Rollin' MAMA!

iPad2 n Digital Scrapbooking

2012-01-10T14:57:00.001-10:00

So I got iPad2. This time, it's unlimited 3G connection so I can use Internet anywhere. And also this time, I picked Smart Cover (Pink one!) so it's not too big in my purse. Now I can take it everywhere.:))Then I wondered... "What do I want to do on iPad?"So I was App surfing (checking out Apps in App store. It's MAKInglish if you ask:D) and I found this cool App for Digital Scrapbook called Coolibah.Coolibah is a free app, comes with free Digital Scrapbook kit. If you want more variety of frames, borders, alphabets, embellishments, and a lot of backgrounds, they have in-app purchase kits and all. It costs only $0.99 per kit/set. Only down side about this app is, because those kits are kinda heavy so it takes some times loading. I strongly recommend to save the page you've finished on iPad so you don't lose it if the app freezes and you have to re-install. (It happened on me once so far, which I didn't know the other solution so I re-install it. All the kits I bought are still safe but the page I made was gone. Fortunately I saved it on my iPad.) There is other solution according to their website, which is very useful.Anyway this is the page I made yesterday on the bus to work, took only 30 minutes.

Well, now talk about Digital Scrapbooking on iPad2... I don't think the camera on iPad2 is good at all. Maybe okay for some snapshots or maybe in some locations like sunny outside. But not good enough to make Digital Scrapbook page, I would say.I have a memory card reader for iPad so I used that to load the pictures on the layout above. The pictures taken with iPhone should be okay too I think. Or you can use iCloud. Upload on your PC and send them via iCloud. If you use dSLR then you should resize the images before save it to iCloud so it doesn't take too much space on iCloud. There are some free softwares that resize multiple pictures at the time. I downloaded this one called JTrim and it was very easy to use.I almost gave up doing these staff like Digital Scrapbook and all on iPad, but I guess everything works well on iPad2. I am glad that I got it!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Autumn in Huis Ten Bosch

2011-11-29T13:06:00.001-10:00

I love the view in Huis Ten Bosch! Especially now, it's beautiful! The weather was perfect yesterday... I could only take some pics with my iPhone yesterday, but I may come back here when I'm off n take more pics... Mmmm...:))

Over a year...

2011-11-27T14:19:00.002-10:00

I can't believe that it's been a year since last time I posted here... It has been crazy, that's for sure...

We finally went back to Tokyo! Yay! We saw all my family there, shopped in my town Shibuya, went to see Tokyo Tower, went to TDL... Then the very next day after the TDL... The massive earthquake happened... We were in the old military building where we were staying when the earthquake hit. The building shook crazy, we tried to evacuate from the building, Chris got Ilah, John could walk his way out all by himself, but Michele was terrified and she couldn't move. So I picked her up and tried to go down the stairs. We were on the 4th floor, the building didn't stop shaking, all I could think was to get her out of here. So I ran down the stairs, didn't realize that the stairs were moving bad. Then I fell down the stairs, the gentleman behind me picked Michele up and took her downstairs. I tried to get up then I noticed that I hurt my ankle. It didn't help me go down the stairs faster at all. But made it to the exit of the building...

So we couldn't stay there anymore, we went to my cousin's house which it usually takes about 20mins to get there from where the hotel at, but obviously everybody was going home, trains were not working, so... It took 10 hours...

Anyway, we were safe after all. Right after we came home, me n Chris celebrated our 8th anniversary. Then I got a job!lol So now I work in Huis Ten Bosch, the Dutch theme park in Sasebo, Japan. My work is in this park, called English Square. Basically it's the place where Japanese people can experience things in English. Not totally a school, but we have a lot of customers using as school trips. Which all students had great times... It's been crazy busy as far as my work schedule goes, but I think I like my work. I've met so many people, I can use my talent here, pay is not bad either.

Only concern is I cannot spend as much time with my family as before. Sometime I get to talk to kids only in the morning. I feel very bad for them. Well kids actually kinda like me working in Huis Ten Bosch tho, so they can come visit me here...

I also lost "me" time. Then I still buy things for scrapbook n stuff.lol I hope I can find some time for that... Eventually...

Knitty Knit

2010-11-08T02:51:00.001-10:00

Since I made knit hats for kids' school event, I feel like knitting. Haha, it sounds just like me! Well, I wanna make something, but I can knit only straight. Then I found this circular knitting needle. It's a loop shaped and two short needles are connected, so it's perfect to make knit hats.(then again, another knit hat?lol)

Oh well, it's getting really cold lately, n since I got haircut, it's easier for me to just put a hat on to hide my messy hair, so I will need some of it. But I would like to learn to knit more than just knit hats... Is there any classes around here?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Favorite of Favorites

2010-11-06T12:41:00.001-10:00

Hehehehehe!!!

This my Favorite of Favorites, THE Chocolate Donut from Pompadour Bakery! I hadn't had it for... over 7yrs? I really really love this donuts. Unfortunately I couldn't find this bakery in Sasebo. But I found it in Nagasaki!!! Yay!!! I got 2 for me, 1 for John n 1 for Michele. And we ate it all...

The problem is... I want more...lol The bad news is... Nagasaki is not exactly "honey, could we go to get the donuts?" distance from here. Hmmm... Next time, I should buy a dozen...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Because they want to be separated...

2010-11-03T13:01:00.001-10:00

It looks weird. It looks silly. It looks not fashionable. I never thought I would have one of these... But I tell you, this is the best thing!!!

I usually don't like to wear socks all day. All this time, I thought that's because my feet get too hot. But I found out that my toes wanted a lol privacy from other toes.lol Now I can still wear my flip-flops with my socks on!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Heat Teck

2010-11-02T14:01:00.001-10:00

It's getting cooooooold!!! It'd been 5yrs since last time we had a real winter time(if I count out San Diego too, cuz it still was not this cold!), it'd been 7yrs since last time I had Japanese winter. So I've almost forgot what it's like in this face rippin cold air. But Japanese ppl are very smart when it comes to "stay warm but not look like stuffing doll".

Heat tech. They made this material very thin but very warm. With this heat tech material, this inner shirts are great for us females, we can wear these without look fatter.lol I already bought some of it, n I am wearing today. It sure is warm n comfortable. They have many colors n designs now, so it looks just like regular long shirts n you can coordinate n all, but it much warmer than regular shirts.

Now, they didn't just make shirts with this Heat tech material. They made this down jacket with this Heat Teck, which is called Ultra Light Premium Down Jacket. I got one for me, one for John, n one for Michele. I was gonna get for my hubby as well, but all the sizes they have are "Japanese Size" which is way too small for American guys' shoulders n arms. *I am pretty sure they sell American size at UNIQLO in N.Y. If you are interested. (UNIQLO is Japanese Brand which is as known as inexpensive brand, n is most popular brand when it comes to Heat Teck kind. They've opened the store in N.Y. sometime this year.)

I haven't started to wear mine yet, but kids are already wearing because morning is freezing cold everyday. It's still November, which means it still will be colder, but we might be okay with this Heat tech thing this winter.;))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What is she staring at...?

2010-10-28T13:53:00.001-10:00

It's cold in the house this morning again. I made her blanket yesterday, well I just sewed around the super soft material I found at a store, but anyway she loves it(yep, I am into crafting lately... It's just that time of season;)).

Anyway, she looks comfy in her new blanket, n staring at something... actually somebody.

Michele was singing and dancing for her sister cuz the baby was crying... that's what she said.lol

Michele has been very helpful. Yea, sometimes too much, but she's never even been jealous of her. When Ilah is crying, she sings for her, talks to her, dances for her, n she's very patient. Ilah loves Michele too. When Michele keeps singing for her, she really stops crying. I guess it won't be long until they start to sleep in the same room.:))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crazy Hat Day!

2010-10-26T12:22:00.002-10:00

So today is Crazy Hat Day. I could just decorate one of their hat, but I wanted make it somehow. And I decided to knit. The problem was that I had only 1 day to make not one but two. It's gotta be something easy. Well, I can knit only straight ones anyway.lol

It took really all day but I did it! Here's the knit caps I made.;))

Hahaha, it's not bad as it's made in 1 day, is it? It's for Crazy Hat Day anyway.lol and they loved it!

It's also good cuz it's super cold today too. I wish I had one of those!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pajama Day!

2010-10-25T13:20:00.002-10:00

Yep, I guess most of schools have this kinda event. Which is pretty cool for kids, not so much for patents.lol For me, you know I am just a big kid, so I just enjoy dressing them up!

So I was thinking that Jinbei(Old Japanese style room wear, which now they sell all kinda character ones for kids) would be nice. Because it was about high 70s degrees yesterday. Then this morning, it dropped to below 60 degrees all of sudden! Jinbei is most likely for summer. Hmmm... I decided to put long sleeve n long pants underneath their Jinbei. And... It looks so silly!!

OK, this is John.

And this is Michele.

They like it. It's fun to wear like this sometimes.:)) Now, the crazy week is not finished yet. Tomorrow is Crazy Hat day. What shall I do...?;))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rilakkuma

2010-10-07T13:49:00.002-10:00

I LOVE anything cute. There's a lot of cute things you see here in Japan. Like, as you know, Hello Kitty is made in Japan. After I came back to Japan, this new character caught my attention...

This is Rilakkuma. "Kuma" means bear in Japanese. So this was named as "relax bear" - give us relax by just looking at him, relax-kuma, then Rilakkuma.lol

They sell a lot of Rilakkuma items. I always have to fight myself to ignore from this cute face at stores. Oh well, I lost this time, so did my mother...lol so we bought the stuffing Rillakuma for Michele, n I bought this for myself.

Now this is my favorite mug cup. I don't drink coffee in regular basis, but it's getting chilly all of sudden lately, n I enjoy instant mocha in this mug cup every morning now. N my mom bought this lilttle pouch.

N this is the cute part, its' back...

Haha, yea my mom is late 60s n she has this in her bag! But this bear really makes us smile! Now he is Michele's favorite too.

She named him James n she takes him everywhere now.:))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Do Not Eat!

2010-10-07T13:02:00.002-10:00

This is my new hobby(?), paper clay sweets. Well... This is actually one of kits for kids to make. Of course my excuse was "I want to do this with Michele!" Yea, right...

It was not that difficult though. Michele helped me, so technically I didn't lie.lol The package comes with 4 colors of light weight clay, two types of molds, and some accessory kits. It doesn't even make messy either. After dried, it is like sponge feel. I think I am gonna make more n maybe giveaway? Would you like to get one?;))

- Posted from my iPad;))

2000 years ago...

2010-10-02T05:40:00.002-10:00

We went to Yoshinogari Historical Park today. In this park, we could see n learn how people lived in Yayoi era which is about 2000 years ago, here in Japan. Wow, 2000 years ago, can you believe that? Well, I am not really good at history n all, but I know I learned about this Yayoi era, that doesn't mean I remember what I learned.lol

Anyway there are a lot to see, like the buildings they built same way as 2000 years ago. It actually really impressive that they could built those 2000years ago. Those entrance is very low, which tells us how short they were.

There's some activities for all family to do too. We tried one workshop, stone pendant making. It took about an hour, it was a little difficult for Michele, but John could make one with our help. It was pretty cool. We all loved the pendants we made.

N it was very good exercise too...lol Inside park is very big, just like acutual villages. We enjoyed walking inside park. Well, it was very humid today, but we could still feel some autumn, we definitely felt the nature.

We would strongly recommend this park, it's very family friendly, very cheap, very clean, a lot to see. The stuffs are all nice, some of them even speak English n teach us about this Yayoi era. It's about 45 mins way from Sasebo area, on the way to Fukuoka. You can visit their web site to see more information from the link below!;))

http://www.yoshinogari.jp/en/

- Posted from my iPad;))

"I heart ?a?a"

2010-09-29T04:14:00.002-10:00

At our favorite store, Jusco, they sell this series of baby clothes that me n my hubby like. "I heart" series, just like "I heart N.Y.", but this one is MaMa, PaPa n Family instead of N.Y., of course.

In Japan, most of lil kids call their mom n dad "mama" n "papa". No, it's not Japanese(obviously!), as you know we use a lot of mix language, which I call Japanglish. So this "papa" means daddy.

