My Amazing Girls!!!

Once again, I am so impressed with the girls that I worked with in the YW. They are the funniest, sweetiest and the most amazing group of young women I have ever associated with.

My week has been choatic to begin with and I almost felt like I was losing control of it. I was glad that I got the help from the girls last Wed night with Lizzy M (Laurel), and Erika M's (YW President) farewell party. The girls showed up one by one around 6:30pm, and they put themselves to work right away. I only gave them a little instruction, and they decorated the whole room all by themselves.

Jessie and Sarah (bought in a cake)went out to the other classroom and looked for chalks to decorate the blackboard since I don't have keys to the library.
Parsine helped pull out the plasticware from the closet, and set up the table with the girls.
Rachael helped taking the food from the kitchen to the YW's room, and she also kept us informed of when Lizzy and Erika showed up.
Jeannie (bought breadsticks) and Sienna (bought cookies) helped with the water, and taping the streamers onto the ceiling and each corner.
Ashley and Jenna brought in yummy cookies to share, and set up the table.
Alyssa helped set up the table too even though she lives far away in Doylestown.

I am so touched to see the girls working together, giggling and laughing as they planned for, and carried out this activity. (It was their original idea - to throw a party, bring in dishes and recipes to share, and they stick with it till the end.) I am just so proud of them. Of course, there were times that things didn't turn out as they wished but the girls would discuss with one and other to get the problem solved. Incident like when the streamers kept falling off the ceiling because I forgot to bring in tape, and Jeannie and Sienna were stuck with the scrapebook tape. Jessie, this silly girl apologized to me of bringing in only six donuts because no one reminded her of the party (her family was out of town last week), same with Alyssa - she was going to bring in yum yum pudding, but she overslept and didn't have enough time to make it. They both felt terrible, but I laughed and reasurred my girls that we've plenty of food that evening. They were just the cuttiest thing on earth!

I enjoyed watching these girls grow, and I can't wait to see them off the college, marry in the temple, and holding leadership position some day whether it's at school, at work or in the church. I wish them to know that they had much potential that Heavenly Father has for them, and they are loved by their parents, leaders and most importaly their Father in Heaven. They are the BEST, and I love them with all my heart!

******

On a different note, Lizzy (YW) and Erika will be so missed!!!! These two wonderful sisters had shown me in many ways how a loving, caring, inspired leaders should be like. I've learned so much from them, especially Erika! I just love the way how she handle the girls. She is just incredible!!! The same with Amy G, and Christine G.. They are just fabulous ladies to work with, and had volunteered many hours of services in many ways. I hope to stay with the group, but I know we might got a release soon.

Gladiolous Bulbs

I saw some new buds coming out from my 70 bulbs (gladiolus mix) I planted two weeks ago. Yeah!!! I can't wait to see them blooming this summer!!! Wonder what color will I get! :)

More Digital Books

Ok, I only got 3 out of 7 free ditigal book because the coupon expired on 5/30.
Well, it's not totally free, I still have to pay shipping of$7.99 each. Now I can say I got 2008 done!

http://www.artscow.com/share/tmu15ii5zec7
http://www.artscow.com/share/n6s5c35gi6u0

Wedding pictures I found from my mom's home last summer, as well as the "wedding" pictures - our anniversary gifts after our sealing. Just want a permanent copy before I lost those precious pictures. (Thought I lost it somewhere!) :)
http://www.artscow.com/share/wgjcp6svwfxr

Memorial Day Dinner

We had some American Dinner on Memorial Day. I wish the Chengs are still with us since I cooked too much. They looked yummy... but most of them are store bought! Haha!

Crystal Cave

We got together with Ben and Juliana's family on Memorial Day weekend. We took the kids to Crystal Cave and did gem panning. When we got home, we went swimming at our neighbors, and I fixed them a delicious dinner. It was a lot of fun!

The kids did gem panning afterwards, and got some small rocks. Evan insisted that we should go back again just for the stones, and Jady must the happiest of all. She said, "Mom, this is really fun." It was the first time Johnny and I heard her saying the whole thing in English.

KFC

I am boycotting the KFC in Malvern, PA. I went there with the kids last Fri and tried to use the $14.99/12 pcs coupon. When the cashier asked me for $15.99, I was puzzled.

Me: Madam, I thought my coupon says $14.99 for 12 pcs.
Madam: Yes, but the original price is $18.99 for 12 pcs, and I already gave you $3 discount.
Me: But the coupon clearly says $14.99 for 12 pcs.
Madam: Yes, but the discount varies from different restaurant, and my register would only allow me take off $3 discount on 12 pcs.

I was still not too convinced by what she said because I never had coupon issues with Papa J., Burger K, or other fast food restaurants. However, I wasn't in the mood to argue since I still had errands to run.

