she had her first performance at school today. we are ready for halloween, 2 days early too! i'm proud to say that we recycled lots and even cam's costume was completely FREE 🙂 yay :)
christmas
christmas eve play at church, E and I were both angels 🙂 
i need to get more pics from my SIL, as this was such a special play for us… our whole family participated. kira was mary and chris was one of the wise men and the boys were shepards.
christmas morning:
my handmade gift from my husband- so sweet 🙂
he and cam went all around town taking polaroid pics of trees. one of my favorite things.
then it was off to grammies and grampies across the street for christmas morning with them
kira and her cousin. my SIL and her family were here for the week. such a special time with them!
cam had such a cute little quirk this year while opening presents. he’d open then cover them up right away.
then back home for a little rest,then back to grammies for the whole family christmas together.
claiming to be camera shy:
but proving otherwise a bit later:
she got use to the present thing very quickly 🙂
then it was time for family entertainment 🙂
(k17 flashback auts and amihan!)
kk stoked to have the 5 golden rings part 🙂
next morning, the girls went out to see benjamin button and chris set up some pics. looooove these of these 2! they are 3 years apart but were total buds the whole trip.
and a few of my favorite things- my husband and ginko leaves 🙂
happy new year blog land! i cannot believe it will be 2009 tomorrow.
merry christmas from the waters
we didn’t send christmas cards out this year due to my low tolerance of stress levels, i did manage to whip this up in photoshop just now thanks to kira’s swift decision making skills. every single card WE received was just amazing. thank you so much for sharing your families with us. lovely. we wish you a merry christmas and a wonderful new year!
making stuff
the kids and i got a bee in our bonnets last night and made 5 of these puppies! so fun, and so gratifying to use up all those ribbons 🙂 
tonight, we tackle on the teacher presents! 🙂
and here are a few more from the dodger day… elsie waiting in the car before we got there 🙂
dad has hopes of her playing ball 🙂
and me with my favorite ball player 🙂
oh! also added my next 7 pages for my december daily book over here… just trying to condense blog space 🙂
december daily journal days 4-9
im so proud of myself for making it into week 2 of the journal, LOL.
i added the white packaging behind so you can see the writing on the transparency, it’s not there IRL. 
front of 9
back of 9
ice skating in LA
after 5 long, hot soccer games in 3 days (kira's soccer tournament) we decided to celebrate with some cool outdoor ice skating. in LA? nu-uh! 🙂 we loved it! perfect timing, they had to clear the snow just as we got there!
you know you are skating in LA when you see this posted on the side of the Zamboni:
loved these of these 2:
and cam, kira and i decided to stay on the sidelines and watch. kira is usually all about ice skating but i think 5 soccer games was catching up to her. but gee, that ice gives off nice light :)
and caleb who wants to know how to skate so badly but doesn't quite have the patience for it. but had a good time anyways.
and then the tears when it's time to go.
thank goodness for the free starbucks coupons we got from ice skating, we went to 3rd street to cheer her up. 🙂
last week at school
on our way to the 5th grade's state float parade. as fun as this project should be- i dread it. for the 3 months that it is preassigned, i stress. i have high hopes for child 3 and 4 to get a head start and get the creative juices flowing 🙂
it appears elsie has what chris and his other family members have- eyes that are sensitive to light. this girl can't go in sunlight without her glasses. oh i wish i stocked up when they were on sale after summer.
cam chose west virginia as virginia was taken.. our family has big love for the state of virginia 🙂 good memories.
especially this little guy who was born there. we can't wait to go back and take a family vacation there someday.
at his little thanksgiving feast/performance 🙂
im seriously slacking on kira pics! putting on my to do list as she is home this week from school. she's just a busy little bee, that girl 🙂
halloween
kira was an 80’s girl, cam was a dragon (sorta!) and caleb a football player. E was to be d—d-d–d—dora but when dad came home with this outfit from singapore.. dora wasn’t given the time of day! oh well.
holy cow, a group shot with all 4 kids!?! 🙂
caleb- his little shamrocks were faded at this point.
cam–when you’re in 5th grade, you sorta dress up. you can’t commit to a full costume.. you have one foot in the i’m too cool door, but still one in the i wanna have fun door. 🙂 this was our compromise, ala mom stitching 🙂
and kira, voguing!
and our little singapore princess 🙂
i wanted to say thank you to everyone who emailed about the protection of the blog. i was overwhelmed by the concern and support. for now on, comments will be moderated. thank you again.
the card that didn’t get sent
or even ordered to be printed. i am sorry. i just got behind. and then chris thought it didn't look very christmas-y. so that really threw me off. anyways, as this glorious holiday approaches, i hope you all take the time to appreciate the little things. last night the kids and chris and i made fluffy beds downstairs and slept next to our christmas tree. we had all our little village houses lit up, and the tree too. it was beautiful. i woke up with chris telling me that he loves us all so much. i could not ask for a better memory. i loved it.
merry, merry christmas. see you in 2006.
pumpkins for my pumpkins
i have always taken my kids to a pumpkin patch to get their pumpkins. we make a day of it, trek out there and play with the wheelbarrows, the assorted halloween-y structures and stuff they have to entertain the kids and take a gazillion pictures. so this year, when cam kept asking me when we would go i kept putting him off. i'm in LA people, there's not exactly pumpkin patches on every corner. so to go means to plan and spend a good couple of hours. there and IN traffic. which sounds completely unappealing to me right now. so when we went to target today, we just happened to walk through the garden section and saw how cheap (4.00– you cannot beat that), big and nice the pumpkins looked. they totally wanted them. i wanted them. i was SO happy that meant we weren't gonna have to make the trek out to the patch. heehee. i felt like i cheated them of the memory, the tradition. but they really didn't care. and i am glad. 🙂
watersix 
