Jagger 10 months| Japan

Hi! Today my little baby boy is TEN months! What in the world is going on? We are on the verge of a 1 year old and I am not very happy about it! I want to keep him my "baby" forever and I am not loving the thought of him growing up! These past ten months have gone so fast which could only mean one thing- We are having FUN! It's true folks, we do have a lot of f.u.n. in our household! So much that Averie is taking right after her own mother and dropped out of Kindergarten. She will start American kinder at home, so we didn't mind that she stopped going here in Japan. The day was a bit too long for her and she wasn't crazy about the food. She said every day she would get so sad because she missed me:( We figured, she's only a kid once so what the heck, lets enjoy her all day, every day for as long as we can! I mean, we are pretty lucky that we have such a cool daughter, we want to be with her all the time!!! And, to tell ya the truth the lunches they served didn't sound too appetizing to me either- Here's a sample lunch off the schedule-

Simmered tofu and seaweed

 bacon and cabbage salad

 miso soup

 rice

green tea

It's an international school, but I don't see any international food on that menu!! (maybe the bacon)!

 So, goodbye YMCA! We enjoyed you while you lasted!! Here's some pictures from the park! Like every other park, it was old and the paint was chipping off! If nothing else, we will have found a new appreciation for our parks back home!!! Kampai {Cheers} to a great week and time slowing D.O.W.N.!!!

xo Ash

getting around a {westernized} Japanese Kitchen| part 1

The kitchen/laundry room.

View from the other side.

this is our Japanese oven. Notice how the pan provided to us is too large? hmm, I wonder if
people actually bake with the oven door open? What do you think?

I guess it would work if you are broiling bread or something. (my mom
always left it cracked, cuts down on burning the toast)

Took me awhile, but i have perfected the betty crocker brownie!
{bake at 167 degrees (centigrade) for about 14 minutes}

Of course with these white cabinets, we had to add a pop of color!
I am too cheap to buy frames in Japan (I mean, i'd probably have to leave them here
when we leave anyways)! So its scotch tape to the rescue.

days in Japan.

Hi. It's Tuesday 10pm and we just got done watching "Marley & Me"- Ava's choice! Of course I cried my eyes out towards the end, and am now sitting here with raccoon eyes and a runny nose. Nice. I do love that movie so much, but it makes me  us really miss our own doggie! We can't wait to get back and get some a million, wet Chica kisses! It's Golden Week here in Japan which means that a lot of business's and most schools are closed for the week, including the YMCA where Averie attends! She has now gone for 2 weeks and she doesn't think she wants to go back once the break is over! It's a very long day for her and she would rather be home with Jag and me...(besides that, she isn't crazy about the food they serve at lunch)! So, towards the end of the week, we will decide if she's going to keep going or not! I would love for her to go and experience it, but at the same time, kindergarten starts in August back in Phoenix and that is just around the corner.....so I don't mind if she stays home with me for awhile longer :)
Brian is on the DL, it both stinks and it's nice at the same time! The stinky part for him is being hurt and not being able to play, the stinky part for us is not having games to go to....but the good part is that he is home by 12:30 every day! It's not a horrible schedule and one could most definitely get used to it! He is resting his elbow and getting treatment on it daily- I guess we will see what happens once we actually plays in a game..or practice. If it still hurts, he will most likely have to have surgery!
I am in Disbelief that my sweet baby Jag is about to be 10 months old! What? Two more months til his First Birthday...I can't believe it! And how are Kate and Wills already celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary? Wasn't I just fat pregnant, lying in bed in Texas, watching their 1st public kiss at 2 in the morning?? Awe, the good ol' days...I love being pregnant. I was telling my sister Alyssa that I wish I could be pregnant and give birth....but not have a baby...and she was telling me that she wishes she could just have a newborn but not be pregnant or give birth...Crazy huh...hmmmm- Don't get any ideas now!!
We are all starting to get homesick and crave some American food (not all of the added hormones, steroids and GMO's though)..Averie told me that the 1st place she wants to eat when we get home is Pei Wei! I was hoping for Pita Jungle or Chipotle. We are also missing our friends, family and church! We have gone to the Christian church here a couple times, and it's great for what it is, but nothing like home!! I so miss the worship part of the service! Ava was telling me she can't wait to go home and go to a park with lots of green grass~ The parks here don't have grass, just dirt- so strange!! Tonight I made some yummy lettuce wraps, they were very simple and very tasty! Just a few ingredients too-

Freshly Ground Pork

Fresh ginger-grated

Fresh garlic-grated

carrot-grated

green onion-chopped

leftover brown rice

soy sauce
rice vinegar

salt n pepper

lettuce leaves

You should try it! 

xo A.

Jagger's Goal in Life| 9.5 months

No words necessary.

Hey there!

