Love the Hair!

Yet another picture of the fun we have at bedtime.



Compare to back in August:



Maia and Tai seem so grown up compared to just a few months ago. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time.

Serious Cuteness

The kids were getting ready to go to sleep in this picture. They are so adorable during bedtime. Usually, Maia begs to have Tai sleep with her in her bed. If he is not too tired, he will play along and lay down with her. Then Maia will say, "Mom, can you put some of your milk in a bottle so I can give it to Tai?" She knows that I usually nurse him to sleep. It makes me laugh a lot. Soon, they will share a room. I wonder if she will be quite so enthusiastic about it then. In the meantime, I'm enjoying some good times.

I am so lucky to have happy relatively well-adjusted kiddos.

Park Weather!!

Finally! Spring is officially here. Goodbye winter jackets and hello great outdoors. Tai and Maia have been scrambling to go outside every day. They play so nicely together, and Tai seems so grown up running around our backyard. Life is good!

We are all excited about the warm weather, but the look on Tai's face says it all!

Friday!

Wow, we made it to Friday this week. I was worried the day would never come. Tomorrow we are going to the circus with our friends, Greg and Alli, and on Sunday Maia has a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It's going to be a busy but fun weekend. Best of all, Yoshi is coming back on Monday! We are very excited to see him!

Unlike our predictions before he left, I've been keeping everything afloat pretty well during his absence. The house is in decent shape, and I've even cooked dinner more often than not. We have gone to Panera and McDonald's a couple of times, but we've been eating mostly at home.

I'm even considering cleaning our deck and yard this afternoon after Tai wakes up. I know Yoshi would like to do it, but I predict he will be tired and jet-lagged after his long trip. It will be nice for him to come home and not have to worry about cleaning anything for a while.

My thought of gratitude today is that I have been able to find some sort of balance in life these days. Tai is getting old enough to play by himself or with Maia for longer stretches of time, and I'm able to get more things accomplished. It feels so good to have a nice and orderly house! Now if only I could get the upstairs playroom/office organized. I would be so happy!

First Flowers

Among my wonderful husbands many talents, gardening is one that has always made me so happy. Yes, I would like to garden as well, theoretically, but somehow I lose my motivation right around the time the plants need to be taken care of on a daily basis.

Yoshi, on the other hand, seems to enjoy communing with the plants. In the summer, the first thing he does upon waking up is go outside and tend to the garden. Maia often follows him out and together they note the progress the flowers have made overnight. It's a very sweet ritual, and one that I enjoy being a part of, though it's usually after I've had my cup of coffee.

This year, Yoshi is in Japan during the first few days of Spring, so he is missing the crocuses which bring joy to him every year.


So soon after the long winter, they are bringing much joy to me and the children as well!



I think Maia and Tai have inherited Yoshi's penchant for gardening!

We are looking forward to Daddy's safe return on Monday. In the meantime, we will continue to tend the garden.

A year later, and still in love...

It's wordless Wednesday again!

What do you see in this picture?

I have this terrible habit. Though I generally have a positive self-image and try to love myself the way I am, I occasionally cringe when I see certain pictures of myself. When I first see the picture, I think, "Oh no, I look terrible." Inevitably, I will come across the same picture a few years later and think, "Wow, I looked really good back then. Why was I so hard on myself?" I try to remember this when I see pictures of myself that I don't love.

Exhibit A:

When I look at this picture, despite the happy little boy on my shoulders, I cringe a little. You many not notice the lack of make-up, dark circles around my eyes, white hair, and aged appearance, but I certainly do. And yet, I know that in a few years, I will look at this picture and love it. Maybe I will even long to have a young child again. So, today I am practicing living in the moment and embracing life the way it truly is, not always perfect, but beautiful in its own way.

Go Away Winter

It has been so cold the last couple of weeks. Sometimes I think Spring will never come, but today we actually had SUNSHINE. It made me so happy. In the anticipation of Spring arriving, I post these pictures of winter in our neighborhood.

Holy icicle!

They were fusing together!

The view of our street on a snowy morning is so serene.

Our house

Snow-covered trees