It is 3:53 am and I have given up on trying to sleep. There is only so many trips to the bathroom and tossing and turning before strong grogginess is shaken out of me. About 5 weeks or less to go (please oh please don't be my first child to stay longer than his due date little boy). Recently, night-time is a bit of a gamble and I am trying not to dread it. Somedays, the rest is okay enough that I can handle the day but I know tomorrow because of the extreme restlessness I will be crashing hard a number of times- which is not such a good feeling when I wish I could be taking care of my family. Seriously- when I know people with so many children those women stand out not just as super-moms but super human. One of my favorite people in the whole world while growing up and now as an adult even though we haven't been able to see each other in quite a while is a certain cousin in Canada. His sweet, incredibly beautiful wife gave birth to baby #8 a couple of months ago- they are my age. HOW DO THEY DO IT? HOW DOES SHE DO IT? HOW DOES HER BODY DO IT? Maybe I should be emailing her for pointers right now. The boys have been getting wilder recently, after visiting S yesterday Masa even said it. I told him that I spend so much time sleeping, lethargic or trudging around that being with him is their chance to get it "all out". They must be getting alot of pent up energy because one of my worst crash times happens to be when I use to take them to the park. I try to rest before that but my body seems to be the most productive before then. Anyhow, not much longer now- it is hard for those words to come out as when I was pregnant with Tomo I wanted the pregnancy to go on forever. But comparitively, it is much better than Reo's time and at least the boys have each other- that is a big relief this time around. S asked me a question yesterday- a good one and I couldn't explain myself well enough. My answer to the question was I want to love my boys more. I have always loved them but after this pregancy I strongly feel I appreciate them more than ever and I want to smother them with much more attention than I have in the past. I have generally been a laissez-faire Mama since Reo was born- as opposed to the really involved hands-on Mama when it was just Tomo and I. Now it is time to balance it out with baby 3. The next few weeks will not be easy for the little guys but I vow to make up for it. I want to make up for it.

It is risky for me to sit down with a person or the computer because who knows when I will just "can it" :) Actually, I wanted to say that meeting up with S and R today was short but lovely. They are younger than I was when I had my first child but seem much more well equipped than Masa and I ever were. S seems like such a sweet, gentle lady and I know once BG is born that she will be loving her new role as Mother. You can just tell the nurturing type! R too- he seems like a fun loving guy. He played with the chibi-monster and you could see enthusiasm in his eyes. They both seem so ready for the next step in life. So S- I know that things are not going as ideally planned but I can now say that you are almost there and your little girl will be one of the luckiest babys to have parents who have been given the natural gifts to be awesome parents. I think S and R seem to balance each other out to provide a peaceful yet fun life for their family. This is all first impressions but I think it can be easily deduced by the loving support and concern her good friends have been showing her. Cheers to S and R- we are looking forward to our families spending more time together (as long as the chibi-monsters don't frighten you guys too much). Next visit will hopefully be the one when I come bearing gifts for BG. Actually, I was shopping at my friends natural, fair-trade shop yesterday for a gift for Kimiko's birthday and Saori showed me a cute People Tree purse. I was ambivilant until she pulled out that purse and I knew it was for her- I am too excited to give it to her today!!!
In the past year I have not been so interested in recreational shopping (but man I can attack the grocery list like no one- it is like I am doing a PHd in grocery shopping- the balance of veggies, fruit cost anyways, I will save that for another post , another day!) so when I get a chance to buy presents or something needs to be replaced- like Masa's jeans I LOVE IT! So, I saw a couple of things I might possibly get for BG. There is something I just fell in love with but its for a boy- so simple but so darned cute and warm fuzzies because it is socially and environmentally friendly. I know, I know I am having a baby boy but I think this guy has enough material "stuff" plus my family and Masa's family keeps our closets and toy box stocked. The best thing I can give baby boy and I know I am more prepared than ever before is a more attentive, "ahh-mom-stop -kissing-me" mother who only has two arms but manages to cram all 3 wiggly boys into them at once (although I manage it will take practice). I am so happy Saori opened this shop- selection is not huge but everything is surrounded with care and thought. It is so cheerful and relaxing just like the owner. Admittingly, I am tempted to go on a shopping spree there after baby is born. Have you ever walked into a story and liked virtually EVERYTHING? I haven't until now. In the past year, walking into a shop makes me feel a bit bored and irritated. C in Thailand is always a difficult one for me to buy for (sorry C). I am often thinking about her but with her lifestyle I worry about burdening her with objects. When I read she was looking for a pair of shoes that fit- my heart sored I thought "a-ha that I can help her out with" but then read by the end of her post that she managed to find a pair :) and :(. So C, promise you will give me the satisfaction of taking you there next time you visit and treating you to a new outfit- for my sake! See told you- I can ramble on (I know because I talk to myself all the time and have to tell myself to keep quiet *lol*). Poor Masa listens so nicely- after buying the purse yesterday I wanted to keep repeating "how awesome- the material harmed (or minimally harmed) our planet, the women who made it were paid respectivally and I supported my friends new shop not to mention this is exactly what I know one of my best friends and who I bought it for will be enthusiastic about." And he lets me. It is times like these how I can see how addictive shopping can be.

