another school year gone...

... and I cried! I really did. I cried as I saw both of them leave their classrooms, excited for summer or in Alyssa's case excited that there was something special about the day but not really certain what it was (she woke this morning asking if she had school today!)... I cried because I now have a 2nd grader and kindergartner and I wonder where did those baby/toddler and then preschool years go?

But they? They were off... no cares in the world but to play all day! Delighted to have each other to play with.

I have one other tidbit to share that I keep chuckling over. When Jaiden got out of the bath, I noticed I needed to trim his nails. As I did it, I noticed his cuticle was kind of funny so I sort of pushed on it.
He said "Mommy, that hurt!"
I said, "Oh, it's your cuticle".
He rolled his eyes and said, "I am NOT cute!"
Daddy happened to be laying on his bed and started laughing.
I told Jaiden, "I said CUTICLE not CUTE!" And showed him his cuticle.

But he is cuticle, isn't he?

thursday folders...

Every Thursday the kids come home with their red Thursday folders packed full of updates, art work, homework and various bits of paper to keep me informed.

Alyssa's had all sorts of art projects inside...

I always enjoy hers because there are some really sweet projects for example the dinosaur with the hand prints as the dinosaurs plates or spine.

It also included her progress booklet that her teachers kept for the year. Carrie, her teacher, showed this to me at her teacher/parent conference a few weeks ago and I was excited to see it today. Look how much she has improved during the school year on writing her name!

Go Alyssa go!

Jaiden's was really stocked full with all his composition books, his weekend reports and a few surprises such as the The Very Hungry First Grader! Hilarious and creative... but my favorite this week was "My 100th Class Reunion!"

I scanned this one in because it was hilarious... or at least I thought so! He drew himself with glasses at 100 years old!

And on the back was this:

In one hundred years... I will be married. I had been making movies for 10 years. I will live in Hawaii and I am a surfing champion. I will skate board. I will be able to do the half pipe on my skateboard. I have been in the Olympics 2 times!

Go Jaiden go!

Today was our last Thursday of the school  year... hence my tribute to Thursday folders but I will really miss getting these tidbits of their life outside of home. I love seeing what they do, what they say, what they work so carefully on... but I will also love our lazy summer mornings, afternoons at the park or pool... only 4 more days left!

double take...

On Sunday night, just before I headed to bed, I did a double take. I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong with my fridge...

And then I realized it was practically bare on the front and crazy on the side...

... with the alphabet letters not in alphabetical order but lined up along the side. This must have happened when the I moved the dining room chairs into the kitchen to clean the floor earlier in the evening and the kids were playing on the chairs pretending it was their train! I had to wait until morning to take the photo but I probably should have done it when it was dark because it looked a lot stranger than this! Or maybe I was just super tired... but the magnets have slowly returned to the front of the fridge and I was surprised to watch Alyssa put them in alphabetical order this morning!



friday the 13th...

Nothing superstitious about today unless you consider the opportunity Alyssa and I had this evening of watching two baby Great Horned Owls nesting! Their parents were strategically hidden in the trees nearby and nowhere in the lighting to photograph them.

This is taken with my lens cranked to 300 mm... not bad, until you see this...

My camera body on my neighbor's 500 mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter attached! Yowzee! This was amazing. The detail and clarity stunning.

Dennis thought I should try to say this was taken with my macro 100mm but alas, I can not truthfully say that. I actually wanted to see what would happen if I cropped in tighter to the owls in post processing and see if the clarity maintained... and it did! These owlets were so cute and sweet.

And this is Mr. Wayne and Alyssa checking out the Mommy and Daddy owls in the trees not far from the nest. Mr. Wayne was so kind to 1) let me hog his lens and 2) entertain my child! What a treat for me! So Friday the 13th didn't turn out so bad, how was your superstitious day?

Oh and one more cute thing, tonight when I was getting Alyssa ready for bed, she wasn't quite cooperating and I gave the mommy threat of being smothered in kisses, she replied "I love being smothered in kisses!" So I smothered her in kisses and when she stopped giggling, she asked "Mommy, do you have lovey eyes tonight?"

On another update, Jaiden had a fantastic week at school despite his absences. He is also recovering very nicely and is almost back to a normal gait... thank goodness!

yesterday...

Yesterday was a crazy day.... in so many ways but the weather was insane! Jaiden and I had to drive to the clinic and we encountered rain, hail, sleet and snow and sometimes all 4 at the same time! Although this isn't the first time I have seen snow in May or weather like this in May... it's even happened in June and August... I don't think July though.

Alyssa lucked out and got to stay with Granny Suze for the morning. They played with dolls, puzzles, blocks, Sweet Street and baked a yummy chocolate cake. Granny Suze called me afterwards to let me know a few funny things Alyssa said to her and I really need to capture these because she is growing up so fast and the things she says are so outrageous.

