We gave Tate a camera

We gave Tate my old camera, because he always wants to take pictures. Over the last weeks, he has been running wild with it, taking pictures of almost everything. We thought that we would showcase his work here. While he is not behind the camera in every shot, he is directing the action of every image.

We start with Ice Water (a still-life)



Keri in Grandma's Hands



Tate in front of the camera....................and behind it



Cashus (OK, this shot bugged me. I have been trying for years to get that dog to give me a decent photo - Just one good one for your feeder, but no. Tate gets one within a few shots.)



Lightsaber Fights (with Cole)



At work behind the camera



Hana (the evil twin) being precious.........................Sion (the other evil twin) about to steal her mom's food



and thus concludes our exhibit of Tate's photography. We hope to offer more exhibits in the future.

Tate's First Day

Tate started school on 16th of August. He is growing up so quickly. After a few days, he is really enjoying school.

Though his school district has only full-day programs, he is attending for only half a day. This is thanks to an Arizona law requiring school districts that have only full-day programs to offer a half-day option to anyone who requests it.

We think having 5-year olds in school for almost 7 hours a day is a little bit of overkill. He is still studying at home with his mom, so he is definitely not going to be falling behind academically. If anything, the opposite is true.

Catching up...

Here's a few pictures to quiet the grandparents who have been complaining about not being able to see their grandkids. Most of these pictures were taken at the park during Tate's last soccer game. This season, his team went over .500, and Tate even scored a goal! The girls love coming out to the game and we have to pull them off the field a few times a game as the try to get involved.

Hana and Mommy. Sion and papa.



Sion pushing Hana in their baby stroller. The girls playing chase around the big stroller.



Hana at the park chasing down papa and the camera. Hana at home, trying to look innocent.



Sion offering me a flower. (I took it so she didn't eat it). Sion at home.



Tate after his last game. Tate leading a fast break.



Ok, this picture makes Tate seem all grown up...I'm not sure how I feel about that.

The end of a perfect season...

Tate finished a perfect season of soccer (0-12). He had a great time. He is pretty sad that he doesn't have anymore practice.

Tate running through the tunnel after his last game.



Alex, Tate and Hunter (The Three Stooges: they never paid attention to the coach - luckily Alex was the coach's kid, so I don't feel too bad).



Tate getting his medal and pictures from one of his coaches at the post-season pizza party.



All in all it was a good experience and we finally got the "soccer mom" usage out of the minivan.

Birthday party report: From Tate

I just wanted to give everyone an update of my party. I had a lot of fun and a lot of my friends came. Here's what happened...

First, I got my gifts from Uncle Ted.



Thanks for the lacrosse gear and the blanket, Uncle Ted. The blanket's on my bed and dad finally took me out to play lacrosse. Cashus likes it, too. I can use the lacrosse sticks to pick up Cashus' ball and throw it without getting slobber all over my hands.



Dad told me that if I didn't mow the lawn, I couldn't have a party......



My friend, Mr. Sean had his buddies from the Yuma Fire Department stop by for my birthday. I got to climb around on the truck and play with the gear. It was a lot of fun. Thanks YFD!



Dad rented an inflatable waterslide for the backyard. It was awesome. I think I might be the only four-year old who had to kick the teenagers out of his party after three hours. My mom LOVES the remote control tarantula that the Rodgersons got for me....Cashus hates it. It's awesome!

"Can I be five tomorrow? I want to have another party." (Actual quote from Tate)

Tate's Birthday

Well, Tate turned four on the 12th. His "party" is next week but we had cake (from our home teachers) and presents on his birthday. Thank you Grandpa for the Red Ryder BB gun. Mom and dad got him some Lego's.




Sion (pink) and Hana (green) had a good time at the party, too. We just couldn't get them to smile at the same time. We even tried the "one good one for your mother" line, too. It didn't work.



On Saturday, we went to see UP, in 3-D. Tate had already seen it, thanks to his great babysitters, but Sachiyo and I needed an excuse to go see it. It was a great movie. If you haven't seen it, GO. The parts about traveling with kids and the talking dogs had Sachiyo and I laughing hysterically, even if Tate didn't get it.

Then we went to the lake to let Tate and Cashus swim. Tate is doing really well in the water. He didn't want any help. He just wanted to kick around with his water noodle. Cashus was also having a great time in the water, chasing his tennis ball.



Cashus was really tired by the end of the day, and we had to pull Tate out of the water before he got hypothermic.





Tate woke up early on Sunday and finished his Lego car. All in all, it was a good birthday weekend. We'll update on the party next week.

Tate said the prayer tonight

Normally I help Tate say his nighttime prayers which we do as a family. Tonight he decided that he wanted to help me say the prayer. So he said it then I repeated after him. Everything was going very well until we got to the "please bless" portion.

After blessing Grandpa and Grandma and Baba (Sachiyo's mom) and Sion and Hana and Grandpa and Grandma and Grandpa and Cashus and Gracie and mommy and Grandpa and Grandma and Baba and the school and his books and Cashus and Gracie and Grandma and Grandpa and Baba and Sachiyo's sister and Sachiyo's sister's husband and the lights and flashlights and balls and Grandpa and Grandma (By this time I was trying somewhat unsuccessfully to supress my laughter) he said "Please bless my sunscreen." I lost it. I had to bury my face in the pillow to laugh because I looked over at him and he had his eyes open staring at me with that face he does when he is trying to see how far he can push Sachiyo and I.

Speaking of Sachiyo, where was she during all this? Right behind him trying not to burst out laughing as well. All I needed was for her to prompt him with "And we say these thing in the name........." Nothing. So I just had to end the prayer myself. Tate immediately responded with "I'M STILL PRAYING!" This did nothing for my ability to hold myself together. So by the end of the night we are all laughing together and Tate is now too hyper to sleep. Good memories....but it's going to be a long night.

Passport to Safety

These are so much cooler than Mom's minivan...



I had the opportunity to fly one of our birds out to a public safety fair on Friday. Tate and Sachiyo came out to visit and we got to go see a bunch of the different displays.