Logan over the last 3 months

Wow - I have gotten lazy on blogging.  Poor Logan.  So, what's up with our little boy.

First, he is obsessed with the baby.  He loves to rub my belly all the time.  He always wants to "talk" to the baby, which mostly consists of pulling up my shirt and then rubbing my belly, sometimes accompanied by saying "It's okay, baby, it's okay".  He talks about the baby a lot and will pretend to put the baby asleep.  He has started to ask if the baby is coming in 2 minutes (which is his general expression for time).  Hopefully, he will like the baby after it is born as well as he does now!

Logan has been extremely attached to me lately.  He doesn't want to go anywhere without me, though if Katsu is there and I have to go out in the evening, he is usually okay with it.  He ends up in our bed every single night - half the time before we even go to sleep!  He won't go to nursery any more.  He usually falls asleep in sacrament meeting and then wakes up right when it's about over (well, technically he falls asleep in the car ride over).  I hold him the entire time, which is pretty exhausting/hot this late in pregnancy, but it is much easier only having two boys to deal with instead of three.  He usually is pretty groggy when he wakes up from a nap and it takes him about 30 mins to really wake up.  But this Sunday, he opened his eyes, looked right at me, and said "I not go to nursery".  He will wake up on Sunday morning and say he is going to Relief Society with me.  Occasionally, Katsu will try to get him to go to nursery but he just screams.  I don't think it's worth pushing it, but I won't reward him for not going to class, so he has absolutely nothing to do - no books, no toys, nothing.  But he will sit quietly and still for pretty much the whole 2nd half of church - he must really not want to go to nursery!

Speaking of naps, Logan still takes them!  Yay!  My longest napper yet.  I lay down on my bed with him every afternoon around 1 and he will sleep for an hour and a half or so.  Sometimes he is pretty resistant, but lately he has asked to take his nap and is ready to sleep.  Hopefully, this continues for a while.  If we have been swimming in the morning, sometimes he sleeps a long time which is really nice!  He sleeps at night from about 8 or 8:30 till 6:30 am usually.

Logan finished up his Friday morning preschool class.  He liked it mostly to the end, but the last month Katsu was out of town to Japan and I was not working, so I would drop him off and he did not like that at all.  I don't know if it's because he knows that I am not working if I drop him off or if it is because I don't have M&Ms ... hard to say.  He asks every now and then if he has preschool and I am hoping he will like his class in the fall.  He will be going 3 morning a week - mostly because I really need him in class on Fridays when I will be teaching, and it works out since I teach MWF as well.  He is definitely excited about the playground they have just for the 2 year olds.

Logan talks really really well now and in complete sentences.  Occasionally I can't understand what he is  saying, but usually just when I don't quite know the context of what he is talking about or it's something very unexpected.  He is always saying funny things - this is one of my favorite ages I think, because you finally get to know what they are thinking!  He is definitely on track for language development.

Logan has a long attention span and is also very good at playing by himself.  He will play by himself for quite a long time.  It's cute to watch his make all the little characters talk to each other and play.  He likes to play army (mostly because the boys do) and make guns with Trio blocks, but he also really likes to race cars down race tracks and build big train tracks and race trains along them.  He also very much likes to read books - he likes to read Arthur books (not sure why - they are pretty grown up for him) and Clifford and Thomas and Curious George.  But pretty much anything.  He really loves going to the library and storytime, though I'm not sure how much he actually likes storytime when we are there.  He is pretty clingy and doesn't want to participate much.  But he loves to go to the library - probably because we went so much with the preschool being right next to the library.

Logan loves to play outside.  He likes to ride on his tricycle, but usually still doesn't pedal, but does it with his feet.  I think he can coordinate pedaling now or at least is starting to, but it's a lot more work than scooting with his feet.  He wants to learn to ride a bike, but I don't think he is really ready.  He really likes to draw with sidewalk chalk - mostly monsters and things like that.  He loves to play in the sand and on the playground.  He likes going to the pool.  I stick him in a lifejacket and a ring and he is pretty much good to go, though he doesn't have the greatest mobility.  But I usually try to take a little time without anything on so he can practice swimming.  He still doesn't really have the whole holding your breath thing down, so we can only do so much but he likes to sit on the steps and retrieve rings or to do Superman (on his tummy, arms out, legs kicking).  He thinks I'm crazy when I try to get him to back float while I hold him.

Logan loves to go to the beach.  He asks to go to the ocean pretty regularly, but we've only been once this season so far, but he loved it.  When he got tired, he came over and sat on his chair and just feel asleep, so he will even take naps on the beach.  He likes to get in the water if one of us is there and he also likes to build sand castles and just enjoy the water.  He loves the aquarium, too.

Logan throws fits, but I don't think they are too bad.  I mostly ignore them and I think they are pretty mild for his age.  He will scream or say "no no no" for like 10 minutes or so, but then he'll eventually get over it.  He is pretty good at being distracted and to some extent negotiating with him.

We had a pretty failed attempt at potty training.  I waited till preschool was done and we spent a week trying, but Logan did not have one success on the potty and I decided we might as well wait.  We might try again after the baby is born.  I am pretty sure he doesn't need to be potty trained for his preschool class, so I guess there is no reason to sweat it, though I am pretty tired of changing his diapers.  Sometimes he'll tell me to change him, but often he will hide and I will have to find him and figure it out.

Logan went to the dentist.  He allowed them to clean his teeth and put on fluoride, but he was pretty unhappy about it and kept closing his mouth and almost biting the hygienist.  Afterwards, I kept telling him what a good job he did, so he will be encouraged and do better next time.  But he always said, "No, I cried".  I guess there is no fooling that boy - but I hope he doesn't feel bad that he cried - it's pretty age typical for going to the dentist.

Logan still is a big boy and still loves to eat.  I moved him up to 3T clothes yesterday, at least in shirts, because all the 2T is getting too small.  He will eat all the time if I let him.  He is pretty good about getting what he wants out of the fridge or pantry and bringing to me to open or cut or whatever.  He is also good about cleaning up his things and putting them where it goes if we ask.  He usually throws away his trash unprompted.  He also will say please and thank you unprompted most of the time.  He generally is pretty helpful.

Logan loves to go places and is always asking to go places, especially the ocean.

Logan is basically a happy boy.  He wakes up with a big smile on his face and is generally pretty happy and pretty easy to get along with.  He throws some fits and makes some messes and sometimes drives me crazy, but he is pretty happy and easy to get along with.

