Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, for the first time in my life, I hosted my own Thanksgiving dinner. We figured since we're moving in a few weeks, we shouldn't spend the money on traveling home for Thanksgiving.

Since there are just five of us, we made a mini feast. We made half recipes of our usual potato casserole and sweet potatoes. We made a nice salad and had stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Since I don't know how to cook a turkey, and I prefer chicken anyway, we simply bought a rotisserie chicken from Pavilions. It was so tender, and tasty, and so easy to reheat! :)

The best parts, I think, were Jon's delicious artisan french bread, and his apple pie. We've been so lucky to have Jon stay with us. We eat like kings. In fact we were worried that our Thanksgiving feast would just seem like any other feast we've made, but we were wrong. I feel like we put way more effort into this one. I was in the kitchen the majority of the day. Anyway, it was worth it.

This year I'm very thankful that Heavenly Father's been taking care of our family. I've literally seen example after example of this. Whenever we've had a need, Heavenly Father has provided for us with specific things. Just one example is my dear friend, Corina, who has been so generous to give us clothes for the boys. Just as soon as I would begin to notice the kids needed new sizes, Corina would show up to church with a new bag of clothes for us. And when I've needed a little extra help when things are busy, or when the kids are sick, dear friends have offered to lighten my load in different ways. I'm just very grateful, because I know Heavenly Father knows me personally, and that he answers my prayers--usually through the generous and inspired actions of latter-day "saints".

Halloween 2010

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Both boys were old enough to say "trick-or-treat" and appreciate the costumes. Andre was Bob the Builder, and Paulo insisted on being a ghost. Jon was King Tut....and I am officially tired of sewing costumes until next year. :)

Oh! And for the pumpkins this year, we did something a little different from our usual elaborately sculpted pumpkins. This year the boys designed the jack-o-lantern faces on paper, and Hunter and I carved them out. They both wanted scary faces...hence the squiggly mouth. Cute!

Little Jokesters

We went out to Round Table pizza in South Pasadena the other day, and they had some candy dispensers at the front of the restaurant. Andre immediately noticed that one of the dispensers had these fake mustaches, for only 25 cents! It was perfect, because my boys have been joking about mustaches lately.

So, we got a really big laugh out of these little mustaches, and surprised Uncle Jon when we came home. Hilarious!

Hunter added the "little professor" touch.

Little Artist

Last Saturday, when Hunter asked Andre what he wanted to do with him for "spending time", Andre said, "Color?". So Hunter made it special and got out some paints. Look how precious. Andre really is interested in art.

Graduation

The day finally arrived. Hunter graduated from Art Center College of Design! If special honors existed for graduate students at Art Center like they do for undergraduates, Hunter would have graduated "with distinction" because he did so well on his grades...not that he was at all concerned with grades. I am so so proud of my husband. What a wonderful education! It has been worth every penny.

Way to go, Hunter!




Almost all of Hunter's family were able to attend Hunter's graduation. I don't know why my group shot with everyone in it didn't turn out, but we are so grateful that you would drive such a long way to come celebrate with us. Thanks, Mom & Maren, Kami & Azar and the kids, Tyler & Julie and the kids, Jordan and Katie and the kids, Dad & Kathy and Keli. We love you all! We're sorry you couldn't come, Brodie, Nelcy, Thalia & Daryan, and Wing family. We felt your prayers and support all along. Brodie, you should know that Hunter kept a photo of you by his desk through the roughest times. He didn't stop thinking about you for one moment. He even made sure to wear one of the classy ties you gave him for his graduation ceremony. Love you, Bro. You're a fighter and an inspiration to us all.

Look at the smile on Paulo's face. He was ecstatic! He had been praying for this day for months so that Daddy would have more time to play with him.


Don't I just have the greatest husband in the world? Yes, I think so.

Hunter's Exhibition

I wasn't lying when I said that the last few weeks had been INSANELY busy. Hunter worked so hard on his thesis. He stayed up, on average, until 3:00 a.m. every morning for two consecutive weeks. Here he is working on the lighting of his exhibition space.

Finally, it all came together. He designed the whole space: the posters, the rounded corner sign that glows, he designed and built the table, chose the color for the paint, designed the lighting, installed the shelves--everything!

Here you can see some of his projects that were displayed on the table. He cut holes for three small screens that he mounted underneath which played videos he made that explain his projects.

Here you can see his Dermatext Bracelets and his Mobile Tacticons.

Here, you can see his Textural learning tool and Health Columns.

And here, his Textural Desktop.

The pictures don't do the projects justice. If you're interested, you can read more about Hunter's thesis on his website:

concepthunter.com

He'll be updating it throughout the summer with all his thesis documentation. So, stay tuned.

I must say, it was so fun to see the exhibition go up over time. The room used to be one big empty room, and I was fortunate to be able to see the spaces go up little by little.

I got to help Hunter quite a bit on his exhibit, thanks to our good neighbors who watched the kids while I helped. I painted the walls grey, helped Hunter build a wall which separated his space from the one next to it (not pictured), and helped him put together his table. I spray painted the headphones to be white so they matched everything, and I sewed the straps that mounted the screens to the bottom of the table. I also sewed the casings for his Dermatext Bracelets (sadly, the only one that worked out was the test model with all the wires coming out of it. The updated one, which was supposed to operate wirelessly, I'm afraid I might have caused to go haywire when I was trying to bend the wires to fit in the casing that I sewed. Oh well. We just simply ran out of time, so we couldn't fix it. So other than that failure on my part, I was glad I could be of some help to Hunter. You know, he really has a brilliant mind. Most of the time, I can't help him get his ideas to production, but at least I could help him with the simple stuff.


I was able to be present at his final thesis review. First, the faculty and some students were able to preview the space.



Next came the presentation. Hunter delivered his ideas very clearly and his presentation went very smoothly.


The discussion portion afterward lasted the whole thirty minutes. It was eye-opening to be in a room with twenty faculty from Art Center--brilliant minds--all discussing amongst themselves different applications of my husband's ideas. No wonder Hunter felt like his head was going to explode on his first day of school almost two years ago. These people are incredible! We're fortunate to be associated with them...and it makes me proud that Hunter can hold his own around them.

Bunkbed

Since Uncle Jon is going to be coming to live with us soon, we decided to transition the kids into bunkbeds a little early. It was a bit of an ordeal finding bunk beds that I liked, and I'm really happy with this one from Walmart. I put it together myself, and it is very very sturdy. I especially like that I can convert it into twin beds later on if I want.

So here are photos of Paulo and Andre waking up for the first time in their new beds. They were thrilled.

Playing on the Stairs

I love that my boys play on our stairs. Usually they play trains or cars. Sometimes they build legos on the landing with Daddy. So cute.



Hunter finally captured the pacifier smile with the tongue half hanging out. Eee!



And they usually sit on the bottom step to put on their socks and shoes. A couple times Andre has carefully backed up to sit on the bottom step for a snack.

Easter Sunday Coloring Eggs

Easter morning, we dyed some hard boiled eggs and ate them with our breakfast. Paulo was very careful dipping the eggs, but it got pretty messy when Andre got involved and started dumping the eggs in the cups repeatedly. It was very sweet though, and a memorable morning for all of us.

Aspiring Designer

Hi, Folks! I decided to try my hand at being a designer. For the first time, I own a sketchbook and draw all my ideas inside. I find myself taking photos on our frequent walks around the block of things that inspire me--ordinary things that I usually pass by. I'm learning more about photography in the process, and how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

My sister-in-law Julie's sister-in-law, LaVon, has a vinyl lettering business she started a long time ago and it has since grown a lot. Well, LaVon was kind enough to "take a chance on me" and let me design for her.

I'm currently working to expand the "kids' room" category. Here are photos of my first two completed designs!



I also made a border out of the set of balls, but for some reason I can't load the photo. And the best news is, I had my first sale! Somebody bought "Lil Champ"! Somebody liked my work and bought it! Isn't that exciting? It's a great feeling. And I have to say, I like my designs, too. I'm proud of them.

So, go check it out at stickywords.net

Filipino Food Recipes

Eureka! I finally came up with a good recipe for Pancit and Filipino BBQ. So you'll need to add these recipes to the old Wing Family Cookbooks I made for some of you forever ago. In fact, I've updated my Adobo recipe, too. It's fool proof. I'll just include all my updated Filipino recipes. Just so you know, Ma, the Kare-Kare recipe is not like the one we grew up on, but I like it this way, too.

Anyway, we tried the pancit and BBQ tonight, and oh!!! it was so heavenly. It brought me right back to Auntie Iding's house, watching Uncle Al BBQ on the driveway. His is still probably better, and Auntie Iding's pancit, too. But it's the closest I've ever gotten it. And sorry no pictures. We ate it up too fast. Enjoy!


Filipino Barbeque

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (4-6 thighs)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Sprite or 7-Up
1/2 cup soy sauce
Salt and pepper

Trim fat from chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Combine ingredients and coat chicken in marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Save a thigh or two to make Pancit, and barbeque the rest. Heat barbeque (we used gas) on high for 5 minutes. Cook meat 5-6 minutes on one side then turn over and cook 3 minutes. Serve with rice. [Note: you can substitute pork, but choose a really tender cut, b/c in my experience, it usually turns out tough)



Pancit Bihon

250 grams (8.8oz) dry bihon noodles
2 tablespoons oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound chicken, marinated (see Filipino BBQ)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 small onion, chopped (optional)
2 medium carrots, sliced into thin sticks
2 cups snow peas, or less
1 cup cabbage, sliced thin (optional)
1 cup chicken broth (subst: water + bouillon)

Marinate chicken ahead of time, and slice thin. Soak bihon in water for 10 mins, meanwhile chop vegetables. Saute garlic in hot oil until brown. Add marinated chicken and saute until brown. Stir in onions, carrots, snow peas and soy sauce. Cover and cook for 2 mins until tender. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add cabbage and cook until tender. Mix in bihon noodles until evenly distributed.



Adobo

1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken thighs
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3-4 large cloves garlic, crushed slightly
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

Trim fat from meat and pat dry with a paper towel. Combine ingredients in a large pot. Coat chicken in mixture and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low heat for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce should be thickened and glistening. Serve with rice. (Can use a crockpot. Use 2/3 C soy sauce instead. Still good to pat dry chicken then bring mixture to boil in a pot before transferring over.)



Kare-Kare

2-3 pounds pork (oxtail or pork roast works fine)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons onions
2 tablespoons soy sauce (subst. for 3 T bagoong)
2 small yellow squash, cut up
2 cups fresh green beans, cut up (1 lb?)
1/3 cup peanut butter

Boil the meat in 6 cups water and 1 1/2 tsp. salt until tender (30-60 minutes). In large saucepan, saute garlic and onion in hot oil until brown. Spoon out the meat from the liquid and saute with the garlic onion mixture. Add soy sauce and saute another 3 minutes. Return all the meat/garlic/onion mixture back to stewing water. Add squash and green beans and cook until tender. Reduce heat and stir in peanut butter. Cook another 5 minutes, adjust seasonings to taste and then serve with rice.



I found this one online, followed it exactly, and it was delicious and easy, too.
Filipino Bistek (Beef Steak)

1 1/2 to 2 pounds beef (round, sirloin or tenderloin), sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 tablespoons kalamansi (native lemon) juice --I just used lemon juice
1/4 cup dark soy sauce --I just used regular kikkoman
freshly-ground pepper --mine was not freshly ground
2 large onions, cut into rings
2 tablespoons oil

In a glass mixing bowl, mix kalamansi or lemon juice and soy sauce. Add beef, garlic and ground pepper. Mix well. Let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Heat a heavy skillet. Add oil. Lightly fry the onion rings. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Keep warm. Reheat oil until smoking. Pan-fry the beef slices in batches, removing them as they brown. When all the beef has been cooked, pour the marinate into the skillet and boil for 1 minute. Arrange beef slices on a plate. Place the onion rings on top. Pour the sauce over the onions and beef. Serve at once.

Early Easter Egg Hunt

We've begun to do "spending time" with our boys every weekend. We rotate which of the boys is with which parent and we go out and do something with our boys one on one. Hunter took Paulo to a train store. I took Andre to a yard sale that our ward pre-young women were putting on to raise money to donate to Haiti. (I found some awesome Adirondak style chairs for the boys to sit out on the patio. I'm currently sanding them down. After I stain them, I'll post pictures.)

When we got home, Hunter rode bikes with Paulo on the driveway for a while and Andre and I went upstairs. Ten minutes later, Paulo comes and finds me upstairs and says, "Daddy's hurt! He has blood. Lots of blood." I sprinted out the door and down to the driveway to find Hunter sprawled out next to his bike, unable to get up. He hit his knees pretty badly and has been icing them for the past two days. Nothing was broken--don't worry. But he developed a huge bump on the inside of one of his knees, and injured his bursa on the other knee, causing sharp pain if he's not really careful. His scrapes are scabbing over now-sort of.

Anyway, this is a long explanation of why I took the boys to the Easter egg hunt alone this year. (Hunter had to keep off his leg as much as possible and elevate it at home.) But I had a lot of fun with my boys. Andre slept through most of it and then was irritable when he woke up. It's funny because Paulo has a picture almost exactly like Andre's--bawling next to his Easter basket. It was a beautiful day. I love the month of March in Pasadena. The climate is perfect. Enjoy the pictures. And Happy Easter!