Anyway, when we buy these kind stuff, there's always a silence battle between me n my hubby. Yes, which one we will buy "I heart MaMa" or "I heart PaPa" is what we battle for. First we grab same thing, except the word after the heart. When we can buy both, then we get both, like the pacifiers n baby bottles we bought. But if we wanna buy only one... Yea, we wouldn't fight or argue at store, especially it's about baby clothes, but there sure is a cold war going on between us.lmao

So we wanted to buy only one clothes for Baby Ilah. Of course our eyes were on "I heart ...". Let's see, which one we got...?

I let him have it for this one.lol Actually I thought, obviously I am always with her, I am the one who's gonna take her around everywhere. So, i think it's cute of her to show her love to her daddy. When I picked this one, he said "Are you sure?"lol

N I put this one on her today, so I took pics n sent it to him. I thought that picture would make him smile when he's working hard. But he didn't think so. Later he called me n said "I'm a lil pissed because you put the clothes on her when I am not around!"lmao I guess he wants it all.lol So I said "well, it's just a clothes, why don't you wash it n put it on her again when you take her somewhere?"lol Haha, he's not really mad, of course. But maybe he wanted her to wear that when she's with him! Don't worry, PaPa. She heart you always!;))

- Posted from my iPad;))

Rainy Day

2010-09-26T16:59:00.002-10:00

It's raining today. Not really strong but looks like it's gonna rain all day. It was still very hot just a few days ago, n all of sudden it got cold. The weather news said that's because of one typhoon which won't hit here, just pushing cold air.

Because of this sudden cold weather, our kids got cold too. Michele got it first, but as usual, she was just fine by the next day. Poor John got a cold from her, looks like his cold is worse then hers. He couldn't go to school today.

I definitely feel that we are back to 4 seasons place. In Hawaii, it was always hot or warm, at least, like summer all year long. Which, it was nice too. But we kinda missed 4 seasons.

It's chilly today, but listening the raining sound in the house just let me relax... I like it.;))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo,Japan

Officially A Geek Couple

2010-09-25T03:43:00.002-10:00

Hahaha, you already know that I am a geek mom. N my hubby is like my best friend. We are very positive, easy-going people, n we share almost everything. That's probably because my hubby is very flexible person, I mean he's actually not stubborn. So he would try stuff what I am into(well, not girls stuff...lol). Now he finally started his own blog!!!

I didn't even help him making this! I think it looks pretty cool. He's good with trying new things, as I said before. But I never thought he would actually start his own blog! I am very proud of him!!!

Oh well, now we are officially a geek couple...lol

- Posted from my iPad;))

My Hubby's First...

2010-09-25T00:45:00.002-10:00

Fish!!! Yay!!!

Yep, he finally ate fish, I mean a grilled-head-to-tail fish.;)) That fish is called Sanma, very popular in this season in Japan. Sanma is known by the name mackerel pike.

I am very proud of my hubby! He is a very good challenger. He's been trying so many new stuffs since we moved to Japan. He even started his own blog! Wow, now we really are a geek couple!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo,Japan

Positive Thoughts 101: Find Your Hobby

2010-09-24T04:54:00.006-10:00

Wow, it's been a long long time since the last time I posted "Positive Thoughts 101"... To be honest, I was very stressed out with the pregnancy.lol Then our pretty princess is finally born, I am double happy(having her n ending the pregnancy). Special Positive Lady is baaaaack!

OK, this time's Positive Thoughts sounds like just another tip from a magazine, huh? When I see those article, I always think that "well, easy to say that," even though it actually is easy for me. I always find something new, n get excited. Some people might say "it's important to finish it" or "you gotta continue doing one thing". I understand that, but I think... Most important thing is to start something. You never know if you really like it or not till you actually try it, right?

#5 Find Your Hobby

I would say, your hobby can be changed again n again. Your hobby can be "trying a new thing" or "finding my hobby". Say "My hobby is finding a new hobby."lol

I think, I don't have to be good at it if I am having fun doing it. That is very important.;)) But first, I gotta try.

I was watching a TV show, one professor said that it's good to create something to prevent Alzheimer's disease. Not only because using fingers n brain, but also getting good reaction is good for brain. See? Not only we can be positive, but we also can stay young!lmao

I have a lot of things I would call "my hobby". I have so many, when I answer to those questions, I take some time to think which one I want to answer as my hobby.lol Like, this, blog for one, n as you can see photography... OK, I should say just "taking pictures".lol Speaking about taking pictures, I am so having fun with my camera! I always wanted "photography" as my hobby. Since I am a fake-perfectionist(I call myself a perfectionist, but actually not so much), I knew I won't be that good as a photographer. But I still, looking for new cameras at stores. Then I realized that I don't have to be good at it. Now I love taking pictures, I carry my camera all the time, n I love my pictures!

Back to my hobby, I like spending time at book stores(which is NOT equal to love reading), try cooking some new recipes, reading blogs, scrapbook, making cards, making something or anything crafty...

I also copy somebody else's hobby. Some people don't like to be copied, n I hate those people!!!lol OK, in that case, let me rephrase that, "getting an idea from somebody else".;)) It's great because, one - you are not alone when you start that, two - you can get tips from her, three - you can borrow the tools if needed. So copying somebody's hobby is NOT a bad thing.

As a mother, I am not sure that if I want to say same thing to my kids though...lol Since they would want to start a difference thing every week if I said that, n we cannot afford it... Let's keep this in adult level.;))

- Posted from my iPad;))

Another Sky

2010-09-20T22:54:00.002-10:00

As I said before, I love sky. I love looking at it, I love taking pictures of it. Especially now, I carry my camera everywhere I go(n it's not even one of those tiny pocket size cameras), I just take pictures of the sky anytime I feel like it. Yea, I definitely look like a geek...(well, I am a geek.;))

Actually I always wanted to take pictures of the sky. I thought that I need a special lens to take one. Well, I guess those professional photographers uses special lenses, but my camera does fabulous job too! It shows a beautiful color of the sky, just the way I like.

I really believe that looking at the sky is make people happy n positive. First of all, looking up is a great way to stay positive. Then look at the sky. The sky has a lot of faces, colors, a lot of shapes of clouds... Sometimes you can see the sun light between the clouds, it's just amazing.

Another Sky. Actually that is the title of a TV show in Japan. It's not all about the sky, more like travel kinda show. But I liked this title right away, because the sky is always difference, n I always look for another sky.

- Posted from my iPad;))

Sleeping with the Baby

2010-09-18T05:53:00.002-10:00

I hadn't slept more than 3 hours continuously for a while, n obviously I was exhausted. So my hubby offered me a night off so I can get a good sleep last night. Of course I took it, I slept good last night, but... I gotta admit I missed her(so did my boobs!lol).

Tonight, my hubby offered me again, he said he would do it as long as he's off next day(what a nice hubby, huh?). Did I take it? No. I really missed her last night, I guess.

She's sleeping right next by me now... She's so precious! I probably ask my hubby for a night off again(or not, if she will start to sleep all night soon), but not so often nor like 2 days in a row. I can sleep with her like this only now, I gotta enjoy this!

- Posted from my iPad;))

All You Can Eat Burger King!?

2010-09-15T19:12:00.001-10:00

I didn’t even know that there is Burger King in Japan, but what? All you can eat Burger King!? WHAT??? Well, unfortunately we don’t have Burger King in our area, I think. Maybe in Tokyo? But… Can you believe this?

I really don’t think they do that in the States… or do they? I mean, they obviously think that Japanese won’t be able to eat that much, especially Whopper is huge compare to Japanese tiny burgers. That ad says, first you have to buy a meal, n if you are not full then you can get same size burger as much as you want. But if you don’t finish those, you have to pay for everything. I am not sure how it works, because those fast food restaurant, how can they check if a customer eat his order all by himself? Are they gonna stand there until he finishes? Or is there a special seat for that?(like Man vs. Food?)

I wish I could go there n check, but I don’t know where’s the closest one from here. What are they gonna do if all hungry U.S. Military people who are very used to those huge Double or even Triple Whopper??? Hmmm… Maybe I want to check if there’s one in driving distance from here n let my hubby try…lol

Driving 2 Nagasaki

2010-09-11T23:32:00.002-10:00

We got 2 nice cameras, we got a new stroller, I don't have heavy belly anymore... Why would we stay home in such a nice day? So we decided to go for a lil drive yesterday.

We didn't really plan where, we left home around lunch time, we just headed to south. The first stop, the first place we found, was Bio Park which is a zoo where we can get really close to the animals. We've heard this is a very cool place. It sure was very cool.

We can feed animals, I mean, not throwing over the fence, but feed them directly from our hand, to animals like monkeys, flamingos, n even kangaroos. Which means, we can take pictures of them really close.

There's a flower dome n some beautiful butterflies are flying around. When I was a kid, I could see them anywhere, then I realized that I haven't seen them flying around for a long time.

After Bio Park, we could head back home, but it was still early so we decided to go lil more south, Nagasaki-city area. We don't know the area very well n we kinda got lost n going around here n there, but thanks to the tour-spot-handbook, we were able to see one of tourist spot, Dejima.

According to Wikipedia,(yes, I am not good with Japanese History...) Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and Europe during the Edo period. Dejima was built to constrain foreign traders as part of "sakoku" self-imposed isolationist policy. Originally built to house Portuguese traders, it became a Dutch trading post from 1641 until 1853. Covering an area of 120 m x 75 m (9000 square meters, or 0.9 hectares) it became integrated in the city.

Alright, enough said about a lil history(I just copied n pasted anyway...lol). Actually it was very interesting for a person who has no knowridge about these stuff like me. Especially it was fun taking pictures of those old Japanese style interior.

By the time we finished walking in Dejima, it was getting dark outside, actually there was nice breeze n felt like a lil walk. So next, we walk to the bay side, Dejima Wharf.

We found a great restaurant there too.

This is Japanese Sashimi restaurant named Kaisen Ichiba Nagasaki-Kou(means Seafood Market Nagasaki Bay). The service was great, n food was awesome! Of course the view was great too! The price was not so bad either, about ¥6000 for 5 of us(3 adults n 2 kids). So I was very satisfied. After dinner, we finally headed home.

I love these lil car trips. I am glad that my hubby likes it too because he is the driver!lol

- Posted from my iPad;))

The Baby Moment

2010-09-09T11:36:00.002-10:00

I take pictures of Ilah everyday. It's fun because she makes a lot of faces n poses. I enjoy my new camera too. But I think, I want to keep every single moment of her as much as possible.

I was kinda same way with both of the other two. This baby time is so special, who wouldn't go crazy taking pictures? When John was a baby, because he was our first one, I couldn't wait for him to grow up. Everyday was a full of surprises, n I just wanted to see what's next. When we found that I got pregnant with Michele, I was happy because we definitely wanted at least 2 kids, but the same time, I felt a lil guilty to John. Because I was always with him, I was all "his mommy". So I was wondering how the thing would be changed? Can I share my love equally to our both children? Will John be still my first favorite? Or will I be busy with the baby? Will I be excited each moment with this baby too?

Then Michele was born. There was joy. Even the second baby, still everyday was a full of surprises, took pictures of her everyday, n John was great with her n made me proud. So I realized that there was nothing to worry about. I could naturally enjoy that new situation, our new born girl n her big brother, n watching their growth was very exciting.

Then I got pregnant with Ilah. Again, I knew I would fall in love with her once she's born, but I was already too happy with John n Michele so I couldn't really imagine how it will be with another baby. N Ilah was born. We know she'll be the last baby of ours. Then I realized that this will be the last time I can enjoy the precious time with the newborn. I feel that I don't want to miss anything, any moment with her. I mean, not just being with her enjoying n let the time past, but I feel that I want to keep something, leave something, every single day.

So I take pictures of her everyday. Make sure that I am not missing any of this baby moment. Not just take pictures, but find something very special each day, n keep everything in my camera. Haha, thanks to this technology n my new camera, it's very exciting n fun!

- Posted from my iPad;))

Wide Awake!

2010-09-08T03:22:00.002-10:00

Not me, the baby... I guess she doesn't like the bed time. She sleeps too good in daytime, yep I've already tried to keep her awake, but no matter what I do, once she's out, she's out!

That is only in daytime though... At night, make sure she's sleepy, bring her upstairs, then feed her... That would make her fall asleep, if it's in daytime, or in the living room, or in the car... Pretty much anywhere but in her crib. If I do that at night, n make sure she's asleep, then put her in the crib... Somehow, she wakes up within a couple of minutes. Not like, she would cry n scream suddenly, but first she opens her eyes very wide, then move around in the crib. Give another minute n she would start to cry, like she's saying "Not yet! Get me outta here!"

