Peg’s Journal

The holidays are over and we’re back to school. Our winter-break, surprisingly, felt longer than it was. We had spent the first four days of our break with my family in NorCal (driving back on Christmas night)….four gloriously fun, relaxing, and gluttonous days that went by much too quickly. Had we stayed longer, I’m sure the remainder of our winter-break would have flown by.

The last two weeks have been filled with time with my family, my in-laws, relatives, friends, lots of food, and tons of gifts!!! Needless to say, my kiddies were spoiled with an over-abundance of clothing and toys this Christmas. Ashlyn must have told everyone in the world that she wanted a guitar, because she got 4! hahaha Summer, who rarely asks for anything, got so much stuff that she’ll never have to ask for anything ever again.

I wonder if I’m the only one who does this, but I only let my kids open up and play with some of the toys they got. The rest, I’ll store away to open up at a later date. They lack excitement, desire, and appreciation when they get to open up everything. I remember after Ashlyn opened up ALL her gifts at her 2nd birthday, she had that look of: “that’s it?…what else can I open?” So now after they unwrap all their gifts, I let them select some and put the rest away. With the amount they both get at Christmases and birthdays, my storage space is turning into one huge toy store and I’m quickly running out of room. I’m not even kidding.
I’m trying my hardest not to raise spoiled children, but the truth is…they are spoiled. Aric and I give them what we never had as children, and our parents give them what they couldn’t give us as children. *sigh*

Anyhow, Ashlyn is lovin’ her guitars, Hannah Montana Concert Stage, her MP3 player, and Jonas Brothers CD. Summer’s having a blast with her Fisher Price digital camera, Gymnastics Divas Barbies, Disney Princess Dollhouse, and Crayola Color Explosion Board. Spoiled, I tell ya!

Click here for more holiday pictures.

As much as I love the holidays, I’m relieved it’s over. We rang in the New Year with our usual group at James and Grace’s. My poor hubby was sick (possible food poisoning from Taco Hell from lunch) that night and spent the whole evening sleeping it off on the couch. New Years Day was spent taking down our tree and decorations, cleaning up, and hanging out with my niece and her bf.

Aric and I have been watching movies lately - “I am Legend” and “No country for old men”, and “The Water Horse” with the kiddies. I love it!

The kiddies are getting back into the swing of things at school…as am I.

Tags: Aric, Ashlyn, family, friends, NorCal, pictures, Summer

I flew up to NorCal over the weekend to celebrate my darling Sarah’s birthday. We spent a beautiful Saturday cruising around Napa Valley in a limo, indulging in spa treatments at Mount View Hotel & Spa, visiting a few lovely vineyards, wine-tasting, shopping at V.Sattui’s and Dean & Deluca’s, and enjoying dinner at Napa Vally Grille.

With everyones’ busy schedules, times like this is infinitely priceless. Even though it wasn’t my birthday, I felt like it was. I loved the limo ride the best…being surrounded by my closest girlfriends, talking, sipping champagne and noshing on smoked duck, varieties of soft cheeses, homemade crostinis, fruit, and blood orange juice, taking tons of pictures, and laughing till my face hurt. Pure happiness!!!

Happy 30th Birthday, girl! I love you!

Click here for Sarah’s Napa Getaway pictures.

The rest of my weekend was spent with my parents, Sis, nieces, Eva, and Curtis. I did a bit of Christmas shopping on Sunday at Santana Row and crashed a Christmas party thrown by temple friends.
Click here for misc family pictures.

I flew back Sunday night to big smiles and warm hugs from the hubby and Summer. Ashlyn had fallen asleep in the car enroute to the airport and was out for the night.

Tags: birthday party, family, girlfriends, NorCal, pictures, weekend

I’m recuperating from a glorious long weekend of feasting with family. I had only one meal today (dinner), because I’m seriously still full from the weekend. If I had lost any weight prior to Thanksgiving, I’ve already gained it back (and then some).

Right before our drive up to Norcal last Wednesday night, we had a pre-Thanksgiving celebration with Aric’s side of the family at Pat and Karen’s place. We enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving fare (a huge turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread, candied yams, stuffing, and cranberries) along with several chinese dishes (homemade and restaurant bought), and FIVE different desserts! Click for pics.

Thursday was spent sleeping in (since Aric, the kiddies, and I finally arrived at my parents’ house at 5am), hanging with my parents, sisters, nieces, cousin, and cousin’s boyfriend, last minute grocery runs, goofing off, overindulging in food and drinks, and feeling the love. It’s always awesome to have everyone under one roof again. Click for more pics.

