12.31.2009

お世話になりました。Happy New year!

今年も残すところ45分となりました。
またもや、あっという間の一年。

アメリカにきて、一年半。去年の3月くらいが精神的に一番やばかった。
いろんな人と別れて、いろんな人に出会って、いろんな新しい経験をして。

少しだけ強くなれた一年だった気がします。

家族、友達、仕事場の人、いろんな人に助けてもらって、お世話になりました。

このブログを見てくれている人も本当にありがとう。

みなさん、Happy New Year!!!!


Happy new year, everyone!
We were back to Seattle two days ago. We had a great holiday with Barber family :-) we didn't meet friends this time, so we spent a whole time with family, which was also good. ( I really wanted to see Angela though..too bad...:-( )

Well, It was so busy, crazy year last year. I was depressed and kinda crazy last March, but now I'm getting used to this life in Seattle, and calm down, which is good. I appreciate family, friends, many many people who are nice to me.

My new year's resolutions to get driver's license in Seattle as soon as possible, and start doing new action!Apparently, Brit's this year's resolution to be more funky (Every year) ....I don't think he needs to be more.

12.20.2009

明日からアイダホ Head to Idaho

クリスマス、アイダホへいってきます。。。。車で。
12時間の旅、何事もありませんように。

we are going to head to Idaho tomorrow afternoon. Hope nothing bad will happen
on the way. I'm really looking forward to seeing Barber family :-)

See you soon, guys!

下のリンクでどのくらい遠いか地図が見れます、興味あれば〜
Map

12.19.2009

もうすぐクリスマス♪ Happy holiday!


もうすぐクリスマス。私も昨日で仕事はちょっと休憩(ああ、めっちゃ嬉しい♪)21日〜28日までアイダホにクリスマス休暇で行ってきます。

クリスマスはアメリカで一番大きな祝日。街中がみんなが本当にクリスマスを楽しみにしているのが伝わってきます。私はクリスチャンではないので、本当の意味でのクリスマスを楽しみにしているのとは違うけど、それでも近所の家がすごくデコレーションしててキラキラしてるのとか見ると幸せな気分になるな〜

写真は、ブリトンの教会であったクリスマスパーティ。サンタさんきてくれたのに、喜音は恥ずかしがりやで奏大は怖くて、二人共近づこうとしない。。。ので仕方なく家族写真になりました。(一番楽しんでるのが親みたいな写真やけど。苦笑)

I'm done with my work for a while!! Yeah!! I'm soooo happy about it. So, we will go visit to Idaho from next Monday for a week. How excited it is! We hope that it wouldn't heavy snow on Monday.

The other day, Brit's Japanese friend, Yumiko came visit to us. I was busy as usual, and Brit was working on his final, so we couldn't be with her so much, but we were happy about her visiting :) We went to the church's Christmas party, and the International culture party at the community center.

At the Christmas party, Santa came visit to children, but Yukine was too shy and a little bit sick, so grumpy and Kanata was scared of him, which is naturally, so he couldn't close to Santa.finally, we took them to Santa and got a family picuture, kinda by force :-p


ダウンタウンのチョコレートやさんで売っていた
アップルキャラメル。日本でいうりんご飴。

We went to Down-town with Yumiko, I found a chocolate shop, and there are Caramel apples. they were so cute for me :-)

たくさん並んでて見てるだけでもかわいい。



ブリトンのお友達のゆみこさんが遊びにきてくれたの。私も仕事があって、ブリトンも期末試験だったから、ゆっくり一緒にいることができなくて本当に残念だったけど、ちょっとだけ一緒にダウンタウンを観光してきました。

クラムチャウダーを一緒に食べて、変なおもちゃ屋さん見たり。

I had to go to work in the afternoon, so we had to go back to home sooner than her. I hope she enjoyed Seattle though.... I couldn't do much for her, so feel bad :-(



なんだか、シアトル観光というよりは教会のクリスマスパーティにいったり、喜音のプリスクールのあるコミュニティセンターのパーティにいったりとどっちかていうと普通の生活に付き合わせてしまっただけのような。。。。^^:

楽しんでくれたといいのだけど。。。。

12.07.2009

寒い、、、 so cold...

