It's a Space Shuttle Wing!

The big day finally arrived...Jake got his cast removed! (Well, removed when it was SUPPOSED to be removed this time, hehe.) He now gets to wear his AFO boot, but is only allowed to bear 50% of his weight on it. He still has to use the crutches for the next several weeks.

Last week, Jake confessed that he thought there was something down his cast. A LEGO. He constructed a gadget with pieces of a clothes hanger and zip-ties to try to remove it. Unfortunately, he couldn't get around his ankle bone to reach the other side of the LEGO and pull it up. It wasn't causing him much pain, so he opted to wait it out until our scheduled appt. We were eager to see which piece it was.

And I'm sure some of you are wondering how a 12 year old accidentally gets a LEGO down his cast. I know I did. But if you visualize a kid sitting on the floor, cross-legged, surrounded by the LEGOs he's playing with...and then he goes to stand up, brushing the top opening of the cast against the ground as he pulls himself up...it's easy to see how a LEGO could slide in there, unnoticed until it is too late to retrieve it.



The ortho tech, working his magic with the cast saw



Jake reminding him of where the incisions are



The big reveal...



And there it is...growing into the side of his leg. Nasty, I know. Sorry about that. You can still see the surgeon's initials on top of his foot. (He signed it the day before surgery to mark which foot would be operated on. In this case, it really didn't matter, we just randomly picked a foot to start with.) Now to scrub that leg...ewww!!!



And just FYI...here's the AFO. It is custom molded for his foot, and will only allow forward motion, not side-to-side...so the bone graft can heal correctly. Here we go with phase two!

Underwater ROV

One of the reasons Jake was looking most forward to getting home, was checking the mail for his underwater ROV robot kit, sent from his awesome homeschool science program, Supercharged Science. The postman did not disappoint.

Most of the stuff SCS sells comes all-inclusive. Except (of course) the one Jake wanted most. So in addition to the $69 plus shipping for the kit, they said we could also expect to spend about $80 in supplies at our local hardware store. {That's if you're not paying in Yen.} Also not factored into the equation would be the frustration of trying to guess what you are really buying since it's all in Kanji...or the confusion that comes along with conveying English measurements (in the English language) to the Okinawan man who is going to be cutting your PVC pipe. All 57 pieces of it.

It made for a fun evening at Make-Man, pushing a cart and a wheelchair...and of course I forgot the camera. Jake couldn't wait to get to work this morning. He set up on the back patio and got to sanding, gluing, drilling and snipping. I left the back door open, just in case he needed emergency assistance. I figured he'd be awhile and I'd get back there to get some pictures when things were really in full swing. I missed my chance. Pretty soon, he came in and announced that it was drying.



That was fast!



Can't wait to see phase two, once the silicone dries. I sure hope the pool lets us try this thing out. Who knows with the government. Otherwise, this is going to be one big fish in one very small bathtub.

You Might Be A Redneck if...

Your laptop is held together with camo-ribbon and duct tape.



One of the hinges to my laptop was already broken and held together with duct tape. This allowed it to stay open just fine, it just couldn't close.



Coree came home from her first day of high school, excited to tell me all about it. (I'll tell you all about it in another post. It's exciting stuff.) Then, as she hefted her 50 lb. backpack, back onto her shoulder, she bumped the corner of the screen and the other hinge snapped, laying the whole thing out. It was kinda funny, but not. I tried duct taping the other hinge, but without anything to support it, it wouldn't stay up. Coree came up with the idea of attaching string (or ribbon) to the corners as a brace.



So there you have it...360 degrees of my redneck laptop. I will use this thing until it's last, dying breath, I swear. This is it ladies and gentlemen. This is where the magic happens. Well, the writing, anyway. I upload the pics from the iMac. When I can get the kids off of it.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

I am SO excited about this post! Remember my post about this video here?

Well, maybe I should back up and first try to explain part of what it's like being an American attached to the military on Okinawa. There is a high concentration of Americans here. We are still a small part of the population overall, but the highest concentration of American military in Japan are stationed on Okinawa...not to mention all the civilians who are here in support of the military (contractors, school teachers, etc.)

Anyway, it would be quite easy to just live your life here going from one base to another, having a totally American experience. Truthfully, that is probably the case here for most Americans...even those who live off base. We have very little dealings with the local population, other than shopping, site-seeing, dining, etc. I don't have any real friends who are Okinawan. Even the ladies I recognize from the culture group {which I participated in last year} in the halls of our church building (we share a building with a Japanese congregation but meet at different times) I don't really know that well...just a little about them. Same with my housekeepers. They are here to do a job and we have a limited ability to communicate with each other.