The sun has now risen, the birds can be heard chirping. I will now make myself a cup of tea and start a new book I plucked from the library shelf about Buddhist Art (another post topic- it intrigues me yet scares the crap out me). This book needs a clear mind and a bit of energy to tackle so thanks for letting me shake my reslessness to do just that.

Good Morning.

This and that

Evidently I am forcing myself (with little effort) to stay home as I actually have time to keep up with the blog.

I know many are concerned about a blogging friend who I was supposed to visit today- visiting hours are not until late today so I will be going up first thing tomorrow morning. I was thinking that if anyone wants to write her a long message on my comment part- sharing some positive experiences to encourage her I can print it out and give it to her. Maybe physically surrounding her with your messages will help her feel less alone. UPDATE *S told me she can actually read comments but she can't respond so will surely give the 2 messages to her*

I have to laugh at the universe as it likes to tease me. Masa wrote in all his work related "drinking" for this month and his business trips. We each have a marker colour to write our schedules on the calender to make it clear. His is blue and is almost equal with Reo's red- those colours appear only a couple of times a month on the calendar. Tomo and I have black and green scribbled all over the place. This month though- all I see is a sea of blue floating in front of my eyes. OF COURSE the company has to keep him away as I get close to the finishing line of the pregnancy. For over a year his schedule has been kind to us and NOW he gets the typical Japanese schedule. And then yesterday morning, I woke-up with him lovingly stroking my face, whispering sweet words and I open my eyes to see his adoring gaze just to have mine bulge out like a deer caught in headlights "Aaaaaahhhhh- (curse words that woke up Reo) pull my foot back, pull my foot back!!!" Great timing for leg pain eh!
This morning I was so tempted to not take Tomo to school. Masa came home VERY late last night and the restless leg thing was creeping around. I managed to figure that out a bit- will discuss later. Anyhow, this morning I wanted to say "screw it- throw on DVDs all day and keep us all out of this wannabe hurricane winds and rain. BUT I am stubborn and pushed myself to get the guys ready. As soon as I walked outside the skies cleared abit and I said to Tomo- "Well look at that, how nice it stopped raining long enough for us to get to the school" and 3 minutes later "Mommy, it's raining" "I know sweetie" and I just chuckled because I know the universe has been trying to push a few buttons the past couple of days.

