Per Elijah's Request

Elijah asked me if he could take this picture and he asked if I could upload it to the blog. Literally...he asked me to do this.



He can spend HOURS playing in his room with these WWE wrestlers. He repositions them, reacts matches from the past that he has seen, and makes up his own.

In fact, he has 2 different wrestling rings!

Baseball.....Japanese style!

We took a bus trip to Sendai (yep, that one you have heard so much about) to go see America's favorite game! Actually we prefer football (by far) but when you live overseas you get what you get! We saw the Rakuten Eagles play and the game was so much fun!

I am telling you --- Japanese really know how to hype up a baseball game! They have different chants for EVERY player and sing songs when their team is at bat. The cool thing about is they are so respectful to the other teams too. When the opposing team is at bat, the other side doesn't do their cheers. Geee, I really love Japan!

Instead of "Take me out to the Ballgame" This is what they do at the bottom of the 7th!

This poor lil man looks as excited as Elijah did. I don't understand....Elijah said he had a good time at the game.

Coca-Cola sponsors.....EVERYTHING all over the world!

Am I really that bad???

This is Elijah's 1st spelling/vocabulary test from this year. He made a 101%!! WOOHOO!



I especially love his teacher's comment ☺ It's all good....she is my friend!

Japanese Rice Field Art

We took a road trip to see the rice art in Inakadate, Japan. All of these images are made from different colored rice. AMAZING!! Enjoy!

Really? Who Does That?

So before you read this......let me tell you ....if you are the 'judging type' -- DO NOT continue! Just keepin' it real!

Wednesday morning Elijah woke up for school. I went into his bathroom to start his little timer (you can ask me about it another time). Anyway, as I walked in I was almost knocked out by the smell of urine. Ummmmm I have a strong nose and can smell a lot of things that others can't -- not always a good thing! TRUST ME!

I asked Elijah why it smelled like urine and this is what he said. "Well sometimes I get in the shower and when the water hits my body I have to pee." So I was like....okay, cool...."Do you pee in the shower and then wash your body?" REMEMBER: I said DON'T judge me -- he is 100% boy, so I have to choose my battles! He said, "Oh no Mom, I just stay in the shower, open the shower curtain and pee into the corner between the shower and the sink." VERY NONchalantly! Just to be clear.....there is nothing but floor between there!

Have you ever been so shocked and mad at the same time that you just start whispering the rest of the conversation? Well, I was that morning! So I reminded him that is not what we do and that he needed to pee before he got in or hold it until he gets out.

Question for mothers of boys: Is this normal???

Today was the 1st day of 4th grade!

.....so let me just tell you that we have always sang the Veggie Tales "Jonah" song on the first day of every school year. We just change it to whatever grade Elijah is in at the time. I just LOVE doing it too!

Can you hear it now (Eddie and Elijah are in PERFECT pitch with me singing LOUDER than both of them waaaaaaaay off key) "It's the 1st day of the 4th grade, it's the 1st day of the 4th grade, it's the first day of the 4th grade clap, clap, clap, clap, etc" Raise your hand if you just sang it out loud and literally clapped your hands 13 times! ha ha ha

I was talking to Eddie about time going by so very fast. I honestly remember taking him to his kinder class in 2007. I told everyone that I was not going to cry. I felt brave that morning while we were getting dressed, but as soon as we got to school....it hit me.....Elijah is actually going to be in kindergarten. (whipping tears away) Now look at him....he is no longer in primary grades! He is a 4th grader!!!!

Well after school we talked and he said, "Mom, I really like 4th grade, I want to stay for a whole year!" Hmmmmmm I am pretty sure he doesn't have much of a choice :)

Sweltering Heat!

August is a HOT, HOT month! It's not just hot here, we have humidity like nobody's business! I mean when the temp is 95 degrees and humidity is circa 90%.....it's uncomfortable BUT I find it even more difficult to count my many blessing when we live on the 5th floor of an apartment tower without any air conditioning in here. (just being honest)

So the good thing this year is that it is not as hot as it was last year. This is the first August that Eddie has had to experience the heat. I must admit .......... it kinda makes me giggle. He has always been someplace else when the August heat hits.

Long story short, this is what homemade A/C looks like here in Misawa.

To my lovely Phoenix friends: There is a MASSIVE difference between Phoenix heat and this heat. Neither is better than the other - but trying to sleep with 3 fans blowing in one room that is already hot and humid doesn't make me feel like Sleeping Beauty at all:) ha ha ha

I can't complain because we do have free heat in the winter!