Life with A New Baby ~ With FUR!

Ok.....  So I thought that I was done having babies 8.5 years ago..... But apparently I forgot that my last baby begot more baby.... with paw and fur! Life with a new bundle of joy and slobber was a barrel of fun....and surprises! I had forgotten how wonderful it is to wake up at 7:45am most days..... But instead now I have a natural alarm sounding like, "Arf....Arf...Grrrr....(wimper)....Arf!" each morning between 6am and 6:10am!




Frosty Flurry Tsaikovsky is super cute, so even though he pees like a camel, nips our heels/pants/legs, and barks at everything including:  Lemons, doorstopper, jingle bell, food bowl, everything! Yet we still love him to bits! The last time I was full time doggie caregiver was in 1992, when I was a senior in Cerritos high school! And now after 22 years, I'm back at being a doggie-holicism because they are so cute, innocent, and love you no matter what! (^_^)

Best friends napping together

I haven't slept past 6:10am since we brought him home from his breeder Maine on July 4th weekend! Still, I enjoyed this precious new adventure with my little furball because we all are enjoying the Philly suburbs as a brand new family of 5!

Little Frosty was at first a helpless case of potty training failure. He would be taken out for potty breaks, then come into the house and immediately squat and dribble dribble right in front of our eyes!

Mommy I've been good! Can I have my kibbles now?

Or it'll be raining and he'd sit and refuse to budge, leaving me standing in the thunderstorm holding a big umbrella (yet dripping wet) while he looks at me and tilts his head by the sliding door in the house.

Since Day 1, Frosty pup loved sleeping in the 1 feet of space between sofa and wall

I call him "Bat Man" because when the noon sun hits him, the silhouette of his head and ears resembles Batman (with a very round head)...
 

Favorite Spot: The A/C VENT (9 weeks old)

Favorite Spot: The A/C VENT (13 .5 weeks old)

And also because he would NOT walk to his potty patch of grass when the sun is very hot. He'd literally walk along the bricks on the yard where clearly there's only 1 feet of shade to his destination. So our house was pee central and in the first 2 weeks of housebreaking disaster, hubby would growl and grumble, "The Brazilian Cherry Wood is now Brazilian PEE wood!"

Our little trooper had hernia surgery at 10.5 weeks!

Now he is with us for 5 weeks and our little fuzzy poochie mango has graduated to about 1 accident every 2-3days! That's a major improvement!

Frosty listens to Abbie read a doggie care book!

 

 

Face to Face time between girl and her best friend

And he has also taken up a new chore assignment to burn his energy and earn his keep in this family. We are super proud of him for this achievement, because his assignment was literally larger than his mouth and chest combined but he fumbled his way back home anyhow.





People I met at supermarkets, chiropractic office, and school orientation always look puzzled, scratched their heads, and asked, "So....you're from California?! So.....what are you doing here?" It sounded like I've just signed up for Survivor training camp in Jurassic Park....  But I always tell them that this is a beautiful place with 4 seasons, and I love seeing all the GREEN!

A dozen Canadian geese crosses the street by Target!

There's always something to appreciate in every State  you're in. For me, after 32 years (since....2nd grade!) in the same state with the same weather (EITHER: HOT or HOTTER), with bare brown hills and brush fires, earthquakes, expensive mortgage/taxes, crowded schools, and El Toro Y traffic (although NOW we really appreciate the wide, straight, 4 lane freeways!), it's actually kind of nice to come out to the other side of the country and explore!!  Oh and the thunderstorms and humidity? It reminded me of my 7 years (since birth) living in Taiwan! Love the smell, coolness, and tip tap of the raindrops!






I can't wait for school to start in 3 weeks! The concept of SCHOOL BUS blows my mind....since the last time I've rode in one was in 1985 when I was in Torrance, CA in 5th grade!

 Frosty hanging out at the front yard

YEAH, I get to walk in my PJs all day from Sept. 2 onwards! I love it too that school bus is right in front of my house! Amazing and Blessed!

