Christmas tree

Oh Christmas tree... oh Christmas tree... oh where can you be, in the garage??! Found it!!!

Actually the Christmas tree was the easy one in the garage.  And look at how many locations it has survived :-)

It was more tricky trying to find all the ornaments! And of course, I found some other boxes too that needed to be unpacked:

Maybe I should have gone a little easy with the boxes but I did leave just enough space to walk around :-)

Unfortunately, one of our trophies did break.  I mean it literary shattered!  It was actually one of Bobby's crystal bowls :-(

So glad our tree is pre-lit!  Looking very pretty!

The boys refuse to wear their pj shirts. I don't know how they do it.  It's so cold in the house!

Seems like Christmas came and went so quickly.  Will post photos from Christmas Day soon!

Eye exam

My friend who is also my optometrist managed to convince all the boys to get their eyes checked before year end.  And yikes, good thing we did!

Looks like Graham actually needs glasses!  We had to go back another day to get Graham's eyes dilated.  Love these disposal sunglasses!

Charlie is busy with his coloring while we wait for Graham's eye-exam.  Why can't he be quiet like this ALL the time??? Okay, perhaps I am asking for too much!

The glasses finally arrived yesterday and Graham looks really good in them!  His favorite color is red and he picked out these frame all by himself:

Graham actually needs to wear an eye patch at least 1-2 hours a day too.  This is going to be tricky!

Charlie on the other hand got to pick up a fancy pair of sunglasses!  Ray-Ban aviators??!!  I didn't own my first Ray-Ban sunglasses until I was 17 years old!!!  These kids are too lucky!

Both Bobby and I have new pairs of bifocals too. I have yet to try mine on. Supposedly you could get a little dizzy with the progressive ones??? I hope not as I get dizzy just getting up too fast sometimes.  Getting older is no fun! Ha ha!!!

Recent happenings

This just happens to be the first photo - yes, mouse traps.  As you can see, we got one!  Actually, we did end up catching 2 mice and knock on wood, so far so good!  We did have the pest control company close up some holes in and around the house so hopefully this will be the last of it! Our neighbor did mention that they have been seeing some mice in their home now, so maybe those emitters do work too??!

We did finally make our gingerbread turkey after Thanksgiving:

Pretty handy kit! Although we didn't really eat much of it after having it in the fridge. The gingerbread became too chewy. Probably should have eaten it right on the spot after making it! Well, now we know :-)

Some golf after school... I need to do this more often with the boys:

The boys had minimum day during the Parent-Teacher Conference week so we went ice-skating.  No injuries... Phew!

The weather was so warm a few weeks ago it was actually perfect for beach day:

Perfect for taking some Holiday card photos too! :-)

The ninja inflatable balls from Legoland Ninjago.  Those are staying in their bedrooms!

Our new shutters finally did arrive:

These guys did a great job with the installation:

And during the installation, Charlie did a self-portrait of himself.  Too cute!!! His drawing even has the Christmas tree :-)

Ta da!!!  Okay, maybe not as dramatic, but at least all the windows are uniformed with shutters now:

Our new microwave was finally installed as well:

Ta da!!!  Funny enough, Bobby couldn't stop admiring it. Ha ha!  I am just happy to have a functional microwave!

And the TV is finally mounted too.  Yay!!!

There are still some other electrical things to be done around the house.  In time, I guess!

Boys' ball hockey

Charlie had signed up for ball hockey early in the Fall and after a few weeks, the team was looking for more players.  So, that meant Graham was able to join in for FREE!  Both of them have really enjoyed it.  Practice is held indoors in a racquet ball court:

The video above is Graham and here is Charlie:

Charlie didn't quite make that goal during practice but he is really good at playing defense!

The boys got to play in a real rink (half the rink at least) during the games. So much fun!!!

I think it was exciting for the parents too as we got to bang on the glass :-)

In the video, the boys are in the grey jersey (the jersey is actually reversible to black - pretty neat!).  Charlie is #66 and Graham is #28 (in light blue short).  It's a bit tricky to spot Charlie but he passes the ball to Graham a couple of times in the video. Charlie also had a whiff towards the end of the video but it didn't phase him thankfully!