So, probably just like most of mothers of newborns, here I am, sleepless in Sasebo, Japan...lol

Baby Geek

2010-09-01T14:58:00.002-10:00

That sounds just right for me.lol It's actually the name of iPad App I just found n downloaded. It lets me keep all record of the baby.

Like daily event such as feeding, diaper n sleep, I can keep track real time. Like, what she is doing now, which side of breast I am feeding now n it tells me next I need to start which side. When I put her weight n length, it will make a chart automatically. It's easy to use, I just wish I knew about this app before she was born so I could use this from her day one, n keep everything in here. I have been keeping her daily event on the booklet I got from the hospital, I tried to put all record I kept on this app, I am not sure how... But still, it's pretty cool. I cannot live without iPad, really!

Update; I just found out that I can synchronize with iPhone! Now, that's super convenient!

- Posted from my iPad;))

Official Boom Squad Member

2010-09-01T01:51:00.002-10:00

Our Baby Ilah is now, an official Boom Squad Member! Probably most of you(unless you are a WWE fan) don't even know what that means...lol Boom Squad, that is what WWE superstar Kofi Kingston calls his fans. Why is our Baby Ilah one of them? The reason is this picture.

This pose is actually exactly same as Kofi does. So I tweeted @TrueKofi(Kofi Kingston) on Twitter(yes, I follow most of WWE superstars on Twitter...lol). N guess what? He replied to that tweet!! (My tweet is third one from the bottom, n Kofi's reply is two above that.)

These celebrities, since anybody can send messages to them on Twitter, they don't always reply to your message. But this picture of Ilah, probably he liked it too! I was so happy that he actually saw the picture n replied to me!

So now Ilah is an official, Kofi Kingston's Boom Squad! You bet I'm proud of her!!

- Posted from my iPad;))

A Swing, TV n' the Baby

2010-08-30T03:19:00.002-10:00

So, just like other 2, Baby Ilah loves being in the swing. I swear that we wouldn't be able to survive with John n Michele without swings!lol When I had John, I was totally a new mom, I knew nothing about baby stuff. Sometimes he just didn't wanna stop crying! I was like "OMG, what am I gonna do now???" then my aunt in law gave us a swing. To be honest, I was not sure about that first. I mean, a swing for a baby? C'mon.lol Yea, I was really a zero-baby-knowridge-mom. Anyway we tried... Then John stopped crying n fell asleep right away! This must be a gift from God!

Anyway, Ilah likes it too. We put the swing right next by the TV, n I guess she's kinda watching TV...lol

I thought all babies love swings, but I heard opposite too. I feel sorry for their moms. For us, this is our baby's first nanny!

- Posted from my iPad;))

Back 2 School!

2010-08-29T19:38:00.002-10:00

Today is John's first day of school. This summer, because of our transferring, he had a long off. N he was so excited to go to his new school. We got him a new backpack, a new pair of sneakers, a new lunchbox...

Chris took him to school this morning, but this afternoon he will come home on a school bus. That's another his new experience.lol

- Posted from my iPad;))

2 Weeks Old

2010-08-29T03:47:00.002-10:00

Baby Ilah is 2 weeks old now! Wow... It was long until she was born, then it's been so fast after that. She's so precious...

I know that I should enjoy this time, this moment. This is my third time( obviously), n I never thought I was gonna get to experience again after 2 children.

The whole pregnancy with her was not pleasant. It was so hard for me, I didn't even think about how happy I would be after the baby's born. Then the labor was so painful, I thought she changed her mind n decided to stay inside of me forever.lol To be honest, when I heard her crying for the first time, the first thing I thought was "Thank god it's over!". Then the nurse brought her to me n I held her in my arm... Everything was changed.

This might be my third time, but every time is a full of happiness. Everyday is something new. If somebody asks that if I would like to do that again, I don't think the answer would be "yes"(my theory, it gets harder with age... N if I do it again, I need to do in the states for sure!), but I'm definitely glad that I got pregnant with this girl, my baby Ilah.

- Posted from my iPad;))

Her Favorite Bottles n Binkies

2010-08-28T22:22:00.002-10:00

First, we found these pacifiers at the store. We loved these right away, because of it looks. I grabbed the one says "I (heart) mama" n Chris grabbed the one says "Papa is the best!", n we had to get both...lol

She's been very good with pacifiers, so we knew she would take those new ones no problem. Then she tried... She loved it! She doesn't even spit it out!

Meanwhile she was having some problems with bottles. I did both breastfeeding n bottle feeding, about 50/50 to both John n Michele, n I am planning same way to Ilah. But it seems I'm making more breast milk this time, I would say I breastfeed her over 80% of time now. But still, sometimes it's not enough, so I have to use bottles. The thing is, she's getting picky about "nipple". Well, not just "nipple" for us. Milk leaks from some bottles, or she spills milk right out from her mouth... With some bottles, milk doesn't come out n she suck so hard she gets tired without getting any milk...

Then we remembered that they sell the same brand bottles as that pacifiers at the same store. We went to the store n we got the bottles(with same kind...lol). Guess what, she loves it too! Or should I say we love it?lol Anyway, she drinks milk so smooth with this bottle, n no spills from her mouth! We found the right bottle for her!

I found their website, didn't know that is Swiss brand...lol Not only its' looks, but its' quality is great as well. Their product is 100% Bisphenol A free, Phtalate, PVC. Visit bibi at http://www.bibi-uk.com/ for more information.

- Posted from my iPad;))

Baby Acne

2010-08-28T17:44:00.002-10:00

Poor Baby Ilah... Now she has some... few... kinda many pimples on her cheeks! Yep, it's known as "baby acne". John n Michele had same thing. I know it will disappear in a couple of weeks, n there's nothing to worry about, but it looks not so great.

Since I am using iPad(which means I don't have to get up n go to the computer to check something), I googled "baby acne".

"Baby acne is very common. It can be present at birth, but more often it shows up after a couple of weeks, usually on the cheeks and sometimes on the forehead, chin, and even the back."

"On the contrary, baby acne is believed to be caused by hormones released by the mother during pregnancy. Absorbed through the placenta, these hormones play an important role in the development of the fetus during the later stages of the pregnancy. These hormones stimulate the oil glands present in the baby's skin and are thought to cause baby acne."

Hmmm... So I knew that it's not serious thing, but I didn't know that it's caused by hormones released by me during pregnancy. Well, there's nothing we can do about it other than keep the area clean n dry. Since she loves taking bath, I think that helps a lil. But I hope it will disappear soon...

- Posted from my iPad;))

Can you see it?

2010-08-25T02:35:00.001-10:00

So there is a interesting museum called "Super Trick Art" in Huis Ten Bosch, which is a full of trick arts. I love this kinda arts! We took picture of most of it, n it'a all on my photo blog, MAMA's Photos http://mamajohnjohn.wordpress.com/ but I'll show you some of it here.:))

Yep, this big beautiful butterfly is a drawing on the wall, not an object!

That's a drawing on the wall too, even a hoop!

Haha, another one! Yep, a drawing on the wall, n Chris was behind the wall.

This is my favorite. It looks like there is a mirror, right? There's nothing between them!

These three men, actually are exactly same size.

There are more of these trick arts on MAMA's Photos, so if you like these arts, please check it out!

- Posted from my iPad;))

Huis Ten Bosch

2010-08-25T01:48:00.001-10:00

Huis Ten Bosch is a huge Dutch theme park in Sasebo. Inside park is really like Holland... well, I've never been to Holland, but all buildings n streets are Dutch style, there's even rivers n bridges, a lot of flowers, n many window mills. So once you get in the park, you would feel like you came to Holland. Yep, it's in Sasebo, Japan.

It's about 20mins from our house, n we always wanted to go to this park. Now, they sell evening tickets, so we finally tried yesterday.

It was soooooo beautiful inside! I wish I could live in there!lol They also have some attractions n rides, some of them are kids friendly too. Like Miffy world.(I guess Miffy is from Holland.)

We went there only evening time, but we definitely wanna go back there when it gets a little cooler.

- Posted from my iPad;))

MAMA's Photos

2010-08-22T06:02:00.001-10:00

I've been trying to find a good way to post all the pictures here, but using my iPad(again, just being lazy... iPad is easier to blog, especially I can do it in my bed!). I mean I could post just as I do now, but the picture size is not what I want to show. N it seems that there's no other options... Just gotta wait till somebody make Blogger iPad App? I don't think so.

So I decided to create another blog just for photos...

MAMA's Photos
http://mamajohnjohn.wordpress.com/

As the title says, this is totally a simple photo blog. It works well, I think... So anyway, please visit this blog as well!

- Posted from my iPad;))

The Last Night at the Hospital

2010-08-19T04:19:00.001-10:00

Finally, it's the last night at this hospital. It was a long week for us... I had a lot of pain here, but I gotta admit, this was a nice stay. All nurses are very nice, the meals were very good, I was so spoiled...

Most of all, nothing but spending time with Baby Ilah made this stay so wonderful. Tonight, I decided to let her sleep by me n enjoy "two of us time".(Chris is sleeping on the couch. He was up all night last night, baby duty/catching up "24" on the computer... So he's completely out tonight.) She's still, kinda awake. She's 5days old but she already makes a lot of faces. Her eyes are wide open, so when she stares at me, it feels like we are having a conversation. Just looking at her, n I never get bored.

Same time I miss John n Michele, even though they always drive me crazy.lol So I am very happy that we can finally go home!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo City,Japan

A Binky Girl!

2010-08-16T05:16:00.001-10:00

Wow... It's her second night n she's already taking a pacifier so good! I could see that she would like it, but that was quick...lol

John was a thumb sucker, so sometimes he used a pacifier but he preferred his thumb. Michele was just not good at it, even though I bought those cute ones every time I found, she didn't like it.

But it seems that Ilah likes it! Yay! N she just falls asleep... It definitely helps to give me some time when I need to make a bottle. She dropped it a few times so far, but she also holds it with her hand too! Again, it's still her second night! She's a binky girl!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Feel like a Princess

2010-08-15T18:52:00.001-10:00

OK, they didn't give me epidural n I had the worst pain... But they sure treat me like a princess!

This morning, they offered me facial massage n all. Actually I never experienced those spa thing. I don't know I always felt that it's just wasting money cuz there won't be anything I can keep after that. Same amount of money for it, I could buy something good, that's how I felt. But since it's free for me(thx to Tricare!), of course I accepted it. It was not only a facial massage, but neck n shoulder, legs n feet... Even my face, I never had somebody to massage my face like that.lol I sure felt like a princess!

Then, today's lunch was SPECIAL. It supposed to be a group lunch with other moms, but since my body don't really work with me, I had it in my room. So please take a look...

I am not sure what kind of soup, but it was good with rolls!

All kind of seafood on spinach. Mmmm... Gooood!

Green salad, loved it.

Steak n vegetable... Yummy!

N desert! Can you believe that?

Man, am I spoiled or what?lol Well, I'm still in a lot of pain though.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo City,Japan

The Best Daddy

2010-08-15T13:40:00.001-10:00

Yep, I am talking about my hubby, Chris. He's been so helpful, n a very very very good daddy to Baby Ilah. Some might say, most of fathers are just in love with their newborns, so they would do same. If so, that's good for them too. But I am very impressed with Chris this time.

As I said, because of the painful n long labor, n also probably my age too, my body is now very useless. Today, Day2, my muscle hurts even more... We were trying to sleep with her in our room last night, but every time she started cry, I had to ask him to take care of her. N he did a tremendous job every time! She was crying cuz she was hungry, then he held her in one arm, made a bottle with the other. I know it's not a super difficult thing, but looking at him doing that at very first night made me proud of him.:))

I wonder how many fathers actually do "baby duty" without wives asking? I know most of my friends' husbands do that, but I've heard some don't do at all. Like here in Japan, especially in old traditional style couples, fathers don't really take care of babies, that I've heard. Of course not all of them, but I wonder, those fathers who don't do "baby duty", I understand that they have to go to work as usual n all(good thing for me that Chris gets 10days off from work), but don't they feel joy from feeding baby or changing diapers? I know they love their babies, but just want to look at them smiling? Baby crying is annoying for them?

