so, i haven't been blogging much lately.  sorry about that.  it's been pretty quiet.  with the kids having alternate days off, i haven't had much time to myself.  i actually enjoyed going to the kindy to help 'translate', which meant i just interpreted for the principal and his wife a couple of times.  the rest of the time i spoke to a (scottish) teacher and the parent chaperones.  the bagpipe performance was excellent!  i'm almost sorry to have missed the performances at global arena (we were in miyazaki at that time).  hiro also went and i think he enjoyed it as well.  of course, his favorite part were the fresh local strawberries that the principal had set out for the visitors!

thursday morning i went to costco by myself, and was happy to find the doors open at 9 am!  there was an awful line even before the doors opened, but i got in fairly quickly and the crowds inside weren't too bad.  i got most of the things on my list and got out by 9:30 (well, through the checkout so i could enjoy a slice of pizza!) and was home by 11 (um, i may have stopped at the starbucks in shingu on my way home.  i *was* going to go to the new IKEA but the parking was TERRIBLE, so i just went for a frapp instead.)

that night i packed up the car with our futons and the non-perishable foods, and our clothes, and let the kids go to sleep on the living room floor.  big mistake as sasha and hiro were awake by 4:30 while i was trying to get everything else organized and into the car.  tommy woke up just before we got in the car, but he went back to sleep rather quickly.  sasha also went to sleep for a while, but hiro and the dog were awake the whole time.  we were pulling out of the driveway at 5:20 and were at victoria's house by 9:30.  not too bad!  the kids played with victoria's daughter while victoria and i went shopping for a few last things.  we brought a few things for lunch as well, and the rest of the guests started showing up while we were finishing up.

dinner the first night was yakiniku/BBQ, so we had to prepare a few dips to go with salad, veggies and tortilla chip.  i made guacamole and soy bean hummus, plus i had brought a jar of salsa.  rachel made a dip with cream cheese, tuna, tomato and green onion, it was great!  i ate so much that first night, and drank so much wine!  i practically had to roll into bed that night, i couldn't move!

saturday dawned far too early, but after some water and some painkillers, i was ready to start breakfast and cooked up a load of bacon.  good thing i 'tested' some whilst cooking, as there wasn't any left by the time i got a plate to serve myself!  there was still plenty of food, no worries.  after breakfast, sasha wanted to go in the river with the other kids, and hiro waffled over going in the river or going with me to the onsen.  in the end he stayed there while tommy and i went with rachel, her mom and erica to the onsen.  before that, we went by the gorge so rachel's mom could have some proper sight-seeing.  by ten a.m., though, it was pretty crowded and we quickly nixed the idea of actually getting out and seeing it for ourselves.  we did drive down and up again, you can get a quick glimpse that way (just tell the parking minders that you are picking someone up at the bottom and are not actually going to park there yourself!)  so then we were on our way to the onsen, which was refreshingly empty, so the kids could be rowdy (we did try to keep their noise to a minimum) and enjoy the lovely baths to ourselves.  then we went to the supermarket to get a few things and then went to a tourist spot to check out before heading back to victoria's house.

sadly, the temple had a funeral to prepare for on sunday, so we didn't have the same experience we usually do.  for one thing, we couldn't sleep in the hondo on saturday night.  we had to keep the noise down as well.  although we could stay as long as we wished on sunday, victoria was going to be pretty busy in the afternoon.  saturday's dinner was in the garden.  we made frozen lasagna for the kids and i made up a pot of green curry for the adults.  i didn't drink as much wine, and was actually in bed before ten.  i slept better than i had the night before (i'll spare you the details!) but was up pretty early this morning.  i took zorro for a walk in the early morning sun, it was quite nice.  then i went back to finish up the dishes from saturday night, and then to help with preparing breakfast.  after breakfast yoshi and i started packing up the car, and we were on the road just after 10!  this worked out really well for us, we didn't run into any traffic at all!  usually the drive home is a nightmare, but it was almost pleasant.

we came home to find the cat still alive, the house musty and everything pretty much intact.  i have started laundry and am now home with the kids while yoshi takes the car to be cleaned.  i'm not sure what we'll have for dinner, but hopefully yoshi will sort that out!  i am ready to take a week long nap!

i didn't take very many pictures this time, i feel like i've already taken them all....

wow, the time really got away from me there! this last week of winter vacation was particularly brutal. i'm not sure why. well, actually, i can name a few reasons, and added up maybe that's why. like tommy's new habit of pestering hiro and sasha. oh, that's annoying, for all of us (except tommy.) or sasha's epic meltdowns (never have they been this bad! and hiro really wasn't that bad at this age. *sigh*), which usually come when she's tired or hungry. or both. let's just say the drive home from the in-laws' house was less than pleasant. then there was hiro's lack of homework drive. i really tried to encourage (without nagging; that's hard!!) him the last week. please please please get as much done on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, hiro! you have five days left, sweetie. but no, he was still sweating it out this morning, getting the rest of his homework done. and let me just say that the winter homework really wasn't as bad as the summer homework, mainly because there were bigger numbers to work with, and katakana and kanji are thrown into the mix so it really wasn't the same old problems over and over and over and over....and he was good in the beginning. in fact, i thought he was done with his homework right after christmas. i should have checked it better.

and one other factor: having yoshi around all the time. he had about five days off, plus there was the three day weekend to get through. it's all happy families for about three days and then i just need to do my own thing! what with the cold weather and the kids going stir-crazy, we really don't need to mix everything up with another opinion. i'm not saying i don't want my husband around (he worked miracles in the back garden, ya'll!) but he does have his own opinion on things, esp. in regards to the children, that don't exactly work for them (or for me). i just don't want the hassle of an argument when there's no where for anyone to escape to to work it out for themselves! (i hope that makes sense.)

anyway, we have survived it! i have more photos to upload, and hopefully videos, so here's to more blogging to come!

edit: video from mochi tsuki added here.

today we went to a nearby town to have some pizza. i discovered this place about a week and a half ago, there was an advertisement at the local veggie shop which i had never noticed before. i was checking it out when the head guy (owner?) saw me and gave me a hand-out. the next day i went with connie to have some pizza made by an american guy. oh man, was it ever delicious!! of course, i told yoshi about it right away, and today we went with the kids. the weather was perfect, and the area around the pizza place is spacious and quiet. we even brought the dog with us (the plan was to have him stay in the car while we ate, but he was more than welcome to wait for us in the garden), and sasha run him ragged! in a good way, he was such a happy doggie when it was time to go home!

yoshi had a drinking party this evening, and after i dropped him off i remembered i also had a drinking party!! oops! the group was the mothers from hiro's yochien class, and as i promised to go (and would have to pay anyway) i went with all the kids. i was the only one who drove there, so i was the only one not having a beer *sob* but the kids all got drinks for 'free' and the food was great, so i'm really glad we went.

now we are at home waiting for daddy to get home. i brought out the christmas videos yesterday and so we are enjoying those. i am slowly getting into the christmas spirit! which is a good thing, as we are going to a holiday party tomorrow! well, sasha tommy and i are. really looking forward to that!

i know you're all dying to know. so, i'll tell you: we decided to get both the dog and the cat! once you've all picked yourselves off the floor with shock (i am not a dog person), i hope you'll be ok! haha

the dog's name is zorro, and we'll probably keep it. the cat is named pia, which i don't like very much, but we're not coming up with anything better. if anyone has suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

zorro will be joining us on sunday. there will be a two week trial period, to see if he adjusts to us, and if he'll work out for our family. cross your fingers!

well, the previous posts pics might give you an idea. can you guess which one we adopted? yes, we have adopted a pet. i think i might just lost my brain today. oh god, what have i got myself into??

today yoshi had a meeting at a local community center. there just happened to be an 'open house' for an animal rescue group. he fell in love with a dog right away and called me up and asked me to bring the kids. hm. well, i can play dirty, too. i told the kids we were going to go look at a dog. they asked if we were getting a dog. i said, i hope not, because dogs jump and lick and bark, and if you take the dog for a walk and it poos, you have to pick up the poo! ewwwww, they said. then hiro said he wanted a cat. let's get a cat. i told him to ask daddy....

there were quite a few cute doggies and kitties there. my favorite was the white cat with blue eyes (pictured below). hiro was quite smitten, too. when i took a picture of the cat, he wanted to take a picture, too (that's why there are two pictures of the cat...it's not a clue! lol)

sasha and tommy weren't quite as into deciding on a pet as hiro was, and as there were a lot of clover there (it was done outside, and the weather was beautiful today) they started to pick a lot of flowers. at one point, though, tommy got stung by a bee! i'm not sure what happened, but i suspect a bee got caught in his boot. he got stung on the top of his foot, not the bottom, so i don't think he stepped on one. poor little guy! he let out a scream and started to cry. not cool!

as these are rescue animals, we didn't take our pet home today. we will soon, though, so perhaps i'll have something new to take pictures of! (sorry for ending with a preposition. i rite english gud one day.)

hey there! how have you been? we've been well. settling into school life and getting a rhythm going, especially in the morning. hiro has only been late to getting out the door once (and only because he was watching TV. naughty!) but the kinder bus has been earlier than the posted arrival time so we've been late a few times for that.

all the kids had monday off (not a regular golden week holiday day); hiro from the saturday observation day he had last month, and sasha/tommy for a day they will have on sunday later this month. that makes for a nice long golden week holiday!

as we have done for the past seven years, we went to miyazaki for golden week. yoshi had originally decided not to go, he wanted to visit some japanese friends instead. at the last minute, though, his plans fell through and he asked to go to miyazaki with us. in fact, as i was finishing up packing up the car, i found him trying to wedge himself between sasha and tommy's car seats! i had to rearrange the seating because this year we brought our bedding with us (japanese futons & blankets).

since we originally were going without yoshi, and plans changed at the last minute, we went on monday and planned to stay three nights. first we headed to costco, and then we took our time on the drive over. it was actually quite nice, not too much drama in the car for a change. we got to takamori by mid-afternoon and spent time at a playing field next to an onsen (tsuki-something, sorry i can't remember the name of the onsen!) we (that is, the kids) ran around a lot, patted a few goats, went down the slide and terrorized the swing set. then we went for an onsen, and after that we had dinner at a small restaurant. maybe because we were so hungry, but the udon and teishoku sets were really great!

then we headed to victoria's house for a lovely golden week holiday. there were five families this year (we were the only ones who stayed on monday night.) there was also a couch-surfing couple from canada (originally from france) who did most of the cooking. as one of them was a cook, the food was especially fabulous! the kids had a great time, as usual, playing with all the other children. there were a few injuries, especially among the children, but nothing too serious (though perhaps rachel's oldest had a rough time of it!)

the drive back wasn't quite as nice as the drive to miyazaki, but we eventually made it home! for whatever reason (i'm a little unclear on the whole thing), the toll roads aren't going to be discounted for very much longer and i'm not sure if we'll be able to go next year. i'm really glad that we had so much fun this year!

last friday we...ah yes, sasha had school, but i didn't know (remember) that, so imagine our surprise when the bus arrived at 8:30 and sasha was still in her nightgown! yikes! so, hurried sasha into her uniform, tamed her hair and washed her face. at the same time, bullied hiro into his clothes. not to mention, woke tommy, changed his diaper and got him dressed. still, we got to the school by nine. it was a short day, but sasha 'met' her 2nd year teacher and found out who was in her class. not too bad, hey--keep in mind it takes about 20 minutes to drive to school. the kids really *can* get ready in ten minutes!!

decided to skip japanese class. they have changed their policy and now you have to let them know when you're not going to class. ah well. took the boys to the supermarket to do a bit of shopping and then home to wait for sasha. i made a lasagna for dinner in the afternoon (the kids kept asking me what i was making. funny kids.) the best thing about making it so early is that the kids aren't begging me to cut it as soon as it comes out of the oven (because it just spills out all over if you cut it when it's hot) at dinner time because they are 'soooooo hungry'.

i really wanted to make the kids sleep in the afternoon because they were driving me crazy, but on the other hand, i didn't want to wake them up in order to take them to daycare. not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. so, went to work to find out no new students, so now only have one. a very uncooperative boy so i gotta find my inner entertainer (yeah, don't have one of those. i don't do the gaijin monkey thing very well). so, i asked my boss if i could bring hiro to join the class. just to try out at first. (the student i have now is a second grader and we are not clicking *sad face* but i really want him to enjoy the class *and* learn english--and not only because it's my job. if he has someone to interact with--even if it's a native speaker--maybe he'll make more of an effort. it's not that he totally doesn't understand (i've had those kind of students before) it's just that he doesn't really want to study english and so if he's not into what i've got going on, he's really not going to do it. he likes games, but this is a juku and i'm not entirely sure what i can 'get away with' there.) i figure because hiro's pretty shy that he might not say much at first anyway, and hopefully won't 'scare' the other student with his great english. i definitely *don't* want to discourage the other boy! wish me luck next friday....

so, we went home and had our lasagna (yum) then it was bath/pjs/teeth brushing time. got the kids to bed pretty early, which is always a bonus!

next up, out trip to oita!

taking a hint from rachel and her blog, i decided we needed to have a BBQ today. yoshi wanted to take the kids to the kindergarten for some 'farming' (don't ask, because i have no idea) and that we would have lunch after. the weather was so nice this morning that i suggested having yakiniku for dinner today. of course, it just got cloudier and cooler as the day wore on....

but, we still had hope and got the 'good' meat, bought another box of charcoal and kept our fingers crossed. and had a lovely BBQ dinner tonight. i made a potato salad to go with, and even made the yakiniku sauce, which was awesome.

during our kampai, yoshi said, 'happy anniversary.' oops, i totally forgot!! lol i guess i'm not much of a romantic. happy anniversary, indeed!

tomorrow yoshi has a meeting, or perhaps meetings all day long, but his term as neighborhood 'president' is nearly at an end. i, for one, am so glad, even if it means i have to be with the kids all day tomorrow. let's hope the weather is nice so they can spend lots of time outside!

i have been avoiding the news. i turned on the nhk world broadcast (it's in english) but other than a fire at the nuclear power plant, there didn't really seem to be anything new. more sad pictures and sadder stories and well, it's hard to take it all in. still. so, i turned it off and didn't check online sources (much) but did keep up (while at home) with facebook, twitter and email.

