Making things

Jolon is really interested in making things from paper. One rainy day we decided to make the sun, moon and stars which he mainly cut out. Last night he saw a rocket in a book we were reading, and he and Jan decided to make one. Jan did the bottom part and Jolon created the beautiful spire. Also, for Boy's Day, Jan helped the boys make some paper carp flags.

ice cream

Park with friends

Great weather this past weekend. We went to a park with friends from hoikuen and instead of playing on the playground equipment we found the kids had wandered over to the bushes in one corner of the park and were playing pirates. They got filthy playing in the dirt but had a lot of fun. It was such a nice day that we came home and decided to take our little Japanese tabletop bbq to our local park for dinner. Chicken, hot dogs, vegetables, and even leftover pizza. yummmmmm

Chef Kellan

Kellan had his first experience cooking at school last week. One of the girls in his class, Yui, was moving to a new city, so for her last day they cooked okonomiyaki for her. Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake with cabbage, pork, and noodles inside. Not exactly sure how much the 16 kids could do around a couple of hot plates, but at any rate, Kellan was very excited to try on his apron and bandanna the night before. We started him off in the red apron from Cristie and Allison but as it is still a little big, we ended up sending him in the littler blue one. Jolon was excited for him and helped out by tying the bandannas and aprons all by himself.

Kellan waking up Jolon

Jolon decorating Easter cookies

We made a few Easter egg cookies for the boys' teachers.

Kellan loves

food. He loves to eat and often packs away more than Jolon. In the evenings we can't set the table until just before we serve the food, because as soon as he hears the dishes clanging, he runs to the table and starts demanding something. When he does see or hear us putting the dishes out, he drops everything and yells, "Let's Eat!" or in Kellan-speak, "Yets eeeeat!!"

He also loves pockets and proudly shows them off when his pants have them. He is a huge fan of shorts since that's all they wear at hoikuen, and this winter it was hard to get long pants on him.....until we realized that the pockets were the key to getting him interested. Jan started calling him, Pocket Monkey, and it has kinda stuck. We love our chubby, little Pocket Monkey!

funny things the boys say

We had a picnic in the park last night under the cherry blossoms. Grilled hotdogs, beef, and lots of vegetables on a little old-style Japanese bbq. Stayed until long after it got dark, and as we were walking home, Kellan pointed up to the moon, and said, "Dere's da moon." He was still looking up as we walked by a big building, which obscured the view of the moon. As we got past it, he pointed again, and said, "Dere's anuder moon."

This reminded Jan of one time when Jolon woke up and said to him, "I had a dream about you last night." Jan asked, "What was I doing?" and Jolon looked at him with a serious expression and said, "Don't you remember?"

1st day of the new school year

This year Kellan leaves the Small Pigs class and goes to the Lion class. There are many changes for him, and lots more responsibilities. We won't be going into the school to help him put away his towel and clothes anymore, instead we put everything he needs into his new backpack and he'll put them away himself as part of his morning duties. According to his teachers, he keeps wanting to go into the Small Pigs classroom and they've had some trouble convincing him to trudge upstairs to his new class. About the only way they can avoid a meltdown is to remind him that his new backpack is up there. He LOVES it. He wears it around at home, is constantly pointing to it and then pointing to Jolon's. He even walked home most of the way yesterday wearing it, long after Jolon had thrown his onto the stroller. Oh and now he can't wear his diaper to school. So we are being forced to be a bit stricter with toilet training at home too. I wasn't too happy about having to begin doing that at home, since every time we try, it seems to backfire. But yesterday at the park, he heard Jolon ask to go to the toilet and sure enough 15 minutes he told me he needed to go and then did. 20 minutes after that, he told me again and went again. Even after we got home, he told us he had to go during dinner and did. So, perhaps this is a good chance for me to train him before the baby comes.


Jolon graduated from the Spring Wind class to the Blue Sky class. His week has gone well and with his new responsibilities come lots of fun activities. Already this week, they've gone for a long walk to a new park (Pirate Park!) and last night we cut his nails, packed his apron and bandana, all ready for baking cookies today. He's told his teachers that his "ganbaru koto" personal goal is to listen better during the morning meeting and not play around so much while the teachers are explaining things. His teacher wrote that although things (especially langugage) will become more difficult this year, it will only serve to make his mind and spirit stronger. Good luck Jolon!!

watching a movie together

Kellan usually doesn't last too long in front of the computer, but more and more, whatever Jolon is doing, he wants to do it too.