Fun Things In April:

- General Conference - the boys probably paid attention to all of one session but they still really enjoy this tradition.  Logan liked the special snacks but was otherwise pretty oblivious
- Soccer & Tball - watching lots of games.
- PIRATE FEST.  We went to a soccer game and then went to pirate fest.  We bought some tickets for bouncy houses, but didn't have time to do everything, so after another soccer game and some Sonic (with free coupons from Pirate Fest), we went back to Pirate Fest.  It was so fun - all the bouncy houses and the fun carnival games, and we watched a BMX bike show and I feel like we ran into everyone we know.  Greenville is really a small town in some ways.  The boys can't wait to go back next year.  Logan couldn't do all the bouncy houses because he was too small, but he enjoyed what he could go on.
- Our traditional Easter activities.  We did a little more low key this year.  The boys' favorite for Palm Sunday was watching the Skit Guys skit on Palm Sunday on You Tube.  They thought it was the most hilarious thing ever!  We also had all our traditional food (passover dinner with real lamb this time, our Jesus dinner with traditional foods, hot cross buns, resurrection rolls, and the traditional ham dinner).  Andrew wanted to have EVERY single food on the list for our Jesus dinner, but it wasn't quite possible.  We also tried a symbolic dinner one evening while reading through a couple chapters in Mark where each food was symbolic of something in the story.  The kids really enjoyed it so we will have to do it again!
- Spring Break started on Good Friday, so Katsu took the day off and we went to the zoo - it's about 2.5 hours away, but the drive really didn't seem that bad.  Andrew and Logan LOVED it!  Andrew was a little sad we missed one of the animals, but it was such a long walk around the zoo (I think they had like 5 miles of walking within the zoo).  We brought a lunch and had it half way and thankfully there was lots of places to play for the kids near the end, too.  It was a nice zoo in a woody setting.  We all really enjoyed it.  I think Seth wasn't feeling very well - he started complaining as soon as we got there.  He got sick over spring break and we ended up staying most of the week at home.  Logan still keeps asking to go back to the zoo.  We will probably try another one in Virginia in the fall when it's cooler.
- Easter - we had two egg hunts.  One at church on Saturday (I was so glad because the boys are so sad that most of the church or community egg hunts here are on Sunday right during church).  The boys got tons of eggs.  Then, we had an egg hunt at home on Sunday morning.  It was a lot of fun - if the weather was better, we might have had it outside, but it was a pretty wet and rainy weekend.
- Gardening - we spent a lot of time in April getting our garden ready.  The boys are always excited when new things grow - to watch the daffodils and tulips pop out or new strawberries to start growing.  Logan loves to pick up strawberries or pull out radishes - we just has to make sure he is harvesting things that are actually ready.
- Spring Break - we all ended up getting sick with colds, so it was a pretty boring spring break.  We were going to go out and do things, but unfortunately, we mostly stayed home and watched way too many  movies.  Oh, well.  Next year, we'll do fun things!
- Family Fun Day - after the last soccer games, Katsu and the boys went to the ECU family fun day at a big recreational facility they have north of the city.  The boys had a blast - I won't get all the details right, but they played games, bounced in bouncy houses, and went canoeing and got quite wet.  They had lots of yummy snacks, too.  A great way to end the soccer season.

Fun Things in May
- Jarvis Fun Day  - after going to Seth's T-ball practice, we went over to Jarvis (where Seth & Logan go to preschool) for their family fun day.  Wow - it was really a lot of fun.  It was pretty hot, but we still had loads of fun.  We all got some hot dogs and popcorn for lunch.  Then, the boys had snow cones and cotton candy for snacks.  They played all the games and got tickets.  Much to Katsu's chagrin, no one was convinced to pool their tickets to get a full size basketball.  They, the boys played in bouncy houses - I think they had 4 in the church's parking lot!  And it was all free!  They even got to see a firetruck.  It was really fun and boy were we worn out afterwards.
- Children's Day - to celebrate Japanese children's day, we put out our special wind socks and then we went out for Japanese food for dinner.  The boys LOVED it and have been very motivated to use their chopsticks to eat even more at home.
- Birthday Party for Seth and Andrew - Logan slept through half of it, but enjoyed running around when he finally woke up.
- Swimming
- Fossil Festival - The weekend Katsu got home, we drove an hour to Aurora to see the Fossil Museum and just in time for the Fossil Festival.  We saw the parade and then went into the museum for a quick look before crossing the street and digging in their big fossil pit.  The boys found tons of fossilized sea shells and also about 17 fossil shark teeth.  They loved it.  We went and saw a few of the tents on the way back and then drove home to make it in time to the birthday parties.
- Memorial Day - we went to the pool with friends and stayed a LONG time.  Then, we went to a party at Katsu's coworkers.  The boys went to the park there and also played in water and ate tons of food.
- Botanical Gardens - Logan went and looked at these with me after we dropped off some soil samples.  He was very interested in the little fairy houses.

Fun Things In June:

• River Park North - we went and saw the little nature center there.  The boys enjoyed it.
• Lots of pool visits
• Vacation Bible School - the older boys went to vacation bible school and Logan enjoyed getting lots of time with me to run errands and get ready for baby.
• Picking blueberries - They all went into Logan's mouth by the end, but he loved picking them and loved eating them afterwards.
• Bird sanctuary - he was excited by the playground and running around to see all the birds.   There was a little fossil dig there that the boys loved and found some more shark teeth.
• Beach - Logan always loves the beach
• Aquarium - Logan loved it.  They had a dinosaur exhibit with moving (and one water-squirting) dinosaurs scattered around the aquarium, mostly outside.  In addition to all the tanks inside, we got to see some water birds and crabs in the wild outside.  The boys also loved touching the sting rays and the crabs inside.
• Movies - we have been going each week to the dollar movie at the theater.  Logan really liked the pirate movie we saw the first week, but was not as interested in Despicable Me 2 that we saw this week.  He will sit still and be quiet for pretty much the whole movie, which is awesome.

Seth is 5 years old!

Today is Seth's birthday and I can't believe that he is 5 years old already - it doesn't feel like it's been that long or he could possibly be that old.  We planned a fun weekend (since he already had his party, we didn't want him to feel left out).  We went blueberry picking and to the bird sanctuary on Saturday and then out for milkshakes.  On Monday, Katsu took the day off of work and we went to the beach and the aquarium and out to Olive Garden for dinner - where they sang to him.  Today, we mostly did things that Seth enjoys - he played Angry Birds on Katsu's tablet this morning.  Then, we went to the $1 and saw Pirates - a movie made by the creators of Wallace and Grommit.  It has been a really long time since we went to the movies, so that was a special treat.  Then, we bought stuff for his birthday cake and dinner and the boys played video games (Lego Star Wars) while Logan took a nap.  Then, we went to the library and got a ton of books.  We had his favorite dinner - Pasta alfredo and then cake (strawberry with chocolate frosting and blueberries on top ... it was his choice) and ice cream and then opened presents.  He got some more circuit pieces from me for his snap circuits (he is very excited about this) and then a game from Katsu that helps you learn to write your Japanese characters and then Spiderman roller skates from Grandma and Grandpa.  He had to try out the skates and the game and then it was time for bed.  A great birthday!

Not much new with Seth.  Still loves to play games - Uno and Sorry are his favorites.  He loves to look through Japanese comics, though he is starting to read himself (or to Logan) easy readers as well.  He really is reading quite well.  He enjoys any kind of screentime.  He loves to go to the pool.  He loves to do anything athletic - sports, running around, scooter, trying to ride his bike, etc.  He also likes to play army with Andrew and is starting to enjoy playing with Logan as well.

Seth is super motivated.  He wakes up early (like probably around 6 am) and gets himself dressed and brushes his teeth.  His clothes are still often backwards, but he always dresses himself.  He likes to watch Wild Krats on TV (a show about nature) and it comes on at 7:30 but he is really supposed to do his work in the summer before doing screentime.  So, he will do his math and handwriting workbook by himself, often while we are still asleep.  And then he will pick out a couple easy reader books to read with me when I wake up.  He is so self-motivated.

