Family Email February 2015

Because I am lazy and I haven't posted for awhile. I needed to get a few things down. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Sydney back in February with Grandma, Kathy and Amelia. I never posted about it and haven't edited any of the other photos. This is a family email update that I thought I would just copy and paste into here so I had some documentation. This is lazy blogging at its finest.

Hey howdy hey, family. How goes it?
It's been months since my last confession er, email and I wanted to check in with ya'll!

Ok. soooo, what's been happening? Well, we said goodbye to grandma, kathy and amelia, and I haven’t been able to do a thing since.
We did everything we could possibly think to do. And it reminded me of how fun it is to live here! So hopefully that will sustain us through the next year since usually on any given day, one of us is ready to pack it up and high-tail it out of here! We have so many wonderful memories (and 1200 photos!) of their time here. Thank you SO much for sending them our way. It really helped pick us all up. The boys had so much fun playing with Amelia and it was a relief to know they got some time with at least one cousin in the 4 years that we will end up being here. That is just plain sad, but I will take what I can get!

Patrick has been working an extra amount since every January they lose about 5 people. They leave based on different reasons; different job offers, office burn out or just plain boredom. And of course that puts everyone else on double time to pick up the slack. It's one of the worst things about the way they run things. So Patrick has some good projects going on but in-between those and the meetings every day he is pretty booked up. He is tired, to say the least. He wakes up a little after 6am and takes the big boys on the bus to school and then rides into work for another hour. He's the only one I know whose commute is close to 2 hours every morning on an island that is so small it takes only 30 min to get anywhere. Its a good thing though because otherwise he wouldn't see the big boys at all since everyone is asleep by the time he gets home from work in the evening.
His latest trick is falling asleep in his clothes. And that happens more often than not. The other night after a full day of work we later went to a fireside where Elder Ballard was speaking. After it was over, we were joking with some friends about being so tired that Patrick sleeps in his clothes and wouldn't you believe it that night he falls asleep in his suit and tie!!! The whole night, sleeping with socks, long sleeve shirt and tie, in this weather is enough to kill a person! But he is just too tired to notice, so that's what happens. It really is a sad commentary on his state of life right now. There has got to be a balance somewhere. He needs to find it before a heart attack does!
Yesterday we {finally} decided that its not worth it.... when your job is killing you, whatever perks you get, are suddenly not worth the effort. So needless to say we are very excited to be moving in a year!  We are excited to be close to family and again and I am personally looking forward to our first family road trip to the Grand Canyon! Anyone else want to come? Doesn't it sound perfectly American!? We will stop at all the McDonald's along the way to do it right :) HaHA!

ok. Big boys are just finishing up their first school term in about 2 weeks. Which means just one more week of actual homework and then they kind of float for that last week. Ronin has still been doing basketball (for extracurricular AND the school team) but he is desperate to do soccer which has us in a pickle. His basketball coach is disappointed that he wants to change since they have  put in "effort to train" him.  I think he didn't get the memo that when you scream at and belittle your ball players during games, they don't actually want to play with you anymore. But really, Ronin says he just loves soccer and is hoping to switch over. Of course leave it to the foreigner to cause problems in the system, since no one EVER gets to switch. I'm hoping to finagle something for the new term and turn a blind eye to the annoyed looks they give me for being an entitled Ang Mo.  But I am still pondering about making him stick it out for another year. They just had their tournament (why at the beginning of the year?) and their school placed 3rd! That's for all the East Coast schools. Which is pretty good. And Ronin could be a really good ball player if he wanted to take the time to practice. But soccer and scootering at the skatepark has won his heart. So we will see what happens.

After a real shaky start to the school year Cache is finally settling into himself. His baptism was really great and he was so so unbelievably happy about it. He is a tricky boy to sort out. His emotions run fast and wild under his shy and somewhat controlled exterior. I have learned a bit about how to talk to him and connect with him, which feels good. I think for both of us. He is not one who deals lightly when it comes to emotions, and I am learning how to navigate. His focus and attitude has improved at school as he has been working with his form teacher and a guidance councillor.  I had a really emotional experience with his principle about 2 weeks into school and it was finally confirmed to me why Cache was in this school to begin with, as opposed to the one Ronin goes to. The staff has been so amazing to work with him and me on helping him be his best self. They were ready with attention and ideas of how to help him deal with the anger and frustration that has been building inside. The principle was dead-on when she described what she felt was going on for him and how he deals with the world. It was such a relief because usually if I try to explain it to someone else (like now) I can't seem to find the right words to describe situations and his reactions to them. I know Noni and Grandpa saw some of it when they were here, as it was coming to a head, but things have levelled off now, which I am so grateful for! I really thought this was going to be a life long battle. But he is opening up and mellowing out and being baptised may or may not have anything to do with it. I kind of think it does. We were so happy to have Grandma here for that. It was a really special day. There was a
But don't you worry, I see Kai stepping right into that little role that Cache was fighting through, so I can see more and more how it may be a phase and not the end of the world as it felt in January. Thank heaven for perspective!
Cache has also started gymnastics which he loves! Unless of course he happens to be playing iPad when its time to go to gymnastics and then he says he doesn't want to go. PSH! I paid for the term, he will go for the term! And that iPad, oy! how i want to throw it out the window!