today was hiro's last day of school. it was a half day and while the kids were at school, tommy and i went to the coin laundry, did the recycling, stopped by 7-11 to get already made rice and already made curry, went to the super market for instant ramen and cup noodles, got the laundry and only just made it home before the kids did! i got them lunch and then packed up a box (not only with the things i purchased, but also with the batteries and snacks that yoshi got last night). i asked yoshi if i should include some toilet paper and/or boxes of tissues, but he said not to. i kinda regret it now, i hope they don't need toilet paper!

after i got everything in a box (which all fit perfectly!) i got all the kids in the car and went to kuroneko (one of many delivery services here in japan) and sent it off to yoshi's relatives (his aunt and her family) in tokyo. maybe the didn't really need those things, but they are always sending us cute/useful things for the kids so we decided to return the favor. i do hope they brighten their day.

going to kuroneko was interesting. there were a lot of people there sending boxes. as AFWJ membership secretary i go to kuroneko a lot and usually i'm the only person there (except in december when loads of people are sending end-of-year gifts). it was kinda quiet and somber, but i also felt glad that there were people concerned about loved ones far away and sending them care packages.

the fee was surprisingly low, and the clerk didn't even measure/weigh the box. i have a suspicion that they are just charging a flat fee for boxes for the time being. what a nice thing to do. another reason to like kuroneko.

well, i need to get mr. tommy to bed (he took a long nap today. egads!) hopefully i will remember to bring my nikon tomorrow and will have pictures to share. i may even get some of people *not* crying about 6-year-olds graduating kindergarten.

today the in-laws came over for dinner. that included BIL and his family. FIL turned 60 this year, and BIL wanted to do something together as a family. after lots of back-and-forthing and changing of plans, it was decided that we would do dinner here. order sushi? make something? order something else? a couple of weeks ago i asked yoshi what they had decided and he admitted that nothing had been so i offered to make a turkey dinner. i wasn't going to do thanksgiving but i figured it's probably better to do turkey sooner rather than later just in case everyone runs out before christmas (still planning a christmas turkey, as long as i can get one in december!)

SIL made several dishes and brought them (including sekihan--red beans and rice), and the PIL brought HUGE trays of sushi and i admit to being a bit peeved at first but then i figured, they want to eat what they want to eat so...they enjoyed the turkey and trimmings, too, so that's ok. it was a lot of work for me, especially cleaning up dishes one by one (because my kitchen is so small--i'm not complaining, only sayin') but in the end the kids had a fabulous time, my in-laws looked happy and while my family is here, everyone else has buggered off to a hotel so WIN! yay.

i think they're coming over again tomorrow, but i have a private lesson to teach, so i probably won't see them much. win again!

i have so much to post about, still, especially the kids' open day at their school last thursday. good for nablopomo right?

i know, i know, i owe a post. or two. or perhaps more. but, i didn't write them. such is the life of a blog.

i wanted to write a bit about hiro's birthday, but the thing is, we haven't celebrated it yet. tommy's either. i have planned a birthday party for the two of them (didn't really want to do that but here we are, three years after tommy joined us, having a joint party). it's halloween themed (couldn't really help it since it actually *is* halloween, but i never wanted to do that, either. the thing is, it's not really done in japan--though the idea is catching on, i doubt trick-or-treating will ever actually happen--so here we are, a halloween birthday party. *sigh*) i just realized yesterday that all our invited guests are girls. seems like none of my friends and neighbors have boys!! (ok, this isn't strictly true, because kuri has a dumpling of a boy, our neighbor across the street from the neighbor behind us has three boys--but there was no way i was inviting them!!--and i did invite another friend who has two boys, but they couldn't come) good thing we love these girls so much!! anyway, no birthday post, but here's a baby photo of hiro:



and tommy for good measure:




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i went to the hospital today. it's been four weeks since i last went, and the doctors asked me to come 1 month after that so...i know it's still october, but i had the day off from japanese class and work, so i went in. the kidney doctor was less than impressed and said to come back in a couple of weeks since it was still october *rolls eyes* yeah, they just want more money from me (i don't know how it works, but the hospitals/clinics here charge you a fee when you go in. they can only charge this fee once a month so i was trying to avoid paying it again, but i guess that just doesn't fly with the kidney doctor. harumph.)

anyway, i went over to internal medicine and the doctor there didn't really have anything for me, either. they did ask me if i had any pain (and to be fair, the kidney doctor also asked me if there was anything i wanted to talk about) but not really, i've been really fabulous, actually, with only a couple of twinges since i got out of the hospital at the beginning of september. BUT, i haven't been to the geka (geika?), the surgeon, so they sent me over to that part of the hospital. the doctor i spoke to was really nice (though he used some japanese i didn't understand *sigh*) and seemed sympathetic about working with my schedule. also, i think i'm looking at a week's stay, a day or two before surgery (maybe??) and then a few days after. i may have misunderstood, though, because i have to go back next week over two days for some kind of test (and it looks like a stomach camera thing. not looking forward to that!!) so that may be the two days he was talking about. hopefully we'll be able to schedule the surgery that will not impact our lives too much. fingers crossed!


