Little City Boy

Well, technically, he is not a city boy, cause we live in the 'burbs, but I'd like to think that one day, he'll live in a cool, bustling city and we'll come and visit him and be annoying parents. *sigh*

Simon's opinion on Christmas card photos

This photo was from two years ago and I have no idea what to do about this year's card. I think I'm in trouble. I have three little crazies and getting them all together in a photo usually brings me to tears. It is one of THE most stressful times of my life. Stay tuned...

Recycled Slug

I just came across this video from August, 2010, and it made me laugh so I had to post it. Ollie had just turned four. He’s so pudgy and I love that he can’t say his L’s. Don’t you love his outfit too? He dresses himself.

My April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s Day with a 4.5 and 6 year old is awesome. Sooo awesome. Although, after a while, I have to admit, I got a little tired finding toys in my beverages. Heh.

Captured by a snake?

Outtake

Eaten by a bear?

I really can hardly stand their cuteness. It’s just overwhelming.

The dog trick.

The dog trick–Ollie’s turn.

And they had other tricks not captured by film/Iphone:

Ollie thought it was absolutely hilarious to place different objects in front of Joe’s office door. He didn’t even wait for Joe to come out, just the act of doing it was enough to entertain him. Seriously, he almost peed his pants laughing at his 4-year-old cleverness.

Noah thought he was pretty brilliant by switching things from my Joe’s night stand to mine and vice versa. He also did the same with our closets. Heh. Very cute.

I love my life so very, very much.

Knitting much?

Okay…here is a photo collection of most of my knitting projects. Forgive the lack of consistency in photo styles. These were all taken with my phone and some I chose to “spiff up” and some I left as is.

I’d prefer to post each project separately in the future so I can spend some time listing the yarn used and pattern help I received (YouTube is amazing for beginning knitters, btw). But since I’m so behind on the blog, I just have to catch up a bit first.

I guess I should also explain my recent obsession. A friend of mine taught me how to knit a simple scarf a few years ago (thank you, Miss Amy Kang). I did it, and that was that. She thought I would become a knitter, but I assured her I would NOT as I REALLY didn’t have the time or patience to sit and knit. Well…fast forward a few years, and the bug got me. I can’t really explain it, but I love it. I love that one string can turn into something so wonderful. There is a 3-dimensional, mathematical quality to knitting. It’s made up of knits and purls and any combination of those stitches can produce something different. So, I’m turning into a knitting nerd and I don’t care. I really do believe it’s saved my sanity these past months.

People keep asking me how I have time to knit. Well…I don’t really. I can usually just knit a few rows at a time during the day…if I get a few minutes while Simon is napping or if I arrive 5 minutes early at the bus stop or to pick up Ollie. I knit at night to relax (my husband works A LOT, which frees up many evenings, I’m kind of sad to say, actually). I also knit at playdates and bible study. heh. One of the few things you can do while also talking and listening. Oh…and I knit at Taekwondo. One of the moms told me how I always seem so relaxed with three boys, cause I sit and knit at Taekwondo. Again….it’s SAVING my sanity. haha.

 

This was my first (and only) blanket that I knitted for my precious, Simon. It’s super soft and cuddly. It’s my own pattern (which was sooo fun to come up with) because I didn’t like any I saw. I’m currently working on a blanket for Ollie, but blankets take a LONG time and he wants one that’s “just his size”, so…it will be awhile.

 

These were in a previous post, but I thought I’d repost them, because darn it…they took me a LONG time to make. AND they are made from Fair Trade Cotton no less.

 

Here is a sweet newborn hat I made for my friends Josh and Angelle who are having their first little baby.

 

Here’s sweet little Simon trying on his little hat in progress. The final version is posted here.

 

I normally don’t like to post pictures of myself (especially in the BATHROOM), but here I am! This is an infinity scarf. Fun, huh?

 

Noah wanted a scarf. Cute, but the edges roll in. Whatever, he still likes it and he wears it well.

 

This was my second attempt at making mittens to match Noah’s scarf. Well…they are too small for Noah, and almost too small for Ollie. Luckily, I have a third child who can grow into them.

 

I know…so sad I made my son model this, but someone had to. This will go to a very deserving little girl, if my friend ends up having a girl. If not, I will make a cute little skater hat for a little boy, probably. Don’t you love it? It’s the Stella Pixie Hat on Etsy. So fun to make.

 

And this is my latest newborn hat. Super cute with a knot on the top. It’s actually the Berry Baby Hat, but instead of a berry, it’s grey and cream stripes. It’s also super soft cause I used an organic wool/cotton blend. This one is for John and Lisa Butterworth’s little bundle, but they don’t know it yet. Hehe.

So, now that I look at all of these, I’m super embarrassed by my horrible photography. I promise to use my REAL camera to take pictures of my next projects.

Blogging Hang-ups

Okay…it’s been over a month since my last post, in which I declared that I was going to start blogging again. Hm. Not such a great re-start. Anyway, in all this, I was trying to figure out what kept me from blogging and there are many reasons.

1. The obvious: Having a family of five just keeps me on my toes with laundry, dishes, cooking, kids schoolwork, general clean-up, etc. And my house is NOT in order all the time, so something is lacking in that area as well.

2. A new hobby: I’m obsessed with knitting. I think about it ALL the time. I dream about it at night. Not kidding. I MIGHT need an intervention.

