one year ago and now

Emi today

Emi one year ago

Misaki today

Misaki one year ago

Sakura today

Sakura one year ago

Natsuki today

Natsuki one year ago

coffee

I'm trying to stop drinking coffee. Not alltogether, but every morning and every afternoon, which has been my habit for the last few years. Especially with babies and early morning school schedules and the likes, I always needed that morning caffeine boost to keep me going. Eventually I also added an afternoon caffeine "chaser" to help me get through those last few hours until the kids bedtimes.

A few months ago, though, we were in a hurry one morning and I didn't get my morning coffee. By the time we got to church my head was pounding and, wouldn't you know it, I had no Tylenol with me. I tried to wait until lunchtime but halfway through the service I begged Chikara to go to the vending machine and buy me a coffee. Within 10 minutes my headache was gone. Somehow, I was a little embaressed by the whole experience.

Then when we were in Canada, I was never sure if mom was making real coffee or decaf coffee so I got a few headaches then, too. The headaches made me stop and think about if the whole morning and afternoon coffee routine is really necessary anymore. Generally the kids sleep through the night. My mornings are way less rushed than they used to be. My energy levels have returned to normal since giving birth to Natsuki. Hmmm, maybe it's not necessary after all.

So, here I am, two weeks into my break from my coffee routine. I had headaches on and off the first week but now I don't feel any difference. I also don't feel tired or sluggish like I was afraid I would. Actually my biggest problem is that I don't know what *to* drink in the mornings. Tea seems like a poor substitute (sorry to all tea lovers) and water seems boring. Juice seems childish and milk is just weird tasting. A few days in a row I would get to 10am and my throat would be totally dry and I couldn't figure it out. I've been drinking water but just in the mornings it's not very appealing. This is a weird problem I didn't anticipate.

I did have coffee on Sunday afternoon with my friends and another day when a friend came to visit so now I guess I'm a social coffee drinker instead of a serial coffee drinker!

it took awhile...

...but I finally caught up with all of the blogs I read on bloglines. It was daunting. So many of my friends have been busy with fun summer activities and they actually wrote about it and that made me want to read every single word that was written. So I did. I read every single word and I am now inspired to be more creative and fun. I love the Internet!

FYI: My new favorite blog is Design Mom. I don't know how she has the time to do what she does.

Also, my husband organized all of the pictures taken during our trip (1300!) and I found a few cute ones.

Natsuki playing with Maggie



Natsuki wearing my backpack



Emi, Misaki & Sakura trying to suck jello through a straw



Natsuki trying to put up with a hug from Sakura




That's all for now!

and we're back

We are home. Yes, I wrote that correctly. As much as we love being in Canada and the States and being with our family and friends, it's just not home anymore and we were all very happy to get on the plane and return to Japan.

Of course the first order of business after returning was to get over jetlag. The first night we slept from 3pm to 3am. The second night we slept from 6pm to 5am. The third night we slept from 7pm to 6am. The fourth night we slept from 8pm to 7am which in my books is "over" jetlag. I think this was easily the fastest we've ever been able to do that. The girls were very cooperative and we also had a lot going on that weekend at our church so all of that helped but even then, I was very surprised with how easy it was. Travelling without a baby makes a huge difference. I even unpacked our suitcases that first morning which is something I've never been able to do before.

Natsuki developed a fever yesterday that continued today. She threw up once yesterday but except for an increase in whining, she seems to be fine so I'm just keeping an eye on her. I think that all of the time change has just been a lot for her little body.

After seeing our family pictures, many of you asked how we could pick a favorite. And the answer is that we couldn't! Katie did such a wonderful job of capturing the personalities of the girls and we just wanted to buy everything and take it home with us. But we needed to exercise some restraint so we ended up purchasing a lot of 4x6's since there are a lot candid-type shots that we really loved. If you look at the slideshow a few times in a row you'll notice that there are lot of pictures of Emi, Misaki & Sakura and then a lot of Natsuki by herself. It was really hard to get her to cooperate so the picture of the girls laying on the ground is definitely one of my favorites. Anyways, now that I'm home and I've had a chance to look through them again, I may have to order a few more!!!

And Maria, Misaki did finally lose her front tooth and she looks like a hockey player that smacked in the face by a puck!!! I'm trying to get a picture of her to share here since it is quite hysterical.

That's all for now.

what could be better

This afternoon I spent an hour sitting at the nook in my mother's kitchen reading a book while I watched my girlies playing peacefully in the backyard in their barefeet. It was heavenly!

family pictures!

We did it! We took family pictures (twice, actually) and they turned out so awesome. Katie, our photographer, did a great job. She was so patient, especially since Natsuki tried to boycott the photoshoot alltogether. Oh, she is so being a 2-year-old right now. But Katie is such a professional that when we had our viewing it looked like Natsuki was a perfect angel in all of the pictures. I was very impressed.

So please enjoy the slideshow that Katie put together for us.

shucking corn