whirled peas project: March 2010

well this week i found out that gorgeous log home is no longer for rent. the owner took it off the list and put it up for sale. oh well. Beoing says the move would cost $15,000 and is still deciding how much they may pay and how much we would pay. so i am making the best of this apartment. Jaxon and i went to Nitori and got a new bar for the kitchen area and we made fresh pasta for friends last friday night! we all had a blast, and the new lay out seems to work great for fitting lots of people. it may just be that the kids were especially good so all went very well. but fun was had by all! as usual! this is a wonderful group of friends! Naoko is from Nagoya, she calls us the "United colors of Benetton" very appropriate with the boys all in different colored shirts don't you think? so cute! we have the best kids in the world!

and the three of us, Naoko, Sandrine and I are the three Musketeers! I look forward to lots of fun with them! Life is so good when you have good friends! I am so very fortunate to have found these ladies and their families! everyone gets along so well! we are bound to have a ton of fun!

In the photo is: Naoko, Sandrine and Anais, myself, Tom, Kirk, Jaxon (behind Lovey), Severin, Kelyan, Ghett, Kensho, and Matias. a great group! bound for fun!

this weekend we had our first ski trip. we were not sure about anything so we decided to stay over and check it all out. we started out at Dynaland which was rainy and foggy when we first arrived, bit quickly shaped up into a lovely day of skiing. easy runs for the boys, and a nice little play area for them too to sled. Ghett skied by himself most of the time except for the very bottom which became rather steep. we started them off on the racer chasers, but in no time Ghett was going over the bumps and all over on his own. Kirk was beaming with pride! he always has a big smile when snow is involved but the fact that Ghett did so well really made his day! a little slice of heaven for us all! one of the photos shows, mommy chasing the racer, Jaxon, who is chasing Daddy, who is chasing Ghett. lots of fun! Jaxon just wants to keep going. he actually did twice as many runs as Ghett did.

we had a wonderful fun adventure for dinner. sat on the floor, and cooked our meal in a pan on the table. we weren't sure what we were doing but we mustered through and concocted our own dinner somehow. it was a nice spread but had been sitting out a while i think, that was a bit worrisome to me. but all was good. they serve raw eggs, which we scrambled, but others just cracked open, mixed up a bit and poured over rice. eeewwwhhh!

texture does not seem to bother Japanese. we had a lovely time. lots of very nice people. and they got a kick out of us trying to do it all too. We stayed over in a little Japanese hotel with Tatami rooms to sleep in. one big room with mats on the floors, only a heater and a tv and a couple of low tables in the room. we brought out futons to sleep on and these really bad rice filled pillows, not comfortable. at first the boys wanted to bunk in the closets but changed their minds and we all nested together in a heap below the blue glow of the "moon" or light in the room.

A comment on the squat potties again. avert your eyes if you are squeemish. As we all know we wear no shoes indoors, only slippers, there are special indoor shoes, and bathroom shoes too. i realize the necessity of bathroom shoes when they have a squat toilet, in the floor. people pee on the floor! so of course you don't want it tracked everywhere. so far we have used them only in public places, to pee. there is a flat area in the back and a hole in the front that takes the water away. when you are doing your "morning constitutional" it is not comfortable to hang out on your haunches, and i was worried that if i was not properly perched i might miss and poo on the floor! jeez!

anyways. the bathrooms and sinks were shared, next door to our room. which seemed ok at first untill eveyone was coming and "going" all night. ugh.