Tigermama talks

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Belated Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas. We certainly did. The onsen hotel we stayed in had an indoor pool as well as the traditional onsen-type pools so the kids had a blast. Tigergirl can now dive down into the water to retrieve articles of interest. Soon, we will get her to do this on land...especially in the living room where the remote control tends to be on the far side of the room when it`s needed.

Now, what`s up for the New Year? After 6 years in Japan, this will be my first New Year`s spent the "real way" ie. with my in-laws partaking in Japanese New Year activities. So far it seems rather simple (other than that annoying different language problem) and appears to be based on eating certain food and watching certain tv programs. Woohoo! I`ll let you know how it goes.

Tomorrow we are off to another onsen. I`m excited as it`s located near Mt. Fuji and I`ve never been anywhere near Mt. Fuji in all of my time here.

I`ll try to post again but don`t know if it`s possible as this computer is always in use and very very slooooooooow!

Mata ne!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Christmas mystery

I received the following pretty (and SPARKLY) Christmas card last week from someone in Japan. But who??? There was no signature and no return address. Anyone out there want to fess up?



Speaking of mystery`s, here`s another weird gift idea. A pack of various laundry goods...who wouldn`t want such a present:



Remember how I said I let the kids decorate the Christmas tree and then "fix it" later when they are out of the house? Well, I forgot to fix it:



Although I did get the kids to add a few more ornaments. I use the term ornaments loosely. As you can see, they pretty much hung up whatever they saw that had a strap for hanging):


I think it`s nice in a "Charlie Brown" kind of way. :)

I hope your Christmas preparations are coming together. Only 5 more days! Yipee!!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Busy busy busy

The title says it all. This past weekend was Tigergirl`s birthday as well as the kid`s yochien Christmas festival. TG had a great birthday. She woke up and the first words out of her mouth were; "Hey, I`m FIVE years old now!". Of course that meant she had to wear her "number 5" t-shirt even though it`s short-sleeved and a bit cool for the season (you can see the shirt in the festival pictures). We gave her the lovely hot pink track suit you can see below. Not only is it her favourite colour but it`s also got her favourite character, "Pretty Cure", on it. She loves Pretty Cure so much thanks to all her little yochien friends and would sometimes even bring home remnants of her friend`s bento lunches if they had Pretty Cure decorations on them. We thought it was a bit sad that she was bringing home old plastic fruit picks and used stickers so decided she could have some of her own stuff. It was totally worth it too....even if I have to burn my eyes at the sight of that horrible pink from now until the end of time. :)







Thanks so much to Grandpa J & Grandma J and Auntie K for the great presents that arrived just in time on Friday.

I can`t believe my little girl is FIVE YEARS OLD! Whoa, when did that happen???

The Christmas festival was cute and the kids had a great time. Unfortunately Tigerpapa changed a setting on the camera so none of the pictures turned out very well but I`ll share a couple of the better ones anyway. I like the one with Tigerboy bowing.







At the end of the show the teachers pulled out a big sleigh with presents from Santa and each kid got a nice little gift. I thought it was really nice of the kindergarten to do that and the kids certainly thought so too judging from the screams that ensued when the presents were spotted!

Last weeks obento:


(furikake and rice, my homemade hamburger, broccoli, tomato, and cheese)

Mata ne!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Stuff

Literally, STUFF:



Ack! I don`t think my Christmas packages are going to get out on time! I did finish most of the cards however, so those should make it. Sorry guys. I bet you`re wondering who gets the knife. Heehee. You`ll have to wait and see!

Tigerboy likes to sing and make announcements. He learned the latter at yochien because every morning one of the older students gets to make the morning announcement. It`s the same message every day. "Clean up the toys, get ready for the day, put on your indoor shoes blah blah blah". Well, he was doing this announcement over the (very loud) karaoke machine at the department store yesterday. It was pretty cute and he had a small audience of onlookers by the time he got to the end of the announcement.



I`m off to finish my packages!

Ja ne.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Blessings

I was so happy to find real rye bread at the grocery store last week. It`s delicious especially used for grilled cheese sandwiches:



I found a bilingual Catholic church down here in the town next to ours and so we attend mass whenever we can. Sometimes I go alone and sometimes I take the kids. Lately the kids have been asking to come with me because they love to go up to the front at the end of mass to receive a blessing from the priest. He is a really nice man and always comes over to say hello after the service. I`ll miss him when he retires next year:



Tomorrow we will attend our first Christmas party of the season at the home of one of my friends here on Okinawa. I`m off to purchase a gift for the "secret santa" game. I figure something from The Body Shop will go over well. I also have to make my yummy dill dip for a veggie platter I`m bringing.

So that`s 3 blessings in one week! Pretty good, I`d say!

Ja ne.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Holiday Meme

Holiday Meme (found whilst browsing blogs I like):

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate with whip cream!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
I think the Elves wrap them, no?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White icicles.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. I don`t think people here would know what that meant.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
This week.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Stuffing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
Trying to stay up on Christmas Eve in order to "catch" Santa Claus. Opening stockings on Christmas morning. Watching The Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph. Turkey dinner. I seem to have more than one! :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I really don`t remember. Probably from one of my many older siblings.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, just one.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
I let the kids do what they want and then rearrange everything the next day when they are at kindergarten. Heeheehee.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it! Love it! Miss it! Of course, it`s only because we don`t get any here. I`m sure I`d be sick of it if I were back home.

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes! I used to go skating all the time in my childhood. Sadly, I haven`t been skating in years.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Um, to be perfectly honest my favourite gift was always the mini "Baby Duck" champagne we got in our stockings. hic.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Family (and friends) gathering and also going to Mass.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Anything chocolate.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
We are working hard on creating traditions over here in Japan but it`s been difficult because we are always moving around. This year we will be at an onsen for Christmas. I suppose the Stockings are my favourite thing as we do those no matter where we are.

17. What tops your tree?
We have a small angel on top.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving. I really love to get presents for people.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Little Drummer Boy...pa rum pum pum pum!

Okay, I tag Medeafication and Illaheebaby!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Christmas is Coming.

I totally stole the idea for today`s obento from Gina and it`s been one of the kid`s favourites ever since:


(chicken quesadila, oranges, and green beans)

Last week we went to the outlet mall down here in Itoman City. It`s very popular with the tourists because the shops have the best deals on name brand goods in Japan (at least that`s what I`m told). They also have a train ride for the kids and really nice Christmas lights. The kids freaked out a bit when they saw them:



We decided to take a family picture to include in our Christmas cards this year. It was a bit of an effort getting the kids to sit still and smile but we managed okay. Tigerboy looks a bit perturbed but he`s still giving the peace sign:



Here`s me and the kids. I am forbidden to post Tigerpapa so you`ll just have to imagine him sitting there on the left (or maybe there is no Tigerpapa.....mwhahahahahaha!). Notice Kiana`s cute black boots. She was really excited to wear those because, and I quote; "they`re just like yours mummy!". What a sweetie.



I hope the cards get to you all on time. I haven`t printed the pictures yet or addressed the cards! Ah well, Japan post is definately efficient and will make up for my procrastination (I hope!).

Fondue is Christmassy isn`t it? I was getting groceries the other day when I saw this and knew I just had to have it. Unfortunately, it wasn`t real fondue at all as it tasted just like melted process cheese. I should have known better but I couldn`t help myself, look at that picture! It`s enticing, don`t you think?



And on that note, I will leave you to your day.

Ja ne.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Hodge Podge

I`m finding the hardest part of blogging to be coming up with a title that incorporates the entire post. From now on I think I`ll just use "hodge podge" or "random bits" or something like that! Perhaps the problem is my inability to focus on one thing and write about it...hmmmm?

Here`s Fridays obento:


(furikake rice, broccoli, giant gyoza, and apple pieces)

Friday was "Potato Picking Day" at the kid`s yochien. This meant that volunteer parents had to arrive at the farm an hour early to clear the debris and dig up the potatos so that the children could actually find and "pick" them. It was HARD work but totally worth it once you saw how much fun the kids had. Seriously, I would never have thought something like this would be considered fun but the kids LOVED it. Do they do stuff like this in Canada? If so, I don`t remember it at all! Well, I do remember going to the slaughterhouse in grade 4 but it`s not something I try to remember, if you know what I mean?!!







So, as you all know, Christmas is coming up here pretty darn quickly and I thought I`d share with you some lovely gift options. If you remember back a couple of weeks I posted the lovely rearview mirror ENHANCER. Well, I`ve found something even better. Behold:



Who wouldn`t want a gift pack like that?

Here are some pictures of the current trend in children`s fashion. At least down here on Okinawa:





I hope all of your Christmas plans are coming together.

Ja ne!