Happy Mother's Day! Our Celebration at church (^_^)

I cannot believe a year has passed! I was watching the video from our precious munchkins LAST year when they sang on Mother's Day, and wow, they have surely GROWN!

They are no longer toddler-looking but little ladies and gentlemen now! Boy, I am going to miss them so much when they go to college....tears....

   

                              Mother's Day 2009 Sunday School Preschoolers Singing

                                    Mother's Day 2010 Sunday School Preschoolers Singing

We had a Sweet & Memorable Mother's Day Sunday worship! The Praise and Worship was very beautiful, and the message from Pastor Al was very encouraging and touching too.

I chuckled  when I saw that moms spend about 180 minutes in a child's day with them (verses dad ~ 10 minutes), and laughed when he said statistically 80% of moms are the first to wake up in the family. In our family, Caleb is first (to get up and play Zoo World), followed by daddy (who prepares him breakfast and chauffeurs him to school), then mommy Soph, and finally Abbie.

Kids sing

The message was followed by a short, touching video (looks like Japanese animation) to encourage those who unexpectedly lost their moms (or other family members) early in life. It is very difficult to keep walking, but we must keep going, knowing that one day, we will meet them in heaven. Thanks for the video, pastor Allen!

The chinese school kids sang very sweet songs, and gave out flowers for the 150+ moms in the congregation.

Pretty Flowers for Moms

After lunch, we visited mom in law at the hospital. She was happy to see us and could recognize us! Then we took dad to Kobe, a very yummy Japanese restaurant walking distance from dad's apartment.

We treated dad and he paid the bill. The sushi chef, Jacky, has known dad in law for 10 years! He always gives us delicious BIG portions of fish when we visit! I guess caring for dad and keeping dad company was the best mother's day gift we can give to mom!

                  Grandpa Caleb says prayers before dinner and Abbie prays too!

Abbie loves tempura shrimp   Caleb eats a lot for dinner!!Jacky the chef, our buddy! Abbie loves Hamachi Kama

The day was wonderful, and though Abbie dented it alittle (by breaking our camera after dinner), we are thankful that God gave us loved ones in our family and God's family so we can learn to love one another unconditionally.

Asked 4 yr old (Sophie Wu) to take a picture of me, 'cuz my hubby and kids were too busy playing!!

The LAST picture (Can you tell it's hubby?) by our camera... after Abbie dropped it with lens open..... (*_*). Even then, we had a good Mother's day (and I am about to get a new camera! ^_^)

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

 The "Walking Tour"

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!

Another Mother's Day Surprise ~ From my dear Ju Ju!

An hour ago, while I was watching my soap opera,  we heard the doorbell ring. I was upstairs and heard  hubby talking to someone. Then he hollered for me to come down. I reluctantly told him I am not dressed to see visitors, and he said, "Just Come Down!!"

In his arms, he held a BIG BOUQUET of EDIBLE FLOWERS! I was so surprised! He nervously asked me who my "Secret Admirer" was. On the card it said, "To Soph", and I immediately thought of my beloved college buddy Julie!

Then I saw in the card it really was HER! And her fiancee George! What a great surprsie! Abbie immediately started licking the Strawberries, and I had to shoo her off like a fly so I can videotape and take pictures of our beautiful surprise gift. Caleb loves strawberries! He is still at Andrei's birthday party so when he returns, I will give him 4 big strawberries! Yum! They are all VERY sweet! I remember a few months back I saw an Edible Arrangement ad in the magazine and dreamed of getting one. Now my dream came true! (^_^)

I am so blessed! Thank you Ju and G so much, and I am thankful to the Lord for good friends! Happy Mother's Day everyone!

My Mother's Day Surprise (^_^) from the kids

Ten minutes ago Caleb sent me on a Scavenger hunt to find the special Mother's day surprise he prepared for me! It took me forever (and tons of clues extracted from him and his sister) before I finally found them behind the sofas! I was so touched!

After Abbie saw this picture of "Mommy and me" drawn by big brother Caleb, she disappeared with it. Then she emerged from the living room with a makeover of this card ~ by adding HERSELF! I guess she didn't want to be left behind!