********

last night i was reading 'the velveteen rabbit' to the kids when i suddenly realized it was going to make me cry. and yep, sure enough, when the bunny was taken away behind the garden shed, the waterworks started. of course, the kids were asking me why i was crying and all i could say is that it was sad. it's such a touching story and yes, i'm a sappy sack, what can i say? it's really long, though, a rather old story with lots of composition, and tommy was less than impressed. hiro has asked me to read it again tonight, hopefully i got the crying out of my system yesterday!!


*********

today hiro got his birthday book from school. this is something they give the kids on (or near) their birthday. it's a silly little story but there are also sections where the kid puts in their favorite food and animal, what they want to be when they grow up and the most important thing to them. once again (for the third year running), hiro wants to be mommy when he grows up. his most important thing is....mommy. oh my goodness, what a sweet boy!! of course, this morning when he was shouting that he didn't love me anymore, i guess that was a different mommy!

the other night i was on my bed with the computer, just working on a couple of things. it reminded me of a feeling i had several years ago (just before getting pregnant with hiro). i had been snuggled up in the futons, reading a book when i suddenly had a feeling of wanting a child (my child) snuggled up beside me with her own book. it was rather odd, though i thought i one day wanted children, it was the first time i really longed for a child. anyway, there i was with the computer when hiro came in my room. he hopped up on the bed and lay down beside me. then he popped up, grabbed up a blanket and gently put it across my shoulders. it was very sweet, and quite a surprise, since i was having a memory of a dream i had....anyway, hiro is a kind boy and i feel very blessed to have him in my life!


*************

this weekend promises to be very busy, so i will wrap this up. i still need to clean the dining room and bake cupcakes! plus, there will be a halloween party at the school where i just started teaching. my kids will be coming along with me and i never know how they're going to behave! then hopefully we'll have a party on sunday with lots of friends, food and fun. wish me luck!

just doing the same thing, day after day. this is fine with me. i think i say this all the time, but i am actually rather happy without the drama. fun, new and exciting things would be great, i guess, but i think they would be tiring, too. i am about ready for more work (income) but i am also reluctant to give up this time with the kids. in one way it's really easy to see that end--with all kids in school and sooooo much time to myself. unfortunately, that's not feasible for us! *sigh* and so, i should start turning my mind to work.

the kids are all doing well. i have pretty much changed out their wardrobe and all their fall clothes (and most winter things, too) are in their closet. we need more storage (not space, just shelves and drawers and things) but i don't see things changing any time soon. boo. anyway, things are pretty much squared away.

last weekend yoshi did a big clean up. it really needed it, i barely did *anything* over the summer. i'm an indifferent housekeeper to begin with (and with three small children it really wasn't a priority for a long time anyway) but it was getting pretty bad here in the living room. the kids are big enough now to help keep it clean. now i need to cull the toys and find a chest for my craft things. THEN i need to take care of the kids room. then mine. so much work!

i am feeling well, no more attacks since august. i just might be losing weight, too, but we'll see. we haven't spoken to the hospital since my last visit, so nothing to report about upcoming surgeries. i'm not sure anything's going to happen until spring, at this rate! that's ok, the low-fat, low-sugar thing has got to be good for me!

well, that's about it for an update. hopefully we'll do fun japanese-y things for me to blog about this week.

we had so much going on last week! my birthday, my brother visiting, two holidays from school and a weekend in oita. we were so busy!!

i didn't have a great birthday, and i still don't want to talk about it...then my brother came to visit on wednesday. that night the kids and i went to yakiniku with him (yoshi had a drinking party). then we went home for ice cream and cake. ever since monday, when she found out it was my birthday, sasha had been asking about having cake. i finally made the cake on wednesday and every ten minutes she was asking about when we were going to eat cake. she was driving me crazy! yoshi was home for the candles and singing (in between work and the drinking party) so that was nice. after getting the kids hopped up on sugar and more sugar, it was time for bed! what fun....

thursday was a holiday (autumnal equinox) and we didn't really have any plans, but we thought we'd go to an onsen at the hotel. it turned out to be a really rainy day, so an onsen visit worked out really well. first we all went to lunch together (udon) and then drove to genkai.



on the way we stopped at the beach, but it was soooooo windy that we couldn't enjoy it. seriously, the sand nearly tore our skin off! yoshi spotted a baseball, though, so i put on my sunglasses and got it. then i saw another, so i started beach combing. i found four baseballs and all sorts of junk! it was so weird! the waves were pretty wild, that must have been why there was so much stuff. anyway, we went to the hotel and had a lovely bath. tommy and hiro went with the guys so it was just me and sasha in the onsen. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?? heheh. we pretty much just relaxed for the rest of the day, and had nabe (first nabe!) for dinner.

