Will the "sickies" ever go away!?!

I took the Girls to the doctor yesterday. Gracie tested positive for strep (I almost didn't take her), and Izzy and Sophie were both "iffy." All three have tonsillitis AGAIN. Fortunately, he put all three on antibiotics. Sophie also got drops for her horrible pink eye, and Gracie got some ointment with steroids and antibiotic for her flaring eczema. We have been fighting the tonsillitis since we got back to Japan in May - one of them always has a red, sore throat.

Today, the girls and I went out to get some cold medicine for their cough. Sophie kept telling me she was itchy. I told her I would give her some Benadryl when we got home. When we got home I checked her itchy spots, and the poor baby had hives all over. I shoved a Benadryl down her and put cortisone on the patches. All I can figure is she is allergic to the Amoxicillin :( So, after researching it, I called Dr. Sasake in a panic. I didn't want to give her anymore at bedtime, in case she has a worse reaction - not good with her asthma. I'm also worried about the reaction getting worse, although she seems to already be much better. So, we are off to Dr. Sasake's in an hour. They are always wonderful in getting us in very quickly, and they can usually understand me. It can be scary to be in a foreign country with a sick child and not be able to communicate effectively :)

Poor Sam, we had all these big plans for his week off, but at least he's been able to go kiteboarding. He is planning on blogging about his experience :) I can't wait to see the pictures. I am worried because he has started coughing now. What are the odds we gave him something?

Hopefully, we will get them well by the time school starts. I'm starting to feel like a horrible mother :(

Love to you all, and thanks for letting me hang out on the pity pot.

We're still here :)

Sorry we haven't blogged in awhile. I have a ton of pictures and stories to share! Thank you to those of you who have been checking the blog!

We stay so busy, but love it! When we do get a day off, I have to clean house and sneak in a nap ;)

Sam is on natsu yasumi (summer vacation) this week, so we will be running all week probably.

Sophie is sick again - pink eye and tonsillitis.

I promise to write more and post pics! Love you all!

~Michelle

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

Vacation - Oklahoma

We had a wonderful, relaxing time in Oklahoma. It was nice to see my family. The girls have been asking me for a few months if I missed MY mommy, so it was nice to get to see my momma and daddy :) I got to spend some time with my granny, the girls' great-grandmother. We should all look so good and be so spunky when we get to be her age. I got to see my brothers, Phil and Chris and sister, Kristy. We both were chasing rugrats, so we didn't get to talk as much as I would have liked, but it was nice to see and talk to her. We got to see our Auntie Carol, who showed the girls how to do origami.

I really enjoyed playing with my nieces and nephews. We have 4 nephews, Dylan, Simon, Lucas, and Seth. Of course, they are the most handsome boys on the face of the planet, but I'm really proud of what sweet and kind boys they are. My nieces, Marah and Livvy are just beautiful - inside and out. They and the girls got along so well. The first day we were with them, the 5 girls had a clothes swap. Marah and Livvy wore the girls clothes, and my girls wore Marah and Livvy's clothes. We were able to get out of a slumber party, but I bet next year will be different.
On Monday, we took the five girls and ran to the city for a girls' day. We went to Target - oh so fun!! Then we went to Chik-Fil-A for lunch. Mom and I used to celebrate my birthdays this way - the mall and shopping and Chik-Fil-A for lunch :) We dressed the 5 girls alike. We got so many comments on how beautiful they all were, and questions about how old they all were and were they sisters??? You see, Marah is 6, Gracie, Sophie, Izzy are 5, and Livvy is 4. Marah and Sophie look like twins, and Gracie and Livvy are blonde - it was hilarious watching people watching them. Sam took Dylan to a Redhawks game, much to Dylan's relief. I don't think he was excited about spending the day with 7 women :)

Pa Pa George took the grandkids for "Zuki" rides. I think the best part is all the scary stories he tells them. He takes them through "Booger Woods," and they have to keep an eye out for "Scruffy Bears!" He also hooked up two trailers to the lawn tractor, and all the kids took turns riding and driving.

