Have fun

Cindy and I are taking a vacation...sans children. We're going to Greece! While we are wrestling with pangs of guilt, we know the kids will be just fine without us. Both sets of grandparents are sharing the daily/nightly care, and a few of our friends are taking them during different times. Still, it's hard to leave. But, come on, we couldn't take them out of school, it just wouldn't be right!

Last night Kenzie threw up so she had to stay home from school today. When we came home she had made us this interactive and very creative card.

Indoor gym

Mason shows off his moves...



and, not to be outdone, Kenzie proudly displays her newly perfected one-handed cartwheel...

new cousins!

I canot believe that David learned how to ride a bike but they are borroing Mason`s bike`s I think they are having a great time on his bike`s!

Biking

 

Fraol and Behayelu came over on Sunday. The four kids rode bikes, then we enjoyed an interesting dinner of corned beef and pizza, complemented with Puyallup Fair scones and chocolate angel food cake.

Kenzie told me that she wished that she was either Sarah or Janel so that the boys could be her brothers. To make me feel better she assured me that she still wanted the same parents.

News of the Day (by Mason, via school)

Tonight I'm going to a campfire with Casey and Liz and Josh and Luke. We'll do s'mores and we'll learn about what kinds of trees they are and I'll light my marshmallow on fire. Today they are starting to build Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'll go watch! It's on the other side of my house. A tractor was there today. The tractor banged down the trees. There's gonna be a clearing when I get home and a big truck will have part of the house. They'll move into it today! They're gonna be right next door so I won't miss them.

Cousins

 

progress, at long last!

They told us that once we got our permit the process would go quickly, but they didn’t really quantify it. This morning we took this picture.  Notice the dense wooded area…

By about noon all the trees were cleared out for the house and the gravel pad was installed. You can’t see it too well from this angle, but there is a path to the new circular driveway just behind the big tree.

This angle shows it better. Imagine a little house right in that spot! They’re telling us that the house will be delivered in about ten days! If only the city had been so motivated to get paid…

To Mom with Love, Mason

 

Farm hands

A friend from church is a master gardener and invited us to the Bellevue Harvest Festival, which is a celebration of all the great food that is grown and donated to charity.

Even though it rained most of the time, we spent a couple of hours sampling food and walking through the gardens. There was a potato counting contest. Two sets of potatoes were grown in containers and you had to submit your guess of the count and weight of potatoes contained in each. All the adults guessed high…4 pounds, 6 pounds, even 12 pounds. Mason said, “um, one pound and um, two pounds.” Kenzie marked her own as “1.5 pounds and 2.5 pounds.”

When it came time for them to harvest potatoes, guess who were front and center. Soon they had the tools out of the hands of the master gardeners and were helping in full stride.

Turns out that there weren’t too many potatoes in either bin, so both Kenzie and Mason won one of the contests! So, we went home with about three pounds of potatoes, a nice mix of reds and purples.

In celebration, we all helped make a yummy vegetable soup for dinner. Mason scrubbed veggies, Cindy and Kenzie diced, then Kenzie and I cooked. It was a fun family event. Every once in a while we realize that it’s sometimes nice to slow down a bit. Maybe I’m just trying to settle into the fact that summer is almost over and the rain is coming, like it or not!

New cousins

Kenzie spent the day at work today with me. I took her out of school so she could go with me to the airport to meet their new cousins, Daniel Fraol and David Behayelu. She went into the copy room and made this picture all by herself. Pictures are a bit fuzzy, but it says:

 

WELCOME!

David and Daniel!

We are your new cousins!

How cute is that?

She spent the day with me at work which was, by her assessment, quite cool. She says that I talk way too much. But, she was great. She read her book as I went through the day.

When it was time we went to the bus tunnel and took the new light rail train to the airport, and snuck in just in time before they arrived.

The boys are so sweet and cute. We’re excited to get to know them. Mason and Behayelu seemed to hit it off quickly, tickling each other and throwing paper airplanes.

I love these pictures. The first one shows the boys studying the escalator. The second is their first elevator ride.

 

What a Week!

We have had some exciting things happen already this week! On Monday, I completed a big project that I've been working on for three years. It made for a full weekend, but I'm thrilled it's going well and behind me. On Wednesday we heard that we're are getting the permit for June and Bob's house! Finally!! And today we get to meet David and Daniel, Randy and Sary-Jo's two boys that they have just adopted. We go to the airport today to meet them!

A boy and his neighbor’s dog

Mason is very comfortable at Ed, Sandy and Buddy’s house. I’m surprised he isn’t wearing Ed’s slippers.

Cake!

Luke and Josh helped Mason celebrate his birthday, as did Liz, Casey, Ed, Sandy and, of course, Cindy, Kenzie & I. It’s the first year that he and Grampy didn’t get to celebrate their shared day, but Grammy had eye surgery and needed to stay home. He informed them that they could still wrap, and possibly mail, his present.

 

 

 

 

 

Kenzie was asked to give her brother a little kiss on the cheek for his birthday. He was much more willing than she. Right now, little brothers are just plain gross and unnecessary.

School birthday

Mason’s school celebrated his birthday (and first day of school)  in grand style. Each kid made him a card (where the teacher wrote the words). Here are his wishes:

• Maya: Mason likes me and I like him. I like his words when he says, “I love you Maya.” I think Mason will be silly when he gets older. He is pretty silly now. Have a good birthday Mason. Enjoy being 5.
• Brin: I drew flowers with a whale for Mason’s birthday. I think Mason is a really great friend. I just met him today. He should be a fireman when he grows up because I think he is really brave. I wish you good luck.
• Ella: I drew some flowers for Mason’s birthday picture. I just met Mason today but he looks like he is nice. I think he might be Batman when he grows up. I think he will like saving people. I wish Mason a happy birthday.
• Emma: Dear Mason, this is my cat Garfield. He likes to sleep on my bed. He gets inside of the covers. We cuddle. Do you know those drinks with salt around the side for grownups? Well, when I get my fingernails and toenails done in another city I got one of those drinks. But it has raspberry lemonade and instead of salt there was sugar around the glass. I hope you get the same raspberry lemonade for your birthday. Happy Birthday.
• Hayden: Dear Mason, this is your house and your birthday. And your birthday is on April 4th like mine. Your mom will bake you a chocolate cake. Happy birthday.
• Maddie: I drawed a dolphin for Mason. I drew a dolphin because I knew I could drew them really well. Mason is silly and I enjoy that. He sits next to me all the time. He used to hug me too. I think Mason will be a regular boy when he grows up. Have a happy birthday, friend.
• Ryan: This is a baseball course for Mason. Mason is my friend. He plays with me. I like to play pirates with him. I think Mason might be a baseball player when he grows up, but I don’t know why. I wish Mason gets a chocolate cake for his birthday.
• Jason: I drawed a sun and clouds and a house. This is my house. I think Mason should come to my house because he never ever does. He is really fun and his name rhymes with mine. I think Mason looks like a police fighter and he looks good, and I think the should be a police and a good man. And I love him.
• Toby: Here is the sun. The sun is shining on the all the plants and turning them orange. Mason when you grow up maybe you’ll be a superhero. Happy Birthday.
• Arden: Hi Mason. Here I am giving you tulips and roses for your birthday. If my sister lets me I’ll borrow her cake making kit and bake you a chocolate cake. Only if she lets me. I bought it for her birthday and she really likes it. She usually lets me borrow things if I ask but she doesn’t let me very often. When you grow up I think you should be really kind to people and help them get money.

Check out this video of the drum banging ritual (trying to figure out this video thing…click on the picture until it works).

 

Big day ahead

 

Guess who turns 5 tomorrow? And it’s his first day of preschool! It’s the final year at The Children’s Garden…and the kids get a sleepover at a brave teacher’s house. It’s the thing he’s most looking forward to this school year. So, big day – birthday and first day of school!

While Kenzie and Cindy are at gymnastics, Mason and I decided to make cupcakes for him to take to school. I asked him if he wanted blue or green cake. He choose dark blue. Easy, I had dark blue food coloring. Problem was that I didn’t have a white cake mix, but didn’t realize it until after I added the dark blue coloring. Learned a new color combination: yellow plus dark blue makes gray. Mason said, “Mom, that’s not blue.” So we decided to add gummy worms and have a mud cake. He got got the sprinkles and said the green was the grass and blue was the water for fishing. He asked if we could put some slugs on them too. Whew, recovery from near disastrous cake incident.

house update…the saga continues

 

We continue to wait for the city to approve our permit to put June and Bob’s house on our property. It’ll go just to the right of our house. Eventually. We have ordered the house. It is being built in the factory, so will be ready in about 2 weeks. Let’s just hope that we’re at least close to being ready for it!!

Bridge crossing

 

Issaquats and Sycamites

We are going on our third year here in Issaquah. I’m still not sure what that makes us…Issaquats? And we live in Sycamore, so Sycamites? Anyway, it’s a different life out here than the city and can finally say we really enjoy it. We have a couple of deer that live in our woods, so we have fun doing an “animal check” each time we go outside. Today we saw both the male and the female. Kenzie thinks they are married and on their honeymoon. They are pretty brave and allow us to watch them as long as we want. Well, until Kenzie eventually can’t stand it anymore and tries to sneak up on them.

This evening we four went on a walk. As we went out the door the male was eating blackberries. A little while later the doe appeared and started trimming the leaves off the trees. June got upset that she later came into the front garden, having a snack in the area that June weeded all day!

Within a short walk we can find apple trees to shake, tall trees to climb on, a bridge, the Secret Place, hiking trails, the Big Red Barn, and, of course, Jasper’s house.

They let me bring my camera and take some pictures. One was more willing to smile than the other. She also was “helpful” in getting her brother to cooperate.

First day of second grade

 

Kenzie started the second grade today. She dressed herself, took a shower by herself, scrambled her own eggs, but let me dry her hair. I decided to head into work a bit late and drive her to school. As we were entering the parking lot I said, “can I walk you to your class?” She said, “sure, but you don’t have to. I mean, you can if you want to, but you don’t have to.” I replied, “I’d like to. I was planning on it.” She said, “ok, but you really don’t have to.” I said, “see all those other parents [who were lining up], they’re walking their kids into their class.” I could hear the hesitation growing. She paused. Then said, “Mom, those are all kindergarten parents.” I said, “oh, would you prefer I not walk you in?” My little diplomat said, “well, I’d hate to cut into your work minutes.” She almost let the car come to a full and complete stop before hopping out.

Hard to believe she is entering her third year at Clark Elementary. She has DW again, her kindergarten teacher who just moved up. At “meet the teacher” day yesterday Kenzie gave DW a big hug and was very excited to have her another year. DW asked her to be the “Star of the Week” the very first week, which means that she does all the classroom jobs, such as leading the pledge of allegiance, being first in line, and moving the lunch tub. It’s a lot of privilege for one little second grader, and she is very happy to take it.

In her class this year she has some old friends, like Morgan, Cameron P, Cameron K, and Jasper. Olivia is in the other class, but they get to see each other at recess and lunch.