Slices of Life

April 2, 2012

These pictures arrived today and I was so happy that they turned out so well. I will be selling some of my photos in these framed canvases at a local gift shop. I am so excited because it has motivated me to update my website, to read more about landscape photography, and to get going on getting some of those shots that I want of Japan before I leave. The best part is that whether I sell more of my photos or not does not really matter because I will always get to enjoy these photos in my own home. These photos make me so happy...more so than I ever felt when I took pictures of other people's families, children, and babies. I guess that means I have found my true passion with photography and it doesn't involve having clients to photograph. Now onto saving for some more lenses...

April 7, 2012

The cherry blossoms are almost at their peak and I just can't get enough of them.  Luckily I can just walk pretty much anywhere and get good shots of the blossoms.  They are on every street in our neighborhood and there is one street in particular that is magnificent.  It is a hill that is lined with cherry blossom trees on both sides all the way up the hill.  I kept meaning to take a picture but missed my opportunity this year.  I guess I enjoyed the blossoms so much that I forgot to take pictures around my neighborhood (something I will not forget to do next year). 

April 10, 2012

We spent the evening having dinner in Yokohama.  Afterwards Mike stopped at a couple of places so that I could photograph Yokohama at night.  It was truly the first time I have spent more than a minute or two setting things up for night shots of the city.  I am always mesmerized by the city of Yokohama.  It has tall buildings and lots of lights just like any other city but for some reason this city just has its charm.  It it inviting, unique, and never dull.  Our last stop was the boardwalk by Osanbashin Pier.  I took a bunch of pictures of this cool pier while the kids got out of the car and ran up and down the boardwalk.  This will have to be a place we come back and visit real soon.

April 14, 2012

Mike found a great app on the iPhone that scanned in pantry products. He decided to take on the big project of organizing and inventoring our entire pantry so that we could know exactly what we had when we went to the store. He even printed out labels to put on our current food storage cans so that when we used them all we had to do was scan them and take them off the list. The boys were super happy to help put labels on all the cans.

April 15, 2012

I caught a glimpse of the kids looking at one of our photo books that I made two years ago for their grandparents. They just poured over those pictures and laughed and were so excited to see older pictures of themselves. It made me realize how important it is for me to keeping blogging and working on my real big blog book. How much more exciting that one will be with pictures and journaling for them to look at.

April 20, 2012

All the kids have been working hard to fill their chore cards so that they can earn money. All three of the older kids had saved enough to buy something fun at Costco but Abby was still short by a couple of dollars. So really wanted the big disney princess barbie doll that comes with her horse. I knew that I should have just bought the one she wanted and put it away for when she had saved enough money but I didn't listen to myself and when she finally had enough money to buy it, it was gone. So, we did the next best thing and headed WAY out of the way to Toys R Us. Abby found a bunkbed for her Sylvania Family house and a new little princess doll. The look on her face was priceless and it made the trip out there totally worth it.

April 25, 2012

For my birthday this year Mike was super duper fabulous. He sent me on this crazy scavenger hunt where I got to be pampered all day long. First I got my nails done, then I got to eat lunch with Mike, then off to get a facial and a wax, next to get my hair done, and finally home for a steak dinner with crepes and cake for dessert with the family. It was the most fabulous birthday EVER!

Cub Scout to Boy Scout

We are so proud of Andrew in earning his Arrow of Light and moving on to Boy Scouts. He was able to take part in the Boy Scout Spring Campery and had such a blast. On Saturday we were able to go over to the campsite at Ikego and take part in his Arrow of Light ceremony and crossover into Boy Scouts. It was an amazing ceremony and well planned. Gabe was also earning his Arrow of Light and since he was going to the Ikego Troop and Andrew was joining the Yokosuka Troop, both troops were there. There were 12 boys lined up to represent the 12 points of the Scout Law. According to Mike who has witnessed some of these ceremonies, this was the coolest he had ever seen. Andrew's Webelos den leader presented the two boys to the Boy Scout Troop leader and after a few remarks about the boys and what they had earned in terms of Activity Badges, the 12 Boy Scouts called out each of the points from the Scout Law. Then they were presented with their Arrows and crossed over the grassy bridge to the other side where their troops were waiting for them. It was so neat to see how much they welcomed Andrew into the troop. I am so excited for Andrew in his next phase of scouting.

Peter's 9th Birthday

To start out Peter's birthday today I went into his classroom so that he could hand out homemade cookies that I made.  The class all signed a birthday picture of Peter with a birthday hat on and they all sang to him.  It was so cute to see how special he felt.

After school we celebrated Peter's 9th birthday at the bowling alley.  Luckily Mike was done early that day so he met us over at the bowling alley.   There was absolutely no one there so we had the bowling alley all to ourselves.  We all enjoyed Peter's crazy bowling poses and everyone had a good time trying to get strikes and spares and beat mom and dad's scores.  This year Peter got an iPod shuffle, a Wii game, Ninjago legos and a pedometer.   He was a happy, happy boy.