2/24/2012

Lovely Winks

When we were having dinner and watching TV,
they showed a story of an orphan wallaby boy.
That day, it was the last day he was cared for by people.



He had to join a herd of wallabies.










Many old videos were shown on the screen.
While watching one of them Bee screamed,
"Mom, that wallaby winked!"
I nodded to her.










Then she closed her eyes,
opened them and looked me meaningfully.










I asked her cautiously, "Did you wink at me perhaps?"
She nodded confidently.










Watching us, Pon called her sister,
"Bee, look at me."










She showed off her complete wink
closing her eye by turns.
After that, Bee began to cry,"No! You're tricky!"
I didn't think Pon was tricky and
it was a very small thing not to need crying.




My original Japanese entry.




Thanks to CUbuffsFTW, Yuzu_renjyai and 江戸勝 for correcting my English.

2/23/2012

The Recital

Last Saturday the nursery children had a recital.
My daughter's class performed a play about Ninja.










The head Ninja was their teacher; the bigger green one in this picture.

My daughter was sitting beside her,
she is the little green Ninja on the right.









Following this is the second picture.



As the head Ninja led the Ninja pupils forward,
they showed their techniques.

The first of the green Ninjas is my daughter.









After that, they played a song called "Sampo"
which is the theme song of the movie, "My Neighbor Totoro".



My daughter took the part of the triangle,
so I figured out why she wanted to learn it instead of the piano.

2/22/2012

February

February is the coldest month in Japan.

I got up at five forty every morning and take my dog for a walk.

It is a kind of ascetic practice.





When I go out in the morning, I feel like crying,
"It's so cold!" like this cat in the picture.

2/14/2012

Patches

I made many pair of pants and gave them Bee last winter.

This winter, I wanted to make something new
but there was no need, so I patched the old ones instead.

I don't know why children always run about instead of walk.

As a result, they often fall to the ground and tear their pants.

Bee had six pairs of torn pants!










So I fixed them with colorful patches.

I thanked them for protecting my daughter's knees
and hoped they would continue to do so.

It is fun to make things in the comfort of your home
on a cold winter day.






My original Japanese entry.




Thanks to Iwant2learn, Ashley and Alex for correcting my English.

2/07/2012

Guardian Dog...?

The Influenza is going around Tokyo a lot.
My eldest daughter caught it.

After she managed to go to school on Thursday,
she e-mailed me, on the way home she had a high temperature.

I took time off from work the next day and she slept and slept with red cheeks.










Our dog, Cocoa, was on her quilt and looked like a guardian.










People in Okinawa (the south of Japan)  decorate
their house with two lions called Scheiseer.

Schieseers are talisman against evil.

I was glad to see Cocoa, thinking she looked like she was guarding her master.











But when I looked them minutes later, Cocoa was sleeping carelessly.

"Hey, come on, Cocoa," I murmured looking at her cute tummy.

Now, my daughter is well and went to school this morning, too.





My original Japanese entry.




Thanks to Anonymousafro for correcting my English.

2/05/2012

The Little Black Bird

I saw a picture on someone's blog.
It was a little black bird.


An article said many people didn't know what species it was at first
and then the picture became a trending topic on the web.










Finally, some people correctly guessed
that the bird was called a King Rail.

A baby King Rail has black plumage and round eyes.










"How cute!" I screamed unintentionally.
Then Bee frowned and said, "It is cuter than me, isn't it?"




Thanks to yunbb for correcting my English.

2/04/2012

でんぐりがえし

I'm not sure what should I call でんぐりがえし in English.
My dictionary says, "a forward roll, a somersault".





Bee said, "Mom, I can do a forward roll very well. "










"Watch me!"










Then she did, but was it a forward roll?
She didn't seem to be rolling because she was just lying.

She tried again.











I didn't see her rolling but she lying and looking away.










After that, she asked me,
"Mom, you think I'm good at gymnastics, don't you?"

"... Sure, honey. You're a good gymnast," I answered.




My original Japanese entry.




Thanks to ArUichigo for correcting my English.

2/03/2012

Kindle is UK's Most Unused Christmas Present



I read an article saying Kindle was the most bought Christmas present in the UK last year but that  half of them have not been used yet.
Many iPads have not been used yet either.
In addition, many MP3 players have not either.
Some people received these gifts have not even charged them or turned them on.
How ungrateful!
I wonder if Brits aren't good at using new gadgets.
(´・ω・`)

Though we have many tablets like iPads, sony Reader, Panasonic Tablet and so on in Japan, very few e-books are available.
Publishing company do not cooperate to supply e-books in Japanese.
I'm afraid that Amazon will get the e-book market and Japanese companies will loose out.

2/02/2012

On a Cold Winter's Day

It is midwinter in Japan.
Japan is made of many islands lying north and south.
They have a lots of snow in the north and
they have warm days in the south.
Since it is sunny and so cold every day
in Tokyo where I live, we don't like to go out.










My favorite pastime is reading with an e-book reader
in my comfortable home.
My daughters like to play with their Nintendo DSs beside me.
Our dog, Cocoa, likes to sleep close to me.










How do you spend your holidays in winter?




Thanks to new299 and gc3195 for correcting my English.

2/01/2012

Will You Play the Piano?

While Bee has gown up, I have sometimes
suggested to her that she should meet
an instructor and learn how to play the piano.


Now she is five years old, I asked her again,
"Do you want to play the piano?"

I told her, "I hear that if you don't start learnin
 from around five years old,
you won't be able to hear absolute pitch.
I'll call an instructor who my friend said was good and kind."



"No!" she said immediately, "I like the triangle. "










I was surprised because it was new for me to hear such will.











"Mom, I know where I should hit the triangle.
On the bottom. Oh, I like the sound so much!
I'd like to play the triangle," she chatted on and on.










"..." I have no problem with the triangle but
it doesn't help her to hear absolute pitch.

It is a kind of percussion instrument.




My original Japanese entry.




Thanks to ライアン for correcting my English.