Granny Linda is Super-Granny! She had a birthday cake for the March and April birthdays. There was never a hungry tummy, nor a bored grandchild. She always has something special planned.

The farm is just the most wonderful place to me. I got to see the girls enjoying so many things that I remember doing as a kid. Uncle Phil and Uncle Chris took them to the pond, and they were all up to their knees catching tadpoles, fry, and frogs. They found the most spectacular mudpuddle, and did what every kid loves to do - get horribly, terribly, mucky, muddy and filthy! They dug worms and grubs, found cool bugs, held chickens, played with kitties, and chased bunnies. Uncle Chris found a tortoise. We let them play with (torture) the poor thing for a few hours. They admired the large goldfish and bullfrog in Pa Pa and Granny's fishpond. How no one ended up IN the fishpond is beyond me. They got to go fishing with their daddy and caught some perch (and saw a few snakes). Daddy also put up the tent, and we camped in it one night. I went into the nice, warm bed around 5:00 in the morning, and being the good mother I am, left the girls and Sam, so I could have it ALL TO MYSELF. It is nice to hear the crickets and coyotes and other sounds of the country. The tent also got attacked by Pa Pa and Granny's kitties in the middle of the night, but excitement is excitement. Every day on the farm is a wonderful adventure. I even got to see a wonderful, Oklahoma thunderstorm.

We are blessed to have the wonderful family we have! Our girls have 5 wonderful, doting grandparents!

I'll post pictures and video later.

Prayer Request

Please pray for our friend, Chrissy and her son Ryan. He is 5 and is in the hospital - just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Chrissy, know that Ryan, you, and your family are in our prayers!

Love and Hugs!
~Michelle

What's next?!?

Earlier in the week, I heard Gracie use the word, "Da@#!" Yesterday, Izzy said, "Da@#, this is good juice!" We had a long talk about curse words. They didn't know they were bad words, but NOW they do. We discussed words that we could use instead of those words, and how pretty girls don't use ugly words blah, blah, blah. Today, Little Miss Sunshine (Izzy) is sitting in the pool, and I hear, "Da@#, it's hot without sunscreen!" What?!?!?! She got a spanking (not near the one she would have gotten if we were inside) and a long timeout. I told her I would wash her mouth out with soap, if I ever hear it again. Of course, now I'm stressing over the chemicals in soap, so if someone in the States could send a bar of Ivory soap, I would appreciate it.

Now for a really weird moment...Gracie was standing at the table looking angelic. I had praised her on what a really good girl she has been lately. She has been so helpful and sweet. I grab her and catch a quick snuggle. I'm looking at her precious cow-lick, and ask her if she wants me to cut her bangs, or leave them long? We've been letting her hair grow out, because she will finally let me "foof" it. I'm looking at her hair and notice IT"S BEEN CUT! The bangs have been cut -not all, just some, and she has cut the sides also. She looks at me and bursts into tears. I know it has just happened because I gave her a bath in the last hour. Of course, she is mortified, so I can't get angry like I'd really like to, but......grrrr......this isn't the first time!!!! So, tomorrow, I will be cutting Gracie's hair.

This is why I drink.

Vacation - Turks and Caicos

Here's a link to our Turks/Caicos pictures: http://imageevent.com/tri_pod/vacation2008/turksandcaicos2008

After visiting Fort Worth, we went to the Turks and Caicos for a week. The island, Provenciales, is beautiful! The water was the most beautiful turquoise color, and was as clear as the swimming pool. We stayed at Beaches, which is an all-inclusive resort, so we ate and drank whenever we wanted.



