Mia's First Birthday

2 Years plus one week

We skipped over posting her third birthday pics... here is probably the reason why. 

Mia Chan wa yon sai deshita!

and

This year. 

I have been posting pics over on facebook, if you haven't 'friended' me yet, you can easily find me as user name 'jaxlewis'.

You don't need to be a facebook user to check out these picture albums recently posted.

Simon's Birthday Party

and

A Day at Torii Beach

Yummy Lunch

This morning, I cooked (on 'auto') in my japanese rice steamer:
1 cup pearl barley
1 cup chicken broth from the carton

For lunch I threw that into a skillet with:
2 tbsp garlic (to taste)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 (or so) chicken broth
broccoli, cut rather smallish, enough to cover the bottom of the skillet
two 1/2" slices of a large onion, coarsely chopped
black pepper to taste

cook until the broth is almost gone, and the broccoli is still a little crisp. Serve and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

The boys and I loved it. Mia says she prefers her broccoli separate. Chas pointed out that it was grain, veggie and protein all in one bowl.

Math for Breakfast

Ten sausage links divided four ways is 2 and a half each. Chas got it right away and thoughtfully explained to the others how he figured it out. As they were dividing up the links and breaking them in half, somehow Simon was left with a few pieces and was near meltdown. Mia stepped up to explain 'Simon, you don't have two and a half, you have 1, and 3 halves!' He was so delighted by her show of advanced math that he happily took his serving and ate it up!

The kids do math like this everyday. I'll whisper to them, wide-eyed, that they are doing math.

'Awwww mom! You tricked us!'

Now they catch themselves doing it and it's become a family joke. In this manner, we have even found that Mia has an understanding of multiplication and division. Once, I took a week to watch the kids from a distance and wrote a journal of all the things they were doing that involved learning something (I know, a busy week for me!) and translated it into 'curriculum speak' just for fun. It may be time to do that again. I have to pick just the right week to do it, because sometimes their play is simple and sometimes more obviously academic.

Other Lewis news, in no particular order...


We have a new kitty named Snips. He is very young, apparently abandoned at around 3 weeks old. He is probably about 6 weeks old now and is very active and playful. We are having to socialize and discipline him in the absence of his mother and littermates. The kids are having a little trouble waiting out this kitty toddlerhood. He is playful sometimes, snuggly sometimes, and very tenacious - he has actually turned and attacked the spray bottle we were using to train him off the foot-attacks.

And our neighborhood candy store had to close a few months ago, but this week it reopened as an organic vegetable market. It's small, but close by, a block and half, in fact close enough for the kids to go by themselves on their bikes - no busy roads to cross! They were closed yesterday when I went by for our first visit, I'll try again today - if we get a break in the rain and thunderstorms.

Next week we start swimming lessons, every day for two weeks, at 5pm for the boys, and at 6:15 pm for Mia. The following two-week session, I was able to get them all at 5pm. It is going to be intense, and I'll have to call on my best organizational skills to get through it.

We are still bowling every Monday night, and doing the Family Night thing at the club on base. Tim's shop moved to a closer base which provides for at least 5 hours more family per week that he isn't commuting! It's a huge blessing for our family.

Chas had an unfortunate accident on his bike this afternoon. He has a huge 'strawberry' on his elbow and has been nursing his wounds all afternoon. Right now he is chilling out in the guest room side of the tatami, reading to me the poems he likes from A Light in the Attic.
Like this one.

How Many, How Much
`
How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give 'em.

shel silverstein
`

fast chicken and rice.

$1.48 for 4 chicken thighs, sliced thin and cooked fast and hot on a skillet, without oil or butter

$.50 for 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

$.65 for 1 cup of frozen peas

$2.48 for 2 pkgs of Uncle Ben's brown rice in a pouch

total $5.11

Next time I will probably use a whole crown or maybe two of fresh broccoli, steamed a few minutes in the microwave, and brown rice from my steamer instead of from a pouch (will cut down the cost a lot) and less teriyaki sauce (this was a strong taste and almost too sweet.) I think they liked it though.

Gardener's Pie

Tonight's 5 ingredient recipe was Gardener's Pie. I made some adjustments - instead of refrigerated mashed potato product I used a 90 cent box of garlic mashed instant potatoes, and I added in three boneless chicken thighs, which I sauteed and then cut into cubes.
So it's frozen mixed veggies, and soup and thyme, and chicken, with mashed potatoes on top, bake at 350 covered for 30, uncovered for 15, and with cheese for 5 minutes.

$1.29 cheddar cheese condensed soup
$.75 1 cup of cheddar cheese for the top
$.69 pound of frozen mixed veggies
$.90 garlic mashed potatoes
($.70 2 cups of milk and
$.32 4 tbs butter to prepare potatoes)
$1.12 boneless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp thyme
$5.77 total

I won't make this on a regular basis because of the sodium in the soup and the potatoes. It is nice that it is all shelf stable or frozen items (and milk and butter, which I always have anyway) that I can keep on hand if I find myself in a pinch and need to make something easy, or to bring along, pot luck or whatever, especially since it made soooo much, we only ate half of what it made.