10 Days with Daddy - Part 1

Hello my friends! It's been almost two weeks since my last entry and I almost gave up typing this post too. It sucked because I wanted to post all the happy things that happened while my husband was here on daily basis, but I was simply too busy to even sit down in front of the computer..


As you know from the previous post that my husband was home for ten days. Acutally it was supposted to be six days, but he extended his stay and left last Saturday evening. I have to admit, the house is less chaotic, but quiet.

Seriously, my husband, the girls and I had so many things we wanted to do together and it seemed never enough time. We were non-stop on the Go, and when I wanted to sit down and compose a post, JT often told me, "You can sit next to me and watch TV together."


He is never against me having my own blog. He often reads it when he's away, but I think he wanted me to cherish our time together as a husband and a wife, and focus my energy to my family while he's back in his own home. And he was right about that. That's why I barely sat down in front of pc for the past 12 days. Of course, writing a post or visiting all of your blogs have always been back on my mind, but I was totally tired by the time we get home from our activities. I haven't uploaded any videos or photos, but I will make sure to post them this week.

Anyway, it's taken me forever to tell you what happened after my husband came home as a surprise to our daughters, or all the things we did for the past 12 days, but I thought it's never too late to share.

July 29 (Thu) - JT arrives at Tampa Intl @ 12:30am. I pick him up and drive home together while our girls are sound asleep. Our youngest daughter wakes up in the wee hours while JT and I were chatting and watching TV together. Oh boy, the look on Soapy's face. She totally believes she is dreaming. She goes back to bed and comes out minutes later saying, "Daddy???"

Sooo cute. She slowly walks towards him, lays down and puts her head against Daddy's chest. Daddy asks her if she's surprised and she smiles and nods, "yes..."

JT decides that we all should sleep together in the same bed. On the other hand, his wife Maki thinks, "Are you kidding me?" - we have a queen size bed, not the king size bed. But Soapy thinks it's a fabulous idea and jumps on to our bed right away. JT scoops his oldest daughter Ju Ju up and tries to bring her to our room when she says, "Daddy..." Her eyes are still closed and she is too sleepy to wake up. When we're finally in bed together, Daddy whispered to the girl's ear, "Daddy is so happy to be home, close to you girls..." Ju Ju whispered back, "Me too..." We went to bed together that night.

The next morning, JT and I woke up at 8:30am after having five hours of sleep with stiff neck. The girls were jumping on bed screaming and cheering, "Yaaay, Daddy's home, Daddy's home!!!" - it was one of those scenes that I see in movies. Dadd and Mommy were so happy to see the girls' smiles on their faces. BUT, We both couldn't sleep well because Ju Ju and Soapy moved around like worms and took our space. We both decided that the girls were to sleep in their bed. Good idea!!!

This was the beginning of great family time - and I'm so happy that the girls and I got to spend time with Daddy a lot longer that we expected.

I will post more about JT's stay tomorrow - Hope all is well with you!!

xoxo

Midnight Magic ~ Daddy comes home ~

My husband is flying back home tonight from NJ and will be landing at midnight here in FL. Our daughters Ju Ju and Soapy think that they will pick their daddy up at the airport tomorrow morning (Thursday), and they have no idea that he's planning to crawl into their beds...

The girls are bathed, watching TV right now. We ususally Skype with Daddy every night, but he told them he is busy with work, so he'll see them tomorrow. The girls are so excited and ready to go to bed because you know, they just can't wait the morning to come.

My mother in law is coming over to watch the girls, so I can drive to pick JT up while the girls sleep. Wait until Daddy comes home and "Twinkle" - The girls will be so surprised in the morning. It's like magic! I can't wait to see their face, how big their eyes get. :)

So have sweet dreams my babies, let the magical day begin!

{Shhhhhhh}

A Dinner Date w/ Daddy

It's been a week since my husband left again for work. The day before we had the water damage, JT took us to our favorite Italian restaurant in town called Epicure. I've posted a video clip a few months ago when I took the girls to dinner at the same place.

We've been going to the restaurant since Julia was six months old. JT's grandma took us there when we're visiting FL and we've become a huge fan since.

We love their salad or pasta or pizza.
They use such fresh ingredients that you smile with every bite.

Look at Soapy. The mouth opened wide expression - That's a second one. I think she's just a camara shy sometimes or maybe she is truly a comic. She is so precious.. Julia is such a daddy's girl. Always she says, "Daddy, Daddy..."

We had such a lovely evening - it was during sunset, and the breeze from the beach was so pretty.

JT took this pic from his table - I must say it's one of my favorite pics of us.

Looking at Daddy and my husband, JT's girls are all smiley:)

We miss him so.....

Four Is Better Than Three

My husband JT left again last Monday. I didn't get to share the happy times we had while he was back in town with you because of all the craziness that happened a few weeks ago, but we have plenty pictures to share...

I'm going to download all the pics tonight, so I'm hoping to post them tomorrow. (I know, I said that last week, but I'm seirous this time!)

What I know is that Four is better than Three (Me, Ju Ju & Soapy minus Daddy).

Thank goodness my girls didn't cry when they said goodbye to daddy this time, but I cried the night before while he was packing because I felt really sad that Daddy doesn't get to see the girls for over a month again or the girls don't get to play with him. It's the best time to see the girls grow and I know it's not easy for both him and I...

But it is what it is. Daddy gotta work..

Hope you're having a lovely Wednesday...

Daddy Is Home, But Our House Is Ruined!!!!

Hello My Ladies - I've missed you so much. It's been a week since I posted the last entry, but it's not because I've been lazy nor didn't want to post. I've had such a crazy week..

Good news first. My husband has been home since last week Wednesday for eleven days. We've taken some photos which I will definitely post at a later date. Our daughters are sooo happy their daddy is home and I'm very happy to see their faces brighten up every moment they're with him.

Now to the bad news.....

I was working last Saturday as usual when my cell phone blew up with constant calls from my husband. I was so busy, 30 minutes had passed when I finally was able to pick it up. "Maki, you need to come home," my husband said. I was the only receptioniost working that day and the salon was extremely busy, so I told him I couldn't and hung up. He called again and said, "Maki, you don't understand, it's an extreme emergency. You have to come home." Apparently , the lady who just moved in upstairs a week prior decided to fix the AC and hired some guys and one of them was using a tool right by the fire extinguisher and set it off. He said that the house has two inches of water...

I still didn't think it was that serious until I saw four firetrucks, two police cars a management van at the parking alot. When I got close to my condo, I saw 10 firemen and police officers standing outside by my house. I didn't have to go inside to see what had happened - my husband was taking stuff out from the house, my BFF K was holding my baby Soapy crying and my in laws were just coming out. As I saw my mother in law, she came straight to me and I started crying. "My house, my house..." I couldn't believe my eyes. The water was everywhere and it's falling down from the ceiling like Niagra Falls. The firefighters had to break the ceiling, so the water upstairs would run downstairs. It was a mess!

To make the long story short, my house has suffered the severe water damages. The living room and dining room are shot. Our bedroom and kids room were soaking wet. Thank god, we're staying at JT's mom's, but we don't even know how long it will take for us to move back in. They have to fix A LOT of stuff.... If we didn't have Mom, we'd have been asking Red Cross or someone to find us a place to stay. I'm so angry and upset, but it is what it is.

I'm thankful that no one was hurt, that most of the stuff are replaceable. Also, the insurance from the AC company and the condo upstairs are paying for our damages, thank goodness. I can't believe that we're displaced from our own home, but we're trying to stay positive!!!

I won't be able to post every day until things get settled and back to normal again, but I will try to post some pictures from last week when my husband and I took the girls to the pony rides. Hope all of you're doing well and having a lovely week!!!!

xoxoxo

p.s. I'm sorry I won't be able to visit each one of your blog to comment - my time is so limited right now since using my in law's pc:(

The House Without A Man

I couldn't quite figure out why I've been so tired lately. Staying up late, sometimes until 2am being in front of computer and getting up at 7am was not a big deal for me before. But now, I get really sleepy by 9pm - I even fall asleep with the girls while I'm putting them to bed - simply exhausted. And I didn't know why...

I realize now that my exhausion comes from doing everything around the house all by myself without my husband's help. Tell you the truth, I've always done most of the stuff around the house - cleaning, cooking, bathing the kids and putting them to bed. But I never realized how important a role my husband had played until now. It's the little things he did for me - if my hands were full, he went to the bathroom and check on the girl while they played in the tub or if they didn't listen, all I had to do was call his name.

