The good life.

As expected, the little prince was treated royally on his birthday. He got a new bike that promotes balance instead of learning to pedal. (he had that down a long time ago!) He calls it his motorbike. Yes, and it's the closest thing to a motorbike he will have I can assure you. Thank you Grandma Sue! He also got an all terrain wagon that is such a sweet ride that he fell asleep in it. Yes, that's a waffle in his hand. Pop pulled him around until he dosed off. Too sweet really. Another favorite is his firetruck. Firetrucks are really in right now!
He entertained our guests non-stop.
Tenzin has been getting in some good nakey time. We're hoping to finish up the potty learning anytime now. He is quickly growing up. He even sleeps until 7:30 in the morning! YEAH!
Well, I might as well mish-mash everything together here. Toddler=little time.
We had our easter egg hunt today- Tenzin was SO excited. Tenzin would go "AH" every time he found an egg. I hid some eggs and Men's pokey for Tai. He was excited since he said he hasn't had a good easter egg hunt in about 20 years. Tenzin got some new play food for his kitchen, gardening gloves, a watering can, a little bunny puzzle and a giant german paper mache egg with a bunny in it from Gramy Bee. He calls the bunny Ruby, and it does look a lot like her.
We also had an aquarium day for Tenzin's birthday week celebration. He loved it A LOT!
whew! It's hard to fit a week of Tenzin's life on one page.... sorry for the random order of it all.
Having a toddler has got to be one of the most exhausting yet rewarding things you can do in this life. It's a good life. Thanks for sharing the joy with me.
Goodnight.

Happy Easter!

Tenzin LOVES his bunny Ruby. He is always snuggling and kissing her. It's too cute really.
Tomorrow I will hide his easter eggs in our yard. He has been playing easter for a while now. Hiding eggs and finding them again.
Tenzin has another cold, and it seems he is catching up from all the time he wasn't sick in Hawaii...
Tenzin's new favorite thing is the wild peacocks we have around here. He does peacock calls to them, and we here them calling back. Every night he talks about peacocks nonstop. Last night Tai said the peacocks were sleeping. Then Tenzin said the next morning that the peacocks were shopping. He is so funny right now!
I asked him if he remembered when he was in my tummy. He said "Yup. Toys in there, fire trucks in there. Horse in there." I know my belly was big, but not that big! He cracks me up.
When my sister and her boyfriend were here they showed him their tongue rings and Tenzin said "uncle Ron two balls in mouth" Then he said it 20 more times. oh my gosh. Where did this funny child come from?

Tenzin is 2!!!

Tenzin feeding our new hunny bunny Ruby dandelions.

Tenzin has been weaned. It was a little sad for both of us. He isn't a baby anymore....
I made him this baby as a weaning present. Baby Kai is his name! (look like anyone?) Tenzin loves him and now they do everything together- get into their jammies, and go for motorcycle rides! Tenzin understood when I told him that babies need milk, and now that he's almost 2 he doesn't need milk anymore. Then he said that baby Kai needed milk. It has been much easier than I expected. Tai turned 31, and like every party we're having this year it involved getting stuffed on sushi. ummm. We went out with Tai's old buddy from college. I am going to make a cake when Grandpa John comes to visit for the 3 Aries boys party!
Our little school is coming along, and we are quickly learning that we can't survive off of drop-in. We need commitment where they pay for the month upfront, and don't get a refund if they don't come. With flus and vacations it's hard to keep our numbers up. We were just going to start out this way, but we now have 12 children enrolled, which is GREAT, now we just need them to come consistently. It will work, which is a big relief. Everyone keeps saying that we're so brave to just move here and try to do this. I guess it was a big leap. Tai will be driving a school bus before and after our preschool hours. It works out great with vacations being the same, and not working too many hours. He can still be here to help me with school too. It will help us get out of a bit of our debt. We decided that we can get pregnant again once we're out of debt. Hopefully it won't take too long... Tenzin needs a brother or sister soon.
Tenzin's birthday party is only a week and two days away.... yikes. I couldn't possibly have a small party, so there will be 36+ people here. whew. I said I wouldn't do it again, and here we go! It will be a Japanese party, and it is at 2, so it will be mostly just snacks and drinks. We can survive. My mom, sister and brother will be flying back from Hawaii just in time. Tenzin will be so happy to see them! I talked to Mick today and he said ask Tenzin if he wants me to bring him a gecko. Tenzin said "uncle firetruck shoes!" at least he knows what he wants. Where did that come from?!
This is the BEST age, he says the funniest things. He gets these crazy ideas, and is getting so creative. He's also unbelievably smart for his age. (of course I think that : ) but, it's true.
I should get to bed. I will post more pics soon.
Lots of love out,
Keri*

