Fun at the Fowler

A nice perk living so close to UCLA is the opportunity to visit the Fowler Museum.  The boys and I headed there to make their own crazy critter mask combining their favorite animals drawing inspiration from Fowler in Focus: Curious Creatures from Mexican Popular Arts.  Noah decided to make a zebra/ butterfly and Micah chose to create a peacock/ cat.  I think the get their creativity from their dad, would you agree???

4

Today we celebrated Micah's 4th Batman birthday at Giggles and Hugs.  It was a pretty relaxing evening for me since the venue provided all the entertainment.  The kids danced, played, were led in games, and the main attraction was the magician!  Micah loved it when the magician pulled cookies out of Noah's armpit!  I can't believe that Micah is already 4 years old... where did the time go???

Eve of the 4th year

Micah turns 4 tomorrow... I can't believe it...  I can honestly say since he started preschool 4 weeks ago he really has turned a leaf.  When I respond to his question and say, "no" instead of whining he says, "I don't mind."  And his preschool teacher told me that he told another kid, "if you are mean to people, I won't play with you."  Micah has started writing his name independently, he knows his letters and sounds, and his drawings are really improving... my baby is almost 4.  Where has the time gone???

5773

We had such a Happy Rosh Hashana in Reno because we could spend time with Great Grandpa Art and Great Grandma Tina.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner by Aunt Julia (Micah ate 3 bowls of matzo ball soup) and the boys enjoyed dipping their apples in honey.  We attended family service at the temple and the boys got to hear the shofar.  Jawsh and I also had the opportunity to spend time with GGA and GGT in their new home.  When will we see everyone again???

Catfish cove

The boys went down to Catfish Cove with Uncle Steve and Daddy to skip rocks across the water.  The boys walked through marsh and Noah explained it like this, "the mud tried to eat our shoes."  It's so beautiful and peaceful here and I hear that there is a lot of catfish in these waters... when will the boys learn to fish???

Cabin time

We flew to Reno, Nevada to go back east and head back to California to stay at Uncle Steve's cabin for one evening.  Micah loved helping Uncle Steve gather wood while Noah practiced his swing hitting branches off trees.  In the evening, the sky was so clear we could see the Milky Way galaxy and I saw two shooting stars.  The boys love spending time at the cabin and  are already asking, when are we going to go back???

Micah at school

Micah's day at school consists of outside play and then indoor activities.  I remember when we first learned that a third of the day was outside that we thought it was too long, but now that I am older (and hopefully a bit wiser) I see the importance and benefits of just letting the kids play.  Micah loves playing with his friends, S.C. and L.T.  as you can see on his face... he is a happy boy.  Once inside, the kids can choose to do art, play with manipulatives, or a whole set of other activities (i.e. kitchen, dress up, etc).  This is such a special year for Micah because he is no longer in the shadow of his older brother, but defining his own place at his preschool.  What will we learn about Micah this year???

Another 5K

Back in July, my friend wanted to run a 5k... fast forward to today.  It's time to run said 5K but I have not trained at all!  I decided to run it anyway and I had two goals... not to walk and not to come in last.  I hit both goals running 3.2 miles in 36:39 minutes.  I thought I did okay until Micah said, "what took you so long?"  Noah was excited to watch me run and now he wants to do a race... when will we sign him up for a kids' run???

Team X

Noah is playing his first season of soccer.  He was very accurate in practice and kicked the ball into the net. But once he started playing in the game, he was on the periphery of the action... not wanting to commit and waiting for the ball to come to him so he would not have to go after the ball.  It was very fun watching him play today... how will he do in his next game???

Micah's first day of school

Micah was excited to return to preschool.  After going with me to drop off Noah for the past few weeks he was looking forward to playing with his friends.  No longer will I hear the words from the backseat of the car, "Noah is at kindergarten and I am not in preschool.  That's not fair, Mom."  As you can see, Micah was very happy to be back at school with his Show and Share toy in hand.  How will preschool be without Noah this year???

