Tag Archive | Japan

Can I DO Inactive?? Not Easily

January 6-7

For the first time in ages we had a truly inactive Sunday…doubly so as I had not managed to finagle a trip to JoAnn’s so even my crochet had halted… I was silly enough to start a baby gift with the pink after finishing the first half of BOTH of Trinity’s slippers only to realize that I was without a necessary amount of elastic… oops.

Poor Trinity was just not herself on Sunday and spent the bulk of the day falling asleep wherever she put her head down. Be it Baba’s chair or the beanbag on the floor. She just was run down, but thankfully no throwing up!

Sleepy little one

Monday was interesting… Emanuel and I started in on Japan… We read our Little Passports items and started in on our worksheets. I absolutely love Activity Village (flag and Kokeshi paper doll) and Education.com (kimono) for these sorts of resources. Emanuel especially appreciated the SIMPLICITY of the flag.

With his eraser shaped like sushi

Japan is right HERE

Of course we had to dinosaur it up, once I got Emanuel rolling this really was HIS DAY to learn… we had a blast talking about Japan, checking out the Compsognathus. It was the twins that pitched the most fits.

Though I DID win them all over with our tiny Valentine’s Day themed potted seeds… Poppies, Forget-me-nots and Strawberries… I am hoping we actually have a successful growth on these. I got them at Target for a 1.00 a box!

Reading the instructions (Zander)

Planting the seeds

Ken spent the bulk of his day at the DMV solving the question of the missing renewed license. That took half a day and lots of waiting… but the hope is that the issue that was NOT on Ken’s side is resolved… say a prayer!!!

The 7th was a shopping day.. well evening for us… we had to go and return our portable DVD player that we got for Christmas from Gammie… it was missing a remote control. So that was a trip to Walmart! The kids are REALLY excited about the idea of having a DVD player in the van on long trips again! 

Sleepy after the drive

It is so much fun exploring Japan with Emanuel. And the chance to start a new plant related project is always exciting. Now let’s hope they actually grow!

Our resident Kitty fanatic

Where We Need To Be

January 4-5

Ending the first week of the new year it was so nice to have it be on a high note – in the mail – Ken’s renewed passport! Now we just have to wait for the separate mailing of his old one. AND the even BIGGER news, the one I teased you all with at the end of 2012… Ken went in to sign the paperwork to finalize his employment as a lead programmer! Definitely an answer to our prayers, though a bit of a nervy thing for me. Ken has not worked outside of the home since right after Trinity was born! It is going to be quite the adjustment!

While Ken was gone Emanuel and Gavin set up to watch one of the movies Gammie sent us – Planet Dinosaur! They really enjoyed it… I think they watched almost 4 hours before becoming bored. So of course we had to draw pictures of their favourite parts… Gavin for his journal and Emanuel his dinosaur binder!

Watching the dinosaurs

The movie

Illustrations from the movie

Life seems, right lately… now don’t get me wrong, I personally am lonely and it is no simple task to keep the boys occupied and learning with stuff in storage and items downsized drastically… but we are where we need to be. That has become glaringly clear with how happy Ken is, with the kids’ interactions with their American family members… with how we are figuring things out. Now this is NOT forever, but for NOW and NOW we need to be HERE. I am just working to really wrap my head around that.

Trinity and Echo gaming together

We had some time of creativity as well… Emanuel made us long necked dinosaurs out of Lego.

LEGOS

And then Echo forced the issue and got Nana and Baba out to see the snow creations in the back… She was determined to spend a little time in the snow. There was the completed structure.

Taking Nana to the backyard

Gavin and the igloo

And one they have just started with the block makers Ken and I picked up at Target recently. 

First layer down

Our Saturday was rather fun… it is the first one of January so Ken and his dad took the boys to their Home Depot free crafting activity. This time they made BIRD HOUSES! So along with the houses they also gained their newest pin for their aprons! Talk about proud boys.

The finished houses

My proud crafty boys

The boys even shared their Home Depot popcorn with the girls!

In the afternoon Ken and I had the opportunity to take just Emanuel and Trinity on a field trip to United Noodles… an Asian grocery. We were on the hunt for anything Japanese, well anything Asian and interesting. Sadly they did NOT have any Bento Boxes but Emanuel picked out some lovely chopsticks.

Fishy chopsticks

Trinity picked out Jelly straws… which were… squishy…

Jelly Straws

We also picked up some interesting chips, more of my noodles and some ideas of bowls and soup spoons that when we get our own home I am so going back for. The lovely ones you eat won tons with. Which has Ken interested in learning how to make our own won tons from scratch! So not finding a Bento Box was ok because we DID find treats and chopsticks and a place to come back to and hunt for hidden gems again! Ken of course came home and immediately hunted down a Chinese bakery… butter explosion buns were NOT to be had where we were. So, our next expedition will be there!

Very garlic-y

Of course the twins took our time away to play Skylanders… we are starting to majorly cut back their time on there now that the new toy has worn off a little bit. So a special day for all of the kids pretty much!

On a special field trip

This entry was posted on 08/01/2013, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments