Getting Things Together

Not ready for bed yet! Noah and Aly were playing together walking around in headlock position. Noah liked it, surprisingly.

A little more organized playroom downstairs. Every evening though it looks as if a tornado came through.

Sean had no school today (Wednesday), so we played downstairs in the morning before his OT (occupational therapy).

We are learning to share. Sharing is still a big issue for us. Sean was wanting the carp toy Aly has in this photo.

Here, Noah's standing on the bar stool trying to grab wine glasses on the cupboard. He realized that he can pretty much reach anything with a bar stool. Slick guy.

We had a somewhat typical Wednesday today, me running around in my minivan hauling kids to places. I say somewhat because our nanny Chio was not feeling well and she left at 1:00. She normally stays until 3:30 on Wednesdays. She's been having a headache and her cheeks looked red, so I thought it would be best she goes home and rest. I felt bad that I made her go to Crossroads mall with me this morning with Sean, Aly and Saya! Sean has OT from 11:00 with Jessica, so I thought I would drop Chio, Aly and Saya off at the mall during therapy so that the girls can get out of the house.

The kids like to drive around after dark (it gets dark after 5 here now) because they enjoy looking at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. We put it up last weekend on our house, however it kind of looks a little beaten up since there are blocks of lights that are burned out. Sean still loves looking at Christmas trees. We set it up last Sunday in our house and every morning he runs down to look at it. I think Christmas is his favorite. It is very exciting for him to see all these decorations everywhere in town. Of course, if Sean's excited about something, the younger ones are also. Sean makes everything official for them.

I have been busy everyday but it seems even busier these days. It's not the shopping, but I seem to be running around doing something but not accomplishing much. My mind must be busy thinking of all things I have to do (what are they?) and having hard time focusing. I need to start writing things down so that I can cross them off the list. Well, that's about it for today. I better get some sleep so that I can function better tomorrow!

Xander's 1st Birthday Party

Aly and Sean having fun at the table.
The birthday boy!

Beautiful private room at the steakhouse.

Saya ate well as usual.

Xander and me - I love the colors of his clothes.

Aly pretty much ate the entire cake all by herself.

Jen decorated a Costco made cake and made it look like a wedding cake, WOW!

Kevin and Jen's son, Xander, turned one on December 3, and they had a Korean style birthday party for him on Saturday. Saya is 7 month older than Xander, but he is about the same size as Saya (and Saya's not small). He is a very happy little boy and I am sure he'll be a nice pal for Saya, if she wouldn't boss him around!

The party was held at a nice steakhouse in downtown Bellevue and everything was set up beautifully. There was a table with symbolic offerings and Jen was explaining what each item means, however I must admit I wasn't paying close attention (I had the peripheral vision switch on to keep track of the kids). They were all pretty though. :-) The lunch was delicious and kids ate well. We met some nice people and had fun chatting with them.

Xander changed into the traditional outfit after lunch and he looked ADORABLE with little black hat and bright colored silk clothing. He didn't want to keep the hat on after a while, but we got some nice pictures. After blowing the solo birthday candle, they had a traditional fortune telling game where you line up items such as money, pencil and ball which have symbolic meaning like wealth, education and athleticism etc... and Mr. Xander chose a basketball, computer mouse, and money. I guess he is going to be an athletic computer guy with money!

Kids were a little overstimulated towards the end, but we enjoyed being part of Xander's birthday celebration. The Collins are wonderful family and we are so glad we live a few houses down and our kids are best friends (however, Parker and Sean started to argue more these days).

Thank you Kevin and Jen for having us at the party!!

Thanksgiving Festivities

A big crowd at Hemker's!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Saya with aunt Wilma

Saya stealing Grandpa's food. Grandpa got tickles from Saya's antenna.

Sam, Laura and Grant playing with Sean. Grant is pretending to jump onto Sean from the ottoman.

Aly jumping onto Laura.

