Halloween 2008 in Misawa

Happy Halloween! My pirate, my motor cross driver (How great is that--Noah wanted to be the EXACT same thing he was last year!), and my little red power ranger.Here are the boys getting ready to go over to our friends' house (Thanks Carla and Keith!) for a Halloween dinner before trick or treating. The weather wasn't too cold, just a little windy, and lucky for us, it sprinkled for a few minutes around 5 pm, but stopped by 6 pm, and then it started raining again around 8:45 tonight. Perfect timing! If you haven't heard about trick or treating on base, it is crazy! The Japanese don't do trick or treating (for the most part, although I guess it is gaining a little popularity now), so all the Americans who live off base come on base, and the base also sponsors BUSLOADS of Japanese kids onto the base so they can experience and American halloween! And, we are also allowed to sponsor Japanese friends on base, so there are just a ton of people, both kids and adults. It really is quite a sight! I would say during the busiest half an hour, I easily gave out 100 pieces of candy. I didn't buy nearly as much as I did last year since Chris wasn't here to pass out candy, but I still ran out! The boys had a lot of fun, but it was so crazy that it was hard to keep track of the kids, and I didn't get nearly enough pictures as I had wanted to...but here is another pic of the boys with our friends, the Millers. Unfortunately, Noah Miller has his eyes closed!

Flag football frenzy...sort of

The older boys have been playing flag football this fall. It's actually been pretty entertaining--much better to watch than tee ball, that's for sure. Here is a little clip of Alex running with the ball...unfortunately, he initially went the wrong way! Luckily, it's the first time that's happened, in football anyway! Alex is number 15. They are really enjoying it, and even Ian likes to watch it, although he always asks why they don't get to tackle. Noah and Alex's friends, Rachel and Meredith are also cheerleaders, so it's been fun when they are cheering at the boys' games.

'Tis the most wonderful time of the year...

Well, maybe not, but it is apple season in Japan! Japan prides itself on its wonderful apples, and I have to say, they are worth bragging about! I just love the apples here, and Aomori prefecture (where our very own Misawa is located) is home to the most popular and famous apple in all of Japan. Aomori produces the greatest number of apples in the country. The apples are also exported to many countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and others. Apples are commonly used as gifts here, and often different areas will put their own special mark on the peel to distinguish it from others. This is one thing that I will dearly miss when we leave Japan!

Today Noah and I went with his first grade class to a nearby apple orchard in Rokunohe town, which is about 20 minutes from the base. At the orchard we paid 500 Yen (about five U.S. dollars) to pick 3 apples, but it is not uncommon here to pay up to 300-500 Yen for ONE, large, beautiful, "perfect" apple, especially near tourist areas.

Hiking at Tsuta

The Robert boys with their good friend, Noah.

Alex doing a great job hiking!
On Saturday our friends the Millers invited us to go hiking up near Oirase Gorge, about an hour from Misawa. The weather was very nice, and it is about an hour long, child-friendly hike! Although the leaves weren't at the height of their fall colors, it was still very pretty. All was well until the very end when Ian decided he needed to put his walking stick in the little pond...and he fell right in! Luckily, the water wasn't very deep, only up to his calves or so, but he fell forward onto his hands, so he was soaked. I did have a change of clothes for him, but unfortunately the ride home is very curvy, and he got carsick. As I was driving, I noticed he was very quiet, and went to pull over, and he started whimpering..."Mom, I don't feel..." well, you can figure out what happened next! So needless to say, his car seat, clothes, and back of the car got a good cleaning that night.

The boys playing the piano

Here are two short videos of the boys practicing their piano. Noah has been taking lessons for a little over one year, and Alex just started 4 weeks ago! I was a little worried about Alex starting, but so far, he has really enjoyed it, and is doing well.

The Art of Bento...

OK, let me begin by saying that the picture that I have of Ian's lunch this morning is NOT art, in ANY way... but I wanted to show how small these little lunchboxes (Bento boxes) are. It is roughly 4 & 1/2 inches long by 1 & 1/2 inches tall, and 2 & 1/2 inches wide, with two trays double stacking. I think the real art should be in how creative you get trying to put enough food in them! The boys love their little bento boxes though, and surprisingly, Ian ate everything in his today (his is pictured). It had a rice ball (that I used a heart-shaped mold to form) with Furikake mixed in, which is a little seasoning packet with seaweed, spices, salt, etc in it. There was also a Boca burger, broccoli florets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, almonds, and a little babybel cheese. The bento lunch is supposed to be eaten at room temperature, which is a little odd by American standards, but I don't think anyone gets sick from it, and the kids don't seem to mind. I did make the big mistake (I got the big Japanese arm "X") when I put in a small (2 inch, flat size) cold pack in the box last week, just to keep the cheese cool. Sensei told me, "No ice pack!"
Now, the Japanese get very fancy in creating Bento works of art for their lunches. They create shapes and figures out of seaweed paper (nori), cheese, carrots and other vegetables, and rice. They sell books with ideas so you can create your own masterpieces. It is pretty amazing, really! Here is a link to some info on bento art http://www.squidoo.com/mrbento
My friend Jennifer said she spent two hours one night preparing a special bento box for her daughter for a Japanese holiday. Let me tell you, I was so impressed! Luckily, I only have to prepare these lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Maybe one day I'll do that for a special day, but probably not anytime soon, as my mornings are rushed enough...but I have to say, it is fun and I can see how a person gets caught up in creating beautiful lunches!

