Snowtubing & Skiing

It's almost spring so let me finish blogging about this past winter. We had a wonderful opportunity to go away to PA to snowtube and ski for the first time as a family during the President's week vacation. We went with a wonderful family, the Lees. Here's Lauren, Justin and Tyler waiting to snowtube. They were so excited! This place had perfect hills for toddlers to go up and down to snowtube. The parents and Lauren had a great workout from taking the snowtube up the hill after each ride. =)

Justin loved every minute of snowtubing. He's quite the daredevil and loved the thrill of sliding down the hill.

After sliding down, Justin would flip himself out of the snowtube. I don't know why but he had a blast doing it.

The first day of our trip fell on my birthday and the Lee family surprised me with a birthday cake. Thank you Susan! The cake was so delicious. It was even sweeter to share my birthday with you and your family.

The next day we went to Shawnee Mountain and took the kids skiing. It was the very first time for Tyler. Here's Tyler getting his ski boots.

Look at these kids! They are so cool posing with their skis.

Since it's always harder to teach your own child, Susan graciously taught Tyler the basics of skiing. Thank you for your patience with Tyler. It's because of you Tyler had the courage to ski on the bunny slope. Surprisingly, Tyler picked it up faster than I thought he would. It's too bad we went so late in the ski season. Next winter we will definitely start early so that Tyler can take advantage of the whole season. I"m so proud of you Tyler for giving it a try and learning so quickly. Maybe you can teach Justin next year.

Tyler was so comfortable at the end of the day on his skis. I hope he still has the same enthusiasm the next time we go. Here's a video of Tyler skiing on his own. Amazing! I guess I'm a bit biased though. =)

My Valentine Sweethearts

First off, I wanted to show you the Valentine loot that Tyler got from his classmates. The cards and candy brought me back to my grade school days. Those were the good ol days of innocence. How I wish I can keep Tyler from growing up...

So our family is really lucky since the winter time has so many reasons to celebrate besides Christmas and Tyler and Eugene's birthdays. There's also Valentine's Day! The boys got me beautiful white roses. I haven't received flowers in a while so it was such a pleasant surprise. This is how Tyler gave them to me. Btw, please excuse the bluish tint to this pic. My white balance was off.

Flowers always brighten up a home, don't you agree? It was lovely to look at for many days. Thanks again boys!!!

Tyler's Valentine's day card from school. So sweet!

This is the inside of the Valentine's day card from the Korean school Tyler is attending weekly. The Korean translates to "Dad, Mom...I love you". The grandmothers loved it even more. It will be a keepsake to treasure. I don't know why I'm so moved by Tyler writing Korean. I guess I thought the day would never come. Wonders never cease. =)

This is an added bonus since I thought it was a great depiction of our family. Tyler drew this in school. You can tell who is who by size but in case you're confused, it's Justin, Tyler, me and Eugene starting from the left. I especially love the blue heart above my arm. So precious! Thank you E, T & J for being my sweethearts always.

Happy Birthday Tyler (and Eugene)!!!

It's already March?!? Where did the time go? I really need to get into a blogging groove. Let's hope it starts now. Anyway, Tyler and Eugene share the same birthdate (1/18). It's a very special bond between them but at the same time Eugene gets cheated a bit. Sort of like having your bday near Christmas but I digress. Btw, Justin was born on Father's Day so when my boys entered the world they really stole Eugene's thunder. Now, where were we? Yes, so Tyler LOVES birthday parties especially if it's his own. He had his first school party this year since he's in Pre-k. It was the most shortest party ever. The kids literally ate their cupcakes in 5 minutes and the party was over. No, they actually only ate the frosting and threw out the rest of the cupcake. Kids are so funny!

Tyler in his seat with the birthday hat given to him by his teacher, Mrs Francis.

The children sang happy birthday and Tyler blowing out the candle.


Here is Tyler with his teacher, Mrs. Francis. Tyler is so lucky to have her as his teacher. She is so nurturing and caring. It's just what the kids need in their first year of school. Tyler has learned so much from her and being in school. He has grown up so much. I feel like Tyler is so mature now at age 5. My baby is gone and now I have a little man. Time is going by too fast.



In addition to the school party, Tyler had so much fun at last year's birthday party he wanted to have it at the same place. It was at a place that has enormous inflatable slides and obstacle courses called Pump It Up. Even adults have a great time there since the inflatables are adult size. Tyler was so happy to celebrate with his friends and had an awesome time.