Seth has also been learning some around the kitchen, when I am motivated.  He has learned to make grilled cheese sandwiches and scrambled eggs and did a pretty good job.

Fun Things So Far In June:

• River Park North - we went and saw the little nature center there.  The boys enjoyed it.
• Lots of pool visits
• Last Tball game - Katsu was out of town, so I took him.  Seth got a real out (maybe the only one of the season?) and they had cupcakes to celebrate at the end.
• Seth sang for Father's Day - Katsu was out of town, though.
• Kindergarten assessment - Seth read the sight words so quickly they couldn't even check them off.  He is very ready for school.
• Vacation Bible School - the boys were a little reluctant to go but they had fun.  Seth was lucky that his preschool teacher was also his teacher for VBS.  They learned the songs well and sang to us the last day.  They also were excited to donate some money to the water fund.
• Visiting the dentist - no cavities!
• Picking blueberries - Seth picked so many and really had a great time!
• Bird sanctuary - the drive was a little too long for Seth but he was excited by the playground and running around to see all the birds.   There was a little fossil dig there that the boys loved and found some more shark teeth.
• Beach - Seth loved learning to use his boogie board and making lots of sand castles.  We even saw some dolphins.
• Aquarium - Seth was a little grumpy after falling asleep on the way there, but he loved it.  They had a dinosaur exhibit with moving (and one water-squirting) dinosaurs scattered around the aquarium, mostly outside.  In addition to all the tanks inside, we got to see some water birds and crabs in the wild outside.  The boys also loved touching the sting rays and the crabs inside.
• His birthday!

Seth in April & May 2014

Seth is done with preschool.  He had his last day on May 23rd and had a graduation ceremony.  Katsu had just gotten back from Japan early that morning, but he was there.  The graduation ceremony was very sweet and so formal!  They had it in the little chapel.  Each kid wore a little cap and walked down the aisle when their name was called while Pomp and Circumstance was playing.  Then, they received their diploma, shook hands with the head of the preschool, and had a photo op.  Then, the kids sang A TON of songs - like 12 or something.  Seth knew pretty much all the words and sure sang out.  It was really really sweet - some of the songs were about growing up and graduating.  Then, they all threw their hats and afterwards had a reception with cake and snacks.  They all had pictures in frames they made of themselves with pictures in a white cap and gown, too - super super cute.  Seth had sure enjoyed the last week being home from preschool, though.  Seth's teachers said he was delightful to work with, always obedient and eager to learn.  His teachers were great - they would bring in harder games and activities for him to work on since he was so far ahead of his class.  His teachers said that he would always read directions for the rest of the class, but wouldn't do so in a show-off-y way.  I thought it was kind of funny.

The last couple months of preschool were busy.  Seth had an Easter Egg hunt at school where his teacher took the cutest pictures.  It really looked like a lot of fun.  They had a week off for Spring Break the week after Easter.  The Friday before Mother's Day, there was a Mother's Day tea.  It was just me and Seth, for once, which was really nice.  We had a little brunch together and they gave us some sweet Mother's Day presents.  One with their handprints - kind of classic - and also a little flower where each petal said something that we were good at.  Seth said I was good at reading him stories and that I was smart, fine by me.  Seth also had an end of the year party a couple days before his graduation.  They had all kinds of snacks, ran around and played games, and had a visit from the Chic-fil-A cow (one of his classmates' dad owns one or something).  Overall, a fun end of preschool and Seth really seems to have enjoyed and got to know the kids well.  Several of them will go to kindergarten at our elementary school and one even lives down the street from us, so hopefully we will get to see more of them.  He even wants to name the baby after a boy Samuel in his class.

We celebrated Seth's birthday in May with a joint party for both Seth and Andrew.  We won a free party at a nearby party place / kid care place called Jump Fit.  I still can't believe we won, but it was a really great party.  They have a really fun bouncy house and a big indoor play ground and basketball and air hockey.  We invited some of Seth's friends from church and also from preschool - I think almost everyone Seth invited came.  Anyways, the kids had a blast just running around for an hour (there was only two girls there, so they spent a lot of time chasing the girls, go figure).  Then, we had cake - Seth picked strawberry (they were actually Black Forest) cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chips and fruit punch and opened presents.  Seth was most excited about the Avenger costume he got.  The first few days we wanted to wear it all the time.   Then, the boys all played some more.  It really was a fun party and I am so grateful we won it.  It sure made our life a little easier this summer.  That evening,  we made a fire in our fire pit and had hot dogs and eggs and chicken outside and now the boys are camping out in the backyard in the tent.  It should be a fun night - we'll see if anyone sleeps!

Seth is OBSESSED with games lately.  He wants to play games all the time.  Like 20 games or more of UNO a day.  He also likes to play Blink, Set, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Memory.  But I was starting to go crazy with those games, so I have been trying to add different ones into the rotation.  We have been playing this geography game called Take Flight or something like that where you fly around the world.  I also taught them to play Rummicube.  Today, I bought them a couple new games - Battleship and Sorry, that hopefully they will enjoy playing themselves.  They also really like Life, but I do not enjoy playing that with them because invariably Logan will be into everything (actually, he is like that with all games, but Life takes so long and the little cars are so appealing!).  Seth doesn't quite get all of the older games, but he can play passable.  He is quite good at UNO, but then again, he sure gets a lot of practice.

Seth has also been obsessed with going to the pool.  For weeks before it opened, he begged to go, and then it opened while Katsu was out of town and then I got the stomach flu and then Seth got the stomach flu, but we did finally make it to the pool a few times.  No one really wanted to go much this week - I am kind of surprised.  I never really made it to putting them in swim lessons this summer - I just feel like everything is kind of up in the air, but I want to try to teach them to swim and also Seth to ride his bike this summer.

Seth started playing Tball as soon as soccer was finished.  Seth really loved soccer and he seems to be enjoying tball as well.  As soon as we bought a mitt for him, he didn't want to put it down.  He wanted to sleep with it and would hide it around the house so that Logan couldn't find it and then we would spend days searching the entire house to find it.  Seth is so good at hiding things.  Anyways, I think tball is kind of a mess compared to soccer.  The parents have to participate the whole time - thankfully, Katsu has gone most weeks, but I went one or two weeks.  They have to play catch, etc.  And the games - I guess I thought that they would be actual games like soccer.  No, each child bats every inning.  There are no outs or scores or anything.  All the kids in the outfield are doubled up so they take turns each hit trying to catch the ball.  And a parent stands out in the outfield with them the whole time.  The kids can't even tell where the bases are because there are so many people on the field!  The week, I went to a game, I had to take Logan outfield, too, because he was freaking out, and Andrew was super grumpy because he didn't want to be there.  And with me super pregnant and then getting the stomach flu later that day - it was fun!!!  Ha ha ha.  But Seth likes it.  He wants to do every sport, so I am sure we will play again next year.  No sports over the summer which Seth is disappointed about, but we can go to the pool every day.

