Category Archives: Family

Way Too Much Left Over Candy

I am incredibly grateful that our neighbors ran short and took a little candy off our hands, otherwise I’d be eating candy for the next two months instead of just the one.

I’m also grateful that my annual costume stress is a thing of the past thanks to my decision to wear the very same witch costume every year starting now. You can’t go wrong with an all-black outfit and a fancy hat.

As we close on October 2010, an official Happy Halloween from The Ishidas. Here’s to one more year of hyperactive kids and sugar comas that (hopefully) last all night.

(10 points if you guess Kei’s costume. Hint: It has an Aussie connection).

Thomas took his role as Clone Trouper very seriously.

A Samuel was just as committed to his “cheese” face.

Five.

There was a feeling of coming full circle when we found ourselves returning to the place where it all began today. Well, the doctor’s office right next to the hospital where it all began anyway. I can’t believe it was five years ago today that we first laid eyes on our teeny tiny little 6lb 8oz baby. And it seemed fitting that five years after he first gave us a scare with his dramatic entrance into the world, Thomas would scare us again by falling out of a tree. As a side note, on Saturday night at the emergency room Kei asked Thomas how it happened. With tears in his eyes, Thomas looked at Kei and said “It was because you weren’t watching me.” Now that’s a guilt trip. Here’s the boy in his new black plaster cast. He chose the color himself although of course I fully support anything that shows less dirt. As Thomas’ turns five, it’s a good time to reflect on a few things that have changed – and some that have stayed the same – over the past year:

  • Star Wars went from casual interest to full blown obsession. Star Wars lego is taking over the house and the Wii game is a regular opportunity for father/son bonding.

  • Brothers became friends – and then hated each other – and then became friends again (on a daily basis).
  • Thomas was in his first wedding and almost walked down the aisle on his own.
  • A lot of trees were climbed – some adventures more successful than others, of course.

  • We all learned how to sing “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in Japanese, although only Thomas knows every word.
  • The cobwebs finally came off the skuut. (Razor scooter still sits in the shed).

  • We have apparently outgrown cutesy clothing (at least that’s what I’m told).
  • We started to see a little attitude.

  • Although I’m pretty sure I know where is comes from.

  • Favorite foods are Rice, Natto, Nori, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit snacks and chicken tenders (the last one is influenced by cousin Cameron).
  • Favorite things to watch have changed through the year but stand outs are Sid The Science Kid, Dinosaur Train and anything related to Star Wars that is NOT the movie. I am sticking to my guns on that last point, although parodies by Weird Al and Dancing Chewbacca’s on YouTube are OK.
  • We spent a number of Saturdays playing Soccer AND Baseball (with lots of running)

  • George is still his very best friend which proves that there’s still a baby in there – and I am holding on for dear life.

Happy birthday to our littlest Jedi. May the force be with you.

Saturday Captions

“Don’t. Take. My. Picture!”

“See? Sometimes we do play well together…”

“And then the moment passes.”

“OK – you’ve got 5 seconds and then I want to see the picture on your camera and we’re not all going to look at once so you’d better get used to it.”

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming: A Nike Adventure

So the person who said that summer was a slow time was crazy – or they didn’t have my job. Either way, it seems my blog is suffering. I have been meaning to post more pictures from our family visit for… well… a month. I guess life got in the way. When’s my next vacation? The story of their visit continues…

So what do you do when you have two teenage boys, and one almost teenage boy, come to visit you in Portland? You call on a friend who works at the biggest sporting gear manufacturer in town and ask them for a tour of the campus of course! (thanks Corey)

The afternoon began with a visit to the Nike employee store. I have no pictures but all you really need to know is that we spent a lot of money. We ALWAYS spend a lot of money when we visit the Nike employee store which is why we visit only a couple of times a year, and why we are grateful that it is just far enough away from our house to be a teeny bit inconvenient to visit on weekends. I’m sure we’d be broke otherwise.

The Nike campus is just like one big sports museum – especially on Friday afternoons in summer when the entire working population seems to be off playing golf. Each building is designed to pay homage to a particular sport. Some I knew well (Tennis; Golf), others I just had to browse the artifacts and pretend that I understood (Soccer? Anything ending in “ball”?). Nevertheless, it was all very interesting and the entire time I found myself thinking about how much longer the tour would have been had my father been there to read each and every word on the displays. Maybe we’ll take him on a tour next time he comes to visit. I’ll bring a book to read.

Here are a few photographs from our visit. The lighting was bad thanks to some crappy Portland weather (yes, in July!), but I managed to capture some great moments of our extended family enjoying all that sports memorabilia has to offer.

I couldn’t resist the reflection on this one.

Walking in to the first building (I love having extra hands to push strollers while I take photos).

The world cup was in full swing and they had a display of the Aussie uniform. I have no idea who this guy is but he’s Australian so I took a photo. I cling to anything – especially now that my four year old has started making fun of my accent. It helps me maintain a little national pride.

That’s Corey, our friend and tour guide, showing us where Nike is on the big ball-map-thingy. My kids were too scared to go near it but a ball despite the fact that a big ball floating in water is pretty cool. I want one for our backyard.

Two of the three nephews and one child. I am also grateful for almost-eighteen-year-old-boys who like to keep four year olds entertained. Seriously. I almost wish I had one of my own.

This is Tiger Woods. I know that because I read the sign.

Another thing we should have in the backyard – an art installation consisting of many spinnable bicycle tires. It could keep a toddler entertained for hours.

The artist in me found this to be very impressive – a baseball player made entirely out of recycled materials including bottle caps and old baseball bats and balls.

The next two photos make me laugh. Two brothers in perfect synch.

We also enjoyed a few sculptures around the beautiful campus. Between the art, the lake and the amazing exercise facilities, it almost made me want to quit my current job and camp out until Nike gave me one. I’m buying a tent.