john was heading back to tokyo on friday, but not until the evening. first we took pictures, all of us together including yoshi. yoshi went to work, john and i put the kids on the bus, and then went to breakfast (me, tommy and my brother). then we went to japanese class, even john sat down to learn (he has studied japanese before). i think he actually really enjoyed it! then it was time for lunch, and then we went home to relax. after sasha got home on the bus, we jumped in the car and went to the school to get hiro. then we were off for the airport. we got there just in time, and the kids had a great time looking at airplanes. they were sad to say goodbye to 'unka john' but, he had to go. then we went home, had a quick dinner and then off to bed.

last thursday, yoshi took the day off from work. i think he was planning on going to the yamakasa festival, but he didn't get up in time. how many festivals start at 4:59 in the morning, anyway? i remember going once, about eight years ago, so i don't really want to go again. especially with small children. but yoshi wants to go. ah well, there's always next year.

anyway, it's odd having yoshi around during the day on a weekday. i kept catching myself thinking the next day was sunday. or why was that person doing such-and-such on a saturday? weird. he did go to the hospital (for a check) and to the city hall (for whatever) and then finished up right around lunch time. hiro and sasha got home early from school, and we decided to go to karaoke. the ownership has changed (at our usual joint) and now has a drink bar! woo-hoo, no more living vicariously through other bloggers! ;) they also had a great lunch deal, 990 for three hours, nomihodai and one dish (we got gobo-ten udon and tomato hambaagu). the kids were free, but i think yoshi paid 100 yen each for their drink bar. also, the kids and i had lunch before going there, so they weren't starving. always a good thing!

afterward yoshi took the kids for a drive while i went out by myself for a while. that was lovely! then home and a simple dinner and then it was time for bed. friday took a bit getting used to!

now we are in the middle of a three day weekend. kinda weird when you're not working! and tomorrow i 'celebrate' eleven years in japan! gah! i never imagined that when i first came all those years ago...

last sunday we went to the city to the fukuoka city museum. i think. it's all kinda fading now. yoshi had tickets to the current uh...whatchamacallit (dang, i think it's time to break out the ginko balboa or whatever, i am SERIOUSLY losing my memory. english be damned!) you know, art on display by one artist. don't hate me because i don't know who it was. not that i forgot (which would be totally the case if i knew who it was in the first place), it was someone i don't know, someone japanese and apparently someone who loves to draw nature, mainly flowers and bugs and then sometimes faeries. very pretty, quite realistic and i think he mainly works in ink. the kids, however, were less than impressed. hiro wasn't feeling well and we actually asked to borrow a stroller for him. he fell asleep by the time we went through! tommy wanted to run around and be obnoxious (SO much fun) and actually got told off for it. hey, i was pushing the stroller! and most of the art was too high on the walls for the kids to see it anwyay, so i would say the trip to the museum was a bust. but hey, at least we didn't have to pay.

afterward we should have gone home but we were that far anyway and it was raining, so we went to hawks town. we got our stroller out for hiro and had a bit of a walk around. first we got the kids 100 yen ice creams at mickey d's and then yoshi checked out a gadget shop. before we left we went to HRC for nachos, which we all inhaled (even hiro) and then it was back to the car for the trip home.

a somewhat lovely family outing, which didn't cost *too* much....

the weather was just beautiful today. mostly sunny, not too hot, not at all humid. lovely late spring day. about damn time, i say. it's been so cold. yes, cold. so much that i have been turning on the heater in the morning. in kyushu. in may. it's madness! the one week forecast is optimistic, though, with sun (or at the very least, no rain) every day. woo-hoo!

we are just getting along, enjoying the weekend and staying home. it's nice. all of the kids had naps today (yay!) and the recycling got done. we had planned a BBQ for dinner, but yoshi had a meeting/dinner to go to, so we postponed until tomorrow.

nothing much more to add. i think sasha is enjoying school, she even has a best friend. hiro is doing so well getting on the bus, no more crying, screaming and clinging to the door of the bus. less than a year and he'll be a first grader!

hope you're having a great weekend, too.

again, i have neglected this blog. i was all ready to write on sunday when i came down with a cold. happy mother's day? anyway, i had to tell you what i found when i got home on saturday after 'me' time. i left the kids with yoshi and had a light snack at joyfull and read a book. then i went to a couple of stores to get stuff for a BBQ. when i got home, i saw yoshi and sasha at the neighbor at the end of the street's house and waved. at the house, hiro was lying on the front steps. i asked him what was wrong, but he just kinda waved at me. then i opened the front door and tommy was asleep on the genkan floor! the dirty part, not the house part! i know this makes me a Bad Mommy, but i thought it was rather funny. then next thing i knew, hiro was asleep on the front steps! hahaha. i put tommy upstairs in my bed, and then yoshi was there bringing in hiro and put him on the couch. apparently they went to the park where they played hard and were quite tired out. hm.

