all dressed up

with somewhere to go! :)
first let me say that ben is home again!! woooo hoooo!! it's sooo great to have him here, he's wonderful.

last night we got all dolled up and went to the ship's christmas party, and as always - here are some pictures!

here's my handsome man


here's me


my friend kelly was there w her hubby too


and here is ben and kristi!


we also decorated the christmas tree together yesterday, which was super fun.

less than 2 weeks to go til we are on a plane headed for the states!
can't wait! hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

love from japan!

hong kong

here are some pictures of our wonderful mini vacation. it was so great to be together again. we had a great time exploring, shopping, eating, and enjoying each other's company! :)

at the top of victoria's peak...






so happy together :)




more pictures on my flickr (use the link at the top of this page)

lots to be thankful for.

i am back in japan now, after having an amazing time with my hubby. pictures to come soon as i get them all on the computer. he is so great and i am so thankful for him, and the time we had together!

also, look who i got to see today! :)
my friend jen's little amelia is here! she finally made her appearance, and look at how cute she is!

precious baby girl!


sweet family of 4 now!


all bundled up in the hat and blanket mommy made her.


i enjoyed some snuggle time with her, too :)


happy thanksgiving from japan!

guess who...

is together right now? :)
here's a hint.



we're on a mini vacation and after over 2 months of being apart, it is wonderful to be together! :D

been a while...

since i last posted!
things have been a little crazy around here.

hmmm, let's see. some updates:

*one of the biggest things we found out -- WE GET TO COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! =D so far, everything is working out, and we are excited to see everyone! we have tickets booked and plans made! it is so hard for us to believe we haven't been back to the states for over a year, and not back home since we moved here -- going on 2 years now! crazy.

*things w school are fine. still busy. i have a very active little group of kiddos! haha. but i really like them, and enjoy their energy. i've been trying to upload pictures of our halloween costumes, but i have been having technical difficulties. here is one of all of us, though, that i finally got to work.


*my friend jen is about to have her second little girl... we are awaiting the arrival of amelia any day now!

*my husband is amazing! he just got his air pin - which wasn't an easy task! he is also taking college classes and always amazes me at how well he accomplishes everything even while working 12-14 hour days. and he doesn't complain! he is definitely worn out though, and we are so ready for him to be home. if you think of it we would still love your prayers!

*so that's really all for now. still just here, living day by day, waiting for my hubby to come home to me, and trying to rely on God's faithfulness and goodness.



miss y'all! hope all is well and you are getting ready for holidays w loved ones. we'll be apart on thanksgiving again, but we are looking forward to seeing many of you next month =)

candy for cuties...

although i'm not really a big fan of halloween, i still appreciate the fun of dressing up and getting candy! last night there was a base wide candy walk and i ran into these cuties along the way.. =)







trick-or-treat!

busy week!

yesterday was pumpkin day...
we cut open, floated, drew and explored pumpkins - ate pumpkin choc chip muffins for snack, and made these way cute pumpkin pieces of art:


then today we took a walking field trip to the base and visited the fire station!
we got to see real firemen and feel their suits and i thought this picture turned out cute..


and here we are with our fire hats!


tomorrow night we have a potluck parents meeting after school.. so the busy week continues! hope you are all having a good week even if it's busy like mine! :)

hi from japan!

well, it's saturday night, and dinner is cooking.
i have been feeling kind of down the last few days... :/
but talking to my husband always helps! even though it's only for a few minutes at a time. i sure do miss him.

it also cheers me up to hang out with this cutie, which i did last night while jen and sam went out to celebrate jen's birthday:


i think i'm getting a little burned out from putting in lots of extra hours at school, these allergies won't seem go away, and i stupidly (accidentally!) let in a few mosquitos this week and have bites all over me that are now starting to itch! :O oops. sorry for venting, but thanks for listening. :) i'm sure things will get better soon.

on a brighter note - it's looking a bit more hopeful that we can come home for christmas! we still don't know for sure, but we are trying to make plans and praying that it all works out. :)

well, dinners ready so i better go eat it! miss y'all.

"bee" happy.

this week for an art project we made bees. the kids and i have been enjoying singing "i'm bringing home a baby bumblebee" (and the variations that i learned from the internet - rattlesnack and dinosaur! haha). so i thought they might get a kick out of making their own bees. they turned out super cute!

here's my example:


and a few of theirs:


we also celebrated national fire safety week with a visit from a few firefighters on base. that was fun and to go along with it, i made this bulletin board


here's a close up of us with our fire hats on:


and, for those of you that asked -- here are a few of my kiddos!








as usual, i'm missing ben like crazy - but hanging in there. we have a long weekend because of columbus day tomorrow. i'm trying to get caught up on some projects and some rest, and trying to kick these allergies that won't seem to go away. i've had a raspy froggy voice off and on for the past week! :O it was basically gone one morning this week at school, and one of my sweet girls came over and rubbed my throat to make it feel better. haha. she said "aww, mrs. graves! your voice!" :) they sure are cute most of the time. ben is staying busy as ever on the ship, and we are just counting down the weeks til we get to be together again!

whatever you are doing this weekend, hope you enjoy the fall weather and each other. miss you!

randomness.

here's a little look at my life these days. (in pictures, of course). :)

this is my cuddle buddy while my husband is away. hehe.


