Wow, Happy Autumn Everyone!

When school started on 9/2, I became a free mama bird again! The kids would get onto the bus at 6:50am (Caleb) and 8:08am (Abbie), then I would come home and play with my 4 month old baby Frosty. Then when he napped, I would hand feed Kobee, Jubee and Autumn their daily special mesh and supplement! I never imagined not needing to take my kids to and from school..... it's so wonderful!



A month passed and suddenly we are in Autumn season! The leaves are turning red/yellow and are falling and decorating the lawns and pastures with beautiful foliage! The view of Fall is so beautiful here in the Northeast, and every day I can see the different shades glossing the beautiful trees. We are enjoying the periodic rainfall and the gentle breeze, as well as the cool temperatures and crisp (freezing) morning autumn air. Even Frosty hopped onto the wall to enjoy the wind blowing on his muzzle! Speaking of falling leaves.....Frosty is losing his fur like there's no tomorrow! I think he's like Tinkerbell in a way.....I'm afraid to touch him because his fairy dust will start to flow and float, and just fall everywhere. My house is littered with fur bunnies so if you guys come over, just blow it to the corners! I literally spend 50 minutes a day grooming him (make that 70 minutes including wee wee/butt wiping and feet cleaning) and every 2days I can literally make a new dog from the furry clump I gathered.

 

Abbie turned 9 on 9/19 and enjoyed her first birthday in the Northeast! I gave her a puppy banner surprise and she even baked her own homemade Birthday apple pie! It was SO delicious!

Soph's Digression ~ Last Saturday  I put this on Facebook timeline:

Soph's Peculiar Experience: Yesterday I had a big argument with Abbie at Peddler's Village fall festival. We had to leave in 10 min due to her big tantrum. I haven't had such a big with her since moving here (Philly)! As I was driving I was so angry as I lectured her but I could feel my blood boil! I even contemplated pulling over to the side and give her a piece (more pieces) of my mind.😬 Suddenly, I felt a fuzzy warmness on my right forearm. It was .... a PAW! ... I haven't been this angry in a looong time, both mom n daughter were in a tense car, and was unusually quiet and calm. He has never before put a paw on my right wrist/arm before. When he calmly laid paw on me for a whole 60 seconds, I whispered, "Thank you, Frost..., Thank you. ....". Then after 5 min. He came back next to me and put his paw on me again. I was reading that assistance dogs can sense epilepsy, blood sugar, heart attacks forthcoming, etc. Perhaps Frosty sensed my blood pressure rising😅. I thank the Lord for using any created beings, be it a donkey or a puppy, to remind me that He IS here, He knows our (Parenting) struggles, and that everything will be alright!🙆 Thank you for your love n patience for me!😅

 

 

 

Hubby has been traveling every week for 5 days out of 7, but thankfully the rest of us are settling into a comfortable routine and are relatively healthy!

Abbie opened the November Dog Fancy Magazine and screamed! Frosty's pix is in the magazine!

 

Frosty has began obedience class 3 weeks ago and is beginning to enjoy his weekly meetings with his 9 puppy classmates! Currently he knows his basic commands, but I think it will take another year before he stops running around in circles every morning upon waking and biting us all in the arms, legs, wherever. All of us have holes on our pants, sweaters, socks...... But when he sees any of the neighborhood kids, he's as sweet as a marshmallow and kisses/licks each of their chubby hands.  At first I thought he may get kicked out of puppy kindergarten because he refused to go into the room, barked incessantly while other pups sat obediently and politely, and peed/pooped (once so far) in class. He initially cowered at the corner and pulled me towards the exit every few minutes. I'm so thankful for Susie (our dear trainer) who is so patient and kind, and helped us feel comfortable and allowed Frosty to be the demo dog to keep him busy!



I miss my dear friends and family in California, but I know that God has wonderful plans for us here. We made wonderful church friends and neighborhood friends, and Abbie even had friends sleepover last weekend! Caleb started playing basketball on Saturdays with 4 new friends and is more outgoing than he every was in the past 12 years. We are very thankful that we have the opportunity to meet a wonderful family (who also moved from CA) last Sunday! We went to Chinatown for dim sum for the 1st time!

Let the wonderful Autumn season begin! Frosty is now 20 weeks and is no longer tripping over the newspaper he picks up for us in the morning!! He is now ~20 pounds and 3 times his baby size!

What? 40? Who, Me?

