Zach loves his big boy bike and is doing quite well with it. We haven't started working on brakes, but he steers and pedals really well. We took a walk yesterday afternoon and literally had to carry him back inside as he did not want to stop. Clara was complaining of the cold so after two complete laps around the north side housing area we went back in for hot cocoa.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas 2011
We had a really nice Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The kids decorated sugar cookies. 
Then they decorated the gingerbread village, which the kids enjoyed but I felt was sort of a dud. I think I'm going to get a bundt cake mold like this and let the kids decorate it next year. It will be tastier and likely look a lot better.
Clara was very creative while Zach was more about eating the candy as he went. Charlie also assisted him a little bit.
The pictures with the kids were inspired because I am usually the one behind the camera. Periodically I like to get in front of it to answer the question of "Where is mom?"
Then they decorated the gingerbread village, which the kids enjoyed but I felt was sort of a dud. I think I'm going to get a bundt cake mold like this and let the kids decorate it next year. It will be tastier and likely look a lot better. 
Clara was very creative while Zach was more about eating the candy as he went. Charlie also assisted him a little bit. 
The pictures with the kids were inspired because I am usually the one behind the camera. Periodically I like to get in front of it to answer the question of "Where is mom?"With the kids all bathed and in their new jammies, we put in White Christmas and started eating our traditional appetizer spread. I made jello for the kids, and it turned out to be the hit of the night. The kids also had their choice of sparkling juice. Clara did not like it at all, so she drank milk but Zach really liked it. He also liked the singing and dancing in the movie.
The kids were able to open one gift on Christmas Eve, which turned out to be Scooby figures. Big hit!
Once Zach realized there were toys in the wrapped packages, he got really excited. They played around a little bit and then it was time for bed.
Christmas morning came waaaay too early if you ask me. The kids were really tickled with all the gifts. Santa brought Clara Grace a kareoke machine plus a free-standing microphone. Zach got a big boy bike.
Zach loves this bike. He is riding it around the apartment as I type. The fact that he can do this demonstrates how good he is at steering because it is not easy maneuvering around this tight space. Clara keeps zooming in on her scooter to make for an interesting experience. Apartment living!
Here Clara is jamming out. For the most part she has stayed in her room singing, but I brought her out and had her watch the video that came with the Taylor Swift kareoke cd.
Zach was very grumpy after waking from his nap, but really perked up when she started. He grabbed a microphone and danced. He LOVES the microphone, but never talks in it. He just holds it.
The kids were able to open one gift on Christmas Eve, which turned out to be Scooby figures. Big hit!
Once Zach realized there were toys in the wrapped packages, he got really excited. They played around a little bit and then it was time for bed. 
Christmas morning came waaaay too early if you ask me. The kids were really tickled with all the gifts. Santa brought Clara Grace a kareoke machine plus a free-standing microphone. Zach got a big boy bike. 
Zach loves this bike. He is riding it around the apartment as I type. The fact that he can do this demonstrates how good he is at steering because it is not easy maneuvering around this tight space. Clara keeps zooming in on her scooter to make for an interesting experience. Apartment living! 
Here Clara is jamming out. For the most part she has stayed in her room singing, but I brought her out and had her watch the video that came with the Taylor Swift kareoke cd. 
Zach was very grumpy after waking from his nap, but really perked up when she started. He grabbed a microphone and danced. He LOVES the microphone, but never talks in it. He just holds it. 
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Hind Sight is Always 20/20
First, poor Zach. He has had a tough time lately. Last Friday he was sent home from daycare due to a fever than ran through to Sunday morning. He wasn't 100% Sunday but was much better. Then, Monday, he had a dentist appointment, but so did Clara and I so I had to drop him off at daycare for our appointments. By the time I got home, there was a message that he was hurt so I went to check him out. They felt he needed to go to the doctor over his busted lip, to be safe. I now know a lot more about wounds of the mouth. So, I definitely didn't take him back Tuesday but had thought to drop him off for an hour today so I could run a few errands.
Well, he wanted to stay with me so I kept him. We took our school registrar a cup of peppermint mocha. Then I enjoyed a cup of coffee while Clara and Zach drank hot cocoa and ate glazed donuts at the food court (Crossroads to those in Iwakuni). Then we checked the mail, went to the bank, and visited the library. On a side note, I discovered that I can check out ebooks for my kindle through the library! Anyway, we decided to go over to the PX to look for more Christmas gifts for Charlie. We found a few items but I cannot tell you what they are right now. He reads the blog.
Anyway, Zach was running out of steam at the PX. I assumed it was due to the fact that lunch and nap were fast approaching. We walked back over to Crossroads and got a couple subs for Charlie and I for lunch and we went home. Once there, he wanted me to carry him. So, I did. I made pb&j for the kids (I know, but they don't do subs and I wasn't getting them chicken nuggets and fries). Both kids were snubbing their food and Clara said her stomach was hurting.
