Day Two: The Strip

We spent the entire day at the strip. We really should have planned out the day better. We planned to see so much stuff, but only got to see a half of what we had planned. We got distracted the M&M store. Lol. I think we were there for like 3 hours... by the time we got out it was about 9 pm and were were starving. In the end, we were too tired to make it to Bellagio, Wynn, and Treasure Island. Oh well... it's another reason for Kate and Moriah to visit again.... (like next week...hint, hint, Kate). ;-)

Kate and Moriah, here at last!

Today is the first day of our little vacation with Kate and Moriah. After their plans for Grand Canyon fell through, I suggested that the pair spend the Spring Break with us instead. They arrived today and right away the fun began. Thanks to Ate Aida, Kate's mom, the kids have their own tents and sleeping bags. We also took a walk to our kiddie pool and the kids got to swim for a bit. Afterwards, in my attempt to get Kate to move close to me, we checked out the model homes. Aaron and Moriah are having fun, especially Aaron. He has been wanting friends so bad, and today he kept calling Moriah "friend". He thinks that's her name. ;-) Everytime she leaves the room, he gets sad because he think she will leave him forever. How cute.

Egg Hunt with EGGS!!!

After service and lunch, Brent went to our couryard and placed eggs for Aaron to find. Aaron was ecstatic when he saw the eggs, grabbed his basket and began collecting them. In the end, he "found" a treasure chest filled with big eggs (containing little toys).

Easter with CC Spring Valley

We attended Easter service with Calvary Chapel Spring Valley. The service was held at the Cox Pavillion at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV. The message was good... Pastor John Micheals reminded us that Jesus' promises are true 100%. He promised us that he would die for our sins, and He did. He promised us that He will rise again, and He did. Jesus promised us eternal life, and that we shall have!

Egg Hunting with No Eggs

Can you find Aaron in this line??? He was waiting so patienty, I was proud!
Here he is, only 3 and already embarrased by his mom taking pics.

Our HOA hosted an egg hunt last weekend. There were so many people at the park, it was kind of chaotic. At one point we almost lost Aaron in the crowd of 3-4 year olds. :-) They had the event divided up according to the ages of the kids. Aaron is only 3, but we put him in the 4 year old category (ages 1-3 only get to watch a show, not hunt for eggs). Anyway, they did not let the parents go on the field, so there were lots of crying kids suffering from separation anxiety. My son was one of them, but only for a little bit. He was quite excited to hunt for eggs, I was telling him about it for days. So he was really excited and preparing to "hunt for eggs". I did not notice, however, that they did not place plastic eggs on the field, but they had tons and tons of individual packages of snacks (like animal crackers and cookies). So when they said "go", Aaron ran around the entire field without picking anything up. I could not figure out why he was doing that, until I saw him pick up the one and only egg that was on the field. He was so happy that the found an egg! (I think it might have been left over from last year or something and got mixed up in the snacks because it was the only one. ) Anyway, I was afraid that Aaron will end up with an empty basket, so I ran to him and began putting stuff in his basket. He was upset because I was putting "non-egg" items in the basket. But he did let me put some in there... but because he was looking for eggs, he missed out on the good stuff, like suckers and cookies... oh well. Next year I'll tell him to hunt for "snacks". ;-)

Cathy's Childhoold Faves # 2

Jem and the Holograms--- Another childhood favorite of mine. My mom bought me a Jem doll when I was kid. My sister and I would play with that doll along with our numerous Barbies for hours and hours. We would also record the shows and sing along to all the songs.

Cathy's Childhood Faves #1: Anyone Remember This?

Nobody I know, other than my sis, will probably remember this. The show lasted only one season, but we sure loved it! We named all of our Barbies and Ken dolls after the characters of this show and would play as if our dolls were in an episode of the show. We made our own story lines, but we made every character/doll act according to the personalities of each character of the show. This went on for years and years.

Whatcha lookin' at? Vogue!

Check us out! We made it on the cover of Vague Magazine. Anyone want an autographed copy?

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) !!!

Last year (February 2007) at the Nago Cherry Blossom Festival in Okinawa. Look how bare the trees were behind us... I was really bummed. :-(

Close up of the trees outside our house today.
( View from my kitchen window. I can see it whenever I wash dishes, which is about 4-5 times a day!)

Ok, this is along story but, pretty cool. Last year, around this time, we were getting ready to leave Okinawa. We were there for almost 5 years and I had no idea what cherry blossoms were. (I know, I can be very ignorant at times...) I knew that every year there were Cherry Blossom Festivals held throughout the island, but I really didn't know what it was all, about so I never cared. Until...one day around the time cherry blossoms were in season, I read an article about it. Lo and behold! I was enlighted with the wonder that is: Cherry Blossoms. I immediately made plans to go and see them and attend one of the festivals. That time was very bad for us, Brent was working all the time, and we barely saw him. We were also getting ready to PCS so it was a hectic time. But I was determined and we made a huge effort to see the cherry blossoms, and attend the festival. Well, to my big disappointment, the trees were not quite blossomed yet. The amount of blossoms were so little, you can literally count them. I was really bummed. I was told that if we went back a month later, then the trees will be filled with blossoms. We couldn't do that, however, because we were leaving to move back here in the states. Anyway, I left Japan, really sad that I wasted 5 years of seeing these awesome trees and I thought that I will never see them again. There are a lot of things I regret not doing while we were in Okinawa and this one topped them all.

Ok, so a few weeks later, as soon as we moved into our house, guess what I saw! Cherry Blossoms! There were cherry blossom trees planted all over around our house! I noticed that all of the other houses had one or two cherry blossom trees outside, but somehow our house was surrounded by only cherry blossoms! I guess the HOA made a mistake, but it worked in my favor! Anyway I thought how great it was that after being so sad about missing out on seeing these super pretty trees in bloom, I came home to a house surrounded by them. That was last year, when we first got here, and I didn't have time to take pictures of them.

Now it's cherry blossom season again, and last week I looked out the window as I was washing the dishes and I saw a couple blossoms on the tree. I was ecstatic! Then today, I looked at them again, and there were hundreds of flowers that bloomed. I can't wait until all of the cherry blossom tress are blooming. They are so pretty, but they don't last very long. That's what make them special anyway, you wait for them for so long, and when they are here, they are appreciated. Anyway, here are pictures of two of the trees outside our house.

Oh yeah, and not only are they here at our residential area, it's all over Summerlin. So I am blessed by these beauties while I drive around our neighborhood. Later on this week I plan to take more pictures of them.

Busy Weekend Part 2- NASCAR (Las Vegas Motor Speedway)

Brent was "voluntold" to work an Air Force recruitment booth at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during Nascar weekend. Afterwards, he was offered 4 tickets for the race! The tickets are worth almost $100 each! So, he called me and told me to come and meet him. We are not Nascar fans, but it was a great experience. We got good seats and we had a great view of the race. It was also neat to see people coming up to Brent and thanking him for his service in the military (he had to wear his formal uniform). It was a good reminder that being part of the military is a sacrifice, and it's great to see people being thankful for what Brent does.

P.S.

Aaron kept looking for "McQueen". :-)

Busy Weekend Part 1- The Natural History Museum

Me and Aaron looking for "Nemo".
Brent and Aaron searching for Simba.

We went to the Museum of Natural History. We've been trying to go to this place ever since we went to see the dinosaurs show at the Thomas and Mack Center. Aaron loves dinosaurs, and we got a coupon at the show for the museum. But with Brent's work schedule, we kept putting it off. So finally went this weekend. I was a bit disappointed. I think living in California, and going to nice museums in L.A. during school field trips, caused me to have high expectations. This museum was not as big and as nice, but Aaron loved it nonetheless. I was just glad to spend time together as a family.

Am I seeing doubles???

Ok, so a few posts ago, I had a prayer request for my finals. Well, it was stressful time because, crazy me, had to wait until the last possible minute to study. I underestimated the time it would take to get through all the material. Anyway to make the long story short, I went to take the test, with knowing only about 1/4 of the material. One of the tests was multiple choice, so it was fairly easy, but one was all essays. Not only was it only essays, but we were given 12 topics to study and I only throuroughly studied 2! Well by the grace of God, the 2 essays that I studied well were the included in the essay choices. How awesome is that? I still have not gotten my tests back, but I checked last night for my final grades for the classes, and I got A's on both classes!!! Two A's in one report card? I can't remember when that last happened! (I'm usually a "B" student, due to my lazyness ;-) Anyway, thanks for praying for me, because I FOR SURE know that it was not my doing that I got these A's but it was God's grace! :-)

Random things that make us happy...

I while ago I was thinking about how much I loved the chicken from Costco. It's cooked, seasoned, and super juicy! I never leave Costco without grabbing one of these. For $4.99, I can't afford not to buy it. (No, I'm not going to dedicate an entire post to Costco's chicken...but...) It made my think about all the little things that I like, but seem too insignifinant to mention. Of course, when really good things happen, I am quick to acknowledge them and share with others, but when it comes to the little things... well...they come and go with little or no recognition. So, I decided to make a list (on the side bar of this blog) of life's little blessings so I can add things as I remember them. Hopefully they will remind you be thankful for your little blessings...

