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!

Halloween at School

I volunteered to bring Halloween themed sugar cookies for Sean's class, so baked about 60 cookies! They decorated the cookies today.

Ms. Hanson leading her students during trick or treating at school.

Sean found a pumpkin at the playground.

A group picture! Erik, Sean's buddy was also Buzz. We saw a lot of Woody, too.

Sean's class at Phantom Lake had a Halloween party today. Since the party was 3 hours long and I had to bring my three younger ones, we went to the last 45 minutes when the kids went trick or treating around school . We spotted Sean's class walking down the hallway with huge grocery bags filled with candies. He smiled big when we saw us and Aly ran to him exclaiming "Sean!! Sean!!" Noah and Saya sat on the double stroller and was mesmerized by all the costumes worn by both kids and adults. Sean by now is pro at asking for candies and he politely said "thank you" loud and clear every time he got some. He didn't take any interest in candies before, but things have changed now. He has better fine motor skills, too, and able to open and eat candies freely. I have to hide them from him and send them off to Japan before he eats them all! Sean was very happy today. I think Halloween is one of his favorite events. We did not go to Microsoft campus this year because I was sure to lose a kid or two in a crowd of little ironman, bumble bees and princesses. We are looking forward to the Halloween party tomorrow and let all the kids wear their costumes. I will not reveal what they are all going to be until the next post!

Nana's Visit and Half Marathon

Nana and Aly playing in the front yard.
Sean was digging his hole.

Big hug to Nana.

Mike with the marathon banner before the race.

Feeling a little nervous.

Going for a strong finish! Almost to the finish line.

He made it! Resting after the race.

This is my Daddy!

Post marathon feast at Goldberg's.

Sean playing with Daddy's iPhone.

My mother-in-law Jan, aka Nana, paid her bi-annual visit this weekend. She arrived on Thursday mid day and left late Saturday night. It was a short visit, but we jam packed it with lots of quality time together. Mike, Nana and Alyson went to Toysrus on Friday to buy presents for all children. Aly and Saya received cute little princess purses which they like to carry around, Noah got a Halloween themed book and Sean is now a lucky owner of Buz Lightyear figure. Sean hasn't let it go ever since he go it. I bought him Woody the last time he filled his sticker chart (he gets a sticker when he does something nice), so he now can play like Andy, the boy who owns Woody and Buz in Toy Story movies.

There is one another reason for Nana's visit this particular weekend. Mike had his first half marathon race on Saturday. She didn't want to miss it for anything even though that meant her flight back was a red eye.

Mike did great on the race! He did better than he thought and finished at 1 hr 49 minutes. The forecast that day was 70% rain. When the crowd of 200 hobbled off the starting line, it was a steady drizzle. By the time I got home to take shower, it was pouring. Jan, Sean and I went to the finish point an hour and half to the race and just as we were looking for a place to park, we spotted Mike running. We parked the car and stood by the path to cheer him on. He later told us that he was in pain and feeling miserable, but seeing us gave him a big boost.

It was an exhilarating experience for him and he is so glad he's done it. It was also inspiring for me to see all these people pushing themselves hard and winning the race (everyone's a winner!) There is no looking back in the Campbell's household. We are seeing more races to come in the future for both Mike and I.

Thank you, Nana, for coming. We are looking forward to seeing you again in spring!

Pampkin Patch!

Aly was afraid to climb up the hay stack pyramid.
Sean went all the way up and was jumping on the top!
I made Noah sit down and after many tries he finally sat and let me take his photos.

Saya at first wasn't so sure about walking out there. It was too bumpy for her taste, but soon enough she ventured out far.

It was a very bright day. Most photos came out overexposed...

Some pumpkins were as big as Saya.


105 - is the number of pictures I took during the annual visit to the pumpkin patch in Redmond. I needn't to say enough. The kids had a blast being out on a farm. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a good time. It was a challenge at times to keep track of all four kids wandering around at own will, but no one went missing. Sean remembered the visit from previous years and he obligatorily sat on a pumpkin and smiled at me for photos. I didn't even have to ask him. Unfortunately, his "smiles" were as real as velvetta cheese.

I remember thinking what it would be like this year when Saya's walking. She was only 6 month old last year, so stayed seated in the stroller the whole time. Saya was at first not sure about walking on the uneven surface of the farm and was crying wanting to be picked up. She got used to it very quickly though and wandered around patting pumpkins and picking up strings of hays. She was upset when we put her back in the stroller.

This is one of the few family traditions we keep. I wonder what it would be like next year. I bet Saya will be a chatter box and directing us which pumpkins to take home.

p.s. We didn't buy any pumpkins this year at the pumpkin patch. The line was too long. We'll buy one from the grocery store soon!

Amy's Last Day

Amy started working for us when the twins were eight months old. Now that the twins are two years and eight months, that means we've known her for two years - two years of chasing little feet, changing thousands of diapers, fighting with the clutter kids and I leave behind... It was so nice to have her swift helping hands and have someone to share the everyday happiness of seeing the kids grow up. She's found a substitute teaching position with the Renton School District, so last Friday was her last day. We are happy for her, but will miss her very much! Fortunately, she is willing to watch the kids on weekends occasionally, so we'll be able to see her then. Besides, her Mom, Chio, is coming to help in her place from next week. Thanks for all your help, Amy. I have a confidence in you that you will be the best teacher children could ever have.

p.s. After I wrote this, I got a text message from her saying she will be able to come this Tue and Wed. Lucky for me!

Saya and shoes

This girl cannot resist shoes.

I came down after taking shower on Tuesday to find little Saya wearing Amy's sneakers. I didn't expect it at all and I cracked up laughing. She looked like a little boxer in training with her hood on. Every time someone comes over, she puts on the shoes the visitor leaves by the front door. This one made me laugh though. Very cute.