Happy Birthday Daddy!

Young's birthday was this past Friday, but because our church was going through a 7 day fast this past week, we had to celebrate the Saturday before. It's dungeness crab season in SF so we headed out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for some fried crab, R&G Lounge.
It was so much fun to be around all his friends of 12+ years. They all met years ago when they were single and now most are married and have children...it just makes the party grow bigger every year!

While the party was going on above the table, there was a party going on below the table...our table was so big, it was like a fort for all the little ones to hide away in!
Time for cake...Cameron's favorite part...

But the highlight of the evening for Young was holding baby Ella...he wouldn't give her back! Cameron and Timo were fascinated by Daddy holding another baby too. I hope no one got in funny ideas...
What a fun night of friends, food and celebration!
Then on Young's actual birthday 1/28, we surprised him at his office with balloons and hand made cards...can you guess who picked out the balloons?? Happy Birthday to the best Daddy and husband in the world! We love you so much and thank God every day for choosing you as our Daddy!


I'm happy to report that Young and I made it through the fast...Young from food and me from technology/TV. While it was difficult to put away the things we've come to depend on, it was an amazing week of drawing closer to our God and learning new ways of making Him the center of our lives. I feel like our church experienced amazing unity this past week as we all fasted and prayed to grow abundantly in our love for God and reach our city in bold new ways....WOW, what an amazing birthday gift that was!!

I Did It Myself!

The big thing with Cameron right now is doing everything all by herself. I have to start getting ready 30 min before we need to leave because she has to button every button, snap every snap, put on and take off every piece of clothing and of course, putting her shoes and socks on all by herself. It can be a little frustrating when we're trying to get something done quick but then there are time when I'm so proud of her for doing it all by herself, no matter how long it took her.

One area she still needs help is going potty. She is almost fully potty trained except at night but I still need to be there to help with the full routine of going potty...or so I thought. I had an early morning appointment this day so I jumped in the shower before Cameron had had her morning trip to the potty. Sometimes it takes a while before she needs to pee pee and I didn't have much time to wait around. While I was in the shower, she came busting in, grinning ear to ear, shouting "I did it all by myself!" I looked down and say her pj pants on wrong side out and couldn't figure out what just happened. "I potty all by myself!" Uh oh, I thought, I can't imagine what I'm going to find when I got out of the shower. Much to my surprise, I found this...
And when I went to her room, I found this...

She had pulled the frog potty out of the corner (we don't use it much anymore so it's just been sitting in the corner waiting to be taken to the basement), taken her pants off, taken off her night time diaper, sat on the potty, gone to her room and picked out a pair of underware and put her pj pants back on (albeit wrong side out)all by herself! What a big girl!! She was so proud of herself and I was so proud of her too.

But it makes me kinda sad...my little baby is needing me less and less...she is growing up...sniff sniff!

And of course, Timo couldn't handle his sister getting all the attention..he had to have his picture taken too...but we won't talk about his potty training skills...let's just say he has a few good days and a lot of unmotivated days...but he'll get it soon, I hope...

Flying High

The kids actually took a nap one day last week and what a difference it makes in the afternoons. They are so energetic, happy, and self entertaining! (No naps results in very cranky kids with lots of lap holding, fighting over position in mommy's lap and about as much whining as one person can stand.) On this day I left them in the living room to go fix supper and they were playing with some trucks and screwdrivers. I'm not sure how it got form that to this...but they sure were having fun!

Sideways Sleeping

I'm not really sure why Cameron has started sleeping sideways in her bed but it's her position of choice these days. At bedtime, I leave the room and she is laying upright in her bed...and when I go in to check on her before I go to bed...this is what I find...very strange...

Fun, Fun, Fun!

The kids are narrowing in on their favorite Christmas toys...things they play with day after day. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Angie gave Timo a set of Lincoln Logs, how fun! He will sit in the floor and build a house or tower or fence...the possibilites are endless!
Arr, Matey! The pirate costumes are big hits...almost every day we have a treasure hunt!

They have build and rebuild this truck a thousands times...and it's still so much fun!

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

And what could be more simple that the horse on a stick! This is just good ol' fashion fun!

New Years Eve

Since we had just gotten back from our vacation, New Year's Eve was very mellow for the Ko clan. Our friends, the Busbees, were having a small get together so we trotted over to their house for a little food, fun and fellowship. It was the kids first New Year's Eve party, so dressed them up nice!
We had all the good NYE fixin's..fried chicken, hoppin John, Columbian beef...and of course, chips and dip!
The kids had lots of distractions like the little doggie, Anzus. Which gave me time to catch up with the ladies in the kitchen.

But the highlight of the evening was the dancing! Claudia taught Timo how to dance with Cameron and they looked so cute. They were moving so fast I couldn't get the video switched on the camera in time...but here are a few pictures I snapped, albeit slightly blurry.

