Laboring on Labor Day

Next year, when the house is 100% complete, when I'm more settled in my new role as a working mom, and when the kids are older... that's when we'll actually enjoy Labor Day. All this house stuff started on July 4 (when we were going to close on July 10) and I think it'll go well into mid-September. Our kitchen should FINALLY be complete in a week (crosses fingers), and I started unpacking most of the kitchen stuff, which has been in boxes since late June. So while other families were probably enjoying the last week of summer at the beach or doing something fun, our fun consisted of cleaning/unpacking house and yet another trip to Ikea. I am officially sick of Ikea food.

 Starting the weekend off with my favorite bunny (dunno why she wanted to wear this)

 Side by side play = the best (no fighting!!!)

I don't know about your toddler kids, but mine are vicious! If Lucas is touching something Char wants or is/was playing with, she would scream, and then slap him on the head. In turn, Lucas will push her, which results in two toddlers screaming their heads off and being very physical with one another till Mommy breaks it up. Sigh...

 Just posing...

I think I bribed both of them with an iPad after church if they smiled in this picture. Bribery never fails!

 Char's newest obsessions: shades + diggin' for gold

 What happens when you stay too long at Ikea (pt 1)

 What happens when you stay too long at Ikea (pt 2)

On Labor Day, we wanted to give the kids some fun, so we ended up going to a park before running more errands.

 My little diva

 Handsome fella

weeeeee

We ended Labor Day with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Normally, I would never suggest this. But, since it was Asian month (and I'm all for supporting my fellow Asians), I suggested it and the rest of the fam couldn't say no.

Both thought they were super cool wearing their shades like Mommy

After two weeks at the daycare, we decided to pull Char out and have her start over at an in home play school. The main reason was because we both speculated that all they do is put the kids in front of a t.v. all day long. This was definitely a no-no for me. Paying more money for something that was more quality put me much more at ease. For the past two weeks, Char was very moody and grouchy. Since we started her at a new place (today), she came home super happy and full of life. This was the Char I missed. I was relieved to see how different she was today and this made me feel good that we made the right choice.

Char's happy dance

And now it's hump day when I wake up... every weekend should be a three-day weekend!

TGI Labor Day Weekend!

After looking through pictures on the phone, it's become quite apparent that I definitely stopped taking pictures of the kids. Sometimes I get so busy that I completely forget about it. So, starting now, I'm going to make a better attempt at taking pics of the rascals.

I was really excited about the long weekend when I left work on Friday. However, upon coming home, I wish I had stayed at work a bit longer since BOTH the rascals had meltdowns due to tiredness. Did they both skip a nap or something?!

Lucas passed out on me at 6pm

After a crazy crying session, Char passed out on the floor at 6pm

If you know my little lady, you'll know that she NEVER refuses food. So when she refused to eat dinner and just kept crying bloody murder, we decided to just put her down around 7. Home girl basically slept through the night with no dinner. I have no idea what happened...

Saturday morning happiness on the iPad

Happy boy, grouchy girl

Still don't know what's up with Char's sleeping schedule. It seems like her daycare screwed it up somehow. Mommy is not happy...

"School-like" office for the kiddos

 Before bedtime love

 

Happy Lucas with Mommy's new flowers

I got called up to the front office during the last few minutes of my lunch break. While walking up there, I was thinking, am I in trouble?! I couldn't think of something I did that was THAT bad. Turns out I didn't do anything bad! I just got my first flowers delivered to me from the husband. Back to work flowers from the husband! When Lucas came to my classroom after school, he wanted to take a picture next to the flowers. I told him to smile, and this was the face he came up with... (he was busy munching on chips and was trying to smile at the same time). 

And now, there's half of Labor Day weekend left! Time to continue making our house a home.

The Park And The Kids

Since I only have a few hours with the kiddos on weekdays, I wanted to do something cool with them on the weekend. (Something cool can be as simple as going to Happy Hollow.) However, due to our massive kitchen remodel and other miscellaneous house stuff along with Daddy being super busy at work for the next few weeks, our first weekend with our crazy transition hasn't been as cool as I hoped it'll be. Well, we'll always have other weekends in the future! Anyway, I only had one hour in the morning to go out with the kids and Lucas said he wanted to go to his birthday park (so Cahalan Park it is!).

I definitely noticed how much the kids changed when we were at the park. The last time I took them to the park was just a week ago, but with all these transitions, they seem to have grown up in a flash! Lucas was a lot more adventurous and just ran around everywhere. Char was now able to go up and down the slides by herself AND she wanted to swing on the big girl swings, too!

 Sibs on the firetruck

Push push push!

 Little daredevil ("Mommy, I'm stuck!")

Little Miss Big Girl

Swing swing swing

 "Lucas, take a selfie with your bestie!"

