Lucas at donut-eating contest

He was still going at it even after the contest has ended.
Now we know who is a big fan of donuts.
This was taken at Viola's 3rd Birthday Party on 19th Dec.

Lucas' first Christmas Concert at Pre-School

Edwin: I cannot wait to see you sing, Lucas. Daddy is going to cry.

Lucas: You go cry, Daddy. Go.

We were both so excited to watch Lucas' first performance at the Pre-school's Christmas concert. He has been singing the Christmas tunes at home and I was surprised when he came home one day and said "Amen" at the dinner table. He also told me it is "Jesus' birthday" on Christmas day.

90% of the children in this Christian Pre-school is Asian. Some of reasons I chose this school is because I was comfortable with the teachers in the school, its classroom environment and proximity to home and also because they have Mandarin lessons once a week. Lucas has learnt a few words and phrases from school and from his friends and I am glad.

Turns out he hardly sang throughout the concert and was just happily looking around at the audience and looking at us. We are still very proud of him.

Driving is his kind of vacation

Portland-Seattle Dec 11-13 2009

Not so much for me because he is a boring companion in the car. I was hesitant when Edwin wanted to drive to Portland over one of the rare weekends he was not working. The highlight of the trip for the boys must be the train ride at the Oregon Zoo. It was a pretty cool train ride and the light-up was pretty but it was freezing cold.
I was happy we managed to meet up with my cousins and the boys met with Ruby and Curtis.
One King-size bed is not big enough for all 4 of us now. Edwin and I struggled to find space on the bed.
The boys did very well on the trip and on the road. They slept, played and sang and only fussed when they got hungry. I, on the other hand, would have much preferred to fly.

Hello Santa

Linus couldn't take his eyes off Santa at their first meeting.

1 week later..

Daddy: Santa is going to come on Christmas day to give you your present.

Lucas: The Santa in the mall?

10 minutes to dress the kids up for 5 minutes of play

I find it a challenge to dress my boys up these days. Or rather to get them to sit still to let me put their clothes, socks and shoes on. They will be monkeying around and I will be fighting hard to keep my cool. Anyhow, this was a week ago when we had light flurries. Nothing compared to last year where we had more than 30cm of snow around Christmas.

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

Just a week before Christmas, Edwin finally brought the Christmas tree out. The boys were so excited to see the tree and to help deck it out. I had great memories of Christmas during my childhood days and I am excited to help my children create some great memories too. After the decorations were up, Lucas said, "Put presents in there, Daddy!"

Oh boy.

Boys at play

A Daddy's love

I was stunned when I saw the "Happy Birthday" sign at the foot of Lucas' bed. Edwin had crept into Lucas' bedroom when he was asleep to put up the note and a surprise present for his boy the night before his actual birthday on 9th Dec. The surprise present is "Annie & Claribel" - one of the character trains in Thomas & Friends.

It was not a love note to me but I was very moved.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lucas!

Dearest Lucas,
You are such great fun and joy to be with. You constantly amaze us with how fast you are learning and expressing yourself. I love that you are communicating so well now and able to let us know your thoughts and feelings through words. It has opened up a brand new world to us yet again. You are a wonderful big brother to Linus and we are very proud of you.
Turning 3 is an exciting time and we look forward to sharing even greater adventures and experiences with you!

Lots of love,
Mommy & Daddy

Happy Birthday Ava+Colin!

Nov 15th 2009

Ava & Colin's birthdays are a couple of days apart and the Lims held a joint party for the kids. Colin turned 2 and Ava is 4. Awesome party as usual! The kids had a great time at the bouncy castle and after the crowd settled a little, we attempted to nap the kids at the same time. We definitely should try that again! It was fun to watch and great to see that they are so comfortable with each other.

Happy 1st Birthday, Adelia!

8th Nov 2009 - Adelia turns One!

The Tansumas held Adelia's birthday party at Heritage Mountain Community Center. It's a great idea with the large number of people and kids. So many babies! All of us seem to be carrying one at any one time. We celebrated Miles' birthday as well as his birthday falls on the same day as Adelia.

Happy Birthday, Adelia & Miles!

Welcome Baby Emi!

The newest addition to the Van family.

Baby girl Emi was born on 5th Nov 2009.

She is so beautiful and looks very much like Jack!
Congratulations, Carolyn, Rob & Jack!

I just choked on my chocolate pretzel.

First, my son tells me I have a big bum. 2 hours later, I turned around and almost choked on my chocolate pretzel when I saw Edwin. 2 hours 2 minutes later, my face is all red from laughing so hard.

So..anyway, I did do some exercise tonight. I went swimming, my all-time favourite sport/exercise. Feels really good.

I came home and caved in to my desire to eat those chocolate covered pretzels sitting on the kitchen counter.

Dear Lucas,
Mommy will work really hard to not have a big bum. Really hard. Maybe tomorrow.

Love,
Mommy

The honest opinion

Lucas: Where are you going, Mommy?
Me: Mommy is going to do some exercise.
Lucas: Because you have a big bum?
Me: NO. Because I want to be strong.

Help yourselves to the candy..at the door.

The Lims hosted a Halloween Party this year. Fun! All the details into the decorations, food and games were amazing. We had so much fun! Best-dressed has to go to the hosts..the french maid and the pirate. We had good weather too which allowed us to go out with the kids for trick-or-treat.

A couple of firsts for me:

1. Seeing self-serve candy placed outside the door.

2. Shoved by Simon during a friendly (or maybe not) musical chairs game. (I will get you next time, Simon!!)