House Hunt- January

This week I've gotten serious about the house hunting trip Len will take in April. I went through all of the house e-mails we've received from our realtor and made a spreadsheet up. I've narrowed down our top 3. I'm sure they'll be sold by the time he gets there, but hopefully we'll find something equally good or better for our family. Each month before the trip, I plan on posting our top 3. Please cross your fingers for us that we'll find something we can afford and will enjoy living in.

House #1 is cute on the outside and immaculate on the inside, really like it.

House #2 has a nice brick exterior, but still a little bland on the outside. However, the inside is fantastic! Not only does it have your living rooms on the main floor, and a gorgeous rec room in the basement, it also has a huge family room upstairs- a rarity for Canada.

House #3 isn't all that on the outside, but the inside was just remodeled. The bedrooms are huge (which is great for the 3 boys), and the basement is fantastic too. It also has a pool and hot tub in the backyard.

This is a picture of the home I would love to build in Ottawa. Upstairs it has 5 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The main floor has a living room, dining room, kitchen, dinette, family room, home office, bathroom, and laundry. The basement has a huge rec room and another bathroom. I love the porch in the front too. Maybe someday we'll be able to build it!

If we're speaking of DREAM homes though, I found this one that I COULD live in, if I had too- tee hee!

I'm ready for six kids

On Wednesday, my friend Lori went to the hospital to have her third baby (can't wait to meet sweet Sadie). Her older two kids came and spent the day and night with us. My kids were thrilled to have friends over, and to have their first slumber party with friends (they've only had them with cousins before). I was thrilled because all 5 kids got along wonderfully. I was thinking- I've got 5 kids I'm taking care of on the outside, plus 1 on the inside, yeah I could handle 6. I think every dress up costume was worn and every toy was played with, but there wasn't a single disagreement all day. Of course, I know my kids always do better with friends than each other. When they're just with their siblings it's much easier to get bored and to fight, but I can still dream, right?


When it was time for bed we set up our queen-size foam for Sophie and Lucas in Noe's room and moved Kaleb's mattress in. Lucas was a little sad at first, but the 3 big kids wanted to party all night long. We eventually got all 4 of them to sleep.


Gavin enjoys his late nights with daddy much more than a silly slumber party.


The next morning I wanted a group shot in their pajamas. The girls were too fast and already had their princess dresses on, and of course Gavin didn't feel like cooperating. I don't know why he's so opposed to group shots lately, little stink. They spent the day with us today too, and seriously it was so great. It's just nice to have friends and siblings to play with!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Our family wishes yours a very Happy Chinese New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le! I had the kids wear their Chinese costumes to church on Sunday (thank goodness last year's still fit).


Kaleb and Noe had their celebration at school on Friday too. All the kids were asked to wear traditional costumes or the color red. They had some fun activities, ate a dumpling lunch, and Kaleb & Noe gave each of their classmates hong baos (red envelopes) filled with gold-wrapper Hershey's kisses.


Gavin had his celebration at Kindermusik on Thursday. The kids wore traditional costumes too, and we all brought snacks to share. The teacher had a cute little craft for them to make and gave them red envelopes with stickers inside.

It's not Chinese New Year without LOTS of fireworks and firecrackers. We have our "decorative" firecrackers hanging on our door.

The Chinese Zodiac animals- Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake,

Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster,

Dog, Pig, Rat, and Ox.

We hope as the Ox transforms Heaven and Earth this year, that you will be blessed with lots of Kuai (Gold/Money). Or in other words, we wish you a prosperous new year!

Chinese food, anyone?

Gavin and I signed up to host playgroup this week...


...and my sweet friends Lydia and Chiu-Yi wanted to teach us how to make some Chinese food for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. Of course, I was thrilled to volunteer our kitchen.


Lydia and Chiu-Yi brought all the ingredients and had prepared a lot of it before hand. We still had some work to do shredding and chopping vegetables and stir-frying them up.


Many hands make for light work. (I just wish I had more cutting boards and better knives.)

The 13 little rugrats played AMAZINGLY well together, while the moms cooked.

Stuffing and crimping the dumplings. I'm guessing we made around 360!

The feast! The 6 plates on the left are the dumplings we made that we divided up and everyone took home for dinner. The ingredients on the right were going to be used for spring rolls, but it was lunch time by the time we were done and we were all starving...

...so Brother Wu stopped by and taught us how to make ren-bings (kind of like Chinese burritos). They were DELICIOUS and I had two. Notice the cool celery "brush" he made too for us to spread the hot sauce on with- love it!

