Little Raindrops

Posts Tagged ‘friends’

He turned 2, so for his party he had two little friends (plus parents and siblings.) It was the perfect size party and a great time with our friends!

There were lots of balloons on the ceiling and the floor. Blue, green and yellow.

There were cheese and crackers, veggies and fruits, heart-shaped cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, ants on a log, and an assortment of juices. All of Rhino’s favorite snacks. For lunch the kids made mini pizzas. Rhino really loves his cheese!

Rhino loves to color and paint, so after lunch we took out large sheets of paper. There were carefully thought-out blobs of color on one, a beautiful rainbow and mother and daughter on another, gentle strokes of light blue and yellow on a third, then Rhino’s: large marker circles and goopy smears of handfuls of finger paint.

We were going to do presents after the cake, but Rhino snuck away and tore into them without us. I heard from the other room an overjoyed “Elmo! Elmo!” as he discovered his new Elmo microwave! I couldn’t say no then, and let him open up the deluxe Mister Potato Head (40 parts I never knew about!) and tote bag of Play-Doh and accessories. The kids were all mesmerized by the microwave until we drew them away with the cake.

I wanted to make a Blue’s Clues cake because it’s his favorite show. Tanja loaned me a dog-shaped pan and I dyed the batter and the frosting blue and did my best to resemble Blue. Rhino was so overexcited as he danced in his chair and sang along to the birthday song (“happy, happy, happy, happy …”), immediately blew out both candles, and lifted one out of the cake and bit off the bottom of the candle. After we recovered the wax from his mouth, we directed him towards his slice of cake and he wolfed it down in record time!

He’d never seen a party blower before, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out. Soon enough he was blowing it so the extended end would knock his cup over, poke friends in the head, and dip into his fingerpaint (and then roll up again, and extend on the blank paper making little party blower paint marks.) We partied for about two hours and then our friends left and he crashed on the floor, with blue on his face, next to his Elmo microwave. What a party!

Today you are two years old! You are having a great day so far! We are having a family celebration right now and next week you will have a small party with some of your good friends. Last night you went to a party while Daddy and I went to our church Valentine’s Day Banquet, so you were out late and playing hard! You got to color, listen to music, play games, hit a pinata, and have lots of snacks! So you wanted to sleep in this morning. As soon as you woke up, we went to the Weasels’ Den for the Pajama Jam, where you played on the playground and bounce house, had a big breakfast buffet, saw some friends, and watched some Ice Age on a big screen. When we came home, you opened presents from us, from Grandma and Grandpa, and from Grammy and Uncle Ron. You were given some fantastic toys, snazzy shoes, and a Blue’s Clues DVD and CD! We talked to Grammy on Skype while you opened gifts from her, then we traced your hand and you painted a picture. We have more fun lined up for you, but right now you’re enjoying playing with Heron and your new Blue doll.

I thought it would be nice to keep track of some of your favorite things and see how they change from year to year. Love you!

Favorites
Fruit: mandarin oranges; apples
Vegetable: carrots
Snacks: cheese; tuna salad; scrambled eggs; peanut butter
Meal: breakfast
Drink: apple juice
Songs: the Itsy Bitsy Spider; Skinamarinky Dinky Dink
Movies: Aliens vs. Monsters; Potty Power
TV Show: Blue’s Clues
Cartoon Character: Elmo
Book: I Love You Through and Through
Friend: Carson
Toy: Duplo blocks
Stuffed Animal: Yellow Bear you got from Uncle Matt your first Christmas
Playtime Activity: blowing bubbles
chores: sweeping; unloading dishwasher
Place: the Thursday Playgroup room at EDIS