Hola!

weeeeeee

And that was our Saturday fun day (morning)... I can't wait till our house is finally done so when I come home after work, I can relax and lounge comfortably. Hopefully by mid-September!

The Big Transition

 The last three years were spent building toddler friendships. We went to a birthday party this weekend to celebrate a first birthday and managed to get all the kiddos to smile. This picture symbolizes the end of an era. Hopefully we'll still find time to maintain these friendships.

 the Shinn kids practically grew up with this bunch

Today was my first day of work. Today was also Lucas's first full day of preschool. And lastly, it was Char's first day of daycare. The three of us survived. Surprisingly, both kids transitioned quite well. I guess being outside of the house was better than going to Target every other day or being cooped up in half the house while the kitchen is (still!) under construction. Yup, our kitchen is still gutted. Every day after work, I'm hoping that I'll be surprised and come home to a sorta kitchen. Still waiting...

 First day of school (photo by Daddy)

 Showtime!

But before school officially started, I was able to squeeze some "final" moments with the rascals. During the past week, the kids were mainly cooped up at home since I was working day and night. We didn't really do anything that special, but at least they still had fun!

 After dinner dessert @ Sweet Retreats

Hanging out @ Whole Foods

 Char's "smile"

 TV isn't set up yet, so Frozen on the computer it is!

Char's more genuine smile

... and now it's time to pack lunches, set out clothes, put out backpacks, and all this other mother/teacher stuff for the second day of school!

Weekend Fun

I'm starting to cherish weekends more now. Although I was only gone on Friday this past week, I can imagine how this new (big) transition will affect everybody. I thought about doing something really fun, but I think tiredness just got the best of us and we just took the free (but fun) and close-to-home route.

Oh wait, before the weekend started and before work officially started (Friday), we decided to have a last minute summer hurrah on Castro Street in Mountain View. 

 Painting his dark glitter heart

 oooh, car with wheels bigger than Lu

 Introducing Char to one of our favorite taquerias: Los Charros

Now, the weekend fun begins!

 Mischievous Charlotte

 Building a trolley car @ Lowe's

 Stop and smell the flowers

"wo wo!!!" (not really a wo wo)

And that was our exciting (end sarcasm) weekend. Training and classroom prepping starts tomorrow. The kids are still home this week, hope Daddy and MaMa (grandma) survives taking care of these rascals. Oh, and kitchen remodel starts tomorrow too.

Cutting the Cord

I've been a SAHM for three years. I always thought I'll go back to work when Char goes to school. Although I went on plenty of interviews in the past couple months, I always viewed them as practice for the future when the time is right. Last Friday, I received an unexpected email regarding a teaching position which needed to be fulfilled ASAP. I proceeded with the interview process, thinking there's no way they can also offer my son a full-time position so late in the game if I were offered the job. However, they were able to accommodate him. I also didn't think we'll be able to find an affordable daycare for Charlotte. I viewed that as a sign that maybe now would not be the right time to work. However, we were able to find a daycare that we (including Char) all liked. As hard as I looked for signs of "no", each potential "no" turned into a "yes". 

So now, I will be cutting the cord starting tomorrow. I've been with my kids for three years and have been there to witness every single baby milestone with them. Am I an emotional wreck right now? Mos def! As much as these rascals have driven me up the wall this summer, I'm still going to miss my rascals like crazy. So the rest of August will be quite the transition for all of us. I just wish I had more time to end the summer with the rascals so I could take them on one last Happy Hollow adventure or just do something more fun before I start working again. 

I always thought it would be the kids who would have a hard time transitioning, but it looks like I might have an equally hard time being away from them too. So, here's to a bittersweet new beginning starting tomorrow... 

 BFF twinzie #1

 BFF twinzie #2

 I'm gonna miss these crazies

I guess I can always look forward to the crazies after work

Comcast Sucks

It's almost been a month since I last updated the blog. Laziness? No. Busyness? No (not really). No internet? Yes! After many calls to Comcast to complain and getting stood up six times in a week, we FINALLY have our internet up and running. And boy does that feel good! We resorted to going over our monthly data as well as paying for Hot Spot, too. Comcast, you suck!!!

Anyway, on to more positive news... We're getting pretty settled into our new home. Our kitchen remodel is still being delayed, so hopefully it'll start next Monday and maybe we'll get our new kitchen up and running by September. 

 Took advantage of the free Ikea meal after spending $$$ on our new Ikea kitchen

Temporary picnic table in family room that has already been moved outside

Enjoying their new playroom

Cheesing on new couch

Passing out in front of front door just because...

I have lots of picture and video catching up to do... but for now, it's time to wash dishes, tidy the house a bit, and watch my guilty pleasure - Bachelor in Paradise!