Finally, we ended up at the John McEnroe building – something I can relate to thanks to a childhood living across the street from a tennis court and a brief season in the top girls’ tennis team at our club. It was brief shining moment in my otherwise insignificant personal sporting history. Forgive me if I dwell on it a little.

Our tour ended after about two (very rainy and fun) hours, and I can now say that, after 7 years of living in this city, I have seen the Nike campus. One more thing marked off my list alongside that of planning a successful outing that would appeal to three teenage boys, their parents and their (very) small cousins. Oh, and Kei enjoyed it too. A great day.

The Up Side

Every day lately seems to be a struggle with Samuel. Independent spirit is a gentle way to describe him. “I. Do. It. Myself!!” is on repeat. He becomes frustrated and angry when I try to brush his teeth, put the lid on his sippy cup, help him put on his pants, etc. etc. and I don’t even want to talk about what happens when his blood sugar drops a little below normal.

He likes to torment his brother, hit (me and others – something we’re working on) and throw tear-filled tantrums.

But he also tells me he loves me about 10 times a day (often for no reason at all), can’t leave me without a big wet kiss and a cuddle, breaks out into an enormous grin without too much prompting, says sorry easily (especially when he thinks he’s going to be put in time out) and is constantly trying to make me laugh.

I know he knows that all of this makes me more tolerant of his bad behaviour, but I just can’t help myself. The kid is a charmer and he’s adorable.

I guess you could say he has me wrapped around his little finger.

Friday Flashback

Nearly three years ago I traveled with a teeny tiny little boy to Australia and took this photo. He was not quite two years old, an only child and kindly waiting until after we returned home to hit the dreaded terrible two’s (actually, he waited almost until he turned three to hit that milestone – his brother, however…).

This morning that same boy declared to me that “My brain is the Policeman of my body. If I feel like I want to hit, then my brain tells my body not to do it and my lungs put my body in jail”. It’s crazy how much change can occur in just three short years.

Playing

This week’s I ♥ Faces challenge is all about play – not something we are short on in our house. I didn’t fully appreciate how powerful the concept of play is to a child until I gave birth to my own. Thomas can actually get very upset when he doesn’t feel as though he has a chance to play – although admittedly his distress is strongest when this realization happens to coincide with bedtime.

This week’s photo was taken on our recent group family trip to Netarts on the Oregon Coast. It’s always wonderful (and a little frightening) to watch the boys interact with other children their own age – especially children that they don’t see on a regular basis. It’s fascinating to see the different personalities shine through as you observe them playing together (or alone, as Thomas likes to do on occasion), watching them resolve conflicts (sometimes with parental involvement) and just generally enjoy each others company in a completely neutral location, rather than at someone’s house.

I was reviewing photos of our trip when we returned home and, when Samuel saw this one he was horrified and exclaimed “Oh No!”. How dare that other child touch his face! I adore the colours in this photo and the way Samuel is looking directly at the camera as if to say, calmly, “Mum, why is he doing this to me?”

Believe it or not, Summer is almost here

So the weather may not exactly scream Summer in Portland right now, but school will still be closing next week. Thomas’ last day of his first year of pre-school is next Tuesday and I am in a little bit of shock over how quickly it’s come, but how much we’ve progressed in such a short time.

Last September was tough – lots of crying and “mummy, I don’t want to stay heeeere….”, but we persevered. This morning as I drove Thomas to school as he talked to me about how much he loved going to school, sang songs to me in Japanese and talked excitedly about how he was going to play Star Wars with his best friend who he insists on referring to by his (very long) full name. He even walked into the classroom by himself without needing me to stand beside him as he answered the question of the day (sort of like a secret password). Thankfully he came running out of the room as I walked away because he’d forgotten to give me a hug. Glad to know he still needs a hug from Mummy.

Thanks to a September birthday, Thomas will be spending another year in pre-school and I am grateful for the extra year of socializing and playing and napping and snacking before the really serious work begins.

As a a farewell to the school year, I share a few of my recent P365 photos taken in the halls of the school that Thomas has come to love.

We catch the elevator every day and, of course, Thomas insists on pressing the buttons. I realize that walking down a flight of stairs would be less lazy but, honestly, this saves us precious time as we turn up late every single day. It’s something we’ll work on next year.

The aforementioned stairs in what is one of the oldest school buildings in our city.

And of course the boy who is growing up way too quickly. It’s a good thing he’s staying in pre-school for one more year. I don’t think I am emotionally ready for a kindergartener.

11 years.

Eleven years ago, on a cold day on MT Dandenong in Victoria, Australia, I married this man.

It’s crazy to think that it all happened that long ago – in many ways it feels like the blink of an eye. But then I think back on all we have achieved together and it seems incomprehensible that we did it in such a short time. After we made it through that first (very rocky) year, it seemed there was nothing stopping us. We bought an apartment in Australia and lived there for a few years, then moved to Hawaii for a few months, drove across the United States and back again, settled in Portland (where we knew no one but each other), found jobs, bought a house (after selling the apartment in Australia), had two adorable babies and, in the midst of it all, found time to travel back to Australia numerous times, all while balancing a full time job each, daycare/school schedules and everything else that life throws at us.

Sometimes it’s hard – it’s always busy – but I really don’t think I would be where I am if I didn’t have the most wonderful partner in the world. And I’m happy with where we are, with what we’ve achieved, with the little people we’ve created and the parents we are striving to be. I think we balance each other well and keep each other sane (most of the time). We’re partners in life and, above all, we love each other (well, I love him. Kei may have to write his own blog post to confirm).

Happy anniversary honey. I couldn’t imagine having spent these past eleven years with anyone else and I look forward to SO many more. Mwah!