Metaphor of Motherhood

I was asked to write a metaphor of my life before children and after. I came up with:

The 7-year drought and The perfect storm. It took me 7, long years to get pregnant, and it has been the most perfect storm since :)

I know I keep saying it, but, what a week!

Sophie "Bear" is living up to her name. She used to be a Snuggle bear, but lately, she's been a Grizzly. Poor baby has been sick since we got back from home leave. I checked her mouth this morning, and she still has blisters, red throat, and patches of assorted colors. She has been diagnosed with tonsillitis, stomatitis, and now, oral herpes (lovely, I know). I honestly don't know what to think at this point. I am thankful that the other two haven't gotten whatever "it" is.

We went today for the girls' modeling assignment. They were asked to be hair/makeup models by a couple of students from the Mode Gakuen. We met them last week. The girls committed to doing it, so today was "practice," Gracie volunteered to be first, so she was "foofed" for a couple of hours. Sunday, we will meet the girls and do the photo shoot. It is definately, like most things we've experienced so far, not what we were expecting, but they all had a great time. I was amazed at the art the students create with hair and makeup. Most of all, I was amazed that our girls sat there so patient and well-behaved, especially Gracie! We had a talk about how people were "counting" on them and what a special responsibility that is. I was ever so so proud of my little ladies today. Sophie is SOOOO excited about getting to go next. Izzy was her usual, "whatever.." Ok, keep in mind, the hair and makeup reminds me of what you would see on the "runway." The photos I took just don't do the colors and itricacy justice. Just about everything the students create is done by hand. The pictures of the finished product will go into their portfolios. The "flower" is an American, who interprets for us. She is so kind to meet us at Nagoya Station and take us to the School. She arrived in September, and is exceptionally fluent in Japanese already. She said she was an exchange student in high school. She is now going to university here - no family, etc,...Quite amazing! Thanks, Katy!!

Your Category: Things you might see in a Japanese pet store

Actually, it's a pet store/plant store, but whatever you call it, the girls and I LOVE to go and look at all the cool stuff :)

Back to the game....see how many of these you could guess:

1. dogs ($800-1,500 US dollars)

2. cats ($800-1,000 US dollars)

3. rabbits (I believe these were around $200)

4. guinea pigs

5. What I believe was a hairless guinea pig (at first I thought it was a baby pig)

6. hamsters

7. gerbils, rats, and mice (with or without hair and tails)

8. birds (every kind imaginable, including babies without their feathers yet - I'm starting to see a trend here)

9. lizards and frogs (again, every kind imaginable - I didn't see ANY snakes :) )

10. beetles

11. tortoises and turtles (Izzy wants one really bad)

12. chinchillas

13. ferrets ($300 and, no, that doesn't include the cage - Izzy wants one of these, too)

14. ducks (just your plain-white-with-orange-beaks ducks - Sophie wants one)

15. A monkey ($5,500 - he was really cute)

16. chipmunks (yep, Chip 'N Dale are big here)

17. What I believe were squirrels (you NEVER see squirrels here, so maybe someone has figured out a market for them)

18. Fish (including salt water, tropical, stingrays, puffer fish, lion fish, shrimp) I have to say, though, we can get a nice goldfish for $1 - 5.00

And, the biggest surprise of all, we made it out of the store without any bites !!!

Remind me to tell you all about Gracie getting bitten by the goat.....
~Michelle

camping pictures

I thought we had some narrow roads in Nagoya until we went to the mountains!


A suburban it's not.


The tent is up where is diner?

The stream behind our camp site.

Izzy wasn't too crazy about the bridge either :)
Our camp stove, the small can of gas loads in on the side and we have fajitas!

Prayers for our dad and Pa Pa Hoyt

Dad, aka, Pa Pa Hoyt, is having some dizzy spells. Mom took him to the doctor, and they believe it is blood-pressure related. They are planning on doing MRIs to try and figure it out. Mom said they think that the disease (Dementia) has possibly affected the part of the brain that controls blood pressure. Please keep him in your prayers. We are praying that the doctors can pinpoint the cause of the problem and fix it with medication. He means the WORLD to us all, so please pray for answers for this health concern.

Thanks for remembering our special ones in your prayers!
~Michelle

Our First Real Camping Trip

Last weekend, we went to the mountains, way up in the mountains, to Araragi (ah-dah-dah-gee). It was an amazing adventure! We only stayed one night, as this was a trial run for future trips.

We were the only idiots, I mean people, BRAVE enough to go camping in the rain, with three, five year-olds :)

The first afternoon/night we were there it rained, and rained, and rained. We were very, very cold throughout the night - not the girls :) I will be buying a down comforter to take on our next trip. Sophie's asthma was really bad, so she coughed all night and had to have a treatment. She and I sat right outside the tent, next to the plug-in, at three in the morning, and I watched for bears.

Sam bought me the coolest little grill (thanks Todd and Tim), and I cooked beef fajitas for dinner, and we ate the rest the next day for lunch.

Sunday, was beautiful. It was dry enough to have a fire, and the girls roasted and ate a whole bag of marshmallows. It warmed up, but not hot, just nice. We went for a short hike, which involved me walking over a suspension bridge. I'm not crazy about heights when there is very little around me, but I did it! :) We spent a lot of time fighting the bugs, Sunday.

The owners were so sweet to us! The husband brought the four girls umbrellas, and brought Sam a "kasa," which is the traditional style hat. "Kasa" means umbrella, which is what the hat resembles. On Sunday, the wife had a "presento" for the girls - a children's book with the katakana and hiragana characters. When we checked out, they gave each of the girls a little hat "kasa-style." We bought a souvenir "kasa" just to remind us of our wonderful time!

Despite the rain, cold, and bugs, we had an awesome time as a family! We are all looking forward to another expedition!

Prayer Request

I really appreciate those of you who read and pray for those special in our lives.

My dear friend Cindy's sister is having some pretty major medical procedures/problems. Please keep Sonia in your prayers. We are praying for answers and healing.

Malorrie has been "checked" ( lumbar puncture) again, and she is still in remission!! This is wonderful news! She still has so much to go through, but she and her family are so strong. She will graduate this month. How amazing a young woman to fight cancer and finish her requirements to graduate! I'm pretty sure she is finishing in the top 10% of her class, as well!

Again, thank you all so much for your prayers! They mean the world to me and my friends.

~Michelle