A Toys R Us Kid!

Over the last year or so, Ethan has told me several times that he doesn't ever want to grow up.  He's said he doesn't want to be a grown-up and wants to be a kid forever.  I don't know what's prompting it.  The first time I told him about all the cool things "big kids" get to do and all the fun stuff he can do as a grown up, but he just got upset (he's a major drama queen).  After that, whenever he mentioned it, I'd just assure him that he had a long, long time before he had to worry about growing up.


His b-day is next week.  On Friday I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted.  He replied, "I don't want a birthday, I don't want to be 6!"  I tried to press him a little, "But it's your birthday!  It'll be a party, just for you, with cake and all your friends!"  He started to tear up, so I just dropped it.  Gabi piped up "But if you don't have a birthday party, you won't get any presents!"  He said he didn't care, he didn't want a party, or presents, he just wants to stay 5 forever.  I knew it wasn't a good time to explain that'd he'd be a year older whether we had a party or not, so we just changed the subject.


Tonight at dinner I tried again and he got really upset.  No birthday.  Period.  I feel so bad for him, I have no idea what's going on, what's spinning around in his beautiful brain, what kid doesn't want a birthday party?  *Sigh*  Poor punkin'.....


So, for now, we've compromised:  On Wednesday, the day BEFORE his birthday, we'll go bowling and have dinner at the bowling alley snack bar, (his favorite activity and his favorite place to eat) as long as it's just our regular Family Night and not in celebration of his b-day, but no friends and no cake.  I already ordered cupcakes for his class, he's okay with that as long as they're JUST a nice snack to share with his friends and NOT in celebration of his b-day.  He's also okay with 3 presents, one from Momo (grandma), one from me and one from his sisters as long as they're presents just because we love him, and not in celebration of his b-day.  He wouldn't even go for 4 presents, with each of his sisters getting him one, he said they should just give him one with both their names on it.


The bowling is what I had originally planned, but I was going to invite some of his buddies.  Thank goodness I'm such a horrible procrastinator and hadn't actually gotten around to inviting anyone, or ordering the cake, although I had arranged for a friend to make the cupcakes for school, ordered the cupcake toppers from e-Bay and gotten his prezzies.  My poor little pooper, I have no clue what's going on.  I'll just let it go and see how he is after his birthday, when the pressures off.

And away I go!

Heading for Guam on Thursday!!!!!!   ALL BY MYSELF!!!!  I'm already packed.  Pina coladas by the pool, warm sand between my toes, KMART 'til I puke!  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!  If I don't come back:  Lily, you get Meg.  Gina, I positive Ethan will blend right in with your crew.  R, you know you get the big one.

Good grief, this is going to be the longest 6 days of my life!

Away......

I need to get away.

Away from the cold.

Away from these kids.

Away from this house.

Away from this base.

Away from Japan.

Away, away, away.

My Characters in Caricatures

In the fall of 2008, we went to a festival in Tokyo (can't remember now which one) and there was a tiny, old Japanese woman sitting on the ground, under a tree, drawing caricatures.  I'd always wanted to get one done of the kids, but for some reason had just never managed to do it, so we settled down on her mat and got one done, Japanese style (she drew in the peace fingers):

(no that's not mini-Richard Nixon)

When we were in Florida this summer we spent a day at a local boardwalk, where there was a guy doing caricatures in a little, mobile studio, so we stepped inside and got one done, American style (Ethan sat for 15 mins, holding up his peace fingers):

I really love them both, and can't wait to get them properly framed and hung.  Now I'm kicking myself for not having done them earlier, and more often.  Gabi especially was such a fat, cute baby, she would have been adorable as a cartoon!

BFFs an Ocean Apart

This summer, Gabi experienced her first true heartbreak when her best friend moved back to America.  Gabi and Kelekah met the day we stepped off the plane in Japan, and were joined at the hip from that day forward.  They shared the same birthday, born literally within minutes of each other, and Kelekah lived in the exact same building that I lived in as a kid (just 3 buildings down from us).  And they both had little brothers 11 years younger than themselves.  Both are great students and runners, teammates on both the cross-country and track teams for 3 years.  

Fortunately K's family had arrived in Japan only a month before us, which meant the girls could count on at least 3 years together.  In the military, most families move every 3 - 4 years, so if you're unlucky enough to arrive at a base and become good friends with someone who's already been there 2 + years, chances are you won't be together long.  

G and K were completely inseparable at all times, so you can imagine their complete devastation when we learned K's family would be re-locating in July last year, especially considering we weren't planning on leaving Japan any time soon.

But there is a silver lining for the broken hearted BFFs:  Technology is a truly awesome thing!  G and K Skype regularly, at least 3 times a week.  They routinely hook up when one or the other is getting ready for school, and thanks to the portability of their laptops and handy-dandy webcams, they peruse each other's closets via internet "Wear that pink shirt, with those jeans!"  "What do you think of this scarf with that sweater?" and even take the laptop into the bathroom to experiment with hairstyles together!  

While we were still in the hotel, I found Gabi in the bathroom one Saturday night, pre-hair styling session (which explains the dead wombat on G's head), and found the girls playing a rousing game of UNO, together!  Thanks to technology, they can best friends forever, no matter how far apart they are!

We miss you Kelekah!

Happy Bloggiversary to me!!!!

Yikes!  I totally missed my own blog anniversary!  Exactly 3 years and two days ago, I started this blog.

Holy crap has my life ever changed in the last 36 months!!!  Absolutely nothing in my life today is how I imagined it would be just 3 short years ago.  In some ways it's kind of sad, but in other ways it's a really great thing.

I'm so, so happy I decided to start blogging, I have met some of the most amazing people over the last three years, all because of this blog.   To be honest, I now have more blogg-y friends reading my drivel than I do people who knew me before I started blogging!  I also really love that I have such a detailed account of the last three years, it's so neat to be able to read back and find out EXACTLY what we were doing at this exact point in our lives three years ago, and usually with pictures.  It's like a mini time machine!

When I started blogging, I was positive I'd run out of things to write about, I mean, my life isn't really all that exciting, but as it turns out, I have SO MUCH to blog about, that the only thing I run out of is the time to blog about it!

So - Happy Bloggiversary SakuraSlime!

(This is actually Lily, Masa and me toasting on the night I found out I'd made the applicant list for my job!  I was so happy that she was there to share that life-changing moment with me!  Yet another post I've never managed write!)

Post X-mas

So I've covered Xmas night, and now the day after, I'll get to Christmas day eventually!

The day after Christmas, the kids and I, plus G and Meg's BFFs, headed to Tokyo for some shopping and to take in the Constellation exhibit at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills.

Our first stop was Shakey's Pizza.  My fave of all faves restaurant.  We scoffed back way too much pizza (including some pudding, chocolate sauce and marshmallow pizza! Oishii!) and headed for the KiddieLand toy store.  The permanent store is 6 floors of toy awesomeness, but it's currently being renovated, so they've opened a temp store around the corner.

After less than 24 hours, Gabi's Xmas money was burning a hole in her pocket so we headed for H&M and Forever 21 in Omotesando.  She found quite a bit of stuff, cute and on sale.  Score!  She was quite pleased with herself, only to realize 6 blocks and 2 train stops away that she'd lost her shopping bag.  M, E, BFF and I were already in Roppongi headed to meet up with Gina and her kiddos for the exhibit.  G re-traced her steps but never found her bag :(  She left her name and number with the clerks at both stores, but to date, we haven't heard anything on the MIA loot.

We met up with Gina, James and Alexa and quickly decided that none of the kids (the teens more than the toddlers) were interested in the constellation exhibit, so we decided to head up to Tokyo City View in Mori Tower.  Not a single person, with the exception of me, was impressed with the expansive views of Tokyo sprawled out below us.  How is that even possible?  I NEVER get tired of that view!  I've lost count of the number of times I've taken in that view, and from so many vantage points:  Tokyo Tower, Mori Tower, the Docomo building, the TMG building.....I could literally sit for hours just taking it in.

The boys romped and played for awhile, Alexa slept, we snapped the obligatory pix, Gina and I chatted for not nearly long enough, and then it was time to go.  Gina and co had had a really jammed packed weekend and her kids were exhausted, mine were bored and hungry so we figured it was only a matter of time before we hit the melt-down zone.

The kids and I headed up the block to TGI Fridays for more yummy food, before finally heading home.

It was a nice day, it really helped with the ever-so-anti-climatic day after Christmas.

Meg and BFF

James and Ethan

I will never EVER get tired of this view!!

E studying his newest Lego book at dinner

E dancing to the music in his head, and the girls playing charades on the train.  

(Our stop on this line is the next to the last one, so we're always among the very last ones on the train and usually end up with a car to ourselves, cause nobody wants to be near with gaijin freaks!)

Xmas Preview

Had this pic on my phone.  The other Chrimmy pix are still on the PC.

We started a new tradition for Xmas dinner this year for Xmas:  Christmas Yakiniku!
The kids love yakiniku, Ethan especially loves cooking our own food at our table.  This restaurant is a favorite, it's a yakiniku viking (all you can eat) plus has DIY cotton candy and crepe machines!  Oishii! (Christmas is not a big deal in Japan, it's just another day, so everything is open)
In the pic is also Meg's BFF, Tasha.  She was at our house by 8:00a Christmas morning, just for a quick gift review, then came back after lunch and spent the rest of the day and night.

Once you go Mac....

Isn't she pretty?

I've made the switch, and so far I'm pretty happy.  Still figuring things out and trying to break my old PC habits, but I love my little, pink Mac!

I haven't blogged in a while because my PC went all wonky and wouldn't let me upload pix to Blogger, and I HATE blogging w/out pictures, so I just didn't.  Now I've just got to get all my pix and files transferred from the PC (Piece of Crap) and I'll be able to catch up!

All brats present and accounted for!

Gabi and Meg are home from Guam.  Pix coming soon!