Saturday Night at the Movies

Movie: The Dark Knight Rises

Rating: ****(out of 5)

Comments:   This Saturday was a miracle, both kids were alseep and we {Morgan and I} stayed up to watch a movie.  This is not recommend for small children.  Mills looked at the cover of the movie and thought it was "spooky".  So we waited for them to sleep to watch.  I thought it was good!! I'm not fond of Anne Hathaway as Cat Woman, Michelle Pfeiffer is a way better Cat Woman.  Aside from that I liked it!  Apparently there were some discrepancies with the actual comic {according to Morgan} but I never read the Batman comics so everything seemed legit to me.  Oh and Joseph Gordon-Levitt was so adorbs!  They end is great and totally leaves it open for more!  I really love the Batmans' that Tim Burton directed but these new ones are very very good. 

Capturing December ::Day 1::

Since it's the last month of the year, I'm going to do a photo a day challenge.  I googled it and apparently its a popular thing and there are photo challenges every month.  Of course I'm at the tail end of the know.  But I found one called Capurting December #capturingdecmber and thought why not.  I'm not going to post it everyday, {that would be madness}  I'm just going to post one week at a time.  Since day 1 was on a Saturday it will be by it's lonesome.

::Day 1::  my view

On the first day of December my family put up the Christmas Tree!  It was nice seeing Mills really get excited about putting ornaments on the tree.   It was really funny because she kept putting multiple ornaments on one branch and we had to explain to her that she needs to spread it out.  She didn't really get that, so we spread the ornament love for her!  I wasn't able to participate that much because it was Nono's feeding time so Morgan and Mills decorating the tree was my view from the couch.

Saturday Night at the Movies

 

I'm a little late with this post, my bad :(

 

Movie: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Rating: ***(out of 5)

Comments:   This movie was not the movie to watch after only having Thanksgiving a couple days prior.  That being said, it was a pretty good movie.  A man decides to take a 60 day fast from food and only drink juice for his "meals", he then travels the country to talk about his experience and others about their health and food.  Morgan and I have always talking about going on a juice fast to cleanse our bodies and this movie was definitely motivation!  The transformations are incredible and really inspiring.  I was a little disappointed with the information given,  I wish they would have provided more.  After watching this I know that we need to do this.  I think we will start after the holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday is over, and Cyber Monday is over.  Holiday season is seriously in full swing.

Our Thanksgiving was pretty mellow this year.  Well all the prep for Thanksgiving at our house was madness.  Since we live in a 1000 square foot apartment in Japan, you can only imagine how small our kitchen is!!!  Luckily we actually have an oven, most people that live off-base don't have that luxury.  This is our 3rd Thanksgiving on Okinawa and every year we have more and more guest and we manage just fine.  We just have to get creative with where we prep and store our food.  Man, do I miss the big fridges, deep freezers, double ovens, and kitchen islands!!  Haha I'm terrible! 

Anyways this year we had 5 of Morgan's Junior sailors over for dinner.  We've had his junior sailors over for the holidays every year since it's really expensive to fly home most don't and we don't want them spending their holidays in the barracks.  It was quite mellow, Morgan made the full spread this year and I took care of a couple things.  I'm so glad I'm married to someone that knows their way around the kitchen.  Not only does he know his way around the kitchen, he can cook the sh*t out of anything!  Me on the other hand, don't really have a feeling for the kitchen, I just like making desserts.  So we ate, and literally right after we were all done eating his jr sailors were practically all passed out on the couch! haha That tryptophan got to them quick!  I'll admit I was a little tired too, especially since we were up super late with the prep and cleaning up.

All in all a really good Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for my lil family and our wonderful new addition this year.  I'm thankful my husband has a job and able to support our family.  I'm thankful to have great family and friends here and in the states.  I'm hoping that next year we'll be able to spend the holiday season with our families.  Now, on to Christmas!  I've actually got a lot of my Christmas shopping done!  Usually the day after Thanksgiving we decorate the tree and the house for Christmas, we didn't get to that this year.  So we plan on doing it this weekend, can't wait!  It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!

