Happy Holidays!!!

Things have been hectic at work/home as we were getting ready for the one-month trip to Taiwan and Maldives. But we still found time to enjoy the X'mas lighting at a neighborhood in San Carlos. It has become our holiday ritual for the past few years. I truly admire the amount of time, and efforts (and of course, energy bill) this two-block of neighborhood has spent decorating their houses to light up the holiday spirit, which is very needed for many families in today's economy.

Beach

These are few photos taken at Bodega Bay and Pescadero State beach in mid October and early November. Regardless of the low temperature of the water, the children were eager to jump into the shallow tide and to chase the freezing waves. To them, the beach offered endless play ideas- from simply exploring different textures, finding rocks, building castles, to pretending to be fishermen trying to catch the seaweeds and fish. It's enjoyable to watch their creativitity unfold.


What are daddies doing? Let's go boo them...

Let's bury your right foot first.

Little birds, come get some food here.

Is sun about to set? I'm not ready to leave yet. Let me go for another round!

Autumn Harvest

With chestnuts, persimmon, and pomegranate gradually making their appearances at the farmer’s market, we know it’s that time of year. With an enthusiastic fruit picker at home, we always try to arrange a visit to the farm during this season.

Thanks to Min’s suggestion. This year, we visited Gabriel Organic Farm in Sebastopol. We certainly were not disappointed with their abundant Fuyu persimmons. But best of all, we were pleasantly surprised to discover this mysterious fruits- pineapple guavas. We also have this plant in our yard but didn’t know what it was until this trip. The plant looks like a mini olive tree and the fruit yields very distinctive aromatic taste and smell. It somehow reminds me of the passion fruits. We cannot get enough of it. We ended up getting more of it than persimmons.


What is this mysterious fruit???

Mommy, please help....

A Weekend Afternoon

On a recent weekend, we visited a friend's newly renovated house and garden in Portola Valley. While Ryan was busy chasing Ole and Tera, we enjoyed the leisure afternoon with friends in a beautiful and relaxing garden .

Ole and Tera are certainly Ryan's favorite buddies now. Yesterday I asked who he would like to invite for his birthday party next year. He initial list only included aunty Denise and cousin Tony and quickly, he added Ole and Tera, two australian shepherd dogs....


Ole is mellow and easy-going.

Tera is sensitive and territorial. Just like children, they have their own personalities.

Awakening

I lately found myself in rage and frustration more and more often when disciplining Ryan. Often time, at the moment of heat, I turn to yelling and coercing for the convenient and band-aid solution. As I noticed he becomes more resentful and angry toward me, I knew my parenting style needs to take a turn.

But what really daunted on me was one day I told Ryan I was going to a “how to become a good mommy” workshop at his school. I asked him if he could guess what the counselor was going to teach us. He immediately replied “no yelling and no angry face”. As I was desperate in search of effective parenting/discipline techniques, I knew I found mine right at that moment – Self Discipline.



Ryan has been keeping all his treasures in this shoe box. The findings can range from pine cones, corks, leaves, dandelion to gems from school. This is the first thing he digs in every evening returning from school.

Struggle

Warren and I always like to play the scenario game; the most frequently played one is “What would you do if you won the lottery?” As much fun as it offers for us to daydream, it also gives us an opportunity to run a reality check. Usually, the first question following that would be “Would you quit the next day after winning the lottery?” Warren always immediately says “No” and I could picture him amass a collection of vintage sports cars and happily drive them to work every morning. As for me, it’s always a long pause before my answer. It does not simply boil down to whether the job is fulfilling or simply a means to the financial ends. It also involves the guilt and insecurity of a working mother, and a temporary escape from the demands of child rearing.

I’m glad that Warren is 100% positive with his choice but I’m still struggling with mine....



PS: These pics were taken when Ryan was 9 months old. I love the sparkle in his pure eyes. They are posted in my office. When I feel down, they certainly cheer me up right away.

Ryan's Memeorial Ride

This posting was long over due. I've been too busy to get the pictures ready. We participated in the annual Ryan's memorial ride in the early summer. Downtown Burlingame was blocked the entire day for this annual bike race designed for kids under the age of twelve. Ryan was eager to show off his pedaling skill acquired at school. I initially thought he'd be overwhelmed at the crowds and stop in the middle of the race. He however finished the course without hesitation because he had his eyes set at the big prize - Popsicle at the finish line.

Summer Harvest

It's that time of the year - the plum trees in the backyard are bearing tons of plump fruits. Nobody is more excited than Ryan, who has been busy picking the ones hanging low on the branch and even collecting the bruised ones on the floor. According to him, he has to gather as many as possible before raccoons eat them all in the dark. I also asked if he wants to share some with his neighbor friends - Emily, and JJ brothers. To my surprise, he quickly agreed without any reservation. But he only agreed to share TWO plums with each of them despite the fact that there is a whole box of plums sitting in our kitchen....He is already worried that we'll have him share another favorite fruit of his from the yard - figs when it's time to harvest.

Another Wandering Heart

I'm so thrilled to find out another submission of my wandering heart is featured on Pia's blog. Thank you Pia for the wonderful encouragement. I cannot wait to see more of other works.

Puppy Love (continued...)

Yesterday, I was at Ryan's school early to pick him up and saw him and little M having Waltz over Nutcracker music. The teacher told me they had been dancing together all day. It was the most adorabl thing I saw - two little kids trying to dance Waltz. Although they didn't have the steps right, the postures were certainly there. M was leading the dance. As we all thought it was way too cute, all of a sudden Ryan seriously yelled " Mommy, I have to stop now. I'm afraid if I continue dancing, I'll have a baby"

We all burst into laugh. I really don't know where that came from.....

Images from Flickr

Collage

I came across Ophilia Chong's work through Creature Comfort. I have to say this is one of the best collage works I've seen in a long time. I can see them framed and hung in my empty hallway.





Images from creature comfort

Mother's Day Weekend

Grandma visited us in May and we took her and Ryan's cousin Tony up to Mendocino and Anderson Valley to celebrate Mother's Day and to tour annual Anderson Valley Garden Show. We visited six private gardens that participated this year. Most of them were nestled on the ridge of the hills overlooking the valley. The view was spectacular and the gardens were serene without much human intervention to their natural beauties. The boys had the greatest time searching for lizzards, and garden snakes and exploring the open space.








This time, we stayed at a vacation rental - Glendeven Inn in Mendocino so that we could all hang out in the common areas in the evening. Tony even got a lovely kiss from a llama from the property and he claimed that the llama had a crush on him! Across the street from our lodging, there were two trails leading to the beach. Af first, I was hesitant to take Ryan along but to my surprise, Ryan was able to walk with us on the narrow path with bushes and flowers brushing against us for quite some time. I think the amount of tricycling at school is paying off. Without doubt, Mendocino is Ryan's favorite vacation spot. He constantly asks me when we will visit it again. I'm sure it'll be some time soon!