Breakfast, Pet Store, Pink Headband

This may just look like a very strange picture, but really it's a successful breakfast of biscuits and gravy! It is Luke's favorite meal and I haven't been able to make it here, so he hasn't had it for 11 months now! The other day Caitlin's mom sent her seasoning for ground sausage, so we used that on ground pork and then I made drop biscuits from scratch...I know, I'm little miss Betty Crocker! I actually was really happy that I was able to make it for him since it's his favorite breakfast meal.

Rachel, Erin and I took the kids to a mall in Nagoya the other morning while all the guys had a meeting with a former missionary to Japan. We took them to a pet store and that was a huge hit! Sterling couldn't take his eyes off of the animals once we got there.



Sterling went and got a flu shot yesterday. Everyone here said he should get one, especially since he's at the little daycare 3 days a week. He really freaked out about having to go to the doctor, but it all went fine. He screamed and cried and then when the shot was over, he hardly even cried. I took this picture outside of the hospital. Him and Luke have on matching pants- they're so cute together!

I took these pictures tonight because Sterling wanted to wear the pink headband I got in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma Chase. They sent us a whole big box of goodies, but since it's evening I wouldn't let Sterling have any of the candy- but he liked the pink headband! (And by the way- he chose the pink one over blue and green!)

Christmas Tree

Last weekend we went and bought a little fake Christmas tree to put up in Sterling's room. It was really fun! It's strange because people in Japan don't get Christmas as a holiday or anything, but they go all out with decorations for Christmas. So luckily for us it was easy to find things to decorate with, because we had nothing! So here is the process of putting the tree together. When we very first got started Sterling pulled the bottom part of the tree out of the box and hugged it and said "I love the tree!"

Sterling

Here are a few random pictures from this past week or so. Just a brief description: Sterling in a maternity shirt that he wanted to put on and wear around, Sterling looking at the coloring book that his Gigi and Papa sent-- which he said was "so cool"; him, Brayden and Miku playing at the McDonalds playland together--they were actually running and then flopping on the ground like this; and the last is him in his Rose Hulman Jacket that Uncle Kyle got for him. We had a hard time convincing him to switch up the routine and wear a new jacket, but when we told him that it was from Uncle Kyle and where he goes to school, Sterling gave it a try.

Zoo, Toys R Us, Mini truck

This is a little 600 cc engine mini-truck that is all over the place here in Japan. Luke says he wants one but I don't know what in the world he would do with it. But in real life, my dad is thinking about getting one that has been shipped straight from Japan to use as a little farm truck. We think he should put fancy rims on it and paint it silver like this one (HA HA, that's just a joke dad!) They are usually all plain white.

On Thursday, Erin and I went with her friend Akemi and her little girl to the Okazaki Zoo (this is the third time in about a month that we've been to the zoo- Sterling LOVES the animals). Akemi's little girl is named Momiji, which means autumn leaves. The picture below is the three of them eating their lunches together at the zoo. The other two pictures are from when we went to Toys R Us on Saturday. I actually went to look at stuff at Babies R Us while Sterling and Luke played in the toys and this play area. Sterling was all decked out in his John Deere hat, T-shirt and yellow and green shoes which aren't JD, but the same color at least.



We went out to eat the other night at the Thai restaurant, so the boys put on button down shirts (Both of them pretty much refuse to wear anything but sweatshirts and long sleeve t-shirts these days). I had to get a picture of Sterling looking so handsome in his nice jeans and shirt. He liked the elephant at the Thai restaurant, so we got his picture by it too.

Halloween 2008

This funny picture is because Sterling got some new hand-me-down pajamas from a Japanese friend of ours. They say "Shinkansen" which is the bullet train here in Japan. Luke had a meeting last night so I put them on him while luke was gone. When Luke came in, Sterling said "Look at my jammies dad, don't you love them?"

Sterling got pumpkin balloons from my parents, so we gave them to all his friends and he's been playing with his nonstop since I blew it up for him. I think it's knocked over just about everything in our house.

This was the cutest little girl I've ever seen. She was at the birthday/costume party at the Parsons for Owen's birthday. Her name is Erena and her family is neighbor's with the Parsons.


This was at Owen's party; Luke, Sterling, Taiyo and Hinako (my tutor's kids). They were eating pumpkin cupcakes.


Sterling dressed up as Bob the Builder for Halloween. We actually just had Owen's b-day party to go to, but everyone dressed up and it was a lot of fun. Bob the Builder was the easiest costume we could think of because Sterling was NOT all about dressing up this year.

And here are some pictures of everyone dressed up. Luke was a baseball player (not much to his costume...) and I wasn't anything...I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be embarrassing in a picture so I just opted out of dressing up.

End of October Activities

Erin and I took Sterling and Brayden to McDonald's yesterday morning for breakfast and playing on the playground. I had them stand there so I could take their picture and Brayden wanted to do the peace sign because that's what all the Japanese kids do for pictures. So then it became hilarious trying to get both of them to make a peace sign, smile and look at the camera- I obviously never succeeded in getting all of that, but it's a cute picture anyway. And then there's Sterling giving his biggest "CHEESE!" possible.


We finally cut Sterling's hair (and it was a HUGE ugly affair with lots of screaming and tears and me having to hold Sterling's arms down so that he didn't hit Luke while he was trying to cut it...) But anyways, here's a picture of the new buzz cut. I love this picture because I actually caught him smiling so nicely instead of looking like a goober which is the face he usually likes to make for the camera.

We went to the Okazaki Zoo on Saturday. It's small, but the perfect size for a morning activity as a family. Sterling especially enjoyed getting to feed the deer and looking at the pig. We got there just in time to watch the zoo keeper feed the rabbits, turtle and pig. It was a fun morning together!

Birthday

This was just one day that I was outside with Sterling letting him ride his bike.

Later that night we had over our friends on the team for cake and ice cream. Before they all came over, two of our neighbors brought over flowers and the Winnie the Pooh card- it was so thoughtful of them!


This was the morning of my birthday, Sterling was handing me my present from him and Luke.

ABC's

Here is Sterling singing his ABC's while Luke cuts his fingernails-- anything for a distraction because he hates nail cutting time!

Kacie's b-day with the girls

Last friday the girls on the team and Carolyn and I went out to dinner in Nagoya for my birthday. It was so much fun! I was really thankful that all the husbands were able to watch the kids so that us girls could go out to dinner and coffee for the evening. The first picture is Caitlin, Carolyn and Erin; the second is me and Rachel, the last is all of us together.

Kyoto with Carolyn

Last week, Carolyn and I went to Kyoto. I've mentioned before that it's a really old city with lots of historic temples and shrines to see. When you go to stay at Kyoto, it is common for Japanese people to stay at a "ryokan", which is a traditional Japanese inn. Carolyn and I decided to get the full experience, so we stayed at one! It was very interesting!!

This was our room when we first came in. It was very small, but clean and nice. These tables were sitting out with hot green tea waiting for us. The room was just this area, with a small bathroom.

They brought our dinner to our room at a specified time and it was so fancy! It was all traditional Japanese food. I tried most of it, but not all. There were a few things I just had no desire to even try- the sea urchin, the salted anchovies, and the slimy black stuff...Carolyn tried everything but the sea urchin- way to go!!

This was a piece of shrimp that still had it's eyes in it...I wasn't too sure about that.

After dinner they took our trays of food and moved the tables over to the side of the room. Then they laid out our futons for us to sleep on...They were very nice futons, but both of us weren't used to sleeping like that! They were hard and uncomfortable all night long.

The next day we walked around Kyoto. We saw lots of temples and the grounds around them- which were gardens and huge gates and stuff.

We also walked along the "philosopher's path". It is along this really pretty canal and you can stop and visit other temples and shrines along the way.

When we got done with the walk we were tired, so we stopped for a "cream soda" which came out green! We were surprised with the color, but it was really tasty and refreshing.

Sterling

I'm really tired from walking all over Kyoto today with Carolyn (it was a GREAT time with pictures to come in the near future, but for now I'm just going to bed) so I'm just going to say briefly that these are pictures of Sterling lately. The third one is from when Chris and Carol DeWelt (Prof. DeWelt is on our advisory board) came to visit us about 2 weeks ago. We did many things with them, but this was the night we had a pizza party. Sterling was climbing on Chris-- I guess it's good that our child is so friendly and not shy!?!