Category: E.

Good-bye Kindergarten!

E's first ride on a school bus
E’s first ride on a school bus (to Farm Country)
Today is E’s last day of kindergarten!  It has been gratifying to see his growth this last year.  Even though E had previously attended preschool, going to kindergarten expanded his world in a major way.  
I’ve experienced few things as simultaneously amusing and heart-wrenching as listening to my firstborn report on the social dynamics of kindergarten as we drive home from school.  Sometimes when I watch him navigate through this larger world he seems so small in comparison.     
E on the first day of kindergarten
E back on the first day of kindergarten

There were lots of special events this last week of school.  On Tuesday, Mimi and I tagged along with E’s class when they walked to a park for a picnic and the next day I helped chaperon the field trip to Farm Country.  
The three kindergarten classes at the school all went together so there were over 75 kids.  I was in charge of a group of 6 (plus Mimi who I brought with me) and wrangling those kids was STRESSFUL!  Because there’s a uniform at E’s school it was difficult to keep track of my group of kids when they were mixed in with 75 other identically-dressed kids running all over the place.  I was sooo relieved when it was time to hand those kids over at the end of the trip 🙂
Kindergarten was wonderful for E but we are excited for summer vacation.  The kids and I are ready to sleep in a bit (no more setting an alarm for 6:15am!) and to have some summer adventures!

Our Halloween

Yes, I’m still here! The months since N’s accident have been a little harder on us than I thought they would and the time has gone by in a bit of a blur.  But I’ve been taking photos and hope to post them soon to get caught up.  

The kids had a great Halloween. I helped out at E’s Kindergarten party by running a photo booth and took pics of all the cute kids in their costumes. 

From Tuesday Night

E: What’s that?
N: It’s my wedding ring. 
E: Where did you get it?
N: Someone who loves me very much gave it to me.
E: Was it me?!
N: No, it was Mom. 
E: What?!!…I didn’t know you had a crush on each other!!!

E then declared that he would marry Mimi because he loves her so much.  N gently pointed out that (European royalty aside) to start your own new family you should marry someone from a different family.  E gave it some more thought and said he would give a wedding ring to either Amelia (girl from church), Inza (Linnie‘s daughter), or Ryanne (one of our babysitters). 

Literally my first time at the rodeo

We have family from Korea in town visiting for the summer and I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of typical “American” things they would enjoy.  Every year our town puts on a rodeo and I thought it doesn’t get much more “American” than that so last night E and I took them.

I haven’t taken a lot of photos with my dSLR lately but I took with me and it was fun to take some photos.   

I think that last photo might be my favorite.

I thought for sure that 5-year-old E would be captivated by the exciting events but he was much more interested in following the rodeo clowns’ (somewhat dirty) banter. What can I say?  The kid loves jokes.

Even though I grew up in Washington state and have lived in Utah for 10+ years I hadn’t seen this side of the American West before in real life. I did feel a bit out of place (our group of Koreans was a little conspicuous) but over all it was interesting and fun.   

The Lehi Roundup continues tonight and tomorrow if you want to check it out. 

How about you–have you ever been to a rodeo before? Would you want to go to one? 

Preschool Grad

E with his awesome (and very patient) preschool teacher

Last week E had his last day of preschool and so our summer has officially begun. E thrives on having places to go but by the time I went to register him for a summer preschool class at our rec center all the spots were taken so it looks like it’s just going to be me and the kiddos all day, every day this summer (gulp!).

The plan is to have some sort of structured learning/craft time most weekdays. I talked it over with E and he is interested in learning about the human body, bugs, and space so I need to get going and figure out a loose curriculum.

How about you? Have any plans for the summer yet?

Out and About: Hill Aerospace Museum

I don’t get to see my brother Steven that often; he has special needs and lives with my parents so when he and my mom visited a few weeks ago it was a treat.

Steven loves airplanes, trains, and trucks so I thought I trip to the Hill Aerospace museum would be right up his alley. We’ve taken the kids before and E always enjoys it. We all had a lot of fun. 

I hadn’t planned it, but once we got there we noticed that E’s red pants matched his Superman jacket  and really completed the look.  So of course we took the opportunity to ham it up a bit 🙂

2012 in review

Happy 2013! I guess it’s part of getting older, but the years are whipping by faster and faster to me now. It makes me grateful that I keep this blog; without it I would be even more puzzled than I already am as to where the time went.

This last year I turned some pens on the lathe and made my first quilt (and my second, third, and fourth).  I learned that I have no natural talent at golf but that there might be some hope for me yet at archery.

On the home front, I finished a mostly-DIY kitchen remodel (that I still need to take pictures of) and painted the kids’ bathroom.  Our big willow tree blew down (lame!) and we hired some lumberjacks to trim our other trees.

We had some fun adventures as a family this last year.  We took the kids to Disneyland, Legoland, the beach, and Arches National Park.  We also went on some memorable outings closer to home, going to the circus, the state fair, and to the top of Squaw Peak where we saw the fall leaves and and watched paragliders take off.  We also introduced E to the joys of bowling.

The kids passed some individual milestones this year.  E started preschool, started to learn to read, and turned five.  Mimi turned one, learned to walk, started chatting up a storm, and got her first haircut.

N and I went on some memorable dates: we saw the Beach Boys in concert and caught some outdoor theatre as well as some screenings at the Sundance Film Festival. We also discovered our local roller derby team and went to a fun bout in an abandoned Food4Less.

Our trip to New York was our biggest adventure together as a couple this year.  We had a few days in the city to play tourist but then Hurricane Sandy hit and we holed up in our hotel room with deli takeout and rode out the storm.  Fortunately we never lost power (or even internet access) so we spent some time catching up on episodes of Doctor Who.  Getting home was a little hairy and sadly we missed Halloween with the kids but I dressed the kids up again and recreated the cuteness. 

Looking back on the year I feel especially grateful for my family and the opportunities we’ve had to learn new things and visit interesting places.

I hope 2013 brings an increase of love and light and interesting things into your life!

For the Christmas Card

I’ve been taking a lot of pictures of the kids lately in order to get some for our Christmas card.  I ended up with some shots I liked but then I had to used Photoshop to remove ketchup from around E’s mouth (I really wished I had just thought to wipe his mouth) and snot from under Mimi’s nose.

I tend to obsess over projects like this and spent entirely too long futzing around with the photos and layout so it was a big relief when I finally sent the cards to the printer last night.  I’m excited to see how they turned out.

Bowling Birthday Party

We’re lucky to have family near by: N’s parents as well as my sister Jan and my cousin Youngshin and their families all live close by. Since E loves bowling we invited everyone to join us at the bowling alley to celebrate his birthday.

I wish I could take credit for the cake but I ripped off the idea from Amalah (1. the design works better in fondant and 2. you should read her blog) and had our favorite vegan bakery make it. 

I could go on and on about the dynamics of E and Mimi’s relationship but that pretty much sums it up right there.