Lately I am that girl...

One time back in Mexico, I played a game of futbol rapido (smaller soccer field with walls) for my friends' soccer team.  I participated in their practice only once and I had no idea what the heck I was supposed to do.  I stepped onto the court, the bright stadium light was glaring at me.  With the whistle, I ran as fast as I could in random directions.  Someone was shouting at me but it was only a distant background noise.  Suddenly, a ball came flying towards my direction.  What would a girl who'd never owned a soccer ball do with it?  I went blank - I didn't exhale and my body felt like a cold air.  In the next second, I took a big step and kicked the ball as hard as I could.  I am glad I did it because I still remember it clearly since it was hilarious.  I kicked the ball towards the opponent's goal and I nearly scored for the other team.  I got pulled out swiftly by my coach and never ever played a game again.

Why am I writing about it now?  It's because that silly me back then reminds me a lot about how I am now.  Now that the summer vacation is here, I feel like I am that girl in the stadium not knowing what to do with kids, the house and social life.  I have too many things in my head and cannot settle down!  I am running around everywhere and not much is getting accomplished.  Mike suggested making a list of to do's and I did.  That helped a bit.  I also read about the importance of meditation and I did it this morning.  That helped a lot.  It's not only kids that suffer from change of routines.  Us parents also sometimes have hard time dealing with the change. 

I am behind in posts but I wanted to share some pictures from June that I haven't had a chance to upload yet.  I still want to write about Japan and I already have it in draft, but I am going to wait publishing it since I have not edited the pictures yet.  Now that I am more serious about photography, I spend a lot of time studying about editing and camera.  I finally pulled out the manual of my camera and started to read it.  I was using only a half or less of functionalities available in my camera.  I am excited that I can actually do a lot to improve the quality of my pictures using the available settings instead of relying on editing software.  I bought a technique book for Photoshop Element and have been polishing my editing skills.  It's all fun. 

Since I am behind, I will add pictures that are not edited. 
I am hoping the daily meditation will make me a super woman and update my blog more frequently from now on!

We went on a father's day hiking to Bridal Trail in north of Bellevue.

We found some horses along the way.  He is peeking through the fence!

Saya touching the horse.  He is so soft!

Aly so wished she had a horn in her forehead and wings on her back.

This was our July 4th dinner.  We had Nana over and also our neighbor Jerry.  We had hamburger and lots of different sides.

The pictures are out of order, but this is from Father's Day.  I cooked salmon and various other dish. 

Japan Trip 2013 - Kyoto, Kobe and Matsuzaka

This view of Nijo Castle is the most famous of all.  I am pleased my photo came out just like I've seen on postcards.

I was very intrigued by the roof lines.  There are simple parts and very complex parts that ninjas must have enjoyed hopping around (ok, I watched too many ninja movies).

I enjoy taking pictures of Aly!  She is a natural model.

This is my grandmother's house.  My uncle's family live here now.  I spent many childhood days catching bugs and played freely with my cousins. 

I imagine I looked like this out in the field, feeling happy to be out playing in nature.

Aly went to see what my aunt and uncle were doing by the rice field.  Children should be outside playing and exploring like this.  I am glad Aly experienced another piece of my childhood.

Aly was happy she caught a tadpole.  This girl fearless when it comes down to frogs and their babies, but she does not do spiders.

This image is grainy and I have much to work on, however is one of my favorite!  This cow is going to be expensive Matsuzaka meat soon.  I looked at her eyes and she looked like her soul was taken out.  I told her that I thought she was beautiful and that we appreciate her ultimate sacrifice.  I love to eat good meats and I felt the heaviness of her life and journey.  I hope she wouldn't suffer.

Aunt Misao (holding Aly), cousin Mizuho, cousin Aya (who just had a baby) and aunt Kyoko.  They are super nice and hardworking people.  It's good to see that I come from a great family!

The pictures are not in order, but this little cat caught Aly's attention at the ranch and she begged me to take picture of her.  Here she is Aly!

Aly was so excited to visit Anpanman Museum, she could not stop smiling! 

At Uncle Jam's bakery.  It was cute and a well-made museum.

The view of Kobe port.  It's a beautiful place.