Ball hockey is off until February. Graham really wants to play Little League Baseball and Charlie really wants to play soccer.  We'll see what happens! In the meantime, I would still like Graham to continue his water-polo:

He is to the bottom right - with the blue floaties around his waist.  His last session he didn't have the floaties on and was just able to stay afloat throughout his entire class. Woohoo!!! 
Charlie on the other hand has been taking some swim classes.  He is still working on his diving skills:

Funny enough, Charlie actually treads water a lot better than Graham.  He has been taking in hints while peeking under the water during Graham's class!

Rain (Nov 29)

It finally rained about a month ago after months of no rain. Almost seems like Abu Dhabi in a way!

We really needed the rain but bad news is, we discovered the slight flooding on our back patio!

All the boxes that we had on the back patio were soaked underneath.  It was definitely a great way for me to motivate and unpack those boxes!  Thankfully the box with the books were elevated and all our sheets and comforters were in bags. What a life-saver. Phew!

It did rain 2 days in a row and unfortunately, even with my ingenious way of sandbagging with bags of mulch and soil, the water still got into our outdoor laundry area:

Well, if anything, the moist soil enabled me to remove some plants in the backyard.  Can you spot me under the plant (while Daddy reads his newspaper??!)?

Mommy wins!!! Plant 0; Momma 1.  By the way, there is a rose stump in the front yard that is super stubborn - so, so far the rose bush/stump has an upper hand on me there :-P

We recently had the house painted and the contractor laid out more concrete to redirect the water.  Hopefully the laundry area will not flood again. Will just have to wait for the next rain!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (Nov 22)

This year for Thanksgiving, we decided to make a reservation at Seasons 52 - one of our favorite restaurants!  We actually discovered the restaurant in Phoenix and while the boys and I were heading to a mall in Costa Mesa recently, we were so excited when we found a location of Seasons 52 here as well!  The only reservations they had left was at 11:40am so instead of a Thanksgiving dinner, it was a lunch.  All dressed up and waiting to get seated.  Charlie decided to bring his "headgear" from school :-)

Still waiting... and boys are keeping themselves busy:

Who knew Poinsettia leaves are waterproof?!?

Yay for Seasons 52 and Yay for not having to cook! :-D

We get a big table and Graham and Charlie decides to sit next to Daddy:

Charlie orders a fancy drink:

Cheers!

YUMMMMM...!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

There is a piano player in the bar.  How on earth did that piano get in the bar area??!

Happy belly = Happy daddy:

Fancy wine glass:

We super-LOVE the desserts here.  Daddy is obviously not going to get anymore!

4 of us but 5 dessert glasses??? Hmmm...

As there was still plenty of daylight, we decided to drive by to Huntington Beach on the way home:

You think when you've seen one pier, you have seen them all!  But as we arrived, the lifeguard was on the pier.  Looks like an elderly lady had taken a bad fall while walking on the pier:

Pretty neat being able to see the oil rigs out in the ocean:

As usual Graham and Charlie are excited about everything they see:

Somehow Graham is scared of heights??!

Not a bad way to spend Thanksgiving surfing:

Momma selfie :-)

Graham and Charlie want to play on the beach, so Daddy and Mommy find a restaurant.  I think Charlie is trying to take a bite out of the seagull???

Perfect view to watch the boys:

Wait a minute... a dog menu??? No way!

We opt for dessert instead :-)

Typical California scenery with the palm trees.  Somehow, it reminds me of a slight chill in the air that day:

There are some street sales going on.  Graham and I try out a wetsuit.  We probably spent 5 minutes trying to put one on:

Phew!!! Now that it's on... it's another 5 minutes to get it off! Graham and I can't stop laughing too. HAHA!

Walking back to the car and we spot this huge surfboard:

I was trying to take a photo of some houses and their boats in their backyard. Obviously there was a delay in the shot.  You can sort of see the little boat to the right of the photo. You should have seen the big boats!

Almost sunset and you can see the San Pedro harbor in the horizon:

As if we haven't had enough to eat, we decided to stop and get pie and corn bread :-)

Graham doesn't like pumpkin pie (except for Mommy's pumpkin cheesecake pie!) but we know who does!

This might be a new tradition for us.  I love not having to cook and clean up - that's for sure!