A Week of Fun and A Schnauzer with Chicken Pox

A what??? Izzy drew a picture of a puppy for me the other day. She brought it to me, and said, "Mommy, what is your favorite kind of puppy?" I told her I like all puppies, but I think Schnauzer's are so cute! She looked at her picture, looked back at me, with a disconcerted look, and said, "Look, I made you a picture of...... a Schnauzer with chicken pox!!" I looked at my beautiful picture and realized that I had given the wrong answer. I think my favorite dog was supposed to be a Dalmatian, but Izzy cleverly and quickly changed her plan to accommodate me.

At dinner, we were having our daily discussion of which animals are mammals (we've been discussing this for a year now - sigh). Anyway, one of the girls asked me, "What about bears?" I told them that yes, bears are mammals. Gracie looks at me very seriously, and said, "What about Pooh Bear?" I said, "Of course, he is a bear." She looks at me, and says, "I don't think he is a mammal." To end the debate over whether Pooh Bear is a mammal, I finally tell her, "He's warm and snuggly - of course he's a mammal." She was satified with that, and we moved on to solving some other world problem :)

As for Sophie, we were driving in the car, and I told the girls, "Wow, Mommy's tummy is really upset today!" Sophie begins a lecture. She tells me it is because I'm not drinking enough water, and that I'm drinking too many Diet Cokes. At this point Izzy pipes up and throws in, "And wine." So now, I have an upset stomach and a VERY guilty conscience about being a Diet Coke junkie and a wino. I guess I will be replacing my vices with more water. Next they'll be wanting me to exercise!!! :)

We had our weekly lesson with Keiko-san and she was telling us the Japanese word for shoes. Sam looked at her kind of puzzled, and asked, "So what's zapato then?" I leaned over, giggled, and reminded him, "Zapato is the Spanish word." We both just laughed :) Japanese lessons are at the end of a work day, so most of the time, our minds are a little slow.

Last Wednesday, we met our friends from playgroup at the Aichi Children's Center. We had so much fun, and the girls were so excited that I would let them go by themselves to play. Of course, Izzy stuck to my side like glue, but Gracie and Sophie went on and on about being "big girls" now. We always go over the rules on the way to activities. They crack me up! From the back of the car I'll hear, "Rule number 46 - no rough-housing." Then someone else will follow with, "Rule number 13 - we do not run." It's funny the random numbers and crazy "rules" they come up with.

Friday, I took them back to the Children's Center. They made clay sculptures, and then we went outside. They climbed and did the big slides. We had a great day!

Saturday, we had our Winter Social with Lockheed. It was so much fun!!! I painted the girls' nails and did their hair. They put on lipstick, body glitter, and a little bling. We bought new shirts the day before. Of course, it ended up with the usual - the girls were beautiful, and I was trying to do my hair and makeup in 5 minutes :) We took the subway to the Marriott at Nagoya Station. We had a wonderful buffet and drinks. I had built up the party all week, telling them how they were getting to be big girls and go to a big-girl party, so they were excited! Sam and I ordered Shirley Temples for them, again telling them they were big-girl drinks. Gracie looked at me and said, "Babies don't get to have THESE." They were really good girls and had wonderful table manners (for 4 year-olds). They would just go off to visit with our friends. They are truly social butterflies :) Izzy took pictures. She did a great job, until she made her way to the table next to our party. Sam said they didn't look very thrilled with the barrage of flashes. She apparently was also making faces at them. She thought she was just being cute, but I was mortified. I'm not sure what happened to my bashful girl, but by the end of the evening, I was beginning to question just what was in those Shirley Temples.

As we were getting on the subway to come home from the party, Sam was invited to an after-party. I told him to go on - the girls and I would be fine. He got off at the next stop, and Sophie was asleep before the door closed behind him. She can just pass out anywhere. Izzy followed soon after, and Gracie, of course, had absolutely no plans of nodding off. I was really proud of them for holding it together. They were cranky, but the only problem I had was explaining to Sophie that she couldn't rest her head on the stranger sitting beside her. With the subway, an adult is allowed to take 2 children for free. Going, Sam was with me, so I didn't have a ticket for an extra child. Coming home, I had three kids, and no extra ticket. I was prepared to pull the "Wakarimasen!" with the station attendant. As we were going through the exit, I started pointing to the person in front of us, telling the girls to get with "her." I kept rushing them to catch up with her. Apparently, he bought that we were "with her," but the girls, and probably the complete stranger I kept trying to push my girls on, thought I was a crazy :) The girls asked me if we could PLEASE catch a cab. Hmmmm.....make my exhausted, very cranky no-longer-big girls walk 15 minutes to our house, OR pay to take a cab. I would have paid A LOT!!!

Saturday was also Hina Matsuri, or Girl's Day. It is celebrated throughout the weekend. Young girls recieve Hina dolls, which represent an emperor and empress. They display the (very expensive) dolls for a few days and put them away for the next year. The girls received sweets from their friends at playgroup, Sean and Joe. They also received sweets from another playgroup friend, Jake. We just wanted to say "Thank You" again!!!

Sunday I had a Mommies' Night Out with my friend, Kirste. We were scoping out places for a future Mommies' Night with the other playgroup moms. We shopped for an hour or two then went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. After that, we went to the Elephant's Nest, which is an English Pub, for drinks. We caught the subway, and I didn't make it home until after 10:30!!! Talk about feeling like a big girl!! :) Kirste wants to try Karaoke next time. That should make for great photos!

Yesterday, for the first time in over a year, I got my haircut!!! We met Kirste and Jake, and we had lunch then went to the Hilton. They were having a charity event. I got my haircut and got to make a donation. We were running late (big shocker), so I sent Kirste on to get her hair cut. The girls, Jake, and I had a nice, leisurely walk to the Hilton. I told Kirste that I always was amused at the looks I got with just the girls. When I threw Jake into the mix, the looks of confusion were hilarious. To add to the "show" we sang, Happy Birthday, The Wheels on the Bus, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as we walked. At the Hilton, we met up with Emi, another friend from playgroup, and her mom, Betty. After our cuts, we went to have a snack with them at a pastry shop. Emi had made a little mess with her straw, and in the effort to clean up her mess, she dropped her straw on the floor. Betty was giving her the same lecture the girls have gotten MANY times about how that wouldn't have happened had you not been playing with it. As the girls would have done, Emi looks at her mom and asks for another straw. As Emi and Betty are discussing why Emi doesn't have a straw, Gracie pipes in, "Can't you just get her another straw?" Oh no she did not just say that to an adult!!! Gracie then got the "She has a mommy - you need to worry about you and YOUR business" lecture from me. I did let Kirste and Betty know that if they ever needed parenting advice that I could loan them one of the girls, since they seem to be authorities :)

After a day of lots of walking, visiting with friends, visiting the Tokyu Hotel, etc,.. I had to push my luck and take them to the grocery store. As we were standing in line at the checkout, I was griping at the girls about their behavior, blah, blah, blah. I look up and my friend Lana is standing behind us grinning. The girls start telling Lana random stories (Izzy looks at her and says, "My favorite sandwich is ham and cheese"). I just look at her, grin, and ask the girls, "Who wants to go home with Miss Lana?!" We laughed, but I did end up bringing them home with me - better luck next time :)

Saturday, we are having a going-away party for our friend, Ivana, from the Tokyu. She will be returning to Brazil. We're really looking forward to the party, but will miss Ivana terribly. :(

Sorry for the novel! If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! We appreciate the sweet, kind comments and love hearing from you!

Love,
~Michelle