Anniversary Date

We were going to go to Vegas for our 10th anniversary and renew our vows in a cheesy wedding chapel. However seeing as how Ai-Vy and Ky-An still wakes up at night looking for us and would cry if it’s anyone else; we decide to postpone the trip.

We did rewrite our vows to one another and Hieu posted this funny note

We took the day off to celebrate instead. Hieu got me 2 bouquets instead of one because he said he liked both of them and can’t decide.

This one lasted about one day..so wasn’t worth the money.

We then headed down to the Blue Bell factory to tour the facility. Too bad we can’t bring any ice cream back as they would be tubs of liquid if we do.

There was a huge storm as we tried to drive to the vineyard for lunch so we had to pull to the side of the road and waited for about 20 minutes before we can be on our way.

We ordered a bottle of Messina Almond Champagne to celebrate with our lunch. Lunch did not taste great but it’s great to be at a vineyard and we really did enjoy the wine.

The vineyard:

We even met the winery owners Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo.

They signed a bottle of Reisling for us: “To Hieu & Chau, Happy Anniversary...”

Of course, what trip away from the kids without guilty gifts :)Wearing the hat we got from the our Blue Bell tour.

She loves the $36 (can you say guilt?) cow we got her from Blue Bell that sings her favorite song “Ole McDonald Had a Farm”.

My own princess:

Ky-An got an ice cream toy..because you know, they don’t have enough toys. He asked for the real one as we gave this to him.

With daddy:

Then the other kids want to get in on the picture with their pose.

New Flooring

I can now cross one item off my New Year Resolution list. http://ky-an.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-new-year.html. Even though I suggest we hire someone to do the job, Hieu insists on doing it himself. He took the money that he saved on hiring someone and invest on better quality wood.

Initially we were going to put in real wood but after some testing, we realize it will not hold up with our kids. One dropped toy or spoon will mean a ding on the floor. After extensive testing, we decide pergo was the way to go. We chose a high quality pergo wood that has a very thick layer of wood at the top. The next step is picking the color. Our kitchen is light with light maple cabinets but we don’t want a light color on the floor. I want a dark color so we finally picked a beautiful expresso color.

It took Hieu 3 full days off work, 1 of those his enlisted my brother-in-law’s help, and about a week of time here and there to complete the trims and caulk. He did a beautiful job and is very proud, as he should be. The kids love it because they can now bounce balls and play with their cars on the floor. It’s much cleaner but it’s a pain because the color is so dark, you see every spec of dirt and every grimey footprint or handprint. I have to clean the floor every 2 days but these dirt would’ve just stayed in the carpet before just because we couldn’t see it! Ewwww!

Carpet pulled and ready to go. Let’s just say our carpet was very “colorful” when they pulled it out.

Moisture layer down, now onto the wood.

The end of the first day. The kids were so thrilled and jumped all around!

All done!!

My birthday celebration

I didn't plan to make a big deal out of my birthday since I am still exhausted from all the holiday celebration.  Hieu tried so hard to make the day spcecial for me and I really appreciate his effort. Since he already got me this great laptop for Christmas, I told him not to get me any birthday presents. He went out and got me a beautiful bouquet of flower, a funny card, and a balloon out of his own budget instead. His mom and sister also sent me a gorgeous tulips bouquet from Kansas.  Hieu tried to keep the kids out of they way most of the day because he knows I am tired and wants me to enjoy my special day. 

 

Hieu and my little sister also insist that I at least pick a place for dinner.  I don't know why but after I gave birth to the kids, I crave meat.  I am not usually a meat eater before so maybe I am lacking protein.  Anyway so they suggest The Taste of Texas. 

I invited the whole family which includes my parents, one of my older sister and her son, my little sister and her live-in boyfriend, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  The kids were being especially difficult today and only nap about 1 hour each.  They were cranky by the time we were leaving and we had to squeeze in a feeding before we leave for the restaurant.  Good thing we fed them beforehand because we had to wait an hour for our table.  They gave us an awesome table in the corner so that our kids can be a little rowdy without bothering the other patrons. The kids were tired but really good.  I was just stressed out because I feel so guilty keeping them out when they look so tired.  They passed out as soon as we changed them in the car and even though I was super tired, I was glad to be able to spend my birthday with my love ones.  It was a good birthday.

Grandpa teaching Ai-vy how to color:

You can see how tired I look in this picture:

This is how he smiles for the camera now.  Look at those bags under his eyes..poor guy.

They want me to squish him in my chair for some reason.
 

Playing peek-a-boo with grandma:

Blowing out my candles with Ky-An and my nephew, Ethan.  I was busy getting them settled that I don't remember making a wish before I blow on those candles. LOL

Spiderman in training:

Picture of the whole crew.  The restaurant was nice enough to take a picture of us on their own camera and printed it out for me to keep!

Hieu's Company Christmas Party

Hieu's annual Christmas even for this kids experience a little cut back this year. There is no snow machine, no petting zoo, and some of the rides are cut out. It's still nice for them to host one for the kids and we are so thankful so no complaints here. We took my nephew with us and I made a Vietnamese pastry call pate cheaud for breakfast.

We got there at about 10 a.m. and the kids had more fun than last year.

Last year Hieu and I were stressed out and keep yelling at each other so the kids didn't have fun and we only stayed for about 1 hour. http://ky-an.blogspot.com/2007/12/holiday-pictures.html. was much more crowded and the lines were long so everyone got cranky. I also didn't pack any snacks because I was busy taking care of Miss Ai-Vy. This year I was much better prepared with the snacks and drinks. Just look at the kid's pictures last year made me a little sad at how fast they've grown.

It was bout her nap time when we got there so she as a bit tired:

Hieu insist that I took a picture with the 3 kids. Ky-An was busy with his new goodies bag:


Ky-An used to love the barrel train but somehow refused to sit in it this year. My nephew was so sweet and tried to comfort Ky-An when he was crying.

I asked Hieu to take Ky-An out and my nephew rode the train by himself. I think you will notice he's the most bundled person in the train. He refused to take off his jacket, we are not sure why.

He finally took off the heavy jacket to go in the bouncing house:


It's time for a snack and they all crowd around me. It's so nice to see Ky-An got his chubby cheeks back. He was so skinny after his stomach virus.

Trying to feed all of them:

Ai-Vy had so much fun running around the empty parking lot while big brother and her cousin are in line for the rides. She just had a blast running around oblivious to a nervous mommy hovering over her in case she falls. She got so much attention with her adorable matching jacket (hand-me-down from her cousin) and shoes.


This is how she looks before she smiles:

And finally a captured smile from Ai-Vy!!

We got lucky and also was able to capture a beautiful smile from Ky-An. He was running between Hieu's legs while they were waiting line.


We didn't have many pictures of my nephew because he doesn't want to participate and gets mad whenever we take a picture of him.

Thanksgiving pictures

The kids are getting a little better, Ky-An still won't drink any milk but otherwise on his way to recovery. He got so skinny that our babysitter had tears in her eye seeing him today.

Now that they are better, I have some time to post up some pictures when Hieu's family was here the week before Thanksgiving:

Hieu's family's portrait:

Hieu's is the oldest in his family. This is his little brother's family portrait. Binh is with his wife, Sarah, and their daughters, Brianna and Emily.

This is Stacy, Hieu's next sibling, and her husband Tyson.

Hieu's youngest brother, Joseph, and his girlfriend Terry. (Gotta love that smile!)

Here is the entire family. I am not sure why Hieu's eyes are bugging out though...

Ky-An loves going down the slide with his little sister. He always ask for her whenever he sits on top of the slide.

He's having a blast being spoiled by everyone.

Ky-An helping grandma do some weeding at the cementery:

Ai-Vy walking with dad:

I think this it the first time I've ever seen her smile and be happy at the cementery:

Everyone tries to get into the picture with Ai-Vy.

Ky-An gets to play his cousin's real instruments: