End of Summer

I can't believe that it's already the end of summer. Tomorrow 2nd Son starts the first grade.

We had a family day together. This morning daughter and I went to get pedicures while Hubby went to work out. We grouped back together and headed together to the Berryessa Flea Market. We love walking around and getting goodies for the week. Drinking fresh squeezed Mexican Fresca drinks, getting freshly roasted peanuts and yummy fruits to munch on throughout the week.

In celebration of a great summer, we had a Mexican Fiesta for dinner. Hubby grilled carne asada while I made all the fixings. We had spanish rice, beans, fresh salsa, tortillas and chips with sour cream dip. We ended the meal with fresh watermelon and mangos.

The kids are taking showers and getting ready for early bedtime. I'm sure it'll still take them an hour to fall asleep because they're not used to falling asleep with the sun still shining outside. But it'll be nice to have them asleep early so I can get lunches ready and figure out what I'm going to prepare for breakfast.

Tomorrow morning should be interesting as we get back into the school routine. Getting everyone up and ready and fed and out the door before 7:30 am... I'm going to do my best to breathe through any frustrations and not raise my voice as we start the first day of school.

Let's get this school year started!

Judo Camp - July 2010

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Day 3 of Active Potty Training

So yesterday, Daughter had a very successful Potty Training day.  She made it through the whole day, going tinkle in her potty and only tinkled in one of her panties!

She's getting better at telling me that she has to go but she also thinks it's fun to tease me.  She'll tell me that she has to go and then when I go to pull down her panties, she runs away and says "no, not yet. later."

I can't believe that she's already 2 and speaking so well.  She's definitely an overachiever when it comes to reaching any milestones.

Homemade

When I first started cooking for my husband (before we were married), I was a below average cook.  I made things too spicy, or too salty, or too bland.  I made nakji bokum one night (many many years ago) and it was so spicy my husband couldn't feel his tongue after a few bites.  So for the longest time, I'd take the route of buying premade, frozen, or really easy to put together and can't mess up recipes.

Since then, with lots of practice, watching lots of different food/cooking shows, finding recipes online, advice from mother-in-law, I have become a much better cook and have started to really enjoy cooking homemade dishes.

One of my weekly "go to" recipes is a Pasta Pomodoro with fresh basil.  I love how easy it is to make and because it's fresh, it tastes that much better.  It's so easy too.  Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt, and basil.  Tossed with some thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta and you have yourself a meal.  My kids love it.  Hubby's not big on carbs so he would rather pass but he can't avoid the fact that it's really good.

Last night I added some shrimp to the pasta sauce as our protein.  I usually make a side of chicken.  I cooked a whole box of pasta but still, we have no leftovers.  I love when that happens.  Makes me know that I made something good and fed my family well.

Birthday Preparation

2nd Son's birthday party is fast approaching and I'm behind on sending out invitations to give everyone a full 2 week notice.  The e-vites went out yesterday and today the snail mail invitations are being sent.  Still need to order party supplies to go along with the theme he picked out.  And order the cake.  The food and drinks are taken care of for the most part.  We're hiring a Taquiza to cook up fresh tacos for all the guests.  We bought the Slip N Slide that'll be the kids' entertainment and a small pool for toddlers.

Ahh... feel so behind for some reason.

Dinner Ideas

Everyday I struggle (ok, not everyday... some days are tougher than others), to come up with dinner ideas.  Being a stay at home, trying to NOT make the same thing every night can be difficult.

Tonight we're having Baked Ginger Soy Glazed Chicken, Kimchee Fried Rice, Cucumber Relish 오이 무침 and a simple salad with Toasted Sesame Dressing.

This is the 2nd night in a row that we're having Korean food for dinner... hope the Hubby doesn't mind.

(forgot to take a picture... remembered after we were all done and it wasn't pretty enough for a picture)

Potty Training

Daughter just turned 2 and I've been inactively potty training my daughter.  Potty training at my convenience.  She's been in Pull Ups for 3 months now and I've finally decided that enough's enough.  I pulled out her Hello Kitty panties and am starting the process of having her sit on her potty.  I tried going every 45 minutes... but that was unsuccessful after the 1st try.  She was wet by the time 40 minutes came.  I put the timer to 30 minutes and again, she beat me to it.  So I tried every 10, which I think is  a little over kill but we're on her 3rd panty in less than 2 hours... I'm a little desperate.  She's successfully gone 3 times in her potty so far.  I would call today a good day.

2nd Son Wants to Meet...

As we're eating lunch, 2nd Son says to me "I want to meet Jack." I respond, "Jack who?" He replies, "Jack In The Box. I've never met him before." I replied, "Oh."

Made me giggle inside that all these fictional characters make an impact on our kids lives. 2nd Son's really into Legos, Mario Brothers, Hot Wheels, list goes on and on. He's very passionate about each thing that he's into. When we go to Toys "R" Us on occasion, he'll see a picture of Geoffrey and ask if Geoffrey is there so we can meet him. He wants to be Mario for Halloween. He wants to go to LegoLand. The list goes on and on.

Daughter repeats everything that 2nd Son says so he has backup... and when it's just me and them... They would win if majority won in our household.

Where have you been all my unemployed life?

Hello Blogging World.

I don't know why I didn't start one sooner. Every day is new and full of exciting comments, memories to be cherished, phrases to be remembered. With Me, the Hubby, plus 3... there's never a dull moment.

I became a stay-at-home mom back in January 2010, all thanks to my ex-boss who made it easy for me to say "sayonara" to my job.

I've been keeping up with other people's blogs and subscribing to them... so now I decided to start my own. To chronicle my life, my marriage, my parenting, my kids, and our journey through life.