Mothers. We feel n find happiness from each moments with our babies, even with stinky diaper or loud crying. But how about fathers? How many fathers feel same way as mothers? Well, of course not probably exactly same, but close feeling. Is that too much to ask?

Back to my hubby. He was not this good with our first one(well he was not home with us when John was born, he came home from the deployment a month later), with our second child he was doing better but not as this time. I mean, he's been helpful with those two n I was very satisfied, but this time, I am like more impressed. He's that good now maybe because she's our third child, maybe now he's more "daddy" than anything. I just feel happier having him as my hubby.:))

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:１丁目,Sasebo City,Japan

Welcome to the World!(Finally!)

2010-08-14T19:35:00.001-10:00

Sunday, August 15th, 2010. 8:01a.m.
Ilah Natsu Hagan
3582g(almost 8lbs.), 52cm(20.47in.)

She's FINALLY here!!! It was a very very long road... Yep, 41wks 4days.

My water broke at 4am on Friday, so we went to the clinic. The contraction was still mild, so obviously we knew it would be a long day. But we didn't expect this long... It took 24 hours to get the "real" contractions!

But the worst part was not that... I had the worst, horrible pain for next 4 hours, until she came out!!! I mean, it's not just because they don't give me epidural, but the position she was facing was not easy way(that's I was told by the midwife later). So she didn't come low easily, n also it was very hard to push her out. The doctor was actually surprised that I could push her out after all. Again, I was in the worst pain though. I'm glad that's over...lol But now... ALL, I really mean ALL of my body hurts! I cannot even pick up my newborn baby, I can't even hold a bottle drink. It takes 5mins to get out of bed, a couple of mins to turn my side on the bed. I walk like a zombie, you know, legs are opened n limping, plus ultra slow. Basically all I can do is this on my iPhone!lol The good thing, I will have to stay in his clinic for another 5days, n nurses will take care of the baby unless we don't want them to do, plus Chris will stay here with me so he can be my arms n legs(more like a walker). Sad part, I couldn't even hold my new camera to take pictures of Ilah... Only on iPhone for now.:(( Oh well, I have tons of time!

Anyway, enough about my crap, I am... we are so happy to see our newborn baby, finally. She's super duper cute, n she seems a very good girl(not much crying!). I just wish I could pick her up so I could spend more time with her... More about Baby Ilah will be up!

Location:１丁目,Sasebo City,Japan

Water Play!

2010-08-07T22:30:00.002-10:00

It's been super duper hot... Because of me n this huge belly, we cannot take kids to the real pool, so we put the lil one in the back of the house. It's nice to play in the water... n daddy joined them too...lol

Sasebo Seaside Festival

2010-08-07T21:55:00.001-10:00

After the OB appt... We found out that the baby is not ready to say hi to us... So we decided to go to see the firework last night. We drove up there n there were so many people. Lucky us, the firework was right by the base, so we parked on base n could watch from there.

Kids n daddy dressed up Japanese style.

I couldn't take a good picture of firework, but it was HUGE! N it was an hour long! We all enjoyed.:))

- Posted from my iPad;))

While we are waiting...

2010-08-07T21:01:00.003-10:00

While we are waiting for this baby girl to be born... Hehehe... I got a new camera! A good good camera! It's for the baby, of course, but also for taking nice pictures of this beautiful place. In this South area of Japan, Kyuushuu, we can drive to many great places in few hours. Now I could go in labor anytime so we didn't try too far, but we've already seen some great views within 2hours driving. So... We need a good camera, I thought.lol

Then I had been figuring out how to transfer pictures from PC to iPad using WiFi(just being lazy to connect n all...), since I am not a Mac user, it was confusing... Then again, I am a geek mom!lol

OK, these are the pics I took last week...

We were at the SA(Service Area - Rest Stop on Expressway), SA in Japan usually has a little park with a nice view. They also sell yummy food.:)) Chris loves to stop at these places.lol

So... We are still waiting n waiting for our baby to be born, n I will try to upload a lot of pics here!

- Posted from my iPad;))

August 3rd...

2010-08-02T14:39:00.001-10:00

Yep, tomorrow is the due date, n yet I don't feel anything! Wait, it's still August 2nd in Hawaii time, huh?lol Anyway I have an appt. tomorrow, I might have to stay at the hospital then, if so I won't be able to come home over a week... Here in Japan, they keep us at hospital for about a week after the birth. If this was my first, that would be good, but i've done this twice already, I know the drill! I would be more comfortable at home... Oh well.

Anyway, all of us really can't wait for this baby girl to decide to come out. We never expected not to see her till this far. I bought many newborn size clothes for her, which is, up to 8lbs. it said... This baby girl probably be over 8lbs. N this is the longest pregnant for me obviously, n tell you what, this only a couple of weeks difference make it really really harder... Now I forgot what's labor like, n feel like that she just wanna stay inside of me forever!lol Haha. I hope not. I hope I'll see her very very soon!

- Posted from my iPad;))

39wks 2d n yet...

2010-07-30T06:53:00.001-10:00

Next Wednesday is the due date. Since I had Michele in 38wks, I was told that I should have had this baby by 38wks. N we went to another appt. today. 39wks 2days... No sign yet. Her estimate weight is almost 8pounds. Hmmm....

When I go see the doctor, not only this case but any check-ups or visits, somehow I would feel great after that. So I have been feeling tired, heavy, uncomfortable all this week, but then today after the appt. I just felt great. Well, of course I still feel anxious n all, but my body feel better. So guess what we did today? We went for a lil drive.lol

This Kyuushuu Area, there are a lot of places to see. Again I am not from this area, so I really don't know anywhere. Thanks to my adventurous husband, we get to enjoy for a lil discovering when we have time. Like today, we didn't really plan to go that far, but we end up going to this kinda historic area, Hirado, which is about 90mins way from where we live. It was actually a great trip. He had his camera with him so he took some great pics n uploaded on FB, we wished if we had a better camera tho. My hubby n John caught a big beetle n brought it home too.

Then all of sudden I thought... "geez... What am I doing here in 39wks pregnant body..."lol

Then again, here I am. I can't sleep...

P.S. My next guess is, having her on this Sunday. August 1st was my dog Achi's birthday. He was always jumping around, which makes sense, cuz this baby girl never rest! While I was blogging right now, she keeps moving... So let's see...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo City,Japan

House, Car, and the Baby

2010-07-06T06:00:00.001-10:00

Moving, military transferring, new place, start from zero... It's been a month since we moved out the house in Hawaii, which means we've been living in hotels for a month. It could have been worse, I mean, at least it's kids' summer break. But still, we didn't expect this much to do.

We found the house we want, n finally moving to our new house next Monday. Then yet, so many things to get... Like, I totally forgot that most housings in Japan don't have enough cabinets for dishes. Obviously we have to get a china cabinet(n that's not cheap!). We can borrow all the big appliances from base, that's good. But still need to get all little little stuffs, like cleaning supplies, pans n pots(we tossed most of ours), all the spices, e.t.c... It's nice to start with all the new stuff, but not so nice in our wallet.lol

We bought a van(a station wagon, they say), of course used, about 2 weeks ago, but A/C broke so brought back to the dealer, they fixed, got it back, 30mins later it broke again, brought it back, they were working on it, but not so good n ending up to trade to another vehicle. We are getting that one on Friday. This one is a wagon, n it's nice n dark purple(not a funky one!), we know Michele would love it, n I hope this is it. (I don't wanna say no more n jinx it!)

OK, the baby... According to the doctor, it can be anytime already. I am exactly 36weeks today(not counting out the time difference tho), so just in case, I bought some newborn onesies. All the baby stuff will arrive to the new house next Tuesday too. Since I can stay in the hospital up to a week if I want to, now all I need to bring to the hospital with me is just baby clothes... I think. I have my OB appt. on Friday, so I hope we'll find out a lil more, but I was thinking maybe she'll be born on John's birthday?lol That would be cool!

There's still a lot of things to do, n honestly we are stressed about it too. But we are also trying to relax n enjoy this new place. We visited a few tourist spots too. I feel bad for kids that they have to be stuck in the hotel room with me while their daddy's working, but they are also enjoying to see new places n a new culture.

Moving to new place is not an easy thing, but all depends on how we think, it can be a little fun, like an adventure to our new life!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo City,Japan

Hmmm... Awake again...

2010-06-28T08:53:00.002-10:00

Just past 3am here... I woke up for going to the bathroom like 30mins ago, n now I'm awake n can't go back to sleep. Oh well, I'm almost 35wks pregnant now, so no wonder it's like that. The doctor said I will probably have this baby girl earlier than due date, possibly in a couple of weeks? I hope, at least after we move to the house!

Yep, we found "the" house! We went to see this house yesterday, we knew we were gonna like it. It's a lil over budget, but couldn't give it up. It has 5.5 bedrooms(.5 is for storage? It's big enough for a nursery but no A/C), 1 full Japanese bath(toilet is separated from the actual bathroom. N only 1 toilet... That's the only negative point.), all rooms are smaller than what we had in the states, but bigger than what we saw in the other houses here, there are 2 nice size storage downstairs(besides that .5 room), has a big built-in book shelf in the master bedroom, also a nice big built-in shelf in a hallway downstairs, I guess we can use that for dried/can food storage. These all storage future is very rare in Japan. We have so much craps, so we really need it. The house was built in 2004, so only 6yrs old, which is pretty new, all floors are wood floor too. I wish I could take a picture, but no lights inside yet n was heavy raining outside. Now we are gonna just wait for the contract between base n the realtor, I hope everything will go smooth...

Back to the baby subject... I will not be able to get epidural this time... Epidural is not popular in Japan, most of women here have birth without it. There is only 1 doctor who do epidural in this area n he(she?) is overbooked till November. Oh well, I should be okay... I am pretty sure that I won't have a long labor. I will probably just break Chris's arm, that's all.

Damn, I am not sleepy at all... I couldn't sleep well last night either, as long as I keep myself busy in daytime, I won't get sleepy later. But I think I need to get a lil more sleep... Gotta try going back to sleep now!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sasebo City,Japan

Happy Father's Day!!

2010-06-20T02:35:00.002-10:00

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a wonderful day today. We went to Saikai Pearl Sea Resort, which is 10mins from base by taxi. First we enjoyed 50mins cruise on the pirate ship "Kaiou", then we had a great lunch. After that we went to the aquarium which we really loved it! They have 3 young dolphins, they love to play, even between the shows. They just throw balls out of the pool n play catch ball with us. Kids had a great time there!

After we left there, it was time for dinner. So I asked "Daddy"(Chris) what he wants to eat. He's been craving for clams... Well, he always loves clams. So we tried this Japanese "Izakaya"(like bar & grill type) restaurant by Sasebo station. OMG, this place was awsome! Not so expensive but everything was delicious! He had 2 and a half bowls of clams! Yep, he was happy.;))

I hope all fathers are having great Father's day with their family!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Japan

I'm baaaaack!

2010-06-19T13:14:00.002-10:00

Yep, I am back to Japan, well it's already been a week since we got here... But most importantly we finally got us cellphones, which means I am back to my mobile life! Yay! We had those rental cellphones but it was just for receiving calls(incoming calls are free, but they charge us about $1 per minute for making calls!) n txt messages which we were having hard time typing.lol

First, we were gonna wait for iPhone4, then we couldn't even get a reservation... N I was told that we may not get it for a while... So... I am not happy about this at all but... Couldn't wait any longer, no choice... We bought iPhone3Gs... Yes, right around the time iPhone4 comes out... I need to close my eyes n get over this!!lol

But I am happy that I am back to my mobile life.:)) It makes my life so much easier n functional. Couldn't live without this another day!lol I hope I will be able to blog n show some Japan here on Rollin' MAMA!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Japan

iPad

2010-05-13T22:53:00.001-10:00

A lil late mother's day gift... Yes! I got iPad!!!

Well, mainly it's mine, but we thought it would be great for the long flight for kids. They can watch movies(which I did download a HD movie on my PC this morning, yea, it took only 4hrs...:((), the good thing is the battery lasts 10 hours, it's very light, no DVDs to carry, n we found headphone splitter so both kids can connect their headphones. Oh, btw, watching movies or videos on iPad is great! I've seen some negative reviews about the quality, but to me, it's better than those portable DVD players. Even not HD movies.

