Gingerbread Houses

 We made gingerbread houses every year when I was a kid.  I like doing them, and we have made them them a couple times, although not in recent years.  I decided we were going to make them this year, so we did. Sort of.  I noticed there was a set of cut outs at the church so we borrowed them.  Well, they did save on time, and cutting out the dough shapes was so much easier.  However, the cutters were not very even and the roof was a wee bit small, and the pieces did not match very well at all when putting the houses together.  It made life much more difficult when attempting to construct them.

Marian had the patience and skill to wait for her house to set up so she could decorate it.  Rylee didn't have a choice, since I frosted her house together and then dragged her off on an errand while the frosting set.  Callie refused to give up, but also refused to give her frosting time to dry, so she never managed to get the darn thing to stay together.  It was quite the exercise in frustration for her!

While I was out with Rylee at the commissary, I had told them to wait and let their houses dry.  I returned to see my directions had not been followed. Marian was carefully working on her house- applying tiny sprinkles to her roof, one by one.  Callie was near tears because her house kept falling apart.  Delaney..... well, her house was roofless, but it looked like some hooligans had sprayed it all with graffiti.  It wasn't till later I realized she had grabbed the gel COLORS to decorate with, not frosting.  So there was a lot of color going on for her and she was covered with it as well.  Fun times!

Delaneys gel-splattered house and blue-dyed mouth.

Zoom in and check out that lovely border on her roof. 

Look of Death from a cranky Callie.

She finally gave in and just frosted the pieces to eat. 

When attempting to install the roof, Delaney's house imploded and she gave up.  This was the lovely mess of my table! 

Happy to sample the fruits of her labors and not sad at all that her house didn't survive. 

Rylee, decorating her house. 

Callie was happier once she moved on to the eating part. 

Aack!  Look at those hands!

Family Christmas Party

 Dan is attached to H&HS, and the family Christmas party happened on Saturday.  They put on a pretty good shin-dig!  The only sad thing is they ran out of cheesecake.  I waited too long to go through the food line, and while there was plenty of yummy dinner, the dessert selection was vastly diminished.   The kids had been too busy having fun to bother with finding food.

There were drawings and prizes but we did not win anything.  Kids under 8 got to sit with Santa and got gifts.  Delaney and Rylee were delighted, and Callie was pea green with envy.  A very good time was had by the children.

Frosting a cone to make a Christmas tree was a hit.

Rylee spent 20 minutes to carefully color her picture.  She did a marvelous job, too. 

Looking less like a cone and more like a tree! 

And the tree has now become dinner.  You see why there was no desire to wait in the line for dinner! 

This picture cracks me up, every time I see it!  I love these 2! 

Rylee finally finished coloring her page and moved on to frosting a tree. 

Joshua also felt the need to make a tree. 

He said he wanted a picture, and then gave me this face. 

I tried again.  I'm not sure which one is better. 

So happy with Santa! 

And they were even more thrilled when they got gifts.

Waiting for the Bus with Rylee

I'm sorry.  She is just too cute for words and I need to squeeze every last drop of adorable out of her stinking expensive uniform.  Plus, we kill time waiting for the bus taking pictures some days.  So I just knew you'd want to see all her photos!

Japanese stuff that cracks me up

Why yes, I'd love a steaming mug of..... poop? 

This snake felt freakishly realistic. 

I imagine they were going for a "moisture wicking" sort of endorsement, but kind of missed the mark with this one.

The Chicken Shack

 On Friday, Dan had an event for work, sort of a Christmas party without the work.  We drove 30 minutes into the mountain to an iconic restaurant here called "The Chicken Shack" by the Americans.  It has a much nicer name in Japanese, but everyone knows it as The Chicken Shack.  Apparently they decorate quite lavishly, and you go for the atmosphere more than the food. It definitely had character!  You really cannot get the full scope of it all in pictures.  It was fun.

Giant Santa to greet you in the parking lot.

Another giant Santa and enormous Christmas tree.  The tree is mainly decorated by those strips of paper.  I think people write their wishes  on them and hang them on the tree.

So happy to be here! 

There was this impressive Santa display.  One of Dan's Japanese co-workers said each Santa represents a different country.  I wasn't sure if each one was collected from that country or not, but I got the impression it was. 

I was unclear on where exactly the restaurant started.  There were 2 of these little buildings.  They sold trinkets and stuff, yet also had billboards with pictures of the trademark chicken on a stick.  I wasn't sure if you could buy your food there or what.  We followed the folks who knew on past this.

We walked through the little buildings to a little area that had this in it!  so pretty. 

There was so much to look at, including this.  No clue what it is, but it sure in interesting! 

This area held outdoor seating.  It was pretty darn cold, so no one was out here, although I understand there are warmers under the blankets to keep your legs warm. 

Since we had reservations, we got to go inside the main building.  It was full of random and fascinating stuff!  There was so much to look at!  From floor to ceiling and on every side was something to see.

While awaiting our food, we were vastly entertained by the table behind us.  This is my sneaky attempt to get a photo over my shoulder.  I should have tried a video.  I know the Japanese are suppose to be very proper and serious.  Um, not so these ladies!  They were playing a game that apparently is popular and and very funny.  They placed a seat cushion on the floor and 2 ladies stood on it, back to back.  They would then bump butts (yes, bump each other with their bottoms!!) and whoever stayed on the cushion was the winner.  So the goal was to bump your opponent off.  It was hysterical to watch and evidently just as fun to play, judging by the sounds of revelry.

Mmmmm... gyoza. 

I had ordered the "Chicken Meal" with no clue what it was.  Well, this was it.  Rice, cabbage salad, miso soup, and chicken.  It was tasty, although they do not debone the chicken.  When you bite into the delicious, crispy chunk of meat, you may  get a yummy bite of just chicken, or you may also get some bone.  Not such a problem, till you throw in the lack of silverware, which limits you to chopsticks!

Did I mention we sat at one of these low tables?!  I am so not meant to sit on the floor! It offered blankets for your lap, but despite that, I was pretty cold by the time we finished.

It was a great experience and it is true, the ambience is fantastic!