Movie Night

We are TRYING to get better at managing our: budget and do things smarter (or to say it blank: to NOT spend as much as we ALWAYS do ... here is my confession of the day ;)

So when Pat suggested to go out to the movies with the Ls on Sunday I took this as my chance, stood my ground, put up my flat hand and said "HALT!"

There wasn't anything good running in the theaters anyways and why go and spend at least $80 for the family to eat bad food, sit in uncomfortable chairs, being in front of the guy who just came down with this nasty cold and sneezes all over us (YES, with our luck that would happen!), missing the most important part of the movie because one of the L has to go RIGHT NOW potty and then make your way home with two, cranky, cold, "I want my lee" screaming and VERY tired Ls.

NO, NO JOE (Ls favorite book right now :)

We just made our own movie theater at home, packed the table full with all yummy junk food one could want, had the Ls bathed and ready for bed set up in front of the TV and then it was time for the "CZ Ice Age Marathon"!
#2 and #3 back to back

 ... that was a LOT of Ice Age we watched and a LOT of warm, comfy, cozy, yummy fun we had!!!!

la buffet 

movie-tray-catering

This high-end theater was equipped with high quality heating blankets for added comfort for the viewers in the front row.
The back row seats (aka cheap seats ) offered a 33 year old Goalie who functioned as a heating pad for feet and hands ... but he smelled a bit, cheap seats - what can you expect :)

Papa loading up on some BAD food 

(which he later badly regretted, na-course :)

I bit my tongue and did (almost) not say "told'ya so! :)

the show begins ...

(note Pat is still dishing out :)

view from the upper seat section

(aka couch)

hands-on snuggle partners were available when Sid, the sloth, got into a wee bit of trouble and one little Lulu needed hand-holding :)

while big L was munching her way through the third serving of candy, pickles, chips and salsa, cheese and gummie bears ... no worries, she washed it all down with a nice can of Sprite ...
sugar HIGH here I am!!!! :)

Dork and his L, all snuggled up (poor Dorky was all scardy of the big, bad dinosaur on the TV)

oh and then ... always, aways end a movie night with a huge Papa - Ls tickle war

Dork right in the middle na-course

Poor guy, he gets SOOOO confused!!!

L ended up with a bruised ear that is still blue today, BUT it was worth it :)

Fun- Fun -Fun at the CZ household!!!

We are enjoying this slow season, drinking lots of tea and hot coco, snuggle lots, read and just enjoy not having to run anywhere or do anything besides going to school and doing home work.

I LOVE this slower pace and taking time to chat and listen and just to hang out with my little Ls,
because soon enough the busy, crazy life will take over again and I will dream of "Ice Age Marathons" and tickle wars.

Off to bed ... no school tomorrow = two CRAZY kids wanting to be entertained!!!

Celebrating 10 Years of Sisterhood

While I was sitting in front of my four glass pieces, trying to come up with a good shape and color combination it hit me ... 10 YEARS!!!!
We met 10 years ago in February, during a pottery class.
10 YEARS!!!! WOW!!!
And here we were, sitting in class room again, playing with a new medium and making something pretty and having just plain girlie fun.

So this post is for you, my dear mommy-friend, sister and soul mate ...

We met, we became instant friends, we watched each other get married, we had 4 babies together, we moved together - apart and back together. We went through heart ache and shared the happiest moments.
I remember you telling me "We'll call the baby Fiora" and I said "Oh perfect. We'll call here Fifi :)
I remember telling you "We'll call her Lucy Luise" and you said "Perfect, we'll call her Lulu :)
I remember looking at Aiden and thinking "this is the biggest baby I have ever seen!"
I remember watching them play in our house in Tucson and falling in love with this little boy who cried when we sang "Happy Birthday"
I remember you and Fifi visiting and I Lillie wanting "more school bus rides" on your back and Fifi snuggling in my arms for hours.
I remember walking in your new house in Fremont and your husband had built more furniture in a week than we did in our life time (he is VERY handy!).
I remember looking at Bin on New Years Eve and thinking "one more drink and he'll glow red like Rudolf's nose :)
I remember watching Bin eat and thinking "how much more can one small person eat ... this is three times his whole body weight on his plate :)
I remember tucking in our 4 kids together and just looking at them in awe and feeling full of love and gratitude for being able to see them so close and so happy together.

10 years, a crazy ride and now when we get together we have a house FULL with kids, laughter, little personalities and we all enjoy each others company and families.
Me case su casa - me familia su familia!!!

Happy 10 years of wonderful, heart filled, loving, caring and happy friendship/sisterhood!

We ended the evening with a hot soup and a LONG sister-chat and we realized we don't do that nearly often enough!!!

I had so much fun last night! I came home and could't stop chatting about our awesome honey-dip-sticks and fusing glass and laughing and chatting ...

Thank you for last night and for the last 10 years!!!

Thank You for:
-Being so honest!
-Being so caring!
-Loving my family so much!
-Letting me love your family so much!
-For always telling me exactly whats on your mind.
-Always being there for us ... ALL of you!
-Being the best friend anybody could wish for!

I wish for:
-Many, many years of our families growing up together.
-Watching our kids become individuals (as Fifi told you :)
-Watching our kids become to each other what we are already.
-Sharing this whole experience of family life, growing kids and growing relationships.
-Knowing that no matter what, we'll always be there for each other!

I wouldn't be the person I am today without my dear mommy-friend, my sister and my salami buddy :)

Painting nude painting class in Pleasanton, with drinks, right ??? :)

i HEART you!

The LAST hour ...

The house is quiet.
Too quiet!
L is in school and so is Lulu.
Papa came and snatched her out of my arms, dragged her out the house and off to school.
It's time for her to go ... again.

I know, it's the right thing and she needs it ... mostly the rules and learning to listen to teachers -part :)
But these two weeks of "skipping" where just too nice and so relaxing.
We just hung ... played ... crafted ... snuggled ... washed dishes ... had tea parties ... snuggled and played Barbies (LOTS of that!).

We all have enjoyed the slower pace, the longer days without driving back and forth to her school.
But today she left and now I am all alone in my VERY quiet house and I know there are many things I should be doing but instead I thought I'd take the time to tend to my blog.

I don't think blogging is as much part of me anymore as it used to be.
I do miss it and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going back in time on my little blog, reading about what we did, where we had been or what they said and how they looked.
It's this huge database of memories for me.

Last year I was writing every day, almost never missed and I always had something to say.
But lately I haven't felt there was much to share or I felt hesitant to post about something, thoughts or happenings.
My writing has caused some serious stir-ups and has made people feel hurt (very unintentionally but never the less).

After many weeks of thinking and debating I have come to the conclusion that maybe things should stay behind closed doors, that the blog should be just for our own eyes and ears.
Not because I am ashamed of what I write or how I feel, but because I can't control the way these things are taken, the way they are "translated" and the way people feel after reading them.

I started the blog as a diary of the Ls lives, then it turned into a diary of our family life and then into a way to sound out my thoughts and feelings.
Not everybody wants to hear my thoughts and feelings and people started to see MY blog as a "tool" to inflict pain.

It has taken me a little while to think about all of this after the last "incident" and slowly but surely I have lost the desire to share things and to keep blogging like I used to.

I feel that it's my blog, my thoughts and my life and I should not be criticized for it!
I have chosen to share my life / our lives in this way and invited people into our world this way but I didn't think I would be criticized for it.

My world, my words, my thoughts.
You can choose to read the blog or not.
It doesn't much matter to me.
I don't write for other people, I write for myself and most of all for my Ls.
I want them to be able to go back in time and see what we did, what they said, how they acted ...
This is our family album!

I have loved every second I spent on my computer, long nights, editing pictures and writing down stories.
We have laughed (a LOT), we have cried (a little) and we have read posts over and over again because we liked them so much.

This blog is a window into our past as the CA CZs and it will always stay that way.
But I have decided to "tint" the windows and shut the doors.
I'll keep posting and hopefully will get back to a more regular routine and I will enjoy it more (I hope) since I won't have to worry about "should I write this" "can I post that" "can I post a picture of Ls Star Wars bum online"
Now I can write what I want, post what I want and it'll be all here for my Ls, when they are ready to look back into their childhood and relive these wonderful days that we are having.

Life is too short and time is too precious to worry so much.
I know who I am and what I do (most of the time).

I am the person that brings the Crossing Guard hot tea on a rainy day, makes a rice bag for the School Secretary who hurt her back but still runs the whole school, I make little gifts for the grocery clerks on Christmas and watch with so much JOY when my Ls present them with their little hands and their HUGE hearts.
I make things to show people how much I care.
I try to teach my Ls good values, to give love and be good to people and this world.
I value our friends A LOT!!!
Those few that we call friends are our back-bone and our support system.
We are alone out here, no family around so we had to create our own family somehow.
If we are in need they are always there for us.
The Xu's, Marriotts, our beloved H-Team, the Rudnicks, the Pattnies, the Becerras, ...
When help is needed they all knock on our door and we try to recipicate the same.

I LOVE my sister and my brother ... they are my siblings and they are my blood and I am proud to say I talk to my sister at least once a week and I am ALWAYS happy to see my handsome brothers face, his cute smile and talk about his wonderful girlfriend (who will teach me how to knit a hat via face time).
If I could, I'd spend every free moment with them, chatting, having tea or going places ... but I can't.

I LOVE my MOM and my OMI!

I LOVE my IN-LAW FAMILY, like they are my own.
I LOVE GREAT-GRANDMA Agnes ("Noting Henry, noting! ... LOVE that quote!).

I love my husband more than words can say and will take a stand for him any day of the week.
He is the smarter, kindest, most loving person I have ever met and I can not imagine spending my life with anybody else nor do I ever want to.
As far as I am concerned we'll die both of OLD age, in our sleep, hugging each other and then wonder off into another world, reunited with our loved ones and my WILLIE na-course, watching our Ls from above living happy and healthy lives.

I love my family, more than anything and I want nothing but peace and happiness, health and wellness for us all.

I don't instigate or plan evil posts.
I don't intentionally hurt people while writing and I most certainly am not sorry for anything I said or wrote. I am not!
I write what comes to mind at this moment (just like right now).

We have no TV (cable), we don't watch the news (Pat reads them!), I have shut out whatever doesn't belong into my world and I am happier, calmer and a better person for it.

I live a very precious life, a very precious time and I want to savor every single second of it.
If sharing this time creates issues than it's not doing what I hoped it would do.

So it is with sadness but also with a lot of relieve that I announce the closure of Necklac-Lee.

The blog will still exist but will no longer be accessible to others.
I will record and post, just as I did before, but without the worry of causing issues to others and the worry of people judging me/us for what we do, how and why.

After all this is OUR life.

Thank you for being such a good companion.
Thank you for reading my posts and for following us for so long.
It's been such a fun ride.

I am very sorry to end it this way but trust me it's not done lightly.
A great deal of thought has gone into this decision and I truly feel this is the best choice for us.

I wish all of you, who read this and have come to visit, all the best and I hope that a more personal way of communication will follow after the blog goes off-line.
A phone call, an email or face time is much better than trying to read between my lines or reading things into my words.

Necklac-Lee will be off-line as of Sunday 01/22/2012.
What a great fun it has been.

Fare well!

I HEART ...

... Tea for Three

The Ls are SOOOO into "Playing Tea" right now. Ever since Pat gave Lulu her little Tea Set for x-mas we have been having tea parties every, singe day!

Winter has finally arrived and where we spent last week every afternoon playing at the park, soaking up the warm sun, this week it's somewhat more CILLY and we can't wait to race home and have some hot tea / coco and hang out near the heater.
For all Canadians reading this ... I know, I know 45 bellow with Windshield ... yes we are WIMPS!!!

Lulu was bussy all morning yesterday setting up the tea party for when L came home from school.
She washed the dishes, table, seats and floor (... all with the same cloth!!!), ate most of the food she was preparing and then made sure we had enough sugar and marshmallows.

When L came home we had a lovely Tea Party and a wonderful chat.

M: How was your day in school my love?
L: Good. Danny showed me his underpants.
M: ???? WHAT??? Did he get in trouble?
L: No, it was just me and him, nobody else saw it.
M: ???? WHATTT??? WHY did he show you his underpants when you were ALONE???
L: Mama, he has STAR WARS underpants, just like me! They are SOOOO cool!!! I want the same ones.
We sang the Star Wars song all during recess.
M: Ahhhhh .... thats nice! Thanks for sharing!

Jule, ich hoffe Du bemerkest den tollen Filz-Untersetzer! :)

Mama, ich habe den Kräutertee gemacht den Du geschickt hast (in dem zipblock bag). Der is SOOOOO GUT!!!!! Ich will MEHR!!!! Bitte :)

Oh and na-cousre no tea party is complete without pickles and M&Ms :)

Fun-Fun-Fun!!!

Dork loves Sun!

... soaking up the sun

Hey, Dork! Get off! Thats MY SPOT!!!

Hear me???

Nope!

WHAT? I was here first! Find your won sunny spot ... big, fat, white puddy-cat!

I am the DORK of the Sun!!!

{this moment}

Every single school day L finds a little love note from me in her lunch bag ...

... this is what came back today :)

Just when I am about to look in the mirror and think "I am no good at raising them or teaching them anything" I realize I actually am not as bad as I think I am ...

If a child lives with tolerance, she learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, she learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise, she learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, she learns justice.

If a child lives with security, she learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, she learns to like herself.

If a child lives with acceptance, and friendship,

She learns to find love in this world.

D. Law Nolte