I love the smell...

Yesterday, as we were coming in from the rain, Luke said, "I love the smell of rain." Just then the door opened and the smell of Roast Beef hit us, to which Tess replied, "I love the smell of FOOD!" Typical Tess. Always been easy to please in the food department. Yep, pretty much eats anything. Some of you may remember her nickname, Tessa the Hut. She was huge, always in the 90% for weight. Luke and Kate, always in the 50%. Ella, the 3%. That's right. She looks like a starving African child when she's naked. Don't ask me what I'm doing wrong. I give up. The girl is the most finicky eater ever. She basically only eats food that is some shade of tan or white. Bread and yogurt, oatmeal, a little bit of milk. Nothing healthy. No veggies, only a few fruits. The doctor said she'd outgrow it, but I'm kicking myself for weaning her, at least that was a food she'd eat anytime, anywhere!


Ethiopian Ella @ 18mo..................... Tessa the Hut @12 mo.

Heirs to the Honda empire

Genealogy, I am doing it, my genealogy,....never heard it? It's a little known primary song. Anyway, I have been working on my Japanese genealogy, and have learned some pretty interesting stuff. For instance, did you know that in Japan, if a family had no male child, they would adopt a second son from another family to carry on the family name? My great great grandfather Zenkuro Hayashi, was actually born Yoshi Honda. Second son of Joemon Honda. Hmmm...do you think they'd cut me into the family business? Wonder how that would work, maybe they'd at least give me a free car...
And, this happened on the other side too, We are genetically NOT Nakaya's. My great great grandfather Buhichi Nakaya, was actually born to the Mikami family. Kristin Mikami. Nice ring. Well, better not go changing our name just yet, with a little more research, we could be related to the Toshiba's or even better! The Sony's!! I'll let you know what I find out.

Leave a Comment!

I just realized, (thanks Di) that my comment settings were such that only Gmail users could leave a comment. I sincerely apologize, as I know you all really wanted to leave comments, but just couldn't! Anyway, the problem is now rectified. Please feel free to enlighten me with your sage words of wisdom! Welcome comment-ors one and all.

The end of an era...

As our beloved prophet and President of the church passed away last night, I just wanted to take a minute and pay him tribute. He was a man full of love for all mankind, he did so much to help the church and the world, and I personally will miss him a great deal. However, I am so happy to know that he is now reunited with his wife of over 60 years. He missed her terribly, and so it eases the pain for us a bit to know that they are together again, and that he has found his much deserved peace and rest. For any of my non-LDS readers that are interested, here is a link with more on his life: Rest in peace Pres. Hinckley, you will always be in our hearts.
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

Down & Derby

The last pinewood derby is over at last! Big sigh of relief. Cub scouts is the bane of my existence, so I am not sorry to see this last race done with. All the drama! Parents are the worst, but there's always one or two boys crying at the end of the night. It's an age old saga I suppose, but really, who needs this kind of crap? Especially at the age of 8-9-10! I think we oughta just put the boys in the room with their cars and track and let 'em play for a couple of hours. No announcing the winner and loser, no parents hovering over the track to 'adjust the car just right'. Ridiculous. The whole thing.
Luke's race started off bad to begin with, the leaders forgot to tell the boys the race had been bumped up a week, so we had 1 hour to make his car before weigh-ins. Chris had tried to help him the previous weekend, but ended up destroying the car, so he thought he'd have another try this weekend, except that the race got moved up. Luckily we had an extra car, pre-cut, with little plastic dude and everything. He just had to paint it and stick the wheels on. It looked great, but it was a, er, a little slow. Dead last to be honest. Oh well, Luke handled it really well, I was proud of his display of sportsmanship. He had fun, and that's what really matters right? Well, to us anyway. Some people must win to call it a good night, but those are the folks we don't like to associate with. Isn't the point of cub scouts to teach our young boys to be good solid men with integrity? I fail to see how parents arguing over the results, as judged by a computer no less, is going to acheive this lofty goal. I guess I just don't get it. Maybe winning is everything?!