Hello there from here! the barden's are all doing great...aside from this horrible cough i seem to have picked up somewhere-oh it's awful, annoying and one of those things that gets worse the more i try to stop it-ugh! Thank goodness for my pal Lauren and her supply of cough drops and dayquil- they help enough to get by! It's tuesday Morning here and Jagger just went down for his am nap and Brian took Averie to school at the Y- She is liking it so far, it's a bit of an adjustment going from preschool at home 2x/week from 9-1230, to monday thru friday from 9-230- but it's good for her while we are here! There isn't much else to do all day, so may as well go learn, be social and eat some food that we probably will never eat again! The school lunches are very diverse and very interesting to say the least. Averie has already acquired a taste for un sweetened green tea (they drink this from a real tea cup with lunch), miso soup-served as a side everyday, as well as a few things that i have never eaten myself! Pumpkin Croquette anyone? haha!
Jagger is almost 10 months- I CANNOT believe I just wrote that, where on Earth did the time go? He is mobile, mobile, mobile- not crawling yet, but gets around just fine! If he's in his Barney Rubble car- aka- walker, Watch OUT! He is fast and doesn't yield to ankles or shins! He is so cute and always happy and just the perfect addition to our family! He thinks the world of big sis and we get so much enjoyment from watching them be siblings! Talk about true LOVE!!
Brian, well lets just say he's been better....he is at the doc right now getting his elbow checked out! We think he needs surgery, so we will keep ya posted....if so, maybe we get to come back home a little earlier than expected!! Last year, cortisone shots kept the pain away and he played awesome right thru it, but this year, the shot hasn't done it's job, so maybe the situation has gotten worse....guess well see what the doctor says in a couple hours!
The weather has warmed up nicely, its been right around 70 degrees the past week and it's going to be 80 today~ Love this time of year, it's pretty nice! Going to shoot a photo session of my kids today or tomorrow, so I will post some new pics soon!! Miss you all :)

Ava in her YIK uniform

Clean baby Jagger! 9.5 months!

Playing at our "home"

Konnichi-Wa~! (I hope i spelled that right)~ Here are some pictures from yesterday just playing in the apartment! Jagger is growing up so much already! He is saying "da da" pretty much non stop and he is wanting to go, go go!! Too bad his only means of transportation are either on my hip or to roll, so he doesn't get very far most of the time!! lol! Ava has grown a lot too! She has gone from super chunky, fat baby to this long, lean string bean, 5 year old! She has been playing with her "japan bestie' almost every day and has been loving it! She is excited to start school next week too!

poor Jagger...

Konnichi Wa!! Little Jagger developed a cough over the past week so we took him into the doctor's office- (which is a whole post in itself) and he was diagnosed with an ear and sinus infection! Poor thing, is such a trooper, always smiling, despite being sick sick sick!! The doc prescribed some pretty wild medication and I just had to the a pic! In the States some Amoxicillin would do the job, but here in Japan, they do things different! We picked up 4 powders and some patches for jagger to take!! The powders are crazy and a little hard to dispense to an 8 month old!!
We have been having a great time with Mom! She leaves tomorrow, so we are sad but we look forward to having her come back this summer (hopefully)!

Future Food Network Star???

My Princess is 5!

Averie each year on her Birthday!!! Wow the time has flown by!!!

 Averie turned 5 on Sunday and lets just say it has been a very nostalgic week for me! HOW in the world is my little girl 5?! Crazy how this thing we call time just flies on by at a pace so fast we hardly have time to smell the roses?! I am lucky enough to be home with my babies every day so I get to enjoy them A LOT but it still goes by too fast!! Averie has blessed us beyond words, and she has grown into a beautiful little girl who is kind, funny, smart, sweet and sassy all rolled into one!!
Today at 5 years old, here are some of her favorite things-She loves chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, build a bears, her dog chica, school, her friends, taking long, long bubble baths, wrestling with daddy, taking chica on bike rides, her baby brother, dancing, dancing and more dancing, crafts and drawing, all of the tween shows on Disney (Shake it up, ANT Farm, etc), baking, cooking, tasting, eating! (takes after her mama)! her cousins, snuggles and hugs, makeup, dresses, and just being a sweet, girly girl!!

She really is a princess- There is something very special about this gal!

all the little partiers in the pit!

Brian behind the Lens....and I took a turn too!

Cankles:(noun)-

Jagger had his 6 month well visit yesterday and is "perfect" to quote the doc!! He weighed 21 lbs and it 27 inches tall!! Same exact size as Averie at 6 months!!! Love him more each day! xox

Best Salsa Ever.

Wonderful Salsa!

I got this recipe from my mama!

Throw all ingrediants in the blender or food processor and pulse til desired consistancy-

• 2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1/2 onion -chopped
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 green pepper- chopped
• juice of 1-2 limes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic