The Nordberg Family has grown!

Saturday we went down to American Village. While we were there, we saw 2 little guys that we decided to bring home.
Two goldfish that is....Kanji and Gary!
I swore we'd never have pets again, but since we're homeschooling, I'm calling them "class pets"!
Kanji, our black fish, belongs to the girls' and is named after Japanese writing.
Gary WAS the boys' fish. He was named after Spongebob's pet snail, but before I had a chance to take pictures, Gary had, according to Georgia, "gotten lost in Heaven". She was taking a nap when Gary, umm, passed, so when she woke up and he was gone, she just figured he gotten lost. When we told her, no, he died, she ran to tell Jackson that his fish had gotten lost in heaven.

Gary, you were a great fish for the hour and a half that we had you.
Thank you for not letting us get too used to you before you left us.
We'll remember you always!

( I had to laugh) Our kids got their first pets ever, and lost one the same day...

Fast forward to Sunday...Wade takes the kids back to Make Man (a store here in Okinawa) to pick up not one, but two new fish...if you are keeping up, that is 3 new fish for the Nordbergs!

Jackson picked out the goldfish and named it Sunny D. Georgia got a little fish named Squidward (again, from SpongeBob). Don't tell Gary, but I think these guys are cuter and a better fit for our famly. I hope they stick around for a while! So far, so good... they've lasted over an hour and a half!

**Update: It appears that poor Squidward has gotten lost in heaven... Georgia is certain that the fish god will take good care of him... (Sara)**

Uh-OH!

Tonight when I put Luke to bed, he asked to keep a book with him. I picked a small one, he wanted a very big one...I won. He was crying an angry cry as I said Good night. I shut his door and walked downstairs, and he was settled before I made it to the last step.

About 5 minutes later he was crying again..only for real crying...and screaming "Momma Momma!!" I walked in and he showed me this...

Apparently, in his anger, he bit his paci... HARD!!

(Yes, I KNOW he is Two and too old for a paci, but he is my baby and my last, and I was gonna take it away soon anyway!)

After I laughed, I told him that we were going to have to put his paci in the trash.

He tried... And tried... and tried to fix it...
but in the end, he gave it to me and said, "Paci, Trash."Wowzers!! If that works, this will have been the least painless of the "getting rid of the paci" for the Nordberg kids yet!! I'll let you know in the morning if I get any sleep!!!

**Update: It's morning and we all slept wonderfully and soundly through the night!! Yay!!**

Come on in...

Many of you have asked about our home in Japan. What it looks like, How big it is, etc. So, I thought it would be fun to share it with you... a little at a time!
Today we've decided to share the Girls' Room. I say "we" because Sara is my co-author on today's post!
Wade and I chose to have Sara and Georgia share a room this year in an effort to make the small living space we do have, go a little further. We are hoping to use our fourth bedroom as a playroom/ study once we get Luke out of there and into his big boy bed. I am also hoping that by keeping them together for these 3 years, that my girls will form a bond that might otherwise not be there, because of their age difference. It has taken some adjustment for the almost 12 year old, who wants privacy all the time, to get used to the little 3 year old, who thinks privacy is silly, but they are doing great!

As you know my name is Sara Nordberg. And I get to help write this post... Come on in, this is our room! (I share with Georgia, who's 3.)

(Erica: I love the girls' Birdie bedding and was so happy we were able to compromise on it. I think it's perfect...not to "little girl" for Sara, who loves birds and nature, and not to "grown up " for Georgia. To be honest...I think this adorable knit pillow is what sold us all!! Thank you Wal-mart!!)


If you are wondering, this is the endangered Coocko Bird.. Me and G each have our own and they are quite cuddly!! (Although sometimes I think that Georgia as too much influence over them!) Tee-hee!! Just kidding!! Although they are quite cuddly!



