holidays – Page 3 – thosecoolkims

Easter 2013

Most of the highlights:

Amber had an easter egg dying playdate at her house on Friday. She was awesome to provide a half dozen eggs for each kid. Ruby got into it this year, and was a big fan of using sharpies on her eggs. Thanks, Amber for a great day!

Egg dying with Daddy in the backyard.

Easter morning.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get ANY shots of the HUGE Easter Basket Halmoni brought for Ruby! :( But, we did get this pic of the awesome Godiva Basket she got for us. Score!

Easter dress and hunting for eggs in our backyard.

Grandma made cute place settings for Easter Dinner, and Papaw decorated cute Easter Basket cupcakes with Peeps inside!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pics of Ruby’s awesome basket from Grandma + Papaw, either. :( But, we did get a picture of her with all of her cousins.

And, as proof that Ed + I still exist — here’s an Easter Sunday selfie:

Ruby’s 2nd Annual Valentine Party

Ruby hosted her 2nd Valentine Party this year, and it was super cute and super fun — but there is a HUGE difference between having nine 2-year olds at your house vs. 1-year olds like last year!

I didn’t go as crazy as last year, but I still managed to whip up a few mini-cupcakes and some snacks, and we had a little craft station set up outside to make Valentine picture frames for the dads. The kids ~~kept stealing toys from each other~~ played, the moms ~~broke up fights~~ got some chatting in, and Charlotte even managed to model her picture frame for us!

The best part was the Valentine card exchange! I just couldn’t envision anything cuter than these kids passing out little cards like I used to when I was in school. All the moms were into it — some got crafty and made their own beautiful cards, while some moms went old school and bought the kind in the box just like our moms used to do! We even got lucky and got them all to sit for two seconds before passing them out.

I can’t help but love the day of love, and I especially love seeing all these kiddos and their mommas feeling the love as well!

Saebae 2013: Happy New Year!

In Korea, the new year is celebrated with some very special rituals and customs, and naturally we want Ruby to grow up with them. Called “Saebae”, it involves bowing in front of your elders as a sign of respect and appreciation. The new year is also brought in with some great food!

We first brought Ruby down to my mom’s place, dressed to the nines in full Korean regalia. The dress, called a hanbok, was a hit with Ruby. She kept admiring herself in the mirror, and explaining over and over to us that she was wearing a “Korean dress”. We tried teaching her the traditional saebae saying to say to her halmoni (Grandma in Korean), “Sae hae bok manee badusaeyo”, as well.

She never quite got the Korean words right, at least not in their entirety, but she delighted in saying parts of it, like “BOK MANEE!!!” or “BADUSAEYO!!!!”

As you can see in the first photo, though, she got the bow just right. It’s such a beautiful picture, undoubtedly one that will be an iconic image in our family for years to come.

Ruby also learned that saebae involves considerable financial reward too!

In Korea, the New Year is rung in with ddukgook, a hearty, delicious, and nourishing soup with rice cakes and other tasty ingredients. I might be biased, but my mom’s is the bomb. A couple of obligatory food shots!

And a couple pics of Ruby with Halmoni and Wonil!

After a wonderful time at my mom’s, we headed to see my dad and his wife, Grace. In addition to the festivities celebrating the new year, January 1 is also my dad’s birthday so there was double reason to celebrate. I regret we have no picture of Ruby bowing to my dad and Grace, but it was late in the day and Ruby was tired, cranky, and not really in the mood for photos. Let’s just say that it happened!

And here’s the birthday boy blowing out his candles on his cake, incidentally from one of our favorite bakeries in our area, Paris Baguette. Don’t let the name fool you; it’s not a French baker but rather a Korean one. Korean cakes and pastries are a delight, with less overt sweetness than most other cakes and a subtler, sophisticated taste. We love them! Happy Birthday, Dad!

Best wishes for a wonderful 2013 from the Kims!

Christmas 2012 Highlights

As usual, it was a big year for Christmas in the Kim household. We love Christmas, and now that Ruby’s two years old (!) she is really starting to get into the spirit.

One thing Ruby wasn’t so into? Santa Claus. :(

(See past Santa visits here)

On the other hand, we’ve got a full-blown Frosty the Snowman obsession going on over here.

This was the last year that Christmas Eve services would be held at the Crystal Cathedral. We’ve been going to Christmas Eve services there since I was three years old, so this was a big deal for my family. I’ve missed the past 7 or so since I’ve been married (instead, we’ve shared lovely Christmas Eves with Ed’s family), and this was the 1st time we got to take Ruby. She was very excited to take it all in, sitting in her very own seat next to her cousins.

Then it was back to our house to host Christmas Eve dinner! No dishwasher this year, so it was paper plates and recyclables for all!

Fun times with Grand Uncle Luke

Ruby got very spoiled by her Halmoni, Grand-aunt Grace, Grand-uncle Luke and “Great Uncle” Wonil. Grace and Luke even got Ruby a special new hanbok made custom for her!

After Ruby went to bed, it was time for Santa to get to work …

Santa made it to our house!

Grandma + Papaw came over in the morning to watch Ruby open her presents. She loved her wagon!

Mommy, Daddy — look! Alice got me some Minnie Mouse puzzles! Thanks, Alice. :)

Grandma + Papaw got a special book from Ruby

Mommy got a special present, too!

Time for Christmas Morning Brunch with Harabuji and Grace!

Test drivin’ the new wheels!

After a nap and a little down time, it was off to Grandma and Papaw’s house for Christmas Dinner and time with the Facey cousins!

Dad went all out and made mini 3-tier cakes for EVERYONE! An epic way to end an epic holiday!

Merry Christmas! We hope yours was wonderful, too!

Christmas Goodies

I’ve been VERY busy in the kitchen lately, and doing a lot of posting over at my food+crafts blog, Four-Eyed Girlie. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s what I’ve been making this Christmas!

“Elements of the Holidays” Gingerbread and Pumpkin Bread Mini-Loaves

My little side project, Four-Eyed Girlie, was started in hopes that one day I could market and sell the treats I like to make. My 1st experiment with this was offering the Gingerbread and Pumpkin Bread mini-loaves I made a few years back to my Four-Eyed Girlie Facebook Followers. I received my very 1st order and sold 20 to a friend so she could gift her co-workers in the office! I like calling them “elements of the holidays” because gingerbread and other spice breads are such a warm association with this time of year. Even better, a friend insisted I borrow her fancy-schmancy Kitchen Aid Mixer, so I felt like a real pro. Bonus points for the mixer being my favorite color – RED!

Triple Decker Maple Peanut Butter Pretzel Fudge

After finding this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Sprinkle Bakes — I knew I wanted to make this fudge for my mommy friends as a special treat. It turned out beautifully and I decided I needed packaging that was just as beautiful as the product. I came up with gifting individually-sized bricks of fudge (so you could still see the pretzel stick detail) in a clear treat bag with a custom label I designed.

You can read more about it in this post on the Four-Eyed Girlie blog.

Old-Fashioned Milk Chocolate/White Chocolate Peppermint/Chocolate Walnut Holiday Fudge

I got together with my mom as usual to do our annual holiday treat-making day. We decided on fudge this year and I wanted to make three different varieties. It was really fun to do and I especially liked the way my Milk Chocolate Fudge w/Holly Sprinkles turned out. I used a fondant cutter to make the fudge pieces round, and I used tweezers to get the holly sprinkles just perfect!

Chocolate Covered Oreos in Poinsettia Flower Molds

Also on the day mom + I got together, we dipped double stuff oreos in red chocolate using a poinsettia mold she’d purchased last year. The oreos really came out stunning — and they were so easy to do! First, we melted yellow chocolate and painted it into the center of each mold with a paintbrush. Once the yellow chocolate had cooled, we poured in red chocolate and submerged the oreo. I think they look great, and would definitely love to try more of these molds in the future!

Buckeye Candy

My mom really wanted to make Buckeye Candy, and how could I argue? Buckeyes pay homage to our home state of Ohio, and they’re basically like Peanut Butter Cups in ball form. They are DELICIOUS. Good thing she left those at her house. Yum!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
I hosted a little cookie party for our little mom group, since we hardly ever get to just hang out and chat without having to stop mid sentence and chase the kiddos or break up some sort of incidient where toddlers aren’t sharing! I make these cookies of Martha’s almost every year — they’re just the perfect Christmas cookie! They’re chewy and chocolate-y, but have a crunch thanks to crushed peppermint candies inside. I love-love-love them!