Puppets!

For Christmas Mommy and Daddy's friend Nick gave me a finger puppet kit. A kit is an activity that has all the goodies to make something. You get to put it together yourself. It's kind of like Fajitas at a restaurant. You put the food together to make a burrito type thing. But this is puppets. You don't eat it like Fajitas.

The kit makes three fairy princesses. Pretty! Here's how I did it.

Take out all the pieces of fabric, the glue pen, and the construction booklet.


Follow the "constructions." Mommy calls them "instructions," but I corrected her on that.



Glue things together.




Be careful not to get the fabric on Daddy's nose.


Let the fabric dry.


Fairy Princess Puppets!


Thanks Nick!

Happy New Year!

2008 is great!

Hello! It's a new year, but it's the same old Yoshimi. Daddy says the world based on the Roman Calendar is one year older. Daddy says a lot of silly things that I have no idea what he means, but I just smile at him because I'm cute.

I got all sorts of great things for Christmas (A big THANK YOU to everyone for thinking of me and giving me such thoughtful gifts). Books! Toys! Clothes! Yummy Foodies! And I played with lots of family, which was my favorite part of the school holiday break. I took a road trip with Bachan and Jichan to see Uncle Eric and Auntie Wendy. They live in Orange County. It's a long drive. But totally worth it to see them. I played with their puppy too. I yell "Fireplace Sami" to Sami when she bothers me and that scares her. Maybe she's afraid of the fireplace like I'm scared of the dark. Do puppy monsters hide in fireplaces?

I went through my old toys, clothes, and books to donate to the thrift store the things I no longer use and play with. My room is much easier to clean when there isn't as much stuff to clean up. Go figure.

Not only did Mommy give me some great presents, she also gave me a cold. She and I share everything! *cough cough* *sneeze* I stayed home from school for a couple days and she decided to stay home from work so she could be my servant and take care of me while I watched videos and played card games like Old Maid.

I'll hopefully get some photos up on my next blog post.

Here I am!

Hi! I haven't blogged in a long time. I'm sorry. Being a big four year old (!) is hard work and it keeps me busy. Here is what I have been doing:

I turned four years old before Halloween. It was super fun. I had a birthday party at school and also one at my house. See this great hat my teacher made for me?! It's super special to me. There is a Snoopy on it and it says "Yoshimi" in Japanese.





I got a big kid bike. I picked it out at the bicycle store. It's pink. Mommy made a basket with a soft fabric lining for holding my babies (that's Miss Hetty the giraffe going for a ride with me). There is a bell so I can tell people in front of me to watch out for me.



For Halloween, I dressed up as two things. For school our small group was a flock of eagles. We had a little parade around the neighborhood and shops around town. I even sang songs at the old-folks home that Uncle Harry lives at. What a nice surprise! I was shy to him though.





Then I went Trick-or-Treating with my friends from school that live near my house. I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Mommy made my costume and I even wore sparkly red shoes that click-click-click on each step. I lost my favorite Toto dog in Japan so I used Snoopy instead. He hid in the basket.



Mommy was Little Dead Riding hood.



We met Jesus while trick or treating. There was a fire on the street and he magically put it out by stepping on it. After that, he gave me and my friend a special one dollar coins. So shiny!



I went to a farm on a rainy day. Mommy got a little bit lost, but we eventually found the farm. I fed the chickens and I helped make bread. I added the rosemary to the dough.



For Thanksgiving, I ate turkey. I helped make pumpkin pie with a real pumpkin. Mommy said that pumpkins grow in cans, but I showed her at the farm that they grow from plants.

I also played with my cousins. I love them. We always have a great time. We rolled down a steep, grassy hill at the nearby park. Yay!



Daddy had a birthday, but not on the same day as me. He's also not 4. He's much older. Like maybe 10. We went to the beach and played in the sand and the water. It's very chilly at the beach so we had to play fast.






Me and Daddy.




Early this month we flew on an airplane to Chicago. Chicago is very far away, but not as far as Japan where I went this summer, or Israel where my best friend Ella lives. But Chicago is far enough that we sat on an airplane for a few hours. When we got off the plane, it was very cold. It snowed! We ate Chicago pizza. We went to a wedding. At the wedding there were these little Korean treats, like manju.





We got our Christmas tree and decorated it. Daddy wanted to make a video like last year of us putting all the fancy decorations on, but he forgot to hit the "record" button. Whoops. I'll tell you what happened. We got the tree. It was plain. Then we put lights on and the ornaments. Then it became fancy. Yay!



The nice people selling trees gave me a Yoshi-sized tree. I decorated it.


And here's a gingerbread house that I made at Bachan and Jichan's house.


Yay!

Arts and crafts project - birthday style!

Today I helped make invitations for my upcoming birthday party. Mommy printed out the inside, boring part at her work.


I did the front cover of the card using Mommy's hand Gocco screen printer.

Here's my original drawing in black crayon. The drawing is a girl holding a balloon. She is next to a birthday cake. I wrote my name across the top. There is grass on the bottom. This picture is used to create the screen by using lights and magic.


I add lots of special paints in pretty colors to one side of the screen.

Then we put the card on the grey thingy.

I push the handle thingy down.

Then there's a great painting of my art!


Yay!

I make lots and lots of invitations:


Double Yay!

Broken heart

I have a favorite stuffed animal. Her name is Toto. Her name used to be Stack. And before that, her name used to be Anke. She also used to be a boy but I decided she was a girl when I started calling her Toto. I took Toto to Japan over the summer. And I lost her on the subway there. She's sad without me. I told Mommy that my heart has broken two times. Once when I lost Toto. The other time was when Ella, my best friend, moved to Israel. She moved away last month.

"My heart is broken. It doesn't work in my body anymore."

Mommy gave me a big hug.

My daddy

I love Daddy. He's the best Daddy I've ever had. Good thing too, because he's the only daddy I've ever had. We often take the bus together to school. We play a game called "What do you want to eat?" Here is how it is played. One person says, "Hi! What do you want to eat?" The other person says what they want to eat. The first person will either say "Okay!" and then pretend to make the food and give it to the other person. Or the first person can say, "Sorry, we don't have that," and then ask what else they want to eat. If the other person can't think of something, then the first person suggests food.

Me: Hi! What do you want to eat?

Daddy: Hi! I'd like some edamame and a fruit smoothie.

Me: Edamame and a fruit smoothie? Okay! [then I pretend to quickly make it by moving my hands around and making gurgling noises]

Me: Here you go!

Daddy: Thanks!

then the roles trade.

Daddy: Hi! What do you want to eat?

Me: Hi! I want an ice cream cone and steak.

Daddy: Sorry, we ran out of steak. How about a hot dog?

Me: Okay!

~~~~~~~

I also love Daddy because he gives me stuff. He went grocery shopping the other day and when he came home, he brought me a flower!


~~~~

I also love Daddy even when he does things that are pretty silly. On Monday, Mommy, Daddy and I were out in the front courtyard taking photos. I like playing by the fountain because water is fun. Daddy thought it would be fun for him to jump off a ledge while Mommy took photos of him in the air. When he crouched down to jump, his big bottom pushed me into the water. I had no idea what was going on. One moment I'm out of the water. The next moment I'm in the water. Daddy finished his jump and then resuced me.

Before (notice his bottom getting ready to bump me in):


After (he looks embarrassed and I'm in shock):


Mommy said something about "parenting at its finest" but I can think of lots of other times that I liked better than this one.

Broken to fixed!

I love my pink stroller, but the fabric started falling apart last year. Mommy sewed a new seat for my stroller and now it's good as new!

Before:


After:


And with Snoopy!

Vote for Sami!

Uncle Eric and Auntie Wendy have a super cute puppy. Her name is Sami. Sami licks me and she has a wet nose. Vote for Sami and she may be on the cover of the Orange County paper. Clicky here:
http://mypetsface.ocregister.com/?r=5814152

Pass this on to your Mommys, Daddys, family and friends.

And didn't Daddy take a great picture?

The Rock

On Saturday I visited Grandpa. He's not alive anymore. He died when I was a baby. I visit him sometimes at his rock in the nice park. His birthday was Sunday. Daddy, Mommy and I sang Happy Birthday to him.

Me

When I was in Japan, I bought a Hello Kitty cake mix. Silly Mommy and Daddy do not have modern conveniences like the microwave (or a TV), so I used made the cake using Uncle Eric's and Auntie Wendy's microwave at their house a couple weeks ago. Here is my pink, strawberry flavored, Hello Kitty cake. Yum!!


That same weekend, I took a self-portrait using Mommy and Daddy's camera and remote control. That little black box I'm holding is the remote. Click!

Bzzz

Sunday is an "S" day. That means I have no school and Daddy and Mommy have no work. On Sunday I played at the park. I sat on the grass while Mommy and Daddy tried to get my red ball out of the tree. A bee landed on my leg. He was angry so he stung me. OOOOWWWWW!!!! I squashed him, but he was still stinging me. Daddy helped me take the stinger out. I cried. Waaaaahhhh!!! Five minutes later I fell asleep on the way home.

Getting stung by a bee makes you tired.

We never got my ball out of the tree. Mommy did manage to get a rock stuck up in the tree too to keep the ball company. Be careful if you're at the Aquatic park sitting under a tree. A rock might fall on your head. And it's a big rock.

A few days ago

A few days ago, I played at Ella's house. We ate dinner together. There was Mommy, Daddy, me of course, Ella, her mommy and her daddy. Ella calls her mommy Ima and her daddy Aba because they speak Hewbrew. Ella's brother was not at home. We had nice talks at the dinner table.

Ella (to my Mommy): Denise, you look very pretty.

Mommy: Awww, thanks Ella! That's very nice of you to say.

Me: No, Ella, Mommy is just wearing makeup.

Mommy: Thanks, Yoshi.

Me: You're welcome!

I went to Japan!

Konnichiwa!


This is me in Kyoto at the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine. I had lots of fun in Japan. They sai "Hi" a lot. I rode super fast trains, rode the subways, travelled on buses. I met family. I ate a lot. And I got lots of goodies from family, including Japanese candy!

My favorite parts of the trip was the Pinky mint party we had in our hotel room one night. We all dressed up in robes and ate mints.


I also had fun with Uncle Eric, Auntie Wendy, and Bachan and Jichan. They made the trip extra fun!


I'm jet-legged though. I don't know what the means, but it must have something to do with why my feet feel tingly. I can't wait to go back and visit again. Next time I'll know more Japanese to help Mommy and Daddy since I now go to a preschool where everyone speaks Japanese!

Jelly Bellys!

Yesterday Mommy and I took a field trip to the Jelly Belly factory. This is where the jelly beans are made. They are very yummy. Inside the factory you can see the people make the candy. It smells delicious inside, like lemon and cherry. A lady working at the factory told us to wear these hats all the time.





We also were told not to take any pictures inside the factory of the machines and people and the candy being made. These pictures were taken in the lobby and store part. There were big, giant jelly beans hanging from the ceiling:








They had funny mirrors that made me look tall:


There were cars and even a motorcycle and sidecar with pictures of jelly beans!


Mommy went crazy and bought a lot of Jelly Bellys. She likes the pomegranate flavored one. I like all of them!

Head shapes

When Mommy puts me to bed, we like to talk. The other night we talked about heads:

Me: Mommy, you're head is oval.

Mommy: Really? What shape is yours?

Me: Mine is round. [I trace my head with my finger]

Mommy? It sure is! What about Dad's? What shape is his?

Me: His is different. It's like my friend Jackson's.

Mommy: What does Jackson's head look like?

Me: Different, like Daddy's. My head is circle-y!

Stinky

Me: I'm stinky, like Daddy.

Mommy: Really? How so?

Me: I fart a lot!

Graduation!

On Sunday, Daddy graduated. He got a piece of rolled up piece of paper and he owes someone lots of money. I also got a rolled up piece of paper because I also graduated my preschool. I no longer go there, but in a couple months I'll be going to a new school in San Francisco.


Lots of people came to my graduation: Mommy and Daddy; Grandma and Alex; Bachan and Jichan; Uncle Emilio and Auntie Laura; my cousins Kelly, Katie, and Madison; Aunt Kathy, and even Great Grandma! I felt very proud!