Fast and Furious

Life is so fun and busy right now. I have been wanting to take a few minutes to remember what the kids are doing so here's a quick flurry of Echohawk-Hayashi life. Zoey and True both started pre-school and kindergarten. Their were no tears or sad feelings, only happy to be in the classroom, excited to meet new friends and a little shyness from both kids. Zoey has declared that she wants to be the leader that is in charge of the other leaders. True has started official ballet lessons with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company. It brings me so much joy to see him expressing himself in dance! Both kids are driving me crazy trying to "help" me in the kitchen. Reading this great book called, Happier in the Home - Trying to get rid of clutter and remembering mindfulness. Matt just finished his first week of his last year of grad school. Life is good.

Zoey the WONDEFUl

Zoey is a wonder. Full of good cheer and love but quick to fight for what is hers and give voice to her wants and needs. She will turn three on March 24th and everyday I think about how I want to treasure these moments with her while she is still a two year old. She is not defined by expectations that others might have of two year old angst and so far temper tantrums are nonexistent, she potty trained at 29 months and after a month of wearing undies she quit wearing a pullup to bed. Her bladder control is unreal for a two year old. She wakes up and doesn’t pee right away and will sometimes wait for an hour. I MAY need to make her drink more water.
She is hilarious and keeps us in stitches with her poopy jokes. She loves to play with her brother and bestie, Lolapop. Zoey likes to keep me company in the kitchen and make her own recipes. I can count on her to construct her own breakfast. I put out the bread, peanut butter and jelly and she makes her own “toast”. She also likes to help with preparing veggies for dinner and baking cookies.

We have a lot of nicknames for her. Zo-Bo, Tiny and Zoey-Co are the top picks, she generally likes it but sometimes she protests with “I not tiny, I Zoey!” Which is so cute and I have to keep calling her Tiny.
She likes being a big girl but also enjoys pretending that she is a baby. When we go to Target she wants to lay down in the baby seat that is for newborn – 6 months. I usually let her because it is so funny and I can strap her in.
Zoey loves to eat and is always hungry first thing in the morning. She loves toast, SuperK with strawberries, strawberry yoghurt and eggs. For lunch she always wants to have a sandwich. She usually eats whatever we make for dinner with no fuss. She loves cucumber and salad! But like her brother she doesn’t eat raw tomatoes. She loves her gummy vitamins and I have caught her plenty of times sneaking extra vitamin C.
When she is naughty we put her in time out. She will usually agree and sit down and wait out her punishment with no arguments. I don’t know if it is super effective punishment.
I am crazy in love!

Rants and Raves

Rants and Raves – during our Hawaii Trip
RAVES
• Zoey in a bikini. Cutest possible outfit she can wear! I don’t know what it is about it about her little body in the little, tiny pieces of fabrics but I can hardly stand it. I just want to squeeze her little body and smother her with kisses. Thankfully she doesn’t mind my frantic embraces.
• Brown rice – Hawaii has certainly changed since the first time I lived here in 1995. You can get brown rice everywhere and I see people order it all the time. Matt still is a purist and eats white rice but our kids like the brown rice and so do I. We also see lots of “hapa” rice, brown and white mix.
• NPR – YAY!!!!! Finally, Oahu has a great NPR station. I was so happy to tune in on Sunday morning and hear Krista Tippett and On Being. Nerdy but important!
• True and Zoey sleeping together in a double bed is un-real cute.
• Oahu people are the nicest in the world. Sunshine makes for happy people.
• Matt and I watched Alaska State Troopers last night for a couple of hours and we loved it. It almost makes me miss Alaska.

RANTS
• Why does being on vacation make me feel tired? It seems that the more “rest” we get the more tired I feel.
• I am looking forward to the day when True will finally sleep through the night. Every night or early morning I feel his hot little breath next to me and I am so sleepy I just let him in our bed.
• Oahu coffee is very mediocre. I am writing this post from the “best” coffee shop on the island, Glazers Coffee but I am under-whelmed. The latte art was deftly done but the barista did not know where the beans had come from and was really unfriendly. I will give it a notch above Starbucks but someone needs to open a great coffee shop! I sound like a diva but when you pay $4 for a drink I expect something spectacular.
• I miss cooking. I can’t wait to get home and make Valentine treats for our annual Valentine party.

