I love Duchess!!
Jacob is so sick. He'd been sick for a couple of days. I thought he was better, he'd been better for 24 hrs, so sent him to Yochien today. But got a call after he'd been there only about 45 minutes, that he'd puked. After asking him questions like "Did you puke on the table", "Did you puke on the floor", "Did you puke on your Sensei"? I thought I understood that he puked on the floor, his pants, and his Sensei. But I was a little unsure...till I talked to his Sensei when I picked up Isaac later, and she had gotten puked on. I felt so bad!!
So he hasn't stopped puking all day. Even in the car in a bucket. Poor guy. But Duchess has been so helpful. Before I had a dog, and I heard stories about this, it would totally gross me out. But now that I have a 2 year old puking chunky puke all over the floor, having Duch help clean up is SO helpful!! I just love her!! It makes the clean up on carpet so much easier. I am taking him to the doctor tomorrow morning, this has gone on long enough.

Kyoto!

This woman we passed in the street just loved Luke. They pretty much all do. The Japanese women can't resist his blue eyes and blonde hair.

No, I don't know these women, but they just looked so great in their traditional kimono's and umbrellas that I had to get a pic.

The zen garden at Ryoanji Temple...I tried, but really did not "feel" a whole lot here...just a lot of rocks to me, excuse me, "raked rocks". I kept thinking, "my boys would be in heaven, they could fill up all their pockets and then I could find them all in the bottom of my washer!"

Luke and I under a tunnel of "prayers", people come and write a prayer on paper and add to it.

Walking down a street in Gion, these red lanterns lined the streets of Gion and were so beautiful all lit up at night. There were a lot of these Geisha posters pinned up as well, I really wanted to take one down and take it home for the girls room, but decided to be a "good ambassador" and didn't do it.

This is the Kiyomizu-dera temple, or water temple. The 3 different streams of water coming down represent peace, prosperity, and love. The cups are sterilized and you can drink from each one. Jen, on the left and Christi, on the right, are my two friends that I went with. Thanks girls for helping me w/the stroller and Luke all weekend!

This is the Nijo Castle. It is starting to look like spring! Still a couple more weeks on the cherry blossoms, but there were some others in bloom that were beautiful! This place will really be amazing in a few weeks when the cherry blossoms hit! I read that 2.5 million people live in Kyoto, and they have 38 million tourists each year.

What a nice get away! A special THANK YOU to Adam for taking the kids (minus Luke). It was so nice!! And the kids were all healthy and happy when I got back. And the house was even picked up. I think his trick was that he took the kids out a lot (to the beach, pool, park, etc), didn't let them stay home long enough to mess things up too bad. Luke was pretty good for me, he didn't sleep much and had a cold, so considering both of those factors, he really was a good baby.

Kyoto's history dates back to 544 AD. It is one of the only historical places in Japan that wasn't touched in World War II. So many of the streets we walked down looked like they should be a spot for a movie to be filmed, tranquil cobblestone streets lined with paper lanterns. That was probably my favorite part. I love that the Japanese take so much pride in their heritage and traditions, and continue to keep them alive today!!

I know I just posted last night, but today was such a nice day, it actually felt relaxing for once. We got out for pics of the boys and everything. I had big plans of getting cute pics of the boys in their matching sweaters....but getting a cute pic w/three boys under the age of four is not an easy task!! We have a lot of great software for editing pics...but does anyone know how to cut and paste pics of heads??? That is what I need, then I'll be all set. I had a couple of all three boys where they were all smiling and no arms in the air or tongues out, but my favorite is the one where I just cropped everyone but Luke.

Jacob was sick last night, so Adam and I took shifts with church. I got the first shift home, and I have to say, it was sooo nice, I could totally do that every week! So I just taught my primary class and came home. And since Adam was already home he didn't have to stay late for meetings, so we had an early dinner (roast in the crock, mmm) and then just relaxed and enjoyed the nice crisp spring weather. We got a tub full of Kinex from the thrift store the other day, so we busted those out and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and I built cars and rockets for a couple of hours. They came along after my time, so I'm a little new to the whole Kinex thing, but it was a lot of fun! Meanwhile Emma searched the internet for a house for us in RI. She's pretty excited, and determined to find one in which she will get "her own room".

