Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Family Snow Trip, 2013

We want to expose our kids to the snow. I look forward to the day when they are old enough to go to ski school all day and I can sit inside by the fireplace and read a book and drink lattes. But until then, we have to expose them to the snow so that they like the snow and want to go to ski school in a few years. With our trip to the US this year, we could not really do a full week in the snow, so we opted for a 24 hour family fun night with our family friends from Oz. Don't you love how I call it Oz now? I have been around them way too much - by the end of the 24 hours I was calling "sledding" "tobogganning." Who knew that a toboggan is actually called a beanie in Oz. Anyways, we went for just 24 hours. Our goal was to let the K Man play in snow and let Miss M put skis on. She did, for a little bit, and did a small amount of skiing with daddy. But she was more interested in sledding, or tobogganning, and having snow ball fights. On Sunday when we got there, after lunch, we immediately hit the snow...well everyone but myself and the two babies. I stayed in the play room while the K Man played and baby D napped. I was not complaining. Daddy got to do some skiing on his own while our friends graciously played with Miss M in the snow. These friends are like aunts and uncles to our kids in Tokyo. My kids will climb up in their laps and watch videos or go down on sleds with them. Such sweet friendships that I am so thankful for. After getting the kids in bed, the mamas got to enjoy the onsen. I love the Japanese onsens. At first I was a bit skeptical, but they are so relaxing. I was amazed that at 9PM at night a mother was in the onsen with her baby exposing her to the hot baths. But, when in Rome....well, no, not so much will I take a baby to the onsen, but I liked watching the little wee one experience it for the first time. On Monday everyone went to the snow for a play. We took the K Man down on the sled and he cried/screamed the entire time. We tried again and he just sucked on his fingers the whole time. Progress. At least he did not scream. Miss M enjoyed climbing up a tiny "mountain" with her friends and coming down on her rump. I went on the sled with her a few times but she said I went too fast. She preferred going with daddy. Little does she know, I am quite alright with that. I opted to voluntarily take the K Man back inside since he did not seem to be enjoying it that much. Let's just say, I am not a big fan of snow...I like to look at it, from inside by a fireplace, but when it comes to being outside in it, I just simply do not like being cold. And I can never seem to get my hands and feet warm when I am out skiing. It was a fun weekend, just so nice to get out of Tokyo and have a change of scene.

Ice Skating

We promised Miss M we would take her ice skating on Saturday, but Saturday turned out to be so cold and windy. We have had a lot of those kind of days this winter. When you make a promise, you keep a promise, especially to a 4 year old excited little girl, so we went ice skating on Saturday. Well, Mama and the K Man watched for about 2 minutes and then went inside because he was screaming from the wind and cold. But Miss M LOVED it. She is such a cold weather snow bunny and I am glad because my husband loves all things snow and cold when it comes to outdoor sports. He is good at ice skating so he took her ice skating. They had so much fun. We finished around 5:45, grabbed a bento for dinner at Midtown, and came home for baths and a good nights sleep before our big snow adventure the next day. Didn't I say we were having a busy week this week...busy and full of life and fun...making memories.

Valentine's Day 2013

We had a busy and full Valentine's Day. It is so fun to celebrate holidays with kiddos. Miss M gets so excited! And she makes it so much fun. I had made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins the weekend before and made some heart shape and froze them for a special breakfast on Valentine's Day. After breakfast we met a friend at a local play area. We had to come and get ready for our party. Miss M wanted a party so we invited our Dutch friends over for a small party. Miss M wore her party dress, her Minnie Mouse costume, and the girls decorated heart shaped sugar cookies and did a small craft. The party was short, because it fell on a Thursday which means off we go to sports class and music class in the afternoon. And daddy walked in the door at 8:30 which means Miss M got to see her gift - some beautiful flowers, which she loves. She wants fresh flowers every week from the grocery so Papa warmed her heart by bringing her home flowers, along with me. What a fun Valentine's day!

Scrapbook Day February 2013

Scrapbook day on this month fell on a Wednesday. Wednesdays are full days for us. We have BSF in the morning but with the commute we are gone from 8:30-1:00/1:30. At 2, Miss M has Japanese lesson. I usually relax with a good book while the K Man naps, or if he already napped on the way home, we head to the grocery store. On this particular Wednesday, it was really cold, so I opted to go to the grocery without the kids while they were taken care of. After Japanese, we put on pjs and played and enjoyed dinner and reading books. Miss M is doing fabulous in her Japanese lessons. I am really impressed with both her and the teacher. She is also showing interest in writing. The other day she brought me a note. She had written her name, dear, and mama on a paper. It was not perfect, but she is four. I was just thrilled to see her show interest in this because it was the first time. In the back of my mind I felt this underlying pressure - that she should be reading, sounding out letters, writing letters, and since she is not in preschool then she is going to be behind in these things. At the same time, we are having so much fun just playing, that I do not want to rush "school" for her. So, to see her pursue some of it on her own, warmed my heart. Now, I probably need to start working on it more with her, when we are not playing. She loves to play. That is all she wants to do. And it is fun to do it with her, on most days. :) The K Man is going to be 2 in May...time is flying. He is so funny. He is talking a lot more. He repeats everything and he loves to sing. He can actually hum a pretty good tune and some of his favorite songs are "Jesus Loves Me," "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and "God is So Good." It is fun to watch the two of them play together these days. One of their favorite things to play is "Hide and Seek." It is fun to watch the K Man play this and try to count in Japanese or play it in Japanese. We are busy. We have a lot going on and the weeks seem to go by fast. I like that. But I have to be careful not to get too busy...my kids can tire easily and so can I, which means I am not a good mama. The husband is busy, as usual, with work, but I am so happy for him because this weekend he is going away on a guys ski trip. He needs it - a weekend for himself to have fun and enjoy himself on the slopes. Of course the wife of the friend he is going with is a good friend of mine - we found sitters to go out and have dinner. At dinner, we are going to plan our girls weekend to Seoul...not sure who got the better end of the deal. All of that to say, this is what is going on in our February 2013...living one day at a time...with purpose...being intentional...or trying to at least.

Asobono

Last week we had a very full week! And on Monday, we went to Asobono, one of our favorite places to go, with some good friends. It was a holiday, but we got there before the big rush and did not have to wait in line too long. This has to be one of the biggest play areas we have nearby and it is so much fun. It was a bit difficult managing both of them by myself (daddy was out of town), but we did it. And it was well worth it seeing the kids have so much fun. Enjoy the pictures. I had to give you one of the people dressed up that we got to see on the walk from the play area to the train station.