Little things

It's almost Mother's Day...even though I am a mom I seriously dread this holiday. The cards are expensive and well that one tiny thing of my mom is no longer living. It's hard to celebrate when she is gone. I get all these emails reminding me to get something for my mom...I really hate it. It makes me not want to check my email.

When my mom passed I tried to keep things that belonged to her...I'm not really a packrat so I don't keep a lot of stuff. I kept these socks...it's been eight years and the socks are getting stretched out...I am sad to get rid of them...they are just socks...but it just seems not fair.

I don't know what to do with myself. I miss my mom and the cloudy weather today is bringing me down...

Happy Mother's Day all. Be thoughtful to the ones who have lost maternal family members and enjoy the day for what it is supposed to be appreciation of all her hard work.

Qietly

I am quietly floating through my routine. I feel unworthy to keep a blog...I find it all boring and don't want to bore you....

I am proud of my kids they are amazing.  I will ride their coattails for a while and then formulate a new plan....

Searching for me.....

Baby's first haircut

So Alan and I decided Audrey was beginning to look unkempt

so I sighed and decided I would be brave and take her to get her hair cut

I figure if I am taking a two year old to get her first haircut I want someone who knows what they are doing...

so off to Snippety Crickets

I was SO nervous 

my stomach was all swirly and I was so afraid her beautiful curls would be gone

but the hairdresser was all ready for us

she did a great job she put my mind at ease and handed Audrey a toy

she moved quickly and with precision! this lady was a dream come true!

Audrey held still and never cried! It was amazing

The lady was able to carry through the exact look I wanted. I couldn't be more thrilled. 

My sweet little Audrey looks adorable 

See! 

they even gave her a lollypop she was thrilled.

and

curls still intact! thank goodness

NOT Red Velvet cookies

So I always wondered about Red Velvet cake and other red velvet desserts

Why red? I hate red

Why a whole bottle of food coloring?

Why do most recipes use a cake mix? I'm not that lazy

If I don't want to use food coloring what would i use to still have it taste and look good?

Well today I am having a bad day...

and if you have read any of my blog posts you would know that means it's time to bake

well sometimes it doesn't work out...

being a bad day and all

So I decided to try to make something "Blue" Velvet

(being that I don't like red)

Well FAIL!

let's count all the things that went wrong...

1. the cookies were a little over cooked and look black

I swear they are blue

2. They were overcooked because my oven sucks and I can't read the temperature and I think it is off anyway

3. they taste bad because they were over cooked and because they are ugly

at any rate stick to RED Velvet desserts

Here is the recipe I used follow it but don't use any other color

here are some crappy photos of the process

they look like coal! 

I just thought it was important for me to be honest in my blog 

and say hey I did not do well at this

this is a good reason why no one does other colors then red

 Audrey likes the cookies though

I am done trying today!

Food glorious food

My life revolves around food...

I love it. a good time for me involves food

I love trying new kinds of foods 

or new twists on old favorites

This place is lovely the food is amazing the options are awesome you must go

a day in San Francisco for me usually equals me pleading with my husband to go to Tartine

delicious! no other words than Delicious

They have the best chocolate croissants

their regular croissants and ham croissants are something dreams are made of

I could go on about all the things I've tried there but oh so yummy and oh so space consuming

We then proceeded to my sister in laws house where they were making pasta from scratch and chocolate pudding from scratch

unfortunately I am ungrateful and went to Outback to visit my cousin who was bar tending

we had a fabulous time it was a great day and see all about food

come hang with me and we will eat

Quiet lonely times

Some days go on without even a thought or very much effort....