The ladies of Faith Baptist Church regularly have a fellowship, with potluck snacks, our pastor’s wife giving some sort of devotion, and lots of chatting. This month’s was a Christmas fellowship, of course, and we were all to bring ornaments to exchange. Mrs. Popwell stood in front of a decorated tree and spoke on ornamentation while we sipped punch and munched sugar cookies. Then she set a wrapped ornament in front of each of us and read to us the story of Jesus’ birth. Each time she said the word left or right (which was quite often!), we were to pass our ornament to the person sitting beside us (right or left, depending on which word was said.) This was fun and got moving pretty quickly, it was a little confusing at times! When the story was over, we unwrapped our ornaments. I got a sweet, little Hachinohe horse (like the horses here.) It’s red and has Misawa and the year painted on it. I love ornaments like this, that will remind of us where we’ve been and what we were doing. I made a felt gingerbread man, which turned out really cute. I wanted to do a snowman also, but just didn’t have the time. I just freehanded the figures onto paper, cut it out and pinned it to the felt as a template. Then when the felt pieces were cut out, I embroidered details on to each side and blanket stitched around the edges. I like it a lot and think I’ll make more (and snowmen, reindeer, etc. in the same fashion) for next year’s Christmas for our own tree!

We have a new family at our church: Jessica, Josh and baby Caden on the way. They’ve been here almost two months and are really great! We had them over for dinner and Balderdash a few weeks ago and had such a good time. I hadn’t heard if anyone was throwing a shower for her and Caden, due in the beginning of December, so I decided to throw her a party.

I’d never thrown a baby shower before and haven’t even been to that many of them. So I called up my friend Katy to see if she would co-host with me. She always makes wonderful cakes for these sort of occasions, so I thought it would be fun to work on one together. For a while I’ve been thinking what fun it would be to decorate cakes, but haven’t really had many occasions to do so. Katy and her boys came over on Thursday and Friday to put together an awesome cake! We made the buttercream frosting and marshmallow fondant from scratch. Caden’s nursery is jungle themed, so I wanted to do a cake to match. We molded all the decorations out of fondant and piped frosting for the grass, name, and vines. I think it turned out beautifully and it tasted really good, too!

I also wanted to try my hand at a diaper cake. I’ve seen these for sale on base and online and I think it’s kind of a cute way to gift diapers to someone. I didn’t want to spend hours rolling and tying each diaper individually, so I laid diapers flat and spiraled them inside different size cake pans, then secured with ribbon. I didn’t have a lot of little goodies to decorate the cake with, but I threw a couple on there to make it pretty. I think looked great and only took me less than 30 minutes to whip up!

I had a great time at the party! We played some games: a blind cotton ball scooping game, a baby items memory game, and a baby name race game. Katy and I had goodies for all the game winners. We also had a great baby-themed devotion by Mrs. Popwell, our pastor’s wife. Everyone brought some finger food, so we ate lots of yummy treats and then had our cake. Then Jessica opened all her gifts. This is their first baby, and shopping for #1 is the most fun. She received lots of cute clothes and gifts!

It was a fun time and I always like hanging out with the church ladies. We had a whole lot of babies due over the summer (I was one of six pregnant ladies at one point) and Jessica is the last of the church pregnant ladies that I know of. I hope there are more soon so we can enjoy more fun showers and sweet little newborns! I just had a turn though, so don’t look at me!

My little Rhino,

I’m so sorry I’ve let three months go by without writing to you. Plenty has happened worth writing about, but we’ve been keeping very busy!

Since my last letter to you, you received your first haircut (and it’s probably time for another one now!) You were sporting quite the mullet before, so it was definitely time to chop it off. You immediately looked so much older, our little big boy.

You still aren’t talking a whole lot, but your vocabulary has expanded in the last few months. You say: mama/mommy, dada/daddy, baby, no, uh oh, wow, oww/owwie, kite, bee, apple, Blues Clues (“boo boos”), ball, two, and bye/bye-bye. All your animal sounds are still growls, but we’re working on oinks and woofs! About a month ago we introduced a little bit of sign language to you and you picked up on it very quickly. You tell us: drink, food, eat, more, thank you, and ball. You use it all the time and always appropriately (“Please, food! More, more, more, more, more! Thank you.”) Sometimes you just go into the fridge, get the juice and grab your cup, and bring them both to me signing “please” over and over.

You were able to visit with your Grammy last month. She and Uncle Ron came out to visit for a little over a week. We met them in Tokyo and did all sorts of fun things down there. You went to Tokyo when you were 12 months old, but you seemed to enjoy it a little more this time around. You rode the trains and subways, walked through town, saw temples and shrines, played with toys and read books in the hotel, ate lots of rice, and slept in bed with Daddy. Then we brought Grammy and Uncle Ron up to our house in Misawa where they played with you a lot. We went to playgrounds, ate out at all your favorite places where you eat a lot of rice and fruit, saw more temples, they went with you to playgroup, and showed Grammy all your toys. It was a wonderful time and you really liked being around your Grammy and Uncle Ron.

When we first moved to Japan and you were just a few months old, we started going to playgroups on base with other little babies. You didn’t seem to care much about them and I got busy, so we stopped going. Then when I was pregnant with your brother, I didn’t feel like going. We recently started going again to two different groups, one on Wednesday that does a variety of different activities, and one on Thursday that meets in a play room. You really like it when the Wednesday group goes to playgrounds around our area. Sometimes they do craft projects that are a little too advanced for you and you don’t really have the attention span for right now, so we haven’t been going as much lately. There are a few little boys that are right around your age in the group that you like to run around with. The Thursday group has a bunch of boys your age and we all meet in a big room with lots of toys, mats, tunnels, swings, toy tools, and a ball pit. You love throwing all the balls out of the pit, screwing and hammering various things around the room, and snuggling up inside the net swing and flying back and forth. We also occasionally go to the Weasel’s Den, where you go wild with all the space, slides, toy houses, big soft blocks, and ride-on cars. Now that it is getting colder, we will probably do more things like this for now. We used to spend more time inside, but over the last few months you seem to get cooped up at home and definitely need to get out and run around a lot. You have so much energy!

Speaking of your wild side, you do get a little crazy sometimes! I’m having a harder time keeping up with you, especially while tending to your baby brother. You seem to know the perfect times to act up, when I have my hands full with a cranky or feeding baby! You’re a smart boy and understand and dislike the consequences of your misbehaving, but sometimes it seems that you weigh your options and chose to be naughty in spite of a spanking. Some people have described you as strong-willed. I think it’s been hardest lately because you might be a little bit jealous of your brother. You still love on him, like to hold him and give him toys and kisses, but sometimes you are a little mean to him. When you are angry at me, you will hit Heron or while he’s sleeping you’ll spit on him (where did you learn that?!) I know right now he doesn’t do much with you, but soon he will be a friend for you to play with all the time! I know you’ll enjoy him more then. You seem to still be adjusting to the idea that you can’t have all of my attention all the time, that sometimes I need to hold Heron or want to play with him. He’s still new and I know you will get used to it soon. Most of the time you are such a good big brother!

You haven’t been to the doctor in a while, so I’m not sure what they’d have to say about your weight or height, but you appear to be a very healthy little boy! You love to eat all the time! I made a chicken spinach curry casserole a little while ago that Daddy and I really thought was gross, but you had three bowls full! You also eat the same amount of lasagna as I do. You don’t care a lot for chunks of meat, so we’ve been eating more beans lately. You like the Mexican casserole I make with beans, rice, tomatoes, cheese, and tortillas and eat a huge portion! You still love bananas and mandarin oranges (actually, you love every fruit we’ve had.) You do eat sweets more often than I’d like, but not really too much. Whenever you hear a wrapper, you know that we’re opening up the yummiest food, though! You beg and beg for chips, candy, and ice cream. We usually give you a little bit, depending on what it is. You know that when I’m in the kitchen cooking, that there will be food soon. Whenever the oven timer beeps, you run into the kitchen squealing and grab the oven mitts! You are such a piggy little guy! You are getting awesome at feeding yourself now, too. You use a fork and spoon and usually get most of your meal in your mouth. You use sippy cups throughout the day, but during meals you often use a real cup without a lid, usually with great success! For some meals, you sit in your own tiny chair at your own short little table. You always “pray” before you eat (by holding your hands together over your head), even a little snack, which I think is so adorable.

