Welbi ‘Round the World

From the mouth of babes #5

We’ve been cleaning and unpacking for 4 straight days! Yuck. Yesterday, I asked Riley to help put some of their stuff away.

Her response, “I don’t want to work, I just want to play.”

I think we can agree with her.

End of the Summer

Well, the last weekend of the summer has started.  It is such a bittersweet time.  Todd and I have to go back to work, which means the end of “Mommy and Daddy Time.”  However, the girls are so excited to start school!  Riley will be entering Kindergarten (we call it KB at our school), and Tess will start KA.

Todd and I are almost over jet lag, which has been very rough this time.  The girls slept through the night last night without waking up and demanding food, my computer, or hotty milky (every thing Tess says ends with a “y”).  However, we are all waking up ridiculously early, which is great because we can get stuff done, but it is not so good as we all fall asleep before 9 at night.

Since we’ve arrived, Todd and I have been gutting the house and balconies.  Every 10 years apartment complexes get completely redone on the outside.  What that means for us is that everything will have to come off of the balconies.  Yikes!  We store a lot of crap out there, so we are in the process of applying to throw away things (which you have to do with the city when it doesn’t fit in a 45 Liter trash bag.  We are throwing away: Tessy’s crib, Riley’s twin bed, a wooden hanging stand, two chairs, an old easel, a wooden lattice screen, an old dresser, an old ottoman, and a huge suitcase that we had to bring back to Japan to carry all of our crap!  I also need to remove all of my plants and plant pots, which is less of a problem since they all died over the summer.  We are also keeping a table and 2 chairs and a pop up play house filled with balls.  I am not sure where those are going to fit in the house, but we’ll figure out something.

It will undoubtedly be a bit before I update further.  The beginning of school is never an easy, relaxing time.  Look for something in early September when we celebrate Tessy’s 4th birthday (with Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Tony!)

Here are some more photos of Lindsay’s wedding.  I am still working on getting some photos from the photographer, and the last of the summer photos.

From the mouth of babes #4

Riley and I were having a conversation, and she said, “What does ‘ohm’ mean?”

I misheard her and said, “‘Um’ means that people can’t think of what to say, so they say ‘um’ instead.”

Then she said, “No, mommy, ‘ohm’ is the sound of the universe.”

What??!! Todd and I looked at each other, and it was clear that neither one of us taught her that.

So I asked, “Riley, who taught you that?”

Her response, “The Yoga ABC video.”

Deep.

From the mouth of babes #3

So we dropped off Todd on Friday evening at the airport, and he headed to London with his Masters program.  Then the girls and I swung around the Beltway and headed to Victoria to visit my dad and stepmom.

The girls were great in the car.  I’d put the toys in the trunk instead of with them, so we talked a lot of the way to Victoria.  We said hello and good-bye to each city we passed.  I talked about the countryside versus the city when they freaked out and asked where were all of the people.  I explained about farming and ranching.  We talked about why people raise food and animals.  We counted USA and Texas flags.

Upon entering my dad’s property we saw two rabbits, six cows, swans, goats, and a donkey.  The girls were so excited, and when they saw the inflated pool waiting for them, they could barely keep their clothes on.

All in all, they had a great time.  Please check out my facebook profile for the few pictures that I took.

On the way home it was a quieter trip.  I was drifting down memory lane, and the girls were talking to each other.  My mind was a million miles away when I began to catch the end of the conversation that the girls were having.  It went something like this:

Tess says, “I want to take a bath in Vivi’s bathtub.”

Riley responds, “Well, Vivi has to be babysitting us, and mom has to be gone.”

Tess asks, “Where does mom have to go?”

Riley responds, “She has to go to a restaurant.”

Tess asks (to me), “Mom, are you going to a restaurant?”

I was laughing too hard to answer.  I mean, who has these conversations?  I guess this is what happens when you mix my genes (loves baths) together with Todd’s genes (hilarity).

Summertime

It seems like every time we head Stateside we are always busy beyond belief.  This summer is ending up just the same.

We originally planned to come to Houston this summer for Lindsay’s and Tony’s wedding.  However, then Todd was accepted in the University of Houston Master of Arts in Theatre.  So we’ve been in Houston since the end of June.  Todd’s program has him at school from 9-9 Monday through Thursday.  Then he is off Friday through Sunday.

The girls and I have been playing, swimming, going to dance lessons, gymnastic lessons and Riley is in a Nature Camp.

Next week Todd heads to London for his Master’s program, and then I head to my Dad’s house, and then my Mom comes.

Then we are in Houston for another 10 days.  I am looking forward to some family time relaxing and visiting with friends.

Here are some photos from the first part of our trip.  Here are the photos from the Bridal Breakfast.

From the mouth of babes #2

It was late in the afternoon shortly after we arrived in Houston.

We were all laying on the couch and watching soccer.

Tessy was a little tired and hungry, and says, “I really, really want some cheese.”

I said, “I’ll go downstairs in a little bit, Tessy.”

She responds with, “I really, really want some cheese now.”

After this point I ignore her pleas for cheese.

She immediately turns her attention to Uncle Tony, and says, “I really, really love your tatoo.”

And then after a few seconds, comes out with, “I really, really want a tatoo.”

From the mouth of babes #1

Riley tells her sister what to do.

I respond with, “Riley you are not the boss of Tessy.”

Then I ask, “Who is the boss?”

Riley and Tessy answer in unison, “Mommy is the boss!”

I follow up with, “Isn’t Daddy the boss, too?”

Riley quickly answers, “Daddy is the cooking boss.”

We’ve arrived, and already there are cute photos.

The flights were great – on time, light turbulence, and good kids.  And after one jet-lagged night, we all seem to be on a normal schedule.  Since we’ve arrived, the girls have been playing non-stop.  Here are some photos of them playing in Japan before we left and from our day in Houston.

Lost Christmas photos and events from June

Last Christmas we relaxed for a couple of weeks in Hawaii.  It was a great time, and I cannot wait to go back.  While we were there, we borrowed some ocean kayaks for the afternoon and headed out into the water.  I brought my camera because I thought I would be able to get some great photos.  Unfortunately, I forgot that I had it with me when I stood up to get out of the kayak.  The camera ended up in the water.

For my birthday I asked Todd for a new camera because I know that he will have his all day during his Master’s program this summer.  I got a cute new Canon SD4000 in red, and when I put in the memory card that floating around our house, I found that it was the card from the sunken camera in Hawaii – and there were still Hawaiian photos on it!

So I am uploading photos from the opening of the pool in the Kobe Club, photos from around Kobe, photos from Kachoen and the lost photos from Hawaii here in the June and Lost Christmas album.  The order of the pictures stinks.  I guess it has to do with mixing photos from two cameras.

I am also uploading the photos of the girls taken at school this past year. Again the organization of the photos is horrible.  I will try to explain everything necessary in the captions.

June is always so bittersweet.  I love that it is summer and we have so much more free time for each other and for ourselves, but it is the end of a year, and people always move on – although not so many this year.

Japanese Marketing (unfortunate)

I’m pretty sure the guy up on the corner is as freaked out by that kid as I am.