Well, everyone's to bed and I'm supposed to be online figuring out what I want to see on my girls' trip to Kyoto this weekend....Kyoto is a main attraction in Japan, a couple of hours away by Shin, and I haven't seen it yet. Trying to fit it all in before we move. I'm really looking forward to seeing the sights and getting away for a few days!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Normal Saturday around here....the kids got up and got their jobs done so they could play. Then later I tried to get some projects done while they made messes. I tried to be the nice Mom and teach the girls how to make pom-poms on a fork w/yarn. Emma got a little obsessive and made at least a dozen. Needless to say, my room was a yarn MESS, and I didn't get as far on my projects as I was hoping. I need to give up trying to do anything productive on Saturdays entirely. But, the girls had fun, and wore green pom-poms on their pig tails the rest of the day. At 4:30 the base had a St. Patty's day 2.5K fun run for the kids, and after a 5K fun run for adults. It was a lot of fun. After a couple of 15 yr. old boys, Emma came in 1st for the girls with Sarah about 10 seconds behind. Emma told me after that at one point Sarah had been ahead of her, but she thought of mean thoughts, "like that Sarah had stollen her American Girl Doll", and it helped her take the lead. They are so competitive. Sarah had a sweet victory last year at the St. Patty's day run when Emma had tripped at the very beginning, and was never able to catch her. Emma was in tears after. This year they were in different age groups though, so they both got their 1st place trophies and were all grins. We conned a few spectators into watching our kids for the 5K after, so Adam and I were both able to run. It was a lot of fun, but I just kept thinking, "I don't know how on earth I did the marathon". It was pretty exhausting. My legs are still a little shakey tonight. Because it was only 3 mi though, not 26, I was thinking "this is so short, it'll be over in about 20 minutes" and so the whole thing ends up being a sprint, which I don't normally do much of.
So after the race we went to the 100 yen store, got some things we "really needed", and then went to the Sushi Train. We spent a little too much time at the 100 yen, and then had to wait at the restaurant for 30 minutes before being seated, so it got a little crazy. (Adam would tell you it got A LOT CRAZY) Once we got seated though the kids were great, tried lots of new things, and ate a ton. Isaac took a turn for the worst though right before we left, w/a little fit over his jello that made me never want to take him anyhwere again. The joys of 4 year olds. He was still crying about it when we got home! Oh ya, one more thing, Jacob peed his pants while at the 100 yen, didn't even mention that he needed to go, just let it fly. Anyway, I was not so prepared (he hasn't done that forever), and he had to change in the car into my new t-shirt that I had just gotten from the run, w/no underwear underneath. I only had to threaten him with his life once while waiting in the lobby FULL of people not to lift up the shirt for everyone to see.
Hope you all have a great St. Patty's and remember to wear your GREEN!! W/5 kids, that's just not something I forgot this year. I remembered to get mine on early, but Adam was not so lucky.....

Becky has been a little busy lately so a quick post from me to give you an update on us. I found this pic on the internet. Becky was happy because she had been a little disappointed that I didn't want to run with our camera. We can even buy this pic for a bargain price of $100.

We have unofficial orders to depart on July 2nd, and to check in at naval justice school on August 1st. That gives us about a month to vacation and see family and friends. I know Becky has contacted some of you about some dates, but everything at this point is tentative. If you know us then you should know better than to start making non-refundable arrangements involving us.

It occurred to me today that we should be in Salt Lake for the days of '47 10k. That is a really fun race that we ran in 2003. It starts at University research park and ends in Liberty park. Last time we ran it my mom and dad walked the 5k with Emma, who was dressed as a pioneer. At the end of the race my mom said she wanted to run it the following year. Well, this isn't the following year, but I told Emma that her Grandma Jeannie wanted to run the pioneer 5k with her this summer and she is really excited about it. You have a few months to get ready for it, mom. Don't let the little girl down.

Tonight Becky had the relief society birthday bash, so I took the kids to the gym and turned them loose while I played hoops. Before she left, Becky told me to have them in bed by 8, but whatever, the kids are never in bed by 8. Plus, I didn't expect her home from the event until well after nine. I can't tell you the dread I felt when at 8:00 I looked across the gym and she was staring at me mouthing "you better find your own ride home." The game quickly ended and she wasn't as mad as I had feared.

The kids are doing well, Luke is growing like a weed and putting on weight now that we are giving him formula as well as nursing. Emma is in the middle of her big standardized testing for the year. She came home today feeling really good because she thinks she only missed two questions. The kids found a big bloody fish on the side of the house this afternoon, and it was still alive, flipping around, gasping for air. They were the neighborhood center of attention. No idea how it got there, the kids claim that a big bird flew over and dropped it on the lawn.

Spring has sprung!

It's been a nice weekend, but I do always look forward to Monday mornings....get the house put back together, have a little peace and quiet with Luke...except tonight, not really looking forward to tomorrow morning, I have to get 2 cavities filled. I HATE going to the dentist, I'm as bad as the kids!
Friday night Adam took Isaac on his date night. He was excited all day. He wanted to ride the train, so he and Adam rode the train to Yanai (about 30 minutes away), ate at the golden arches, and rode the train home again. He's was still talking about it today, it's amazing how little it takes to impress a 4 year old.
Saturday we had a primary activity at the church, you know, the one where they "go on a mission" and go visit different rooms w/return missionaries telling about their country and experiences, anyway, Adam shared about the Dom. Rep. I helped him, I fried up a bunch of platino's, it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time. They were still rolling bike tires down the street w/a stick today (that's what Adam taught them that DR kids do).
Today Isaac was really on one at church. First off, after partaking of the bread during the sacrament, he loudly announced, "It tasted like a waffle!" Then later Emma took him up to bear his testimony (with her help), and she whispered for him to say "I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet" and he said, "I know that Jesus was a true prophet". She paused for a second, not quite sure what to do, but then just kept going. Then during class time (I'm his teacher) I asked him to give the closing prayer. It went like this, verbatim: "Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to go home fast, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen". We still had Sharing Time to go...
The weather was PERFECT today. I need to enjoy spring while it lasts. They tend to be short here, then to summer. The kids and I walked to church, it's about 2 miles off base. Then after church and dinner, Adam and I played outside w/the kids for about 3 hours, it was so relaxing and enjoyable!! I LOVE spring!!