Disneyland...in the rain...Still fun!

On Tuesday we took cousin Shelby (which is what Miss M calls her:) to Tokyo Disneyland. It was her first time ever in a Disney park and from the constant smile on her face, even in the downpour rain, I knew we hit a home run with taking her there. The good news is we each got Mickey Mouse rain ponchos, and now Shelby and I get to go back there one night for the 6-10PM pass to hit all of the fun rides she did not get to go on. This means I get to do Disney without kids and ride something besides Small World and Dumbo. The bad news is it did rain, we did get really wet, and I think after two days, Shelby's shoes finally dried. The kids did great in spite of the rain in the afternoon. The K Man only slept about 40 minutes and was still in pleasant spirits when we got home at 8. Miss M had a blast and tried Toontown and enjoyed going into Minnie's House. You will also see her with a very large pink and white Minnie bow that she HAD to have. It is her prize for this week when she gets her 50 smiley faces. The bow is now in the Time Out box until Sunday if she gets her smiley faces.

I always have fun at Disney. It is such a sweet little break from reality. And this past Tuesday, it was no exception.

A Favorite Park

So we took cousin Shelby this week to several of our favorite parks, one of which is the 100 yen park, or Nikko Nikko park. It is 200 yen per adult and 50 yen per child to get into the park. Not really sure why they call it the 100 yen park when it costs more to get in, but oh well. The last time we went to this park was with daddy over the Christmas holiday. At that time, Miss M still needed Mama to climb up the big tree house with her to go down the big slide. Because of this need I only come to this park when I have help so the K Man can have some attention and not be stuck in the stroller. You can imagine my surprise when Miss M took off, by herself, and climbed the tree house over and over again to go down the big slide...WITHOUT MAMA! Now we can go back to this park with just me and the kiddos. But on this day, we had cousin Shelby, and as you can see from the picture, we had loads of fun!!

First Japanese Baseball Game

Our niece is visiting us from Little Rock, Arkansas for most of July. We are having a lot of fun having her around and the kids are enjoying getting to know a cousin. We have been to lots of local parks and Saturday we went to our first ever Japanese baseball game with my running partner and her husband. The Tokyo Swallows got beat by the Kobe Tigers (Kan's favorite team growing up), and even though the local team lost, we still had a lot of fun. The cheering is organized and we got Miss M some baseball bats to join in the cheering fun. When I say organized, what I mean is one set of fans gets to cheer and the fans for the opposite team are quiet. Then they switch and take turns. I also saw a guy who blew a whistle and told the fans what to cheer. Did they? Of course, they yelled exactly what he told them to. The K Man's favorite part of the game was smiling to all of the people around us and eating any kind of ice cream or shaved ice that one of us had. It was not too hot and was a very enjoyable afternoon.

The Smiley Chart

So, a week ago Sunday we started some new discipline techniques. Reality is I was having a hard time with Miss M...not really because of her but because of me. I did not have a system for discipline and so when I got frustrated, I was disciplining out of frustration which in turn led to anger and in turn led to nothing positive. After talking with a few friends and one who worked with special needs children ages 3-5, I came up with a new system. After our first week, it really went well and I am excited to see how it continues to work. My friend encouraged me to focus on a few rules, not too many, and to communicate them to Miss M and what the consequences would be. She also suggested a Time Out Box for special toys, and for them to stay in the box for an entire week. This can be used as a consequence for when she does not share or when she does not obey. She encouraged me to do a Smiley Chart or Sticker Chart and give Miss M a goal - if you get 48 Smileys, because we live on the 48th floor, then you get a special treat. These ideas gave me something to run with and it made our week go so much more smoothly. For one, it gave me control and a system that keeps my emotions in control when I get frustrated. Secondly, it gave Miss M a little game - to work on Smileys - and she had fun with it. It also gave her clarity on rules for us to focus on. Our four rules we are focusing on are the following: 1. We will speak kindly to one another - this includes no yelling, no lying, and using our manners (please, thank you, yes mam, yes sir). 2. We will not hit or hurt people intentionally. 3. We will obey authority - this includes God, mama, daddy, babysitters, teachers, and so on. 4. We will share. Next to each rule on the paper, I wrote down examples of what it looks like to break the rules, what a consequence would be, and what it looks like to obey the rule and get smileys. Some of it is self explanatory, but some of it is vague, especially the obey authority rule. So I have lots of examples for that such as... 1. We will pick up our toys within the ten minutes allotted - whatever toy is not picked up goes in the Time Out Box. 2. When Mama says it is time to leave the park, you get two warnings and if you do not come with Mama we will have a consequence from the chart. I also wrote down scripture to back up each rule so I can remind her and myself what God requires of us as His children. This keeps me in check too as it reminds me that parents are to point their children to the Gospel. Miss M understands when she gets smileys - saying thank you or please without being asked to, sharing with the K Man, helping mama or daddy (she has been folding clothes for me:), being obedient at bedtime and not procrastinating, and so on. She also clearly understands the Time Out Box. When I told her about it, she said, "So, if the Minnie video is put in the Time Out Box on Saturday it only stays in there for one day." Smart girl since we start a new chart every Sunday. She got 53 smileys this week and she wanted to eat at her favorite restaurant, Peko-chan's, so we went there after church. The new system really went well for us. I saw her at different times this week wanting to break into a tantrum, but when I reminded her of speaking kindly and started giving her the two warnings, I could see her trying to calm down, trying to control her emotions, so she would not get the consequence. It also worked well for me - it gave me clear guidelines, written down, with Scripture, to keep me grounded and focused on discipline so I was not losing my temper. We will see how week 2 goes. To Be Continued...

