Healthy Now!

Just like the title to this post says, I am "Healthy Now!" Whoowhooo!!! I've got a few TINY little splinter like blisters on a few of my fingers but they're more annoying than hurt or anything else.

Here's some photos from last rest day.

Update on Sickness

Okay, so...since my last post, my health started worsening, so I finally got myself a thermometer to check my temperature. It was 39.4! Goodness! I haven't had a fever in a while. So...after telling the kids to behave and not do anything crazy, I went to my room and fell asleep.
Yesterday I slept most of the morning and watched "Friends" and another movie with Josh (after all, it was our day off, heh heh).
After being in pain most of yesterday, I'm feeling much better today with no fever and only a nasty sore throat that makes me question if my neck is swollen to the max, as if I had the mumps or something, but...after physically touching it or looking in the mirror I feel much better! ha!
So, now I'm on the road to recovery. IF I get spots, it'll be in another two days before it happens...so we'll see. I REEEEAAAALLLYYY hope nothing shows up.
I'm the first adult in this home to get it so...I don't know what to expect....
Please keep me in your prayers!

Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease!

Oh noooooo!!!
Last week a few little kids came down with a one day fever. Soon after they started getting some spots on their body. The mothers assumed that it was the Hand-Foot-Mouth dieases, but they weren't quite sure.
Later, the older kids (my students) started coming down with fevers, and now, they're starting to break out in small blister type of things on their feet and cold sores in their mouth! So, this confirms that we've got the Hand-Foot-Mouth disease! Yahhhhh..... Adults are supposed to have a certain immune system going to where it's not likely that they'll get this disease, but they can be carriers and they can get this sickness if they aren't careful. Yikes....
Me...well, I'm with these kids all the time, so I'm definitely a carrier of the disease, but...I'm also not feeling so good today, plus I woke up with a slight sore throat (which is another symptom). Oooohh...... noooo......
Please pray for me and all the kids that have it here. Although it's a pretty mild disease...I still don't want it, nor do I want it to spread to others in the home.
I think it takes 1 or 2 weeks to be cured, but living with such a great number of people...I can see this lasting a little longer.

Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease (HFMD) Fast Facts Description Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common viral illness of infants and children. The disease causes fever and blister-like eruptions in the mouth and/or a skin rash. HFMD is often confused with foot-and-mouth (also called hoof-and-mouth) disease, a disease of cattle, sheep, and swine; however, the two diseases are not related—they are caused by different viruses. Humans do not get the animal disease, and animals do not get the human disease. Illness The disease usually begins with a fever, poor appetite, malaise (feeling vaguely unwell), and often with a sore throat. One or 2 days after fever onset, painful sores usually develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. The sores are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks. A non-itchy skin rash develops over 1–2 days. The rash has flat or raised red spots, sometimes with blisters. The rash is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; it may also appear on the buttocks and/or genitalia. A person with HFMD may have only the rash or only the mouth sores.

Omikoshi

Yesterday our kids joined in on the local Omikoshi. They did the whole "Washoi washoi!" The locals usually don't carry the golden temple thingy around our area, but this time the parents here asked if they could, so the locals decided to do so. Course, being the "wonderful" hosts that we are, we cut fresh provisioned watermelons and brought out our kakigori maker and had a semi 40~60 minute festival, all for free of course. Pretty crazy. I tried getting photos of my little students carrying the temple thingy, but I couldn't really get a good shot because someone taller or fatter was always in the way! ha!




Here's my cute little student, Yuki, eating a chicken leg.
And...here's some love given to Taiki (Leika's youngest) from Kina beans. :)

ahhh...

"What's been happening lately?", I hear you ask in my mind. Well... work work work is all that's running through my head.

This last week I've become the official "Home Scheduler" so I've found myself scheduling a home of around 50 people! ショック　ショック！ Strangely, I'm not so stressed out or frustrated with this new job. I'm all for order and organization, as well as making sure everyone is happy and has all their needs met. So...it works out alright. Course, I know later down the line I'll probably have to fight off the urge to carry other people's burdens and maybe even a little bit of stress... Let's hope it doesn't get that bad.

Since the 14th, four home members have gone off to Taiwan to attend a Youth Seminar type of thing called XD, and they won't be back till the end of this month. This leaves the home very strapped for more help...mainly cleaners and childcare workers. Everyone is definitely working harder and longer and I'm finding it hard to stop myself and just "calm down" and get some "down time". I, as well as others, are full day childcare workers. Whew...
I also did some wedding singing at a hotel and did some cleaning at an inn this last month. More work, but variety is the spice of life!

Anyway, that's what's happening these last few days.

