So proud of Carlos and Trey, as they have been working so hard to move up to the next level in their aikido training.  Carlos tested for his red belt and Trey for his red stripe.  Both did an outstanding job and passed!
I can hardly believe that they have been training for 5 years now.   They have come so far.  At the end of this is a video of Carlos being “attacked” by the senior students in the class.  I love the way they have to bow to accept the attack, then bow to thank them for attacking them.
They have learned so much more than techniques doing aikido, they have learned how to be still, that the intent of aikido is to use the attacker’s energy to bring them down without hurting them.
Way to go, Carlos and Trey!

We are a baseball family.  There’s just no other way to say it.  Dee and I LOVE the sport and are so glad the boys are loving the game like we do.  It’s funny to see them grow and as we dreaded the long, painful Tball games we can’t wait to spend 4 nights a week watching AA and A ball (especially AA where they pitch and steal!).  Practices aren’t just an hour of babysitting/crowd management and not everybody “wins” anymore, although our boys figured out fast that whatever team had the most players show up on game day was actually the winning team.
Here’s to the smell of the grass and the crack of the bat!  Happy spring, let’s play ball!

 When you have multiple kids it can be really tough to get the one on one time that is so needed.  We’ve got a new plan!
After we put Erin in bed, I head into our bedroom and read a book to one of the boys, Dee goes into the dining room and has a boy read to her and one boy goes into the living room to do math on the ipad.  After 20 minutes the boys rotate and we do this until we have each had some special time each day with each boy. 
So far so good, I love this time.  It’s my absolute favorite time of the day.  I do have to say, after an hour of reading out loud, my voice takes a beating but I’m enjoying the books they have chosen.
Had to use a couple seconds of each boy’s time today to snap a photo (and yes, each and every one of these smiling boys complained and didn’t want to take time out of their reading time to cheese it up for the camera)

 I opened up my email today and found these pictures of Levi and his friend, Ryan (sent by Ryan’s mom).  It struck me that these guys have been inseparable for the last 4 years.  They have similar histories, that I’m not sure they even realize, and such a true, genuine and pure friendship.  It makes me so happy to know that he has someone so special in his life.
Here’s a shout out to friends you can be your true self with.

Carlos telling stories to Kyler and Koen (he was trying to get them to take a nap).  So cute, just like when we snuggle up and tell them stories to try to get them to fall asleep.

The girl is obsessed with Red Vines – she will do anything for them!  Thought this was super cute.

 We have a new way to enjoy time as a family (with friends, too!)…GEOCACHING!  It’s fun, it’s free, you are outside, it’s an adventure and you never know what treasures you are going to find. 
Yesterday, we found a fun little park in Suquamish with the coolest bouncy toy.  I think the adults had more fun than the kids did playing on it.  Today, it was an old rusted, crashed car. 
Discovering crazy new places (and even placed our very own first cache for others to find).

What a treat we had, free tickets to The Music Man at the 5th
Avenue Theater through a foster parent organization.  My parents
and Maymay and Alice joined us, too.  Since my dad has mobility
issues, he had called ahead to find out how he could get seated and all
and they ended up letting he and my mom in early to get seats.  We joined
them with “the masses” and ended up with FRONT ROW center seats!
There are good things and bad things about front row, it’s an amazing place
to sit, you feel like you are a part of the stage and the story but you also see
the sweat and it’s unreal how much the actors spit!  I wouldn’t change a
thing, though, it was so cool.
At one point before it started, Carlos was up near the stage and trying to peek
into the orchestra pit and the conductor popped his head up.  So funny to be
so close.
What an experience, so grateful  we got to take them!

Last night was Dinosaur Night at Trey’s school.  All of the 1st graders have been working so hard, studying a specific dinosaur, writing a report about it, making a clay sculpture and drawing a poster for it.  The “guests” to the Dino Fair go around to each table and talk to the students about their dinosaurs.  Trey took this VERY seriously, got his suit on, fluffed the faux hawk and was ready to talk about Chasmosaurus.
Pretty interesting dinosaur, he was big and fierce had 3 horns on his head, but was a herbivore.  Trey LOVED that part about him (I think he could relate).
Anyhow, if you want to know more about this amazing creature, ask my boy!
We were so proud, he did a great job.

(on a side note, when you have 3 kids a grade apart in the same small school, events like Dino Night can tend to seem like it’s Groundhog Day but Trey really has passion and great energy so he always makes it his own!)