this year’s christmas was extra special because the kim clan was able to all be together for the weekend at the grandparents’ house.  this is the first year we’ve been able to do that and hopefully not the last.  christmas day was packed with a lot of fun stuff and a whole lotta spending good times together. there was the opening of presents after a big breakfast. there was the “awww yeah!” reaction at a new race car toy. there was grandpa’s lap to sit on in the midst of the present opening flurry. there were big decisions to be made, like whether the new toy or the wrapping paper…

it all kinda sorta just randomly happened.  while doing a little clothes shopping last summer, phil picked up a camo t-shirt to wear around the house.  and while running errands.  and to church.  our church is very casual, but phil might have taken it to a whole new level with his usual ‘uniform’ of camo shirt and crocs. so then mikey wanted a camo shirt to be like daddy.  we found one from an army surplus type store in the mall. fast forward a month or two later and what do we randomly come across?  a whole dress made out of camo fabric.  at macys, of all places!  phil insisted…

there’s really no way around it.  my allie, my middle baby, my sweet daughter is just about the girliest girl you will ever meet.  this is the one who loves all things pink, loves dressing up in princess costumes, loves shoes and purses, loves putting hairpins on her teddy bears and dolls, loves accessories, and would wear a dress (the frillier the better) every single day if i let her. and you know what?  i love that about her.  though i don’t know where she gets this girlyness from, i love that i get to share it with her.  i love the look of joy on her face when i…

heard this little gem while the kids were eating breakfast this morning. allie: mommy, how do you recycle? mikey: i know! it’s like when you finish using something, you can use it again. like with this milk bottle. when it’s empty, we can fill it back up with milk and use it again, right mommy? mommy [ever the enlightener]: um, sort of. allie: but first you have to milk the cow. like this. [motioning the milking of a cow.] mikey: but do you know what those are called? my teacher told us. they’re called tweets!

in recent years, we’ve gone on our tree hunting expedition at some point during thanksgiving weekend.  the actual day we get it done however, largely depends on whichever day phil is off work.  we like to get it early so we can get it decorated and get a bit of a headstart on enjoying it (read: get our money’s worth out of it) for the five weeks until new year’s day.  or the week after.  cuz it takes about that long for me to feel any sort of distance between pulling the ornaments and decorations out and putting everything away again.  ok, maybe that makes sense only to me. in…