Just wondering...........

This is the latest attempt of Masaru's name. Marsu. It's got most of the letters and I guess the teacher at the school thought 'Well I don't have a roll near and this needs a name on it, I know most of the letters in his name, that'll do'
I've also encountered it spelt 'Misadu, Misaru, Mesida..............and the list goes on.
Really, at the end of the day, I don't mind. It's a tough name for people to say and it's a name you'd have to memorize to know how to spell I guess. So people get it wrong. And I'm guessing they will for his whole life.
It'll basically be a life long thing Masaru will have to deal with..........and Dru and I did it to him.
Now my brothers name is Llewellyn. That's just as tough, if not tougher to spell. If you ask my brother though, he never minded his name and has a lot of pride in it and didn't really care much about it's spelling and people mucking it up.
Could be a guy thing right? Or a personality thing?
I'm wondering about what to name this boy. Should I continue to do the Japanese thing and hunt and hunt for a name that I like? I haven't found anything that has struck me yet. Or should I start diving into English names?
I think the fact Masaru's name is his grandfathers will help Masaru in the long run and I KNOW eventually he'll love it.
Or maybe he'll never have a problem with it. He's mentioned nothing to me so far of his name being mocked by other kids. Actually the other kids haven't even flinched about it, ones at school and the ones at church both here and in Bountiful. I think kids are like, "Masaru, that's just his name, whatever" Especially if the parents aren't making a big deal about it.
The japanese name I'm leaning towards is Kenji. It means second son, amongst other things depending on the Kanji, and it was also the only man Dru baptised on his mission. He loves this man and tears up when he thinks about his expereince with him.
I think it's cute and could be shortened to Ji. I hate the name Ken so I would loath anyone shortening it to Ken. So it's funny I would like the name Kenji!! I guess the meaning behind it helps me.
Dru's not sure about it yet and thinks Takeshi is a cool name. It was one we were stirring about with Masaru as well. Takeshi happens to be that Uncle's name we stayed with in Seattle. It means fierce and violent warrior.
Now I'm not sure about all you mum's out there but fierce and violent? Mabye in the gospel? Long stretch?
Dru and I actually won't ever tell anyone if we make a decision.
Our experience with Masaru's name is enough testimony to me to leave it until they're born and it's on the record and no one can do anything about it.
I guess in a LONG way I'm asking ALL OF YOU.
What do you think it'll do to this boy if he gets an english name?
Do you think Yuki and Masaru will riot because he got a 'normal' name and they got japanese?
I know they'll get over it eventually but it's something to think about.
Do you think this boy, eventually will feel jipped he didn't get a japanese name that had some kind of meaning, like his brothers?
What's in a name?
Everything?
Nothing?
Pur your whole "The Nakaya's are crazy" thoughts out of your head and just look at it from my point of view and let me know what you think.
I'm very interested to hear about your experiences maybe with yourself, friends with different names, family and how they felt, how you think it'd be THESE DAYS which are slightly different from when we were all growing up. I think different names are becoming more accepted, right?
If we DO choose a japanese name, should we choose a name with no 'r' because people over here struggle with its pronounciation?
Or should we not care?
Lots of things to think about. So..........take your time, you don't have to answer straight away,
but please, let me know.

All you brilliant cooks out there............

I need ideas for dinner this next week. Dru and I have run out of food stamp money till next friday. We made a decision to spend some of the money on food storage and over estimated how much we could spend while still being ok for the month.
So we want to spend as little 'loan' money as possible on food.
This isn't the point though.
The point is I still have WIC stuff I can get.
So my question is...........does anyone know what I can cook with:
milk
eggs
dry beans/peas/lentils
cheese
potatoes
onions
My mate gave me a potatoe cheese soup recipe I'm making on Monday, but I still need ideas for Tues-Thurs.

Never tire........