I wanted to quit my part time job by the end of last year, but I couldn't and it seems I have to stick around for another month or two. Thank god for JT's mom and stepdad's - they take care of the girls while I'm at work; 23 hours out of five days (which is not bad at all). I also was able to switch two of my shifts to morning, so I can pick up Ju Ju from school (I could only pick her up once a week before and JT picked her up every day) - she is seriously happy that I'm there waiting at the gate when she walks out with her classmates: Her face totaly lit up when she seems my face...

Anyway, what I want to say is I totally respect all the single moms out there - they do so much without anybody's help. I know it's not easy, seriously it's not easy - Jenn, I'm talking about you!! :) If you know anyone who's a single mom - please be kind and respect her. She may be putting a brave face, but I know sometimes all she wants is a good cry.

BTW, JT sent me a photo of snow to my cell phone this morning - his message said, "6in last nite 6 more today.." - I must admit I miss my husband..

Stay warm everyone...

Oh There Are So Many Things, But Never Enough Time w/ Two New Kittens

Howdy!! How have you been??? I've been busy as always and things are busier than ever... It seems there are so many things to do and never enough time.

Here's the rundown of what's been going on in Maki's world for the past week.

1. Julia started soccer - She's so great at it, I can't believe it's her first time being in the team. She's got some talent.

2. I am a soccer mom now. You know, the one cheers on her kid during practice and the game, screaming and telling her how to kick the ball from the sideline.. Yes, that's me.

3. JT's been playing softball - and he's enjoying it. His younger brother has been playing softball for the past several months and I was hoping JT would play, too. Now JT's work started their own team and he's in it. We've been going to his practices together and watch several games too. Truth is as JT admits it, his team sucks and needs improvement A LOT, but the players are all enjoying it. BTW, JT is pretty good at it and he looks amazing in the uniform. Also, the girls are so happy every time when it's their daddy's turn to hit the ball.

4. Like I've said in August, we have fianlly adopted two little kittens. Initially we planned to adopt only one kitty. When we went to the animal shelter, there are literary over 30 kittens and cats waiting to go to a happy home. I was crying like a baby.. I've had six cats in my life and three have died, so I was very wary about getting another one. It was very painful experiences to lose my cats, so I didn't want to go through with it. But like I said bfore, the girls wanted to have kittie for over a year or so, JT was encounraging me every single day for the past several months. Anyway, I finally decided that the girls deserve to have a kittie, so we went back to the shelter and returned home with two kittens instead of one.

The kitties are still small and have two more weeks to get neutered. I'm sorry no photos yet - they are still trying to adjust to their new home and we're trying to give them some space. Their names are Ruddish (girl) and Firefly (boy) - they are litter mate (they are brother and sisiter) and the people at the shlter gave their name. Ju Ju wants to keep their name, but Soapy wants to change it to Princess and Star.. We're still going back and forth with it, but hopefully soon we can settle with the real names.

I'll talk about the day we adopted the kittens in later post. I really want to dedicate the post to all the dogs and cats who are living in the shelters all over the country.... They really need a happy home. In two weeks, I will go back to the shelter with the kitties to get them neutered and will formally adopt them. I am thinking about taking the pictures of all the kittens and adult cats who are in the shelter and post them with their name on it... They are so cute and they will break you heart. I wish I could adopt all of them.

I hope all is well with you, sweetness...

xoxo

My Husband's Birthday....

We all know that today is a very sad day for many, many people. I can't believe it's been eight years since that fateful morning on September 11...

But I also know it's a very important day for me and my family. It's JT's 44th birthday!!! He was there in NJ when the attacks happened and his birthday hasn't been the same since. But I thought it's time for him to be happy again on his birthday.

I am planning a very tiny surprise visit to his work and bring a birthday cake. He chose to work instead of celebrating his birthday, but I thought it would be nice to bring him a cake and sing him a happy birthday. I hope it works out because our Ju Ju kind of slipped and said, "Daddy, do you want to be surprised on your birthday??" Oh man, JT was laughing and begged me not to come.

But I already asked his manager and he okayed me. So off I go!!

I know we will forever remember what happened that morning of September 11, but I also want my husband to know that he is loved and his birthday is to be celebrated.

Happy Birthday my love!!!! I love you!

xoxo