Ethan's playing Basketball!

GO KNICKS!! Ethan is really loving playing basketball. This is his first time playing it and although he really doesn't get the game yet, he is having a great time and that's all that matters!

Here he is before the game:


Getting ready to play the game:


Now what are we supposed to be doing??



Ethan in action!

He loves to play defense!
Lainey with a clip in her hair!!!

Lainey has a big fat lip!

Poor thing! She grabbed onto the top of the dishwasher to hang on it and it was right after I had finished unloading it. I didn't close it all the way and it came crashing down on her. She bonked her lip on the edge. This morning she has fallen TWICE and managed to hit her lip both times. She is such a monkey and climbs on everything..we are bound to have more of these. Notice how her hair is not done in any of these pictures, she refuses to let me do it. If I do manage to get a clip in, it is out again in less than 5 minutes. Oh well, she will just have to look like a little orphan until her hair gets a bit longer!


E-bear posing for the camera! We got some shots of him at his basketball game the other day and I will post those soon!

Lainey in her raincoat..





I was trying to do the "Hi, I'm chubby". She however was not cooperating!






Lainey was helping me with the laundry and next thing I knew, she was inside it! She LOVED it in there!

She loves to try and eat her feet....

Lainey has boobs!

How is that for a header?! We were playing around with tennis balls...


Here she is eating a whole piece of chocolate that I told her to just take a bite of!

Finally, Easter pics!

This is a sad post, I don't have any pics of the kids hunting their plastic eggs, nor do I have any of them dyeing eggs...man, I am a hopeless case this year! Ethan and Truman wanted to play outside the day that I wanted them to dye eggs and so we had to wait until the next day to dye them. Problem is, I got a hankering for an egg salad sandwich and decided to use up half of the boiled eggs. OOPS! They each got to dye only 2 eggs...pitiful, I know!! Notice too that I didn't even make them their Easter baskets this year, I just went and bought the cheesy ones from the store. They didn't seem to care though ;). Ethan got this really cool hunting mask from Grammy Barb. I bet you all wish you had one of those eh?! I don't think he has it on quite right, but it works for him!
Thanks to the grandparents who sent all the great cards and stuff. Ethan (and lainey bug) thank you! So do I. Easter candy is my weakness and I think I have eaten candy at every single meal (and snack time) these past few days..mmmmm!

The Lighthouse...oh, and Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone! I am waiting to post pics of Easter because I was not the best mother this year and we have yet to dye eggs...oops! I noticed that I didn't have any on Saturday night and just couldn't justify going to the commissary just for eggs on Sunday because I have to do major shopping on Monday. So, to make my long drawn out paragraph short, we are dying eggs a day late. Hey, does it count that it will still be Easter in the states?! I should think so!! The Easter Bunny still managed to make it even though mom dropped the ball on the whole real egg thing!
So anyway, onto the post!
We went to the Japanese Lighthouse a few days ago and took along Truman (who we discovered is DEATHLY afraid of heights), and Rumi + kids. It was a fun afternoon!
They have a little place before you hike up to the lighthouse where you can see some animals. There were goats and bunnies. It was really fun to feed them!




Darling little Abi...


Our handsome boy!


This statue is new, it wasn't there the last time we went to the lighthouse. He is pointing the way!


Cool Japanese writing...



The cliffs...




At the top of the lighthouse. Our good friend Rumi!Ethan and Jessica:


Baby Lainey LOVED it up there. I was chasing after her the whole time. She was RUNNING around the top.
Lainey LOVES her daddy!


HUGE shisa dog! Ethan is not in the pic because he was busy playing on the pirate ship.

Lainey and Abi:

Yo baby!

Lainey loves to eat her yo-baby yogurt, but she refuses to let me feed it to her. This is what I get to clean up when I let her eat it. She hates milk so, I have to get her calcium in her somehow right?! By the looks of it though, she doesn't get much in her mouth!

Annie's turn!

I figured that it was my turn to blog....this one is a bit more lighthearted than the previous posts :). These are just some random pics from the past few days.....

Can I just tell you how LUCKY we are to have such a good dog. Mio really is the best dog ever. She is wonderful with the kids and is the biggest love dog. If you need a snuggle just call Mio, she is always willing! We love Mio and thank her every day for putting up with Lainey bug! Notice the ear, she takes after her father! For those of you who don't know Andy well enough, he kind of has an ear thing. He is always feeling my ears (or anyone close enough for that matter). Weird I know, but I still love him despite this strange little quirk! Now that I have outed Andy I am sure he is going to post some of MY weird quirks...ah geez!


We got new neighbors about 2 months ago and they received their stuff a few weeks ago. It is still all over the place. UGH. I HATE messes! Gotta love yard trash (Ethan sure does)!! Make sure you click on the pic so you get the full effect...it's great!

First 2 reservations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To everyone that might be planning a visit: We are fully booked May 7th - May 20th. We are also have no vacancy in the middle of October. Thanks for your interest in The Felt B&B, Okinawa Japan.

To those who don't know me all that well

The post below was written by me....Andy. For the people who are not fortunate enough to know me, well I'm sarcastic quite often. I like to try and throw a bit of humor in with that as well. So if you read the afore mentioned post it would behoove you to listen the tone of my typing. Don't let it offend you, unless it should. sarcasm----------------------------------------^

2 Years Down.....1 To Go

So we have been here on this little Island in between Mainland Japan and Taiwan for two years now. Pretty crazy fast time has gone and how big our kids have grown. Over the past two years we have had 2 visits from family. I suck at math, really suck, but I think it averages out to around 1 visit year. I was kind of expecting more people to come and visit seeing as how we are on a subtropical island, the average temperature the next couple months is 82 degrees. Sounds pretty nice. Lets see what else.....oh a free place to stay with more than a free continental breakfast and free tour guides (car and gas included with the tour guide). We would even provide free transportation from the airport to your accomidations!! I know you go on vacation to get away from family so maybe that's why we have had so few people come see us.


I know the food is here is way below desirable. I mean who likes super fresh sushi and kobe beef teppanyaki.....nasty. There really is not much to see on the island at all. We've been here for two years and still haven't seen everything we want to see. Talk about an island with no culture though. Its not like Karate was invented here or the biggest battle in the Pacific during WWII was fought here. So what if Okinawans are the longest living people in the world. Who even cares about all the cultural influences from China and Taiwan which is reflected in the food and architecture. The beaches also suck here. Nobody likes to swim and snorkel in perfectly clear warm water. Just ask all the people from mainland that come here for the beaches.....they suck. It sounds crazy to take a vacation on an island in the Pacific anyway.


Now I think the real reason people aren't making the voyage here.....the economy. Our extended family just can't afford to go anywhere on vacation right now. The times are tough and wallets are bare. Oh wait.........I will still search for the real reason and I will find it. In the meantime I will keep one of the words from President Barack Obama in my thoughts......"Hope". By the way don't yell and Annie for writing this cause she didn't.