Our Week

It's basketball season... and this week, we have watched a lot of basketball!  Last year during basketball season, Kara became friends with one of the Clay 8th graders who now plays on the Kingsburg varsity team, so we went to go watch the game against Selma.  Though Kingsburg didn't win, Kara got a big hug from Karen after the game, which left Kara with a big smile.

The following evening, we went to see the Fresno City women's team play against Reedley.  And for the second evening a row, Kara was flanked by me and Grandpa and since Grandpa and I seem to have all of the same comments when watching a basketball game, Kara was probably hearing them in surround-sound.  Hopefully this wasn't too annoying and I hope that one day, she will also appreciate Grandpa's love of basketball and the words of wisdom that come along with it... and that she'll always remember to block out!

In addition, the Clay girls had two games this week (which they won... yeah!) so it has been quite a week!

Ben had his friend, Chase, over on Friday after school for a play date.  Fortunately, the weather stayed nice and the boys got to play outside and have a great time.

We woke up to rain this morning and no one was eager to get out of their pajamas, but we made a quick stop at Kady's to pick up a huge, yummy cinnamon roll to have as part of breakfast.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite moments was on Friday morning when my alarm went off at 6:30am... Sho is on a business trip and Jason had, at some point in the sleeping hours, climbed into bed with me.  The alarm goes off and I say to Jason, "I have to get up and get in the shower," to which he responds, "stay wiff (with) me.  Stay wiff me, Mommy."  Knowing I have to get breakfast and lunches together and make sure everyone is ready to go to school on time, I say again, "but I have to get up," and he again says, "just stay wiff me, Mommy."  How can you say no??

Whether it's a sunny day, shared moments with family and friends or an extra snuggle, I cherish it all!

Super Sunday

While most people had football on the brain, we wanted to enjoy the sunshine, since it's been so foggy lately, and we had a mini-basketball clinic.  Since we haven't moved the basketball hoops yet, the focus was on the basics and everyone worked on making their way down the long driveway.

Even Daddy participated in the dribbling drills.

Kara has been reading like a mad woman.  A few days before winter break, we found out she was behind in accumulating her reading points for her second trimester goal and she pledged to get back on track.  This week she surpassed her goal with three weeks left of the trimester!  Kara has been playing indoor soccer and helping out at the JV girls basketball practices (since I am still kind of coaching) and she's eager to help in the kitchen, especially when she has cute aprons to wear.

Ben recently lost his bottom two teeth.  He actually pulled them both out, the first one while we were walking in the mall.   Ben is also doing a lot of reading and now, while we're driving in the car, he asks us to give him math problems to solve.  He loves everything about school and still has his sweet demeanor.  Just yesterday he told me that he wished he could just stay 6, even though he knows that he can't.

Jason is learning all of his letters and their sounds, thanks to Miss Shawn and the Letter Factory video.  He now likes to tell us what sounds the letters make and he enjoys getting books and "reading" the stories that he's heard us read to him time and time again.  Then he tells us that he has to get ready for his AR test (just like the big kids take at school).

With the nice, weather, we enjoyed our first picnic in our backyard.  We reminisced about how we used to have picnics at our Sherman Oaks house and we look forward to many more picnics at the Academy house.

We had to take a few selfies to capture our first picnic...

What a great sunny Sunday!

Free Choice

I picked Ben up at school today and he said, "I have to show you my Book of Clay that I made during Free Choice."

Here is the cover...

And the content...

It's obvious that Ben loves school, he loves learning and he loves Clay!  So... Grandma, Grandpa, Bachan, Jichan, auntie and uncles... remember this love and this smiling face when he hits you up for Jog-a-thon pledges next month!

Round Two

With a few days left of winter break and a parking pass that was still valid, we decided to head back up the mountain for another day in the snow!

Kara and Ben gathered large pieces of snow/ice to build an igloo...

Though it's hard to tell from this picture, they created an open concept igloo with an en suite.  We watch a lot of HGTV at our house!

Kara loved showering herself in snow...

While Jason just wanted to eat it!!

Snack time is always a favorite time for these kids, no matter the location.

We ended the trip with some sledding down the mountain, which all the kids enjoyed.

Mostly, it was nice to just have a family day before we the kids head back to school.

Snow Day!

We were invited to join the Kozuki and Ikemiya cousins for a snow day.  Since there was so little snow last season, our kids were eager to take a day trip.

Claire was kind enough to make Jason some perfect snowballs, which he quickly smashed or threw to the ground.

James initiated the idea of building forts and walls to prepare for the eventual snow ball fight.  He's also the cousin that is good to the little ones, making sure everyone is included and having fun.

Sho had a lot of work to do and couldn't take the day off, but fortunately Fun Uncle Todd was in town and was able join us for our snow day.

After a few hours in the snow, everyone enjoyed the yummy snacks and food.  And once you're sitting near the heaters with a plate of food... it's hard to leave your chair!

Kara and Elyse found their own snack spot up on a rock and enjoyed the views from up top.

After lunch, Jason remembered reading about snow angels in the book "Peter's Snowy Day" and tried a few times to make snow angels of his own.

It was a great day full of fun and family... our kids are already asking when we can go again!

Happy Holidays!!

We  had a great visit with the Wank family as they made their way down to southern California and the kids got their first exposure to Hanukkah with an impromptu banana menorah! 

In the Kozuki household, it never quite felt like Christmas until the sugar cookies appeared... so last night the kids helped Tantie decorate our traditional Christmas cookies.  

Though we always thought they were candy canes, Jason quickly found all of the "J" cookies, which he thought were for him.  Given that inspiration, how could we resist creating a few letters of our own?

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Happy 8th Birthday, Kara!

How time flies... we were talking about how we thought there was a chance that Kara might be a Christmas baby, since my due date was mid-December and we weren't sure if she'd be late... but knowing it would stress me out thinking about how we'd get back to Parlier for Christmas, Kara was born early and at eight years old, she is obsessed with time and never being late.

It was a back-to-school morning, but we managed to have some of Kara's favorites for her birthday breakfast.

Over the weekend, Kara celebrated her birthday with some of her friends...

We knew her actual birthday would be a busy day.  We were at school in the morning to celebrate both Kara and Ben's birthdays and then after school, Kara went to KCAPS for her weekly volunteer duties.  Then it was off to soccer practice and dinner out with the family.  Good thing Mrs. Boyd gives out a Homework Pass on your birthday!

We had to stop at Yogurtland on the way home because no birthday celebration can be complete without something sweet!

Our little birthday babies have been busy these past few days... it has been Lego central at our house.  Ben built the Millennium Falcon and the Star Wars Republic Gunship.  Kara built a shopping mall, cruise ship and beach house.  The Legos have definitely kept them busy and entertained.  I think the hardest part is trying to keep Jason's little hands away from all of the masterpieces!