Taking Things Slow

Although I don't work outside my home, I look forward to the weekend.  I get to sleep in a little later and I don't have to pack lunch boxes or hassle kids to get dressed in the morning.   My elementary school teacher used to say, your life as a kid is easy because people tell you what to do and all you have to do is try to do the best job.  Once you are a grown up, you are in charge of your own life, whether you spend your time wisely or waste it, it's all up to you.   I often think of that especially on weekends since I am faced with more choices of how I spend my time.  Should I get the shopping done without kids or should I spend a quiet time reading?  I am terrible at taking it slow.  I hope I learn to slow down and spend much needed time for myself. 

After his 8th birthday, Sean started taking a medication for anxiety.  We saw a child psychiatrist in February and had him evaluate Sean.  He reconfirmed that he is on the autism spectrum and he has an anxiety disorder as well as attention deficit disorder.  It was not a surprise to us and I am glad we are on the path to figure out what we can do for him.  We mainly wanted to address his excessive day dreaming and explosive temper tantrum at home.  So far he seems chattier and became more social at school.  The teacher commented he finished more work in the class this week compared to how he had been in previous weeks.  That made me feel hopeful that the medication can make a difference. 

As you know, he is very into football at the moment.  I researched about junior football league in Bellevue and found a team called Bellevue Bears in Boys and Girls Club.  I contacted the rep to see if they can accept him since he is lighter than minimum 60 pounds weight requirement.  Today, I received a reply and they said "yes!"  I am very excited for him.  They said to make sure he gains a couple of pounds before August.  He is very motivated to eat now and started eating up his lunch which he never did before!  I can't wait to see him in a football uniform!

Noah, Noah... he's a trouble maker now.  He escaped twice recently and I had to chase him without shoes up the hill.  He runs fast for having much shorter legs than I do.  I used to be a decent runner, but I have hard time catching up to him.  Keeping him in the house isn't the only problem we have.  He now gets into everything and he loves eating lotions, soaps and toothpaste.  I have to lock up everything pasty and liquidy because if he can get a hold of it, he would eat it.  He exhausts me that boy.  I have to run around the house making sure he is not doing something naughty.  I've learned that he has pretty strong stomach and unusual taste buds...  He thinks sanitizers taste good!

Saya and I went to a nearby farm today to look at some farm animals.  It's getting warmer here and it's pleasant when it's not raining.  We looked at sheeps, goats, rabbits, chickens and horses at the farm but Saya was more excited to find a cat sitting at the office window.  I took some cute pictures of Saya and the animals.  All children are natural models.  I love that they forget I am there with the camera and present me the most beautiful natural expressions on their little faces.  They can be uncooperative, too, so you have to be patient for a good shot.  Same is said for the animals.  The white horse kept moving even though I asked him to stop!

Another busy week gone by and time to relax.  I am going to RELAX and TAKE THINGS SLOW this weekend.  I will make that a priority especially after a busy month!

Happy 8th Birthday, Sean!

The baby who changed my life forever became eight years old last week.  Seven felt like an extension of kindergarten age but eight is a big number.  It is getting awefuly close to the tween age and I am starting to realize he is going to be more independent and I won't be needed so much in the coming years.  I am going to kiss him and hug him as much as I can this year as I think the time is running out before he thinks he is too cool for Mom. 

Sean had a good birthday despite feeling anxious about getting extra attention from his classmates.  He feels anxious every year and says he wishes we don't celebrate his birthday.  In the end though, he enjoys the cake, the presents and all his friends and family wishing him a great birthday.  This year, I took 31 fudge squares to his class since that is what he wanted.  He was originally requesting chocolate football cookies, but that I realized it was going to be pretty labor intensive decorating 30 cookies with icing.  I am glad he changed his mind since fudge is super easy to make!  Sean said the kids really liked the fudge and everyone had a chocolate face after school.  Sean stood in front of the class and his classmates "interviewed" him.  The teacher said one kid asked him how old he is and Sean responded "I am 103 years old!" which made everyone laugh.  He said Sean was being very funny and the classmates were surprised since he is usually very quiet at school.  I guess they saw his real side! 

We had a party at home after school yesterday and several of his classmates and neighborhood friends joined us.  I decorated the living room with football themed decorations and Sean thought that was very cool.  I showed them Sean's favorite movie of all time, Toy Story, and they were all glued to the TV for a little while.  That made things easy for me since I was the only grown-up.  I served up four boxes of pizza and they gobbled up four pizzas between twelve kids.  American kids sure love pizzas.  I am not sure if Japanese kids would like them as much as the kids here do.  I don't know how but they can fit four slices of pizza in their tiny tummy. 

They had some play time after the movie so they went kind of crazy chasing each other.  They were so loud, they could not hear my voice.  I am used to that kind of noise, so it wasn't a biggie.  I must be one of those people who can tolerate kid noises.  After a little playtime, it was a cake time.  This year, I baked a layered chocolate cake with chocolate cream.  I made Seahawk's mascot decoration and wrote "Seanhawk 8th TD" (TD = Touch Down) and I thought it was pretty clever of me. :-)  I worked on it all morning and I think it turned out very well.  I love the kids' reaction when I pull out the cake.  "Whoa!!" "Cool!"  "That's awesome!!" Most importanly, Sean was very pleased with the cake this year, too.  He requested a Seahawks cake and that is what he got with a special personal touch.  You can do that if you bake your own and that is why I do it.  I don't get tons of practice baking and decorating cakes since I only do it for kids' birthdays but I enjoy it very much.  Saya already put in an order for her cake which is going to be My Little Pony and a fox.  I don't know why she likes foxes these days but they are her favorite animal.  So I have to figure out how I can incorporate ponies and foxes together. 

Oh I almost forgot.  Sean's party didn't end when the guests left.  His best friend, Parker, stayed for a sleep over!  They were so excited, they didn't sleep until 11:30 pm.  They were having so much fun though so I didn't bug them too much.  You would think they will sleep in but no.   Bright and early with just as same energy level as before, ready to play, play and play.  They were very cute together.  At one point at night behind the closed door, I overheard them talking to each other about them being very best friends.  I thought that was so sweet.  I hope they remain each other's best friend for many years to come. 

So, I would say that Sean had an excellent birthday!  Now one more to go at the end of April!

Indoor Photoshoot - Yoga

Winter may be wet outside but it's a dry season for portrait photographers.  Dark lighting and rain don't mix well with the cheerful nature of family pictures plus my camera isn't that good in darker light.  The only alternative is creating an indoor studio and using artificial lights to bring the sunshine inside.  I am not much experienced with indoor photoshoots and my camera is temperamental with low lights (nothing beats the sunny sun), so I have much to improve (and a new camera).  My friend though asked me to take her yoga photos again, so I thought it would be a perfect chance to practice.

Good thing I didn't charge her for it.  I wasn't too satisfied with the outcome.   However, my friend was pretty happy with what I did.  I exclaimed to Mike that I definitely need a better camera and that was something I couldn't tell him before since a high quality cameras are expensive.  He said yes, so I am pretty happy about that. 

I am waiting for spring to arrive so that my photographer in me can come out and get moving.  I keep looking for the signs when I walk my neighbor's dog around the neighborhood.   My neighbor, Jerry, is very sick and the neighbors are helping him out by walking his dog or bringing some hot meals.  I love my neighborhood for having such a caring group of people.  Jerry is a great person and we are happy to pitch in. 

Happy Birthday Alyson and Noah

It's hard to believe my little twins are six years old already.  I feel like they have been around longer than six years, but then the years zoomed by so fast.  The baby videos of them look so old yet it seems like it was just yesterday.  This motherhood thing is like time warping all the time.  Before you know it, you are a half century old and your kids are taller than you. 

