Jamie in Seattle & Boys having fun

I went to Seattle for 4 days and when I came home, I was looking forward to hugs and kisses from the boys. Instead, I got a "hey mom" as they walked passed me...As if I hadn't been gone at all! Keeping it real.

The boys loved their Alexis and Grandma time. I heard all about walks around the block, tickle monsters, water slides, library trips and snacks. Lots of snacks! haha! Just as it should be. Spoiled silly by loved ones.

Jack kept busy with work and the house. And I came back to his finished bench that he made for the boys' school! Pretty nice, eh?

I lived in Portland for 1 year and this Seattle trip reminded me how much I love the Northwest! At the conference, we got great reviews from our presentation and met new people. Walked to Pike Place Market almost everyday, ate fresh seafood (best was the crab!), visited EMP and Escala. Read books, got upgraded to 1st class on my flight home, and spent time with good people. It was a fabulous 4 days - albeit I did wish Jack was with me. Seattle is a great "date" city.  Oh, the conference had a gala for us at the EMP and we got to play in a band. That's me playing the drums. =)

Once I arrived back home, Jack had a fun day planned for us. Hiking, crayfish catching and picnicking. Love my boys.

 The boys looking for crayfish.

Justin had more fun throwing rocks. And we're not sure how this happened - but Justin is anti-dirt. He threw a fit when his shoe got stuck in mud. "Clean my shoe! The bottom too."

 And finally - we got one! Jack says that good gumbo requires 17 crayfish. Next time, we'll try to catch that many.

 Lunch, please!

Good to be home.

Dad in Ohio!

My dad made his first solo visit to Ohio!!! What a great week we've had! A few of our highlights:

• I took most of the week off, so we enjoyed a ton of time relaxing, eating good food and spending family time together. Took trips to the playground, Memphis Kiddie Park, Farmpark, and ice cream store. Had dinners with lots of friends. Spent quality time having fun at home. Such a fun week.
• We finally checked out the new casino! Beautiful place, and I plan to go back if Jack doesn't stop me. =)
• Swimming! My dad swam everyday and I joined him for a couple. Great to be back in the water.
• Colin & Justin love their Jichan-time and have become his little helpers and love playing with him. Colin's favorite is earning money by helping with yard work and Justin's favorite is laying in his bed watching TV together.
• My dad is a busybody and worked a ton. He helped us cut down a tree, pull weeds, build a bench for the boys' school, and clean up our yard. We are so thankful to have another set of working hands to help us out! =)

Working on an airplane craft project...

 Enjoying train rides at the Kiddie Park...

 

 Justin's first roller coaster ride. He had a look of terror on his face during the ride, but never cried and was ok after the ride was over. I guess it's always a bit more comforting to have a big brother next to you the whole time.

 Note to self: It's useless trying to get kids to pose while they are eating ice cream. haha.

 Justin supervising Jichan and Colin doing yard work.

 Jichan and Colin walking and talking.

 Just because....

Jack & my dad barbequing on Father's Day. It hasn't rained in weeks, so we welcomed the wet weather! Happy Father's Day!

 Grandma worked her magic and calmed the boys down from a crazy fun Father's day dinner.

Once C & J's school found out that Jack could build things, they asked him to make a kids bench. And with my dad in town, the two dads went to work. About $25 worth of wood and $25 of beer later....

 Just some staining to do and it'll be a finished product! Nice job, dads.

 Thanks to my dad for coming out and visiting us!!! We had so much fun....you better rest up for our next trip together. =)

My dad and I both go to the airport on Tuesday (tomorrow). He flies back to SF, and I fly to Seattle for the rest of the week for work. The kids are splitting their time at grandma's and with Alexis. We are so lucky to have family and friends near us. Another week of fun times for the kids!

CLE Sunshine & a few SF pics

CLE has had beautiful sunshine all week. The new splash pad was a huge hit and I was tempted to start squirming around in there. Just imagine a beautiful beach and we felt like we were living with Auntie Lori in Hawaii paradise. =)

A few of my favorite photos from our trip to San Francisco.

Right smack in the middle of playing, Justin will run to Colin and give him a hug...

  

 In between errands and work, the kids had a few outings. One of our good family friends is a captain in the Fire Department. The kids got to go on another fire engine ride, hats and tattoos.

 

 We also spent a few mornings at Children's playground. So much fun!

The two extremes of our boys: All dressed up and all play.

And an update would not be complete without my mom's babies. She's growing this in her backyard!!! Ooooh, ahhh... Pretty amazing for San Francisco weather. =)

 

 We spent much needed time with family and enjoyed every moment.

