It's Great To Be 3~~~~!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY BOY~!~

Life in a box??

Could fit your life in a box?  If someone politely knocked on your door and asked that you fit everything in a box?  How would you respond?  Would you declare it impossible?    All is quiet in my house, everyone is off playing or working, maybe a little of both.  I start moving books, arranging things, and tossing out that which no longer has a purpose.  I find my self standing in the middle of my living room, spinning in circles.  Where do I put it all.  Surely we will need ____ fill in the blank.  These days my mind seems as blank as my statements.  Drifting from chore to chore,  always thinking of tomorrows tomorrow.  

How will they adjust to daddy leaving?  How will I?  Can we really do this again?  Is it fair to any of us?  Can I spend my nights worrying?  The music is stopping, the dance is over.  It is time once again to regroup.  Pull my self up by my bootstraps (God, I hate that saying).  Hold on to the days, and weeks we have remaining.  The sense of normalcy that has existed in the cloud of tomorrow.  

I stand in my teenage sons room, knowing it will hit him the hardest.  The packing, moving, saying good bye. How do I teach him to plant roots, nurture them, add a bit of love and watch it grow?  The sudden feeling of pain hits me, like a bullet no one ever sees.  For just a moment I sit on the edge of his bed, and pray that this is our road.  I pray that this distance that seems to exists will close.  Like a marathon runner, grabbing for water.  I keep moving, always moving, spinning in circles.  

The phone rings.  "Hello".  Oh, hi. How are you?"  Always about you.  Whoever you are.  I don't seem to be able to remember the conversation, though I do try.  It drifts by like the scent of last nights rain.  Maybe if I stand real still and shut my eyes, concentrate I can find it.  

Back to spinning, my head hurts, or maybe it's my heart.  Make a cup of coffee, sit down, open the box.  My box.  What a pretty green piece of paper.  As  I begin to read.  Peyton Gage...  Born in Honolulu Hawaii.  My mind drifts back to that one special day.  That perfect moment.  Holding him, crying, casting a line to hold onto this memory.  I can almost smell the flowers that are in constant bloom around me.  I remember first days of school, watching the surfers on the North Shore.  And, how Christopher declared himself the next professional surfer.  Watching the dancers perform dances of their history.  Movements in time taught to them by their mothers, and their mothers mothers.  Always close to those who connect them.  Like the stitching of a soft, to often washed quilt.  Each square representing someone to hold onto.  For a fleeting second I want to scream. Where is my quilt?  My soft stitching to hold onto?

I am snapped back to reality by the phone ringing.  "Hello,  yes thank you for calling me back.  Yes, I need to reserve a room for July 6.  Yes, we are PCS'ing in.  Thank You, yes, 45 days should be plenty of time to find a house.  You have a good day.  Thank You again".  

Spinning again, 45 days, no way.  How will we manage that.  The slow ache hits again.  In that moment I remember again, he will once again be gone.  Flown off to some far away place.   A green bag his only existence.  A few wrinkled photographs to remind him we are here. How does he separate the then from now?  Does he shut his eyes, cast his own fragile line and try and hold on?  The constant movement, shifting of the sand, erodes away the safe.  

I move back to my box, moving, sorting, touching the past.  A beautiful Christmas ornament, made by tiny hands.  Careful not to use to much glue. His smile of  missing teeth, a crooked bottom lip.  I rub my thumb across the photo card, taking care not to tear it.  Some day I will need the evidence that we were all here.  Existing in the in between spaces.   What year was this taken?  Shit, I can't remember.  Flip it over, there should be a date.  My hands begin to shake, I can't find the date.  Think.  How old was he 5.  Ok, that would be 2004.  I remember, we lived on Iriquoius.  Spent our days at the beach, watching the jets take off.  Building castles, reading stories, making plans.  Always making plans.  

