Category — Krembs’ Days

We had such fun with Kate and Adrian! We both had an October break, so they came up to us this time. Next, we’ll go down for Adrian’s show opening. It’s such a novelty to actually have family in the same country–it’s AWESOME! (Adrian and Kate are in Suzhou while Corky and Sally are in Hong Kong. Plus, it’s not the same country, but Brian and Jen are close in Jakarta, Indonesia. A wonderful first for us to be so close to three siblings and their loves;) All week long we toured and hung out, cooked or ordered in, rode bikes or taxied around, shopped or saw sights, AND always managed to have a great time.

Here are a slew of pictures from our week together:

On Saturday morning while Gigi with Kevin were at gymnastics, Vincent and I waited for the shipment, the landlords’ people to clear out the storage area in the basement, and the sofa factory with our new sofas to arrive. And you guessed it: they all arrived at the same exact time!

We were both pretty excited to see the trucks coming down the road. This is taken right outside our front door. The kids love having the park right across the street.

The living room BEFORE:

And the living room AFTER:

The entry room BEFORE:

The entry AFER:

The Ganesh was placed front and center right away. We still need to hang all of our art work.

The sunroom BEFORE:

The sunroom AFTER:

Right now, this is our coziest room. We just hope it won't get too cold in the winter in this windowed space.

Here you have the guest room on the first floor up, the TV room, Gigi’s room on the next, then Vincent’s room, and finally our room at the top:

(The two little red candy boxes are for our guests tomorrow morning. Adrian and Kate arrive!)

Aside from being our TV room, this is also known as the "Red Room."

Gigi is now sleeping in her room--granted, Vincent is there too, but that's going to be a hard habit to break. They are used to sharing a room.

We're looking forward to getting all Vincent's awesome art work up on his bedroom walls.

I divided my room up in two: there's a little changing area for myself behind the bed.

The kitchen–it is so nice and big!

And the outside of the house:

The garage is replete with goods: bikes, rollerblades, balls, hula hoops, or and a washer and dryer!

That’s our house!  I’m missing some outdoor shots, but that saves for another post.  We have a barbeque which we use at least once a week.  We just bought a drill too for hanging all our art–which we definitely have the space for, but I’m kind of waiting for Adrian and his expertise in placement.  We really enjoy our new home.  It is by far the most spacious we’ve ever had.  As I look around, I find it hard to believe we fit all of our belongings in our little sanctuary in Juhu Beach, Mumbai, India.  But we did! Home is where the heart is, and while we miss our old home, we are making the best of this new one.

There have been so many jokes online today–it’s crazy. The one I made on my kids was simple. Vincent mentioned how funny blue pancakes would be….well, instead of the green pea and zucchini soup the kiddos were expecting, they got breakfast instead!

The dinner they were expecting....

[caption id="attachment_523" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="...and the dinner they got!"][/caption]

Breakfast for dinner was a real hit!

Since around Thanksgiving (the Mumbai attacks), Gigi had been in a bit of a funk–more needy than normal, lots of unexplainable stomach aches, not the usual confident Gigi. Even the teacher noticed. We would talk to her often, but not much was working, until…we started with The Motto. For about a month now, Gigi has had a motto for each week, and true to its function, The Motto has been working.  Within the middle of the first week, I asked her how The Motto was going.  She was like, “So good! I was scared to play soccer, but then I thought to myself, ‘I can do it, and I did it!’”  See, the power of The Motto. 

Here’s a running list of The Motto’s.

• Week 1: I can do it!
• Week 2: I can try by myself.
• Week 3: It’s ok to make mistakes.
• Week 4: It’s ok to be little.
• She already knows next week’s: It’s ok to be last.

*Side note:  One of the weeks, I think it was the second, I had gone through like twenty outfits trying to decide what to wear.  I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Gigi, I think I need a motto too; my motto is, ‘I love myself.’”  Later, in the car, Gigi was like, “Mommy you love yourself, and me, and Vincent, and Papa too.”  She didn’t want me to leave out any LOVE!  Cute Gigi!!

Friday was a blast for Vincent! Sports’ Day is a day all the kids look forward to. (I’ll be reporting another Sports’ Day on March 20th for Gigi.)