Frosty visits Lassie statue in Buck's library

I know, I know....they all told me about last year's shocking snowfall. I know I'll be gritting my teeth in my December post and drinking hot chocolate by the pitcher every day....but I'm still excited about my new adventure. This is like College.... with more people (and pets) in tow! As our adventure continues, I will let you know if by December I'm still as jolly as I am today. At least I'll have Frosty! He's going to keep us all warm with his sheep fur. We'll be casting lots to see who gets him every day starting Thanksgiving day!

Frosty fell asleep after 3 episodes of  Abbie's favorite ~"Full House".....
 



Here's My Favorite Hang out! Cools my (double coated) body!



Yeay! Today Our Newspaper Boy Succeeded! But the big rain last night caused the victim to Slip Away! (^_^)

Our Northeastern Adventure in the Philadelphia Suburbs BEGINS!

Ok, so if I don't start blogging soon, I'm going to forget my password to this BLOG! (*_*)  Blogging (or the lack thereof).... is very much like exercising (or the lack thereof). The less we do it, the less we feel like doing it....and pretty soon (as you can tell from my last entry).....6 months have passed by!

So here I am, attempting to log in my 1st blog entry of the Spring + Summer 2014....with a puppy giving me an evil look + threatening to "go" on my Nike slipper if I don't play with him right now. 

(10 minutes later) I don't even know where to begin, so much has happened that it seems like a dream (or a super long vacation) still!  I guess maybe I should start from the day the movers came and moved our house from Ladera Ranch, CA to Chalfont, PA!

 

 

 

The movers loaded up our house in 3 days and we paraded into USAirway check-in like Harry Potter and Friends, with Jubee ~ Kobee ~ Autumn in airline approved carriers....headed into the airplane! The flight was overall uneventful, thanks to the roasted unsalted almonds from the $14 fancy lunchables box we purchased for dinner. The parrots were begging for them so that kept them from singing opera and talking to the passengers during the 5 hour flight. The days following were a big blur, probably because we were not only jetlagged, but we were unpacking a zillion boxes each day, wiping/lining the 50 or so cabinets/pantries/drawers, whatever....and sweating bullets.

Our Neighbors and their kids are so nice! They visited our parrots and
 even brought us popsicles!

The heat wave had begun, similar to the dizzying discomfort we felt in CA. The difference is that we have high humidity here (which brought back nostalgic feelings of summer days and nights in my short 7.5 years of childhood in Taiwan)!

The birds love to hang out on the fence together!

It was 95 degrees, but felt like 105 degrees with the humidity (no exaggeration, Accu-Weather actually says it), so I was taking 3 showers a day during that first week. I also had the inconvenience of a non-functioning A/C but couldn't find help because hubby went to Germany for business trip (for many days) immediately after he brought us all here from CA. It wasn't until he returned did he casually mention that you needed to 'press the battery compartment harder' so the batteries would line up and the symbol on the thermostat wouldn't keep saying "Low Bat".  Melting.... Soph, Melting....

We visited Sesame Place, home of Elmo and Big Bird!

We descended on the new house with nothing but 3 birds and 1 small luggage each. So we slept in the basement for a couple of weeks until our things arrived, and it was fun to actually have a basement! In CA the houses have no basements, but here everyone has it. Ours is fully furnished, so we don't see Caleb much nowadays except when he surfaces twice daily to ask me what we're having for brunch/dinner, and when he comes by to see what snacks are available in the kitchen.  IT's a teenager's Dream Come True! No one is nagging him anymore (especially because there's 2 stories to climb between basement and bedroom upstairs.... SO exhausting!)!!

Caleb at Sesame Place water slide

We unpacked enough items to get us through just one week at a time, and the other 45 boxes will probably wait until ..... hubby's Clinical Trials pass and we know we're actually staying here for more than 9 months....or when Caleb goes to college....whichever comes first.  The paintings will stay in their box until our puppy grows up, I reckon...

