Nana's birthday dinner

I am bummed it turned out out of focus, but there is Nana with her cake!

Sean showing Nana his Lego creations.

We celebrated Nana's birthday the weekend before the school started.  Mike took her to a nice steak lunch in downtown Bellevue on Saturday and had a surprise Labor Day dinner which turned her birthday dinner on Monday.  She and the kids had no idea we had a cake for her at the end of dinner.  I had a table full of people with a big smile on their face when I brought out a pretty strawberry ice cream cake with candles lit.  I am glad she had a nice birthday!  Happy Birthday, Nana!  Glad you live close now to be able to spend every Holiday and birthday with you.

Also, Happy 60th to Shasha in Lewiston, another amazing woman in our lives!

Start of School

The Preparation: trying to stay prepared for the morning maddness, but it's still chaotic!

Sean at his first day!

He was waving bye-bye to me and actually ran back and gave me a hug.

Noah with the para-educator.  She used to be in Sean's classroom two years ago.

The boys started their new school year on Sept 4 last week.  Sean was downright nervous about becoming a first grader, but had started to brace his destiny four days before the start date.  He told us how he is excited and Mike and I felt it is going to be ok after all. 

Sean's new teacher is Ms. Lowey.  She is energetic, positive and organized, so that is good.  I've heard that she is very accommodating to individual uniqueness, so that is an another big plus.  Sean has been happy and seems more chatty around people during pick up time.  He is telling me more about what he did at school that day and we are thrilled to finally able to have a more typical dinner time conversation and learn about his day.

Noah (also Sean) got a hair cut and surprised everyone at school with his new big boy hairstyle.  He knew where to go and as soon as I said bye to him, he turned the other way and left.  He loves his school.  His new teacher is Ms. Christina.  Now that he is in his second year, he looks big compared to the new comers.  I saw him walking to his classroom in a line and he was the tallest one.  My little Noah is growing up and he is doing so much better. 

We are proud of our boys and excited to see them learn and make new friends!

Sean Loses His First Tooth!

 

My big boy reluctantly lost his tooth today.  The first to go was one of the front tooth on the bottom.  It has been hanging in there and was laying sideways at times for the past few days.  Yet, Sean refused to have it pulled out.  "I like it and want to keep it forever," he said.  Fearing he might lose it at school (starting tomorrow) and for it to be the possible cause of panic disaster in the first week, Mike spent 30 minutes with him in the bathroom today and convinced him to have it pulled out.  It was very sweet of Mike to spend long enough time for him to be somewhat comfortable with the idea.  It was all happening in the closed bathroom and I heard some screaming and banging against the door and cabinets.  When things turned quieter, I opened the door and asked if the deed has been done.  Sean was red-eyed and covering his mouth.  His tooth looked so little on the folded tissue.  He said he didn't want to show it to anyone, but he was proud of it by the end of the day today.  We decided the tooth fairy will not visit him as the thought of a tiny human-like creature with wings coming to his bed at night might scare him.  My big boy, Sean, is growing up so fast.  He is officially a first grader tomorrow and he looks more like his part with big toothless smile! 

Another Picnic Another Fun

 

I discovered on Tuesday morning that Noah no longer has summer preschool for the remainder of the week.  That meant I will have three squirmy children bouncing around the house from Wednesday on because it is impossible to take all three of them out by myself.  I've tried it numerous times recently and I regretted it every time.  Mr. Noah is the problem (his nickname is now Nora the Explora since he wonders off often and his hair is so long it looks like Dora's).  He is a stroller terrolizer because whenever he sees a stroller, he runs and tries to grab the baby's toys or sippy cup.  I have to always be prepared to sprint to stop such an act and it terrifies the poor baby's mother.  They would shout "watch out!!" and it's really embarrassing.  I would apologize and have a talk with Noah, who looks unfazed.  I am always exhausted afterwards and swear myself I would not do this again any time soon.

So, I took Sean and Saya to the park for a picnic one last time before the summer break ends on Tuesday.  We enjoyed eating on the picnic mats grandma sent us and talked about lots of things.  Saya does not eat well when we are at the park since she is so eager to get moving, but Sean finishes everything without a fuss even the apples he usually fights to eat at home.  We went to the Grass Lawn park in Redmond.  The play equipments are very unique and the slide structure which children must climb on tall nets to get on was a big hit with Sean.  Saya wanted to try it, too, but it was too high for her.  I will miss the sun, nice cool shade of leafy trees, and watching my children running around with complete contentment on their little faces.  I guess I like summer.  Maybe the out of schedule nonsense is worth it after all...

In the quiet of the morning...