First, she told Granny Suze Jaiden didn't like chocolate cake very much so she should send Jaiden home the pear juice that she (Alyssa) didn't really like. She also told Granny Suze to send some of these rolls home too because her family loves them!

 

As they were packing up and putting toys away, she said "I will leave Sweet Street out because YOU KNOW I will be back soon to play with you" and then when Granny Suze dropped her off at school, she said "Please tell my mommy I used my good manners!"

What a hoot! As for Jaiden and I, we had a successful visit at the clinic. He is recovering from a very serious joint bleed in his right knee. It took two major doses of factor (100% correction) and will need possibly up to 3 more low doses (50%). He is doing amazingly well though. His attitude is fabulous towards all of this and he sits so beautifully still for his IV. As for that chocolate cake, he and I had a BIG piece when we got home!

 

My last bit of funniness (I know that isn't a word but it fits!) to add was Daddy got home late last night and I received this for an email:

Snow in May. And I didn't bring a coat.

Sent from my iPod

love and happiness...

I had planned to post about Jaiden and Alyssa's first baseball/t-ball practice, and still will but I was greeted with a little drawing left on my desk this evening.

Jaiden is fascinated with Chinese and Japanese characters - these are Chinese stencils Daddy brought home from China Town in San Francisco. I thought it was sweet to find this treat from him waiting for me!

So on with the real reason for the post. Tonight was our first (of many hectic nights) practice for Alyssa in T-ball and Jaiden in baseball! Alyssa's practice started at 5 pm and was less than 3 minutes from our house, while Jaiden's started at 5:30 pm and was more than 15 minutes from hers! I managed to get them both to practice on time without speeding or any hovering aircraft AND I managed to get a few photos of their first practices!

Here is Alyssa ... yep, wearing a floral skirt, plaid shorts underneath, a striped t-shirt, baseball hat, sunglasses and a pink baseball glove. She is one of two girls on the team! The other girl was cute but not nearly as decked out as Alyssa was...

And then it was off to catch the last part of Jaiden's practice... 

... and I was lucky to catch him going up to bat (sorry for the fence foreground - you can bet I will be working on bettering my position when he actually plays ... but he also didn't know I was taking photos, which is a very good thing!)

He managed to hit the ball a couple of times while at bat. His practice is 1 1/2 hours while Alyssa's is only 1 hour.

Upon asking them both, how they liked their first baseball/t-ball practice? Both answered with a loud resounding "I LOVED IT!"

happy mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day

to my mom, my mother-in-law, and all the wonderful mom's and mother's I know!

uncle paulie...(say it like pole-ee)

Today, we spent stomping around our old backyard in downtown Seattle. It turned out to be a beautiful day with only a few trickles of rain, which was truly a miracle since it's been raining ,sprinkling, spitting or something wet coming from the sky since we have been here! But today was beautiful and I think Uncle Paul delivered it special for us!

We watched a street entertainer but I preferred watching my family!

We stopped to sit on the curb and eat some salt water taffy treats and I caught this woman taking a photo of my kids! Hilarious... especially if you know the story about how my father-in-law was mobbed by Japanese tourists while holding Jaiden when he was 8 months old in Hawaii, where they (the Japanese tourists) took turns holding Jaiden and photographing themselves with him.

Daddy and Uncle Paul had to stop for their own sort of treats - Chinese steamed buns.

And this was my favorite photo of the day... I thought it was so cute, I ran ahead to capture it. Uncle Paul and Alyssa are trying to lasso Daddy and Jaiden who are totally unaware of what is going on.

remembering...

Where do I start? I haven't felt like blogging.. or truly doing much of anything lately. My papa passed away on Thursday, April 28th, and the dark cloud that followed enveloped me as I wished I could hold time and make it stand still just for a short period. I wanted to post - as several funny things have happened but I just couldn't bring myself to skip over a very important person in my life. My original intention with this blog was to capture our everyday moments as a family and share them with friends and family around the world but this blog took on a life of its own and has became my journal, my scrapbook of stories that we create, we live, stories that are woven in our lives. This blog has made me slow down and take notice of the little (typcially unnoticed) details that happen around us. It's a beautiful and creative process choosing which stories to tell, which stories I want to remember.

In memory of my Papa, I want to remember his story... or as much as I know of his story.

He was a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, friend, dairy farmer, cattle rancher, a pilot, a dancer, a joker, a storyteller. After reading his eulogy last night, I laughed at how many stories there were especially about my dad growing up, but what I noticed most about our stories is how we talk about him. He was kind, caring and gentle. He was honest, hardworking and funny. He was genuine and he left an impression on each one of us. I miss him and my gramma very much, but I am ever so grateful that I was part of their life and they were part of mine.