My dad’s birthday was earlier this month.  Well actually, I’m not entirely sure about that.  Whenever I’ve asked him before, my dad usually gives one of two responses: 1) it’s in September or October sometime or 2) it’s the same day as your birthday.  So since I was never very keen on having my dad commandeer my birthday, I always went with answer #1.  How the man himself doesn’t actually know his own birthday still remains a bit of a mystery.  Something about lunar calendars and birth certificates not being standard issue when you were born several decades ago at home in a tiny remote area of South Korea.  Plus…

It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the warmth in the air promised a lovely day to come.  Both girls had been dropped off at their respective schools so it was just the boys and me at home. Mikey asked if we could all go out to the backyard since it felt so nice out. And feeling guilty for saying “no” too often to his small requests lately, this time I said “yes.” They found some old bubbles.  And I mean old.  As in, these were the same ones from when Allie was the age Jonah is now.  As in, I’ve dragged these old bubbles with us through our last…

Well.  It’s been a rather long, chilly winter with lots of illnesses being passed around.  Making for long days stuck inside staring dolefully at the steely gray skies and wishing the nip in the air would hurry itself away in favor of the postcard weather we’ve grown quite used to around these parts. And then, for one glorious weekend in mid-February, the sun decided to break through the clouds and heat us back up into the 80s.  For one weekend only.  So we seized the day with the best of ’em and headed straight for the beach.  Because that is what one ought to do with an 80-degree weekend in…

Daddy had a big surprise in store for the girls that evening… Dinner at Ariel’s Grotto!  See that little sister?  The one who was scared of Tinkerbell and Silver Mist?  Yeah, apparently fairies freak her out but princesses are her best friends.  Go figure.  And when you do, feel free to come back and explain it to me cuz this one has me completely befuddled. We were seated and treated to some fancy looking appetizers. And then came the royal announcer guy. And soon we were greeted by a whirlwind of princesses. The girls found this to be utterly thrilling. My favorite was Belle.  She was extra sweet to the…

Up and at ’em kids, enough of this cartoon watching!  We’re going to Disneyland! Fortifying ourselves with hot chocolate and chocolate chip muffins first.  Breakfast of champions! Catching a ride on Tinkerbell’s latest creation. My son, the ham.  These days, whenever I have my camera out, he’ll run in front, pose a bit, and bust out a smile.  Love it. Finally, after a long, long wait!  And guess who decided to be scared of the fairies after SHE was the one who initially wanted to go see them and ended up having her mother practically drag her to her sister’s side because after that long wait, her mother was certainly…