I bought some workbooks for the summer and Seth has already started trying to do all the handwriting book while I am putting Logan down for a nap.  I really wanted to work with him, but I have to hide the book now to keep him from doing the whole thing.  He has started up doing his reading lessons on the computer, as well, and is doing really well on reading.  He doesn't want to read books if I suggest it, but sometimes I see him sitting and reading stories out loud in the living room.  And sometimes he will read to Logan at night.

Otherwise, it is mostly the same - reading comics, playing army, and board games.  He is starting to play more with Logan and hates to play by himself.  

Fun Things in April:

- General Conference - the boys probably paid attention to all of one session but they still really enjoy this tradition.
- Soccer games - Seth loved every minute of soccer.  He usually got tons of goals, though not as much the last game.  He got a trophy which was exciting for all of about 10 minutes.  Seth would happily play soccer all the time if he could.
- PIRATE FEST.  We went to a soccer game and then went to pirate fest.  We bought some tickets for bouncy houses, but didn't have time to do everything, so after another soccer game and some Sonic (with free coupons from Pirate Fest), we went back to Pirate Fest.  It was so fun - all the bouncy houses and the fun carnival games, and we watched a BMX bike show and I feel like we ran into everyone we know.  Greenville is really a small town in some ways.  The boys can't wait to go back next year.
- Easter Egg Hunt at school 
- Our traditional Easter activities.  We did a little more low key this year.  The boys' favorite for Palm Sunday was watching the Skit Guys skit on Palm Sunday on You Tube.  They thought it was the most hilarious thing ever!  We also had all our traditional food (passover dinner with real lamb this time, our Jesus dinner with traditional foods, hot cross buns, resurrection rolls, and the traditional ham dinner).  Andrew wanted to have EVERY single food on the list for our Jesus dinner, but it wasn't quite possible.  We also tried a symbolic dinner one evening while reading through a couple chapters in Mark where each food was symbolic of something in the story.  The kids really enjoyed it so we will have to do it again!
- Spring Break started on Good Friday, so Katsu took the day off and we went to the zoo - it's about 2.5 hours away, but the drive really didn't seem that bad.  Andrew and Logan LOVED it!  Andrew was a little sad we missed one of the animals, but it was such a long walk around the zoo (I think they had like 5 miles of walking within the zoo).  We brought a lunch and had it half way and thankfully there was lots of places to play for the kids near the end, too.  It was a nice zoo in a woody setting.  We all really enjoyed it.  I think Seth wasn't feeling very well - he started complaining as soon as we got there.  He got sick over spring break and we ended up staying most of the week at home.
- Easter - we had two egg hunts.  One at church on Saturday (I was so glad because the boys are so sad that most of the church or community egg hunts here are on Sunday right during church).  The boys got tons of eggs.  Then, we had an egg hunt at home on Sunday morning.  It was a lot of fun - if the weather was better, we might have had it outside, but it was a pretty wet and rainy weekend.
- Gardening - we spent a lot of time in April getting our garden ready.  The boys are always excited when new things grow - to watch the daffodils and tulips pop out or new strawberries to start growing.  Seth loves to garden, especially to plant seeds and water plants and he is especially good at pulling weeds.
- Spring Break - we all ended up getting sick with colds, so it was a pretty boring spring break.  We were going to go out and do things, but unfortunately, we mostly stayed home and watched way too many  movies.  Oh, well.  Next year, we'll do fun things!
- Family Fun Day - after the last soccer games, Katsu and the boys went to the ECU family fun day at a big recreational facility they have north of the city.  The boys had a blast - I won't get all the details right, but they played games, bounced in bouncy houses, and went canoeing and got quite wet.  They had lots of yummy snacks, too.  A great way to end the soccer season.

Fun Things So Far in May
- Tball
- Jarvis Fun Day  - after going to Seth's T-ball practice, we went over to Jarvis (where Seth & Logan go to preschool) for their family fun day.  Wow - it was really a lot of fun.  It was pretty hot, but we still had loads of fun.  We all got some hot dogs and popcorn for lunch.  Then, the boys had snow cones and cotton candy for snacks.  They played all the games and got tickets - Andrew redeemed his for a candy bar.  Much to Katsu's chagrin, no one was convinced to pool their tickets to get a full size basketball.  They, the boys played in bouncy houses - I think they had 4 in the church's parking lot!  And it was all free!  They even got to see a firetruck.  It was really fun and boy were we worn out afterwards.
- Children's Day - to celebrate Japanese children's day, we put our special wind socks and then we went out for Japanese food for dinner.  The boys LOVED it and have been very motivated to use their chopsticks to eat even more at home.
- Mother's Day Tea
- Birthday Party
- Swimming
- End of Year Party
- Graduation
- Birthday Party - Seth went to a couple birthday parties.  One was at River Park North and he made a lava lamp and had a lot of fun.
- Fossil Festival - The weekend Katsu got home, we drove an hour to Aurora to see the Fossil Museum and just in time for the Fossil Festival.  We saw the parade and then went into the museum for a quick look before crossing the street and digging in their big fossil pit.  The boys found tons of fossilized sea shells and also about 17 fossil shark teeth.  They loved it.  We went and saw a few of the tents on the way back and then drove home to make it in time to the birthday parties.
- Memorial Day - we went to the pool with friends and stayed a LONG time.  Then, we went to a party at Katsu's coworkers.  The boys went to the park there and also played in water and ate tons of food.

Andrew is 7 years old!

Today is Andrew's birthday and it's hard to believe that he is already 7!  He is growing up so fast.  I can't believe that he will be getting baptized in a year.

Andrew had a great birthday (I think!).  He woke up early and played video games with Seth and got to play for way too long.  He had some lunch and we played outside and then he and the boys went over to our neighbors to play on their bouncy house / water slide thing.  They had a blast and played for like 2 hours almost!  We came home and the boys played more video games (!) until I finally got a little bit of food in them and then we went to Andrew and Seth's joint birthday party.

We won a free party at a nearby party place / kid care place called Jump Fit.  I still can't believe we won, but it was a really great party.  They have a really fun bouncy house and a big indoor play ground and basketball and air hockey.  We invited several of Andrew's school friends, but there is no school directory or anything, so I have no idea how many of the invitations actually made it home.  Only one came, but he also had several friends there from church as well as our neighbors. We'll have to rethink how we do it next year.  Anyways, the kids had a blast just running around for an hour (there was only two girls there, so they spent a lot of time chasing the girls, go figure).  Then, we had cake - Andrew picked chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting and chips and lemonade and opened presents.  Andrew was excited about all of them - let's see:  he got a couple gift cards and a spiderman toy and a sling shot and some little toys and also from us he got binoculars and book light for reading at night and from his grandparents he got an airplane making kit.  It all looks really fun.  He has already played with the slingshot and has been looking at the moon with the binoculars.  Then, the boys all played some more.  It really was a fun party and I am so grateful we won it.  It sure made our life a little easier this summer.

Then, we made a fire in our fire pit and had hot dogs and eggs and chicken outside and now the boys are camping out in the backyard in the tent.  It should be a fun night - we'll see if anyone sleeps!

Other than his birthday, Andrew has been super busy reading.  Most days, he comes home and goes straight for his books.  He is finishing up the last Magic Tree House book today - boy, those 51 books sure went fast!  We'll have to see which series he gets caught in next.

