A New Chapter

All of our kids have attended preschool at Chapter One.  We were told by good friends that this was a great preschool and that our kids would be well-prepared for kindergarten when they graduated.


Sho and I remember touring the facility before we made the move from Los Angeles and we could not believe the size of the playground!  Not only was the playground impressive, but the staff is great and they have provided a great foundation for our kids.


Since Jason's last day of school was Friday and it was our goodbye to Chapter One, we took the staff the biggest bag of caramel corn we've ever made to say thank you.

Jason graduated and was all smiles!  He is excited about kindergarten, but he says he's already feeling sad because he will miss his teachers.

As part of Chapter One graduation, every student draws a picture of what they want to be when they grow up and they tell everyone during graduation about what they've chosen as their future profession.  Knowing this was coming, we wondered what Jason would choose because in this past year, at one point or another, he's said that he wanted to... work at Krispy Kreme, be a movie director, be an author and the most recent choice... bag groceries at SaveMart.  Here's what he chose...

Jason is so ready for kindergarten.  We recently went to the library and he picked a book about an otter, who lives with a human (named Otter Keeper) and the otter has a stuffed animal named Teddy.  Jason was able to read the whole book by himself and the story was about the otter and Teddy trying to figure out what their job should be.  In the end, Teddy's job was being a best friend and otter's job was taking care of Teddy.  It is the cutest story ever. 


So now Jason has decided he can have two jobs - inventor and best friend.  He's got his work cut out for him because I think lots of kindergarteners will want to be friends with this guy!

The Wall

Kara has been playing in a 4th/5th grade girls basketball league and today was the last of the games for this season.  When she signed up to play, the Kingsburg team had a lot of players, so we decided to have her play in Reedley. Kara didn't get to play with her friends, but she had a great season.

Because I don't know how to edit, this video is just like watching youth sports... you have to sit and watch and watch and wait until the moment comes that you truly have a reason to cheer.

Even though they battled it out on the court today, Brooke and Kiara are two of Kara's best friends and no matter what team they're on, we know these girls will always be the best of friends.

Sho and I could not be more proud of Kara for how well she played and how much she contributed to her team.  She gained a lot of confidence and by the end of the season, she had a great crossover dribble and one of the opposing coaches called her "the wall" because girls couldn't get by her.  It was so much fun to watch her play...  

Can't wait until next season!

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!