Paul playing Wii bowling game. A French lady Mariline and Tom looking on on the right.

At the hotel - Saya looked like a sci-fi character wearing her snow boots with white tights.

This is where all began. The BSU Student Union building where Mike and I met 14 years ago. We explained to kids that they should be thankful this place existed.

Three generation photo. This is the third edition. The first one was Sean only and the second one was missing Saya.

The kids fell asleep as soon as we left Grandma's house to go to the restaurant.

Little diners. They looked so cute!

Kirk worked hard to keep kids busy as he promised!

Warning!! This is a long post!!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.

We drove down to Boise for Thanksgiving this year. As I wrote on my last post, we had a big snow storm a few days before the trip. It seemed like we might not be able to make it but thanks to steady traffic flow and sunny weather, the mountain pass was in decent shape the day we left. We'd done our research this time and knew exactly which town to take a break at and where to go (McDonald's indoor play areas). The kids did great and whined much less than we expected. Mike and I even could have some conversations! By the time we arrived at our hotel, we were so tired. The excitement and extreme fatigue didn't mix so well and the kids were just going crazy. They were jumping on the bed until 1am and Mike and I felt pretty sorry for ourselves (and that did not help at all).

The next day, we headed out to uncle Kirk's to see everyone. We were invited to their long time neighbor and friend, Hemker's hosue, for Thanksgiving. I've known them since I started dating Mike and was excited to see them again. I have the best family in the universe! Well, at least I think they are perfect for me. We live far, but we just pick up where we left off. I love their dry sense of humor, because I cannot take it any other way. The kids felt comfortable very quickly with everyone (although Sean was a bit scared of Kirk's dog, Pax). Even grandpa Bob put Saya to sleep for a nap.

We walked over to Hemker's around 4 pm and had a fantastic time there. We had a big crowd there and they had the longest dining room table I have ever seen. Their children, Laura and Paul, who were teenager and pre-teen have all grown up. They are a beautiful family. The amount of food we had was ridiculous. I don't think I was able to eat every dish because there were about at least 2 different varieties of each. I was so full, I could only eat a slice of grandma's eggnog pie for dessert. The kids did great at the party. No fit, no fight, just giggles and smiles. They were the only children there and everyone was willing to play with them. Sean and Aly were jumping on to Laura, Laura's boyfriend Grant and cousin Sam from the ottoman and Saya joined the spin on the coffee table game, too, where they spinned the kids really fast. It was the sort of gathering we used to have with my extended family in Japan. We enjoyed it very much. Thanks, Hemker family for having us!

The main reason we were determined to get to Boise was because Friday was grandma Marie's 90th birthday. We were very excited to be able to celebrate it with her. We spent Friday afternoon at grandma Marie's house, kept eyes on the kids not to break her antique collections. We then went off for a dinner at Murphy's for a family birthday dinner. Marsha booked a private room with a door so that the kids can run around if they wanted to. That was a very nice thinking, but the kids stayed perfectly happy on their high chair thanks to all the attention they were getting. Kirk kept bugging Sean, asking him if he could have his food and Sean in return were all worked up trying to protect the food he wouldn't even consider eating (celeries and carrots etc...) I sat on the opposite end of the table from the kids and they let me relax and visit with the women. We ended the party singing grandma a happy birthday song with a party noise maker thingy (don't know what they are called) and the kids thought it was hilarious. Grandma looked happy and it was all worth it.

We left the next day, Saturday, at 8 am and arrived home at 6:00 pm. The highway in Oregon was completely white with snow and ice, but we made it safe. We don't see the family in Boise so often and we were so glad to be able to spend some time with them. We will plan to visit again next summer. It was very nice seeing you all. I was not able to see any friends this time since we had a very short stay but looking forward to catching up with them next summer!!