Abbie also made a special surprise Flower pot filled with rich soil and "Mystery Seeds" in it. She was determined not to tell me but wanted to wait until the seeds sprouted. Then I can find out. She also made me pose (a ballet pose) so she can draw me and her in a card.

I really feel that it's not what they give, but the heart and excitement behind their giving that really touched my heart.

 

I'm so blessed that God blessed me with the responsiblity and rewards of being a mom, and though there are hair-pulling and dysfunctional days, I am thankful for the Sunshine and Love they bring into my life. HAPPY  MOTHER's DAY, Sweet Kids! And Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

We panned for gold at San Juan Capistrano Missions!

Today we took Uncle Cheng-Tzong and Auntie Ju-Tze to San Juan Capistrano missions! After being here for several days and going on hospital runs to visit MIL, we took them on a little sight-seeing trip.

The first attraction that we came across was a beautiful Koi pond at the entrance of the mission. The Koi pond was beautiful to behold, and the Kois were very bold! They surfaced from the water and even tried to kiss us!

We haven't visited the SJC missions since Caleb was 2 years old, so we were surprised to see how much the missions had changed! They re-created an ancient church which turned into rubbles after an earthquake, just 3 years after it was built! Back then, this church took 12 years to build!

The flowers were very beautiful and we took tons of pictures for auntie and uncle!

The kids enjoyed panning for gold pieces in the 'river'! It was a makeshift river mimicking the California gold miners who panned for gold from the river in the past.

There are about 20 missions along the California coast, and it was exciting to let the kids see one of them firsthand. Next year in 4th grade, Caleb will pick a mission and make a model of it! I'm sure ALL parents are excited to be making it for, I mean, WITH ~ their kids! 

Andrei and Caleb's Hummingbird Science Project! (^_^)

Caleb and his good friend Andrei are working as a team in his class Science Fair project!

Caleb pours newly made nectar into feeder using a beaker

 Voila!

This year, their Hypothesis is that the Hummingbirds (in Ladera Ranch) prefer Violet nectars over other colored nectars like Red or Green Nectar. We hung the 3 Nectar bottles in Andrei's yard for 7 days, and he and his mom took some really spectacular pictures!

The hummers like red nectars!

It turns out they LOVE green nectars most!

According to Andrei, the hummers (as we affectionately call them) prefer the green nectars over the other 2 nectars! After the week was up, we transferred the 3 nectar bottles to our house (just 3 streets down) and hung them in our front yard for 7 more days. Today is the final day! I tried for 7 days to take pictures of these speedy birds and had no luck. Good thing TODAY I was able to catch ONE picture and ONE video of an angry Hummingbird.... who could NOT find his Nectars!

Apparently, someone had removed his favorite food and he wasn't happy. But I had to take it down in order to measure the final nectar consumed in each bottle! So, to test your eyesight, see if you can find him in the picture above! [Hint: His beak is facing right]

It was fun to watch the boys go from picking out the topic to this final analysis..... The fun of discovery never ends! The picture below will reveal the final result! Do you know which color (nectar) the birdies ultimately preferred? Good job boys!

Beginning amount: 200 mL each

Ending amount: 20ml of nectar left in green feeder! 40ml left in red, and 120 ml left in Violet!

~ ~ ~ May 26, 2010 ~  ~ ~ The Big Day!!

We just returned from our Chaparral Science Fair! We were surprised that Caleb and Andrei's project had won a Blue Ribbon! We were there when school let out today and we didn't see a ribbon on their display! Woo hoo! Go Boys! Great teamwork! We enjoyed the yummy root beer ice cream float in the lunch area, and went to Mr. Trager's room to do "bird beak adaptation project", then went to Abbie's future kindergarten playground to visit Mrs. McLaren and play with "liquid goo". She wanted to be done after just 30 seconds! (^_^)

Caleb and Andrei's Hummingbird display

Mr. T helps with "bird beak and food" project

Caleb patiently works on project

Abbie was not too thrilled with "goo" liquid