Soccer Awards Night

Ok - on our way out for some fun today (GORGEOUS Saturday!) but real quick - Mia had her final Soccer game yesterday which went great, and on Wednesday the kids had the trophy ceremony. We were supposed to have a parents vs. kids game, but it was very rained out. So these are all from the food court on Kadena.

Mia, Natalie & Cole being goofy (nothing new):

Photogenic soccer superstar Arissa:

Mia receiving her award & a small speech from the coach:

Kanoe congratulating Natalie:

Kanoe & John's kid #3, Ella - who LOVES Mr. Craig. She looks very interested in what's happening.

More pictures can be found here.

Meredith Saves the Day.

I just love my friend and co-photographer Meredith. We're very much alike, and she is now dealing with 1 and 3-year-old boys while hubby's away with the MEU all by herself. And they are energetic little climbers, divers, adventurers - what have you. She always has the best stories, and she is always thinking of others - despite her current exhausting single parenthood.

Several weeks ago, I posted a question on a group forum recently (a bunch of people who work on the Okinawa Hai! website together) as to whether anyone knew where to find malt syrup. My neighbor is a baker and makes bagels - and one ingredient is malt syrup - made from barley. It's kind of a specialty store item, and I thought I'd see if anyone had a clue if they sell it here.

The next time I saw Meredith she said, "Here ya go, maple syrup."
"Oh... did you read that I wrote maple syrup? I said malt syrup. I'm quite certain I could find maple syrup at the commissary, just like you probably did."
"Of course you did. No. I didn't realize that. But please, take the maple syrup."
"What? You don't eat pancakes?"
"No... my kids don't eat pancakes." Ok - that statement needs a whole post by itself because I have NEVER heard of a kid who doesn't like a giant sweet doughy pancake... but I digress.

Now realize that for this story to REALLY work, you have to have the previous part happen 3 weeks ago - have forgotten it - and then have the next part happen.

So on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Craig schlepped across base with Mia to pick up our turkey. There was a strike going on that day - the Japanese workers on American military bases were striking to protest pay cuts. This meant that when Craig arrived at the Popeye's, ONLY the drive-thru was open. We were one of MANNNNYYYY people who ordered turkeys from Popeye's. The line was down the street. Craig was not happy. And he had planned to take Mia to Burger King for dinner that night too (yeah yeah - keep judging me for the healthy meals my kid eats - but she actually eats broccoli now! So shut your cake hole.) which was also closed and had a big drive-thru line. So after he called me to complain and moan about the wait and how hungry they were, and how we're NEVER doing this again because OH MY GOD I'MGOINGTOBEHEREALLNIGHT!!!! (translation - he was in line for 20 minutes)

So on his way back to the house he called, and said, "I just promised Mia breakfast for dinner, ok?"
"Ok - fine, I even have some bacon!" (I know I know, again with the health food, shush.)

They arrived and as I began pancake prep I realized I had only 1 cup of Bisquick left. ARGH. And with the strike and it being the day before Thanksgiving, I was NOT headed back on base to wait in line at the zoo that was once the commissary.

Craig says, "that's fine... I'll have cereal." UGH. No, dangit, you said you were eating pancakes, and I'm making a half-batch for you & Mia and I'll eat something else. And you'll like it. FINE.

I make the pancakes...fabulous. Plenty for hungry hubby & Mia. I make bacon - delicious traif.

As I'm plating up and Craig is putting out some drinks, he pulls out the bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's. "Is this all that's left?" I whip around to see 3/4" left in the bottle. AAAAARGH!! For the love of Pete, what is going ON!? Again, "It's ok - I'll just eat cereal and I'll eat those some other time, put them in the fridge."

"NO YOU WILL NOT. YOU WILL HAVE THE PANCAKES I MADE BECAUSE TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING AND SO YOU WON'T EAT THEM AND THEN BY THE TIME I GO BUY SYRUP YOU'LL SAY THEY'RE NOT GOOD ANYMORE SO I'M GOING TO GET SYRUP IN TOWN AT THE STORE BECAUSE I'M SURE JAPANESE PEOPLE OCCASIONALLY EAT PANCAKES!!!!" Yes. I was caps-lock mad and throwing on a jacket and shoes and grabbing keys as I stifled 4-letter words.