Then some days I have to work so hard at trying to keep the day going

Today is one of those days I try and try to keep going

I don't feel like I am doing a very good job of making it through today

nothing seems to help

there seems to be no one to talk to, not for lack of people

just don't want to bother them or I don't want to say anything

Why don't they call?
Why can't I hear their voice?
 Why can't I see their face without a photo?
Why don't I dream of them?
Why does it still hurt so much if i can't see them, or hear them, or smell them?
I have the best husband on the face of the planet! Arguably the best!
But I feel alone...I feel abandoned...I feel lost...

today I want to call their phone number...not because I hope they will answer
but because I want to hear their voicemail...
I want to hear their voice again...I'm not sure how it would help
too bad I'm sure the number has been recycled and now belongs to someone who is home
someone who can answer the phone...

This post is not meant to make you feel sorry for me...
It is meant to express my inner thoughts that I can't quite seem to express...
(I know that doesn't make sense...maybe it isn't supposed to...)

I miss my mom
I miss my dad
I miss their company
I miss calling them when I was having a hard day...

I think I need a trip to the beach...find me there...

First day of school!!!! 2010

My babies are back at school! I'm so proud! Sixth grade...last year of elementary school...(cringe) She is growing up so fast.  Second grade for the younger.  They are back with teachers from 2008 much adored teachers who have moved onto new grade levels.  We are thrilled...scared...excited...tired. Honestly who wakes up at seven a.m.  Unheard of! 

 

Here are my lovely ladies coming out of their lovely classrooms! Are they excited? Bogged down with too much homework? who knows! Happy new school year! Let's make it fantastic! Go Tigers!



Rewarded for surviving summer and the first day of school and the one hot summer day all summer long!

A lovely dinner among friends

There is nothing better than a nice dinner between friends at ones favorite restaurant.  A new friend moved to the area and we both needed a night out. So I left the kids with my darling, loving, sweet husband and ran to my haven...Raleigh's I love it here. It is in one of my favorites cities...the atmosphere, the ambiance is all I can ask for after a long day.  They delivered...
 

the salad belonged to my dinner companion and the pastrami sandwich with a side of Cajun fries was mine. Delicious. It took all that was in me to not order old reliable...The garden salad but I stayed strong and had a delicious sandwich.

I then forced her to stroll around the campus telling her silly stories she couldn't possibly care about...I am afraid the night wound up being more for me. Sorry dear friend.



Here is a blury pictures of us lovely ladies in front of my beloved Campanile. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a lovely evening from last week.

Bacon and Avacado scones or biscuits?

So I am curious when do scones stop being scones and become biscuits?

I love baking! It makes me happy. See the difference from my earlier post?

Happy me =) 

I have The Dutch Baker's Daughter to thank for these

I figured I love scones and I love bacon...wait did you say avacado? I am so there

so I went to the store and got some butter just so I could make these scones

I couldn't be more thrilled...I think they are more biscuits than scones but they are fabulous

The beautiful shade of green the lovely smell of bacon they are a taste sensation!

for this last photo I took it outside because my kitchen is embarrassing and has terrible light see earlier pictures...They have a great flavor none of which is very over powering just fabulous! Thank you for sharing your recipe Dutch Baker's Daughter I love it!

Health Insurance

What a heated topic for me! GRRRRR It is so infuriating. The insurance I use for my children decides to change their insurance every two years are so forcing me to switch doctors offices and have to redo everything all over again.  Why? What good does it do? So I can get to know every single pediatrician in the whole state? I am getting pretty close.  I was just telling my beloved husband the other day how much I adore doctors office we currently go to. And how sad I would be if I had to change and then the insurance company gave me the finger. I do not appreciate them giving me the finger....OK they didn't really give me the finger but you get the idea.  What do I do? All because I have low income medical insurance for the kids we get tossed around gee thanks it's not my kids fault.  I don't know what to do I am mad as a wet hen and no one to complain to! So you have to hear it.  Sorry.  

Well I tried to find a picture of a wet hen to show you how mad I am but I didn't want to steal someone elses picture so I drew one but my scanner refuses to scan! and then I tried to draw one online to post here but I can't so now I am even madder than a wet hen and you get no picture!!!!