Reaching into my box, I realize this is my quilt, my stitching.  This tiny plastic container holds my dance, my music, my roots.   I close my eyes once again, take a deep breath and close my box.   The spinning stops.   I grab my coffee it has gone as cold as the floor beneth my feet.  No mater, I can make more.  As I stand up I hear the key in the lock.  One more deep breath, and I smile.  Here they come.  My oldest is first through the door. "hey, mom, can I go to John's"?  Peyton follows behind, his little legs always fighting to catch up "mommy, I go to the park with Noah".  There behind the noise and clatter he stand.  That crooked lip grin he passed onto our son.  I reach out, take his hand, and cast a line... 

There is not a book shelf big enough!!! Thanks AMI.MENTAL you ROK!

A while back Ami. Mental sent us these AMAZING Star Wars books.  The boys  have read them 5 times now.  Noah has declared them HIS!     Asking to take them home on vacation with us.  I think we have compromised and will be taking 1 to show everyone.   

As I spend my rainy weekend cleaning and sorting STILL for our packout I stood there for a moment wondering where we will put these books.  Right now they are on Noah's small bed side table.    I NEED more storage space!  Someone, anyone come and save me from my JUNK!  It is drowning us.     Japanese houses are small,  I mean tiny.  Me and my HUGE, BIG, GINORMOUS, family of 5 have to find a way to fit.   I think we will just spend the day reading our ginormous books and worry about storage next week.... 

A little science and a lot of fun...

I was cleaning out or school cabinet (we can not take everything) and came across *slime* that I ordered a few weeks ago. This stuff was great to play with. Christopher, Peyton and I learned (well played) for hours. Christopher does attend the middle school for science class and his teacher is AMAZING. Everything is hands on. So for home school we focus more on math and writing. Every once in a while we need to do something just fun. Noah wanted to ride bikes with a friend. I saved some so we can learn later.

Christopher blew bubbles and we talked about how the GOOP changed as he added air. We also talked (and read in our science encyclopedia) about gravity, solids, and liquids. We read the ingredients and looked a few of them up. Learning can be fun....

Christopher squeezed the goop between his fingers. The more he squeezed the harder the substance would get.

Him and Peyton would pull and pull to try and break it. At one point it did break. So we put it back in the bowl and once again it was more of a liquid.

Christopher started out with a ball holding it up, and watched it slowly drip into the bowl. He did manage to make a mess all over the floor, so he cleaned it up! Home economics and science all rolled into 1. ha ha

Peyton loved his first science class. He made one HUGE mess. The good thing about this goop is cleaning it up was a breeze. I just used a dry cloth to absorb the moisture, then bleached the cabinet to get the blue off.

After we played, Ian got to clean the baby up!

Ian and I are discussing how school will look in Sasebo. Christopher will more then likely attend a few classes. His new school will have roughly 25, seventh graders. Small by any standards. Noah will be coming home daily at 10 am. He seems to be falling behind due to the writing issues we have. We have incorporated a mini recorder, and doing most of his work on the computer. It is helping tremendously. Anyone have any suggestions on curriculum for a fourth grader with Dysgraphia? Please pass them along.

Cause I'm Leavin on a jet plane!!!!!

OK, so it's almost the same.. True we are not flying into outer space, and it's totally not dangerous at all. In my case I have kids, and well OK it's not remotely the same. I just like this version of the song. BUT! We have our flight itinerary. We are in fact leaving...... Flying to Seattle, then Denver, then on to OKC. We are all super excited to get home and spend a month (yep, 30 entire days) with family and friends. So, go ahead listen to it twice. You know you want to.

Someday I will learn.... Maybe?

A few months ago I bought a book for Jason, for his birthday.   Gathered a few things from the 100 yen shop for him and his family and sent the box out.  I never did get an e mail from Jason confirming he received the box, but I just figured he was busy.   

So, yesterday Ian received  a notice that I had a package.  Not expecting anything I was super excited that maybe Amy's 24 had arrived in record time.  Off I skip to Ian's job (because they won't give me my own box), and what do I find?  Jason's box.   It seems I screwed up.  To send a box from a foreign country you must fill out a customs form.  I am used to it, have done it for years.  No big deal here.   Unless of course you don't understand the Japanese language, or know that some words have more then 1 meaning.  