As I swung the front door open to get fresh air & a drive to the Kanehide (grocery store) overwith - I suddenly whirled around and opened the refrigerator. "We have maple syrup!!"
"What? Cool! Hey, Mia! Mommy saved the day!"
"Actually.....Meredith saved the day."
"HUH?"

And so I explained the malt syrup mix-up because Craig had not heard it nor had he seen the syrup I brought home and placed in the fridge door. And then I told Mere the story and we laughed and laughed and thanked goodness for her lack of attention to that particular detail.

Our Daughter, Top Chef Judge

Craig & I love the show Top Chef. We were watching the latest season in the states before coming here, and when we figured out how to get it on iTunes, we did and we got to watch the rest. It's Bravo, so they bleep the 4-letter words the chefs say when they mangle or burn themselves or get into debates about whether to use squab or sea urchin. Mia ended up watching the show with us on occasion and making yummy sounds with me even though she wouldn't ever TOUCH most of the things they made.

This morning at breakfast she sat down and said, "Mama - serve me my breakfast like I'm a judge on Top Chef."

I snickered. "Ok."

Her choice today was Rice Kripsies (That is not a typo, she still says "kripsies" so I do too, and it's totally cute and no I will NOT be correcting her and she might not get a date with a boy because of it but what the heck is wrong with that anyway? I mean Craig & I figure if we don't tell her it's wrong to make body noises and talk about poop, she'll never get a date and we won't have to worry much about her in her teen years.) and I grabbed the bowl, a spoon, and the soy milk.

"Today we have a fresh serving of Rice Kripsies with a soy milk reduction which I will serve to you tableside." (She's sitting up straight and looking at me - DEAD serious - with her hands folded in her lap - listening intently.) I pour the milk in. "If you listen carefully during your meal, the Kripsies will talk to you. Enjoy your meal."

"Thank you, Chef Mommy," again, said in all seriousness. I walked behind the kitchen counter, and watched her lean over for a moment and put her ear to the bowl. She gave an impressed little nod, and delicately took the spoon off the table and dipped it into the bowl. She opened her mouth and ate the bite, chewing several times and nodding with a smirk. I looked at her as if to say, "so???" and she gave me a nod of approval and a big thumb's up. I love working on a local cooking show for a living.

So Thankful!

Thankful for all of my friends & family at home and here in our temporary home on Okinawa. Thankful for one of the BEST Thanksgiving dinners ever last night! There wasn't ONE thing in our feast that was only "good" - it was all outstanding. (Deep fried turkey picked up from Popeye's - don't laugh, it was possibly the best turkey I've ever had - cranberry sauce from a can, homemade everything else to include stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pies, and fresh berry coffee cake) Thankful for lots of champagne and wine and the fact that we ate our faces off across the street so we could stumble back home in minutes. Thankful for the PS3 and blu-ray movies that entertained the kids (ours and the big man children too) for the whole day. Thankful that Craig is with our family instead of overseas like he was last year. And thankful for the opportunity to spend a few years here in Okinawa where we are having a great time, though it means missing our families. (and we DO miss our friends & family for sure!)

A few shots from the great day... the whole lot can be found here.

Little Mr. Knyte - looking at Mama.
The kid goofing around on the deck chairs out on the balcony.
Kid #5 - Tommy.
Maisy, Niko & Mia watching Happy Feet.
Logan kickin' back.


The fresh fruit coffee cake. Yummmmmm....Excuse me while I wipe the drool out of my keyboard.... Derek slicing the bird.
The beautiful table- Mia made a "fall tree" and Anne sprinkled some festive leaves and candles around. (the ceiling fan kept blowing out candles...)
The kids approve!
Hi, Nikolas. You don't know this yet, but someday you're going to KILL the ladies. Ryan, this guy reminds me of Kiki SOOOOO much. Sensitive and smart sweetheart with a smile to make the girls swoon.

Which is not to say that brother Logan is a bag of rocks- he brings out the SILLY in Mia. Fun to watch while it lasts - before "EEWWW GIRLS ARE GROOOOOSSSSSS!" It's really quite funny to see the dynamic with all 3. It works - until Niko comes down crying because Mia & Logan are stepping on his chest and kicking his head. Super.