Grocery Outlet

Recently, I have become more aware of the phenomenon and tragedy that is Grocery Outlet. There are now two stores within a 3 mile radius from our lovely neighborhood in North Seattle and I have started hitting the aisles at the 130th and Aurora location a couple of times a month. I have gotten some great deals and a lot of weird and highly unusual items as well.

For instance, we have needed a new umbrella for our table in the backyard. I have been making mentally preparations to spend around a $100. Earlier this summer, I got home from work and lo and behold, Bob had bought us a new umbrella for $14! What the what! Other items that seem to good to be true have been Annie's organic fruit snacks and crackers. I can't remember the exact price but I estimate around 30% cheaper then Target and Safeway. I also got a huge bag of flax seed for around $2. So we have saved some money but I usually do not buy fruit snacks and crackers but I was lured in by the price.

We have also had some major disasters at the outlet. The first time I was there I bought a few cans of beans for a chilli I was making and then looked around for a snack. I grabbed a bag of beef jerky that I think was called ends and pieces. Those pieces of God knows what were HORRIBLE. I think it might have been cat or dinosaur meat that the found somewhere. It was incredibly tough and I know this is going to sound really bizarre but it was kind of dusty or ashy. It felt like I had taken a bite of rotten meat that had been dehydrated.

WOW, after writing that I feel a need to take some deep cleansing breath's.



OK, I am feeling better.

I recently bought toilet paper and the only way to describe it was that it was old. It feels like it had been sitting on the shelves for a long time and has gotten a little soggy and then was re-dried along the way. So freaking weird.

I have more to say, so Jen and Bex get ready for more thrilling posts from the underworld of Grocery Outlet.

Quotable Quotes

There has been some very interesting conversations around my house.

Matt to me at the dinner table
"I think I want to be married to a human, thank you" That might have been because I asked him if he would still love me even if I was magically transformed into a dinosaur.

True in the car
"I think I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up and make you a beautiful dress, Mommy!"

True after he met our friends 12 year old daughter.
"I like that girl Mommy, she is so nice, I want her to be my girlfriend."

Zoey when I asked her if she was ready to go to bed
"No way, Mama"

The knock knock jokes

True has been making up lame knock knock jokes recently.

This morning this one cracked me up.

True - Knock, Knock
Me - Who's there?
True - Chubby face
Me - Chubby face who?
True - Chubby face, actually I am a butt!

I think he heard us talking about a "butt chin" and he made it into his little joke.

Hilfreakingarious!

The Wild Chicken Puppet Show

Zoey - Two YEARS old

Hard to believe but Zoey the dream child has officially turned two year old. Kind of blows my mind a little. Time is flying with by and as she is my last ever bio baby I find myself feeling nostalgic and a little sad that she is growing so quickly. She seems to be pretty ok with being a baby forever, if I tell her that she is a big girl (usually in an attempt to get her to do something) she vehemently denies her big girl status and says, "I baby, I baby". Which cracks me up, she really is the funniest two year old I have ever seen. REALLY, you should see her and her gorgeous comedy, it would blow your hair back.

So, we had a huge birthday party. I sent an evite and then invited a whole herd of people who stormed through our house with joy and stamping. It was uhmazing. Around 70 people to celebrate our girl. She took it in stride and had a great time although there were moments when she needed the refuge of a grandparent or mom and dad. We porked down massive amounts of food - 4 smoked chickens, 15 pounds of Korean style brisket, yakisoba, edamame, gyoza, fruit, salad, cupcakes for the kids and strawberry cream cake for the adults. Crazy delicious.

Matt and his Dad had worked on a puppet theater for Zoey's birthday so I felt compelled to entertain the crowd with a humble puppet show that my dear friend Amber did with me. The crowd seemed to like it although Zoey seems to be a little bored with it.



I love my baby.

Valentine's Day

I don't know how this has happened but over the past two years I have gotten really excited about celebrating Valentine's Day.
Matt and I were never really that into it but now that I have kids it has been so fun to throw a big party and create heart's everywhere for my babies and friends.

AND, to be honest I would really like to buy and wear holiday themed sweaters but Matt and my sisters are horrified at the idea. I am giving them a reprieve but the moment I become a grandma I am buying sweaters for Christmas, Valentines' day, Easter, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving - I can't wait!






Sadly, I had to make it through this Valentine's day without a festive sweater adorned with pink hearts but I compensated with heart shaped cookies, jello jigglers, cupcakes and homemade macaroni and cheese.