actually, summer vacation hasn't started yet, so we're not totally bored out of our skulls (yet). i have had a very disappointing month, so far (and it's only the 10th day in!) which doesn't bode well for when summer vacation actually starts.

i haven't made a lot of plans for the kids and myself. we will go to the nakatsu gion festival as we always do (end of july), and we already have tentative plans for sasha's birthday, but other than a vague sense of traveling to oita-ken at some point, there's nothing really that we're looking forward to.

besides payday. it will be nice to get paid.

i'm afraid hiro is turning into a bit of a homebody. he doesn't want to go out and do things. we have to force him and of course, he has a great time, but the forcing him to go out and do things sucks. he's a lot like yoshi in this regard. video games, youtube channels about video games and minecraft do much to contribute to his want-to-stay-homeitis. *sigh* so, i am hoping to get out more during the summer. more beach, more pool, more picnics. or perhaps, more visiting friends. wish me luck!

still playing catch up!

so, for valentine's day, we met up with friends at kuri's place.  we all brought food to share, and i brought some cupcakes and sugar cookies to decorate.  the icing i made for the cookies ended up having too much milk (so, we couldn't decorate the cookies), but the cupcakes were a big hit!

as usual, the girls played dress up, and the boys ran around playing with all the toys. i think the kids had a great time!

so, as you may remember, our trip home was cut back by one week because of chicken pox.  this was heartbreaking because we didn't leave until christmas eve, and so arrived on christmas eve morning, and the kids (and i) were pretty exhausted and with spending the week sick with chicken pox (which is no fun) then flying, then meeting people two of them have never met before, and the other never remember meeting, well.  part of the magic of christmas is the anticipation, and preparation, beforehand.  we didn't even get to decorate a tree!  *sigh*  anyway, all in all it was a fun trip home for christmas.

there was so much that we did!  we went to seattle three times, which meant three ferry trips.  we went to see the ballet, then we went to the city for shopping (mainly for me!) and then we met my brother and his family for lunch, which my sister joined, too.



we had a lovely christmas at home and opened a lot of presents.  we got to try all sorts of american food and the kids came away with a new appreciation for corn dogs.  we went to the seattle aquarium and spent oh so much time there (and got hiro's omiyage for his class), which the kids really enjoyed.  we spent a lot of time with my family, which was really nice.  the kids were really excited--and excitable--and were very very noisy at times, which was very aggravating for my parents, and for me.  but we were sad to say goodbye when it was time to go.  the kids especially liked my sister.  hopefully we'll be able to meet again soon.

so, every year the boys have a halloween birthday party.  this is good for us because there's only one party, and we get to celebrate halloween!  yay!

everyone except tommy got dressed up in halloween costumes.  i made an orange and black cake again this year and it was fabulous!  the cakes were from mixes, but i made the frosting myself.

for their birthdays, hiro got a DSi and tommy got a bike!  i think they were well pleased with their presents (although hiro was asking for a 3DS almost right away....*sigh*)

as always, pictures!




when i pulled the cake out of the oven, it looked like a face!



cupcakes, too, as usual!



which the kids decorated! fun!





we also made pastry mummies that bled when cut open! so much fun!

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....

so, here is sasha's easter dress for this year.  i got it at costco, i really love it.  i actually was debating between this dress and a light blue dress, but she had a light blue one last year, and this one has roses on it, so i got this yellow one.  by the way, her blue one from last year still fits!

i also got tommy into hiro's old easter outfit (from 3 years ago).  he was so handsome, but he didn't want me to take his picture!  and i have yet to get hiro into any easter finery.  perhaps tomorrow....

on sunday, we had an easter party at our house.  it was mainly an AFWJ event, but i also invited a fellow teacher and his family.  five families came, and i think there was about 20 people in total who came (but perhaps about 16 people who were there for the whole party).  that was the perfect amount for our little house!

i roasted a lamb that day, my first, and it turned out really well.  i am lucky to live by sunny (aka seiyu, aka walmart) because they have some fresh herbs in the produce section so i could get some rosemary for the lamb.  we also have some hardy mint coming back in the garden so i had some fresh mint for the sauce (although either i didn't pick enough, or i added it to a too hot sauce, because i didn't taste very much mint).  everyone who came also brought a dish to share so there was plenty to eat!

after lunch the kids dyed eggs, i think they enjoyed it.  hiro did manage to spill a pot of dye on me, but luckily most of it went on my bare legs, and only my old, holey socks got ruined (i was going to throw them away anyway).  after that, we had an easter egg hunt with plastic eggs filled with chocolates.  the parents shared some adult chocolates, too.  the hunt was over so quickly, but the kids managed to entertain themselves for the rest of the afternoon.  all too soon, it was time for people to go home, and so we made our farewells.  i was happy to have so many friends over!