He still loves to play.  He plays army and makes hideouts and elaborate structures all over the upstairs.  It is his favorite thing to do.  He also likes to play video games when we let him.  He likes to be sneaky and do tricky things.  He is starting to enjoy telling jokes.

Andrew learned to ride his bike, but he hasn't spent a lot of time doing that (Katsu needs to be around a little more to help because I can't launch him on the bike very well).  He likes to help around in the garden and is good at watering or harvesting plants.  He likes to play outside on the playset in the "fort".  He likes to run around and play with and tease his brothers.  And he loves to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk.

Fun Things in April:

- General Conference - the boys probably paid attention to all of one session but they still really enjoy this tradition.
- Soccer games - Andrew finished out the season and got a trophy.  I don't know if he got any goals this season, but he tries - he doesn't have a lot of innate athletic ability and isn't a great runner and doesn't have a lot of ambition, but he tries hard and doesn't get discouraged or give up.  Still, I think this season was a little frustrating for him.  I thought he didn't want to play again next season, but today he was asking me if he could still get a free Chic-fil-a sandwich on soccer day if he wore last year's shirt.  I told him that that wouldn't be honest.  After some thought, he told me he wanted to play again next fall.  We'll see.  Andrew likes the trophies, the snacks, and sitting and talking to the other boys on the sideline.  If only I could find an actual activity that he enjoys as well!
- Andrew had a field day at school.  He seemed mostly worn our and frustrated that he didn't get to do all the "fun" activities, but I bet he had fun, too.
- PIRATE FEST.  We went to a soccer game and then went to pirate fest.  We bought some tickets for bouncy houses, but didn't have time to do everything, so after another soccer game and some Sonic (with free coupons from Pirate Fest), we went back to Pirate Fest.  It was so fun - all the bouncy houses and the fun carnival games, and we watched a BMX bike show and I feel like we ran into everyone we know.  Greenville is really a small town in some ways.  The boys can't wait to go back next year.
- Easter Egg Hunt at school - they put words on the eggs and gave each kid a list and you had to find the words on your list.  Andrew was disappointed that he didn't win the prize by being first - he was really upset that it wasn't fair because one of the eggs he had, the word fell off.  He also was upset that he didn't get to bring in extra eggs, but I know he still had fun.  How lucky to celebrate Easter at school at all!
- Our traditional Easter activities.  We did a little more low key this year.  The boys' favorite for Palm Sunday was watching the Skit Guys skit on Palm Sunday on You Tube.  They thought it was the most hilarious thing ever!  We also had all our traditional food (passover dinner with real lamb this time, our Jesus dinner with traditional foods, hot cross buns, resurrection rolls, and the traditional ham dinner).  Andrew wanted to have EVERY single food on the list for our Jesus dinner, but it wasn't quite possible.  We also tried a symbolic dinner one evening while reading through a couple chapters in Mark where each food was symbolic of something in the story.  The kids really enjoyed it so we will have to do it again!
- Spring Break started on Good Friday, so Katsu took the day off and we went to the zoo - it's about 2.5 hours away, but the drive really didn't seem that bad.  Andrew and Logan LOVED it!  Andrew was a little sad we missed one of the animals, but it was such a long walk around the zoo (I think they had like 5 miles of walking within the zoo).  We brought a lunch and had it half way and thankfully there was lots of places to play for the kids near the end, too.  It was a nice zoo in a woody setting.  We all really enjoyed it.
- Easter - we had two egg hunts.  One at church on Saturday (I was so glad because the boys are so sad that most of the church or community egg hunts here are on Sunday right during church).  The boys got tons of eggs.  Then, we had an egg hunt at home on Sunday morning.  It was a lot of fun - if the weather was better, we might have had it outside, but it was a pretty wet and rainy weekend.
- Gardening - we spent a lot of time in April getting our garden ready.  The boys are always excited when new things grow - to watch the daffodils and tulips pop out or new strawberries to start growing.
- Spring Break - we all ended up getting sick with colds, so it was a pretty boring spring break.  We were going to go out and do things, but unfortunately, we mostly stayed home and watched way too many  movies.  Oh, well.  Next year, we'll do fun things!
- Family Fun Day - after the last soccer games, Katsu and the boys went to the ECU family fun day at a big recreational facility they have north of the city.  The boys had a blast - I won't get all the details right, but they played games, bounced in bouncy houses, and went canoeing and got quite wet.  They had lots of yummy snacks, too.  A great way to end the soccer season.

Fun Things So Far in May
- Jarvis Fun Day  - after going to Seth's T-ball practice, we went over to Jarvis (where Seth & Logan go to preschool) for their family fun day.  Wow - it was really a lot of fun.  It was pretty hot, but we still had loads of fun.  We all got some hot dogs and popcorn for lunch.  Then, the boys had snow cones and cotton candy for snacks.  They played all the games and got tickets - Andrew redeemed his for a candy bar.  Much to Katsu's chagrin, no one was convinced to pool their tickets to get a full size basketball.  They, the boys played in bouncy houses - I think they had 4 in the church's parking lot!  And it was all free!  They even got to see a firetruck.  It was really fun and boy were we worn out afterwards.
- Children's Day - to celebrate Japanese children's day, we put our special wind socks and then we went out for Japanese food for dinner.  The boys LOVED it and have been very motivated to use their chopsticks to eat even more at home.
- Second Grade Move Up Night - Andrew and I went to a presentation about going to second grade.  I have no concerns and know he will do great, but I was a little concerned that the teachers didn't have good suggestions about some new series for Andrew to read.  He loved being out with me and getting pizza, but found the presentation boring.
- Birthday!!!

A few other noteworthy events.  There was a lot of tornados nearby the last couple of weeks, which has been scaring Andrew half to death.  We also have been going on exploring walks int he neighborhood, which Andrrew loves.  We found out where the trail in the woods goes (to the neighboring neighborhood) and we saw over 10 deer one morning on a walk!  A fun month or two.

Logan in Feb and Mar 2014

Logan ... that boy is busier and cuter than ever.  He talks all the time.  I think he really knows pretty much all words - I am always surprised what comes out of his mouth, even if it is only 3-5 words at a time.  His favorite things to talk about are nursery & preschool (he loves to tell you what he eats there - mostly goldfish and crackers - and also that he plays trucks and cars with the other kids), about the new baby (how he will take care of it), and about how he wants to eat.  And tattle on the other kids (Andrew did it is heard all the time!).

Speaking of the baby - he is very excited about it.  He loves to rub my tummy.  Basically rubs my tummy all night long because he wants to sleep with me every night, too.  Sleeping with Katsu is just not the same.  But he is so sweet, too.  He is always telling me that he wants to see the baby and that he will take care of the baby.  Sometimes, he likes to rub my tummy and then he pretend that he baby hit him.  "Ouch - baby hit me".  I can only imagine what it will be like with those two already.