最近めっきり、てか急に寒いシアトルです。今0度、マイナスあたりをうろうろ?
ああ、寒い。アイダホの人に言ったら殺されそうだけど。(アイダホは今マイナス10度くらい??)

ところで、ここ二日、奏大くんがおっぱいを飲まずに就寝。昨日は喜音の友達の誕生日パーティのあと、車で寝てしまったからなんだけど、今日は「かなたくん、おっぱい大好き?ほしい?」と夕ご飯中に聞いたら「いらん。」と!びっくり!!「おっぱい飲まないん?」ってもう一度聴き直してみたら「おっぱいいらん」と!!
その予言どおり、飲まずに寝ました。
どうした??おっぱい星人かなたくん。
でもこんなに簡単に終わってくれるなら嬉しいな〜♪
奏大くん、あと一ヶ月で2歳です^^


It's soooo cold outside recently... I mean in this two or three days. I know it's not bad for Idaho people, so I should not have said that tho....still cold for me.
It's been really sunny and clear days, which is good tho, maybe that's why it's so cold.

By the way, Kanata suddenly stopped drinking breast milk :-o Well, Just only yesterday and tonight though, but I'm so surprised at this suddenly changing. Yesterday, he fall asleep in the car on the way from Yukine's friend's birthday party, so it was just by chance. But at dinner time, I asked him if he wants milk, he said "No" And then, after got out of the tub, he fell asleep on Brit's lap. Wow, it's very easier then I expect! I hope he won't need it anymore. It is just good time to stop it.
He is almost TWO!!!! His birthday is coming next month :-) Today is just one month before! How exciting it is! He is a big boy!

11.28.2009

Christmas tree






Thanksgiving の次の日はBlack Friday(黒い金曜日)と言って、どこでもBig saleが行われます。去年はこれで私たちは2羽のターキーを買ったんだったな。

今年は。。。。

ついにクリスマスツリーを買いました。

やっぱりクリスマスツリーが家にあると気分が弾むな〜♪

We finally got the 6" Christmas tree from " Black friday" sale. We didn't find any super cheap turkeys this year though. Brit was so disappointed it because he was so excited about roasting the big bird this year too. Too bad!!
As soon as we got home, Yukine and I decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments which we got from Goodwill ;-) We were so excited about it!!
A Christmas tree makes us feel Christmas season comes around here. It was a good deal!

Thanksgiving





アメリカでは11月第四木曜日がThanksgiving Day. なんだか、Thanksgivingがくるともう一年が経ったんだな〜と実感。

私たちは教会のパーティとブリ豚の院生友達のパーティとはしごしました。

Thanksgivingは、元々は収穫祭ですべてのことに感謝してそれをお祝いするというもの。
喜音はプリスクールで、「私は一緒に遊んでくれる弟に感謝してます。」って言ったみたい^^ こんなに仲良しな二人でよかった。

私は、「こんな素敵な家族を持てたことに感謝しています。」

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day.
We had two parties this year. We went to the church thanksgiving lunch first, there were tons of wonderful foods there! We should have stop eating much because we had another party too. but we couldn't! hehe :-p It's worth to eat everything though.

We were enjoyed both parties.
I'm thankful for everyone who made delicious foods for us, and had us, and family, friends.... Thank you so much!!

By the way, Yukine told to her teachers that she was thankful for her brother at her preschool. It's so cute, and I love that my kids are really good friends :-)

11.23.2009

Mom's birthday



28になりました。

自分の誕生日がすごくわくわくする年でもなくなってきたけど、
風邪気味でこの頃気分がすっきりしないけど、とても幸せな不思議な一日でした。
友達が誕生日はフリーだからと韓国スパに連れて行ってくれて、
(いわゆる日本のスーパー銭湯みたい。たくさんの種類のサウナがあって、
風呂があって。別途でアカ擦り、マッサージなんかもできるところ。
アメリカでは人前で裸になってという大衆浴場の習慣がないので、最近の流行りらしい。)

