Trick-or-Treat and Jack-o-lanterns

 We carved pumpkins the night before for our Jack-o-lanterns.  William did his OWN this year!  No help.  Tim made Gourd Vader, and I made Sqashimoto (thanks Tom for that moniker!).  Mine had started to rot.  So I cut those parts out, and decided those would be the eyes.  It went from there!

 Luke Skywalker on our porch before heading out.  His teacher had them do Pumpkin math at school.  You weighed yourself.  Then yourself with your pumpkin.  Then you had to deduce how much the pumpkin weighed.  Hey, that's algebra!  She sent the pumpkin home with William since we'd donated it.  Groan.  One more moldy thing to throw away on Thursday.

 We park by the Connor's house.  This is Sean Connor with our Star Wars guys.  I think the Ewok is the only one who could take him....   ;)

 Our crew ready to go!  Ian Ewok, Stefan Han Solo, Dougie R2D2, William Luke Skywalker.

 Hallie is Slave Leia, and I'm Jabba the Hutt.  Kids who didn't know Star Wars were clueless to who we were.  Ack!  Generation gap!

 Eric was Obi Wan with Yoda on his back.

 We do the town houses, not the towers.  It funner to walk around and see the decorations.

 The Connors doling out candy.

 We ran into Daniel (Clone trooper) and this was the pose he did!

 Pregnant Tinkerbelle... it's just WRONG!!!

 This is what it looks like after dark.  We can trick-or-treat between 4:30 and 6 p.m.

 William is now R2D2, and Dougie is Luke.  May the force of the candy be with you!

 Samurai outfits.  Fun!  We also saw a new Tokyo Sky tower costume.  How creative!

And then we beer or treated the Strands.  Allie dressed up as a guy.  Then she went karaoke singing!  :)  A good time was had by all, and I've only stolen 2 chocolate candies from William to date!  :)  Halloween was a success!

Japanese SAFETY drill

One thing that impresses me about the Japanese, is that they drill for emergencies.  It is still amazing to me that so few died in the tsunami, when you realize the millions that had to flee.  They're serious about this stuff.

 This is a group from the east coming into our park.

 They had us go through a smoke tent to show how low visibility gets in a fire.

 The volunteers reminded me of soldiers.

 We learned how to sling an arm.

 And then, we got to put out small fire symbols.

 William loved this part.  I have video (future) and of Tim being on the bucket brigade.

 They even used their emergency boilers to make our food.  Rice in a pouch.  You got 2 small flavor packets to sprinkle on it, and green tea.

 William went to play while we ate.

This is Tim and Dwayne with Osami-san.  He's a very nice man who comes to the English speaking homes and tells us of these events, and then interprets for us.

This ended up being a lot of fun!

Halloween Party WINNER!

 Our friends, the Sullivans, always put on a rockin' Halloween party.  It was a blast!

 Tim went as Lord Vader.  He tried to memorize lines from the movies to use his voice modulator with. Since William went was Luke, "Luke, I am your father," was pretty easy.

 Hallie and Eric made this amazing R2D2.  What fun!  William was jealous.

Ian is the perfect Ewok, just by himself.  He was so cute.

 Missy said this costume looked better when her 'mad scientist' husband was around.  The makeup was amazing.

FRONT: Dougie (R2D2), William (Luke), Caroline (Jabba the Hutt), Hallie (Slave Leia), Stefan (Hans Solo)  BACK:  Eric (Obi Wan Kenobi), Ian (Ewok), and Tim (Lord Vader).  Anthony/Putaansuu combined costumes.

 Jabba and Leia in happier times (if you remember, in SW6 she strangles Jabba).  Yes, I bought the costume.

  Here are the Sullivans as American Gladiators.  TOO FUNNY!

 The FB picture!

 Heidi...

 Heidi Ho!

 Pepe LePew and Penelope.

 Pad Squad, Hippie and the Mad Hatter, which I loved!  He took that sup around all night!

 Marilyn (Joe DiMaggio is elsewhere), Heidi Ho (Der Dwayne is elsewhere) and Little Red Riding Hood (the wolf is also elsewhere).

I won!

Emotional Quotient

We've got the help of a great friend to teach William about emotional stuff... he's a Finn... he needs it!

She started with teaching me about emotions, and how to help him start to describe them. 

Then she worked on relaxation techniques for children to use.

Then she worked on mindfulness.  To be aware of what is going on when it is going on.

This all helps a child with emotional intelligence, so they can handle their emotions in an appropriate way.

So, on this sunny Friday off from school, we went to her house for the lesson.  Afterwards, I took them to Kanazawa Zoo's roller slide park.

 But there were a ton of kids coming out of the zoo into the park!  Mayhem!

 Stefan and William pals.

 The bus back had seats to fold down into the aisle.  We are the only ones on the bus, and they're being... boys!  Tee hee!

It costed ¥600 to park, but the bus ride was fun and took you up the big hill.

Video is lame, since I took it on my cell phone.  The Japanese kids love to choo-choo train together down the slide.  William wanted to go as fast as he could!  :)

Roll Sushi

Japanese class is about eating...

The secret to roll sushi is to squish it hard back into itself before you complete the wrap.

...and then eat it quick....

...and wipe your mouth.

Since this stuff is so fresh, it is my favorite.  I love it.  And you have to use sushi vinegar, or vinegar with sugar in the rice.  Fan the rice as you mix it in....  Oishii!!!!!!

Golden Book -again

They eye is looking better!

William has been honored with Golden Book (sign your name in gold into a good behavior book) so many times, that I forgot to bring my camera!

So, my cell phone had to do!

Shoot.  I forget that the camera won't auto correct which way the picture is taken.

William is the second from the right.

And here he is...

...signing the book.  Congratulations, William!  You're a well-behaved kid!