Logan loves to play and run around with his brothers, but he also enjoys playing by himself, too.  He play elaborate things with people and cars.  It is so cute to listen to him make them talk.  I love it.  and I love that he can keep himself entertained.  His favorite things to do are run around and read books.  He can read books for hours.  His new favorites are Elephant and Piggie, Froggie, and Arthur books.  I don't know why he loves the Arthur books so much - they are long and seem way above his head, but he will sit still and loves to listen to them.  He can read books for hours.  He also loves to watch screentime when the boys have it.  He asks for TV all the time, but we rarely watch it.  He loves to watch Pete the Pirate and is obsessed with pirates.  He loves to look for them all through town and also is thrilled to pieces with an old pirate ship that a friend gave us.

Logan is really loving preschool.  He is sometimes still a bit hesitant to go, but he seems to genuinely enjoy it and then will spend the next 2 or 3 days telling me about what he did there.  He is excited for the fall when he is in a 2 year old class and he can play on the their playground which looks pretty cool.  He also enjoys nursery and is happy and excited to go each week!  YAY!  He finally is separating from me a little bit.

Logan loves to dig in the garden, is excited about the vegetables and flowers, and just loves life.  He is a bit of a handful, loves to play hide and seek and run away from me, and throws the requisite 2 year old tantrums.  He loves to play with trains at Barnes and Noble, go to story time at the library, and eat donuts together at Krispy Kreme.  He loves to go places and loves to see his brothers.  He is just a fun kid.

Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Logan was pretty scared about the Oni (he is kind of scared on monsters generally now), but loved the idea of throwing jelly beans.
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - Logan was pretty bored, but loved the snacks and picnic.
- Lowes - Andrew was going to go with Katsu, but Logan was furious he didn't go and threw the biggest fit ever.  So, I ended up taking him along and we all made Love note boxes.  Logan enjoyed hammering, but honestly, I mostly put it all together.
- Lots of cold weather and snow days and fun.
- Valentine's Day - Logan enjoyed the candies and tried to not be too jealous of his big brothers' stashes.
- Working on the garden. 

~ March ~
- Tagging along to soccer.  Logan loves to kick the ball around on the sidelines and kicks pretty well.  What a cute leftie.
- Katsu was out of town for a week, but Logan let a friend take him to preschool and went willingly.  Yay!  He sure missed Dad that week though.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town.  Logan drove to Raleigh with me to pick them up. And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet.  On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears.  Logan had quite a bit of fun, mostly copying whatever the other boys did.  It was fun, but very cold!  We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum.  Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium.  Logan loved to run around from exhibit to exhibit and especially loved the outside part  The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish.  The boys were mesmerized!  He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him.  They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals.  It was pretty cool.  They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun.  Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much.  On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun - Logan LOVED when the pirate float went by.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding.  The boys loved it.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center -Logan had loads of fun - I am not sure doing what, but he just found it all exciting.  All week long he kept asking to go back to Kids Fest.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival.  It was AMAZING.  They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers.  Each room had like 3 art projects.  Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk.  The boys had SO much fun.  Logan loved to try his hand at projects, but would get bored pretty quickly and kept trying to make a run for it.  He loved getting a pirate skull painted on his face.  We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.

Seth in Feb & Mar 2014

Seth is still a super handful.  He wants to do screen time all the time.  I set up an account for each kid on the computer and can set time limits and when they are allowed to have time.  He gets 30 minutes a day most days.  It is the highlight of his life.  It has reduced the amount of whining, but boy, he still loves to whine about it a lot.  I recently told him he needs to have something else in his life that makes him happy besides screens and he told me "comic books".  He also spends a lot of time looking at comic books (and subsequently leaving them littered all over the office and stairs.  It's amazing how many comic books he loves to look through.  ...  When it's cold outside and Andrew isn't around, that is about all he likes to do.  If I'm lucky, I can read to him (which he also enjoys) or he will do reading lessons on the computer or he will read to me.  We got some fun books from the library where I read some of the book and he reads some of the book.  He really is starting to like reading  ... on his own terms, of course.  He loves to read Elephant and Piggie books and Fly Guys.  It's hard to tell how much is memorization and how much is reading, but I know he is doing a lot of reading.  He's a little quick to guess, but I think that is about right for his level.

Thankfully, it is warming up and Seth loves to help me garden.  He loves to look at the daffodils or check and see if the tulips are growing yet and is quite good at carefully planting seeds and watering the plants.  He also loves to play on the playground and on his scooter and is ready for Katsu to teach him to ride his bike without training wheels.  He also loves to play army/trio/lincoln logs/etc. with Andrew.  And sometimes he likes to play with Logan.

His new favorite thing to play with is Snap Circuits.  We got it for Christmas and really opened it up when Katsu was out of town and now Seth is always asking me if he can do his "experiments".  It is so cute to hear the boys talking about resistors and switches.  So fun!

We registered Seth for kindergarten.  I feel comfortable that they will know how to deal with Seth without him being too bored.  They can deal with kids who are already reading, so that's good.  Honestly, Seth is probably more on a 1st grade level - he is doing addition and subtraction on his own at home, too, but my main goal is just that he won't be bored and he will want to go to school.

Seth still whines and complains about going to preschool sometimes.  Every now and then there are still days where he refuses to go, but I don't budge and eventually he will go.  He really needs to go just to get some more experiences in his life and I know he enjoys it.  He has fun with his friends, loves to run around on the playground, does great on all the activities and loves to sing.  His teacher says that he has exceptional behavior (not really the kind of behavior he has at home) and he has started to read in his class (which amazes the other kids).  He was getting a little bored, so his teacher (who is awesome) has started to bring in some extra things for him to do - harder puzzles and activities.

He LOVES soccer (and wanted to sign up for baseball, too, which starts next month).  He is really good and fast, even though he is probably the littlest kid on the team.  He makes several goals each game and is just jumping around like a little jumping bean the whole time because he is so excited.

Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Seth LOVED throwing jelly beans at Dad and had so much fun.  He was throwing them a little too hard, I think.  Next year, he wants to really hurt the Oni (oh, no!)
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show.  The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Seth was most interested in getting snacks.  They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a.  I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Seth went with Katsu to build a love note holder.  Seth really liked the hammering.  Physical stuff is best for this age.
- Lots of cold weather and lots of missed preschool days and snow days and fun.
- Valentine's Day - Seth enjoyed the little treats and valentines' in the morning, but spent most of the time having a huge fit because he didn't get the big box of chocolates that Katsu got.  He seemed to have fun at his Valentine's party, but wouldn't tell us anything about it.  Even though he brought home a big bag, he told us he didn't get any valentines and hid them all and then would bring out the candy in pieces over the next couple weeks.  I kept finding toys and wrappers for ever!
- Working on the garden. 

~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started.  As I said, Seth loves it!  His coach is really great (and from the other ward - he knew us).  I love how non-competitive it is, but he played against a team with a really crazy coach last week that screamed at the kids the whole time.  Glad we have a great coach.
- Katsu was out of town for a week, but Seth let a friend take him to preschool and went willingly.  Yay!
- Dental health day at preschool - our friend (who is in dental school) came in and showed the kids about brushing their teeth.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town.  Katsu picked Seth up from preschool and they had a little date and then went to his work - we all came and picked Seth up and toured Katsu's work before coming home.  He took a day off of school to hang out with them.  And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet.  On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears.  Seth had quite a bit of fun.  It was fun, but very cold!  We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum.  After that, Seth was ready to go home, but we convinced him that the aquarium would be fun - he really eneded up enjoying it.Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium.  Andrew really loved it.  The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish.  The boys were mesmerized!  He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him.  They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals.  It was pretty cool.  They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun.  Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much.  On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun (and we got to stand next to Seth's friends from church) and Seth had a  soccer game that he went to with Katsu.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding.  The boys loved it.  Seth was so excited to mix the food coloring to make the pudding.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - Seth was super excited about the free book and trying to score candy from all the booths.  He also won a special egg at one booth for doing well on the bean bag toss.  Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party!  That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- Career day at preschool.  Katsu came to talk about being a scientist.  The kids all loved the dry ice and it was fun to see all the other careers that were there, too.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival.  It was AMAZING.  They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers.  Each room had like 3 art projects.  Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk.  The boys had SO much fun.  We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.
- Parent teacher conference.  Seth is doing wonderful, of course!

Andrew in Feb & March 2014

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.

What is this kid up to?  Reading - he is really really loving the Magic Tree House books - I think he is on #26 now.  He loves to read them at night when the other boys have already fallen asleep or just whenever.  I think he will definitely be done with the series by the end of the summer - probably before then.  I am so excited to see him love reading and love all the things he is learning.

Andrew has been busy in school.  He keeps moving up levels in reading at school so all the reading at home must be doing something.  He does pretty well at math - they have been learning two digit addition and subtraction (without carrying and borrowing) and are now doing hundreds chart.  In science, Andrew learned about the moon and has been coming home with all kinds of science sheets - so they must be learning something!  He learned a lot about Black History in February.

It has been really cold lately.  Walking School bus has been cancelled a lot lately, so I or Katsu have to take him to school on the way to work.  Sometimes, it has been raining a lot, so I will drive to pick him up because I remember hating walking in the rain when I was a kid.  But he must be becoming like me because he has been telling me "You should have just walked.  I don't mind walking in the rain.".  They don't have outside PE when it is too cold, so they stay inside and do things like dance to Just Dance for Kids videos on youtube.  It cracks me up, but Andrew loves to show us his moves.


Fun Things This Month
~ February ~
- Super Bowl - snacks and fun with the family
- Setsubun - Andrew totally knows it's Katsu, but he still loves throwing jelly beans at Dad.  The tricky thing was finding jelly beans for it.
- Puppet Lady at Jarvis - okay, we were not very impressed with the show.  The lady was kind of weird and it was all about germs (and kind of gross). Andrew really enjoyed using his allowance to buy snacks for him and to share with the other boys.  They were disappointed we didn't buy chic-fil-a.  I guess for next time.
- Lowes - Andrew went with Katsu to build a love note holder.  He enjoyed it, hammering things in.
- Ultrasound - Andrew didn't get to see it but was a little disappointed that we are having a new boy.  He got over it quick and is excited to tell everyone that I am pregnant.
- Cold weather - a 3 hr early release, a day off school, and a 2 hr delay.  Snow.  So.  Much.  Snow.  This.  Year.
- Valentine's Day - Andrew enjoyed the treats we shared at breakfast and all the fun valentines.  He had a (really low key party at school - basically just treats), and I was able to come to the party and help pass out the snacks.  The hit was Krispy Kreme heart donuts.  Andrew got lots of valentines  and loved opening them and eating all the candies.  He was pretty good at sharing with his brothers.
- Working on the garden.  Andrew has enjoyed helping water and planting seeds and loves to watch the plants every day.  He is especially excited about the strawberries and can't wait to show them to everyone he sees.
~ March ~
- Another season of soccer started.  Andrew works really hard and really wants to try to get better.  He is not aggressive and has a hard time getting himself out there, but he has a good sense of where to be on the field and is getting better slowly.  He has games each weekend and practice every Thursday evening.  Soon he will have games during the week as well.
- Grandma and Grandpa came in town.  Andrew was excited to see them when he came home on the walking school bus and to play with them.  He took a day off of school to hang out with them.  And of course, we went and ate at the Chinese buffet.  On Thursday, we drove to New Bern and stopped there (mostly to take a break), but we ended up walking around and trying to see all the bears.  Andrew was upset that we didn't get to see all the bears (but there are like 50).  It was fun, but very cold!  We also stopped to see where they made Pepsi, when to the Cow Cafe place, and played at the pirate playground at the history museum.  Then, we drove to Pine Knolls and went to the Aquarium.  Andrew really loved it.  The crazy part was when a shark suddenly attacked a fish.  The boys were mesmerized!  He didn't die (at least not then), but he had a big chunk out of him.  They also got shells and got to touch sting rays and other sea animals.  It was pretty cool.  They also got to play at Chic-Fil-A for lunch which was fun.  Grandpa was sick the rest of week, so we didn't get a chance to do anything else fun much.  On Saturday, we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade which was really fun and Andrew had a soccer game.
- St. Patrick's Day was chill - just a simple cabbage and bacon soup and Irish soda bread and green pudding.  The boys loved it.
- Kid's Fest - we went to the convention center - he was a little old, but he did get a free book and some candy, which he loved.  Plus, we found out we won a free birthday party!  That should be fun for both boys to have a joint birthday party on Andrew's birthday.
- College week at school.  Andrew got to wear a college hat one day (Michigan) and an ECU shirt another day.  Funny story - I said he could wear a college shirt, and he asked if he could wear his Cardinals or Red Sox shirt.  No, prof. sports teams are not colleges.  It was a fun break from the usual uniform.
- Luckily, soccer was cancelled this Saturday from all the rain, so we got to spend 3 or more hours at the ECU youth arts festival.  It was AMAZING.  They had art projects going on in probably 50 rooms in an ECU building, plus performers.  Each room had like 3 art projects.  Some where kind of small, but some were super involved - pottery, making wax patterns on cloth and then painting it, painting on silk.  The boys had SO much fun and Andrew was sad we had to leave.  We grabbed a dinner out afterwards because we were so tired and hadn't eaten.

Logan in January 2014

Logan just keeps talking more and more.  He pretty much talks in sentences, albeit small ones, now.  I just love to hear him talk.  It is so cute.  I wish I wrote down all the cute things he says because there are SO many.  Of course, they probably wouldn't be cute written down.  They are mostly just cute the way he says them.  But it is so nice to hear him communicate.

On the other hand, he is 2, so sometimes I have no idea what he wants and this tends to cause lots of fits.  His fits are generally over lack of communication or not getting what he wants to eat.  He also tends to hit when he gets mad or sometimes bite, but he pretty much has typical two year old tantrums.

Logan LOVES to eat.  I think he eats as much as Andrew some times.  I can not believe how much he eats.  Yesterday for dinner, he ate two whole fish fillets - more than anyone else.  These boys are going to eat me out of house and home.  Logan loves cheese sticks the most and will eat as many as 4 a day.  He also loves to eat canned oranges or any fruit.  Taking him to the store is a challenge because he refuses to sit in a seat and he will put everything he loves in the cart - berries (boxes and boxes and boxes), apples, avocados, all kinds of cheeses, etc.  He loves to peruse the refrigerator and take out everything he wants to eat.  Priorities - first cheese, then any kind of fruit or yogurt, and if none of that is available, mushrooms (which he eats straight from the package).  He is in love with avocados (which he calls cados).  He likes to take them away and is pretty sneaky.  The other day he was throwing one around but I must not have kept track of it because we found it like a week later busted open under the couch.  Arg!  Logan is starting to pick up that the boys don't like to eat everything and he will say "Yucky" to lots of food, but generally he eats most things.

