Little Moments 2023

 Not too much happening around here the last two weeks.  Mostly just the little moments of life to kick off the new year.  Amy and I are both working on our resolutions to take care of ourselves and be better parents.  

It's been raining quite a bit here, which is good overall, but it's putting a strain on our drainage systems and hillsides.  The creek is now a roaring river and carrying trees, rocks and debris all over.  The spot where we usually hang out is under water and there's a whole tree that got carried down and is now stuck there (Kegan is standing on the moored trunk below).   

Uncle Kegan not setting a good example :D

Kegan grew up burning his Christmas trees in Hawaii so this year, he did the same here.  The kids had a great time chopping up the branches and throwing them in to the solo stove.

That's quite a fire!

Our small group continues to meet at our house for dinners every few Fridays.  Even though it looks like a bomb of toys went off in our living room by the night's end, it's great to have everyone together to share a meal and fellowship.

Giant pot of spaghetti for the win

Amy and I have been busy, especially as I prep to go to Thailand for about a week, but we did manage to sneak out to one lunch date.  Taiwanese breakfast is all carbs but it sure is tasty!

I'm very lucky to have her

David also came over one day last week and baked some banana walnut cake with the kids.  David is very precise with his recipes and preparation (basically, the total opposite of me) and does an amazing job.  He's a great uncle and we're lucky he's close by.

Getting fancy with the measuring and all that :p

With the rain making us all lazy homebodies and vacations as well, art has been on hold that last few weeks but we got together again last week and Kendra had the idea to make playdoh!  It was a lot of fun and messy but the kids had a great time.  We ended up making more than 10 lbs of the stuff :)

A messy good time

I've been trying hard to enjoy the moments at home with the kids.  It's hard because Amy and I are usually already tired from one of us working that we don't always have the energy for the kids but we also know that they aren't going to be like this forever so have to keep working on enjoying the little moments we can grab with them when we mean so much to them.  

Family game night

Sesame has made himself at home in our house, especially as it has been quite wet out.  He's learned to use the litter box, not scratch anything and sleep on the couch most of the time.  The only time he's a nuisance is at ~6am when he starts meowing to be let out or have food.  We are trying our best to train him but mostly he's a good kitty.  The kids, especially Sora, are very happy to have him around.  Surprisingly, our allergies have been very mild.  Perhaps it was meant to be...

Lastly, I'm heading out to Thailand tomorrow for 6 days to see my mom before she worsens.  She has actually done better since being placed on palliative care a few weeks ago though overall remains very unwell.  The morphine seems to be making her more comfortable and she was drinking a bit more.  She is a little bit worse this week according to my older brother so I am glad that I can go see her.  I am sure Amy will be okay with the kids for this time as she is a better parent than I am.  I hope for safe travels and a meaningful time there with my mom, as well as my dad and older brother.

I'll leave you this time with Jad break dancing.  The Connicks asked us for an impromptu dance party yesterday and the kids were mostly loving it.  Kai is not as comfortable dancing and he can see that he is trying his best and wants to get attention by doing other things like chasing or being playful with the other kids.  Sora and Jad are both much more comfortable dancing in a crowd.  Jad has got some serious moves actually considering neither Amy or I have taught him any dancing moves.  1 day, we will have to get him into a hip pop dance class.

Hard to capture but he's spinning on
the grass here.  That's Kazy next to him.  Bboyz RCC!!