Caleb loves swimming....in the hotel pool (en route to pick up puppy in Maine)!

Abbie really enjoys her new life in PA. Now she spends most days watching Disney channels, occasionally reading "Little House on the Prairie", and potty training the puppy. The neighbors' kids are very nice and came over to see our parrots as soon as they got off the school bus on the last week of school! 

Kobee loves to hang out in the front yard!

The houses here are like 3 houses-distance away by CA standards, so we have to put on our tennis shoes and make an effort to go to the neighbor's house, even if they are just next door or at the end of our cul de sac. It was literally a small uphill hike!



Caleb enjoys his secret hideout! A tree in the yard!

Here in Philly suburbs, there are tons of trees..... I was in awe of how many trees there are ... just in my back and front yard (40!)! There are also wildlife living in these forests.....like hawks and raccoons, foxes and deer, Canadian geese and bunnies, and as we later learned, the predators eat everything, including organic free-range chicken. Unfortunately, we woke up on a Saturday morning 1 month after our arrival and found feathers everywhere in the yard. That was our organic chickens' fate....and after shedding tears and remembering our beloved pets, we vowed to always strengthen/lock the coop doors if we get more chickens in the Spring....and to name them Mocha JR. and Nugget JR. too, in remembrance of our cross-country-by-USPS-$105-shipping-cost- California chickens.

Driving to Maine on July 4th week was very memorable! We ran hand in hand with the Thunderstorms that went over to Boston, Massachusetts, Portsmouth New Hampshire, and Maine! The lobsters in Maine really were delicious....legendary in fact!

We ate them before we picked up  Frosty on July 5th, and that day we drove all the way home (with all the potty breaks in between) in 11 hours with puppy in arms (rotating between Caleb, Abbie, and Mine).

When you bring home a little baby, be it with fur/paws/tail or skin/fingers/no tails, you life will never be the same again!

 

 

 

 

 

After 2.5 years, kids are getting even closer to BLACK belt! (^_^)

CONGRATS to our Red Belts ~ ~ 9 months to go!! (^_^)

I still remember the day I decided that the kids are DEFINATELY going to do Taekwondo (aka: Take-My-Dough)...... and that was the day they had a big cat fight in my Honda Odyssey.....in which they literally demolished the DVD cords which were attached to the dual car-mounted DVD monitors! I think we were stuck for like forever in the minivan coming ALLLLLLLLLLLL the way back from Victoria, Canada to our home in Ladera Ranch, CA. The summer trip was a 12 day live-out-of-suitcase-trip traversing all states on the west coast. NEVER do that, EVER!

 

I almost abandoned ship when the kids flipped out that day and wanted to jump on a plane and let hubby and kids can come back by themselves...... So I decided that moment....that as soon as we get home, I'm going to sign BOTH of them up so they can fight PROFESSIONALLY! Let Mr. Kim teach these wild youngsters how to respect and cohabit with one another without breaking each other's body parts! Hence, ever since August 2011, Mr. Caleb and Miss Abbie officially joined our Ladera Ranch ATA Taekwondo Martial Arts! (Btw, they still fight all the time, only now more fearlessly and forcefully. Respect for one another is out the window (unless they are in public with complete strangers, of course). Their monthly advancement in belt color and ranking is actually making my physical discipline extremely difficult because they can now swiftly and reflexively block all my angry swats and run/dodge as fast as my flying chickens!




From innocent little White Belts, they spent the last 2.5 years working their way up, faithfully attending classes twice a week, tournaments once in awhile, and testing every 3 months.....(and mommy & daddy paying week by week.....by week......) to be where they are today!

 

LOVE THE NEW COLOR RED!!!

Little RED belts they officially are....as of today!!!.... they are now officially 9 months or so from getting their BLACK belts!





