A Girl After My Own Heart

I realized that I haven't said much about Alison lately. That girl. Oh my, is she something. Somedays I could sell her, well maybe just rent her out, and other days I'm not sure what I would do without her. She sure can scream. She is very independent. She climbs, everywhere. She thinks shes 4, but she's only 18 months. She's starting to talk in sentences. Some we can understand some we can't. She mostly sleeps through the night but when she doesn't you know about it. She likes things the way she likes them. Jeff would say that is because she is a woman. I don't know, maybe it is, but I have prayed for her to be a confident woman and maybe that is just showing through. She is certainly a beautiful girl. And even with all of the frustration of her being so loud, determined, and stubborn when you feel those chubby little hands hugging your neck you can't help but forget what just made you so frustrated. She gives great hugs. Her smile is contagious and those eyes. Wow, can she make you melt with just one look and bat of those lashes. Like I said, she is something.

Anyway, today she showed me how much she is like me afterall. Alison has always been my carb eater. We have to hide chips and fries from her and I'm certain she could live on goldfish if we'd let her. This afternoon after her nap she wanted a "nak" and pointed to the cabinet. I was bringing chocolate tastykakes for Owen after school and thought maybe she would like a valentine cake that GramZ sent. She took one look at it and said "oooh" and started clapping. THat's my girl. She knows the good stuff when she sees it. Then this afternoon I found her eating the "cupid corn" (valentine candy corn). She was smart enough to drag her stool from her piano over to the buffet and stand on it so she could reach the bowl. There is no telling how much of the sugary goodness she ingested. I tried to give a stern "no no, Alison" but inside I was proud of her ability to find the candy. Well done sweetheart. It is obvious you have been watching mommy very close, just wait for the Easter candy to come out!

Fun Things In My Week

This has been a pretty good week. Jeff and Owen were both off on Monday so we were able to get lots done in the house. We also had some good family time over the weekend. I was able to go to my first spouse's meeting last night. I met some nice people and had some good laughs at the white elephant gift exchange. Yesterday after we picked Owen up at school we went to the Air Force base to go to the commissary because lately they have better fruit. (Don't get me started on all the things the Air force has better than everyone else) We walked through the doors expecting to get grapes but guess what I saw in their place?

Sweet, red, beautiful STRAWBERRIES. I was in heaven. Even Jeff said it is like the land flowing with milk and honey. I was so excited I bought 3 packs. We only have one left. I love how neatly and exquisitely they are arrange in the package. The Japanese pay a lot of attention to presentation. These could quite possibly be the best strawberries I have ever eaten. In case some of you don't understand why this is a big deal it is because fruit on Okinawa is a treasure. Ordinarily we have bananas and apples everyday. Sometimes grapes and tangerines but not much else. The fresh produce is also quite expensive. It didn't matter though when I saw those red beauties. They were coming home with me no matter what.

Today I had another treat. I got my hair cut at Cocock's. It is a fun place that most people get their toes done at. I haven't had a pedicure yet but I'm looking forward to it. I was nervous about my haircut. My appointment was with Mr. Miyagi. I'm not kidding that is what they told me his name was. I was a little concerned that he may start telling me to paint the fence or yelling "Bonsai!" but he was quite friendly. A nice lady interpreted for me so he understood what I wanted. And 2 1/2 hours later I left with a great haircut. I'm pretty sure if I was thinner and dressed more hip you'd change my name to Victoria.

After my haircut I went to one of my favorite places, the 100yen store. The 100yen store is like a dollar store but so much more fun. Owen and I usually go together and leave with lots of treasures. I didn't find much today, some ice packs for Owen's lunchbox, candy, and these

I'm not sure you can tell but they are tiny little cokes and fantas. I am such a sucker for little things. I came home with one for everyone. Jeff laughed at me but they made my day.

We had pizza for dinner and Jeff took Owen to a basketball game at his school. Tomorrow we have a birthday party and dinner out with Jeff's coworkers. Sunday I hope we can make it up to a Cherry Blossom Festival. It's been a good week. And it's going to be a good weekend. I hope you all enjoy your weekend too.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

If you listen closely I'm sure you can hear the Hallelujah Chorus all the way from Okinawa. Today was the first day that Owen didn't cry when I dropped him off at school. Hallelujah!!! In fact I'm not sure he even said good bye to me. His friend Gabby has been out sick all week but she was there this morning. He was so excited and pretty much kicked me to the curb. It was a welcome kick. His teacher has let us know that Owen doesn't cry during the day anymore and now we've overcome the last hurdle too. Hallelujah!

Lost In Translation

Ok so I've been posting way too many sappy posts so here is some comic relief. Owen had kite day at school and his teacher told me to go buy him a kite at Jusco. Jusco is a department store, a little like a super WalMart or SuperTarget but more upscale in areas. It's hard to explain unless you see it. So I ventured to Jusco and enjoyed looking around by myself and then headed to the toy department. I didn't see any kites so I thought ok, I'll try to ask for help. I asked the sweet girl at the checkout if they had any kites. She looked at me confused. I continued, "kites, you fly in the air", gesturing like I was flying a kite. She still seemed confused but I thought she said kites back to me. She had me follow her and as we entered the children's clothing I knew something had gone awry. She very excitedly took me to the tights. Ok, not exactly what I was looking for. So I smiled and said "kites". Feeling dumber by the minute and wishing that I had already taken a Japanese class. She proceeded to take me to the phone and call another sales clerk to help me. She also thought I was asking for tights. Then she walked over to where we were and finally understood what I was asking for. They were sold out of kites. Of course. I need to remember to bring my Japanese book with me and get to a language class. I hope to do that after things get settled down a bit. Our shipment has arrived and they are bringing our household goods today. I'm so excited. I can't remember anymore everything we brought and it will be fun to open everything up. Just like Christmas again.