We had a little party for Alyson at home on Saturday and invited some friends from her kindergarten class.  I set up a pizza making station in the kitchen and the girls made their own pizza for lunch.  They had a good fun making their own pizza.  They were very eager to play with Alyson's toys, in particular the Elsa doll from the movie "Frozen" but they took turns playing with it without my intervention.  They enjoyed dressing up in Alyson's dress up costumes and became princesses.  They were very cute.  I baked a special cake for her again, this time a Lalaloopsy mermaid cake with her pet octopus.  She requested a chocolate cake with blue cream on top and that is what she got.  I think she is very lucky!  The girls liked the cake, they were mmming and commenting "Wow, this is so good it's made of real cream and everything."   It made me laugh because they were like little old ladies having afternoon teas. 

 The girls had a fabulous time and Alyson couldn't be happier.  I am glad we decided to celebrate with just a few friends this time since it was very manageable and stress free.  Alyson received thoughtful gifts from her friends and she was all about smiles.  Now, Saya wants the same party on her special day.  We will see about that.

I thought about having a party for Noah, too, but decided not to this year.  His friends from school and therapy tend to get stressed out being outside of their routine and although Noah and his friends would have enjoyed it with encouragements, I've decided that he is not going to hate me for not having one for him.  I did, however, make cupcakes for him and sang a little birthday song with the girls.   He wanted to touch the flame on the candle so I placed the cupcake out of his reach.  He was frowning the whole time while we sang to him.  He must have been annoyed thinking why the cupcake is not in his mouth already.  He liked the cake so much he ate a bit of the candle since the cream was on it.  Ooops!  I have to be careful making sure he can't reach what he shouldn't be eating.

I am proud of my twins and a bit emotional that the twins are so different now.  The cruelty of slight diffrence in genes, chromosomes or whatever it may be is drawing a line between them who shared the journey of fetus to human then huddling together in a crib being soothed by each other's warmth and presence.  Like a sad love song, I cannot focus on what it could have been.  Each person has his or her challenges in life and what is important is how we stride forward, making effort to become a better person.  Noah has many obstacles to lead a "normal" life at this point, but one thing for sure is that he works hard to learn what he is being taught and he enjoys learning very much.  I cannot ask for more.  I am very proud of my little boy - a big boy now that he is six.  I love you Alyson and Noah.  I am so glad you joined our family six years ago. 

Twins' birthday celebration at school

 

 

Our twins turned six last Tuesday and were beyond excited that they are turning six (and getting presents and eating cake of course).  Alyson was counting days and exclaimed every morning at breakfast how many days we have until her birthday.  Noah for the first time understood his birthday and was just so cute exclaiming "birthday!!" when we wished him happy birthday.  He led me to the kitchen cupboard where I keep my baking supplies.  They are growing up so fast and soon they won't be so little anymore.  I mean, Alyson is well beyond the height of an average kindergartner and even her face looks more matured than her classmates.  She always has been bigger and older-looking since she was a baby, but I have a feeling she is going to grow up extra fast.  Noah isn't as tall as Alyson and he still has the baby look and dimply hands.  I am going to enjoy it while he still have them! 

The twins each had a birthday celebration at their classroom and since they go to different schools, it was a bit hectic trying to make the delivery on time.  I had a crazy schedule that Tuesday and every minute was crucial to make sure I don't get delayed in anything.  I had to pick up and drop off Alyson's doughnuts (she requested doughnuts to share in her class) at her school, I had to drop off cakes and party supplies at Noah's school, and had a doctor's appointment in between.  It doesn't sound so bad but believe me, I was racing the clock in my minivan. 

Noah was just plain excited about the birthday cupcakes.  As soon as he found out I brought his birthday cupcakes to his class, he tried every teacher and aid in his class see if he or she would be willing to hand him the cupcake by leading them to where the cupcakes were.  We told him he has to wait until we all sit down, but he was a bit impatient about that.  When we finally all sat down, we sang him the happy birthday song.  His look was priceless!  He was sitting very still with a shy smile, a very appropriate look when you are feeling a little embarrassed but pleased.  It's very exciting to see him being attentive and being present like that. 