I sent Jason a Bento box,  here in Japan that can mean either a reusable lunch box, or a prepackaged lunch.  Well cleaver me thought Jason would get a kick out of having a real Japanese style lunch box.  You know for work...  Turns out the customs people though I sent him a prepackaged lunch.  ha,ha!   I could send him shrimp and cabbage, but somehow I don't think he would eat it.   So, we are going to try this one more time.....  

I am just happy it was returned before we moved. 

In  other news, well shit I don't have any other news.  We are having a nice quiet weekend here at home.  Enjoying doing NOTHING.. Maybe watching a movie or 2.  Maybe I will sleep till noon.  Oh the possibilities.   

Have a great day........

Just when I thought I had it down....

The Navy throws us a curve ball.  My plan was to do a series of posts about transferring OCONUS.  Tossing out my plethora of knowledge.  Well it is time to rethink all of that.  I have been (trying) to work on a post about shipping your household goods.  Having moved 7 times in 9 years I sort of thought I had it down to a science.  

Go to the outbound shipping office and pick up a packet for HHG shipment.  Fill out said packet, bring a copy of the all important orders (remember your POA) and schedule your appointment to get your appointment.  If you are going OCONUS bring your DEA.   Sounds easy enough, and it was.  Our pack out (for our household goods)  was scheduled for May 6 & 7.  Our express shipment (this consists of sheets, towels, a small TV, a few pots and pans to cook with) would be taken on May 28.  The express was tentative pending a copy of our flight information. They can't take everything until they know you are flying out and will no longer need it. Isn't that nice of them? 

 Having 3 kids to teach part time, trying to coordinate Graduate school in Sasebo, and just daily life has me feeling a little behind the 8 ball.   Yesterday I though I would get a head start on sorting and purging the house.  This is something that I HIGHLY recommend.  Take the extra week and just de clutter.  It makes for happier unpacking on the other end.  Knowing we will live in a Japanese Cho style house is a HUGE incentive.  We will more then likely be moving into a much smaller home.  

I decided the best places to start were the dinning room ( I have a bakers rack and cabinet that seem to play catch all) and Noah's room.  So there Peyton and I were, cleaning and tossing out BAGS of junk.  Singing Bon Jovi and having a merry time.  When the phone rings.  A nice gentleman , Mr. Yamamoto was calling to rain on my parade.  After turning Bon Jovi down to a reasonable level so I could hear the conversation, I learned we are not entitled to an express shipment.  Nope, No Sir E Bob.  Everything has to go at the same time.  What?  Well Shit!!  OK, so just move our pack out date to May 27 & 28.  Problem solved and it gives me more time to sort and purge.  But wait. The only way they can give me those dates are if they have a copy of our flight itinerary.  Remember they have to KNOW we truly will be moving, before they can take away everything. Yeah, right, that is so not going to happen this far out.  Many phone calls later, and with the help of Mr. Yamamoto we have been given the dates on good faith that we are in fact leaving, and will be moving out of our house on the 28 Th.   Now we pray the paperwork goes smooth as silk...

We are down to 42 days left living in our house.  42!  I am no longer doing big grocery shopping.  What we have in the deep freeze, and cabinets needs to be eaten.  I see a lot of Chicken and pasta in our future.  I have placed a moratorium on buying ANYTHING that is not absolutely needed for survival.  With the 1 exception of a portable DVD player.  Chalk that up to keeping my sanity.  Flying for 16 plus hours, followed by driving for days, with a 3 year old we NEED it.   

I have written up  my last list.  Each duty station I write up a list of things I want to do, or see 1 last time.  My list is longer then days I have left.   I want to see Monkey Island one more time.  Take the kids to Kuriama flower world one last time.  Have lunch in Tokyo one last time... You get the point.   Anyone want to come take care of my house for 41 days, why I am out doing my one lasts???   Anyone?

A Real live Mother Farm, Mickey Mouse and Spring....

We have had a busy week. Spring has sprung, the weather is beautiful and we are running all over Japan. Enjoying the last few weeks we have left here in Yokosuka.  

