Persimmons and Curtains

In our backyard is the largest persimmon tree that I have seen in our walks all over base. We have been really excited to watch them ripen this fall. It also draws flocks of hungry crows that the girls enjoy scaring off.

This is our first experience with persimmons and we've learned that when they are not ripe they dry out your mouth and make your face implode. Luckily Ryan talked to an elderly Japanese man who said that persimmons ripen after the first frost. We counted the snowfall from last week as a frost and Ryan and the girls went out and harvested as much as we thought we could handle. They had a great time.

We made three batches of jam already and have only used 1/3 of our harvest from only 1/2 of the tree.

Here are our triple pleat or French pleat curtains. I am really proud of them. Our room is like a cave now when we close them. Ryan is all ready to go on night shift again because sleeping during the day will be much easier.

Let it snow!

Last week it snowed for the first time. It was warm enough that Helen was able to roll snowman balls all by herself. Which is just as well as my bending ability is not great right now.

Here are the girls enjoying the great snowy outdoors. The thick, wet snow did not treat Jane so well. She ended up picking up an inch of snow on her boots with each step. Once she had walked 4 feet she was stuck on 6 inch platforms and would just whimper.

All that snow put Ryan in the mood for Christmas. Here are the girls helping to trim the tree.

This picture reminds me of a snapshot that may have been taken of Emily and I when we were little.

Food Fun in Japan

For Family Home Evening two weeks ago we tried making caramel apples. We didn't have any popsicle sticks, but instead of giving up I remembered that we had 50 wooden chopsticks that we have been using at home to practice. A couple of taps with Ryan's rubber mallet and we were good to go. Keep a special eye on Jane.

Now Ryan has never been the biggest fan of caramel apples, so I decided that we could doctor them up with some melted chocolate and nuts.

Helen loves caramel apples and was more than happy to help make and eat them.

Last week I went to the market and decided to be really adventurous. This is some of what I came back with that I made into a vegetable soup. The girls and I had to look up what they were in the vegetable book I bought when I was in India 3 years ago.

Happy National Bundt Cake Day!

Once again it is time for one of Ryan's favorite national holidays. This year I decided to think out of the normal double chocolate box and made a Pumpkin Cake with a brown sugar streusel ribbon running through the middle. It was the streusel that sold it for me, and perhaps I am working on getting Ryan to accept other desserts in replacement of pumpkin pie, which I do not appreciate at all. It turned out delicious. Helen said I made it a "funny cake" by putting lines on it. I hope you appreciate the flowers in the background. I got those at the market for 150 yen. Not bad at all.

Fall is in the air

I feel like we have been spoiled by a lovely fall. The leaves are all brilliant yellows and reds and it hasn't been very cold or rainy at all. I don't know if that is normal for Misawa, but we will take it. The girls and Ryan have had a lot of leaves to rake up. Luckily they all love it. I think Ryan's favorite part is throwing leaves on the girls. My favorite part is the three year old working hard.

Baby Seat Cover

A couple of weeks ago I panicked because I realized that I was going to have a winter baby and I had nothing really to protect him or her from the blowing snow. After I took a few deep breaths and doing a serious google search I found this great pattern. It only took me two days, leftover flannel and extra sheet fabric that I used to make a valence for the girls bedroom last year. I am particularly proud of that stripe. It just kind of landed in the right spot over the end of the car seat on both sides. Brilliant.

Clearly we are not ready for the baby to come yet, if this picture of the car seat in disarray is any indicator.

Happy Japan Day!

Last week we celebrated Japan Day on base. It turned out to be the perfect activity for Helen. A bunch of volunteers came on base and taught kids how to write in Japanese, decorate with flowers, make hair pretties, play games and instruments. Helen learned how to write mountain and her name in Japanese.

We also learned how to arrange flowers together.

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!

"Exercise! -- Exercise! -- Exercise!" That's what the loud public announcement system shouts 10x a day all over base during our frequent training exercises. The announcement follows with directions like "Code Black!" or "MOPP 4!", but our girls interpret it as a call to do jumping jacks. Michelle captured one of our most intense exercise sessions on tape, for your enjoyment below.