With hind sight, the energetic boy wanting to be carried, no food desires, stomachache complaints...it all makes sense but I had not yet connected the dots. I was concerned that Zach might not be feeling well. We were expecting TV repairmen to be arriving close to this time so I told Clara to listen for them while I took Zach to his room for story time, rocking and bedtime. We read a couple of books checked out from the library, said prayers and I started rocking him. He said he was ready for bed so as I'm laying him down Clara tells me the guys are here.
I go let them in. Zach starts crying so as soon as I get them in the living room I tell them I'll be right back and to send Clara back if they need me. Zach is upset so I start to rock him. I went to check on Clara and returned. Zach had vomited. I get him changed and clean up. I carry him back with me and find out the repair is going to cost roughly $1500 as the tv is now out of warranty after 18 months of use. Luckily, as I'm explaining that I'll just keep watching the tv as it is, Charlie came home for lunch. He concurred and the tv people left. On another side note, it is interesting that the two Japanese men were accompanied by a Marine from the exchange. I am often reminded of little things like this that are normal for us, but weren't at one time.
So, I'm explaining to Charlie about Zach and Clara. I'm off to get the thermometer when Zach starts fussing again and decides to follow me. And gets sick. A lot. Luckily it was on the tile floor. So, we get him cleaned up and the floor clean and check temperatures. They are both running low grade fevers. I decided to just give them liquids, blankets and let them watch tv on the couch. Zach didn't take long before he fell asleep but Clara is enjoying Tom and Jerry as I type.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the worst of it and they are both happy as larks come tomorrow.
H&HS Christmas Party
Charlie came home yesterday with the news that the H&HS Christmas party was that day. I am probably the least informed Marine wife to events such as these. Since I am always up for these things, off we went. Charlie is technically with 171, however is fapped over to H&HS. Anyway, they always do a nice job, but my hat goes off to them this year. The gym was decorated quite well I thought and the way they raffled the prizes was awesome. Each person was given a green ticket as they entered. There were three "big" raffles: a 37" TV, a laptop and an ipad. Anyway, you were able to pick which item you wanted to put your ticket in. Then there were a bunch of other raffle prizes such as Cozy Coupes, camera, Razor scooter, legos, etc. Probably around 20 prizes. There were games set up around the perimeter of the gym such as the hockey goal below, corn hole, shooting hoops, and so on. As you won tickets, which were red, you could go drop your ticket in the box for the corresponding item. At the end of the party, they shut down the games and did the raffles. All green tickets were then put together and they chose one for the grand prize of a 47" flat screen TV. Nice. We didn't win, but I really enjoyed the experience. Here are a few pictures taken during the night.
Zach gives it a try with putting a tennis ball in the goal with a hockey stick.
Clara repeatedly slammed the tennis ball into the goal! Score! She tried to win the iTouch, a Sony cybershot camera and a Nintendo 3DS. She didn't win, but she had fun trying!
Ignore the glistening above his mouth, but this is just a shot of his poor busted lip.
I couldn't get Charlie or Clara to suit up in the Sumo suits. I enjoyed watching these kids anyway. As you can see, there was a variety of entertainment.
Clara wanted a balloon animal and chose to have a cat. She recognized the clown was Japanese and requested her cat in Japanese: Neko.
Zach didn't want one. I'm not sure he knew what to think of the clown.
More Sumo fun!
Yes, Santa puts in an appearance and Zach climbed right up there without any prompting. Shocking!
Clara was not thrilled with the food, although I thought it was quite nice. They were serving turkey, ham, gravy, yams, mashed potatoes, dressing, cookies, and cake. Yum! See the piece of cake, that was her sole motivation to eat.
Can you tell how much she is enjoying it?
Zach, tackling his piece of cake.
Clara repeatedly slammed the tennis ball into the goal! Score! She tried to win the iTouch, a Sony cybershot camera and a Nintendo 3DS. She didn't win, but she had fun trying!
Ignore the glistening above his mouth, but this is just a shot of his poor busted lip. 
I couldn't get Charlie or Clara to suit up in the Sumo suits. I enjoyed watching these kids anyway. As you can see, there was a variety of entertainment.
Clara wanted a balloon animal and chose to have a cat. She recognized the clown was Japanese and requested her cat in Japanese: Neko. 
Zach didn't want one. I'm not sure he knew what to think of the clown.
More Sumo fun!
Yes, Santa puts in an appearance and Zach climbed right up there without any prompting. Shocking!
Clara was not thrilled with the food, although I thought it was quite nice. They were serving turkey, ham, gravy, yams, mashed potatoes, dressing, cookies, and cake. Yum! See the piece of cake, that was her sole motivation to eat.
Can you tell how much she is enjoying it?
Zach, tackling his piece of cake.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
It certainly seems like we have been busy lately. I finally sat down to update the blog and pulled up the available pictures to try to remember it all. I think this was last Saturday. The Girl Scouts of Iwakuni gathered at our food court to sing Christmas carols. It was a nice time but was also right in the middle of Zach's nap time. Trying to be flexible, I put him in the stroller and took him along. The girls did a really nice job with singing. 
Clara and a couple of her buddies.
Somehow I missed uploading Zach asleep in his stroller. It worked out well for me. Since he was sleeping nicely and Clara left the event to spend the night with the girl on the left above, I walked Zach over to the library so he could finish his nap. It was some nice downtime. I remembered that our library has ipads you can use in the library so I thought I would see what that is all about. As it turns out, I am not very good on an ipad. Although I was able to open up Safari, I couldn't close it to check out the other apps. Luckily I encountered a friend on my way to the circulation desk to get help and she showed me what I needed to do. By then I was done with it. Zach finally woke up and we began enjoying the library. He was absolutely thrilled they had a Cat in the Hat.
Later that evening Zach and I walked over to a colleagues home that was hosting a Christmas gathering. We both had a nice time. The next day we spent working on the home and getting Clara's Christmas Around the World project complete for the presentation on Monday. She was doing China. It was a family project, but Clara made her own PowerPoint (although I assisted with saving/inserting pictures and formatting the YouTube video. I worked it out with her teacher to let her do her presentation during my planning period so I could watch. Here Clara is presenting. Can you see how excited her classmates are? Nah, they did a good job of listening but I did get tickled when looking at the pictures.
There was a glitch with the youtube video so we just had to do a hyperlink. If you would like to watch this short video, click here. It is cute but will get in your head for several days.
I promise I ordered all the badges needed, but for some reason they didn't send them all. I wasn't the only one. They were reordered so hopefully her sash will look right very soon. She has earned a couple of badges too, that I have yet to sew/iron on.
After the ceremony, which was very nice and short, we enjoyed a few treats. I forgot to mention I was making cupcakes at 4am. Clara was very nice to her little brother during this time.
Charlie came home late Wednesday night! We were very glad to have him home and it was yet another crazy day at work for me. Thursday, right after school we went to Zach's daycare for a family cookie decorating experience. Zach wasn't into it so after cleaning up we headed out in town so I could shop for my students.
We survived the last week of school before Christmas break. Zach ended up being sent home sick on Friday and thankfully Charlie was able to take care of him as it was just nuts at work. Christmas celebrations, two students moving, etc. Fun, but busy and hectic. Zach was still running a fever on Saturday so we stayed in. The kids and I made dough ornaments. Ignore Zach's crazy hair. He had not been up from his nap for long. We have yet to paint the ornaments but will do that soon.
Clara, Zach and I all had dentist appointments on Monday morning (today). I scheduled Zach's at 7am and Clara and I both for 9am. Charlie had to go with us since the base dental has rules about that. Anyway, Zach refused to open his mouth although it was a pleasant enough trip. The dentist suggested I bring him back in a few months since she didn't want to traumatize him. I appreciate that. We dropped Zach off at daycare so we could go back to the dentist. The plan was also that I would return home to finish a paper due today. Luckily Clara and I both got a no cavity report, although would like to know just how much blood I spilled due to the tender cleaning I received (yes, that is sarcasm). Anyway, as soon as I returned to the apartment I saw a message from the daycare and it just said it was not an emergency but please call. I decided to just go see what was wrong. Zach fell and busted his lip. The picture below looks much better than it did when I arrived and he still had blood around his chin (it is pizza sauce you see below). His teacher said she would take him to the doctor if he were her child. I didn't want to overreact, but decided to take him to be seen. Luckily the pediatrition was able to fit me in immediately and said he is fine. I'm glad she told me how it would heal because she painted a pretty ugly picture that I might have worried about. He was so cooperative at the doctor and hasn't been bothered by it once. Oh, and she checked his ears without me mentioning anything (I wondered if his ears could have been the cause for the fever over the weekend). Luckily they looked great. I brought him on home and was able to finish my paper. All this before nap time.
I'm hoping tomorrow is a bit more relaxing!
Clara and a couple of her buddies.
Somehow I missed uploading Zach asleep in his stroller. It worked out well for me. Since he was sleeping nicely and Clara left the event to spend the night with the girl on the left above, I walked Zach over to the library so he could finish his nap. It was some nice downtime. I remembered that our library has ipads you can use in the library so I thought I would see what that is all about. As it turns out, I am not very good on an ipad. Although I was able to open up Safari, I couldn't close it to check out the other apps. Luckily I encountered a friend on my way to the circulation desk to get help and she showed me what I needed to do. By then I was done with it. Zach finally woke up and we began enjoying the library. He was absolutely thrilled they had a Cat in the Hat.
