I haven't written in a while not because I do not want to, but because it has been a challenge to do so.  My time from the time I get up in the morning until my pillow hits the bed at night is quite busy.  Whether it has to do with my own children, other people' children, or the work we came here to do, I am just busy.  Beyond that the internet is a bit of a challenge.  Ten people's worth of wi-fi sucking devices makes getting anything done on the net quite a challenge.  One of our computers is not doing anything with wifi at all now for some reason, probably mostly because some of the technical computer Japanese doesn't make sense to me.  If we get the right person to look at it, I think it will be ok.  Anyhow, all this is to say that posting to xanga is a challenge unless I use my phone.  However with the phone, the typing with carpal tunnel on the small device gets to be painful. So I have been quiet for a while.  

I did want to steal some time and reflect a bit on the past year.  Then I do not expect to be on much again until June.  

2011

I will always remember this year.  In fact, from July 2010 all the way through now I will never forget.  It has been an incredibly challenging year and a half.  Some things you will remember like my husband becoming very ill in July 2010 followed by the news that his mother was gravely ill.  Skyler and Corey went to see his mother in September 2010 and not long after they arrived she died.  That sort of set the tone for us, but some personal stuff happened along the way the speed my head of hair from brown to gray faster than I would have liked.  We moved at the tail end of last year and took on more responsibilities and more stress.  Then after almost feeling settled, the unthinkable happened on March 11, 2011.  I can remember that day as clearly as I can remember that day when I was in fourth grade and I watched the Space Shuttle Challenger blow up live on TV in my classroom.  

The earthquake alone was powerful.  It rocked the core of this island.  My children remember it and all suffered their own stress reactions to it.  Skyler even wrote it down in his Book of Time that we keep for homeschool; although, I am sure that he is unlikely to forget it.  At 2:46 on Friday March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the North part of our island.

Not long after the quake, the warnings came in for the tsunami.  We were watching TV to find out the info.  I remember thinking, we have children, we should turn the TV off, but we were like deers caught in headlights.  We only stood their spell bound as we watched the devastating waves roll in a destroy literally anything in its path.  Unbelievable.

Then the following day the news came in about the damage to the nuclear power plants.  Tokyo went wild.  People ran to do panic buying.  The mental toll of the huge earthquake and the resulting hundreds upon hundreds of aftershocks, the devastation of the tsunamis, and then the nuclear reactors was nearly too much for people to handle.  I remember being in a train station and seeing people covered from head to toe with no skin showing and their eyes covered in goggles as they fearfully waited for a train out of town.  

Corey set out to help with CRASH, to work on organizing assistance to head into the disaster area to help.  I was home with the kids, all 8 of them for a few days before the teens headed off to their homes for an extended spring break.  I remember feeling so overwhelmed trying to figure out how I would get these kids milk.  We were allowed on liter a family, but our "family" goes through 4 liters a day.  Not only that but, to get one liter of milk required an hour of line waiting to make the purchase.  Thankfully God helped us and provided for us in ways that only God can.

Over the summer we headed to the US for a summer long home assignment.  Initially, I wasn't ready for the trip back, but after  dealing with everything during the spring time, I was glad for the break.  I was glad to see family, and I was especially thankful for the rest my soul was able to get as well.

This fall has been busy and has had its ups and downs.  Of course there are so many things that I am not saying right now, but someday soon I hope to expound on some things that have been going on.  Certainly, the big earthquake really did shake us up; perhaps one could say that it shook us back to our senses.  Lots of decisions to make and lots of praying to be done, and lots of changes coming our way in 2012.  