Amelia's School Thanksgiving!

Dinner is served

Sailors of 3rd Marine Division

Getting sleepy

Amelia Asleep

My butterball sleeping

My Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake, eat your heart out Cheesecake Factory!

Bios on the Hill

Welp with our last year in Okinawa coming up I'm determined to see all this island has to offer before we leave.  Plus getting out of the house and breathing in some fresh air every once in awhile doesn't hurt.  Oki is small, but beautiful and has so much to do.  So this weekend Bios on the Hill was on the agenda.

I wasn't sure what this place was.  When we first got here back in 2010, I collected a bunch of pamphlets of things to do and this was one of them.

This place was SUPER pretty!  Only 20 min from our house.  This place is famous for their orchids and it smelled so nice!  Just walking in the entrance the aroma was intense. In a good way!  It was kind of like a really pretty park.  We paid to get in and paid for the boat ride.  Unfortunately the boat ride was in Japanese and we couldn't understand anything.  Mills had a good time and it put Nono to sleep so I was happy with it.  Then we played with the animals there.  There were goats and pigs.  You could actually feed the goats and walk them.  Mills had a great time feeding them.  We tried to talk them, but they were a lil too strong for her.  She was just happy to feed them carrots!  There was also an awesome playground with these huge swings.  Mills and her dad explored while Nono and I enjoyed a nice bench and he ate his afternoon lunch.  All in all a really pretty place.  We'll be back in the summer when the lilies are in bloom and we'll pack a lunch for a picnic!

On the boat tour

Water Buffalo

Ended the day with some ice cream!

On a side note>>>

{I'm in disbelief that it's already Thanksgiving next week!!!!!!!!}

{I need to make our Christmas cards ASAP}

{I need to buy the kid Christmas outfits}

Flashback Friday

Morgan and I circa 2004

Whoa!!!!  I know, we look like a couple of kids!  Well..... we were.  This is Morgan and I in Portland May 2004 for his 21st Birthday, we were visiting from Virgina.  Yup, I had blonde hair...so tragic. haha.  We have really come a long way.  This was a great trip.  Morgan's mom had like 8 parties for his 21st Birthday, ok maybe not 8...but it seemed like a lot!  There was a bash at her house, then there was a get together at the bar his family goes to, then there was a big dinner when we left. Turning 21, ohh to be so young. :p

Opps I did it again!

I'm the worst at updating this blog!  Things have just been so nuts lately!  October was the busiest moth and it got me all types of discombobulated! So here is my rundown of October!

My brother and sister came to visit us in Okinawa!!!!  They came for a week to chill!  The day after they arrived in Oki we got another typhoon.  I briefed them about typhoons, just stay inside, have an adult beverage (or 2), watch some movies, eat some junk food, watch the rain, listen to the wind, and it will all be over in a day.  Boy was I WRONG!  The typhoon that hit us was the strongest one this season, we even lost power a couple times and that never happens.  People all over the island hat lots of damage and went without power for days.  Luckily we just were a lil spooked and had some cabin fever, we were stuck in the house for 2 days.  I felt horrible that their vacay started off so terrible.  Well then we went to Okuma for a couple days. It was very pretty there, but it wasn't that hot and the water was really rough.  But we had a good time hanging and eating.  We showed them a few things on the island and then it was already time for them to go.  It was a short trip, but I'm thankful they got to come out and visit.  Visitors always stress me out, but I love having them over.

My sister and I at Okuma

My Brother and I at Okuma

Then mid-October Morgan went to Hawaii for a week.  It was just me and the kids.  We were kind of winding down from our recent visit and getting ready for out trip to Thailand!  It was a very very long week.

