Side Gigs

Being a SAHM, its important to have your own thing.  I practically work at home all day every day, 24-7.  There needs to be some away time to recharge your batteries, get your mind away off the chores, the babies, the bills, the house.   Morgan is always encouraging me to get into something , go out with the girls, go to the gym, go shopping, go do something.  He totally understands!  He likes to go to the gym and play basketball.  He goes to the gym weekly and is in a basketball league.  So I did it, my friend and I signed up for cake decorating classes.  I always loved baking, but totally sucked at decorating.  To be fair, I haven't put much effort in trying to decorate.  I've always used fairly easy methods to decorate my cakes and cupcakes.

The class was a Wilton cake decorating class.  There are 4 courses and 4 sessions per course.  One, two and a half hour class a week. Course 1 is building butter cream skills.  First week we decorated cookies, second week we decorated our first cake, third week we learned how to pipe flowers and decorated cupcakes, the fourth week we decorated tall cakes all on our own from start to finish.  Our last sessions ended last night.  After all is said and done I'd have to say that its a lot harder then it looks.  I watch all those cake decorating shows on TV and they make it look super easy.  I was fooled.  Its no joke.  There are a lot of components that go into making a nicely decorated cake.   I'd have to say tho that I loved it, it was very informational, challenging, and fun.  Its a great beginner class and the tips I learned I'll probably use for the rest of my days.  I liked this class so much that I'm planning on taking all 4 courses.   I'm definitely not opening up my own bakery anytime soon, but you never know. lol

Pulling the Plug

We did it!  We got bubs off his pacifier!

I've actually tried a couple times in the past, but have been unsuccessful.  This time we're done!  Thank the Lord!

This was a bit of a struggle for us both.  Not only was the paci a comfort for bubs, but it was a comfort for us too.  It was the one thing we knew that we could  use to comfort our lil guy.  Nolan took to a paci right away.  The first time I couldn't comfort him with by feeding or holding, I just stuck a paci in his mouth and it was a hit. {No judgement}.  He was really paci obsessed, he carried multiple pacis with him at a time and would switch them out.  We wouldn't dare leave the house without a pacifier.  I had them everywhere, the car, my bedroom, his bedroom, my purse, my diaper bag...everywhere.  The thought of not having one handy and him losing one would strike fear in my heart.  We knew that he needed to be off of it by his 2nd bday.  It was the same thing we did with Amelia.  M and I both agreed that 2 was the right age, we did't want them to go to college with pacifiers. lol

It was surprisingly quick for us.  A habit of 2 years we felt like we just needed to take it away quickly, like a band aid. So we cut a few of his pacifiers in half and gave him one.  His face when we gave him the paci was priceless.  He looked so confused! lol We told him that it was broken.  So he asked for another one, it too was broken.  He tried and tried to suck on them, but he looked so unsatisfied.  I told him they were broken and to throw them in the trash.  That was a bad idea, he kept going back to the trash and looking at them. it was the course of a day and he had gone through all the broken ones and thrown them in the trash.  Then it was cold turkey  He just went about his day and played, there were times where I could tell he was was searching for one.   He seemed almost a little lost.

Sleeping was a big struggle.  I didn't even want to put him down for a nap, I just let him tire out and he fell asleep on his own, no pacifier needed.  The first night was terrible.  He kept waking up and crying for it.  Poor lil guy.  He ended up sleeping with us because he was waking up so often.  it was a rough night for all of us.  In the morning he looked for a pacifier for a good 15 minutes then went on with his day.

Since then we haven't looked back.  Well, to be honest there have been a few breakdowns of his where I wish I could have just stuck a paci in his mouth.  Trust me, I was super close to doing that.  I did get my self control and just power through.  This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I totally feared it for nothing.  I should have just put more faith in Nolan.  He is doing fine a week later, like nothing ever happened.  I see more of his facials expressions.  He seems to be communicating more and hopefully we didn't mess up his teeth. lol

Pacifier Lover

                                   

Before pulling the plug

                                 

After :)

                                 

So handsome without his Pacifier :)

                                 

Happy Birthday America

4th of July Recap

I've totally been slacking.  All my posts are late, well better late then never.  The typhoon kinda got me off track.

