Japan, continued

We are having such a great time here in Japan. Michelle and Alice are doing really well, and we are trying hard to keep Helen and Jane busy so that Michelle can spend her life nursing. Ahh, I remember those days...

Michelle and Alice (9 days old)

Here we are at the Samari House museum. The grounds were beautiful, especially with the snow. Inside the house we had to take off our shoes and slip some house slippers on. It was as cold inside the house as it was outside!

This is the Samari warrior outfit that he wore. Also note, the large samari sword beside. I've been looking for one of those for Spencer, but so far, no luck. Plus I'm not sure they would be very happy with me at the airport if I showed up with that in my suitcase.

Me inside the Samari House.

Another part of our Japanese experience has been vending machines. There are vending machines everywhere! And they sell everything under the sun. They are all very brightly colored, some have flashing neon lights, and you can find them on every corner. Here I am bravely trying to pick a drink. It was a success! I managed to pick a peach/grape juice! Whew! Sometimes it is worrisome as to what we are eating. I'll go into more detail when I post our sushi making class pictures...

Did I mention that you can buy ANYTHING out of a vending machine? Dad decided that we needed some eggs. Yes, eggs. Who knew that you could buy eggs out of a vending machine?

Sushi class pictures tomorrow...

Japan!

So, I figured since I've been incapable of blogging whilst at home, perhaps I will have better luck in Japan. I'm in Japan!! The children asked me to take pictures of every single moment of this trip, so here you go...

Our seats were right next to the wings on the 747 gigantic monster of a plane that we were flying on. And apparently, it is shorter to fly north over the Arctic Ocean than it is to fly straight across the Pacific. Hmmm, I'm still not convinced. But here you can see the wing and the frozen wasteland of the ice floes. It's a good thing we didn't have to stop here. Below is a picture of Mom and Dad on the plane, it must have been the first half of the plane, they're still smiling!

Here we are at the bullet train station. The Japanese are very orderly and wait in their little lines waiting for the train. Unfortunately, it was dark when we were on the train, so we couldn't tell how fast we were really moving.

Jane and Helen with their new 'babies'. They really love the blankets and burp cloths that I made for them.

We visited the Shinto Temple on Sunday. It was kind of snowy, in case you couldn't tell. And I'm not sure why this is underlined, but we're just going to go with it.

All of the Shinto temples have these beautiful gates leading up to them. It was very beautiful in the snow. A little cold, but beautiful.

Mom dared me to pull the bell rope to waken up the spirits. I didn't really ring it, but I should have, perhaps I was afraid of what 'spirits' would wake up. Maybe my children across the ocean?

We are having such a fun time. Really this is like a vacation, with Michelle spending all of her time nursing Alice and the rest of us going from party to party.

Hunter's New Quilt

Hunter has decided that since he is a 'big boy' he needed a quilt on his bed like the other 'big kids' have at our house. Believe it or not, he picked out the animal fabric, I cut it apart and made the blocks and then finished it all up in less than two weeks. Shock, I know. That is the fastest I've ever made any quilt. And frankly, I am still suprised that I finished it. There maybe a lot of quilt-tops lying around my house that need to be finished. I just close my eyes when I walk past them. And just so you know, there are wolves, grizzly bears, moose, foxes, deer, and buffalo on this quilt. It's pretty sweet and very boyish.

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi is three years old! What happened to my baby? Of course he recieved a 'CARS' car for his birthday. Just in case we didn't have enough cars already.

Yum!

He's three! And his cake was really easy, I love the power of a mother's suggestion. Funfetti cake in a 9x13 pan with chocolate frosting and those yucky royal frosting decorations. So be it.

Also, we had the stomach flu raging through our house this past week. Poor Levi got hit the hardest. But on Saturday I told him that he had to get better otherwise he couldn't have his birthday on Sunday. Saturday morning was the last time he threw-up. He was a man on a mission!

Belated First Day of School

I realize that it is the end of September and the children have been going to school for 7 weeks, but cut me some slack...it hasn't gotten any less busy having only two children at home with me. Miles-2nd Grade

Corbin-3rd Grade
(don't ask about the dopey look, I have no idea)

Ella-marie-Kindergarden star

The kids all love their teachers and are really happy to not be at home and bored all day. Trust me, they told me that. And at home it is still just as loud and there is just as much fighting between the two that are left. There must be a Murphy's law about that...

July Pictures!

Here are some pictures from July. I tried to put some more on, but my computer wouldn't let me. But here are some fun ones.

Shaving with Dad

Levi is practically grown up. Shaving already? I suspect that poor Levi is going to have as hard of a time growing anything on his face as Spencer does.

Hunter thinks it is so fun to have shaving cream ALL over your face!

May the Force be with you!

My little Jedi warriors at a Star Wars party this week. I can only hope that all of them want to be Jedis for Halloween as well, killing two birds with one stone on these costumes.

Miles lost his first tooth this week as well. I didn't realize that it's been such an exciting week. And if you'll note, you can see the tears streaming down his face...and I haven't even pulled it yet.

There you go, toothless!

Miles' belated birthday...

Oops, I forgot to blog about Miles' birthday before we went camping this last week. So here we go, better late than never...

Miles chose Pina Colada Pie with toasted coconut for his "birthday cake". I can't believe that Miles is seven! He's gotten a lot taller this past year, even though he's still not caught up with Corbin. That is his goal in life...be taller than Corbin! A lofty goal, but a good one.Miles recieved various sundry bug catching items for his birthday presents. Note the awesome multi-pocketed explorer vest that Spencer and I made for him. It has all sorts of pockets, loops, clips, and snaps for all of the bug equipment he also recieved. My only rule is...bugs have to stay outside!