Another Year Older & Wiser!

Hooray to another year! We started off the day by taking the boys to eat breakfast at IHOP. They were so happy! They had ahuge breakfast and then we took them to school.

While we were at IHOP N. kept ruubbing his eyes and they were blood shot red. Fi Dan and I decided we needed to take him the doctors. So I made an appointment for him later on in the morning.

I got a nice surprise card from my sister and her kiddos. Made my day!

Later I-I came by and dropped off some papaya salad, a beautiful plant and a nice card. So thoughtful!

Later on that evening we went to eat at my favorite place! The Cheesecake Factory. So yummy!

Happy Birthday N!

I cannot believe my first baby turned 7 years old!!!

I do not feel like I am old enough to have a child that is 7 years old! It makes me realize how old I really am! 

This year he chose a POKEMON theme.

Thanks Aunty Kashia for making the birthday sign! It always looks amazing!

We are extremely grateful to have this little boy in our lives!

He is very self motivated, smart, silly, and caring...in his own ways. 

Waiting for my Babies

My babies are growing up too fast. One night I was watching old video clips of them and just started crying like a crazy woman. If you know me well, I like for my kiddos to be independent. So I push them, and sometimes I push them a little too hard and they end up growing up too fast! But I'm learning to slow down and just enjoy them when they are young and when they still need me. 

This whole school year, I've been a taxi driver for my kiddos. I drive them to school and pick them up. Sometimes it drives me nuts with the waiting and rushing, but I am also glad to know that my kids know I will be there to pick them up when they are out of school.

Ok, this picture is kinda random, but it made me laugh.

One day Nenji got in trouble and he went to his room. When I went to check on him he left a note for the family. I just laughed so hard because I love finding notes from them, but this one was funny because he was mad. It says:

"Doing Homework. Do not bother. Not even a knock. You too Rylan"

Every morning I drop Nenji and Rylan off at school. And I swear, there's nothing like watching your baby walk like big kids to their class while you sit in the car and watch them walk away from you. I always have the urge to yell out their names and give them one big hug before they go off every morning. 

After we drop the older two off, Spencer and I drive to his school. We usually get there about 15 minutes early and wait inside the car. I really enjoy this time with Spencer because I just watch him explore the car. Sometimes I get back in the car and the heater is on full blast and realize he was playing with the knobs.

Anyway, one of the things that he has discovered is breathing on the window and then drawing pictures. I just love his little people that he draws. I am so amazed at how much he is learning. He just started school in November. I remember I asked him to draw a person and he just did scribbles....and then some more scribbles. Now 2 months later he can draw the cutest little potato people! 

He was pretty proud of himself. 

These two hearts were drawn by Nenji and Rylan as they got out of the car and went to school. I may or may not have cried a little as I drove away. I love them.  

And here is my Rylan. After I pick Spencer up from school, we rush home, eat lunch, and I put him down for a nap. Then I go and pick Rylan up. Sometimes he gets to play on the playground while we wait for Nenji to get out of school. (Kinder gets out about 15 minutes before everybody else). On this particular day we sat in the car and he just read to me. I loved it.

I am so proud of this little guy. Last year if you asked me, I would have said I was worried sick about him because he wanted to drop out of Preschool, be homeless, or be a farmer. Today he is top of his class! He's reading and writing like a pro! So proud of him!!!

So this is what my typical day looks like. I love that I am a stay home mom (and again, if you asked me 4 years ago if I would have enjoyed being a stay home mom, I would have said, "heck no"). I love that I get to spend so much time with my kids. I love that I get to watch them grow and learn. I love it that they know I will be there waiting for them. :)

Christmas and 2015 New Year

What a great year 2015 was! We are so blessed to have these 3 little boogers in our lives and have had a great year over all. We went out of 2015 with a bang and a lot of good memories. 

I think the highlight of the Christmas break was having Marilyn and Ben home! My boys have been anticipating their return home for months and months. When Uncle Ben finally arrived my boys were pretty excited. They woke up super early and waited for Uncle Ben to come out of his room. Every morning they were like little puppies waiting for their Uncle Ben to walk out of his room. 

Christmas morning! Soooooo much fun! I am so glad that Christmas has become so magical for them!

Super cute ornament from the Jamie!

Here we are New Year's Eve. The boys were so excited that we were going to let them stay up until midnight! Unfortunately Rylan passed out at 10 on the couch. Nenji and Spencer stayed up until about 11:00ish. Nenji was tired but also determined to stay up. So he said, "Mom, Spencer and I are just going to go rest in the room, but we're not going to go to sleep." About 10 minutes later they were out cold. 

Can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us!

My little Performer

My Little Rylan is such a performer! If you put him in front of a crowd, he goes into performance mode. He just has a good old time. I just love watching him! :)

Here he is with his kinder class getting ready to do a Christmas performance. 

After his cute little performance we went to his class to have a little class party.

As you can see Spencer is really enjoying his food. And there's my handsome Ry. 

Gingerbread man & Meeting Santa

This is Rylan's gingerbread man. So cute. He was really proud of it. :)

This is Spencer and his class going to meet Santa. 

Santa read them a book. 

He is such a brave little man. Walked right up Santa got his candy and smiled at the camera. 

Spencer's class with Santa.

What a cutie!

Nong Shala 2015 Christmas Party

I love our annual ward Christmas party! This year did we did a celebration of of the Hmong people here being here for 50 years & a Christmas theme. Each auxiliary group did a decades dance. Primary did the 80s and danced to YMCA. They had a lot of fun and really enjoyed performing.

The Relief society and Priesthood had the 70s decades. I think the highlight was seeing the older people ( my parents in particular) dressed up in 70s clothes and dancing around on stage. Loved it! 

We had a pretty good time. 

Christmas Selfie

Spencer just LOVES Santa! He thinks every Santa that he meets is the real Santa.

My Rylan however, is starting to notice the difference. Rylan saw our ward Santa and just stared at him. I asked if he wanted to go take a picture with Santa, and he said, "No, it's ok. That's not the real Santa. That's my teacher's husband. Uncle Nephi". LOL, I couldn't help but laugh. Too smart!

Below is a recording of the 70s and 80s decade dance! Enjoy!