First Snow of the Season

Well, we knew it was coming and were prepared for it. It started to snow on Sunday afternoon, but it didn't stick. However today, everything is white outside. It's been snowing all day long. The snow melted a little around 2 pm, but it started to snow hard right before Sean's bus arrived home. And it's COLD!! The high tomorrow is supposed to be 25 F and all the snow accumulated today isn't going anywhere for the next couple of days. Unfortunately, we are planning to go to Boise on Wednesday. I checked the Snoqualmie Pass road condition and it is not good. In fact, the entire path to Boise is covered with snow now. We have to wait and see what it is like tomorrow afternoon and make the decision. We are thinking of delaying the trip until Thursday, which means we'll be all cramped up in the car while America is having a warm meal of Turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.

It's 11 pm now and I just got a call from Bellevue School District and it is an official snow day for Sean tomorrow. The school is closed. The timing of it is so ironic. The weather has been rather warm up until last weekend. Humph... So is life...

The kids had fun in the snow today though. Aly and Noah played on the deck for a little while. They were stumping around and making their foot tracks, touched some snow, sat on it and discovered that their bottom is cold, and tried looking at the falling snow to see what it looks like. After a little while, it was too cold for them and whimpered to go inside. Noah's nose mucus all the sudden had a surge in production from the cold and it took me a while to clean all of it out. Sean wore a pair of snow boots today to school and had lots of fun playing in snow. It was freezing cold, but he wanted to play outside in the snow after school.

We'll see how this snow business is going to be tomorrow. I am glad I installed snow tires on my minivan!

Family Portrait

Things were pretty good at first.
You can't see in the photo, but Mike and I were on the side holding on to Noah and Saya and let go when the photographer signaled. That's why Saya looks like she's falling forward. She must have been leaning forward to my hand.

Sean's classic fake smile. I am sure I would even miss it when he's grown up and won't even let me take a photo. Mike liked the composition of this portrait, but I was disappointed that Noah's face is in the shadow.

Mike was struggling to keep the boys still. He still managed to smile at the camera.

I was shouting "forget about Saya's boots!" before the shot.

I like this picture. Aly looks super adorable and I like Saya's expression. That's her. Her personality is captured!

It's the portrait time again before the Holidays! We didn't think it was going to be easy and it wasn't. Now that the twins and Saya are in the wiggly stage, it was actually harder than last year. Aly and Sean were pretty good at first, but they both started to misbehave later by running off or turning away from the camera. Noah didn't want to stay in one spot and was whining pretty much the whole time. We had to carry him or hold him down. Saya wasn't in a mood for pictures, either, and wanted to run off from the studio. The photographer said she should be able to get about 18 different shots, but I think she changed her mind.

But I think all troubles were well worth it in the end. The pictures turned out better than I thought. The kids looked adorable in their outfits. I particularly liked the girls' outfits. They looked like big girls wearing a stylish outfit. Mike looked good in his new skinny shirt. The boys were very proper looking unlike their usual sporty style. I like looking at smiley faces in the family portrait when everything is quiet in the house at night. It all sums it up for me despite the chaos and stress, we are a happy family. My next agenda is to buy frames and find good spots to appreciate them!

Fall Colors and somewhat new Noah

Saya, the Whale Rider.
At the Lake Sammamish Park, Mike pushing Noah and Saya in the stroller.

Kids invented this game where you throw leaves on my car.

Sean and Aly running around the front yard.

Aly looking at the water and birds.

Now that the fall is in the full swing, the kids are mesmerized by the bright colored leaves and changing scenery around them. Sean asks why leaves are falling, why it rains a lot these days, why it's dark outside when he leaves his therapies, trying to register what changing season means in his little head. Kids love to play with the fallen Japanese maple tree leaves in our front yard. The tree is over 40 years old and is magnificent. Unfortunately, it stands right in front of our house, covering a big part of our roof and makes a humongous mess pretty much all year around. It's a lovely tree though and it's a part of our life now.

