Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Gardening with daddy
Matthew arrived in Osaka for work this morning. I wish I had my camera ready when the boys arrived on their school bus. They had the biggest smiles and jumped into Matthews arms :)
I went to a garden center to pick up some flowers so that they could do some gardening together. It was such a nice spring afternoon for it!
The boys were so excited and super happy with their gloves:
We had such a nice family time together. And our garden looks nice and springy now :)
Now we just need to make sure we water the flowers every day. Not to mention we have some keen boys to help us out!
I went to a garden center to pick up some flowers so that they could do some gardening together. It was such a nice spring afternoon for it!
The boys were so excited and super happy with their gloves:
We had such a nice family time together. And our garden looks nice and springy now :)
Now we just need to make sure we water the flowers every day. Not to mention we have some keen boys to help us out!
Monday, April 15, 2013
School lunch
When I was a kid I hated school lunch. In the Japanese school lunch system you don't get to choose, you just have to eat what they serve you. During my time we couldn't even leave anything on the plate, you MUST eat everything. I still remember I struggled so many times and semi-crying with food on the plate even though others have started the afternoon classes :(
As a mother of two, I cannot ask for any better system. The school provides a monthly menu which is drawn up by nutritionists. They honestly look very good! For example today they had 1) pan fried pork with onion and green pepper 2) a chinese dumpling/gyoza 3) boiled Japanese spinach 4) caramelized sweet potato 5) rice.
At the kindy they don't force the kids to finish all the meals like in my time. We have a parent-teacher note book and one of the sections is about school lunch. Both Oliver and Luca struggled for the first few days but now all I get for both are "All eaten" plus second servings of rice!
In addition, I like the fact that they prepare and clean up with their teachers and friends.
What a fantastic system! I love it!!
As a mother of two, I cannot ask for any better system. The school provides a monthly menu which is drawn up by nutritionists. They honestly look very good! For example today they had 1) pan fried pork with onion and green pepper 2) a chinese dumpling/gyoza 3) boiled Japanese spinach 4) caramelized sweet potato 5) rice.
At the kindy they don't force the kids to finish all the meals like in my time. We have a parent-teacher note book and one of the sections is about school lunch. Both Oliver and Luca struggled for the first few days but now all I get for both are "All eaten" plus second servings of rice!
In addition, I like the fact that they prepare and clean up with their teachers and friends.
What a fantastic system! I love it!!
Ferris Wheel
I love spending the weekend with my family. Today Mako had a day off so we went to Rinku Town for some shopping.
Each time we go there Oliver is asking me if he could go on the ferris wheel. And again, he was begging me as we walked towards it and funnily enough a man approached us and gave the kids discount tickets to go on it.
Well I guess I had to take them up... So I did.
We had to wait for a while until the right one came up - the one with a giant soft toy sitting inside plus had to be YELLOW for someone obsessed with that colour.
It was a warm day but quite windy and not really a clear sky... But they loved it!
Normally we can see the airport clearly...
The highest point:
YEEEELLOW!!!!
It only took 17min to go around and long enough for me - quite windy and the boys were moving so much I was getting stressed... Maybe next time I have to pick better weather :)
Each time we go there Oliver is asking me if he could go on the ferris wheel. And again, he was begging me as we walked towards it and funnily enough a man approached us and gave the kids discount tickets to go on it.
Well I guess I had to take them up... So I did.
We had to wait for a while until the right one came up - the one with a giant soft toy sitting inside plus had to be YELLOW for someone obsessed with that colour.
It was a warm day but quite windy and not really a clear sky... But they loved it!
Normally we can see the airport clearly...
The highest point:
YEEEELLOW!!!!
It only took 17min to go around and long enough for me - quite windy and the boys were moving so much I was getting stressed... Maybe next time I have to pick better weather :)
Saturday, April 13, 2013
New deck
We had a very small deck or a long bench I should say along the wide window we have towards our backyard but after 7 years it started to look very tired and some parts were actually started to rot.
So since we will be spending the next few months here we decided to order a new one! In Japan it is very convenient you just find something you want online and it will be at your front door in no time!
I didn't want to spend a fortune (as we wont always be here) plus needed something easy to assemble. But most importantly big enough for the kids to play on.
We unpacked it the other day and lucky I have some handy boys even tho Matthew is away!
Yosuke and Rui put it together for me :)
Our boys were more into the empty cardboard boxes...
Drawing a big map and playing cars on them:
It only took 2 hours or so altogether (we got distracted by the boys for a while as they needed help playing with their cars etc).
Taaaaddaaaa our new deck:
Now the boys can play and enjoy some snacks :)
The weather is getting better and better. I am sure they will be spending most of the time in our backyard!
