3/31/2013 - Easter fun in SF

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We decided to have a San Francisco Easter Sunday adventure. We tried out the SOMA Streat Food Park. While many people dressed up in their Easter Sunday best and had fancy brunches, the Kelseys ate delish food from hipster food trucks in the city. It was lovely.

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We ate our yummy crepes and Cuban Sandwich in a remade school bus. Then we ended our Streat Food Park experience with a little urban Easter egg hunt for Finny. Liam didn't want to leave the bus. We decided to head over to Pier 39 to be tourists in our own area. Finn and Liam both gobbled up Corndogs and enjoyed seeing the Sea Lions fight for space.

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Finally, we ended our day with the annual Damuth Street Easter Egg Hunt. Finny wanted to hide the eggs this time and let Kiyomi and Liam do the hunting. Li and Kiyomi had a fun time.

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Happy Easter!!!

3/30/2013 - Haircut Cutie

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My two little loves got haircuts today. I only managed to capture one of them in a photo. The other one was too busy running around to stop and get photographed. So handsome.

3/29/2013 - Kids these days

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Finn is quite amazing with the ipad. While I made dinner tonight, Finny managed to take about 25 self portraits with the photo booth app on my ipad. This was my very favorite one, but there are quite a few of his little finger in the way of the camera and his eyeball sticking out that are pretty cool as well. Seriously, kids these days are so tech savvy. It's amazing.

3/28/2013 - Trailers

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We have discovered a new guilty pleasure. I downloaded a Apple Movie Trailers app. Any possible Apple Movie Trailer you could want. They kids probably spent an hour last night watching 5 different kiddie movie trailers multiple times. The latest favorites Planes, a movie by Pixar that looks like a Cars Spinoff. Monsters University, Croods and Monsters Inc 3D. The kids are really pretty tech savvy.

3/27/2013 - Mommy Day

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I got to spend a day with my boys for their Spring Break. We started the morning with Mommy and Finny Dentist appts, but ended the day with lots of quality time with both boys. Both boys miraculously took naps, due to a perfectly timed car ride. We enjoyed messing up the house and then putting it back together. Glad I had the day just to have lazy fun with my two favorite little boys!!

3/26/2013 - Our salesman

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Liam is a persistent little bugger. When Finny got a waterbottle for his drink, Liam needed to have one as well. Li has a perfectly lovely sippy cup, but always likes to be equal to his bro. He spent a lot of time this evening begging us to switch to this water bottle. Open Dis Peez Papa???? So cute, I couldn't resist. He is quite the salesperson. Love his tenacity!

3/25/2013 - Tio & his homie!

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Liam loves his Tio to bits. We had one last dinner with Kim and Kai tonight. They leave for Massachusetts early tomorrow morning. We enjoyed a yummy Japanese Dinner at Miraku in Walnut Creek. It's spring break for the kids, so Jesse was home with the boys. It was nice to have Jesse join us. So often when we eat out with the fam during the week, Jesse doesn't get to join. Love my fam!

3/24/2013 - Super Cousins

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We celebrated lots tonight. Tio ran the Oakland Marathon. Stacy & Jesse ran the Oakland Half Marathon. Kim & Kai are still visiting. Stacy turned 40 on Wednesday. So we celebrated with Zachary's pizza and a delicious cake. The boys enjoyed playing dress up with the hand-me-down super hero costumes. They do the serious intense look so well.

3/23/2013 - Liam Time

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It was Papa's turn to take Finny to gymnastics, so I got my special time with Liam. I so rarely get alone time with each kid, so I do my best to take that time and just treasure it. My little Liam is a bundle of energy. he stole my headband and was sporting it so well, that i had to capture his cuteness. Adorable. Totally adorable.

3/22/2013 - We all scream for ice cream

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Ok, so this not exactly the best quality photo. The sun was shining too brightly on my boys' beautiful faces. Tonight we went out to dinner at Fenton's for Stacy's 40th birthday. Fenton's is famous for their delicious ice cream, so we all indulged with a little scoop after dinner. Liam opted for strawberry and Finny chose Chocolate Mint. Both boys devoured their little ice cream treats. Finn, being the sweet kid that he is, fed some of his ice cream to Liam. Such a great older brother.

