dear mom,

hi! how are you? we are doing well. spring is here, but the wind is still cold. the cherry trees are in full bloom, they're so beautiful. the best ones are the wild trees that surprise you in between other trees along a road. very pretty. i hear spring is still trying to hold on where you live. snow? in late march? crazy.

the kids and i all had colds last week, but i think we're over them now. hiro wants more medicine, though, even this morning he begged me to take him to the doctor and get some medicine! what a weird kid!!

hiro is doing great. he loves to say goddammit a lot, it's getting annoying. oh, and he LOVES to say, 'mommy? *pause* helicopter!' why?! i don't get it! grah! anyway, i think he's ready to start reading letters, anytime he sees anything written in the roman alphabet he says, 'ABC's mommy, ABC!'

speaking of ABCs, sasha loves to sing the ABC song. she doesn't sing each letter, but it's really really cute. she and hiro lug around these little alphabet books which has the alphabet on the back page, and sasha uses these to sing. she also likes to say goddammit, and it's still really cute. *sigh* she said her first sentence last night: this is hiro's pajamas. i can't believe my baby girl is growing up!

and as for babies growing up, tommy is killing me! he is almost sitting on his own, something i'm actually looking forward to, so then i think i'll start solids soon. he 'chatters' a lot, and last night he was thoroughly enjoying a game of 'peek-a-boo' with yoshi. he has changed so much since you were here, you wouldn't believe it.

yoshi and i are doing well. i wish i could lose weight, but i'm still not getting overly-serious about it. i'm going to wait just a little bit longer when i'm not so stressed out by the kids. we are enjoying the wii fit, and i just got wii sports, so at least i'm starting to stretch out and get some exercise in. yoshi had some disappointing news at work, so he talked to his bosses, and next year he might have to work in fukuoka city. that will mean longer days, but i think i'll be ok because the kids will be older. i'm hoping!

summer is coming, i can hardly wait! oh, that reminds me! sasha needs a bathing suit. hmmm.

well, i hope the weather improves there, and i'll talk to you later.

love,

kristin