A Colorful Mother's Day

Stefan's school had their Spring Festa today.  Theme: Rainbows.


I seriously was dreading going due to the probable 1970-something Vera-esque decor, chaos, whining and/or nagging that accompanies such activities.  On Mother's Day...


Now, I am the FIRST to tell you that every day is Mother's Day in my house.  Has been ever since these boys came into being.  And Miss-High-and-Mighty would really like to be treated as if it were my special day, every day. Having said that, I am also the first to tell you that my feelings would be hurt if everyone in my family completely blew off the Hallmark Holiday and acted as if it were just another one of "those" Mother's Days...


But they did not (thank you, Seika!).  My day started with getting a new purse!

Decorated by Ian (perhaps our budding artist?!?)

And an identical purse!

Decorated by Dougie (self-portrait complete with blue glasses!)

To say that I was pleasantly surprised at how today went would be an understatement.  Not only was Hayama's Spring Festa pretty great, we all had fun.  Not having gone to the generic Mother's Day Brunch, Mom did not have to pick, pester, wipe, shush, remind, clean, cater, nor glare at anyone so that we could "enjoy ourselves".  What a blessing!  And, the rainbow decorations were, (dare I say it?), really fantastic!

My friend, Bridget, and I both signed up for decoration committee thinking we would get off easy.  Then they sent a packet home with 16 HUGE sheets of pictures and two teensy poster boards.  Our assignment?  Do something creative.  Collage.  With 500 pictures.  And rainbows.

Needless to say, both she and I procrastinated until the night before they were due.  In the end, we made paint palette wheels that really spoke for themselves.  Not necessary to embellish them at all.  I admire all the others' for their true creativity!!!

The boys got their face painted like tigers,

played games and won prizes,

made slime,

Got their weekly dose of Vitamin D the natural way,

Freeloaded...

Picked out a Mother's Day gift:

This year's Spring Festa was raising money for a village that was wiped completely out (except for ONE house) by the Tōhoku earthquake's tsunami.  The families have created a co-op where they make and sell goods and pool their money to help restore the fishing that was once their livelihood.  This necklace has been recycled from roof tiles that were destroyed during the tsunami.  The puffers mouth is one of the nail holes in the slate tile.

We joined Bridget on the way over (husband out on the GW).  Bridget's son Jack goes to pre-K at Hayama.  Her daughter, Madeline, and Stefan have known each other from Kindergarten - they were also on the same Odyssey of the Mind team.

We had the kids "couple up" (hold hands) as we crossed the street to the bus stop.  Madeline and Stefan had joined hands.  And then kept walking down the sidewalk that way.  So completely innocent.

They likely do not realize this, nor do any of us want them to, but it is plain to see that Stefan and Madeline have a crush on each other.

Everyone was tired, yet only one slept...

and it was not Ian...

who would rather hold the handles on the bus, just like Daddy.

Who could pass up a park on the way home?  Certainly not us.  Ian perfected getting airborne when Daddy would go down (notice the space under his seat?!?).  Jack had hopped off the teeter-totter at this point.  Earlier Eric manned up one side while all five kids piled on the other.  Of course, breaking out the camera also broke up the party...

Today was a perfectly enjoyable day of being a Mom.  Instead of waiting to repeat this next year, we will work on having this kind of Mother's Day, everyday.  Turns out, I am treated special.  Every. Single. Day.

Thank you boys!

Stefan-O'Lantern

Snaggletooth...

The first fell out 2 months ago. Six teeth later, Stefan has lost, on average, one tooth every 10 days. This is down from the previous one tooth per week.


Our recently unemployed Tooth fairy is now filing for Chapter 11...


And two more teeth are now loose! Hang in there TF!!


Too bad it is not closer to Halloween. Stefan's costume could be the Jack-O'Lantern!


