My Story: The Squirrel-Cat That Ate Nuts (and never got smaller)

Until one day I’ll tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a cat that ate nuts and never got smaller but his friend cats got smaller when they ate nuts.

And then one day there was a person and said, “Come here cat, I want to feed you some nuts.” And the cat just ran away.

But that one cat loved, loved to eat nuts. He didn’t know what to what.

Until one day he was taking a plant of plants and his mother was mad. But I telled my mother, “But that’s okay” and she said, “I’m not mad anymore.”

Until one day that cat ate seeds.

And the birds said, “What are you eating our nuts?” The cat just keep eating and didn’t answer the question.

But behind a tomato plant that one tail sticking out long and never had be good.

Until one day that one cat had been outside of the window and I wanted to feed him nuts. And then I opened the window but I didn’t know that window had a rip. So one day I sighed to myself, “Sigh.” And then, the time passed when I wanted to go. So I sighed again. And I couldn’t see my foot was broken and it was the end of the week that I had to feed.

So one day my mother sighed to herself, “I got to feed that one cat that eats nuts. Sigh”
Until one day she found the cat and inside the house.

But then I dropped a few more nuts. He took a big bite and he had two. He said to the bird, “I’m you’re friend but very nice.”

The cat can turned into a squirrel. That one squirrel took one big bite. “Keep eating!”
But by the time he left, there were two peanuts.

And that was the end of that squirrel-cat. He ate so much that he died and never came back.

Until he came alive again.

O Canada!

I took Mommy and Daddy and some of our friends on a vacation to another country called Canada. The town we stayed in is called Whistler. Daddy says the Olympics will be there in 2 years. I asked if we can go back then but he said probably not. Party pooper.

Canada is a lot like America and less like Japan because people speak English in Canada and not Japanese.



In Canada, I also heard a little bit of French. In Canada, they also have quarters, dimes, and pennies, but the pictures are different on the coins. And the paper cash is a lot prettier than the boring green paper we have. In Canada, kids can drive, or at least pretend to.


In Canada, you can pick your nose.


You can eat onigiri rice balls for lunch (okay, so maybe it's a little like Japan too).


And best of all, you can go tubing! It's super fun. First you have to get an inner tube and then stand in line:


If you're small like me, the nice man lifts you up and plops you in the tube. He checks to make sure it's all clear down the track.


Then he pushes you down. Wheee!!!


Get out. Repeat!


We stayed at a cabin, which is like a house, but in the snow. This place was very big. 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. And a hot tub! I went in the hot tub every day. Here is a picture of our cabin. We took the picture from the Gondola lift that takes us up the mountain.



It was especially toasty after playing hard in snow building snowmen.



Next time, you should come to Canada with us!

Swashbuckler

What's a pirate's favorite letter?

Arrrr!!!

Happy me!

I am still only 3 years old in this photo. I found it hiding on Mommy and Daddy's computer. I like it.

Fresh and juicy

Tonight for dessert I had a pear. Daddy said that he didn't know if it would be very fresh. I ate it.

"Mmm!! It's fresh! And juicy!"

And then Mommy said, "Just like you! Fresh and juicy."

I told her, "If you eat my blood, it will be juicy. But it won't taste very good."

Headgear

Hats are over rated (for today, at least).

Stuffed Animal Bunny head!


Wedding wispy fabric thingy!

Bokk!

At bedtime, I said this to Daddy:
"When I eat chicken, the chicken is cooked. And dead."

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!