BBQ for dinner was quite nice so we decided to do it again the next day, and invite yoshi's parents over. sunday morning i got up early and after my new facebook thingy, i tidied up, got recycling together and noticed the sore throat and sniffy nose were getting worse. great. but i went to recycling with hiro, then we went to the meat shop and then off to the mall (for kaldi coffee). my cold was definitely worse so i got some cold medicine and then had to fight the crowd in front of B&R just to get into kaldi. it was free ice cream day at B&R and the line was really long. luckily hiro didn't notice and i wasn't in the mood for ice cream because we didn't have time to wait. then we raced back home to try to get there before yoshi's parents.

i had to light up the grill, then i made a potato salad, then i cooked the meat and vegetables and did someone say it was mother's day? hm. everything was great, though, and the potato salad was especially appreciated. yoshi's mother cleared the table but clean up was basically all up to me and oh yeah, so tired because of the cold medicine. hm.

after five i had to go out and get the dry cleaning so i didn't have a beer with lunch (but i wouldn't have anyway because of my cold) and i had a nice half hour or so to myself. i was quickly losing my taste, and wasn't hungry, so i didn't have a little mother's day sundae or anything like that. *sigh* when i got home yoshi's parents had left and then it was the old bath-brush-bed routine.

yesterday i was still feeling quite unwell so i was quite happy to pack the kids off to school and spend a nice quiet morning with tommy. after the kids got home hiro was in a bad bad mood and actually screamed at me until he fell asleep. i'm not entirely sure, but i think he actually nodded off mid-scream. little stinker.

today i made a carrot cake which is simply wonderful, but my coffee chatter didn't come and we have a lot left over. hm.

well, that was pretty much my weekend. hope everyone had better one than me!

today is the last day of the holidays known as golden week. the actual holiday today is children's day. we didn't put out the boys' decorations because i really can't be bothered to. it's a big three or four tiered thing and such a pain. and probably a lure for small children with grabby hands. hm. anyway, happy children's day, children! so what did we do today? yoshi and i got new keitais. mine is very pretty! photos soon...

we went on our annual trip to miyazaki. it was the same as always, except this year the weather was perfect so we ate outside a lot, drank outside a lot, played outside a lot and the kids had a blast. i do so enjoy visiting victoria, even if the family camp means a lot of work (not only for me, for all of us) and i am so exhausted. good thing we got home last night and had today to recover!

this morning yoshi learned that his aunt died and he had to go to a funeral this evening. sasha is not feeling well so we'll be going to bed as soon as i wrap this up. sasha also slept this afternoon, but hiro and tommy did not, so i am hoping everyone will go straight to sleep. yay for school tomorrow (i hope sasha is feeling better by then! hiro may not get on the bus without her....)

no pictures from the weekend, was much too busy with yoga, talking, eating, drinking sparkling wine, cross stitch, cooking, cleaning up and occasionally taking care of children. oh, and we fit in a trip to the onsen, too! it's great to be home....

on saturday we went to the school for sasha's entrance ceremony. hiro even got to be a part of it! sasha was extra-excited. even though she didn't really talk to anyone or play with her classmates, she did jump around and made lots of noise! this is extraordinary because even though she's really noisy, she usually just does that when no one is looking! before the ceremony, and after we found out what class she was in, the teacher came up to sasha to say hi. i told sasha this is her new teacher, say hi....and sasha just leaned into her and climbed into her lap! of course she didn't say anything, but she gave her teacher a hug. i am really happy about that. i think that she did that because all the teachers say hi to her and even try to hug and pick her up (whenever we visited the school for hiro).

so, i thought she'd be starting today, but it turns out they get a day off because they went to school on saturday. bummer. i think hiro has to go, though, even though he had to sit through the ceremony (next to his new teacher!) and go on stage to welcome the new students. ah well, one kid out of my hair today and two tomorrow. except...tomorrow is the big meeting to hash out what parent will do what during the year. oh boy. :(

after the ceremony we went home to change, and get out stuff together because we were going to miyazaki for the night. it is rather far so i have to admit i was a bit disappointed to find that plans had changed. but i still enjoyed visiting friends and even going to the onsen with the kids. we got home rather late yesterday (but it was still a bit light outside!) and everyone was tired. i think we went to bed rather early and now sasha and hiro are awake with me. time for another day!

sorry, no photos. i had to be a part of the ceremony with sasha, who was as attached to me as always!

a few weeks ago, yoshi 'won' a coupon at work for a hotel in sasebo. a special deal was printed on the coupon, if you mentioned a special occasion, you could get an upgrade. yoshi called the hotel and asked if it was ok to use the coupon for our family (you know, because of the kids). apparently it was, and so we booked it for the actual day of our anniversary. yoshi is a kind man, a loving husband and father, and i am grateful that he remembers our anniversary, but this trip really was just a kind of chance thing, not something he does every year!

