Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas to all!

xox,
Aaron, Johanna, and Mikaela Hsu
December 2011

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

It's my Senior Year!

When I started my first semester of school back in the Fall of 2009, I had no idea what I was in for.

Well, I thought I had some idea, but I really had no idea. ;-)

After working away at my books each Fall, Spring, and Summer semester since . . . and working on CLEP tests on the side, I'm excited to say that passing my 6th CLEP test today gave me the last 3 credits I needed to finally consider myself a "Senior".

It's my last year of school! (More or less. Preferably less.)

It's the beginning of the end!!

It's . . . it's . . . it's . . .

. . . a wonderful feeling.

And I'm ecstatic. :D

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mikaela's 1st Driving Lesson

This month has held many "firsts" for Mikaela.

She ice-skated, chased ducks (and almost fell into the Canal), colored cookies, and is experiencing her first time away from Daddy (for 2 weeks) while he's on the West Coast at a conference.

Even though she misses her "Aarwon" and looks sad whenever she hears his voice on the phone, she is thrilled to be visiting with her Gran'mama and Great-Grands at their island home. The frequent bike-rides, walks on the beach, hugs & kisses, new toys, and ice-cream treats makes her one Very Happy (and spoiled) Toddler.

This afternoon brought her another of those "firsts". She received a Lil Lightning McQueen from her Gran'mama for her 2nd birthday. After she bumped into a couple of vases on the veranda, we decided it was time to move her outside to the driveway.

It was hilarious! She would scrape against the walls, or end up in the flower beds. We need to work on her steering, for sure.

Check this video out!



~ Mrs. Arcfide

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Mikaela's 2nd Birthday Party

I'm still trying to believe that my baby is 2. It seems so . . . surreal. Where did all that time go?

We did throw a party for her earlier this month, with pictures and videos to prove it actually happened!

Enjoy reliving the experience with us, and do Mikaela a favor by shedding a tear or two with her at the end, ok? She had quite a traumatic end to an otherwise happy party.



~ Mrs. Arcfide

Monday, October 10, 2011

Fall = Hayrides + Fun

It's my favorite time of the year again.

Crisp air, golden leaves, hayrides, bonfires, smores, and harvest parties.

One day after her 2nd birthday, Mikaela got to enjoy her
first horseback riding experience. She LOVED every moment of it.
"Mama, pease?" She says.
"Pease? Pease? Pease?"

In her mind, she's riding an animal that "moos".
Yes, in Mikaela's world, both cows and horses say, "MOO-ooo."

Aaron humoring the kids by doing some flips
on their trampoline. They never get tired of seeing his tricks every. single. year.
Neither do I. ;-)

Shelby and her friends.
"You need to send me this picture!" she says.


Hayride through the corn fields.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Thursday, October 6, 2011

A Light Out

She was my favorite English teacher.

She showed us she cared.

Years after I graduated high school and moved on, she still inspired me, and taught me so much about life and faith as I witnessed her fight against cancer.

Hundreds of people who love her and her family lifted her up in prayers over the past three days, as she developed an untreatable blood clot, and battled for life in the ICU. We needed a miracle.

I teared up when her husband shared that she passed away this morning, at 10:20am. Our loss is Heaven's gain.

Thank you for touching this life, Mrs. Schmuck ~ my heart will always remember you for your wonderful testimony, and love for God.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Little Dancer

I've been meaning to post some new portraits I took of Mikaela recently . . . but picture uploading on blogger has been incredibly slow lately. Perhaps it's just my browser, I don't know. Hmm.

Anyhow, here's a recent video of our little dancer. She certainly didn't inherit her moves from me! Before too long, she'll be begging for classes . . .



~ Mrs. Arcfide

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Another one hits home

Homeschool Blindspots - the full article is here.
"I am convinced that the most contagious parenting is living a heartfelt faith before your children. Fruitful interaction is not about what you do to your young people, but who you are with them. It's about having a real faith in God, and expressing it in a real relationship with a real person--not about methods and self-working principles. God intends that the side-effect of loving Jesus and enjoying the grace of the gospel will be that all people--including our children--will be touched by the Savior in us."
- Reb Bradley

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

These happy, golden days

I treasure them.

The moments when she flings her little arms around my neck, with childish abandon.

The unchecked kisses she liberally rains on my lips, face, and neck.

Her little voice calling, "Mama? Mama?" even if I'm just in the other room.

Her pride in learning how to wear, and walk around in flip-flops.

The association she makes between the animals in her picture book, and the sounds they make.

Her singing, "Jesusss" and humming the rest of the tune to "Jesus Loves Me".

Her big eyes filling with tears when she hears her da-da's voice on the phone.

Her saying "Uh-oh", when she wants a diaper change.

Her sharpie scrawling on my books and table.

Her bulging tummy, and perpetual appetite for food and snacks.

Her crazy dancing when Dada returns home from work.

Her long blink complete with a wink, when it's time to "close your eyes and pray"

Her obsession with typing on our keyboards

But best of all, those generous kisses on my face . . .

I treasure them
.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Where I've been . . .

After visiting four new states this Summer, I thought it was time to update my US map again.

I'm hoping to add Oregon and perhaps a few more states this Fall, if Aaron decides to go to the conference in Portland he's been invited to speak at. :)


visited 24 states (48%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Friday, July 22, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Friday, July 8, 2011

3 years

Picture taken at midnight, 7/6/2011.

Since the pictures from our nice,
romantic dinner at Sweet Grass didn't quite turn out. ;)

♥ .I love him more. ♥

~ Mrs. Arcfide

My 4th of July

This year, we celebrated my second 4th of July at my Great-grands' home.
They always give me a Grand time!
Ooma played Patty-cakes with me and made me laugh.
Oompa gave me a little flag, and led me in our mini-parade.

Daddy stuck the flag in my hair!

Me and Daddy, by the pool.

He took me swimming.

After dinner, we went to the park with our cousins
to listen to a band and watch some fireworks.

The music was LOUD . . .

. . . and so were the fireworks. But, I wasn't even a little bit afraid.
When daddy tried to cover my ears, I wriggled out of his arms.

I'd rather watch the fireworks on my back, like this.
Yes, glow sticks and all. :)

I hope you had a Happy 4th ~ be sure to let me know if you enjoyed my guest post!

Love,
Mikaela

Baby Shower Gift Idea ~ The Diaper Cake



















Earlier this summer, a perfect opportunity presented itself for me to make what I've been wanting to try my hand at for awhile - a diaper cake!

Diaper-cakes have always fascinated me, from the very first time I laid my eyes on them. They are so unique at baby showers, and which mom-to-be wouldn't love having her nursery stocked with diapers? ;)

I found this tutorial on youtube particularly helpful, but I am sure there are many other similar tutorials you can find online. The nicest thing about a creative project like this is that you don't have to use exactly the same supplies someone else tells you to. For instance, this tutorial suggested using an empty milk bottle in the core of the cake, but I used a bottle of sparkling juice and a plastic bib (to extend the height of the cake) instead. So long you have the basic concept about tying individual diapers in rubber bands and surrounding the core of the cake with them, your options are limited only by your creativity.

Basic supplies I used:
3 packs of diapers (in Size 1 and 2)
Cardboard for base of cake
1 bottle of sparkling juice
1 plastic bib
Large Rubber bands
Hair rubber bands around each diaper (so the mom can re-use them later!)

I decorated the cake with:
3 rolls of ribbon
flowers
hair bows
3 stuffed animals
1 rattle
shoes
bath supplies (travel size)
2 onesies
2 pacifiers
foam stickers

My cake turned out taller than I'd initially anticipated, because I purchased more diapers than I thought I would need. Better too many than too few, right? ;)

My mother-in-law, with whom I consulted on this project, suggested I use them all by fanning an extra layer of diapers in between two tiers of the cake, to break up the monotony.

The best thing about having made this diaper cake?
Seeing my cousin's face light up in a smile when my husband brought it in. :)

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

"Painting Pictures of Egypt"

. . . great song about psychological inertia.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

From Father's Day . . .

Since I recently shared some pictures that we took Mother's Day,
I thought I'd be fair to Aaron, and post some pictures from Father's Day as well. Hee!

Kissing on command is sometimes a hit and miss with Mikaela.

She loves kissing on the lips, though, and thinks that's the ONLY place for kisses,
so watch-out if you're not part of the family. Lol!


Her newest camera pose.
I wonder where she got that from . . .

And again . . .

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Monday, June 13, 2011

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday, May 13th in Pictures

The Program

The Graduate

The Graduate with Graduate-in-the-making.
;-)

The past 22 months "homeschooling" myself through college will always be remembered fondly as some of the most happy, challenging, and productive days of my life.

I'm thankful for my school, and for the generous scholarships they've awarded me.

I'm thankful for my husband, who has been my biggest fan and cheerleader the entire journey.

I'm thankful for my toddler, who reminded me often that Family is my priority when she comes near to gently close a textbook.

I'm also thankful for all my extended family, who believed in me, encouraged me, and inspired me to do well.

And my greatest thanks to God, for the greatest Gift - and every gift I have - from Him.

May the next year-and-a-half be as it has been, in the past.

Junior Year, here I come!!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day Family Pictures Fail

#1) It was a windy day. My hair lost its parting.

#2) So far, so good.
But Mikaela wasn't paying attention!

#3) She didn't want to stop playing with rocks.
A meltdown ensued.





I guess someone was just in need of a nap.

At least, we got some decent pictures of Mikaela enjoying the outdoors,
before the waterworks began. :)



We may not have been picture-perfect, but at least, we had Fun!!

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Every toddler's mama needs an SLR


. . . that is, if your toddler can't be still for longer than two seconds - like mine. ;-)

I LOVE how I'm able to capture the adorable expressions on my active little one, even as she's constantly moving, bobbing, climbing, running, and flashing that cheeky grin.

My old point-and-shoot would have frustrated me, with its slow shutter speed, and inability to capture these wonderful snapshots, fleeting poses though they be.

I hope you guys are enjoying the sunshine and the rain, as much as we.

Oh, and your little ones' wet, muddy baby bottoms too. :-)








~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Not your typical Baby and bottle sight

Mikaela: "More Ginger ale, please!"

I just had to snap a picture,
before rescuing my little climber from the edge. ;)

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The kid's crazy about nuggets

She ate 7 pieces, and half a bag of fries.

Where does it all go?! It always tickles me to see her stomach visibly bulge and harden after she eats - too much. Her big appetite . . . she inherited from her dad.

I'm fairly sure that I couldn't consume as much when I was her age.

Oh, and please excuse the gross migration of nuggets across the carpet, open-mouthed chewing, etc. That's, ya know . . . what toddlers do. O_^


~ Mrs. Arcfide

Saturday, March 5, 2011

No words to describe how much this post, First Time Obedience, Really? put everything about child discipline back into perspective again for me.

Sometimes, when one has had an exhausting, trying morning with an almost 17 month old, words of wisdom come as apples of gold on a silver platter.

May I never forget the important things.

~ Mrs. Arcfide

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Coincidence?

Today was a good day.

For the first time in weeks, I'd finished all my assignments for the week - yesterday. No rush, no stress, nothing.

I woke up this morning feeling like I just wanted to get out of the house.

"Will you take me to the mall today?", I asked my sleeping husband beside me.

"Hmm?", he wondered.

"I just want to get my hair trimmed, and get Mikaela's and my pictures taken today." So the plan was set.

Aaron dropped Mikaela and I off at the mall, before heading to school for the afternoon. The wait wasn't too long at MC, which was so nice. My last haircut was some 10 months ago, so I was ready to get rid of some split ends and uneven hair growth. Mikaela sat very still in her stroller the entire time I was in the chair. She only started wailing when the hairstylist started blow-drying my hair. I don't use a hairdryer at home, because the noise bothers her.

After my haircut, we walked over to Sears Portraits for our photo session, which I'd belatedly arranged just before I walked into the Hair salon. Heh. It was a slow afternoon for them, so they were extremely accommodating. I wanted to have my picture with Mikaela taken in our qipaos, before we both outgrew our dresses. I haven't worn mine since our wedding, and well . . . let's just say it's getting more difficult to put on. ;)

Mikaela wasn't very cooperative - as in, she wanted to be everywhere but still, so after a couple of decent shots, I decided to give up.

As we were waiting for our photographer to edit our pictures, another lady walked into the store. She looked Japanese/Korean to me, and I just smiled politely at her. She watched Mikaela running around with an amused expression on her face, before pointing to her qipao, and asking me "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, some friends from Singapore sent it to her", I absentmindedly responded. I was still trying to keep Mikaela from going too crazy and getting into things she shouldn't get into.

"Oh!" The lady responded. "I'm from Singapore!"

"Are you?!?"

So it turns out, that E. met her husband while they were both doing their PhDs together at IU, and after they graduated, she's continued to do some research at the school while he became a professor at the school. She had a 9 week old baby girl with her, and after their photo-session, we got to walk around the mall and learn more about each other.

This is the first time I've met another Singaporean lady here in B-town, and vice versa for her.

It's incredibly amazing how quickly we hit off, and had so much in common back in our home country. Goodness, we practically grew up in the same neighborhood (her family lives less than 2 mi. from my family), and went to elementary schools adjacent to each other. Even though she's four years older than me, at some point we must have played together in the same field between our schools. How random is that? And even here in B-town, she lives less than 2 mi. away from us. Too funny.

Reminiscing about the good ole' home country is always great, so yeah . . . today was a good day. :)

. . . . . . .

To think that we both went to Sears Portraits on a whim (me, because I didn't have homework . . . and she, because she took a day off work) and met . . . and could relate to each other just like that.

It was a good day. :)


~ Mrs. Arcfide

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Round and round, and round, and round, and round, and round, and round


The past week at our home has been . . . interesting, to say the least. The stomach flu was making its rounds.

Little Mikaela had no idea about what was happening to her, other than the fact that she was vomiting constantly, feverish, and going a lot. A whole lot. Since she'd just recovered from a stomach flu a couple weeks ago, I figured this would just be another troublesome round of yucky sickness. As it turns out, the combination of fever and vomiting made this yucky sickness doubly yucky.

We even made a run to the ER in the middle of the night, when her fever wouldn't come down despite the fever reducers we'd given her. She was a little confused, but excited to go out on a midnight adventure.

The nurses loved our little trooper

Mikaela's a whole lot better now . . . having passed her bug on to her Dad. I guess she figured he'll handle it much better than her. :/ At any rate, we're sure his students are enjoying their canceled classes.

So. We just wanted to document this past week's epic sickness, and give a shout-out in thanks for all of you guy's kind words of concern and support.

Fever Face

Thank you, guys! :)

~ Mrs. Arcfide