Every holiday or occasion in my family growing up was marked by a pool party.  Not much has changed since then with Grammy and Papa down the street and family nearby!  We’re very lucky to have our family close and hopefully this time next year even more will have moved south!

On Easter Sunday we went to church (our biannual visit) for the service and Easter egg hunt.  The kids had a blast!

And Walter got to spend more time than usual in front of the camera!

Our church also has a butterfly release after service each year and both kids were finally able to enjoy it!

Kate was so curious!

Noah’s butterfly didn’t want to go very far!

And we thought the gathering was a perfect excuse for some impromptu family photos!

After church we went to my parents’ and swam and ate like kings.  Unfortunately we have no photos of that because Walter got sick on the way over.  It’s very unlike him to sit out so I knew it was best to give him a break.  You’ll have to see our new tans in the next post!

That’s it, I’m officially a mom.  In case the whole pregnancy, labor, delivery mess didn’t convince me, this is it.  I spent my day making treats for the kids’ bake sale.  Always trying hard not to take ourselves too seriously, and because I can’t eat chocolate, I didn’t “bake” just anything… Noah and I made popcorn balls! 

Popcorn balls have been one of my favorite treats for as long as I can remember.  We used to make them at my grandparents’ house every Christmas;  I have such fond memories of those times!  Today I use the same recipe written by my grandmother in pencil on an ancient index card. 

Every time time I make them I manage to do something wrong; some things never change.  The recipe is very simple.  Make popcorn, make this eewy, gooey, sticky sauce, poor the sauce over the popcorn and form into balls.  The first year I made these on my own I let 3 milliseconds pass between pouring the boiling sauce over the popcorn and attempting to form balls.  I don’t remember having to wait for anything to cool as a kid!  I also don’t remember how long it took that to heal but I’ve never done it since!  This time I put all the ingredients in the sauce at once, two are supposed to go in at the very end of the boiling process.  Oops.  They still taste great!

And because I enjoy my memories of popcorn ball making so fondly I figured I’d pass on the tradition.  Here’s how it went down -

Noah, Monkey and I pressed the popcorn into balls.  Noah was in charge of picking stray kernels off my hands for his snack.

He was also excellent at finding all the unpopped, hard seed kernels and putting them aside.

Don’t you love his dimple!?

I made a little one for him -

In order to bribe him for this -

Did I mention these things are sticky!?

We also baked some double chocolate chip muffins for the boring people at the sale.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope your festivities are just as sweet!

For Christmas Noah got an ant farm from his Aunt Nikki.  At first I was a little surprised and not exactly in the fun, excited way.  Then I found out that to get the ants for the farm you had to order them BY MAIL.  Again, not excited – but, we did.  We sent away for the special ants that eat the special gel in this modern ant farm.  Did you know insects can be MAILED?!!?

Well the ants arrived and we put them in their new home (and by “we” I mean Walter).  Although they looked like big, mean, red ants, I figured so long as they were in the farm it really didn’t matter.  Once they got acclimated though and started to make this joint their home we all became fascinated.  It’s so interesting to watch them – from a distance – and see how they make tunnels and problem solve.  The very first tunnel they built went right into the wall of the farm.  D’oh!  They’ve gotten used to the surroundings though and this is what they’re up too…

Here’s what it looks like from a little further back.  Damn, ants, they can’t get anything right – we told them to spell Noah.  They are missing the o and the a and the h is upside down!  Just kidding, we have no idea what N4 is or where they think they’re going!

In case you forgot, this is the Yap Family blog, yes really.  It was starting to get foggy for me too, I was afraid I’d forget how to log in!  I know I have so much catching up to do, and I plan to, but I don’t have all the photos together yet (let’s be honest, that’s why you’re here).  So I’ll share an ounce of right now and promise, once more, to update you more often.  I certainly won’t let months get in between us again!

We’ve been very busy cultivating our photography business.  We have become crazy popular but we’re loving every minute of it!  The only downside is that it really cuts into our family time on the weekends.  Last weekend we had a request for a photo session from a friend.  His wife had a bone marrow transplant a few weeks back and because of the immune system stuff and because she’s out of town for treatment, they don’t see her very often.  Of course we were excited to help with the Valentine’s photos as a surprise for her but we were feeling guilty about leaving the kids behind for another shoot.  I think we had three that weekend and this one was a favor.  So we took them!  We let them run around the park for a half an hour before the shoot and when my friend and his sons arrived the older kids raced around like crazy people!  They had such a blast and although it certainly made shooting so much more difficult I’m glad they could join us this time.

