Thursday, January 31, 2008

Finally...snow

Benji has been waiting all winter for snow, and today was the day. It wasn't deep enough to even try sledding until 5 p.m., but we were able to get a good hour of playing, sledding, snowball-throwing and even "snow swimming" in before it got dark. Zachary also enjoyed his first real snow. He REFUSED to keep his mittens on but didn't seem to mind the cold hands (or maybe he did but he doesn't have the words to tell me). One thing that kept him occupied at least 15 minutes was "painting" the snow. He grabbed an old trim paint brush from the garage and painted the snow all over the front yard. Benji said Zachary looked like a "motorcycle guy" in his snow jacket. Apparently leather jackets are on their way out and Old Navy puffer jackets will be the new "motorcycle guy" fashion trend. :)

Here are a few shots from the fun:

You can see Zac gripping the aforementioned paint brush in the picture above.


Our driveway is one of the best hills in our neighborhood. Here is Benji is pulling the sled back up to try again.

Mommy pulling the boys.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The cure for a weary mother

Ailment: Weariness in motherhood

Cure: Get sick. But make sure you do it on a day your husband can take off work. Or maybe even be sick for two days. Lie around all day. Hear all the fun your kids and husband are having. You will want to join in.

I am now on day two and am ready to join back in. In fact, I wasn't particularly weary in motherhood to begin with, so now I am super-ready to be back in the flow of daily life with these great 3 guys who are my family.

Monday, January 21, 2008

The ultimate compliment

I bought myself some new earrings a few weeks ago - simple, gold hoops. Yes, I know I'm wild and crazy. This afternoon Benji gave me the same compliment for the third time, "I like your earrings Mommy. They look like frisbees." Just what every girl wants to hear. I guess I need to take him with me next time I go shopping for jewelry.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

The perils of photographing children

All I was trying to do was get a shot with both boys in their Chinese outfits yesterday. Mission NOT accomplished.Benji thought the whole photo idea was great, as evidenced by his super-happy facial expression. Zac, on the other hand, thought these silk pajamas were ridiculous. And don't even get him started on the stupid matching hat with a braid down the back. That was off in less than a second.

So how do you make a Chinese boy happy after he is in tears as the result of photographic-torture... pretzels.

Free plug for Shaker MP3 player


Our old boombox that was playing lullaby music for Zac's naptimes and bedtimes recently died, so Shearn Yoong looked around, found this for less than $30, and it arrived today. It's really tiny, not bad sound quality, portable, and quite fun. Benji has confiscated it for his room, so now we'll need to order another for Zac. And now we can make a little more noise in the living room without disturbing our light sleepers.

And yes, this is Laurel, not Shearn Yoong. Anybody who knows us well will realize the fact that I am posting a technology post is really quite extraordinary - definitely not my field of knowledge or interest.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Round dumpling wrappers

Who knew that round dumpling wrappers would become such a rare commodity? I have visited four different stores in the last few days in search for the elusive round wrappers to no avail. Super Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Wal-Mart, Harps, and IGA all do not carry them. Does anybody in NWA know where to get them? I ended up buying the square won-ton wrappers which aren't perfect for jiao-zi dumplings but will have to work for tonight's dinner. Perhaps these supermarkets are trying to tell me to learn to make them from scratch. To which I tell the stores - maybe when my kids are older!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Pictures

Heavy cargo

What a sweet son!

Benji with his godparents, Ryan and Jill