Later that evening Zach and I walked over to a colleagues home that was hosting a Christmas gathering. We both had a nice time. The next day we spent working on the home and getting Clara's Christmas Around the World project complete for the presentation on Monday. She was doing China. It was a family project, but Clara made her own PowerPoint (although I assisted with saving/inserting pictures and formatting the YouTube video. I worked it out with her teacher to let her do her presentation during my planning period so I could watch. Here Clara is presenting. Can you see how excited her classmates are? Nah, they did a good job of listening but I did get tickled when looking at the pictures.
There was a glitch with the youtube video so we just had to do a hyperlink. If you would like to watch this short video, click here. It is cute but will get in your head for several days.
This is Clara's investiture ceremony on Tuesday. It was directly after their meeting and was yet another busy day. I had a meeting after school, took CG to her meeting, ran back to school to finish sub plans for Wednesday since I was supposed to have remedial driver training. Then pick up Zach to make it to her ceremony. It was cutting it really close, but we made it.
I promise I ordered all the badges needed, but for some reason they didn't send them all. I wasn't the only one. They were reordered so hopefully her sash will look right very soon. She has earned a couple of badges too, that I have yet to sew/iron on.
After the ceremony, which was very nice and short, we enjoyed a few treats. I forgot to mention I was making cupcakes at 4am. Clara was very nice to her little brother during this time.
Charlie came home late Wednesday night! We were very glad to have him home and it was yet another crazy day at work for me. Thursday, right after school we went to Zach's daycare for a family cookie decorating experience. Zach wasn't into it so after cleaning up we headed out in town so I could shop for my students.
We survived the last week of school before Christmas break. Zach ended up being sent home sick on Friday and thankfully Charlie was able to take care of him as it was just nuts at work. Christmas celebrations, two students moving, etc. Fun, but busy and hectic. Zach was still running a fever on Saturday so we stayed in. The kids and I made dough ornaments. Ignore Zach's crazy hair. He had not been up from his nap for long. We have yet to paint the ornaments but will do that soon.
Clara, Zach and I all had dentist appointments on Monday morning (today). I scheduled Zach's at 7am and Clara and I both for 9am. Charlie had to go with us since the base dental has rules about that. Anyway, Zach refused to open his mouth although it was a pleasant enough trip. The dentist suggested I bring him back in a few months since she didn't want to traumatize him. I appreciate that. We dropped Zach off at daycare so we could go back to the dentist. The plan was also that I would return home to finish a paper due today. Luckily Clara and I both got a no cavity report, although would like to know just how much blood I spilled due to the tender cleaning I received (yes, that is sarcasm). Anyway, as soon as I returned to the apartment I saw a message from the daycare and it just said it was not an emergency but please call. I decided to just go see what was wrong. Zach fell and busted his lip. The picture below looks much better than it did when I arrived and he still had blood around his chin (it is pizza sauce you see below). His teacher said she would take him to the doctor if he were her child. I didn't want to overreact, but decided to take him to be seen. Luckily the pediatrition was able to fit me in immediately and said he is fine. I'm glad she told me how it would heal because she painted a pretty ugly picture that I might have worried about. He was so cooperative at the doctor and hasn't been bothered by it once. Oh, and she checked his ears without me mentioning anything (I wondered if his ears could have been the cause for the fever over the weekend). Luckily they looked great. I brought him on home and was able to finish my paper. All this before nap time.
I'm hoping tomorrow is a bit more relaxing!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Random Pics
Zach is enjoying his first S'more! He liked it. As you can see, he tackled it in typical Zachary-style...by pulling it apart first.
Last week I saw these in the commissary and thought they would come in handy one day. Zach did not get a good nap today after our visit with Santa (pic to come later) and we had to go out in town to try to find dress shoes for Clara and go grocery shopping. Once we made it to the commissary I told the kids I had a surprise and pulled these out. Aaaah. What a peaceful grocery shopping experience. I had very few impulse requests from them and absolutely no bickering or grabbing things off the shelf! They should come in a big back instead of packaged individually! These pictures were taken after the grocery shopping experience and back in the car.
Clara is always up for a S'more!
Last week I saw these in the commissary and thought they would come in handy one day. Zach did not get a good nap today after our visit with Santa (pic to come later) and we had to go out in town to try to find dress shoes for Clara and go grocery shopping. Once we made it to the commissary I told the kids I had a surprise and pulled these out. Aaaah. What a peaceful grocery shopping experience. I had very few impulse requests from them and absolutely no bickering or grabbing things off the shelf! They should come in a big back instead of packaged individually! These pictures were taken after the grocery shopping experience and back in the car.
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