but hey, i'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, i LOVE to stay in hotels and don't get the chance often. with all of yoshi's early mornings and late nights, the two of us have been looking forward to this for weeks! we didn't tell the kids we were going anywhere until the day before, so they had no idea they had something to look forward to! ha!

since we were going on a friday, we planned on NOT taking the toll roads and highways. navigation told us it would take at least three and a half hours this way (which isn't that far, truth be told. it takes us about that long to get to victoria's house) so we hit the road just before ten. we decided to rent some new videos (we've been renting a lot of DVDs lately, me getting the disney stuff and yoshi getting anpanman. i had no idea anpanman was so freakin' funny! baikinman kills me on a regular basis. tooooo funny!) and then we were on our way.

we did take the urban expressway (the city's toll road) in fukuoka. then it was pretty smooth going from there. we had lunch at a sushi place somewhere between karatsu and imari (if you know me, then you know how much i hate sushi and this is pretty amazing!) and then made a stop at the michinoeki in imari.


(you can see that hiro is quite camera shy recently) (and i'm guessing imari is known for its beef)

we got to the hotel at around four. it is on top of a mountain, with the obligatory curvy road. thank goodness none of us get carsick! we went to our room, which reeked of cigarette smoke. we were offered the other 'best room' (which meant a wide balcony, i think) but the view from the balcony was blocked by architecture. i went to check it out, but we decided to stay with smokey room and just left the balcony door open while we went out to dinner. the kids enjoyed the beds, sasha and hiro tumbling and tommy getting wedged in between.




(who needs playgrounds??)

so, here we have the best room in the hotel, i think, with a big patio and the highest level with rooms (so, the best view). we could see pretty much all of sasebo city, including several naval ships, and the '99 islands', which was very lovely from afar.









then we went to dinner (even though there were three (or four?) restaurants in the hotel, the chinese one was booked, the european one was super expensive and hey, we had sushi for lunch so we (i) wasn't in the mood for the japanese one), a steak restaurant yoshi found out about on the internet. it's called jidaiya, and apparently it's famous for it's lemon steak. i ordered the beef stew, yoshi the lemon steak, and we shared with the kids. sasha loved the lemon steak and hated the stew, hiro was the opposite. tommy ate whatever (because he's like that) and we actually ordered more lemon steak and an order of garlic toast. it was a great meal and wasn't very expensive!

we went back to the hotel and as we passed the lounge, it was empty, so i convinced yoshi to have a drink. one of those things in japan, but we took our kids with us. for the first time (for me, anyway), our kids got free drinks. just plain orange juice, but it was very nice, they all had something to occupy them for a few minutes while we enjoyed our cocktails. we took a few pictures, it was very romantic (but not so romantic with three genki kids there).



we went back to our room, which was quite cool, but not so smelly. then we went to the hotel bath, with was similar to an onsen, but was rather small, and so rather crowded (there were a couple of tour buses there at the hotel). hiro and sasha insisted on going with me, so tommy went with yoshi. then it was back to the room and tried to go to sleep (because EVERYONE has to sleep next to me. *sigh*) we woke up rather early in the morning. i think the kids slept lightly because even though i tried to be quiet, they knew when i was out of bed and that was it. ah well.

before breakfast we took a lot of photos. also, the kids loved the hotel pool. sasha even insisted that i go back to our house and get her bathing suit! yeah, not happening kid.


(from our room's balcony)



then it was time for breakfast. i think we all ate far too much, but hey, it's a holiday! after breakfast we went back to the room and got ready to go. we left at about ten (check out was at eleven) and drove up the road to the very top of the mountain. that's pretty much when the nikon ran out of battery and the rest of the day was shot with my olympus. the view was really nice, but the look out point didn't have very high walls or fences, so not very toddler friendly! there were some telescopes and hiro wanted to try one out, but neither yoshi nor i had any money. so, yoshi went back to the car and that's when he realized he left a bag at the hotel. oops! not too much of a bother, though, since we were literally 200 meters up the road from there. back to the hotel for the bag and then we went to the zoo!



the zoo in sasebo is rather small, but quite lovely because it is also a botanical garden and they have lots of flowers planted there. we were in time for baboon snack time, which meant we could pelt, uh i mean throw food to, the baboons. the lion's pen was very nice, but the elephant was pretty dismal. poor thing. we walked around the zoo and then decided to have lunch. after lunch we drove to the pearl sea resort, which is where the boat tour of the '99 islands' is. i took a load of pictures there, it's very lovely. i had also taken this boat ride several years before because one of the trips i took with my fellow teachers when i was an ALT. i will show you a couple of pictures more but you can check out my set (now with all photos) at flickr here. after the boat ride (which was actually harrowing because tommy ran everywhere (when he wasn't being held) and i was sure he was going to hurtle down the stairs) we walked back to our car, stopping to get omiyage and a sasebo burger on our way. then we drove home and kidlets slept in the car.





i had a great time, and i think everyone else did, too. thanks for the trip yoshi, it was a lovely anniversary!