Happy New Year!

The clock is ticking at 10:45 pm and it's only me and the TV Japan on.  The annual singing contest called "Red and White singing contest" just finished showing on TV and now is the appropriate time to reflect on the year that is passing and think of the improvements I want to make for myself in the new year. 

Well, this year was... oh gross, Grace!  She just threw up on the floor next to me!!  I better go clean it up now.  Ok, I am done.  Well, I was going to say that this year was the busiest year yet with driving kids around town to their therapies and activities, and also putting on some volunteer work with three teachers every week.  I don't mind being busy, but once in a while the fatigue and stress get me.  I must admit that I was more irritable this year than the last and I want to make sure this does not become something permanent. 

Sean became more social at school and that is a very exciting achievement he made this year.  Prior to this year, he rarely mentioned his classmates' names in the evening conversations and in fact it seemed like he wasn't interacting with them much.  My heart danced when he talked about how he played with Joshua and Cam during the recess and what they were doing.  Finally, I thought and I couldn't be happier.  He is coping better at school and that might be triggering more severe tantrums at home.  His tantrum grew in size, volume, and frequency this year and that was adding a lot of stress to the family.  He would actually hit, kick and punch (not so hard) his siblings or even me when he loses control.  That is absolutely not acceptable and that is something we need to work on next year.  His inattentiveness is getting worse, too, and we need to find a solution as it is affecting his school work as well.  His body is changing from just skinny to thicker chested and I often remind him to always give me lots of hugs no matter how big he gets.  He LOVES watching football and is very excited to join a local junior football league.  He knows the rules like a professional refree and he is just plainly glued to the TV during any football games.  Funny how sons instictively want to be like their fathers.  I didn't really expect him to like football to this degree (he sleeps with a football every night).  Overall he had a good year.  I am proud of him to be able to keep his cool at school and mingle with his friends.  I know how hard it must be sometimes for him dealing with unpleasant sensory inputs he gets at school.  I know it's going to get easier every year though since he is going to learn to cope and adopt as he matures.

Noah, I am so proud of Noah tonight! I asked him to sit down on the toilet and he pooped in the toilet!  I wasn't sure if he was going to actually pee (didn't know he had to poop) so after a few minuets, I asked him if he is all done.  He said "No" in a clear way and he started to concentrate hard to relieve himself.  Then he exclaimed "All Done!" after I heard the splash.  That was just too cute.  He gets a cookie when he goes to the bathroom, so he ate a special potty cookie for a reward.  He has been communicating more to us using words ever since he started the winter break.  He even started to play "football" with the other children and tackled his sisters.  Every time Noah initiates a play, Aly comes to me to tell me.  "Mommy, Noah is chasing me!  Isn't he cute?" and she sounds sincerely happy that her twin brother wants to play with her.  I know somewhere along the way they stopped playing with each other and they must miss the bond they used to have.  They were in my tummy together... my little twins.  I hope someday they grow back the bond and become best friends.   It was a year of growth for Noah and we are very proud of him for speaking more and tackling Kindergarten like a big boy.

Alyson had a very successful year.  She was often whiny and bratty but transformed into a willing and smart little girl once she started school.  She is TALL and is the second tallest kid in the entire kindergarten class.  Her English is improving although she still talks with a Japanese accent (which is adorable by the way).  She is famous in her class as a good artist!  She is very observant when it comes to art and design.  About the mid year, she started drawing a bunny or any furry animals looking up in her pictures.  She said that is the cutest angle to draw a small animal.  I thought that was a very good observation for being just five.  She also likes the dreamy looking eyes, so she practiced a lot trying to draw a set of sparkly and feminine eyes with drapy lashes.  Some looked cross-eyed and some looked drunk but she worked hard on it, so I dared not to laugh.  I guess I liked to draw as a young girl, too.  I am looking forward to seeing her grow and what things she masters in the new year!

And there is Saya.   She is the cutest thing in my house right now.  She and I spent a lot of time together since everyone else is at school during the week.  We went to Starbucks, libraries, lots of grocery shopping, even to Noah's school for a weekly volunteering.  I was enjoying our time together feeling bittersweet.  Come next September, she will be in school all day just like her brothers and sister.  Why am I thinking ahead so much, I don't know.  All I know is that I am going to miss her lots when she starts school.  She flourished in her Japanese school after she was separated from Alyson.  When they used to go to school together, they played amongst each other and didn't interact with their classmates or participate in class activities.  She now is very vocal in her class and actually enjoys participating in the activities.  At home, she is very good at doing her chores independently.  She likes to do everything by herself and that is a breath of fresh air in our house.  Way to go, Saya!  We are so glad to have the surprise baby growing up healthy and smart!

Well, it looks like I only have five minutes to publish this post before the year ends.
Happy Happy New Years to all the readers!  I appreciate you taking time to read my blog.  The blog has been part of my life since March 2008, kind of like my twins.  After over 500 posts, I am just amazed that I can stick to something this long.  This blog has helped me overcome some of the hardest times in raising kids with special challenges by allowing me to look at the problems in an objective perspective.  I have always wanted to be a writer and my blog is a perfect outlet for my desire to be creative as well.  I will make some much needed improvements to the blog layout and functionality to make it easier and fun for you to read in the new year.  Have a great New Year's Day everyone!

Christmas Day

When the morning arrived on the Christmas Day, the clock was pointing at 7:13 am.  Sean dashed to the bathroom as usual slamming the toilet seat up in heist.  I was impressed that he didn't wake up at 6 am like he usually does on the Christmas Day.  Sean then woke his sisters up and they rushed downstairs to look at the presents.  We didn't pull out the wrapped presents until the night before the big day since we know they would never make it unopened.  They stood in front of the wrapped presents for a while admiring them and soon counting who has the most presents.  Noah woke up next and went straight to his breakfast chair after changing.  He is the wrapper ripper we were trying to contain.  The kids ate their breakfast and brushed their teeth very fast.  When Nana came over at 9:00 am, they were ready to open and we began what we hoped to be a morning long ritual (but only took less than 40 mins to open all of them). 

The girls got their favorite girlie dolls and things, Sean got his boy toys and craft things he asked for, and Noah received some educational toys and a giant Spider Man which he doesn't seem to like so much.  They each got a Dream Light pillow pet from grandma, too.  Santa gave me a nice pressure cooker and several cooking gadgets.  Perfect since I burned my old pressure cooker.  Santa gave Mike a smoker vault which he has been using ever since to smoke up some fish and meats.  Nana was happy to get a new tablet from Santa and couldn't stop smiling. 

We had a nice dinner, cedar plank baked steal head, green beans with bacon and mushrooms, and green salad with eggs.  The steal head was drizzled with miso and mayo sauce and it was very yummy.  Sean even gobbled it up and we all ate well.

It was a good Christmas, but we missed my Mom, grandma.  My family is going to visit Indonesia at the end of the year, so my Mom could not come this Holiday.  Kids all said "where is Grandma?" as she has bee our staple during the winter break.  Aly especially misses her but she was ok with it when I told her grandma is coming in March.  "Is March the day after tomorrow?", she asked.  The concept of days and months are still a bit hard for her. 

It was a nice mellow Christmas, a kind that I could have spent all day in my PJ (but I didn't).  The children were sad that the Christmas is over now and in a way it seems the days leading up to is equally fun.  Now I am getting ready for the New Year and will be cleaning my house all day tomorrow.  We hope you had a nice Christmas, too!

Sean and Aly Day at Seattle Center

 

I took Sean and Alyson to Seattle Center to see special Christmas events held there over the Holiday break.   Sean and Alyson are the two that fight the most and I wanted for them to have a bonding time away from other siblings as well.  The place was packed due to the Nutcracker performance by Pacific Northwest Ballet Company taking place nearby (the one I took my Mom to last year only to see her snoozing off next to me) and various other events held in each venue.  The kids were happy to mingle amongst the crowd though and enjoyed looking at the model train display in the Center House.  It was beautifully made and I was drawn to look at every detail of the town, people and train that they created.  What a fun for people of all ages. 

On the stage, a dance school was performing their Holiday shows and Sean and Aly were mesmerized by the costume and gracefulness of the dancers.  Aly said she wants to learn to dance and I will look for a dance school for her come next year.  Sean probably would enjoy dancing, too, but he is becoming too much of a tough guy lately and rather "play" football.  

Soon later they noticed a fun looking play area in the basement and convinced me to take them downstairs.  The basement houses Children's Museum and it's a popular destination for young families.  They enjoyed playing with the displays, in particular an area called "Global Village" where they have small scale replica of homes and shops from around the world.  Sean claimed a Japanese house "his house" and Alyson claimed a Philippino house.  "I will go to your house now," they said and happily played house together.  I was invited as a house guest in Sean's house.  I sat in a Japanese living room and was served an endless meal, which I enjoyed with at most courtesy  Sean really enjoyed playing house and it was so cute to see his innocent side inside his tall body. They could have played there for hours but it was getting late.  We set out home in the dark but greeted by Christmas lights lit everywhere in Seattle Center.  Above us stood the Space Needle with Christmas tree light above the "disk".    It was a very good day and I am excited to take another set of kids out sometime to enjoy each other's company. 

Snowday!

 

 

Much of Washington snowed on the last day of school before the winter break and lucky kids had their long standing wish come true: A Snow Day!!  I got a call from the school district at 6:30 am that the school is going to start two hours late and then within 30 minutes a second message announcing it's closing the schools entirely.  Coming from Idaho, it seemed a bit silly to close the school for a few inches of snow, but safety first - the bus drivers around here aren't used to the snow and so are the general public!  I haven't driven on snow for so long regularly, either, and it can be scary especially on the slopes.  My minivan feels like it won't stop although that never happened! 

Sean was too excited to stay inside and barged outside as soon as he was finished with his morning routine.  The girls followed him out later and they were little puppies jumping and giggling with excitement.  Aly laid down on the driveway and made a snow angel.  The temperature was not very cold and I knew the snow was going to melt quickly, so I let the kids play before they are gone.  Soon the neighborhood kids gathered and they were all playing together, making a snowman and instigating some snow fights. 

It was a perfect snow since it didn't linger around for days.  It was pretty much all melted by the early evening.  No fuss and no mess - that is the way I like it.  Now it was really starting to look like the Holidays and made everyone's day a bit more festive and cozy inside their homes.  I knew I had to switch the gear to higher number to finish preparing for Christmas.  It's one of the happiest times of the year and I sure was having fun. 

On my mind these days...

Saya has been acting like a diva lately.  She had a sweet streak for a while and then again entered a nay phase since several weeks ago.  It's as if she gets bored with getting compliments and decides to be rebellious.  Winter might be a hard time for her since she is still little and picks up cold germs here and there.  That certainly would puts her in a little crankier mood.  She has a stuffy nose now and it might be that she is not getting a restful sleep at night.  Either way, I miss my sweet agreeable girl!  I am sure she will come back soon!?   I hope. 

Tuesdays are Aly's Nana day and Nana takes her to her house to spend a quality time with her.  That means Sean and Saya have some time to paly together without Aly being around.  I remember they actually got along very well together while Aly was in Japan for eight months last year.  When she came back, I noticed their relationship has gotten more complex and I knew Sean missed playing with Saya.  I am glad at least on Tuesdays, they get to spend some time together and it's good to see them getting along without getting too hyper.  Alyson sometimes perhaps unintentionally disturbs Sean's planned play scenarios and therefore makes Sean very upset.  She is more likely to disagree with Sean in play ideas than Saya.  She will, I hope, eventually teach Sean to be more flexible but that will not happen for some time.  I am glad my children are able to learn social and interpersonal skills and their consequences from each other.  I was missing that at home when I was growing up and look at me now!  Well, just joking but that must be a big plus right?

I am just mumbling today since I don't want to dedicate this post for writing one topic.  Sean and Aly brought home their report cards last Friday.  Alyson received mostly threes but had twos in the area of time management, following instructions and communication.  In their school, 4 is exceeds average, 3 is meets standard, 2 is approaches standard, and 1 is below standard.  I was shocked that Sean received a few ones in the similar areas as Alyson's.  I am not sure if his IEP (Individual Education Plan written for him from the Special Education team) is appropriate since obviously he needs additional help.  I will bring it up in the next meeting, but it seems that I do need to take some actions here.  The teacher is managing 29 children and about five of them are special needs.  I honestly don't think he has time to make sure Sean is listening or doing what he is supposed to do.  I volunteer in his class every Thursday, but I may need to go in more often.  I am going to make a binder for him with a schedule and a checklist so that he knows what he is supposed to do next.  Maybe now that he is getting older and more independence is expected from each student, we may start to see certain issues with inattentive student like him.  Knowing my own problems in school growing up, I will come up with a plan to help him organize in class.  Lots of short term goals and positive affirmations should be helpful! 

Gingerbread House and Tree

Another Christmas tradition is decorating a gingerbread house with candies and icing.  We decorated a gingerbread Christmas tree, too, since I got it for sale after the Christmas last year.  Good thing they are not meant for consuming.  The cookies must be as hard as a rock after sitting for a year in our laundry room.   Gingerbread decoration is a requirement in my house and kids were looking forward to get their hands sticky.  I have to make sure they don't eat too many candies as they work.  Saya kept saying "just this one!" and ate a whole a lot of candies.  She squints her nose and smiles.  She is a very funny girl.  Aly told her "you are going to become a robot, Saya!" because I pretended I became a robot after eating a candy.  Noah wanted to swipe the icing and kept trying, but Sean was a very good gingerbread house security guard.  He got it just one time as you can see in the very blurry picture above.  The look on Sean's face is priceless!  It's a messy and noisy affair, but we enjoy decorating it together every year.  It's not a tradition I grew up with, but feels comfortably right as if I have always done it.  It's a reminder I am making someone's life and memory.  Being a Mommy is great.  I don't always feel like I am the best Mom, but I was a pretty cool Mom at least in my kids' eyes as we made our special gingerbread house together.

Outing to Christmas Tree Farm

The natural thing to do after Thanksgiving is to get a Christmas tree to adopt.  We headed out to our favorite tree farm in Carnation to find our perfect tree to decorate for the occasion.  It's one of our favorite things to do before the Holiday.  There is something organic and wholesome about going out to the country and cut down your own Christmas tree.  We brought home a Grand Fir which was a little cheaper than what we usually buy, a Nordman or Korean fir.  Although finding out later that this kind shed a lot of needles and needs daily sweeping, we got the best looking tree in town!  The kids got busy decorating them, but got distracted and started to play with the ornaments.  I finished decorating it after they went to sleep and they were pleased to see it prettily lit up in the morning.  We only have several weeks left until Christmas and I am left with a mountain of tasks to do.  I am glad one of the items is crossed off the list!

Great Thanksgiving

Sean was so excited to have Grandpa and Shasha!

Kids had their own kiddie table.  They didn't much like the food. 

Mike made a chocolate cream pie.  It was delicious!!

Noah cuddling with grandpa and Ralph cuddling with Shasha.

Grandpa being goofy.

Shasha got a workout holding the heavy serving plate of turkey. 

The table - I made the flower arrangement in the middle. I started taking flower arrangement lessons from a lady in Redmond. I love doing crafty things.

Thanksgiving is sort of like a mini Oshogatsu (the New Year's Day celebration in Japan, which is the biggest Holiday in Japan) since it involves gathering with family and lots of food.  Ever since I took over the cooking role for this important day, I am on a quest for the perfect turkey!  I went a little too big this year since I miscalculated the serving size.  I went to Trader Joe's with Jen a few days before the big day and picked up a 20 pounder!  That is about 5 pounds more than what I prepared last year.  I used the same recipe from last year since we liked how it turned out, juicy and tender.  What I learned from this time was that larger the bird, harder to keep it moist since it has to stay in the oven for a longer time.  This year's turkey was about 60 out of 100.  I will be buying a smaller bird next year since we had lots of left over.  I will give the same recipe another try.  Cooking for Thanksgiving is like a sport and I sure was exhausted when it all ended.  I enjoyed cooking for my family and made me feel very thankful to have a nice meal with my family.

Grandpa Bob and Shasha drove all the way from Lewiston to join us for Thanksgiving equipped with a new set of studded snow tires.   Kids were so excited to see them and their puppy, Ralph.  Unfortunately, I was busy dropping kids off at their activities on Wednesday and they arrived while we were out.  They found our contractor, Ed, working on our electrical issues but no us.  Wednesday is the busiest day and I have a crazy schedule which would make anyone's head spin.  I am used to it, but they must have thought I am nuts! 

They were able to stay until Friday and we had lots of fun chatting with them.  Grandpa Bob is goofy and the kids were amused to have funny conversations with him.  Sean, Aly and Saya were chatting with grandpa about something and they were deep in conversation for a while.  It was very cute.  Noah got a good snuggle with him and were very happy to have a company at home.  He absorbs the vibe at home easily and he was all about smiles.  Nana joined us for dinner and brought her famous salad which was very refreshing.

I have so much to be thankful for - my husband who is smart and kind, four healthy children, wonderful in-laws, supportive family in Japan, the house, the schools... the list goes on.  I am one lucky girl.  I hope my family feels the same way about themselves.