Lots of birthdays in May, too...

My husband asked me this afternoon if I was running a hotel. That's what I love about working with students,though. I love having them spontaneously come for a night or two ...or more.

Of course, most of the time I just feed them.

And sometimes I just have fun! We had a lot of birthdays in May.

We celebrated Daisuke's birthday after KGK Bible Study

And Ciwa's birthday after the Sunday evening English Service

at Hirosaki Church

And Siqin came home with us for her birthday!

(We had an OMF Director & his wife visiting at the time.)

ねむねむマミー

昨日のパーティーで、衣鈴はケーキデビューしました

Erin's 1rst Birthday Cake

Did we eat too much? Or are we just tired?!

Tired baby!

昨夜のパーティー後は疲れて寝てしまい、

今日は１日外に出かけてて、帰って来たら衣鈴と一緒に爆睡

〓マミーだけさっき起きました〓
〓年に一回だけだぞ〜〓

Too Much Birthday!

I phoned my Daughter #1 Thursday night to ask her to make some corrections on my final paper for my class in Japanese Essay Writing at Hirodai... and caught her in the final throes of preparation for her daughter's first birthday party! How could I forget?!

I think I agree with Mary. Perhaps my family really should stop having babies in July!

I'm feeling rather "birthday-ed out"!

June 26th - Mary's 25th birthday

July 3rd - John's 55th birthday

July 12 - Grace's 2nd birthday (We celebrated at the Camp.)

July 19th - Faith's Birth Day

By the time it got to July 24th we'd had a lot of birthday parties and I was in the middle of exams... Happy Birthday, Erin! I'm sorry I forgot!

Healing

Kris with his "battle scars"

A month has passed since we took this photo. We can hardly see his scars - and his hair is coming back too.

What was I doing?!

I cried this morning. I took my last test of the semester - a written test in Beginning Chinese - and I didn't do very well!

One of the Exchange students found me and enveloped me in a huge hug, "Don't cry!"

So dried my tears, laid out my plans for studying harder, talked to my professor, came home and threw a little party with candles and peaches and cream, and blew bubbles. I feel better now. :-)

Its times like this that I have to think about balance. Should I really have spent Monday evening at "Naked Box" - a (long!) concert of local artists? I wanted to support my student friends.... Toru and Hayato. Besides we promised Kris months ago that we'd go!

Toru and Kris

Hayato, Toru, me, and another member of their group Korone

Sigh... I think it was the right decision. I think my problem runs deeper than spending a few hours enjoying an evening with friends during exam week. Its my kanji handicap. And I've spent the last few days laying out plans for my rehabilitation!

I have more than one grand daughter!

Daughter #1 keeps us so well supplied with (cell phone) photos of her daughter that perhaps you are thinking that she is our only grandchild. But we actually do have 2 other granddaughters. Emma Grace, Granddaughter #1, is also a well photographed child but her father doesn't send the photos to us. He posts them on his own blog, Gaijin for Life.

And Grand daughter #3, Grace's sister Mia Faith, just made her (overdue) entrance into the world somewhere around 9:30 this morning.

My husband with Granddaughter # 3, Mia Faith

Grandchildren are nice.... but I miss the responsibility. The fun is in raising the children. Sigh...

暑いね

汗だくです(Erin sweating)

The other thing about July is... its hot! I don't think I look quite like Erin but the heat enervates me.

Wounded in Action

My husband finds Christmas too busy... for me its July. Only this year it started in June. The OMF Field Conference was lovely - an oasis in the early summer. And then we stopped at Takayama for two nights on the way back. That was lovely, too.

But the last evening just before supper we had "a happening." Kris thought he would take the shortcut down the hill when he returned the law mower to the shed. Mary and I saw him just as he plunged head first after it. I had time to scream his name before my heart hit my throat and then, to my great relief, he popped up - rather like an elf or a pixie.

My relief faded a little when I saw the blood.

A lot of it! Running down his face.

Mary (and John) patched him up

He didn't want to go to the Doctor - and there was a question about whether or not his insurance was still valid (it wasn't!) so my strong stomached daughter patched him up with a little help from her father.

Takayama Friends

Our friend the Doctor's wife was horrified - what about infection?! - so they took him off to the hospital after all. This time the Doctor was horrified. 15 stitches. "I could see your skull!" But he complimented the amatuer efforts - "Good work."

Evening out the bald patches!

I thought of two things... insurance is not for accidents or illness you expect to have. And a short cut is not always a short cut. (My husband did actually tell him to take the long way.)

But we're all still here... and healthy... and happy. Rejoicing in God's daily mercies!

お疲れです

Erin Watanabe - keeping Mommy busy!

マミーが風邪をひいてしまったので、今日は英語レッスンをキャンセルしてゆっくりしようと思ったのですが…子育てをしたことのある方たちは今「クスッ」と笑いましたね！…そのとおり。 一歳児がお母さんを休ませてあげるわけがないのです。　というわけで、円山動物園へGO! 人生で初めてヤギさんをナデナデしました。

No, my dear daughter, a one year old does not believe in Mommy taking a rest even if Mommy is very sick with a cold!