Farm

Ez and I went to the farm close by. This was his first time and he was excited and kept pointing
at animals. Well, it seems that he was not the only one who was excited... a cow put his neck out of the fence and licked Ez's stroller and his foot!

Cow licking the stroller... now it's worth $300. jk

cute cow, good boy. Could be a girl.

This is my favorite picture. Every time this cow put its neck through, he opened his eyes so wide and stuck out his tongue. So funny!


I couldn't post for a while because I couldn't log into the site! My pc seems to be still infected...

I'm glad I can at least post something now. So, this is my excuse for rather old post.

April Fools!

April Fool's Day is one of my favorite holiday. I love playing prank jokes on my family and they know it. Even though they know something is coming, it doesn't stop me from doing something! Well, this is what I did this year.


Breakfast- Green pea soup. Actually not green pea soup. I made corn soup from a packet and put green food coloring in it. Mr. S played along seeming like knowing that I had done something and said "ewww" even after taking some sips. (He usually LOVES corn soup.) So, I am not sure if he was turned off by the food coloring or actually playing along with me to fool other two kids. Mr. Z and Miss S. took a sip at the same time(coincidentally) and both paused a second and said "This is not green pea soup!!!" Funny. He had the rest but she didn't finish hers. I finished the rest of the corn soup with green food coloring but to be honest, it did taste weird... Haha! I guess we eat with our eyes a lot too!


Lunch- inside the lunch box, I put the corn soup packet that I used for breakfast. I put sliced red peppers instead. I didn't get too much of a reaction from Mr. S or Miss S. Hmmmm


Dinner- Sunny side up with quail eggs. I told them I went to oriental store the day before and found those eggs! (which we DO eat in Japan). I saw this idea somewhere on the net so I decided to give it a try. I used white chocolate chips with shortening melted in a pot in the pot of hot water. (what was it called- double boiling?? I forgot). Then stick yellow M&M in the middle. The kids were fooled at first until they saw it close-ups.

Doesn't it look good? It was yummy!

Last year, I put salt on everyone's toothbrushes. I just couldn't stop laughing when I heard them say "Eww" "yuck!" "Who put salt on my toothbrush??" etc. Funniest one was Miss S.

Miss S- "Someone put salt on my toothbrush!"

Me- "Happy April Fool's Day!"

Miss S- "No, for real, someone put it on my toothbrush!"

Me- "April Fool!"

Miss S. - "No, I am not kidding. It tastes salty!"

She had no clue I was simply telling her that I did that. Instead, she thought I wasn't taking it seriously because it was April Fool's Day!

I just love laughing, especially with my family. I regret spending so many days without laughing with my kids that I am trying a little harder in my own way to laugh with them. Laughter bring such a special feelings at dinner table also.

I am thinking about next year already... hahaha! Watch out! And if you know of any good prank jokes, please be sure to tell me. I would love to hear about your tricks (you do or being done) !

Which one??

One day, my husband was looking through the homework packet our 1st grader brought home and started laughing. I asked him what the funny thing was and this is what I found! It is in a math homework packet. So subjective! Let's look at each one here - maybe you can tell me which one you think is right.

A. brushing or combing hair.

Less than 1 min.

• He enjoys combing and has a good hair day
• a boy(sorry but I am biased :p)

More than 1 min.

• He wants to style his hair in a certain way.
• He has a bad hair day
• He slept wrong so all the hair is sticking out

B. Rollerskating.

Less than 1 min.

• This is a little kid so he gets bored of playing and decides to quit.
• He falls down and hurt himself so he decides to quit.
• He is practicing but can't get it so he gives up and quit.

More than 1 min.

• He just enjoys himself

C. Raking leaves

Less than 1 min.

• Not much raking to do.
• She gets bored so she complains and quits
• She hits herself with the rake so she cries and quits.
• She sees pretty leaves all around so she starts to play with the leaves instead.

More than 1 min.

• She enjoys raking

D. Eating Sandwich

Less than 1 min.

• She is a fast eater
• She chokes on the food and stops eating
• She gets tired of eating sandwich so she complains and stops eating

More than 1 min.

• She enjoys eating.

So, which one is the right one? Our daughter circled "A" - combing hair. She is not into curling or styling her hair too much yet so she probably marked that without hesitation. The homework came back without being checked so we are not sure what the right answer is. Generally speaking, it is probably A. maybe? So deep...

Cooking something new!

Recently I had an opportunity to make dinner for a vegan family. When I said I would, I didn't know they were vegan. So when I found out, the excitement began.
I looked through recipe books and Internet and here's what I made.



1. Tofu Gyoza(pot stickers with Tofu)

I found the recipe on Japanese cooking website. The filling is made with Tofu, green onion, cabbage, and garlic. And of course some spices such as soy sauce, ginger powder etc. They were gooood!!!

This is what it looks inside. It is whiter-because of Tofu anyway. Kids ate them too. It went well with soy sauce as a dip.
These were a little drier than pork ones but really healthy.

Tofu is like a magic ingredient- I am planning on making a treat using tofu soon.


2. Three bean soup

I found this recipe here. I actually made it my own version by adding vegetable stock, rosemary, and basil. Also, I cooked it longer since I like softer beans which makes the soup thicker and more home style ( my opinion). I ate it with sour cream and it was so yum. I found new love for soup!

I forgot to take a pic until later so not much in the bowl...

3. Veggie skewers


This is our stable- should I say. My husband and I love the little tart flavor that come from lemon juice and garlic salt that goes well especially when those zucchinis are still crispy. When mushrooms are coated in the sauce, it gets very soft and moist so you get the flavor with each bite you take. This recipe is for grilling veggies. You just put them on skewers and grill them while basting with herb mixture often. It makes great camping dinner. I just decided to sometimes not put them on skewers but separate and cook them in oven. This goes well with any dish- or maybe I think so because I love them!!!

4. Mini apple pie


It's hard to tell from this photo but it is actually 3 pieces here. I have been craving for apple pie - aren't they just simply good and comforting? Anyway, I didn't want to do pie crust so I used the spring roll skin, divided into 4 pieces and put them in mini muffin pan then baked them in oven. Then stuffed the apple pie filling inside.
Here's another picture.

I actually had my 12yrs old bake the spring roll. He was very curious to find out how it turns out. He loved it! I like the puffy pastry bite mixed with apple pie filling also so this will be a good alternative once in a while. You can change the filling and make it any appetizer you like!

I was really grateful that I had this opportunity to make non meat, non dairy meals. Eating healthier is one of my goal for this year and I believe I'm having such a good start! Cheers to ME! Yay!

New Year, New Plan

A Happy New Year! 2010 is here! I still remember the Y2K chaos that we went through, and... my goodness, it has been 10 years since then?? Scary.

This is my new year resolution. I am tired of being unorganized. I am tired of saying "I will do it later" and never have things done. So, I decided to do something so I can control myself to use time effectively. I realized that, to me, I am the hardest person to handle...I know I will need to make some adjustment as time goes on. But for now, this is the plan.

Monday- Finance. I will use this day to look at our money situation. Budget. Make sure we are on the right track. I decided to record the receipt everyday since, if I don't, I let them pile up. That disappoint me and I don't feel like doing that anymore and then I don't do it for a while... so keeping track of it everyday will be good. Plus, I most likely will remember what's on the receipt anyway.

Tuesday- Photo. This would be a day to organize my photo, DL from camera, sort them, etc. Maybe I will edit some even. Or make movies with them.

Wednesday- Clean. I will try to clean and do my part of the chore on this day. Cleaning is not something that I always have time to do(meaning it's the last thing on my priority list ;P), I will take time to clean the baseboards, dust a little here and there or even, clean the fridge. Good for me.

Thursday- Craft! Of course after cleaning so much on Wednesday(whether it really happen or not), I need to reward myself with something fun! I will try to finish many unfinished projects and actually use things I have... so lame!

Friday- Organizing/mending. I will look around and try to organize something whether it is my own life or shelves or what. Mending, I will take time to sew things. This way, I don't have to try sewing merit badges on the court of honor day anyway. lol!

Saturday- Floating day. Since I teach little kids' class at church, I will probably use this day to prepare for the lesson. And I will use it to do anything that didn't get done during the week.

Sunday- planning day. I will try to plan for the coming week's schedule or even plan a week's worth menu!