Hunger Walk Induces Hunger

Saturday morning, along with literally thousands of others, we went down to the Soldier Field for the annual Hunger Walk.   It's a three mile fundraiser walk to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its affiliates (our church is one).   

I talked the event up to the kids for several days.  I also presumed (note to self, stop doing that!!) Aogu wouldn't want to go, so I didn't talk it up to him.  Then Friday night rolled around, and after the excitement of five nights in a row at Sky Vacation Bible School, I couldn't get the kids to settle down until after 10.  

Then, sure we wouldn't be able to wake up at 6 the following morning to get ourselves downtown on time, I emailed the organizer of the group of walkers from our church.  "So sorry, but the kids need sleep and we aren't going to make the walk after all".  

Again (note to self, stop doing that!), I underestimated my son of the uncannily accurate "stomach clock (haradokei)".  He sprang out of bed at 6 am and wasted no time; let us all know immediately, we must get up so we can get ourselves to the Hunger Walk.  See evidence photo below.  

With the help of our dusty double stroller and my trusty Razor scooter (vintage!  bought in Japan in 1998 for 15,800 yen!), we made it to the finish line.  The next day at church we heard this exciting news: our church received a $1000 credit from the Food Depository due to the size of the team of folks who walked.  

So thankful we could help, at least in some minuscule way.  Not as thankful for the moment that evening when Koji and Izumi said, "Mama, we didn't eat breakfast OR lunch today!".  HUH?  We did eat, but it didn't count because we were in the car?!  Or...?!  

Beach Debut

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, whose most recent fatherly in-person gift to me was teaching me to mix and pour concrete.  Which probably sounds sarcastic; I do leak sarcasm approximately 47.2% of the time.  Down from a lifetime high of 67.8%, achieved in the year after I graduated university.  

I utterly digress.  My dad is super hard-working, helpful, reliable, kind, funny and fun.  He has the most tricked-out garage of anyone I know, and I love that he plays the same games with my kids that he did with me:

"Pease porridge hot pease porridge cold pease porridge in a pot nine days old" 

(which is either totally disgusting, or actual ancient wisdom advocating for the nutritional punch of fermented foods.  we will never know)

I love you, Dad. 

Happy Father's Day to my husband, or perhaps I should say "Papa's Day," because that's what he is for our kids.  By the age of nine, I suspect a majority of Japanese kids have switched to calling their dads "Otosan," which is a little more formal, more like "Father".  But why would our kids address Aogu that way?  It just wouldn't fit.  He's very tender with them; when they get hurt, they run to him for sympathy over me.  He keeps them safe, makes them laugh and takes care of them in ways they don't know or understand.  Thank you for loving our kids well.  

I love you, Aogu.  

In celebration of Father's Day, we spent today as follows: 

church

batting cage (Koji & Aogu)

library (me, Koji & Misaki--

we had to check in on our summer reading program.  Koji's on fire for reading in English for the past week, ever since he figured out the library has Pokemon comic books in English.  Er, not the fine literature one might hope for, but I have to take what I can get)

H-Mart 

(for Aogu's dream lunch and shopping)

tennis at the local court (me and Aogu, and 15 minutes of Koji--

and during which Aogu said my lessons are paying off, woo too!)

back home to change to swimsuits

beach (girls only, as pictured below) 

how was Father's Day for you and your dad/husband/brother/significant other?

Yukata Means Summer's Here

Cutest Girls Ever

So awhile back, not a couple days but months ago, a friend loaned us the shoes you see here on Izumi's feet.  The box the shoes came in is bright red and very ornate; of course Izumi had to know immediately what was inside.  When I explained I had borrowed the shoes from a friend for her to wear with her kimono, she said, "huh?  I have a kimono?".  Then I had to show her the goods and further explained my plan to have her wear them and be photographed.  

Super great, all except the part where I didn't make time to actual put the kimono (or is this a yukata?  Excuse my ignorance!) on her and snap the picture.  Not that day, or the next, or the next...

Meanwhile, with the same persistence I believed is mentioned in the Bible (somewhere!  I'm too lazy to go find it right now), she continued to ask me very regularly when I would put it on her.  

And so.  FINALLY I did, and thank the Lord (I mean it!), I had this pink yukata for Misaki to join the fun with.  Dressing them up and then retaining some photographic evidence was so fun and it didn't take that long.  

Note to self: Listen to the kids and say yes MORE.  I am the queen of saying no to them simply because what they are asking for isn't convenient for me at that moment.  I know I can't/won't/couldn't/shouldn't give them everything they want.  But our days are passing too quickly and I want to make them sweeter by flavoring them with YES.  

PS. Can you tell my Long Creative Project Group started up again tonight?!  I am infinitely grateful for inspiration and accountability.  And perhaps those folks would be interested in this little fact: before I wrote this post, I went into Google Reader and unsubscribed from a whole bunch of blogs.  If I have free time, I'd like to spend it here in my space and be free from other (written) voices echoing in my head.