Aly's class has a ritual for a birthday celebration.  The birthday kid sits on the red rocking chair and gets to take the first bite of the treat after the classmates sing him or her an unique version of the birthday song.  The kids added "cha cha cha" to the lyric plus some other words and they sang it like they rehearsed, but I heard later that it was a new version.  They are funny kids,  Aly was very bashful but was smiling very big. 

I will write about presents and Aly's party in the next few posts!

Snow and Productive Sunday

Well today was a good day.  It snowed overnight and our neighborhood was blanketed in fluffy white snow when we woke up.  Kids get so excited when it snows.  All they wanted to do in the morning was play in it and make a snowman.  After finishing breakfast in a record speed, they went outside to play.  Aly and Saya worked on making a small snowman first.  Aly ran into the kitchen door saying "Mommy, I need a carrot for the snowman!"  All I had was a bag baby carrots, so I gave her a tiny carrot for her snowman's nose.  She also took two blueberries for eyes.  Sean worked on a big one with Henry.  It was so large and labor intensive, they didn't even get to make the head part.  They got bored with it or got distracted and abandoned the snowman making plan all together.  They all went to our neighbor's yard after a while and threw around snowballs and played on sleds.  They had a good time.  We live in an awesome neighborhood where we know all the kids and we are comfortable sending our kids to each other's house.  Sean and Aly went to Henry's house and they fed them lunch there.  I really love my neighborhood!

Saya was invited to her friend's birthday party in the afternoon and she had a good time with her little friend.  It was a make-up party, so Saya got her make up done.  She also had her nails done and she was very pleased with how it turned out.  We rarely encourage girls to wear make up or have manicure done in Japan, so it's pretty interesting to me.  The girls love it and I guess this is how they get familiar with it.  I don't wear much make up myself but I get a feeling my girls are going to be a full on make up person when they are in high school!  The little girls were all so cute and I made some new friends.

I say today was a productive day because Mike was on fire!  He vacuumed the entire house, cleaned all the bathrooms and made dinner!  Wow, amazing!  I like it when he is in the mood to get things done.  Usually he gets grumpy in the evening when he worked hard during the day, but he was even pleasant in the evening.   When the parents are in a good mood, the kids do much better, too.  So, all in all it was a very good day and a good start to Aly and Noah's birthday week!  Aye, not sure if I am ready for this whirlwind of a week.  We are having a small party for Alyson with her friends at home on Saturday.  I will also be taking some goodies to school on Tuesday for both kids so that they can celebrate their birthday with their classmates, too.  They are going to be 6 already?  My tiny twin babies are growing up so fast.    Time sure flies!

Woohooo!! Seahawks Wins!

I've been living in America since 1990, but this year was my first year to experience my home team win the ultimate championship in American Football, the Super Bowl!  The scores speak itself - 43-8 against Denver Broncos.  We were an unstoppable force tonight and  both offence and defense were at top notch.  Congratulations, Seahawks for your determination to win and superb professionalism.  All your hard work paid off in a big way. 

Nana came to watch the game with us and we had a little party in the basement.  Mike smoked some meats for 7 hours and they were delicious!  I ran to Costco, PCC, Target, Trader Joe's, Fred Myer and Party City to buy everything I need for the party and the rest of the week and I barely made in time before the kick off.  That was an exhausting trip.  I ran into Jen in Costco as she hurriedly gather food for her party.  Are we ever not in a rush?  At least the weather was beautiful today.  Many people were wearing Seahawks jersey out there.  I was wearing my tight Seagals' shirt which I am a little embarrassed to wear on its own.  I rather wear a baggy jersey instead. 

I can only imagine what's happening in Seattle right now.  Many people will be bar hopping and celebrating the win.  I hope everyone stays safe out there.  My party days are over and I am happy to be home in my PJ and fleece robe.  Congratulations Seattle!  The city united as one tonight and it's a good feeling to be a part of it.  We love you, Seahawks!