Not for the Faint of Heart

This mommy thing sure isn't for the weak hearted. A week ago today I sent my 4 1/2 year old off to school, real school. Really, it is K4, but it is the length of a real school day and it has been hard on both of us. Owen has always loved school and he likes this one, but he is struggling with being away from me for 6 hours and having a nap time at school. I swear if he were running for election in 2008 his platform would be "no more naps in school". What he doesn't know is that in about 10 years he'll be trying to stay awake in school and wishing that he could have a nap.

Today he did better but he did cry a little bit and told me he missed me. Oh how I can relate to missing your mom. I probably had that role down better than anyone. I'd like to say it was only when I was 4 that I struggled with being away from my mom but that wouldn't be true. I don't remember having trouble going to school, but I do remember calling my mom many times in the middle of the night from a sleepover and asking to come home. I remember sleeping in my mom's bed when my dad was out of town. I remember being completely homesick at church camp that only lasted a week. Then there was the hardest time of all. Going to college. Wow, I didn't know that you could miss someone so much it hurt. How I wanted to go home. How many tears I shed on the phone while mom was on the other end trying anything she could to reassure me and encourage me to get involved at school. Now that I'm on this side of it I realize how hard I made it on my mom. I'm sure she vacillated between wanting to make it better and wanting to tell me to snap out of it and move on.

The good thing is that I have snapped out of it and moved on. Way on. All the way to Japan on. I still miss my mom. It still hurts not to see her, but God has grown me up. It's been quite a process. Now I'm the mom and it is my job to reassure, love, and encourage. It hurts even more on this side of things. How I would love to make it all better for Owen, but I know that come August I will just have to send him to Kindergarten which in Japan is all day no matter what school you go to. I'm not convinced that we will keep him in the K4 if things don't get better but I still need to be preparing him for school in the fall. I need to help him learn that it is ok to miss me, but that it is good for him to be with other people too.

I've never been a very good actress. You can always tell what I'm feeling. I have trouble hiding my emotions, but I've been putting on my brave face. I'm hoping that Owen can't tell that I'm just as sad as he is, that I miss him just as much. I hope he doesn't know that I cry when I leave him too. And some of those tears are because I finally know just how much my mom loves me.

Kite Day

Back To School

Today started like any school day. Get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth and hair and watch a show until it is time to leave. Owen did so well with this I was optimistic that he would do ok when I left him for his first day of school. I was fooled. My O did not want to go to that school. He cried and he cried hard. (so much so that when I picked him up today I could see little broken vessels on his face) I gave him a last kiss and told him I loved him and let the principal take him to his class. I walked with Alison to the office to do paperwork with tears streaming down my face. I felt awful. Like someone just ripped out my heart and stomped all over it. I prayed God would give him peace and calm him down. I prayed God would give me peace and calm me down. Alison and I headed home and I wondered if we had made the right decision. I called several people back home to get a good dose of love and support and then made some chocolate chip cookies so I'd have a special snack waiting for Owen when I picked him up. Jeff was able to go with us to get him because he is post call today. Isn't that always the way. He's never around for the hard moments but he's there to get the glory. Daddy's always the hero. He didn't drop him off and leave him there, mommy did. We waited outside of O's class and could see him getting ready to come out. Alison saw him too and started yelling "O O" but he didn't hear her. He was smiling when he saw us and he was excited to tell me about his day. He seemed to like it, but he made sure to tell me that he cried for me at rest time. I think he just wants to make sure I feel loved.

He must have liked the bible part of school because this afternoon he had a little friend over and got out his "hide em in your heart" cd and told her it was about God. He put it in to listen to but she had to go home. So he brought down the DVD version so we could watch it at dinner. We don't usually watch shows at dinner but this one is just scripture set to music so we allowed it. As we sat down he said "mom I'm going to be better than you. I'm going to know more about God then you". I hope so baby. I hope so.

So pray that we have a better second day. And pray that Owen schools both his dad and me in his knowledge of God. I sure love that boy.

OCSI

Owen hugging Alison after school

Hopscotch --- You can't really tell but the water is in the distance. The glare of the sun makes it hard to see but it is a great view. I'll try to get a picture in the morning.

The Negotiator

Owen starts school on Tuesday. He doesn't want to go. He makes sure he tells me he's not going on a daily basis. He gets a little excited about the playground but then still decides he's not going to go to school. I've tried lots of tactics to convince him school is a good idea to no avail. Today on the way home from church we were talking about school and he started in on how he wasn't going to go. Jeff asked him what he would do if he didn't go to school and his reply was "stay home". I told him it would be very boring to stay home because he would have to stay in his room all day to which he said "no I'd play". I said "no, if you don't do what is required you don't get privileges either". Then he outdid himself and said "going to school is a privilege and I lost that privilege forever so I can't go". Well done son. You found an argument that might work, the opportunity to go to school is a privilege, but it is a privilege that is a requirement in our house. Wish us luck on Tuesday and pray he has a good day.

Can You Feel The Love?

Some of my most favorite moments are when Owen and Alison play and laugh with each other. I love when they enjoy each other. I'm so glad they have someone to grow up with. Someone to love and to defend and to fight over toys with. So far they are doing well sharing a room. One day I hope to hear them talking themselves to sleep and giggling when they should be sleeping. (Someone remind me of that when I'm annoyed that they are not going to sleep and I have told them to quiet down about 100 times. ) These are my new favorite pictures of them. I love my munchkins. Don't you wish you could squeeze them too?

To My Gator Friends

There is so much to say, but for now I'll keep it simple,



HAIL TO THE VICTORS!!!!!!