The big difference this time around is that I know that this is actually kindness in disguise. Some of you who have read my blog for a few years saw how challenging the first time Mama thing was for me at times- new to a small inaka town with this baby who I constantly held and nursed 24hours a day. Reo's time I was beginning to think that the world had it in for me- moving but packing and unpacking alone, no support but with an active tot, a husband who worked until the wee hours, post-partum depression and when that subsided to be promptly thrown into the roll of single-mother as Masa was transferred and the rest of the family wasn't- Actually, I think overall I think I spared the gory details from my blog and opted to just not to write for a long time. I am grateful for my mother for the endless phone calls, Hiroko and Tae who I acutely remember a particular vulnerable moment revealing the depth of my despair and almost led her to trek all the way from Akita to lend a hand even though she has young children of her own (I loved her and Adam from the day we met but that gesture really cemented the friendship for me)- Oh side note before I forget Tomo said to me a couple of weeks ago sadly about Grace (Tae's little girl sharing a b-day with him) "I want to see Grace again. I am forgetting her face. I am forgetting her voice". That was a bit heartbreaking, I shouldn't wait too long to visit them in the States- but now with almost 3 boys...
What was I going on about? Oh yes, but I know myself well enough that I can say I am innately a pretty lazy person so I am unfortunately only going to progress with a bit of pain. In reflection- I have became much more capable. Heck if I had physical support back then I would have abused it. I roll my eyes at my SIL for not being alone with her child for 24hours since her son was born 2 years ago but if I was given that luxury, I would have done the same. I remember waking up one night with both boys screaming- Tomo vomited Reo had diarrhea and it leaked- was all over me, himself and the bed and I was alone in my little ship of vomit and poo. Masa was already transferred and I couldn't figure out which to address first Tomo, Reo, the bed (which I was worried the liquids were going to sink into the mattress). I know I ended up throwing off my nightwear because it is pointless to keep getting everything dirty and did everything in my underwear in the cold winter apartment (you know what the winter home is like here if you live in Japan). I think I pulled the sheets off with my feet as I held the 2 screaming youngins and for the life of me I cannot remember who I cleaned up first- probably Tomo as he was the most mobile and most likely to smear the mess everywhere, maybe I used both hands- one for each. Point is- there was and will be some tough times so at THIS MOMENT I can look back and think, I survived that I am going to try my darnedest to complain minimally about what is thrown at me. And there is a bit of pride that I did it up to this point and had many great times to smile about the past 5 years, actually the past year and a bit have been absolutely amazing. I make no claims at being a great mother but now I am becoming a bit masochistic as when I am faced with something a bit tough- if its really tough I still cry at the beginning but quickly pick my sorry butt off the ground and say this is so cool- this will definitely make me stronger.

And it is small things- like last night, when I was pacing and feared the severe leg pain and wanted to say "shoot Masa, I need you home NOW", my heart couldn't say it. He deserves to relax, if there is one person who I depend on and has come out of the chaos as someone I respect even more it is him. I knew that I could call him and he would come. The past few weeks I have become addicted to his leg massages and reflexology to sleep at night- but realistically, looking at the calendar, there are nights I won't be getting it. So I took out the oil and spent a LOOOONG time pushing pressure points. Not as great as Masa's but it got me through the night and like a young child I had that great satisfaction that I did it myself. I sure hope that Masa will be there when baby is born and due to the clinic if something happens the boys can be with me 24/7 during and after birth. I need to remind myself that what made this pregnancy much easier than the last is that I expected very little and Masa and I are use to handling everything on our own- thus, our once a month date is such a treasure. This lack of support has actually made us support each other and ourselves more in return we love each other and ourselves better because of it.

I write this for myself- because I need to remind myself. Pregnancy and having a new baby brings so much wonder and joy but also challenges. These next few weeks I want to remind myself about the difficulties that I may encounter and also instill the confidence and the thrill of challenge that I can handle it. I am not rejecting support- just this morning I was talking to Kimiko and told her how important her and another friend, Kazuo are to me. That if there is anyone I want to see in the next few weeks it is them. I know they are worried about bothering me this far along in the pregnancy but I want them to be around. They give me peace and energy and in that mind set I want to bring this boy into the world.

