It's been a busy month for us, but it was nice to take a break, focus on our family and celebrate love.
From top R-to bottom: (1) Valentines cards for grandparents (2)Our lil valentines enjoying their gifts from Mom and Dad (3)William didn't care for all the Pinterest projects and just really wanted to give his friends FunDip (4) Samantha loves her Bouncy ball Valentines gift to her friends.
I love that Ed and I made the time to go out on a lunch date. It was nice to just talk and spend some one on one time. Also, love that we got to check out the newest hip restaurant in Atlanta-The Optimist. The food was divine! You can tell that they used the freshest ingredients. I can't revive enough how much we enjoyed our lobster roll and chocolate mouse. We both agree, one of the most delicious food that we've had.
The kids had a great day at school and loved their Valentines party. We all were exhausted and enjoyed a quiet night in at home. The boys made us heart shape pizza for dinner. Yummy!
This past weekend, I ran the first Atlanta Hot Chocolate 15K/5K. Holy hills! I was hesitant to run this one because I haven't been training much. It hurt indeed but I finish! 9.3 miles of hilly torture :) Fortunately, I was rewarded with this chocolate goodness at the end of the race.
Atlanta is indeed one hilly town. Check out the elavation on this course.
Lots of blessings for us in 2012. Goals were achieved and we had so much fun. Thankful for good health, jobs, friends and family.
The Lenz family invited us to their family New Year's festivity. It was fun to welcome 2013 with good people. Of course to bring in good fortune, I set out 8 round fruits at New Year's Eve.
We are looking forward to 2013. Big goals in line this year for the Cullers.
House. Get the Loft sold and move to a house. I never talked much about this in the blog. We've had a lot challenges on moving out of our loft. Ed and I are conservative people, and the thought of jumping into two mortgages was never appealing to us. We are so comfortable at our loft that there never really was a big push for us to move. Plus,you can't beat our 15 mins commute to work. Financial plans are now laid out for 2013, and we are hopeful that this year is the year for us to go forward with the move. We've attempted several years ago to move out, but it seems like God had other plans for us. You hear a lot of people say, that it was in God's plan for them to move. I get that. I hope that this year, we are in his schedule coz our hearts are getting weary:) In the grand scheme of things,the new house is not the most important thing in the world. Sure, would be nice though as it would make the path to goal below clearer :) LOL.
School accommodation for the kids. One other driver for our move is that William is starting kindergarten at the big elementary. We are zoned at a school district that didn't scored to well. Luckily, just a couple of miles from us, is a great neighborhood zoned at a fabulous district. We are hoping to send William to that school. Other option is to send him to a private Catholic school around our area. We are fortunate to have options, but we've got some work to do. This also means that we would need to move Samantha to a different daycare. We love the kid's daycare now, but it is just out of the way, and is adding commute time. Very hopeful, that it all works out.
Fitness. We've done well last year, and very thankful for an injury free year. Ed and I will continue with our running routine. I have a signed up for a 15K in January. Ed signed up for the publix half in March. My fitness challenge this year, is to do more strength training/core exercises. My plan is to do it twice a week. This mean, Tuesday and Thursday mornings will be spent with Jillian Michael. Running will still be my main cardio. Mon-3 mile, Wed -4 mile, Fri-4 mile. Sat-break. Sunday-long runs. I will begin with this after my 15K mid January. Looking forward to putting a check mark on this goal at the end of 2013. It was really rewarding to succeed in my fitness goal last year.
Listen more. Listen to my husband (which he would love), listen to God, listen to my kids, listen to friends and family. I genuinely want to understand my friends and family. This will be my way of showing to them, that I appreciate them.
Any since these goals are all out in blog, it means that they will be completed right? LOL. Hope everybody is having a great year!
Pink pig, an Atlanta holiday tradition. Our super awesome neighbor works for Macy's and gave us tickets. Kids enjoyed it. Samantha kept telling us how much fun it was to ride.
We finally made it to the Garden Lights at Atlanta Botanical Garden. The show was included in Forbes 2012 list of 10 Dazzling Holiday Light Display around the world. With an awesome groupon deal, we couldn't pass seeing it this year. What a fun place. The weather was crisp that night, probably one of the coldest we've had. We all bundled up for a perfect night of Christmas lights spectating. Seeing the lights on foot is definitely more enjoyable than watching it from a car. Kids loved that they can run and get close to the lights.
You can't helped but be mesmerized by the enormous amounts of twinkling lights surrounding the area.
The Edible Garden's "Brilliant Bugs display was very much enjoyed by the kids.
Right around the corner was the Glo bar serving cider and hot chocolate. Hot chocolates was the perfect drink of choice for this chilly night. The adults even got a splash of Bailey's on theirs :)
My favorite was the Orchestral Orbs on the main lawn. The topiary light show was choreograpjed to holiday music. You'll see a lot of children (and adults) dancing to it.
This gorgeous poinsettia tree this was huge!
Aside from the beautiful colored lights, William and Samantha loved roasting marshmallows to make s'mores by the fire pit.
We all really enjoyed this family outing. The Garden Lights at the Botanical is definitely a must see!
After a quick nap, we started making the trip to my in law's house for Christmas celebration part 2. We really are lucky to have the best set up for holiday get together. Grandmommy and Granddaddy go big on Christmas. The grandbabies love it. It truly is a kid's dream on Christmas day.
Cousins all super excited for presents. Btw, I had plan on Samantha wearing this adorable gingerbread house dress. Lil Missy was not having it...she wanted to stay in her jammies.
It was time for presents and more presents.
The kids fell asleep on the way home. The following day, it almost felt like Christmas morning again. They were super excited to play with all the toys they got from my in laws.
Just when I thought Christmas morning last year was great, this year was even better. Both kids are a lil older and truly get the whole idea of Santa. The excitement and energy at our house was unreal!!!
William got up first, loft living doesn't really allow you to hold off of your child from going into the living room :) He immediately saw the presents under the tree and quickly recognized that the orange Furby and Skylanders on his wish list were under the tree.
Shortly after Samantha was up and ready to play with Dora House and Furby that Santa left for her.
The Furbys were definitely a big hit. They are way more sophisticated than the older version. You can feed them thru your iphone...Unfortunately, no off button still and they will talk non stop.
Samantha exploring her new Dora House. They went a lil board with the Mexican theme and the "furnishing" was a lil cheesy :)
They picked a present for each other. Samantha got William a Beyblade launcher. William picked up a Doc Mcstuffin rockstar for Samantha.
This year's biggest surprise for William was a Nintendo 3DS. He couldn't believe it! He's been wanting one and thought that it's only for bigger kids. Since he's "close" to 6, we said he can have one.
The biggest surprise for Samantha was her kitchen. She loves it and was ready to make breakfast for the whole family.
Ed and I don't give each other wish lists on Christmas. I love the element of surprise. The presents we pick up for each other are usually "wants" that one would never buy on their own. Ed picked out a Kendra Scott earrings for me. The kids helped him pick out a Tory Burch sandal for me. They said that it's perfect for our next beach trip. I love it!
The kids and I got Ed a Mizzuno flat running shoes. He loved it! Funny, how the kids were adamant that Dad will love it since it's orange and a running shoes. Two of Ed's favorite things. He also got some gap slacks.
Our favorite present this year. This ornament that has been sitting under the tree all wrapped up and tied in a cute bow. William's been telling us that we can't open it till Christmas morning. We love it!
More treats and toys from our stockings.
Even Riley gets Christmas goodies.
We took a break from opening presents for breakfast and a quick family picture.
Then it was back to playing and more playing.
A perfect Christmas morning for our family of four.
Very blessed to be surrounded by family and keeping our Filipino Christmas Eve family tradition of Noche Buena. Growing up Christmas day was spent visiting relatives, Noche Buena was the day for our immediate family to celebrate the holidays. When my parents and I moved to the United States, I made sure to put in an extra effort in celebrating this by cooking traditional Filipino food for us. I loved how excited my Dad was about the menu. Although my Dad is no longer here with us, I know that he was watching over us and smiling big that our family is together and celebrating.
It's a lot of work to get the spread together. but I wouldn't change anything. I love how excited my Mom, brothers and sister are. I love how Ed enjoys this celebration as well and looks forward to the lechon(roasted pork). Now that the kids are a lil bit older, I love how they are realizing the importance of this day is for the family. At church, I heard William whispered to my brother, "Don't forget tonight is Noche Buena." This year was a special year, Ed's parents joined us. They've heard us talk about it and couldn't be more excited to share our beautiful tradition with them.
Our family of four post church.
Our silly family pretending to be Santa, Mrs. Claus and the reindeers.
Our blessings. They bring so much joy to our family.
How cool is it to have a brother born on Christmas eve and a sister born on Christmas day? Not the same year of course, LOL. Here's my Mommy with her birthday celebrants.
A quick sibling picture (minus my older sister in the Philippines) with our Mom.
My fabulous in laws in their first Noche Buena. Blessed to have them!
It warms my heart to see how much my brothers and sisters think the world of my kids. My children are very fortunate and they love their Titos and Titas.
A happy picture of the hostess with the mostess :)
Birthday cake for our birthday celebrants.
William's awesome rendition of the birthday song for Tito Noel and Tita Susan.
My Kuya Nestor mentioned last Thanksgiving that his favorite ice cream ever is ube (purple yam). I found out that the local Filipino store carried it and decided to surprised the whole family with a special dessert treat. This is the first time for William and Samantha to try it and they loved it. My in laws liked it too. Ed was the only one who wasn't fan :)
My side of the family exchanges and opens present on Christmas eve after dinner. Lots of presents and thoughtful gifts.
Cool boxes and wrappers are still a big hit with the kids :)
It has been a busy day, and we didn't had the chance to make some sugar cookies for Santa. This year Santa got Trader Joe's peppermint oreos as treats. We changed the kids to their adorable Christmas jammies, then they said their goodbye and thank you to our elf Timmy, and prepared the plate of cookies for Santa plus carrots for the reindeers.
That night Ed and I laid in bed with hearts overflowing with gratitude and happiness. What a blessing it is to be surrounded by so much love from our family. Our kids are a joy. We were just as excited for Christmas morning. We could hardly wait for them to open ours and Santa's presents to them.
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