I never tire of hearing these words:

Masaru "I really, really, love you mum, soooooooo much"

Memory #6

Houses!
I've lived in many houses in my life.
The first one I can remember was a Hostel my mum and dad lived and worked at in Invercargill. We lived in a couple of houses in Dunedin but I can't remember that as I was a new born.
There were strangers around all the time and I remember having tons of fun there. There was long grass and plenty of mud to make mud pies. There was a long street for riding our bikes as well.
Then there was a green house with a flat roof that mum and dad changed to Dad's favourite colour, yellow. They made an amazing change to the front and back yard of the house and it was beautiful. I remember me and my sisters room having pink flower wall paper with a crimson accent wall by the head of our beds. I loved it. I think it was my favourite room ever.
I loved that house.
Again the street was plenty long and we had tons of friends and school was close.
We then moved to a place in Dunedin with a very steep yard. The house was poorer, since dad was back to being a student, but we still made the most of it.
Our house was one of many that back yards meet in a forest type area that all of the children in the neighbourhood would meet and play in. It was awesome.
We used to have this path that went all the way down, through some brush and trees and mud to our mates house. We'd go back and fourth playing so often.
The street was steep so not many bikes were ridden too far.
It ended up being too expensive though and we moved to a flatter area in a house that was burnt out at the bottom.
I remember being very embarrassed about it. A BURNT OUT HOUSE. I mean if I didn't know we were poor before, now I knew.
The house had a yard that went down at the back and so looking at it from the front it looked like one story but then when you walked around the the side it has another level underneath. That was the burnt part.
HOW COULD PEOPLE LEGALLY RENT THIS OUT?
My brothers could see down to the next level in their room through a big hole in their floor.
I barely invited friends over. They usually invited me to their place, and I was grateful. Everyone seemed rich to me.
I think this was the poorest house I've ever lived in, apart from my flats on my mission!
Then we moved back to the yellow house. Oh yeah.
Then we moved into a house that looked pretty similar to the Munsters House. Remember that show?
It was 2 storied and very old but HUGE!
It had 5 bedrooms and lots of room. The lady down the road who taught me piano, who I think was around 150 years old, told me she could remember horses and carridges being pulled down around our house.
We lived with huge cricket and rugby fields in front of us. Lots of room to play. There were also three different skin head gangs living around us.
My father tried to pick a fight with one of the house full of skin heads, when one of the women pushed my brother off his bike.
My dad thought he could take on anyone with his craziness and a softball bat. And I wonder where I get my firey temper from...........................!?!
I actually really liked this house. Looking back it was probably pretty old and poor looking but I never really knew it back then...................only now, living in this country, do I look back and realize it must've looked pretty poor.
We then moved to another place in a little town called Aria with 12 houses a post office and a pub.
It was around a lot of land, farm land. So dad and my brothers used to go off and hunt turkey's and whatever else they could shoot.
It was your standard NZ house.
We them moved to a place in Tok. It was a standard Tok house as well. It had 3 rooms, which wasn't enough for our huge family so mum and dad turned the garage into a room for two of my brothers. It used to be so cold in the winter. Lots of blankets in their 'room'.
I remember the floor outside of the shower used to move a lot.
Now I'm married to Dru I realize it was extremely rotten. I surprized one of us didn't fall through actually.
Because NZ is so humid, if you don't keep on top of the cleaning, especially in the bathroom, you encounter a lot of mold and rotting wood.
This was the place where my father died.
Then we have the house which my mother still lives in today.
It has 9 rooms, plenty for all of us and a big living room.
Mum's made a great garden in it and has changed the yard a lot to make it look pretty decent.
Mum and Dad loved gardening and so always did their best to make the yard look great.
I think mum and dad did the best with what they were given when it came to our living experience.
I can't imagine having 5 kids and deciding to move cities to become poor students for 3 years.
Only to then be educated and have 7 kids and be on a teachers salary!!
There's all the houses from my childhood.
I think, depending on how many I lived in for the first three years of my life, either 1 or 2 that's a total of around 10 or 11 places by the time I got married to Dru.
But this doesn't include the places I lived in while at CCNZ and then a Student at University and then on my mission. That adds about another 10 at least. Then Dru and I have lived in 6 different places. We're getting up to the 30 mark now.
It could explain me not wanting to settle down anywhere.
It also could explain why I don't have a 'style' and really don't care too much about furniture and things matching. Just comfort.
Dru, however is a little different, so if we ever come to a point in our lives where we could afford to furnish our place with new stuff, Dru will probably be in charge, and do a great job, and I'll just roll with it and be in charge of keeping it all clean!! I'm good with that.

A spoonful of sugar..........