We chose Beaches because they had lots of things for the girls to do. Several days, they went to Camp Sesame. They got to swim, dance with Zoe, Elmocize with Elmo, bake with Cookie Monster, and lots of other fun activities. The characters would drop in to play during the activities. The girls really enjoyed going, which left Sam and I to entertain ourselves during the day. Sam went scuba diving, and I hung out on the beach reading entertainment mags. It was really hard for me to relax, so I would go watch the girls swim. It will be interesting when they go to school - I think I'm going to be very lost for a few weeks :(



On his first dive, Sam saw a black-tip reef shark. He really enjoyed the diving. One day, he and I walked down the beach to go snorkeling together. It was a gorgeous area, and we saw lots of tropical fish, and several Barracuda! We would be swimming along, look up, and they would just be sitting still in the water staring at us - very creepy. Sam took me out further, and we saw two sea turtles eating grass on the floor. I found several pretty shells, a baby conch, and a sand dollar. On one of our last days, I went snorkeling at the beach in front of the resort. I was out for over an hour, and this adorable little fish stayed with me the whole time. I tried to shoo him away, but he insisted on staying write under my chin. Again this made me nervous with the barracuda, but he and I had a great time. When I saw something interesting, I used my fins to get there quicker. The little fish would be swimming with all his might to stay just a little out in front of me. When I got out of the water, he came to the very edge of the shore with me. He was a very charming little fish, but I'm sure I was being USED as cover. During that expedition, a man came in and asked if I'd like to see a ray. I followed him out, and he showed me a beautiful ray on the floor. It had this large fish following it to get scraps.



In the evening, we would hang out as a family. Sam found a guitar player, and the girls went several nights and danced on his stage. Several other children would dance also. The guy was so nice, and would even have everyone applaud the kids, but you could see the look of relief when the kids all left :)



At breakfast and dinner, there were two cats who would hang around the tables. Of course, the girls and I would feed them. They really enjoyed seafood night! They would even let the girls pet them.



The day before we left, we took a day cruise. They took us to Little Water Cay, which is an island inhabited only with Rock iguanas. They are only found in the Turks and Caicos. We saw several iguanas and several rays swimming in the water around the little island.



Next they took us to a beautiful snorkeling spot. One of the ladies on board said she saw a shark when she first got in. A school of trigger fish and some parrot fist hung around the boat. The captain gave the girls some Doritos to feed them - now I know why they come "running" when the boat shows up.



Our last stop was an island known for it's sand dollars. I found several that were still alive, and one that I could keep (dead one), but I broke it on the way in to shore. I found a starfish and brought it in to show the girls. Sam found a nice sand dollar on the shore. As we were walking back to our boat, another boat had come in. The crew had let off its passengers and were cleaning some conch shells. Next thing we know, there is a beautiful yellow shark coming up to the shore to get the conch meat. We had to tell Gracie to get out of the water. She saw something she wanted and could have cared less about the shark in the water. I'm guessing it was a lemon shark because it was a beautiful yellow color.



It was a wonderful vacation and anniversary present.

Vacation - Fort Worth

Here's a link to pictures of our trip to Fort Worth.
http://imageevent.com/tri_pod/vacation2008/fortworth;jsessionid=fgg9pzi1j2.tiger_s

It was wonderful to be home again! We got to spend some time with Granny and Pa Pa Glenn. It was wonderful to get to visit and hug them. Bandit is getting to be quite old, but still very spoiled. Mom hosted a little get-together and made yummy tacos. We got to see Bobby, Debbie, Justin and Megan, and we enjoyed the chance to visit face-to-face, instead of by email. They were so kind and took us to eat at Chili's -YUM! We missed seeing Scott, Jan, Ashley, Josh, and Malorrie!! Renee hosted a get-together with some of my friends, Cindy, Lorrie, and Courtney. I also got to see my former student, Jade, who is in junior high now! She is a beautiful young lady, and as sweet as I remember! It was great to spend some extra time with Cindy, who was so patient with all my ditzy behavior - she's a true friend :) I'm really hoping that Cindy and Courtney will plan a trip to Japan soon (wink, wink) :)

Sam was so sweet and had a limo pick up the girls and me at the airport. The flight was nice - much shorter than going to Japan, and the girls slept quite a bit. Of course, that means they were wound up when we got to Fort Worth. We also got to ride the Shinkansen, which is the Japanese bullet train, to Tokyo. It was incredible! It's very sleek and quiet.