Our Little Picasso

Here is another attempt of mine to get Aaron ready for preschool. I bought him an easel so he can paint and practice letters and stuff. In the painting, I drew a heart in the corner (it was around Valentine's Day), and in the other corner, Aaron painted a heart of his own. (It's the one that looks like a tulip.) I was so proud of him. He's done that before, where he tries to copy something I drew, but I think that the heart/tulip came out good. He can also draw a circle.

Whew! Finals are over!

Praise report! I finished my tests today. Thank goodness, I think I passed both test. Thanks to my smartness. Just kidding. Anyway, I get too stressed out during finals. Tests are sooo not my thing. I'm so glad it's over, for now at least. The current semester just started to I have a while before I stress again.

Happy Valentine's Day, part 2

Ok, so lately I have been making a bigger deal out of holidays, like last Christmas and now Valentine's Day, to educate Aaron. So, today, amist all of my studying, I tried to make today somewhat memorable. I made cookies with hearts on them, baked a heart-shaped cake and let him decorate (with my help, of course... I'm too OCD and a perfectionist to let him really decorate it...he put the three or four m & m's that are out of place...I'm a bad mom, I know...;-), and took him to Hallmark to pick out a card for his dad. (oh yeah and he wore a Valentine's shirt, cute huh?)

It was a fun day. Brent got home early and suggested to eat out. (By the way, he said that the test was a lot harder than he thought! He's worried he did not pass, so please pray that the did.)

We found a good sushi restaurant that serves all you can eat (good quality) sushi. We felt like we found gold. Looks like we found our new favorite restaurant. Sushi...yummmmmmo!

Anyway I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day! (and prayer request!)

Brent came home today with red roses and a box of chocolates. Yes, I know that Valentine's Day is not until tomorrow, but we are both super busy this week with tests, so we are not planning to celebrate. Anyway, I thought it was nice that he made an effort to celebrate. He loves to buy flowers and gifts for me, he's just that type of guy. ;-) Anyway, here is a picture of the roses, and the other flowers were from last week. (He likes to keep my vase full... cute, huh?) The week before that he bought me blue flowers. Wierd, but they were pretty.

Also please pray for our tests: Brent is testing for a promotion tomorrow. It's a big deal, if he passes he becomes a Tech Sergeant (the raise is nice too!). I have two finals on Friday, and I have about 2 days to study. Yes...same old Cathy (the procrastinator). Anyway, it's a stressful time at my house until Friday afternoon, so keep us in prayer.

Outside Play

Ok, so I'm trying to be a good mom and take Aaron out more. I am such an indoor person, that I tend to want to stay home all day, do homework, catch up on chores, and cook. I actually enjoy those things. :-) Aaron pretty much plays indoors too, but I know he longs to be outside more. It has also been really cold so I don't have much of a choice, but I know that even if it was nice out, I'd make an excuse to stay home or go somewhere indoors like the mall or something. So for the sake of my son, I have made, yet, another commitment: to take Aaron to parks and play outdoors. This past Tuesday, we had a fun day.

First, Aaron and I went to his Gymboree class. I used to take him to Gymboree classes in Corona at the mall...but our HOA holds classes at one of the community centers here in our neighborhood. So I enrolled him, because he really liked the other class he used to be in.

Then I took him to an outdoor mall somethere near the strip. It's brand new and they have an AWESOME play area. They have playhouses, slides, and a maze! Aaron had a blast running through it! The best part is that there is only one entrance and exit, so I just stood there and let him run loose. It was great! Anyway I'm excited because our HOA has several different parks and playgrounds for the kids. Once the weather gets warmer, Aaron and I will be doing some park exploring.

Veggietales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Don't get me wrong, I love Veggietales, but their last full-length movie, Jonah, puts me to sleep. Aaron doesn't care too much for it either. But this movie is much better. It's not as funny as some of the 30 minute length movies, but it still held Aaron's attention (and mine) througout the entire thing. The fact that my son loves pirates made it better. Overall, it was a good movie...we will definately see it again.

School time... well sort of...

Ok, so today we started some schooling. My plan was to teach Aaron one letter today (A) and some activities related to that letter. I got his workbook out but Aaron had other ideas. He was noticing everything on the page except the letter "A". He is so stubborn. He does not want me to teach him, but he wants to decide on what we go over. So somehow, (I forgot how) we got to a worksheet on colors, specifically blue. So, today we got some learning... he went over a few colors, focused on blue... and a little bit on the letter "A". He knows a few letters, some colors & shapes, and the numbers 1-10. But mainly I am trying to get him used to me teaching him stuff in more of a pre-school setting. I am also wanting to help him improve on his vocabulary and sentence structure. (he's a bit behind in his speech.) I was getting frustrated today, but I have to remember that Aaron is not used to any type of structure. That is something that we need to work on to get him ready for preschool. I am also realizing that I should have started this a while ago. Well, we have 8 months until he starts pre-school. It's going to be a long way to the finish line....