Kai is now (finally) 5!! He was so excited to have his birthday. He chose spaghetti for his birthday dinner and we had brownies and ice-cream for dessert. You should see this kid eat dessert. It is like the BEST thing in the whole world! He is so intent on consuming every little crumb, he is rarely distracted. He covers his face in gunk and smiles at the end. He loves it all so much. And it is so cute.  Kai is still for the most part the life of the party. He is ready with a joke but also with kind words and help for a brother. Yesterday he told me I looked handsome. which was just so adorable.
We keep debating about putting Kai in school. On the one hand, he should probably get SOME sort of schooling just for social rules and what not. Im a bit worried he will get to the states and still want to wear his underwear to class. As I calculate it, he would be jumping into the middle of kindergarten when we get back. And maybe this wont be so bad. He is learning to sound out words right now, so I'm not worried academically (should I be!?) but I do wonder if he will cry his eyes out when I leave him at the door when all the other kids bound into the school with big smiles on their faces. There is so much to manage when moving to new schools and new countries that I don't want to emotionally overload him. So I guess we will see what will happen. It's hard for me to believe that my two babies are actually Singaporeans! It is all they know. That is just so weird!

Baby Levi is, to put it plainly, STUBBORN!  Guess who is 3.5 and STILL not potty trained? Well, it ain't me, thats for sure! I'm giving him two more weeks and then I am strapping him to the potty. All the big boys talk it up and Levi replies with a big NO! I think I need to hit the $2 store and stock up on toys to bribe him with. It's kind of a difficult thing for me after Kai just potty training himself. I thought for sure after all the others, this would be a breeze! Not so. Of course I also have put forth ZERO effort. So really what can I expect? I can tell I'm tapped with kids since I just have no energy for any of this stuff anymore. (Baby-birthers out there BE WARE!)
And as I am re-reading this I am painfully aware that these are all the things I talked about last time I emailed. I am quickly becoming the old lady who repeats everything. So please have patience!

But just for your viewing pleasure I thought I would share a few photos from our trip to Sydney. Unfortunately I think i forgot to send these photos home with mom but I will mail them soon. It was so fun to learn about Australia and visit, even though it was NOT enough time. In fact I told Patrick that if we needed to move there, I would do it in a heart beat! After Singapore, everything about Sydney is just delightful. The weather of course was amazing (its the summers-end now) and the landscape was so diverse and intriguing and we only stayed in one place. I can imagine how amazing a 2 week road trip would be. Ah well, I guess that will never happen, but I am glad we got to see at least a bit of it. And I think the boys had fun... it's always hard to tell with kids. We did a LOT of walking so there was an equal amount of whining and complaining. But all considered, they did pretty well. (mom, kathy and milly too ;)

I think that's all for now. It's the start of a new month and hopefully a thaw-out for those of you still buried in snow. I always loved the thaw of winter into spring. It's a hopeful and amazing time of year. I miss seeing the bulbs pop out of the soil to greet the sun. I hope they come out soon for you!

We love you all so much. It is mind boggling to think that we have been here three years and that it will still be another year yet until we can see you again. I hope it flies by fast! But  I also hope to enjoy this last year as much as we can. It's been great to be reminded of the fun things here that make Singapore so different, even if some things have me screaming with my fists in the air! (which mom/milly and kathy saw also. gulp!) but I guess that is life, no matter where you live.

Have a great week, and we hope to be back to post sooner than 2 months. Cause really, that was just pathetic!
love you all
xoxo
p&k&boys

**please note i did not edit any more photos than this. sorry there aren’t any of mom or the streadbeck girls. i did these real quick. you know there are 1200 photos so its going to take awhile.
Shot from "The Hanger" bridge over the harbour in Sydney with the Opera house. (If you look close you can see Marlon, the little clown fish from the reef and his friend Dori!)

After the bird show at Taronga Zoo. It's a ferry ride out from the city, which you can see in the background. (that bridge to the right is the one we stood on to take the first posted picture) We saw wallabies and kangaroos!

Watson's Bay: Our favorite part of the trip. These cliffs and ocean was amazing! Gorgeous light house out there too.

Cheezzzzzy boys... and a boat

Patrick re-inacting Brian Head as best he can, and passing that knowledge onto the next generation of 'faux cliff-fallers'