Sunshine and Clouds

In the past week we have experienced a lot of rain which almost makes me think the rainy season has arrived when it is supposed to this year. Our first year we saw no change in precipitation during the late spring/early summer, and last year, when the rainy season finally did come, it was a month later than it should have been. 

After a week of almost solid rain, the sky cleared a tiny bit during the weekend so that we could have a barbecue for Rosie's birthday on Saturday, and get all of the laundry that had accumulated during the rainy week washed and dried. Thanks for cooperating so nicely clouds! 

Cake stacked and iced with cupcakes skewered to the top.

On Saturday, I woke up bright and early (seriously Rosie, you need to stop waking up before 5 am!) and got to work on decorating the birthday cake. I decided go with a hydrangea theme because they are one of my favorite flowers and this is the season that they are blooming in Japan. I had made 3 round cakes and a dozen cupcakes earlier in the week and frozen them and also 3 batches of icing the night before. I leveled off two of the three cakes and stacked the layers with icing in between in the brown plastic base of a planter pot. I did not level off the dome shaped top of the uppermost layer to give the cake a bit more roundness and height. I fully iced the cake in chocolate cream cheese icing so that it would look like a plant pot. I then arranged the cupcakes on the top of the cake and secured them in place by sticking 15 cm long skewers through them and into the cake. 

Finished!

To ice the cupcakes, I used the star tipped icing nozzle and an icing bag. I put blobs of purple and blue in the icing bag separately and tried not to mix it up too much so that I would get colour variation as I iced. I then took a few hydrangea leaves and arranged them here and there. As a side note, hydrangea leaves are mildly toxic (they contain cyanide), so I wrapped the cut ends in aluminum foil before decorating the cake with them. It was really easy and took me just over an hour to decorate from start to finish.

The only problem I ran into was that over the course of the morning, the temperature in our kitchen rose to 27˚ C and the humidity to 89%. The icing started to liquify and things started slipping so I had to pop it in the fridge until the party.

close up of the "flowers"

After icing the cake, I had to run off to work for the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon. While I was at work, Mr. Oshima took Theo on a tour of our local water treatment plant, something he has been talking about for months. We got to hear all about poop eating bacteria for the rest of the day. Yaaay! 

When I returned home we had a few close friends over for a barbecue to celebrate Rosie's birthday. 

Totally oblivious to the fact that it was her party

William and the Oshimas

First inspection of her birthday cupcake

Realizing that smashing it is so much more fun than eating it. 

Because the weather remained warm and mostly sunny the next day, I pulled out the little pool and let the kids splash around a bit.

This was Rosie's first time in the pool and she loved it.

Also, thanks to a little inspiration from my cousin over at lately léna, the boys and I spent a few hours on Sunday tie dyeing some old t-shirts and a onesie. 

Now I have a few cups of dye left over and my eyes are roving for anything else that could help me use it up. I've already convinced Dustin to let me have fun with some of his undershirts but who knows what else is going to get some colour around here!

Canadian Thanksgiving 2013

In March, we were happy to welcome a Costco to our capital, Hiroshima City. Before its opening, there were certain foods that either we couldn't get at all, like turkey, quality cheese, pecans or cranberry juice to name a few, and some foods that were only sold in small amounts and egregiously overpriced, like oatmeal, flour, and coffee. I was, however, sad to see that not all of the products sold back home made it to the shelves in Japan. I would have been so happy to see whole wheat flour, hemp hearts, quinoa, flax, basically any healthy whole grain, dried beans, and some kind of breakfast cereal that wasn't cornflakes and Cheerios. You can't have it all, I guess.

Unfortunately in some ways and fortunately in others, we live about two hours from Hiroshima City and don't really get the opportunity to visit more than a handful of times in a year. In early October all five of us packed into a friend's car to drive to Costco and pick up some Thanksgiving essentials. We were joined on the big day of feasting by our neighbours and their one year old daughter and our good friends the Oshimas.

Making apple pie

Can you believe that I fit a 6 ½ kilo turkey into this oven? 

Getting ready to sit down to our feast 

William was overwhelmed with delicious scents and smells

Theo and our neighbour's daughter waiting mostly patiently to eat 

No Thanksgiving is complete without apple and pumpkin pie! 

Every year that we are here, cooking for holiday meals seems to get easier and easier. I am not sure if it is because I am fast becoming used to my tiny, nearly counter-less kitchen, because I am just not putting as much pressure on myself to make the "perfect" holiday meal, or because I am starting to invite more people and delegating what dishes I want them to bring along. Whatever the case may be, this ended up being a fun day with friends, family, and yummy food! Until next year turkey!

Birthday Barbecue

The past month has been so full of visiting and traveling that now I have some major catching up to do on blog posts!

On March 20th, Dustin's parents arrived from Canada for a month long visit. Theo was so excited about their arrival and even took it pretty well when flight issues delayed them by a day. Every morning  when he woke up, he would rush down from his bedroom to make sure that they were still here and didn't leave during the night. This continued for a week or so until he was content that they were sticking around for a bit, or at least weren't going to leave without telling him first.

Going for a train ride with Grandma

Exploring the forest with Grandpa

A few days after they arrived, we had a low key barbecue with Obaasan and Ojiisan to celebrate William's birthday. Theo had decided earlier in the evening that he was a brachiosaurus and therefore was exclusively herbivorous. He would only eat the grilled vegetables and at one point asked for a bowl of spinach leaves which he proceeded to eat with his face in the bowl. When his overactive imagination causes him to eat copious amounts of vegetables, who am I to complain?

William had tons of fun puttering around the yard on the little bike that Obaasan and Ojiisan gave him for his birthday and compensating for his brother by making rounds eating everyone else's meat.

William absolutely loves trains. Even seeing a train pass by our house at least every hour doesn't stop him from running to the window or gate, pointing, and hopping up and down excitedly. So, I wasn't  surprised to find that he was absolutely overjoyed by the train cake the Dustin's mom and I hastily put together that afternoon.

Cake overload!

Afterward he opened some presents and birthday cards from his family back in Canada

Finally, an electronic card that doesn't scare him to tears!

The drum set William got from his friends here in Japan

Even Theo got a few little gifts sent over by his great-grandparents

A great way to kick off a month of spring break and visiting grandparents!

In Retrospect

Is it a bit late to do a recap post on 2012? Maybe, but you'll have to forgive me as I reminisce about the highlights of the last year.

2012 was a year of calm and stability compared with the storm of change that was 2011. This was our first full year in Japan and full of positive experiences and growth. Both Dustin and I have become more comfortable and confident in our jobs, Dustin teaching and me managing our household and family in a foreign country. Even the simplest things can be complicated here, mostly because of the language barrier and different systems, but we have managed to find a secure rhythm and routine to life over the past year.

Last year at this time, William was 9 months old. I was still dealing with him waking every 3 hours, breastfeeding, and all the energy that must be devoted into entertaining/corralling a young, super active baby. People always say: "Enjoy these moments because they grow up way too fast!", but these are people whose children are already grown and out of the house. When you are up all night with a sick infant or just had your bookshelf dismantled by little grubby hands, you kind of wish they would grow up at least a little bit faster. They do grow up though, and over the course of the past year William has become much more independent, self entertained, and capable. He was also sleeps though the night! Woo hoo!

I can't believe he was so little!

William has developed a true affinity for Japanese food.

Theo has grown so much too. November 1st marked his first full year of yochien and his Japanese has gotten quite good over that time. He now even talks in the local Hiroshima dialect as well as standard Japanese. He has become extremely close to his brother, always making sure that he is entertained and well looked after. I feel so lucky to have two children who don't just put up with each other's company, but seek it out and enjoy it.

The last day of school, March 2012

Best friends beating the summer heat

We were also able to escape the tiny confines of our apartment and move into a house that is just the right fit for our family. If I were to pick one event this past year that has had the most positive influence on our lives it would be this move. So much stress and annoyance was generated by being squeezed into cramped quarters and having no personal outdoor space for our children to tear around in. We love this old house!

We also left behind bit of the summer heat and headed back to Canada for a family visit. This will probably be the last trip we make back west for at least a few years, so it was good to see every one. 

While we were in Canada, I was able to spend some time with my sister and her newborn daughter Josephine. This is my first niece and I am so glad that I got to meet her!

We were also able to rent a garden plot in our neighbourhood, which is something we have been wanting to do ever since we got here. This picture is pretty old, since we have already been harvesting veggies from our garden for a few weeks now.

Through Dustin's work, our church, and random chance we have developed an amazing group of friends over the past year. We have met so many loving, supportive people and I can't imagine what our life in Japan would be like without them. Sniff, sniff...I love you guys!

Overall, 2012 was a fantastic year. Welcome 2013, if you are anything like your predecessor we are in for some good times!

Birthday Boys

Over the holidays, we celebrated Dustin's 33rd birthday on December 30th and Theo's 5th birthday on January 2nd.

I just love these guys!

For Dustin's birthday, we ditched the kids with our neighbours and went out for a relaxing date night. We had intended on going to see the Hobbit, but after finding out that it would take up almost 3 hours in transit just to get to and from the only movie theatre that was showing it subtitled and not dubbed and in 2-d, we decided just to go out for supper instead and save the movie for another time. What we didn't count on is that it would be almost impossible to get a table at any nice-ish restaurant without a reservation so close to New Year's. After being turned away from 4 full restaurants we were beginning to get a bit desperate, not going to KFC or Sukiya desperate, but close.

After almost an hour of biking around, we happened on a hidden little nabe restaurant that was just what we were looking for. It was in a turn of the century traditional Japanese house with gorgeous carved furniture all inlaid with mother of pearl. There was only one other couple their for a brief time and then we had the place to ourselves. We had a very relaxing and nice time and I hope that Dustin felt loved and appreciated.

I apologize for how grainy these photos are. We took them with Dustin's phone when we realized we forgot the camera.

Meanwhile, Theo has become more and more interested in Star Wars lately and requested a lightsaber cake for his birthday. I found some pairs of lightsaber chopsticks at a novelty shop and whipped up this cake for him.

We decided to plan a little shindig for his friends and him at the mall nearby our house. In the basement of the mall they have a children's activity area in which Theo has always wanted play. Either because of lack of time, money, or the play area being closed, we had never been able to grant his wish. It worked out for the best though because this meant that it was extra special for his birthday.

First, Theo and his friends played, ran, and shouted like lunatics for an hour.

After some of their energy was burned off, everyone gathered for cake and presents. Theo was so excited about his Star Wars cake and is showing his smarmiest smile to prove it. 

He was also overjoyed about the lightsaber that he was given.

Opening presents with his friends looking on.

This is the first time that I have celebrated one of the children's birthdays outside of my home and I must say it was wonderful. It was so much less stressful and at the end I didn't have the feeling of relief that it was finally over and I survived another kid's birthday party. I also didn't have a whole house to clean up and a million dishes to wash. I am certainly going to do something like this again in the future!