My bunk is the one on top ,and Georgia's is the bottom one. The closet is mine to decorate (inside and out) and that makes me very happy. I am also getting a shelf installed somewhere near the tree for my books. Personally I love the tree because it makes me feel like I am sleeping in a tree house!

(Erica: I love how the tree turned out too! Those vinyl decals were a great way to personalize the room, and they'll peel right off when we move! When we painted the room that green color, (Lemon Grass, to be exact) we were worried how everything was going to look, since we didn't have ANY of our stuff at the time, but I think it all came together nicely! With little of the rest of the house "complete", the girls' room is one of my favorites!)

I really love my room and though right now, I enjoy my privacy, I love sharing with G!! She's like my alarm clock (which is good because I probably wouldn't do too good on my own!) I have already started Home-schooling (which is why G is a good alarm-clock), and it's fun...

~~~Sara~~~~~

PS- Wish me luck in Home-schooling!!

Happy Birthday Big E!

Today we are all wishing our "Big E" a very Happy Birthday!

My Brother Efrain has been "Big E" to my kids since forever.

We love our Uncle and we are all missing him (and his sweet family) on this special day.

We wish we could be here with you again to celebrate....

or here...

we'd even settle for being here and watching you do this again ...

but instead, we'll just send love and birthday wishes,

and hope that you have a "SWEET" day!!

We love you!!

Torii Station

Wade is in Korea for another week, so to pass the day, the kids and I went down to the beach at Torii Station.

This beach is alot of fun for our family because there is so much to do.

This is the 3rd time we've been down there, but the 1st time I remembered to bring my camera...so here's a look at what we did....

Not only is Torii beach clean, with lots of shells to find, and sand to play in....


but there are fountains for the little ones to play in,


while the big kids ride the water slide!

There are also playgrounds like this Pirate Ship, and this huge climbing net...

The Nordberg kids did it all; they swam, they played, they climbed, they ran, and they found treasures... but best of all... they'll all sleep well tonight!!

An Excellent Start...

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent and praiseworthy- think about such things." Philippians 4:8

We've completed Day 3 at "The Nordberg School of Excellence" and things are moving along smoothly. This week I've been introducing rules, schedules, and curriculums, and the kids are doing great. I've also put the Little Ones on a new schedule that includes preschool time, and they seem to be loving it.

I am trying to stay positive, and trying not think about the fact that it's only day 3, and even if they were enrolled at school here on the Island, the kids would be loving school, but... it IS only Day 3, and if they were enrolled in school on the Island, they would be loving it!

I asked the big kids what they liked so far about doing school at home.... Sara says she's thankful that she'll never miss the bus, and Jackson is glad that he doesn't have to use lunch money anymore. I know those are little things, but today I'll take the little things... they sound like success to me!

Wade, Georgia wanted you to know she drew this

octopus for you...I think she remembered it's what you

had for dinner the other day!!

Luke, playing with flash cards.

Jackson working on his cursive writing.

Sara turning on our Math DVD

Guest Chef

Last year, Sara took Home Ec. in school and just loved everything they made. She even loved the food, which is odd, because I can never get her to eat anything!!!!

Anyway... there were these, made from scratch, "personal pizzas" that she'd been dying to make us, and today I took the day off as lunch chef, and let her make us lunch.

Slaving away in the kitchen, flour flying and cheese a'gratin' Sara worked long and hard....

THE RESULT.....

Some pretty yummy pizza that she and Luke could not get enough of. Jackson and Georgia? Well, they needed a little persuading to finish, but Sara understood... as tonight she will most likely need to be persuaded to finish anything I might put on the table!

5035 B...Our New Home!

Time is passing so quickly that I can hardly believe we've already been in Okinawa for over a month!! We've been staying busy settling into our new home on Camp McTureous (McT), and hope to have it all "done" before we start homeschooling at the end of August. It is definitely base housing, as you can see, but in three years , we'll love it and will have made it our Home Sweet Home! I'll get more pictures posted soon, but in the meantime...Take a look at who just turned 2!!!