We took the bucket home and I was even more upset.... Not only because I was charged for $15.99, but also that there were only 10 pieces of chicken in the bucket, and three of them were the size of my two year old's palm, they were actually wings. I can understand having one or two, but definitely not 3 out of 10 piece.

"SAYONARA, I will not be back!"

Now and Then!

I went to a gardening group last week and was determined to grow some Chinese squash and melons for the family. Our family loves hairy squash and I love the bitter melon. Because our lawn is heavily treated, I had to use a pot, mixed the dirt with manure and make my own soil instead. Then, I spent a whole hour building the ugliest frame... but I have no choice because the plant needs some sort of support to climb on and I need a frame to lay the mesh block on top of the frame to block the animals away.

Johnny never seen my "creation" until this morning as he was away home teaching the same night I worked on this project. He woke up the next morning and checked into my finished work, he laughed and said, "Hun, there will not be enough support for the plant and we need to rebuild it, plus this frame is really UGLY!" I hate to agree, and am looking forward to have a new one build in the backyard.


Johnny built the frame in our vegetable garden in Texas, Aug 2000.

One Step Closer!

We've been trying to potty trained Jady for a week or two, and we are happy to annouce of her success....

Wait a mintue... in two weeks??? Haha, I wish!

Jady came to me one day with her cheerful voice:

Jady: Mom, I did it... I did it!

I checked into her training pant and saw her "fresh" work. Then I thought to myself... you suppose to tell me earlier!

I am forever grateful for my eyes because in that split second when I saw her big, successful, happy smile... I couldn't help but to smile back and say, "Yes, you did it! Good job! BUT make sure you use the potty next time!" Jady looked back and replied with her most proud voice, "OKAY!!!"

This kid just made me laugh. I doubt if she understand what I meant when I asked her to use the potty before the job, but at least she got the idea of potty time!

***************

Remarks: Jeannie is trained when she is one and a half, and Evan started when he was two, and I can tell that Jady is breaking the record! :D

Fun, fun, fun...

Wow, I am almost done catching up with all the pictures and posts. Got to do it fast before Jady woke up.

Johnny and I went to HomeDepot and got this bird house last week. We wanted to watch the birds right out from our kitchen but there was no soil for us to put up a pole. So, here comes my "inventurist" husband... (a new word I made up)

I was doing the dishes and saw him and the kids talking. The next time I turned around, he was throwing a roll of packaging tape looped with a green rope up in the air. He claimed to be like "Indiana Jones". :) It took him about 15 mins to hang up the bird house and now it's on our tree at the location where everyone could see from the kitchen. Nice job, daddy! We only saw the baby birds having dinner so far and our guess is the big ones might have a hard time balancing on the swinging bird house.


The kids were playing outside yesterday and big brother, Evan was nice to help Jady with the bubbles.

I just love this picture of Jady... not because of her chasing the bubbles, but check out her little feet! :)

Guacamole and Salsa

We had a fun Family Home Evening (FHE) this past Monday. We don't have much time after dinner that day, and Evan reminded us that we have not had a "fun" FHE for awhile (not that our FHE is boring, it's just that the kids get to pick whatever they want to do on a 5th Monday), so he decided that we should have games that night. The kids picked the "Mahjong" game (forgot to take a picture), and the whole family worked together for some homemade guacamole and salsa before we played.

I was determined on making salsa rather than buying it from the store because Jeannie finished a big jar of salsa dip all by herself in less than a week. I am happy to see her eating tomatoes for snack but I am also concerned about her sodium intake, and the preservatives comes with the bottle. It just makes me worry.

Johnny wanted to try out the guacamole recipe he learned from a restaurant when he went on a business trip in Texas. He was joking and bragging about it, "Let me show you how it's done, it's real easy!" Unfortunately, it did not turn out right because the guacamole wasn't ripe enough. Darn it, will have to wait for his show off next time! :)

A picture of my sprouting alfalfa and red clover. For some reason, they are not sprouting as good as in the winter. I wonder why?

Daddy's Trick!

Don't remember exactly when I took these pictures... but daddy was being a bad boy playing tricks on Jady while feeding her with noodles. Little Jady learned quickly that she could keep it under control after being bullied! :)

Mother's Day (May 10)

I had a great time celebrating Mother's Day with the family.

Jeannie came home from school on Friday and said,
Jeannie: Mama, can I give you my gift for Mother's Day now?
Me: Why? Can't you wait until Mother's Day?
Jeannie: Well, I don't know what to do with it.
Me: What do you mean? I smiled.
Jeannie: I just don't know what to do with it. (I know something must be bothering her because she said it twice!)
Me: Okay, if you feel like it. :)
Then she went upstairs, came to the kitchen and gave me this oregano plant.
Me: Hahaha... no wonder!!! (I love herbs and was just thinking of growing some basil and parsley.)

Other than the plant, Jeannie also made me a silver ring from her metal class. I love the design, and the fact that it was made from my daughter!!! I love it so much that I wear it on my wedding finger. She knew exactly what I want... something simple and priceless!

Then, my good helper, Evan insisted on cleaning the dishes after lunch. When he was done, he went outside and picked this beautiful flower for me from our garden.

Evan: Mama, see what I got you?

Me: Wow... That's beautiful, Evan! Thank you!

Evan: This is the first one to bloom on the tree... do you want another one?

Me: Ah nope... just leave them there. I want to see flowers on that tree.

Evan: Oh, mama! Don't worry, there are plenty of them!

Me: I laughed... he is just that sweet and cute! "No, Evan... just leave them alone!!!"

This kid helped me so much everyday that he doesn't even need to please me with flowers on special occasion!

And Johnny got me this lovely mug. He said, "I purposely ordered this huge mug for you so that you can have a big cup of hot chocolate in the winter!" His comment just melted my heart.

I often wonder what I have done to deserve a loving family? No doubt in my mind that I had been blessed by Heavenly Father with these sweet spirits in my life. I am thankful for the blessings of temple marriage, and the sealing power of my children and husband for all eternity. I love them so much that I want to live with them not only in this life, but for life eternal. Thank you guys for allowing me to be who I am, and for loving me even when I am mad, impatient and unforgiving. You all are my everything!!!

************************

That evening, I made my family their favorite ginger/green onion chicken wings, shrimp and celery, plus the sparkling apple cider (store bought) for dinner!

Can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the dinner. :(

Finally!

I've been trying to organize the pictures and frames ever since we got back from HK, and I am glad to announce of the completion of this project after a whole long year!!! Can't believe it takes me so long to finish it. :)

This is my favorite corner of the house with the picture of Jesus and my childhood piano. I've got this picture and frame done for $45 instead of $250. What a bargain!!

May Cleaning!

It's spring time and we had done alot of cleaning lately. That includes the clean up of our closets. I found this home jacket that I made years ago. I have to give it up since Johnny got me new one and he tried to make sure the new one is not sitting in the closet.

We also cleaned up the "jungle" under our tree bed. There used to be a 3 ft. high of leaves piled up under our trees, and some guy quote us of $400 just to clean it up. I think that's just insane. So, we did it ourselves. On 5/9 (Sat), the day before Mother's Day, we went out and spent a good couple of hours cleaning up the leaves. I also planted some flowers in the flower bed and 70 gladiolus bulbs under the tree bed. Can't wait to see some flowers growing in our lawn this summer!

Ok... this is a little silly. Johnny and I went to Lowes and picked up a few deadly looking blackberry and grapes shrubs for $1 each. We are determined to revive them... probably in time for harvest NEXT summer. :) See the deadly, bare branches under the mulch?

We were out to dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant because we don't eat out on Sunday and the fact that it's Mother's Day the next day!

My Latest Obession!

Johnny went on a bussiness trip to Texas from 5/4-5/6, and I, of course went crazy with my countless project. I had been scanning some 200+ pictures of my parents and tried to work on a digital album for them in celebration of their 40th anniversary. Other than scanning, putting the pictures in sequential order, I still need to come up with my own template. It turns out Ok since it's my first time, but quite a lengthy project I have to say. I was thrilled when I finally pushed the "order" button after two months of work. The book costed me $27+. Not a bad price for a 30pages 8x8 hardcovered book.

Guess what I saw in my email the next day after I placed my order? They sent me a book coupon of $13.99. It's the same size and quality of book plus free shipping, BUT this coupon expired in two weeks. Obviously, the company would love to see it expired on it's own. Guess they didn't know who they were dealing with. Being the crazy, and lazy me.... I am no longer with the idea of processing pictures (for goodness sake, I still have pictures in boxes waiting for me to put them in the albums) unless I absolutely need to. I want our family pictures in a book. So, my lightbulb went on, and I spent another two nights or so updating our family traveling book when we visited HK last summer. This is a much improved version.

Think I have sometime to recover from those sleepless night??? I just got another coupon today of 7 free book ($7.99 shipping) expired by the end of May.

I will do whatever I can to get the deal even if it means eating bamboo and making friends with pandas! :D

Trip to HK: http://www.artscow.com/share/2ldkhky1z9r1
Parents: http://www.artscow.com/share/t7tx9pzoo0y6"

Jady's First Cooking Lesson

Jady and I spent sometime making banana bread for my visiting teaching group the last week of April. I was a little worry at first since my 2-yr-old had never done it before, but looks like she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Busy Jady posing a "Cheese" for mommy while mixing the ingredients.

Having fun mashing the bananas!!!