Illahee's blog

christmas morning

2012-02-02T20:26:00.002+09:00

pictures and video!

catch up

2012-01-10T09:10:00.004+09:00

wow, the time really got away from me there! this last week of winter vacation was particularly brutal. i'm not sure why. well, actually, i can name a few reasons, and added up maybe that's why. like tommy's new habit of pestering hiro and sasha. oh, that's annoying, for all of us (except tommy.) or sasha's epic meltdowns (never have they been this bad! and hiro really wasn't that bad at this age. *sigh*), which usually come when she's tired or hungry. or both. let's just say the drive home from the in-laws' house was less than pleasant. then there was hiro's lack of homework drive. i really tried to encourage (without nagging; that's hard!!) him the last week. please please please get as much done on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, hiro! you have five days left, sweetie. but no, he was still sweating it out this morning, getting the rest of his homework done. and let me just say that the winter homework really wasn't as bad as the summer homework, mainly because there were bigger numbers to work with, and katakana and kanji are thrown into the mix so it really wasn't the same old problems over and over and over and over....and he was good in the beginning. in fact, i thought he was done with his homework right after christmas. i should have checked it better.

and one other factor: having yoshi around all the time. he had about five days off, plus there was the three day weekend to get through. it's all happy families for about three days and then i just need to do my own thing! what with the cold weather and the kids going stir-crazy, we really don't need to mix everything up with another opinion. i'm not saying i don't want my husband around (he worked miracles in the back garden, ya'll!) but he does have his own opinion on things, esp. in regards to the children, that don't exactly work for them (or for me). i just don't want the hassle of an argument when there's no where for anyone to escape to to work it out for themselves! (i hope that makes sense.)

anyway, we have survived it! i have more photos to upload, and hopefully videos, so here's to more blogging to come!

edit: video from mochi tsuki added here.

happy new year!

2012-01-01T22:06:00.003+09:00

well, survived another new year's at the in-laws' house. it probably helps that we only stayed one night. that's because we brought the dog with us. who managed to sleep in the house, actually in the futons with us. lucky dog.

i had a couple of beers and a glass of wine and was in bed with an over-tired (that is, very cranky) tommy by 8 pm. i didn't even get up when he finally went to sleep, i just relaxed under the warm blankets and went to sleep myself. apparently yoshi stayed up til 2 with his parents (and zorro), so he was pretty tired today! that's ok because we did our usual: wake up late, go to onsen, return for osechi lunch, laze around the rest of the day....anyway, we are home now. the cat was waiting at the front door for us. the kids fell asleep in the car and so we somehow managed to get them in the house and in their pajamas without too many tears!

tonight it's supposed to get cold and perhaps even snow a bit. yay for a cold winter's day (NOT).

i hope you are enjoying the first day of 2012.

christmas

2011-12-28T19:26:00.002+09:00

we had a fabulous christmas!! i only got pictures of the kids on christmas eve, i was pretty busy all week cleaning and preparing for christmas dinner. we invited two families over, for a total of 11 people. the menu was turkey dinner with all the trimmings, plus a few extras that others were bringing. kuri and her family came, and a new friend and her husband came.

i have video from opening presents on christmas morning, but i haven't uploaded them yet. the kids were well pleased with the presents, that's always nice! then we decided to go to royal host for breakfast, which was especially nice for me since i was going to be cooking pretty much all day. that put me behind schedule, though, so when guests started arriving, i was still tidying up! that's ok, not the guests fault, and nothing i couldn't slide into a closet and ignore until later.

the kids had a great time, playing with new friends and old. the turkey turned out great, and the stuffing was lovely. i made a mistake with the gravy and although it was delicious, it wasn't perfect. ah well, maybe next year.

here are pictures of the kids in their christmas clothes. thanks to grandma for the lovely dress!

and hiro and tommy posing in front of santa's milk and cookies. tommy is pretending to eat the cookies!

losing teeth left and right!