P.S. The red ink is to show how mad I am! ;)

Bathroom!!! be made new!

Quick note I seem to blog in spurts hahaha

First off let me say how embarrassed I am by these photos! Yuck. So the bathroom was a disastor when we got it. Did I make it worse you bet I did. Men hide the DIY channels and the HGTV channels from your wife it will only cost you money!

So first off these pictures do not show the awful wallpaper that me and my daughters tore off the wall.  We solicited help from other friends too thanks MK and Georgia

My father in law works as a bus driver so he had a few weeks off during the summer and decided to help redo the bathroom. He is VERY handy and likes to do stuff like this.

So he took us to home depot to pick out some tiles...we liked the nice earth tone ones so here we are.

He came over every day and demolished the old bathroom. 

It was awesome he used a chain saw at one point a crowbar that is almost as tall as me and other fun things.

We had fun surprises like no insulation....everything was nailed in...the tub tiles were on top of two pieces of sheetrock and cemented and nailed into the wall!!! These were heavy and annoying to get down. But he prevailed. I was on clean up so as not to mess anything up!

Anyway we got everything out and began to start over. He put in insulation and then covered the holes then he started putting in the tiles and the pretty glass tiles us girls wanted from the DIY and HGTV channels...and then he put the floor down and we shopped for a toilet 

we didn't get either of these! Thanks for your help Audrey!

Anyway here are the new pictures!

Thank you so much my dear father in law! But now the rest of my house looks lame...and this is the girls bathroom....bummer

summer of nuptuals

Wedding number 1 my dear friend Cindy from home group

the whole family was invited to this wedding...

which was in Southern California. So we also visited some of my family

my mothers oldest sister and her kids and their spouses!

A very beautiful wedding very centered on God and there were boba drinks at the reception YUM

wedding number 2 is a friend I went to high school with

(but didn't meet her until my younger brother became great friends with her brother)

Corrine is amazing and loads of fun to be around

the kids stayed behind on this one creating a lovely date night for the hubby and myself 

(rare with a toddler)

This wedding was in Gilroy on a golf course

the food was amazing with a chocolate fountain and a funfetti wedding cake

Wedding number 3 was my husbands cousin Jose

Jose's wedding was a favorite for so many reasons...

1. his name is Jose Cheng (my Chinese husbands cousin!!!)

2. the entire wedding was in Spanish. Mr and Mrs Cheng's wedding was in Spanish (which was fun for the people on our side who speak Chinese and English)

3. Mexican food! Always a winner in my book!

This wedding was in the elbow crook of Davis...too hot!

picture taken by Wkwong

The whole family was invited for this one

Don't forget that Jose and Lupita had their chinese banquet too so that was another sort of a wedding for us we counted as half...so far 3 1/2 weddings are you keeping track?

wedding number 4.5

This is technically my best friends sister! We are also great friends with the parents of these two fantastic girls we were very blessed to be included in this beautiful wedding

This wedding was held in Tiburon. There was an amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge behind the couple as they said their vows

This wedding they allowed us to bring our kids

we had a lovely time...see 

sorry those were too good to pass up

wedding number 5.5

another friend of mine. we were in the same home group at church

Christine is lovely in so many ways

Hubby and I went without the kids to Shingle springs (yeah I don't know where it is either)

It was at a beautiful Vinyard

They were married by a friend of theirs who looks an awful lot like Chris Eigeman 

it was a beautiful ceremony with an awesome reception

they had a breakfast buffet that was dream like! The chcoclate croissants I am still dreaming of!

Instead of a wedding cake they had ice cream sundaes that you could build in your own way! It was sooo good!

It also had the sweetest father daughter dance I have ever seen as her dad sweetly cried and kissed his beautiful daughter throughout the whole song the poor pregnant photographer didn't stand a chance!

So to recap we had a lovely lovely time thank you to all you who shared your blessed wedding day with us we wish you a wonderful happy life together!