I didn't realize how fast this year has gone. I can't believe that after the selling of our CA home, the buying of the PA home, the Actual Move here, the Unpacking, the Picking up of Puppy.....6 months has passed and I'm staring at my BIG 40 in the face!  Thankfully, when I'm with my loved ones (friends, family, college buddies), I don't feel a day older than when I stepped onto the beautiful campus of UCSD as a sprouting, innocent, excited freshman in 1992! 

Who can resist these pleading eyes? No pup, no cake for you!

My buddy Julie from college and my Cerritos high acquaintance George (both were married in 2010 to each other!) came with their sweet little girl to celebrate my big day early! We had lots of fun hanging out and enjoying the dinner and sleepover. Frosty loved having company over and we chatted and had delicious meals and yummy Strawberry cake from Coldstone Ice Cream place!

Cake was Melting! I forgot to make a wish and just BLEW it all out!

 No matter how old I get, I'll relish and cherish the special friends I've made over the years, and keep thanking the Lord for their love and support of me and my loved ones all these years! Thank you sweeties!

Frosty Eyeing my last big piece of cake!

 

Happy Birthday Caleb ~ Happy Thanksgiving Everyone ~ Welcome Home, Yammy (Piano)! (^_^)

Caleb is DOUBLE-DIGITS "BIG 10" !!!

This is a busy month for us, as we were thrown in for a lot of decision-making with whom, where, when, and how my laprascopy surgery for those nagging ovarian cysts would come about. Thankfully, God made all things work together, as He always had!

So I decided to celebrate Caleb's Big 10 Birthday earlier, since we weren't sure when my surgery would be (perhaps Thanksgiving week, when Caleb's real birthday would be).

So I ordered the very FIRST ice cream cake in our family's history! And Baskin Robbin's Oreo Cookie Ice Cream cake was the best! I did learn, however, to not order cake 2 weeks in advance without checking the forecast first, because it was FREEZING when we ate the cake on party day! Nonetheless, it was great!



The kids loved singing the song, and Caleb cut his own cake for the 1st time! We also invited our special guest, Kobee Bird, to the party! The kids made party hats which looked super cool on Kobes!

~ Kobee not happy about his homemade party hat ~

Caleb got a cool, 'timely' gift (in light of my upcoming Operation, I suppose...)....and I've been wanting to get one of these games since I was a kid!

Good preview of what's to come (for mommy)!

Hubby enjoys games we didn't have as kids! 

It was always on commercials, and families extracted 'parts' from the patient's body. So daddy and kids had a great time!

Bummer! No ovaries here!

We got our new (well, used....like nearly 20 yr old!) Yamaha piano 2 days later! We sold our sweet little piano and bought a very beautiful and well-cared for Yamaha U30 from our friend's dad, a professional tuner and piano seller! So that will hopefully motivate Caleb to hang on for a few more years! His recital is coming up in a few days!



Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Though our life may not be always smooth, but we know that with God and loved ones, nothing is too difficult to face! I am thankful for each and every one of you!

p.s. Surgery date turned out to be in December and not Thanksgiving week! It will take place 4 days before Christmas so I have lots of time to reflect about loved ones, this past year...and watch TV (^_^)!

Thankful that God provided loved ones with wise counsel too! Instead of having to remove 1 ovary, I was referred by good friends to a laprascopy specialist who could spare my girly parts! Yeay! (^_^)

~ Abbie Girl's Surprise 6th Birthday Party ~

This year, because we are lazy and Back to School is always super chaotic, we told our 5.5 year old Abbie that we will not be doing a birthday party for her. It takes time to sink in, so I made sure I started telling her this months in advance. She seemed happy to be hanging out w/us for her big 6 (provided we give her lots of yummy food and little gifts from mommy and daddy).



Of course, things never go as one planned. 2 weeks ago, hubby in his happy moment, decided, "Hey, why don't we have Abbie's friends and parents come over for a surprise party? We're already going to the Awana (kids' fellowhship) training for leaders (that morning & afternoon) with them anyways! So we sent out the Evite and were thrilled almost everyone could come!

So on Saturday afternoon (we celebrated 2 days early), we took her to Sam Woo and Diho bakery to pick up tons of food and cake. She was suspicious when I walked out with a big pink box that usually only contains cake (in Diho tradition). "Why do you have a cake in there, mommy?" asked Abbie. "Umm....." replied mommy. "Ok," I fessed up, "We're celebrating your birthday in 1 hour!"

That evening, she had a blast with her girlfriends and their siblings! They made up 'cheers' which were funny, and had a good time eating the cake! The moms and dads had a great time bonding too!

Thanks everyone for coming down after an exhausting/sleepy day of training! I've never done surprise parties before and it's almost impossible to hide things from your little ones (she already discovered 'Princess and the Frog' plates and cups in the trunk).....but it was fun to try anyways (and a good mental exercise in addition to my daily juggling act)!



That night after the guests left, our usually low key and mellow 9 yr old boy (big brother) had an unexpected meltdown because of the hoopla of sister's party....so hubby and I may secretly plan a small party for him too in November. He's had a few small celebrations in the past few years, but having a Thanksgiving birthdate is tricky because people are on vacation all week! 

He never whined about having a party before (a pretty good kid!) but I think it won't be a bad idea this year, since a few close friends will help him socialize more and he can enjoy his buddies' company on his big 10! Besides, daddy  and I like to eat and chat w/the parents of these precious kids too! So here we go as we continue our family circus/chaos. Next year, we will definately take a year off from parties (hosting them, that is)!

Happy Birthday dear Brother Davy!

Dear Brother Davy, Sister Joan, and Sweet Sabrina ~

Happy Birthday, Davy (In Taiwan, where you were born ~ right now it's your birth day ^_^) ! The Lord bless you and your family richly!! May your dreams and Birthday Wish come true!

As you continue to serve the Lord, remember that He loves you with all his heart and life, and has in store for you unimaginable plans and gifts!



We had a great time at your home! Thank you for the seafood fest, and for showing us your beautiful finches, Koi fishes, fig trees and magic tricks! We love chatting with brother Philip too!

God bless you! Have a Very Happy Birthday! God bless your family!

Emmanuel,
Sophie, Mark, Caleb and Abbie

Disneyland....Here we come!

We decided to redeem our "Give a Day, Get a Day" vouchers today for Caleb's 9th birthday (early) celebration! It is a very good promotion they offered this year for us volunteering for different organizations!  


Disney's Haunted House

 We have not visited Disneyland for 1+ year now, and this is the first day of the kids' Thanksgiving week off. Boy, this is definately the 'CROWDEST" place on earth today! Nonetheless, it does give us a holiday ambience so we braved the cold weather and crowd, and went on (only) 4 rides in 6 hours....


The kids loved eating popcorns the most, followed by Buzz  Lightyear's Astro Blaster ride!

The most relaxing (and shortest line) ride was "Winnie the Pooh" ride, which daddy enjoyed (screaming in)!

Pooh ride

It was very cold, but good thing we brought our hot water canteens and made delicious hot cocoa to raise our body temperatures. This has been the coldest winter in Orange County in a long time!



Mmm....yummy hot cocoa!



Cold and bundled kids





5 days later....On 11/27, Caleb turned 9 at 8:17am! What a big smile!



Caleb plays himself a Birthday Song!





Abbie & her new friend, Buzz. She said she will not buy any more toys until she turns 7 years old....if only I buy her Buzz Lightyear. Wait, isn't it brother's birthday??

 

Caleb Surfing at Andrei's Party! (^_^)

Two weeks ago, Caleb went to his very first beach/surfing birthday party! His good friend Andrei (his Hummingbird Science Project pal) and 3 other friends went to the beach and skinny (?) surfed!

It was so wonderful to see that our little precious babies are growing up into big boys, socializing and making friends all on their own! Cire, my neighbor/mommy friend and Andrei's mom, has done a spectacular job preparing for, and I quote Andrei, "the BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY" ever!

We are so blessed to be party of this celebration! Caleb learned how to skinny surf from the other boys, and had a great time getting buried in the sand!

They had a great time picnicking and eating lots of yummy food too!

The boys are so handsome together and we are so happy to have good friends in Ladera! Soon they'll be off to college so I will cherish these moments....

Happy Birthday and have a blessed Big NINE, buddy! We love you!

Happy Birthday to Dad (^_^)

We were so happy to be able to see dad this year, as he visited us from Taiwan! Since we immigrated to the U.S. 28 years ago, we have not been around when dad's birthday rolled around in mid-March.

So we are so happy that we could gather (minus big bro, Dan, we miss you bro!) and surprise dad with a yummy mango brulee pudding cake from 85 degree bakery!

This was the first time grandpa Alex got to meet little Kyle, who is almost 3 years old! Kyle is Debbie and Bruce's little boy. The kids also enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to grandpa, and playing with him on the floor!



Happy Birthday, dad! Though we don't see you often, you are often in my thoughts and always in my prayers! We love you and God loves you!