Fear of Facebook

Does anyone else out there feel uncomfortable with Facebook? Here I am posting pics and personal thoughts on a public blog yet it doesn't make me feel the way facebook does. It is almost like a phobia- crazy eh. So I have been using facebook a bit more often due to the private group S set up. I don't mind that- it is simple and private but this occasionally leads me to press "home" and when all these requests show up I feel panicky. When I scroll updates and see all the information rolling down- "so and so took a bath", "got the wrong order at Starbucks" etc. etc. I just stare at the screen blankly. I have no idea how to "poke" anyone back, have never played a game on it and I feel like I swallowed a piece of lead when I looked at the "suggested friends". I find it a bit overwhelming. At times I am jubilant when there is someone that I have cared deeply for and think about at times manages to get in touch with me. Those times that are far and few between and at the time make me think the whole facebook thing is worth it. In general though, I hate going on and people knowing that I am "on", I am reluctant to post and have everyone that I am "friends" with read it. Why or why does this facebook thing make me feel like I am running naked through the airport? I haven't even gone near Twitter even though I have read tons about it- not even interested but it seems like I would feel that I was running through an airport naked and it was televised during halftime during the Superbowl. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would need to know or care that I ran out of toilet paper.
I must be getting old, fear of the unknown- all these gadgets and so much information that I don't have the time or don't want to use my time to figure out. In all honesty, I still don't know how to use blogger properly (confession to illehee, many of the people on my list of "favorite" blogs are listed on your blogroll so when I hop over to see what you guys are upto I use your blogroll to get to the other sites as I haven't set up my own blogroll). I do like that my options are limited on blogger. The format is pretty clean not that walking into a Vegas casino feeling- flashing lights and noisy.
So there it is- It seems like everyone plus their Grandparents are into Facebook and I haven't updated my pics and profile since Reo was born 2 years ago. I use an outdated email address I seldom check because I have no idea who has access to the info and don't want to have requests I don't want to answer sent to my regular email.
Even though I do reveal a bit much about myself here I do hope that anyone that has persevered through my rambling and still comes back to read will be a friend I will meet in person someday. Maybe that's it- Facebook is too easy. Anyone who wants to visit me here has to make a bit more of an effort, browse through the endless photographs of my kids, read my flaky thoughts.
Thanks to anyone who does visit Cafe Yamashita- I have met so many wonderful people and kept in touch with some very dear people through it. I like blogging, it is fulfilling and has added something to my life.
As for Facebook (the regular not private group site which really seems like a useful tool)- please excuse me if I need a few more months? years? decades? to get use to it. If by chance a request has been sent to me and it goes unanswered it is likely I didn't see it or didn't even know how to answer back or weeks later I might respond.

Tanabata

Today is Tanabata- the day that we watch the night sky in hopes that the lovers Orihime (the star Vega) and Kengyu (the star Altair) can finally meet after one year (or more) of being apart. The beginning is one many of us can relate to- when they fell in love with each other they began to neglect their duties- Orihime, weaving cloth for the Gods and he taking care of his cattle. The story gets more complicated when they don't lose their jobs, instead they were separated to opposite ends of the Milky Way- only allowed to meet once a year on July 7th. The catch is, is if it is rainy the Milky Way floods and they can not cross it to meet and have to wait until next year- talk about long distance relationships and loyalty. In all honesty, by now I would have replaced Kengyu with someone a little closer by and be more weary of slacking in my duties and risk angering the Gods with my future boyfriends. But hey, I am not a strong romantic (perhaps that is why I am not giving birth to girls- I have made plenty of mistakes, actually let my heart get broken a couple of times which is enough for me to shake her and say "get over it girl, there are plenty of other stars in the sky to choose from. If it is meant to be it wouldn't be so complicated", which as we all know will make her do the exact opposite to spite me.)
But this charming story lives on due to all the hopeless romantics out there who wished that the 2 stars would meet. They would hang their messages of luck on bamboo until someone had the brilliant notion that while we are sending out luck to the lovers why not send some out for ourselves. So now we write our wishes and include it on our Tanabata tree. The story goes something like that.

I found this storyteller using story boards on Youtube reciting the story in Japanese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBHrqHEyKN4&feature=related
The boys enjoyed watching it. Tomo took this opportunity to throw on his Jinbei (even though I layed out other clothing- but agree with him, good excuse to wear it). Both Tomo and Reo enjoyed making decorations and hanging them. Weather started off rainy, the sky cleared and went cloudy again- I am unsure if they will meet. Masa has managed to come home early and we will check before the boys go to bed.

On a totally different note- I met up with Jane today. We don't live so far from each other but have only met up a handful of times in the past year. She is such a lovely, comfortable person to be around. So thanks for coming by with Grace. She is seriously one of the cutest kids I ever seen and I think all kids are pretty much adorable but those black curls and sweet face makes me want to scoop her up and hug her which I am pretty sure would terrify her. I sincerely hope that with S moving close by the foreign wife community in Niigata can meet up more.

TANABATA FOLLOW-UP: We jumped into the car, bought ice-cream and parked in a darkish place but it was cloudy and drizzled a bit, thus saw nothing. So, at least in Niigata City, the stars did not meet. According to weather forcasts though- Orihime and Kengyu did meet up in Okinawa which is a pretty darned good place to connect after a long time apart.

Thanks Heather and Kirsten wishing me well during my tossing, turning and complaining.

Seems like it was synchronized migration to our respective clinics as I saw on Sarah's and Kirsten's blogs- we all had our Dr.s appointments today. All is well on my end- here is a pic of baby's face and Tomoya checking baby's heartbeat. A new friend in Yamagata told me when we met up about her cutting her daughter's umbilical cord herself- I didn't realize that this was an option. I mentioned it to my relaxed Doc and he was like "of course you can, hey all of you (Masa, Tomo and Reo) can all place our hands on the scissors if we like and cut". This man rocks- I threw a bunch of questions at him and this man is so flexible. My last appointment he popped Reo on the examining table with me and let him check the heart beat, this time we did a comparison by listening to Tomo's and baby's heart and he explained to Tomo why his was slower.

He introduced us to the midwife who will likely be with us during birth and she happens to be his wife :) She is BEAUTIFUL- I shouldn't be shocked that our goofy Doc's wife is this lovely, elegant woman but she is. She leaned over and said reassuringly and with a gentle smile that life with 3 little boys will be lively and that she has 2 boys herself. Doc was embarrassed when I gushed about his wife. Anyhow, loving the warm family vibes in the clinic- Doc's brother will be administrating the epidural if I choose it.

So, despite the lack of sleep, it ended up being a nice enough day and relaxed because aside from a quick stop at the library on our way back from the clinic we spent the day at home.

Last but definently not least: Good-luck to my dear friend Kirsten who will be holding her baby in her arms within the next 7 days. Even though there is the big distance and we already have a couple of children each- there is a quiet extra thread that has been added to our friendship. Another connection between us by going through our 3rd child's pregnancy together yet apart. I love you dear friend and am looking forward to your birth announcement.

Sleepless in Niigata

It is 4:30am- Evidently I am awake- assuming from previous blog posts(but hoping she isn't) S also in Niigata must be tossing and turning. Sending a bitter wave over to you "hey there". K in Canada- you are so lucky that 1) It is now daytime 2) You are almost done- cheers to a happy birth and partially having your body back.

I have had minimal sleep tonight because of end of pregnancy restless leg syndrome. I know these last few weeks is when my body is leached of nutrition. I think its borderline anemia. My last blood test a couple of weeks ago showed that my iron was getting low and this I imagine is the wonderful byproduct of it- RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME. It has been threatening me but daily kneading of my legs by Masa has helped. Tonight he was tired and his kneading would have made some poor bread if I were dough, instead it made poor to non-existent sleep. Add this to Reo deciding that my misery needed company and was equally restless- and he has been sleeping so well recently *sigh*. Reo is now deeply sleeping, Masa is snoring and I often envy Tomo of his ability to drop into a deep slumber at the same time and not wake up until 10-11 hours later.

Speaking to a couple of mothers with multiple children they assured me it gets worse after birth (insert sardonic *lol*). Okay, this pregnancy has been relatively merciful but the last bit is less than enjoyable when I have 2 little guys to take care of but am often sleepy, have to be careful with my stomach being jumped on and the leg discomfort. Yes at first nursing replaces the leg irritation and still leaves me with minimal energy but at least I can play with my boys properly, carry Reo a bit without risk of spending the rest of the day limping.