I'm such a dork, but seeing the American and Texas flags was really nice. The girls were so excited about hearing people speak English. Sam said a lady bumped into him and said, "Excuse me," and he didn't know what to say :) When we were at the Chinese restaurant, Sophie told the waitress, "Domo arrigato." She just laughed and told us how to say thanks in Chinese.

I realized when we got to Fort Worth, that I forgot my credit cards. We never use them in Japan - most everyone uses/accepts cash, so credit cards and checks aren't used much. I did run to Walmart the first night :) Driving there was interesting. I hit a couple of curbs, had to really pay attention to what side of the road I was on, and turned the windshield wipers on several times, instead of the turn signal. I would also think I was going really fast, until I checked the speedometer - you Texans are speed demons!

Back to Walmart - it was so nice having a big cart. In Japan, the carts are all very small, because most people don't have large fridges, so they can't buy large amounts of food. I bought some Carlo Rossi Sangria, and I was amazed how cheap everything was! It was actually very overwhelming. I miss the wines I can get in Texas :) On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Don Pablo's for some chips and salsa.

The hotel room had a garbage disposal. We don't have them in Japan. And it was nice not having to sort trash :)

We took the girls to Build-A-Bear and the Fort Worth Zoo. The rest of our time was spent at the doctors and dentists.

After the Turks and Oklahoma trips, we returned to Fort Worth for a few days to rest before flying home. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, and our friends, drove up from Cost to play with us. They have triplet girls that are 10 days younger than our girls, and we can't forget Kathryne, the big sister :) We had a great time playing with them. They are so incredibly sweet. It's as if we've known them our whole life. The girls actually referred to them as sisters :)

We had a wonderful time, but it just wasn't long enough!

Jet lag, tonsillitis, and an eye infection

WOW! We had an amazing vacation and home visit!

We got in Monday night at about 9:30 p.m. We all slept really well and woke the next morning feeling refreshed. Sam and I were bragging (yes, we know better) that the jet lag coming, vs. going was soooo much better....then came 2:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, hours before the big "Glenn Crash - 2008," I took Gracie and Izzy to see Dr. Saskake. Gracie has some crazy eyelid infection, and I was worried Izzy had an ear infection. Sophie and I were so happy that she was HEALTHY! Well, as we are walking to the pharmacy around the corner from Dr. Sasake's, Sophie starts whining that her head hurts. She didn't eat breakfast, so I chalk it up to her low blood sugar. By the time we make it home, it's obvious she's sick - temperature and headache. By 4:30, we were all sound asleep around the house, except for Sam, who had gone to work.

While I enjoyed the extended sleep time for us all, 2:00 a.m. was NOT FUN. Sophie woke up first. Bless her heart, she was in a lot of pain. Her throat was hurting her really bad. She is not coughing a lot, but had an asthma attack. I gave her a treatment, and it took care of the coughing. But, my little nappers woke up and none of them ever made it back to bed. Sam was awesome and got up with them around 5:00, and I caught a couple of hours of sleep.

So, today I took Sophie back to Dr. Sasake. He diagnosed her with tonsillitis. The rapid strep test came back negative, but the girl's got some "pretty" white blisters on her throat. She has slept a large part of the day again. They all crashed in bed with me around 5:00. Sam called around 5:30 begging to be let in - he had rung the doorbell "several" times :(

Please, please, please pray that the other two don't get what Sophie has.

The good news, Gracie's eye started draining today, so hopefully we won't have to see an opthamologist.

I'll write and post vacation pics soon - it was so nice getting to see family and friends!!!

Love,
~Michelle