Halloween 2010

Charlotte does not think we're as clever as we do. Hehe.


This year, a bunch of my fun neighbors decided to host a carnival on "Play Street" the night before Halloween. Play street is a street (with a grass island in the middle) that runs behind the back of the houses across the street from us. It has Do Not Enter signs to keep cars out, a communal trampoline, and a variety of discarded play equipment which seems to belong to no one in particular. It's also a great place for parties.


Naturally, since there was going to be free food, we invited the Elders...



And handsome Elders, they were. Troy put forth a token effort with his costume (which was more than I could say for myself) and Coree came up with the oh-so-clever, "Smartie Pants". Only, she was traumatized by the little children in the costume parade pulling the candy off of her clothing.



Lots of cute details in the food and activities. (And don't you just love the rednecks up in the left corner? This is what leadership in our church has come to...heaven help us all.)



Our adorable neighbors decorating cookies.



Elder Stuart approves of the offerings.



Aloha Cliff lends a hand with the food.



The fun went on into the night.



Jake, I mean...Elder Stuart, tried his luck at musical chairs.



Even the teens had a good time. Although, right after this, Troy told me to stop trying to act like a cool mom, because I was failing. Nice, huh? When is he leaving for his mission, again?

It's a Party in the USA...or Okinawa

Remember when I told you about my kids and their friends making this music video here? And how they were already working on another? Well work, they did...keeping the details tightly under wraps. I knew it was going to be good. (I mean, the last one was good, right?) But I knew nothing else of it.


They decided to keep it a secret until the "premier" at Josh's going-away-to-Stanford party, two nights before he left. The living room was packed when I arrived...I was SO excited! All I knew was my kids had been taking off to locations all around the island, with various costume demands. I knew the older three were involved in some capacity...but had no idea who was doing what.

The movie started, and I was in AWE! Before you go on...go watch it here. Right now. You won't be sorry. Then come back...

I laughed, I cried...it was better than CATS! I could not believe how creative and funny it was.

Some FAQs:

• Josh Jones was the master-mind, director, main choreographer and star. He also did all of the editing (the hardest part).
  
• Stuart family stats: Troy did 80% of the filming, even though he didn't appear in this one. Patrick was the cowboy and also helped with the filming and choreography. Coree was a dancer/flag waver.
• The other kids were from our church and the two military high schools here (mostly Kubasaki). Most of them are military kids...some are kids of contractors or teachers.
• They were able to appear alone in the American Village intersection because they filmed at 7 AM when it was empty. Even then, they waited for the pedestrian lights (traffic stops in all directions) and ran out for about 30 seconds of filming...20 times over!
• The intersection at Kokusai St. was busier, but they did the same thing...waiting for the light, running out to dance and running back. They had to time the Jumbotron shot with every 4th pedestrian light when it filmed the cross walk. Wild, huh?
• They had locals following them, filming their filming and requesting pictures with them. I'm sure they'd be sorry to learn they were not really famous. ALL of the Okinawans/Japanese they encountered were lovely, smiling, waving, laughing. It was a great experience.
• The video took off like a wildfire. It's been shared on Facebook newsfeeds over 10,000 times and viewed over 38,000 times on YouTube (and that doesn't count the Facebook views). The comments are so heartwarming, from people who have lived here before and miss it so much. Everyone is so grateful these kids highlighted so many cool things about this place.
• The kids are going to be interviewed on AFN!

The sucky part of all of this...this was a goodbye party, remember? While this video was going viral, Josh was flying back to the USA to attend Stanford. It was a bittersweet time, with lots of moping. The video was an excellent diversion, however. Ma Jones (the other stage mom) and I have been a little obsessed with it, actually...confessing to watching it first thing in the morning and last thing at night...and lots of times in between.




It's been fun for the kids to be recognized at school and other places. You just never know how something you do will impact others. I think this will be one of our kids' favorite memories of our stay here...I know it's one of mine!

Our Country Tis of Thee

Admittedly, this is probably more of a grandparents post than anything...unless you are a real American history buff...otherwise, you can probably just skip this post altogether.


Jake's class put on a fabulous production celebrating American history called, "Our Country Tis of Thee". Jake was not only the student director, but he had some speaking parts as well. They performed the play at night for the parents, but it was the same time as the Sr. dinner last night, so we had to send him alone. Luckily, they performed it for the school yesterday morning, so we were still able to catch it.



He came out to say hello while the classes were getting seated. I should have snapped the picture a few seconds earlier to catch Coree's real expression when I asked her to put her arm around her brother. She looks way too innocent and compliant here.



This was before the show started...so I'm not sure why the girls have their mouths open. Maybe they were talking to friends?



Maybe I'm just sappy...or maybe it's just because I've been away from home for too long...but I actually started to get weepy here. I tend to tear up at the National Anthem, so I guess it's not too out of character for me.



I vaguely remember Jake saying he was going to portray Patrick Henry...but he never asked for any help memorizing any lines...never said anything about it...so I was surprised at this part.



Hey...at least I didn't make you sit through all Thirteen Colonies...just the cutest one!



Careful...this one will get stuck in your head...and when was the last time you heard "Cumberland Gap"? Fifth grade? Me too.



