Bowling Day

 I wanted to get the kids out of the  house, so I lured them to the bowling alley with promises of cheesy fries.  To my surprise, they actually wanted to bowl as well.  So we did.  Two games even!

Callie and Josh, doing their thing.

They did a pretty good job. 

Rylee just wanted her fries. 

Delaney was feeling triumphant after knocking over some pins. 

 My silly boy.  I know.... the hair.....

Jingle Bell Jog

 Callie volunteered me to chaperone her class for the Jingle Bell Jog. So I did.  I got to walk the mile with them from the school to the gym.  Then we ran most of the 1.5 mile Jog, had yummy lunch at the party, and walked the mile back to the school.  It started raining just as we left to walk back to the school, so that was cold and wet.

Callie and her cool classmates.  And her utterly awesome teacher, Mrs. Billlups.  The Jog had a Grinch theme, in case you couldn't tell!
And the event is open to the entire base.  And a LOT of units participate.  There is nothing more fun than seeing a "sleigh" with Santa in it being pulled by 9 Marines wearing reindeer outfits.  It is a really fun event.

Rylee and her friend Lilly. 

Rylee and her best friend Milly! 

Rylee rocking the hat and antlers. 

 I saw Delaney during the Jog as well!

Look at her go! 

She was particularly pleased with the streamers that trailed out in the wind.... or when she was running. 

 Having fun at the party at the gym.

School Party

 Rylee's class had a little party.  It was not a fun party.

It did have fun treats like these.  

But most of the party was the kids doing their normal school routine. 

They had carpet time and the teacher read "The Polar Express". 

And they did worksheets.  And then, at the very end of the party we got to eat treats.  I do not like that kind of party.

The school also had it's "Winter Wonderland" concert, where each class got up and sang a Christmas song.  I absented myself to avoid the drama of girls who did not want to sing in public.  They were just fine.

My friend sent me this of Delaney, hanging out, waiting to sing. 

And Callie's teacher sent me this, to prove Callie did not die on the spot like she claimed she would.

What I'm sewing

 I have been busy sewing.  I am suppose to be using up my stash faster than I am replenishing it, but tis not the case.  I end up going to the shop and seeing lovely kimonos and I have to bring them home.  It has made for some delightful creations though.

I liked these colors a lot.

Check out the pattern on this one! 

And I have been making infinity scarves.  Like this one. 

Delaney is my lovely model. 

Mostly because it is really hard to model and take selfies myself!

And let me tell you how gratifying it is to purchase a roll of obi fabric and get home to find this price tag rolled up inside of it.  I paid 500 yen for it and it was originally 48000 yen.  So, rather than paying $450, I paid $4!

Good Times

 Apparently marshmallows are not a thing in Japan.  Some of our missionaries really miss them.  So we had all 6 missionaries, plus the senior missionary couple, along with 3 young single adults come over to roast marshmallows and make smores with our tiny fire pit.  A good time was had by all.  Especially since my awesome friend Lynnette sent me some marshamllows to enure there was sufficient. She even sent the giant kind.

Rylee and her giant marshmallow.  She thought it was awesome.

Callie and Sister Mcnaughton working on perfection. 

Rylee's rather crisped and warped s'mallow. 

The next evening we went to the senior couple's house for a missionary farewell party.  Rylee and I may have participated in some shenanigans:

Finally Decorating!

 Last year the Christmas tree was in the area that I later set up my sewing machine in.  So there was no place to put the tree this year.  Well, there were three options- I could move my giant pile of fabric and figure out where to put my sewing machine and sewing desk, we could try to stuff the tree in the too-small area between the couch and the wall, or we could blatantly place it in the side of the room and take up all the space to walk through.  None were attractive options.  Mostly because I did not have anywere to move my fabric and sewing stuff to, and Dan wasn't a fan of losing more floor space to a tree.

The kids finally decided to try squashing it into the small space, because it was the most likeley to happen scenario.  The fit was.... snug, and the branches had to be bent down a little, but it was close enough.  So there it went, and there it stayed!

The kids were thrilled to put the ornaments on and to decorate everything.

I love this.  Look closely at the bottom.  I have no idea why Marian and Rylee were under the tree but you can see their legs sticking out.

Oh, no, this isn't staged at all!

So THIS Happened Today

I know.  I am a bad person, taking photos in church.  But my little girl just gave her very first talk in church!  She has always said no before and I do not know what happened that led to her acceptance, and I don't want to ask and mess up any future possibilities.

She wanted nothing to do with the writing process.  I showed her how to go to lds.org to look up her topic.  We reviewed a few articles and she just wanted to pick one.  For her first talk, I figured this was as good as it got.  So I selected one that was appropriate and short.  I should have gone shorter.

She got up, spoke very softly and read her talk (for the very first time) from the podium, looking just like this picture the entire time.  It was a 4-5 minute talk and she did it.

She was disgusted that so many people who never seek her out to talk to her would suddenly seek her out to compliment her on her talk.  Such a funny girl.  But I am super proud of her!

Raking Leaves

 We have a glorious line of trees in the front and back.... or really on both sides of our house.  They are gorgeous in the spring and amazing in the fall.  However, they have a lot of leaves.  A LOT of leaves.  And those leaves fall off.  And if we don't remove them, we eventually get a nasty-gram from Housing.

This year, the missionaries volunteered to help!  For the small price of pizza and pie, 6 of them worked for just over an hour and bagged about 20 bags of leaves.  It was awesome!  The kids were sad to lose their playground, but Dan and I were thrilled to have all that work done so quickly!

You are right, half these kids are not mine.

And that wall behind them is about 5 1/2 feet tall. 

FYI, Callie is the lump of leaves on the left.

This kid hid in a pile of leaves and was there for a good 10 minutes while we chatted with the missionaries.  She nearly got squashed as we dove into the raking because we did not even know she was there! 

Such great helpers! 

Check it out!  Nearly done!

All ready for the trash guys. I love it!

A 28 Pound Turkey

I volunteered to cook a turkey for the Branch's Thanksgiving dinner.  I did NOT expect to be delivered a 28 pound Turkey on Wednesday that was STILL FROZEN!

This threw off my game.  I always use the bag.  I love the bag.  It is simple and impossible to screw up.  But a 28 pounder?!  AAACK!  That does not fit in the bag.  Heck, it doesn't fit in anything I own!

For the record, I whipped up my very first brine and put the turkey and brine in the cooler and let it sit all night.  The turkey was thawed by the next morning.  I squeezed the bird into the heavy-duty disposable tin that the commissary sells, despite it suggesting the weight limit of 20 pounds (hence the placing of it on top of my cookie sheet).

The problem.... The juices overflowed and covered the bottom of my oven with scorched drippings.  I dumped turkey juices all over the floor when removing it from the oven and every time I moved it.  Levi was happy to assist with clean up.

The positive... it was delicious and perfect!

Visiting the Japanese School

 Callie got to go on a field trip to visit a neighboring Japanese Elementary School a few weeks ago.  She kind of maybe enjoyed it.  One of their favorite ice breaker games is to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors", and I think she liked that.

She got to do to a different Japanese school this past week.  She was less enthusiastic about the second time.

I did not chaperone either field trip, but her darling teacher sent me pictures of my girl, and the cute Japanese students.

Elementary School Award Ceremony

 Delaney and Callie were recognized for doing well in school.  I went to the assembly where they received certificates.  They streamlined it nicely and this principal is significantly less verbose than the previous one, so that helped.  It wasn't a bad time.

Delaney on the stage.

Delaney and her fellow class-members of great achievement. And her awesome teacher there on the left.  We like her! 

Callie hates being the center of attention.  She walked fast, head down and didn't let me get any photos.  This was the best I got.  She's hiding in the back, next to her awesome teacher, who is probably holding Callie in place for this picture.

She just wanted to throw the certificate at me and run away. My friend held it for me so I could have this quality moment with Callie!