Build a Pair of Shaker Doors

I’m going to end the year of 2018 with a long-lost home improvement post -- DIY a pair of Shaker doors for our kitchen cabinets!

The story began this summer that we tried every means to move the microwave into one of the kitchen cabinets. To make the whole cabinets look nicer,

Merry Christmas 2018 !!!

We are grateful for the noise, the chaos, and the laughter that these three little piggies bring into our lives every day. Daddy and Mommy are so looking forward to see what surprises and excitement will fill in 2019 as a family of FIVE!

Upcycling Halloween Craft to Christmas Decoration

先是恩仔學校在萬聖節左右讓孩子們製作了一隻 scary hand

Turning Three Months

December has always been the busiest month of the year; but it is not a good excuse to miss any of my baby’s growing milestone.

Out and About | Lantern Art Festival at Arboretum

上個週日我們去了一場在孔雀園舉辦的藝術燈節 Moonlight Forest - Lantern Art Festival, 有點像是幼時在台灣每年舉辦的元宵燈節, 整個氣氛充滿著濃濃地中國傳統味, 各式各樣花燈散落在整個園區, 走到不同的區域會遇見不同的驚喜花燈,

Jessie’s Outfit from Toy Story

Cost: $0

This post was supposed to go right after our pumpkin patch fun. Days just go by so fast that thanksgiving is already right around the corner.

Turning Two Months

我得說, 小小愛真是個平靜的嬰兒... 大部分的日子裡, 小小愛哭起來的時間比她兩歲的姊姊和四歲哥哥都來得少哩~

Out and About | Let’s Go to the Pumpkin Patch

昨個兒帶孩子們採南瓜去了! 查理斯好久沒施展他的照相技術了, 這回提醒他帶上他的大卡相機, 伴著太陽高照, 配著鮮豔地橘色南瓜和綠地, 怎麼照都很有意境~

When Mommy is the Wizard of Oz

Here comes the time of the year when little people putting on some costumes. Last year, I started a series of dressing up fun with my kids. I have a feeling that this is probably the only period during their lives that I am allowed to dress them without objection. I only shared e’s junior high school uniform and their star wars costumes so far. The following pictures were taken last year and it was actually my first idea of this role play fun. (oh my cutie pie el looks so little!)

Hallway Wainscoting

查理斯托小小愛的福, 跟著月子中的媽媽也有了三個禮拜的育嬰假; 不過...母乳親餵的小愛育嬰的是媽媽吧?! 所以查理斯利用這三個星期零星的時間, 改造了一下家裡的走廊

走廊有什麼好改造的? 上回練習給友人製作的 wainscoting 裝飾牆, 這回把手藝用在自家中

Turning One Month

調適了一個多月一家五口的作息, 我們家的小小愛已經滿月了

回顧樂姊滿月, 發現當年姊姊和小小愛的睡眠狀況, 都是短短一個月就可以分出白天晚上, 讓媽媽好省心~

Camping | Daddy and Me at Silverwood Campground

話說在小愛預產期倒數一個月的月初, 查理斯自告奮勇地帶著二寶去了三天兩夜的露營!! 留下孕婦媽媽在家享受長達兩日的清閒, 在此給查理斯掌聲鼓勵鼓勵!!

媽媽我心裡有點五味雜陳, 又是開心能夠享受片刻安寧, 又是失落沒能親自與孩子們一同露宿大自然;

One Week Old

Milestone Cards

Welcome to the Chu’s Sweet Home! our little angel i~

Out and About | The Blooming Flowers Field

I’m trying to catch up some outstanding out-and-about here before the baby pops! XD

My Recent Miniature Lego Collection

This picture has nothing to do with my Lego collection but the fireplace mantel behind us is where I display my miniature sets of Lego.

Recently, I’ve acquired a few small Lego sets into my collection :)

Dear Baby Bump - Week 36

Out and About | Camp-A-Palooza in the Park

每次在閱讀市政府發的季刊, 都很想參加每年都會舉辦的 Camp-A-Palooza 活動, 顧名思義是在城市裡最大的公園草坪上和街坊鄰居們一同-- 露營!! 今年我們終於付諸行動, 雖然我們家早是露營常客, 但像在這樣的環境下露營還是挺新鮮地 :D

Dear Baby Bump - Week 34

Family Photos with the Bump

This is our third time, most likely the last, taking baby bump photo shoot. Photographer Johnson Yang took them back in May on a rarely cold day (which now I miss it so much.) We picked the same place where Charles and I got married, Diamond Bar Center. I felt that it is especially meaningful to revisit this beautiful venue six years later with two little ones plus a bun in the oven!

Life Lately: Some Out-and-About, the 4th of July and More!

Friday, July 6th, 2018: record high temperature (in Celsius) in our city...

I was going to wrap up the Legoland trip that we took a while ago but got caught with whole lot of photos that made me laugh, so I decided to share them altogether...

Dear Baby Bump - Week 30

Turning Twenty-Four Months

在六月結束以前, 想把這項小樂一連二十四個月的成長紀錄做個句點; 其實小樂這張已經超過二十四個月了, 她已經練就一個小模特的模樣, 很配合地說笑就笑, 擺什麼姿勢就擺什麼姿勢 (笑)

我們在友人家很簡單地給她吹了兩歲蠟燭, 順便公告當姊姊的消息...