As for today the last day of 2011, I am so glad to say goodbye to a year that has offered us a lot of grief.  Last night the kids, Corey, and I roasted indoor marshmallows and made s'mores.  We played a game that Skyler made up called "Spy and Seek".  He just came up with it and basically it is like a hide and seek but with out all the running around.  The seeker stands in the middle of the room and closes his eyes to count.  THe hiders have to hide where they can see the seeker.  Basically it means that some parts of the hider might be visible because the hider has to see the seeker.  It is pretty fun because the hider has to be a bit creative in his/her hiding.  Then we camped out in the living room telling "scary" stories.  It was a nice way to spend time as a family and create some memories.  Today we had a special lunch.  One of our friends came over for lunch and games.  Corey had been wanting to get some ribs he saw at a store.  Turns out the pork was not on the bones, so there was way more meat then we expected.  Corey made up some very delicious BBQ sauce using molasses among other ingredients.  It was so good.  He cooked it over our charcoal grill outside.  We also cooked up a whole mess of vegetables on the grill as well.  I made macaroni and cheese per Corey's suggestion.  I also made a persimmon pudding.  After lunch the guys played board games while I kept Maya occupied.  Regrettably the  friend had to leave early, but after  short break, another friend came with his son to worship.  Great way to end this otherwise challenging year.

Now, I will go work on the meal plan for January, eat some cheese ball, drink some tea created by our new toy (Christmas gift of a Keurig Coffee machine), and ring in a quiet and uneventful evening with my husband.  Happy New Years to you all!

I think this was the better part of our day...waiting.  We have been waiting for various responses about different things.  Some of it had to do with others news and some had to do with people we were waiting to hear from.  Slowly, but surely, throughout the day much of the waiting game ended.  A couple of things will have to wait until tomorrow.

Things we learned today that I can share.  One church member is in the hospital with an enlarged heart, so no, he can't meet with Corey today.  He says wait until the weekend.  Another church member responds to tell me that we will talk on the weekend.  Ok, I suppose that these responses just yielded more waiting.  So often that is the story.  Hurry up and wait.  BUT they were responses.  Heard from a friend I have been praying for, yes, the response yielded more praying and more waiting.  

The big news I have been waiting for is about my friend's son, Joshua Mort.  The test results were due to come in today.  Not all tests are in, but it does not look like cancer.  This is good news.  It is likely aplastic anemia, but the doctors are still trying to unravel the cause so as to understand the treatment.  Hmm...smells like more waiting and praying.

I suppose that one might think that all the waiting yielded responses that involved more waiting would be frustrating.  In a sense it is, but I am ok with that.  We did find out lots of things today.  We can see how God is at work on the lives of people that we are involved with, and we can also see where we need to keep praying.

Changing the topic to a more fun one...Today is my parent's wedding anniversary.  Yay!  I love my parents and am so thankful for them.

I find myself at the beginning of yet another week.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with the family,  couple of our boarders, and four of our Japanese teachers.  It was a fun relaxed time with the group.  Preparations went well, but as I suspected, it got a wee bit hectic as people arrived.  But I am glad that the oven worked and we were able to cook our turkeys until they were done.  Eating turkey is such a treat for us.  We miss eating turkey sandwiches that are so easy to get in the US.  The conversation was enjoyable.  Some of the teachers had experience living abroad or visiting other countries.  One gentleman was talking about the ham he could get when he lived in Chicago.  He was almost watering at the mouth reminiscing.  I have to admit the way he described it made me wish I had some ham too.  

On Saturday we headed at with the kids and Flat Stanley (Sorry Daniel, he is still here, but we will come home in the mail this week.  I think he is getting home sick.)  We went to check out the second half of the Tokyo outdoor architectural museum.  We went another time and managed to only take in a part of it, but we wanted to see all of it.  Stanley went with us and did a great job of posing in all sorts of pictures.  The kids enjoyed it too.  If my dad ever comes to visit, I would love to take him there because I am sure he would love it.  Well, maybe not that crazy crows part of it.  This park is home to some crazy crows.  We passed the day without incident, but we have had other trips that were not so pleasant.  (Bad memories, don't want to go there.)   

Today Tomo stayed home from school.  He said his throat hurt and since this is the final stretch before his big debut as Momotaro, I thought that I would error on the side of caution and keep him home.  In just under two weeks, his school will be doing their annual "recital", and Tomo was casted with fellow classmate to be Momotaro.  I am really proud of him and can't wait to see him in action.  