いつも忙しい友達だからお昼をご馳走してくれたあと、
私だけを置いていってまた迎えにくるということ。
2時間くらいと言っていたけど、結局6時間くらいそこにいた。笑 

お風呂、サウナに入り尽くした。ほんまに。。。

さすがに6時間のサウナ、風呂はしんどくて最後はソファーでぼーっとしてた。


ブリトンは家で子供を見ていて2時間くらいで帰ると言っていたから
今回はかなりでかい借りを作った気分、プラス 悪いことしたな〜ってのと
やっぱり、家族と一緒にいたかったってのもあった。
一人にたまになりたいけど、やっぱりもう子供たち、ブリ豚がいない生活は
考えられないな、結局いつも家族のことを考えてしまう。

それでも文句もいわずに耐えて、子供みて(ベビーシッターの日でもあったから子供3人)
ご飯作って、パイを焼いて、カードと壁のメッセージ。
本当にありがとう、ブリ豚!! なんて寛大なだんなさんだろうと思う。本気に。
人にもやさしく、自分にも甘いタイプのブリ豚だが、
いやいや、本当に感謝して日頃もうちょっと色々多めにみないとあかんなと改めて実感。

もちろん、その友達にも本当に感謝。いつもそうだけど、素敵な不思議な?友達が
たくさんいる私は本当にラッキーで幸せだと思う。


I just turned 28 on November 20th. It was really happy? or kinda felt bad for Brit day. One of my friends took me to a Korean Spa, where I could get free entrance fee on birthday. It was great, we enjoyed several saunas, hot tubs, and good Korean foods too! It was so much fun :-) But, my friend, who is really super busy person, That day was as always, she had to pick her son up and other kids from school help her mom and her husband's business, etc.... so she could stay with me only 1 hour or something like that, so she let me stay at the Spa, and she said she would came back and pick me up about two hours later. She is always nice to me, however, I totally forgot that she never punctual and is usually late 1 or 2 hours late. Yeah, I've been at the Spa for 6 hours total. haha~ :-p Finally I was really tied from saunas and hot tub, got a slightly headache, so just sat down on the couch and spaced out.
I felt bad for Brit who was watching three kids at the home by himself all day long! He expected that's happen once I went to somewhere with her though :-( It was very big present from him, I think. I'm really lucky the husband who really doesn't care many things or has been patient. I appreciate him so much.

I missed my family while I've been there. I worked in that morning,and then I went straight to there, so I didn't see my family so much.
Even though I had a free time all day, I kept thinking about my family. That means I am a MOM, maybe :-p
I ended up getting my house at 7 pm. After I got my home, Yukine was trying so hard to celebrate my birthday, it made me so happy :-) She made a biirthday card for me, she decorated a room for me, and prepared party for me (even if the present was pretend! She wrapped my shoes which I bought by myself before :-)) She was so sweet. Kanata was trying to get candle flame with his bare hand :-p

And, Thank you for everyone who gave me wonderful birthday wishes!!!




喜音からのカード。
私が帰ってくるのをすごく楽しみにしてて壁にDadと一緒に
デコレーションとか、パイにロウソクさして、Happy birthdayを
一生懸命歌ってくれて。。。
こんな優しい子が私の子でよかったな〜^^

ありがとう、 ゆきね!

It was Yukine's card for me.
Thank you, Yukine, I love you so much!!



ブリ豚からぶりとんらしいカード  らしい。

たしかにブリ豚らしい。

And... this one is from Brit. It said " Brittain like card from Brittain"



こんなにスペースあるのに、
ちいちゃく「Happy birthday」しか書いてない。


いいけど。。。
Though there were so much blank space,
he wrote just" Happy birthday"

It was like very Brittain.


Thanks, dude!







11.17.2009

アレンとメル Alan and Mel




ちょこちょこ色々あった最近。なかなか更新できないんだけど。。
ブリ豚の弟のアレンと奥さんのメルが旅行ついでにシアトルにきてくれた。
いっつもブリ豚はいつ誰がくるかちゃんと伝えてくれないから、喜音のお友達がきてたりとちょっとバタバタしたお出迎えになってしまったけど。本当にブリ豚のてきとーさにやられるわ。。。。 喜音と奏大はこの数日前に予防接種を受けてたせいか体調がよくなくて一緒におでかけはできなかった。残念だけど、二人はせっかく結婚記念の旅行だったし、お猿がいないほうが二人でラブラブできたかな??^^

Brit's bother, Alan and Mel came visit to us from San Francisco last week. Brit's never told me when people come or who come in advance, so I was always upset, and this time, while Yukine's preschool friend and her mom came over here, Alen and Mel arrived at here. So kinda crowd that time, I'm sorry about that :-(
After Yukine's friend left, she had a fever, that's because Yukine and Kanata got some shots last weekend,maybe that's why, maybe too excting.
So, we all couldn't go together all time, but we had a good Thai food dinner, and it's my earlier birthday present from them!!! Thank you soooo much!!!!