Happy Halloween

This year Ryan and Helen worked together to make her Halloween costume. I am not sure who had more fun of the two. It must be noted that they were not painting in the rain, as Helen's poncho would suggest, rather Ryan is trying to keep her from becoming red from head to foot.

Here Helen is showing you the neat trick of how she can disappear into a Lego. My favorite thing that Helen said while in costume was, "It is hard for Legos to walk down stairs."

Helen was the only Lego that we saw during our two trick-or-treating events. In fact, Ryan commented on the "surprising lack of box costumes." To which I concurred, but didn't understand. I confessed that I had been a box for most Halloweens except for the time I was a stick of gum. Ryan said that hardly counted as not being a box, since I was two boxes put together.

Jane got to be a crocodile for Halloween. She was so excited. Jane has watched Helen dress up in this outfit for most of her life. I have to admit this is the first time the costume has been used for what it was intended, by the correct sized child.

Curtain Project

I have to admit that I have been known to start big projects, but I think this was the first time that the scripture Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and ^acounteth the ^bcost, whether he have sufficient to ^cfinish it? would apply. In this particular interpretation of the scripture my "sufficient" would include all of the following, a. expertise, b. fabric, c. time to finish in less than a month.

In my defense, we needed curtains badly and they had to be lined. There is no daylight savings here, and the sun in the summer rose around 3:30am. Hence the aluminum foil you see in the window. Mothers are desperate when it comes to their children's sleep. The sun now is up before Ryan comes home from work at 5:30am, but I'm not sure the exact time.

How to make curtains in Japan. 1. Check out all the books (two) at the library on curtain making and hope no one else decides to make curtains over the next year. 2. Measure and remeasure the windows and then convert everything to centimeters. 3. Go to fabric store and practice the Japanese words you have practiced for the event. 4. Buy the fabric and make sure you have extra. 5. Whoops, they don't have black-out fabric in Japan. You should have ordered it a month ago from the States. 6. Combine panels of fabric and then lining. 7. Sew pennies in as weights. 8. Attach fabric and lining together by hand. 8. Add heading tape. 9. Gather curtains using sweet trick with thread and twine. 10. Insert hooks. 11. Hang curtains. 12. Threaten children with adverse consequences if they touch the curtains. Note: Any and all of these steps will likely be repeated until you become proficient, which is just as well because the master bedroom needs curtains next.

The girls love their new curtains. They are hot pink with Japanese fans on them. What is not to love?

Camping at Lake Towada

Last month we drove half way across the island and up the mountains to Lake Towada (largest crater lake on Japan's main island) for a camping trip.

The road snaked through the Orise Gorge, and you can pull off and hike up to different waterfalls as long as there was a) room enough and b) warning sufficient to pull over. We didn't actually find this map until we left the park which, would have been helpful in finding said waterfalls.

Here is Ryan's favorite sign. I don't know about you, but I think this particular bear looks more menacing than a grizzly bear and it seems more than likely that he knows karate.

We found a great nature center by Lake Towada where you could push buttons next to the names of birds (written in Japanese characters) and the birds in the display sang. The girls could have spent hours there.
Here is the view from our campsite. We were the only ones camping that night, so we choose the flattest spot with the most picturesque view.
This is what it looks like to wake up after freezing all night. We took a page from the book of Lucinda Johnson's Guide to Camping and wore all the cloths we had packed to stay warm.

Here we are at our Japanese picnic table. It was a little tricky with no seats for the girls, but they had fun 'bellying up to the bar.'

This picture affirms that these are Ryan's girls. Before we were married Ryan always thought it was fun to close his eyes for pictures. Somehow this trait has been passed on genetically regardless of all the fine nurturing I give these girls.
Here we are along the Orise Gorge trail. I asked Helen if she liked camping and she said camping was okay but she liked hiking better.
Helen and Michelle at a waterfall.
Ryan and happy Jane. We don't really know what this sign says, probably please stay on the trail and don't litter.
Happy, happy hikers.

Happy Columbus Day!

In honor of Columbus Day we made boats based on the pattern we learned from reading Curious George. We didn't have any frogs, ducks or bugs to put in the boats, so Helen grabbed some elephants.

Sadly it was raining outside so we had to launch the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria in the bathtub.