Tyler's favorite portion of any party...cake time!

Thanks for the family shot, SL. =)

Back at home in the evening we couldn't forget Eugene's bithday. The two birthday boys celebrating together. Notice the candles (Eugene - age 35, Tyler- age 5). I'm so thankful to God for both of them. They bring so much joy to this family. Happy birthday Eugene & Tyler!

J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

Tyler shows me this craft he made at schoo todayl. Here's our conversation:

T: Mommy, look what I drew today. You have to hang this with a magnet on the refrigerator and we have to cheer for the Jets the day after tomorrow.

Me: That looks great! Your daddy will be so happy to see your drawing. Are you going to watch the game with daddy?

T: Hmm...maybe. What's the name of the team again?

Snowstorm!!!

There was a big snowstorm before Christmas and Tyler loved it! He wanted to play after school and he was having so much fun throwing snowballs at me and the grill in front of our house. I love the innocence in kids finding so much joy in the simplest things in life. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and running away from Tyler's snowballs. He's asking when the snow is coming again. I'm hoping that it won't snow again but I'm secretly hoping it snows again for Tyler's sake.

Tyler was having so much fun that not even hot cocoa lured him inside the house. Kids have such one tracked minds. I love it!




Here is Justin hard at work using the shovel that probably weighs more than him.

Taking a break

The boys helped Eugene make a Syracuse Orangeman snowman.

Annual Tradition

So it's our family tradition (like half of NYC) to visit the famed Rockefeller tree during the holidays. We actually like to go after Christmas hoping it will be less crowded but it's always insanely crowded. We just go take pictures really quickly and need to leave because of the madness. I don't know why we torture ourselves but I guess that's why it's a tradition. Although, it's nice to look back at how much the kids have grown since the very first time we brought Tyler.

This year these wooden soldiers were a new addition around the area. Tyler was so amazed at the sheer size of the wooden soldier. It's so tall the hat had to be cut off from the picture. I love this pic of me and Tyler.

OK, so this is the real reason why we torture ourselves every year to see the tree. Afterwards, we go to an authentic Japanese ramen hole in the wall restaurant called Sapparo within a 5 minute walk from the tree. The ramen is so yummy and warms you up after walking outside in the cold. I highly recommend this place. According to Eugene they have the best chicken teriyaki. It's very moist and flavorful. He always orders chicken teriyaki everywhere we go so I guess he knows what he's talking about. For those that are interested it's located on W49th St b/w Ave. of the Americas and 7th Ave.

Happy New Year (22 days late)

I can't believe it's been one month since my last post. The holidays were really hectic and then 2 weeks later is Eugene and Tyler's birthday so it's even more hectic. More on that on a later post. I feel ridiculous posting Christmas pics but I feel like the blog would be incomplete without them. Plus, I'm sure you're really anxious to find out if Tyler got the Zhu Zhu pets for Christmas. So here it is, Merry Belated Christmas and New Year!

Here's the stash of presents under the Christmas tree. Thank you to everyone who was so generous in giving a gift to the Kim family. My boys have never received so many gifts before. They loved tearing the gift wrapping to discover all the cool toys.

Here's the moment you've been waiting for. Tyler did get the Zhu Zhu pet and he was so happy although he doesn't look too ecstatic here. He loved playing with it but with all toys kids get bored with them and it becomes something that takes over your living room. The Zhu Zhu pet was from Santa Claus. Tyler was more happy that Santa Claus read his letter and gave him what he wanted. How long do kids believe in Santa?

Notice the size of Justin's eyes. If you know Justin, you know he LOVES the Disney movie Cars. I know every character by name becasue of Justin, not Tyler. He loved opening this gift. Although he hasn't touched it since New Year's. Kids get bored of toys fast unfortunately.

The Kim brothers looking at a real camera for kids. We bought it so that Justin will stop using our point and shoot camera as his toy. It wasn't as successful as we had hoped but good thing Tyler likes taking pictures with it.

This is a gingerbread house Tyler made during his holiday party at school. I didn't need to buy a gingerbread house kit this year. woo hoo. If you take a closer look, the house is an actual milk carton. What a "green" idea! I think Tyler did a wonderful job.