this is what occupies my time most weekends lately.. coloring, abcs, making centers with beans (and other classroom things), trying to read my new magazines that came in the mail (real simple - it's a good one!) :)


lots of baby cards and packages are sent from japan these days, as almost all of our married friends are in the next phase of life. :) (don't worry, not us yet!) we are excited for them and wish we could be a little closer to all the fun!


i get bored easily at night while i'm by myself.... hence silly pictures like this:


it's finally starting to feel like fall, and i'm hoping before too long i can wear this great vest my husband bought me before he left! :) he's super sweet because he isn't really a fan of vests (i am!) but he knew i liked this one, so he got it for me anyway! i sure do miss my thoughtful hubby.


so that's a look at life in japan for kristi right now. my kindergartners are certainly keeping me on my toes and i come home pretty pooped out every day, but so thankful for something to keep me busy and help the days go quicker. they are cuties and i get lots of hugs too haha. :) lately i have been trying to teach them about having good attitudes when they don't get their way, and we have a phrase that i started - "it's ok, maybe next time!" one of them said it all on their own a few days ago and i was so tickled. :) i hope that i am teaching them more than just their ABCs and that i'm letting the Lord use me. you can keep praying for us, for my hardworking amazing husband, and that we still can work out those christmas plans, if you think about it. thanks!!

have a wonderful weekend, dear friends. miss you!

this week.

was kind of long.
i basically lost most of my voice on thursday, i can't decide if it's just a cold or what... but my little cuties were pretty good about being quiet yesterday as i really couldn't talk very loud! haha.

but on a brighter note, my husband sent me BEAUTIFUL flowers! he is gone again :( but a few days after he left, these amazing things were delivered to my desk at school! he is such a sweetie.


today (saturday here) i went to babysit little lola girl while jen and sam went shopping at the noritake sale! we had fun, here take a look:





this one totally cracks me up:


cheese!


it's finally getting to be nicer fall weather here, and i really wish i could take a walk outside with ben! but alas, he won't be home until the winter. pray for us if you think about it - that we can go home for christmas! that's what we really want to do, but we are still working out all the details. thanks, friends! hope y'all are enjoying your fall weekends! :D

a cultural date night...

ben and i got tickets to go see the broadway version of "the lion king" :)
we went yesterday - got dressed up, took the train to fukuoka, did a little shopping at the mall we like there, and saw the 5:30 show. even though it was in japanese, you could figure out most of what was going on, and it was a neat experience. :) we couldn't take pictures inside the show, but here are a few from before we went in!

eating some ice cream at the mall...


self portrait :)


a nice girl saw our self-portraits and took this one for us, too...


today we are just hanging out... i think i'm catching a cold, and we are both worn out from a long stressful last week. ben leaves again really soon, so pray for us if you think of it! thanks, friends!

a peek....

at my new kindergarten class!

welcome!


word wall...


meeting spot...


centers...


As with most things, it's a work in progress... but then again, so am I. :)

busy busy busy!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted, life has been SUPER busy to say the least! Seems like we are always on the go!
BUT -- The best news is that BEN is HOME! =)
Here is a picture of us when I went to visit him on the ship...


We've been having a great time hanging out and spending time together again. It's way to soon before he leaves again :( So we are trying to make the most of it. We tried a new restaurant on a date the other night (yummy!) and we are going on Saturday to see the Broadway Show "The Lion King" in Fukuoka! So excited about that! =)

In other news, I got the full-time job in Kindergarten and started yesterday! It's been yet another learning curve for me and certainly has it's frustrating moments, but I am hoping and praying that I can get settled in and into a good routine with these kiddos. It's nice to be back to full-time pay, but there are definitely days I miss the part-time hours! haha. Especially when the apartment starts to get dirty and the laundry starts to pile up. Thankfully I have an amazingly sweet understanding husband. He is so great and takes such good care of me - I LOVE having him home!!!

So yeah! That's the big stuff here. Ben is working hard as always, trying to decide what college class to take next. We have some big decisions coming up over the next year and a half as we quickly approach our 1/2 way mark of being in Japan! (YAY!) =) So you can pray for us if you think of it, and that we can endure these times apart.

Hope all is well there and you are enjoying the Fall weather. We miss you!

just another manic monday...

well, sort of.
today was the first day of school for the kids!

i am doing only part time right now, so i got done about noon, which i must admit was kind of nice! haha. :) i am teaching little 1st and 2nd graders, and they are CUTE! i had fun getting to know them and doing some fun activities with them today.

this weekend we continued our crafty streak by making more frames, and helping amindia make this awesomely cute french memo board! here, take a look...

(for those of you that don't know what a french memo board is, you can hang notes or pictures from it. we made it by covering a cheap bulletin board with batting, fabric, ribbon and buttons.) :)

here are the frames kelly and i made. (mine's the one that's black and pink).


we've really enjoyed making them. if anyone is interested in ordering one, shoot me an email and we'd be happy to make one for you! :)

nothing much new besides that here. ben is still gone, and we are hoping the next few days go quickly so he can be home again! although it won't be for very long.... :/ i am also hoping to start doing a bible study with these girls, so you can pray about all of that if you think about it. thank you, friends! hope y'all had a nice weekend! :)