Day in the life {5.10.2016}

Up and at em at 6:00 am!  I sat in bed for 15 minutes and check my email,

Facebook, and snapchat.  Then I headed to the kitchen and made coffee.  I usually use a tumbler since I will be taking it with me to the bus stop with the kids.

While I'm in the kitchen I filled up the kids water bottles for the day and made lunches.  Well, I make Amelia a lunch and Nolan a snack since he is only half day.  This was a super simple bento.  Amelia hasn't been too into sandwiches these days so this is my version of a lunchable.

After I packed lunches and snacks I packed the kids backpacks.  I make sure they have their assignments and anything else they need depending on what activities they have that day. 

Then around 6:45 I woke up the kids. I feed them breakfast. Today it was waffles and bananas.  I got them ready and we head out the door at 7:30 am to get to the bus stop.

Sometimes we walk to the bus stop,

takes about 10 min, but the summer heat is already upon us so we drove!

On Tuesdays I go to the grocery store.  I went there right after the bus left.  I'm one of those crazies that is there when the doors open.  I like being there early because there are less people and it's cooler out.  So by the time I'm done and I get home it's not scorching when I have to bring in all the grocery bags. 

After the grocery store I headed home.  I put all the groceries away immediately.  This afternoon Nolan and I had a play date with my friend and her son so I packed up some things for the afternoon.   

I picked up Nolan from school then we met up with our friends at an indoor parked called Mihama kids park.

We love going to this indoor park.  It gets so hot and humid in Okinawa that indoor parks are a must.  The prices are reasonable and you are able to pick how long you want to play. We opted for the 2 hour play time since it was already noon. Another convenience is that this kids park has a little cafe.  So us mamas got some iced coffee and we were able to order lunch for the boys. We had a great time there, it was a chance for the boys to play and us moms to chit chat. 

After a couple hours of playing the boys were good and sweaty.  But before we headed home we walked around the  corner to Blue Seal for "big dip day ", you get 2 extra scoops for the price of 1.

Around 3pm we headed home.  Nolan immediately knocked out in the car.  It was perfect timing because we were able to pick up Amelia at the bus stop right before we got home.

When we got home I put Nolan in his bed because he was still asleep.  I fixed Amelia an afternoon snack and we got started with her home work.  

Around 5pm I started prepping dinner.  It was Tuesday,  I generally keep it Mexican inspired on this day.  So I made shrimp

tacos, refried black beans, and a side of chips.  Not pictured was my margarita on the side lol.

Morgan works late on Tuesdays so we started eating dinner without him.

After dinner I put on Kung Fu Panda 3 (it's been on repeat in our house for the past month) for the kids while I clean up the kitchen.  

7 pm I started showers. Morgan got home around then too.  He was starving and immediately devoured dinner.  After showers we finished up the movie.  

8 pm the kids brush their teeth and its story time then bed time.  The kids are in bed and lights are out at 8:30 pm.

After that Morgan and I caught a couple shows and we were in bed by 10.  That was kind of a late night for us...we are such oldies! Lol

Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa

                 

This recipe is PERFECT for the summer! No cooking inside required! It's already hot enough in the summer,  I don't like to turn on the oven or make a big mess over making a meal.  This requires just firing up the grill and a lil knife work.  Not to mention how light and refreshing this is.... this won't leave you feeling sluggish or heavy.

Fire up the grill.  Prep the salsa first, it will need some time to chill in the fridge.

Mango Salsa//

1 Mango; peeled, seeded and chopped

1 Red Bell pepper chopped

1/2 large Red Onion

2 tablespoons Cilantro chopped

1 Jalapeno chopped 

2 tablespoons Lime juice

1 tablespoon Lemon juice

salt to taste

In a bowl, mix mango, red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, and lemon juice.  Lastly add salt to taste. Cover, and chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.

Salmon//

2 salmon fillets {buy wild caught for flavor}

2 tablespoons Coconut oil

2 tablespoons Lemon juice 

Salt & Pepper to taste

 Drizzle coconut oil on fillets, front and back.  Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle lemon juice.  When the grill is hot and ready cook the salmon.  Put them down skinless side first. The salmon will release itself from the grill when it's ready to flip. It will not be long,

It cooks pretty quickly.

Plate salmon first, then add salsa on top!  Super easy, flavorful, and a great summer dinner!

Summer Time Fun

Summer is well underway here in Okinawa!  We decided to make a list of fun stuff we wanted to do in the next 2 months.  Summer days can get long here and the intense heat can make them longer. Making this list with the kids keeps us from sitting on the couch all day and gets us doing fun activities. These are all really easy to do and don't cost a lot.  A lot of these remind me of my summers as a child.  Now I'm making the same memories with my kids!  Hoping to check these all off by the time school starts in late August!  

Schools out for the Summer!

I cannot believe the school year is over!  It really feels like I was JUST school shopping for the new year.  This year was the first year both of the kiddos were in school. Amelia in kindergarten and Nolan in preschool.  

::Amelia::

Amelia had an end of year performance celebrating what they learned in kindergarten and being ready for first grade.  It was super cute! Each class had a song and in the end all classes sang "first grade" to the tune of New York, New York.  Amelia also received an award for most bubbly,  of course my daughter has a bubbly personality!I have to admit,  I cried!  I'm seriously so emotional when it comes to the kids.  I just can't believe how much she has grown and learned in just the first year of kindergarten.  My girl is doing math and reading! In my day of school I don't remember doing that stuff in Kindergarten,  I remember colors and numbers!  Kids these days are so smart and learning so fast.  

::Nolan::

Nolan started preschool this year.  He was in the toddlers class {2-3 year olds} going in on MWF.  The end of year performance was for the whole school.  It was also the graduation for the adventures class {4-5 year olds} moving on to kindergarten.  Nolan's class is pretty young so they just did one dance and got awards.  I was really proud of Nolan!  He kept dancing and didn't cry.  A lot better from his Christmas performance! Lol He also got most improved award.  So awesome because I've seen so much improvement from him.  At the beginning of the year he was shy and quiet and now he is talkative and has lots of friends.  I was worried about putting him in preschool so young, but it's helped his speech and confidence so much that I know it was the right choice. 

They have grown so much! My babies aren't babies anymore!  Just looking at these pictures and writing this post makes me tear up.  

On a happy note, summer is here in full swing!!! We are slowly but surely working on our summer bucket list!  Much more fun to come!

Side Gigs

Being a SAHM, its important to have your own thing.  I practically work at home all day every day, 24-7.  There needs to be some away time to recharge your batteries, get your mind away off the chores, the babies, the bills, the house.   Morgan is always encouraging me to get into something , go out with the girls, go to the gym, go shopping, go do something.  He totally understands!  He likes to go to the gym and play basketball.  He goes to the gym weekly and is in a basketball league.  So I did it, my friend and I signed up for cake decorating classes.  I always loved baking, but totally sucked at decorating.  To be fair, I haven't put much effort in trying to decorate.  I've always used fairly easy methods to decorate my cakes and cupcakes.

The class was a Wilton cake decorating class.  There are 4 courses and 4 sessions per course.  One, two and a half hour class a week. Course 1 is building butter cream skills.  First week we decorated cookies, second week we decorated our first cake, third week we learned how to pipe flowers and decorated cupcakes, the fourth week we decorated tall cakes all on our own from start to finish.  Our last sessions ended last night.  After all is said and done I'd have to say that its a lot harder then it looks.  I watch all those cake decorating shows on TV and they make it look super easy.  I was fooled.  Its no joke.  There are a lot of components that go into making a nicely decorated cake.   I'd have to say tho that I loved it, it was very informational, challenging, and fun.  Its a great beginner class and the tips I learned I'll probably use for the rest of my days.  I liked this class so much that I'm planning on taking all 4 courses.   I'm definitely not opening up my own bakery anytime soon, but you never know. lol

Pulling the Plug

We did it!  We got bubs off his pacifier!

I've actually tried a couple times in the past, but have been unsuccessful.  This time we're done!  Thank the Lord!

This was a bit of a struggle for us both.  Not only was the paci a comfort for bubs, but it was a comfort for us too.  It was the one thing we knew that we could  use to comfort our lil guy.  Nolan took to a paci right away.  The first time I couldn't comfort him with by feeding or holding, I just stuck a paci in his mouth and it was a hit. {No judgement}.  He was really paci obsessed, he carried multiple pacis with him at a time and would switch them out.  We wouldn't dare leave the house without a pacifier.  I had them everywhere, the car, my bedroom, his bedroom, my purse, my diaper bag...everywhere.  The thought of not having one handy and him losing one would strike fear in my heart.  We knew that he needed to be off of it by his 2nd bday.  It was the same thing we did with Amelia.  M and I both agreed that 2 was the right age, we did't want them to go to college with pacifiers. lol

It was surprisingly quick for us.  A habit of 2 years we felt like we just needed to take it away quickly, like a band aid. So we cut a few of his pacifiers in half and gave him one.  His face when we gave him the paci was priceless.  He looked so confused! lol We told him that it was broken.  So he asked for another one, it too was broken.  He tried and tried to suck on them, but he looked so unsatisfied.  I told him they were broken and to throw them in the trash.  That was a bad idea, he kept going back to the trash and looking at them. it was the course of a day and he had gone through all the broken ones and thrown them in the trash.  Then it was cold turkey  He just went about his day and played, there were times where I could tell he was was searching for one.   He seemed almost a little lost.

Sleeping was a big struggle.  I didn't even want to put him down for a nap, I just let him tire out and he fell asleep on his own, no pacifier needed.  The first night was terrible.  He kept waking up and crying for it.  Poor lil guy.  He ended up sleeping with us because he was waking up so often.  it was a rough night for all of us.  In the morning he looked for a pacifier for a good 15 minutes then went on with his day.

Since then we haven't looked back.  Well, to be honest there have been a few breakdowns of his where I wish I could have just stuck a paci in his mouth.  Trust me, I was super close to doing that.  I did get my self control and just power through.  This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I totally feared it for nothing.  I should have just put more faith in Nolan.  He is doing fine a week later, like nothing ever happened.  I see more of his facials expressions.  He seems to be communicating more and hopefully we didn't mess up his teeth. lol

Pacifier Lover

                                   

Before pulling the plug

                                 

After :)

                                 

So handsome without his Pacifier :)

                                 

Happy Birthday America

4th of July Recap

I've totally been slacking.  All my posts are late, well better late then never.  The typhoon kinda got me off track.

We spent 4th of July like we always do on Oki, with our annual Ikei beach bbq with our Oki fam.    We go to Ikei beach and spend the whole day BBQing and beaching it.  Its a fun traditon because all the families get together and bring a ton of food and drinks!  All the kids were having a blast going back and fourth playing in the sand and the water. This year was especially fun because Nolan is a lil older so we could play in the water a lot more.  We had a blast making sand castles and splashing in the water.  We got to the beach at 10 and left at 6!  It was a long full day.  I was super surprised because the kids didn't even stop for a nap!  They were determined to have lots of fun and soak up the sun.  The ONLY downside is that there are no fireworks at the beach.  Since we live in Japan, they obviously don't celebrate the 4th of July.   On base they do have fire works, BUT its the only firework show on island so as you can imagine its packed.  By the time we got home, the kids were already so exhausted that we just shower them and put them in bed.  We didn't dare venture out after that long day.  Till we meet again Ikei beach!

Ikei Beach

Playing with his daddy

Floaty fun

Family shot

Oki Fam
{This isn't even everyone who came, this was everyone who lasted till 6pm}

Staycation

Summer is well underway here.  A/C is on full blast and kids are out of school.  Now, I love traveling as much as the next person.  Especially going to a new country.  But, we aren't millionaires and I'm a SAHM.  We are fortune to travel off island, 1 or 2 times a year.  So we plan lots of stuff to do locally.  I mean, we aren't going to live here forever , so we gotta take advantage and see the sights.

One thing that we have done a lot of are staycations.  We not only have done them here, but we've done them in places back in the states.  When we were in WA, we would get a hotel room in downtown Seattle for the weekend and roam the city.  When we were in VA, we would get a hotel room in Northern VA and roam the city.  In CA, we would get a hotel room on the beach and roam the beach.  You get the idea.  But vacations don't always have to be to to new exotic places.  Plus, staycations are quick, fun, and cheap.

Luckily, we live on a beautiful tropical island, with an abundance of awesome hotels.  We booked a weekend at The Rizaan hotel.  Its literally 20 minutes away!  Not far at all.  We got together with 8 other families and planned a weekend there.  The hotel was awesome!  Right on the beach, indoor pool, outside pool, slides, restaurants, huge breakfast buffet included and the hotel room was reasonably priced.  We spent two days there, and we had a blast.  I swear, the kids became fish.  They didn't want to leave the pools or the beach.  Even though it was 20 minutes away from our house, I felt like I was on vacation somewhere else.  It was very easy to get into that vacation mind set.