This was first time for Mel to visit Seattle, so I hope she had a good time here :-)

私の誕生日が近いってことで、泊まってくれた夜は、夕ご飯をご馳走になった。むしろせっかくきてくれたし、私たちがなにかしようと思ってたのに、なんだか申し訳ないな。。

お店に行くと大変だから(うちの猿たちが。)家の近くのタイ料理のレストランからテイクアウト。
なかなか(てか全然!?)外食しない私たちにとって久しぶりのお店の味。私はここのタイ料理好き。

今度、会えるのはクリスマス。今回はいろんな話ができて嬉しかったな。
奏大は前に会ったとき、一歳だから多分覚えてなかったと思うけど、結構すぐ慣れたほうじゃないかな??最近ちょっとママっ子になりつつあるからね〜

またゆっくり二人と話したいな〜。

They spend only one night here, so next please stay here longer :-)

11.03.2009

Pumpkin  かぼちゃさん



喜音がプリスクールの遠足で取ってきた、かぼちゃ。日本のかぼちゃよりでかいし、ジャックオーランタン(ハロウィンの時のかぼちゃのちょうちん)のためにしか見たことがないから料理に使えるか不明だったけど、ネットで調べてみると、オーブンで焼いてからペーストにしてみたらいいらしい。
ので、さっそくトライ!
焼いた時点ではあまり甘くなかったけど、フープロでガガガガッとピューレにしたらなかなか甘くて美味しい♪


Yukine got a pumpkin from the field trip, Pumpkin patch. We couldn't carve it until Halloween, so I made pumpkin puree instead.
I never use a fresh pumpkin like this kind, so I looked up "how to use pumpkins" on the Internet. I worried how sweet it was, because, In general, big veggies are not quite good taste. In fact, when I roasted the pumpkin, it was not so sweet, but once I mushed it with a food processor, it became sweeter. I don't know why though, it's tasty :-)










これを使ってなにをつくろうかな〜♪♪

What should I make with it...






とりあえず、かぼちゃパン

At first,Pumpkin bread!
Mmmm... Yum Yum :-)

まだまだあります。なににしようかな??
スープ、パイ、マフィンも美味しそう♪

I'm so excited what I make other...Pie, soup,or muffins also sound good!

11.01.2009

Happy Halloween!! BOOOOOOO!!!

みなさん、Happy Halloween!!!

シアトルでもそこらじゅうでTrick Or Treatがあったのですが、私たちはふたつのパーティに行ってきました。ひとつめは、子供を追いかけるので必死で写真が撮れなかった。。
喜音は今ふたつのPreschoolをかけもちしているんだけど、(ひとつが去年と同じで月水金の午前3時間。もうひとつが今年からで器械体操の教室が運営しているところで火木の午後4時間、そのうち1時間は器械体操を教えてくれる。)その器械体操の教室でやっているのに行ってきた。器械体操のジムをオープンしていてくれて、思う存分走り回ってジャンプしてぶらさがってよし! 子供はもちろんおおはしゃぎ!

Ok, so I am going to update about Halloween this year.
We went to two parties this year. One of them was at Yukine's gymnastic preschool. They had a open gym for kids, so kids could jumpy and bouncy and run run run!!! It must have been so much fun for kids :-) Unfortunately, I was really busy chasing Kanata, so no pictures at all:-(
We spend there for one hour, and then we moved to the church's party.






で、その後はブリ豚の教会のパーティへ。初めはみんなでホットドック食べて、奏大くん、ホットドック(ウィンナーのみ)大好き。







Mmmm! Yummy Hot dog!! said Kanata.



We ate Hot dogs at first, and then...







