Here are the sympathy flowers that graced our windowsill for several days last week. The furthest to the left is a potted cyclamen. It's very pretty; I don't know if I can keep it alive but I'm going to do my best. And to think that I spent even a moment lingering over that part of the Skokie Park District catalog that says "garden plots, 20x20, come and grow whatever you like...". HA! Baby steps, Jamie. First try to not kill the houseplant! 
A further disappointment, beyond Ai's death, was that thanks to the timing of it all, we had to indefinitely postpone a much-anticipated trip to Tokyo. We were to leave on the 18th and stay for two weeks. Perhaps I would have been able to get on the plane and get myself over there, maybe. But I wasn't up for all the preparations, and I didn't want to go unprepared. Plus, I didn't think it would be much of a holiday if I was going to spend a large part of it crying. But, it did seem like a shame to not leave the house at all for Aogu's carefully cleared two weeks of time off. So we chose a much closer destination; we spent two nights and parts of three days last week at Timber Ridge Lodge in Lake Geneva. Having a change of scenery and a little waterpark right there for the kids was really great. And it was so close, just like the song the website plays! I would be up for going there again. So here we are, ready to be off to the pool.
Koji's time-outs have become fewer and further between lately. I don't know if that means he's become such a well behaved boy, or perhaps our standards are sliding. Or maybe it's because time-outs just don't mean as much when Izumi runs over to join in and they get each other giggling. What does this look like to you: a punishment or a pajama party? I'd say the latter!
Thanks to Grandpa Craig's training during our trip to the timeshare on the Oregon coast in November (good grief! I've just realized that I haven't posted ANY of the 200+ pictures I have from that trip...I'll have to see what I can do about that!), Koji and Izumi now know well that those carts in the hotel lobby are for giving kids rides. Suitcases are allowed only if they fit behind said kids. 
Taking after Aogu's mom, Izumi likes bags. She can often be found carrying one or more around, and it's even better if she can pick up and haul a few bonus items. Here's exhibit A. 
In general I'm NOWHERE near as organized as I would like to be; having said that, I have established exactly one organized habit that I'm very proud of. That is, every single night, before the kids go to bed, I pick out their clothes for the next day and lay them out in their room. Koji so far isn't so terribly concerned with what he wears and he can dress himself. Therefore, if the clothes are there, he can get ready without much attention from me. Sometimes this can backfire though: see picture above. I know it's hard to tell, but his shirt is buttoned cockeyed and his pants are rolled up, one nice cuff on each side, nearly to his knees. I was absolutely forbidden to make any adjustments to either of these issues all day long. Oh well, it just so happened we didn't leave the house....
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