To the Beach

Not wind or rain, the threat of thunder, sand or cold could keep us away from the beach! We packed up the kids, the baby, the car and headed off to the beach with Renee. The weather report was gloomy, the skies were darkening around us, but we persevered, and found ourselves on the white sands, enjoying a day by the water. But considering it was early April, the wind was high and the air nippy, and so we spent the day mostly with our feet parked in the free hot bath right on the sand's edge.

Here we are in high spirits on our way early in the morning!

Renee ready with her new sunglasses in her new car!

After trying to keep three tents from floating away, and nearly losing Jordan in the process, we settled for one tent anchored down with all our things and whoever wanted to get out of the wind.
The kids jumped into the blue waters for a grand total of 5 minutes, then made their way up to the sea-side free hot pool. They made friends...
Played a variety of water-attacking games...

And generally had a good time...

Not to mention making goofy faces at the camera...

I opted to forego fashion in favor of a dorky hat that works wonders in keeping the sun off my face.
Jordan actually didn't enjoy the beach that much, maybe it was the constant wind blowing sand in his face, or making him choke?Later on Janina made a treasure hunt for the kids...
And here they are inspecting the hole, not that thrilled about the treasure.
The day ended with a beautiful sunset, and we had to admit it was a great closing to our spring break!

Julia's Unicycle

It's very popular for younger girls to ride unicycles, here's Julia's on hers. She got it for her 5th birthday from Papa, but just succeeded in gaining her balance on it last year.

Happy New Year 2007

I just found these pictures hidden in one of Art's folders, from our New Year's walk to the local shrine.

Here's the shrine, you pull the rope to ring the bell two times, then clap your hands two times, then close your eyes to say a short prayer. I think you throw in your small donation before ringing the bell.

This is the little shrine well, with clean water you can use to wash up with, or even drink.

The little box filled with white things is special rice wrapped in a small paper, probably blessed by a priest, for you to take home and add to your New Year's meal.

Daddy and the kiddos. It was a pretty warm day for being January.

About 1-week to due date.

The kids' school viewed from the area around our local shrine.

Some of the rice-patties that surround our area.

Quilt is Finished

I finished off the scrappy flying geese quilt, and it now has a place of honor on my bed, adding a large splash of summer color to the room. I chose a very thing polyester batting, and white cotton backing material, very simple quilting. Most of the quilting was done by machine (my machine) but the flying geese around the border were done by hand. All is in-the-ditch, and there is no decorative quilting done on it. I may add to it over time, but for now, it is finished. Oh yes, the binding is a scrappy binding, made from the leftover material, and I really really like it, it blends in so nicely with the overall look of the quilt. I can't hardly wait to start on the next quilt!!

A Quilt

The Scrappy Flying Geese quilt was a kit my Mom bought me, along with the Quilt-in-a-Day flying geese ruler, and it took me 4 days to put together the top. After I buy some batting and backing I'll be finishing it off. Hopefully it will be done before the end of the year!

Jordan in Action

Papa took some videos on his camera, and I finally got around to editing them--welcome to my first stab at a home movie clip! Have fun!!

Jason and the The Pink-tailed Dog

We spent an afternoon at a plum orchard in the area...


...a famous spot that gets many visitors this time of year when the plum trees are blooming.
During our break at a little road-side stall,


....we met a pink-tailed dog! Check out the color of that tail--just like cotton candy!

As I sat chuckling at this new dog-fashion, I caught the end of a question from one of the kids to the owner:
"Excuse me, but is the dog's tail naturally pink?"
I turned around to see that it was none other than my very own 11-year old son!
EH! Hasn't he learned anything in school??

Visit to the States--continued--San Jose Stopover

Continuing on last summer's trip to the States, we made a stop in San Jose to visit our relatives there: Ai, Chucky and Jason! It was a great day, and here's a few highlight pictures to remember it:

Hanging Monkeys!

Stars Forever

Girls Rule!

Taking a Breather!

The two Jasons--Jason Arthur and Jason Ray!

Random Pictures of the Little Boogah

Yawning!

Shopping!

Cuddling!

Cruising!

Recuperating!

LOST is BACK!

I LOVE LOST! I'm so glad it's back on the air!

Valentine's

Julia informed me about 3 weeks before V-day that her and her girlfriends were going to have a chocolate making party to make little yummies to give out. She needed one bar of chocolate. I assumed that she had it all under control and a plan. NEVER assume anything with a 9-year old (or any kid living in your house!)
I picked up a bar of chocolate for her, and on the day of the party, at about 2pm it dawned on me that I should probably find out what time her friends were coming over and what exactly her plan was! Good thing I asked, just wish I'd done it much sooner!
Friends were due to arrive at 2:30, and "Mom, you're supposed to get everything ready!!"
"What!!?? You didn't tell me THAT part! I have NO idea how to make chocolates!!"
I frantically raced through my cookbook, and searched the Internet for some simple chocolate recipe that uses ingredients I actually had in the house, and didn't find anything. Fortunately I had just made a chocolate something or other, so I adapted the recipe and managed to find some marshmallows and maraschino cherries in the fridge. By the time the girls arrived Julia and I looked like we knew what we were doing, and yeah for us!! It worked! We made some decent chocolates, then the girls took turns holding Jordan and playing LIFE.
Next time I'll be sure to inquire as to a detailed plan of events at least a week before it is to take place!

Donut Party!

To celebrate Janina's birthday this year we had a donut party at the local Mister Donuts shop! Then the kids went to a nearby Karaoke place for 2 hours, giving the mothers some time to chat and catch up and window shop! Fun!

Julia, Janina and Emma

Jo and Julia

Jason, Ken and Jordan

Patti and Renee

Patti and Jordan

Janina-officially a teenager!

Happy Birthday to my teenage daughter, it's hard to believe she's 13 now, but there you have it! Time does fly pretty fast when I look back over the years to when she was born and all her growing up, I sometimes wish I could turn it back and hold my little baby again, seeing as she's a bit too big to crawl onto my lap these days!