ゲームして。 Played many games.

喜音、これ、なに?あの矢みたいなやつ??で当てたの!!100Pt命中!!!!
キャンデー3つゲット!!やるやん、喜音^^

Oh, yeah, Yukine hit the center of the target!!!! It was cool wasn't it??
Even Brit couldn't hit at all. She got 100pts and 3 candies! Wow :-D

そして、暗くなったところでTrick or Treat.
普通は、そのらへんの近所の家をピンポ〜ンして、「Trick or Treat」って言って歩いて回るんだよね。わたしらはそれはまだ体験したことがない。
うちらの教会は、駐車場で車のトランクあけて、そこをデコレーションしててそれを回っていくっていうもの。ま、小さい子には、長い距離歩かなくてすむし、ひととこで済むから親にもありがたかったり。
今年も一年分のキャンディーいただきました。

And, after it got dark, Trick or Treat time!! Yukine got a year's worth of candies again this year ;-)
Hope everyone had a good Halloween!!

10.29.2009

Party month! パーティ月間
































やたら忙しく過ぎて行った10月。
うちの車がボロいので、それを修理しないといけない状態になり、そのことで金銭問題が。。。^^:で、私は今週3働き、夜には子供時間で寝ている毎日でございます。。。



OH MY GOSH, It is already Halloween season!!!
I have been sooo busy in this month. We had a cash catastrophe early this month because of our crappy car, so we decided I work three days a week, Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays. ( before I work on 2 days a week, only weekends.)So I always fall asleep with kids at 9 which means no time to sit down in front of my computer at all...



それはさておき、喜音もとっても忙しい一ヶ月でした。毎週末はだれかの誕生日パーティ、それからついにHalloweenにもなって、本当にパーティ月間!

アメリカ人のバースディパーティって本当にやる気!もうすっごく凝っていて毎回驚かされる。今回、私が週2、見ている子の誕生日パーティにも呼ばれたんだけど、この子は器械体操の教室でのパーティでした。

色々ゲームをさせてくれたり、全部の器具を使わせてくれたりとその教室の人がすべてやってくれる。こういうのがけっこうどこの施設にもあるんだよね。動物園とか、水族館とか、バレエクラスとか。。。。うちも家狭いしこういうところにお願いできたらすごく楽ねんけどな〜。。。。もちろん、結構お値段もはりますねん。。。

Yukine had also really busy busy month. She was invited some one's birthday party on every weekends. I wonder if October was popular month to give birth to babies for Yukine's generation???
Anyway, I'm always impressed with American parent's efforts to make their kid's special day. Some people have a party at their house, some people ask the company or places they offer Birthday plans. Whichever way you choose, it's a big deal, I think... I have to think about Yukine's birthday party too....She wants to invite people more than last year... hummmmm....

One of the parties, we all were invited by the boy whom I'm watching 2days a week. They had the party at gymnastic school.It was a good time for me to know how they arrange kids's birthday party, though we don't have a gym at our house :p



もうHalloweenの時期。まずはCommunity Center のパーティへ。

Halloween is coming too!!! We went to the pumpkin bush at our neighbor's community center. Yukine was a pumpkin, and Kanata had a tail and ears :) Yukine met her best friend , but she haven't seen her for like 3months because she is going to a kindergarten from this fall, so she was too shy to play together again.
これはYMCAっていう私がヨガにいってたり、スポーツジムのパーティ。
明日はHalloween 当日、どこでもTrick or Treatをしてるみたいだけど、どこへいこうかな???
またアップします。
We are going to go to two parties tonight, so I will update soon :)

10.19.2009

ハナタレ A runny nose boy



一ヶ月くらいよくなったり悪くなったり。。。ずっとはな垂れ奏大くん。
パジャマ着せると汗かくし、着せないと布団から出ているから治らない・・・どうしたもんか。

あ、ちなみに奏大の髪の毛散髪してみました。私が。ま、とりあえず外は歩けそう。


Runny nose Kanata gets better yet :-( It's been for a month. He always kicked his blanket during the night. Everytime we put him extra clothes, he would be too hot and sweaty...hummm.... I don't know what should I do with him.. I should have get up in the midnight, and then put him a blanket again...but I can't wake up like so late time :-p

Oh, by the way, I gave him a haircut. It was not bad acutually :-) Brit is still scared of letting me cut his though. It's not bad!!