We haven’t had you watch much TV in the past, but we’ve had a few shows on for you lately. I don’t like to have the TV babysit you, but sometimes it is just easiest (like now) to have you entertained. You don’t get a lot, but you do love Sesame Street (especially Elmo) and go crazy over Blues Clues. Blues Clues is definitely your favorite show. You dance to all the songs and do all the hand motions. You even start dancing with anticipation whenever Daddy or I says “Blues Clues.” You point and laugh and wave bye-bye to Steve at the end. We love watching you enjoy Blues Clues! You do read a lot more now, too. The bottom two shelves on our bookshelf are all books for you, and throughout the day you pick a few out and bring them to me to read. Sometimes you just sit on the floor and flip through them on your own. You’re finally sitting all the way through the book now rather than getting to the second page and running off. Many of our Usborne books have a little duck hiding somewhere in each picture, and as soon as I turn the page you seek out that duck and keep your finger on him. You also have favorites that you always find on the shelf and bring to me. Daddy reads two books to you before bed every night now too and he might have to increase that because you don’t seem to get enough! I love that you are starting to enjoy books (more than just eating the corners or drawing on the pages) and am so excited for the day when you will be enjoying the stories and reading books on your own!

I have been having so much fun getting to know you more and more each month. You are such a sweet, fun toddler and I feel so blessed that you are in my life! Thank you for making me laugh, teaching me patience, keeping me running around, snuggling with me, and always offering kisses and hugs. I love you so much, Rhino!

Love,
Mommy

Last week I had my first ever Pampered Chef show! I’d been to two shows since I moved here and that has been my only experience with the awesome cooking tools. I bought some small things: a spatula, some measuring spoons, and a stone bar. I use all of these pretty much every day, if not multiple times a day. I absolutely love them and would love to get more products!

So, that’s why I hosted a show in my home with my good friend, Tanja. She dropped off a bunch of supplies the day before so I could use them for anything I wanted to cook. I made some Pampered Chef potato soup, mini-carrot cakes, and an awesome banana/chocolate/cream trifle – delish! I also had some fruits, veggies, and candy out.

Six friends game over to enjoy some good food, gab, and cook with me. We all baked some yummy cheesy bacon bites together. I started out by cutting out circles from some premade pie crust, then called on a friend. She’d grate some cheese, then call on someone else, who would fry some bacon, etc. Eventually we all got to try out some great tools and in the process made some great little snacks (they are tomatoes, garlic, bacon, cream cheese, cheddar baked in pretty little crusts in a mini muffin pan.)

Pretty much all my kitchen gear is cheap, from Walmart or the BX (with the exception of our knives, one pan, and the couple PC things I have!) I’m looking forward to ordering some good quality tools to help make cooking easier and more enjoyable. I’m hoping to get new, baking pans, and some serving dishes! My show closes on pay day, then we’ll see. It would be great to have new things in the kitchen in time for the holiday cooking!

Even though we decided not to celebrate Halloween, I am not against a good, candy-filled party! Our church, Faith Baptist Church, puts on a harvest festival, as many churches do. Matt had to sleep, but I brought the boys so Rhino could get some fun in. It was a good mommy break for me too as I got to hand off Heron to some ladies who have missed holding a little one. And right now Heron loves strangers and didn’t seem to miss me at all!

A lot of the games at the festival were a little old for Rhino, but we adapted them so he could enjoy them. There was a “Fishers of Men” game where you had to hold a fishing rod with a hook on the end of the line and pick up tiny plastic men out of a kiddie pool. Rhino got lots of help. There was also a Jonah game where you’d put a golf ball into a whale’s mouth. Rhino got down on his tummy and placed the ball in the mouth, but I eventually got him to roll the ball. He did successfully knock down the “walls of Jericho” (stacked cardboard bricks) by throwing a tennis ball. He couldn’t use the Nerf slingshot to shoot a ball through the hole in Goliath’s head, but he did slam-dunk it in if I held him up! I didn’t even want to bother with the “Blind Bartimaeus” game where you are blindfolded and feel around in a bowl of rice for tiny safety pins. I could just imagine the mess! There was a face-painting station and Rhino looked at the sheets of clipart and pointed to the colorful train engine. He sat still the whole time while it was painted on his face and it was so cute! The last game we played was by far his favorite — the cake walk! What’s not to love? There’s music and cake, two of Rhino’s favorite things ever! We walked around a few times as I held his hand and he kept trying to walk away. Soon enough all the little kids walking around in a circle wanted to hold his hand too, so I got to sit back. He got a little bored of trotting in a circle and would break free to dance in the middle of all the numbers. Whatever he likes! We did win a cake and he picked out a white frosted cupcake and ate that while dancing for the cake-walking kids. It was a great time and went on for seven hours, but we didn’t stay nearly that long.