2011-12-27T15:47:00.004+09:00

so, last month hiro lost a tooth (i thought it was a week ago. where does the time go??) then, on thursday hiro lost another tooth.

that day his other top tooth was only the tiniest bit wiggly, but then he started worrying it and by friday, it was gone. the tooth fairy didn't stop by on thursday night, but i guess that's because she knew the next day would mean another tooth out! and so, hiro woke up christmas eve morning with 200 yen, instead of 100.

edited to add a photo:

christmas dinner at japanese class

2011-12-27T05:00:00.001+09:00

this would be the nakama class. the previous friday (16th), there was a party at the munakata class, but i had so much fun that i didn't take photos (as a quick update, we played warm-up, getting to know you games--because there are at least three different level classes in munakata--then a skill game--picking up smooth marbles with smooth chopsticks--then an extra present was given to some and then last of all we exchanged gifts playing a kind of musical present where we passed the presents while music played, until the music stopped and we kept the gift in our hands. then we had a few snacks and then it was time to go. the 23rd was a holiday, and the 30th will be, too, so that was the last class of the year!) so, nakama class!

a few weeks ago, when we went on a field trip together, one of the teachers was talking about how much she loved stuffing (for turkey or chicken) and wanted to have some for christmas. the other teachers (who were with us at the time) jumped on that idea and wanted to make stuffed roast chicken for christmas. i was all for that, although i knew i would be making it. it's really not difficult, just time consuming! anyway, plans were made and dishes were decided and last wednesday we had a nice lunch together.

the previous wednesday i had to cancel, because it was the day after i hurt my leg, and i think i made the head teacher nervous! but, i made it on time (usually i'm quite late) and with sasha and tommy in tow. they were entertained with origami for most of the preparation time, which made it easy for me to get stuff done! i brought two chickens, bread prepared for stuffing, and all the other things i needed to get them done. there were two ovens, so i got started right away chopping celery and onion to get the stuffing prepared. while the chickens were roasting, one of the teachers taught us how to make rose sushi.

first one needed to cut some long nori to a certain length. then, pink colored rice (colored by a powder made from fish, i'm pretty sure the pink is not a natural color) is put on the nori, then it is rolled. this was set aside. again, nori is cut (and glued with rice) to a certain length and white rice is put on top. three small strips of nori are then place in the middle, the between that nori and the end on either side. on top of the strips, a wedge of cucumber is placed, then the previous rolled sushi is put in between two of the cucumber wedges. then it is all rolled together and when you cut the sushi, the inside looks like a rose.

even sasha got to help out, she stirred a bit to help make whipped cream, which was for the banana cake one of the teachers brought.

there was so much food, and i really thought we'd be taking home leftover chicken, but surprisingly, there was none left by the end of the class! even the stuffing was a big hit, one teacher loved it so much she took all of the leftover stuffing home! i was particularly pleased with the bulgolgi pork that the korean student made, it was quite spicy, but i really loved it in spite of that! the italian student brought some hard bread, which was delicious, and some sheep's cheese, which i had never tried before. i'm really glad i joined this japanese class!

christmas lights in tenjin

2011-12-26T22:24:00.003+09:00

the weekend before christmas, i had to work. on saturday (17th) there was a christmas party at the juku where i work. hiro went with me, since he joins the class that i teach regularly. it was quite fun. i was in the card making room. i had to give the directions in english. one 'teacher', someone i don't work with usually, automatically translated. *sigh* oh well, it was fun making cards! there were three groups of about 10 kids so they rotated through three different activities over the course of an hour, then it was song singing time. they sang a japanese song about santa (it seems to be popular, my kids learned it at kindy) and then silent night. the teachers asked me to sing the first verse in english. since we did not practice before hand, they played the song in a really high key, which was a bit difficult for me! it was fine, though, and one kid actually complimented me. how nice. then it was picture time and finally the kids got a gift; an individual christmas cake.

after that hiro and i had some time to spend together, so we had lunch together, and then went home (so i could prepare for the following day's lessons.)

on sunday i went to fukuoka city for a one-day teaching project. i had to teach four hours, four different lessons to one class. the students were elem. and jr. high kids who are going to australia for 8 or 10 days for a homestay, and this was a kind of intensive english for them. most of them were pretty good at english, but all were shy. also, very few of them knew each other before having this class, so at first the lesson(s) was very quiet! at lunch, though, some of the kids bonded and the third lesson, which was after lunch, was the most fun and they did quite well.