Keeping him home, meant all the kids were here.  Not really a big deal, they are my kids after all.  I know that I will have to figure out how to manage school days when Tomo starts 1st grade.  Being that the boys are so far apart in age makes doing things together a little trickier.  Then factor in a toddler who thinks her mission is just to keep mom on her toes.  At any rate, I required Tomo to do school work even though he was home.  We have been working through some pre-K work with Sonlight.  I have been using it over time in order to keep costs down.  I think it is a good level for him, plus I can make it harder or easier if need be.  I also had him working on the Leap Pad today too.  I have been pushing him to learn all his ABC's not just some of them or even just the song.  He has been writing his own name since he was two years old, but getting him to learn the other letters has not been of his general interest.  I managed to teach him another letter, which allows him to spell some words that get him to giggle, and hopefully that will be the spark (however obnoxious it is) to learn more letters.  Oh, that letter is the letter p, so figure out words that have the combo of p and t, o, m, and I think you will see what I mean.

In the hustle and bustle of teaching the kids, our Christmas tree got bumped and one of our precious ornaments flew off and shattered.  This was a major bummer as it was the first ornament that Skyler received as a baby.  He was bummed too because he is such a sentimental kid.  I mean it WAS his first ornament and it WAS given to him by his grandparents.  I had to spend the next hour placating him so he wouldn't try to fight with the tree bumping offender.  I think it is going to be a rough year for our ornaments.  

I can smell the dinner in the oven baking and it smells almost done.  I suppose I should check on that and finish off this crazy day.

It's been a while, hasn't it? Last time I wrote the boys were at a church planting conference. That went really for them and they both got a lot out of the experience. I had also written that Maya and I would go shopping, but I wasn't feeling great and the weather was cold and wet. Maya and I did go to a coffee shop together where I treated her to juice and a donut. I think she rather enjoyed that coffee shop too much. When we dragged ourselves out to pick up Tomo, the rain had picked up and we returned home rather wet and cold. By the time Corey and Skyler made it home, Corey found us trying to get warm by soaking in a warm bath! I haven't written since my birthday. Last wee was my birthday. It fell on a Wedneaday which a less than convenient day for a birthday. Wednesdays are always busy, but the twist last Wednesday was that there was a special event at Tomo's school. A couple a times a year the school invites the parents in to observe. I recently learned that this is done all the way up through junior high school. Basically you come and see how the kids are doing in school. It isn't really mandatory to be there but there IS an attendance sheet for the parents to sign. We aren't supposed to interact with the kids, just stand like a wallflower. I do like to see Tomo interact with his classmates since he so seldom shares about his day with us. (Though recently that has changed a bit and he is sharing more.) Japanese class is our usual Wednesday thing, so that with the observation day made for a busy morning. Corey missed out on class to make a cake. He made 2, in fact. One cake was a pineapple upside down cake and the other was a cinnamon chocolate coffee cake. Both were yummy. They got me a docking station for my iPhone so I can listen to music, see my recipes on my phone and use a kitchen timer while charging my phone on the station. We had a short celebration after Tomo's school and then Corey and Skyler went to karate class. Wednesdays are busy. Since I last wrote, we have had two game nights. One game time brought a lovely Australian family to our game table, and the other time brought one of our Japanese friends to our table. Each game experience unique and each very fun! Other than battling a cold turned sinus infection that started when I last wrote, that brings me to now. I think the sinus infection has been why I got so behind in writing. I just felt so crummy. Feeling better now after mug after mug of either hot yuzu or hot green tea and I am feeling much better. Just in time too! Tomorrow is a national holiday here in Japan. Since it is a day off and since it is the day before thanksgiving, we decided to have our celebration tomorrow. This was also decided, in part, because there was the possibility that I would go help a friend out over the weekend, but circumstances changed on my friend's part and my going was not a good option. Corey and I have always felt that it is important to share ourselves and our culture with those around us as a way to draw people in, so we often ask people to join us. We debated this year as to who to invite. There really are a lot of possibilities, but as we can invite them all, we have to make decisions on what would be most ideal. We also understand the awkwardness of mixing people sometimes. We decided that we should invite our Japanese teachers and spouses. I have to admit I am really looking forward because I think it will be a great group! We are really allowed to share our faith at class (don't tell anyone that it happens anyway), but our home is fair game for sharing faith. I look forward to sharing the blessings with our teachers who are also our friends. On that note, with some turkey to bake up tomorrow and so many other things to do, it is time to turn in. With freshly laundered bedding and flannel linens on the bed, I am looking foward to it!

...I thought I would jot some things down. In the last post I wrote that I made laundry soap. Here are my thoughts on that. First it was really pretty easy to make. However when making it, I wondered if the bar of soap I was using was too small. As my laundry soap turned out very thin, next time I will either add another bar of soap or use less water. I have used 2 instead of one cup and it cleans pretty well. The clothes feel clean an smell good. As for stains, I think this is where adding borax/ boric acid helps, but otherwise, a good stain remover goes a long way in helping where the laundry soap I made couldn't get some stains out. By stains, I mean the really stubborn kids like pasta sauce and the like. Since I learned the Japanese for boric acid, I have kept my eyes open for it. All the looking paid off, because I found some on the pharmacy. They keep it in the glass case at the register. I asked if I could buy a box, and she kindly rang it up for me. Next time I am ready to make laundry soap, I will give the boric acid a try to see how that helps to take the cleaning up a notch. Now that I am typing this, it occurred to me that I must have a scientific curiosity towards Linsey detergents. Remember, mom, 5th grade science fair project? How many different types of laundry soaps did I test? I remember using dish washer soap too as a test subject. Do you remember the little clothes line we created and those tiny wooden clothes pins we used to hang up the washed samples? I guess some things never change. This week was a bit strange, but I suppose they all are anymore. There was no school on Monday for the international school, so the kids that left for the long weekend came back late Monday night. I suppose Tuesday was normal, save that it felt more like a Monday. Wednesday, Corey and Skyler left for a church planting conference. One of our students went to Korea for a volleyball tournament, but we still have our month long boarder. My numbers are all mixes around for meal times. I have a cold which just figures. Tomo had a loose tooth but the permanent tooth was growing in already. That was causing a bit of pain for Tomo, so last night I spent the evening muscling it out. I won, tooth lost! It was either that or shuffle Tomo to the dentist the following morning. He really wanted to go pull sweet potatoes with his class, so he willingly let me yank that baby out. He was fine so long as I did not push down on the tooth. Problem solved except for the fact that he has lost three baby teeth and gained two permanent teeth and there is NO ROOM for any more permanent teeth. Tomorrow Tomo's school has a field trip to the aquarium. He is excited. Now I need to go and get his things ready for the said field trip. Such is life for kindergarten moms. I am especially looking forward to getting him to the city hall for the bus pick up in the rain, with Maya, and my lovely head cold, by a certain time. Maya and I will make up for it by going shopping! Probably just window shopping, but it will be fun nonetheless. Not taking time to check over this post because I am doing it from my phone and proofing is hard to do on it. Hoping it is coherent and with out too many errors.

This week has been just that...bara bara.
I also mentioned that this week seemed really wonky...which sounds like Willy Wonka...Yes, we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this week, and Willy Wonka is on the brain.  But back to my first statement...this week has been bara bara.

It is a great Japanese word... bara bara.  In fact, I caught myself using it when I was talking to our boarder guys.  I told them to not put the dishes in the dish washer bara bara.  I have no idea why I used that word except it seemed like just the right word to use at that moment.  I am just thankful that these guys have grown up here and knew what I meant.  Otherwise, that would have just been really weird.  

As for this week, it has been here and there..disconnected, in pieces...in short...bara bara.

Monday started out normally enough.  However, on Tuesday Tomo had the day off.  Why you ask?  Because they school was testing the incoming kids.  Yes, testing to see if they will allow the kids in to the school next year.  Tomo was tested before he could enroll.  The kids will all turn 3 by the time they start next April, so the testing is pretty basic, but it is testing, nonetheless.  The rest of the school got the day off.  Wednesday was sort of normal.  Maya has been coldish, so I kept her home and did not go to Japanese class this week.  Then Thursday was a National Holiday.  It was Culture Day.  Friday was another normal day.  