3/21/2013 - Helping out

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I stayed home for a second day with the kids. Today I had more work to do than yesterday, so I wasn't able to spend as much time playing with the kiddos. Finny helped out a huge amount. He spent some time "reading" to Liam from the Lego book that Uncle Awesome gave him. Finny likes us to read him the word bubbles that the lego creatures say. We have read them to him so much that he has memorized them. It was amazing to see him read word bubble after word bubble the exact captions that were written on the pages. He really is such a smart kid.

3/20/2013 - Home Sick

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I kept both boys home with me today. Liam is dealing with the Hand Foot and Mouth Virus and Finny had some tummy troubles this morning. Both boys were in great spirits all day long. Such troopers. We had fun playing tigers, watching movies, drawing pictures, reading books and even ventured out to the laundromat. It was a goofy day for all of us. Looks like it will be the same tomorrow. Trying my best not to be stressed to be missing work. Just trying to enjoy my special time with both boys. I pray that tomorrow Liam takes an earlier nap so he doesn't pass out at 4:45 from pure exhaustion.

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3/19/2013 - Sick Baby

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Poor little Liam got Hand Foot and Mouth. His feet and hands are covered with little tiny ugly blisters. The good news is that they are not really itchy or uncomfortable. The bad news is that it is totally contagious. I will be examining Finn and my hands and feet for the next week. Argh. Poor kid. Sick day tomorrow.

3/18/2013 - Dinnertime

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Finny actually was my art director for this photo. I think that the boys are getting sick of me taking pictures of them everyday. I imagine this is how stars feel about the paparazzi. I do not want to become the "mamarazzi", so sometimes I let the kids dictate what pic I should take. This ends up being a kind of cool and sad photo. Dinner time at our house is always an adventure. As soon as we get home after a long day, I immediately start making dinner. We found that the kids would snack so much while waiting for a later dinner, that I just feed them dinner immediately. That means, Liam is usually the first one at the table, quickly and messily eating whatever is ready to be eaten while I try to prepare everyone else's dinner. Finn likes to dilly dally and play until his entire plate is complete. Liam is usually done with his plate right as I am sitting down for my dinner. I have to eat quickly in order to get done quick enough to throw our messy eater Liam in the bathtub. Finny is coaxed into finishing his veggies with the promise of a treat after dinner. Liam then hears the word treat and starts demanding a treat loudly. Treats are distributed after clearing the plates. Jesse usually gets home while the kids are in bath and is forced to eat alone. It is a crazy routine and kind of works right now.

3/17/2013 - Kono Family Easter

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The gangs all back together for our Kono Family Easter Celebration. It was fun to have Kai partake in the action. Kim and Kai so rarely make it for the actual holidays, so it was a treat for them to be here. On our sunny Sunday St. Patty's Day celebration, our sweet little green goblins had quite a blast running around the playground and chasing their older cousins about.

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Everyone had a great time and gathered tons of Easter Eggs. Such a lovely day.

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3/16/2013 - Cousin Time

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It brings me such a tremendous amount of joy that Finn and Kai are such good buddies. The minute that they are near each other, they are immediately bonded and playing like a day hasn't passed. I hope that that will stay this close forever.

3/15/2013 - Friday night Family Date Night

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We have instituted a Friday Night Family Date Night every week. It's always dinner out and some fun dessert usually to follow. Last week was Finn's choice and tonight it was Liam's choice. We headed over to PF Changs for what the kids call "Spicy Noodles". We actually ended up having to order 3 portions for the boys to split because they devoured their own portions so quickly and happily. I will have to admit that 30% of it Liam's portion was stuck to his clothing, the booth seats and the floor after he was done with dinner. He truly is a fullbodied eater. We ended our evening with frozen yogurt (again all over Liam's face and body), a bath for the boys and some Lego action. Finn is quite the Lego builder. It is amazing to see the complex things that he can put together with little to no help just examining the picture directions that come with his Lego set. Kids are growing up quickly!

3/14/2013 - Blooming

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My beautiful mauve roses are blooming. They smell like absolute heaven and they have been a reminder all week long what a lucky wife I am. Jesse, you are a rare gem. I love you!

3/13/2013 - Warm Spring Evening

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The time change has been rather difficult for the kiddos to adjust, but there are pluses to the time change. The lighter warm evenings allowed the kids some outdoor playtime after dinner. Li is getting so big that he can almost ride his Skuut. Crazy to see how big the boys are getting. Another Spring is on it's way. Our Finn is heading to Kindergarten in the fall and we start another chapter in our lives. So exciting!