Whew.... That's all I have to say.
It has been a while. Our whole house has been sick, Tai and Tenzin had the flu, and I have been hanging on with only minor symptoms. All of our preschool children have been sick too, so it has been a rough week. We had another open house, which went great despise me being a little sick and running it entirely on my own. It was our biggest yet, and I met so many wonderful and interested families. We are getting excited for Tenzin's party, which is only 27 days away! It is hard to believe that my baby will be 2... He is really amazing right now, he makes us laugh all the time! He is getting an imagination, which is SO incredible to watch. His toast turns into a dragon, and he has plans of catching a very big frog that lives outside! His vocabulary grows everyday, and everyday he tries new skateboard tricks. He has a thing for skateboards. Whenever we see a boy riding one he says "Tenzin's turn!" he turned a Popsicle stick and a wooden wheel into a board, and took it with him everywhere. Then we found his old boogie board from Hawaii and he has been riding it off beds, down couches (from a windowsill! yikes!) and wanting to ride it down the stairs. (luckily there is a gate!)
Did I mention that I found a gray hair the other day?!
The good news is- Spring is here! We have cherry blossoms out our window!

School tomorrow, better get to bed.
If you are reading this you are invited to Tenzin's party. It will be on March 31st at 2:00.

Lots of love,
Keri*

I'm almost 2... what's your excuse?

Tenzin has realized that he's almost 2, and he should start acting like it!
The tantrums, the hitting.... let the wild rumpus start!
It seems to have been set off by having other 2 year olds to play with, and although I don't want to blame that, it just kind of gave him a jump start into the wonderful world of 2... whew.
He is more social again and that is the good side of having children around.
He is talking quite a lot and now uses "Thank you" "excuse me" and "sorry" without prompting, and at appropriate times which is quite amazing to me. Today after lunch he said
"Thank you food"
I had to laugh when he said sorry to the broom after I knocked it down.
He is realizing him self, making decisions and having to meet the world. He even fights with himself sometimes.....
Oh the joys!
He is VERY much in to trains right now, and has the sound effects down perfectly. Today we had the mission of going to the library in search of more Choo-Choo books, our selection was getting old.
Our school is coming along fast now, and it seems that I am constantly answering calls and planning to meet people. Seems as though we will be full before long! Yay!
We are open 3 days a week now, and soon to be 4. Suddenly word of mouth has taken off, and it seems that it has been the most effective advertising so far. Our days have been going very smoothly. I sewed aprons for the children and we did our first bread baking day. We have been having a lot of fun, and it's so great for Tenzin to have the children, and the rhythm of the preschool- circle time, activities and story. He happily joins in with everything we do. I will try to take more pictures, Tai and I are both so involved with the children that it's hard.
Here is a picture of Tenzin with some friends on the train that they made!

