Auld Lang Syne

We all celebrate New Year's in one way another...some getting blacked out by as much alcohol as they can consume, others lighting fireworks in their cul-de-sac with their buddies, one or two times trying to find the right person to plant one on when the ball drops, or a few where you stayed home & lit sparklers with the kids while dancing in the New Year. If you hadn't guessed...I have participated in all of these New Year traditions. Of course they have been spread throughout the years. But all the while there was THAT song playing in the background!! You know...that "old acquaintance" song that most of us only know a couple of words to. I'm talking about Auld Lang Syne people and it's about time we all get a lesson on what they are actually saying and what the heck it means. If you are a smarty pants and already know the meaning and all the words...Stop Reading I guess. I don't need a critic LOL!

OK so here it goes:


Now without translating every dang word...I am going to give you the gist!!!

The song title translates from old Scottish dialect meaning 'Old Long Ago' and is about love and friendship in times past. The lyrics convey memories of relationships and how some of those may have wandered over time. It also means to me that even with distance there can be amity...for the sake of 'Old Long Ago'.

What a great lesson for us - human creatures walking around trying to co-exist with other people as they enter in and out of our lives. Especially as a Military Family Member, this can come in handy when we have to let some of the people in our lives go, respectfully. Ok some of them I just wanted to go away. :o)

I hope everyone has a Fabulous 2009...I know we will!! Catch you next year :o)

One-Hit Wonders

So I peeped into my Myspace page today and my music playlist started up (the same one I have on the blog) and I just love my music. But, I listen to it often (usually when I am cleaning), so the songs were itching me and that prompted me to go on a mad search for oldies but goodies slated from my younger years. You would not believe how many I found and how many times I caught myself talking out loud to the screen. Outcrys like..."Oh my gosh, this song rocks!!"...and..."How could I have forgotten that one??"...and so on. OK so I was busting out in song, too, here and there. The kids were wondering what was wrong with me I'm sure.

But NOW you must swing on down and sway to the right to check out my latest and newest additions. We're talking from Tracey Ullman...

to JJ Fad

to The Cardigans.

SWEET...reminiscing on new OLD jams are always fun!! Love me some one-hit wonders!!

Happy Christmas To All...

Well, the reindeer have come and gone and Santa has come through like a champ way over here in Japan for the last time for us. The day was fantastic and all the kids were really excited to see what the North Pole had delivered. JD was awake first (around 5:30 in the AM) and it was way too early to start. (Even though when we were growing up we would be really loud at around 5am in order to wake everyone and start). We ended up having Saige and JD come downstairs and enjoy some hot cocoa while we waited for Teage. They are so awesome...

JD couldn't stand it though and kept creepin' on the tree.

Finally, Teage woke up and came running downstairs...JD was there to greet him. --awwwww--

I have tons of pics...as many do on Christmas morning, but I opted for posting the ones with everyone holding up their gifts from George's parents and Alex's family so they could get a glimpse on how much fun it was. Saige received a heap of clothes overall, with the majority coming from the other Isla's. She loves her tees....

Teage loves the awesome laptop...

And as if everyone didn't already know...anything green is right up my alley, YAY!!

George and I really banked this year...

We asked Teage to take a picture with some clothes from the grandparents and he grabbed ALL of them. How cute!

One of the gifts JD got was a keyboard. We purchased piano lessons for him a couple months ago (my friend Amanda is a music teacher), so we waited until he got his keyboard so he could hone the skills he learns while they are still fresh. He was all over it right away getting his dad to teach him a few songs.

Here they all are finally getting to the stockings...this is obviously post Teage's striptease and the gift packaging receptacle's entrance.

Lastly, Teage's fave gift was his quad from Santa. He immediately wanted to head outside and test drive that sucker...the funny thing was, he kept riding it like this-

I have no idea why he kept leaning back like he was cruising the strip. I was cracking up.

Everything went awesome and I was really glad the kids were all so grateful for what they had gotten. WHEW...now that that's all over, time to get ready for 2009!!! Love ya!!

Piratey!

So the oldest boy and I decided to take a trip to the beach today to see if we could add to our seaglass collection and to visit the pirate ship park. It was fun, just the two of us. Teage had his Xmas party at preschool and Saige was spending the night out. (Gosh, they do a lot of that at this age...and it's funny cause all they do is listen to music over and over again...ahh the good old days) We ventured to Araha Beach and found several weird looking shells of course. It was pretty cold (for here) and the water was freezing my toes as we went on the hunt.

Would you believe we only found 1 piece of seaglass!! Well, we did only go about a 100 ft before we were drawn to the pirate ship park. There are the coolest, neatest parks on this island. Take a look...complete with zip lines and portholes!!

I caught him checking out the history of the park when I came up from getting my shoes. What a stud!

And how about having this sign greet you at the beach entrance...that is one rather large, dangerous jellyfish!! Are they sure they don't mean octopus...geez who knew jellyfish here were that big??

We had a blast and love going there.

OK so I have to end with another sign I ran by on the way to the beach. I have passed by this restaurant several times and even been in...but I never really noticed the mural it had on its wall. This is a Persian restaurant that also moonlights as a hookah bar. Tobacco only of course. But notice how it looks like they are just way too happy to be smoking strawberry tobacco. And what about the striking resemblance to Aladdin from the Disney movie. That lady with him does not look like Jasmine to me. Is this promoting "have a good time by smoking it up without your significant other"? I'm just sayin'...

The highlights of living in another country I tell ya....

"D...D...D...Defense!!"

Well my Saigie had her first game Friday night cheerleading and it was really great to see her having fun with it. The coach is kinda spazzy and I assist her when I can get a word in...so in light of that, they still did good. It's cool to watch her cheer because she is nothing like I used to be back in the day. She is like the laid back cheerleader and she loves to be the base girl (the one on the bottom in stunts) so she can use her strength rather than be all dainty. I was the opposite. I like her mentality...She doesn't care what people think and is always trying to help. She had a little trouble remembering the words to all the cheers (she wasn't the only one though). And when it came to the halftime routine, she rocked it with her cartwheel and dance skills (those she got from her mama LOL). Check out my little cheerleader...

Although the team lost by three points that night...those girls cheered their little hearts out. Way to go missies!!!

I also went out to supper with some friends to celebrate my birthday. It was really nice of them to come together in spite of it being so close to the Holidays. When you come from a family of five children who all have birthdays in December...you learn to not get all geeked up about your birthday. But these guys really helped me realize that my day was important, too. Thank you for putting everything aside and being a friend to me especially when I needed it. I really appreciate it. Here are the girls and I...

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everybody!! Love Ya!!

Scratch That

OKAY...so I think God was reading my post today because I received a phone call from Ms Yarde this afternoon to inform me that she has changed her plans and will begin student teaching in the Fall. She was worried about leaving him in the middle of the year...can you believe it?!?! Which in turn gives her the advantage to get some more education on Autism (which has peaked her interest since working with JD). This means not only will she be working with him through to middle school, but even more for her studies. We are so blessed!! I love good karma......when you do people right, you get it back ten-fold. Lovin' me some Ms Yarde!!

Bread Houses and Farewells

Well, if you don't already know...my JD has services for his diagnosis of mild autism and so therefore has a paraprofessional that has been with him in the classroom half the day for the last two years we have been on Okinawa. Ms Yarde has been a Godsend to him and our family since we moved here. The two of them have formed a relationship that has grown in to a friendship for my son. He will do anything for her in the classroom...things it can take me an hour to get out of him, can take her only 5 min. They have a bond and an understanding that only the two of them will ever know. I appreciate her and her unconditional support for him. As we know, in life and especially in the military, nothing can last forever. Ms Yarde will begin her student teaching after the Winter Break so that she can have her own classroom of kids one day. She deserves it and would be fantastic at it...but is it selfish to say that I want her to stay?? I don't think JD has even fully grasped it...and I am in complete denial. I just want to give her a shout-out for being a part of his life and making a difference. He is a better kid and has grown into a self-assured young boy because of her and we wish her much success in the future. Thank you for everything...

Check out the graham-cracker bread house that JD made the other day in school. I was in there helping them all day and let me just say...somebody needs to invent sturdier wall structures for these houses. We had cave-ins left and right. His came out pretty good...Less is more sometimes :o) Notice his Spongebob medallion windows and creative froot loop bows. Awesome.

Saige has her first cheer game tonight, so I will be posting real soon!!

Toys R Us - HAI

I had to give a whole post "props" to the Japanese Toys R Us over here. When I had that one gift that I could not find for my boy...I'm talking sold out online, no show at the PX, and I wasn't paying a grand on damn Ebay....Toys R Us came through like a champ. We had never been there since moving here (which I am still unsure why) and it was our last and final desperate attempt. So hats off to the Awase Toys R Us. Geoffrey is still singing music to my ears after all these years...

"I don't want to grow up,

I'm a Toys' R Us kid
There's a million toys at Toys 'R Us that I can play with!

From bikes, to trains, to video games,

It's the biggest toy store there is! Gee whiz!