Afterward, we headed to the Weasel’s Den to crash a birthday party my friend Sarah had driven down for. We met some new people and Rhino had a great time eating grapes and playing! I had found Sarah’s blog a year ago and really enjoyed reading it then found out that she comes down to Misawa (from the Aomori area) once a month, so we arranged to get together. We haven’t hung out much yet, but I enjoy chatting with her when we have and look forward to her future visits. Her blog is a great read, too!

A new friend of ours from church has an important weekly appointment, so I offered to watch her sweet little girls while she was out. Little A and Big A are 1 (a little younger than Rhino) and 3 and are tons of fun! They both love Heron and always talk to him and get right in his face. He doesn’t mind! Rhino goes wild when they’re here and especially has fun playing with Big A – they chase each other around, screech, and generally wreck havoc together. Little A likes to flip through all our books. The girls have been without their toys for months (major problem with the military shipping all the household goods!) and are always excited to raid our well-stocked toy closet. Here they are having snacks. They are all adorable, but Little A is SO photogenic and looks absolutely adorable in every single shot I have.

This was a junky shot I was going to delete, but I do like it. Rhino is always such a pig and I love Little A’s sweet little smile.

It’s fun having girls in the house. I think it adds a nice balance. It’s a great experience for Rhino, too. He is wonderful about sharing toys at playgroup or in the nursery, but apparently it’s a whole different story when they’re his toys. This will be good sharing practice. He’ll need to be prepared for all the sharing he’ll have to do with Heron!

Hello dearest Rhino!

You’re now fifteen months old and just as sweet as ever! Your personality is so silly lately and you have such a fantastic sense of humor. I love playing with you all day – you laugh so much! You find the silliest things so funny – putting a bucket on your head like a hat, then on my head, then laugh so hard; wrapping yourself or your head in play silks and running around the room; playing peek-a-boo with a stuffed animal from behind a chair or in the car; shutting any door I just opened (even if it’s the pantry door or the refrigerator and I’m still using it!) – you laugh all the time! I love it so much and you make me laugh most of the day, too!

You had to say goodbye to some of your friends this month. Samantha (your “girlfriend”) moved away, so we had a couple get-togethers so you two could spend some time together. We went over to her house so you could play with all her toys, sit in her little tent, drink from her cup, chew on her playing cards, and chase her around! We also went out to lunch with her and her parents, where the two of you sat across the table from each other trying to share food and napkins but just couldn’t quite reach (so you tried throwing things at her!) Your buddies Josh and Aime moved away this month also. We had them over before they left and they loved playing with you in your room and your bus tent. You’ve grown more fond of them over the months and are fascinated when they come over, always wanting to do what they do. It was sad to see everyone go (I know you weren’t sad – you have no idea!) but you received a bunch of hand-me-down toys that they didn’t want to move (lucky you!)

You still aren’t really talking consistently, but you have a couple new words that you use occasionally. You’ve stopped pronouncing “bye” as “die” and now actually tell people bye as you wave! You’re also sometimes saying “hi” when they arrive. You do wave at people all the time, though! Every day when Daddy is getting ready for work, gets his keys and badge, you know what’s coming and start waving at him or asking for a kiss.

