tide pools and good friends

We had a nice little warm spell last week and were able to squeeze in two beach days.

On Saturday, low tide provided for tide pools and sand bars.

So, the boogie boards didn't see any surf, just tide pools.

It was a really nice day. We only had the two big girls who played wonderfully together with very, very little fighting.

Me and Miyo actually got to lay around a bit and talk.

Like I said, it was really nice.

Their "tent."

project: blue desk

Awhile back I found this on a curb when I was out on a run.

It had been sitting in the garage but now that the girls are in the same room and we have playroom/office I thought it was time to start working on it so we could bring it inside.

Step 1: sanding.

Don't call CPS on me, but I can totally see why little dexterous hands are good for certain kinds of labor.

Katie was awesome at sanding the small crevices.

Katie learned that sanding is a lot of work.

We sanded until we made the whole desk look like the bottom part of this picture.

Step 2: taping and spraying with a rust-covering base.

Step 3: painting. Katie picked a light blue.

Step 3: varnish and... voila!

Now Katie and I both have desks in the playroom/office and she is one happy camper.

What are the odds I'm going to find another desk on the street for Maddie?

happy year of the i-don't-care-it's-a-good-reason-to-eat-steamed-fish-and-peking-duck

We got together tonight with some friends to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Now, to be honest, I'm pretty much what you would call a "banana." I know way too little about the actual holiday, or about Chinese history and heritage in general.

I do however, know and appreciate a good Chinese dinner.

Katie and I made some New Year treats during quiet time.

No these aren't traditional Chinese fare. They are just sugar cookies with what I think is a symbol for "spring."

I found a tutorial here.

We used an entire bottle of red dye and the icing still looked bubble gum pink.

My characters generally looked more like fleur-de-Lis, especially the first half dozen or so.

But, they tasted yummy and our friends seemed to enjoy them.

Happy Chinese New Year!

happy friday

Thanks for the card Grandpa John -- we're still enjoying it regularly...

card sharks

Katie has been talking about Valentine's Day for awhile now. We started a list of people she wants to send cards to.

The list has grown and grown. I warned Katie that we were looking at a lot of cards this year.

We decided to have a little card-making party to tackle the task.

I think the kids had fun. But, you wouldn't know it looking at these pictures.

Making cards is apparently serious business.

Looking through my pictures I have zero smiling faces.

But they did make some great-looking cards. I like seeing the creativity. Lia even made a pop-up card! I wish I had taken a picture of it.

Katie made a series of very uniform cards, very unusual for my more-is-better girl.

Maddie was a card-making machine and made more than 20 cards.

Mission complete.

open waters

Katie refuses to swim more than 3 feet in her swim class. Any further and she insists her teacher keep her hand under her stomach (so she knows she's there).

I recorded this little video this week...

Apparently, if she's close enough to the edge she feels "safe."

Man that girl can be such a head case (I mean that in the nicest, most loving way possible of course).

On the other end of the fear/no fear spectrum there is my two-year old. She is now actually swimming about 5-6 feet by herself.

Bring on summer!

hanging in the o.c.

L.A. has many a con including the fact that it's huge and it sits between me and my little brother.

Driving through it is like rolling the dice when it comes to traffic. Throw your kids in the mix and the stakes get even higher.

This week we headed down so the girls could visit Amy, Scott and baby Charlotte again.

We just saw Charlotte last week, and I swear she's already so much bigger!

We visited one of my teen houses of worship the first night. Man, that place is big. Makes our mall look well, rinky dink.

After dinner we treated ourselves to some See's hence Mo's stash and goat.

The next morning we checked out children's museum that looms over the 5 freeway.

We pull up, Katie sees the gigantic cube structure and says, "Mom, how are we going to balance in there?!"

Scotty and I had fun throwing balls in the exhibit that measured mph, shooting pucks with a hockey stick and more.

"Hey girls, do you want to see pucks shot at Uncle Scott?!"

"Yeh!"

We called this exhibit Create Your Own Child Molester because everyone we tried to make ended up looking quite frightening.

I like seeing my little brother with my kids -- even when he's helping to administer first aid (applying a band aide on the tiniest, read: practically non-existent boo-boo).

Thanks for hosting us Uncle Scott and Auntie Amy!

one of many reasons why bloggy friends are great

Awhile back Kellie over at ricebabies asked us to send her a drawing of a person or character.

Kaitlyn drew and then painted a picture of herself in a blue dress with a crown on her head.

This week the most wonderful gift arrived in the mail.

A doll created from her painting -- blue dress, green shoes, removable crown and all.

Katie who doesn't have a lot of dolls (I think we have two in the house) is IN LOVE. She immediately named the doll Sara (?). And, later that night Sara took a coveted spot in bed with her next to the exalted white bear.

And, Kellie was sweet enough to include a little something for Maddie too which she wore yesterday and is currently wearing now.

Thank you so much Kellie, it was soooo sweet of you.

the wiz meets electric boogaloo

no bathing suit. no problem.

Went to a party for a friend's birthday tonight at the beach. I didn't bring bathing suits for the girls since we were going for dinner and a bonfire.

Silly me.

a tale of four night stands

Two things have prompted this post.

1) I've been playing with my new speedlite.

2) I like nightstands. I know peculiar, right? I feel they are tell-tale about the person. Maybe I'll make a coffee table book on nightstands someday.

What's on your nightstand?

Here are ours...

We all have painted rocks on our nightstands. I painted the two for the girls, and Katie painted the two for us.

Mine is the most cluttered -- but if you know me well it will make complete sense to you.

baby charlotte

My little brother and Amy had their baby on Dec. 28.

I had the opportunity to go and visit mama Amy this weekend. The Little Wickies were bummed to stay at home, but I figured I wouldn't be that helpful with them in tow.

Baby Charlotte is, well -- just beautiful.

Sweet girl would give little smiles in her sleep.

I love how you can see evidence of the baby everywhere in their place.

My brother the sommelier has formula stacked atop a case of cabernet sauvignon while a baby activity mat leans against his wine cooler.

We took Charlotte to her first shabu shabu restaurant and crazy aunty-razzi was still taking pictures.

I napped with Charlotte this weekend.

It's funny how you forget all the sighing noises and squeaks a tiny baby makes while sleeping.

Just love all the little parts.

Welcome baby Charlotte. It was a pleasure meeting you.

she has been waiting

for this day to come.

After watching big sis in classes and on stage Mo was more than excited for her very own: first day of ballet class.

"I do baway!" she kept proclaiming over and over again.

I couldn't seem to locate Katie's old ballet shoes, but the little leotard was as cute as I remember.

Mo's version of chassés.