Too Much Sugar

Last Saturday we attended the first birthday party for Mason Yim, son of Patrick and Veronica. It was held at Happy Hollow Park in San Jose.

Before I get any further, I'd like to say that Chrissy now knows about this blog. Apparently several of you mentioned it to her at the party (you know who you are). Maybe you were unaware it was my big secret, but that's ok, I knew I would have to tell her eventually. I kept it from her for 4 months. Hopefully it won't ruin our marriage. So in my response I kindly told her that she wouldn't be interested and that she's not allowed to read it. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, as we parked our car, the first thing that caught our boys' eyes wasn't the balloons, the food or the people. It was the giant train piñata. They've been to enough parties to know what's inside. And the natural assumption is that the bigger the piñata, the more candy inside—and they've never seen one this big! Well, as you can see in the video below, they were not disappointed. There were pencils, stickers and erasers in there too, but for some reason, none of those items found their way into my boys' goody bags—weird. The cake was quite incredible too, airbrushed with clouds, cars and trains. It rivaled the size of some wedding cakes I've seen. It was chocolate on top and banana on the bottom. To fully appreciate the cake, I had to have two slices ;p


After 4 hours in the park, we took a pit (poop) stop at Peggy's house in Milpitas and played with her kids for an hour. After that, off to the Great Mall where we walked the entire mall in search of Thomas trains. Then for dinner we tried Lee's Sandwiches for the first time (tasty but nowhere as meaty and cheap as Oakland Chinatown).

As we embarked on our 45-minute drive home, the boys were wide awake for most of the ride, maybe finally falling asleep during the last 10 minutes. When we got home, they woke up and couldn't wait to take inventory of all their candies and goodies. Normally with long play days and long car rides, I would have to carry all the kids in. But obviously the sugar in the candy, cake, soda, etc. is fueling their little engines. They were really wired. In fact, that was when I filmed Colby's Butterfly Song on my previous post. Yes, after 5 hours of playing, a mile of walking, two long car rides, that's how much energy they still had at 10 p.m.! I was wiped out. I should've ate more cake.

Thank you for the Music
Last night, Dustin's school, Jensen Ranch, had an open house. During the dinner portion, the kids performed a song that they learned through their "Music for Minors" program. Don't know about you, but I was expecting a little more "music" in the performance. It was more like a cheering competition at a pep rally. Maybe it just needed some piano accompaniment (I'm such a critic). Well you can take a listen yourself.


My Last Day
Today is my last weekday at home. Tuesday I'll be back at work. Hard to believe that 12 weeks have already passed. At the beginning of my vacation I had a list of the things I wanted to do around the house. I think I may have accomplished maybe 15% of that list. It's not like I didn't have the time, but more like I'd rather do something else, like play video games with the kids (or nap with baby). This morning I walked Dustin to school for the last time and this afternoon I'll pick him up for the last time. I can honestly say that I don't always enjoy the transporting, the homework, the fatherly policing, but I'm sure I'll miss it. It's times like these where I'm glad I have a blog to record my daily adventures. I'll revisit these pages in a few years from now and know that this was the best three months of my life!

The Butterfly Song

When we first were told that Colby had to learn this song, I was thinking no way a 4-year old can sing this. There are too many verses, the words go really quick, and there's not enough repetition. But all credit to Teacher Kathy and her staff, Colby memorized it in no time. I guess I need to have a little more confidence in my kids.

In my previous post, you saw the Mother's Day performance video. In case you did not understand what they were singing, here is an encore solo performance by Colby (he's been singing it every day). No guarantee you'll understand the song any better, but he definitely adds a funky twist toward the end. Hopefully you'll get a good laugh. Poor Justine, these are the goofball brothers she'll have to depend on... sigh.

Mother's Day Wiikend

Ever since Thanksgiving I've been trying to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii. I still regret not lining up with Chrissy's cousins the night before Black Friday in 30-degree weather at the mall. And I'm still upset that those cousins have not once invited us over to play! It's been 6 months now and the stores still can't get them stocked (because greedy people like Patty bought like 4 of them). So I've been combing Craigslist trying to find a good price on a used bundle. Note: Wii System is $250. Extra remote and nunchuk (required for multiplayer games) is $60. Total with tax is $335. So $300 seems like a realistic price target for something everyone wants.

Last week I finally found one in Livermore. The Wii with extra remote & nunchuk, 2 additional Wii games (with steering wheel), 7 additional Gamecube games, 2 Gamecube controllers, a memory card, and a cool Nintendo travel bag. $300. Some spoiled 13 year-old was secretly using his mom's email to post the ad and his dad's cell phone to sell it. I hooked up with his dad to make the deal. His dad was not happy at all considering he spent over $500 on it just 5 months ago. But by the looks of their toy collection, they seemed very wealthy so no bad feelings here. He honored the deal and I was thrilled.

So I'm coming home and wondering how Chrissy might react to me spending this much money on a toy. For the record, Chrissy has NEVER questioned, nagged, or frowned upon any of my purchases, great or small. She knows I'm not an impulsive shopper but instead, a shameless, low-balling bargain hunter. A true Craigslist predator. But $300 is still a lot of money. And some guilt started to creep in. But no way I was going to give this up. I've waited 6 months for this! So what was I going to do??

My solution was perfect. I decided to give the Wii to Chrissy for Mother's Day!

Before you roll your eyes (or bust up laughing), let me explain how perfect this is. First of all, Chrissy never plays video games with the boys (the quick thinking button action only frustrates her). So this will help her to be more willing to play with them and the boys will think she's cool--she already enjoys the bowling game quite a bit. Secondly, she's been saying (not me) that she needs more exercise. What better way to burn calories than to virtually punch out your sassy son? It's a great stress reliever too! And thirdly, because it's a gift, she not allowed to find out how much I spent! I tell you, I amaze myself sometimes!

On Saturday we hosted lunch for her side of the family and on Sunday we celebrated with my side. The Wii was hit on both days. Most people played it for the very first time. Regular video games can be so intimidating with all the buttons and sequences. But with the Wii, you just need to do what comes natural, like punching, swinging, driving, etc. Real easy stuff, great exercise and a real crowd pleaser. Below is a video of Dustin duking it out with his Uncle Ricky.



Mother's Day at CIBC
On Sunday's Mother's Day morning service, we were treated to a couple of performances by the children's Sunday School classes. Both Colby and Dustin participated and Colby's still singing that butterfly song to this day. If you can't see Colby, he's the one that's blocked by Pastor Jason's head. Thanks to Wayland for videotaping it for me (because I totally forgot).

The Days are Numbered

Hard to imagine, but two weeks from today I will be back at work. My seemingly endless days with the boys are about to end. These 13 weeks are slipping away fast. I wonder if there will ever be another time in my life where I'll have such a large chunk of time to spend with my young children. Probably won't happen (unless we have another kid--highly unlikely). And as the boys get older, they'll slowly stop wanting to spend time with dad. Fortunately I still have a little girl waiting for all my attention. But in the meantime, I'll try to make the best of these final days.

Yesterday morning, Colby and I were able to spend some time at the park with Arthur and Jacob. The weather was perfect and the wind finally picked up to launch a kite (Colby's first time and my first time in over 30 years). Just a really nice father-and-son time for everyone. This is what being a dad is all about.

The Crime Scene

On Monday night I finally got caught up with one of my favorite shows, Desperate Housewives. Yeah I know it's a raunchy show, but I find the touching storylines and ruthless humor irresistible. The backstabbing and conniving are by far the most creative too. The latest episode talked about being victims of crime as Lynette's pizza pub got robbed. As I watched, I wondered how it would feel getting robbed. Well I experienced the feeling the very next day.

My mom's house in Oakland got broken into on Tuesday. My niece Sarah lives there and they came in through an open window while she was at work. And of course they came through a window which I had removed the burglar bars! Ahh, I've never hear the end of it!

I drove my mom to the crime scene after dinner. Upon entering, it was like a movie, every room ransacked and upended. They were very thorough going through every drawer, cabinet and closet. As I helped my mom clean up, we realized that none of her stuff was missing! They went through her jewelry but I guess they're not really into jade or 14k chains. They opened up some red envelopes--ones with quarters in them, but totally missed the ones with $5 and $10 bills. Loser.

Sarah was missing $60 cash and all her jewelry, mostly costume jewelry but she did lose a pair of diamond earrings. Although according to her, "I didn't buy them." So perhaps she's not too upset over them (maybe they came from an ex-boyfriend). They did not take her 20" LCD monitor or computer which had all her personal info, so she's real fortunate. I think the thief was frustrated, picking the poorest house in the neighborhood. Other than the earrings, he was out of luck. Sorry buddy, no iPods, digital cameras, PS3, or laptops for you!

Even though things could've been a lot worst, it's still an absolute horrible feeling knowing a stranger went through your stuff. Some of you may have experienced having your car broken into, well this is like ten times worst. Sure we don't have to deal with insurance, deductible and repairs, but the anger, fear, and uneasiness will continue to haunt us for a while (especially my mom, who'll spend this weekend there). Hopefully the thief will tell his buddies our house is a dud and is a waste of time. Robbing our house is like going to a buffet where all the food is stale.

Times like these I like to remember that the Lord is always watching over us. He gives us trials to test our faith and to build us up. It also reminds me not to get attached to material wealth. They can get stolen, vandalized or heck, the thief could've even burned down the house! It's amazing how fast something can be gone. For us to get through this relatively unscathed, is a true testament to the merciful God we trust in. If you think about it, there are way too many scenarios that could've happened, like what if the thief confronted Sarah? So we're just extremely thankful at this point that no one was hurt and no damage was done. Things can be replaced, lives cannot.

Well this surely was a wake up call to all of us. Lock your windows and survey your surroundings. Protect your family and don't be a victim. Man, I'm really gonna hate putting back up those burglar bars!