I wish ALL of you a wonderful Thanksgiving, even though ours is over already. Now it's off to SHOP. Oh - and if you're reading this and want to send us a holiday card (I know you would just love to do that) it's no more postage than if you were sending it to anyone in the states - so please email me to let me know if you need our address. I'll probably be sending out emails to update my address book this week for our cards!

I'm Back - Much To Say!

I still exist - really I do! More pictures for you from the last - jeez, almost 10 days? Sorry.

We went to Kurashiki Dam the weekend before last, which was very cool. It was WINDY (as you will notice from our kid's wild hair in the pictures. The signs have pictures so that they're universally understood. We realized they were also very funny, and our witty child with the sharp sense of humor was posing up a storm when we said, "Do something funny".


Don't you dare leave your doggie poop here!
Ok - so she didn't pose like she was holding a fishing pole...
Having some fun in the middle of the street. Yes, I did have to move from my lying down position in the center of the road several times during these shots.


This was my fav - TOTALLY Mia's idea. (the "no swimming" sign in the background)

Holding back her hair because of the wind:

The bridge out to the mystery building in the middle of the water next to the dam (you can see the dam on the right):

Some pretty water lilies on a pond next to a croquet course (they call it lawn golf or gate ball!):
Headed back across the dam/bridge:

I like this one - just some lone interesting tree on a green green lawn.

Ok, so some stuff has happened since then, but nothing I've photographically documented. Mia's parent/teacher conference was this week. Not surprisingly, she's thriving in kindergarten and is a real leader in her class. She has a strong personality, but avoids conflict with other strong personalities - so that's encouraging. We are very happy with her progress and her development. We were talking, and even in the past 5 months we've been here we've seen a real change in her. She's growing up - she's oh so smart - she is just a great kid. We're very happy and VERY lucky.

On that note, I want to mention that not everyone is as lucky - my friend-by-blogging, Edith, and her husband Trinity are now in Hawaii after only a brief time in Okinawa. Their son, Diego, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia this week, and they immediately left to begin treatment at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. We are praying for all of you, you are at an amazing care facility and I'm so very glad that you found out when you did.

Edith is so incredibly brave, honest, and helpful to others - she is blogging the experience on her site: http://senoritamommy.blogspot.com. I was in tears reading her post today...any parent probably would be, but I'm so very happy that he's getting such great care and so much overflowing love. And that his mommy & daddy are there to be with him and hold his hand, sweet baby boy. Edith, I am here to do or send anything - ANYTHING you need. Just say the word. Please let me know what would make things easier for your family. Craig, Mia and I wish you all the best and hope this story continues in every positive way it can.

Last but not least - the 7th Communications Battalion USMC Birthday Ball was last night. We got ourselves all dolled up and schlepped up to Camp Hansen for a 650-person party!


Thanks for taking a couple of pictures, Anne. I don't have any from the ball itself because I brought my small camera and it took pathetically blurry pictures. Suffice it to say we had fun enjoying the company of friends/coworkers, and decent food. Not great, decent. The ceremony was mercifully short. The drinks at the cash bar were mercifully cheap. And not so merciful was the amount of people that someone saw fit to put into this ROOM! We were packed like sardines in there. Craig said they're the biggest battalion on the island - and it showed. I had full body contact with the people on either side of me at my table. I had to squish my arms together to cut my meat. It was rather crazy. We left at about 9:30, got back and had a drink with the Neatherys who were watching Mia, and then came home to crash. Very very fun.

Making Dango At Hamagawa Elementary School

One of the many reasons we decided to leave half of our crap in storage and come out to this island is to have experiences like we did yesterday. Asako (seen here next to Mia on the left) is a teacher at Hamagawa Elementary, down the road from where we live. We met her through Michelle & Scott - (Scott was my dive buddy -the one who made Chief in the Navy recently). She emailed me last month to tell me about the cooking class they were going to hold at 3:15 yesterday afternoon that some Marines and friends attend to help the children learn & practice English. I jumped at the chance. (Side note - she also attended UCSD for a year a while back and lived in Claremont, so she asked if everyone was ok during the fires too - she is so sweet!)

She sent me a sheet with the recipe for Dango, a sweet gummy little ball of happiness that is very popular here. (the Three Brothers Dango, a song and video was so popular here it was a best-selling CD! Video is here, lyrics are translated here.)

ANYway- also on the sheet were the words and phrases the kids were to practice. "What is your name?" "What do you like to do?" (hobbies) "Where are you from?" etc. And we all practice and we all cooked and we all had fun with it. The kids were adorable, and LOVED Mia to death every time she talked and shared in the fun. (Kawaii=cute in Japanese - we hear that a lot. But be careful - "kowaii"=scary! haha)

Here are a few of the best shots besides the total class picture with the other American helpers up top.

One of the instructions was to add water to the rice flour until it was "earlobe consistency". I thought that was funny. The kids just thought it was gooey and FUN!

Then we rolled them into small balls. Well, most couldn't resist the GIANT dango - like the giant cookie that doesn't bake!
Have you noticed it's rather difficult to get pictures of kids here without them giving you the "peace" sign? Mia caught on fast, as you can see.

Then you boil them (at a stove in the counter that was the perfect height for Mia) and after a few minutes you take them out and put them into cold water.
Then roll them in soybean flour/sugar.
Then use that toothpick to skewer and EAT! Mia wasn't too sure....
But afterward she said she liked them. She also washed dishes in the sink of the same low counter. She could've been there all night washing and having fun. She didn't want to leave. I told her she can wash dishes at home as much as she'd like.

The rest of the photos can be found here. Oishii desu!

Thursday thru Sunday

Ok, been a few days again - already!

First of all, I'm happy to report, that after a layaway mishap we found the one and only Weber Spirit 210 on the island and I put it together this week. Finally - I can grill my dinners! Back to steak and seafood - I couldn't be happier. (Thanks, Mom - that cover finally was put to use!)

Thursday I met a few moms at a children's center not too far from home - it was fantastic! Big park area with roller slide and zip lines...

Here's Parker enjoying the zip lines - Mia (who quickly developed a Parker crush) in the background.
Parker's little brother, William. Yes - I swam in the pools of those blue eyes and lived to show you the photo....
Eli rollin' right at me!
Parker taking on the slide on his belly.
Oh goodness... and then there's Yukari. Her folks will definitely need to keep this girl under lock & key!
So since it was gloomy out, we thought the backup plan would be that the center also has an indoor part; complete with a room for toddlers & babies, a big library with some chairs and tables (even if the books were in Japanese, Mia & Parker were fine with it!) and a gymnasium. This is where the kids tried to work that hula hoop:
Really fun morning!

Friday night we went to Banyan Tree (an on-base restaurant) to have pizza. On the recommendation of a Jersey dude from Asbury Park who Craig works with and said that's the best pizza here. Well, it was ok - I'd eat it, but it's not what I'd run for if I was craving pizza. Frankly, I guess I'd just keep on craving pizza because I haven't found anything great yet. I AM hopeful - the Neatherys have a favorite place that we'll definitely try - and it might be the only place I'll go for pizza from then on.

Saturday Mia played in a soccer game and had lots of fun.
And then we headed up north for a drive. We found ourselves on Camp Schwab - the northernmost military installation here - and they had cottages at Oura Wan Beach. These were taken at the beach below the cottages. As you can see - gloomy cloudy day - WINDY too, but it was so nice that it was not hot! Here are a few gems - the rest can be found here.





Can you tell by this smile that she's slightly tired of cheesing for the camera? Not surprising.

Saturday night we went to Somchai again - this time I worked a picture of my green-lip mussels...
Oh my goodness. Everything else came to the table and was dug into so quickly I couldn't take pictures. Besides, I couldn't be bothered to turn on the camera when it smelled and tasted so fantastic! I'm drooling again just looking at this picture.

Anywho, that's the haps. Chargers lost - pathetically - to the Vikings, and now I'm watching THE game - Indi vs. the Pats - GO INDI! (However, let the record show that I do think Brady is one of the best looking football players ever.)