The week as it was through me all off my daily routines.  Take for example, I had to make an obento on Monday.  Tuesday and Thursdays were days off, so I did not need to make a lunch.  Wednesday the school provides a lunch.  By the time Friday rolled around I was sure I would forget.  I did remember the lunch, but I did NOT remember to pack his fork, spoon, chopstick set.  Oops.  The sensei loaned Tomo a fork which I will wash and return on Monday.  Yep, I guess that shows maybe my brain is a little bara bara lately too.

Had a lovely time at lunch on Culture Day with two of our church ladies.  Sweet times with them.  I was so happy to hear one lady request that we do lunch again.  When I saw her today, it was so nice to be greeted at the door with a wide smile and a comment on what a wonderful time she had at lunch.  I am so thankful for my husband for watching not just our children, but one of the other lady's child.   

This afternoon I had a nice class time with my kiddos.  The girl has been making some amazing strides in English and I am so proud of her!  The boy is using English so much more naturally anymore and I can even joke around with him and he understands the joke.  Love those kids.  

This evening Skyler presented his "puppet show" for a project he needed to turn in for school.  The whole family gathered around for the puppet show.  The little ones so cute holding their warm drinks watching the show.  They laughed, so I guess that means the presenter was entertaining.  I was impressed how well Skyler knew the story.  His project was to present a Russian folktale in the form of a puppet show.  He has been finishing up his unit on Russia.  The folktale was a new one for us and it was pretty bizarre, and Skyler definitely had fun telling the story.  The last thing to cover Russia will be a viewing of the movie Anastasia (not the Disney but the black and white movie), and then Skyler needs to present a Siskel and Ebert style of critique.  That should be entertaining.

And finally for fun, and to appease my undying curiosity, I made laundry detergent.  A couple of days ago I ordered a bucket.  Not just any bucket, but a bucket that has a 20 liter capacity.  My bucket came today!  Tonight I made the laundry soap, and as it needs to sit overnight, I will use it in the morning.  Right now I am in the experimenting stage.  I found a recipe on how to make it with a bar or soap and baking soda.  It suggested adding borax but said it was not necessary.  I will see how this goes, because at five gallons of detergent made for dirt cheap soap, it may be worth it big time.  Because my curiosity will not fully be appeased until I try it with borax, I did find out what it is called in Japanese and will probably order some to try.  Even with special ordering borax, it still would make for cheaper than store bought laundry detergent.  I can't believe I am saying this but I am looking forward to doing laundry tomorrow so I can try out my science experiment.

And because I am sure that this post in not bara bara enough, I wanted to share a very little story.  During the week Corey went to the store for me and he came home and told me about the price for serving on a certain product.  As he was telling me this, I was thinking, "He is speaking my language!"  Yep, he's a keeper!

Watching the world through a toddlers eyes is always something intriguing to me.  They see the world as though seeing it for the first time.  The world is alive and fresh.  Toddlerdom is a time when the child starts to spread his/her little wings to prepare to take flight.  Curiosity about the world is overwhelming.  Questions that come to a toddler's head usually starts with a "I wonder what happens if..."  My toddler is so excited about this amazing world that she cannot sit still for even a minute.  There are nooks and crannies to explored and life to be lived out to the fullest.  

Our latest adventures have been wild ones.  Wonder girl is curious about using the potty, and she has successfully gone on her own.  Yet the "I wonder what if" questions plague like crazy.  The one she is working through right now is, "I wonder what happens if I take my own diaper off."  Not to be out done by the "I wonder what happens if I strip down at nap times and bedtimes."  Of course, the close third might be the "I wonder what happens if I don't go to sleep at my bedtime."  Life with such an amazing and spirited child does offer its challenges and its frustrations, but I am grateful for her abounding curiosity and the ability to speak her mind (granted in just a 21 month old sort of way) and knows just what she wants.  The world needs more curious yet assertive children.   

I would rather let the photos speak for themselves.  Lots of fun!            