afterward i went back to tenjin, where i found the last seat left at starbucks and sat for over an hour finishing a book. this was only a few days after injuring my leg, and i was pretty tired. then it was dinnertime so i went to a yakitori and had a couple of beers and plenty of delicious things grilled on sticks! on my way back to the bus center to go home, i passed many different light displays in tenjin. luckily i had a camera with me, so i took lots of pictures.

falling down

2011-12-26T19:16:00.003+09:00

two weeks ago tomorrow, i fell down the front steps of our house. i somehow caught the top step corner on my left leg--right on the meaty part of my calf. really, right next to the shin (and luckily not on the shin, otherwise i probably would have broken a bone!) i was carrying a basket and a bag full of laundry and fell really hard. my injured leg also hit the stone wall next to the house and i don't think that did anything good for my wound. because of the laundry, i didn't hit my head, but i did scratch my left arm pretty bad, and skinned my right knee.

i was going out to do laundry, but also to take sasha to the pediatrician because she had a sore tummy. well. with a gaping wound in my leg, i decided to go to the hospital for myself first. i took the laundry inside and grabbed a couple of clean towels. i wrapped one around my leg, not because it was bleeding, but because the hole was so deep you could see right inside my leg. it was pretty gross.

so, we got to the hospital after a drive with me trying not to cry (i was anticipating having the wound cleaned without painkillers and was kinda freaking out about it) and trying to reassure sasha that it didn't hurt (it didn't. my scratched arm hurt far worse.) it was late enough in the morning for me to be seen right away. at first the nurse came to me to look at my wound, so i unwrapped the towel for her and i think she was a bit shocked that it was so bad (and that i took myself to the hospital with my daughter) and told me to come right back to see the doctor. i tried to rewrap my leg but couldn't get it right, so she kinda held it for me. we made quite a scene with me limping and her bending over to hold the towel! i did go straight in to see the doctor instead of waiting outside the room, as we usually do. the doctor came and was surprised, had a quick look and then sent me off for x-rays. sasha was a little star, and only moaned a little bit about her poor tummy. after x-rays i was wheeled back to the doctor (in a wheelchair) and got fixed up. luckily i was given painkillers before wound cleaning and then stitching, which i was very grateful for. i had to go back the next day and then the next, and since then i have been taking care of my wound myself. i will go back tomorrow, hopefully to have the stitches out, because it's nearly time for the new year holiday and i don't think the stitches should be in for very much longer!

and yes, i did take sasha to the clinic after finishing my leg. got her medicine and some yogurt for her to take it, then took her back home for both of us to rest. what a day!

merry christmas!

2011-12-25T06:59:00.001+09:00

still have lots to catch up on, but probably won't have time to post today!

mochi-tsuki

2011-12-19T08:39:00.004+09:00

on the 11th, we went to a community center in hiro's school district to make mochi. it was pretty interesting, and i took lots of photos.

first you cook the glutenous rice, then transfer it to the pounding bowl (i'm sure it has a special name, but i didn't catch it.) here is tommy helping out.

when it's mashed together pretty good, then you pound it. here is sasha, then yoshi, helping out.

hiro helped, too, but i didn't get any video.

after it has become a smooth, sticky ball, it is ready to be shaped! i think that some kind of starch is used, either potato or corn starch, to keep it from sticking to things.

the dads usually did the final pounding of the mochi. i have a great video of it, but for some reason it didn't upload in iphoto. I'll try again sometime soon...

then it was time to eat mochi. some mochi had anko in it.

some was put into hot bean soup (which is sweet), called zenzai in fukuoka.

tommy loved the zenzai.

some mochi was served with grated daikon flavored with soy sauce and yuzu.

and one other way to serve it is with soy sauce (and i think it was flavored with ginger, but i'm not sure as i didn't try it) and wrapped in nori.

that was pretty fun, but tiring! afterward i took hiro on a 'boy's day', because he was so upset sasha got a girl's day the day before! on the way to the mall, though, he fell asleep in the car!

edit: another video

forgot a picture

2011-12-17T19:52:00.001+09:00

here is sasha and the pinglet looking at the stickers they got their soft-hearted mommies to buy them in hakata....

girl's day

2011-12-15T20:20:00.003+09:00

last sunday (edit: it was last saturday) sasha and i went to fukuoka city to meet with kuri and her daughter. we had a lovely time in the city, and even met santa!