Come to think of it, they will definitely have to finish their red gold bar belts and recommended black belts.... in the Philly suburbs somewhere! That's ok, the MOST important thing about parenting is to Savor the NOW and worry later about where in the world the new ATA place (on the other side of the country) may be!




This Blog post is dedicated to daddy Mark, who is still freezing like Snowman in the blizzard-ridden Philly! Your kids did superior today! Great job!!




Cupcakes ALWAYS follow a new color belt!!!

 

The Kids Will be Alright (^_^) Abbie's New Year's Wish!

Even before hubby packed his bags in preparation for his migration to Philly (for his new job at Johnson and Johnson), he worried that the kids and I would not be able to adjust to his absence. God is so good, and though hubby and I haven't been apart since our 5 year long distance relationship in my college days (1993-1998), life had been quite smooth since December 1st (hubby's 1st day of work)!

We missed him a lot, but also kept our daily routine of school, after school relaxing/Taekwondo, and they patiently did their homework/chores while I prepared dinner and attempted to help them with their homework (when I had no clue what the questions were, esp. Math, I took pics and Whatsapped them to hubby to solve the problem!).


The kids were quite resilient, and started to pitch in on daily chores! This morning Caleb surprised me by making home-laid home-made sunny-side-down eggs! Abbie was the behind-the-scenes chef, teaching big bro how to make the yummy eggs. They ended up making 6 eggs (4 of them were from Mocha and Nugget) and eating them all! We are now awaiting hubby's offer on a house in Philly suburbs, and in the meantime looking to list our home at the end of this month. We're excited to see what God's plans are for our family this brand new year!!

In the meantime, Abbie is also following through on her New Year's Resolution to be a Responsible Puppy Mommy! She went to the library to check out tons of books on Puppy Care, headed to Petsmart with me to purchase puppy biscuits, toys, collars, and other supplies!

We are happy to report that except for Da Pup, we have EVERYTHING we need to start caring for our family's new addition! WE are hoping to get a puppy from "After Eden Samoyeds", a wonderful couple who loves the Lord and had a litter of pups born on 12/30/13! We hope to get a house by then so we can settle the pup down! We are definitely praying hard!

Abbie was very good at convincing us that we needed a new addition. She actually wanted a baby sister, but after explaining to her that daddy closed shop (He just did! And mommy too!), she went on to lobby for a baby pup. So I told her that she can come up with a proposal and we can have a family meeting during New Year's week when daddy comes home.

Ultimately her poster and 8 page report (plus daddy also wanting a pup in the last few months) resulted in a family unanimous vote on getting a Samoyed pup. At first I was considering a rare AKC breed (since 1997) called "Canaan Dog", but eventually the family thought Samoyed would be a more suitable dog....considering Philly is still in the midst of the current polar vortex and freezing/snowing/icing up pretty good.

So we are embarking on a new adventure! Please keep praying for us! Happy New Year!

The First White Thanksgiving of our Lives!

This Thanksgiving we have had the most memorable "Perfect" Snow "Storm"! (^_^) Hubby accepted his offer from Johnson and Johnson and would be leaving on Thanksgiving week with his little blue TSX, along with his work clothes, toaster and rice cooker! Before leaving, his coworker suggested that he drive instead of fly, creating a fun-filled, unforgettable family memory for all. I'd like to wring the sweet little necks of Mr. Ken and all of hubby's Alcon buddies for this 'wonderful' suggestion because that was the most scary trip of our lives! Of course, looking back, I'd have to say that this was an incredibly fun and exciting trip and I'll never forget it!

We embarked on our 3,000 mile trip on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The car was filled to the roof with abovementioned gears plus sleeping bags and luggage. We could not see out the back door! We went to San Diego, then over to Tucson, AZ. Strangely, a big storm followed us all the way from our house to AZ (plus fog, hail, etc.)

Snow Flurries!

Then we went over to Texas, and things started to get interesting......and icy! We were surprised that the storm had turned into icy rain, and before we knew it, snow had fluttered down and we were all driving on icy freeway! Pretty soon we scrambled to call all the hotels in Van Horn, Texas, as darkness began to blanket us. All 8 hotels were fully booked, and we felt like Mary and Joseph with no place for our fighting, whining, hungry and a bit annoying little offspring to stay. We went to a random hotel by a freeway and I begged for a way to find a place to stay. And if you've not experienced a miracle, this is one that I can personally attest to.

Tons of people filled the tiny lobby of that hotel, and as I patiently waited my turn, the lady at the counter (who also didn't have space in her hotel) kindly offered to search for a hotel room for me in Hotel El Capitan (the most famous hotel/landmark in West Texas)! I had called 5 min. ago and there was no room. She magically found one last room online, and mentioned it's a very small room.....but I said, "I'll TAKE it!" before she finished her sentence. We dashed to that hotel and prayed that the one available room wasn't a computer glitch or something....and blessed we were, it was available!

 

The room turned out to be quite small, and poor hubby had to sleep on the floor, but we were happy to have a roof over our heads.

Standing Room only at the El Capitan hotel  (^_^)

When we were checking in, a man barged in asking for a room, and the calm concierge told him that they were completely booked and that the sheriff's department had opened up emergency shelter at convention center and put several cots there for those stranded. Boy were we blessed!

The El Capitan Fountain Froze Overnight!

That night we had fine dining of grilled salmon, pistachio steak and something else (I can't remember now that it has been about a months, but it was a really yummy meal!)! After the meal, Abbie then proceeded to hold her throat and complain that it hurts....and we told her she was probably just tired from the trip. By 12 midnight she was still coughing and flopping around on our little bed, so hubby went to the hotel store to buy a claritin tablet. One tablet......he came back at 12:30am saying it was $2.75 for that tablet, and the expiration date was.... 9/2013! I told him to just pop it in because we had no choice and thankfully she relaxed and went to sleep. Unfortunately, 2 hours later hubby sat up and snorted. It turned out that his CPAP (Apnea machine) had died because the whole hotel (plus the whole town of Van Horn, in fact) had lost power.



The next day we were stranded due to the snowstorm and freeway closure, but thankfully we were in the best hotel in town. We scraped the car windows and tried to go to local grocery store. But all stores in the whole town were closed! So we chatted with travelers from all parts of the U.S. and left the following day towards Arkansas.

How did you get into the room, ladies? Why are you on the curtains?

We then headed to Tennesee, where we were met with an incredible experience of Nature vs. the Elements in the hotel! Abbie noticed a little ladybug on our hotel room wall, then another, then another....and eventually she found 9 of them! It was soooo cold outside that they had entered the room somehow (window/vents) to seek warmth! Hubby later read on wall street journal that ladybugs in hotel rooms were a sign of good luck, just like birds nesting on the trees in your yard (Asian saying).

We had a perilous cross country trip, literally at the heels of "Snowstorm Boreas"! This storm immobilized the mid-West all the way up to the Northeastern states! The roads were snowy, icy, windy, freezing and dear hubby drove 98% of the way!

WE loved Virginia! It's a nice place to live....hmm....maybe one day we will!

We had a "Happy Birthday Caleb" dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Virginia, where servers came and chatted with us and gave us ice cream for Caleb's birthday pie, free of charge!

Hollywood Café was a very yummy and highly recommended restaurant!

Birthday boy ... surprised by the birthday cake...ur....pie!

The people in Virginia were very friendly, like people you see in diners conversing with one another in the 80's sit-com. We then went up to Maryland, and finally....finally....to Pennsylvania!

We Made It! 7 days later!

We finally brought hubby to the Philly suburbs to start his new job/adventure after 7 days of being on this freezing adventure!

Hubby's English Village Apt! Icy on Thanksgiving day!

His apartment was on the 3rd floor and I felt like we were taking him to college! He would stay here to start his new job on 12/1 while the kids and I would fly back and start cleaning house.



