Happy Friday

Since it's summer, every day seems like a Friday to me. Slow mornings are great, especially when we don't have anything to do till at least 9:30 or so. Summer's been good to me so far. The kids are pretty well-behaved overall, which makes me a  happy person. It's amazing to see how much they've grown and changed in the span of a year (but that'll be a topic for another post). The transition from FT working mom to FT (temporary) SAHM has been pretty sweet. I'm enjoying this summer a lot more than the past four summers. I never knew this till recently, but having a stable job and knowing exactly what I'm going to be doing in August makes me feel much more confident about who I am. I feel more secure telling people I'm a teacher versus telling people (before) that I'm a SAHM. And honestly, these kids are getting older. If they didn't go to school, they'll be bored of me and bored at home.

 Slow mornings means being a creeper and taking pics of my sleeping beauty

 Getting their read on

 I need a reading chair like this

Not working also means I can hang out with SAHM who I have not seen for ages. This is Charlotte entertaining baby Jase. Char is surprisingly really, really good with babies. She's also a very empathetic being. Lucas, on the other hand, does not like babies at all, "they are boring".

Chummy chummy with baby

Lucas has a sudden interest with Starbucks. This may or may not be because I introduced him to strawberries and creme frap. And why are they not selling mini sizes anymore?!

 Mommy/son SBux date

After dropping Char off at school, Lucas and I went to a school that was giving away things for free. We rummaged around for an hour and came home with tons of goodies! Both my class and the shinnkids scored from this!

 This picture doesn't do my gathering justice

 Happy Lu with one of his many puzzles

A hobby I picked up in the spring was gardening. I had a little interest in this back in 2010, but once I found out I was pregnant, I just let everything die off. Dan was a bit hesitant when I told him I wanted to garden again. However, I proved him wrong! I've been good with tending to my plants and now my fruits and veggies are growing. I have a zucchini that's ripe enough to be picked off, but I still refuse to do it. I am currently playing the how-big-can-you-grow game with it. I hope it doesn't turn bitter or anything. There are also lots of ripening tomatoes which you can't really see. One reason why gardening is enjoyable for me nowadays is because it reminds me of my Mom. I felt like I was too young to really care at the time, or maybe I thought I was too "cool" to garden, but she randomly came home one day and decided to grow stuff. A few months later, she had a full fledged garden! Now that I have a backyard with good soil, I figured I'll give it a try and see what I can actually grow. 

 Proud of my little garden

Where all the blogging happens

Char's First Play Date

Char has been on play dates, but she's always tagging along with whoever Lucas is friends with. Today marks a very special day because this is the first time where the play date revolved around Char and her bestie, Jordan.

 Snack time

I didn't get a chance to snap a lot of pictures of Char and Jordan today, but they had so much fun together. When I told Char that I see Jordan from afar, she screamed with glee and ran towards him. They then embraced in a sweet toddler hug. Poor Lucas, for the first time he was on his own and pretty bored. But have no fear, after we had our play date at the park, we went back to Almaden Lake Park because Lucas wanted to show Char where the ducks were.

 Happily seesawing with Mommy

 "Look Char, there's the ducks!"

 Awkwardly cheesing

Hello ladies. Shinn. Lucas Shinn.

Beat The Heat

No, I'm not talking about basketball here. And yes, I'm still a tad bit bummed that I was not able to experience the Finals at Roaracle... but oh well. Summer has officially arrived in South San Jose! Our windows and fans have been open most of the time (still able to avoid the a/c) and I'm a bit jealous of all the splashing I hear on the other side of our backyard. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a swimming pool in the backyard if you're living so far south. Maybe...

Anyway, the main theme of this week was thinking of ways to beat the heat. This included early outings before it got too hot, covered parking at the mall, or just staying home and lounging around.

 "Homeschooling"

The last time we were here, I had to walk around and make sure that Char wasn't being pushed around by bigger kids. This time (I think it's been a year!), I was able to sit down and just sorta watch the kids. It's so insane how capable and independent they are now. The purpose of this activity was to let them run around and lose all their energy without sweating up a storm.

 "Look Ma, no hands!"

 Hopping Shinn kids

 Tired yet happy kids

 Young shopping fashionista

I love Target. Target probably loves me back since I spend so much money there. Whenever I shop there with Lucas, he's only interested in the toy section. When I'm with Char, it's a whole different world! I think she actually enjoys browsing the aisles with me. She definitely enjoys shopping for her own clothes and has quite the opinion for a 2  year old. Her clothing of choice includes anything pink or purple, Frozen, Minnie Mouse, and anything ruffly like the skirts she's checking out right now. I'm teaching her young - we only shop in the clearance aisles (as pictured above). Mommy NEVER buys anything full price, EVER!

On Saturday, we were not able to beat the heat. We went to Vasona Park and spent much of the afternoon and early evening there. The kids had a blast and we came home tired, sweaty, and stuffed.

 Billy Bob train ride

 Beauty and the (stinky) beasts

 Watermelon never tasted so good

 Despite her worried look, she actually really loved her panda

 Mommy/daughter twinsie face painting fun

We basically screwed up our entire sleeping schedule on Saturday. Actually, weekend nap schedules are pretty messed up. Okay, wait... I take it back. Summer sleeping schedules are pretty messed up over all. But, it's summer! I'll slowly fix things in August when we get ready for school again. Having the kids share a room is a blessing and a curse. It's so cute hearing them converse with each other. But, they talk so much that it can take them up to an hour to fall asleep. Luckily, both are relatively deep sleepers so if they're asleep and the other person cries, they can sleep through it. Today, we came home around 2 and had them take their naps. However, they were still talking up a storm till close to 4! Yes, it was nearly two hours of non-stop conversation in that room (they're insane!!!). When it was 5, I decided that it was time to wake them up. Two very little creatures were not very happy...

 Unhappy toddler #1

 Very unhappy toddler #2

 Very tired #2 who passed out again and took a mini nap before dinner

btw, there are TONS of summer babies! I think there's been like six babies born this week. Did everyone drink some kind of special Kool-Aid in September?! (Did I do my math correctly?) Oh, and instead of beat(ing) the Heat, let's beat the Cavs! Go Dubs!

Getting Into The Groove of Things

Week 2 has been a lot more productive than week 1. We are enjoying going to bed late and sleeping in (8:00). I'm trying to discover and check out new things with Lucas while Char's in school. One thing we recently started doing together is hiking. I'm searching for a toddler friendly hike with breathtaking views so the hike is worth it for them. So far, not coming up with anything that worthwhile. 

Since I'm slowly getting back into the groove of things, this summer has been pretty relaxing so far. It's so different than last summer. Last summer I was religiously checking Redfin for affordable houses around the area, emailing and meeting up with our agent to check out potential homes, going on job interviews and getting rejected to almost everything, and eventually packing up our rental home to move to a new place.

This summer, I'm definitely not job searching and am feeling pretty good about starting my second year of 2nd grade next year. I've accumulated quite a bit of improvements with teaching via Pinterest, too! The house is nice and tidy (minus the garage) and although I am still leisurely looking at Redfin and going to random open houses just for the fun of it, I am definitely not stressed with house searching. My piano business slowly resurrected itself once again thanks to parents who actually took time to read my bio. As for now, life is pretty sweet. 

 Hanging out with a neighbor church friend during the 100 degree heat

 Separating water beads by color

 "Mommy, take a picture of our house. CHEEESEEE!!!" - Char

Yes, this is for real! Our little Charlie is talking in somewhat complete sentences now. Ever since we moved her over to her big girl bed and told her to not come over to our room in the middle of the night, she's been doing a great job so far. My "Lucas is there to protect you" line is working! The "Charlotte is there to protect you" line has been working as well. Yay to two "big" kids!

 Sticker fun

 What happens when you fall asleep here

 Checking out Almaden Quicksilver Park

 Playing at Almaden Lake Park

Although it's much easier having just one kid, you can tell Lucas definitely misses having his sister around. When we were playing in this mini playground, he was telling me how we should take Char here too next time so that someone can go on the see-saw with him.

Would probably be more fun chasing ducks with sissy poo around too

Happy Hump Day!

Summer Summer

Well, I survived my first week as a SAHM. I think there's 10 more weeks to go? Is it bad that I'm already planning for the Fall? So far, summer's been not so bad. Too bad the summer heat is finally hitting us. I should've went to HH last week when it was still in the 70s. Oh well...

Anyway, my biggest accomplishment this week was rearranging three rooms in our house. Char's room became the new office, our office became the kids' new room, and Lucas's old room become playroom #2/guest room if anyone wants to sleep next door to two kids.

In their new room

Unlike attempt #1 when Char was around 7 months old, this new sharing room is working out great so far. They'll going to sleep much, much later than usual because they're talking up a storm. I like to eavesdrop on their conversations and they're pretty cute together. Charlotte pretty much copies whatever Lucas says and they somehow are able to converse, too! I convinced both kids that the other sibling is there to protect them from whatever scary things are out there at night. Char was even able to sleep in that room through the night. I just wanted to reiterate that things are AH-MAY-ZING so far! I hope I don't jinx it... They're also going to be sharing this room for a long, long time because I busted my butt off for two straight days moving everything around in the closet too. 

Lesson learned: If I put my heart and mind to it, I can clean up pretty quickly. I still have the garage to clean up... not as motivated with that room though.

Anyway, as I mentioned before in my previous post, summer did not start off as I had planned.

Sick kiddos

The only good thing about having two sick kids is that they slept much longer than they usually do, which made cleaning and rearranging rooms manageable! 

Now everyone is back to normal. I'm not a fan of being a homebody, especially since working. So even if it's a trip to Nob Hill, an outing is an outing.

Convinced Lucas to go on a short hike with me

A view of where we live

Reward after our hike

First time I got to drop Char off at school

Lego lover

This past Saturday was CDM's 25th anniversary. I must be getting old if there are things and celebrities younger than me (e.g.: CDM, Steph Curry, Sean Lowe).

Pretty lady and two clowns

 Loved this contraption!

 Pinata-ing

 Can't leave without waiting in line for the fire truck!

Pretty little lady's Sunday OOTD

And that wraps up the first official week of summer! Here's to a house full of healthy Shinn's for the rest of the summer.

First Day of Summer

The long awaited, first day of summer was supposed to be fun. Instead, we spent two hours at Kaiser (mainly waiting) because we're trying to figure out what's wrong with Char and her vomiting and diarrhea. Of course, there wasn't anything that was told to me which I hadn't figured out already. Sigh... not a good start to summer. This past weekend was filled with vomit and diarrhea. This was not on my list of things to do over the summer! 

Although sickness was involved with this weekend, we did share some more fun times too.

 Morning reading

Did I mention that a June goal was to convert the office into a shared kids room and that Char's room will be the new office? New beds and mattresses are coming in this week, so we're ready to roll soon!

 Fun at the park pt 1

 Fun at the park pt 2

 Made their own clubhouse at the park

Although they fight constantly, they're also BFFs. This was evident at the park when the two of them decided to climb into this little tunnel and excluded everyone from coming inside. They even yelled "NO! GO AWAY!" to these other two boys who were trying to play with them. I was not allowed in there because I was too big and I might hit my head.

 Happy back seat riders

 Picnic in the hallway

Here is more evidence that these two love playing together and are siblings BFFs.

 Mommy & Lucas's fave = dessert!

 Char trying to join in on the fun

Double riders at Target

I'm hoping that Char is over this stomach bug thing. She's acting normal and has a decent appetite. We're just scared of her random puking. Doing loads of laundry is definitely no fun.