You’re developing some cute habits that I just adore! Whenever I sit cross-legged on the floor, you come over to me, turn yourself around, and plop on my lap. When it’s time to read a book, you bring a book to me and take your place in my lap without me doing anything anymore! When we lie down together on the sofa or in bed, you squirm until your back is against my chest and your head right under my chin and snuggle with me, either to watch some TV or fall asleep. We pretty much only use your high chair at the table for dinners and often you have your breakfast, snacks, and lunches in your little rocking chair. You know when I’m in the kitchen getting food ready that it’s almost time to eat, climb into your little chair, and fold your hands patiently! We didn’t try to train you to “pray”, I guess you’re just copying us and know that folding your hands is something you just have to do before you eat! It’s so cute and sometimes you bow your head (but usually you’re just staring at the food or us throughout the prayer) and you usually say your version of “amen” (which doesn’t sound anything like amen, but you’re usually on cue and always very excited!)

You’re getting friendlier with other people, which is wonderful! I hear that you have a great time in nursery now (you just don’t like being dropped off your picked up, so I figured you were crying the whole time through as well!) You talk to people, dance for them, laugh at them, and are generally a big ham! Every now and then you’ll want some other lady to hold you instead of me (well, at least for a little bit.) If someone has food for you, you two are buddies for the day! I love that you’re getting more comfortable with people other than Daddy and I.

We’ve had such fun this month and I love watching you grow and change so much! Thank you for making my days so enjoyable, patting me on the back when you give me hugs, offering me kisses, sharing your toys with me, feeding me your goldfish crackers, and making me laugh. I am so thankful to be your mother!

I love you,
Mommy

We have five pregnant ladies (that I know of!) at our church right now, all due within the next couple of months. Friday night we had our first baby shower. Tatjana is having a little girl (Tianna Isabelle) next month. Charren hosted this shower at her home, we had a fabulous turn-out (mostly church ladies) and a wonderful time!

We played a couple of baby shower games, such as finding the safety pins in a bowl full of uncooked rice while blind folded. We also passed around a roll of toilet paper and were told to unroll as much as we use in one day (and with four pregnant ladies present at the shower, the roll went quickly!) After we all had our toilet paper, we were told that we have to say one thing about ourselves for each square of paper we have. Tatjana definitely tore off the most and we got to hear a good deal about her life!

I brought Rhino along because Matt has to work at night and it didn’t really occur to me to leave him with one of the husbands (which pretty much everyone did.) So he was the only little kid there and is kind of distracting (especially at a 3 hour nighttime baby shower!) He was pretty well-behaved, but still very energetic and noisy! When we were all saying things about ourselves during the toilet paper game, he’d often laugh after someone gave a fact. Charren gave a nice devotional about loving your children and Rhino let a nice big burp right in the middle! A lot of the ladies got a kick out of him though, and he definitely enjoyed the attention. Heather was such a sweetheart and spent the most time with him: feeding him (that’s why they’re now best friends,) holding him, wiping jelly off his face, giving him toys, etc. He sang/whined himself down on her and almost fell asleep until he scratched his face on her necklace and came over to me. It was a nice break for me and he is really starting to get friendly with other people, thankfully!

Of course there was cake and presents. Katy made the chocolate cake with fondant and some yellow-cake cupcakes that were both delicious! This is the third cake she’s decorated and it turned out beautifully! I have a bunch of cake decorating supplies and it’s something I’ve wanted to get into, but it’s one of many things on my “to-learn” list that just hasn’t made it to the top yet. We decided we should bake up a bunch of cakes in advance and then have a day together to practice decorating!

Tatjana opened her gifts as we ate the cake. She all ready has a little boy, but this is her first girl and she received so many cute girly things! I got her some wipes, a set of Japanese-style (they tie like kimonos rather than snap) newborn clothes (onesies, sleepers, shirts, socks, etc.), and I crocheted her a little blanket. She also was given a ton of really adorable dresses, a bunch of diapers, and a neat little Japanese activity gym thing. She definitely made out with the adorable girl-loot!

The next three ladies (myself included!!) are all having boys; two of us all ready have boys. I’m told it will be one big shower for all three of us, probably just a diaper shower for the two of us who all ready have plenty of boy things. That’s fine with me (though I don’t really want/need a bunch of disposable diapers because we cloth diaper, but we’ll see!) because I just like getting together with friends (and cake!) Tatjana’s shower was actually the first baby shower I’ve attended other than my own and it was a blast!