Our Star Always

This was Ben's week to be Star of the Week at school.  Ben took pictures to share with his class.  He was able to share three items from home:  an acrylic painted Japanese mon (family crest), his shirt and name tag from the Youth Tech Academy, and his Mindstorm.  Ben shared one of his favorite books and Sho and I wrote a letter to Ben that was read to his class.

We joined Ben for lunch and there was no debate on what he'd have for his Star of the Week lunch.  Carne asada enchiladas from Los Pepes.  Yum!  I think the teachers that monitored lunch were jealous.

To cap off the week, he came home from school and pulled out his tooth and now will enjoy a visit from the tooth fairy as well.

This week we've been reflecting on how much Ben has grown up, how he is a hard worker, a creative mind and a tender heart.  He truly is always our star.

Twinkle Award

Jason has been taking piano lessons along with Kara and Ben.  He started with just a 5 minute lesson and now his lessons are just about as long as Kara and Ben's.  Like the older kids, if he plays a song perfectly, with no mistakes, he earns a polished rock because the it's a "polished" piece that he has "rocked."

Jason got his four polished rocks when he learned the four Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star variations.  Next was playing all four of them in a row, with no mistakes.

Each lesson he had one chance to play the four variations perfectly... and week by week he got closer and closer... There was some pouting.  There were some tears.  But Jason earned his Twinkle Award!

When he got his trophy, you would have thought he was Steph Curry with a unanimous MVP award.  He kissed the trophy, many times.  He held it up high in the air.  He rubbed it on his cheek.  He said, "I love it.  This is what I've been wanting my whole life." 

It's that time...

The weather is warming up, which means the kids have been wanting to spend as much time as they can in the pool.  The kids also informed me that grades for school are due at the end of the week... so now I really feel like summer is here. 

Kara is getting ready to finish 3rd grade, which means next year she'll be on the "other" side of the school with all of the older kids and have different recess time and lunch time.  Ben already says he's going to miss her next year.

Ben is finishing up 1st grade and this week he is Star of the Week, so he's had the chance to have some special things at school... and Game 1 wasn't so great, but we're all cheering for the Warriors and Ben (like Sho) goes around the house practicing his shot.

Because he's an August baby, we decided to have Jason spend one more year in preschool.  When I asked Jason if he'd stay with me for one more year, he replied, "I'll stay with you for a hundred years."  

With Jason now  more independent with his swimming, it's going to be a fun summer in the pool for these little fishies!