Late October we went to Thailand for a week!  It was the first time we all went on a vacay together!  It was our first official trip, it was the longest we ever took and the most exotic place.  WE HAD A BLAST!!!  We went to Phuket and Bangkok.  Lots of people seemed weary about us going to Thailand with Nono since he was only 4 months, but I always said that having kids wasn't going to slow us down, anyways he did AWESOME!  Maybe I just have great kids, but traveling doesn't worry me and we plan on taking many more trip!  I will write a better post of our trip to Thailand later.

at the Airport in Bangkok

Lastly when we got back from Thailand it was Halloween!  Amelia was Bat Girl (her request) and Nolan was Robin (we thought it would be cute).  Morgan got in the spirit too and wore a Batman shirt.  Unfortunately it  was rainy here, but we got with some friends and were able to trick or treat in the towers!

The clan

Trick or Treat

Batman & Robin

That's my October round up, hopefully I'll do better with the rest of the year. 

On a side note>>>

{Holiday season is in full swing, Thanksgiving is next week!  I haven't even gone to the grocery store yet!!!}

{We are already done Christmas shopping for the kids!  Got it done in October! Go US}

{I'm annoyed of all the people on FB posting their political views!}

Typhoon Party!?!?!

Living on a beautiful tropical island such as Okinawa is wonderful!  It also has it's drawbacks one HUGE drawback would be typhoons!  Growing up in San Diego I was not well versed in the 4 seasons, let alone adverse weather. I mean when we moved to Virgina and I got my first frozen windshield I didn't know what to do so I threw hot water on it!!! I KNOW...CRAZY.  Now I know better and have since got a scrapper and have never made that mistake again.  But a typhoon is quite a different story.

To be honest, it's really not that bad.  Since we've been here (2010 when we arrived) typhoon season each year has been pretty active.  Typhoon season is from June to October.  In September so far, we've had 2 to actually hit the island.  One most recently was last weekend.  Typhoon Sanba graced us with her presence super early on Sunday morning.  She was forecast to be a Super Typhoon, I'm not sure on the difference but it was supposed to be a bad one.  We were prepared since we just had another typhoon 2 weeks earlier.  We generally keep a good supply of canned food and water during the typhoon months. During typhoons its really windy and really rainy.  For the day leading up to a typhoon and during a typhoon we don't normally leave the house. Well we really can't, with all the wind and rain who would really want to? In preparation for the typhoon we really only stock up on snack foods and adult drinks. We already have all the emergency type stuff on hand.

Once the typhoon is near we just chill inside. We download lots of shows and movies to keep us occupied. With one of our first typhoons we actually took that time indoors to potty train Mills! It was great since we already had to be inside. For mills we play with her and have lots of snacks for her. It's a lot of family time, which I love. But being stuck in the house for 2-3 days is tiring. Cabin fever sets in and I feel like the house has been torn apart! I actually get a little anxiety once the typhoon starts to leave because I know how much cleaning needs to be done. Living in Japan we are in a small space and it can be a lil crazy trying to entertain 2 adults, 1 toddler , and an infant.

Usually once we get the all clear we get ready and get out of the house! I clean the bare minimum and take out the trash we have accumulated and head to the nearest restaurant. We also like to drive around the island to the sea wall and check out the huge waves. That's really it. I think it's really one of the best natural disasters. Okinawa gets hit every year and this island and the Okinawans are prepared. A few days off work (if the typhoon hits on a weekday), movie marathons, time with your family , and lazy days inside... Seriously typhoons are the natural disasters for families.

(Now, I do realize that there have been other places and even here that have been badly damaged by typhoons and would live to never see another one. I fortunately have never gone through a bad typhoon. This is just what I've experienced while living in Okinawa.)

Adult Typhoon Survival Kit

Nono and I Chillen

She is one Bad Mamma Jamma

Mills Playing While the Typhoon Kicks Up

YOU DID WHAT??????

