The last time I saw her

Me at the airport getting ready to go home 2 years ago.

In Loving Memory

She is the sunrise

She is the reason for the tears in my eyes,

The smile on my face.

She fills every empty space.

She is my place of origin

She is my home

The softest but strongest person I’ve known.

She is beautiful

There are no words,

Only love, only hope

Only broken hearts trying to cope.

She is everything

There is no other

She is our mother.

I love you Mom

Dear Mom,
I felt sad & guilty to enjoy a nice Christmas here so far away,
Christmas is for kids & my kids were so happy,
But Angie's Christmas poem & Dad's email to us were so sad.
I can't be there to partake in the extreem worry & sadness that all those close to you are feeling over there in LA.
But I can love you & love is very powerful.
Besides you would want us to be happy for Christmas. We are happy but we miss you.
I hope you are ok.
I hope you get better,
Merry Christmas

In Other Christmas News

From the looks of this you'd think that the kids have only been nice, not naughty this year. Here are some of the the presents from under the tree.

We heard strange noises & clatter coming from downstairs at 5 am this morning. I discover Kiki & Carole trying to peek at their presents. I felt like a Grinch but I had to escort them back to bed with many grumpy words. At 7 am the alarm went off & they all rushed down to open presents that is before leaving for school at 8 am. Seriously, can't we get Christmas off around here.

While we wait for the kids to come home from school, here are some pics of Leila's fold up play house with the baby surrounded by the decorative vacuum cleaner & laundry in the background.

Happy Fussy Christmas

Babies have this special instinct. It's called: "I know my mom wants to make Christmas Dinner so I'm going to whine --as much a possible". Yesterday was Christmas Eve & although I will make our Christmas Dinner tonight, I thought it would be nice to have a special C Eve dinner too, & try out some new dishes. Well, Lina was a bucket of tears all afternoon & evening, it was weird. She wasn't crying, just whining & fussy. I had to spend a great deal of effort just putting together the simplest meal. It was very stressful. As you can see there is just baby burgers on baguette with melted cheese & mushroom, shrimp cocktail & this citrus salad recipe I tried out that, well, is not a keeper.

I have yet to see what tonight will be like as I attempt to brine & bake Chicken, make stuffing & other things.

Today I made ginger brownies from my new fave cookie book by Martha Stewart. The only thing that kept little Lina together was bits of chocolate that she kept coming back to nibble.

Christmas show

photos from the new IXY

So I was looking for some Christmas dresses to borrow from Niki's costume suitcase & we found this wig. The kids took a liking to it & we took some photos. Here's what Lei would look like with frizzy hair.

Here's Kiki looking very "Shakira" with the wig & salsa dress.

Here's Lei at the park.

And here's Leila eating the cream cheese frosting from my cake

Here's my favorite carrot cake for my birthday.

Happy Birthday to Me, I belong in a tree....

So, thanks, all my favorite people for remembering my birthday & sending me emails, cards, presents & thanks Angie for the birthday post on your blog. hehe!
So, I worked a bit on my birthday & when I got home we went to our favorite Korean restaurant. I ate bibimbap, spicy beef soup, & we fried our own meat.
Mac got me some nice presents & I was all happy. First I got some Tommy Girl Sunglasses in a pretty case so I don't get 'em scratched up. He also got me a cute little champagne pink Canon IXY digital camera, & he's all "make sure you put your hand in the safety strap every time you use it so you don't drop it", & I'm all "yeah, yeah, I know", so then the first time I try to use it I drop it on the table, & he's like "I told you to use the strap" so, yeah, good times. At least it wasn't the floor & there are no scratches yet.
Anyway I feel all undeserving but last year I was in the hospital & we couldn't really celebrate so this year was pretty special.
Will post more photos with my new camera soon.
Love you guys!!
Oh yeah, I forgot, Mac all gets himself some new sunglasses too. We all laughed. But anyway, they look good on him & he deserves it.

Baby's Party Pics

Baby's cake

The kids & birthday girl

eating the cake

Birthday snacks

Baby's present, a cat that moves & purrs & meows!

The birthday girl!!

Every normal Sagittarius will agree that life revolves around our birthdays. Christmas, please, that's just sloppy seconds when it comes to December.

Oddly enough, this year, I haven't been counting the days --& that's not because I'm in denial about getting older--it's because someone very little but very powerful has stolen my thunder.

Baby Googs is 1 today!!!

Let's see what do we have to say about Lina: She's sweet, cuddly & smart. She seems to know what everything is for. From the time she was six months, if she found the remote she would point it at the TV, if she found my cell phone (or other random rectangular objects) she'd put it on her ear & try to talk. When I'm singing she starts to hum. She can say 'Hi' now when you come home.

She never liked baby toys but does enjoy books or watching Shimajiro (educational kids video), so we sort of don't know what to get for her birthday because she doesn't need/like baby toys.

Her fave foods are: apples, cheese, french fries (ahem), scrambled eggs & toast but only with butter on it.

So right now I'm making the cake & we'll post pictures of the party soon.

And tomorrow I will obsess about my birthday!

Ginger Bread Cookies

With Christmas just around the corner, we decided to make some spicy gingerbread cookies.

Hi Everyone!

Carole's Birthday pictures

Carole at Build a Bear Workshop with her bear (that's what she wanted for her birthday)

The Kids. (Notice they're all doing Japanese famous peace sign for photos)


Carole eating cake

Kiki & Leila decorated the cake with strawberries & marshmallows.--Yummy.