What I'm trying to say is, for the most part, our daily paths are very different here. We are Americans having a mostly American experience on Okinawa, and the Okinawans are...well...living their normal Okinawan lives. Anytime our cultures come together, it is an exciting thing. I know it is for us, and appears to be for them (in my experience), too.

This is what makes this video so very exciting:


I love these kids! They are so darling. Just in case you are not familiar with the Miley Cyrus video...it has nothing to do with the song, so this video is obviously a remake of the video our kids did, not her video.

We need to arrange a meeting between the two groups this summer when Josh is home. My favorite part is the outtake reel at the end of the video. Josh had actually talked about doing one at the end of his project because there were so many funny moments. I think he should still do it. Stanford can't be taking up too much of his time, can it?



And just for fun, here's a Party in the USA mash-up which includes the video, too.

So sorry if I got that song stuck in your head. Hehe.

Hug-O-War

Another Stuart tradition we started several years ago, is family hugs after family scripture reading/prayer. Everyone gives everyone else in the family a hug and says goodnight. (I even kiss them and tell them I love them, but I don't force them to do this for each other...that just might send them over the edge.) We felt we needed to implement this for a couple of reasons. One, as kids get older, you may think you'll still show them affection on a daily basis...but then you realize the opportunities are harder to come by as paths cross less frequently through the days full of activities. (I don't tuck in my teenagers and read them stories. Haven't for years. If you do, good on ya...but I know my kids would balk at that idea.) The other reason is that the kids would NEVER show each other affection unless someone was leaving on a long trip (and how often does that happen?) or they were forced to.



So, we just decided we'd each get in the habit of hugging each other every night. It's funny to watch the older two boys...who share a room, but will not even change clothes in front of each other. (I'm serious. Cliff and I are NOT overly-modest/prudish people...but dang if we aren't raising kids that way! If we stay in a hotel, no two of them will sleep under the covers together. Someone will have to bring separate blankets to wrap up in. I'm not kidding. Takes the whole "he's touching me!" complaint to a new level. For a close-knit group, they have some weird boundary issues.) Anyway, back to the older two. Their hug is more like a simultaneous chest-bump, double back-slap. They are such dudes.



Coree is such a mommy's girl...she really only wants to be hugged by mom. She would give everyone else a weak little lean-into/arm-pat...if I let her get away with it. Sometimes when I see her do this to one of her brothers, I give her the same quality of hug and when she protests I say, "What? That's how you hugged (fill in the blank)! I thought that's how you liked to be hugged?" Jake loves to hug everyone. This sequence is of Jake trying to force Coree to give him a real hug, instead of the arm-pat she gave him. I told Coree I was going to keep taking pictures of her until she hugged him.



Here we see she does actually know how to hug. In fact, she's hanging on to me for dear life...



Which allows Jake to come in for the kill. She's giggling into my shoulder the whole time. Maybe it's not that she dislikes hugs from brothers as much as she likes to play games? Hmmm. I'm going to have to rethink my gameplan.

Japanese Cell Phones

Our two-year contract with our cell phone company (AU) was up in December. Even though they have the most reception on the island, they are also the most expensive. We were paying upwards of $200 a month for 5 cellphones...for minutes we never used. We just don't use them that often, but really don't feel comfortable not having them, especially since they have saved the day on so many occasions. Things get complicated when kids get their own lives, I tell you.

Anyway, I took a scientific (Facebook) poll to find out what my other options were, trying to find the cheapest, workable alternative. We ended up going with Softbank, the biggest carrier on the island. They have a reputation for a lot of dropped calls, but we will be paying 1/4 the price, with free calls 24/7 to each other, and free calls to any other Softbank user during the hours of 2 AM to 9 PM. (Huh?! So any of you who wanted me to call between 9 PM and 2 AM, sorry...I'm too frugal.) Anyway, we don't typically need to call at length...most of our calls consist of a child saying, "I'm ready to be picked up."

The kids were all ecstatic, because this means they can call and text all their Softbank friends now. (Yippie.) We all went in on the happy day to pick out our new phones. There were several free phone options, in a variety of colors. I figured I'd stick with pink. I looked at all 4 pink options and settled on the coolest looking one. Troy chose a metallic blue (which will end up being Jake's when he leaves this summer, because it didn't make sense to do another 2 year contract for Troy when he'll only be here 6 more months). Coree chose a gold phone and Patrick chose black. After filling out the paperwork, we left so they could program the phones, and I came back alone several hours later to pick them up.

