Summer fun on the deck

The weather in Seattle has been quite strange this year and it's been ever so unpredictable that I don't pay much attention to the weather forecast anymore.  It's almost July and we still have long sleeve kind of day.  However, we have had some days above 70 and the kids and I enjoyed them to the fullest potential by pulling out the water table and kiddie pool.  The water was still cool, but the kids didn't seem to mind.  The children in the Pacific Northwest get trained early for cool weather water play.  Me, coming from a city with muggy and hot summer, cannot train my brain to think swimming at temp at lower 70s, but whatever makes the children happy and tired works for me.

Looking at Saya in her little pink swimsuit, I remembered my own toddler photo wearing flower bikini.  She is a lot chunkier than I was, but I saw some resemblance.  Sean was the first one to put his feet in the kiddie pool and was standing in there playing for a while.  Alyson enjoyed playing with Sean and riding her trike in her swimsuit.  Noah loves water, too, and did manage to make his shorts and shirt soaking wet before I had the chance to change him into his bathing suit.  The huge deck we built was a smart investment.

On the side note, Saya has been terrified of sleeping in her room (my room) since she found a big spider on the wall the other night.  I caught it in a cup and let him go outside, but she thinks some critters are still hiding somewhere in the room.  She screams and screams and would not want to sleep at nap time and bedtime at night.  I am sure it's just a phase, but it sure is making things difficult for all of us. 

I enrolled Sean in a Japanese music summer camp, however Sean hadn't gone there yet.  He refused to go inside the school (it's Aly and Saya's Japanese school) in a panicky way, so I let Aly go instead for the past two days.  He will have three more chances of going there so hopefully he will decide to go at least for one day.  Aly has been having fun though, learning to read music and all.  It's a shame he is terrified of attending the program.  I am sure he would enjoy it once it starts. 

The summer has been going fine but I must admit, it's been stressful.  The change of routine is throwing Sean off and he has been a bit unstable.  Aly and Saya's classes are out this week, too, and the boys' summer program with Bellevue school district won't start until next week.  So, it's been interesting...  I had lots of ideas about what I could do with the kids during summer but I am operating at max level at this point, just keeping up with the appointments and chores.  I have to find a nice routine for all of us, so that we can find that harmony that had gone out the window ever since the school year ended...

Happy Father's Day~

Saya going boneless... She didn't want to get back in the car.  Noah does this sometimes, too, and makes it difficult to carry them. 

Sean liked this blue plane.  He was wide-eyed and plain happy seeing planes everywhere on the ground and in the air.

On Father's Day Sunday, we went to the air show in Olympia.  Mike has been a little down lately with loss of his beloved grandmother Audrey, so I wanted to cheer him up a little by going on an excursion trip out of town.   It is much smaller scale than the Sea Fair in Seattle where they have Blue Angels, but the planes flew very close and did some amazing stunts.  The kids were mesmerized and could not believe what they were seeing.  Most planes were classic war planes which were beautiful.  There were a few jet planes, too, and I think Sean liked them the most since they were sleek and fast!  We also liked the war choppers that were literally flying trucks, so powerful and magnificent.  They gave me goose bumps.  I could imagine how it carried soldiers in the war and heaviness of their missions. 

Mike by the end of the day felt better and we all had a good time.  I grilled up a copper river king salmon on a ceder plank for dinner and Mike was a very happy Dad.  It was very yummy!  The only seasoning I used was sea salt and a little bit of green onion on top.  That was by far the best tasting salmon we've ever had! 

Happy Father's Day to my two Dads and my husband!  I have three amazing men in my life and I feel very lucky.  They are smart and kind with fun sense of humor, perfect grandpas and Daddy for my children.  I cannot ask for more! 