Last week Josh and I went out with Mike and Joanie to this restaurant called Kens. It's got all you can eat ice-cream for 400 yen. If you buy some food then the price of the ice-cream goes down 200 yen. Whooohooo! Course, I don't think you can eat TONS of ice-cream anyway, before your teeth and stomach start hurting.




We've also had some beautiful sunsets recently! I ran outside one day and snapped a few shots. :) Sunsets always catch my eye. I love sky shows! They make me so happy and positive.




And..now I'm going to watch "Alice In Wonderland" with two good friends of mine. :)
I'll post again.... maybe tomorrow if I can't find anything to do! ha

The Day and Musings of a Young Forest Farmer boy.

Hi. I'm Josh, boyfriend of the lovely Jan Kovach who is the most omnipotent and gracious host and master of this blog, and ...of my life. I just thought I'd take a bit of time to write about my day as a young forest Farmer boy. It all began when I, in all my energetic and extremely weighty power, bounced on a particularly weak spot on our communal bed. I was quick to note that one of the bottom stringers had come loose and needed some serious fixit-ness done, lest they create annoying noises during...uhm...movie night!
So, first thing next morning, I decided to take some time to fix the broken bed board. Jan, however, had the bright idea to take EVERYTHING out from underneath our bed so that she could sweep and clean out all the cobwebs and dust that had accumulated there after our decades of living together. Here are some photos of Jan in the gloriousness that was our room:


So, while she tackled that, I went to cook our weekly breakfast restday breakfast. Today's feast consisted of egg-in-a-hole-of...bread (first time in my life to make that) with sliced ham and a nice bowl of YOGURT with honey/strawberry jam! WE are such health nuts. After eating to our hearts content, Jan decided that she wanted to take advantage of the lovely weather and take some photos of the great outdoors. Since I am definitely the most caring and loving boyfriend in this whole, uhm,...mountainous and heavily forested area, I decided to go with her to protect her from all the dangers that the Great Outdoors had to offer, such as bugs, puddles, butterflies, flowers, trees, any sort of calming or beautiful picturesque scenes, etc. But alas, being the most intelligent and studios man that I am, I read a book instead. And yelled at the butterflies.



We came home and napped and watched videos and napped again and I did some woodworking and...sigh. It was a very relaxing and fulfilling day. Thanks all for reading, and please remember that this is my first blog post ever so I WAS a bit nervous writing this. Good bye and please DO drop by for some fun with your local forest Farmerboy.

The Kids I Live With

I'm truly blessed to be living RIGHT NEXT to all the little kids living here at this 21 Century International School. Seriously, my room is right in between three rooms with parents and their children. (Cons to this is the never ending noise, shouts, crying, etc. But we won't talk about that today!)
Although I am not these kids' teacher, because I'm their neighbor, I seem to have a lot of interaction with them. I just wanted to make a little post about the beautiful, great kids that I love so dearly.
I will start with the youngest, Kimberly (aka: Kimby/Kims). Kims is a Gemini and has just turned 1. She's the sweetest little thing, but has serious sleeping issues. She screams and screams like hell in the evenings right before she sleeps because she's soooooo tired but forces herself to stay awake. She's the 3rd, and youngest daughter of Aiki and Mary. She loves me sooo much, and whenever she sees me she claps her hands to say (Kudasai-Please). She's always walking to me and wanting to kiss my cheek and spend time with me. She's such a dear.

This one's just for fun. She's teething and a real drooler, but I love her so much. As dumb as she looks in this photo, she's a real smart kid who catches on to things real quick.
Next in line is Arthur. He's 1 1/2 and the 2nd, and youngest, child of Aki and Mariana (Aki is Crystal of Steven's brother). I don't know him all that well because I don't watch him too often, and he's usually with his mom. He's very cuddly and VERY sweet and gentle. He's got the cutest smile and walk.

Next is Kayden (aka: Kayboo). Mike and Joanie's 1st kid. He's 2. (Joanie is pregnant with #2 and it's almost on the way.) I don't have a picture of him, but he's the blondest little half Japanese kid I have ever seen. Cute, foolish, and a total boy. He seems to always be cracking jokes with whoever is around. So CUTE!

Kristina (aka: Kina; Kina bean) is Kayden's other classmate and Aiki and Mary's middle child. She's wild, crazy, and is always found trying to get away with doing the naughty thing. The other day I heard someone call her "Kina bean!" and she said, "I'm not Kina bean! I'm Naughty bean!" Ha! She's sooo cute so she gets a lot of attention.