So Tuesday Dru wakes up and isn't doing so well. Shortness of breath, weak body, sore throat, bad cough. He said it felt like a migraine but without the migraine. (Thank goodness)
So we decide to ring our Dr. and see if he has anything. Nope.
They suggest 'Quick Care'
So we drop Masaru off at school and the three of us head out.
We check in, turns out I put the wrong birthday on record for Dru's medicaid. The lady wasn't impressed.
We go and sit down. It's about 12 noon.
I look around and do the 'I wonder what that person has..........' game.
Dru and Yuki are both asleep on the bench we're sitting on.
A couple of people leave cause the line is moving soooooooooooooo fast.
We FINALLY get in there and the guy tells us it's not strep. it's influenza and if Dru got a shot this year.
Well of course he didn't as he doesn't believe in those shots. I asked him later on if he'd start getting the shots.......................nope.
He's never got influenza before and between you and I he's a little scared of needles, don't tell him I told you that.
So we get out just in time to pick Masaru up from school 2:15pm.
I secretly thought about leaving him and getting him to call me when he got out so I could do some stuff at home.
Then at the end he's like "Thanks for staying with me"
I smiled and said "I wouldn't be anywhere else"
Oh come on..............I really wouldn't..............I said I was just THINKING about leaving him...............I didn't did I? I'm a good wife.
Anyway the Dr. gave him some meds. and we went straight back home and him to bed.
Yuki hasn't been feeling the best either so she decided to take a nap with dad as well.
At the quick care, which, by the way, isn't so quick, she wouldn't come to me, she'd only go to Dru. So it was a little hard on him since he's the sick one. What am I suppose to do though. Force her to sit with me when the favourite parent is right there?
I swear man, that girl and her father...........thick as thieves.
So he didn't go to class on Tuesday or Wednesday and went today. I told him to stay away from people and not get them sick.
TO MAKE THINGS WORSE........................he has this 20 page paper due on Monday.
The doctor said the influenza would take 5-6 days to get over.
Well the paper is due like in that 5-6 days. Talk about bad timing.
A couple of his mates gave him a blessing though and on Wednesday he managed to work on his paper all day long.
He was talking to another mate on the phone and said he felt great and reckons it's cause of the blessing he got from them......................'a miracle' he called it.
So thanks miracle workers.
On a tangent...............
Ever noticed how no matter who's sick in the family life goes on fine and the house is ok but if MUM IS SICK it's utter chaos?
I hope I don't get this flu. For me, baby and the rest of the clan.

Soooooooooooo

Anyone have any cool japanese boys names they wanna share with me?

Seattle Locks and one more shot at the asian market!

So last day in Seattle and it's been a rough night for 2 members of the family, namely Yukiko and Dru.
Dru's got a headache and Yuki's still feeling sickly.
Masaru and I decided to walk down to the locks down by the river/lake/sea place. It's a 15 minute walk and Masaru had been asking for me to take him for a walk anyway. Perfect, Dad and Yuki can sleep while Masaru and I head out for an hour.
It's a beautiful walk with lots of amazing houses down the way.
Well half way down Masaru wants to turn around cause he needs to do pooh. I told him he was outta luck as there wasn't a toilet in sight. I said once we get down to the locks there'll be one down there.
Poor kid. 4 years old and has to 'hold it'. So I let him sit down for a bit, thinking that would help a little. We stormed past the locks straight for the public toilets. HE MADE IT!!! Not even one skiddie!!
We then got to go back and enjoy the locks. Now don't worry if you don't know what 'the locks' are, cause I didn't either. Apparently it's when you've got two different height waters and boats need to get through.
So what they do is have these door things and they let the boat in and then let the water rise or fall depending on which way the boat wants to go and then let them out the other side.
It's awesome.
Here's one boat going out to sea after coming in from the river side.
Then we also saw a Police boat coming from the sea into the river. So we got to see both.
They also had a looking glass for all the salmon coming boths ways. Best time to see them though is August.
So we saw nothing.
Masaru got to get his picture taken by these funny looking things though. Who knows what they are. If they were in NZ they'd be koru's. But they're in Seattle, so I should've read the sign I guess.
We went back, packed up and headed out, thanking Uncle Tak on the way out.
No tears were shed but good times were stored in our memories. Hopefully Uncle Tak enjoyed the visit.
Who really knows. We told him we'd see him in June as he's coming to visit his mum, Dru's grandma.
But we went back to the asian market and go all the stuff we wanted and more. This time we had our wallets, both of them.
Happy times.