“Off” the Counter Microwave

Due to the lack of experience, we hired someone to remodel our kitchen. We weren’t given many choices. We gave up a lot of ideas, like open up kitchen, peninsula island dining area, and quartz countertop… Our countertop is divided by three sections, which is hard to keep things together and organized. I often found myself finding stuff in the kitchen :( Countertop space is precious!! especially when the kids and I practice cooking together. If any chance we are able to redo our kitchen, I’ll definitely hide the microwave somewhere that is NOT on the counter or maybe consider a built-in microwave.

Under-cabinet: image sourse

Creating Family Yearbook

I’ve been so behind updating this little space of mine because recently, I’ve got myself into this new hobby: creating our family yearbook. Charles and I found that all those precious and gorgeous photos would be forever left behind in our computer’s drive if we don’t own them in some kind of physical format. We considered nowadays popular photo book at first, like shutterfly. After searching a couple more photo book makers, I found that the idea of Project Life is more appealing to me. What is Project Life?

Dear Baby Bump - Week 28

Turning Twenty-Three Months

Despite the fact that she whines quite often these days, my soon-to-be-big-sis baby girl has the most beautiful smile in the world, doesn’t she :)

Travel | Let’s Go To Legoland!

2018.04.29 - 2018.05.01 Legoland California Resort, Carlsbad, California, United States

上一次在外過夜旅行居然是去年年底的 Death Valley 露營!! 半年都過去了... 悶在家裡要發瘋啦! 礙於大著不舒服的孕肚能去的地方有限, 於是幾個月前見到 Legoland California Resort 推出指定日期內, 大人付費, 小孩吃住玩樂全免的套票就毫不考慮下訂了! 只是 Legoland 架子很大, 一旦下訂就不能更改, 除非額外預付$25 才可享有彈性更改或取消行程 :( 而且話說小孩免費, 其實價錢都已經計算在住宿裡了, 入住 Legoland Hotel 價格不斐, 我刻意選在最便宜的周一入住也要價美金 $465 一晚! 周末旺季都可上看至$600 以上哩! 套票價格一家四口包括:

May the 4th Be With You

Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored by Thermos and we are NOT Star Wars fans.

First Attempt at Wainscoting

查理斯逮到了一個機會試試他的新工具和手藝 -- wainscoting 裝飾牆

由於這不是我們家, 我並沒有參與到任何程序或意見, 完全出自查理斯說服屋主採用的想法和他的純手工, 當然第一次的嘗試很難達到百分百完美, 但是屋主很滿意, 查理斯的木工手藝又更上一層樓!

Turning Twenty-Two Months

不知道是因為女孩子的關係還是老二的關係, 22個月時候的小樂會話和理解力比照同期時候哥哥真的相當神速, 一瞬間已經可以和哥哥有條有理得爭取權益了...

April Fools' Announcement

Rearrange Kids’ Room

Brother en had been looking forward to this day for a while: We finally moved little el’s crib to his room. He was happy about having his own room but at the same time he felt a little lonely at night. As for little el, she cried like an hour the first night, half an hour the second day, and then five minutes the third day. After that, she goes to sleep peacefully and happily every night :)

Celebrating En’s Birthday

恩仔這個月轉四歲了! 恩仔對於生日這檔事已經有了進一步的了解和期待, 做媽媽的心思也多了些! 學校裡小朋友過生日都會請全班吃小小 mini cup cake, 為了有點創意, 媽媽我特地訂製了獨一無二的杯子蛋糕!

Six Years and One Day

I used to buy or ask for some sentimental stuff for our anniversary, like our paper anniversary and wood anniversary. However, I couldn’t think of anything I want that is made out of iron for the sixth anniversary. Yesterday was our six years anniversary; probably the least romantic one so far. He went to work for his handyman project after church while the little ones and I stayed home and took a nap. We didn’t even go out for dinner. I was really proud of myself at the end of the day because I used to get mad at his “unromantic” nature but now I was like “haha, I know you so well!”

Turning Twenty-One Months

Let me do a quick update of my little el turning 21-month-old back in January before March (March? already?!) Her hair was finally long enough to do a ponytail, I’m loving it!

Improvising an Additional Storage for Board Games

恩仔的年紀已經逐漸傾向玩紙版遊戲 (board games), 儘管已經清出很多幼幼版玩具, 許多紙板遊戲的盒子都超大, 比如說像 Educational Insights 這一系列不規則的盒子, 還有一些特大號的書本或拼圖盒根本塞不下我們使用的 IKEA KALLAX

Out and About | Return to Ice Age Land

在網上搜尋恐龍化石哪裡找, La Brea Tar Pits 這個地方都會跑出來; 剛好查理斯沒去過, 距離自己上回造訪也是十幾年前的事了, 上個月的 museum free day 我們特別帶了兒子去看看!

Turning Twenty Months

Ok great. :( I just failed my new year resolution (to catch up on updating here). I’m officially two months late for this post. I had a relatively rough month in the beginning of the year. Thank goodness that my little ones bring me lots of joy everyday :) Especially my little girl who starts to “speak up” a lot for herself recently. XD

E’s Little Bistro Now Open

爸爸蓋了一個 Playhouse, 媽媽把它變成一家 Bistro 小館!

Turning Nineteen Months

Happy New Year~ I planned to post this one to end 2017 but I missed it! I suppose one of my new year resolutions is to catch up on updating this little blog of mine.

E’s grandma took a trip abroad back in November, so little el and her brother spent two weeks together inseparably.