Hanging on

Left: Kait loves to cruise around the dining table and will go under the chairs, like a playground to crawl in and out of.

And hanging on...
we're trying to focus on the "busy" not the "crazy" in the "crazy busy".

Vern tries and packs in longer days, if not nights, to give more time to his schoolwork, while also planning for the transition ahead. I try and keep up with my housework and the driving, and taking care of Kait, and Jon and Ben, getting them through the day till bedtime. And I will have all three children even more to myself after school is out for the boys tomorrow. Already went with Kait to buy more grocery, to feed and cook more for the always-hungry, growing boys!

It is a mad juggling act, we can never do it all, and each day isn't without its challenges. I'm trying not to scream when the kids scream, or to poke the husband in the ribs when he says something insensitive that's not remotely funny. We are just so stressed, and having to keep the place super neat for it to always show well is also not easy and especially hard with young children. And with no movement on it still (*sigh*), we have to figure out how to move on from here.

Taking a moment to gaze, it helps me see things in perspective. Thank you for your word after word of encouragement. I'm thinking of you, too! God bless!

Some of the moments and memories I'd wanted to store up (later maybe as make-up posts)...

Boys dressed up for a formal event with Ben's class, as part of more things going on this last month of school. And yes, that's them acting silly, always happy to make funny faces at me!

I've also got more shots of the baby girl, she seems to be doing something new each time. She goes from doing a "shaky handy" with Jon, to a "hi 5" with Ben (sometimes, it's a "hi 4"!), to waving and saying "hi" to me one day out of the blue, whilst I was bathing her in her so-happens-to-be blue bathtub! And she's still pretty good at helping me do a "shoo, fly, shoo"!

They grow up so fast!

Playing soldiers

Earlier last month...
Right: Jon and Ben got to try out the different hats of a young man playing the part of a soldier at the annual World War II Weekend's battle re-enactment. What a treat it was for them, so happened there was no Chinese class that Sunday, and we got Jon a red beret, and Ben, a plastic green helmet, as souvenirs!

Monday night...
Left: Birthday boy Ben and funny Jon in their army headgrear; Jon juggling more than one hat at a time!

And that was how we capped off Ben's birthday celebrations -- with an impromptu little cake of our own, he really wanted that, never mind that it was from the remaining Pillsbury cakemix for the cupcakes for his classmates (right; baked them late one night, frosted them the next, and used Reynolds' jumbo foil baking cups for extra large cupcakes). That was about the only thing I managed to make for his birthday, besides the regular dinner (can't go wrong with chicken drumsticks), and we were running late after the pizza and snow-cone party in the park (celebrating with his classmates, pictures later).

On his cake I put these two Star Wars figurines from our present for Ben, and Jon added the strawberry slices for a decorative touch!

Now what you don't see here, but the boys think is "noteworthy"... after the birthday song, they fought over who really got to blow the candles! No, it was not pleasant, but ah (aaargh, this is one of those times I have to admit...) boys are boys!

THANK YOU! The green berets and the insignias have come a long way from Singapore (Beach Rd!). Like the other thoughtful gifts and gestures we receive during the year, from our families back home, and our kids' godparents, and dear friends old and new, we are thankful for all of them. It's not possible for me to single each one out, you can sometimes glimpse them from our pictures, but it's for the same reason -- knowing how much trouble everyone goes through to get something to us, I do not play it up.

There are many more moments to try and savour again with such make-up posts. The words are easy to write but the pictures themselves say so much more. I hope to be able to make sense of all the rest of the pictures I have not sorted out -- someday, when it's not such a luxury to sit down like this. Only so many hours in a day, and oh, how time flies!

Going back to basics...

... back to nature?

OK, not quite yet as there's more to done here. My allergies are still giving me a hard time, and I'm trying not to be "mung zang" (vexed) going about my usual business. There are the everyday things to try and keep up, other things to follow up and play catch-up, and all the rest of the stuff to get ready for the move but we haven't the time nor energy for. And call us crazy, we have a lastminute birthday party for Ben to pull off. He got all emotional again and was crying over how there's only so much playtime left with his friends, what with school ending soon also.

While I can -- before I lose my mind, and Jon thinks I am already, I'll like to come back and fill in the blanks of what else is going on, and share more snippets of Spokane. The blog is my journal, only now I'd better keep it short and sweet.

Thank you for checking in... have a good week ahead, everyone!

A sneak peek

Two 2+ hour flights and really more like 6 hours later...

here we are in Spokane, for these few days, for a look-see!

Catch you later!

Season by season

Each season has its story...
These pictures I had snapped just outside our place tell of the different things each season brings:
The neighbour's pink magnolia and our purple allium are both spring flowers, while the orange lily blooms later, closer to summer. The swinging bunny celebrates fall, and the cool icicles with or without snow add that magical touch to winter.

Works for me: the regular digital camera -- small enough to carry around, and mom-friendly to hold on with one hand and click, then scoot, with kids in tow and/or baby joined at the hip!

And now, I do have my long, longer stories than this one to tell...
Perhaps I will, retrospectively, the many I'd wanted to share and jot down here as a journal of sorts. But for how much is going on, and at this time when no one's crazy about the swine flu, I'm also trying not to go crazy over:

The kids gone wild -- it's not just selective hearing, but the boys are not listening at all. There are also different social issues to work with them, besides those basic things that make me just want to tear my hair out =(.

My nose acting up -- It's allergy season, and I wake up 500 times in the night to blow my nose, when it isn't dripping away like a leaky faucet... and to feed the baby, that too!

And another weekend's gone by, but not without us burning the midnight oil over more house stuff -- some carpeting DIY in the basement. Hopefully it improves the appeal and gets more foot traffic our way. Next is a price drop to below what we paid. I think we've done quite enough to show it well, and it has to go so we can start from scratch come the new season.