One of Timo's best buddies was there, Rolando Vega. Rolando has a side job of being a clown, Rolo the Clown, so he as a very special way with kids. He is always playing rough with Timo at church and outside gatherings. This night was no different. Rolando was so great with Timo and Cameron...he had them in stitches most of the evening. I love these pictures!
It's sad to say, but we didn't make it to midnight...not even 10pm! The kids didn't nap that day and were getting a little cranky, so we thought it best to leave and not ruin the party for everyone else. But it was difficult to get the kids to leave without drama. We finally got out the door and to the car but Cameron refused to get in her seat...more drama. We got Timo in but as a ploy to get Cameron in, Young told her we were going to leave without her (we do this often to get them motivated to get dressed/shoes/jackets on...we say bye, bye, act like we're leaving and they will run to get ready and out the door they go) Of course hearing that, she was eager to get in the car and not get left behind. But the sad part was, when I opened the car door to put her in, Timo was crying his little eyes out. I asked him what was wrong and he screamed, through his little tear, "don't leave my sister behind!" So sad to hear him crying so much, but so sweet to hear him protecting his sister like that.

After all that drama, we got home and put the kids straight to bes...they were out in 5 mins. Exausted, Young and I settled on the sofa to ring in the new year relaxing together...a little too relaxed..we both fell asleep before 11pm...ah, parenthood! We wouldn't have it any other way. Happy New Year!

Rainbows!

On our drive back from our Southern California vacation, the weather was a little unstable through an area called the Grapevine. It's this long stretch through the mountains that can have any kind of weather at any given moment. (just a few days later they shut the whole pass down due to snow and ice!) This day was just rain, hail and sun, causing some beautiful rainbows! I took about 100 pics of them but here are just a few...how sweet of God to create such a beautiful drive for us!


And this one you can actually see the end of the rainbow...where's my pot of gold??
Our drive home was the day after our big Disney day and you can see the kids were still exhausted from it...they slept that morning till 8am and fell back asleep in the car by 11am for two more hours! They woke up just in time to see the last two rainbows!

Little Super Star!

The good thing about leaving for vacation Christmas Day was coming home...it was like Christmas all over again for the kids. Cameron got to really take her new microphone from Granny and Grandpa for a spin. It was the absolute perfect gift for our little singer! Check her out...

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Untitled from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Definitely gonna be saving these for when she is a big super star!

Disneyland!

The kids are still talking about our trip to Disney! It was such a fun day for them and each has their own highlights of the park...Timo's was driving the cars and Cameron's was meeting Micky Mouse!

We started out early, 9am, knowing there were going to be big crowds. We decided to get on the train at the entrance and head to the back of the park to ride It's A Small World before the lines got so super long. The kids have seen the Disney commercial on TV with It's A Small World playing so they were excited to see what it was all about...and it did not disappoint. Being Christmas, it was a special holiday It's A Small World. Since it was our first ride, waiting in line for 30 mins didn't seem so bad, it was time for snack anyway!

We tackled Toon Town next where we got go in Goofy's house, Donald Duck's house, test drive some cars and meet the one and only Mickey Mousse. Cameron was so excited, I asked her what she was gonna do when she saw Mickey..."Mommy, I will give him a big hug!" And that's exactly what she did...

Timo saw the Tea Cup ride and just had to get on it. I wasn't so sure if they were old enough and the line was a little long but he really wanted to ride it...and it was worth it. They both loved it! The more Young spun the cup around the more they enjoyed it...totally worth it...

Whew! Time for a snack after a ride like that! Churrios anyone?

We made our way through the princess castle and met Peter Pan on the other side. He was so cool to the kids...he would run and leap and then ask them to follow. Timo followed him all around, saying "Hi Peter Pan, over her Peter Pan, like this Peter Pan?" So cute. I might have to rent the movie now...

We stretched the kids out without a nap the whole day but they were starting to get a little cranky around 2ish...so I found a snack stand that sold snack packs of yoguart, string cheese, goldfish, apple slices, etc...lot's of power snacks. We took a long snack break, fueled up and the kids were good to go for the next 4 hours!

Then Timo saw the best thing ever...a real live pirate ship! It was huge and sailed around the lagoon...it was a must ride! We sail on top for a while then went below to check out the barracks and treasure chests. Arr Matey! One final ring of the Captin's bell...

From pirate ships to race cars...off we went to the Autotopia. I rode with Cameron so I don't have any pics of Timo driving but I could hear his cackles loud and clear from his car!

The sun starting to set over Disney...

It was getting darker and more chilly by the minute and we knew it was time to start headed home. One last ride on the rockets...

The great thing about the kids being so young...we walk right out of Disneyland without having to buy any souviners. They are totally oblivious to being able to take anything home with them. We left around 5:30, after 9 hours of walking, riding, seeing and experienceing all Disneyland had to offer. We caught our shuttle bus back to the hotel and kids seemed like they were still full of energy.

But the warm jammies and comfy bed got the best of them and they were out in minutes! What a day!!