First game of Go Fish!

My dearest cousin Robynn is here right now and she's got the gift of teaching a child. The other night she got Hana interested in playing cards and before long they were playing Go Fish! I was amazed that Hana could do it. For months and months and months I have been trying to get her to want to know her numbers again (she used to know them all and then totally lost interest). This has been PERFECT for getting her to review her numbers. She has 6 and 9 mixed up and for the life of her sometimes can't remeber 10, but otherwise she does great with the game!

Here are some pics of her playing!

"Yes, Mommy, I have a 3, here ya go!"


"hmmmmmm, which card should I ask for?"


"I'll ask for THIS ONE!"


"Oh, wait a minute, is this a 6 or a 9???"


"I got a match!"



"I WIN!!!!!!!!"


She's a great sport. If she doesn't win, it's no big deal. She encourages others if they get sad cause they aren't doing so well. And she is so happy when she has a card in her hand that you asked for! She loves to give her cards away! It is so fun to be able to play games together. She's wanted to play everyday since she learned how! Thanks Robynn for getting my girl interested in her numbers again!

A few recent pics...

For your viewing enjoyment ;)

On a recent concert road trip Hana fell asleep with her crown on! It was soooooooo cute!






We won a Wii and Wii Fit in a drawing recently. Hana likes the soccer game (she still holds the high score) and the ski jump. Her favorite part of the ski jump is to NOT jump so she rolls down the hill and becomes a snow ball! Silly girl!


getting ready to NOT ski jump!


Daddy is becoming a professional photographer (of sorts) and this is one great shot he took recently!



On a recent trip to the park...









Talking on the phone with Mommy! Her voice sounded as sweet as she looks in this picture!

Sports day...

Sports day is a BIG deal in Japan. You might remember last years sports day and a video here! They spend weeks practicing and preparing for sports day here. They PRACTICE every event! So that the big day will be perfect! And it shows, it is always such a major production and I am always soooooooooo impressed!

This year Hana was a little more into it than last year. Last year she was just smiling and laughing and being directed where to go and what to do. This year, it seemed she knew what she was doing, and she got serious about some of the events! We hope you enjoy the pictures...

On the way to Sports Day she was so excited it was hard to get her to slow down, as you can see by how far ahead of us she was!




She was the first student in her class to arrive and after putting on her team hat, she had to sit and wait patiently for the rest of her classmates to show up!


Below is Hana's poster of herself, which she colored! All of the children had colored a self portrait and they were all strung in a zig-zag pattern above our heads across the preschool playground.



Hana's class parading around the grounds.


Hana getting ready to show us her class dance. She spent most of her time during the dance just looking at us and smiling and waving. Her teacher says that everyday they would practice the dance outside she would stand around and suck her thumb. On rainy days she when they would practice inside she would join in the dance! No one can figure out why she won't dance outside!!!


THE RACE!!!
This is the beginning of Hana's race!


She pulls ahead of the pack...


and rounding the first corner, it's Hana in the lead and gaining ground!!!


She just makes it look so easy!


The winner is... HANA!!!!!!!! (she won her race last year too, I wonder if we have a track runner on our hands)




This is where the white team and the red team compete to see who can get the most balls in a basket up high over the heads!


The basketball player in Mommy can't help but be excited about that follow-through! Just look at that! We have to work on squaring up though ; )


And she will surely be good at rebounds!


thorough at rebounding too!


and don't forget to make sure Mommy's watching!


Then the grandparents got to join in the game, and here is Hana with her Baba!




Next up, the parents in the centipede race! Daddy was the leader of the orange team. GO Orange! (unfortunately they lost cause the lady behind Rocky wouldn't let him speed up, she kept screaming she was gonna fall down everytime he tried to speed up! LOL)



And finally Mommy and Hana in the obstacle course!

The balance beam...

Jump through the hoops...

and a piggy back ride to the finish!


You did such a great job Hana-baby! Mommy is so proud of you!!!


Let's go eat lunch, I'm starved!

Some new pics and an update...

Hana caught something at preschool this week. She'd been coughing for about two days when she woke up Saturday morning with a pretty high temp. I think around 102F (38.8 C), our thermometer is C so I'm not sure and am too tired to go find a converter online and convert it! LOL We got her some meds, and the fever just climbed higher and higher throughout the day. I prayed over her every time I layed hands on her. By night time her fever hit 40.2 once. We kept up fever reducing suppositories as often as allowed, ice packs around her neck and cold compress on her forhead, etc. She did not sleep well and when she finally did fall asleep at 2am after another fever reducer brought the temp down a little bit, I couldn't sleep! I think I was awake until 4am and then when I did sleep it was a very light sleep because I was so "aware" and every tiny noise woke me up. I am so exhausted today. I'm missing Sunday morning worship for the first time in I don't know how many years!!!

This morning she still had about 40 temp but it finally began to break after breakfast! Praise the Lord! I enlisted some of my online friends to pray and that did the trick! She is upstairs taking a nap right now, and I should lay down for a while too. I think in all I got maybe 2 hours sleep last night.

She's so funny. We went to the doctor and the grocery store with her in her pajamas yesterday and she kept saying, "Mommy, I forgot to change my clothes!" Made me chuckle every time. And this sweet little thing, why is it that she is the one who is sick, but she is telling Mommy, "It's ok Mommy. Fever's all gone, cough all better!" I think she sees the worry in my eyes and wants to make me feel better. Little darling.

Well, hope you enjoyed this little update. I'm gonna go lay down for a bit. **yawn**

Hair wash...

When I (Mommy) was a little girl, my mother had a hair salon. I LOVED for her to wash my hair in the sinks at the salon with the shower head in that big sink with the little place for your neck to lay. When I got a bit older Mom closed her shop and started a different business. She still gave me perms and so forth at home, and those times she would lay me up on the kitchen counter, hold my head over the sink and wash my hair. She'd also do this when I was really sick (which was often with my asthma) if I couldn't take a bath but needed a hair washing. I LOVED having my mom wash my hair and it was always so special to me.

On our recent trip to Aomori it was REALLY cold. In Japan there is no central heating, and so bathrooms are pretty cold places in the house here. Plus they had only a shower stall, and it wasn't the biggest thing so it was pretty cold and cramped to try to give Hana a shower. So since she didn't really need one everyday, I would just wash her hair in the sink. She LOVED it just as much as I did when I was a little girl.

There is something so special and intimate about someone washing your hair. I remember it being especially sweet to have my Mommy hovering over me holding my head and washing my hair. And the water running down my head tickled sometimes so it was often an experience that caused me to laugh too.

Hana love it too! She just loved looking up at me and would grab my face and say "Mommy, yubs you!" She would also giggle when it tickled! She jumps at the chance to have me wash her hair in the sink now.

These moments are the things I dreamed of doing for my babies and never knew if I would get these opportunities when we were deep in the despair of infertility! HOW VERY EXTRA PRECIOUS it is when I finally get to experience all of these things!

Here are some pictures of our little make-shift hair salon in the kitchen where we stayed in Aomori!!! Enjoy...