 One of them gave me and Andrew a hug when she was leaving thanking us. That totally melted my heart. How sweet…