So since we will be spending the next few months here we decided to order a new one! In Japan it is very convenient you just find something you want online and it will be at your front door in no time!
I didn't want to spend a fortune (as we wont always be here) plus needed something easy to assemble. But most importantly big enough for the kids to play on.
We unpacked it the other day and lucky I have some handy boys even tho Matthew is away!
Yosuke and Rui put it together for me :)
Our boys were more into the empty cardboard boxes...
Drawing a big map and playing cars on them:
It only took 2 hours or so altogether (we got distracted by the boys for a while as they needed help playing with their cars etc).
Taaaaddaaaa our new deck:
Now the boys can play and enjoy some snacks :)
The weather is getting better and better. I am sure they will be spending most of the time in our backyard!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Kindy updates
Oliver is doing so well at his Japanese kindy. He is so super happy being there and cannot have enough of it.
He was asking me why he cannot go there over the weekend. He says he should be there every single day!
It is amazing what a little boy can pick up in just a week. He has already learned a few Japanese nursery songs and lots and lots of words.
He is even understanding what they are studying - for example, they must be learning about butterflies, he tells me they have a long straw and can get juice etc. Quite impressed!
It made me smile when I heard him talking in his sleep - he said "Okasan, okasan" (mummy mummy in Japanese!) and after a while said something in English :)
He still thinks he should go back to his Singapore kindy too tho, as he misses his teachers and his friends.
Luca has improved a lot too - still crying when he goes on the bus but started to enjoy the activities each day. He is showing me how to do all sorts of hand movements for different songs when he gets home. He can even sing in Japanese! Just so cute!!
He was asking me why he cannot go there over the weekend. He says he should be there every single day!
It is amazing what a little boy can pick up in just a week. He has already learned a few Japanese nursery songs and lots and lots of words.
He is even understanding what they are studying - for example, they must be learning about butterflies, he tells me they have a long straw and can get juice etc. Quite impressed!
It made me smile when I heard him talking in his sleep - he said "Okasan, okasan" (mummy mummy in Japanese!) and after a while said something in English :)
He still thinks he should go back to his Singapore kindy too tho, as he misses his teachers and his friends.
Luca has improved a lot too - still crying when he goes on the bus but started to enjoy the activities each day. He is showing me how to do all sorts of hand movements for different songs when he gets home. He can even sing in Japanese! Just so cute!!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Relaxed parents
Matthew and I had a very relaxing time together and had a nice lunch at a hotel restaurant without our boys interrupting our conversation!!
After lunch we went to a shopping mall and did all the shopping we had to do and had a nice spring walk home. Such a precious time! It has been a while since we had our own time alone...
After lunch we went to a shopping mall and did all the shopping we had to do and had a nice spring walk home. Such a precious time! It has been a while since we had our own time alone...
Thursday, April 4, 2013
First day at Japanese kindy
It was such a gorgeous spring day - A perfect day for a new beginning!
Oliver, 3 (4 in May) and Luca, 1 (2 in June):
And the bus arrived!!
Luca was very suspicious and ended up crying once he was on the bus... :(
We know it will take a while for him to enjoy the kindy but at least he will have his big brother looking after him!
Oliver, 3 (4 in May) and Luca, 1 (2 in June):
And the bus arrived!!
Luca was very suspicious and ended up crying once he was on the bus... :(
We know it will take a while for him to enjoy the kindy but at least he will have his big brother looking after him!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Fancy lunch
Today was the day Oliver has been looking forward to (and us parents too). To check out the Japanese kindy and find out about his friends and teachers. Oliver was a bit shy but got more excited about the kindy by the time we finished the informational session and health check up. Luca was a bit too overwhelmed by the number of children running around and crying...
We are looking forward to tomorrow morning when the "yellow" (Luca's favourite colour) school bus will appear at our front door.
We wanted to do something special to treat the boys so we took them for lunch in a fancy cafe I went with mum the other day.
As this cafe is right in front of the kindy some other parents had the same idea. Oliver already made his "favourite friend". He is sitting on the other side of the window in green top, can you see? They were waving to each other and making funny faces the whole time they were eating and he even came around later to introduce himself and wanted to know Oliver's name! What a great start!
We are looking forward to tomorrow morning when the "yellow" (Luca's favourite colour) school bus will appear at our front door.
We wanted to do something special to treat the boys so we took them for lunch in a fancy cafe I went with mum the other day.
As this cafe is right in front of the kindy some other parents had the same idea. Oliver already made his "favourite friend". He is sitting on the other side of the window in green top, can you see? They were waving to each other and making funny faces the whole time they were eating and he even came around later to introduce himself and wanted to know Oliver's name! What a great start!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)