When I returned, they had the phones all boxed and bagged. I pulled mine out and had to laugh!



Yes, this is my phone!



There was no indication by the display model that my phone had anything to do with pouty jelly beans in panties.

The funnier part? Patrick picked out this same phone in black. He just tossed the box before I could get a picture.

Yet Another Christmas Party (Ho...Ho...HO)

Look, kids...more mandatory fun! Yes, we were not quite done with the Christmas festivities. The fun just kept coming. This was the Wing Christmas party, where families were invited...not to be confused with the Wing family Christmas party. Are you following me? Keep up!



The most fun part was walking around the building to see the decorated doors of the various office spaces. I'll dispense with the suspense and post the winner right here. Pretty spectacular, no? Talk about over-achievers.



You may want to click to enlarge this, but basically they used their expertise in the area of awards. This medal is for a certain elf...and the door is complete with navigational tools for Santa, and a Wing naughty and nice list. Well played.



The singing, dancing Grinch was in the conference room, and was a big hit with the kiddos. Incidentally, I'd LOVE to know who made the call to include this guy in their 4000 or less lbs. of household weight allowance with which we get to move over here?



The G-6 played the pop-culture card with "Santa's fly like a G-6" and even had the music video playing on a loop, which you can see up top. Very clever, even if ghetto.



Love the coal. It gets clever points.



And this letter's legalese is SO right on, unfortunately.



This was very cute...love the elves. You might not be able to tell, but they have the faces of the medical personnel.



What you would expect from a Marine, Christmas door-decorating contest.



I guess the Chaplain Dept. went all out last year with a shadow box and nativity scene, and even though it was clearly the best, it didn't even get an honorable mention. Leading to this year's "check in the box" theme.



I don't know about you, but I'm thinking Facebook profile pic!



And late that night, while I was baking in my jammies, the doorbell rang...and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but all the Sr. officers on Plaza, caroling from door to door. What a fun tradition!

It's just around the corner...and I have to finish all this baking!

Handle With Care

I'm not one to bash the Postal Service...mostly because they bring me cool stuff...but the following pictures made me stop and ponder something I once heard. Back when I lived in Illinois in the mid-90s, I did a Pampered Chef party for someone who worked for the Postal Service. She was talking about the craziness of the holiday season...and I remember two pieces of advice from the conversation....only use white or cream colored envelopes for your Christmas cards (dark cards are hard to read) and never mark a package "Fragile". She said that postal workers are extra stressed over the holidays and if they are having a bad day, they may take it out on your fragile package, just for a tension release. I thought it was a bizarre thing to say, and I actually discarded it, especially since I hardly knew this woman and she could have been a crack pot.


Then, I picked this up from the Post Office. Notice the "fragile" label?



Handled with care. So...do you think maybe she had accurate insider information? Or is this a coincidence? Either way, the contents were fine. It did give me a chuckle, though.

Another Christmas Party

'Tis the season of Christmas parties. Lots and lots of them. And we don't even get to attend all of them, because of scheduling conflicts.


This was the MWHS-1 family party. Our kids were SO excited, knowing they would have friends their age there. The military is full of little kids, but is a little lighter on the teenage end of the spectrum.



The highlight of the party? With this crowd, it's not Santa, anymore. It's Sumo-wrestling!



Jake and Nate...mano-a-mano. (or boyo-a-boyo)



Hilarious.



Pretty evenly matched.



This time red (Nate) is on top.



Jake comes back for the win!



Funny to contrast the suits on the 12 year-olds, vs. the 18 year-olds.



Deven says, "Bring it!"



Get a load of the fun, in action.



Troy won, only because Deven got a nose bleed so they made them stop.



Merry Christmas. Peace, out!

Christmas Card Photos

This year's Christmas card photo. Gotta Love Col. Claus! If you don't get one (along with the bragadocious letter) and want to be added to the list, email me your mailing address and I'll send you mine, too. We're already working on ideas for next year.



We drove around several locations to weigh our photo options carefully. Including the zoo. Coree loves giraffes. She voted for this one. I was not climbing up there.



This is what Cliff had in mind.



No one else shared his enthusiasm.



We headed back to the hood to try some things. This was the view we had pulling into the O Club. This is right around the corner from our house. Gorgeous, no?



This one didn't make the cut. Patrick's face was behind Jake's head in all 3 of these shots.



Christmas Card 2010...Teen Angst Edition



The End