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.

A Special Visit

Liezel is the first friend I made in Jacksonville and I truly don't know what I would have done without her.  She kept me company while Mike was deployed and helped me find my way around a new and unfamiliar city.  She didn't mind hanging out with a precocious fifteen month old Grace.  Grace absolutely adores her and I know Claire will feel the same way.  She introduced me to Peterbrooke chocolates.  When I was pregnant with Claire, she was my go-to girl  for any medical questions (Liezel is a labor and delivery nurse) and my sounding board for all my TMI, weird goings-on with my pregnancy.  She would even go with me to my ultrasound appointments when Mike was out to sea.

The list could go on and on and on.  In short, Liezel is a very important person to me and my family.  So much so that Mike and I asked her to be godmother to Claire.  And how special for Claire to have her godmother be there on the day of her birth and to have all those newborn tests done with her godmother by her side.

I was thrilled when Liezel told me she was coming for a visit.  She stayed with us for a few days and we did our best to show her around Williamsburg.  We went antique shopping, walked around Colonial Williamsburg, and ate at some not so impressive restaurants.  But in the end, I think my favorite thing was just hanging out on the couch in our pajamas catching up with each other.

As all visits are with great friends, it was entirely too short, but hopefully it won't be too long before we see our sweet Liezel again.

Saturday Playdate

We had a lovely little playdate this morning with a sweet girl and her family.  Grace is a year older than Concetta and Concetta's little brother is just a month older than Claire.  The babies played and the big sisters played.  And the adults had just as much fun.  It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy Saturday morning.

The rest of the day was spent getting the house in order for a special guest coming to visit tomorrow.  Our dear friend from Jacksonville, Liezel, is coming to visit for a few days and I am over the moon excited about being able to catch up with her.

Inseparable

These days my girls and I are inseparable.  Maybe it's out of necessity because with Mike's heavy school schedule and our lack of a regular babysitter, there isn't much choice.  But I'd like to think that even if there was a different option, we would still choose to hang out with each other.  I know that these days are fleeting and there will come a time soon enough when I will be the last person my girls want to hang out with.  I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

The one sure thing that will get Grace to peace out on me is going to the gym with Mike.  She has a group of friends there in the kiddie area that she loves hanging out with.  As we were out running a few errands, Mike called and asked if he should wait for us to get home so he could take Grace with him to the gym.  I told him I would drop Grace off and then run the rest of my errands.

Grace overheard the conversation and immediately began pleading to stay with me and help me run errands.  When I told her that she was going to the gym with her daddy, she immediately changed her attitude said, "Oh, okay then.  Have fun with your errands, Mama."

If only I was as excited to go to the gym, then I wouldn't have all this baby weight to worry about any more!

Movie Night

I enjoy special times when we will go out and do something special as a family, but my favorite things are just our everyday moments.  Like tonight.  My family sprawled out together on the floor watching a movie.  This is the kind of simple moment that will be in my memory forever.

We went to Redbox and rented two movies, one for our family time and one for our grownup's date night-in.  Our plan was to watch "Dolphin Tale" with the girls, put them to bed and then start our date night-in by snuggling on the couch, sipping our sparkling champagne (sparkling apple cider leftover from Valentine's Day), and watch "Taken Two."

Whereas I used to be able to do movie marathons and stay up until wee hours of the morning watching movie after movie, apparently, I'm only good for one movie a night now.  After I put Claire to bed, I went to my room to change into pajamas.  But the bed was calling my name so I went to go lie down for just a second while Mike finished up with work downstairs.  The next thing I know, it's the next morning.  (Really, 3 in the morning since Claire has yet to sleep through the night!).

I totally missed my date night.  I stood my poor husband up.  And to make me feel even more guilty, I woke up to a neat and tidy kitchen.  Since his date fell fast asleep, he went ahead and cleaned the kitchen!

On our next movie night, I'll have to remember to brew some coffee after dinner so I can make it all the way through.