Sometimes you feel like a kid

So tonight, kids and I were playing with molding clay and we were making all sorts of things like snails, bunnies, donut and lollipops.  I noticed that Saya poked a hole in her snail with her finger and it looked like the snail was eating her little finger.  That inspired me to make a finger eating monster and created Mr. Finger Muncher as pictured above.  I did the monster voice and pretended that Mr. Finger Muncher was very hungry for children's fingers.  Initially, the kids were giggling and put their finger in his mouth willingly.  Atmosphere started to change soon later when I used deeper voice and made his mouth move as he "spoke".  Suddenly, the kids were terrified of Mr. Finger Muncher!  Maybe a matured parent would have stopped then, but a kid inside me decided to push it further and started to chase the poor children.  Saya was crying, Sean and Aly's face more serious now, they ran around the house to save their fingers.  I hid behind the wall with Mr. Finger Muncher and jumped out, scaring the heck out of Sean who screamed for his dear life.  Saya at that point was beyond scared and finally decided to destroy the monster.  Three children watched as I squashed him, their eyes still distrusting.  How cute are they though to be scared of a molding clay creation driven by their Mom?   I could not help but smile.  I can just picture my Mom shaking hear head!

Sean's last day of preschool!

Sean's preschool ended today, 6/16, for summer and for good for our big boy.  He graduated from preschool!  I know it is part of raising children, but it is bitter sweet watching them grow.  He was the big-eyed smiley baby and look how tall and independent he has become...  Sean's preschool class had a graduation party today and Mike and I were able to go towards the end of it.  Unfortunately, we missed the ceremony but I was able to snap a photo of him with the graduation cap on in his classroom.  Suddenly he looked so tall and big in a classroom full of preschool-sized toys and furniture.  Yep, he is ready to move on, I thought.  I chatted with the teacher and the para educators and thanked them for all they have done for him.  Special Ed team has heart of gold and I am so grateful for every one of them. 

I exchanged numbers with several Moms and we are going to have playdates during summer.  Since the children in the class were from various areas in Bellevue, they will all go to different kindergarten in the fall.  Sean feels sad about that and asked why his friends are all going to different schools.  I am happy that he loves playing with his friends and miss them when he won't see them again.  It was implied before from the neurologists from Autism Center that Sean will not be able to make friends easily, but he already proved them wrong.  I am so proud of him for achieving so much academically and socially.  After the testing, they had determined that Sean no longer needs speech and occupational/physical therapy services at school.  All he gets is social skills group sessions 30 minutes per week.  He went into preschool with all these challenges and he conquered them all.  Good job, my big boy!!  You can do anything and I am so proud of you!

Sean made the cap and was very proud to wear it today.  Congratulations, Sean!

Sean's last walk to board the bus to preschool...

Sean's last bus ride to preschool this morning...

He was eating his breakfast this morning.  He chose to wear the shirt grandma bought him.

I tried to snap better photos with both boys.  They were the best buddies in Ms. Hanson's class.  Someone called them a partner in crime, but they play very well together.  We'll have lots of playdates during summer for sure!

We went for a special walk with everyone after dinner today to celebrate Sean's graduation from preschool.  We stopped by and checked on the construction of Spiritride Elem, Sean's new school!

A group photo in front of a big tree in the "jungle".

Mike's 37th Birthday

Look how uncomfortable he is!  Kids liked the cake though!

Mike and I pretending this little boy is our son.

Girls eating cake.

Sunday was Mike's 37th birthday.  I met him when he was 22 years old so that means I've known him for 15 years.  That is like Sean's life x 3!  I think we are both about at the age to have the mid life crisis.  Maybe it already happened and we didn't even notice since we have mini crisis everyday! (half joke :-)

We didn't do anything special on the actual birthday as requested by the man, but we went out on a date on Friday night and went to a barbecue party at Mike's colleague's house on Saturday.  I didn't let Mike know this before hand, but I put the children in the parent night out event at YMCA after feeding them early dinner.  By the time Mike came home, the kids were gone and he was surprised.  We went to the Korean barbecue place in Bellevue and stuffed ourselves with all you can eat table top barbecue.  They were delicious and wished I had bigger stomach to eat more. 

I asked Mike's colleague who hosted the party if it is OK to bring a big birthday cake for Mike.  He was fine with it, so we surprised Mike by bringing out a big cake with candles on it.  He was utterly embarrassed and looked like he wanted to run away as we sang him the birthday song.  There were about 40 people including children.  After 11 years of marriage, I've always thought that he liked birthday surprises.  I just hope that I didn't ignite a desire to embarrass me more on my next birthday!

Overall, I think he had a nice birthday.  He got a triathlon timer watch, bike shirt and polo shirt from us.  He liked the present and he wore all of them on Saturday (he went on a bike ride on Sat).  Mental note to myself:  Mike doesn't like the attention he gets on his birthday, so no more large crowd cake scene!

Little Mommy, Aly

Alyson is only 14 month older than Saya, but lately she acts towards her little sis as if she is her second mother.  She can be quite bossy and that is probably because she is copying me, but that doesn't mean Saya cooperates.  Saya often resists Alyson's commands and it turns into a screaming match.  Two little girls, kicking and screaming at each other.  We are a circus bunch!!

There are more pros than cons though.  It's great having a big sister who is independent like Alyson.  For one, Saya started to use potty regularly.  She's been watching her sister use toilet for quite some time now and she decided to just do it about two weeks ago.  She wears pull ups most of the time still, but she has spent an entire day wearing underwear the other day without having any accidents.  So, the day is getting closer to lose one more diaper bottom in the house. 

Alyson's Japanese is improving a lot and she now speaks only in Japanese with me.  She switches to English when she talks to her Daddy or Sean.  Saya is a funny one.  She'll strike a conversation with a complete stranger at grocery stores in Japanese.  She will tell them about all the colors she sees etc... and her conversation partner would just nod since they have no clue what she is saying.  Alyson, on the other hand would speak English to general public.  She was a shy little girl, but she started to talk more outside and tell others about her Hello Kitty necklace she is wearing etc...  Saya did greet an elderly man passing by in a building we were at in English yesterday, though.  She said "Hi, Grandpa!" and put a smile on his face. 

Funny, funny little girls. 

Aly loves to help.  She was helping me washing dishes.

Saya having her breakfast.

Breakfast time!  Girls likes cinnamon toast and cheese.

Just Photos and Lots of them!

Saya painting in the kitchen.  She knows all her colors and likes to mix up all the colors in the tray just like her older siblings!

Off to "pick up" Sean and Aly at Parker's house.  Saya has a cute new beanie hat that she loves!  I am very proud of Noah.  He peed in the toilet today.  I've been putting him on the potty for a short while and he seems to be getting it. He loves sitting on the potty like he's been wanting to do it.  He looks down to see if anything comes out and does that occasionally, so I know he is thinking about it.  Just because he doesn't talk does not mean he should be delayed at other things.  In fact, he is a very smart kid and is very much capable of doing what other children are doing. 

Playing in the front yard.  Saya still makes me nervous when she runs towards the street.  Sean and Aly are pretty good about it now and I can trust them.  Noah, no way! 

Aly gets a scoop of ice cream once in a while.  She says she likes the chocolate ice cream the most.  I like how she pronounces chocolate in English.  It's like she mixed Spanish, English and Japanese all together.

Alyson took my yellow shavel from me ~ Saya

Come on sis, give that back to me!!

Cannot believe you are doing this to me!!  Alyson!!

Now I am going to wail and see what Mommy would do to you!! Ha!

I am impressed how skilled Alyson is working with small objects!  I am the queen of clumsy.  She made her bead necklace pretty much all by herself.  No way I would have been able to do it when I was three!

I did it!  She loves her new butterfly necklace.

Sean surprised me by picking up a worm by fingers the other day.  He was the kid who could not even touch a lady bug a short while ago.  Here, he tossed a worm he picked up earlier in my garden.

I took all four kids to the park this morning.  It's always easy to keep a couple in the swring, so they would not go anywhere.  I give a really big push on the swings and then run over to tend the other kid.  Keeping an eye on all four roaming kids at a large park is challenging, but I am used to it now. 

Sean liked this spinning chair.  This thing goes around very fast!  Saya tried it, too, and she could not walk straight afterwards!

That's Saya in yellow.  I don't think I allowed myself to be this far when Sean was at her age.  I was with another kid on a swing and my rader spotted her going off the playground.  I ran to her after taking this shot and suggested her to come back to play. 

There was a cute little cottege at the park.  It was a conference and reception house where people can rent, sort of like The Bishop's house where Mike and I got married in Boise.  It was very pretty and reminded me of our wedding.  I told Aly, maybe she'll get married here someday. :-)

Speaking of marrige...  Sean thinks he is going to marry both Parker and Ruby (his classmate and he calls her his girlfriend).  I told him that marrige is commonly between a man and woman and then he said "why does it have to be a girl?" like he was annoyed. 

Found this interesting-looking statue at the garden.  I liked that someone put a flower on the male statue's hand.