I am looking forward to our new buddy- even more so now with the body being less than agreeable but message to universe- NO MORE PREGNANCIES PLEASE! Curses to the doctors who all refuse to cut my tubes. To tell you the truth though, unless it is something 100percent effective, I live in fear of getting pregnant again. I think the doctors underestimate my body's ability to get pregnant.

Anyhow- I will make a reattempt at sleep. Hopefully this is goodnight :(

Just a couple of cutie pies hanging out

Having a 2 year old is supposed to be difficult. Tomoya delayed it until 3 *lol*. Reo, does have his days but maybe because I have Tomo's help or I just know how to handle it I don't notice it that much. Maybe it is because he is super close to Masa (actually both boys are- interpret as you may) or perhaps it is all building up until after baby is born...Anyhow, this guy...I keep saying it the same way he just amuses me and makes me melt. Reo is very strongly already Reo and I can't define it.

My friend Saori invited us to her store opening (It sells high quality natural products like People Tree clothing, Weleda, eco-detergents, fair trade coffee, fabric sanitary napkins- you get the point). H and I took our tots with us and as we waited for the store to be blessed here are some pics I took.

Picture Catch-up

Hmmm, where to begin? June has been pretty fun for the guys. I guess I will start with the most recent. This weekend Summer really has made itself present- hot, hot, hot.
Friday night we went out to rent some movies to prep for Saturday. After the kids slept we watched the Japanese movie "The Magic Hour". The writer/ director is the same who made Minna no Iie- a movie that I adore. At first this movie seemed a bit ridiculous but I was won over by the end. I love how this mans work seems to always be funny and lightehearted but always has a lovely lesson or glimpse about life that leaves me feeling happily thoughtful. With the high suicide rate and the crazy economy it really had a poignant message about the entertainment of life and how things don't always go as planned but it is still worth going through.

It was our turn to take care of K's kids. Masa cleaned the house surprisingly well- he has been helping alot but my toilets and floors sparkled after I woke up from my nap and it was so nice to see the family room uncluttered as soon as I woke-up. I just expected toys everywhere- what a champ!
To accomplish the cleaning and cooking we had to boot the boys outdoors- i.e the balcony. We pulled out the bigs gun (well, small pool)- it worked :)
C and M are crazy easy to have over. The kids watched a movie because all were exhausted from playing in the sun. They prepared their popcorn and relaxed watching some Doremon movie while I made pizza. Afterwards they went bowling in our hallway- this was Masa's idea. We had to pick up something required by the youchien at Aeon a couple of weeks ago and he thought the plastic bowling set on clearance could provide some entertainment. Aside from a bit of tension near the end (Tomo plays less nice when he gets so tired) it was another fun time. M just turned 1 and even though he was sleepy he just cuddled up to me and played with my necklace instead of crying. For the most of the evening he hung-out with Masa (Reo likes to play with Tomo and C). Anyhow this is all good practice for when there will be 3 boys running around.

Next day I worked in Shibata. First half went okay but after seeing J and G during a very short lunch (it was nice seeing you two and can't wait to have more time tomorrow)the rest of the day went awesome. I have mentioned that I love my work so it bothers me when I feel like it is not going so well. The second half consisting of 3 events consisted of energetic, receptive kids and I think that seeing J and G refreshed me enough to do better. I love the train rides alone and was able to start reading a wonderful book (so far), I suspect I will end up blogging about it later as it just captured me from the beginning. During work time Masa and his buddy Y took Tomo and Reo to another soccer game. Masa said the boys seemed to get into it more. Reo seems more interested overall in soccer than Tomo. Tomo interest in kicking around a ball wanes quickly where as Reo is totally entertained for extended periods of time kicking it back and forth with whoever will play.

Oh and as far as energy efficiency goes- until baby is born I have to forget even trying to persevere through this heat. It is crazy to me but I have already used the air-con- but I have never been pregnant during the summer so I hope mother nature forgives me for this lapse. Right now, if putting it on makes me less sluggish, more productive and happy then so be it. Long walks in this heat will likely be scrapped as well and I am thinking about dusting off the salsa pregnancy vid as a substitute.




Yonezawa:
I had a chance to work in Yonezawa Yamagata. It was another overnight stay gig. All nearby hotels were booked due to an athletic meet but it turned out okay. Fathers Day was last weekend and since I was working both Saturaday and Sunday I thought Masa was due to be spoiled. I treated him to a stay at Onogawa Onsen where we had the best beef ever to be placed in my mouth- we were in heaven. Actually, the whole weekend was a testament to how great Masa can be with the chibi monsters. Saturday morning he took Reo to a special Sakanbi at the preschool to watch Tomo. Afterwords he took them to lunch at an Udon shop where Tomo's drawing of him was hanging. That was followed by shopping for an new Jinbei for Tomoya. Reo has a beautiful new one that was a gift when he was born but finally fits this year. I recieved an email on my keitai saying Tomo wanted a Pikachu one. If I was the one shopping- the answer would have been no but since the guys were having such a nice time and I wanted to spare Masa any fusses on Fathers Day weekend I actually said "okay". It is actually cute and like the aircon situation I find myself releasing my dictatorship little by little. They might as well enjoy at long as they can though because as soon as baby is born and I will adjust to the change a few months after and assume I will start reorganizing and taking over the household again. Needless to say to say, Tomo was delighted with the Jinbei.
After picking me up we headed to Yamagata and arrived at dinnertime. The local meal was fantastic and it was relaxing to sit around in our Yukatas and Jinbei's. There was a firefly festival that began and we had a chance to take a walk and enjoy natures flying light show. Tomo held one in his hand and took it back to the room to playh with. Afterwards we- well Masa and Tomo enjoyed onsen (Reo was ready to sleep) but the next morning I woke up bright and early to lounge in the hotspring before going to work.
While working the guys went to a spinning top/ wooden toy museum and workshop. Tomoya made his own and Masa bought them a little wooden game and a little charm for me. They joined me for lunch and we had a picnic in a park. While I did my second half of events he took them cherry picking. The boys were just out of their head happy by the time they came to pick me up. They were tired but we crammed in a visit to Uesugi Shrine and museum before heading back to Niigata. We stopped in Kitakata for some of their famous thick Ramen- no doubt it was yummy. A few weeks ago we drove up to Sanjo to try some of their "famous" ramen and I was underwhelmed.





























DATE #2:
I mentioned before that Masa and I went to Sakata Lagoon and an Herb garden/ cafe. I know for my friends, particularly back in Canada, that going on a date with their husbands is just common sense but our situation has not allowed for us to do this. Now that we have started this exchange of babysitting with friends we just feel so much more in love and appreciate our relationship and children much better. We truly are each others best friend and are excited to spend the rest of our life together. These date days reinforces that our bond was made before we had children. It is amazing how doing this just once a month refreshes us. Next date has already been pencilled in and we are going to a dinner and concert.












Soccer:
Finally, we had been wanting to take the boys to a soccer game and this month we were lucky to be given tickets to not just one but 2 Albirex games. Thanks H for generously giving us the first set. The stands look empty because we went early. The second set (the pics posted at the beginning of this long post) were given by the preschool. The school is very kind and the principal actually gave us tickets to a choral concert as well, I went last year to the same event and it was wonderful. The principal is very active and knows that I and my family like to go to concerts and museums so frequently informs me about events and has presented me with tickets. We usually don't plan so much ahead of time but last night Masa bought tickets for him, Tomo and Reo to go see Shimajirou in concert in October. We figure that buying so early will get us good seats (it was an early release of tickets just yesterday and will go back on sale in July) and by October the boys deserve it with all the life changes. I am excited for them :)






AND...
Congratulations to Masa who was promoted and is the youngest guy ever to hold the position he got. Being the absent minded wife I am I didn't make a huge deal about it but got a phone call this morning from H this morning congratulating Masa about his new title (her husband works for the same company) reminded me that this wasn'tr an ordinary promotion. Honey, I am proud of you- your interest and enthusiasm in Geology, your hard work and dedication is an inspiration to your family and as you can see has been recognized at work.