In Remembrance of a Good Friend...

A good friend of mine, Tracy Bell, lost her two-year battle with cancer this past weekend. I can't even begin to tell you what a truly wonderful, genuine, and honest person she was! I first met Tracy in August of 2004 when Noah started preschool at St. Francis of Assisi School in Virginia. Her daughter Savannah, is the same age as Noah, and her youngest daughter, Laila, is the same age as Alex. The best thing was, was that we were neighbors! We only lived a few blocks from each other. I give Tracy credit for teaching my boys to swim during the summer, as the swim instructor at our community pool. She was so great with kids, and the boys just loved her. From then on, we had many playground dates, dinners, fun outings with the kids, and just hanging out time. It was so hard to move from Virginia knowing that I was leaving such a great friend behind. Tracy loved life, loved her family, and loved God. She touched many people's lives and will be deeply missed. My heart and prayers go out to Tracy's girls, and the rest of her family.

Japanese Yochien Field Trip

On Friday we went to Kodomo-land in Hachinohe. Kodomo means children, and it was a little amusement park, petting zoo, and botanical garden. It was a beautiful day, and a lot of fun, but exhasuting! I was a little stressed since it was still only our first week at the school, and all of the instructions that I had received had obviously been in Japanese, then translated. Well, I had to prepare lunches and snacks for all the boys (Noah was also able to participate), and pack other stuff for the day. When the kids had started, the teacher made sure that I knew not to send in junk food for lunchtime and snacks, so I had assumed that I need to pack a healthy snack for them for the field trip, too. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Since it was a special day, I was *supposed* to bring junk food today, and the Sensei wouldn't even accept my rice ball for Alex for a snack on the bus. She made a big "X" with her arms to tell me that it was wrong (since I still don't speak Japanese)! Meanwhile, as I'm figuring this out, they are taking Alex and putting him on another bus, Ian and I are going on a different one, and Noah is running around like a crazy man. Plus, I was still trying to figure out if I had the right things for the day. But, everything worked out in the end, and it was a beautiful day. The boys had fun, and all of them fell asleep on the bus ride home.

I've also included a picture of Alex in his formal uniform, that he wears on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ian does not have to wear it yet--he only wears the sportswear uniform every day.

He made it!

Just a quick note that Chris made it over to his final destination (finally!) safely. I haven't spoken to him in almost a week, but he did send me an email to let me know.

Christian's "war" pics

Poor Chris, after being stuck in Singapore for 3-4 days, he then got stuck in Diego Garcia, a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, operated by the U.S. military. Here he is at the beach with two other guys from the squadron.
After renting a boat, they were able to go out and fish, and the Club cooked it up for them for dinner!

The view from Diego Garcia. The funny thing: these pictures were sent to me from one of the spouses, whose husband sent them to her (thanks Hillary!). Note I didn't even hear from Chris the entire time he was in Diego Garcia...feeling guilty, perhaps? Seriously though, I am glad they were able to have a little fun and relaxation before getting to their final destination, since the entire squadron had been working their tails off up to the deployment. But can't he look a *little* miserable, just to make me feel better? I haven't heard from him in a few days, so right now I have no idea where he is...stay tuned!

Everything must be labeled!

I forgot to mention, everything the boys have must be labeled with their name at school...every article of clothing, bag, crayon, toothbrush, sock and shoe, and of course, it must be in Japanese! I've gotten pretty good at writing the boys' names now. When I dropped them off, and Ian was taking off his regular shoes, the teacher made a little gasp when she saw that they were not labeled; I had simply forgotten. Mind you, the boys have a specific cubby to put their shoes, and I knew Ian would recognize his own shoes, but it was definitely a gaijin (foreigner) moment! I assured her that they would be labeled tomorrow!

On another note--I did hear from Chris. He did make it closer to his final destination, but is not yet there. Hopefully within the next few days. He did have a nice little vacation in the middle of the Indian Ocean for a few days...renting sailboats, fishing, and relaxing.

First Day of School at the Catholic Yochien

Here are the boys in their sports uniforms. They were so excited to go to school that they kept asking me every 15 minutes if it was time to go!
Ian at the school entrance. He is taking off his outside shoes and putting on his inside slip on shoes.
Alex and his Sensei, Mika.
The boys had a great first day, but they were only there for three hours. Tomorrow Alex will stay the entire day, and Ian will stay a half day. They really liked it!