Update

I wanted to give everyone a family update. I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything. I really would like to make blogging more of a habit.

Some of you already know that Danielle has been to the doctors many times in the last few months, she even has a short stay in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. It started back in February when she had her first UTI, after she had another one in June we had some tests done. We found out that she has kidney reflux, which is when some of the urine goes back into the kidneys from the bladder. She is a stage 3 out of 5, we are praying that this problem starts to fix itself so that she will not have to have surgery. She will be on a low dose of antibiotics until the problem is fixed; they will also continue to monitor her through ultrasounds and eventually another VCUG (injecting dye into her kidneys and taking an x-ray) Her hospital stay was because of bronciolitis, the same thing she had when she was just a couple of months old. They admitted her because her oxygen levels were low. She isn't very fond of doctors anymore, but she always puts on a brave face. One time on our way to the hospital she told me she didn't want to feel better anymore, because she really didn't want to go back. It is heartbreaking to see your child going through this, but I have faith that God will get us through it.

Brandon made it through the first grade and now we are officially homeschoolers. I plan to start blogging more about this adventure. I am really excited, and nervous, to get started. I really believe he will benefit from the one on one instruction that he cannot get in public school. Brandon is also facing surgery! He will have his tonsils and adniods "pulled out" (as he put it) on the 18th of August. The doc wanted to schedule it on the 11th, which is his birthday, but I just couldn't let that happen. He only turns 7 once. The dr. said we could just celebrate it the week before, I think he was only thinking about what worked best for his schedule! Brandon is pretty nervous, but he knows Caidence recovered and he will too.

Caidence is growing up. Derek and I have noticed how tall she has gotten lately. I can't believe she is going to be a Kindergardener. We have decided to send her to school so that I can step into homeschooling slowly. If everything goes well, and I pray that is does, we will homeschool her the following year as well. A part of me really wants to keep her home this year too.

Derek and I are doing well. He has been gone a lot since we have been here, but we really enjoy the time that he is here. We were able to go out on Saturday, some of our church friends kept the kids for us so we could have a date night. He will be leaving for Yuma, AZ in September. He is going to be going through a weapons course. He is going to leave about a week early so he can go back and visit family in PA. I know he would really like to make it back to North Carolina also, he wants to see our friends from Pleasant Acres and hear a sermon from Pastor Scott. (and see my mom) My mom is planning on coming out to Japan while he is gone on his trip to the states, she is bringing my Grandma with her. The kids and I are really excited about their visit, we can't wait to show them around Okinawa.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. My camera isn't working too well, and I haven't been taking many pictures. I really need to get another one, I guess my birthday is coming up!

???

OH NO... All of the blogs that I follow are gone. Did this happen to anyone else? Could all of my blogger friends send me their links again.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/healthyhome

I found this link to a What to Expect Guide to a Healthy Home. I thought some of you might find it helpful. It is while supplies last.

Silly Kids

I took the first picture, and then they got ahold of the camera!!

Who does this kid think he is?

Peek-a-boo... I think she was trying to make a silly face

Mischevious.

Our visit to IE Shema

The kids and I went up to see Derek on his only day off. We had a lot of fun, we took a ferry over and went over to the airfield where Derek and "his" marines are laying mat.

This picture was taken by Derek during one of his twelve hour (or more) days.

Here he is with the kids sitting on some of the matting that they have already lifted up. Danielle was sleeping in the car. We had to get up early to make the first ferry across.

Then we went down to see some caves. There were a lot of good photo opps there!

We also went to the memorial service for Ernie Pyle (who was from Indiana) He was a journalist during the war and was shot by a Japanese sniper.

This is the mayor and another VIP from IE Shema, they are bowing to show respect. But... I have heard that the mayor wants this land back from the American Legion!

I just accidently deleted a picture of some cliffs that we saw. Sometimes this blogger thing is frustrating. I can't put it back because it will go to the top of the post. Errr

Anyway. This is Danielle's cow! We had just seen some on a farm and when we were walking past this huge rock Danielle said "COW!"

Danielle was not into pictures today...

McCarthy Family Update

It has been awhile since I have put any pictures on here. I need to make it more of a habit, that way everyone can see the kids growing! They have grown so much already since we have been here. Brandon is becoming more independent, even helping the girls get breakfast on Saturday mornings when Derek and I don't want to get out of bed! Caidence turned 5 today...Wow. And Danielle wore underwear all day today with only one accident! I even took her to the post office, out to eat, and a quick trip into the exchange for some batteries.

Here are a couple of pics of the girls helping me paint the living room. This didn't last long before it became messy. (just long enough to get a couple of pictures!)

They were working so hard! Look at the concentration on Caidence's face.

Here are the pictures that I promised of Brandon riding his bike. I took these a couple days after he learned how. Now he is a little dare devil, riding off of the curbs and even popping wheelies! (little ones)

Here is our little 5 year old princess!

And Danielle... she will be peddling all by herself very soon.

