Category Archives: Life

Life

T-Ball and Inner Peace

This is what I posted on Facebook over the weekend:

Batter grabs the ball while he’s running to base. Runner hit in the helmet by a flying ball. Thomas runs back to home to drop off his bat politely rather than just dropping it. None of the kids know where to run. First T-ball game is nothing if not entertaining. You never know what’s going to happen.

I wrote a post last year about how I never feel quite as close to being an American mother as I do when I watch Thomas play T-Ball. There’s something uniquely cultural about this sport that draws families together to cheer on their six year old’s as they blindly run from one base to another – or don’t run to base and have to be led there by hand, which happens about 50% of the time during the first game of the season.

This year Thomas is playing for the Giants. I’m a little disappointed that he’s not playing for a team with a more colorful uniform, but I like San Francisco so it’s not all bad.

On second thought, now that I’m looking at those purple uniforms in the background, maybe a whole season of black is not so bad. As you can see, I’m focusing on the important things.

By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing cuter than a bunch of miniature t-ball players on a massive baseball diamond.

Thomas is number 10 this year and, according to him, the best player on the team (no self-esteem issues with my child).

The kid loves to run… after he works out where he’s supposed to be going. Good thing there’s no winners or losers in six-year-old baseball.

The only problem we have this year is that Samuel is suddenly old enough to feel left out. He’s already asked to play T-ball next year. In the meantime, we spend the game hanging out by the fence in his ninja mask and taking breaks every now and then to find a little inner peace. (I promise that I did not set this up).

It occurred to me that next year we’ll have to juggle swimming lessons AND two games of T-Ball each Saturday. I think I’ll be looking for a little inner peace of my own.

The Weekend in Pictures

T-Ball season began with a team photo opp – which I missed because I was doing the grocery shopping with Samuel. Instead I captured a couple of photos of the boy when he got home. He’s playing for the Giants this year.

And then I managed to get a picture of the two boys together. I promise they were happier than they look in this photo. You should also know that Samuel declared it to be pajama day (thank for the hand-me-downs Thomas) and we’re still not sure how he got that big scratch on his head. Something to do with a toy flinging itself at him…

We ate hot crossed buns while sitting out on the front lawn because the sun finally decided to show itself in Portland (Hallelujah!).

And of course a little sidewalk chalk drawing. I believe this may the first time we’ve opened the chalk box this year.

Works of art included a blue ninja and a yellow ninja…

…and an octopus which I don’t have picture of – though it was a welcome break from the ninjas, thanks Thomas.

Easter Sunday morning began with a play room easter egg hunt – which I didn’t manage to get in photos but I’m not sure they would have accurately conveyed Samuel’s level of excitement each time he found an egg, anyway. The Easter Bunny also left a couple of new books and some lego guys – I like that he understands the fleeting enjoyment of chocolate as well as the need to manage sugar intake

In the afternoon, Kei and I spent some time digging a hole in the backyard to prepare for our sure-to-be-beautiful patio, while the boys occupied themselves on their Daddy-built ninja training course. My hands were too dirty to grab any photos of my own hard work so instead I’ll share a couple of took last week when I sent the boys outside on a very rainy weekend to preserve my sanity. This digging session lasted about 10 minutes.

After a while I left Kei outside to continue the digging while I ventured in to finish up some laundry and then cook some delicious Brussels sprouts with Panchetta. I don’t usually post photos of the food I cook, but I couldn’t help myself. Delicious!

After dinner, the boys did this. Whatever “this” is.

So there you have it – a perfectly boring, perfectly sunny weekend in which we actually made progress on a couple of things around the house. Weekends like this don’t come around very often.

Adventures in Hiking, Zumba and Color Blindness

After my incessant whining about snow last week, it seems the Portland weather gods decided to throw us a little love in the form of a couple of sunny weekend days. I could take a moment now to whine about crazy allergies, but I’ll spare you that trauma and, instead share a few favourite photos from a full weekend.

Saturday began with optometrist appointments for the boys. It seems that, although Thomas inherited very few physical traits from his mother, he was lucky enough to receive the X chromosome  from me that carries the deuteranope type of color blindness. Thankfully it will only affect him if he decides to become an electrician or wants to drive a car in Romania. Here’s what Thomas sees.

While Kei was at the optometrist with the boys, I was lucky enough to take a quick Zumba class with my friend LeeAnn. No photos to share from that experience (you’re welcome) but I did learn a few things about myself:

  • Even when a class is fun, 30 minutes will feel like three hours if you’re unfit.
  • I am much more coordinated in 4/4 time than in 3/4 time.
  • The attitude of the Zumba teacher is directly related to how much you will enjoy the class and want to go back for more. My only other Zumba experience involved a middle aged male instructor who counted our steps throughout the class and chose Hava Nagila for his soundtrack (not that I have anything against the song – just doesn’t belong in a Zumba class)
  • On the subject of music, every song has it’s place, and for this one it’s in a Zumba class when everyone’s shaking their booty. (And that’s the ONLY place it belongs in my opinion).

The sun came out on Saturday afternoon, so I sat on the front porch with this…

While the boys did lots of this…

Thomas also had an opportunity to try out the new bike he received for Christmas. One of the things I miss most about Australia is the great weather at Christmas that allows you to ride your new bike immediately. Thomas only had to wait three months…

Is it just me or does Samuel look like a teenager in this next photo? Moving on…

On Sunday morning, Kei and I were treated to a decadent (toy) brunch at the Thomas and Samuel cafe. Hmmm…wooden sushi…delicious!

Here they are deciding on the menu.

After brunch (and major cleanup) we decided to head out for a family hike through Forest Park, during which we saw:

  • About 1000 dogs – with Samuel telling me how much he hates dogs as each one passed by and not for the reasons you might think. He doesn’t like it when they lick him. Sometime being irresistible is a curse.
  • About 1000 joggers
  • A couple of hiking hipsters.
  • A couple of hiking hippies – complete with the lingering odor of an organic smoking substance that we then had to try and explain delicately to our six year old.
  • A man hiking while reading a book at the same time.

And so, during that 2 hour period, all Portland demographics were well and truly represented.

Oh, and I’m not sure what Thomas was doing here but I really like this photo for some reason.

Of course we stopped for a snack along the way before checking out a few birds at the Audubon society.

And then Samuel posed for me in his sunglasses that came courtesy of the optometrist the day before. LOVE this photo – such attitude.

The end.

Well, not really but that’s all the photos I was able to upload at 11pm last night due to the return of Man Men (welcome back – I missed you).

This week is Spring Break, which means very little for our family as we save up our vacation time for a trip to Australia that I’m just a teeny bit excited about. Still, it looks like we might finally have a chance to enjoy daylight saving hours and perhaps some sunshine.

Kidgistics and Bullet Points

I’ve been running around a lot this week moving kids from one place to another (i.e. kidgistics) while Kei works some extended hours. Between messed up work schedules, after hours photo sessions and public school late start days, it’s been a struggle to get into any sort of routine. So I thought I’d blog today in the same way that I’ve been approaching everything this week – in bullet points and random thoughts.

  • Thomas got a perfect score on his second-ever spelling test. So proud.
  • He’s also getting very serious about karate – I think it might have something to do with a current Ninjago obsession. Never underestimate the influence of cartoon Lego characters.
  • I started gathering activities and books for our marathon plane ride to Australia. I know our trip is still three months away but I need to something to keep my mind off Portland’s miserable beginning to Spring.
  • I also started ordering gifts for Samuel’s birthday in May. Again, I’m early but all I can say is 10 straight days of rain, people! It makes you do crazy things.
  • Speaking of crazy, we experienced a 30 minute hailstorm on Sunday.

  • I love the fact that, if I start reading a book to Samuel or Thomas while I’m waiting for them to start school, I will attract at least another 6 or 7 kids who just want to hear someone reading a book. I feel like the pied piper. (told you this was a random list)
  • My three year old corrected my pronunciation of “Banana” this morning. I need to get him to Australia – and quick!
  • Um SPIDERS!!!! (thankfully on the other side of the world but a little too close to my parent’s house to let me feel entirely excited about our trip).
  • The boys indulged me with a photo together on Sunday (this is a rare occurrence). It’s a little out of focus but I love it.

  • Of course I had to take this one first…

  • On the entertainment front
    • Walking Dead finale – lots of blood and gore, but AMAZING! Almost can’t wait until next season.
    • Good thing I have Mad Men starting this weekend to tide me over.
    • Saw Hugo on the weekend – very sweet film. Imagine it would have been amazing in 3D if only we had unlimited babysitter credits that allowed us to see movies in an actual theatre.
    • Speaking of theatres I have my tickets to see the Hunger Games on Friday – So excited!!

And with that brain dump out of the way, I leave you with one more photo from the sky somewhere over the middle of the country. It reminds me of what a blue sky looks like – although I could do without the snow.

Let’s Talk About the Weather

I know, I know – such a booooring topic, but with the curve balls that Portland has been throwing at us lately, it seems to be the conversational topic of choice.

Over the past few days we’ve seen snow, rain, hail, wind and sunshine. I really wish Spring would just decide to arrive early because when I’m looking for excitement, it’s not with the weather forecast.

Add to that the fact that they have had incredible flooding in Australia (my parents sandbagged the house) and devastating tornadoes across much of the US, and it just feels as though someone is playing one big joke to try and keep us on our toes.

Good thing I’m going to Austin on the weekend where the weather will be predictably sunny and warm… oh wait…

I’m suddenly re-thinking the tickets I purchased last night that will take me and the boys to Australia in June, otherwise known as Aussie Winter. I suddenly feel like jumping a plane to Hawaii.

Oh well, at this photos taken during our snow “sprinkling” last week are guaranteed to warm me up. Given you can see the grass through the snow, I don’t think it would be appropriate to call it “snowfall.”

Kei and Thomas managed to gather the little snow they could (along with leaves and dirt) to build a pretty sad snowman – but impressive given what they had to work with.

Samuel passed the time by asking Kei to hit him with snowballs (strange child).

As much as I hate the cold (and complain about it), I admit that it does make for some pretty pictures.

…but then, blue sky makes for pretty pictures as well. Too much to ask?

Today’s Photo of a Little Artist

What a crazy Monday it’s been – one that’s left me very little time to post anything of substance. I’ll just tell you that we are coming off a weekend that included a visit to the Children’s Museum AND the Zoo in the same day, I’m getting ready to travel to Austin for SXSW on Friday for work and I am drowning in the demands of my day job.

With that, I’ll leave you with a couple of totally unrelated, yet totally cute, photos of my little Artist.

And in case you’re wondering if Samuel is now enjoying having his photo taken, here’s another photo taken later that same night. This is more typical of the reaction I get any time I try to point a camera in his direction. “DON’T! TAKE! MY! PICTURE!”

Five Things Friday: More Children’s Books Worth Reading More than Once

A couple of months ago, Samuel decided that, each night, he would like to read a few books to himself before going to sleep. Of course Kei and I read to the kids every night before bed, but this is just one of many ways in which Samuel is trying to assert his three year old independence.

It began with reading in the dark until we told him it wasn’t good for his eyes. So Samuel moved to the other side of the room to read by the glow of his night light. After a while we caught on to this little trick and decided that we really should provide him with a safe way to read that won’t contribute to the genetic disposition he already has for bad eyesight (our kids don’t have the best odds for 20/20 vision).

Finally, we bought him his own reading lamp and, let’s just say, it’s opened up a whole new world – one that has been ending at 9 or 10pm on some painfully long drawn out nights. He’s been cranky and unbearably difficult to get out of bed in the morning, but at least he’s picking up some essential (pre)pre-k reading skills in the meantime.

Not that I can complain too much. I have vivid childhood memories of being told time and time again to turn off my light and go to sleep. Samuel and I are alike in many ways.

But I digress. The primary goal of this post is share five of our favorite children’s books. The ones that are inspiring and entertaining a three year old and a six year old – not to mention their parents.

1. Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

I’ve mentioned this one before but it’s worth repeating. Stuck is an incredibly imaginative book that made Thomas laugh out loud the first time we read it together – and also the second time and the 20th time. I adore Oliver Jeffers and the book’s tag line ” a story about trying to solve a problem by throwing things at it”.

One catch with this book is that it doesn’t seem to be widely available for purchase here in the US. Even Amazon ships from the UK.

2. Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy

Finally, a book about Superheroes who are not affiliated with DC or Marvel. As much as I admire my boys’ dedication to Superman and his friends, I truly appreciate a book that encourages them to use their imagination and transform themselves into superheroes using what’s around them.

3. The Three Questions by Jon J Muth

Based on a story by Leo Tolsty with a very “zen” approach to problem solving. The most interesting thing about this book is how each of the boys can translate it based on their individual levels of maturity.

4. Art and Max by David Wiesner


This book relies mainly on the illustrations to tell the story – and what wonderful illustrations they are. Such a wonderfully creative story for all children, regardless of age.

5. Predator Showdown by Scholastic

It does pain me a little to put this book on the list because I wasn’t exactly thrilled when Kei bought it at the school book fair. But I have to admit that it is interesting and fun to read with Thomas given his current obsession with animals. On each two page spread they pit one predator against another, comparing things like speed, brains and strength and declaring a winner. It’s written in such a way that it has to be read by putting on the voice of a dramatic television announcer “THIS WEEK ON PREDATOR SHOWDOWN.. SHOWDOWN…showdown…” Of course I recommend it particularly for six year old boys.

So there you have it, book recommendations courtesy of the Ishida boys and their parents, guaranteed to keep everyone entertained – provided you have good lighting.

Weekend Adventures and Random Photos

I’m not sure how we managed to have such an insanely busy weekend. It seems that our kids have an incredibly active social life. Here’s a quick rundown and, because I barely picked up my camera at all over the weekend, I’ll intersperse the text with a few completely random photos just because they make me smile.

Friday

  • Kei went out for a drink with a friend.
  • I put the kids to bed and stayed up a lot later than I should have after getting sucked into watching a 20/20 special about Whitney Houston.

Saturday

  • Swimming lesson for Thomas and family swim for the rest of us in the morning.
  • After lunch saw a quick nap for Samuel before Kei took the boys to the Ice Hockey. While they were there, one of the boys dropped his $4 snow cone. While Kei tried to rescue it he managed to knock over his $9 beer. Tragedy all round.
  • I stayed home and tried to clean up part of the house, managing to lose Thomas’ Lego Blue Ninja in the process. We heard about it for the rest of the weekend (it’s still missing).
  • Immediately after the boys returned from the Hockey, we packed them into the car again so they could hang out at Samuel’s school for a few hours for “Parents’ Night Out.”
  • Kei and I had dinner at Simpatica. Very tasty, although not as good as other times we’ve been there. I’m sure my experience was a little dampened by the 70 year old guy sitting next to us who said he was scared by the set menu and then who refused to eat “the green stuff” (Kale). I’m sure there’s a Portlandia episode in there somewhere.
  • Picked up the kids at around 10:30. Samuel was so tired that he practically begged to go to bed.

Sunday

  • Kids and I got out of bed at 6:30am (why won’t they sleep in?).
  • Kei took them bowling with some neighborhood friends for a couple of hours while I did exciting things like Laundry! and Grocery Shopping!
  • Boys came home for lunch and then Thomas played video games while Samuel took a nap.
  • Kei took Thomas to a play date and hit some golf balls while waiting to pick him up.
  • Samuel woke up and seemed a little under the weather so we sat on the couch and watch Babe together – LOVE that movie, although it did require a lot of explanation for a three year old.
  •  Home, dinner, folding laundry late into the night.

Monday (Presidents’ Day)

  • Thomas’s school was closed and Samuel woke up asking for a sick bucket (which he used), so I had both kids at home. Thankfully Kei was able to take a sick day to look after Samuel so I was able to get some work done.
  • Spent the day inside to recover from the weekend while it poured rain outside. Kids played with Lego and superheroes and watched Babe again.
  • Samuel took a too-long nap which kept him up until 10pm.
  • I went to the gym for a class, where I may have come close to passing out a couple of times.
  • Let my heavy eyelids close just after Samuel went to bed at 10pm.

