let me catch up

Gosh,

sometimes I think I'm on top of things

and other times...

not!

Right now is one of those

NOTS

But I whole heartedly believe in the saying:

'better late than never'

Last August

the Princess commonly known as

MIA

celebrated her 2nd birthday!

We had a great bash with lots of friends,

good weather,

(a rarity)

and some yummy cake.

Enjoy the photos!

The Birthday Girl

The cake

Max, scoring a little extra frosting

Friends

kid fun

Our God Daughter, Irelyn

and really, what party's complete without balloon hats???

Antics

Day after day, Max and Mia

grow,

and learn,

and change,

and amaze.

During each of those days we stay

busy as bees.

Without fail, Max and Mia

punctuate

those days with their crazy antics.

Here are a few of my recent favorites

Max putting his engineering skills to work to get something out of his reach.

Mia having fun in mommy's closet.

Mia, having a little snack...off the floor.

Max wearing his "muscles."

Mia having another snack. And yes, that is fresh broccoli. She eats it like it's candy!

WHO KNOWS!!!

Pure sweetness (with a little jumping on the bed, for fun).

BLAST OFF!!!

What a fun day!

2 months after the kids and I

came back from the states,

we're still recieving boxes we mailed back to ourselves!

The most recent box that arrived was

A BIG ONE!

Once we got the box home and unpacked,

we got creative.

What to do with such a big box?

Mia, Max and I talked:

car,

boat,

house?

NOPE

hmmmmm......

Oh, I know...

a ROCKET!

So, we cut,

taped ,

and colored-

and then it was...

THREE

TWO

ONE

BLAST OFF!

The kids played in their rocket ship

for hours and hours

...and hours.

After we finished eating,

it was back to the rocket ship

and some really creative conversation

Mia:

Max, let's go to the moon!

Max:

Okay, but first we have to blast off.

This time, let's count in Korean

Max & Mia:

hana

dul

set

net

dasut

yasut

ilgup

ydul

ahop

yul

(pause)

Max:

Mommy, how do you say 'blast off' in Korean?

Me:

Uhhh, sweetie I don't know.

Do you think the Koreans could say 'blast off' in English?

Max:

Yeah, maybe they learned to say it in school!

Okay, ready Mia?

Max & Mia:

BLAST OFF!!!

(zooming, whooshing and a clunk- welcome to the moon)

Mia:

Come on, Max. Let's get out on the moon.

Max:

No, Mia. I'm just dropping you off at the moon.

I'm going to blast off back to the kitchen to get dessert

because I ate all of my dinner.

I just can't put into words how much I

L.O.V.E

these kids!

Sapporro

We came to Japan knowing that this would be the
experience of a lifetime
We knew there would be
SO MUCH
to see and do
And we knew that there would not be
nearly enough time to do all of the
AMAZING
things this country and its culture offers.
So...
We discussed.
We prioritized.
We made a list.
At the top of that list was
Sapporro
specifically the Sapporro Snow Festival.
Sapporro is located on the northern island of Japan- Hokkaido.
We flew from Aomori to Chitose, then took a bus to Otaru City.
Otaru City was the original capital of Hokkaido and thrived off of
coal, glass making, and shipping industries.
The city has such a small town charm with lots of
little shops, cafes, and beautifully detailed buildings.

After Otaru City, we borded our tour bus to Sapporro
the current capital of Hokkaido.
First stop: The Beer Garden at Sapporro Brewery.
Naturally.
We enjoyed a great dinner of lamb, fish, and vegetables
locally referred to as The Genghis Khan.
It wasn't long before Max and Mia were making friends with the locals.

The main attractions at the Sapporro Snow Festival are
you guessed it,
the snow sculptures!

and the ice sculptures, too.

The sights were just amazing and like nothing we've ever seen.
We also visited the Ishiya Chocolate Factory.
It was awesome!
The whole place even smelled delicious.
The kids had a great time and even got to make
their own chocolate cookies.

We spent our days and evenings in Sapporro
walking and walking and...
walking!

~Two tired babies~
We tried different restaurants, looked in all the shops and
looked in awe at the beautiful sculptures.
This trip has definitley been one of the highlights of our time here!

Swimming

Max and Mia have been in swimming lessons since October and they are both doing really well.

Mia and I participate in a Mommy & Me class. She can hold her breath underwater and is learning to push off the wall and paddle herself to me. She is still very unsure of floating on her back but she's got no fear of jumping into the water. Colin had a day off recently and came along to take pictures of Mia during her class!

Max looks forward to his class. They each go twice a week and Max wakes up every morning and asks if it is a swimming day. He realy enjoys being in the water and is getting the hang of swimming under water. He can hold his breath, go underwater, and pick up toys. He's still a little nervous of floating on his back, but he gets more comfortable with each class. His favorite part of class time is getting to jump into the pool!

Thankful

Every evening, I tuck my little angels in and thank God for

these precious blessings.

There are always moments during the day that they

rattle my nerves,

make me shake my head,

or take a deep breath before speaking another word.

But they also make me LAUGH...

ALOT!

They are silly and mischievious,

they'll shout it out one minute,

then hold hands the next;

they are super quiet at times,

then suprise me by starting great conversations

with complete strangers.

One of the things that is so rewarding to see is

their genuine compassion for others.

Max is always willing to give up part of a tasty treat

to make sure there is enough for everyone-

even Mommy and Daddy.

Mia can't wait to ask a new friend to join in

on all the fun.

And they both, without fail,

look out for each other.

It fills my heart with so much JOY.

Oddly enough, it makes me thankful for the little

conflicts we work through everyday.

Those little ups and downs remind me that it is all

REAL,

that I really am fortunate enough to call

these beautiful babies mine,

and that I get to share all these many moments with them.

So tonight, as my beautiful babies sleep

and I think back on all we shared today,

I thank God;

I thank Him for giving me the best job in the world,

for letting me be Mommy to my angels!

The Cycle

We learned last year that

Misawa

has a winter time cycle.

It goes a little like this:

snow,

snow,

snow,

a little sun,

melt, melt,

SLUSH, SLUSH, SLUSH,

(yuck, yuck, yuck)

cold

icey, icey

then...

snow

snow,

snow...

etc, etc, etc.

Here we go again!