Last Sunday, we took the kids to Lake Sammamish State Park since we had extra one hour in the morning and was sunny outside. We are so lucky to be close to such a beautiful park. There were ducks, geese and all kinds of wild birds paddling around and one little friendly (or very hungry) duck who came close to us looking curious. The lake was serene with a few dead logs on the beach, surrounded by fall forest. Saya and Noah had to stay in the stroller, but they had fun looking at the birds and water. Sean and Aly were running around, throwing sticks in the lake. It was a little windy and chilly, but we were glad we took the advantage of an hour we gained and enjoyed fresh air.

I am happy to say that Noah is responding better to therapies now. He makes more eye contacts and he is definitely there, his mind and body making good connections with what is going on around him. We had speech therapy this morning and he was looking at the therapist and me very intently and made a lot of appropriate sounds. He said "eating" at the ABA therapy at home yesterday. My beloved therapist, Malawaina, said she got teary hearing his sweet voice. Since he mainly makes sounds like "bababa" "da da da" we don't really know what his talking voice sounds like. I've heard it a couple of times and he has the most angelic voice I've ever heard. When his eyes and mine lock, I feel like everything stops around me. I just love it. It's happening a lot more often now and I think this is a beginning to him coming out from his little shell.

Aly has been using potty for a couple of weeks now. She still wears pull ups and has occasional "accident", but she tells me when she has to go. All I have to say is, "ok, go upstairs to potty" and there she goes like a big girl. We are doing construction right now for downstairs guest/multi-purpose room (I say multi-purpose because I know kids will take over it) and the garage. We finished the laundry room project and they are working on extending the garage space forward. It looks awesome!

Little Miss Saya is talking a lot and she is just a funniest kid. She loves bath now finally and she gets really mad at Daddy when he pulls her out of the bath. The other day when that happened, she cried for me as Daddy put a diaper on her. When he brought her downstairs, she stated "Bye-bye Daddy!" as if she is saying "ba-bye, you can disappear now" and when Mike tried to carry her, she gave him a major cold shoulder by turning her head in an exaggerated motion. It was really funny.

Anyway, I can write more believe me, but I should stop because I probably lost the audience already.

Halloween Fun

Saya the peacock and Charlie the alien staring at each other.

Aly was busy playing with their toys.

Noah looking cute! You can see Saya busy trying on shoes left by the guests.

The Cat in the Hat, aka Tina, and her husband Eric the cow.

We had a game of making all daddies mummies.

Saya had a really good time but was sooo tired by the time she got home.

We curved pumpkin on the Halloween day. We made a friendly Mr. Pumpkin.


Well, it was the case of three superheros and a baby peacock in the Campbell's house. We reused two costumes from last year, the supergirl for Aly and muscle man for Noah. I figure if they fit and they ain't complaining, why not!?

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday at Liz and Tom's house and we had a blast. Again, they thought of us and served some gluten and casein free donuts, rice crispie balls and brownies for our special diet boys. They are so sweet. Sean was busy playing with house full of boys that were there and Aly followed them around. Saya was quietly working on her project - trying on all the shoes left by the front door. Noah found a few favorite toys and played amongst other children. The kids had a lot of fun and they made some new friends!

Thanks for having us Tom, Liz, Andy, Charlie and Finn!

On the Halloween evening, Mike took the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, I was ill on Sunday for some odd reasons so I could not participate. I was looking forward to seeing the kids trick or treating, but I am glad my kids were able to enjoy it. Mike told me that Sean said to our neighbor after getting some candies, "thank you! bye-bye! I love you!" as he walked away. He is a crack up! I normally don't mind the candy giving duty, however I was in my robe looking groggy and it wouldn't have even passed as a bad costume. Oh well, I managed to scare some people anyway! We had a decent turn out but apparently not enough according to all the left over candies sitting in the pantry. I am wondering what I should be doing with them...

Over all, we had a really nice Halloween. Seeing my children being so excited and immersed in the Halloween rituals made us parents very happy as well!