i also got a new P&S camera, which takes very nice pictures. yay!

enjoying the weekend

2011-11-26T21:06:00.004+09:00

today we went to a nearby town to have some pizza. i discovered this place about a week and a half ago, there was an advertisement at the local veggie shop which i had never noticed before. i was checking it out when the head guy (owner?) saw me and gave me a hand-out. the next day i went with connie to have some pizza made by an american guy. oh man, was it ever delicious!! of course, i told yoshi about it right away, and today we went with the kids. the weather was perfect, and the area around the pizza place is spacious and quiet. we even brought the dog with us (the plan was to have him stay in the car while we ate, but he was more than welcome to wait for us in the garden), and sasha run him ragged! in a good way, he was such a happy doggie when it was time to go home!

yoshi had a drinking party this evening, and after i dropped him off i remembered i also had a drinking party!! oops! the group was the mothers from hiro's yochien class, and as i promised to go (and would have to pay anyway) i went with all the kids. i was the only one who drove there, so i was the only one not having a beer *sob* but the kids all got drinks for 'free' and the food was great, so i'm really glad we went.

now we are at home waiting for daddy to get home. i brought out the christmas videos yesterday and so we are enjoying those. i am slowly getting into the christmas spirit! which is a good thing, as we are going to a holiday party tomorrow! well, sasha tommy and i are. really looking forward to that!

got the dog covered

2011-11-25T21:49:00.002+09:00

literally. made a couple of sweaters for the spoiled baby. just kidding, he's not spoiled. and i'm not dressing him up because it's kawaii. only that his fur is naturally short and it's pretty cold around these parts in winter. speaking of which, winter sure has come early this year! for us, anyway. and the winter forecast on the news this morning makes january and february look really really cold! yikes! anyway, on to pics. i apologize for the quality (or lack thereof). the dog moves fast, and i somehow put the camera in some kind of weird mode. or a kid did. yeah, let's blame a kid! pics:

a new look for hiro

2011-11-24T12:47:00.001+09:00

finished

2011-11-16T07:32:00.003+09:00

about a year ago, i saw a flower afghan, much like the one i made before, with white and red roses, and a dark green background, on a television show. i really liked it and wanted to make one for myself. sadly, i found out that no one makes the red and white variegated yarn anymore, at least, not in acrylic. i asked my mom to get me some red and yellow yarn, but oh boy, was it ever bright! not quite appropriate for roses. so, i looked around here, and found this pink, white and orange/peach yarn. not quite what i wanted (i would have been satisfied with pink and white) but i think i like the final product. of course, after nearly finishing, daiso started carrying a different color, much paler and softer looking. but, oh well! i think sasha is well pleased with it.

yarn: acrylic yarn from daiso (100 yen shop), pink/white/orange, frosty green redheart super saver and hunter green redheart super saver. pictures!

i think zorro is under there.

when daddy is away...

2011-11-13T12:38:00.004+09:00

this weekend yoshi went to oita for some kind of bike thing. he left yesterday to stay in the youth hostel in yufuin, and today he will go to hita to ride a bike. a mamachari, as they say in japan, which is a one speed bike with a basket on it. i don't have all the details (obviously) but this meant being at home with the kids all day yesterday and today. well, technically not all the kids as yesterday was the bunkasai at the elementary school and hiro had to go to school as usual.

there were a lot of events (mostly dances) during the day, but only a few of them involved the elementary kids! there were two or three hula groups putting on dances, i thought that was weird. as it was, we didn't really go because tommy and sasha went to the park and didn't come home in time for us to see hiro perform! we got there just at the end, though, and clapped. then we briefly went to the classroom to say hi to hiro and then off to the playground to play. then we went home for lunch and waited for hiro to return.

i made pizza last night, because, surprisingly, sasha asked for it on friday night. i didn't have enough time to make it then, so i made it yesterday. we scarfed down pizza while watching the discovery channel. then the kids watched some weird japanese cartoon while we waited for the phineas and ferb movie to come on (at 9!) so, the kids stayed up way later than usual, and so did i. i dragged out the futons so we could go to sleep as we liked (in front of the tv, so naughty!), and sasha and tommy were asleep before the movie was finished. after the movie, i turned off the tv and hiro and i went to sleep.