sorry for being quiet for a few days.  i've been rather busy!  on saturday i spent the morning doing last minute things, going to the laundromat, sending boxes to kanagawa, going to nafco to get non-winter type sheets for my bed and sneaking in a yummy lunch!  in the afternoon i worked hard on more cleaning, mainly in the kitchen to get ready for the easter party i had on sunday.

above is a picture of the recent dress i made for sasha.  it's really cute, but too big (she is holding the back in the picture.)  really cute!






i also took a few pictures on easter day, enjoy!

well, survived another new year's at the in-laws' house. it probably helps that we only stayed one night. that's because we brought the dog with us. who managed to sleep in the house, actually in the futons with us. lucky dog.

i had a couple of beers and a glass of wine and was in bed with an over-tired (that is, very cranky) tommy by 8 pm. i didn't even get up when he finally went to sleep, i just relaxed under the warm blankets and went to sleep myself. apparently yoshi stayed up til 2 with his parents (and zorro), so he was pretty tired today! that's ok because we did our usual: wake up late, go to onsen, return for osechi lunch, laze around the rest of the day....anyway, we are home now. the cat was waiting at the front door for us. the kids fell asleep in the car and so we somehow managed to get them in the house and in their pajamas without too many tears!

tonight it's supposed to get cold and perhaps even snow a bit. yay for a cold winter's day (NOT).

i hope you are enjoying the first day of 2012.

the weekend before christmas, i had to work. on saturday (17th) there was a christmas party at the juku where i work. hiro went with me, since he joins the class that i teach regularly. it was quite fun. i was in the card making room. i had to give the directions in english. one 'teacher', someone i don't work with usually, automatically translated. *sigh* oh well, it was fun making cards! there were three groups of about 10 kids so they rotated through three different activities over the course of an hour, then it was song singing time. they sang a japanese song about santa (it seems to be popular, my kids learned it at kindy) and then silent night. the teachers asked me to sing the first verse in english. since we did not practice before hand, they played the song in a really high key, which was a bit difficult for me! it was fine, though, and one kid actually complimented me. how nice. then it was picture time and finally the kids got a gift; an individual christmas cake.

after that hiro and i had some time to spend together, so we had lunch together, and then went home (so i could prepare for the following day's lessons.)

on sunday i went to fukuoka city for a one-day teaching project. i had to teach four hours, four different lessons to one class. the students were elem. and jr. high kids who are going to australia for 8 or 10 days for a homestay, and this was a kind of intensive english for them. most of them were pretty good at english, but all were shy. also, very few of them knew each other before having this class, so at first the lesson(s) was very quiet! at lunch, though, some of the kids bonded and the third lesson, which was after lunch, was the most fun and they did quite well.

afterward i went back to tenjin, where i found the last seat left at starbucks and sat for over an hour finishing a book. this was only a few days after injuring my leg, and i was pretty tired. then it was dinnertime so i went to a yakitori and had a couple of beers and plenty of delicious things grilled on sticks! on my way back to the bus center to go home, i passed many different light displays in tenjin. luckily i had a camera with me, so i took lots of pictures.

one of the teachers wrote me out a schedule for the halloween party at work (it was on saturday) and kept misspelling halloween. i was a bit worried it was an omen (about the party), but it was actually quite fun. tommy lasted about five minutes before becoming obnoxious (and that was before the party actually started!) but i called yoshi and asked him to come and take him away. hiro and sasha had a great time, and even kept their costumes on the whole time. of course, it helped that they didn't have anything else to wear! they were the only kids in costume, but they didn't care. afterward, i took them to joyfull for lunch and they were very much admired for their cute costumes. ah, helloween.

had a fun day today, with a halloween birthday party for hiro and tommy. the kids were great, dressing up in costumes and actually keeping them on for most of the party. by the time we cut the cake, though, i made my kids take theirs off (difficult to clean!)

only a few pictures today, basically the cake!



my mom did a great job sending me things to decorate the cake with. these were buttons (except for the jack-o-lantern candles) and were just perfect!





i colored a white cake orange and made a small round with that. then i made a chocolate cake in a larger round to make a two-tiered cake. it was supposed to be a kind of graveyard. i thought it was cute!



next is the jack-o-lantern, from the pumpkin i bought the other day at the japanese class outing. not too fancy, but the kids thought it was great (their first jack-o-lantern!)