Happy Summer!!!

It has been over 3 months since I've posted, and so much has happened in that time!  Miriam had her birthday party, we celebrated Mario's birthday and Easter, Miriam had her kindergarten play at school, she FINISHED kindergarten, I got a job for next year, and the kids have started swimming lessons!  I also did a last minute trip to Germany to spend time with my parents, we attended a family reunion in Seattle, and Mario built a pergola in our backyard.

Going back to talking about Miriam...she has officially completed her first year of elementary school!  She had her kindergarten completion ceremony last week; she had a WONDERFUL year of kindergarten and I think we are all a bit sad that it is already over.  She started the year a bit shy and hesitant, but ended the year confident and outgoing.  She has learned SO much, especially in Japanese...she can count to over 100 in Japanese, hold basic conversations, read and write all the hiragana characters (46 of them), and read basic stories in Japanese.  While I'm proud of how well she's done academically this year, I'm more proud of how sweet and kind and empathetic she is.  Her teachers all report that she is a wonderful friend and a helpful classmate, willing to help and play with anyone.  She loves to put together creative outfits with lots of patterns and colors, and her outfit is almost never complete without a headband.  Miriam made some great friends this year and is looking forward to gymnastics camp and swimming lessons this summer.

Mathias has had a busy year as well.  He's busy taking gymnastics class, as well as helping Mario build the pergola.  He loves to build things both inside and outside, and is my little garden helper.  He loves to harvest strawberries and raspberries and help me water the garden.  He's a busy, busy guy...I love to watch his little brain work and see him build things.  He's also a super athletic little boy and it is fun to see him do gymnastics each week and race around the cul de sac on his bike.

Mario has been busy with work and building the pergola in our backyard.  He designed, planned and built a pergola that is about 8'x12' that we are planning to hang hammocks underneath.  The pergola itself is finished, but we need to transplant a plant out of there to make space for hammocks.  We also have some grape vines to plant around the posts of the pergola; we are hoping they will grow up and around and over the pergola, to provide some extra shade during the warmer weather.

I finished the school year just last week, and the good news is that I have a job for next year!  My position this year was always temporary, but I'll be basically continuing the same position next year, job sharing with my current partner.  The only change that is happening is that we are moving from teaching first grade to teaching kindergarten.  I've also been busy playing volleyball several nights a week, working on our garden (which has taken off with all the hot weather we've had lately!), and reorganizing many of the rooms of our house.

Now that the warmer weather is here (it was above 100 this past weekend!), we are enjoying a lot of time outside.  We put up a small pool in the backyard and the kids LOVE to spend time in that.  They are taking swimming lessons this summer so they can gain some confidence about swimming in deeper water (our pool is only about 2' deep).  We've started taking family bike rides in the evenings since both kids are now riding on a tagalong (the extra bike/wheel that attaches behind an adult bike).  The kids, Mathias especially, love to help out in the garden and they've gotten pretty good about harvesting the fruits we've gotten so far!

Here are some pictures from the past few months - we definitely don't take as many pictures as we used to because we are all up and moving so often, but it gives you a snapshot of what life is like in the Reyes household!  We hope you all are having a great start to your summer and as always...we love visitors and Eugene is a great town, so we'd love for any of you to visit if you are looking for a trip to take this summer (or anytime)!

Miriam at her (gymnastics) birthday party 

Making rainbow cake for Mario's birthday 

Easter!

Miriam's school play 

Miriam at her completion ceremony 

Performing a traditional Japanese fan dance 

Last day of school! 

All ready for swimming lessons!! 

Happy March (and Miriam is 6!!)

Life is busy!!!  And all of a sudden it is March, and Miriam is 6!  We've had a very busy start to the year, although I can't put my finger on any one thing...after our huge snowstorm in January, we've been busy with sports, sickness, visitors, school events, and Mario traveling some for work.

The kids are great.  Mathias is a busy, busy 3 year old.  He has a dynamic, forceful (stubborn) personality that is starting to show itself more and more now that he can verbalize what he wants and how feels.  He is a super engaging kid who loves to be active, loves to climb and jump off things, and loves to do anything physical that Daddy is doing.  He also really loves to be silly, play pretend games, sing silly songs, and giggle and be goofy around the house.  Some of Mathias's favorite things to play include anything to do with cars (especially any cars that he can hook together), blocks, building forts, playing "spider" with Mario, riding his bike, and playing "see how far I can jump off the couch!" games.  He's a great eater and is adventurous about eating new foods; recently, he's been enjoying shrimp tempura when we go out for sushi and Japanese food.  He's dramatic and goofy and silly, but he makes us giggle and smile and hug him close every day.

Miriam turned 6 a few weeks ago - I know I say this every year, but how has time gone so fast?!? This year she has really come into her own, and she has grown and changed SO MUCH since starting kindergarten.  She is so confident in herself, and she isn't shy anymore at all.  Remember the days when she was shy and wouldn't speak to many strangers, or even teachers at her school?  Now, she'll happily strike up a conversation with any teacher or volunteer at her school, and she is outgoing and confident.  She is such an amazing, bright, caring little girl.  She's so smart and is doing really well academically in kindergarten but more importantly, she is a sweet, empathetic little girl who is kind to others and works hard to make sure everyone feels included.  She goes out of her way to do acts of kindness for others and especially likes to make others feel loved through her artwork.  One of Miriam's favorite things in the world is the do arts and crafts of all kinds - she especially loves to draw, paint, color, cut, glue, and create.  She's also gotten into origami and original art projects, and she often makes multiples to give away to friends, her teachers, her family, or to send to people in the mail.  Miriam also loves to spend some time outside and has recently become very interested in planning our garden and plantings this year.  She really wanted to plant bananas but after much discussion about how bananas don't grow well in Oregon, she settled on planting some cherry bushes to add to our collection of fruits grown in pots.  She's such a sweet girl, always loving on others and loving to help; she makes us smile every day with her bright, colorful outfits and her sweet personality.

We are so busy these days we don't take nearly the amount of pictures we used to, but here are some from recent months, including from Miriam's birthday.

Heart art

Playing "going on a trip" at home

Mathias arranging his impressive collection of cars and trucks 

Miriam, all dressed up for her first day of basketball! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Miriam with her 100s day project (100 butterflies on a rainbow painted canvas).

Such a big boy!

Dr. Seuss Day! 

Birthday girl!! 

First present of the day! 

She got a tetherball set for her birthday, and loves it! 

Eating s'mores on the playset to cap off Miriam's birthday weekend!