even though we were up late, the kids were awake by 6:15 this morning! this is very unusual for tommy and by 11:30, he was so over it. by then we were at joyfull (for lunch) and when we got home, i made them go to bed for a nap. hiro insisted that he needed to do his homework, so i let him stay downstairs while the rest of us went up. tommy was asleep within ten minutes and when i checked, sasha was asleep, too. i went downstairs to find hiro asleep as well, halfway in zorro's house! such a funny kid. and that's how i find myself in a peacefully quiet house before 1 on a sunday afternoon. i hope you are all enjoying your weekend as well!

busy busy busy!

2011-11-05T22:04:00.002+09:00

it has been a crazy couple of weeks. two birthdays last week, two japanese class excursions, work, hard rock cafe, more work, birthday party and halloween. this week was spent just recovering from it all! not only that, but sasha and tommy had tuesday off from school (not sure why) and thursday was a holiday! the positive thing there: i didn't have to make a bento!!

this morning it rained and rained, and it got rather hot. and i thought the super-cool weather we've been having meant summer was over. tricked again!

i hope that the coming week isn't nearly as busy as the past two have been.

helloween party!

2011-10-31T10:33:00.003+09:00

one of the teachers wrote me out a schedule for the halloween party at work (it was on saturday) and kept misspelling halloween. i was a bit worried it was an omen (about the party), but it was actually quite fun. tommy lasted about five minutes before becoming obnoxious (and that was before the party actually started!) but i called yoshi and asked him to come and take him away. hiro and sasha had a great time, and even kept their costumes on the whole time. of course, it helped that they didn't have anything else to wear! they were the only kids in costume, but they didn't care. afterward, i took them to joyfull for lunch and they were very much admired for their cute costumes. ah, helloween.

birthday party!

2011-10-30T20:04:00.002+09:00

had a fun day today, with a halloween birthday party for hiro and tommy. the kids were great, dressing up in costumes and actually keeping them on for most of the party. by the time we cut the cake, though, i made my kids take theirs off (difficult to clean!)

only a few pictures today, basically the cake!

my mom did a great job sending me things to decorate the cake with. these were buttons (except for the jack-o-lantern candles) and were just perfect!

i colored a white cake orange and made a small round with that. then i made a chocolate cake in a larger round to make a two-tiered cake. it was supposed to be a kind of graveyard. i thought it was cute!

next is the jack-o-lantern, from the pumpkin i bought the other day at the japanese class outing. not too fancy, but the kids thought it was great (their first jack-o-lantern!)

japanese class outings

2011-10-30T06:03:00.003+09:00

so, i am taking two 'free' japanese classes these days. one is in town, and the other is in a nearby city. it is free, though we have to pay a few hundred yen per month to cover fees (usually copies) and run by volunteers. i like all the teachers, i think they're very nice, but as they are volunteers, the quality of the teachers vary. luckily (for me!) they kind of switch off, so i may only have the annoying/poor teacher every other week or so. but i'm not here to complain about free japanese lessons!

on wednesday the nakama class went to a iron tea kettle museum. it was really quite lovely, as it was mostly a tea house and garden. actually, there were two types of tea houses (and i learned about them long ago, and don't remember the details). we first went into a small museum with some iron kettles and bells on display. it was nice. i took a couple of pictures of crayon etchings from some old bells.

there was a small garden only visible from within the museum building. i liked how they made a sun shape out of iron.

then we went outside to look around. across from the museum was the room where they served matcha. just outside of that building there was a fountain for washing hands, and also to listen for something. i thought it sounded like water going down a drain, but for some reason this was remarkable.

