Public Transportation

As we stood on the corner,
Kacin kept checking his watch
and announcing

"4 more minutes . . .

3 more minutes . . .

2 more minutes . . .

1 minute . . .

It should be here now!! . . .

Where is it?! . . .

Oh here it comes! I see it, I see it!"

The bus pulled up and opened its doors.

We climbed aboard the empty bus,
dropped a handful of quarters into the slot,
and Kyler led us to the seats in the very back.

Why were we riding the city bus?
Because it seemed like the thing to do with a free afternoon.
Every time we are out in the neighborhood and pass a bus stop,
Kacin is so intrigued and curious.
He has a million questions about the bus system
and checks each schedule.
So we planned a trip using public transportation.
A kind, thoughtful neighbor saw us waiting for the bus
and stopped to see if we needed a ride somewhere.
But our bus ride was strictly for fun and for the sake of adventure.

We turned the corner, and the shops and restaurants came into view.
I nodded to Kyler and whispered it was time.
He reached up and pulled the yellow cord.
Stop Requested lit up in red overhead.
The doors opened.
We smiled and thanked our driver
then stepped out onto the sidewalk.

We started our afternoon with a visit to the library.
The boys each picked a book.
We sat in the window seat as I read the two books to them.
As we were leaving,
Kyler pointed out a bookmark on display on the wall.
It was the one he had made at school
and submitted for the library's competition.
He felt like a famous artist with his work up for everyone to see.

We walked a little ways to a toy shop
to play on their train table and purchase some puzzle glue.
Then we were off to look around at the market.
After all that walking, we sure were ready for a treat.
At the doughnut shop,
Three maple bars, please.

We browsed at the book store for a few minutes
before heading to the restaurant across the street.
To pass the time, we had a Tic-Tac-Toe match.
We enjoyed our chips and salsa, burritos, and tostada
and talked about all that happened at school that morning.

When we came outside again, it was very dark.
According to Kacin's watch,
the bus was scheduled to come in 3 minutes.
No bathroom stops for us,
we had to hurry.
We arrived at the bus stop
only to wait and wait.
I don't know who was more anxious for that bus to come,
Kacin and Kyler
OR the guy waiting next to us
who had to listen to the boys belting out impromptu songs
about buses and mommy's hair.
But it had to be entertaining for him
when my 7-year old boy suggested,
"Let's do yoga while we wait!"
and proceeded to go into tree pose and Warrior II.

We had been waiting about ten minutes
when I saw the way Kacin was dancing around and
began to regret the decision not to make that bathroom stop.
Just when I was debating whether or not to leave the bus stop,
get this kid to the bathroom,
and just catch the next bus in 30 min.
Our bus pulled up and we got on.

To conclude the retelling of this adventure,
let it suffice to say
that there is now a tree,
somewhere between the bus stop we exited from and our home,
that has been watered by Kacin.
I know, I know.
I really have to stop letting him do that.
The world should not be his bathroom.
But we were desperate.

Overall, we had a pleasant experience with public transit
and all really enjoyed our afternoon out.

An Old Adage

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I'm not talking about people here though.

When I grew up in sunny Arizona,
and the rain would finally fall to the dry earth,
we would all bound outside to dance and splash in the puddles,
where we'd usually meet a few neighbors outside, too
all soaking up the rain.
The rain was a precious thing
and it made us happy when it came.
We had known the sun for so long.

I distinctly remember the first time I saw it snowing,
really snowing,
where it was falling, sticking and piling on the ground.
It was magic sprinkled all over our house in Utah.
But then after the first year in Utah,
I began to strongly dislike the snow.
It was so cold, so much, and stayed way too long
for my liking.
I thought I would never want it to snow again.

Washington life has been a lot of rainy, gray days.
Whenever the sun is shining,
we've gotten into the habit of
stopping whatever we're doing and we head outside
to the park, to the trampoline, to our bikes
anywhere where the sun will kiss our skin
and the day seems brighter.
Relief from a drab day came last night too.
Around 10:00pm.
In the form of snow.
The white that blanketed our neighborhood
brightened our street
and the snow regained its magicalness.
I couldn't resist it.
I dragged E outside with me,
not even bothering with my big coat and gloves.
Too bad the boys were sound asleep.
I was tempted to wake them up to come play, too.
We left our footprints in the fresh snow
and a few snowballs went flying.
And may have even smashed into my face.

I am fond of the snow again.

Family Focus and Goals

At FHE last night,
with a drumroll and a Ta-Da!,
we revealed our family's focus for 2011:

When I Choose the Right, I am Happy.

As we were deciding on our family's "theme" for 2011, our thoughts and discussions kept revolving around choices--the small and the big choices we make each day, the effect of our choices, and how to make right choices. Our boys are growing up so quickly and spending more and more time away from home. All too soon, they will both be in all-day school. They are becoming so independent and want to spend more time with friends, playing sports, and other activities. We also know that this year Kyler will be turning 8 years old. It will be time for him to choose whether or not to be baptized. We hope that by focusing together and learning about our choices, we will all be ready to make thoughtful choices and accept responsibility for our choices. We want to feel the joy that comes from making good choices. 

