Mandoo and Lumpia

Our Christmas spear

Our tree is a bit peculiar this year… We can’t even call it a tree. It’s more like a Christmas spear. It’s 6 feet tall and on the anorexic side, but it’s shiny, made of tinsel + complements our little retro living room. I bought it online and thought it would be a bit plumper than it actually is…. oooops. Every single square inch of it is filled with an ornament and it only took two strands of lights to make it glimmer. Aside from the spear, Ella decorated a pink Charlie Brown tree and placed it gingerly atop the bookcase in her room. What a sweet potato.

Maybe next year we’ll get a fatter tree but this one will do for now! :) Happy decorating!

Thanksgiving 2012

Here are just a smattering of Thanksgiving moments I captured on my phone. (Alas, my camera is still being repaired.) This year was especially special for me because I finally got to enjoy the holiday with my family. Eight years was really too long of a time to go without eating turkey with my ‘rents. On Thursday, we cooked an awesome Thanksgiving spread. Cousins came over and played a hilarious game of Taboo. We ate until the buttons popped off our jeans. We played some throwback Nintendo games and enjoyed being together.

Overall, we are feeling so blessed to have each other.

Pies, pies, pies

Real no-bake pumpkin cheesecake pie// Thankful treat pies filled with goodies for the kiddos // Crafty kiddo art pies. Hoping you have a happy, happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of yummy things to eat and the people you care about most. We are especially thankful for our family, friends + health. This year has thus far been challenging and rough but we are so fortunate to have a roof over our heads and food on the table.

We are so grateful! Cheers!

Getting over the sickies

We are all trying to beat the sick bugs before Thanksgiving Day. Not sure if that will happen but we’re all in pretty good spirits. Ella was all smiles at school yesterday — I think it helped that I was there volunteering. Currently, we are doing some Thanksgiving crafting, baking a no-bake pie and preparing for our trip over to Halmoni’s house. Did you know I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with my parents and fam since 2004? Tomorrow will be a sweet day for sure.

Hoping you have a good day!

Picture day fail

Oh, this mama was so excited for her little girl’s first-ever school photos. We prepped the night before, choosing a lovely little vintage dress for the occasion.

On Tuesday, I prepped Ella for her photos and she seemed confident and happy. But as soon as I stepped into the school with her, she shut down. She became stuck to my side and refused to play, read, color or acknowledge her teachers. And then she sobbed and begged to go home. Inconsolable. Sounds terrible but I put her in front of the camera anyway and asked the photog to shoot. Because the then-frustrating-but-now-laughable memory will always stay with me. My poor Ella.

And then as soon as we left the school after photos (early mind you because the little miss was not having it that day and would be disruptive to the nines), she was quite alright. She was happy as a clam being with her mama.