MY NEIGHBORHOOD

These orange flowers grow outside our place. Every time we walk by, Gage picks a handful, tells me to close my eyes, and presents them to me with a big smile. We come home and he wants to put them in a little bowl with water in it.

Sundays

David says Sundays are his favorite because he gets to hold this baby all through church. He doesn't get much of a chance during the week.

end of the school year

Noah and his teacher, Mrs. Savage

Noah just finished Grade One!

I loved going through the mountains of school work he brought home. I loved seeing his handwriting and his art work. He put together this awesome research project on monkeys and wrote lots of great stories. Like this one:

"Rice Dragon" by Noah
Once upon a time there was a dragon that ate rice. His name was Rice. His friends called him Ricey. He owned a rice field. He lived in China. He also ate dumplings. He had scales of a fish, feet of a rabbit and speed of a cheetah! He won every race. Then one day he died. The End.

or this one:

"The Smartest Man in the World!" by Noah
Once upon a time there was a kid that did not know anything. Then he learned and learned and learned and learned and... he became the smartest man in the world! He knew the hardest math problems. When he died they put his brain in a jar. They called him the King of Smarties. The End.

Love it.

Noah's buddies - Jihae, Ume and Michael

one month

She started smiling at 3 weeks. Honest to goodness. My mom as my witness.
She loves to be swaddled.
Loves to be held.
Loves her swing.
People say she looks like Noah. What do you think?

A Big Red 7

Noah's favorite color is red. 

His favorite dinner is kraft mac and cheese with cooked carrots on the side.

 He looks a lot like his daddy. And thinks like him too.

If you gave him a bag of candy, he wouldn't eat them right away. He'd want to save them.

His favorites are banana laffy taffys.

He devours books. And loves a good map. 

He has a lot of questions and a lot of interesting things to say.

Did you know only about 8% of the world's currency is in cash? The rest is electronic. Noah told me that.

  

He swims like a fish and rides his scooter like its glued to his Kickers.

He loves to play games and follow the rules.

And when he makes a good friend, he keeps them. 

He turned 7 years old this weekend, so we gathered his buddies and had a pool party.

About half way through, right during the scavenger hunt, it rained. 

 It poured. 

A true tropical downpour.

But that didn't stop them. They were already wet anyway. And they really wanted that treasure.

When the sun came back, there was a pinata of course.

And lots of smiles. 

Happy Birthday Noah!! We love you! 

And thanks to Malia for these great shots.

Grandma!

My mom came and spent 3 weeks with us in Singapore. We loved every second of it.

I loved her company, her cooking and her Amazing Expertise. 

 

The boys loved her competitive Stratego skills. 

And her bunny, of course.  They've been begging to play bunny tag since she left.

She cooked, she cleaned, she mended clothes, tended baby, took the boys to the pool, to school, to the library, to the Science Center. I loved her story about the parent from Noah's school tentatively approaching her ".... Jessie??"

Towards the end of her stay, we even made it to a couple of her favorite spots from her last visit. Chinatown, Arab street for shopping and lunch.

The Botanic Gardens with its gorgeous Orchid Garden

We've missed her since the moment she wheeled her suitcases into the elevator. Thanks for coming, Mom! We love you!!!

And don't laugh, but Dave and I were wearing the exact same outfit that day - blue shirt, grey shorts, all the way down to the Birkenstocks. I didn't notice until I looked at these pictures. We are that couple. Yikes.