Gavin liked the ren-bings too.

However, half-way through it fell apart and then he just wanted to play and make a mess.

The "moms"- Me, Leone, Kay, Ulu, Lydia, Nicole, Lori (back row). Amanda, Young-Ae, Chiu-Yi, Mavis (front row). Carrie had to leave early for a doctor's appointment, but we all had a great time visiting and cooking, and my family was so happy to have the tasty dumplings for dinner that night!

Gettin' Trunky

We've been in Taiwan for almost 3 1/2 years now. Now that we're down to the final 6 months, I am ready to pack our "trunks" and hit the road. When the time comes to actually move I will be very sad. I will miss Taiwan a lot, especially the wonderful friends here, but for now I find myself daydreaming about our future in Canada quite often.

First of all, I dream about our home. Len will go back in April to house hunt and will hopefully be able to make an offer on our first house. We've been getting e-mails from our realtor and I've been salivating to get the ball rolling. I have to remember to be patient (my most lacking quality). We gave away ALL of our furniture before we moved here, because it was all old hand-me-downs anyway, plus we didn't want to store it for 4 years. I'm nervous and excited about redecorating. I figure the easiest place to start is the bedrooms, and I can do a little of that planning from here, so I've begun. JCPenney is having an amazing bedding sale right now, so I went ahead and ordered a couple of things.

This will be for Leonard's and my new King-size bed! I can't wait for us to finally have a new bedroom set of our own too. I originally wanted something in pale seaside blues & greens with bronze accents, but this champagne & taupe number was marked down to such a great deal I just couldn't pass it up! I think we'll paint our walls in the seaside shade though, instead of the periwinkle they have in the picture.

This will be Noe's new bedding, and she LOVES it! I want to paint her walls black on the bottom third, pink on the top 2/3's, and then have a white chair rail to divide. She'll inherit my old childhood furniture, but I'm going to paint it white with black trim and the little yellow flowers will become pink. I've already been sketching out the paintings I want to do for her too. I can't wait to live near Michael's again!

I haven't bought the boys' bedding yet, because we don't know if all 3 will be in the same room or if Kaleb will have his own room, while the 2 little boys share. Anyway, I love this set (as does Kaleb) and I hope it's still available once we know our future sleeping arrangements. I want to paint the bottom part of the walls tan, the top denim blue, with a crimson chair rail in the middle. He'll inherit my & Leonard's old furniture that I want to paint crimson too. I've also sketched some paintings for him, and I love those rustic stars shown in the picture.

If all 3 boys share a room, then Kaleb & Gavin will get bunk beds with matching twin quilts. Baby #4 will get this little plaid number to coordinate with them.

If Gavin and baby boy share a room I want to do something in these colors- turquoise, olive, and brown. I haven't sketched yet, but I'm thinking of doing frogs, turtles, and dragonflies OR dinosaurs. The little guys will get new furniture too, thank goodness there's an IKEA in Ottawa!

*Of course, with all of my daydreaming I've also been thinking about having more girls. Who knows if it will happen, but if it does I'm already itching to do their room in lavender, aqua, and cream. With lots of flowers, butterflies, and ladybugs of course. I'm sure I'll post more later as I create visions for our living room, dining room, office, and playroom etc.

**I've also been daydreaming about my "Dream Jen" self. You know the woman I want to be, but have so far to go to be her. I see our move as a new beginning where I can set new goals and work to become her. Some different areas I've been thinking about are:

FAMILY- I want to schedule a monthly date night for Len & I; a monthly parent & child date night; a monthly family outing; and re-institute Friday family night pizza and a movie.

CHILDREN- I want each child to have one extracurricular activity again, and I hope Kaleb & Noe can start taking piano lessons too. I also want to have a weekly playgroup for the little boys, and a bi-weekly craft & bake group for the big kids and their friends to make a seasonal craft and festive treat for each month.

SOCIAL- We have great friends in Ottawa, and I am SO excited to get to spend time with them again. I'm looking forward to being a real (and not just an honorary) member of our monthly book club again. I also want to have a monthly scrap/craft night. I like the analogy of craft nights being the modern "quilting bees", let's face it- it's just more enjoyable to create with friends than by yourself. I also want to have a monthly picnic/dinner with friends too. We will still miss our families and our other friends too, so I hope I can continue to keep in touch with all of our loved ones.

CRAFTY- Besides the monthly craft night I want to have, I will still have a ton of projects to work on on my own. Ten years ago, I took some tole-painting classes and bought a lot of unfinished wood for cute holiday/seasonal decor. They're in storage in Canada, and I can't wait to get them all back. I'm giving myself an ultimatum though, if I don't finish them within a year, I will donate the wood to someone else who will finish them. Also, with all of the interior decorating I want to do, I want to just focus on one room a month. Even though I dream of a picture-perfect home, I love the process of decorating and want to savor the journey. With our first home and yard, I also want to try my hand at planting a small (very small) garden.

PERSONAL- I just want to set daily and weekly routines for exercise, spiritual nourishment, cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking. Len and I have been talking about a new way of eating we want to start having and I am excited to jump in. I also want to be more consistent in our holiday traditions, but also enjoy the everyday more.

***I know there is no magic wand that will transform me into my dream self, but I do think it's important to dream and set goals, and then work to make the transformation without the need of a magic wand. You know, the self-fulfilling prophecy thing. Yeah, I believe in it!

Nostalgia

I got tagged in this photo on facebook, and wanted to add it here. It's from the last home football game ever at (the original) Las Vegas High School- 1992. Senior cheerleaders- standing: Gemma, Lezlie, Leslie, ME; kneeling: Patrece, Bethany; (not pictured: Shaughna, & Rocky).

It's crazy to think this picture was taken HALF of my lifetime ago. Time sure flies!!!

43 out of 100

I've been getting several "bucket list" e-mails lately, and I saw this on my friend's blog, so I thought I'd add it here. If you put it on your blog, please let me know so I don't miss it!

Copy the list and highlight the ones (mine are Red) that are true about you!

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a Praying Mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21.Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Talked your way out of a ticket

Here's to completing the other 57!

The Date's Been Set!

My sister, Mandy and her fiance, Coleman will be getting married March 28th! Yahoo! I can't wait for their wedding!!!

The Music Man

Gavin is in his 4th semester of Kindermusik now, and he just loves it. He loves his teacher, his friends, and my friend Lori (as he always goes and sits in her lap after each activity.) Like his big brother and sister, he loves music- to sing, to play instruments, and to dance to it.


The tambourine is one of his favorite instruments because you can pat it like a drum or shake it like a maraca.


He also loves the xylophone,

look at him play!

Once he got the jingle bells, he was through with sitting still- he just had to dance! We love all the music our little man makes!

Baby Blue Ballerina

Noe is a beautiful free-style dancer. She moves her body in amazing ways to the rhythm of any music. She is in her third year of ballet and is really enjoying it. However, she also enjoys being a social butterfly, so sometimes her teacher Ms. Julie has to remind her to concentrate on dancing more and talking less. Last week after class, Noe told me that she did really well at paying attention. Way to go girl!


First position,


Second position,

Third position,

Fourth position,

and Fifth position. We just love to watch our twinkle toes dance!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting

Last year Kaleb played all 3 sports and really enjoyed it, but it was hard because his practices and games took up all of our Saturdays. I asked him if he would be interested in taking a Martial Arts class instead this year, since they are offered week days. He was very interested in doing that, so we signed him up for Kung Fu since it is the Chinese martial art and we are in Taiwan after all. (His school also offers Karate, Taekwondo, and Aikido.)


This is his practice uniform, and the characters on the back mean "the art of self-defense and attack." His performance jacket has the same characters on the back too.


Traditional Kung Fu doesn't use the colored-belt system, but our school has adapted it so the students can chart their progress. Kaleb started as a white belt and in December had his first test...

...and now he is a yellow belt! The boy has learned to throw a good punch and...

...kick! We are very proud of his hard work!

This summer we loved watching "Kung Fu Panda." To listen to one of our favorite songs, Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting simply click on it and enjoy! Noe's first year in ballet they did a dance to that song that was so cute (can you picture little 4 year old girls shouting "Hoo! Hah!") Their school also offers Kung Fu Dance, but it doesn't start until 2nd grade- bummer!

Just a little KISS

The only song I know from KISS is "Rock and Roll All Nite," but they are an iconic band with their crazy make-up and hair, and Gene Simmons' surgically-enhanced, crazy-long tongue! Thursday night was Len's WeiYa (Chinese New Year party for all of the Canadian and Taiwanese staff). The theme this year was "Rock and Roll" and he and his friend, Francis were asked to be the Masters of Ceremony for the event. The boys wanted to really make an impression for their other friends and colleagues so they decided to dress up as KISS. Len said the party was a lot of fun, and they won the award for best costume. Of course, Len forgot our camera but there were lots of pictures snapped that night. As soon as I get some more I'll add them to this post. Who knew I was married to a rocker?