I want to write a nice long update but there just isn’t time, but so much has happened I have to write to something! Here is a the short version of our life the first 10 days in September:

1. I don’t have time to write much because we are getting ready for Typhoon Sinlaku, set to hit the island at midnight on Friday night (that is Friday morning for you in the states.) It’s reported be a category 4 which is pretty serious, if it hits at that magnitude it will put the island on lock down and no one will go to work or school and we will not be allowed to leave our houses. We will likely loose power and water. So the prep entails making sure we have enough food, water, candles and flashlights. That was the easy part. The hard part is making sure we have everything in our yard secured so it doesn’t blow away. We will bring everything we can inside, like the BBQ, flowers and such. However, we have a playground, shed and deck box that all need to be tied down and staked in. Plus, we need sandbags to go around the doors to prevent flooding (A typhoon is like a hurricane full of water.) Anyway, just like everyone else on the island I am running around looking for tie downs, sand bags, etc... hopefully I’ll get them in time. I just bought the last three tie downs at the store but they were out of stakes so I”ll have to hit a Japanese hardware store tomorrow. As you might imagine the Japanese are not nearly as worried. They are used to this and their houses and lives are more ready... hopefully we’ll have everything we need so the next one won’t be a big deal.

2. Hayden started kindergarten! He’s been so excited and it seems like every adult he’s talked to for the last few months has brought it up. Kindergarten here is a little different because he goes full day and our elementary school has odd hours, all the kids go from 7:30-1:40. Something that seemed to start with a bussing issue years ago and then the teachers decided they liked it. I thought it would be fine for us since the kids get up early anyway but it’s proving to be really lousy. For starters, the kids are actually sleeping in past 6am and I have to wake them up at 7:00 to run out the door to school. Then the girls are always napping when it’s time to pick Hayden up so I have had to start putting them down at 2:00 which means that I get no alone time during the day because Hayden is all hyped up from being at school once I get them in bed. And then Danica doesn’t want to go to bed because she just took a nap. But she has to go to bed because Hayen is so tired, so it seems that from the minute Tom walks in at 5:30 it’s a race to eat dinner and get the kids in bed by 7:30. Makes for a lousy evening. So first of all, the kids need to learn to go with less sleep. Second, now that Hayden is getting more comfortable with school I need to set up someone to bring him home so I can put the girls down for a nap right after lunch. But I got side tracked, the point is that this is a huge milestone for Hayden and it’s really exciting. Today he finally came home saying he learned someone’s name and has a new friend. Yesterday he learned some Japanese and was telling me the names of body parts in Japanese, very fun. So far his favorite thing is the rocket ship on the playground. He’s doing well with eating lunch at school and although he is tired, he’s happy. On a side note, he has become a fantastic reader and continues to amaze me when read together at night. He’s memorized the sight words and can read with a sense of fluency and understanding because he doesn’t have to sound out everything. It’s a lot of fun.


3. Danica started preschool! I am doing a joy school program with 5 other moms and it’s going really well. Danica loves it and is already learning a ton. She has been a little slow at talking and learning but seems to really be taking off now. Her current obsession is writing her name. She wants to do it all day! At home her current favorite thing is to put on all her dress up clothes and walk around. Today she insisted on taking her purse and sun glasses everywhere we went. She also insisted on wearing her purple striped tights (in spite of the heat), she looked pretty funny but mostly just adorable.


4. The other reason I am busy and should not be typing all of this is that our household goods finally came!!!!!!!!!! After nearly 2 1/2 months without my bed it feels fantastic. Danica kept running around the house saying “Hey, I have this at my house!” Perhaps now this will feel like home and the potty nightmare will end... It’s fantastic to have our couches, TV and hangers for the kids clothes! I now have garbage cans, storage bins and toys! Hooray! The back room is still packed with boxes because I’ve been too busy but the house is livable!

5. Tom and I went out to eat with some friends and got some real Japanese cuisine. Tom ate octopus, I ate some raw fish, and we both enjoyed lots of other dishes. It was a fun night.

Okay, I know I could say more but it will have to wait. I need to get back to planning sharing time for Sunday and going to bed soon...

Have a great night!

These pictures are the kids playing with everything they possibly can because they missed it all so much!