It just seems like life grows busier and busier.  I would like to write more, but time just runs away from me.  Lots going on all around me.  I keep busy most days with the business of running a house of ten people while homeschooling a 5th grader, getting a 5 year old appropriately dressed and box-lunched for school, and teaching a toddler all the things she needs to learn (trust me this one is an all day job in itself).  All that and the daily milk runs to the store.  I wish I knew of a way to get milk in larger size than 1 liter.  We go through so many cartons of milk in a week, about 30, that it makes me think about all the paper that goes into making those paper packs.  I take them back to the store to be recycled, so if my store is doing their jobs then all our cartons are turning into toilet tissues and kleenexes.  

Tonight I head to teach my two pupils.  I love these kids.  I get to share in their growing lives, and their mother asked me to teach them the Bible as well.  This is a privilege for me.  I look forward to my times with these kids.  I am so glad that this family has become a part of our church family.  They like most young families, they are often very busy.  This is a bummer at times.

From Sunday night our numbers grow to 11 for about a month while a student's parents take a short furlough to the US.  Eleven!

Gearing up for a couple of fall activities, so that planning and preparation work also keeps us busy.

Recently for the kids, Skyler has moved up to a green with a white stripe belt (5th kyu) in his karate class.  We are proud of him.  This test Skyler was much more focused and worked on much better form than ever before.  This shows so much growth for him and for those who know my son, know this is huge.  He has shown a fresh desire to grow in karate, and I know this is something that will shape a bit of who he is.  I am so glad that we chose to stick with karate, even in those times that we as parents were ready to give up for him, we still hung in there.  Tomo is working on recognizing his ABC.  He has been copying a lot of writing lately, so I have made the shift to try to teach him reading.  He is a little resistant in wanting to learn, but I think that he is coming around.  His curiosity about what he is writing is starting to get the better of him.  Besides, the promise of being able to read what the i-pod says when he plays a game is appealing too.  Maya is starting to talk up a storm.  Watch out world...here she comes!  We have also put a little bit more emphasis on potty training.  It is going all right, and I know that I have plenty of time to get her through the diaper wearing stage.  Her natural desire to be big and independent like her brothers will be what wins out in the potty training task.  I know that when I work with Tomo on reading, she is always right there.  She is also listening in on Skyler's school time too.  I often hear her singing songs that are little more than singing random letters.  It totally tickles me.  It is like she has taken spelling, phonics, and singing and made her own songs.  I love it!  I suppose at this rate, I might expect her to be the earliest reader of the bunch, but we will have to see what happens.  At the very least, she will be an amazing speller and well versed in phonics.  Homeschooling really intrigues me from the point of view of having a full timer as a 5th grader, and a part timer as a kindergartener.  Before much longer I will have to give some serious thoughts to having a middle schooler, grade schooler, and preschooler all at once!  Aaaggh!  That will be when life gets REALLY interesting.  The one thing that will change is that by that time, we will no longer be caring for the international students any longer.  But more on that some other time.

Just as a side note, when I changes phones, I also lost my pedometer.  That happened about the same time as we were settling into this house.  I had wondered how that affected my daily step count.  I picked up a pedometer so I could once again pursue my daily 10,000 steps.  I was surprised at what I found out.  This house requires more steps!  In our old house, I could pull off about 6,000 and never leave the house.  In this house, I easily do 10,000 without ever stepping out of the house.  I still walk or bike everywhere, so that adds up.  I am also doing a Zumba workout 2-4 times a week (this is something Maya and I do together because she loves dancing).  On those days, I can score 20,000 steps.  

On that note, time to go take some more steps (at 3pm I only have taken 11,812 steps today).  To teach English, I go!

Undokai 2011

 If you click on the picture, it is a link to the photo album of the pictures from undokai.   I would have liked to have edited and made into a neater slide show, but today has been busy with getting ready for thrift shop.  Be glad to see that behind us.  Starting to feel much lighter though!

Here is the oldest class, the one above my son's class, marching.  This kids are all either 5 or 6.  The first song they play is the school's song.  The second song is "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In".  I have a video of the kids singing the school song and a video of Tomo's class doing their dance routine.

But for now, I need to make supper and get back to pricing things for thrift store.  If you are in the area, come to CAJ's thrift store on Saturday.

One for the road...I got a video of my silly girl this morning.  She cracks me up by saying cheese like I was going to take pictures of her.