Masami's First Week of Kindergarten

Last week Masami started German kindergarten. When did my baby get to be so big?! We were worried that it would take awhile for him to get used to it and enjoy it because he can be timid in new situations, but he warmed-up in no time.

This is their temporary kindergarten while they rebuild the permanent one.

We were able to find out which group (classroom) he would be in weeks before. That was nice because then everyday when we picked Alethia up from school, Masami was able to peek in and look around. He started to get familiar with the faces of other kids and of his teachers and started picking out toys that looked fun to play with. So, when his first day arrived, he was excited and ready to go.

Masami is in the Schlumpfe (Smurf) Group and Alethia is in the Gespenster (Ghost) Group.

On his first day we met with his teacher while he started playing. She is a wonderful lady with a lot of energy and speaks very little English. Thankfully, Anthony was with me to help me catch all the information we were getting in German. (He catches on so much more quickly than I do with the language stuff). When it was time to go, Masami did not want to leave and was happy for us to leave him for an hour. On his second day, he ran right to his teacher and gave her a big hug then went straight into his classroom without hesitation. He went every day for a few hours last week with no worries.


While we are allowed to send him 5 days a week, our intention is to send him only 3 because he is still so young. However, yesterday when I kept him home and Alethia left for school he got upset. He asked several times why he couldn't go to school too.



We are relieved that it is going so well and that he is enjoying it so much.

Hanging-up his backpack in his cubby.

New house shoes for school

Asleep on day three when I came to pick him up. :)

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Superheroes vs Pirates

Did you ever wonder who would win a battle of pirates versus superheroes (with a little help from Simon of The Chipmunks)? Well, Masami and I have, so we ran some trial battles this morning.









It always ended the same way with the pirates ravaged and the superheroes victorious.



I'm not sure but it could have been fixed. :)



Victory dance...




I'm so blessed to get to be a part of his wonderful, imaginative play!




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Masami's Quilt

I started working on a quilt for each of the kids when I was pregnant with them.  With Alethia's I got a fair amount done before she was born, but once she was born I found very little time to work on it for months.  I did, however, manage to get hers done in time for her first birthday. 

With Masami's, it was really just a concept by the time he was born.  I have worked on it off-and-on over the past three years.  Other projects just seemed to take precedent, so I would have to put it aside and then it would take me a long time to get back to it.  Finally, I decided that it was time to commit and finish it.  So, just after his third birthday, I completed his quilt and he seems to like it (especially since I backed it with soft minky).  As I was quilting it by hand, he would often come cuddle with me and "help" me pull the needle through the fabric. 

I'm happy with how it turned out.  I love the bright colors of the hot-air balloons and the fun swirls of the sky patterns.  But mostly I hope it speaks to my son of my love for him and my prayer for him to have lots of adventures and to experience life to the fullest in the Lord. 

Happy Halloween!

We spent time Friday celebrating friends and getting to dress-up and eat candy.  We have a small stash of Halloween costumes from previous years and hand-me-downs.  I let the kids raid the stash and pick what they wanted to wear.  Alethia chose a penguin costume that was meant for Masami, so it was about 3 inches too short in the arms and legs, but what is the point in arguing.  Masami chose an adorable monkey costume from cousin Micah and announced that he was Curious George. 

At Alethia's German class on Friday afternoon, the teacher Miss Jenny, asked each kid (in German) what costume they would be wearing for Halloween.  Then, she taught them the German words for their costume.  Many of the kids had chosen classic Halloween characters like zombies, witches, and Frankenstein's monster.  When it got to Alethia, she proudly replied that she would be a penguin.  Immediately, one boy about 10 yrs old (who is going to be Frankenstein's monster) said, with surprising tenderness, "Ahhh, she is going to be a cute penguin!"  He then asked how to say "cute penguin" in German.  Such sweet affirmation for Alethia from such a surprising source. 

After German class, the kids got dressed in their costumes and we met up with friends to join their unit's trunk-or-treat.  It was everything I want out of a Halloween experience: short, tame, to the point...candy!  We shuffled around a parking lot admiring all the fun costumes and creative trunk decor and filled-up the kids candy bags. 