One thing I was sure before I made this trip was that I wanted to take lots of pictures.  I wanted to capture both people in ordinary everyday settings and classic beauty of Japan like you see in magazines.  I know I have unique set of eyes now that I have lived overseas for so long.  The native side of me knows where to find the scenes I want to capture and the non-native side of me find interesting things which residents wouldn't even consider taking a second look. 

On the second day of our arrival, I took Aly to the ancient capital of Kyoto to visit a shogun palace called Nijo Castle, famous for grandurous and ornate architecture.  It was hot.  I am no longer used to the sweat inducing humid air.   I saw many foreign tourists who were all dressed in tanks and shorts but many of the locals were still wearing long sleeves.  I don't know how they do it. 

The castle was magnificent.  It is so neat that a building that was built by famous shogun in 1600s still stands although some parts of it was destroyed by numerous fire.  The roofline laying across the blue sky was so beautiful, I was snapping away.  Aly was asking me all sorts of questions and it felt good to teach her a little lesson in Japanese history.  We toured the inside of the palace and what a show off Tokugawa family was!  Every inch of the surface was decorated with some type of design, all sliding doors had gold and beaufitul drawings of cranes, eagles, cherry trees carps, everything beautiful.  Aly enjoyed finding animals on the sliding doors.  The shiny dark wood floors squeaked as we walked on them.  They were in-house motion sensor to detect any intruders walking on the hallway.  Maybe that's why Ninjas learned to walk silently!  We enjoyed our visit to Kyoto and it was a successful photo-wrothy visit.

My aunt Kyoko was kind enough to take us to Matsuzaka the following day to visit my cousin who gave birth to a baby boy.  We could not meet the baby unfortunately, but was happy to see my cousin Aya, aunt Misao and uncle Hideo, and cousin Mizuho.  Aya was beaming with mothery beauty and she looked happy.  We had lunch together at a Matsuzaka beef restaurant and tasted one of the best beef in Japan.  It was delicious!  Aunt Kyoko took us afterwards to my late grandmother's house in Oishi, 30 minutes away from Matsuzaka.  As we got closer, all the familiar sceneries unfolded before me and I was at a complete bliss.  I don't know how often I think of the very scenery I was looking at.  That was always the place I come back to in my mind when I think of my childhood, not my house in Osaka, but the peaceful rice fields with green mountains in the background.  Uncle Iiko was at home and he invited us in.  I sat at the very couch my grandma used to sit and had tea with my aunts and uncles. The smell of the woods, the tea, the coolness of the conutry air, it was a treat to be there again in person.  We went for a walk afterwards to visit the ranch deeper up in the mountain.  My aunts and uncles used to take me for a walk with my cousins the very path we took.  If I could stop the time, I thought.  I felt like my grandmother woud be home waiting for us.  If I could talk to her just one more time... Aly had a lot of fun trying to catch tadpoles in the rice feilds.  She caught some and my aunts swiftly made a cup using a big leaf.  I cannot thank my aunt Kyoko enough for taking me there.  It meant so much to me.

Gosh, this post is getting very long!  I will be brief about the visit to Kobe.  On the third day, we went to Kobe to see Anpanman in his new museum.  Anpanman is a bread-headed superhero who feeds the hungry animals and people.  The cartoon has been around even before I was born.  It might seem odd that he takes a chunk off from his head and feeds it to someone in trouble, but the author's philosophy behind is that food is the ultimate necessity in all living creatures and sharing one's food gives life and peace.  I guess it had a deeper meaning than I thought!  So, here we went to meet him since Aly has been watching him since she was little in America.  The place was packed with many little tots and more numbers of parents and granparents.  Behind every child followed several adults in groups and it was rather loud and chaotic.  Alyson was busy checking out different play areas and it was so difficult to keep a track of her.  It's geared towards toddlers and Aly was too big for most of the attractions, but she had fun anyways.  There was a TV news crew taping the segment about the museum and they approached me and asked if they could interview Alyson.  The reporter asked several questions to her, but Aly didn't answer her. :-(  I thought they wouldn't air her part since she took off in the middle of the interview, but my friend, Kayako, called me and said she saw Alyson on the Saturday TV news.  If I had known! 

So, we had a wonderful start to the stay in Japan and we were wide-eyed and excited to see what fun things await us next.  We will write about visit with friends next.  Thanks for reading~  Time for bed for me.

Back from Japan!

Hi Everyone!  I was missing in action for a little while.  Aly and I were in Japan for two weeks and spent a fabulous time with family and friends.  And...don't get me started on food.  I think I gained about 2 pounds for fullfilling my eat wishes.  People living overseas would understand.  Food from home is part of who we are and we don't waste any time getting down to business once we are back to the home country :-) 

I will write about my trip in the next few posts.  The school is almost out for both of my boys and I have been quite busy lately.  Sean is so excited that soon he will be freed from school and I am panicking at the moment.  I haven't placed him in any summer programs and I don't feel particularly patient nor energetic at the moment.  I might as well pull my hair out in summer as it seems to be the annual tradition in most family.  At least Noah has therapies from 9 am to 12 pm everyday.  I am sure we will be out and about a lot and hopefully do lots of reading together. 

I will post a few pictures from Japan as to the previews of what to come in the next few posts :-)

Princess Party

Today, the girls and I attended their little friend's princess themed birthday party at the mall.  The girls were super excited to become princesses and play with their friends at the party.  I am quite impressed that almost all of business catering to children now days offer birthday parties.  Judo birthday at a Judo club, a princess party at a hair salon?  I should offer a birthday party at our house of chaos.  No goody bags, but can take one of our kids home maybe.  Joke aside, the little birthday girl had a seriously cute white princess dress and she looked like a real princess.  How cue!   The girls didn't wear a princess costume, but wore a new t-shirt and tutu set.  They looked more like a ballerina than princessses, but they also love to be ballerina, so it worked out perfectly. 

The gals at the salon did the girls' hair and nails.  They were all wide eyed and had a get down to business face.  The little boys at the party became Mohawk haired cats and they were equally cute to their princess peers.  Us parents had coffee and talked about kids and life in Seattle.  I met some nice people and would definitely keep in touch and arrange some play dates in the future.

I will not post the pictures of other children as I don't know them very well.  The girls and I had so much fun and looking forward to playing with them again soon!

My Boys

Mike has been taking Sean along for his morning jog lately.  Sean dressed in runner's outfit is nothing but mini Mike and he is looking more like a sporty big boy and smells his part.  They woke up early this morning and ran together from home to Larson Lake and back, the total distance of 5 miles!  Mike said a bunch of runners were quite impressed with Sean bobbing along his tall Daddy.  We might have a future long distance track star in the house.  I am marveled at seeing Sean's desire to be like his Daddy.  I thought that sort of thing happened only to other people.  How cool is it to see your child wanting to be like you!  I am proud of Mike for being an excellent role model to his children.  Fitness and taking care of your own health is a skill that needs to be taught by parents.  I am glad Mike is already teaching our children about importance of exercising.  I should follow his lead, too, but lately totally unmotivated (gained weight who knows how much...)

The littler boy, Noah, has been doing very well lately also.  We definitely enjoy talking to him more as he is starting to respond to our questions.  He clearly says "I want xxxx," when he wants something.  It's so neat that he can now tell us what he wants.  His brother and sisters started to talk to him consequently and it brings tears to my eyes to see them interacting.  Sean can be very sweet to Noah.  He asks him if he wants something in a slow and gentle voice getting down to his eye level.  When Noah answers him, he reports to me "Mommy, Noah said no!" 

It's exciting to all of us that Noah is blooming.  We are not out of the woods yet, but his future is getting brighter.

Two handsome little guys in the house, I am indeed a very lucky Mom!

Sean's Royal Week

I cannot believe it is May already and we are talking about the end of school year.  Sean's first grade class has a "Royal Week" for each student, which a prince or princess will spend a week sharing  their interest and introducing their family to the class.  Sean's week was just last week and we had a busy time preparing for the special week. 

Monday was "All About Me" day and Sean made a poster with the pictures of his family (including Grace) and his favorite things in the world.  He put several pictures of the buildings he likes; Burj Khalifa, Tokyo Sky Tree, Space Needle, Colombia Center and Willis Tower and explained to the class what they are.  This kid is a very consistent type of person.  When he likes something, he really likes it and it doesn't change.  I heard he did a great job presenting the poster.

Tuesday was "Sharing Day".  He pondered for a while what he wanted to take and decided to take his Iron Man Car which he got from Santa last Christmas.  He showed me all the compartments it has and I am pretty sure that is what he talked about to his friends.  His initial plan was to take the Burj Khalifa lego structure, but we decided he might lose some pieces and that would be devastating.

Wednesday was "Talk Show Day" and he became the guest of a talk show about him.  Ms. Lowy said he ran into the class from the hall way, pretending he was entering a studio set.  How fun!  He also took his favorite snacks, rice crackers, gluten free cookies, garlic green peas, and pretzels.  I am not sure how many of his friends braved eating dried green peas, but it's all about trying new things and stepping out the comfort zone!

Thursday was "Parent's Day" and I went to his class to talk about Japan.  I made three simple posters to go with what I talked about, one being a big Japanese map with some basic information about Japan, a poster with some pictures of food and people in Japan, and an illustrated Japanese language conversation board.  Making them was a lot of fun and I did it with certain artisan swiftness.  I knew exactly what kind of posters I wanted to make immediately and got in the zone.  It was weird.  It must mean, I am meant to be a poster maker.  No, in all seriousness, I think I am meant to be a teacher.  Sometimes, real love is not what you stick with.  Anyway, I had a lot of fun talking to the kids and the children listened with wide eyes to my mini Japanese lesson.  I taught them some greetings in Japanese and we practiced together at the end.  A little boy who sat next to me at the cafeteria after the lesson told me how much he enjoyed my presentation.  That made my day.  Sean was smiling the whole time and he seemed really happy that I was there with him.

On Friday, his friends made a book about what they liked about Sean.  Many of them wrote they like him because he is nice and he is a good artist.  I am happy his classmates think he is a good friend to them and know what he is good at.  Two years ago, I was worried about how he might fair in a regular classroom without the special education support, but look at him now!  I am so proud of him for getting this far.

We are all glad his royal week went well.  I got to see how he is at school and in the lunch room and he looked bigger than when he is at home!  He knew the rules and respected them.  Thank goodness for the wonderful school he is a part of.  I will be happy to volunteer and give lessons about Japan to other classes as well, I thought. 

Saya's Bounciful Birthday Party

I am not a fan of having a big birthday party for kids as it is a lot of work and it is quite expensive.  However, having been to several parties of our friends and how fun they had, I've decided to just dive in and hold Saya's birthday party at a big bouncy house nearby. 

Saya requested a birthday cake with Saphie, her favorite animal character from her Japanese show.  Knowing how long it takes to create the character shaped cookie, I planned ahead and worked on it the day before.  I chose an image from the coloring book grandma sent us recently and traced it on a cookie sheet carefully.  Then I prepared the dough with right coloring and spent the next two hours until the wee hours of the night drawing and filling in the perfectly mixed colors to make Saphie.  I was pleased with how it turned out.

I baked the sponge cake the next day using the recipe my friend gave me, however the cake didn't rise.  Oh-oh, I was in trouble!  I ran to the store and bought the yellow cake mix since I was running out of time.   This is the morning of the party, so you can just imagine the rush I felt being under the pressure.  It felt like I was on a TV show trying to beat the clock baking and decorating the cake.
The end product was not as perfect as I pictured, but it was good enough.  I was glad that I was able to finish it on time. 

We had about 18 children and they all had fun jumping around.  They got to play in the bouncy house for an hour and fifteen minutes and many of the little guests seemed tired towards the end.  They were sweaty and red cheeked, a good sign it will be an easy night for their parents to put them to sleep.  The day was beautiful outside in 70s, so I was glad I served ice cream with the cake. 

When the attendant at the facility peeled off the plastic wrap covering the cake, the icing on the front came off with it.  I hadn't taken a good picture of it before the decoration got ruined.  Saya didn't even notice the messy spot and looked very pleased with her Saphie cake.  I wonder if she thinks I can make anything she wants to make.  It's good to be a kid of a eager to please border collie type of Mom. 

We invited Parker as well, so Sean was all set.  He enjoyed playing with his best buddy.  Noah had a lot of fun as well as he loves to jump.  He was good and escaped only once.  The party was a success and now my other children want to have a party there as well.  Oh well...  I guess you are a kid for a small portion of your life time. 

She received many gifts from her friends and what a lucky little girl she is!  She is happy to share them with  her sister and brother and they have been playing with the new toys ever since.  Thank you so much for coming to Saya's party!  She had a lot of fun with all her friends!