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Sayonara Wes & Carlyn

Today we (Anthony's & Fraser's) had one last soiree with the HansonSmith's.  The sun was shining, the kids played down at the park while the women reveled in the fact that all three husbands were present!  The first time we attempted this, none of them could be there...
The GW project is coming to a close and people are starting to go home; including Wes, Carlyn, Eton & Emi.  So, we celebrated friendship and ate Carlyn's delish homemade pizza.  The kids played with play doh (a privilege RARELY had at our house...) and built gumdrop and toothpick structures.  Some of the kids that were too-young-to-have-known-that-the-gumdrops-have-been-used-seven-plus-times-previously, may have eaten a few.  One of the kids that was way-too-old-to-not-know-better, did not eat any.  Just licked them.  One of the adults that really-had-no-excuse sat munching on a few...  Eric really did enjoy them!


Wes & Carlyn have a couple of the tiny Japanese kid-chairs (that would squeak when you sit down - squeakers removed...).  Ian & Dougie drove their around each other like they were bumper cars. They scooted down the hallway, hitched up like a couple of train cars.  They turned circles on their axis and then around each other.  They meandered their way around the adult legs.  They finally made their way to belly up to the play doh table.

They ended up sharing a chair to watch a video...

Sumo day is quickly approaching at Seika.  The older class (Dougie's class) will start to wrestle each other and the top eight will get to compete at Sumo Day.  When we got home this evening, Stefan and Dougie tried their moves out on each other.  And in nearly the correct attire...

They had so much fun!  Ian and I got a kick out of watching them.  Dougie has enough stature that he should have a decent shot at being one of the final eight.  But, being ticklish may be his achilles heel...  Mostly, we just need to pray that his mawashi belt (the traditional sumo "diaper") stays on him, as I will be the one tying it.  EEEEEK!!!


We had a great day, spent with great friends.  We will miss you, HansonSmiths, but are super excited you will be back again for the next upkeep!!!

Kodomo no hi - Cinqo de Mayo, Japanese Style

Children's Day (こどもの日 Kodomo no hi^?) is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5th. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.







The boys came home from school last week donning their kabuto and koi-no-bori as part of Kodomo no hi, or Boy's Day/Children's Day.  Kabuto (兜, 冑) are a type of helmet worn by samurai warriors. The Koinobori (鯉幟^?), are carp-shaped wind socks traditionally flown in Japan to celebrate Children's Day. (Kodomonohi, Kabuto & Koinobori definitions from Wikipedia).  Dougie's Koinobori were cut out and colored by the boy himself.  Ian's are cut out prints.  These boys wore their kabuto around for days, wherever we went.  They looked a bit like the Little Dutch Girl...












Ian was getting off the bus and I managed to snap this picture...  The koinobori were covered in plastic to protect them from the wind and/or rain.  As soon as his sensei had him pose, I got the scowl...


And then I got a smile...

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Zoo Animals

Kanazawa Zoo

The rain FINALLY let up.  Melissa, Carlyn and I went to the zoo to watch the animals play.  Our animals, that is...  we skipped the zoo entirely and went straight down to the slides and obstacle course!

Stefan asked to bring a friend and Matthew (lives kitty-corner behind us) happily obliged.  We had eight kids between us, half of which were my charges...  

The boys climbed all over the hill, the girls and Ian rode the small roller slides over and over.  Emi was a total crack up; the youngest of the bunch, yet she was the master of that roller slide.  So funny!

Maggie and Emi - I get so blessed by getting unconditional hugs from these two!  My boys "ration" their hugs and dole them out only on their time.  Getting a hug from a girl has a sweetness that comes only in the form of a girl.  It makes me miss my niece :/

The Koi-no-bori (Koi/Carp windsocks) were out in celebration of Boys Day (now Children's Day), Kodomo-no-hi.  The whole hill was strung with theses HUGE fish.  The kids thought it was great!  It really is beautiful.

At one point, I had not seen the older three (Dougie, Stefan and Matthew) for a looooooong time.  Right as I made it to the top, I saw Matthew zoom down the big roller slide.  I managed to get pics of the other two.  They had the patience enough to stand in a very long line to ride the big slide.  I was impressed!

Ian and Maggie played a little game with the "bum-scoot" (plastic shovel-like tushie-protector for going down the roller slides).  Ian would put it in his mouth like a dog (so boy)

and Maggie would pull it out (so wise! So girl...). 

They carried on for a bit and just giggled away.

Stefan and Matthew raced up the obstacle course...

Jack and Ian made their own... Dougie would giggle all the way down the short roller slide - I think he was enjoying the rollers on his backside more than the average person...

On the way home - buckled, snacks and, best of all, SMILES!!!

Something's Fishy...

Friday night, Eric got home and not a single thing had been done about dinner (on my end, anyway).  So, we took Kent to his, allegedly, first Sushi-Go-Round!

Kent loved the conveyer belt, nearly as much as our boys.  When asked what he thought, he stated, "It tastes fishy."  And that was in response to nori (kind of fishy), sushi rice, tamago (essentially an omelet), edamame, and corn.  OK, maybe it was the mayo in the corn...  He readily ate the edamame, tamago and karage and did a great job eating "No Thank You" tastes of nori, cucumbers and kitsune.  Once I explained that the sushi rice was plain old rice, doctored up with some vinegar, mirin and sugar, it no longer tasted fishy :)  The pineapple was a huge hit as was the "fruit salad" (haupia/coconut jello with a kiwi, mandarin and full-pit maraschino cherry on top).  We had fun and nobody cried!  That made this trip better than our average trip!

Our Saturday was BEEE-AAAAA-UUUU-tiful!  The sun was shining and it was warm, but not hot.  The bugs hadn't hatched yet...  No mosquitoes!

Stefan started his beautiful Saturday by getting fit for his new retainer.  As the orthodontist put it, "It is very useful, but very... ugly..."

So well spoken...

Poor kid has a palette expander that has a fence of sorts coming DOWN from the top.  It's a retrained retainer.  The wires keep him from thrusting his tongue against his teeth.  With all the gaps in his front, you can handily see the wires.  He looks a bit like Jaws from Moonraker...

Eric took Kent, Dougie & Ian to Umikaze park where they had a blast playing on the playground and sliding down the hill.  They came home, ate lunch and took naps!  Stefan and I went to a birthday party.  Once we got home, all the kids played at the park behind our house.  We even saw a couple of friends of Kent's family as they drove by.  They came and joined us at the park.  The kids ended up playing there until the sun went down.  We had a late dinner and ran all the kids through the kid wash and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Did you know it is based off a book written by Ian Fleming (James Bond books)?  That explained the lead ladies' name: Truly Scrumptious.  And the Villian's land: Vulgaria.  Roald Dahl helped write the screenplay.  No wonder it is such a great show!  I had, however, long since forgotten how LONG it was.  Our neighbor, Yoko-san, and her son joined us.  We ate popcorn and enjoyed ourselves!

Sunday, after church, the boys really wanted to have a water gun fight.  Why not?!?  It was so warm and nice the day before...  By the time naps had been taken (do you think they were tired?!?), it was not nearly as warm as the day before.  But out came the squirt guns and many kids went home wet and cold.  Great way to convince them to take a bath!

By the time Sunday rolled around, you could tell Kent had become much more comfortable here.  Ian was no longer cute, but someone who ruined what you have just done or was "in your space" and so on.  "NO IAN!" was not uncommon to hear.  Or, "Dougie!!!!!"  Kent also stopped locking the bathroom door to go pee and even went with Dougie, where he learned to play "Ching! Ching!".  It is the sound of urine streams battling in the toilet, like swords....  Carol & Brad, you would be proud!

Kent went home Sunday night.  His parents had a much needed and welcomed vacation that went really well.  We had a wonderful weekend with Kent.

Dougie has already decided Kent is coming over next Saturday too :)  My response?  Anytime... he is always welcome (as are his folks, whom we love!).

It was a lovely weekend all around!