Celebrating Marissa's 1/2 Birthday!

Ever since we got back from Idaho Marissa has been feeling a lack of attention (since mommy hasn't been able to focus much on anything since Dad's passing last month). So she's been asking how many days until her birthday (every day) and telling all her friends at school about the party and planning the celebration in detail. The only problem is... her birthday is in July (6 months away) which is an eternity to a 5 year old. So we decided to celebrate her 1/2 birthday with just a small family party at home. We made half of a birthday cake (using a mini loaf bread pan), then put 5 candles on it and chopped one in half at the end to represent the 1/2. :) But we told her she couldn't have any presents because Christmas was just a few days before that. So all she requested was a Sponge Bob pinata (difficult to find on New Year's Day when all the stores are closed). So I had to think fast and improvise. Luckily we had a rectangle shaped yellow pillow that I used as his body (with a zipper at the bottom to stuff the candy in. Then I got some yellow paper and asked her to draw his face and sponge holes for his body (which we taped to the pillow. It looked pretty cute (check out the video). She loved feeling special all day and we didn't have to spend a dime (just a little time and imagination can make all the difference in the world. Kelea got into it too wearing her favorite princess dress and tiara for the special occasion. (She's going through a serious dress-up phase right now).

Ringing in the New Year

Our friends who live off base (Renee and Geoff) invited us to celebrate New Year's Eve with them in a traditional Japanese way: By ringing a giant bell to welcome in the new year. We drove to their house at 11:30pm and ended up walking down to the shrine with their Japanese neighbors (Sean speaking fluently with them, and me just smiling and pretending like I got the joke when they would laugh about something.) :) If you can see the photo where Sean and I are swinging a large piece of wood back and then forward to hit the bell, it gives you a better idea of what we experienced. We were the only Americans there, which made the night even more special and authentic. After we hit the bell, we were invited (by Renee's neighbors) into the Buddist temple that was next to the shrine. We were excited to see inside so we took off our shoes and followed them inside. They opened the sliding shoji screen doors and we sat on a cushion next to them, smelling the scent of incense and listening to a buddist monk chanting and hitting a drum. Our Japanese friends handed us a wooden drumstick that we hit on top of a wooden sculpture that looked like a skull. Everyone in the room was beating their wooden skulls at the same time in a rhythm that flowed with the chants of the monk. It was a surreal feeling as I was sitting there looking at the back of this Buddist monk, listening to sounds in the room and feeling like I had stepped into another world completely. What an amazing experience it was to discover a few of their traditions and beliefs first hand. That is why I love being here and want to stay another year. It's a once in a lifetime adventure!

Kelea & Liana - "Whipping it!"

Marissa Reading at 1st Grade Level!

In October we got serious about teaching Marissa to read and bought her the "Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten Reading Program". She read her first book at the beginning of November (see archives) and since then has read all 14 books in the program and has moved up to the First Grade level reading program! We're so happy that she loves to read and found a program that she enjoys. Every night we read her 1 "big book" then she reads us 1 of her "little books". In this video she's reading "Where is Zot?" The last book in the kindergarten level program. It's so cute to see her sounding out the words & being such a big girl!