Star+Flower

Refrigerator Woes

A couple of weeks ago when Allan was on an out-of-town business trip, our old fridge died on us. Its temperature climbed to 70 degrees and because it was already the third time that it happened we decided to buy a new one. It was such a waste tossing out all the food that was inside!

Anyway, so we got the new one and as soon as it was plugged in, it began making this weird noise every now and then. We called a technician and it turned out that the problem was simple. The icemaker was turned on, but Allan never connected the water supply. Once he connected the tubing the noise disappeared and we were happy. A brand new, white, sparkling fridge!

Well, yesterday, as we were headed out for a walk we noticed water on our garage floors and it seemed to be coming from the bottom, inside the wall. This morning there was water coming from beneath our kitchen cabinets and we noticed that the flooring (our bamboo flooring!) around the area was beginning to warp!

Turns out that the culprit was the fridge and its water supply connection. Allan says he tightened the tubing until it could be tightened no more, BUT sure enough it was leaking.

Right now we have someone here who's working to dry the baseboards but he says we have to demolish half the kitchen cabinets, the area where we had a desk built-in just last year, the cabinets in our laundry room, and he has to pull up part of the carpeting in the living room to deal with the water damage. I'm still sitting here like, "Waaahhh???" I hated it last year when we had the floors put in because it sucked not being able to go into certain parts of the house. I can't imagine how this is going to be and how much this is going to cost.

All because of that new refrigerator.

Just imagine this is Allan and me and how we feel right now :)

eta: This made me smile. Mia was on my computer earlier and I saw this on the Yahoo! search box:

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Our Valentine's Day

I would say that this is my third favorite "Day". I love LOVE.

I thought about what I wanted to give Allan and the kiddos way in advance.Those $1 mailboxes from Target are so cute! I didn't want to mess them up by trying to cover them with paper though so I just simply decorated them with stickers. We gave Mia a package of her favorite candy, Gummi Bears ("jelly bears" as she calls them). Aidan got bubble gum, a coupon for getting to stay up an hour later after bedtime, a "Get Out of Jail" card, and a letter from me. A funny thing is that Allan and I gave each other gifts that we could share. How very practical and totally us!

I found my gifts waiting for me on the dining table this morning. Well, the B&B stuff only kinda counts because I told him I wanted them. But he got me (or should I say us) a new camera lens! When he finally got home from work I couldn't wait to have him open my gift for him which was a Holga kit...which I immediately took away to look through the contents and marvel at the images in the included picture book.

He also gave me two dozen pink roses that he arranged in a vase himself and chocolate-covered strawberries from Godiva. Kisses and hugs from the kiddos. My family makes me so happy. 

Valentine's Day is also Grandma's birthday so we celebrated with her here at home. Mia likes blowing out birthday candles and taking swipes at frosting, but she will not eat cake. I just love how tiny it is!

Hope your wish comes true, Grandma!

And, lastly, my boy who is my heart. I know he's going to grow up wise just like his Daddy. He told me something so simple today and yet it was something that I really needed to hear. To have it come from him just tears me to pieces. He gave me the best Valentine gift without even knowing.

p.s. I spoke too soon about Spring. It's been cold and windy again for the past two days. Sigh.   

Magical Bubbles

At noon it feels more like summer than spring, but the late-afternoon weather is just perfect. I want to take advantage of it now and clean up our neglected backyard. That's the project this weekend. Today we blew bubbles for Mia and her face just lit up at the mere mention of it. It's nice seeing the kids run around on the grass again.   

We wish you a...

and a Happy New Year!

Olvera Street

This is a place that I've been wanting to see for months and now I can finally say I've been there and done that.

First we had lunch at Curry House in L.A. and it was our first time eating at this particular restaurant. I have to admit it's a little tough eating out with the kids. If it's not Cheez-its or Lunchables, it's guaranteed Aidan will not eat very much of whatever's in front of him. He had the Vegetable Spaghetti and he doused the whole bowl with parmesan cheese. Mia was just altogether difficult from the whole "mine" phase she's in right now to not listening. Anyway...

We took a few pictures outside of the restaurant and this one in front of the Kinokuniya bookstore was one of the better ones (along with the new banner pic). Seeing a Kinokuniya right next door was a cool find! I bought some small binder rings and a little notebook with cute kitties on it :)

Olvera Street was really close, right across from Union Station. It's such a wonderful, colorful little street with restaurants, shops, and stalls all along the middle. We walked up and down and into a few shops. The kiddos were really intrigued by the merchandise. When Mia saw all the Dia De Los Muertos skeletons she yelled, "Monsters!"

One of my favorite flowers is bouganvillea and I love seeing huge cascading ones like this. I like how there's snowflake lights hung on it too.

These banners are fun.

I almost talked myself into buying this little guitar for Mia but I bought her a dress instead. It's cute though. Love the color.

A shop entrance.

Weirdly fascinating marionettes.

It's a wishing well! Aidan is probably wishing for all the toys in the world.

Winter has finally kicked in and by the time we left it was really cold and windy. I felt sorry for Mia because her eyes were watering and her nose was running. We were going to go to Rose Hills to see their Festival of Trees but we decided to just go home since the kids were tired. Right before we left though we bought churros and nachos to eat on the way. Yummy. And after all this I'm craving menudo right now :)      

Last Week...

Easter was an exciting day for us because it was Mia's first Easter egg hunt! We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I had dreamt of the day when Aidan would finally have a partner and here she is.

Dress from Old Navy and sweater from Gymboree. LOL...like she's walking down the red carpet..."So what are you wearing, Miss Moo?" It was really cold that day so you can't see that the dress is sleeveless. I'm glad she left her hair clip alone long enough for me to get some nice pics.

I love my bubbies. This pic reminds me that the other day Aidan asked why he was brown and Mia was peach. That's because they're just like Allan and me!

He swore off candy for Lent and I'm happy to say that he really did it! He was so excited for Easter because it meant that he could have his beloved sweets again.

Of course, Mia didn't really know what was going on. We had to point the eggs out to her and then she would put them in her basket. Then she would take them out and lay them on the grass again.

Allan drove all the way to Glendale and back to get some goodies from Portos. My hero. This is my most favorite fruit tart in the whole wide world. We also love their cheese rolls.

I got some scrapping done last Monday, the only day I scrapped. We were suppose to take Aidan to Universal Studios but he got sick. Not sick enough that he required bedrest but he was coughing alot. Poor Mia got sick too. Good thing Lola is so easy. Give her an open window and she's good to go.

So we ended up just going to the local nursery that day. Our backyard work was finally completed and I was hankering for some roses. I had to take a pic of this Blue Spruce. Reminds me of little fuzzy caterpillars.

I didn't get this one but it just looks so yummy.

We only bought three, just in case they don't make it.

We went to the Griffith Observatory last Tuesday. It was so bright and sunny, but thank goodness it wasn't hot. I love this pic because Aidan and I are holding hands.

He just loves learning and reading about the Solar System and the Universe. So in my mind I'm wondering if he'll like it enough that maybe he'll be an astronaut when he grows up. I ask him what he wants to be and he says, "Someone who makes a lot of money." Like who? "A car salesman."

After our visit to the Observatory we walked around a bit at the Hollywood & Highland Center and lo and behold there was a French Crepe Co. there. I almost passed out from happiness.

For the rest of the week, Allan and I spent some time planting the roses and weeding in the backyard. We had a sorely neglected area that became a haven for snails. Gross. And I had to throw out almost all my plumeria because of freeze damage, I think. It's OK...I'm not too sad about that.

Allan also spent alot of time working on the computers at Aidan's school. The good thing is that now we have most of our volunteer hours done. Yay for the hubby!

Thanks to Netflix I got to watch The Holiday (cute) and Blood Diamond (Why must Leo die in most of his movies? Just like Vincent Perez. Frustrating. sigh.).

And now that spring break is over I guess we're back to normal again. It's always nice when Aidan's home all day but I think he'll be happy being back at school with his friends.

Happy Birthday to Lee!

Leap Year Baby!

This is Allan...taking up space on Michelle's blog to wish my brother, Lee, a Happy 6 3/4 th Birthday!  If I were younger, healthier and better looking, I'd be him!  I appreciate how much we have in common now and that I consider him one of my best friends! It should be that way, shouldn't it? At the normalized age of 27, he's married to a great girl, has a great job and is as good a person as most could aspire to be.  Happy Birthday, Lee!

i love taking pictures

here's some from the past couple of weeks!

these are some pics from our disneyland visit. it was almost the end of the day and us 'rents were tired. i told aidan to do some silly poses. i can always count on him when i need silly.

mmm...We love the French Crepe Company at the LA Farmers Market. Why are all the great places to eat so far away???

Well, this place in Rowland Heights that serves one of my favorite foods, sukiyaki, isn't too far from us. We need to eat there again.

She will not stay still for a picture or listen when I call her name but she stayed for a few seconds when I put her by the wall. And she's wearing a dress with pants. :)

This is what he gives me when I tell him he always looks silly and can't I get a normal picture? He's busy these days trying to become a Pokemon master.

Lola falola. She looks so elegant here.

My friend, Jenny, who is organizing the card project for baby Jaymun has extended the deadline to January 15. It's such a sweet gesture and I'm so glad to know someone as compassionate as Jenny. All the details about the project are on her blog.

The Jan kit at SOMO is up and I'm swooning over the stamp set that comes with the kit. Love. I'm so lucky to be on this DT and I can't wait to get the kit.

Lastly, thank you to all my friends who commented on my last post. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

merry christmas

our tree is still standing but half of the ornaments are gone because of Mia and Lola. it looks so funny!

happy holidays!

Christmas Tree time

I was feeling a little Grinchy at the beginning of this month, not wanting to do any type of decorating at all even though I knew Aidan would be so disappointed with me. After looking at my favorite blogs though and seeing how everyone had their trees...looking at all the crafty blogs with their beautiful holiday decorations...I think I'm finally in the mood. Allan brought out all our decorations from the garage and put up our lights today! What a man!

It was cold and windy today but we went out in the late afternoon and finally picked out our Christmas tree! It's a short, little 5-footer plus we got a fresh wreath, something we've never done before.

Mia has been all about Aidan these past few days. She loves it especially when he carries her around the house. They've been playing together alot, so I must say that I love Aidan for being such a great kuya (it's Tagalog for "big brother"). They walked around the Christmas tree lot holding hands most of the time and he picked her up whenever she would trip over her feet. They are so sweet together.

I couldn't get any good pictures of them because Mia just wouldn't look at the camera. I'm going to try tomorrow again though after we decorate the tree.