Notable mentions:

Breakfast buffet::
When I booked our hotel our buffet was included.  I always love when this is included because breakfast is usually the only meal that I know for sure we will eat when we go on vacation. Throughout the day if we are sightseeing, beaching, pooling, we forget about time and we usually consume snacks rather then meals.  This buffet was huge,lots of selection and pretty good food.  They had traditional Japanese and American breakfast options.  There were also lots of fruit and veggies.  The options changed daily, which is nice!  So we started our days with a good hearty meal to keep us going for our long days.

Rooms:
The basic rooms, which is what we booked, was actually not too bad.  Especially in Japan!  We've been to a few Japanese hotels and most of the time the rooms are pretty tiny. Our room was small, but good enough.  We had 2 beds, a pull out bed, couch, coffee table, and mini fridge.  I was really surprised with the room.  I was thinking it would be tiny.  But it was a good enough size to fit all 4 of us comfortably.

Pools:
The hotel had 2 pools, one inside and one outside.  Both had areas for smaller children and water slides.  The outside pool did have a waterfall.  The kids loved going under it.  It was nice that there was the option of inside and outside.  Sometimes outside it was way too hot, Oki summers can be pretty brutal.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves at both pools.

Memories:
I know this sounds cheesy, I dont care!!!  We made lots of memories that weekend.  I loved seeing the huge smiles from my kids.  I loved seeing M relaxed and enjoying himself.  It was so much fun going with all our friends. I honestly was afraid when we were planning it, I thought it was going to be a mad house.  In the end, it was the more the merrier.  We kicked off summer with a bang!  I'm so excited for all the fun stuff this summer has to come!

Do You Bento?????

When in Rome....right???  I've always been so intrigued with bento boxes.  No, not the kind that you pick up from your local Japanese restaurant that comes with a Cali roll, shrimp tempura, and some teriyaki chicken.  Ohh shrimp tempura sounds yummmyyy.   I remember when I was in college there was a girl I would see in the cafeteria and she the most intricate bento boxes.  I remember seeing a Sailor Moon one!  I was blown away.     Anyways... the intricate lunch boxes that look like they came out of a display case not a brown bag lunch.  I was more of a lookie-lou when it came to bentos.  I thought it was purely professional...there would be no way I could make one.

  After Mills started  preschool and I was making her lunch my interest grew.  When Mills was first going to school I would send her off with a typical brown bag lunch. Sandwich, crackers, fruit, veggie, drink, and a treat.  Pretty typical stuff.  When I picked her up from school, I was getting most of the food back!  What the H?  Why wasn't she eating?  So I changed up what I gave her, different types of sandwiches every day, different snacks for the sides, different drinks.....still she would come home with food.  Then on a sleepless night I was all over the internet looking up lunch ideas.  Then I saw these cute lil bento boxes.  They weren't the ones I was used to seeing, they weren't super detailed and picture perfect pieces of art.  They were fun and had cute little details.  They were colorful and personal.  They looked like something I could do!  If someone asked me to make a Little Mermaid bento box, there would be no way in H I could do that.  I've looked up tutorials for the super crazy ones, and its no joke.  That is an art form.  I do not have the talent to turn rice, meat, veggies, cheese, and everything else into the Little Mermaid.  But I do possess the skill of buying things to help make food look cute. 

 So I went at it, luckily I'm in Japan and I can walk into a number of stores and find bento box supplies.  I'm still no expert, but I think bento boxes are awesome.  They are super cute, reusable {earth conscious}, small to keep the correct portion for a kid, and fun.  Mills loves them and she eats her food.  When I pick her up from school she tells me about her lunch. This is fun for me.  Making little lunches for her that would excite her and make her smile.  Then I started posting pictures.  Just on Facebook and Instagram.  I actually got a lot of interest in my bento boxes.  They weren't even that great.  I was surprised at the response. 

Here are some of my most recent bento boxes::

                                  

  :: Ham and swiss on a Hawaiian bread roll, strawberries,  and pretzels in a Minne Mouse bento box ::

                                    

                     :: Jelly on wheat {nut free}, strawberries, and pretzels in a poodle bento box ::

                                   

:: Buttered noodles, meatballs, carrots, Cheeze-its, cookies, and veggie chips in 2 tier strawberry bento box::

                                   

:: Cut up hot dog, broccoli, mac n cheese, Cheese-its, popcorn, and a banana in a 2 tier vehicle bento box ::

These are not professional by any means.  But my kids enjoy them and I love making them.  All the portions are just right for their little tummies.  I try to keep them colorful and fun.