I love that picture of Masaru KO'd in the back of the car.
Since Dru was sick I drove all the way home. It's mostly a one lane drive back and so I'd just make it past all these slow cars then Masaru would need to pee and I'd have to start all over again.
I'm glad I'm a stay at home mum cause I really do have road rage. It's best for everyone if I'm not on the road.
We left at around 1:30pm I think and got home at around 7:30pm.
Like I said kids peeing, stopping for lunch, Dru peeing it really shouldn't of taken that long.
But I came home to a tidy house only to be looking at unpacking and washing for the next two days. Oh well.
I'm really glad we went. It was awesome.
I love Seattle. I can't wait to go again.

Family time in Seattle

So Saturday Uncle Tak had organized a get together with his kids, Dru's cousins. Dru hadn't seen one of them since he was 12 years old in lake powell!
His other cousin he hadn't seen since his Grandpa died around 5 years ago! So it was time.
It was really fun. Of course, I had never met his one cousin or his wife and three kids. It was so nice to put personalities to Christmas pictures sent and conversations had.
They were really nice. His cousin was very open and fun and his wife was awesome. They have twin girls who aren't identical. Masaru had a blast with them. They were rolling and running around everywhere.
I dunno what Uncle Tak was thinking but he seemed fine with it all. Nothing too expensive was broken. Just a plastic cover for the heating vent, a few bucks and it wasn't even any of my kids who broke it...........bonus.
We talked about everything. They even asked me a few questions about the 'mormon' church. It was pretty cute.
We exchanged emails and had a great time eating and talking and talking some more.
Uncle Tak put on a nice spread.
Then his other cousin turned up but without his wife and two kids. I was pretty sad the others couldn't come but I'm glad he did.
He's great at talking so we had a lot of catching up talk. It was really nice.
They came at around 10am and left at like 2pm. It was a fun day with them and I'm really glad we had this time with them. I'm sad I didn't even take any pictures of them though. What a retard.
We then went for a little drive as a family to the asian market.
BIGGEST MARKET EVER!!
I guess there's a huge population of asians in Seattle. I asked people why and no one had an answer for me.
Anyone?
Anyway this market was all of Dru's dreams come true. It was so expensive though. I guess they thought they were pretty awesome as well.
We got a few little things.
We even got little clips you can put on the top of hashi's so if you're just 'learning' you can still use them. Masaru was so happy with them. He always wants to use hashi's when Dru and I do at the dinner table but has a tough time. Now we found these clips he can use them.
We got all this stuff and went to the check out and Dru realized he had forgotten his wallet.
We were so upset.
So we left all forlorn and still had to pay for parking. Dru ran in and the nice cashier gave us a validation for parking anyway.
So we went home and then realized both Dru's and my wallets were actually IN THE CAR THE WHOLE TIME.
Oh well.
Great day anyway though.
Seattle is beautiful, just look at that view at Uncle Tak's house!

Seattle and the Aquarium

So Thursday arrives and we're off to Seattle. We got on the road at around 10:30am and didn't get to Seattle till 4pm.
I don't think it usually should take this long to get there but with us not knowing our way around and throwing children who need fed, changed, pottied etc into the mix, it's how long it took.
To get to Uncle Tak's house we had map quest directions and were almost there and just couldn't get around this one place. I think we went around this same set of roads 4 times until we figured it out.
I'm saying it was Dru's fault, he'll tell you it was mine, whatever the case, we finally arrived.
Uncle Tak lives alone and has for a while now. I'm pretty sure he likes it this way and so we weren't sure how he'd take us. He's Dru's dad's brother. He's got a dog, whom he loves. The dogs pretty lucky as it gets treated well.
He's also got an amazing house with an amazing view. So that was a bonus. He went out and brought a matress just for our stay. Pretty nice of him.
He eats at around 4pm. So needless to say Masaru was asking for a PBand J at 7pm every night and Dru and I would have a bowl of cereal around the same time.
It was all of us in the same room with the weight set and it worked out fine. Masaru slept like a log every night, so that worked out great. Yuki, on the other hand, not as good. She's getting sick and has teeth coming in. I hope this ends soon.
We watched a bit of March madness at nights. I actually enjoyed watching the basketball and started routing for teams I didn't even care about. Funny. Dru and I don't watch sports................like ever..................so it was a nice change.
The next morning we set off to the famous Aquarium. It cost over $40 for the three of us as Yuki was free. Goodness I thought they'd throw in a free lunch for that price!! But alas......no free lunch.
I was amazing though and the kids LOVED it. It was all we could do to keep them around us.
We don't have a pram at the moment so Dru was on one kid and I was on the other. We lost Yuki for a few seconds.
IT WAS PACKED. Kids, adults, prams, bags, wheelchairs EVERYWHERE. I'm surprized the kids had so much fun. But they did, and that's what's important.
They had a place where the kids could touch the stuff. They were both too scared to touch anything though. I thought my kids were tougher than that. I guess not. They'll climb and jump off cliffs but not touch a star fish? Go figure. Anyway it was pretty amazing.
They had this one tank which had Dorie, Nemo and Marlin in it. I thought that was pretty clever. I took a pic. if you wanna look back up.................I'll wait.
They had a lot of things. No whales, dolphins, big sharks or anything, but if we wanna see that, we'll have to go to Sea World again.

We then went to this market place on Pine or Pike St? I can't remember. It was a little weird and had weird people and shops and smelt all weird, it was a little spooky. I gripped my childrens hands a little tighter while we were walking through.
Apparently it's hopping on Saturday mornings. I guess we went at the wrong time.
We were walking up the stairs to get there.......................the hundred of stairs................................and it smelt like a group of people decided to use it as their own toilet. So that wasn't too plesant. We tried to find somewhere to eat and there was nothing. So we moved on and got Subway instead.
We ended up going to IKEA. Oh yeah baby. We got a couple of things and had a glance around. The kids were outta control and by the end of the shop I was done.
Ever noticed how IKEA makes it soooooooooooooo hard to get out. I mean just to get to an exit is like pulling teeth. It's like a maze and we're all the mice.
We were all tired and done and got back to Uncle Tak's at like 5pm. He had already eaten, of course, and so we ate as a family.
It was a GREAT day.
Seattle is a beautiful city. Very trendy with lots of trendy and expensive shops I think.
I love all the water that's around. I miss the water..................rivers, the sea, lakes.
It's all beautiful.
I think there's a lot Dru and I could do with a ton of money and NO KIDS.
But this could be said about many, many things.
GREAT DAY.

St Patricks and piggie gift

So Masaru got ONE MORE GIFT from our mates the Davis'. Pugs just told us he gave the nod of approval and it was actually all Stacey's idea. Here is Masaru's adoption papers so he can be the official owner of his very own fur real piggie. I have a video of it in action at the bottom. It makes all these noises and moves. Masaru loves it and it's a real part of the toy collection now as it's with it's family, as Masaru puts it. Or in other words it's with all the other pigs he's gotten. The pig torch and a little pig toy that comes with a book.
He's taken really good care of it. Making sure it's under blankets. I've overheard him doing some 'shopping' to get it some more milk so it can be fed.
It's pretty cute.
And it just happend to come on St Patrick's Day as well. So here are the kids dressed in the greenest clothes they own. Even Dru and I dressed in green as well. We baked some green cookies and found every single one of Yuki's green bows and hair accessories to put in her hair. There's three more ponytails at the back of her head. She wouldn't keep still enough to get the shots.
Here they are with the piggie family together at last in their green outfits.
I also drew some Shamrocks for Masaru and he coloured them in with all the green stuff he had in his art box. We're gonna send them to my family for their March letter. I think they turned out great.
They're all wrapped up in their envelopes though, sorry, no pic's.
That night we hung out with some mates and played some games, ate green food while the kids ran around. They were suppose to be watching Kung Fu Panda. But it didn't really turn out that way.
It was a great day. I've read a bunch of other idea's from different families that I might try next year on St Patrick's Day.
We'll see.
Well we're off to Seattle tomorrow morning till Sunday.
It should be a fun time for us and the kids. It'll be nice to hang out with some of Dru's family as well as just hang out with just each other.
So until Monday folks...................have a great rest of the week.

Coffee Talk

Just a note for all you Coffee Talk fans.
This week is Spring Break, it's neither spring nor a break...discuss.
We had rain, sleet, and a little bit of snow, this week is
hardly spring. And a break? Forget about it.
With a 20 page appellate brief due in two weeks,
its work, work, work. As Grampa Marv Wallin always said,
"all I wanna see is asses and elbows!"
But don't feel too sorry for us we are going to have
a break at the end of the week, whether its spring or not.
We're going to see my uncle Tak in Seattle.
So, spring break, neither spring nor break...discuss.

This post, if you haven't already guessed, was done by Dru

In your face Chinese!!!

Ohhhhhhh yeeeeeeeeeeeah baby, it's a boy and we're super excited. Did I not call it, or did I not call it!!!
This is my favourite picture. He looks like he's doing the can can dance with his leg straight up in the air like that.
The tough thing was when we showed up the lady said "Sorry the machine is broken and we're gonna have to reschedule"
I'm thinking.............well I'm not going to write down what I was thinking.
But I knew I couldn't go through another day of being so excited, anxious and nervous. So Dru and I set up the appointment for tomorrow and start walking away and we're down the hall and here "Melissa, Melissa"
It was the nurse and she was like "The machine fixed, we can do you" Then I was thinking "Ohhhhhh yeeeeeeeeeah"
He's cute as a button, I think, and seems to have all his parts. So let's wait for the next week or so and hope not to hear from the doctor. So, so far, so good peeps.
Sorry China, Nakaya's 1 Chinese................not this time baby!!

Place your bets

I'm off to the BIG ultra sound on Monday at 2pm. Dru, Masaru and I are really excited. I'm for sure showing now but still not that big.
I'm placing my bet and saying it's a boy. I'm carrying bigger, faster, I'm carrying lower as well. Plus the fact that it'd be nice to have a boy this time around would be great for my SIL who is having twin girls and doesn't know how she's gonna keep up with all the clothes. I told her it's in her best interest for me to be having a boy so I can hand her all of Yuki's clothes and she could, at least dress one of her twin from all of Yuki's clothes, if not both of them. I sware my kids have so many clothes. It's awesome.
So, you know, those are all of my reasonings.
So if you'd like to play along and place your bets as to what sex I have growing inside my body.
I've had two friends from Moscow go in for their ultra sounds and wanted boys as well and it's turned out girls. So maybe it's something in the water here.
Well we'll all have to wait until my next post on Monday the 16th to see what the Nakaya's are having for their 3rd.

The 'Big Love' fiasco

So I've been receiving emails from friends about a disturbing show that's going to be on HBO.
I wrote to HBO telling them my feelings, and read this from the church.
It made me feel at peace with the situation.
I hope it helps who ever is worried about it.

http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma

Just for Haydn

Ok Haydn, here's your deer in the headlights video of Masaru listening to your poem.
Nice work, Haydn, who knew you were such an artist?

Teeth

So, hands up who'd like to have 4 teeth coming up in your mouth all at the same time?
Anyone?
That's right, no one. Yet this is a common occurrance in our kids.
Yuki is no exception.
Poor wee thing.
She's got her top four front teeth then her molars. Then her bottom front two teeth and her molars and nothing in between.
On the top and bottom she has teeth that are wanting to come in.
So consequently her naps have gone from 2-3 hours to 1 hour and it takes an hour for her to get over her one hour nap. It's been horrible.
She still sleeps well at nights though. I put her to bed earlier due to her not getting great naps.
I've got little teeth tablets, which work good. She sleeps longer in her naps if I remember to give them to her before I put her down for her nap, which is only 50% of the time.
Poor little poo poo's.
So she's had a snotty nose for a while and I think is just fed up with the whole teething thing.
COME ON TEETH, SHOW YOURSELVES AND GET IT OVER WITH.

OUR VERY FIRST SNOWMAN!

It's a Christmas miricle. Now the people of Moscow aren't going to like me as I've been calling in favours from Heavenly Father for ONE MORE bout of snow fall so Masaru can make a snowman.
All he was asking for, the last two days, back in Utah, around Christmas, was to make a snowman.
Well I've never made one before and I think it should be Dru's job. I'm not getting out there in the snow to try and build something I've never done before. Get serious.

But it never happend. Then it got all sunny and nice and the snow melted along with Masaru's heart. So I got to asking for a favour from on high. Now I want the snow to be gone as much as the next person but I wanted Masaru to get his snowman more. Sorry Moscow peeps.
So when we heard Masaru rush into the room the other morning saying "It's snowing mum and dad, it's snowing, can we make a snowman?" How could I say no? So I put him off a bit by saying "We can't make it till it stops snowing and we've got LOTS AND LOTS of snow"
So Masaru rolled with that.

Then after his pre-school it stopped. So I HAD to go out. Now I don't know the first thing about making a snowman. I saw on TV that you make a ball and just roll it around. So I tried it. It wasn't working out so well. A neighbour friend came out and started helping us out. Between her, Masaru and I we made this.
OUR VERY FIRST SNOWMAN.
Now making a snowman isn't for the faint of heart. No one told me how exhausting it is and how much work went into it. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but man it was a work out.

Yes that's a banana for his mouth. Everyone finds that so funny. I figured a banana is the best smily mouth. It makes everyone laugh though and it's the first thing they say "I love the banana for the mouth"
Has no one else used a banana for a snowman's mouth?
Anyway I'm very pleased to have on my blog, mine and Masaru's very first snowman. WITHOUT THE HELP FROM DAD. Thanks a lot Dru.
Jokes man Jokes.
He's doing the next one with this latest blizzard we got today. Masaru's already convinced him. We'll see who's is better.
I bet Dru won't do a banana for the mouth.
Notice the snowman's feet at the bottom? Cool aye?
Masaru looks outside everyday and says hi to him. Everyone who comes and visits has to say hi to his snowman as well and see how he's doing.
I'm thinking when he melts there's gonna be trouble around here. I foresee crying and sadness. Anyone have any good explaination of where a snowman goes when he melts? So Masaru doesn't think he's slowly dying?

Last part of the 4th birthday week

Here's the last set of video's from the present opening. I love this blog how we can share things like this.
It's so awesome that my mum, in NZ, can watch her grandson open her present to him.
Thank goodness for modern technology.
Here are some other pictures of Masaru playing that I thought were cute.
So there we have it............a weeks worth of blogging about my wonderful and most favourite son Masaru Nakaya.
He's a sweet, sweet boy who's always willing to help out. He always forgives me, wants to play with me, read with me, cry with me and snuggle with me.
I love how active he is and how much he cares about others.
I love his positive attitude about life and how nothing seems to bother him for too long.
I love his prayers he's saying at the moment and how everyone is his 'very best friend'
I love how he lets me grow his hair long and make him look like a lentil eating, tie dye wearing, hippie (how my brother put it when I showed him some pic's from his birthday)
I love that he can talk to anyone on the phone and for a while too as he wanders around the house doing other stuff. (I wonder who he gets that from?) Hmmmmmmm
I love that he's my first. I think he's going to make a very wonderful oldest brother for all the rest of the little Nakaya kids that bless our lives. I'm sure they'll all look up to him and he'll be there for all of them.
I hope I can always let him know just how much he means to me and how much I would do for him.
He has a place in my heart that no one else can ever have or ever replace.
I feel nothing but joy, that I've been entrusted with him, and overwhelmed too.
Love you Bub.
And like Porky Pig used to say "Ah Blea, blea, blea, that's all folks"
You might all be too young to remember that.

Present opening from Grandma Nakaya

Here's Masaru opening both his presents from his Grandma in Salt Lake.

Some video of the present opening

This is basically for family to see the reaction, since they're not here, of Masaru opening their presents.
I figured it's the least I could do, considering how kind they are to send something up for him.
These are only some of them.
I'll have more tomorrow.
Thanks guys, you made his birthday seem like he had TONS of presents instead of just one from us and that's it.
He LOVED all of them, and has played with them individually since opening them.
These presents are from two of his Auntie's and their families I guess, but most of us really know it's the mum that purchases the presents and gets them organized and sent off.
So thanks Auntie Leslie and Auntie Kristin.

The fun keeps coming!

So Masaru got one present from us. A remote control car. His twin nephews got a really nice one for their present at Christmas and Masaru followed those guys around on the street for days. It broke my heart that he didn't have one.
So we promised him one for his birthday. He's been talking about it on and off since then.
There's a fun story behind this.....................we ordered it online and thought it'd be here on time. It let you write a little message at the bottom before you clicked to send it off into cyber space, my message basically said the following...............Dear so and so this r/c car HAS to be here by Monday the 2nd of March. It's my son's 4th birthday and he's been wanting this since Christmas. Please make this happen as you'll be making a little boys dreams come true. We're poor students so can't afford the extra $20 to 2 day it. Thanks.
So guess who gets a call on the Thursday before his birthday? Me. That's right folks, it was a stranger from California saying that USUALLY the shipping we paid won't get it to us by the Monday. BUT since it's for our son's birthday and he's looking forward to it we bumped it up and it should be there by Saturday and for sure Monday.
SEE MAN YOU GOTTA ASK......................no harm in putting in a good word, or a slight guilt trip. I bet that person in CA has a son and I bet he's around Masaru's age.
Oh yeah baby.
But wait....................there's more............................... So Monday rolls around and I'm all pumping Masaru up that his car will be here today for his birthday. Well the UPS guy shows up RIGHT WHEN WE'RE PULLING INTO THE PARKING LOT after picking Masaru up from school. I'm thinking 'Phew, glad I didn't miss him' Well I went up to him and asked him about the pakage.
HE KNEW NOTHING. I'm like 'What the.............................'
So both me and Masaru start to hyperventalate. Ok maybe just me. So we look it up online AND THEY DON'T HAVE OUR APARTMENT NUMBER and it's just hanging out at the UPS place.
So Dru rings around and talks to a few people and it's just in Pullman. So he races down to get it and TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Masaru gets to play with his r/c car.
Thanks to that random lady in CA and thanks to UPS for letting us pick it up.
You all made a little boys dream come true.
I sound like I'm accepting an oscar.
He LOVED it. He asked to sleep with it. It's about $100 cheaper than his twins one which also means $100 cheaper in many other ways BUT he loves it and was talking constantly about taking it to Moab and showing the twins. Dru and I looked at each other and realized that if it couldn't get up the slight hill on the parking lot, it's gonna have a hard time in Moab.
Hopefully we can divert him next time we're there and he won't realize it's a pretty budget remote control car in comparison to his cousins LOL
But he's only 4. Plenty of time for the more up beat ones right?!?

Here's a few more pic's of him blowing out his candles on his piggie cakes. We all sung Happy Birthday and he was in heaven. I honestly hope he remembers this day as I think it was probably one of the best days of his life so far.
Ok well in the top 10 for sure.
If you click on the collages it'll make them bigger so you can see his happy face more clearly.
Cause..........we all wanna see happy faces.

The 'piggie' cake

It was Masaru's 4th birthday yesterday and the day was a blast. He had fun from sun up to past sun down. And when you're 4, that's how it should be right?
He wakes up and gets hugs, hugs, and more hugs. I tell him he can have anything he wants for breakfast and he chose lucky charms. It's Dru who wanted the eggs and pancakes!! Go figure. Easy for me.
It was a busy day for me, getting things organized and done but it was sure fun and seeing Masaru so excited all day was worth it.
He got to school and even though they don't celebrate birthdays, screamed in there announcing to anyone who would listen that it was his birthday and he was 4. So cute man. So I'm doing a few posts on his birthday as we took so many photo's and I wanna talk a little about it all. So bare with me as I wander through the day.
First of all here's his 'piggie' cakes he wanted. Mum, Dad and the babies. I ran out of icing on the babies so they got jipped. I know they look budget but at least mum and dad turned out right? After he saw the cakes he thought he was allowed to eat them so tore off with one of the babies and took a bite out. LOL I was laughing when I told him to put it back for later on that night.


Here's a video of Masaru seeing them for the first time.
It's so awesome he loved them so much.
After the video was finished he kept saying "I'm so happy mum, I'm so happy, I love the piggies mum, I LOVE THEM"
This is why I do it.
It's why, as mothers, I think we do a lot of crazy things LOL

Book II 2008

We just got our second book for 2008 through blurb. It just makes it so exciting for the kids and us.
I'm so happy I can keep a journal this way.
Hopefully I'll have a shelf full of journals like this of our families lives.
I think it's so fun and motivates me everyday to write about the silly things me and my family do as well as memories and events.
If you have a blog, this is a wonderful way of recording all your memories.
You never know what might happen to the internet, maybe nothing, maybe something.

Sandwhich anyone?

So lately Masaru has loved eating pickles. No, no, not just pickles out of the jar, by themselves, but pickles in his sandwhiches.
Dru made him a jam and pickle sandwhich the other day and looked at me as if to say "Yeah right, he's REALLY gonna eat this"
But it's what he asked for so he made it for him.
He ate the WHOLE thing.
Then yesterday he had a "headache" and needed me to 'wait' on him. Note the quotation marks as I think he was fibbing.
He set out a pillow on the couch and a blanket and said he needed some food.
I said "What would you like?"
He said "I need a sandwhich"
"What would you like on your sandwhich?"
"Jam, chocolate and pickles"
"Alright"
"I also need a drink with a straw"
"OK"
So I proceeded to make him his sandwhich, stopping to take a picture for future reference, and got him his drink with a straw and gave it to him.
He, of course, ate it and the headache was gone.
So the next time you've got a headache try a pickle, chocolate (nutella) and raspberry jam sandwhich, see if it takes it away, if nothing else it should get your mind off of the headache for a while ;)
Next I might try him with jam, pickles and VEGEMITE.
NOW THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT.