Thanksgiving // Halo Infinite // Dumpster Diving // Macaron Class // Kai illnesses // Tam's Birthday

This past week was Thanksgiving.  The kids were off school for the whole week (I remember only getting Thursday and Friday off as a kid.. hmmmm) so we did our best to keep them occupied.  I had a fair bit of work but we were still able to get together with Amy's family.  Matt and Nicole were able to come up from SoCal so it was very nice to see them both.  David and Sunny's family came too so we had a nice family celebration. 

David smoked a 15 lb turkey and it was
delicious!  Also made a great soup the day after

We also tapped Matt and Nicole for baby sitting on the Friday as both Amy and I had work.  The kids had a lot of fun with them on a hike and then playing some games.

Uno with the Huang Boys.  Jad is learning
how to play on his own too.

Speaking of games, I've been playing some Halo Infinite on the Xbox.  For those not in the know, Halo Infinite is the conclusion of a very long saga which started with Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox.  I don't play too much these days (and only when the kids are in bed or away) and Halo 4 and 5 were lackluster but this game has been a lot of fun when I can sneak it in.  I'm pretty invested in the outcome of the story/campaign as well though I am poised to be disappointed.  Don't screw it up, 343!!

Hehee, splattered two peeps with my Ghost

One of our neighbors is also moving out.  Actually, the renters are moving out and the owner's family is moving back in but they had a big dumpster out in front this week and the RCC gang has been having a good time picking through their stuff. There were pogs and magic cards and old DVD's.  Good times, teaching the kids about reusing and recycling.

Vic caught Sora and I scavenging

This past weekend, Amy also had a macaron making class with the neighbors.  Renay, one of our other neighbors, is apparently very good at making macarons and has given classes before.  Vic roped her into giving the bakers in our group class and a good time was had by all.  Kegan and the dads helped to watch the kids and no children were injured in the making of these fancy cookies.  

Cooking class.. with Tien and Tam too!

The final product!  Quite tasty, if a bit too sweet..

Kai has been sick a lot lately.  First, he had a runny nose which Jad brought home from daycare.  Then Sora got a stomach virus and Kai followed with diarrhea for several days.  Then this week, he got a cough .. sigh.  It was very minor but he had to come home from school and get a COVID test.  Sigh, COVID, I curse you..

Self-swabbing at school

Lastly, Tam's birthday was this week.  Her actual party is on Saturday but the RCC crew cannot resist any excuse to party so we had a 'practice' party on Monday evening.  Spontaneous dinner, drinks and cake for the Gang O' Five. 

I think the parents had more fun than the kids

We didn't realize that Terry was an amateur photographer!  He's got a light diffuser umbrella and all.  Next year we're taking Xmas pics at his house!  This is the RCC crew :)

One of our silly pics

December begins tomorrow!

Thankful // Kai's Soccer Tournament // Sora and friends // Visit with Ngoc // Amy's Trail Half // Xmas tree up!

 This week is Thanksgiving so, rightly, we are giving thanks for all the things that we have.  We're lucky in a lot of ways..  Amy and I have each other and we have three wonderful healthy children.  We have great connections within our friends, church and neighbor communities.  We're financially secure.  Amy's family is close by and we hope to visit my parents in Thailand soon.  Sure, there are problems but they are small in comparison to all the good things in our lives.

Kai and Sora got their first COVID vaccinations.  Thank
goodness the vaccination rate in Santa Clara is very high!

Jad has been waking up early lately.  He comes over to snuggle with us (me mostly) and it's a bit annoying but at the same time very joyful.  I'm tired so I'll take him to the office so Amy can keep sleeping and usually we end up tickling each other and laughing for about 15 mins before I take him downstairs to read a book to him.  I know I'm encouraging it by playing with him but it is true that he's the last one we'll have at this stage so we're enjoying it while we can.  Sometimes when I'm at work, he'll come find me and cry when he realizes I'm gone.  Amy then has to placate him and usually they'll call me or send me a text full of emoji's.  

Awake early with mom

In a similar vein of giving extra attention to the youngest, recently Jad couldn't sleep so he slept on top of Amy's tummy on the floor for a bit before getting back into bed.  It reminds me of this poem called The Last Time by Jonathan Fanning which is just incredibly sad and poignant.  Truly for parents everywhere.. have tissues handy.

