Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays from Jason!!

The kids were super excited this morning and only because of their jet lag did they end up waking up a decent hour.

Jason was happy that Santa brought him a Mickey Mouse robe, some bling and some sugar... He wanted to sit and watch garbage truck videos and it took some coaxing to get him to open his presents, but he got the hang of it.

Ben was excited about all of his gifts... Star Wars figures, Skylanders, a skateboard... he wasn't sure what to play with first.  I think he has lots to keep him busy and happy for quite awhile.

My favorite Christmas moment was when Kara saw the tiara from Santa... Kara was given a tiara from her ballet teacher last spring for her recital.  She wore it around the house and somehow, the tiara broke and we had to throw it away.  Almost in tears, Kara asked, "how can we throw away diamonds?"  Since Santa knows all, Kara found the tiara in her stocking and when she placed it on her head this morning she said, "I'm back."  She literally wore it all day.

The kids got to play with their cousins on the Kozuki and Hiyama sides of the family during the Christmas Eve and Christmas gatherings.  They had a great time... With the vacationing, traveling and then immediately going into Christmas, I think we all wish we could just enjoy a mid-afternoon nap.

Merry Christmas to all... and to all a good night's sleep.

Family fun in Hawaii

What better way to start off winter break than with a trip to Hawaii!!  Thanks to Pampa and Grandma, the entire Kozuki family took a vacation in Kauai.  We enjoyed perfect weather, which meant there was plenty of beach time for our little ones.  Kara enjoyed snorkeling for the first time, while Ben loved boogie boarding and Jason just liked being in the water.

Of course there was lots of food to enjoy... trying the different shave ice places, comparing poke from all the local fish markets and grocery stores, searching on Yelp for the hole in the wall winners.  We definitely ate well.

On our last two trips to Kauai, we stayed at a house in Poipu, which happened to be booked already... so we stayed in a new house right near Baby Beach and one of the big pluses was the outdoor heated shower!

We had a wonderful trip and there is so much to be grateful for... watching the kids have so much fun with their auntie and uncles, not having to take my walking boot to Hawaii, Sho and John's love for 80s music, mini iPads to make the time on the plane bearable, our first giant-turtle-on-the-beach sighting, that Jason loves being with BF (a.k.a. Grandma, Jason's Best Friend) and is happy to be without us for a period of time, and mostly, the luxury of time together.

On the drive home, as we were approaching our exit back in Kingsburg, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was... Kara loved snorkeling, Ben liked boogie boarding and having family fun and Jason replied "I dunno."  But when I told Jason that we were almost home, he replied, "No, Hawaii house."  Smart cookie.

Mochi

Before Kara's birthday party started, we began our day at the Parlier Church making mochi... Kara watched closely and followed the directions to make her nice, round mochi.

Ben stacked his mochi and declared that his snowman was complete...

Jason, usually eager to get his hands dirty and get into the action, was quick to give up his apron and opted for alone time with his friend, Alyssa.  Ben watched them and said, "I think this is their first date."
 

Happy Birthday, Kara!

Now that Kara is 7 years old, there are no more Barbie or princess cakes.... not when you can get a Chocolate Raspberry Torte from Masse's!  Thanks to Auntie Anna, we now know about this treasure and could not pass up the opportunity to upgrade.

On Kara's birthday, she invited a few of her close friends from school for pizza, a movie and ice cream.  

After a really fun (and tiring) Thanksgiving week vacation (where we saw the Woodson, Hsiao, Gordon, Itagaki, Ishimatsu and Morita Dea families in addition to our immediate families for Thanksgiving), having a small, intimate birthday gathering was the perfect celebration for our little princess.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

After spending Thanksgiving in Los Gatos, we celebrated Ben's 5th birthday by going to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose.  The kids all had a great time and they probably would have been happy to just stay in the bubble area all day if we let them...

And Jason found an ambulance and fire truck that he really liked... good thing they didn't have a real garbage truck there, or we would never have been able to leave.

Our little gyoza eating machine ordered two plates of gyoza for lunch...

