Zoo Lights

The day after Thanksgiving, ALL of our family (my parents and sister, Yusaku's parents, brother, sister-in-law, and our niece, and Yusaku's cousin) joined us at Zoo Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. This is something we like to do with the kids every year during the Christmas season but it was great to be able to experience this with so many family members.

hot cocoa/snack break

the whole group except my parents and sister

Yoko was so kind to let Olivia look at every inch of the insect house
(her favorite part of the zoo)

Thanksgiving 2016

We enjoyed a lot of great family time over Thanksgiving. Yosuke, Manami, and Lemi came in from New York, Sarah came in from Chicago, and Yusaku's cousin, Yoko, came all the way from Japan! We are so lucky that everyone came to us. It was wonderful to see all of them! The girls especially enjoyed getting to play with Lemi and getting to know her a little better. She is a such a sweetie!

Yusaku's parents hosted this year and we had a delicious dinner!  Looking forward to next Thanksgiving when we'll have FIVE cousins! Should be lots of fun and craziness! 

We got to spend more time together in the days that followed, but I will include those pics in the next post.

Learning to play chess with Uncle Yosuke

Obaachan and Ojiicahn with all the grandkids

Comparing baby bumps - new cousins coming May and March 2017

Takashi and Kazumi with their niece, Yoko
It was so nice to see her!

So much cousin love!

Halloween 2016

We enjoyed a nice warm day right before Halloween for carving (and painting) pumpkins. Yusaku carved. I painted (with some help from Natalie).  They turned out pretty cute!

For the first time in a few years, we had decent weather for trick-or-treating. It didn't rain and wasn't terribly cold. Natalie was a little under the weather, so after the first block or so, she was worn out. Olivia, however, tried to hit as many as houses as possible to get as much candy as she could. :)

Olivia's 6th Birthday

It's hard to believe my sweet, smart, spunky first-born is 6! This year, we celebrated with a small group of those who are most important to Olivia - her grandparents, her cousins, her best friend from school, and of course, Yusaku, Natalie, and I. What she wanted most for her party was to have a pinata, so we had one and it was a lot of fun! We had beautiful weather that day and even took a little walk in the woods (and stream) near our house beforehand. 

Natalie's First Day of Preschool

Our baby is growing up! Natalie started preschool on September 6. As you can see from the series of pictures below, Natalie wasn't exactly in the mood to have her picture taken on her first day of preschool. Here's the post from Olivia's first day of preschool three years ago for comparison.

When she arrived at school, she gave Yusaku the "smile" below. Ha ha!

And before going into her classroom, a slightly better smile. Despite the difficulty she gave us with posing for photos, I think she had a great first day. Her teacher is very nice and it's a great little classroom. Bonus - my classroom is right across the hall so I get to see her a little here and there throughout the day.

Back to work...

This past Spring/Summer, I had begun to toy with the idea of possibly going back to work part-time. I wasn't sure exactly when I wanted to go back or what job I might want. I was not actively looking for something. I had mentioned my thought about going back to my neighbor in passing though and not much after that, she approached me about a job possibility teaching Pre-K at a local preschool. The preschool is attached to the church she belongs to and the director had originally approached her about taking the job. It wasn't a good fit for her but she thought of me, knowing my background in teaching and my desire for a job with hours that would fit with the kids' schedule.

After meeting with the director (who was happy to offer me the position) and MUCH thought, I decided to take the job. I have a class of 4 boys and work 4 mornings a week. Although she was originally enrolled at a different local preschool, we switched Natalie to this school so that she and I could be on the schedule. Her classroom is right across the hall from mine. :)

Here are some pictures of the outside of the school and the inside of my classroom.

First Day of First Grade

How is it possible that we have a first grader?! Olivia started first grade on August 16. As much as I miss her while she's gone, I think this was an easier transition for me as a parent than when she started kindergarten last year. She and I were both ready by the end of the summer for school to start and things seem to be off a great start - her best friend from kindergarten is in her class and her teacher seems very nice. Looking forward to a great year ahead!