I don't want to grow, cuz baby if I did,

I wouldn't be a Toys 'R Us kid!"

Now if only we could get a Japanese Target...the family would be set all the way around.

I'm ready for the fat man in the red suit to pick up his dagum cookies already!!!

Extra Extra...read all about it!

Well, we started the weekend off Friday by driving home and finding a Japanese maintenance van on FIRE across the street from our house. I mean on fire like you see in the movies. Not sure how it all started, but thank God no one was nearby or worse...in the dang car. I ran inside to grab my camera so I could prove that crazy things really do "just happen" around me. The Fire Dept and MP's were quite fast in getting there and so the car next to it only caught on fire a little. I was worried about it causing an explosion so close to where people lived. Here's the burning vehicle...

Before:

After:

Crazy huh?

Anyway, that same night was George's BN Holiday Social. I was a little reluctant to go at first because of the fact that I have been so drained and stuff and in need some serious downtime. But we went (George needed to represent for his soldiers) and we ended having a really good time. And maybe the dinner wasn't worth the $25 each we paid for it...but, the drinks made up for it :o) . And as predicted, the electric slide was the first song to play and I went there. The girls and I were in rare form as we pretty much dominated the dance floor and the photo ops! Check it all out...

I started going the wrong way I guess...I am always the odd one out!


Here come the group shots...

George was in the eggnog baby bottle contest...he's got skills!

Later that night...

Yes, it's karaoke time again...

Good friends...Good times to be had!

Next...JD had his first baskeball game Saturday. Let me preface by saying that JD is no Shaq (although he does have Shaq shoes...thanks Grandma!), but he wants to do well and loves being on a team. He's number 15 and if you need to ever pass him the ball...his hands are always up. We'll be working on the body blocking at the next practice. We were so proud of him for his first time. Plus...they won by double the points!! Here's my star...

Teage wanted to run out on court as you can imagine...so we took it outside the gym for a bit.

And lastly, here is my boy in action. I hear the Heat calling...

Love ya...

A Festive Holiday

Well, JD had his 3rd year peformance with Choir and he did awesome!! He had two narration parts this year. He really loves performing...still waiting for the local theater to put on a children's production so he can audition. Check out my little rat packer...



and the Santa Claus Rock...



and when the Hispanic Christmas song came on..guess who decided to chime in??



Gotta love the Holiday School Performances!!!
Thanks for looking...

Double Ones and HO HO HO!

Well, it's official I have a new tween in the house. JD reached double one status and really enjoyed his birthday week. I brought a cake to his class to share on Wed. He got up in front of the class as they sang the song and then he graciously bowed and repeated "thank you very much everyone". It was adorable. That night we gave him the choice to pick anywhere he wanted to go for dinner; choices like Teppanyaki, Chili's, the Marina....my boy picks McDonald's (which wasn't one of the options...hmmm). Go figure! He's like wimpy...He loves his cheeseburgers. So we went (man I wanted Teppanyaki) and after we came home, he opened up his presents from us. He had a board game thing going on since we are trying to get him more involved in "group" play. He always wants to play alone and so we keep trying to break that up a little more and give him opportunities to interact with others in play. He's doing well with that so far. So here we are all playing one of his games...the Dr Seuss game he was eyeballing in the PX a few days back.

And of course, Teage was doing everything JD was doing...

On Sunday, we capped off the celebration by taking a few of his friends to lunch, mini-golf, and to see the flick "Bolt". They had a great time and it was very stress free, which is something I needed after this long as heck week. Here's the Birthday boy...(can you spot the 2 year old?).

Lunch was funny...as you can see!

Cake time!!

And then..the mini-golf challenge!!

OK...so I forgot to mention that while we were eating lunch (about 15 minutes into the party), Teage decided to empty his whole drink onto his lap...hence the pull-up!! How cute is he though? But wait...he lost his ball in the frog's bottom?? This picture screams a topic for one of those motivational posters!! "GOLF...Who said it was boring?"...I don't know!

And here's all of them...sucked into the tree.


Hippo's are fun...ask Saige!

More presents. YAY!

And front row at the movies. Nice floor...must be a pastime for the kids to throw their drinks in excitement.

He had a great time...Thanks to his buddies for making it a special day!

On top of that and amongst a plethora of other things...the FRG hosted it's annual Christmas party for all the Families and Soldiers. It was a great success. I was in charge of Santa pictures and the picture frame craft. Check out my kiddies getting their Santa on...

And the FRG Leaders...

And last but not least...this is what the Holiday Spirit is all about!! Hands down!

Love Ya!!!