10.13.2009

今年は。。。 This year's...

喜音のハロウィンのコスチューム。 つくってみました〜^^ 

(すごくてきとうで、縫い目とか汚いから近くで見てはいけない。)


Yukie's Halloween costume ;) However I made them, you can't see them up close, I'm not good at sawing, so they are not beautiful and wonderful, but I'm proud of me I made it! Good enough good enough! hehe :p

ある日のごはん



前に作ったライブレッド。 ライ麦20%くらいなのですごく軽い。Whole Wheat(全粒粉)も入れたからその味のが強かったかも。

Above : Rye Bread.

I made it first time I mean Rye bread. It was good, but I put only 20% rye, no sour dough, and added whole- wheat too, so it tasted more like Whole wheat bread.
Veg Burger 肉なしバーガー。 これはブラックビーンズってので作ってあるんだけど、
ハンバーガーと思わず、こういう別のものと思うと美味しい。肉でないものを肉としてってのは無理があるからね。

最近、ヨガを始めてから肉をあまり体が欲しいと言わなくなった。他のことも考えるとベジタリアンっていうのも一つの選択肢だと思う。といっても完璧にいきなりは難しいから、だんだん自分の食べたいものを食べるようにしている。このVeg Burgerのそのひとつ。

The picture is a veg Burger. I don't want to eat red meat so much recently, so I made a veg burger when Brit made a beef burger. It is different from "Burger" , of course, but it's testy as a black beans pate. I liked it :)
After I started doing yoga, I don't need to eat meats little by a little. It's interesting though. Anyway, I don't know I would be a vegetarian someday though, I enjoy no meat food too for now:)

10.08.2009

アルカンサからのお客様 The guest from Arkansas.

ブリ豚が日本でインターンシップをしていた時にお世話してくれたお友達がシアトルへ。うちに泊まってくれました。
高校卒業後からこっちに留学、今はアルカンサの大学に通っている彼。若いのに(おばちゃん発言)しっかり自分の意志をもっていて、しっかりしてるな〜と感心。しかも!彼も出身が長野だったり。いやいや、信濃の国」を歌える仲間に会うと嬉しくなるね〜



子供たちもすぐになついて、たくさん遊んでもらっちゃったしアルカンサからのおみやげもたくさんいただきました。ありがとう!

Last week, we had a guest from Arkansas. He was doing an internship at the same place as Brit in Japan, and he helped Brit a lots over there. He came here to see UW for his grad school next year, so he stayed at our place for two nights. In addition, he is from Nagano!!!! ,which is same as me!! It's a small world, isn't it? :o We could sing the prefecture's song together! ( Only Nagano people know thier prefecture's song in Japan, so the story is very famous among Japanese, and becoming a joke.) Anyway, He is really cool guy, we all like him, especially Yukine and Kanata was enjoyed playing with him, thank you so much for taking care of our kids! Hopefully, he will come back to Seattle again, and
see each other soon!!






←This is takoyaki maker, most of Kansai (Western Japan) people have it at lease one at home.












そして、夜はブリ豚の院の友達も呼んでたこ焼きパーティ。たこ焼き器を日本から友達に頼んで入手したの。いやいや、私も関西人???たこ焼き器がない生活は辛かった!笑

この上の写真は私が作った、長野名物「おやき」これは北信といって長野市のほうのやり方で皮が小麦粉、私たち南信は米粉を使うの。今度は米粉で作ってみよう。
中身はなすの油味噌と切干大根の煮物。
ひさびさに食べたらおいしかった^^

またぜひ遊びにも、UWにも来てね^^

So, we had a Takoyaki ( Octopus balls, which is a popular food in Kansai area.)party with him and Brit's UW friends :) It was so much fun! I was kinda busy to make food tho, I enjoyed the party.

The above picture is Oyaki which is Nagano's traditional local food, it's like gyoza (dumping) or Chinese buns, inside is eggplants instead of meat though. Brit loves it, I didn't know until this summer, he ate it when he was doing internship in Nagano city, so that was my first time to make it. It was good too and very easy to make :)