Happy Friday!

Friday has always been my favorite day of the week.  I have not had a Friday at home for several weeks due to many weekend trips to LA for work or play.  So it was really nice to be able to pick up the kids from school and just hang out at home, cook dinner and play outside.

The boys rode their bikes up and down the driveway.  They raced and laughed and had a great time.

In preparation for her three games tomorrow, Kara practiced her cross overs.

But eventually everyone was on bikes riding down the driveway...

Kara is almost done with fourth grade.  She's been playing soccer and basketball and she's becoming very interested in clothes and fashion.  Kara's doing great in school... she's looking forward to a Santa Barbara field trip next week.

Ben is an avid reader and today he made his personal goal... which was to reach 1000% of his school goal for his reading points.  That was not a typo... he set his goal high! 

Jason is eager to start kindergarten.  He went to his registration appointment and then asked if he passed.  I said yes, that he passed and he then asked if he could start kindergarten the next day.  I said, "what am I going to do when you go to school every day?"  His reply was, "don't worry, Mommy.  I'll still come home after school."

A highlight of this week was being asked to be part of a cultural week that Jason's preschool hosted.  Jason taught his friends the correct way to bow, how to say "hello", "thank you" and "good bye" in Japanese and we shared with them different fun facts and Japanese artifacts.  The yakisoba was a hit!

So nice to have time to just be with the family... take pictures... and blog!  Happy day for sure!

A Great Break

Spring break started with the Parlier Picnic!  The picnic is always a great time for the kids.  They love the races and seeing the friends they've known since they raced in the Baby Bjorn.

They also love playing BINGO where I think everyone is a winner every round.  This was Jason's first year to play his own card, since he now recognizes all of the numbers through the O column.

After the picnic, we traveled to Los Gatos for a quick visit and it was the first time our kids have dyed eggs!  We always do an egg hunt, but we never use hard boiled eggs.  But the kids enjoyed the process of decorating, so who knows, maybe this will become part of our festivities in the future.

The Fresno State library has an exhibit on the Japanese internment camps, so even though the kids are on break, it was a wonderful way to teach them about this important part of history.  

April 13th has become Pie for Breakfast day and it's officially on our calendar, so we enjoyed some strawberry pie on the 13th!

I took the kids to Boss Baby... and I was pleasantly surprised to hear lots of laughter coming out of our babies. 

Earlier in the week, the forecast was for rain on Easter, but fortunately, the weather held up and the kids were able to do their big egg hunt.  I don't know how many more years of egg hunts we have in store, but we always think back to when Kara was little and the only way to get her to take a nap was to bribe her with an egg hunt when she woke up. I think we had plastic eggs circulating through May in those days. 

The plastic eggs are already back in their box on a shelf, but the joy of the hunt will stay with them, and with me, for a good while.

The Capitol with Many Exclamations

Sho and I have not been to Sacramento since we were both in high school, probably for a Sacramento Rebels basketball tournament... so it was great to take the kids to see the state capitol.

We visited the California museum, which had lots of different things to see and learn about.  Ben and Jason loved seeing Harrison Ford honored in the Hall of Fame and Jason was excited to see the pistol that was used in Star Wars, but also commented that he thought it would be bigger.

In addition to seeing the exhibit on the Japanese internment camps, there was a special section on Sacramento's lost Japantown, which was really interesting for all of us to learn about.

So, truth be told, our trip to Sacramento wasn't inspired by our interest in teaching the kids about California history... but we did witness a piece of history! 

Since we've always loved basketball and the kids are now more interested in basketball, we could not pass up the opportunity to see a local girls team from our area play for the California state championship.  We had watched the Clovis West girls play locally and they crushed their opponents, but it was always fun to watch them because they are just that good.  And to watch them play against one of only two teams to beat them all season... we had to go!

The icing on the cake was that we got to meet up with the Itagakis and have a chance to catch up, see how much all of kids have grown and spend some time together.

When I was a teenager and I watched basketball with my dad on TV, he'd always tell me I was too loud.  During the game, Ben turned to me and said, "wow, Mom.  It's like you have a built in whip (the instrument he learned to play that makes a whipping sound) and megaphone."  I guess it's still true.

It was a GREAT game.  We all cheered and were excited to see Clovis West win by four and take home their first state championship!

And then the real competition began...

When we stay in a hotel, inevitably one kid has to sleep on the floor.  Though they don't mind, we always feel bad for the one that draws the short stick.  But this time, we walk into the room, I see the built in bench by the huge window and I say, "oooh!  Who wants to sleep there!"

Sho immediately starts laughing and says this is me doing my Jedi mind tricks on the kids, like I used to do when I was little.  Miwa and Todd probably remember the salad bowl that no one wanted placed in front of them... until they learned it was not a chip in the bowl, but a fork rest!!

Ben was the big winner of the special sleeping quarters, equipped with privacy curtain.  

Before we headed home, we stopped at the Railroad Museum and saw so many huge trains.

We all loved the different exhibits and we learned about the amazing experiences people had in the first class dining cars and how each railroad had their own set of china.

But their favorite was sitting in the front of the high speed rail.

We definitely had a great (and quick) trip with good food, good friends and great times...

Our last stop before getting back home was at Paradise... which it always is.  Especially when you catch the second half of the UNC vs. Kentucky game while you eat!

We are a little obsessed with basketball right now... it is March!

What have we learned?

We were excited for the start of the real March Madness and after school got out on Friday, we settled in for basketball and grazing, as the kids call it. 

It was fun to hear Kara say phrases like, "take it to the hole" and Jason told me it was the best day of the year.  They are quick learners!

Kara is studying California history this year and to complete her school project, we traveled to the San Juan Bautista mission.  

The boys were very patient as Kara looked around took video for her project.  Everyone learned new facts about the missions in California and the part the boys enjoyed most was looking for tiles on the church floor with animal prints on them.

One thing we know well is Pajaro... and visiting the mission was the perfect way to get to the beach!  The kids enjoyed playing on the sand, as they always do.  We enjoyed watching them have fun just being together.

We came home in time to watch the Bruins make the Sweet 16 and make sure the kids had a chance to "learn" a little more before bedtime. 

Run, run, run....

The past few weeks (and weekends) have been busy... I've had to drive, drive, drive for three weekends to LA for work with two weekends left.  This is NOT the kind of madness I like in March!


Fortunately, one of the events I had to do was one where Kara could come and help out.  It's fun to have her by my side and when she's not there, people now ask, "where's your daughter?"

On the drive home, we stopped in Japanese town for yummy udon (the kind we waited an hour and a half for!) and fortunately, there were lots of places for window shopping and snacking while we waited.



The next weekend, Kara had her Suzuki Book 2 recital, where she played the entire book, which I think is about twelve songs, all by memory.  I know she did well, even though I wasn't sitting in the audience.

I was able to meet up with the family for a celebratory dinner and yes, Kara ordered a sashimi plate.  She is definitely growing up.

Clay held their annual jog-a-thon today and it's always a great event where the kids are out there "doing" something to earn money for the school they love.  In previous years, it's been a bit of a competition to see who runs the most laps.

Kara finished with 19 laps...

And Ben worked hard to run his goal of 20 laps this year!

And though it's back to LA today for me... I could not let the day go by without a sweet treat on Girls Day for my girl (and of course the boys). 

Just keep running, just keep running!

Valentimes means...

Before school today, I asked Jason what Valentine's Day means to him.  He said, "Valentimes means loving and caring and treats."

Fortunately, we have plenty of all of that to go around in this house!  Hope every day is filled with "Valentimes".

Bruins on 3! 1-2-3-Bruins!

We found out about "Small Ball" at Reedley High School and the kids were eager to improve on their skills.  The clinic ran for four Saturdays and and every week, Ben would ask about how many more days there were until Saturday and he'd lay his clothes out on Friday night so he'd be ready to go.  He was at the gym early each week to get some extra shooting in. 

Both kids enjoyed Small Ball and it was fun to be back in the Reedley High School gym!  Brings back memories.

We signed Kara up to play in a co-ed basketball league and she was a little hesitant at first, but everything is more fun when you have your best friend by your side.

Kara scored her first basket tonight, driving down the baseline and taking her shot.  She also played great defense.  That's our girl!

Sho and I debated for a little while on whether or not we should coach Kara's team... Sho said it will either be pretty fun or it's going to be really frustrating.  This is an instructional league where they don't keep score (but of course people keep score) and we were warned that it is the most competitive non-competitive sport that's run... but rather than take our chances, we decided to coach.

I jokingly said that coaching together might lead to divorce... we have some fundamental differences in what we feel 3rd through 5th graders should run on defense. 

One thing that was easy to agree on was our team name.  Ben and Jason asked if they could do the 8-clap at the game... gotta love it!  Without fail, every game I smile when I see how happy Kara is to play and how energetically our little Bruins yell it out... literally... 1-2-3-BRUINS!