Finally the Christmas post.

OK sorry for the delay. I would like to add it IS still December. So I get a pass. I pass I made on Word and printed out on my computer, but a pass. (If you to are in need of a pass, let me know I have been known to give out passes, for various things.)

Christmas was so fun and relaxing. I have really enjoyed this vacation. The sleeping in doesn't hurt either.
Christmas morning they woke us at 7:30. I was so excited about that since they have been known to wake us in the 5's.
They came down to stockings and webkins, they checked those out while we got coffee and then the madness began.
We have this thing where everyone gets a laundry basket to put their stuff into. When you open it and are speechless

scream (He loves his Benten's)

Or hug the heck out of it

You then place it in your basket, then everything is accounted and no one is confused about whose toy is whose. Also they can just take it to their rooms and put it away.
It works for us.
I had a great Christmas. I got the Ipod touch that I love and a Kitchen aid mixer that I also love.
Christmas morning we made 4 dozen cookies and decorated them, we also made a peach cobbler. My favorite we made egg rolls. My youngest the chef, got in on it and learned how. She did a great job.
We then just hung out and enjoyed the day.
It has been a wonderful Christmas break.
OK now I think I am caught up and ready for the new year.
Pictures from the day.




My oldest is not please with her pictures and so we will not post them! (-:

Christmas is over...

Well for us it is. For most of you it's just getting started.
We had a great time, Christmas eve we went to church at Torii Chapel. We are going back, we really liked it.
We then met up with some peeps from church and went to eat at MOS burger.
Some Japanese fun facts for you, they eat fried chicken on Christmas. Not to be out done by KFC MOS burger was selling Chicken and all you had to do was drive by and pick it up. Two girls in Santa outfits were out selling it. We had to get a pic with them. (-:

They have this glass to watch them cook your food. Well that probably isn't what it is for but that is what the kids did.

We figured why not get a family pic with the Happy X-MOS sign. I actually thought it was misspelled till my smart husband said uh yeah babe we are at the MOS burger, get it X-MOS. Ahhh ok now I see.

We then checked out some Christmas lights and dropped off some gifts at our friends house. When we got home they opened their P.J's and chilled out and watched a movie.

Christmas morning was a BLAST! I made out like a bandit.
I need to take my girl to get donuts for the fam so I will add that post next.

Merry Christmas.

Who is ready for Christmas?

Any of you? Are all your gifts wrapped? Stocking stuffers bought? Cards sent? Cookies made and given out?
If you answered yes to even three of those, please come over as quickly as possible and help me. (-:
We have gifts in the top of the closet, I have a birthday party on Sunday for my little girl. I haven't even begun baking. I bet if I had a KitchenAid mixer I would be more inclined. hint hint. ahh who am I kidding my seven year old will be the one making the cookies. She loves to bake and will probably get the mixer from us when she turns 10. It is a sad day but I really am just the one one hangs out helping. She does is all. I do pull things out of the oven so no need to call child services.

OK I am off to a field trip, again. Here is a secret, I agree to go on the field trips that are located close to the starbucks here. haha
Oh I am just joking, it is to hang out with my kid. They are cool kids and fun to hang out with. The starbucks doesn't hurt either.
Feel free to come over an wrap gifts and or bake while I am gone. If you know where I live and would like to rob me while I am gone. Please remember we own several large and hungry dogs.
Talk to you all soon, hopefully with some progress made.

O

I'M ON THE INTERNET!

Hey this is the oldest girl of the family speaking I thought it would be fun to post some stuff of my own. I'm in the 7th grade with my head in the clouds. I love Okinawa it is the most beautiful place ever! I think the most beautiful thing here are the sunsets.
We have a lot of friends here on oki. Or in the states. I hope to go spend the summer with my grandma and best friend in the states next summer, but it is unlikely. I love shopping off base like any other teenage girl. but there is a secret for all of you women who love to shop for shoes, here it is. you must be careful which shoes you buy off base they will trick you, you can wear them all around the store forever and they will feel fine but when you finally buy them they will torture your feet. I know this from experience. I cant wait till X-mas I want a lot of books. well... I don't know what else to talk about so.
TTYL ;)(oh for all you "older" people that means Talk To You Later)

Getting ready for Christmas

We got our tree up decorated and though the lawn isn't done we are almost ready for Santa.
I still have to wrap all the presents we have stashed in the closet.
I also have my youngest daughters birthday the 21st. Yikes.
OHH and cookies, lots o cookies.
My kids decorate our tree every year. It looks like an elf vomited all over it. They love it though so what are you gonna do. Our ornaments remind us of past years. That is the fun part. Pulling out the ornaments and talking about who got it and where we lived. Here is our tree. This year they did try and spread the ornaments out more. Usually they are grouped and you can tell who can reach where. Notice the huge plate ornament with my sons face on it. He had to have that right up front.


This is our stocking area. Doubtful the hooks will hold them when they are full but makes a great hanging area for them.
I will fill you all in on my obsession with snowmen next. I love them.

Student of the week

My kid was the student of the week, cause he's got it like that.
One of the moms in the class made them those little vests. It cracks me up how seriously they take their jobs.
So yeah I have turned into one of those moms. That blog about their student of the week kid and put their honor student bumper sticker on the car. My poor kids though they better be honor students here since when we get to the states I won't put bumper stickers on. Only on my junker van I sport here.
I have like three posts to finish. I am such a slacker.
Let me get to work on that.
Have a great week.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great day. My seven year old helped me cook, we had a great time. We made pies the night before and had a blast doing that together.
She got the turkey ready, then she dissected the heart and liver and whatever else is in that bag. We examined every piece, then went online to see if they were similar looking to human organs. I have pics of her cutting those things up, I will save those for later!
.
I got the other two involved in peeling potatoes. They were a big help. There is a child missing and i still do not know where she went during the cooking. She's slippery that one.

The next day we had one other couple over and 4 single soldiers. They are such nice people. We have some cool soldiers in our company.
They played Wii while we finished cooking and we ate and ate. They went home and then another family came over for dessert and games. We had the best time. They didn't leave until 11:30 p.m.
We had so much fun though we didn't realize how late it was.
I was going to go shopping today, but I really don't need anything and I like to sleep in. Plus I am the kind of person who doesn't need the crock pot but has it in their cart because it is 50% off. I am ridiculous in those situations. So I stay away from them.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, had a great time with friends and family.
To my family, I miss you and Love you.

Christmas Shopping

We are supposed to be sharing where our favorite place to shop is here on the island.
I am not sure about off base, but for Christmas decorations, I love love love the marine gift store on Camp Foster. It is awesome. I picked up the cutest ornaments to send back to my family. Coy fish.. Love it.
Sadly I have no pictures of the store but it is festive. If you are not feeling like it is the holidays yet. Head on over. You will start humming "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
Plus the prices are very reasonable. So if your feeling blah about Christmas make a stop and you'll feel better. I am sure the naval and Kadena gift shops are equally festive. So stop by. You would think I volunteered there. Nah. Just spend money!
I would tell you the hours of operation but then I would have to look that up. *OK here are the hours, I couldn't leave you hanging like that.
Tuesdays and Sat 9:30-3:30 Thursday and Friday 9:30-1:30. Here is a link. http://www.marinegiftshopokinawa.com/storehoursandlocation.htm Here are some pictures I just took of a few of the ornaments I bought.



Happy shopping everyone.

Welcome to the world

Please welcome my nephew Noah. Isn't he the cutest baby?
He was born early but a great size and very healthy.
I am sad to know I will not see this boy till he is almost three. I am glad they take great pictures, I can keep up with how he grows!

I cannot say enough times how beautiful this boy is. Look at that face. Also do you see how smart he is, holding the pacifier. Oh he is a smart one.
Now I want to fly home and hold him. I don't think I have wanted to hold a baby this much since I gave birth myself.
Congratulations guys. He is the best!

I am in a calendar

Naked. ohhh hahaha just joking. Scared you for a moment. Our own Okinawa crew here decided to make a calendar, we were supposed to send in our pictures. Pictures of what Okinawa is to us. I talked to a friend and we decided it would be hilarious to send pics of our kids at burger king. That means Japan to me, don't you think so? No. Well whatever they have a playplace.
Come to find out I had no burger king pics on my hard drive. I did find some snail pictures though. I took them when we just got here, we were living in the hotel and took the kids to the park to play. I sent that in. I thought that was hilarious. Like here is Okinawa. snails.
I think I am pretty funny sometimes. It is those times, that backfire on me. Long story a tad bit longer. My snail picture is in the calendar. There are some beautiful shots in this calendar. I am excited to get one. It just makes me laugh that my picture is in the calendar. hahahahahahah that is me laughing.
See how funny I am. I told you.
I will share with you my snails. Hold on I have to find it first.
So here is what I sent.

I guess i should have photoshopped it a bit. OH well
Here is another one I took that day.


Then here he is photoshopped. Or here she is.

See how fancy pants his shell is? Oh the fun things you can do.

Oh the whole point of this post is to say, I got my snails in a calendar. They didn't sign a release though so mums the word if you see them.

email and pea coats

As I was checking email as I do, maybe 20 times a day. I linked to an interesting article on our new president. He has to stop emailing.
I guess I had never thought about it, but how could our president email. Hackers would be all over that.
How would you feel if you had to stop all Internet communication. Oh plus no cell phone. No blogging. No blackberry. He is a one handed blackberry user, for only a bit longer.

