It has been ages since I did a “Things I Love Thursday” but I still read Gala`s blog when I get the chance and noticed that she now does a link up for others participating so thought I would give it another go and try and be a bit more consistent.
So without further ado here is my list for this week:
- I am loving that I have two boys that are good sleepers- Noah goes to bed by 7:30pm and wakes up between 6-7am most days- sometimes even later. He usually naps for 2 hours or more each day as well. Shion wakes up once overnight for a feed usually around 3-4am and he still naps quite a bit during the day without much fuss. They are exhausting but at least they sleep well!!!! Also- I have gotten Shion into a routine that he has a longer nap in his cot during Noah`s nap so it give me at least an hour or more of “free” time which is nice as it helps break up the day a bit and let me rejuvenate.
- Loving my MIL (!) who comes around once a week to take Noah to the park for 1.5-2 hours so I can get some stuff done around the house or like today, pack some boxes for moving.
- Loving that our house plans coming along okay- we still have not made a decision about which house maker to go with and we might still add another one or two into the mix but some of the plans they are coming up with are great and it is so exciting that within the year we will be in a brand new house.
- Loving that Noah`s talking is taking off- he has about 12 different words now and I ask him where something is he almost always understands and can point to it (and if I ask him things like “Noah where is your water” because I can`t find it he usually knows where he has left it and goes to get it for me!)
- Loving Shion`s giggles!
- Loving American Idol- I don`t watch much reality TV but it is nice to have this on in the background at night once the boys are asleep- I am usually doing something else at the same time (packing, reading blogs, scrapbooking, menu planning, writing shopping lists, lesson planning etc) but now that it is almost at the end I think I might miss it. There is just two episodes left- grand finale and results which I am yet to watch.
- Loving doing proper menu planning and sharing on my blog and reading others menu plans
- Loving Twitter and Pinterest (great for house ideas!)
- Loving saving money- okay, not a lot of saving has happened so far but the fact I am writing down our spendings and moving to Grandma`s open apartment I know we will be able to save more each month than we are currently. My aim is to try and reduce our food bill a lot as well- will wait til after we move but then I will be trying to make more family friendly budget meals which will mean more Japanese cooking on my part (and probably having to eat tofu….yuck!)
- Loving Chiba Peanuts Multicultural Playgroup- we met up yesterday. Kind of a small group (and it has been this way recently, since the earthquake- not many people want to travel far from their homes. Totally understandable-some members are still in their home countries too!) but it was a year since we have been meeting up and it is great to see how much some of the regular “goers” have grown!!! The lady I run the playgroup with has just announced she is pregnant again too with a bub due in December (her older son, T, is 6 days older than Noah)- so there will be 2 years almost to the day between her two baby`s)- very exciting for her and her family!!
I also noticed on Kate`s blog (and others) that they do a blog meme called Thankful Thursday. I am thankful for the things I love above as well! I am also thankful for my husband who lately has hardly done anything that pisses me off- definitely thankful for that! It is also his birthday today- Shun turns 30! I am thankful that I am not yet THAT old! Haha!
What are you loving this Thursday? Or perhaps you are thankful for something in particular?
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
So exciting with the house plans! I am a bit sad that we didn’t get the chance to plan ours due to financial restraints but during our research we realised key things we wanted which helped us decide when we saw our house. To us, primary school location was a big one, and we are 5 minutes walk away, with only one very quiet road to cross. I also wanted an open plan LDK with an adjoining downstairs room and all in one line, so I can see the children from the kitchen, also lots of light, all south facing rooms, three upstairs rooms, storage room and two toilets. Also a garden, and I would have preferred an enclosed back garden, but there has to be a compromise somewhere! Besides, our garden is still nice. So I am thankful for that today. And thankful for our health, excited about a trip back home next month, and as always, to my sister for nudging me to start sewing!
All great things!!
Where we are building our house is less than 5 minute walk from the elementary school (same one where Shun, his brother and his dad went- also not grandma but I think one of her younger brothers went there (the school is over 100 years old)
I want open plan living dining too- BUT because of the shape of land and having to do two houses on the block I probably won`t be able to see the entire living room from the kitchen but like you said, we all have to compromise somewhere)…it will be bigger though which will be nice.
Your garden always loooks lovely- we want a deck that will go off into the garden and looks like that might be doable so the garden will be at the back as that is where the sun comes from. The living room and the boys rooms will be filled with lots of light which will be good!
Jealous of your trip home- will be so great for your kids!