thanksgiving 2012

Let me preface this post by saying....I have been severely slacking in my picture taking lately.

And by "slacking," I mean that I don't even carry my camera with me most days anymore.

Gasp!  I know, it's like I'm a completely different person since acquiring the much nicer iPhone 5 with a better camera and flash!

Ok, so this year for Thanksgiving, I didn't have to make a turkey.  My sister Airi did.

My brother made the ham and my sister Elika made the pot roast.

(I know, I know...which one doesn't belong, right?  We were trying to be creative with our proteins this year...)

I made the mashed potatoes, heated up the corn, and made a large pan of tofu watercress salad.

(I know!  We were going for an eclectic Western-Asian theme this year) 

So, here's most of the kids.  I notice some of the little ones were missing...but when you're dealing with so many kids, really, it's kind of inevitable, right?

This was merely a smidgen of the food.  I didn't even bother taking pictures of all of it because it was SO much food!!  But right here is the main stuff anyway, right?

 After dinner, we gathered all the kids together for some friendly wrestling.

Yes, I said wrestling.  This lasted for quite a while, actually.

And involved most of the kids in various competitive combinations.

 Including a ninja or two as well.

 Airi's friend made a huge Thanksgiving mural and had all the kids (and adults) draw their handprint and decorate them into turkeys.  Cute, right?

Here's Anna's turkey.

 Jojo's turkey.

 Kela's turkey.

 Kaden's turkey. (that the girls decorated in his stead)

And my turkey...that the girls also decorated.

Apparently, mine also was the only one that spoke.

No reference to my constant nagging and scolding, I'm sure.

This year's Thanksgiving was a LARGE affair at my sister's house, filled with many friends and extended family, in addition to our own fairly large family.  The food was aplenty and the kids had so much fun gathered together to play and chat and eat!

Because isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?  Enjoying good food with great company.  We are so blessed to be able to enjoy both!   :)

putt putt golfing

Kaden's friend invited us to his 2nd birthday party...at a putt-putt golfing range.

(are they called "ranges" if it's putt-putt golf?)

Anyway, we were invited and even though it was a tad rainy, we all went and enjoyed ourselves.

(minus Kela, who had another activity to go to this day)

Here's a couple too many kids on the merry-go-round.

Kaden with his church nursery buddies,

C.J in the middle is the birthday boy, and Sammy on the way right is the same age as CJ.  

All 3 were born within 3 months of each other... unfortunately, Kaden looks way younger than the others.  :)

 Kaden in the lion's mouth.

Jojo on the pink elephant.

All of these were coin-operated rides.

Yes, we indulged and let them ride and ride and ride. 

You're only a kid once, right?

And yes, I followed him around and around...just to make sure he doesn't fall off the ride.

Paranoid mama right here.

 And then there was the putt-putt golfing.

My kids need some practice...

Obviously, the concept of taking turns is one we haven't quite mastered yet...

Did I mention we don't putt-putt golf much?

Hahaha...regardless of the rules, (not to mention the rain on this particular November afternoon) the kids had fun!  

the second halloween post

Our second celebration of Halloween was on Halloween Day.

Duh.

We had a Halloween Party at our church on October 31st.  

While I think it's LAME when Halloween lands on a weekday (seriously, the kids have school the next day? After consuming copious amounts of candy?!), it was nice to keep it early and low key at our church building.  The kids still didn't get to bed until close to 10pm...but what can you do, right?

So, here's the gang.

And in case you cannot tell (or forgot from 2 posts ago) Kela is a leopard girl (her words, not mine), Anna is a bat, Jojo is Tinkerbell and Kaden is Batman (minus the hood/ears because he cannot stand anything on his head).  Kaden was also still recovering from his bout of the stomach flu so he wasn't feeling so great.  Hence the teddy bear and pillow.

 And since we were leaving an empty house for our neighborhood trick or treaters....I left a small bucket of candy.  Hahaha...I highly doubt the candy inside lasted longer than 5 or 10 minutes.  But I don't really care.  We only left the "junk" candy inside anyway.  Ha!

 See?  Sick boy.

 This one was the happiest of all the kids.  Go figure.

 Here we are eating our spaghetti dinner before the candy collecting.

Picnic style!  :)

 Once the "trunk or treating" (trick or treating around the cars in the parking lot) begun...Jojo kept checking on her bag of candy.  Making sure to keep track of all the lollipops, I'm sure.  :P

 Anna...shooting a sling shot for her candy.

 Collecting more candy...

 Jojo and the sunglasses she "trick or treated" and got.  

 Kela and her friend Sophie Riding Hood. :)

 Even semi-sick...Kaden still manages to muster the energy to push the stroller around.

The kids with their cousins the Sakuma boys.  :)

Mitch just happened to be flying this night so it was just me and my kids.   And my brother's family as well.

Everyone was happy....except for ONE screaming child.  Oh well..you can't have it all, right?

Like I said, as much as I detest Halloween on a weeknight, there's some benefits to it as well.  

NO late night playing or excessive candy consuming on a Wednesday for our kids!

Yay!  Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween as well!

And to check out ALL our Halloween photos from this year, check them out HERE!

anna's teal rockstars!

After a fun (not to mention, HOT) 12 weeks, Anna's first soccer season in the U-8 league is finished!

 Here she is!

 And here's her team.  

The Teal Rockstars.

Coach Scott Bell and Assistant Coach VJ

And...here's some random shots taken throughout the season.

 GOAL!

(just kidding...it was during warm-ups)

 The post-game tunnel run.

It's a tradition.

 Anna...being aggressive.

She's actually gotten quite aggressive on the field, which we are really proud of!

 Serious concentration in the rain...

 A Goal shot!

 Next season, we need to work a bit more on dribbling...

...and shooting.  But for this season, we were very proud of our girl!

 She had a GREAT season!

She got along with her teammates and although the team was young and often times, on the docile side...she really enjoyed the season so we were happy and proud of her!

 And while Anna is hustling down the field...that leaves the rest of us on the sidelines cheering her on.

Even in the rain.

 We like to find creative ways to occupy this one.

He likes headbands, this guy.  

 He also likes to push the stroller around.  

When he isn't chasing Daddy around.

And the only time we let him actually "catch" Daddy is during the water breaks because Mitch is often refereeing the game.

 At the end of the season, they always have a potluck and awards ceremony with their teammates.

Here's Anna signing a poster for her teammates and coaches.  

 Yummy food!

 Kela with her friend, Sophie.  The coach's daughter.

Although Sophie is actually Kela's age, her late birthday puts her in the younger soccer division.  

Hence, Anna's team.  Kela is done with soccer...so won't be playing anymore.  At least, for a while.

 Soccer ring on the bright teal cupcake.

 Jojo.  And the cupcake that's bigger than her head!

 Here's Anna with Coach Scott!

Thanks for a GREAT season, Teal Rockstars!!

Maybe we'll see you again Spring season!!