20/70

It's official, I get older, my eyesight gets worse. Last eye exam I was 20/60, now it's worse. I wouldn't even have gone, but I lost my second and last pair of glasses, and now I need new ones.
Of course the pair I like are about $250. So I will just have to be a menace on the road for a bit longer (did you know you can't pass the test w/o 20/40 or better?). Good thing I don't spend much time driving around.
Luke also failed his school eye exam, so we took him in, his vision is barely 20/40, so he got glasses. Now I have to worry about 2 of us losing glasses though. He really likes them, and I think he looks pretty cute, of course he picked out the most expensive pair. The selection wasn't very good, ah well, I don't need to see anytime soon.
Hopefully this will help with his headaches. Not a one since pulling him from school, and it's gone pretty smoothly at home too (knock on wood). He joined a co-op group that meets for 4 classes on Thursdays. So for all you worried about his 'socialization', there you go. 4 whole hours socializing with other weird home schooled children. (awww, kidding, there's only a few that are weird) Chris and I are working with him on his social skills, and I am optimistic he'll be ready to go back in the fall.
Anyway, I will take a turn teaching the science class. Hope I can remember how that goes...it seems a life time ago since I had to think about chemistry and physics. I vaguely remember calculus, at one point in my life I could claim to be educated. Now...not so sure, I think I lose IQ points with each pregnancy. I'm hovering around 'mentally challenged' these days. Which reminds me, yesterday Kate was twirling something sort of like a baton, and said, "Mom, watch me! I'm a genius!" If only that were the measure of IQ. We'd all be geniuses. Which reminds me of something else, (I'm losing it, I know) my niece left an interesting article about nerds and schools in my comments, I'm not sure it is entirely accurate or applicable to Luke's situation, but check it out, http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html and tell me what you think. Chris of course, agrees 100%, especially on the part about schools becoming a society similar to Lord of the Flies. I'm not quite so positive, but it does beg some consideration.
Wow! what was the point of this post anyway? My brain is on 'circle' apparently. I may come around to a cohesive thought soon...stay tuned.

Tagged

Hmmm, five places I would love to visit?
1. Thailand. Love the ancient temples in the jungle.

2. Machu Pichu, doesn't everyone?




3. Taj Mahal, and lots of India



4. Europe. All of it.

5. Bali. Ever since reading Eat, Pray, Love, I just want to go there and find my center too.
I would pretty much like to just the USA and tour around the world for a few years with my kids. Learn a few languages on the way, stay in a place long enough to experience the culture and the people. Broaden my horizons, see how the church is outside Utah, really see all of 'God's creations' and man's. Yep, pretty much anywhere. Money is no object right?!

High Tea with Kate

Today is Kate's 4th birthday, and she decided to celebrate with her 2 girlfriends having a Tea Party. Well, pink lemonade. As the girls arrived they were taken to the dressing room to change into 'appropriate' attire, shoes and jewelry. Then, our master cosmetician, Tess, gave them a make over, followed by a manicure from mom.

All decked out, they proceeded to the luncheon, where they enjoyed heart shaped sandwiches and tea cup cupcakes.

On to the craft portion of the party (why has this become a tradition? every party has to have some sort of craft these days). Decorating mirrors and making necklaces.
Exchanging of gifts...and last but not least, the 'play' portion of the party. Designed to take up all that extra time until the parents arrive! And if that doesn't work, the movie portion. Barbie Swan Lake, of course.4 year olds are the perfect age for tea parties! Whew, and now I can go lie down! As I was preparing for this little shin-dig, Luke said, "Now I know why you just wanted to go bowling for my birthday, it was way less work!" Perceptive, isn't he?

Luke trouble...again...

The migraines are back. At least one a week, usually Sunday night. Go figure. Monday he came home from school with such a down trodden look on his face. I asked what was wrong.
"Jessie (the bully who shoved him in a hole last month) told everyone in class that I'm stupid, so now Treavor (the kid with a hair-lip) doesn't want to be friends with me. He was my only friend mom. No one likes me."
By this point I am teetering between tears of sorrow for my sweet child and rage at the meanness of kids. Chris came home and I cried. I don't know what to do. I can't stand to see my child in pain. Physical and emotional pain. And yet, do I rescue him from these hard situations that he'll have to learn to deal with sooner or later? Can I handle having him at home? We all know how that went last time! Is he just weird? Why don't the kids like him? He has lots of friends in the neighborhood, older and younger, boys and girls, and has no problems at church. It seems to me to stem from this one child in his class. I suggested maybe moving classes, to which he replied, Jessie pretty much tells everyone what to think, and there are already kids in the other classes that are all to eager to join the gang of oppressors. What do we do?
Chris, ever the sage, suggested that he's not weird, but that he just refuses to join in the pecking order, and so the kids don't like him. He doesn't understand why the hair-lip kid is made fun of, or why the girls shun the less pretty. To him, they are all just kids, and he tries to be friends with them all.
Unfortunately, schools teach kids that there is a social order at a young age. It doesn't matter where you fit in, geek, popular, bully, but EVERYONE has to have a place, and get in line. Society is the same. The problem is, kids learn this order at a tender young age before they have a well developed sense of self, and more importantly, confidence in who they are. This pecking order system can destroy some kids before they even know what hit them.
It took me a while to digest that. I had been worried about shielding him from life's problems, when I shouldn't, but in reality, adults do this to each other as well. The difference between experiencing it as an adult, is that hopefully, adults know who they are, and can make a conscious decision to just ignore the petty minded. Kids on the other hand, don't have the wherewithal to make that decision. They just want friends, and want to be accepted. To some extent we all do, but this life lesson will always be there. I can't shield him from it forever, but I can protect him until his self esteem can handle it. Till he's mature enough to see it for what it is. I may be overprotective, but after much thought and prayer, my sense it to take him out of this harmful environment. I refuse to put him on narcotics for the headaches and just force him to cope. So....yes, it's come full circle. Luke will once again be homeschooled. Till the end of the school year. Next year I have both he and Tess enrolled in a new charter school. Several of their friends are also enrolled, and they have multi-age classes, so I can only hope, he'll be okay. I know my limits, and long term homeschooling wouldn't work for my temperment, but I can deal with this for 4 months. I have to. For Luke's sake.

A word about weather...

Many of you have often heard me complain about our cold house. No insulation, 75yr. old single pane windows, yada yada. After the first $300 dollar gas bill, we decided to basically turn the furnace off and just put on a sweater (or 3). Three days ago the heater blower motor in the car went out. No biggie, we're used to the cold, and the heated seats still work for the front at least, I just chucked a few blankets in the car for the kids. It only takes 2 min. to get to anywhere in this town, so we're not too stressed about the inconvenience. Add it to the list of repairs we'll probably never get around to. Then today, it warmed up to above freezing, and voila! Heater works again. Apparently you can only have heat when you don't really need it. Ah, the irony of it all. A friend sent me these pictures, and it put my heat-free existence into perspective, at least I don't have to get out the blow torch to de-ice my entire car every morning. Seriously, do people really live like this?! (This is Versoix, Switzerland by the way).

My greatest accomplishment of 2007

This one's for my cousin Angie, who's blog is not just ramblings like mine, but something poignant.

In 2007 I accomplished that elusive goal, to attain peace of mind. Not that my mind is always at peace, mind you, but that I can look at my life and think to myself, "It's all good." It may not be what I hoped for, dreamed of, expected or feared, but it's all good. Life for me is gelling. The up's and especially the down's of this year have forced me to come to this point. It was either here or the nut house, and I'm glad it's here. Here where it's all good. I'm at peace with where my life has been, where it's going, and especially where it is right now. Yep, it's all good.

Mantra's for 2008

For those of us who don't like to make serious resolutions, here's an idea for the new year. My friend Bonnie has a new mantra for herself. Eliminate in 2008. Eliminate excess fat, excess stuff, excess emotional baggage, etc. You get the picture. Well, it started me thinking, if my entire resolution were to be summed up in one word that rhymes with eight, what would it be? I went to bed with this thought, and as usual, my head hits the pillow, and the voices start talking. I had so many words coming to me, I had to sit up and write a few down. Then I had to ask Chris to come up with some, well, 3 hours later, I think I finally fell asleep. 3 days later, I am finally getting around to making the list official. So here are a few mantra's I came up with, and who would most likely be using them:

Bulimic's Eliminate in 2008
Mormon's Procreate in 2008
Terrorists Obliviate in 2008
My family Flatulate in 2008
Homeland Security Interrogate in 2008
Spas Invigorate in 2008
Dictators Intimidate in 2008
Magicians Levitate in 2008
This Old House Renovate in 2008
Doctors Alleviate in 2008
Drug pushers Subjugate in 2008
Drug users Hallucinate in 2008
Children Imitate in 2008
Policemen Confiscate in 2008
Philosophers Pontificate in 2008
Preachers Dedicate in 2008
Friends Commiserate in 2008
Bush will Abdicate in 2008
Judges Mitigate in 2008
Self Help Authors Elevate in 2008
Politicians Discombobulate in 2008
Ex spouses Complicate in 2008

See any that meet your needs? If you come up with any good ones, let me know. I'm still undecided. Well, I think I'll just stick to my usual rule of NO RESOLUTIONS!!

And then she said...

My sweet Kate. Always saying the funniest things. We were in the DI (that's the mormon goodwill for all you non-members) after Christmas and Kate found this. She is into ponies this year. She had to have it. Had to. I said, I'll think about it as we walk around. A minute later, she asks, "Are you thinking about it mom?" Yes dear. I'm still thinking. "Okay, don't think no, just think yes!" Got it. Well, I caved. I mean, it cost a whole dollar, and you probably get a few germs for that price too, I'd sterilize it, but it has electric parts inside that make sucking noises when you push a button in its mouth. Apparently it originally came with a bottle of sorts. Oh well, what doesn't kill them only makes them stronger right? She hasn't put the thing down since that day. I sometimes wonder, why bother with all the nice expensive toys, when a one dollar second hand pony is the favorite overall. There must be a life lesson in there somewhere.

Christmas 2008

The Nakaya Nativity. (We worked with Kate, so she
wouldn't be a finger sucking angel this year, she stayed
in position the whole time.)

Christmas dresses...Kate's coat is my fav, a DI special, $5.

Luke's gotta have some face time too.
It was a great Christmas. Very relaxing. I'm sure mom is
glad to have her house back though. We are a bit messier
than she is used too.

the tradition lives on

Grandma's gingerbread house party with the grandkids.

Luke's house got hit by a missile and lost it's roof. Ethan's
took some hits too apparently.

Kate and Tate, or is that Seth? I still can't for the life
of me tell them apart. Whichever though, aren't they cute?