Christmas Morning 2012...

Our first Christmas in Japan has gone very well so far. Here is a 4-minute video of the kids discovering what Santa brought, as well as opening their scooters. And, of course, there are photos below. I tried to get photos of everyone, opening at least one gift from everyone who sent one, but I may have missed some... sorry if I missed yours! Everything was well-received and appreciated! The kids thought that this was a very good Christmas as far as presents went. In fact, they are already outside showing their friends.

We opened presents with Grandma Nancy and that side of the family on Skype.

The aftermath

 

Karate and a letter from Santa...

Thursday was karate day, as usual, but what was unusual is that is was a serious sparring day, as well as a leveling up day for Xan, which he didn't know was coming.

Here is a 10-minute video of the boys sparring and the brief leveling up ceremony for Xan: Click here

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here. It's in the 40's during the day, getting down to the mid-30's at night. The kids still enjoy playing outside, only their cheeks get pretty rosy:

Xan got a letter from Santa today. It was addressed to Alex Guthrie, so after enjoying the letter with his brother, Xan disappeared in his room. He came out with a letter he had written to Santa, and asked for an envelope:

The boys and I are also semi-famous. A photo of us from the Tsuzu trip is displayed in the library building.

Lost teeth, a promotion and a Christmas party...

Sorry for the delay in blogging, but it has been a pretty busy week for us. Will and Xan each lost a tooth, Rodney was selected for promotion and returned from his balmy tropical vacation in Guam, and I have been grading 35 students' work and turning in grades for the semester. Here are some photos to share with you guys:

I forgot to mention this in the Tsuzu blog post, but we got name tags that had our names in Japanese. I know hen it is my name because I have a smiley face with a dimple, then a capital I, and then a smiley face without a dimple.

Concrete walls make it hard to hang things. But, with the help of some Command heavy-duty stick-em-up hooks, I finally got my "Scrumptious" wall hanging up! I realized I don't have my new brother-in-law, Luke, or the newest baby cousin, Ben, up there, so I must get to work!

As I mentioned the boys each lost a tooth this week. Will lost his 6th one since we moved to Japan. Not to be outdone, Xan, that same night, went to work on his loose tooth, but only manged to give himself a bloody lip. I have no idea how he did it, and he was not forthcoming with the information. But, a few days later, the tooth was too loose to be able to eat with, so Dad pulled it. The Japanese tooth fairy came to our house twice this week, dropping off 100 yen each time.

Two nights before Rodney got home from Guam, the detachment had its annual Christmas party. The kids and I took fashion up a notch and headed out to the club on base for a catered meal. Santa was there and he gave each boy a pack of WWE Rumbler wrestlers, which they were more than happy with.

As I mentioned previously, Rodney found out on Friday morning that he has been selected for promotion. His last promotion was in 2007 and he is projected to pin on his rank February 1. This is a photo of him buying Master Sergeant chevrons, which he was dying to do the moment he got home. I snapped this picture, which he was telling me not to snap. Since when do I listen?

We finally got our official Marine Corps ball photo. This is the first year that we don't have an American and Marine Corps flag behind us. It wasn't an option this year.

Youth Cultural Tour

The kids and I went on a youth cultural tour yesterday. Click here for the story.

Grocery list...

I thought this was funny... Xan is now writing things on the grocery list...

Whoops! Forgot some Christmas photos!

I forgot to take photos of two other areas that have been attacked by Christmas. Here they are:

In other news, Rodney got to his "holiday vacations" spot safely late last night. He said his hotel is disgusting and a relic from the 1970's, but he does get free wifi that sometimes works.

My first scrapbooking class in Iwakuni went very well. I had 8 ladies, who all said they had a great time. You can see photos of the event by clicking here. I am having a crafting holiday open house next Tuesday. Hopefully that will go just as well.

Beginning-of-December updates...

Well, the Christmas cards are in the mail and our mid-rise looks like the holidays threw up in it, so we are good to go for Dec. 25. If you haven't had a chance, yet, take a look at my blog post about our decorations. Rodney griped at me about how many boxes of Christmas stuff we have, but, at the same time, he said the house looks nice and wants the holiday lights on when he's home.

Speaking of Rodney, he will be leaving soon for his fun time on an island that is a U.S. territory. Have to be cryptic because of military secrecy, etc. I don't know why. It sounds like he is going to a tropical location on a plane during the month of December. Seems like a vacation to me. ;) When he is home, he is polishing his bowling skills... bowling is his new hobby, and since we can see the bowling alley from our house, it's a convenient way for him to stay out of trouble.

Xan finally has all of his tiny cavities filled (four in total! The kids are now rinsing their teeth with ACT and have fresh batteries in their electronic tooth brushes) and Will had the crack in his front tooth filled in. We are both pleased with the results. The kids' dentist is a cute blonde 20-something lieutenant that the kids adore. Sorry, boys, she's getting married soon.