Gotta enjoy those moments

Kai also had his last official week of soccer.  Their team, The Vipers, competed in a weekend tournament and they did spectacular.  Kai has improved a great deal since he started and we're very proud of him.  He even chose to do a soccer clinic in a couple weeks to hone his skills!  They played four games and got to the finals, finishing 2nd overall in the tournament.  We're trying to see if we can keep Alan as the coach and play together again in the spring.  Pretty awesome!

Action Kai!

Celebrating with Coach Alan

Sora has been busy too.  The 1st grade PPP class is better at arranging playdates so they are often meeting up at the park.  Thanks for the parents who make PPP happen.

Playing with the friends

In the middle of the soccer tournament weekend, we left Kai at home with the Aoalins and went up to see Ngoc.  It was great to see Lee J and her, have dinner and catch up.  I'm glad they are doing well and it's always wonderful to see Ngoc, who I feel like I can instantly have a connection with and we can talk about almost anything without holding back.  

That pot of pho looks bigger than us but it's just
merely gigantic 

We dropped Amy off while I drove home and picked up Kai and got the kids to bed.  The next morning, Amy, Ngoc and Lee J woke up at 445a to go run their trail half marathon.  Then Amy took the BART back after lunch and managed to catch Kai's last soccer game. 

Great job, love!

It wasn't over yet for our crazy weekend though.  Amy worked that night from 11p-3a and then got home by 4a and then had to watch the kids all day while I got up at 530a and went to the ER.  Sigh, remind us not to have such crazy weekends, please.  I think Amy is taking a break from running for a while so it might be time to get her a bicycle..

Lastly, we got the Xmas tree up this week while the kids were at home for Thanksgiving break.  We've had this small artificial tree for 9 (or 10?) years now and it is a bit worse for wear but it has certainly seen us through a lot of Christmases.  Happy Holidays!

Three little monkeys sitting in a tree..

Amy's Birthday / Sora's Birthday / Open house weekend

 The end of the year is always busy for us because of the holidays and several birthdays.  Just having wrapped up Jad's the week previous, last week was Amy's and Sora's birthdays.  These parties are exhausting! :)

Amy celebrated her birthday by going out and running 4.1 miles.  Brings to mind the old saying..

"Run for fun!  What the hell kind of fun is that?" -Back to the Future 3

Pretty amazing, this one.. running with a pink crown

Met up with Amy's parents for lunch at Kazuma

In the evening, we had the neighbors over (David too) and celebrated.  A good time was had by all.  Just another Wednesday on RCC.

Honestly love our neighbors

A different kid of hat for our Mexican themed celebration

Group hug from Jad for mama's birthday

Veteran's day was off for the kids this week so, while I was at work, Amy took them to Uncle Wilson's grave site.  Thank you to all the soldiers who have fought for our country over the years!

Kai is in his last couple weeks of soccer.  The Vipers have been doing great lately, having found their stride after a couple months together.  There's a big tournament coming up next weekend.

The intensity is palpable in this one

I love this picture of Kai.. I don't think he's getting hit, 
just anticipating :p

During the games, Sora is usually playing with Noe but Lupita also showed up this week. 

David Aoalin helped to build a tire fort for them

This weekend, the Hall house also went on the market.  When the Carlyle and Shell houses went up, we were respectful and gave them plenty of berth but this time, the neighbors went all out.  Both Saturday and Sunday, we set up on the Aoalins' driveway with kids running around and shooting each other with nerf guns.  There were drinks (offered to prospective buyers too) as well as music pumping for most of the afternoon.  Hey, if you don't like this kind of scene then hopefully, you won't put in on offer for this house.  

Sun's out, guns out!

Much chalk was crushed into the driveway

I'm going to see how this video works.  The quality isn't great but just to give an impression of the hours of "work" we put in.  

There was a similar scene on Sunday with Sora's birthday party going on so even more kids were running about. 

By the time the open house closed on Sunday evening, we had made friends with the real estate agent showing the house and she came over for a glass of wine with us and the neighbors.  She promised to get us a good family!

Lastly, Sunday was Sora's birthday and it was a FULL day.  While Kai is a bit more reserved and has his close crew of besties, Sora is more inclusive.  Not a social butterfly or anything (she can still be quite shy at times) but she wanted to invite a lot of friends between church, school and neighbors.  Before COVID, it might has been more manageable but especially now, it seemed like a lot of people to gather together.  We basically had to break things up into two parties to make it work.  In the end, all was well and a good time was had by all but we are all pretty exhausted.

I had work on Saturday evening so I worked til 10p then cleaned up the house until about 1am before getting to bed.  Amy went to sleep early because she had signed up for a 10 mile run in Marin months before and had to get up at 5am to drive there.  

She did great and got a cool shirt, necklace and medal

I got the kids up and through breakfast and took them all to church where I had to help teach Sunday school.  Amy drove back, went pick up two cakes and then to In N Out where she picked up lunch for the 1st party.   

We met up with our church friends at the park right after service

Then we headed home to prep for the neighbors and school friends party.  We ended up spending much of it outdoors in front (thank goodness for good weather) but eventually moved it indoors.  Sora got a few love notes from the boys in her class.. sigh, this one is going to be a handful when she gets bigger :p 

That's a lot of kids

That's all for now.  I'll leave you with this picture of the boys..

Wonder where they got those smooth moves?! :D

Jad's birthday // Halloween // School pics // Sick // Casey and Amy's birthday

 Two weeks since the last post!  I was "off" last week so didn't get a chance to blog.  Though there was no official work, it was still super busy for us with Halloween, Jad's birthday, cleaning up the house, eye appointments and some mild illnesses.

Friday night before Halloween, we all had a nice dinner
and drinks with the neighbors.. Amy got a little tipsy that day..

That Saturday, we gathered with church friends at a park on Saratoga (they have nicer grass and facilities.. better budget :)  It was really fun with about 15 families and lots of kids.  There were games, costumes and candy exchanging.. Great work organizing, West San Jose LSF!

Everyone was in costume.. good times!

There were lots of games but the highlight was Tug-o-War

First, kids vs kids..

.. then some of the adults vs all the kids.. I'll be honest, we didn't
give much and the kids totally won it

Post victory candy celebration

After that, we went home and had a birthday party with our neighbors for Jad.  He just turned 4 and he wants us to call him Big Jad more now, even though he's still a little guy in our hearts. 

He's such a cutie

Presents included new nerf guns, RC monster trucks
and hot wheels set!

This was the first real Halloween in two years since COVID started so the kids (all of us really) were excited.  Kai coordinated with the church friends and did a group Among Us costumes.  Sora did the same and many of the little girls at church were cats or kittycorns(?)  Jad was a dinosaur and then switched to a Batman shirt for the evening.  

Among Us with Joelle in a premium inflatable costume in back

We had 25 kids and like 20 adults along for our 
Halloween walk to Holly St

Chaos ensues .. we went up to houses and they were
like, "how many kids are in this group?!"

Wally and Sora were both feline

Someone had a fog and bubble machine set
up with laser lights.. dance party!

Kai counted all the loot they got.. 
over 200 pieces of candy!

We're still working our way through a giant bowl of candy and I think some of it is going to get dumped in the break room at work :)  Unfortunately, both Jad and Kai got a bit sick over the weekend.  Very mild congestion and cough but I kept Kai home on Monday and we got some quality one on one time.  Luckily, they are all better now.

He's so good when it's just him.. 
Us at Costco having lunch

Amy is still training for her trail half marathon but running low on steam lately.  I can understand as it's cold out and muddy with all the rain.  Only two more weeks til the big race!  Then I think she may take a break from running.. maybe get a bicycle :)

Up at Alum Rock

Jad also had a weekday celebration with the grandparents
where David made him a rainbow Jello

Kai and Sora took great school pics this year..

This past weekend, we celebrated a joint birthday celebration for Amy and Casey, our 2 year old neighbor.  Lots of fun as usual, spent the whole day in their backyard.  Alex, Kendra and Virginia really cooked up a storm and there was so much food and drink.  We also made Jello shots with leftovers from Jad's party.  RCC Crew rocks!!

Cake from Clover, of course

Jello shots.. what are we, in college?

The adult side of the birthday party

I'll finish off with a couple of pics of the kids doing their activities.  Kai's soccer season is wrapping up.  Their team has really improved and, while Niko and Chase are the strongest players, Kai and everyone else is contributing too.  Sora is still enjoying gymnastics with Noe and loves all the balancing and tumbling that they do.. parents do not love how expensive it is :p

Having a professional photographer dad on
team is a ridiculous advantage

Sora is the 2nd from the left.  I'm glad they are letting 
us back into the gym now so we can see her better

That's it for now.  Amy's birthday coming up this week and Sora's birthday this weekend.  The end of the year is always busy!