another step towards organization!

For those who may not know me well...I'm not a very organized person.

To put it bluntly, I'm actually quite messy.

BUT...I do have aspirations! And I've decided to tackle my messy surroundings one step at a time.

The car is ONE place that I really can't stand seeing a mess.

It drives me CRAZY whenever I see toys and books strewn all over the seats and floors! So, with the help of a friend's blog, I got the idea to sew some book/toy caddies for our car.

This is your run-of-the-mill book caddy.

A bit smaller than I had originally intended...but it does do it's job.
And I now my girls have a place to put their "stuff."

But THIS! This is my own creation.

I felt bad for Jolee...who's seat is so high, she always struggled with not being able to reach anything to entertain herself with.

SO.

I sewed a strip of padded fabric (kinda like a scarf...but tapered in the middle to not interfere with the seat buckle) that drapes over the entire car seat. And with pockets on either side, she now has a place to put toys and small books in easy reach of her high car seat!

Genius, right?

Not sure if they make organizers like this...but since I've never seen one, I take full credit for this idea. ;)

(...Patent pending...)

happy baptism!

Saturday was my nephew Ezra's Baptism Day!

And look at all the cousins that came out to help celebrate and congratulate!
Here's Ezra with his Dad.
Yes...Atau IS that dark.
(With 2 boys in outdoor sports...what d'ya expect?)


The Sakuma Family.
Congratulations, Ezzy!!
We're so happy and proud of you!

game on!

Soccer season started last week for AYSO soccer and this is the first year we signed Kela up. She wanted to play last year (along with all her cousins) but we held off, and waited for her to turn 6.

Sort of regretting that decision....

I guess because of her birthday...she ended up in U-8 soccer instead of U-6 like we had intended. Which means that she plays with 6-8 year old girls. Most of whom have already had at least a year or two of experience playing the sport.

And since Kela is the youngest as well as probably the least experienced (not to mention smallest?!), we were (and still are somewhat) worried about how she'd fit in with her teammates.
This past Saturday was her first game...and she did pretty well!

And to our surprise, she was more aggressive than I had expected!
She even manged to get a kick or two in!

Not to mention hustle up and down the larger field like nobody's business!



Unfortunately, our team lost (1-2)...but she did have fun! And that's what we were most concerned about. We just didn't want her to get discouraged and frustrated about keeping up with her teammates.

She has a really good coach...who's really good about emphasizing techniques and positions, rather than just simply shooting goals. I think that's good for Kela to grasp the basics of the sport. We're hoping that she can learn to enjoy being out there (in the scorching heat!!) and make some new friends and gain confidence.
I mean, that's what team sports is all about, right?!

the zoo. times two.

I went to the zoo last week.

Twice.

It was HOT both days.

The first time was with my sisters and their younger kids while the older ones were in school. I took Anna and Jolee. Anna has been asking to go to the zoo forEVER, so she was very happy to go.

And since Airi lives pretty close to the zoo, we decided to walk there from her house. It's still probably a good mile walk, though. And in the heat of the late morning - afternoon sun...it was HOT!
I pushed the double stroller, but surprisingly, Anna decided she wanted to walk all around the zoo and even on the way home!
(dare I say, I think she's growing up!)


Jolee with the tiger.


Ah, these three.
They held hands throughout the zoo and it was just so cute.


And then, the very next day...


I came back to the zoo (and the Aquarium) with Kela and her 1st grade class to chaperon their field trip.



Here's Kela with a classmate in the Koi Pond.



Mmmm...spam musubi's for lunch!

Half of the 1st graders on the trip.

Our half started off at the Aquarium...and then after touring the aquarium, we all walked to the zoo. The other half of the 1st graders did the opposite.

So, this was the group that I helped chaperon and shuffle around the zoo.

Yikes, that's a lot of kids!

And since I didn't want to pay for parking down there....I parked my car (and left Jolee and Anna) at my sister Airi's house and walked to the aquarium and zoo. And then had to walk back.

Having done that not-so-long-but-still-very-exhausting walk two days in a row...I was EXHAUSTED!

Not to mention sunburned as well.

woodshop 101

The first Saturday of every month, Home Depot holds a kid's workshop class for FREE! The kids get their very own kit, a cute little apron to wear and for every craft completed, they get a pin and certificate! As you can see by the aprons the girls are wearing, Mitch has taken Kela and Anna on several Saturdays.
This Saturday, the Scouts in our troop had planned an excursion there...and since Mitch is responsible for overseeing the Scouts, he decided to go and help out. And take our girls along, too.

I decided to go as well. To take pictures, of course. :)

Mitch usually helps the girls start the nails first...

Then lets them pound them in the rest of the way.

Here's Kela sanding and prepping her school bus pencil organizer.

And here's Jolee.

Just wandering around and checking out everyone's work.

Kela gluing the pieces together before hammering in the nails.

Ah, the final stickers to finish the project.

Ta da~!
The finished project!

It was crowded...and hot...but the girls had fun.

AND...they got another pin to tack onto their aprons!

ah, summer...

...we shall miss you.

Though busy, busy, busy...after really thinking about it, our Summer was actually pretty uneventful. We spent most of our days juggling the usual chores and errands with spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Seavey who were here for the entire Summer.

(Well...Grandma was here the whole Summer. Grandpa came and went with his work schedule sandwiched in between...) One major event was Kela's swimming lessons which came to an end in July.

While Kela swam...Anna watched videos.

While Jolee played with the water toys meant for the swimmers.

Not sure if she was supposed to take these out of the baskets...but no one scolded her & most of the time, she'd pull all the animals out and line them up along the edge of the pool.

Here, she's petting the elephant.

Her new favorite animal, it seems.

Her teacher, Miss ...um, I forgot her name.

Kela jumping through hoops!

Her "graduating" class.

With her new friend, Alexis...

Next year, I promised Anna she would get to swim as well.

Not sure about Jojo, though...

Ah, yet another picture with Grandma and Grandpa.

On our front porch.

For those who don't know...this is a classic Seavey family picture spot.

(Don't ask me why...)

Doing some of those chores I previously mentioned...

Jolee apparently got tired of waiting for me to finish folding the laundry.

And...since Grandma is Chinese, her FAVORITE place to go is Chinatown.

Seriously. She went there practically everyday!

I asked Mitch what she did there. He had NO idea.

This day, she took us to her (and our!) favorite Dim Sum restaurant.

Cheap and yummy.

A great combo if ever there is one!

A rare family pic.

(Shucks! I was hoping Kela was covering my belly a bit more...)

So long, Summer!

And so long, Grandma and Grandpa!

We will miss you~!

Gymboree!!

We debated over putting Anna into preschool this year...and with the extremely high cost of preschool here, we decided against it.
And then as summer waned and we began preparing for Kela to start 1st grade, I started having second thoughts.
And so...after some deliberation, we decided on this.

Gymboree.
I know what you're thinking.
Isn't it expensive?
Yes it is. BUT, not as expensive as regular preschool. Less time (MUCH less time) but with that comes less $$ as well, so we thought it was a reasonable alternative. Plus, since we've been practicing her letters and numbers at home for over a year...we figure she'll be ready for kindergarten without an "official" preschool class. Right?

Anyway, it's twice a week, to run around and play...while also learning a letter or two in between. I get a tiny break and Anna gets some interactive play with other kids her age.

Not to mention, I get to bring Jolee along for some playtime after her classes. Though here, she kinda looks like she's trying to "bussup" Gymbo.

Awww...they made up. :)

Sorry for the horribly grainy photos...I took (and posted) the photos & this post via my iPhone. :)