Alethia, Kylie, Emily, & Masami

Afterwards, it was back to the Kouba's for pizza and fun.  The only thing missing was mulled apple cider...but I put my order in for next time. :)

Masami Turns 3!

I can't believe how quickly these kids are growing!  I no longer have babies in the house.  (And soon, hopefully, no diapers!) 

Last weekend we celebrated Masami's 3rd birthday.  Despite a round of flu making its way through our house, we managed a nice little celebration.  Masami had been asking to go swimming for weeks, so I had promised a swim outing to the German pool for his birthday.  Unfortunately, Anthony was laid up in bed, taking his turn with the flu, but I didn't want to cancel on Masami.  The German pool is great....like a little indoor water park, but makes it difficult to be the only adult with two young kids.  There was no way we would be able to do the big water slide as I couldn't take them both with me at once and I wasn't going to leave one alone while I took the other.  So, I asked a friend to go with me.  Heather was glad to go with us.  Masami was so happy; he was doing a little dance around the pool.  We had a great time. 

Thanks to the commissary cake display, Masami had been asking for a Spiderman birthday cake for months.  Since I was not about to pay for a big pre-decorated sheet cake, I decided that I would just figure out a way to make it myself.  I was pretty pleased with the result:

We had a family dinner of Masami's favorite home cooked meal: Yakitori with our friends, Heather and Jennessa joining us.  (They were the only two that I dared to invite into our germy home...luckily, both were willing to brave it and came out unscathed.) 

I guess it was sort of a "Super Hero" themed birthday between the cake, the action figures, and the costumes that Masami got.  He loved it!

All of us wearing hats that Masami got for his birthday

So, it was a fun day with a very satisfied little boy.  Masami is such a light in our lives!  He is goofy and charming and clever and tender-hearted.  He loves playing with his sister, loves getting attention, and loves to cuddle.  His favorite things are dinosaurs, Little Einsteins, Super Heroes, Toy Story, and VBS songs.  I love watching him grow and learn and discover life and God.  I am so blessed to have this little boy in my life!

Gelterswoog

For 5 years we have been living just a few miles from this lake, and I never realized how cool it was.  We headed over there one warm afternoon in August for a youth event and loved it.  

 The sand was a bit more like dirt than like sand and the kids got pretty dirty, but they loved every second of it.  Nothing a good bath couldn't fix. 

Masami, Alethia, and one of our students, Alexandra

 The water was a great way to cool off in the hot summer sun and it was nice and shallow for the kids to play in.

 This is definitely a spot we will be visiting in future summers!

My Garden Fairies

 

Sitting on my patio swing, basking in the fall sunshine, soaking in the company of a good friend, and delighting in the chatter and laughter of our children. 

Pandamania

We spent much of last week at Vacation Bible School on base. It ran from 9 to 12 each morning and had nearly 200 American military kids attending. The theme was about how God is wild about us even in the midst of the crazy chaos of this world. 

Anthony was overseeing teen volunteers, running sound, and organizing activities for the teens on two of the afternoons.  I taught pre-school bible for about 90 pre-school kids which was completely exhausting.  I don't know how teachers do it!  Kids were divided into "crews" of about 15-20 kids, so each day I taught a lesson 5 times.  Many of the lessons were quite active (like when we journeyed with Jonah in hiding from God, "swimming" after getting "thrown" from a boat and climbing through the tummy of the fish).  The most fun was when I got to teach Alethia and Masami's crew each day.

This was their first year of attending VBS.  Masami was a bit on the young side for it, but still did well.  They really got into the songs and trying to dance and do the hand motions.  They also had a great time shouting "Thank you, God" after key phrases throughout the week.  We laughed whenever Masami tried to sing one song in particular.  The line is, "He's wild, he's wild, God is wild about us" and Masami couldn't exactly say "wild".  So it came out as "wide",  "blind", or "pied".  Anyway he said it was funny because he was so excited.

We spent the weekend recovering.  Pray for us because we get to do it all over again this week!  The Army Chapel community is hosting another round of VBS for kids on the other side of town.  It'll be a bit smaller and we are cramming 5 mornings of VBS into 2 long days.  Also, Anthony is hosting a Middle School service project.  Students come serve at VBS and in the evening will get to do a scavenger hunt and have dinner together.  They will sleep over at the youth building and serve again the 2nd day. 

Needless to say...we will be laying low again next weekend!


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The Infamous Haircut!

So many people have asked about this over the past month that I feel I need to officially record the incident while I still remember the details...(Please keep in mind that you are hearing my side of the story and that Anthony's is a bit different) :)

Masami's hair was starting to get a bit long...you know, falling into his eyes and over his ears, but the worst is the natural little "rat's tail" that he gets in the back when his hair is longer.  We have cut his hair several times now.  Anthony puts his clippers on their longest setting and gives him a buzz.

Before "the incident"

On this occasion I had said, "It's time to give Masami a hair cut.  Can you give it a buzz?"  I did not think further clarification was needed since we have done this before.  Anthony said, "Sure.  Like mine?"  Thinking he meant the current length of his hair, I agreed. 

So, I was cleaning-up the dinner dishes while Anthony took Masami into the bathroom to get the job done.  Eventually I wandered into the bathroom to see how it was going and if Anthony needed anything.  I was shocked to see that Anthony had not "buzzed" his hair, but "shaved" it.  He looked like a labor-camp child or chemo patient with no hair.  His gorgeous red locks were laying in the bottom of the bathtub, and I was grief-stricken.

With horror in my voice, I moaned "No!...No!...NOOOO!"  After that I was speechless for a moment while I processed the sight before me.  Then, "Why did you do this?!"  What followed was an intense discussion over what was said and not said in our previous conversations.  When Anthony said, "Like mine?"  he apparently meant "like when I do my own hair and shave it off."  Masami had been quite agreeable to the shave because Anthony kept psyching him up that he would "look like Dadda."  And he does...

Mine and Anthony's discussion ended with me saying, "Just to be clear, when I say buzz, I do not mean shave.  I will never, ever, ever, EVER, never, ever, ever, ever want you to shave his head.  Not ever!  Never, ever, ever..."  That is about when Anthony interrupted me and said "OK!  I get it" in an annoyed tone.  To which I responded, "I just wanted to be clear since obviously I wasn't before."  Then, choking down sobs, I fled the scene and went to finish cleaning the kitchen.

Thankfully, Alethia had been outside playing in the yard during the ordeal and did not hear it.  So when she came back in from playing and saw Masami's new haircut for the first time, she innocently exclaimed "Look at you!  You're a cool dude!"  with a big smile on her face.

The days that followed were difficult.  I would talk myself down from my anger and bitterness (it will grow back...it is really not that big a deal...he's a boy...) and then Masami's bald head would go bobbing by and a fresh wave of grief over those beautiful locks of red hair that were lost would wash over me and I would have to talk myself down all over again.  I posted something about it on Facebook (with Anthony's permission, "If that is what will help you get over it.") and it did help.  Luckily, Masami's hair HAS grown back quickly and is just as red and gorgeous.  I can now put the whole thing behind me and am confident that next time I say "buzz" Anthony will know exactly what I mean.

Masami today: 6 wks later

**Note: this account may be slightly dramatized.  ;)

Counting Goldfish

 

 One of Masami's favorite things about our new home is that there is a fish pond complete with lily-pads, tad poles, and at least 8 great goldfish at the side of the house.  We have clearly marked-out the parameters of the yard where the kids can play (which does not include the pond).  So, Masami regularly asks me "go see the fish Mama?"  And when I say okay, he gets all excited and bounces over there.  He counts the fish and looks for tad poles.  I think we are going to have to ask our landlady if we can feed them sometimes. 

He also happens to have a view of the fish pond from his bedroom window.  So many an afternoon I find him peeking out at them.