Just another day in paradise....

We haven't done very much in the way of Japanese adventures lately. The fact that it's been raining buckets on and off for over a week has kept us mostly indoors. Our big shipment got here this weekend and we've been having so much fun rediscovering our stuff. It's like Christmas. Thomas had no affinity for these rain boots before we left but he loves them now. I think it might be because he can put them on and off himself. Josh is wearing ridiculous shoes too.


This little bookshelf area makes me happy. It's pretty much the only corner of our house that feels "homey" to me. I have no idea how to hang pictures on cement walls so these are our only decorative things that are out.


Thomas J was thrilled about his blocks. I don't think he ever played with them this much before. It's been really cool to watch him stack and sort these blocks. He's SO much better at it than he was when we left the US.

He's also been in a huge reading phase lately. If we aren't reading to him then he's flipping through and babbling to himself. I don't mind. I would much rather be able to recite his books from memory than to see them sitting on a shelf.

Look how big he is....watching Finding Nemo. I love him.


Hey look! Josh took a picture of Thomas and I that I actually like. Woohoo! There will be proof that I was his mom.

On a more annoying note...the movers didn't seal our crates. So anything plastic is warped. Half of the couch was wet. The elliptical is broken, things are scratched....etc etc etc. I was really upset at first, but you know what? It's just stuff, we'll file a claim and hope we get a fair reimbursement but even if we don't it won't be a big deal. We weren't planning on bringing the couch back with us anyway. (I spent about an hour sewing up the rips in it today).
The only thing we really need now is somewhere to eat, we think we'll get a really cool Japanese coffee table and use it like a tatami area style set up. We can get some pretty floor cushions and eat like the locals. It works out in the end because we don't think our current coffee table will survive the preschool years.

The other thing I'm excited about is setting up our garage as another place to hang out. A grill, some comfy chairs...then we can hang outside even when it's raining incessantly.

Josh found me a new candle. It's the best smell I've ever smelled. Lemon lavender by Yankee Candle. I bought my first BIG jar candle. These are the things that make my day.

We really need to get out next weekend.