I have officially lost 33 pounds since Sept. 1, although I took the week off last week, fighting off a cold. Rodney is now fighting it off. It seems like each year I move somewhere, I get sick. When I moved to Illinois, I got pneumonia; when I moved to Florida, I got a kidney infection. Now I have this cold that has lasted nearly 2 weeks. Yuck. Tomorrow night is my first scrapbooking class here in Iwakuni. Hopefully all will go well and it can be a fun event every month. I am also finishing up my first semester as an online instructor. I have about 50 papers to grade before grades are due on Dec. 17, so I am not looking forward to that.

Speaking of papers, here are some recent writing samples from the boys. I'm sure you can guess whose is who's, and who the brown-noser in the family is. I would also like to remind you that Mrs. Howell is another cute, well-educated, blonde 20-something in Xan's life.

Will's paper pays homage to a memory of Grandpa Paul:

Protest

The Japanese protested today outside the front gate of the base, so the front gate was closed for a couple of hours.Japanese law requires that protesters get permits ahead of time so the base knew about this scheduled protest a few days ago. Here is a video a friend of mine took. I have no idea what they are shouting, or what they were protesting, other than the American military's general presence in their country.

Molly goes to school...

Both boys wanted to show Molly off to their classes at school, so I arranged it with their teachers to go Wednesday afternoon. Will's class of 5th graders was first, and the other 5th grade class joined them. I created a PowerPoint presentation for the kids, and just made sure my talks were age-appropriate. Here are photos, and a link to the YouTube video Will took.

Boys' Christmas lists

By request, the boys have submitted their Christmas Wish list. Here is what I have with links to Amazon for either easy ordering, or for visual reference.

WWE 13 X-box 360 game
WWE Nintendo DS game
WWE Rumblers: Alberto Del Rio
Ninjago Legos
WWE Wrestlers: Randy Orton
Money
Razor Scooters

Xan wears a size 8 slim (not skinny - slim. The boys don't like the "skinny" style of jean. "slim means the jeans are cut normal, just for thinner kids) jean and Will wears a size 16 slim jean. Old Navy is the best place to get clothes that will fit them and wash well.

Japanese KFC and Star Student of the Week...

Above is what I think could be considered a Japanese version of fried fast food. Like KFC, but fish instead of chicken. The boys liked it, but it is served buffet style., with you paying per item. Unfortunately for me, their eyes were bigger than their stomachs, but good for me was the fact that this place was CHEAP and the entire meal cost about 1,600 yen, or around $20. We went to this restaurant Friday while Rodney was the bar on base for "Bosses' Night."

This week Xan is the "Star Student" in his class. Each student gets a chance to have a week as the Star Student. Of course, my son gets a short week, but he'snot complaining. He loves long weekends. More time to watch Real Steel and play with his WWE Rumblers. He had to make a t-shirt poster about his favorite things. Both of those items were listed. Wednesday Molly goes to school, to both Will and Xan's classes. I'll create a short lesson on sugar gliders, marsupials and the benefits of mineral oil on constipation in the little creatures. Just kidding on that last part, although it could grab the kids' interest. I'll try to get some pictures.

Also, be sure to check out my public blog for my latest adventures with Doctor Fish.

Teeth, balls and bombs...

I made it home just in time to attend the 237th Marine Corps Ball (if you have not read about my adventures as I tired to get back home to Japan from the states, or if you want more in-depth coverage of the ball, be sure to visit my public blog: www.jessicaguthrie.com.). Here are photos of Rodney and I all cleaned up:

The boys decided to be brave again, and agrees to try some more Japanese food. No sushi this time - we went with the safer kids' meals. ;)  They liked it much better.

Excitement when we got home from running errands in town today: We couldn't access our house for about two hours due to a bomb scare being called in. There were no bombs found, but they broke out the little bomb robot and everything. We didn't stick around long to watch... instead, we went bowling and ate dinner.

And, last, but not least... Will has lost yet another tooth. This makes five teeth lost since we moved to Japan at the end of July.

Since I've been gone...

Most of you are aware that I left Rodney and the boys back in Japan while I traveled to the states for a whirlwind visit with family and friends. You can read the first installment of my trip on my public blog by clicking here.

But the men in Japan have been keeping busy. Here are some of the highlights Rodney has forwarded to me:

While I was boarding the plane for the states Oct. 20, Rodney and Will found this jacket for  the latter  for $12  at the Iwakuni thrift store. Love that place!

Xan lost his first top front tooth and the tooth fairy brought him a "100 yen nickel," as he put it on Skype.

The base had several Halloween events for the kids. This was a photo taken at the one hosted by the base library. They take being warriors very seriously, so no smiles.

In order to wear a costume to school, the costume had to be homemade or recycled. The warrior costumes they had apparently did not qualify, so Rodney dressed them up as baseball players, which must have qualified. At least they are not quite so serious with these costumes!

As mentioned in an earlier post, Xan has 4 cavities that need to be filled. Here is the first one, which needed a crown. Thank goodness these are just baby teeth! We have discussed improving our tooth brushing skills!

Xan in the dentists' chair.

The boys thank everyone for their spooky Halloween cards and gifts. Rodney said they had a great time opening them! And speaking of Rodney, he has improved his bowling score yet again: