William's birthday

Last year, we spent so much on William's birthday party that I said this year he had a choice. He could have a party, or he could have 2 friends and 2 days at Disney Tokyo/Sea. Well, he went for Disney! WOO HOO!

His friend, Pierce, got invited to Disney Sea (the whole park has water as a part of the theme). They came for dinner. It was a really nice night.
I had made cupcakes for his class with strawberry frosting. This cake was ice cream sandwiches stacked with whip cream on top. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

When we hosted his 'second' birthday party (his other friend finally moved to Japan), THAT friend said it was the best cake he's EVER had! Ha! I love it when easy impresses!
William blew out his candles. I'm not sure what he was wishing for, but he got a really cool Japanese police bus/truck as a gift. The police here get bussed to the areas they need to go to. So, you see police buses from time to time.

Expensive part of the chicken 9/16/10

Okay, you're going to have to click on this image to read the prices (above the red). The top package is cartilage, and the bottom is chicken breast. The most expensive, I haven't bought. Dark meat is pricier than the chicken breast. Japanese make good karage or furaido chiken (fried chicken). But, they use dark meat. Breast meat off-base is cheaper than on base, and is much fresher!

When I was having knee pain, I found research on what helps joint health. A Japanese study, it shows that eating cartilage soup helps. The Japanese also barbeque it. Every good yakitori place has cartilage on the menu, along with chicken skin, the diaphragm meat, chicken tails and chicken balls. Okay, that's not what you think. It's ground chicken... :) Anyway, this might be why cartilage is so much more than chicken meat. Kind of interesting, however!

Car Times Tables

I don't know if it is the influence of 'Top Gear' or 'Mythbusters,' but William likes to take his own data and do his own research. We are amazed by this.
He has been writing down the times for each car.
We'd gotten him a stopwatch for timing things. He mainly uses it to go to the park and see when an hour has gone by (he has to check in at home). Recently, I had to clean the gunk out of the crevices, so the buttons would work again. There's a lot of dirt and sand at the park!

Original research. Kinda neat to see! I find it funny that he writes it down!

PSNS Picnic

There was an end-of-summer potluck for the Puget people here. Jaye and Gabe Sullivan moved here this summer, and I'm so excited! It's great having new folks with a great energy about them! They are fun. Their kids are really well behaved, and cute to boot!
There is always plenty of food. I brought melons. Watermelon, cantaloupe and Santa Clause melon. I was curious. I saw it at the commissary. It had a green outside, but was a soft, sweet fruit inside. Interesting.
I love these events out by the seawall. The kids go play at the playground, and the adults can eat and talk.
Melissa (left, eyes closed) and Pamra (right, camera in hand) are here TDY. That means temporary duty. It's nice that they can enjoy the events, as well!

The PSNS contingency here has grown so big, that we can't all fit in a house for an event. So, it's nice to have these types of things somewhere where there's room for everyone! Score!

Tim's birthday party 9/10/10

Tim was 'orbiting' this year. Every 11 years is an 'orbit.' At 44, he's looking forward to many more orbits! I let Tim decide the menu. Steak is always on the menu.

I apologize for the fuzzy picture. I'm just glad any pictures got taken for the event!
Friends brought their son, Ian. He's being held by another single friend. She'd heard Tim talk about his special birthday cakes I make for him, and asked to come. Tim's mom made a sour cream chocolate cake from scratch. We found the recipe in her recipe book. It was on the back of a flour sack, probably circa 1960. It isn't overly sweet, as you use unsweetened chocolate. So, she got an invite to the party!
Mr. Dwayne Strand Man (that's what another friend's son calls him) was goofing off with one of Ian's baby food containers. It made a nice birthday hat. Monkey see...
...monkey do! Here you can see that when Ian isn't smiling, he looks pretty serious. This kid can stare down Japanese. I once witnessed a Japanese lady cavorting and clowning to get him to smile. He just stared. With his chubby cheeks and broad forehead, it almost looks like a scowl, even when it's not. This lady worked it for about 5 minutes. It was funny, 'cause what can she do? Making an exit without getting a kid to smile... tough. A nearby Japanese man said something to her, and I imagined it to be, "Hey, you're not THAT funny!"

Then, a garbage truck came by and he got really excited and laughed! Yep, he has the 'knack.' This is an inside joke for Engineers. Apparently, a Dilbert cartoon made fun of the fact that engineer children are sometimes very engineering-like themselves. Therefore, they have 'the knack.' He just doesn't see humor in silly people.
Tim made everyone watch one of his favorite Top Gear shows. I overheard William bragging about his dad recently. Did you know that my dad has seen all the Top Gear shows? He's also seen every Mythbusters ever made! AND he can drink a carton of milk (half gallon) every day! Okay, that was bragging between two kids with 'the knack.' No, "My dad can beat up your dad," no. Nope, it's, "My dad's a big ol' geek show geek!"
This is the sour cream chocolate cake. Barb is clapping for him.
This is some of the debris from the day. It had a beer theme, so I used the Germany tablecloth. It was the first time I used it. I got it so long ago (1982) that East and West Germany are still one. That was the year Tim was there, as well. Tim got all his beer buckets, and people brought beer as gifts. Fun!

First Day of School

This is the mandatory picture of him before he leaves for school. I love how you can see kids grow from year to year! It was really hot here the first few weeks of school. They made the kids stay inside for recess.
This is 6:42 in the morning. Yes, he has to be down the street and at the stop by that time. School opens the doors at 7:15 and classes start at 7:25.

BTW, the building behind is now GONE. The Japanese seem to tear down perfectly good buildings and start anew. New investors, I guess.

William got into Ms. Bailey's class and LOVES it! Since he's able to help the other kids, she has him correcting their work, or telling them when they've gotten it right. He also knew how to tie shoes, so he was her helper for tying. She gave the kids Jan. 1 to learn how to tie their own shoes. William also helps with zippers.

Usually the first month or so of school, teachers don't want parents in the classroom, so that the kids acclimate to the new environment. So, I couldn't volunteer, but William could help! Woo hoo! I am so happy that he is able to use his compassionate side to help others. He would have made a great older brother.

Plane Learning 8/29/10

William tends to self-study. He has an interest, and will learn all he can about it.
He's taken a pamphlet from when Tim and he went to the Flight Museum in Seattle (Renton) when we were home this summer, and is listing them in order to learn them.
I wonder how much he's really learning. Sometimes he remembers correctly, sometimes not. But he has so many interests. Right now (December, while I'm writing), every day he wants to be something different when he grows up. Right now, his options are limitless. As he grows, and his focus narrows, things will change..

His recent 'what I'll be when I grow up' have been:

Teacher

Author

Professional Athlete

Vulcanologist

Musician

Doctor

Mailman

I'm hoping for Rock Star, so he can take care of his momma! :)