Summary: Busy (long) weekend. Actually grateful to be back at work today. Bring it!

Finding the Words

My blog has been a little light on words lately. Not that I don’t have a lot to say (I ALWAYS have a lot to say), I’m just finding it difficult to put all of my thoughts into one coherent  sentence (or 10). So, to help remedy, I present you with an unashamedly random list of the things that come to mind on the drive to work, in the shower, in my dreams…

  • I’m back on the exercise bandwagon. I’ve been going to the gym 2-3 times a week and am trying to be more active in my day to day life. It’s taken a couple of months but I have finally started feeling it paying off this week. Not that my clothes are any looser, just that I feel more energized.
  • Question posed to Thomas last night: If you could be any food, what would you be? Answer: “The hottest pepper in the world because then no one would want to eat me.” He’s a smart kid.

  • I’ve starting posting more photos to instagram in an effort to capture the everyday. And then I got all crazy and set up a new Tumblr account to act as my instagram photo gallery. I know…nuts!

  • I’ve also been trying to pick up my big camera more often so I can develop as a photographer (pun intended). The dark winter days have made finding inspiration difficult but I am determined to try and take at least one photo a day. I mean, it would be a shame to miss capturing a moment like this.

 

    • We recently upgraded our cable so I have started watching The Daily Show again. Hands down, one of the best “news” shows on TV. The only problem is that it makes me angry about the number of misinformed, stubborn and crazy people in this country I have chosen to call home. Good thing it makes me laugh at the same time. Best quote from the show that summed up my feelings this week: “You’ve confused a war on religion with not always getting everything you want”.
    • I’ve been looking at flights to Australia for a trip we have planned in a couple of months. It’s nice to have a holiday to look forward to, even if it’s still a few months out.
    • I secretly hate myself for liking this Taylor Swift song (I’m not a big fan). I feel better that it’s on the Hunger Games soundtrack (cannot wait for the movie!).
    • Really enjoying my job right now. I think it’s a combination of finding a little more balance between work, family and me (exercise) and the fact that I find myself laughing at least once a day. Oh, and I’m nearly done with a major project that has consumed me since the beginning of the year . Yeah, that may have something to do with it.
    • I’ve been cooking more and Thomas declared dinner the another night to be one of the best ever (it was gourmet meal of chicken stir fry) and said that I am an awesome cook. Now that’s the sort of positive reinforcement I could get used to.

Finally, if you made it to the end, congratulations! As thanks, please enjoy this little piece of daily life that was spotted on the wall at daycare. You’re welcome.

A Big Weekend for Six

I think, if you asked Thomas right now, he’d say being six is great. Take this weekend, for example.

Friday – came home from school with an unexpected report card that shows how great he is doing in both Japanese and English classes. His strengths are Math (which he loves) and speaking Japanese. We’re so proud.

Saturday – Thomas had just jumped in the pool for the beginning of his swimming lesson when he held out his hand to me containing a baby tooth – his first to fall out. I was a little relieved because he already had his big tooth growing up behind. Well, I was relieved after I was able to get past the grossness of being handed a bloody tooth. Earned another mother stripe.

Why does no one tell you that having a child may involve having to find a bag small enough to hold a teeny tiny bloody tooth so that narrowly missed being lost at the bottom of the pool? (thanks for the help, LeeAnn). I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if we’d lost it or, worse, if Thomas had swallowed it – which was apparently a close call. So here’s my tip for mothers of six year olds everywhere – bring a spare little plastic baggie or two wherever you go for the next couple of years.

And, in case you’re wondering, the tooth fairy’s going rate is $1.

Sunday – Just your everyday, ordinary birthday party at the movie theater to see STAR WARS EPISODE 1!!! Thomas tells us it was pretty awesome – particularly the pod racing part.

That’s one big weekend for one small boy. No wonder it was so hard to get him out of bed this morning.