OK, I'm still playing with this, my new toy, n I had to find a way to blog on iPad, of course.:)) I downloaded this app called 'Blog Cast' n trying right now, the problem was there's no connection to digital cameras(I think). It seems that the one of way is using sync via iTunes from PC, which would be no meaning blogging on iPad. Or I can take pics on my phone n e-mail it, save it on iPad, then blog. That's what I did now. But then, why don't I just moblog from my phone? I hope they will have some kinda way to upload pics directly from digital cameras... Or is there??? But anyway, it's easy to type compare to those touch phones, just because touch pad is much bigger, I guess.

Other than those... Still checking other apps, tried one game, it's fun, well we don't use iPhone so we are like "WOW!!".lol I like those apps for kids too. N they have some interactive kids books using iBooks too, which look great.

Overall so far, I really like it.:))

- Posted from my iPad;))

Movie Night: Where the Wild Things Are

2010-05-08T21:33:00.002-10:00

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

When we saw this movie’s preview at the movie theater, I mean just watching the preview made me almost cry…lol Well, it’s probably just me, I’m very weak for ‘monsters with good heart’ kinda story.lol Of course I didn’t know this was based on the famous children book til my friend told me, so we got this book(with the plushy doll of one of the monsters for John) right away…lol

Then we couldn’t go to see this movie at the theater, n same time I heard not-so-good reviews about this movie. What I heard was, it’s not a very fun movie for kids to watch. Hmmm… But John loves the book already, so he wanted to watch. I was kind of worried if he would finish watching this movie without getting bored…

Actually we really liked it. It was definitely way too difficult(boring?) for Michele. She didn’t fall asleep though. The story was a lil difference than the original story from the book. I would say… more deep? I didn’t think John really understood the story, though he said he understood the movie n enjoyed it when I asked him. Oh well, if he enjoyed, that’s good.

I really enjoyed it too. It reminded me of my childhood, ‘imaginary-world’ like most of us should have. And same time, it reminds me that we should not forget how we used to feel, how our kids feel.

When I was a lil girl, I was… probably 7 or 8 yrs old… One day I was staying at my cousin’s house. I have twins girls cousins who are just a year older than me. We didn’t live so far either, so we are very close. Anyway, that day, my aunt was mad at us about something… I don’t remember what we did, but it made us feel that “adults would never understand us, kids!” So this three girls thought that we should go somewhere else all by ourselves. Well, it’s not dynamic as ‘run-away’, we probably thought, just a lil adventure. First we went to the train station(which is just a local train), bought cheapest tickets, n hop on a train! Of course we didn’t go that far…lol I guess we got scared? We called our parents from the next stop(which is probably 3 minutes train ride). Oh yea, we got in a big trouble, but we thought we made the point. The point was “We(kids) can do anything if we really want to!” that was, I think.

Of course I was in Japan, n it’s almost 30yrs ago, so it was a lot safer than now, but now I’m a mother, if my kids did that because I didn’t explain to them good enough? I’m not blaming on my aunt for what we did. Yes, we were wrong. Now I know. But would kids understand that? Because I had this little experience, I would say it’s all up to us, parents. We are the one who have to think how they feel. It’s easy to forget especially when we are frustrated. But even just once, we show them that we are not trying to understand them, they might feel left out, they might do something stupid. When we have to teach kids something, we have to make sure that kids understand why we are telling them so.

That’s how I felt, I was reminded by watching this movie. Well… I almost cried the last ‘monsters’ scene too, but that was just because I’m weak for those ‘monsters with good hearts’.lol

Movie Night: The Princess and the Frog

2010-05-08T20:46:00.001-10:00

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

It was a very fun movie that we will probably watch again and again.

The story sure was original, I mean, it was not the story known as “The Princess and the Frog”. It’s more fun! The main characters were frogs in most of time, not in ‘the princess’ and ‘the prince’, so if lil girls expected this as one of those princess movies, this would be a lil difference?lol More like ‘the adventure of the frogs’ kind? So not only girls, but boys can enjoy it too. John loved it, Michele loved it, we liked it too.

OK, so if I was still young… or even a lil girl… would I kiss the frog????? NO!!!lol It’s cute if they are cartoon characters, but it’s really slimy n gross!!! I used to afraid of frogs. Like if I see one on the street, I would turn around n change the route. UGH! So, it’s impossible for me to imagine that, even the original story of ‘The Princess and the Frog’. If it was ‘The Princess and the DOG’, I would love it though.lol I know, I know, then it would be nothing! The point must be ‘kiss something ugly’, right? Haha.

Actually this movie was about more than that. So it’s very good movie to watch with kids, just as all other Disney movies.:))

Time to get a...

2010-04-30T13:08:00.000-10:00

Haircut! This is her 2nd time. She likes her hair long, so just a trim... She's all happy with this cute lil car chair, n she got a toy as well(actually, we found out after we left there, but she grabbed a handful of toys... Shhh!) Now she feels like she's a princess!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

My First ‘Best Friend’, Forever…

2010-04-28T09:58:00.001-10:00

That was almost 5yrs ago, I met her when we moved to San Diego. My first impression to her was, “Wow, she is beautiful!”. With her blonde curly hair and tanned skin, she was so bright just as her personality. She was not just nice to me, but she let me feel very comfortable to be her friend. She was my first ‘best friend’ in the United States.

I mean, all my friends here in U.S. are very nice n very friendly, n I love them all. But she was a little difference. She told me many things, like almost everything, n she asked me my opinions for each things. I could feel that she trusted me as her friend. N so I could be so comfortable trusting her as well.

She was always there for me, for all of us. When I needed help, she offered me even before I asked. She was that kinda person, she loved helping her friends.

She always brought laughter. We, this I would call our military family in this neighbor, did a lot of pot-luck style gathering, like every weekend. If she was not there, we felt like we were missing something. Then she showed up, the party started.

One day… that was December 31st, 2006. She came to our door n said “I’m gonna take you to get nose piercing today! I don’t care if you don’t want to, if you are scared, I’m getting you one today!” I was already over 30yrs old, so I was a lil surprised, I thought I was a lil too old for that(that’s what I thought back then). But anyway she got me one. I liked it. She said “See? I told you, it would look good on you!” You know it’s like we were teens, she got me nose piercing all of sudden, n got me excited n all…

When we had to leave San Diego, I promised her that we’ll come back. We always planned to move back to San Diego in the future. That plan kept getting stronger after we left. Because we felt that was our home. I was not just saying that, but that place was our home. So every time I talked to her on the phone, I missed her, but we’ll be back there, n everything will be back.

It was so sudden. I never thought this would end this way. I never thought I won’t be able to see her again. That breaks my heart. I won’t be able to see her again. There were still so many things I wanted to talk to her, do with her, so many places to go…

I am very sorry for her family. Especially we cannot be there for them right now… We may live far away from each other, but we’ll always be there for her family. They are family to us as well. Since we met them, they’ve always been, n they will always be.

I’ll never ever forget about her, n I’ll live with my memory of her. I’ll never forget what you taught me, what we laughed together, what we did together… N I’ll pass on to ppl I will meet, what a friend can be in our life.

R.I.P. Misty. You’ll live in my memory forever. Thank you for being such a great friend. Thank you for letting me being in your life. The time you n me spent together was irreplaceable…

Facebook Addict

2010-04-19T09:37:00.001-10:00

I know it’s not just me…lol Well, Facebook games are very good when you are really really bored, which I am. There’re tons of games which can connect with your friends as well. Most of games don’t give you stress, just update whenever you have time.

I’ve wrote about its games like FarmTown n Ameba Pico(I get a lot of comments asking about where to get dinosaurs n stuff, honestly, I don’t know… Sorry!). Now there are more games(means I am still bored n have a lot of time…) I’m into.

Haha, basically most of games are like Sim game, but a good thing about it is, again, connect with your FB friends. We don’t have to be online at the same time, but seeing your friends sent you gifts or visited your game, make us feel closer than just being a friend on FB, that’s what I think, at least.

We(as me n my hubby) play these game on each PC, sitting next to each other, sending stuffs to each other… I know, I know, we are pathetic!lol

Oh, n one more thing I gotta say! It’s probably very annoying to see all games’ announcements on your FB page if you don’t play those games. Trust me, I once thought it’s very annoying!(even tho I play those games.) Then I finally found out, we can get the stuff from those announcements as well! Ha! Now I unhide all apps announcements, n check it all the time!!

Power Outage

2010-04-13T09:04:00.001-10:00

We lost power as its scheduled. I totally forgot about it. It's only 30mins(at least it's supposed to be...), so Michele's sitting on the top of the couch n enjoying the view outside... Is she a cat???lol

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Pajama Day

2010-04-13T07:35:00.001-10:00

This time in a year...lol Yep, this week is the crazy week in John's school. Today is Pajama Day. Goin 2 School in pajamas... How weird is that!?lol FYI, I made him change his jammies this morning even though he said "Mommy! I don't have to change clothes today! It's pajama day!"lol

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Already Over A Year…

2010-04-13T07:09:00.001-10:00

Wow… It’s been already over a year since I’ve started this blog… That’s AMZING!!! Especially I’m the person who cannot keep one thing for a long time…lol

So I was looking some posts from a year ago… A year ago, Chris just left to Iraq, n I was SUPER ACTIVE.lol We went to the pool very often too. It makes me feel that I HAVE TO go to the pool again… well, we are leaving Hawaii in 2 months, no more nice sun n tanning, no more pool like now, gotta do, gotta do… I know n I want to, but this pregnant make my butt heavier n almost glued on my couch…lmao Plus unbelievable sicky days… Ugh.

Can't Help...

2010-04-12T21:45:00.001-10:00

I know the flash is bothering them, n I know it's same every time, but I can't help takin pics of my kids' sleepin face! Yes, I do this a lot, thx 2 the camera in my phone...lol maybe I should make a scrapbook with only their sleeping pics...lol But I know it's not just me! If you are a mom, you must've done it too! ...right??

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

John’s School Picture – Spring 2010

2010-04-08T07:51:00.001-10:00

LOVE IT!!! Too bad Michele don’t get one yet…

He was missing a couple of teeth, but he hid it very natural way.lol I love school pictures… We didn’t have such a thing in Japan! Can’t wait for the next one!!!lol

Ice-Box Cookie

2010-04-07T12:55:00.001-10:00

When we made Christmas cookies, I had some cookie dough left. So what I did was, flat the dough, put cocoa mixture(those ones in a packet), then rolled it, kept in the freezer. I almost forgot about it.lol

So today, I cut it, n baked it. It was good! N these lil swills came out cute, I think.

Ice-Box cookies are very easy to make, n whenever you wanna bake it, just cut it n bake it. I think I may wanna try other recipes as well… Do you have good recipes??

Happy Easter! 2010

2010-04-07T12:47:00.001-10:00

This year’s Easter was very special for our kids. Not only they were getting gorgeous Easter baskets(I’ve been working for it since a month ago!), but we could spend Easter with ‘American’ Grandma!

Like a lot of moms do(as I saw), I made their Easter Basket this year as well. Well… I just don’t like those pre-made baskets… lol So I put their favorite toys in the baskets… For John, lately he says he wants to start to play soccer, so put a real soccer ball, n of course new John Cena action figure…lol n some lil stuff. For Michele, now she wants to be a ballerina, so she’s got a ballerina dress n a ballerina bear, n some lil stuff.

Then of course, egg hunt… We had a LOT of eggs…lol We had so many, kids wanted to quit before they picked all the eggs…lol

So Daddy helped them. “These are MINE!!!” LMAO

Well, kids got a lot, more than enough. They had fun!

Daddy got a lot of candies too, n I was very happy cuz we had ‘American’ Grandma’s Easter meal! YUM!

‘American’ Grandma

2010-04-07T12:28:00.001-10:00

Our kids have 2 grandmas, my mom - ‘Japanese’ Grandma n Chris’s mom ‘American’ Grandma. ‘American’ Grandma’s visiting us for a week.

Last time they saw her was about 3yrs ago, which Michele was still very little. But she recognize her from the pictures n she’s talked to her on the phone, so she was not shy at all when she saw her at the airport. Of course John remembers her, n they didn’t leave her alone since she got here.lol

Cho-Cho

2010-04-07T12:13:00.002-10:00

Since he got his teeth pulled out(now he has only 10 teeth left), he’s been happy n being a baby. Well, we felt very bad(of course), n we spoiled him a bit… That’s okay though.

He still looks like a puppy. The doctor said that he’s very healthy as his age. Now we are going back to Japan, how he’s gonna react? Will he be happy? Confused?? Well he’ll definitely be happy to live with my mom again!

The Big Island – Volcano! n goin home…

2010-03-30T16:01:00.002-10:00

This is the reason why we used Hilo airport even though our hotel was the other side of the island. Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. It was not a great weather, but it seems this side(Hilo side) of the island is usually not sunny as the other side(Kona side).

This is a HUGE park, so basically we drove all around. First point, we stopped at Jaggar Museum where we could also see the Volcano steam.

It was freezing there!!!

Then we went to Lava Tube, which we walk into the rain forest to get to this cave made by lava.

It was SPOOKY! Haha.

Then we drove around the whole park, stopped here n there, and took some pics.

It wasn’t a great day, but we could still see this huge, wild, historic, amazing, great nature. The view from the ocean side of the park was so amazing… It was like a scene from some movies, or we time-tripped to long, long, long time ago…

We had only 3 days on this island… It’s still in same Hawaii islands, but this Hawaii Island had a totally difference face compare to Oahu. We enjoyed 120%, n also learned how great this planet is…

By the time we got to the airport, kids were exhausted…

We definitely wanna come back to this island. I strongly recommend to you all for the family vacation. I mean Oahu is fun, but the Big Island… Hawaii Island is a wonderful place for families to spend their quality time!

This is the end of our vacation to the Big Island 2010, but it’s definitely… to be continued!

The Big Island – Bye-Bye, Hilton…

2010-03-30T15:30:00.002-10:00

It was really heart breaking… We didn’t wanna leave this place at all!

So we didn’t leave until last minute, which their check-out time was noon, so we walked around…lol *John was exhausted from all playing n sun burn…lol

We had breakfast at this cereal-2-go place(I forgot the name of this store). Well of course kids loved it!

Then it was time to leave… Aww…

Well, we still had a plan for this day. We promised to ourselves that we will come back here again, n we left this paradise…

Now, let’s hit the road n drive back to Hilo side!

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Day 2

2010-03-30T15:10:00.001-10:00

Yep. I was too excited, n I woke up when outside was still dark…lol I even tried to go back to sleep, but nope, couldn’t sleep! So I was waiting n waiting… Around 7am, ok, now I can wake them up, maybe?

This morning, we went to the breakfast buffet. I love breakfast buffet! It feels a lot like a vacation, right? Especially, this gorgeous hotel! Gotta have one!!

They had all kinds… really! Other than regular breakfast thing as bacon, egg, toast, cereal, waffle, muffins, sausage, potatoes, salads n fruits… they had all kinda pastries, they even had some Japanese breakfast as rice, miso soup, salmon, oshinko(Japanese Pickles) n sea-weed… They make omelet as you like, right there too. Unfortunately I was too busy eating n forgot to take pictures…lol

Went back to the room n change to the bathing suits again… N the day 2 activity, we started with Pedal Boat on Lagoon Beach. According to my hubby, this Lagoon Beach in Hilton Waikoloa Village is the biggest man-made lagoon in the U.S. Besides enjoying as regular beach, you can snorkel, kayak n stuff. We picked Pedal Boat.

We could see a lot of sea creatures in the water… Again, thanks to our water proof camera, we could take some pics in the water as well!

After the Pedal Boat, we hit the pool again. Kids love the pool!!! We really could stay all day in the pool, REALLY! Day 2, we bought a big turtle floating boat, so it was as twice as fun!

N more…

Michele needed some break… but John didn’t waste any time!

Daddy went to the big slide again…

n who’s foot is THAT!?

Then we went to the hot Jacuzzi!!

It actually felt so good on our sun burned skin… n we didn’t want to get out…lol

After we went back to the room, it was already time for dinner. We had dinner at Lagoon Grill which is right next by the Dolphin pool so we could see the dolphins swimming while we were eating… n food was very good too!

Yeah, look at those sun-burned face!! We enjoyed full 2days in Hilton Waikoloa Village, n still it was just not enough!! All we could talk about at this point is… we are going to save money n must come back, only it will be for at least a week next time!

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Day 1

2010-03-30T13:06:00.002-10:00

Alright! Now I am gonna start brag about how we spent the days(well, only 2 days…) in this wonderful hotel!

Oh, these are the inside of the lil train to the tower… Exciting!

Got to the room, ate lunch… No time to rest, put the bathing suits on n LET’S GO PLAY!!!

Even before get to the pool area, there’re a lot of spots we couldn’t help taking pictures…lol

This is the water fall by Lagoon Beach!

n the back of the water fall…lol

And this is the our tower side of pool!!! WOW!!!

Kiddy pool is made like a lil sand beach… It’s not really sand, but tiny rocks kind, so it doesn’t stick to your body… Nice…

Michele TOTALLY LOVED it!

I loved it too! Let’s get TAN!!!

John liked “big kid pool”…lol Good thing, it’s connected, n separated by the rock path so I could just lie down on the sun bed, n watch both kids.

Thanks to our water-proof digital camera, we could take these funny pictures as well…

Daddy looks like a sea monster…lol

They have some water slides on the other side of pool too! I wish I could go slide too… Maybe next time, I won’t be pregnant(I hope!).

They went again, n again, n AGAIN!!

Daddy went for the BIG one!

After the pool, we went back to our tower on the boat…

Then took a shower, changed clothes… Then we went to the shopping center to get dinner…

Then we walk around the hotel… It’s fun walking even inside this Hilton Waikoloa Village. A lot to explore, really.

Since we had a VERY VERY long day, we were exhausted by 8pm…lol Then still, I was too excited to sleep… But the bed was so comfortable…

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Great Views

2010-03-30T12:24:00.001-10:00

And of course these VIEWS!!! It’s exactly PARADISE! Everywhere we look, it’s just more than wonderful views!!! Never got bored!

This is actually the view from our room…

Sunset view from our tower… AMAZING!

We could walk by the shore as well… Look how clear the water is!

Not in the picture you can see, but we actually saw a whale too!

From the side of our tower to the other side of tower…

These are by the pool… Isn’t that nice…?

Water fall! They have one by Lagoon Beach, n a few lil ones at pool area. How fun!!!

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Statues

2010-03-30T12:11:00.001-10:00

They have nice(interesting) statues everywhere too! It starts with Horse Fish? …SEA HORSE!?!?!?

This cracked me up! Good one, Hilton! N inside hotels, we could find a lot of statues… Most likely kinda ancient Chinese style??

I totally forgot to take pictures of them, but they also had all 12 animals statues of Chinese (and Japanese) Zodiac, in Chinese soldier style! First we found a pig looking soldier statue, and a horse face one next, then a snake face one… Then I realized this must be 12 animals of Chinese Zodiac! Yes, we found all 12 animals, as a mouse, a cow, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a sheep, a monkey, a bird, a dog and a hog. Damn, I should have take pics of all!!! Maybe next time…lol

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Animals

2010-03-30T11:56:00.001-10:00

OK, before I start how we spent our vacations in Hilton… There’re a lot to show about this place. They have a great view, they have many interesting statues, they have animals n birds…

We can find these animals everywhere! So it’s very fun for kids too.

The river around the tower which the boats go around, if you look in the water there are a lot of colorful fishes… How cute!

This is by the Lagoon tower, they have Flamingos, Geese, n Tortoise. It’s like a lil zoo!

N this is one of dolphin they have! It’s also by the Lagoon tower, so we could even see these dolphins swimming n jumping(or should I say flipping?) from our room as well.

It’s more than these we could find, like day 2 we did Pedal Boat in Lagoon Beach, there we could find a lot of sea creatures, n those islands birds(?) like cranes, we could see from the boat.

Oh, I forgot one more! This is what I found n I couldn’t help take picture of it!

Gecko! Well we have geckos everywhere in Hawaii, even Oahu, but I never seen this bright green one! Just like that Geico Gecko! It just WOW me…lol

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Hilton Waikoloa Village

2010-03-30T11:41:00.002-10:00

Ta-da!! This is the hotel we stayed!! I’ve heard this place is SUPER DUPER GREAT. It’s huge so we transfer inside this hotel on a train n a boat, a lot to do n all… From Kona, we drove past Kona Airport n about 45mins to an hour from there…

This Waikoloa Village has Hilton hotel, Hilton resort condos, Marriott hotel n 2 shopping centers. 1 of them has all expensive brands as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany… well we didn’t even go to this shopping center…lol The other one has some restaurants n some stores.

We went inside the Hilton Hotel… At the front lobby… OMG… It’s a PARADISE!!!!

They have 3 towers of hotel rooms. Our room was in the Lagoon Tower, which we had a ocean view plus could see the dolphins they have. We can walk to each towers, of course, but they also have a train n a boat to get to each tower. We had all luggage so we took a train to get to our tower this time.

N these are the view from the train! PARADISE!!!

Isn’t that nice??? This river is for the boat. It’s like Jungle cruise(Disney Land)!

N we got to our tower, then again, the view from our tower…

This is the room we stayed…

There was a cute dolphin doll in the room, which said in the tag “Take home with me! Call XXXX and we’ll charge $15 to your room.” Yea, right… I wish that was a gift… Before we even think, Michele took it n ripped the tag off… “It’s FOR ME???” Nice welcome, Hilton!

…to be continued.

The Big Island – Drive to Kona

2010-03-30T09:28:00.001-10:00

I was gonna update the blog with A TONS of pics as soon as we came back from our vacation, then… I was soooooo tired n literally slept all days next 4 days or so…lol I gotta admit, my body n mind was not ready to come back to the real life…lol

Anyway, it’s been 2 weeks since we came home… so let me just start to “brag” about this beautiful place!

Day 1: When we got to Hilo Airport, it was raining so hard!!! Well it was very early n still dark. But by the time we were done with renting a car, the weather cleared up! Yay!

The hotel we stayed was the other side… Kona side of the island, but we purposely landed to Hilo airport. Drive from Hilo to Kona is about 3 to 4 hours… Well, first off, there was nothing… just a road… then about an hour later, this great view was welcoming us!

I seriously thought that we actually got to Heaven!! Well… the flight kinda scared me, so…lol It’s hard to show in the pic, but probably the time(early morning) was perfect, n this huge land! It was a breath taken view!

Then me n kids took a lil nap while Chris was driving…lol We got to Kona around 10:30a.m.

It actually reminded me of Point Loma in San Diego a lot. The view was nicer though. There weren’t much stores or to do as I expected, so we decided to hit the road to the hotel…

…to be continued.

Rain, rain, go away!

2010-03-15T06:11:00.001-10:00

We just land on the BIG ISLAND! It's actually raining right now... Well, it's probably just for a while... I hope...lol
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

We are on...

2010-03-15T04:55:00.001-10:00

...the airplane! Yay! It'll be a short flight, about an hour. Outside is still dark... Kids are so excited!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

We are at...

2010-03-15T03:46:00.001-10:00

...the airport. It's 3:45am now, our flight is 5am, but the terminal won't open til 4am... Didn't know that...lol

We are ready 2 go!!!!!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Dolphin Encounter

2010-03-14T11:51:00.001-10:00

Yep, it was the time for Dolphin Encounter!!! He had been SOOOOO EXCITED, then a lil nervous as well…lol

This would make a GREAT memory… I wish I could do it too…

It’s about an hour program(include getting ready n stuff). They have higher programs(which of course costs more…) such as Dolphin Swim or Royal Swim… Well, after what we saw, we definitely would like to do Royal Swim in the future…

OK, back to Dolphin Encounter. Since I couldn’t go very close, here’s some pics I took…

N, here’s the pics taken by the park photographer…

Isn’t that COOL or what!? John n Chris both said the dolphin was very soft, just like silk. Awwww… I really wanted to do this!!! N I am pretty sure you(who are reading this blog right now!) want to do this too!

John was freezing in the water… Obviously the life jacket was a lil too big for him, so it kept floating him up even though the water they were at was not too deep for him.

But of course he enjoyed this experience! We also bought the DVD they recorded this program. It’s very cool. We can watch again n again!

OK, here’s more pics of Dolphin! Enjoy!

Sea Life Park Hawaii!!

2010-03-14T11:27:00.001-10:00

Yes, we went to Sea Life Park Hawaii!! Since we’ve been to Sea World in San Diego, we heard it’s nothing better than that, but hey, it was a very nice relaxing place!!

Plus… The reason we decided to do this was, they have a great deal of Dolphin Encounter for Kama’aina(means local residence) n Military, which is only $49 include admission AND lunch! WOW!!