3/12/2013 - The Band's Back Together

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Papa came home yesterday bearing gifts for the kiddos and sending me the most beautiful roses to the office. They are a light mauve color with the most lovely fragrance. We decided to attempt a family photo, but our boys are too busy to get a clear shot. This one is quite funny though.

3/11/2013 - The Three Stoog ... I mean Musketeers

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Final night as a single parent, final night with their one crazy parent! We are so relieved to have Jesse back tomorrow. This has been a fun couple of days, but I am ready to have my Jesse back as our boys are ready to have papa back. We are all showing our smiles despite the fact that F and I both has some sort of upper respiratory illness. Liam has his mischevious smile because he is biting on the Playdoh toy that I told him not to bite on. Playdoh isn't too toxic right? My two other musketeers and I are ready to fight this battle with the 4th Musketeer at our side. Safe Travels Papa! Can't wait to see you!

3/10/2013 - May I take your order

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Liam has this McDonald's set that he plays with at Baachan and Jiichan's house. We headed over to their place today so the kids could get out of the house. Our washer is finally done for, so I did some loads of laundry at their house and got a mini break while the kids played with their Jiichan.

3/9/2013 - Fire Team Kelsey

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I love the creativity in these boys. Liam and Finn were fighting over the firetruck and Firehat. Liam won this time, but I personally think his brother is just a softy for him.

3/8/2013 - Finn Art

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I took the kids on a date night tonight to Barney's for chicken strips and burgers. They were so funny and happy. Finn colored these beautiful tree frogs for me while I tried to keep Liam at the table and eating while not disturbing the neighboring tables. Love my boys to bits. Enjoying solo time with them while Jesse is away.

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Finn took this pic of his baseball cap too. Another piece of cool Finn art.

3/7/2013 - Curiosity

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Took Liam to his 2 year doctor appt. The boys enjoyed exploring the exam room and were totally intrigued by the lemon tree and parking lot in the back of the doctor's office. Love my inquisitive kids.

3/6/2013 - Office Assistant

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Finny was my assistant in the office today. He had a dentist appt in the morning and then just headed into the office with me. He spent the afternoon eating grilled cheese from the cafeteria, watching movies on the laptop and ipad, and shyly being coaxed into greeting his adoring fans (AKA my coworkers). He was a star. I am so thankful to have my patient sweet little boy. He likes to admire all of his and Liam's artwork that I have displayed in my cubicle. I hope he knows how proud I am of him and his cool art.

3/5/2013 - Tomica Power

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When I was in 2nd grade, our family had an exchange student from Japan live with us. We still keep in touch with her. Isn't that cool? Yumiko is married to two older teenage boys. She sent us a little care package for the kiddos. Two cool Tomica toys from Japan. I always feel like the toys from Japan are sturdier and able to handle their hard play. This is Finn's new mobile crane.

3/4/2013 - Crazy Times

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My sweet funny family. Liam laughing maniacally in the background. Finn hamming it up for the camera. Jesse and I just begging to get in the photo but being edged out by our two little loves.

3/3/2013 - Train Ride

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We took the kids to the Steam Trains in Tilden Park today. I swear that they had way more fun than the picture implies with the serious expression on Liam's face. It was a total blast. Two mini little jaunts through the forest on a small steam train. Such a lovely way to spend our Sunday.

3/2/2013 - Nap Attack

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After a busy day of errands and celebrating a 5 year old birthday party at the park, little Li refused to take a nap on his own. So Jesse and I just surrendered and let it go. He ended up passing out in front of the laptop in the middle of Madagascar. Sweet sleep baby. Sometimes the nap sneaks up on you when you are not expecting it.

3/1/2013 - Testing out the photo booth

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My boss lent me his work ipad since he had a personal ipad of his own. I basically have been given this ipad to use for both work and personal until my boss leaves the company or goes to a different division. Its pretty cool. Finn and I tested out the photobooth app last night. Such a beautiful kid!

2/28/2013 - Ode to my latest indulgence

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I am keeping myself away from the candy. After a crazy couple weeks of too much digging into the candy bowl at work, I am taking a break from the candy madness. I have replaced this candy madness with cereal madness. I have consumed 2/3s of a box of Puffins on my own. Thank goodness I had the kids to assist with the process. Geesh, I need to take a break from you too cereal. Why can't I enjoy indulging in vegetables????