We managed to talk them into a few photos too!

We set up a ladder/scaffolding for a few photos and the kids were under the impression we brought a jungle gym!

Kate’s hair is getting so big and long.  She’s still not a fan of having anything to keep it out of her eyes!

                                                                                                      H  O  N  K  !  !  !  !

The photos of my friend and his kids came out well; the boys were super sweet!  If you want to see those you’ll have to check out the photo blog – www.yaporiginals.com

It’s great to “see” you again!

Yes, crickets again on the blog.   I can’t even begin to explain how busy we are.  Not to complain but things are pretty hectic.  Good hectic though.  A few months ago Walter and I gave in to all the encouragement to develop our photo hobby.  Well, it’s been mad!  We are booked, and some days double booked, for every day until we leave for Canada at the end of the year.  Do you know how many photos that is to edit?  Plus Walter has a real job, plus I have two weddings, oh yeah – and then there’s the kids.  It’s a little nuts.  So please forgive me.  January should be much less busy!

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it!  When I was a kid we would all watch the Macy’s Parade while mom and dad cooked and we helped out when we were willing as we could.  The smells, the smiles, the comedy in the kitchen… it was awesome!  To this day I refuse to miss the parade – I even DVR’d it once!  And this year was no different.  We had the Friedman’s over for breakfast and enjoyed the parade together.  We went to my parents and got there in plenty of time for the “comedy in the kitchen”.  Dinner was amazing, as usual, and it was great to enjoy each other’s company.  The kids didn’t make it home awake which, unfortunately, means we didn’t get to see Walter’s family.  So in the spirit of thanksgiving, tell me – what are you thankful for?

I am thankful for family…

I am thankful for my beautiful little girl and the abilities and materials we have to ensure she is care free for as long as possible…

I am thankful for my gorgeous son who has the best sense of humor, the most mischievous grin, the nicest imaginary friend – Chico, and the ability to outrun any photo attempt on Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my father’s health, which isn’t what it used to be, but is still enough to make him a great dad, grandfather, and amazing chef!  He has always cooked the majority of our Thanksgiving dinners and he never disappoints!

I am thankful for my mom.  My mom is… my mom and everything moms are to every little girl when they’re 5.  I can’t imagine what I would ever do without her, I don’t even want to consider it.  Now that I’m older and I can appreciate everything she is and everything she’s been through I could never live far from her and could never go long without seeing or talking to her.  I am so thankful, despite any bumps in the road, for my relationship with my mom.

I am thankful for the laughs from the “comedy in the kitchen”… really, we laugh WITH them…

I am thankful for old china that’s only dusted off for the holidays and for my mom’s amazing pie…

I am thankful for my dad’s stuffing, the one dish at Thanksgiving I couldn’t live without and the one dish I could eat every single day for the rest of my life!

I am thankful for the “spirits” of the holidays!

I am thankful for our family tradition that says on the first Thanksgiving you have teeth, you shall get the drumstick.  Kate was pretty thankful for that too!

And more than anything, I am thankful for my husband, who avoided most efforts to be on the other side of the camera on Thanksgiving.  He is the most appreciative, inspiring and encouraging person I have ever had in my life.  He gives everything of himself and has made me who I am simply by believing in me.

I am also thankful for people who read my blog… they make me feel like I’m not talking to myself

For our blog Halloween feels never ending.  So here we go again, here’s one more step down Halloween Road, I promise there’s only a few more.  The older the kids get the more activities we seem to get roped into!  So here are our ”fall” photos.  I say “fall” because, well let’s face it… our palm trees aren’t changing color anytime soon and our big cold front, when it dipped down to 81 degrees, only lasted a day.

So here are the kids in “fall” clothes in 90 degree weather.  Apparently that’s the best time to go to a pumpkin parking lot, um, pallet, um… patch since there is no one else there!

I love how she looks at him!  Noah will probably never find someone who is as crazy about him as his sister!

The pumpkin recliner.  She sat there until we made her move.  Apparently pumpkins are comfy!  Who knew!?

Noah got to pick out our pumpkin this year.  He’ll need to work on his muscles if he wants a bigger one next year!

And for laughs I have to contrast Kate’s photo with baby pumpkins from this year…

And last…

I guess thinks are looking up… please don’t call Child Services!

This year’s pumpkin actually got carved!  Far before Halloween though because pumpkins rot in 90 degree weather – and fast!  So we carved him one Saturday morning and it was quite an experience!

Noah wanted to design the face himself.  We let him draw out what he wanted and I promise you – this was the best of the worst in the idea department!

I opened him up and it thoroughly grossed out Noah.  I didn’t realize little boys who like bugs and lizards might not like pumpkin guts.

But he loved watching me carve it…

And he was in love with the end result!  Or maybe the fire, but how can you not love this smile!?

Don’t they look so excited?  We’re really into the photographic torture!

Later in the day…

And that night…

Poor Mr. Pumpkin only lasted a few days before completely rotting out.  RIP “Doc” – as Noah deemed him!

What were you doing on November 1st this year?  So many of my friends were huddled by fire places, dressing in layers and keeping dry from the rain.  I don’t mean to brag, because trust me this summer has been hot, but on November 1st I was getting a sun tan!  I’m wondering if winter will ever come because, well, I do love our 2 days of winter and I’m hoping my blood will thicken up before we go to Canada in December.

So here we were on November 1st with the family at Grammy’s pool…

Noah takes swimming twice a week at school and while we know he’s holding back on us and demanding his swim floats we got to see him floating on his back a few times, for the first time.

The only caption I can think of for this is – “Oh, no you didn’t!”

Motorboat, motorboat, go so slow…. motorboat, motorboat go so fast…

Kate is our daredevil in the water.  She’ll try anything!  Noah is just the opposite.  Here’s Kate taking a break from diving under…

Future cheerleader???

At Kate’s birthday party a few people commented on how happy Noah was.  We were surprised because even though he’s quiet and shy in public, and while he’s never been particularly outgoing or overly friendly – he’s a happy kid.  Here’s the Noah we know -

Silly, sweet, Noah…

And this is my RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous niece, Julia!!!  Can you believe she’s 12?  12 going on 25 maybe.  The blue tongue is from these crazy Cheetos.  They are giant, yellow Cheetos (like we all remember) but they turn blue in your mouth.  What will they think of next?!

Kate’s other love…

November 1st wasn’t all fun and games.  It was also a very somber anniversary for my family.  My grandfather passed away 21 years ago on this day.  I felt like I knew him so well, I have such vivid memories of him and our times together.  We visited them (in Clearwater) often and he was always so special to me.  I didn’t realize it at the time but I was a bit of a strange kid.  He always made me so happy though and would go out of his way to make sure I was having a good time, no matter how annoying and awkward I was.  I spent countless summers at my grandparents’ home and I have such fond memories of him.  I always sat on his lap at night, in his great big lazy boy chair, shelling roasted peanuts.  In the mornings we would all lay in their bed, just hanging out.  I’ll never forget the long pajama pants and button down, matching shirt he slept in – like old men do.  He was the love of my grandmother’s life and the hero in mine.  Noah’s middle name, Thomas, is in his honor.  Although I was only 10 when he passed I think of him always, talk to him often, and miss him so dearly.  May you rest in peace, Papa!

Excuse the 80′s… my grandfather is the tall guy on the right.  As a child I always thought he was so super tall but looking now he’s not much bigger than my afro dad.  I am the one in front trying my hardest to ruin yet another family photo.  It’s a miracle my parents let me live past 10!

Hello Internet Friends.  Why do I always feel like I’m apologizing for being absent?  My computer died – hard.  And as soon as it went and was replaced my monitor followed suit.  So now I am writing to you from a gorgeous new computer setup and I’m able to upload photos FAST! 

Unfortunately I’m behind in my updates, and boy have we been busy, but hopefully I can catch up and post more often.

In August Walter turned the big 4-0.  Two days after that I turned 31 (I’m officially “in my 30′s” and feeling old).  To celebrate we took the family to Disney.  For support we brought my mom.  We had no idea how the kids would handle the heat of Disney in August.  I wasn’t sure I was up to the challenge, but we had a blast, and mom got to squeeze in some relaxing while we checked out the parks.