(fellow student (korean) and her son.)

it was a beautiful day, very sunny but not hot. this wall was in front of the building where they still make iron kettles. on the other side was the garden and the tea houses. the garden was pretty, but not really planned for autumn. even the maple leaves were a drab brown color, no reds or yellows to be seen anywhere! there were a few mums, but nothing extraordinary.

then, into the garden.

the tea houses were for display only, we weren't allowed to go inside this one at all.

i don't know the significance of this rock tied up with rope, though i wanted to ask...

the view from outside the tea house, looking at the viewing pond and the other tea house (which is on the right. the building straight ahead is someone's house, outside of the garden.)

the island in the viewing pond.

after going around the garden, we went to the second tea house. we could go inside, but first i had to go to the rest room. outside of the museum, i found these stacked buckets to be interesting.

then, inside (and outside) the tea house.

then we had matcha in another building (as i mentioned above.)

sweets before matcha.

my matcha. it was ok. i neither love nor hate matcha, so i didn't mind it. afterward, we went up the street to another museum which had more iron kettles and bells on display. then half of our group went back to the community center in nakama, and a few of us went to lunch, which was up the hill from the tea houses and garden. the view was amazing, and the food was really great (i had the tempura set. yum!)

that was last wednesday. on friday, i had another outing with the munakata class. we decided to go to a soba making "class". basically we would make the soba, then it would be cooked and we would eat it. i don't particularly like noodles, but i was the only one who wasn't interested in going (and i think our other option, though free, was in fukutsu--if i'm remembering correctly, it would have been a sweets making factory. but too far away for most members of the class), so we decided to do the soba thing. the "class" is very near my house, so that was a bonus! i didn't take any photos, though, because my hands were otherwise occupied. my verdict on the noodles? they were tasteless, though the dashi was nice (and not too fishy tasting!) they also provided some okazu, which was mainly oily things, or fishy things, and there wasn't any rice so it was kinda bleh! for most of us. ah well, it was a lot of fun. and, i found a jack-o-lantern pumpkin in the gift shop, so now i have a pumpkin to carve!

kyushu mini-convention

2011-10-29T16:22:00.003+09:00

as a member of AFWJ, i get to attend quite a few events with other foreign wives of japanese men. i find our kyushu group to be a really friendly one, and i was really happy to (finally) be able to attend a mini-convention. each year there is a national convention, but usually they are held on honshu, rather far for many of us here in kyushu. so, we hold our own mini-convention to give ourselves a chance to get together and have some fun!

this year we went to hita, a city in oita-ken. i was supposed to catch a train a meet up with kuri and rachel, but yoshi had softball practice and didn't get home in time for me to catch the train. i drove myself, but with the interchange, it didn't take me very long to get there at all!

i was rather early, so i had lunch by myself at a place (and of course i've forgotten the name) that is related somehow to orange julius! they don't sell orange julius there, but i had a fabulous hamburger and salad! then i went to the hotel (lobby pictured above) and was the first one there. since i wasn't the coordinator, i just sat and read a book until other AFWJ members arrived.

first on our schedule (for some of us) was a tour of the sapporo beer factory. first they have us watch a film, and i nearly fell asleep! then we went through the factory a bit (but since it was saturday, it was a bit boring) and then on to the beer tasting! we got two glasses of beer and some snacks to nibble on. that was fun!

back to the hotel to check in, and then some of us went on a walk (there is a historical neighborhood in hita, not too far from the hotel, but as it was raining....) and i snapped a few pictures.

taking a cue from unfamiliar japan, here is a picture of a manhole cover. i guess they have cormorant fishing in hita.

our group (except for me, obviously!) walking in the rain.

many of the roads here were very narrow, so they had these signs on the road reminding pedestrians to stop before stepping into a busy street! many were painted on the road, but i liked this lovely stone sign.

a prettier, smaller manhole cover.

well, that's about all i can share! i had a great time at the mini-con, i hope i can go next year!

tommy's summer uniform

2011-10-28T13:57:00.003+09:00

all through september, the kids wore their sport uniform to school, because they were practicing for the undokai. after the undokai, there were a couple of days where the kids could wear their summer or winter uniform. i realized that i hadn't taken pictures of tommy in his summer uniform, so i thought i better get that done! you may be able to notice that sasha's and tommy's hats are different.

now i know it's fall

2011-10-12T07:02:00.003+09:00

cosmos time!!

and the sunflowers were on their last bout, but i did get this shot.

more cosmos in my set on flickr. photos dating back to 2005. wow!

cupcakes

2011-10-11T19:45:00.002+09:00

at the littlest ping's birthday party last month, the kids got to decorate their own cupcake. some kids brought me theirs to photograph, but i can't remember whose is whose. i think these are sasha's, tommy's and the pinglet's.

yum!