Japan Night

Mike and I always tell Grace she's our "Japanese baby" because she was born there.  But we moved when she was only ten months old so, unfortunately, she doesn't remember.

We have been looking forward to the William and Mary Japan night hosted by the international students in the MBA program.   I even taught Grace how to say hello and introduce herself in Japanese (the ONLY thing I remember in Japanese despite my nearly three years there).  And to my untrained ear, I think she does an exceptional job.

The evening did not disappoint.  There was a fashion show, a sumo wrestling demonstration, a taiko drum performance, and lots of food.  We dressed Claire in Grace's Hello Kitty jinbei (traditional Japanese clothing) that she wore for her first birthday.  Both Grace and Claire's favorite thing was the taiko drums.  I was afraid that Claire would be freaked out by the loud drumming, but the child loved it.  She was bouncing along on her daddy's lap and waving her hands like a maniac.  And Grace had just as much fun air drumming along with the performance.

The whole event made us very nostalgic about our time in Japan!

Thirsty after all that bouncing!

The girls in their Japanese clothes- Claire in Grace's old jinbei, and since we didn't have a larger one for Grace, she just wore Hello Kitty.  Hello Kitty is Japanese, after all! 

Walk With Jesus

When I picked Grace up from school today, she was carrying a new pink bag and excitedly told me that Jesus was inside.  Her teacher quickly explained that each student was taking a turn bringing home Jesus and we were to document what Grace did during her "Walk with Jesus".

So here's what happened during her day with Jesus...

It was pretty special that the day Jesus came home with Grace was the day a our new Pope was elected!

Jesus had to go back to school on Friday and I was a little nervous that Grace would have a hard time giving up the Jesus doll since she loved having him around.  When I reminded her that other children needed to take their turn and that she would have to return him the next day, she said, "That's okay because Jesus is in my heart every day."

A Dr. Seuss Day

 The night before Crazy Hat Day for school, Grace and I were brainstorming what she could add to her hat to make it all crazy.  She chose mustaches leftover from her pirate birthday party and the fanciest hairbows she could find.  Silly girl.  She thought it was hilarious.  And I got major mama brownie points for making her green eggs and ham for breakfast.

Then that evening, there was a pajama party at her school.  Grace had a blast!  Mike and I enjoyed watching the controlled chaos.  And Claire even behaved herself.  It was a great way to spend a Friday night.

Hair twirling during story time. 

Claire was enthralled with watching all the big kids.