Bunnies and Eggs

Since Easter is almost here, I made some bunny cookies.

and some Easter egg cookies.

My three bunnies, Jasmine, Maya and Kiera.

My baking partner, Sandy, who is in a serious need of a trim. Someone told me the other day, "I like her bangs." I do too. Most of the time she has a fauxhawk. Isn't she the cutest?

Shoji

I have a few DIY projects to complete while Charlie is away. All of our shoji screens have holes in them. So before we move we have to have them replaced. I'm a bit peeved about the screens because of the 20 holes, my kids have only made 1 of them. Kiera karate kicked it. They aren't cheep to replace. I think the housing agency would charge us triple the amount to fix them. So I decided to try it myself.

1 of the many holes (but the whole screen has to be replaced)

The directions (all in Japanese so I'll read the pictures)

Take the door off the slide and lay it on a flat surface.

Take all the paper and glue off.

All clean.

Put on double-sided tape.

Lay the paper on top, smooth out and iron on.

Ta-da! (only 7 more to go)

Good News

Not sure if you can really read this but it's Maya's reading lexile level. She went from a 4th grade reading level at the begining of the year to a 6th grade reading level as of this week. She raised her score 165 points. We've worked really hard with her from tutoring to helping at home. She and her sisters are reading the entire Harry Potter series together. It's so encouraging.

Baaaaam, I'm a styrofoam cup, yo!

Just an example of the commericals we have living overseas. This is my all-time fav. It's cute and better than all others.

Kiera's Taiko Drumming

Here is a clip of Kiera's 4th grade Taiko Drumming group performance.

Taiko Hai

Kiera was one of 15 from 40 kids selected to perform with her school's taiko drumming class. Taiko drumming is an Okinawan tradition. Kids learn to play as soon as they can hit a drum with a stick. She practices once a week after school with the rest of the class. We were excited to see her perform. The class did an excellent job.

What We're Waiting For

Something everyday sends Charlie and me into a list of things we can't wait for. I'll share:

a food pantry...double sinks...closets...central air...a yard to play in...clean air...smooth roads...quiet neighborhood...cable tv...speaking English everywhere...not showing my ID to enter a store...driving faster than 15 mph...street signs...radio stations...trees, grass & flowers...farmer's markets...malls...cherry icees...traveling...admusement parks...choice of health care...not stopping every 10 sec. for a stoplight...not eating rice with every meal...seeing something other than concrete...man sized furniture...resturants...phones that work...not picking up your kids' friends bc their parents won't drive off base...color on the walls...seeing friends and family

Don't get me wrong. I'm very greatful for the roof over my head, food on my plate and all the experiences I have been given to live overseas for the past 12 years. I just can't wait to touch American soil again.

You Know it's 8 am When...

you hear the Japanese doing their warm-up exercises before they start work.

Knock Knock, Anybody Home?

Even though the kids were feeling under the weather this weekend, we managed to get out and get some sunshine. We headed over to one of our favorite beaches. The tide was low so we walked out on the tide pools and explored some of the small islands that were normally surrounded by water. We were looking for sea glass but came across some pretty cool shells that we hadn't seen before. The kids picked some up to add to our collection.

The afternoon was so nice. We found lots of sea glass; blues, greens and whites. Hopefully I'll have enough by the time we leave here to make a pretty mosaic. I'll have to write about sea glass sometime later since our family is unfamiliar with it. It's not something you find on the east coast.

Hours after we arrived home, I washed the glass and shells. They were smelling ripe from the sea water. I separated the glass from the shells and put them on the counter to dry.

Then they started to walk away!


They had crabs in them!


We always look inside to see if they were occupied. We didn't see any animals at the beach and had carried them in our pockets for hours. No one had stirred. Of the 17 shells we collected, 5 had crabs inside. I can't believe they didn't come out any sooner.

Charlie, being the awesome husband that he is, drove them back to the beach and let them free in their own habitat.

Fransisco, That's Fun to Say

Fredrico, Fresario, Fernando...Fernando, what's his name. This guy finally bought Charlie's van. After the first day the van was advertised online, Fernando called Charlie at work. But Charlie wasn't in so he left a number. Charlie tried calling many times. No one knew who this Fernando was and he wasn't answering his cell phone...for a week. Finally, Fernando calls our home phone just as Charlie was leaving. He wanted to see the van so Charlie went right then. He liked it enough to buy it today...$2,800. Yep, I like it.We put it on the lot for $3,500 knowing someone would talk us down. And he did. Little did he know, he paid $1,000 more than the $1,800 we bought it for two years ago. I think it was an awesome deal!

Night Dive

It's finally warming up here again and the rain is tapering off. We've been having more sunny days than rainy days. The water is calming down so Charlie and his buddies were able to get some scuba time in and go on a night dive.

Different things emerge at night. I'm not sure what the name of this guys is.

They found a balloon fish and made it puff up.

Here is a kind of shrimp.

Better watch out for that hairy stingfish. It's poisonous!

Pure Joy

We had our first really warm day of the year. The house was hot, the ac was on and the kids wanted to start some fun.

They prepared.

Tying many balloons for battle.

They thieved.
And looked innocent.

Watch out! Here it comes!

Wham! Gotcha!

Run!

Right in the gut!

And in the face!

It was a blast! If you're wondering, I was off limits (or I said) but got drenched anyway!

500 Hats For Bartholomew Cubbins

Today was the last day of Read Across America Week. The girls celebrated a Dr. Seuss book every day. On this last day they needed to wear a hat to school. Kiera chose a long Santa hat and Maya chose to wear three hats. They had a good week. They both even finished their school's goal of reading 25 chapter books by the end of the year well ahead of time.

I've Got a Wocket in My Pocket

The girls are continuing their Dr. Suess week at school. Today they had to wear as many pockets as they could. Kiera has 10 pockets and Maya has 8 pockets.

$1,000,000

What would you do with 1,000,000 bucks? Maya had a project at school where she had to spend a million dollars. She couldn't buy just one item. It actually ended up being a bit of a challenge. We've always taught the girls not to be greedy, to think of others and to not be so consumed with stuff. She had to keep a running tab of her spending and cut out pictures from catalogs or off the internet. I'm really proud of her with some of the things she came up with. She donated $100,00 to charity (that was the limit), $40,00 went to college at UNC and $100,00 went to veterinary school (dear Lord help us).

This is what she came up with:

* she received an A+ on her project!

For Sale

'96 Honda Stepwagon

Excellent Condition, Runs great and is very dependable, seats 8, iPod capable stereo, automatic windows/doors, dual sunroof, tinted windows, seats fold up for lots of storage. $3500.

We hate to be selling Charlie's van but we can't take it with us to the states. It's been a great vehicle and the next owner is going to be very lucky to have it.

The Foot Book

Today was "Wear Mixed Matched Shoes" day at the girls' school. Do you know who these feet belong to?

Fox in Socks

Today is "Wear Crazy Socks" day at the girls' school.

Whose feet are these?

And these?
Kiera and Maya. Have fun with crazy sock day!

Green Eggs & Ham

It's Read Across America Week celebrating Dr. Susses' Birthday! Today the girls had to wear something green.

Maya is wearing a green shirt and a green jacket (green socks too).

Kiera is wearing a green shirt and a green jacket.