We were able to take a trip Strawberry picking and to The Mother Farm. Milking cows, watching pig races, and sheering sheep were just some of the things we were able to do at the mother farm.
The place we picked strawberries was actually a small farmer and his wives land.  Each person was given a bowl of cream and allowed to pick as many strawberries as they could eat.  Noah can sure pack away the strawberries.

Christopher and I waited on the bus (we are allergies) for Ian, Noah and Peyton to enjoy their fill of Strawberries.

poor Peyton just couldn't keep up with everything.  We did learn this week that he has severe motion sickness.  We will be stocking up on ginger for the flight home.  

I have enjoyed traveling the farm country here in Japan. So many flowers, and wide open spaces. Away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the country side is wonderful. I could live here forever .

While at the Mother Farm the boys got the run a maze. This was the biggest maze I have ever seen. You get a ticket, punch it at the entrance, then find all 3 of the watch towers. Once you find the watch tower, go up top and stamp your ticket. After you find all 3 you have to then find the exit and get your ticket stamped again.



I want a maze in my yard, one I can change daily. This kept the boys busy for a good long time.

Once you are finished you keep your ticket for a scrap book. Christopher finished it in 11 minutes. Noah finished in 15.

Peyton and I got to ride on the dogie bus.    The day before each trip I would find the website and show it to Peyton.  He just seems to do better if he knows a bit about what we are doing.  He saw the picture of the dogie bus and that is all he talked about.  Once we arrived he spied the bus and took off like a shot.  

This is also the week the Sakura (Cherry Blossom trees) are in full bloom. The base opened the gates and allowed the Japanese people to come and have a wonderful time with us. We walked around taking pictures, and taking with the Japanese people here on base.






These trees are beautiful... I have added a picture of one to my some day dream house scrap book. I want to plant one in my yard...




Yesterday we took the boys to Tokyo Disneyland. What a magical day. I have to say I LOVE Toontown. The RogerRabit ride was a hoot. Spinning and twirling... I don't think we have laughed that much in ages. Disney Land is great for kids of all ages. Christopher and Ian were able to enjoy their roller coasters, and Peyton, Noah and I raced around in Buzz Light year cars.

Trying to get pictures with the Characters is CRAZY. There are no lines, or semblance of order in Disneyland. The people just mob the characters once they appear. Peyton loved all of the life sized characters. And, so did I!!!!








There were several parades, and shows for us all to watch. We were all like little kids in a candy store. Clapping and having a good time. I think I want to do Peyton's room in Sasebo all in Disney Characters. I plan to frame some of the pictures from yesterday.... It really is a magical place.

While we were standing in line for the Rocket ride we meet a nice Japanese family. The mother and daughter were very interested in the boys. Asking about their age, where they are from, and how they liked visiting Japan. Christopher explained that we lived here and they had even more questions. After the ride we all sat and had a great chat.




I love this picture.  Peter Pan was telling the boys how to stand.  After the photo was taken, Christopher said "mom, he kinda of scares me".    

Peyton wanted to just keep driving the cars all day long.  It was the first ride we rode on.  It took a while for him to understand that everything there is fun.   It was cute to see him run from attractions, to character, to shows.     




I had to take a picture of this sign.  Disneyland here in Tokyo seems to have suggestions and not many hard and fast rules.    

We are going to have to go back to Disney.  The Monsters INC.  ride was not open.  We could spend another 2 or 3 days there.   

We have had a wonderful time.  Ian was able to be home for most of it.  He did get called in a few times, but that is to be expected.    I feel like I am down to my 1 more list.  Going to all the places, restaurants, and shops just 1 more time.  I would love to add Disneyland to my 1 more list.   

Just to add,  we did try the soy sauce and butter popcorn and it was GOOD!  Some other flavors we saw were curry, black pepper, strawberry, carmel, and honey.     We did NOT try the curry corn.   

OK, time to go finish season 2 of 24.    

Any and all spelling and grammatical errors are Ian's......

We have run head long into the.....

Gawky phase of boyhood!!!