I did take some pictures of Brandon playing soccer, but Derek took that camera with him when he left. (again)

And now... CAIDENCE'S 5th BIRTHDAY!!!

Here is our proud big brother who picked out and wrapped this present all by himself. (Too bad he didn't pay for it too!) I have to say, his wrapping job wasn't too bad. I just cut out a piece of paper for him and gave him some tape and he did the rest!

And she LOVED it! It was a new Hello Kitty game for Brandon's DS.

Now this is more like how big brother acts most of the time! Thank goodness for this box, it was the only thing Caidence and Danielle didn't fight about today. Danielle kept saying, "NO, its MY birthday!"

Here they are decorating the cake.

Happy Birthday Sweet girl.

This would be the new toy that Danielle thought should be hers. Caidence did NOT agree.

A day of firsts...

Brandon had a very exciting day yesterday! He played his first soccer game and he even scored a goal for his team. Unfortunetely, I had to be at a remedieal driving course for an accident that I was in a few months ago, so I was not able to be there. (Someone was parked behind me in the parking lot at the exchange, he was talking to his wife a few parking stalls over, and I backed right into him.) Derek took all of the kids to the game, but he forgot the camera! I will try to get pictures next week.

As I was driving up to the house after my class, everyone was outside riding bikes. And here comes Brandon on two wheels! It was very exciting to see him finally riding without training wheels, he had been working on it for a few months. Again... we have no pictures of this! I will be sure to get a few pictures this week and post them.

Well, it is time for Brandon and I to get ready for church. Everyone else is too sick to go this morning.

Whale Watching

Last Saturday we all went on a whale watching trip with a homeschool group that I joined. It was the morning after our earthquake, good thing we didn't have a tsunami! Seriously though, that morning was just another day, business as usual! The kids slept through it, Brandon woke up for a minute only because one of our toys turned on from the shaking. I thank God that it wasn't worse, while it was happening all I could think of was Haiti.



The trip was NOT at all what I expected. I pictured us going out on a bigger boat, I even asked if it was going to have a galley where we could get snacks! I also pictured us seeing groups of whales swimming together. Little did I know...





In the beginning it wasn't too bad. We were having fun taking pictures and trying something new.

I thought I was putting a picture here of a whale's tail off in the distance, but this is just a couple of the other boats that were out there with us and one of the small islands in the Ryukan chain. Don't worry, you can't really see anything in the other picture either!

Instead of seeing groups of whales, we would see a whale off in the distance and try to chase it down.

This picture was taken when Brandon was still having fun!

Don't I look great in orange?

And then... about half way through Brandon started feeling sick (after eating the pretzels!) After he threw up once Derek took him on the lower level where he threw up four more times, poor guy! He even had some Dramamine. I ended up taking the girls down where they all fell asleep. The rest of the group got to see a couple of more whales while we were down there, they were actually the best one's. But, we didn't bother getting up!

Day at the Park

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. So, we decided to go down to Comprehensive Park and see what they had over there. The kids had a great time climbing on the rocks and feeding the fish in the pond.

I uploaded these pictures in the wrong order so you get to see the gross picture of the fish before the cute pictures of the kids. Sorry!


These are the carps that they have everywhere in Japan. I have never seen this many together though. They are so used to being fed when they see a person that they flock together like this for a chance for food. It is kind of disgusting! You can see a couple of the pretty orange ones in the background.

Danielle didn't want anything to do with feeding the fish.

But she had a great time on the rocks.

They all had fun sliding down this section of the rock.

Cherry Blossoms

A couple of weeks ago all of the Cherry Blossom Trees were in full bloom, they were so pretty. We didn't make it to any of the festivals because Derek wasn't here, but there are a few trees around the bases.

I took these pictures in front of the Chapel where we have our Protestant Woman of the Chapel (PWOC) bible study. This is the tallest tree that I have seen, the others trees that are around are more like bushes.

This picture would have been much prettier with a blue sky behind it, but we have had a lot of rainy days over here. I really love the rain though, it just seems so peaceful. I have only heard thunder two times, and coming from North Carolina that is really a change!

Our Little Ballerina

Today was Caidence's first ballet class! She did great, she may not talk much... but, she sure is brave. She walked right into class like she had been doing it for months. Another little girl who also started today had to have her Mom in the studio for support, so I was really proud of our little Caidence.

I wasn't able to get any action shots, I was only able to watch through a darkened window that was almost like a mirror. I guess it is so the girls don't see their mama's watching them and get distracted, which is what happens in gymnastics. Originally, we had planned to only let her do both ballet and gymnastics for a month and then let her pick what she liked more, but... If daddy's little girl wants to do both than she can! And she is.

I didn't get a picture of her with her instructor, although I wish I had. When we got to class I realized that we already know the teacher, she goes to the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) bible study that we go to on Tuesday mornings. And, she has helped with the kids a couple of times, so Caidence is already (a little) comfortable with her!