We spent 4th of July like we always do on Oki, with our annual Ikei beach bbq with our Oki fam.    We go to Ikei beach and spend the whole day BBQing and beaching it.  Its a fun traditon because all the families get together and bring a ton of food and drinks!  All the kids were having a blast going back and fourth playing in the sand and the water. This year was especially fun because Nolan is a lil older so we could play in the water a lot more.  We had a blast making sand castles and splashing in the water.  We got to the beach at 10 and left at 6!  It was a long full day.  I was super surprised because the kids didn't even stop for a nap!  They were determined to have lots of fun and soak up the sun.  The ONLY downside is that there are no fireworks at the beach.  Since we live in Japan, they obviously don't celebrate the 4th of July.   On base they do have fire works, BUT its the only firework show on island so as you can imagine its packed.  By the time we got home, the kids were already so exhausted that we just shower them and put them in bed.  We didn't dare venture out after that long day.  Till we meet again Ikei beach!

Ikei Beach

Playing with his daddy

Floaty fun

Family shot

Oki Fam
{This isn't even everyone who came, this was everyone who lasted till 6pm}

Typhoon Talk

First typhoon of the season hit Okinawa on July 8th.  It definitely came in with a bang!!!   We've been here for a few years now and we've learned that typhoons aren't really that bad.  Its a lot of wind and a lot of rain.  We normally just hang out inside, watch movies, and cook up a bunch of food.   Its pretty standard, don't want to be outside in all the mess.  Plus you would probably get blown away.  We really just have family time and its nice to hang out together.

During typhoon season we like to keep stuff on hand, just in case one hits.   Usually we get a couple days notice before one hits and they can come back to back.   Being prepared at all times is key.  For our "typhoon kit"  we keep water , batteries, flashlights, canned food, and candles.    Plus the grocery store gets nuts before one hits, since most people are stocking up for the typhoon.  When I hear about a typhoon hitting I usually only have to grab a few things at the store, just a hit and run.

Typhoon Neoguri was originally forecast as a category 5 super typhoon. BTW category 5 is the highest category! I usually don't freak out, but when I saw that locals were freaking, I knew I should be worried.  So I bought  extra just in case.  The typhoon was expected to hit late afternoon on Tuesday July 8th.  Winds already started picking up on Monday morning July 7th.  I wanted to take the kids out to play at a park, but Nolan got sick and we had to spend Monday hanging at the hospital.  By the time the kids and I got home, Morgan got home, so we had to prepare.  Morgan was outside tying things down and putting stuff away.  I was inside getting all the typhoon gear out so we wouldn't have to search for it.  I was also doing laundry.  haha During typhoons there is a lot of downtime so folding laundry is a perfect activity.

The typhoon came Tuesday.  Luckily it hit Okinawa as a cat 3 and not a cat 5.  There was lots of wind and rain.  I always get a lil nervous.... the winds were just so crazy.  But the houses and building on Oki are built to withstand typhoons, still nerve wracking tho.  People on Facebook were posting pics , it looked pretty bad out.  We just hunkered down, ate, and watched movies.  We did loose power for a few hours.  That was lame because that means no ac and it was getting humid.  We were lucky to only loose it for a few hours, I've had friends that lost it for a full 12 hours.  In our neck of the woods the typhoon was pretty uneventful.  It did hang out on the coast a lil longer then expected and did bring a down pour of rain, thunder, and lighting.  I believe the estimate rain fall was 34 inches.   There was flooding all around town.  After all is said and done, there was lots of damage all over the island.  Unfortunately I did hear of 2 deaths. For us, we were fortunate to not have any damages from the storm.  Wednesday after we got the all clear , Morgan was out cleaning up all the debris and untying the outdoor stuff.  Once the power came back on {Wed. afternoon} I started clean up inside.

Nolan playing with his Hot Wheels

Amelia watching on her Ipad

Hanging in bed watching Netflix

Made some Turon

Made some spicy kimchee soup

Hopefully that was the worst one of the season.  There is even another typhoon forming, hopefully it doesn't pass us or it dissipates.   Typhoon season is here and we're ready.



Pictures of damages throughout the island//

{Not my photo}
Car flipped over on base

                              

{Not my photo}
Car crushed by fallen tree

{Not my photo}
Restaurant in Naha 

{Not my photo}
Flooding

{Not my photo}
flooding