So I guess I had never thought that our president has no email. I am sure he still can google and really that is all that matters. I just googled etiquette in Russia I found out some very interesting things that I am sure Obama might need. I could Fwd it to him, if only he was keeping his email.
I guess if I had no Internet I would get all kinds of things done.
Or maybe not, but I do love the Internet. My favorite, google. I google everything! Recipes, stain remover, directions, homework help, a red pea coat. I NEED a red pea coat.
At least I never have to give up Internet for long.
Keep an eye out for me in a red pea coat.
Google never lets me down.

The Japanese Shoe Shelf

*I am adding that I bought this shelf at the Todays ok store at the Living Design Square store. Link to Okinawa hai, Direct link to the stores site
They have many different options. Much taller ones and wider ones. I am going next week again if anyone wants to go. *

OH the joys of living overseas. The sightseeing the shopping the putting together things with Japanese instructions. Holy cow. Thank Goodness for pictures that is all I have to say.

This was an additional sheet, telling me who knows what. Be careful though it may fall on your kids.. See pic.

This is my finished shoe shelf. I am super excited to get it by the front door and get the shoes out of my floor. Let me go do that and I will take pics with it filled!


OK shoes shelf is in place and I filled it up.
I have a couple of choices. First I put our fish on it. I think they will get some sun there.
One picture has a basket on top. I put my wallet and keys in it.
Then I thought I would hide it inside. Also put an umbrella in there and a flash light oh and the Yankee candle car freshener. It is a shoe shelf after all, don't want it to get smelly.

The final look. I also added a magazine rack that doesn't fit anywhere for my purse and hoodie. The basket was already there. Our shoe basket. we may keep our slippers/house shoes in that.
I am not sure what I think about how it is looking yet. I do know I like not having shoes in the floor overflowing from the basket.

Special Olympics

Today was the Special Olympics here on Okinawa. Our family worked with our Battalion and we ran the Soccer competition. It was so much fun. The amount of people participating was amazing. We had mostly Japanese people but there were some Americans there participating as well.
All my kids were out there getting involved. Helping here and there. When we were walking back my son said "mom I don't even care that I am hot and itchy because I am happy." (he had been complaining of being both earlier) I am going to find more ways to get my kids involved with helping others. I think it is so important. If you know anywhere for us to do that here let me know!
I have no pictures as we were working the whole time but I do have the sun burns if you would like to see that.
I want to encourage you to get involved in your area with the Special Olympics. I have not worked with them before but I will work with them every year and everywhere we go. You do not have to have experience just get out there and be willing to help.
I want to give a shout out to my cousin Dustin who is special needs. I cannot wait for the day we get to see him participate in the Special Olympics.
It was an AMAZING day. One I will never forget.

slide addicts

So we found another slide park. We always have cardboard in our trunk now. Just in case!






I should probably quit posting pics of them on slides but I do have another park.
It is so close that we are going to be walking to it.

Playing catch up or is it ketchup?

I need to get on this thing and post. I cannot remember all the things I have not posted about so in no particular order Here are the pictures.

Aquarium, they are playing kung fu panda. Or something like that.


This cool park we went to after school. We had the best time.




This one is for all my friends living in cold climates. This is Today. As in Oct 31.
Who wants to visit???

They gave her boobs. What is wrong with my kids. holy cow. Notice sand on her goggles. The sun was in her eyes.

she asked them to do this. Gets you out of any work I guess.


There are many many more but I got sidetracked and will do them later.
Have a great weekend.

You say it's your birthday....

Today is the birthday of a new friend. She is just a cool mix of personality you can't always find. I thought to honor her I would put Madonna on here. When it's your birthday it should be a holiday! Plus I could see her dressing like Madoona back in the day.

Get out of those computer chairs and dance, you know you want to....


HAPPY BIRTHDAY J.


check out the dancing in that video. That is good stuff right there.

what a weekend

We had a busy week and then a busy weekend.
I will get more on tomorrow in between laundry but for now my kids, at least they are all looking at the camera.

That boy always trying to be funny. The little girl wanted to have them sit like we did in some pictures when the girls were little.

We had fall festival at the little kids school then a Luau with the girl scouts. That was Sat.
Sunday we went back up to the aquarium, it was so crowded but we still had fun.
Here are our favorites. The manatee.


They learned to hula those pics are next.

Lets go fly a kite

We live across the street from a base ball field. A great place to fly our kites. We were out there this weekend and it was sort of fun. The wind would really pick up then die down. The wind was coming between those huge buildings in the background.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
You can barely see him holding on to that kite.

What we saw every few minutes. A nose dive.

The above is why she is trying to take cover.

She caught air in this one trying to get the kite up, now this is nothing compared to Aviva's picture of her people in the air but maybe I am just a sucker for jumping shots.


Next post will be all about jumping, you would be surprised how many things I have them jumping off of. Plus the two youngest really just like jumping.

This is my son mad about the wind messing up his kite and giving me a dirty look for taking pictures when he is mad.

Then he comes out of it pretty quickly.

Notice how the husband is flying the cute penguin kite. He needs a manly kite.