Hubby cooks yummy chicken porridge! We had no tables, beds, or chairs!

So our adventure for Thanksgiving 2013 came to a safe and memorable end! We plan to list our CA house at the end of January 2014! We're thankful that we made it there and back home safely and that we had decided to drive to Philly.

Finally got 2 folding chairs & 1 big plastic table at Costco!

I'm not sure how we survived the trip (the inside of the car was equally, if not more....gut-wrenching and head-aching than the outside of the car, due to kid-sibling-fighting-factor), but I will always remember it! I learned that the United States is a REALLY big place, and no matter where we go, if God's with us, then we're in a Good place! (^_^) Thank you all for your prayers!

In front of daddy's apt! Double Rainbow came down and reminded of God's faithfulness!!

 

Miracles Happen Every Day ~ Like Today! (^_^)



When hubby and I looked back at the last 3 months, it seemed like a Dream! Actually, more like a nightmare in the beginning, but now as life unfolded, we realized it was a MIRACLE!  We couldn't imagine life to take on such a dramatic transformation in merely 88 days! When God is at work in our lives, Boy.... His plans are monumental and life-altering!

One day early August, hubby saw a pop-up on the corner of his LinkedIn screen as he worked on his resume. It said, "Micro-Catheter Engineer, Johnson & Johnson. So he thought it sounded interesting, had something to do with eye and catheter (his background), so he sent in his resume online. Then he forgot about it. At Sequoia, he received a voicemail about phone interview with HR in Johnson and Johnson but he had no idea what job this was. In September, after the phone interview, he was asked to have an on-site interview at the Pennsylvania headquarter of J and J....on his 44th Birthday Eve!

It was a grilling 6 hours interview (plus lunch...but their on-site cafeteria, chefs who cooked to order, and huge grilled catfish entree was unforgettable!), but he was very impressed with the talented scientists, the wonderful potential boss, and research team there! So on his birthday eve, he completed his only on-site interview in this career-search journey thur far.  This week....we got the official (PAPER) offer letter and related forms, and we so shocked and grateful. God is soooo good and this whole process had His fingerprints all over it! Hubby had applied for about 80 jobs from SF down to SD, and a couple of them in the East Coast. We had no in-person interview at all (but lots of phone interviews which didn't lead to further interviews). Had he not change his job to Bausch & Lomb last May, he would not have been laid off this August, hence we would still be living status-quo as the last 16 years had been!

Hume Lake in Sequoia (Hume Christian Center)

We were also so blessed because this job description seemed far-reaching, yet they hired hubby. Hubby applied for the micro-catheter Engineering position, but they hired him to work with the design contract company on the actual console (macular degeneration machine) itself! It is a job more for Electrical Engineers, it seems (^_^). We spoke with friends and family, and realized that many of their parents had macular degeration, and they themselves were at risk as well. We are so thankful for this opportunity to venture out into a new life and a new world. I feel like a college freshman to be.... ready to spread my wings upon the big, vast, mysterious, yet inviting sky!

Do you Think Our 3 Amigos are ready for Philly? Or Not?

Getting the chicks used to SNOW....by giving them ICE cubes! They were confused!

If we did not face layoff the last 3 months, we would never have dreamed of going to a wonderful company like Johnson and Johnson, and actually MOVING to the other side of the  United States! Thankfully it is a beautiful place with New England states just a couple hours train ride away! God is so good, and his blessings are unfathomable!

What to Do when Waiting for Offer ~ RELAX!
So We all watched the new Japanese drama:  DOCTOR X  !! REALLY GOOD!

Thank you for standing by us in the whole journey....not only was it a job-hunting journey, but a soul-searching one as well. We will continue to update about our migration to the East as soon as information arrives! Our biggest head-scratcher at this time is.... HOW do we relocate our whole zoo? Perhaps our feathered friends all can fly East for the winter and save us a bundle on pet transport!