Unfortunately… I couldn’t do it because I’m pregnant, n since each child needs to be accompanied by one adult, so which means younger one – Michele couldn’t do that either. *FYI: Children older than 1yr-old can do this Dolphin Encounter at Sea Life Park Hawaii.

But we still enjoyed the whole park. Kids were so happy to see n feed their favorite sea animal, Sea Turtles…

N enjoyed the sea lion show…

Saw Stingray n other sea creatures…

Tip-toed by the scary bird(I swear this bird was angry with us!)…

Enjoyed another great view…

See? This is a very nice place to spend n relax a day!

Now the dolphin time…!

…to be continued…

Some Great Views from the Island We Live…

2010-03-14T10:51:00.001-10:00

After we dropped Cho-cho at the Vet, we headed to some place. It’s been very windy n cloudy this past week, but it was GREAT DAY yesterday. So we stopped at some scenic points n took some pictures… Enjoy!

Just for 5 days…

2010-03-14T10:33:00.001-10:00

Our Spring Vacation has started! Thanks to our humongous tax refund this year(then again, it’s came close to the bottom already…lol), we’ve planned some good trip n activities for our spring vacation.

Then we had one problem… Our lovely pet, Cho-cho. We can’t take him to our travel. So we searched dog kennels…

First, of course we checked some place Military has. They do, but it locates right next to the quarantine place… well, it’s basically same as the quarantine! He’s been thru that almost hell for over 3 months, I would say he’s traumatized! We couldn’t put him back that place again. So I searched more…

Then I found this nice Vet/Pet hotel(well, they have “boarding”). We checked him in for regular check-up there 2wks ago, he’s healthy, got some vaccines, n we found that he needs some of his teeth extracted. Ohhhh, poor Cho-cho! But it’s better for him do this now than later. Well it costs a lot, but again, thanks to our humongous tax refund…lol So since he’ll have to stay there for 5 days, we decided for him to do that dental surgery plus procedure while he’s staying there.

Yesterday was his check-in to this Vet for his boarding. We won’t leave the island til Sunday night, but they close the window on Sunday, so we had to leave him yesterday…

In the truck… He doesn’t like travel in the truck…

Our kids loves Cho-cho, they are already missin him…

He know what’s going on, n getting nervous…

Don’t worry, Cho-cho! We’ll be back in 5 days!!!

Poor Cho-cho… I’m worried about him going thru the dental surgery, but the people at this place are VERY NICE. So he’s in good hands…

We miss you already, Cho-cho!

I know, I know, we are…

2010-03-12T08:48:00.001-10:00

A stupid couple.lol

The thing I blog about just the other day, Ameba Pico on FB. We(as me n my husband) are so into this thing, stupidly. It’s probably funnier playing with him. We sit in the same room, 6 feet from each other, playing this thing. Yea, I know, I know. We are so stupid.lol

Here’s some pics…

How cute we are…lol

Hmmm… it looks familiar.

Yep, we have our time too, huh?

…n I’m mad! What did he do!?

St. Patty day theme!

See? It looks fun, right??? Some stranger asked us “You guys are a real couple, aren’t you? How cute!” HOW DID SHE FIND OUT!?!?!?lmao If you are interested in this stupid game, please join us n find us there!

N, there’s the second one…

2010-03-10T20:53:00.001-10:00

I almost forgot! Well, I don’t know if I will keep record for all of them, but I would like to do that just so we can see these pictures n exactly when it happened.

Yep, John lost his second tooth last night. It’s just about a week since he lost the first tooth. Now he’s more excited about “Tooth Fairy $5” than afraid of loosing another tooth.

Yea, look at his smile! Haha. So he found his $5 from “Tooth Fairy” this morning. He already spent his $5 from the last one… he’s already bugging us to take him to stores so he can get another junk…

Cream Puff… Yum!

2010-03-10T20:32:00.001-10:00

When I see somebody eating something on TV… then I feel like that food. My husband always tells me “You just wanna eat it, because you saw it!” Yeah, that’s right. I wanna eat what they eat! So today, not TV, but I was reading somebody’s blog… She was talking about the cream puff with strawberry n whipped cream which she found in her parents’ refrigerator, n she ate it in the morning. She was so nice so she put the pic of the wonderful cream puff on her blog as well…

………………

“I WANT TO EAT CREAM PUFF!!!!!”

My hubby cannot say no to his pregnant wife’s sudden cravings.lol So we went to get some cream puff. There is one good cream puff store called “Beard Papa’s” near our house, like 5 mins driving.

This “Beard Papa’s”, actually from Japan. By now, you probably know that Japanese sweets are not too sweet, which is GREAT! So this store is one of my favorite.

See? Now you wanna eat it too, don’t you?lol We all love it!

Kids like chocolate cream ones, my husband likes their éclair, n I usually get their original vanilla one, but today, this new one caught my eyes…

Strawberry Short Cake!!!!!

Original ones are custard cream inside, but this one is whipped cream with a bunch of fresh strawberry inside… mmmmm… YUM!!! It’s definitely my favorite now!

Ameba Pico

2010-03-09T09:38:00.001-10:00

Do you remember I introduced the Japanese blog site which has those avatar social network thingy? Guess what I found… They started U.S. version on FB! Yay!

It’s basically same, more face figures, less items for now. It’s just like those FB App games like YoVille n others. It’s cuter though.lol

For those who confuse n think “WTH is this game?” “What do I do?”, let me tell you a lil…lol

There’s no farm to crop, just communicate to others will give you “gummies”. If you listen to the ‘how to start’ kinda demo, you’ll get 5 tokens, which you can exchange to anything in the shop. To buy items, you will need that token or Ameba Gold. You can buy Ameba Gold via PayPal, or I guess there’re another way to earn Ameba Gold. You also can buy some of items with gummies as well, mostly in vender machines. You can earn gummies by doing some new stuff(moving furniture, changing clothes, go travel, e.t.c.), or get Pico Props. Usually if you give Props, you’ll get Props back.

So this is my Pico, n my room!

In Japanese one, it’s connected with their blog service, so we can earn gold by blogging n stuff. I am not sure how far they will go with this U.S. version… I hope there will be more in the future.

Wow… I talked so geeky… That’s enough!lmao

A Week Younger

2010-03-09T09:19:00.002-10:00

I had another Ultrasound appt yesterday. It was for cervix length checking. But before starting internal ultrasound, she also checked the baby’s measuring.

March 8, 2010 -18w5d-

"A week younger..."

Everything looked fine. Actually she is a week younger size, but it’s not a big difference to change the due date. So, it’s good.lol Her heart beat is fine too!

Cervix length was fine as well. Good… I’m still nervous about that. Especially we are going to the Big Island for our vacation next week.

Lately, my everyday feeling routine is same… Morning, I’m fine, but not hungry so most likely skip breakfast or eat just fruit. After take John to school, I play or blog on my computer a lil bit(?).lol Around 10:00am to 10:30am, I get hungry, so I have early lunch with Michele(usually leftover from the night before dinner). Then around noon, I get extremely tired n sleepy, followed by headache… I close my eyes for 30mins to an hour, but cannot really sleep.

I definitely eat less than before I got pregnant this time. I know I supposed to eat for 2, but my stomach got smaller, seriously… It’s not like me! I’m the person who LOVE to eat! Well, I eat healthier too though. But I gotta eat some more to help the baby to grow…

John’s Tooth

2010-03-04T08:10:00.001-10:00

It’s been about a week… John’s bottom tooth had been wiggly. It would be his first tooth lose, so he’s all freaked out! It’s been so wiggly but the root was also strong. So we’ve been fighting with this tooth.

Last night, as every night, we were trying to pull his tooth. The way his dad do is, just pushing the tooth little by little, well it helps make it more wiggle, but it also hurts. So John didn’t want his dad to touch his tooth anymore.lol

John was asking us for the new(?) Sonic game. We wouldn’t get that with no reason. Then I thought…

“John, if you pull that tooth out today, we’ll buy that game for you!”

Now, John got all excited. He locked in the bathroom, n started to work on his tooth all by his self. He came out every 5mins or so, then show us how wiggly it got. It looked more crocked, seemed it’s ready to pulled. So I helped him… but this time, it’s my way.

“One… Two… THREE!'”

I pulled it quick!

“Aw… aw? It didn’t hurt!”

Ha-ha! Mother knows best!lol Finally, that all drama n all crying with this lil tooth is over… Well, I know that more to come, but at least now he knows that ‘mom won’t hurt me!’lol

Look at this goofy smile…lol Oh, I’m so glad it finally came off. He couldn’t eat much lately because of this tooth.

Now, we gotta keep the promise we told him… So we ran to Game Stop, n got the game he wanted…

He’s super-duper happy! Well, that’s what we want after all… Then…

“I still get the money from Tooth Fairy!”

Of course… He didn’t forget. For him, this game is from dad n mom, so it’s nothing with Tooth Fairy…

We don’t have Tooth Fairy in Japan. What we say when our tooth came off is, if it’s a bottom tooth, we throw it to the sky, n if it’s a top tooth, we throw it to the ground. That’s all. No prize.lol

So I’ve seen n heard about this all Tooth Fairy thing, I kinda like it. I just wasn’t so sure if a quarter would make this kid satisfied after he got this game from his dad n mom. Well, I don’t mean to spoil him, but what could he get with a quarter??? He finds those coins everywhere in the house… Should it be a dollar? But still… With the dollar, so he can get another M&M? So we… more like I decided…

Yep. In this house, Tooth Fairy would drop $5 for each tooth.

“Mommy! Look! 5 bucks!!!”

That was my alarm this morning… I’m just happy that he’s happy…

Basil Chicken

2010-03-03T17:50:00.002-10:00

Another great recipe from my dear Cookpad! I LOVE basil. Love the smell, love the taste, love the color! N basil n tomatoes are best match! So when I saw this recipe, I knew I would love it.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thigh
Fresh Basil Leaves
Petit Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Garlic paste
Salt n Pepper

Direction:

Cut each chicken thigh into 2 pieces, n tenderize them. Massage them with Olive oil, garlic paste, salt n pepper then marinade.
Cut all petit tomatoes into a half.
Sandwich basil leaves in between 2 pieces of chicken.
Heat a pan. Cook one side of chicken to golden. Then flip them, reduce heat to low-medium, n put a lid on. Cook until it’s all the way cooked.
Put tomatoes in the pan, let them cook so tomato juice will make good sauce.

That’s it! It’s so easy! I also made Spinach n Bacon Spaghetti with it. It was soooooo good!! I loved it, my hubby loved it, kids ate all too! I definitely will make this again!

Japanese Blog

2010-03-02T10:30:00.001-10:00

I’ve started… RE-started Japanese blog last week, n I’m into it right now…lol Well, obviously it’s totally Japanese, so most of you cannot even read… But the reason why I’m so into it is, it’s not just ‘blog’. It has so many stuff we can do besides just blogging.

OK, let me show you a lil…

This is my blog page. Even in this blog service, they have timely blog material, we just blog about the theme, n we could earn “the gold”(it’s like point). You see my avatar on the left, I can play with this avatar…

With that avatar, I can have my room, my clothes, n everything… Well, I just started n I don’t have “the gold” to buy things in there much yet… Actually I didn’t buy any of it, they have scratch game every day, n we can win something every single time. It’s only once a day tho.

N this is one of the place we can meet some ppl. (Did you find me?) I already met some ppl here, it’s actually nice to meet new ppl who have same interests.

I wish they would start English version… It’s very fun!

VepoRub + Socks, n Ricola

2010-02-24T14:50:00.001-10:00

Since I got pregnant this time... I feel like I'm getting all kinda sick/flu/cold, one after another. I cannot take my dear helper Nyquil right now, I gotta find ways to get better. I mean, right now, I am coughing bad, especially in bed. Daytime, I suck Ricola. That's the best cough(sore throat as well) drop! I used to go to bed with Ricola in my mouth, well it works, but just kinda yucky... Then I just remember this myth.

"When your baby is coughing bad and cannot sleep, rub Vicks VapoRub on her feet and put socks on."

Yea, I heard that for "baby".lol And I don't know why, but I heard it works. Every time when my kids got sick, I just forgot. Hmmm, this is the best time to try!

Michele was coughing hard in bed last night too, so we both tried.