Our goals this year include:

Family: study Preach My Gospel, hiking all the trails in our guide, singing the hymns at church, and reading The Chronicles of Narnia Series together

Kacin: read a chapter book, play the piano, stretch/yoga every day, and memorize 6 scriptures

Kyler: finish reading the Book of Mormon, create 5 different types of art (painting, drawing, pottery, etc.), stretch/yoga every day, and memorize 7 scriptures

Laura: play 3 hymns on the piano (not the made-easy ones), finish Personal Progress, study the life of Jesus Christ by reading the Gospels and Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage, and run a 5k or some such thing

Eric: read the Book of Mormon and D&C in Portuguese, study for and take the GMAT, grill with 5 different recipes in the summer, and run a 5k or some such thing

Note: the stretch/yoga every day goal for the boys came because the boys each wanted a goal to exercise every day. Because E and I feel they are naturally very active and we play at the park, ride bikes, and play sports all the time anyways, we wanted them to do something a little different. We also hope that by doing some kids yoga they will learn strategies to help them relax, breathe, calm down, and increase their focus.

The First's of 2011

The first moments of the New Year found us

at our good friend's (and neighbor's) house.

We had no intention of actually letting the boys stay up until Midnight.

We were going to be mean parents and go home early and put them to bed.

But somehow we ended up there well past the planned 10:00pm
(was it because of the salmon and the yummy treats or just the fun games?).
Kacin's first few minutes of the New Year . . .

Kyler's first few minutes . . .

Our first awkward nose smashing smooch of 2011 . . .

Our first date of 2011
to the Pacific Science Center
where we played mindbender games,
studied butterflies,
and looked at the Harry Potter wands and other artifacts
at the Harry Potter Exhibition,
in which no photography was allowed inside (lame)
so no pictures of us on the Nimbus 2000 or anything.

Reviewing Our Goals

2010 is at its end.
Which means its time to see where we're at
with all those goals we set
at the beginning of the year.

Love Should Be Our Walk and Our Talk:
It really should be. We're not quite there yet, but its been really good for us to have this family theme. We used it as a reminder when someone needed redirection with their actions and words.  We talked about it at each Family Home Evening and shared ways we had shown love throughout the week. Most of our FHE lessons focused on showing love to ourselves, others, God, and each other. One of our most effective lessons we stretched over about 6 weeks and focused all about conversations.

Family Goals:
Study and memorize the Articles of Faith:
I was so hesitant when Eric suggested this goal. To have a 5 and 6 year old learn all 13 Articles of Faith! But the boys blew me away. Basically, each month we took on a different Article of Faith. I practiced with the boys for a few minutes each morning before Kyler went to school. Around the end of the month, they were ready to recite it by themselves to both me and Eric. We also talked about what the Articles of Faith meant during FHE lessons. Every 3rd Article of Faith they learned, we celebrated with a Book of Mormon figure for each of them. After they learned the 13th A of F, they had to recite all of them to us again. I video recorded them saying all 13. They did it mostly without help, but since some of them it had been a whole year since they learned, they needed some reminders. Here they are saying their favorites.

 We also did 3 service projects together, tried to speak more kindly to each other, visited 5 new places, and tried to attend the temple more often.

Kacin's Goals:
Learn how to cook 5 things:
I loved that Kacin set this goal for himself. It was so fun to have him next to me in the kitchen so much. He learned way more than 5 things. He says his favorite thing to cook is tortillas.

Kacin can also definitely read more than 6 books by himself and he has fun playing basketball and improving his skills. He is trying hard on his character goal.

Kyler's Goals:
Learn to play the piano:
When we first got our piano, he took lessons from me. But now he has started taking lessons from an awesome, real piano teacher who he thinks is an amazing pianist. He loves doing it and practices each day before school. His favorite song to play is "Jolly Ol St. Nick".

Kyler has also played baseball and reads lots of chapter books. He has improved so much on his character goal.

Laura's Goals:
Be able to touch my toes:
I could never, ever touch my toes without bending my knees before. And now I can. Its so satisfying to finally be able to do something you never could before. Even when it's something kinda silly like this.

I also tried at least 20 new recipes (even though most of them were new desserts) and I'm pretty close to finishing the Old Testament. I think I will have to continue my character goal next year, too.

Eric's Goals:
Read 6 books about temples:
Let's just say that Eric has become a well-read man this year. He's read books on temples, Teddy Roosevelt, and various other subjects. Way more than 6.

Eric has had an awesome exercise schedule to help him stay healthy and has almost met his goal of two woodworking projects. He is working on remembering Portuguese, too. This man doesn't need a character goal because he's just that good. Well, actually I just noticed that he somehow slipped by without one. Oh well, he's cute.

We feel like we have accomplished a lot
in both our written and unwritten goals this year.
2010 has been a fun, fulfilling year for us.

Running Orange

520 Feet Up

You would have thought we had just arrived at Disneyland
the way Kacin was jumping and shouting.
"Yay! We get to go up the Space Needle!
My first time up the Space Needle!!"
He was bouncing all over the place.
The people around us started laughing.
When we bought tickets and got him calm enough,
we walked up to the entrance and took the elevator
up to the top.

Day with Dad

To do with dad on his birthday:
1. Listen to dad practice the guitar
2. Give dad lots of presents
3. Play with dad's presents, like the game Blokus.

4. Go to Seattle Center to visit a museum and end up at the Space Needle

5. Run around a big orange maze

6. Go to the EMP and become the band Rock the House and make a music video

7. Eat Thai food

8. Have dad attempt to blow trick candles out on his cheesecake

Twenty-Nine for E

So young and so accomplished.
Twenty-nine years has made him the best dad

the best husband

and the best Mickey Mouse ever.

We hope you have a very happy birthday, E!