June 12, 2012 - Scrapbook Day

I completely let the Scrapbook day this month slip by me because we just had so much fun this week. For starters, Daddy started a new job which meant a busy week for him. We are so proud of him and all of his hard work he does for our family. On the actual scrapbook day, we had a low key day - yochien, hanging out at home and playing afterwards. I did see the K Man take a few steps while holding onto the couch. He also loves Patty Cake these days. It is so fun when we sing it together because he sits in my lap and gives me the biggest hug when we get to "put it in the oven for the baby and me." I love it...melts my heart. On Wednesday this week we went to some gardens near by with good friends. It was nice and cool, a little overcast, which I am taking advantage of because I know come July it will be miserably hot. The kids had a ball walking around, "climbing Mt. Fuji" and going on lots of little adventures. M is really enjoying yochien. She will cry and say she does not want to go in the morning, but when we get there and pray, she goes right in and has a blast. She tells me when I pick her up, "Mama, I am sad school is over." As for me, I got in 2 runs, two weight days and one hot yoga day this week, so I am feeling good! This was my 5th class for hot yoga and I am loving it! I go on Friday nights from 7-8:30 and sweat buckets. It is a good way to de-stress from the week and get myself refreshed to start my weekend. Afterwards, my friend and I stop by for a quick bite of noodles on our walk home. Thankfully they have a small option at this restaurant so we do not feel quite as bad eating noodles after we exercise. That is what is going on for us...how about you out there? Enjoy the pic of the K Man - today he was standing up trying to get into our Maker's Mark bottles we give out as gifts from Kentucky. I guess even though he was born in Japan, he still has some Kentucky roots. :)

Train Museum

Today we had a blast going to Oyami area and visiting a train museum. For those of you in Tokyo, I highly recommend it. We left Tokyo around 10:30 and arrived there right at noon for a curry lunch with a kids meal that was served in a train car dish. They had old trains, shinkansens, JR trains...you name it, they had it. You could climb in them and even drive some, pretend of course. You got to see the history of the train in Japan and enjoy a show. It also had been on my list of things to do and see for quite some time, so I am glad I get to check it off the list. Daddy was on vacation so we enjoyed spending the day with him and our friends from yochien. The museum also had a nice play ground that the kids thoroughly enjoyed. As you can see from the pictures, it was a great day. I do love that this city has so much to offer in terms of museums and kids activities. My focus this summer is giving thanks and I am ending each day by writing 20 things I am thankful for - the train museum made my list today. Good times...lasting memories.

Our First Yochien Field Trip

We went on our first yochien field trip this past week to Hama-rikyu garden. We are very familiar with this place as it is close to our house and we go here often for picnics. It was fun to try it out with M's yochien. Although, I did find it quite stressful. At one point I picked up a daffodil and let M blow on it, only to be told we cannot pick those up because they are part of the garden. Really? It is a weed people. But, it is cultural...the rules...and as my husband reminds me if I let each and every rule drive me crazy I will be lucky to leave the country sane. M seemed a bit more clingy on the field trip, a bit more reserved, and I am learning more about her...she likes smaller crowds (like her mama). She does fine in her classroom, but when it is 6 classes combined, it was a bit much for her. Once we walked through the gardens and had lunch we had free time and hung out with our new friends from yochien. M opened up here, running around and chasing their little boy. I posted a few pics - if you have a hard time finding us, I am the only one not wearing a hat and M is the only one not looking up. :) We definitely march to a different drum. :) It was a fun day all in all...our first of many I am sure.