94 years of life

My grandmother passed away on May 23 at the young age of 94 years old. She had an amazing life and we are so thankful to have had her as our Obachan. We spent the last 9 days in San Francisco to be with family and help with the memorial service.
Love you Bachan.

The grandkids and great-grandkids together. We all live in different states now, so it's rare that we are all together. Loved every moment.

Fabulously Full Weekend

Work hosted a crazy hat party last week. I didn't have the craziest hat, but I had fun in my diva hat. Can't you imagine me on the beach with this thing? It has the perfect amount of floppiness.

 Saturday ranked as one of our best spent family days...

The weather was wonderful and we headed out to grandmas. Helped her plant some flowers...

 Played in sprinklers...

And rode tractors...

 BBQ'ed, ate outside, relaxed, played, relaxed, devoured cookies, relaxed! Thank you for a perfect Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was race day for the Cleveland half marathon. I never really got my running mojo back, so instead of a PR, my new goal was to finish. The heat was crazy and I've never seen so many people faint and ambulances on a course before.

This is what 5am looks like. I woke up a bit early and was bored waiting in the kitchen. Lucky you - you get Jamie pictures.

7am with my sister in law, Tami, and her girlfriends...

10:30am. Finished the race and made it home. I even ran for most of it. I walked all of the inclines and water stations. I took it easy with my lack of training and heat. I'm just happy to have experienced another Cleveland Half! Next time, I'll need to come up with a better training plan.

12:00pm. I had a quick turnaround. Right after the half marathon, I had to get all dressed up to work commencement for 5 hours. My hips and feet were killing me, but somehow I managed to wear heels for the entire time!

No pic - but I got home at 6pm, changed into my pj's and didn't move. Best feeling ever; although I'm a bit worried to see what condition my body is in tomorrow morning.

Funniest picture. At the race packet pickup, VW was there with a bicycle powered picture booth. Jack peddled while Justin and I waited in the booth. Justin was scared of the picture booth...

Hope you enjoyed your overdose of Jamie pictures and have a fabulous week!

Yard sale + Mama's Day!

It's yard sale season! We hosted a 3 family yard sale in our front yard this weekend. We were able to clear out quite a bit from the house (which makes clutter-free Jack very happy.)

It's funny how the kids don't play with something until it's out for sale. The kids never used these toddler hoodie towels - until Colin declared, "it's my favorite towel; we can't sell it!" Here he is eating lunch amongst the goods with his new favorite towel.

The kids played inside and outside, ran through sprinklers and watched TV. They did great with seeing most of their outgrown toys go. And we had a surprise visit from an ice cream truck. Definitely a highlight! Who doesn't love an ice cream truck?

In the afternoon, the sale slowed down so the wine came out! Most of you know that I don't have a taste for alcohol - but I fell in love with Moscato wine. Delish! We were 4 moms just enjoying the beautiful weather and each others company. Thank you Debra, Sarah and Aarti for making the day so much fun!

"Now that's how you do a yard sale." - from a stranger. Justin woke up cranky from his nap, but I just sat there unaffected - kid and wine in hand, I was content.

So later that night, the wine wasn't sitting well with me and it eventually came back out. I slept most of Sunday to recover. I'm definitely no drinker. Jack told me that's why he married me, "so he could have a designated driver forever." Isn't he the sweetest. =)

Sunday morning, I crawled out of bed and opened Mother's Day presents. Oh yes, a waffle maker!  After a trial run with too much batter, Jack got the hang of it and whipped out some perfect Belgian waffles for breakfast.

We ate breakfast on our new porch, and Justin enjoyed his new bike. "Leela give bike to me." - Justin will proudly tell anyone walking by. Leela was kind enough to hand her bike down to Justin, and I can't tell if he loves it because it's a bike or if it's because it was Leela's.

So if you are keeping track, yes, C has a purple bike and J now has a pink bike. The boys couldn't be happier. =)

 My official mama's day crafts are this beautiful bracelet, a box with shells and a shell handle, and a coaster (i think) with Justin's face on it.

Dinner = bbq ribs, coleslaw and fries. Thanks, hon! Jack also made margaritas and given Saturday's wine episode, I got a share of the kids' virgin batch. By dinner on Sunday, though, I was finally feeling a bit normal.

Nobody wanted to take a picture, but they love me and all obliged me. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

 

Any advice on what to do with my hair? keep in long and layer it? chop it short? bangs again?