頑張ったね Great Job

火曜日の晩に、理輝の中学校で表彰式がありました。各教科ごとに１年間努力し成績の良かった生徒には賞状が、そして特に優秀だった生徒にはたてが与えられます。何が与えられるかわからず出かけていった私は理輝の名前が何回も呼ばれてびっくり。理科と社会で賞状を、数学と家庭科（覚えてますか？理輝がボーナスポイントの為に色々と作った事）でたてを頂きました。そして、年間を通して全部Aの生徒がもらう、Honor Rollも頂きました。本当に良く頑張ったね。

There was a award ceremony at Riki's middle school on Tuesday evening. In each subject, the students received the certificates for their academic effort and success throughout the year and one student in each subject received a plaque for the excellence. I had no idea what he would get. It was such a pleasant surprise to hear his name being called a couple times. He received certificates for Science, Social Study and plaques for Math and Home economics (remember? he cooked all sort of stuff for extra points). He also received a plaque for Honor Roll--straight A for the entire year. Great job, Riki!

超ラッキー！ SO Lucky!

なんと、ケビンがオンラインゲームで遊んで、iPod nanoが大当たり！このiPod 彼のエージェントID入り。世界に一つのレアもの。超ラッキーな出来事に、超ハッピー！
Kevin played some online game and won an iPod nano!! This iPod has his Agent ID on it. One of a kind. So special! He is SUPER happy with this SUPER lucky event.

リラックス Relax

昨日は大人４人でサンディエゴのシーワールドへ。子供達は行きたくないと言い家で留守番。日差しは強かったもののそれほど暑くなくて気持ちの良い日でした。大勢の人が行き来する公園の中、一番リラックスして幸せそうな２匹。アザラシ君達はぽかぽかのお日様の下で気持ち良さそうにお昼寝していました。やっぱ、日曜の午後は昼寝だよなぁ〜。
Four of us, adults went to the Sea World San Diego yesterday. Kids didn't want to go, so they stayed home. The sun was strong, but it was a nice beautiful day as the temperature didn't go so high. I spotted two very happy relaxed creature.... A pair of sealions were taking a nap looking so comfortable in a warm afternoon. This is what I should be doing on Sunday afternoon.....Take a nap!

収穫 Harvest

２月の終わりに咲いていた花。桃の花かな？と思っていました。
This is the flower that was blooming in late February. I thought maybe it's the peach flower.


この度ネクタリンの花だったという事が判明いたしました。小さくて見た目は悪いのですが、とお〜〜ても甘いです。
It is finally clear that this was the Nectarine flower. Those Nectarines are small and don't look very pretty, but they are very sweet.

ヘアカット Haircut

最近髪の毛がぼさぼさでどうにもならなくて、しかも髪型もとてもつまらなくなってきて。。とうとう今朝急に思い立って朝一で髪を切りに。。
My hair was getting so unmanageable and I was getting so bored with the style. Suddenly this morning, I had the urge to go to get the haircut.

たけちゃんがいつも行っているラオス人がやっているお店で、しゃれた美容院というよりは、床屋さんと言った感じ。でも、とにかく髪を切りたかったので行った。ところが、とても上手で手際よく私はとても気に入ってハッピーに店をでました。ちなみにお値段は２５ドル。
I went to the shop that T.K. always goes. The lady in charge is from Laos. The shop looks more like a barber shop than a beauty salon. I didn't care. I just had to get my hair cut. She was very skillful, efficient and neat. I walked out the shop very happy! FYI, the price for this haircut is $25.

種まき Sowing seeds

裏庭の芝生にあちこち禿げた部分が増えてきました。これはいかん。子供達に頼んで少し耕してもらい芝の種をまいてもらいました。芽が出て緑の芝生に戻ると良いんだけどな。。。
The bold spots in our backyard lawn were increasing and that's not good! So, I asked boys to loosen up the soil and sow the seeds. Hopefully seeds will sprout nicely and we will have our pretty green lawn back.

Happy Birthday!

　　今日はたけちゃんのお誕生日。Today was T.K.'s birthday.

中国では誕生日に麺を食べると長生きするという言い伝えから、お母さん達が麺料理を作ってくれました。
In Chinese culture, they believe that eating noodles on the birthday promises long life, so the parents-in-law made noodle dish for T.K.

私はケーキ担当。友達からレシピを頂いて、ブルーベリーチーズケーキを作りました。タルト生地の部分に沢山アーモンドパウダーが入っているので、アーモンドクッキーのようにサクサクと美味しくて、チーズケーキとブルーベリーソースがまた良くあって、大好評。ケビンマッサージ店（後日紹介します）からマッサージ券のギフトをもらってハッピーなお父さんでした。
I was in charge of the birthday cake. I used friend's recipe and baked blueberry cheesecake. The crust uses a lot of almond powder and it tasted like delicous crispy almond cookies. The cheesecake and the blueberry sauce complement each other well and everybody loved the cake. Kevin who operates a massage business(will blog about this sometime) at home gave daddy a gift certificate for one time massage. Daddy was very happy!