3. Indecisiveness: There is sooo much I want to blog about, that when I sit down to do it, I just can’t decide, so I don’t. Here are just a few:

-Knitting
-Taekwondo
-Past birthday celebrations
-Christmas
-Cooking/pie-making
-PeeWee Soccer
-Noah’s artwork
-Gardening
-Bento lunches
-Cannon Beach

4. Lack of photo organization and quality: I know, I know…I’m a photographer so, really, this shouldn’t be an issue. The problem is I have everything organized for clients, but my own personal photographs are a mess. And, typically, the shots I want to blog about are on my phone. So, the quality is horrible and I’m a perfectionist, and can’t bring myself to post so-so pictures up. Also, I blog on a PC, and I sync my phone to my mac. Just a little transferring dilemma that takes slightly more time and effort that, apparently, I’m unwilling to put forth. I won’t bore you with the rest of the details.

So…I’m gonna make myself get over all this. I’ll put off laundry and dishes once in a while. I maybe WON’T knit every chance I get (notice I said maybe). I won’t blog in any order, I’ll just pick a random subject and do it (my self-diagnosed OCD will have some trouble with this one). Finally, I will post up horrible, un-edited, low-resolution pictures and not think twice. After all…when we started blogging, we put up images based on cute factor, not image quality.

Since this has been a super boring post. I’m gonna end it with some cute, (but low-quality) random images to get myself over my blogging hang-ups. These are in NO particular order and I may be reposting them later when I decide to actually write in detail about them. Here we go:

Ollie LOVES his brother. He is just the sweetest guy.

Simon is just too perfect for words.

Noah and Ollie’s lunches. I kind of dumbed-down the Bento lunch idea, but it’s still cute and fun.

Noah brought these to share at school for his 6th Birthday. He couldn’t decide between cupcakes, cookies, or lollipops. So, I figured out how to make these. I’ll post the recipes later. Took a few YouTube lessons for me to finally get it. Ha.

My first booties knit for my friend, Jess. Booties are REALLY hard. So…there may not be another pair for awhile.

Noah made this Optimus Prime from scratch with no help from me. It is sooo delicate. It’s made of paper and if you can’t tell, that one arm is sooo tiny! haha. I love it. It makes me thing of this. hehe.

Nearly 9 months

So, our sweet Simon is nearly 9 months now. That’s also about the same amount of time since my last blog post. That wasn’t intentional, just trying to get this 3-kid thing down. I think I’m in a pretty good place now, so I’m trying to get the blog going again. Thought I’d start it off with these CRAZY adorable shots of what may be the cutest child EVER. I know…I know…I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it time and time again. It’s just true.

(Btw, Joe took the shot of him in the green hat. Pretty awesome, huh? …which I knitted, as a matter of fact. More on that later. And my Aunt Peggy crocheted the fabulous blue blanket. Kind of amazing.)

And yes, he’s wearing Baby Legs…because he’s cute and he can get away with it.

Simon’s First Portraits

Simon’s Birth

{I copied this post from Joe. It’s posted on our family blog, chengblog.com}

(Sorry for the late posting of this very important news—everything goes on Facebook these days!)

We’re so happy to welcome Simon Lewis Cheng into our family! He was born on June 8, 2010, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs, 7 oz.

Ten fingers, ten toes, and everything else appears to be in working order as well!

Noah and Ollie are doing great with their new baby brother, especially Ollie, who takes his new role of “big brother” very seriously.

We’re so thankful to God for blessing us with another amazing little person to take care of. Simon has already brought so much joy into our home!

Little Chef

Ollie is so helpful in the kitchen…

Although…I suppose a bit wasteful. It’s okay, his cuteness makes up for it. heh.

Just adorable

View Full Album

So, I don’t really have a story here. I just think these are adorable. I love my little guys so much! Even when they’re upset, they are cute! hehehe.

This one of Ollie just sends me over the edge. He was so annoyed at me cause I kept taking so many pictures. But I got this awesome expression from him, which makes the crying afterwards TOTALLY worth it! haha. ;) Sorry bud, but your Mom is crazy…and you are CUTE!

Counting

Just showing off Noah’s sweet Chinese skills. Thanks to his Amah & Yeh Yeh.

 

The other day, a stranger asked me if Noah knew any Chinese. I told him he could count to ten…then Noah proceeded to count to thirty! I must say I was a very proud, and shocked, mommy. And the man was very jealous that Noah had such awesome Grandparents that teach him so well.

ismodern ROCKS!

ismodern is a modern children’s clothing store that has the GREATEST boys clothes. Finally, a designer who takes interest in BOYS. She is an architect turned clothing designer, which is why, I believe, she has that extra edge. Very cool. They just got even better cause they are sponsoring Pictures for a Purpose. Our fundraiser to stop child trafficking. How great is that?

My friend, Kara, came over to practice for the fun event, which takes place this Saturday. And of course, she is a brilliant photographer, so she was able to take these awesome pictures of my boys wearing ismodern! Aren’t they great models? Even monkey. haha.

 

 

So…if you are looking for some great children’s outfits…visit ismodern.com. And if you are looking for some awesome photographs…visit KaraHicksPhotography.com. She’s got some great art prints for sale too. Those sales will help her go back to Thailand to document and eventually combat human trafficking. So don’t hesitate to buy some.