Friday and Saturday was similar to Thursday…quality time with family, eating, braving the crowds at the mall for some shopping, eating, visits with friends, and more eating. Aric, the kiddies, and I left shortly after dinner on Saturday night to avoid Sunday traffic. We got in close to 3am Sunday. Click for pics.

We slept in Sunday, had lunch and met up with friends at the Spectrum, drove to my in-laws’ for dinner and to pick up Cookie, then back home in time to put the kiddies to bed.

This year Aric and I did not participate in Black Friday shopping. Last year’s experience scarred me. HAHAHA

I don’t need Thanksgiving to remind me of what I am thankful for: my incredible family (parents, sisters, cousins, nieces, in-laws), my amazing friends, my hubby and kids whom I love more than anything. *sigh*

We had such a great long weekend…hope you did too!

Tags: family, friends, NorCal, pictures, weekend, yummy food

Happy Friday! Everyone who knows me has all heard me gripe about not having enough time to myself….but now with both girls at school, I find myself moping around and missing them like crazy. Not that I’m complaining now…it’s just going to take some getting used to. hehehe Wow…it sure is quiet.

I’m happy to say that we’ve survived our first week of school. Actually it’s only been a few of days. hehehe
Ashlyn’s enjoying first grade. She’s making new friends, getting to know her teacher, getting adjusted to the longer school schedule, and gaining more independence (buying lunch). I always worry that she won’t eat enough at school. Ashlyn has always placed playing as a priority over everything else. The first day she bought school lunch, she told me she didn’t get a chance to eat it because she ran out of time. After that, I started packing her a lunch so she wouldn’t have to line up for food. But her lunches come home only half eaten. *sigh* What can I do?…she’s just going to have to learn to take care of herself and manage her own time.

Summer’s transition to preschool has been heart-wrenching (as I anticipated). Unlike her sister, who barely looks back to say goodbye, Summer has been crying every morning…begging to stay home, kicking and screaming as Aric buckles her in the car. She eventually calms down after Aric drops her off (even apologizing to the teacher for crying). The rest of the day goes smoothly though and she comes home happy. But yeah, the mornings are tough.

I’ve been puttering around the house. Cleaning up here and there, but a bit apprehensive to start any BIG cleaning project like organizing the girls’ closets or clearing up Aric’s office, etc… I’m proud to say that the TV is never on when I’m at home. I’m enjoying the silence….the sweet sweet silence.

Anyhow, what’s a pegpower post without pictures? We had such an incredible summer. We spent most of it in NorCal with my family and two weeks touring Japan and Taiwan. I finally uploaded our vacation pictures (ALL 2,188 of ‘em!), and I picked out some to share with y’all.

—-> Highlights of our summer break (warning, it’s still a hefty album). Enjoy!

Tags: Ashlyn, NorCal, pictures, school, Summer, vacation

I left Aric and the kiddies over the weekend for a short trip up North to visit my BFF and her new bundle of joy.
I got in late Friday, grabbed a late night nosh of KFC with Wing and Em, and hung out with my parents for a bit. My folks had just flown in from Taiwan a couple of hours before me, so needless to say, they were pretty tired.

Saturday was QT with Bett and baby Cooper. OMG, he is sooooo precious!…sooooo tiny!….sooooo perfect! I just couldn’t stop hogging and gobbling and staring at the baby. As always, it was awesome hanging with Bett. Our one-on-one times have come far and few over the years, so I really cherished my time with her. We even got to sneak away for a few hours (thanks, Chew!) and relive our younger days by sharing snacks at Hot Dog on a Stick, trying on clothes that no longer fit our body type (:lol:), and hanging/shopping at the mall. HAHAHA!
We had dinner with some of Chew’s friends at Sushi Maru (a place I missed a lot)…and hung out until 1am. I would have stayed longer….but knowing that it would cut into Bett’s sleep and throw off her pumping/feeding schedule, I really had to force myself to leave.

yummylicious baby burrito

After returning to my parents’ place, I discovered my mom waiting up for me. It felt a little strange since it’s been ages since she’s done that. Very touching. I knew she had a long day (honoring esteemed Asians at an awards event earlier that day) and fighting jet-lag, and I felt bad for not calling (I assumed she had just gone to bed). But Mom just wanted to catch up a bit before my flight the next morning.

I flew out Sunday at noon….and went straight to Grace and James’ from the airport for a SuperBowl party. So that was pretty much my weekend… very eventful and very fun.
A BIG THANKS to Aric for….well, everything! You are amazing!

Misc pictures from the weekend.

Tags: baby, family, my BFF, NorCal, pictures, weekend, yummy food