This past week

How come my days go by so fast lately? twice a week baseball practice during weekday evening (start at either 6 or 7p.m). After an hour practice, rushed home for shower and bedtime... exhuasted afterwards...

 Even though Nori has always work late every night, but he always make time to come to Yoshi's baseball practice/game whenever he can. Then he goes back to office to finish up the work. Thank you Otousan for coming, it meant a WHOLE world to little Yoshi having you there. You are each other's biggest supporter.

 Saturday is no longer a "sleep in" weekend, we were always rushing out the door to get to school, take about 40 mins driving. I found myself trying to catch my breath before wearing the seat belt in the car, after a morning of preparing breakfast, lunchbox, getting dressed..... I am lucky wearing a matching pair of shoes during all these  morning exercise...

Today we had visitation day at school. We were able to watch the class for a little while. This is only the third class since school term began in April. Yoshi enjoys the class a lot.

 They are practicing the writing skills in preparing for the Japanese writing....

 After a long day, we all need a treat to ourselves. It's also rare for the kids to have icecream cones from a store, they were super happy.... Kiharu wouldn't stop laughing from the moment she got the big chocolate scoop...

Family portrait

With Kiharu, I haven't really done any music / art/ exercise class with her, nothing, unlike when Yoshi was little.  The little time we have every morning alone, are all being spent on breakfast, grocery or housework. It's always my hope to do something with her (alone) outside the house, but I tend to find different excuse or never put that as priority. 

Last Saturday, when I was in a craft store with her (while Yoshi was at Japanese school & Nori was at golf), a staff came up to me and asked if we want to attend a craft class for $2. I thought that might be a good chance, and Kiharu wanted to go. It was an early morning, no one else was there in the class. It was very simple project, but perfect for Kiharu. Afterall, it wasn't really about the project, but more of the one on one time we got to spend with each other. I have always known she is very ready for school. I'm excited for her this coming September, when she will be attending preschool.... wonder what kind of a student will she be?!  

 "A tree"

 On the same day, while waiting for lunch in the restaurant, Kiharu drew our family's faces for the first time, I mean with eyes, nose & mouth.... and the most interesting thing, it's at the same time when Yoshi did his first "human/family faces" at 3 yrs & 3 months old --- click HERE to see.

"Mama"

 "Otousan"

 "Yoshi"

 Last Thursday & Friday, Nori's best friend from Japan- Junichi-san  was here visiting us. They have known each other for 30+ years. It's really great to see them chatting, drinking beer, golfing & playing with kids together.  (Thanks for coming to see us) 



Baseball

Last spring, Yoshi did the t-ball. He really had a great time. Too bad it's only a seasonal sports. So we had to wait for a year to do it again. This time, he's playing baseball. 

Yoshi had tried soccer before, but he wasn't that into it. Though he was little back then, but he's' more curious with the kids rather than the ball itself. And he's not a super competitive kid, so group type of sports, I think it's harder on him. Golf, baseball.... those seems to allow him to take his own pace. He really enjoys a lot... and for Nori, he enjoys sharing the bonding time together. Even he's very busy at work, but he tries to come to all his baseball practice/games, twice a week. That meant a lot to Yoshi (& us)

(Last week, the baseball teams have group/individual photos, it's really fun for Yoshi to participate) 

 Yoshi's baseball time = Kiharu's SNACK time.

Happy birthday Uncle Henry

Counting

Kiharu is starting to speak more Japanese and even few English words. Last night, she said a Japanese word, I asked her what it meant, she even translated that into Cantonese for me. She sure knows me and Nori speak different languages.

When Yoshi was 3, I used to do a lot of learning activities with him. But I didn't do much with Kiharu. This morning, we did some counting activities. I asked, "What's the number 1 in Otousan's language (Japanese)?"  "ichi". Then, she asked :"What about Yoshi? What does Yoshi speak?"...... good question. Mama speaks Cantonese; Nori speaks Japanese; and Yoshi........

Here is video of Kiharu counting:

Road trip

Last Thursday night, we drove 4 hrs to Detroit, to pick up Yoshi's Japanese passport on Friday. It was a very quick trip. Now that the kids are older, it's a bit more easy to travel, even staying in the hotel. When we got into the hotel room, Kiharu said "the toilet here is same as our house.....", good observation. ^_^

This is the GM tower, right across from the Canadian border, we could swim across and visit friends up in Toronto perhaps...

Yoshi kept saying "I see number 4 over there"..... "Where?!?!?! I kept looking for a sign or something"... Then Nori pointed out... look at the bridge, can u see number 4 shape?! (good imagination..)

 We don't have any TV screen in the car, which I'm sure my kids wish to have... all we have is Great music (radio... not Disney) and great view... and perhaps great snacks too.. ^_^

Spring Break at Smoky Mountain National Park

Last Friday, we went down to Smoky Mountain with 2 other familes, it was a lot of fun. Though this was our 5th trip down there, but we always enjoy our stay at the cabin. It's the kids' first time, so they were really excited to stay in cabin, sleeping in bunk beds together, BBQ, playing with air hockey table....  The cabin had 3 floors, so the kids were running all over the house.

(Thank you Enokida & Nagano family for the wonderful trip together....)