Sean said to me tonight as I read him a book about a little mice that worries all the time, "why is she worried in the morning?  I am not worried in the morning."  Mike and I noticed that Sean is very calm and agreeable for the first ten minutes after waking up.  If we are in the right mood (if we have gotten enough sleep that is), we promptly have Sean use the bathroom and get changed in that short window of opportunity.  That is the time when we ask him a question, we get an appropriate answer.  Not the usual "No, NEVER!!" or "No, you are BAD!!"   Maybe he is not fully awake yet or his motor needs a little warm up.  The energetic usual self returns right about the time for breakfast and that's when we shift gears as well and get ready for the exciting day ahead.   We love that boy! 

Campbell Kids of Summer 2012

Our little friend Shota had his third birthday party at a popular park.  He was so cute!

All lined up!

Saya at a farm in Redmond.  We had a picnic with friends.

Sean is a master civic engineer as well.  His LEGO creations are amazing. 

We went to the Larson Lake for a walk.

Saya having fun with a stick.

Saya walks slow and Sean walks fast, so I am in the middle point keeping an eye on both of them!

Saya with her scooter. 

Sean is pretty good at gliding now.

I love this picture of Noah and Daddy.  His arms are getting stronger. I mean, Noah, by the way :-)

My eyes are spinning by the time we leave.  One kid slides down and the other climbs.  It's hard to keep track of where they are in an open space!

I am still alive!

Mike's birthday in June.  Wow, I am really behind!

Last day of school!  Mrs. Fotheringham in the background.

Sean and his classmates with their teacher.

Noah made an amazing progress at his summer preschool!  So proud of him!

Sean went to his first sleep over at Parker's house.  He did well.

The boys - they both had a blue airplane PJ's, how cute!

I ran out of craft ideas so we started paintin rocks in our yard!

In case I still have visitors to my blog, yes I am still alive and have not murdered any of my children (or the husband).  It has been a while since I blogged and I cannot believe I missed the entire July!  That is the very first time since I started this blog four years ago.  It shows how miserable I was during July and I am finally starting to come out of the fog as we prepare to start the school year.  How ironic!

Not everything was bad, for example, Mike and Sean had an opportunity to visit Osaka and see Alyson and my parents.  They did a lot of things like take a trip to Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan and visit Universal Studio Japan.  Alyson was happy to have her Daddy and loud brother with her.  Sean spoke to her in English and she spoke to him in Japanese.  The interesting duo played together and enjoyed each other's company.   It was Sean's first time meeting his cousins (my cousins' children) and aunts and uncles.  He usually takes time to warm up to new people, however knowing they are his family, he let his guard down and were throwing rocks to the river together in no time.  It was nice to hear those stories at the end of the hard day over Facetime. 

So, the bad.  We definitely started our summer on the wrong side of the bed.   Grace had picked up fleas from somewhere in early July and by the end of the battle, I had gotten a total of seventy bites!  Just thinking about them makes my whole body itch.  It is quite horrible.  I became a neurotic compulsive cleaner and I vacuumed the entire house everyday much of July.  I cleaned the entire surface, behind and under the couch, washed everything washable at least three times, and became a white long socks only person.  That meant, I had no downtime until 1 am every night and no summer shorts or even capri although the rest of the world was wearing one with a cute pair of sandals .  With severe bite marks on my legs, looks like I won't be able to wear anything but long pants this year.  We are free of the pest now thanks to Ben, the sprayer, and my obsessive cleaning.  I toned down in frequency but decided the vacuuming and wiping surfaces are very calming to me.  So, I am using them as my stress reliever, as strange as it may sound!  Besides, my kids stay away from me while I have the noisy weapon of mass destruction is on!

The other challenge has been managing Sean's behavior.  He did well in the regular kindergarten class and Mike and I were thrilled.  His teacher was very accommodating to his learning style and we are very thankful for her big picture approach.  The Japan trip was an eye opener for him and he came back with tons of new knowledge and experiences.  Maybe he is still adjusting back to slower pace of things in Bellevue compared to bustling urban life in Osaka (he took n a subway almost every day, for example).   He has been throwing giant tantrums every day and has been extremely oppositional.  We try to be patient with him, but it's not easy.  He would do things like put his foot in the unflushed toilet with a big grin on his face or push Saya while looking at me smiling.  It is really strange and complex.  It's as if he cannot help doing naughty things even though he knows he should not.  The stressful summer is now officially survival summer for us.  I feel tired and out of tricks to keep the fun summer spirit. 

Oh and the power vac sessions I had in July, it caused me to have severe inflammation on my shoulders and I nearly dislocated one.  While the new Chiropractor fix me every other day now, I am trying to collect myself and start fresh again.  I need to take care of myself with regular exercise and more rest.  The summer is fun but stressful every year.  I need to keep myself top notch to care for the little demanding peppers.  I have one more week to go and so much to do.  I will try my best to make a positive memory, at least for the end.  It's not too late!!??

More to come from summer.  Thanks for reading~