Happy Halloween!

At Home with Griffin

Having a 'straggler' has its benefits. Little Griffin and I are home alone all day. I have forgotten how hard having a new baby is, but this time, I don't have to juggle other kids, too. It's like he's an only child... from 8:00am-3:40pm. We take naps together and snuggle all day long! He's such a sweetie and I'm truly enjoying him.

First Day of School

hats and coats are required for recess

The kids are enjoying their new school. The students are all divided into houses: foxes, eagles, and bears. Our kids are eagles. The students earn points for their houses all year long and the winning house earns a cup. Its just like Hogwarts, which tickles me to death! Jacob played in a netball tournament (kind of like basketball) in which he scored all but 1 of the eagles' points and the eagles went on to win the whole thing earning their house 30 points. The students also swim once a week. They are practicing for the swimming gala, which I assume is a swim meet. This school is wonderful. Larkin (who was in kindergarten at home) came home the first day and read me a book. She needed help, but she did it. They are also learning Russian. Jacob knows more Russian than I do, which isn't saying much, but I'm still proud of him. Rainey knows how to say 'cat' and 'dog', of course. All their teachers are from the UK. I really hope they pick up on their accents!

City Mall (Сити Малл)

No town is complete without a mall. The mall here has all the normal stores that we had at home, the exemption is that there is a grocery store and a housewares store. Kind of weird to find those things in a mall. On the top floor of the mall is a play area for kids. You have to pay, but there are video games and another play area for smaller kids with bouncy houses and trampolines and a small merry-go-round. Its kind of like a Chuck-E-Cheese. The food court had many options....all of them pretty different for us. I ordered a cheese pizza, but it was weird. As you can see from the picture, they do have a Cinnabon!

Waiting for the charter plane

I was so in love with the Sapporo airport people. I'm not sure if this is true for all Japanese people, but they absolutely loved kids! My kids, their kids, other people's kids. They were so warm and friendly. Griffin was crying while I was preparing his bottle and a sweet, older Japanese lady came over and tried to comfort him by rocking the stroller and talking to him (in Japanese...it was kind of funny). We drew attention everywhere we walked because of all the kids, but it was positive attention.  

Monchhichi! Remember these guys?

Breakfast in Sapporo

Sea Weed!!

Not sure what any of this stuff was, but it wasn't waffles! No pancakes. No cereal. There was ham and sweet rolls. They did have eggs and bacon, but the bacon was very under cooked and the eggs were pretty wet. The orange juice was different, but still good. They also had little sausage links that my kids liked a lot.  

There's the ham we ate in the upper right have corner.

looks pretty weird!

   

Larkin loved the kids' plate and cup.

They were very excited to be in Japan.

More Griffin

We've got 4 kids!

Hold on, Back it up!

Before we embarked on our Russian adventure, we had a baby! Our little Griffin James was born on September 4th at 7:23 am. The scheduled C-section went exactly as planned. I was actually having contractions that morning, so I guess it was truly the day! As my doctor made his way down to little Griff, I heard 'Oh, a breech baby!" and all the sudden all the weird movements during the last week of my pregnancy made sense. The scale in the OR wasn't working correctly and when the nurses weighed him, the scale read 6 lbs 11 oz. Both doctors yelled 'Re-weigh!'. I never heard anything else on the matter until the day we went home... They re-weighed him in the nursery and he was actually 7 lb 11 oz. We were worried that we had a cryer on our hands when he wouldn't stop crying in the OR. But, in his defense, the poor kid didn't want to come out. The doctor was pulling on his legs with all his might and said to us, 'don't be surprised if there are bruises on his legs.'

Happiest Boy Alive!

         He is truly in love with his brother!

Still would have preferred a dog, but likes Griffin anyway.

                       Sweet Larkin was VERY excited!

My mom got to feed him while I was in recovery. (the nurse asked Jim if he wanted to... he didn't).












                                               My dad with Griffin 

Proud Daddy!

                 So happy he's here! We love you, Griff

Let the Adventure Begin!

On Monday October 22, 2012 we boarded a plane to Tokyo, Japan with 12 suitcases, 4 carry ons, 1 ginormous stroller (online purchase hazard) & infant seat, and 4 kids. The company sent a huge 12 passenger van to pick us up. I cried all the way to the airport. Not just silent tears streaming down my face... I'm talking Boo-Hooing! As Jim was getting us all checked in, I was texting my family and friends. Everyone was saying goodbye and sending well wishes. I had finally gathered my emotions when my old sister sent me a text saying, "Remember the Alamo!" I lost it, feeling like I was betraying the great state of Texas and my country. Rainey looked up at me and said, "Again with the crying?!?" Larkin said, "Mom, I'm sorry you're going to miss your family", I guess that's the difference between my girls. The 13 hour flight from Houston to Tokyo was wonderful! I wish I could always travel business class. It was truly a piece of cake. When we landed in Tokyo, we had to claim all our bags and go through customs. Luckily, they let us cut to the front of the line because of the stroller. Even so, it was very difficult. We then boarded a plane to Sapporo, Japan. It was only a 2 1/2 hour flight. Not a big deal. We spent the night in the airport hotel to wait for the charter flight into Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. As we walked through the airport the next morning, Rainey asked quite loudly, "Why does everyone have black hair?" To which I answered, "Because they're all Japanese." While waiting for the charter flight, we met 2 families that live on the compound with us. So, 2 days and 3 planes later, we made it into Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia!