Second Time Around

We got a White Christmas! 

It continued to snow and the boys had enough to play in after these photos were taken. They were able to build a snow man with Austin, too! Austin was able to take a full week and a half off, so our holiday time was amazing. 

^This last photo was actually Christmas Eve as my side of the family celebrates the traditional German way. Austin and I have managed to compromise so that Christmas Eve is a big celebration, nativity-reading, music listening-- and we open non-Santa gifts. Now, in the morning, Santa comes with stockings and their gift. Stockings were pretty amazing when I was a kid! It was a big deal too! Austin's family had very specific things in their stockings that were traditional with Santa like a huge orange, apple, a bag of nuts, etc. that we keep alive, too. 

We successfully mixed our holiday foods as well. The Carmen family does scones, breakfast casserole, and other fun holiday dishes, and my family did a soup every Christmas Eve which mostly ended up being Tortilla Soup! I really wish I had the pictures of the scones, too! 

My Great-Grandma who I talk about often in this blog inspired our family gifts this year. I always remembered she had a big Birthday Calendar on her wall. I was always impressed that she knew all the dates and would sometimes call, or send you a little set of gloves or something. As all of us are growing and our families expanding, I thought I'd make everyone their own birthday calendars with dates they as a family unit want to remember. I wood-burned and painted these. I love them so much, I'm making our family one as well. 

Also, our family has a big problem with having all our babies in November hahaha!

As per usual when I take forever to update our family blog/journal, I let the pictures from my phone do the talking: 

We spend a great deal of time as a family, going to the river to throw rocks, 

Playing with shiny new fun things we got for Christmas, 

And squeezed in a family mini-vacation to Boise, ID where none of us have been before. 

And you guys, if you are ever there, GO TO BACON. 

New Years is big in all asian cultures, and what better way to celebrate the time with lots of traditional, homemade food?

Making Bao (Chinese) or Nikkuman (Japanese). 

Traditional Winter Soup, Oden with Tako (Fishcake and rice cake soup with Octopus) 

Another little example of the cooking I've been doing lately (these bao were not made by me), scallion pancakes, and an avocado tofu ginger citrus soy sauce salad. 

The boys do eat what we eat, and I am always adamant about exposure. This is an example of the kiddo set up. They discover things they love, and things they don't. Our rule is that you give it a try, and then eat the things you do like from the meal. 

The above meal was home-delivery from our favorite TriCity restaurant, Garden Hot Pot. I've been very vocal about supporting them (and other local spots.) In a very fun and ingenious way to save their business, they brought their whole set up to your home. This was such a fun meal and night, and our boys absolutely love hot pot meals. They love getting to choose and cook things themselves and having their own "special soup!"

We also got down with some treat trucks this vacation and holiday time! Who can say no to crepes?? 

Because no sitting areas can be provided, we put our picnic blanket down and noshed in the trunk of our SUV. The boys thought it was so fun and constantly ask to do it again sometime. 

With food, and the current lockdown (still...) we decided this year gym money was better spent on a compact spin bike. You guys! This girl has a cycle habit now!!

The Carmen grandparents came to visit mid-January and we had a great time, naturally. A little highlight was Grandpa Carmen doing a magic show for the boys. R has been so obsessed with magic and tricks, he was SO enthralled that Grandpa Carmen could do all the tricks! He made R believe he had magic too. It's hilarious how much they are alike in personality and looks too! (R looks a ton like Grandpa Carmen's kid photos!)

Things are moving on here in the TriCities, and I've been crafting more than ever. We're preparing for Valentine's Day, and R's preschool which will be in-person end of February! He is so excited, I had to mark it out on a calendar and made him put a sticker on it to continually show him and help explain the concept of time. 

R and I put together this^ dinosaur with my Cricut one afternoon! He calls it his Dinosaur Puzzle. 

I wanted to include all the cute little Valentine things the boys have been making, too, but it would ruin the surprise to the recipients! It's so fun 'cause A can handle glue and stickers now, so he was able to do things alongside R! 

Look at these two!! 

Some super fun changes are coming in the following months and this year! (And no, not like a baby at least right now, darn PCOS. Can someone please give my ovaries a talking to while you're at it? K thanks.) 

Keep your fingers crossed and send good vibes! 

Xoxo, from Washington!