What do you know, it worked! Well, I gotta admit, that jelly kinda feeling inside the socks is not the best feeling, but at least we could fall asleep in peace! Whoever discovered this is a GENIUS!

Purple Doritos

2010-02-24T08:27:00.005-10:00

I found this Purple Doritos... it's Spicy Sweet Chili flavor, at Subway, it was like... 6months ago? I don't like... more like I CANNOT STAND those all Cheese flavor snacks. So when I found this Purple one, I was so happy n it was very YUMMY! Unfortunately since then, I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Then just the other day... we went to Best Buy, n we found this by the cashier! WOW! But why Best Buy??lol

Anyway, for those who never seen this Purple Doritos... This is it!

Everybody’s Favorite! BEEF BOWL!!

2010-02-23T11:59:00.001-10:00

That’s right. If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve probably experienced, n you must loved it! Most of military people who went to Japan love this too… Japanese own, BEEF BOWL!!!

You see Beef Bowl restaurant almost everywhere in Japan, well there’s some in NY n Cali too. But you can’t cook THAT taste yourself… until NOW! I found this recipe from Cook Pad, n I tried it last night… IT WAS JUST LIKE THE ONE!!! If you like it, you gotta try this!

Ingredients:

Thin sliced beef 1.5lb
Water 3cups
Onion, thin sliced 2
Paste Ginger 1tbsp
Soy Sauce 4tbsp
Light Soy Sauce 4tbsp
Cooking Sake 6tbsp
Sugar 6tbsp
Salt just a pinch
Japanese Soup Base(Hondashi) 1tbsp
White Rice As much as you want

* It may be hard to find thin sliced beef at regular grocery store. If you have oriental market or Japanese store in your area, I would suggest go those stores.

*If you go to those oriental store, they should also sell Ginger Paste in tube(in yellow box) just by Wasabi tube n stuff. That would be very convenient.

* Since it was based on Japanese measurement, you may wanna adjust a lil bit too.

Direction:

Boil 3cups of water in a sauce pan, put sliced onion and cook until onion’s softened.
Add Sake, Sugar, Salt, both of Soy Sauce, then put beef and mix well.
Cook in medium heat for 10min or more, then add Ginger.
Cook a little more, and adjust the taste with Sugar n Soy Sauce as you like.
Put on cooked White Rice.

It’s very easy! And I would say this recipe is the closest “Beef Bowl Restaurant” flavor I could get. My hubby is a Beef Bowl lover, n he’s very satisfied! Oh, our house smelled like a beef bowl restaurant too!

Viva Glam Gaga

2010-02-22T13:44:00.001-10:00

I had lunch with my friend today, n she gave me a surprise gift! Ta-da! Viva Glam Gaga! Yay! It's SOOOO pretty!! I haven't wore this type of pink for a long time, but I LOVE PINK!! As soon as we came home, yes, I couldn't wait to try it on(even though I only have to go pick up John after that...) OMG! It's so pretty!!!! Lately I've been wearing only nude colors, n I almost forgot how pretty pink is!! Now I feel like to put full makeup...lol I love it!!!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Windows 7

2010-02-22T08:07:00.002-10:00

We got ourselves Dell Laptops for Christmas present. Yep, one for me, one for him.:)) Now we are experiencing Windows 7. I liked XP better than Vista, but I had a good feeling about Windows 7.

Since I do some graphic work for my hobby(?), I always wanted Mac, but here is the problem. The software I use is all for Windows. N they are expensive… If I switch to Mac, I will have to buy whole new software… that will cost almost same as Mac itself. So I’m still stuck with Windows…

Ok, now, I installed my Adobe Photoshop n Illustrator… Photoshop worked, but Illustrator doesn’t start! What!?!?!? Oh, btw, those are not new version…lol That may be why, but still… It worked no problem in XP!

Then I found this. In Control Panel, there is Programs and Features, inside there, there is “Run programs made for previous version of Windows”. Click that, then follow the instruction, it will search the programs that have problems with Windows 7. Of course I found Adobe Illustrator in there, so I click there, n it let me choose to use XP for this software. Now… Ta-da! I can use Illustrator! I thought this is great!

I mean, I like other features in Windows 7 so far, like this Windows Live Writer. Well, since we are using Wi-fi, we are always connected to Internet, but if I go somewhere with my laptop n decide to write blog somewhere doesn’t have internet connection… I still can write n save it. I think it’s cool. OK, gotta be honest, actually this is the first time for me to use this Windows Live Writer.lol But it has preview tab n stuff, so I think this would work.

What else… It’s basically same Windows, so easy to use, n of course it’s faster. I am pretty sure I will find more about Windows 7, n I will keep update!

Seafood Cream Gratin

2010-02-19T20:28:00.001-10:00

If you don't really know what really is, according to my hubby, it's like Baked Cream Ziti?lol It is very popular in Japan, but obviously it's not Japanese dish. I used sea food since it's Lent today(my hubby is Catholic), plus I like sea food better, but you could use chicken, n add more vegetables, if you like.

Ingredients:
2stick of Butter or same amount of margarine
1 Onion, sliced
Shrimp(as much as you like)
1cup of Flour
6cups of Milk
6cubes of Cubed Chicken Bouillon
A half box of Elbow Macaroni
1cup of Whipping Cream(Heavy Cream)
1can Baby Clam
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Direction:
1. Turn on the oven for 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet or a sauce pan, add onion n shrimp til it's cooked.
2. Reduce the heat. Add flour, mix very well. Be careful to not burn it. Add milk. Mix well until flour is desolved.
3. Add bouillon. Mix well. Add Elbow Macaroni. Keep stir til macaroni is about cooked. I would say about 10mins.
4. Add baby cram n whipping cream. Stir until it's thickened.
5. Pour into oven-safe dish. Put mozzarella cheese over it, then top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 mins.

It's actually very easy, n YUMMY! I got this recipe from Japanese cooking recipe site called cookpad. I have been trying a lot of recipes from this site, n they all are easy n yummy, plus most of them have picture directions. I love it! You will see what I try...hehehe.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

A Boy or A Girl?

2010-02-19T08:36:00.011-10:00

I went to my second ultrasound appointment yesterday. It supposed to be the ultrasound for checking my cervix length, which is internal ultrasound, but the Sonographer was VERY nice n she did regular ultrasound so we could see how's the baby doing. She also told as we might be able to see the gender of the baby.

My guess was... definitely a GIRL! Why? Because I had bad morning sickness(or should I say all day sickness...), craving for veggies n fruits, didn't care about meat at all(usually I am a meat lover!)... Well besides all those myth, I just compared myself in my experience with the pregnancy with John n Michele. Then I felt it's a definitely a girl!

So... what the Sonographer said... "It's 80% a GIRL!"

Ha! I knew it!lol I know it's not for sure yet, but that's what I felt!

February 18, 2010 -16w1d-

"It's 80% a GIRL!"

She actually moves a lot! It took some time to capture this pic...lol

Is that her brain?? Wow...

The Sonographer calls this "Alien picture"....lol

Aww... Look at her little foot!!! It's about 1/4 inch now.

Actually I was very nervous about my cervix because of my last miscarriage. But she said it looks great for now! I will have another internal ultrasound in 2wks, then a regular ultrasound in 4wks. I get nervous everytime, but it's good to see how's the baby doing!

First Ultra Sound

2010-02-19T08:13:00.009-10:00

Alright... I am gonna start Baby Blog, I guess...lol It's always exciting to see these ultrasound pics! So since I am in "over 35yrs old" category(well, I just turned 35 though...), hey look at the bright side! I can get more ultrasound appointments! Yay! These are my 13wks ultrasound pics.:))

January 29, 2010 -13w2d-

"The baby looks GREAT!"

The baby's still little, but we can see his/her face n tammy!

He/she is rubbing his/her face with his/her arm! Like a kitty!lol

Now he/she's rubbing his/her eye with his/her right(?) hand! So cute!

This first ultrasound is to see if there's either a high risk or a low risk for the baby to have down syndrome, because the pregnancy in "over 35yrs old" category have more risk for down syndrome. What they see is that they measure the back of neck size of the baby, if the size is bigger then more risk for down syndrome. Fortunately, our baby looks GREAT!!

I also had the blood exam n all, it all came back with "low risk"! Now I gotta take GOOD care of this baby!

The Package from My Mom

2010-01-04T13:05:00.001-10:00

I LOVE MY MOM!!!lol

She supposed to send me Japanese icy pad n stuff for neck n shoulder(it's very very popular in Japan... N it's cheaper.), because I get migrain from tention headache coming from neck n shoulder. I usually take Excedrin Tention Headache, but now I cannot take them... So I asked her. She went to the store to get them, n sent'em out to me right away! Not only that, as usual she sent a LOT OF Japanese candies n snacks for kids n us! Did I tell you Japanese candies n snacks are the best?

Anyway, the kids are SUPER DUPER HAPPY with all that, n I am already feeling better with the thing for my neck my mom sent me... I love my mother...lol

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

N I got a cold...

2010-01-04T10:28:00.002-10:00

I just realized that the one for the new year greeting was not sent to my blog page even tho my Blackberry said it's sent... Hmmm... Well so I just resent it, n now it's a LATE new year greeting...

Oh, well... The reason I didn't find out that it was not updated... Yep, I got a cold n I've been in sick bed... Stuffy nose, continuous sneeze, coughing, n my lips are chopped so badly... I cannot take those cold meds, of course, gee I wish I could take Nyquil... I don't wanna eat meat... Last night I couldn't even eat my lovely tomatoes! What is wrong with me!!!lol

I hate being sick... Ugh. Then my hubby said "Who likes being sick?" Good point. But you know what? I liked being sick when I was a child. Why? Because my mom spoiled me.lol First I got to stay home, then my mom went to stores n got me cake, ice cream, comic books, magazines... Just to cheer me up. N she made some special meals basically whatever I could eat. I miss my mom...lmao

Well, my hubby is helping me a lot tho... He's the world greatest hubby... OK, sometimes.lol But anyway, he's been really good hubby since we found that I'm pregnant again. I couldn't ask for more, really. So I end up starting the new year with sicky days, but this year sure looks good!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-04T10:05:00.001-10:00

This year, we decided to try... or should I say I decided to MAKE them(my fam.) TO TRY Japanese style New Year's meal. Well, it's still not all of it, we'll have REAL ones after we go back to Japan... Anyway, it's pretty, isn't it?

I also made "Zouni"(Mochi soup), it's also the first time challenge to eat Mochi for my hubby n kids. My hubby didn't really like it because it's too sticky, he said. The kids were having a lil difficult time, but they kinda liked it. Oh well, what the hell, I am pregnant so they gotta eat whatever I wanna eat! Hahaha!!

P.S.
Yes, I am pregnant... That's gonna be our third kids...

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Countdown in Waikiki

2009-12-31T20:31:00.001-10:00

Happy New Years to all east coasters! Haha. We still have over 3hours to 2010 here in Hawaii. We came to Waikiki to have countdown. It's CRAZY here!!

Now we are @ Lulu's Waikiki(Bar & Grill) to kill some time... end up eat more food... Yea, we had dinner before we left... Oh, well.

I hope everybody is having a safe n happy countdown!!!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Then... Michele's Birthday Party!

2009-12-08T06:59:00.009-10:00

My birthday is Dec. 2, Michele's birthday is Dec. 8... So, December is more like Michele's Birthday month to us.

I was planning Michele's Birthday party for over a month this year. She wanted to do Yo! Gabba Gabba! theme birthday party, which is cool, I thought. It's not super popular in "party supply store" world(?), so I had to order online everything, plus I made goody bags, invitations, banner n her costume. So I would say, it was well-planned.lol Well, it was not so hard since NickJr.com offers those printable. I had fun making those actually... I always think I would be a good kid's party planner... if there's such a thing.lol

She was so excited about the party... Every time, she n John got into a fight, she said to John "You are not coming to my birthday party ANY MORE!", or when she got in trouble, "You still can come to my birthday party(smile)." she said to us... N now, the party is over then she still tries to use that...

So we had tacos n stuff for food, n of course her Birthday Cake plus Ice cream in Waffle bowl with the toppings... And since there are not many Yo! Gabba Gabba party stuff, we went crazy for the balloons. My kids LOVE balloons. They can keep one old balloon for a month... So I thought that would be good for the party. There were a lot of popping too though.lol

Thanks to all guests, the party was great! I am so glad Michele had a great birthday this year!