Noah at school

Noah's kindergarten is really unique... the classrooms are combined with two full time teachers and two aides.  There are a lot of parent volunteers so there is usually an extra 5 adults helping!  I volunteer on Thursdays and the kids work in small differentiated groups.  With so much going on, it can feel overwhelming but the teachers know exactly what they are doing.  The kids were finishing up an apple unit where they had to cut the apples to make applesauce.  Here is Noah, as you can see, focused at the task at hand!  He loves his school and chooses to attend kindergarten over any other activity (such a good sign).  He was a big fish in a small pond in preschool and now the tables have turned... what will we learn about Noah this year???

Pier fun

The boys enjoyed going to the pier over Labor Day weekend.  Auntie Cathy scored us some tickets so how could we pass this up?  The kids loved going on all the rides and Jawsh was a trooper and went on  with the boys.  Noah loved the roller coaster and Micah is itching to grow.  When will Micah be tall enough???

Palm Springs

This Labor Day weekend we went to Palm Springs.  It was a nice little get away... the boys enjoyed swimming with Dad and Noah liked going down the 60 foot water slide.  When will we go back???  

Beach day!

A day at Venice Beach was just what Micah needed!  Even though the cast was taken off yesterday, Micah kept asking me if he could get his arm wet and if he could touch the sand.  Poor guy... I guess having the cast on for three weeks really affected him.  It was so nice to watch him play, splash, and even get on the boogie board while I dragged him around.  When will we head back to the beach???

Freedom!

We have been counting down the days to Micah's cast removal.  It's been pretty difficult keeping this cast dry (we already had to go in and change it once) and I'm just really glad that Micah can now enjoy his final days of summer.  The cast removal was pretty quick and his x-rays looked great.  What will Micah want to do now that his arm is free???

Color Me Mine

Color Me Mine was another activity that Micah could participate in with his cast!  I can not wait  until tomorrow when we can finally take the cast off.  What will his arm look like???

Who Am I?

Jawsh and I went to Back To School Night.  I am so glad that we were both able to attend because we really learned so much more about the school.  When we toured Noah's class, we received a book that Noah worked on for the past few days.  Here are a couple things that Noah shared about himself:

1.  I have a little brother.  His name is Micah.  I was so glad that he mentioned him.
2.  My favorite bugs are spiders. I like the fastest ones.  They are blue.  I did not know this!!!
3.  I like playing with my legos.  I like to watch movies.  I like going to the Lego store with Mom and Dad.  I knew this!
4.  When I grow up I want to be... I'm figuring that out... like a Ninja!  Really?  What happened to all our talks about becoming a real estate developer or surgeon???
5.  I like to eat watermelon, grapes, bananas, pizza, and ice cream.  This sounds about right!
6.  I like going on the monkey bars and I like playing handball.  What handball?!?  This is a new kinder thing for sure!

What else will we learn about Noah this year???

Cat by Noah

Noah is now taking Korean language class on Monday and Wednesday afternoon for two hours.  At first, I was concerned this was a long time for him (especially after school).  But I saw that his class does a lot of art while learning the sounds of the alphabet.  And it turns out, going to Korean School is his favorite part of the day.  He likes being in his class and he made the observation that he is the only "half Korean" boy in the class and that everybody else understands what the teacher is saying except for him.  This made me feel a little bad because I could be speaking to him more in Korean, but Noah is resilient and he told me, "If I don't understand what the teacher is saying, I just say, excuse me can you say it in English?"  And after checking in with his teacher, she said he was "doing fine and says excuse me a lot."  Will Noah learn how to read Korean better than me???

34

Today is my birthday.  But now that Noah is in school, I just went about the usual business of dropping off and picking up.  Micah and I did enjoy one of my favorite salads at Nordstrom and then we went to eat Korean food for dinner.   34... what will this year bring???

Fourth tooth

Noah lost his fourth tooth in the back seat of the car!  I was talking to someone after school next to the car while the kids were getting in.  Noah, trying to get my attention, flailed his arm, which hit  his own chin, and then his tooth fell out!  Then he really needed to get my attention because he wanted to get out and show his teacher, Cathy, who was still at the gate!  The lower right lateral incisor is out!  I can't believe this is #4 baby tooth!  Here we are later that night celebrating with a milkshake.  When are those top teeth going to come out???