well well well. i was finishing up the dishes when there was a small shift. the dishes rattled a bit. nothing major. but still i noticed it. we don't really have a lot of earthquakes here in fukuoka (and i have a feeling this latest one was in saga) so for me to feel two in one day is odd. creepy feeling now...

today wasn't too bad. tommy was very tired this morning and went down for a nap at 10:30. of course, he got up just after hiro and sasha fell asleep for their afternoon nap. at least he (tommy) got to eat lunch on his own, *and* watch whatever DVD he wanted on TV (mickey mouse clubhouse halloween), then he got to play with ALL the toys on his own without fighting hiro and sasha off. lucky him.

after everyone woke up we did the splash in the pool thing. didn't last long but at least they got to cool off. thank goodness the UV protection umbrella works! then i gave them frozen apple juice for a snack. wasn't enough and sasha demanded a peanut butter sammich. hiro had to have strawberry jam (because he doesn't like PB much). it was only three in the afternoon but i asked them if they wanted to have a BBQ or pizza for dinner. BBQ won out so started setting that up at four. we had a nice dinner outside (i really wish we had a deck!) although tommy did manage to burn his finger on the BBQ. very slightly though, and hopefully he learned his lesson about the BBQ! i have him some aojiru to hold to cool off his finger. yoshi's job to the rescue! LOL

i know this is probably not a big deal to all those awesome moms out there but i actually managed to put the pool, the kids' outdoor chairs and the charcoal away in the shed, cleared the table outside (but left it out), arranged the remaining embers to burn themselves out, got everything into the kitchen, bathed the kids (AND washed their hair), got teeth brushed, then, to top it all off, got hiro to tidy up before going to bed (sasha was punished for hanging off the kitchen gate). after they finally went to sleep i tidied up the kitchen (something i rarely do, i usually leave it for yoshi) so i feel like i actually got quite a bit done today, with minimal screaming (though if we're making a tally, i lose points for poor tommy's finger. oh, and maybe a couple more for having a glass of wine at three in the afternoon...)

yoshi came home this evening then went right back out the door to get the gaia. i am so glad it's back! not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but i should take them to the aquarium before hiro has to go back to school....