And we ended the day with a strawberry sundae and a room full of people singing happy birthday to our little Ben.

Happy Halloween!

In a way, it seems like we've been mentally preparing for Halloween for so long... asking the kids what they wanted to dress us as this year, thinking about costume ideas.  Kara made a decision early on and stayed with it.  Ben flip flopped a few times before making a decision.  Jason... well at two years old, we didn't think he would really care.

But when the garbage truck wasn't ready for the Sunday party, we pulled out the circa Kara 2008 kangaroo costume.  And since we were not prepared for Jason to be a kangaroo, Mickey Mouse seemed like a good friend to have in the pouch.  Jason happily wore the costume, but the whole time he said "garbage can... garbage can." 

Kara has kept busy with her homework, reading assignments, soccer, ballet and volunteering at a local thrift store.  She's been a big help at home when I'm trying to manage cooking dinner while unable to carry anything from one place to another.  

Ben is obsessed with Star Wars and he draws new Star Wars pictures every day.  It's scary that he knows all the characters and who's related to whom... but I know it makes his Daddy (and Uncle Gregg) very proud.  Ben is doing well at preschool and keeps asking when he gets to start kindergarten.

Jason has become very talkative and he repeats or tries to repeat whatever you say.  He's gone from one word comments to phrases and sentences.  His voice is so cute, almost everything he says makes me smile... some of his regular phrases are "no cry" to let us know he did not cry at school... "no cool" to let us know he does not want to go to school... I love it when I ask a question like "who wants a root beer float" and Jason will reply, "Do.. I do.... Jason... Me!"

After his bath, I usually wrap Jason up and cradle him like a baby, just for old times sake.  But Jason knows he's the youngest... when I ask him if he's a big boy now, he'll say "no, baby."  Which is fine with me.

In thinking about costumes, I told Sho he should be wearing a Superman cape because for the past three weeks, he's had to do it all... drive, drop off and pick up the kids, wash dishes, mop the floor, make meals, build the garbage truck costume, carry things and move things around the house...and try to get his regular work done. We all knew he was a super dad and husband... but it's even more apparent how amazing he is, cape or no cape.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Sneak Peak!

On Sunday, we attended a church Halloween party.  And though we had the best intentions, Jason's costume did not come together in time for the party, so he ended up wearing a repeat costume from one of the older kids.  Today at school, Ben drew pictures of them at the Halloween party... complete with the Wheel of Fortune game they played.

 And then he drew pictures of what they will be doing (and wearing) on Halloween!

Stay tuned!

Thank Goodness for Family

October 26th had been an important date on our calendar for months, for it was Clay School's annual Fall Festival!  Knowing that it would be a busy weekend, I recruited some help early on... and good thing, because with foot fractures and crutches, I was definitely not as mobile as I would have liked.

Lucky for me, Tantie, John and Uncle Todd were all willing to help out and do whatever was needed... whether it was taking the kids to their soccer games, making shave ice, warming up nacho cheese, making ice runs, playing light sabers or helping to watch the kids, everyone was a huge help.  Even the Ikemiya cousins came to help out and support Clay!

In other weekend excitement, we found out there was a front-loader behind Grandma and Pampa's house, so the boys had to check it out. 

Jason's dream comes true!!  Anyone know where we can find an unlocked garbage truck?? 

We had a busy and fantastic weekend and are always so happy to spend time with the family.

Ben loves his mom and he likes bike riding, but he loves his mom and dad more - by Ben

The weather has cooled off significantly, so it's much more pleasant to be outside these days.  We decided it was time for Ben to learn to ride his bike without training wheels.

Within two short training sessions, Ben was off and riding on his own, doing turns and learning to coast and brake.

 
Now Ben has plenty of time to perfect his quick turns and speedy straight-a-ways  before his last pre-school bike-a-thon!  Go, Ben!

For the record, we contemplated the title for a moment, but Ben came up with a great title for his post all on his own :)

Saturday = Soccer

Soccer games began last Saturday, which means that we'll be spending the next two months' worth of Saturdays at the soccer field.  This is Ben's first year and Kara's second.

Ben is a Ninja Turtle, which is what happens when you let the kids on the team vote on the team name.  Even though it's like watching ants surround a single piece of candy, it's fun to watch Ben play and be part of a team.

The majority of girls on Kara's team have never played soccer, so we already feel like it's going to be a tough season, but Kara definitely understands and executes her role of defensive specialist.  

Jason has been a good sport to sit on the sidelines and cheer... for two games.  As long as we've got Grandma and some snacks, we're all good.

Despite the heat and being on the losing end of the scoreboard (even though they don't keep an official score, but every parent does), our kids are all smiles, very positive and having a great time.

We could not be more proud.

Next Chapter

Today was Ben's first day back to school and Jason's first day at Chapter One!  It seems like Jason has always liked being there to pick Ben up at lunchtime and whenever we ask if he wants to go to big-boy school with Ben, Jason nods his head.

I know he already loves the playground and the drinking fountain... hopefully he'll like everything else just as much.

I asked Ben to stay close to Jason on his first morning and help him feel comfortable at school.  Ben asked if on the second day Jason would have enough friends that he could then run around by himself.  Gotta love Ben.

How did that happen?

A few weeks ago, we realized that Kara's permanent teeth on the bottom were coming in right behind her baby teeth in the front.  One tooth started to wiggle and get loose and we were watching it closely... waiting and waiting.

I pick Kara up from school on Friday and she tells me her tooth fell out at school.  But not the one that was wiggling, the one right next to it!

She told me the story of how it happened... she was wiggling her tooth, a boy accidentally ran into her and then her tooth popped out.  She didn't hit her chin or head or anything, the tooth just fell out and then her friends had to help her find it on the floor... Hmm...

So she wrote this note for me at school, just in case she forgot about this milestone when I picked her up.  In any case, she was happy to have her first tooth out and very excited about the tooth fairy's first visit.  And we're still watching the original loose tooth.  It's a stubborn little Kozuki tooth.

The cutest was Ben's reaction: "I don't want Kara to lose her teeth and get adult teeth.  I don't want her to be an adult yet."

First Grader

We woke up this morning to thunder, lightning and a little bit of rain... but the sun quickly came up for Kara's first day back to school!  When Kara woke up, she came in and announced, "I'm a first grader now."

First grade means a new backpack, new lunch box and a longer school day! 

When the morning bell rings and the kids all line up, Kara and her friends are no longer in the first row.  This morning those kindergarteners looked so small and Kara seems to have grown up so much in the past year.  

Since preschool doesn't start until next week, it was trains and Legos for Ben and Jason.  This week is also the start of soccer practice for Kara and Ben and ballet for Kara.  Let the fun begin!!

Two-wah!

For the last few weeks, we've been prepping Jason for his second birthday.  For about a minute, when you asked him how old he was going to be, he replied "two."  And then very quickly, he decided that he was going to turn ten instead.  So a few days back, I told him if he wanted presents, he had to turn two.  So now his reply is "two-wah."  That counts.

We started the celebration a little early when WE were so excited to give him the garbage truck that we could not wait until we got home to even wrap it... it went straight from the bag into his happy little hands and sat on his lap the whole ride home.

The day before his birthday, to his delight, he got a new bubble gun (because the over-priced one from Sea World died once we got home)!

And he was so excited to try out the bubble-making lawnmower that he went out in his pajamas to start on his new chore.

Jason has a fascination with garbage trucks and trains... and since we were not going to visit the sanitation department, we decided to take Jason on his first train ride. 

The 45 minute trip was just long enough to see the sights and have a snack.  Jason was choo-choo-ing the whole ride.  After we got off the train, he stood and waved good-bye and didn't really want to go, but I reminded him that his lawnmower was waiting for him in the car (which it really was because he insisted on bringing it with us). 

Thank goodness we will not be celebrating "ten" in our family any time soon.  Let's just keep them little!