My favorite thing about this number? Dudes from the Revolution doing "Turkey in the Straw" with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
LOVE the composite costumes!



The number representing the Civil War was kind of long and boring (how photogenic is a long, still scene of Taps being played in a graveyard?) but I wanted to capture the special effects here. (Ooooohhhh! Aaaaahhhh!)

(I also spared you from the number on "The New Deal". See...don't you appreciate me now?)



"Don't forget to dot the i...for the inventor...don't forget to dot the i." LOVE it!



Jake's facial expressions are priceless...and how about that choir of prepubescent voices? This is the good stuff!



Yea! Dad got to come, too! I know Jake felt very special that Dad was able to sneak away from work for an hour for him.

And this is Mr. Johnson...Jake's teacher and the man behind the magic. I can't imagine how much work that took to teach these kids the musical numbers, the DANCING, and their speaking parts. We were so impressed...and you know these kids are going to remember every detail of these numbers, because they were history lessons set to music, and music just works like that.

Bravo, Mr. Johnson's class...great job!

Flashback Friday...Break A Leg!

In honor of Patrick's upcoming play, I decided today we'd flashback three years to his last play, Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing", where he played the part of villain, "Don Jon" and did a very convincing job.


Sorry the pictures are so lousy...it's the best I could do in the dark without flash (and my limited photog skillz).











Here he is during intermission. Doesn't he look evil? In a cute sort of way? On the left side is director, Susan Taylor. She did such a fabulous job!



Just like in Patrick's upcoming play here...many male parts were played by girls. I know who's who...but can you tell?



Patrick is so at home on the stage. He's always been a joy to watch. The rest of the kids went to watch him last night on opening night and said he was fabulous. We had a schedule conflict last night and tonight, so opted for closing night. They should have it down perfect by then, right? Can't WAIT to go tomorrow!

Occupational Hazard

I heard the front door open at the usual "activity bus" time, and this face walked down the hall...


Just a day in the life of a Pirate of Penzance.

Can't wait to see his swashbuckling play.

(OK, so I'm teasing...he's not going to wear silver buckle slippers and tight, shiny pants*...He's performing in Treasure Island.)

*Anyone remember that song?

Wacky Tacky Wednesday

Oh what a wacky adventure we had tonight. It was "Wacky Tacky" night for the Young Women's group at Church. The girls were really looking forward to this. Patrick helped Coree put together her outfit...he's a wacky-tacky whiz, evidently.

Then we had to pick up friends...



And stop by Lawson...not just to purchase the requisite chocolate for the price of admission...

But to see how we could serve as ambassadors for America.

We arrived at Church and sized up the competition. I have to say, these girls won, hands down. (Except for the one on the far left. That's her work uniform. We didn't bring her along.)

Chocolate was eaten, Personal Progress goals were signed off. Then it was time to make the trek home. As we pulled up to the first major intersection, our van-load of teens spotted a bunch of Japanese school kids waiting at a bus stop. The light was red and they asked (no...BEGGED!) if I would let them jump out and go for pictures. Before I knew what I was saying, I agreed and they flung the door open and ran....leaving me to circle the block and pick them back up.


Is it just me, or do these boys look less than enthusiastic about this whole thing?



The girls, on the other hand, thought this was the best thing since Anpanman. When I came back around and pulled up to the curb, I rolled down the window so I could eavesdrop. The Japanese girls were asking our girls (in slow, but cute, awkward English) questions about themselves. When they asked one "How old are you?" and she answered, "16"...they all started screaming like they'd just seen a movie star. I believe what they were saying was, "Me too!!!" It was so cute. They took pics, we took pics...there was lots of waving and giddiness (and that was just Patrick...jk...but doesn't he look pleased here?).



They were so sweet to pose for one final picture...for the nerdy photographer mom in the front seat of the van. I guess that means I can officially stop stalking them for pics of their uniforms.

Anyhoo, after we got everyone dropped off, we (Cliff) were determined to go out as a family. We had put off dinner...and it was now almost 9 PM. This would be our last opportunity for awhile since Cliff was headed to Korea for a month. We headed down to American Village to see how late Sushi-Go-Round was open. Till 10...YES!

And in honor of Wacky-Tacky night...



I had to select this from the conveyor belt. Tuna salad...with a cherry on top. Yum!



What am I ever going to do without Sushi-Go-Round?



The six of us ate to our hearts content...to the tune of about $50. Yes...$50 for sushi for SIX people. The most we have ever spent was around $70...and that's because we stayed awhile till we could fit more in our bellies.

When are you booking your tickets?

Beatnik Coffee House and Fright Night

Patrick's drama class puts on a "Coffee House" each quarter. It's a way to raise funds for the drama program, and let them perform for an adoring audience as well.

I'm not exactly sure whose accent he's channeling here. It seems to travel around between Boston, Brooklyn, Britain and speech impediment. But I'm sure with some practice he can flesh them all out.


He really seems to be in his element here.


Soaking in the acclaim.



Patrick and his teacher. The kids LOVE her.



Then we had to rush of to Foster Fright Night, where some friends and I were serving up taco rice for a good cause (the football association).



Troy came by for dinner after he helped out in the dental department of the haunted house (that is SO wrong).


And Patrick ran around with friends balloon sword fighting. Tough job. Someone's gotta do it.