Logan is really obsessed with the idea of a baby and won't forget about it.  He loves to rub my tummy all the time and talk about the baby.  He wants it to be a girl.  He also is always telling me that there is a baby in his tummy too.

Logan had a lot of fun in the snow this week.  Mostly looking at it.  He had a little bit of fun playing in it and sledding, but I think overall, it was a little too cold for him.  And he was the one with snow boots!

Logan has been doing much better at preschool because Katsu drops him off.  He even seems to be having fun.  The first few weeks he was being brave (and Katsu ploys him with M&Ms before he drops him off), but I think he is finally learning to separate!  Yay!  This month, he even will run and say good bye and wave before I leave somewhere but it is usually not the end of the world.  Katsu even took him to nursery last week and he stayed the whole time and had fun.  I think as long as he doesn't fall asleep during church (which he does most weeks since we have 1-4 now), he will go to nursery.  Freedom!  He has been doing so well, I decided we should keep the momentum going, so I signed him up for 3 day preschool next week.  He will be 3 a couple months into preschool, so I think he will be ready, and with Seth in kindergarten, he will be a bit bored at home, even (or especially) with a new baby at home.  Also, I will be teaching again, so it will be either a babysitter or preschool one of the days anyways.  I hope he enjoys it.

Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- SNOW!

Seth in January 2014

Snow is the big news this month.  Every since we moved here, Seth has been begging to go to the mountains so he can play in the snow. He has told me that he wants to live somewhere where he can sled and play in the snow.  And we always told him ... well, not likely.  It snowed twice this month!  And once was a lot, like almost an inch of sleet and then prob. around 6 inches of snow.  He missed tons of preschool and had only a short day of preschool many days.  We went sledding, we built snowman and snow forts and threw snow balls.  (He was quite disappointed that I can't find matching gloves for him and he doesn't have snow boots (like Logan) or snow pants (like the ones we borrowed for Andrew)).  And then, he told me he doesn't like snow and he doesn't want it to ever snow again!

And that pretty much sums up a 4 year old.  And Seth has been every inch of a 4 year old this month.  He is constantly giving out threats (If you don't do X, I am going to go do some Y damage to the house or come and do some Z injury to you).  He doesn't ordinarily damage the house, but sometimes he will hit you (he loves to hit/kick Katsu's groin!) or try to bite you!  Or he will say you either do X or Y, both of which are ridiculous choices.  Like, I have to give him some special food he wants but we probably don't have or else I have to read to him a whole book in Japanese.  And then, he starts to count down from 10 and you have to have done it by then.  He spend a lot of time pouting and yelling and crying and who knows what else.  Thankfully, I remember Andrew being just like this and it went away.  Sometimes, it's almost comical - like look how hard it is to be 4!

Seth would be most happy spending all day in front of a screen or reading comic books.  He would prefer to be on the computer (his reading lessons, pbskids, abcya, reading eggs, etc) or watching TV or movies or playing video games all day long.  If he has reached his quota, then he pouts and reads comic books.  Trying to get the boy to play, especially by himself is a serious challenge.  I can only imagine the video game addictions this kid is going to have.

Seth is starting to read things on boxes and loves to do his reading lesson on the computer.  On one hand, I worry about him being bored in kindergarten (his main explanation for why he doesn't need to go to preschool or kindergarten is because he already knows everything).  On the other hand, he seems so bored with "just" playing at home.  Especially without other little playmates.  He really is ready to do more academic things.  Hopefully they can come up with something to challenge him next year in kindergarten.

Seth is doing well at preschool.  He goes somewhat willingly though he will tell you he has no fun at all (which I don't believe for a second - he is always having fun when I pick him up).  He is making friends and seems to be really enjoying himself.  I really like his teachers and his school.

Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - Seth picked out his favorite Ninjago books.
- School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school

Andrew in January 2014

It felt like this January was a holiday! Andrew hardly had any school. He was out for New Years, of course. Went back to school on the 8th. Because of the huge cold, he had late start days (starting on a 2 hour delay) at least two or three times. The week of Martin Luther King day, the kids had 3 days of school off (Mon - Wed) and then last week, they went to school on Monday and then the whole rest of the week was cancelled due to snow. So, we have spent A LOT of time with all the boys hanging out at home. Which Andrew has really enjoyed. He is already bummed that he won't have so many days off in Feb (no planned days off at all ... a totally normal month!).

Big change this month - Andrew is reading chapter books. I was a little conniving. I figured he read well enough to do it, but he always told me he didn't. So, I got the first 8 Magic Tree House books on CD. Andrew listened to all of them in short order and loved them, of course. Then, I checked #9 out from the library. I told him I wanted to hear all about Jack and Annie, but I couldn't read it to him right then because I had to cook dinner, and could he read it to me? And sure enough, he could! He has read #9 and #10 and is reading #11. He used his money from his aunt and uncles at Barnes and Noble (which he always called Books and Noble) to buy two of them and then got a third from the book order at school. He LOVES it and I am so happy for him!

Also, Andrew is really getting into games. Katsu has been teaching him card games and I taught him Set today. He is finally getting to an age where he can play adult games (well, at least not preschool ones)! Yay! 

Even though he didn't have much school, he did finish up a 9 weeks (with tons of dojo points), but they had to cancel their special shark party, which he was very disappointed about. They retested their reading this month and he went up about 4 levels. I am glad because the books were getting too boring and easy, in my opinion. He is working on his math facts - we really need to force him to memorize them all now. We also did some work with him over the holidays on his handwritten and it is starting to look better. I am planning on doing a homeschool handwriting course with him over the summer. Also, will probably work on some math, too, and reading. We'll see what else.

This month had lots of fun playing in the snow. Amazingly, it has been very cold and we got lots of snow. A few days, it was wind chills down in the teens when it was time to pick him up and they wouldn't even dismiss the kids from outside - they had to call each one of them out individually. I still think that kids are coddled nowadays, so rain or shine or snow or low wind chill, I pretty much walk over there. Walking school bus is cancelled in the mornings through Feb. so Katsu usually drops him off on the way to work, but we usually walk to pick him up whenever they cancel walking school bus in the afternoon (which is almost every day!). The snow was not quite as much as they anticipated because we got a thick sheet of sleet first, but it was probably still 6 inches or so. Enough to build a snow man and a snow fort and a big incline to go sledding down. Andrew definitely had the most stamina for playing in the snow and we're lucky to neighbors next door to play with.

 Fun Things This Month
- New Years - eating Japanese food all week
- Trip to Raleigh to see the Natural History and History Museum, hot dogs outside inbetween, and a trip to Trader Joes with lots of fried rice for Andrew
- Birthday party at gymnastics place
- Date with mom to get ice cream and pick out books at Barnes and Noble - School off for MLK day - 3 days
- Visit to children's museum Marbles in Raleigh
- Lots of late start days
- SNOW and 4 days off of school