Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Sweet Kids

The K Man has been going to youchien. It is quite fun to walk him to and from school. We had a teacher meeting last week and she said she sees improvement in him. The first few days he simply sat on a bench and observed the other kids playing. But now he is playing with the others and making friends. I love watching him go in, carrying his backpack and earthquake hat, taking off his outdoor shoes and putting on his indoor shoes, all by himself. He is growing up and it is hard to believe we celebrate his fourth birthday this coming Saturday! Miss M continues to finish up homeschool for kindergarten. Her reading is beyond kindy level so after the difficult birth with Jun, we took a decent break from homeschool. We started back up recently focusing on math, handwriting and some reading together. We should finish by mid-June and she wants to celebrate with a trip to Disney, naturally. I plan to start first grade in July and school year round and take breaks when the K man is on break from youchien. I really like the idea of year round school, at least for me as the teacher, because I do better with shorter breaks more often than a long time break at Christmas and summer. The J Man, sweet baby, is already 8 weeks old! He is such an easy baby and I am so grateful to God for that. Last night he slept from 11:30-5:15...such a blessing for me to get a good stretch of sleep. He literally only cries when he is hungry or tired or has a dirty diaper. Other than that, he is not very fussy or high maintenance. He is starting to smile more and show facial expressions, which is fun for the big kids. They love their little baby brother. The K Man loves to kiss him and hug him and Miss M loves to rock him to sleep. With three littles, the days can be long...but the years are short. Thank you Lord for these children you have entrusted to us...may we be good stewards of the gifts you have given us and show them your ways.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Scrapbook Day 4/15/15 (aka, TAX DAY in America)

Scrapbook day for April fell on Tax Day in America, a Wednesday this year. It was our first Wednesday back to BSF. It made for a very long day but the kids were so glad to be back, and I was glad to be back too. The J Man is a trooper and just goes along with whatever we have going on. He is getting big and already gives us little smiles which is fun. Miss M and the K Man really enjoy him and fight over who gets to hold him and kiss him. We are studying the life of Moses in BSF and have been reading through the book of Deuteronomy. It is not the easiest book to read through, but I am learning how much God loves us, even when we disobey. He is faithful and patient with us and I am so grateful for that. Mama continues to heal slowly and I can do more and more. Once baby J is sleeping longer at night I think I will feel much better. I am in that 7 week post baby fog most of the time. The K Man is adjusting to youchien. His teacher told us he likes to tell the other kids to listen to the sensei. We find this funny because he is simply mimicking what his sister, the rule follower, tells him to do at home. He is typically the wild one while she likes to follow the rules, but at school he is the one telling others to obey. :) I took the picture below of the kids in front of the pretty tree on our way home from BSF Wednesday. The other picture is of us at Denny's after an outing to a local park on Saturday. We found this great tire park nearby that has quickly become a favorite. Oh, and btw, Denny's here is so much better than the Denny's in the US. We actually do not mind going there for a quick meal with the kids after being out all day.


Saturday, April 11, 2015

Youchien Ceremony

We decided to put the K Man in the Japanese kindergarten this year, called youchien. He started this week, with the opening ceremony on Wednesday. Why on earth they think a 3 year old can sit through a hour long ceremony, I have no idea, but he did fairly well until he waved at us and then his bottom lip came out. They start very slow, only going for two hours the first two weeks and then add on a little bit of time each week. He has been two days and already caught a cold/fever so he will not be going tomorrow. He cries when I drop him off, but when I pick him up he is happy, and on Friday he was holding a little boys hand and had already made a friend. Youchien is simply play time so I think he will enjoy it. The teacher told me his favorite part is the singing. Thankfully his ring bearer suit still fit from the summer wedding he was in, so he was able to dress up for the ceremony. Miraculously, Miss M could still fit in her outfit she wore for opening ceremony when she started youchien, although the sleeves were quite short. It was a fun morning for the family and I loved seeing the kids all dressed up.

Easter Eggs

We colored Easter Eggs with our friends on Good Friday!

Night time Sakura

For my birthday, the husband and I got to venture out to eat without kids. On our way home, I wanted to walk along the river by our home and get some night time pictures of the sakura with our good camera. I was pleased with some of the ones I took. The pictures do not completely do it justice for the beauty that it is, but it comes close.

Friday, April 3, 2015

More Hanami 2015

My birthday was Thursday. I missed going to my favorite park this year for Hanami due to it being really far away and I just did not have the energy to make the trip. So, instead, we did a picnic with friends on my birthday along the river nearby our apartment. It was a lot of fun. My friend offered to pack my lunch so that was nice. The kids had fun playing outside on such a beautiful day. In the evening, a friend offered to watch all three kids while the husband and I had dinner. We went to my favorite local Chinese noodle shop - it is cheap, close, and tasty so it was the best option. We enjoyed walking home and getting some nice pictures of the sakura on our big camera at night. I will post those in another entry. For now, my I phone photos will have to do.