And this would be Thomas. He is older than Braden & Dayton are in their picture (I think he was around 2)...but you can definately see they look NOTHING like me. Thank goodness I have Keegan...
We miss you! It took me over a year to finally meet a family that we seemed to "mesh" with. It took alot less than that for them to get orders to leave us behind. Booooo Texas! You guys had become like family to us. Keegan and Braden miss Gavin and Tristin more each day. And my dear Jessica. How I miss thee..let me count the ways. I have noone to go to the 100yen store on a Saturday night with a 15 minute notice. I have noone to talk to on the phone while I do my daily chores, and I have noone to cook for me. I have noone with me to make fun of other people. (I know its not nice to make fun of others, but when two grown marines ride the waterslide together, well thats just asking to made fun of).
We miss you , and can't wait to cross paths again. 
I copied this from another blog. There is a theater out in town that shows American movies with Japanese subtitles. On the website they have a short description of the movies.
In Memphis the husband and wife of the emperor penguin, the man bull of the son is born. It grows in the nice elementary school student. But, in class of important song, being tone-deafness of the metal reinforcement entering is detected for the penguin. Man pulling where you see the seniors and from also the companion and is released, becomes the single, as for those where it advances instead of singing, was step of dance!
To the person who donated this lovely pair of shiny red boots to the Kadena Thrift Store. Their new owner absolutely adores them. They are getting all the love and wear they could ever hope for. Sunny days, rainy days, the park or the commissary, they are never left behind.
..and yes they are on the wrong foot, but they actually prefer it that way sometimes. It gives them both a different view of the world.
Seriously, these $2 red boots are Bradens most prized possession at the moment.
Today we took the kids to the Okinawa Athletic Park...I think thats what its called. Someone please correct me if I am wrong :)
I have said this before but Japanese parks rock! They have the coolest parks here. We are constantly finding new ones. They are all different, and all just dangerous enough to be really fun.
Here is a video of Keegan and Braden going down the huge concrete slide. NoticeBradens head at the end. He is ok, so I give you permission to laugh. Poor kid had a mouth full of dirt. We were there for about an hour and Keegan and Braden were pretty banged up by then so we came home.
Out of all the toys Santa brought Dayton for Christmas, the two toys that he still plays with everyday, and that he and Brooks were just fussing over are... a dog and cat toy. I know, Thomas was a bit upset I bought our sweet child pet toys too. But, they are his fave! The dog toy is a nubby rummer ball just a wee bit smaller than a tennis ball. Perfect size for his hands (and a dogs mouth I would assume). The cat toy is a plastic ball with a bell inside. Coolest toys ever, and they were in the $1 bin!!
Thomas and I went out to eat tonight, our good friends/neighbors watched the boys for us (thanks Kat). As the boys were walking towards their house I couldn't help but comment on how awesome Braden is. He insisted on wearing two different flip-flops, one red and one blue, but both left shoes. He had on sweats, with the pockets hanging out also. Thomas had argued with him before leaving the house, trying to talk him into his socks and tennis shoes. Finally, I told Braden to wear what he wants and told Thomas to save the arguing for more important things, like putting the toilet seat down for instance.
Then just before bedtime tonight we were playing pinball on the computer. I will admit I suck when it comes to electronic games. So, in trying to figure out how to launch the ball, I somehow set it to demo. Well, now I had to pee, so I left it like that and headed to the bathroom. Midstream I get a very excited knock at the door (does anyone else dream of a quiet bathroom visit). Braden: Mama, Guess what! Me: What Braden? Braden: I can play the computer game with about even touching it!! I am that cool Mama! Me: (laughing) Wow! That's Awesome! Braden:(with a very satisfied snicker) Yeah I know..
He is so funny and so easily amused, much like myself.
Shannan does! Why you might ask? Because she got these uber cool reusable shopping bags. So I am no longer throwing out 20 or 30 plastic bags a week now!! I bought several, this was just a quick trip. Not the havent been since last payday, 2 baskets full of crap, grub fest I usually seem to have. My favorite one is the one to the right it says I AM GORGEOUS! After fighting the commissary with three kids in tow, that may just make me smile =) And yes, I realize they're not all cutsey matching, but I look at it this way. With 10 random prints, they match everything, just not each other ;) And besides, I want the commissary workers to rememebr me. I want them to be like, 'Ohhh, its the lady with the awesome grocery sacks' while the baggers are in the background singing "Dont cha' wish your bags were hot like hers? Dont cha'?" to all the other lame shoppers still using plastic bags.
1 Sweet Potato Vegetable Puff. Last spotted on the tray of my swing.
Generous Award of snotty kisses offered!
One of my recent goals for the year is to read. I *hope* to read 20 books by the end of the year. I think that's doable, even for unmotivated, lazy me. I started off the year by reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It was good, not totally what I expected and was a bit bummed at the end. I wanted to know more of the story. The next book up was Skinny Dip. This book was very funny, I seriously laughed out loud quite a few times. After finishing that one I started Baghdad without a Map. I haven't gotten very far into it yet. It is funny and interesting, but there doesn't seem to be much of a story line. Mainly just his notes from traveling. I will pick it up again as soon as I finish my current read. The Pilot's Wife. It was good, only took me two days to read. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened. Last but not least my current book, which so far is my favorite The Glass Castle. I am loving it so far, and hope to finish it this weekend.
I have a few other books in mind to read next. Water for Elephants, Love in the Time of Cholera, Eat Pray Love, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Into the Wild, Middlesex, The Lovely Bones and The Good Earth. That should get me through like September...If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in a comment!!
Last week we met with a few other families at Comprehensive Park after school. The kids LOVE this park, it is huge, they can ride their scooters, play on the playground, and feed the fish! What more could a kid want. Oh, and their is a huge water park attached that we haven't tried out yet, I cant wait until it re-opens!!!
Keegan Brendan and Indy 'Hanging Out'
Last Saturday we went with the Brown Family to Nago Central Park and Neo Park. Nago Central park is where all the Cherry Blossoms bloom and where the big festival is next weekend. It is so pretty up there. Much less congested and way less americanized, which is actually nice sometimes. There was a huge bridge to cross from the parking area to the playground. Beautiful views, I know my camera isnt that great, but hopefully you can see some of it.
One of the mosaics on the bridge
Pretty Cherry Blossoms
Whoa we are high!
Cool park with a little twisty-turny, climb through rope thingy
Dayton and Brooks playing
Daytons funny face
Be Careful, it slips ;)
**OK, these pics are from Neo Park. This park was like a zoo, sort of, but without ay barriers. You enter into a huge netted bird area. There were huge birds everywhere. You could buy a little bag of food for 200yen and they would come up and eat right from your hand.
And imagine, if you have all these birds in a small enclosed area with little human kids feeding them all day..
Yes, that is bird poop EVERYWHERE! Oh my gosh, it was so nasty *gag* Once I turned around to ask Katherine if they had a hose or something to rinse the stroller wheels and this bird in a tree pooped right freakin in front of my face. Seriously, a huge goop of bird poop fell within inches of my face.
Oh, and flamingos are so much prettier alive. We are used to only seeing the plastic ones ;)
This would be a picture of a Dog nursing a piggy...
And the swan-caddy's
Bats CREEP ME OUT
Dayton is wearing his first pair of shoes!! Dayton hasnt shown much interest in walking yet, but with the weather cooling off a bit, I decided to get him a new pair of shoes. I bought the StrideRite walking shoes, I still have Keegan and Bradens first pair too! A few pics....doesn't he look like a little man? I had to bribe him with cheerios to get them on his feet initially, but then all was good!
Today Dayton Braden and I went out to Navel Kadena to pick up a few things. It was really windy and you could see the waves from the parking garage so we walked over to the sea wall to get a better look. The waves were awazing! They werent THAT big, but the biggest ones I have seen. They were so pretty, but at the same time so frightening to me. I am so scared of the Ocean, its just so freakin big!
Here is a pic of Braden with his shiny new red rainboots and my umbrella (which was destroyed by the wind just a few moments later)
And a few pictures of the waves
I have never owned a scale, for the fear I would become obsessed with my weight. Well, I have now decided that I need to get obsessed with it, so I bought a scale last week. I have been weighing myself just after I shower and keeping a mental note ;) Well wouldn't you know it, last night Keegan found the little dial on the back and was messing with it and broke it. Darn it, cant a Mom have anything without it being broken. Oh, and I bought a pretty new umbrella today that lasted all of about 7 minutes before the wind destroyed it...
1) Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket
3) Take a picture from the first page of results and post.
4) You can't copy the persons answers who posted this before you!
1. The age you will be on your next birthday:
2. A place you'd like to travel:
3. Your favorite place:
4. Your favorite object:
5. Your favorite food:
6. Your favorite animal:
7. Your favorite color:
8. The town in which you were born:
9. The town in which you live:
10. The name of a past pet:
11. Dream Come True:
12. Your nickname/screen name:
none
13. Your middle name:
14. Your last name:
no results
15. A bad habit of yours:
16. Your first job:
17. Your grandmother's name:
and