Thanks to our great friend, Lauren, we got to stay at the Swan Hotel.  It was so great being a short boat ride to Epcot!

At the hotel they had a dreamy restaurant.  It was outdoors (ick) but it was so beautiful and the food was amazing!

The comfy seating got two thumbs up from Noah!

And the rest of the property was equally as entertaining…

And beautiful…

During our stay we only made it to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.  Both were incredibly hot!

Noah, who used to love giant characters, was pretty lukewarm about the whole thing this trip.  We even did a character breakfast and as far as he’s concerned, the highlight was the bacon.  He seemed to love the Under the Seas and Spaceship Earth (the big Epcot ball ride) the most at Epcot.

We were at Epcot on Walter’s actual birthday.  For his birthday I gave him smiles.  Lots and lots of smiles, and patience.  If you know me and you know how I feel about heat you know this was an amazing gift and very difficult to deliver.  It came naturally to Kate though.

And I also bought him dinner.  We left Kate with my mom at the hotel and went with Noah to Coral Reef, the restaurant at the Living Seas in Epcot.  The view was incredible, the drinks were delish, and the food was amazing!  It was a great dinner!

Afterwards we watched the Epcot fireworks then went down to the boardwalk for ice cream and people watching.  It really was a magical day!

Magic Kingdom was a little more fun for the kids since its pretty much geared toward them.  We didn’t have a lot of time but we enjoyed the time we had!

Noah got a water bottle/fan/squirty thing that he is obsessed with.  He sprayed everything, and I mean everything, but at least it kept us cool!

We rode Winnie The Pooh…

And then Noah and Walter went on the Barnstormer, Noah’s first roller coaster!

He loved it!

And of course we went to see Mickey and Minnie.  Again Noah really wasn’t interested but Kate was in love.  She was so excited, I thought she was going to take her first step into Minnie’s arms.  She was also a huge fan of her giant ears!

And of course we had to hit up the gift shop so Kate could get ears!

And since we were so close we took a little detour to go see my Aunt Love and Uncle Kenneth.  They just finished renovating their new home and it’s amazing!  It was quite a project for them but I can’t imagine it turning out any better.  They really put a lot of work into this house that they decided to buy as soon as they saw the view from the front door!

Noah says they have good taste in furniture too!

We also took the opportunity of being with family to use the facilities!  Noah had a flood accident the first night in the hotel.  His poor monkey got soaked and was in desperate need of a bath!  Luckily we were able to make that happen.  Noah insisted on supervising the whole ordeal though!

Here’s that view from the front door (looking in).  Let’s pray the hurricanes stay away!

The kids made themselves at home.  Unfortunately the home wasn’t made for them.  I’m still so sorry about that figurine that Kate wanted to play with!

I’ve always joked that some of the dinners at Walter’s parents remind me of Fear Factor episodes.  Well, partially joked, because they did have items I’ve seen on the show – like 100 year old eggs.  There’s nothing like watching a 70 something year old little Chinese woman yell “Just eat it!” at the tv, but I’m getting off track…

So the other form of Fear Factor I was recently introduced to was how you feel when food you know and love goes weird.  My sister, Lindy, just came back from Japan.  She absolutely loved it and took some amazing photos (although they were with a point and shoot – puh-shaw!).  Being the amazing sister she is she brought souvies back for everyone but she also brought a huge assortment of Japanese cuisine.  Ok, cuisine is pushing it.  Japanese junk food.  And on the last night of her most recent visit home we had a big tasting party.  We tried so many different things.  Some of them were amazing, some of them not even worth mentioning, and some that went directly from tastebuds to trash can.  Here was the adventure…

It’s been so long that I don’t exactly remember what everything is.  These were ok.  They looked better than they tasted if I remember correctly.

The “candy” in the cellophane packaging was awful!  I kept waiting for it to get better, because everyone said it would.  It didn’t.  The Kit Kat in the back is flan flavored.  I highly recommend it!

Here’s more Kit Kat.  Green tea, cookies and cream, and coffee flavored.  I’m not sure if they have regular Kit Kat (what we’re used to) but they’re hitting home runs with their other flavors!

The green tea Kit Kat was a little strange because it was, well, green.

They seem to take their green tea very seriously.  Here are coffee and green tea chocolates (like m&ms) from Starbucks in Japan and a Coke with green tea.

I don’t remember the flavors but here are Oreo candy bars.

Lindy swears that sweet beans are amazing.  Apparently the amazing ones are kept in Japan.  This can of them was… not so much.

These were very good.  I have no idea what they are.

The timing was funny because we just went to a birthday party for friends who live in Japan.  They gave the kids Japanese animal crackers and I almost fought them for it.  They are sooooo good!  More like Ritz crackers than the vanilla cookies we’re used to – yum!

And this last little gem.  Candy made to look like sushi!  How freaking cute, right!?

And anyone who knows our family or follows this blog knows that on the last night of my sister’s visits we always take a sisters photo on my moms green couch.  It is the most unflattering place and position to be photographed in but it’s tradition.  I have no idea what we’ll do if mom ever gets rid of this couch!  I’m happy to report that this year I actually timed my hair and makeup, can I still complain about my weight?  Our old sister photos are here.

And mom.

My sister Lindy and her kids, Natalie and Jeffrey, came to visit a few weeks ago.  It was such a nice week for all of us, except when the boredom of shopping set in and Jeff missed his video games. 

Lindy has been asking for family photos for YEARS.  We’ve been willing but it’s never worked out.  We either ran out of time or it was a bad hair day or half the family was doing something else or… or… or…. well this time Dean (her husband) was missing but we were going to get some photos before another decade passed us by.  We took some at my mom’s house and some out and about.  We have so many photos this will have to span a few posts.  Here are a few favorites at mom’s house that we forced them into just in case they found a laundry list of excuses not to do any during their visit.  I’m so glad that’s not the case but also glad we got these as well.

Jeff is a funny kid.  He loves to wear long sleeves in the summer and shorts in the winter.  It makes my sister crazy.  Well, he also loves this hat, which makes me crazy.  I can’t imagine how hot it is under there, especially with our 90 degree+ weather but he never wanted to part with it.  We shot him in it because it is very Jeff but not really my cup of tea.

Growing up at home we always had pool parties.  Labor day, St. Paddy’s Day, your birthday, it was always a pool party.  Even now that no one lives at home and home isn’t where it used to be we still manage to end up in the pool, for every occasion. 

Kate sporting her sunscreen mohawk…

The one person not interested in a pool party was Julia.  There was a big misunderstanding and we accidentally left her at my parents’ house when we left for the pool.  Keep in mind it’s like a 3 minute walk but her feelings were hurt and she was not going to go swimming…. or so she thought.  She was being super stubborn and showed up at the pool in her clothes.  That didn’t matter to Scott.  She was going in, even if he had to put her there – and he did.

Here’s Julia flying into the pool with a death grip on the patio chair.  I love that you can see Scott’s accomplished hand in the corner of the photo and Nikki laughing hysterically in the pool.

Poor Julia.  She got out of the pool and sat back on the patio furniture.  That wasn’t going to work for Scott.  Back in they went.  Both of them.

If I remember correctly, she eventually gave in and stayed in the pool.  It beat getting tossed in every time she left.

And then the boys flipped.  Scott taught Jeff how to flip into the pool.  Lindy was so nervous she couldn’t watch. 

Jeff always went in sideways holding his nose.  Maybe that’s what threw off his center of gravity.

Walter and I forgot our suits so we just watched from the sidelines.

Unfortunately we also forgot Noah’s suit.  He still wanted to go in so I put him in a swim diaper and deemed it good enough.  Walter wanted to die.  Not because Noah went swimming in only a swim diaper but because of the actual swim diaper.  When Noah was Kate’s age I found a gigantic pack of them at Costco.  It was my second time ever purchasing them.  I didn’t know they came in different styles.  Well, I bought Little Mermaid swim diapers because of it.  Pink Little Mermaid swim diapers.  I told Walter to stop freaking out because the diapers go under the bathing suit and no one would ever see it.  Ever.

Well at least Kate has a million more to go through because it will have to be over Walter’s dead body that the boy ever don the girly swim diapers again.  Maybe that’s why Noah has perfected potty training.  Oh, his poor future therapy bill.

More flipping…

We had a blast that afternoon and will always laugh at everything that happened and went wrong.  It’s memories like these that sustain us until the next visit.  I miss my sister and her family so much.  Someday I hope we’ll all be closer.  More from the trip next time…