27

Today I am 27. I always thought I would start having children at 27. Well, since we've already taken care of that... Now what? I guess Tenzin is definitely ready for a sibling.
My birthday was wonderful. Mark and Leslie came down last weekend with a cheesecake and we had a little celebration. We just putzed about on Vashon, and Tenzin had a great time with them. He was really sad to see them go. He said
"Uncle, Auntie, Bye-Bye?" The weather has been so beautiful! It seems like spring here. Today we took the passenger ferry to downtown Seattle, had all you can eat sushi, got some sweaters for teaching and walked though the new sculpture park. I WISH I had my camera! Standing in one place we could see Mt. Rainier, the cascades, the moon, the sun, the space needle, the ocean and all of these huge modern sculptures. It was just amazing.
Our little school is coming along, besides the impetigo exposure.... THINGS ARE GOING GREAT! If there is another big storm coming in February, please don't tell me about it.
I am doing drop in right now and have a lot of interest from parents of 2 year olds. I am being flexible, and it would be great to move along with Tenzin's age. I will be accepting 2.5 yr olds for our summer program, and 3 or almost 3's in the fall, so the children that join us now can just keep going.
Generally life is good, I have had a great 27 years. I feel that I have created a good life, and feel like I'm following my dreams. What more can you ask for?
27 sounds good as well.
Goodnight.

Tenzin drawing an egg. We have been chicken sitting, and everything is about the chickens and the eggs. Ok, and there are trucks of course.

Tenzin stole these glasses from me when he was just a baby. He thinks they look better on him.

Tenzin on the ferry, in the snow by our pond (we have lots of snow now!) and taking care of a baby. He just said his name this morning. "Ten-Ten"

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to everyone for making our Christmas so wonderful this year! It may take me a little while to get thank you cards out this year....
Tenzin had such a good time in California and loved spending time with his grandparents. As expected he was spoiled sweetly!

We love you all very much!
Tenzin Kai, Keri and Tai

No Man

Happy 2007!

Tenzin had his first flu for new years....
Being the little trouper that he is he got up for a cheers with ginger ale and watched the fireworks from our bedroom. He hasn't missed a new years yet!
The big celebration here is that he got his last tooth!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!
Teething is over!!!
He won't get any more teeth until he's 6. He has been teething hard core since he was 3 months old, so this is means for a party!!
2007 already? This means that soon I will be 27 and Tenzin will be 2!!!! I can't believe it!
We will be having another open house this weekend for our school, and will start doing drop in until we get more enrollment (which may not be until this fall) Without the open house it's hard to say what will happen. Everyone seems really excited about it though, which is great.
I will let you know how it goes.

Wishing you all happiness in 2007.

Lots of Love,

Keri*

Christmas Eve Dinner with Uncle Sam, Auntie Susan, Uncle Gabe, Grandpa Richard, Gramy Bee, Great Grammy, Tai and Tenzin

Tenzin opening gifts with Uncle Alec, Grandma Debra, and Auntie Deena

My Sweet Boy

Whew

We were suppose to have our first open house yesterday... Everything was looking great and ready to go. Then our power went out... I had just put olive oil in my hair, and had just jumped in the shower. This is pretty much a nightmare situation for me now.
Our house was so cold we didn't know what to do with ourselves. We decided to put up a sign and go for breakfast. (with a hat on) Then we decided to go to the city because we had nothing to do, and no where to go. We just went to warm places walked aimlessly in malls and had sushi. I kept calling to find out if our power was back. When we couldn't get a hold of anyone to stay with in Seattle, and after we were absolutely exhausted we decided we better just head home. When we got home at 9:55 our power had just come back on. It was good timing, but the rest of the day.. hum....
the day after I talked to a few of the people that I thought might come, and one of my friends told me that she came and thinks a lot of people showed up. (probably because they had nothing to do either) Hopefully they come back on Saturday. I just couldn't bare the thought of trying to welcome people into my frozen house with my oily hair. yikes.
The real reason I am writing my blog right now is because tonight is suppose to go hurricane style, and gusts of wind could be up to 75 mph..... the worst in a long time.
There are trees all over this island, so the chances of the power going out again are good. We are filling our bathtubs, finding our candles and lights and most importantly taking showers.
Not looking forward to it, since all we have for heat is a little fire place, that is really for looks, and doesn't put out much heat. I guess we could all huddle around it...
It's raining pretty hard now, but the high wind warnings are suppose to start this afternoon, and continue until tomorrow afternoon. I really hope we have power for our next open house.

I'll put up some pictures of Tenzin to cheer me up.

Lots of love to you all,
Talk to you soon.