It is Saturday morning and our house is teeming with 9-year old Japanese boys. We had four of them stay the night - ate some pizza, saw a movie, played some X-box, etc. Oh - and I finally beat Halo 2 this morning. I know what you gamers are thinking - "You JUST beat it? I beat it months ago!" But I rarely play these days, so it was quite the accomplishment. Isaac and Taylor were watching and when the credits came up, Isaac looked up at me and said, "Mom - you are so awesome." It was a great mother-son moment.

Things are picking up here. Boys started baseball this week. Dave is coaching Isaac and Taylor's team. I have to peel Parker's uniform off of him - he wants to wear it every day. Cleats, too. Isaac and Tay also started art classes - a sketching class for Tay, a computer photography for Isaac, and a Sumi-E Japanese painting class for both. And Book Fair is this week, so things are hectic.

At the Book Fair yesterday, I had a mother come up to me and tell me something really funny. She said her daughter came up to her and asked, "If my Daddy doesn't come home, can the dentist daddy be my daddy? He all ready has lots of kids!" Dave is earning quite the reputation around here. I guess he is a father-figure to some of these kids - coaching them, pulling their teeth, etc. Anyway - I thought that was so great. Ships are coming in this week after a very long deployment - about 8 months - so kids are anxious to see their Dads. We are so fortunate to have Dave here all the time - I try to remind myself of how lucky we are every day.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kenn & Barb next week. It is Spring Break, so the kids are off and we have a lot planned: Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Miyajima, Huis Ten Bosch, Fukuoka, and a lot of eating out at our favorite Japanese restaurants. We are so excited! And Taylor will have his 7th birthday party while they are here...Incredibles theme!

Anyway - love to everyone. Love the blogs - keep it up. Take care!
Adina