Pride & Joy

The end of this week has been busy... field trips, open house at school, egg hunts, piano lessons.  But these days have also been very rewarding as well.

For third grade, the students had to choose a hero, do research, write a report, give a presentation to the class and be part of a "living museum" during Open House.  Most kids in Kara's class chose presidents or well known historical figures.  Kara initially wanted to give a report about organ donors and then decided to be more specific by selecting Megan Snyder, a girl from Kingsburg (and a Clay alumni) who was involved in a car accident last year and became an organ and tissue donor.  Kara did a great job honoring Megan and her family.

During Open House, Ben eagerly showed us all of the different things in his first grade classroom.  The cutest part was the wall of what the kids want to be when they grow up.

No surprise here!  Ben has consistently stated that he plans to be a Lego creator when he grows up.  Hmm... any way our Lego purchases can become a tax write off?

Though Jason did not have an Open House, he had lots to be proud of that day because right before Open House, the kids had piano lessons.  Jason "rocked" two songs and received two polished rocks for playing the pieces perfectly without any mistakes. And earlier this week he earned $4.10 from Pampa for being able to read 41 sight words! 

Friday was the Easter Egg Hunt, which is always a fun event where the kids get to walk through the old Clay School building and go through the Kingsburg Historical Park to see and learn about all things Kingsburg!  Then the hunting begins.

It's hard to believe this is Kara's last school egg hunt... It wasn't that long ago that we followed the bus to school on her first day of of kindergarten.

We are proud of the kids for their accomplishments and hard work.  We're looking forward to spring break (even though Sho and I don't really get a break from work) to watch some basketball, relax and just appreciate the simple joy of being together. 

Jog-a-thon!

Today was Clay School's annual jog-a-thon!  Earlier in the week, there was a threat of rain... but luckily, the weather held up and it was a great day for a little running/jogging/walking!

Ben ran the entire 20 minutes and wouldn't stop for water or even to give me a high five.

Kara ran... and walked... and ran some more.  Always with a smile.

I am personally excited that the jog-a-thon is over and that it was such a great success.  Thank you for your generous pledges to support these kids!  No more fundraisers until the fall... YEAH!  Now that is definitely something to smile about.

Happy Valentimes to everyone!

We recently rediscovered the Shrinky Dink, so Kara made each of the girls in her class a heart shaped key chain for Valentine's Day...

Ben gave out heart shaped Rice Krispy treats and Jason chose gummies and Ring Pops.  I was super excited on Friday to get all of that sugary goodness out of our house.

On Valentine's Day,  Jason started the morning by singing "Happy Valentimes to everyone" to the tune of Happy Birthday.  We enjoyed a very full family day with lots of hugs and love.  Even if it is a Hallmark holiday, I'm fine with the extra snuggles and reason to have strawberry cheesecake cupcakes (which also come with hugs and smiles) any day!

ABC

Before basketball season was in full swing, we decided to have our own basketball clinic rather than send the kids to the one in town.  And we figured if we were going to do it, we might as well make it more fun and invite some friends.  And the Academy Basketball Clinic was born.

Kara is practicing dribbling with both hands, she's working on her crossover and spin dribble. 

Ben has embraced basketball.  Sho asked if the headband (he received during soccer season) was necessary and Ben said, "Dad, you told me to wear it with pride."

Ben has been working a lot on his shot...

There have been days where he said he won't come in the house until he makes 30.

You have to admire the work ethic... and the thoughtful artwork!

What has been in full swing lately is JASON!  Though he'll dribble his basketball with the kids and join everyone for the clinic, if given the choice, he wants you to pitch to him.  

We might have to keep the "B" in ABC "ball"!

Super-snow Sunday

We've been wanting to go the the snow for awhile since there actually is snow this year and even though it was Superbowl Sunday, we woke up early and headed up the mountain.

For the first hour and a half, we were the only people there and we wondered if everyone really would stay home because of the Superbowl.  We made a snow-woman and had a short snowball fight...

The kids had fun just playing in the snow and sledding down the hill...

And whose kid is that?!?

We even walked through the giant sequoias, continually looking up in amazement at their beauty.

And sometimes we didn't even have to look up very far to see some amazing super Sunday moments.

Never Enough Aloha

On January 2nd, we headed to Oakland to catch the early flight out for our trip to Kauai.  Even though it was an early morning, no one complained and everyone was excited to get to Hawaii.

We lucked out and had perfect weather... every day was a beach day!

We visited our friend, Aaron, for shave ice.  Always an enjoyable visit.  Now that we have our own shave ice machine, we are definitely more knowledgeable and discerning about what makes a great shave ice.

Fun Uncle Todd lived up to his name... he snorkeled, he Yelped to find the best food, he introduced the kids to a new phone app, he drove when Sho was tired, looked out for Grandma and Pampa, indulged us in our quest to find him sunglasses, and was just fun to have around.

Kara loved snorkeling.  She took fish food out and experienced these fish up close and personal!  It was amazing to watch them and see them so close.  She also fell in love with kalua pork.

Ben was in heaven with Portugese sausage and Hawaiian chips.  He enjoyed swimming in the ocean, looking for "dinosaur bones" and snorkeling with the family.

Jason said his favorite part of Hawaii was going on the airplane and chasing chickens (since there are a million of them roaming around all over Kauai).  I think Jason was made for Hawaii... we figured he's got a good average going.  Five trips in four years.  Not bad.

We celebrated Sho's birthday while in Hawaii, which was perfect.  We had great food, shave ice, family time and talked about what we would do if we moved to Hawaii...

We had a fantastic vacation.  I think we downloaded almost 500 pictures!  We sat in front of the computer this morning, played some Hawaiian music, watched the slideshow and just reminisced... 

There were lots of "KBJ"s on the island... none as precious as ours...

And this morning, which was the first time we had a real breakfast all week... Sho made pancakes and all I could think about was our next Hawaiian breakfast.

Happy New Year!

We decided to try something new this New Year's Eve... and we reserved a couple of lanes at the bowling alley to bowl-in the new year!

We invited some friends to join us and though we initially thought that 3+ hours of bowling would be too much... we found out these kids could have bowled even longer!

The youngest bowler was even able to ring in the new year... and at 1am is still awake!

What a great way to start the new year... family, friends and a whole lot of fun.