From Mommy:
I know it's been a long time since we've blogged. It's been a crazy past couple of months. April and May have been a blur.
I have been taking an ELL credit course on Saturdays for the past 5 weeks (this weekend is the sixth and last one), while trying to write and implement lesson plans in classrooms and finishing up the school year. I now realize how crazy it is to go to school while I have young kids. Neither one will let me write papers on the computer in time. It has been hectic in the district office as my colleague is retiring at the end of the school year (which is next week) and then I will be the lead ELL resource teacher, but I still have a lot to learn.
At home, we have been battling illnesses the past couple of months. Chase brought home a really bad cough from preschool, and of course we all caught it. Zack was feverish all last week, and after a weekend of perfecting his high-pitched scream and very little sleep, I finally took him to the doctor. Turns out, he has an ear infection and bronchiolitis (bad cough), so now he has two different medications to take for the next 10 days.
I'm hoping we'll all be better soon, as I am taking the boys to Sacramento during Memorial Day weekend (and staying for a little over a week). Tragedy hit our family last month as my stepfather unexpectedly passed away on the eve of Easter. The boys managed to have a great Easter egg hunt with their cousins, Jake, Jaslynn, and Jax, who were visiting from Seattle. But our hearts and thoughts have definitely been with my mom in Sacramento. It was especially shocking since we just saw Gary officiate my brother Jason's wedding in the beginning of March. His laughter, goofy personality, and craftiness (from the "Willy the Whale" wooden pull toy for Chase's 1st birthday to the cork boards he made for Jay and Shelly's wedding) will surely be missed. The boys and I hope to spend a lot of time with GlamMa this year (and we secretly hope she retires so that she can visit us more here in Hawai'i). Chris will be in his best friend's wedding Memorial Day weekend, and his friend will be staying at the house a couple of weeks, so he will not be joining the family in Gary's Celebration of Life.
On a positive note, Chase is still his energetic, talkative self. He constantly amazes us with his vocabulary. His preschool year just ended, so he is spending this week with Nana and Pop going to the Bishop Museum to see the dinosaurs, the zoo, and playing in the water and sandbox. He will start the summer program next week, and then in July he will be home with me. He will be the big man on campus next year as most of his classmates are going to Kindergarten in the fall, but he is still too young to start and has to wait another year. Zack loves going to his sitters, Auntie Oanh and Nana. At 7 months, he is still waiting for his two teeth to come in, but he loves eating bananas, pears, applesauce, poi, sweet potato, and carrots. He especially loves drinking water from anyone's cup and playing with our Nalgene bottles. He loves being carried (and is spoiled because most people do carry him) so he's been lazy to roll over or crawl. He sits up on his own and actually prefers to stand, so we're beginning to wonder if he'll just skip crawling. When Zack is not sick, he still loves to babble, blow bubbles, and laugh at big brother Chase. Chris has been awesome daddy the past couple of months as he has taken the boys to birthday parties, Farmer's Market, grocery shopping, and the like, while I have been working and attending my class.
After we get back from California, in June, I am planning on working at district office and taking GLAD training. We hope to get back to California in July before school starts at the end of July, but so far the ticket prices are really high. Not sure when painting the house and our raingutters (especially since we've had a lot of crazy thunderstorms and rain recently) are going to get done (not to mention the cleaning of the house either). I'm also hoping to get back to Bikram yoga, as the past couple of months have been unsuccessful with managing two kids, illnesses, and my classes and schoolwork. Hope to get back into it as my membership is just wasting away and I need to get back into it for my body, mind, and spirit needs it!
1 year old Chase playing with Willy the Whale, a wooden pull-toy handmade by Grandpa Gary.
At Mom and Gary's wedding in 2008
Frank fondling Gary's pumpkins
Gary loved sipping his wine!
Hanging out with Chase at Ala Moana Beach in 2008
Officiating Jay and Shelly's wedding in March 2011 in Livermore, CA
Reading magazines with 1 year old Chase in Hawai'i
After a hard day's work, Grandpa Gary visits with Chase
Dancing to Frank Sinatra
With the hill tribe girls in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Gary wearing his favorite hat from the trip in 2005.