I don't know which one comes next, Theo or Katie. But, I know they are both 3. :) I am scheduled to take their group once a week. I do simple activities with them and pretty much have a little...FUN day with no school, as the rest of the days they get good input and education from Aki, their full-time teacher. Because I'm with them only once a week, I'm allowed to not have to do school with them (or so I've told myself). Haha! I guess I'm their "Fun teacher". Let's keep it that way!

Here's photos of the activity we did last Wednesday together.
OOh, here's a cute story that happened on that day. I started out by reading the story of Moses, then had them color and glue a "Moses" project. While I cut the pieces out they waited there patiently. I suggested that they ask each other questions using their little paper Moses' which I was done cutting out. Their conversation went something like this:
Katie: "I like the color purple."
Theo just stares his Moses.
Realizing that they didn't get my suggestion, I explained it again.
Theo: "What's your name?"
Katie: "Moses."
Theo quickly turns to me with a real concerned face, then turns back to Katie.
Theo: "No! I'm Moses!"
Katie: "NO! I'M MOSES!!"
And that's how the competition begain. I couldn't help but chuckle. I waited to see if they would solve the problem themselves, but soon had to clarify things for them.
Jan: "Katie's name is "Katie Moses", and Theo's name is "Theo Moses". You're both Moses! Just colored differently."
They were happy after that and continued with their project. How simple kids are at this age!


Just to add on about Katie... She always wanting to play with me and Josh. She finds excuses to come into our room to hang out with us. She invites herself to freely jump on our bed and eat whatever snacks we have in our room. She's sooo sweet. I love her!

Alright... So those are the 6 little cuties under the age of 3 who I live with and interact with on a regular basis.
However, my group isn't quite that young, yet they are still simple. The kids I take care of every day, and who I also love so much, are 8~10 years old.
I will have to post a blog about them later when I have proper photos of them and more time. :) Here's one photo, though, that I took the other day of them using paint or photoshop on my computer.


I think I'll always love children. Even though they are noisy at times and taking care of them daily can get tiresome, boring, stressful, and the likes. They still are truly treasures from Heaven. A Gift from God Himself. I'm not planning on having any too soon at the moment, the main reason being that I'm not married yet! Ha! But, while I'm childless, there are many many other children whom I have had the honor, and still have the honor of caring for and teaching.

Here's to all the wonderful parents out there (or soon to be parents) who have given their lives to their children; who have given up their dreams to raise up their little ones. I respect you so much and will gladly watch your kids for you (if they like me-hee hee) so you can get a little rest.

Thank you Dad and Mom for everything! I love you sooooo much!

A Joke-For Fun!

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
1. He called everyone brother
2. He liked Gospel
3. He didn’t get a fair trial

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went into His Father’s business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with His hands
2. He had wine with His meals
3. He used olive oil

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut His hair
2. He walked around barefoot all the time
3. He started a new religion

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian:
1. He was at peace with nature
2. He ate a lot of fish
3. He talked about the Great Spirit

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.. 2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all – 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment’s notice when there was virtually no food
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn’t get it
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was still work to do

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are growing!!! YAY!!! Three students...three potted tomato plants. I've been growing tomatoes with my little kiddos. They've enjoyed running outside (for a little break from school) every few days to see how the tomatoes have changed in size and color. We barely have to do anything. It's been raining here so we never have to water them. All I do is pick off some stems every so often that don't need to be there. :) We'll soon be able to put them in our salad to eat. Yum yum! Yellow tomatoes for lunch!



(Photos taken by Jan) ha ha!

New Classroom

Yay! Crystal finally commented on my blog! I love it! Please show the others as well. :) After all, this blog is FOR you guys! -My family!

Kay, this week has been busy with a lot of different things happening, on top of taking care of the usual three little guys (Aika-10, Sophie-9, & Yuki-8) every afternoon.
I was asked to move my classroom into another room (next door) by this week as they wanted to change the classroom that I had into a play room for the younger kids. (We've got 6 little kids under the age of 3.)

Anyway, here's my new classroom set up ...the shelf looks a bit over crowded, but that's only because I'm not finished purging books and stuff... You understand... :)


So, yes...I'm still a teacher/caretaker for three cuties. I'll post some recent photos of them when I get the chance. They usually come home from school around 4:00pm, and that's when I take them till dinner (7:00pm). Our usual schedule is, Home work from 4~5, English School from 5~6, and then Word/Bible class from 6~7. There are days when things change...however, I'm so impressed at how these kids can do SCHOOL and STUDY practically the whole day!
Course, now that it's summer, they are able to swim and do a lot of P.E. type of stuff at school which is great! I try to make things as inspiring as possible for them so they don't get worn out with all this headstuffing. :)

Pray that I can be a good teacher and continue to give these three children what they need physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. :)