On Friday night we had the B fam over for dinner. Regular Friday, except Morgan wasn't playing basketball because he hurt his knee pretty bad the last time he played. {He claims that he is retiring from playing, haha yeah right}. The B fam came over a lil early and I wasn't done cooking dinner. I was finishing up on the rest of the fish fillets. So I was fully occupied cooking and Morgan was watching the kids {he was really just playing video games}. Then all of a sudden right when I'm done cooking and I'm getting everything on serving dishes Mills comes up to me with a pair of scissors, a handful of hair, and no bangs!!!!! OMG... She cut off her bangs! She knew she messed up because I immediately started panicking and checking if she hurt herself and if she cut more. Then I ran to her room to find more hair! Oh no, more hair she doesn't have more to give! But the hair wasn't hers, it was Lana's!!!! She cut her friend's hair too!!! Luckily Len was able to laugh about it, but I was mortified! I felt so bad! Mother of the year! Ugh it's totally mine and Morgan's fault it happened. At this point all I could do was laugh about it and take pictures. My poor Mills looked ridiculous with only half of her bangs. Hahaha. I ended up posting the pic on FB and I got an overload of comments from other friends whose girls did the same thing at Mills' age! Phew, I wasn't that terrible of a mom! Haha. For now I decided not to cut all her bangs to be even and I just comb them over. I also try to encourage wearing a hat but she isn't giving in. Oh well, it's hair it will grow back :(

Her Bangs on the floor :(

She was so proud of her haircut she actually posed!

Never Forget

Today marks the 11 year anniversary of September 11th. I can still remember that day so clearly. It was my senior year of high school and I was in my government class and after the planes hit the whole school was let out. I remember everything being closed. For the rest of the day Morgan and I hung out at my house and watched the news. All TV that day was covering the September 11th attacks. I remember feeling violated. I was no where near the attacks, I didn't know anyone that was directly hurt or affected by the attacks. But I was an American and I was hurt for all those who lost their lives. It was just such a surreal day. It felt like I was living in a movie.

Morgan joined the Navy the following August after the attacks. Being a Navy wife, this day every year hits home. I think of the thousands of people who lost their lives that day and the years after as a direct result of the attacks. Morgan has been to Iraq and I know others who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan once and several times. I'm proud to be an American and I am a proud Navy wife. I thank those who have given their lives to defend our country and our way of life. I remember those who died on this terrible day. Never Forget. 9.11.2001

Sunday Fun Day

It's been awhile since we haven't HAD anything to do over the weekend.  Usually we have a birthday party, baby shower, or some sort of prior engagement to attend. Since those events take place on Saturdays usually our Sundays are spent running errands or getting ready for week.  However this Sunday we were able to use it for ourselves! 

We woke up a lil late, around 8ish.  He had a baby shower the night before and got home pretty late.We laid in bed for a while just hanging out with the kids, talking and drinking coffee.  After we decided that it was time to get up, we got ready and headed on base for the breakfast buffet. After stuffing our faces I didn't feel like going home so we decided to for a drive and see where the road took us.

Procrastinating on starting the day

All dressed and ready to go

 Being that we live on an island and it was Sunday we didn't go very far and we ended up at the 100 Y store.  The 100 Y store is like the Dollar Store in the states but 100 times better!  It really is a beast of it's own, you can find anything and everything you need at the 100 Y store and it's great quality unlike the similar stores in the states.  I don't think I've ever walked out of there without a full shopping cart.  The Japanese really know what they are doing when it comes to these stores.  We had a good time, filling the cart with snacks and nick-knacks. I always enjoy getting snacks I've never heard of and trying them, because Japanese have some unique snacks and flavor combos.

Japanese Snacks

Banana drink, not good :(

Mills found these "Power Rangers" rice toppings

 After the store we ended up just taking a drive, both the kids were sleeping and Morgan and I were chatting up a storm.  I always love times like those and just doing whatever.

Sleepy Head

Sunday driver

 

 

 

On a Side Note>>>>

{Nolan has been drooling and chewing his hands, seems like teething is beyond the horizon}

{Mills is sick today, no school for her.  She is really sad about it}

{Decided to play Fantasy Football with my hubby's league this year, already sucking! Ugh!!}

First Day of School

It was a crazy day for both of us. I think more crazy for myself then for Mills.  She had her first day of Pre-school!  Now I didn't realize that kids went to pre-school so early, I thought the going age was 4, but I guess now it's 3.  This whole pre-school business started May 2012, that is when open registration started.  Normally I wouldn't even think about signing up Mills for school in May when school starts in September, however there is only ONE pre-school on base in all of Okinawa.  To make matters worse, I found out that there were only 32 open spots for Mills age in that school.  This island is all about first come first serve and competition is stiff with about 55,000 families on island.  So 55,000 families, 1 pre-school on base, and 32 spots for 3 year olds, hmmmm the odds were stacking up.  So I decided that I would go super duper early to the school on the day of sign ups.  I heard horror stories of Moms waiting in line the night before to get their children into that school. Sign ups started at 7 am and unfortunately were happening when Morgan was out on an exercise.  So I enlisted my friend Len to watch Mills for me and I went to the school at 4 am, oh and I was 9 months pregnant!  Well, I was able to get her in and in the time slot that I wanted so it all ended up working out.

Fast forward to September and the first day of school.  It's not the first time Mills has been in a school setting or away from me for a few hours, so it didn't seem that big a deal to me.  I just figured I'd take a few pics, drop her off, run some errands and come pick her up.  But it totally hit me as I was driving away from her school after dropping her off, she is growing up.  *sigh* I mean she really isn't my baby girl anymore, she is a 3 year old, pre-school going, potty trained, big sister, and a little kid.  Now to her, I'm sure its just a fun couple of hours playing with friends but it's a big deal.  She shed no tears when I left and she seemed excited to be there.  All of which I am very happy for.  But now I know time is only going to fly by faster and before I know it she is going to be walking down the aisle to get her high school diploma.  I know its cliche to say, but kids grow up so fast.  Here is to a wonderful first year of pre-school.

MIA

So I've totally been MIA this whole summer.  With Nolan arriving and Mills taking a break from daycare, I've been a little busy.  Well not so much busy more tired. 

Mills Last day at Daycare and her Bday celebration with her teachers and classmates

Well its official, summer is over and done with.  Unfortunately we did not do as much as we had hoped to do.  I think we forgot how it was to have a newborn.  It's also excruciatingly hot and humid here in Okinawa, that taking out a newborn in this heat is just pure torture.  I really tried to limit my outings with him to few and far between.

This summer we had a number of Birthday parties that we attended.  Most notably we had Mills' 3rd birthday party!  Morgan picked out the theme this year.  He went with watermelons, its a great summer treat and her fave fruit.  He held the party at a multipurpose room at our friends apartment.  The party had a jumpy house, sugary treats, good food, games, and great people.  We had a blast and we know Mills had the time of her life.  I can't believe she is already 3.  Although she kills me every now and then, this age has been super fun and I wish I could just stop time.

Elijah's 2nd Bday

Party Games

July 26, 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday

Another great thing that happened this summer is Mills started gymnastics!  Being here on Oki, the extracurricular activities have super long waiting lists.  I had actually signed her up 4 months before she was able to start the class. I almost lost hope that she would get in a class, I actually signed her up for several classes mostly dance and this was the first class to have an opening.   I was really surprised how much stuff her coach was teaching her and how much she loved it. She is always asking about going to gymnastics and trying to do gymnastics in the house, we don't let her due to safety issues.  I'm glad she is so happy doing gymnastics, and who knows maybe we'll be in the 2024 Olympics :)

First Day of Gymnastics

 Most of our summer was spent lounging around the house or going out to eat and running errands here and there.  Since its been a few months now, I'm hoping that we get our routine going.  I'm a much better person when I've got a routine going.  Now it doesn't necessarily feel like fall, its still pretty warm and muggy out. It does cool down, so hopefully we'll do more now that the weather should be getting better.  Till the next post!

Breakfast on a Sunday morning

Nolan after a bath

Mills First haircut