Back to Reality

Well, Christmas is officially over which means I now have to find a place for all this stuff the kids have accumulated. Normally I would have had them clean their rooms prior to Christmas day, and the truth is....I did, only the rooms didn't exactly stay that way. Besides the fact that I haven't gotten in there to do a good thorough cleaning in a couple of months which means.....YUK!!!!

So, here I am...the day after Christmas, scrubbing my kids' bedrooms. This is no small task let me assure you. I haven't the foggiest idea how the hell my kids can manage to be such slobs. For heaven sake...they came from MY gene pool! Those rooms truly disgust me sometimes.

I just finished Bobby and Cindy's room. THREE trash bags of assorted cut up paper, old crayons, ripped books (sorry Grandma), broken toys and who knows what. I probably filled up the canister of my vacuume in that room alone. N-A-S-T-Y!!! Whatever...beds are made and fabreezed, a window is cracked to let in a bit of fresh air, everything is dusted and the glass is gleaming.

Now I get to move on to the boys room. NOT such a terrible feat. Amazingly Greg and Peter are very clean. Fifteen minutes in there and I will be finished. After that unfortunately, I must tackle Marsha and Jan's room. This I dread. Those girls have one of the worst rooms I've ever seen. Literally within hours of cleaning, it somehow they destroy it once again. Not only do I have to scrub that room (with face mask and rubber gloves), but when I'm finished I will have a whole new Mt. Washme on my hands. As if I don't have enough laundry already.

So I suppose the next couple of days will be devoted to the laundry room. Heck if I have enough I may have to make my piles on the living room floor (nothing quite motivates one to finish the wash like piles invading their living space). Yep...these are good times!

Oh and by the way, if you were thinking of dropping in for a little visit this week, don't bother. I refuse to entertain until the end of this hellish nightmare! Toodles!

A Holt Family Christmas

Holiday Kids

Christmas Morning

It is 6:30am and the kids have had me up for an hour and a half. I am brewing coffee at the present with the hope that it will help to hold open my eyelids and perhaps even bring me to life a bit.

When I attempted to wake Al this morning he asked for just one more hour of shut eye. This I gave him (so to brew that coffee), however in the back of my mind I thought of my wonderful in-laws and how now, with no small children in the house, they don't make a big event of decorating trees, hanging lights, and rising at 5am to see what "Santa" left during the night.

Already Marsha is celebrating her 13th Christmas. The years truly are flying by. There will indeed come a day when I won't awake on Christmas morn to the sounds of laughter, excitement, and remote control cars racing up and down the hallway. And as much as it pains me to say...there will likely come a day when Christmases may be spent without us all being in the same house (or country even).

So here I sit....6:30am....Christmas morning....waiting for this coffee to finish brewing so I can pull my husband from the comfort of our bed and join our kiddos in the living room. And as they tear into the gifts under our tree, laughing, squealing, and playing, I will remember that these days are numbered. I've no doubt that Al and I will enjoy every sleepy-eyed second of this.

Kim

Happy Bithday Woman! Much Love!

Kyle and Maliea

Congratulations! You both know that there is no where I would rather be right now than watching the two of you begin your life together. Know that Alex, the kids and I all send our congratulations and best wishes. We'll be there soon enough to do our celebrating in person, until then...Blessings and Love! ~Randi

Addition to the Family

Don't get ahead of yourself here, I'm not having another baby. THANK GOD!!!!! Don't get me wrong...I have six of the most fantastic kids you will ever meet, but I'm not looking to have anymore! No, no, no...our little family addition is a puppy. Yes, it's official, I am certifiably insane.

The puppy came to us by way of a neighbor who decided she really didn't want a dog. Thus my children pleaded and begged and I (being the sucker that I am) gave in. He came with the name "Jake", but I would have none of that. We don't give animals people names in this house. We needed something a bit more Japanese to mesh with the rest of our household pets. Our Golden Retriever, Sumo. Our Betas (Japanese fighting fish), Sushi and Sashimi. And the infamous Parakeet, Kamikaze.

I'd like to make a side note here. Our dogs have names that are only and will only be theirs, however ALL of our Betas are named Sushi and Sashimi, and every Parakeet-Kamikaze.

Anyway, we needed a name. The kids and I came up with a few to try out. Nibana (meaning second)-nope. Yoshi (Marsha flipped out) "We can't name him after a character in Mario Bros." And finally, Cindy's name request-Samurai Jak (Sammy for short).

So Sumo and Samurai. Poor Sumo. The old man is chillin', sittin' back, relaxin'. enjoyin' the peace and quiet, when out of no where this young kid jumps in and turns his world upside down. Such is life! Just wait until we get back to the states...momma has every intention of getting herself a kitty to name Geisha. Sumo may very well turn himself into "Kamikaze", Hehehe!

Raiders

Here are a few photos from Greg's first game (Friday night). Threw one in of me and my baby girl (she isn't much of a baby anymore...sob).

Eagles and Falcons

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say "Happy Birthday Grandma!!!" (Dec. 7th) I've posted a virtual smorgasbord of photos for your veiwing pleasure. Just because you asked! Love you tons. Hope your birthday was a spectacular one! ~Ran D.

Here are photos from Peter's and Jan's games last night (Thursday).

Cowboy

Ah football season. I know it has long since passed for most of you....but here in Okinawa we are just getting started. And what perfect timing! The weather is just now dipping low enough to toss on a warm sweater. In fact, I've had to break out my long wool trench coat just to sit through practices! GOOD TIMES!! Anyway, enough of that...here are pictures from Bobby's first game (Wednesday night). I don't think they won, but who really keeps track in flag football? And my apologies for the terrible photo quality. Wouldn't you know it? My batteries died after the first few minutes, so these are camera phone photos. No worries, it won't happen again!

Taiko Girl

Here are a few photos from Marsha's Taiko performance last Saturday.

Rain On My Parade

Friday night was the Tinsel Town Parade. All the kids except for Cindy walked. It would had been terribly fun had it not started to rain just as it began. The photos aren't great by any means, but they are photos none the less. Enjoy.