Virtual Singing Time...

I do virtual singing time twice a month, and I don't find it too stressful, because I keep it pretty simple. It's on zoom, and my computer is set up across from our piano. My kids, ages 14, 11, and 9, help me. I pick a kid from the zoomers to say a prayer, then I talk just a bit about the Come Follow Me lesson from the previous week and what songs we're singing. Then I usually have some sort of thing that the zoom kids pick what song we're going to sing. For example, this coming week I'm using the worksheet from the Primary CFM manual that has prophets' prophecies of Christmas. I've assigned each prophet a song. A kid will pick a prophet, I'll briefly read a small part of that scripture, then I turn around and play the piano, my kids hold up the words/pictures for the song, and my kids sing the song while the zoom kids sing along. We usually get through four songs, in about 10-15 minutes. I've heard that people like it. The thought of making a video would be super stressful to me, so I would never go that route. I've been doing this since early June, and it's not too bad. Of course, I couldn't do it without my kids helping me! We've done other song picking methods, like growing a paper sunflower when we were talking about faith in Alma, etc. I often use magnets on a cookie sheet for my girls to hold up whatever thing the kids pick from. And we use the "sticks of fate" (popsicle sticks with names) sometimes, to pick which kid from zoom gets to choose. I try to put some "you pick" options in, so the kids choose their favorite song. They also like a game called "zoom out" that I play every month or two. I download pictures from the church website media library and have them up on my computer. I have to change the name, because the file name will show on top, and that would give it away... I have the pictures zoomed in as far as they will go, and I share my screen. ( Whoever is the admin of the zoom has to make sure you can share your screen.) I slowly zoom out, while the kids on zoom guess what the picture is of. When they get it, we sing the song that goes along with that picture, for example Nephi's Courage with a picture of Nephi building a boat. Does that make sense? My ward does Sunday School one week a month, and rs/eq/ym/yw one week a month at ten, and our singing time is at 9:45.

Miss R's Birthday...

In the past, R has requested dragon and dinosaur birthday parties, so I should not have been surprised when she requested a sea monster party this year.  We expanded beyond reptiles to include things like the kraken and megalodon though.  Her party happened before the base restrictions tightened up, so she was able to have a few friends over for her party.  We had cake and ice cream of course.

The girls all made pie crust sea serpents.  M did the one that actually looks like something beyond a primitive play dough snake, and I'm including mine with the rest as well.

They played a hot tournament of kraken eye, or ping pong, on our dining room table.

A made a megalodon to throw fishes to, and she also sewed all the fishes.  Then the girls each got to take a fish home.

M drew a scauldron dragon for a pin the tail on the dragon game.

They did some drawing. 

Bonus! I was able to re-use some table runners I made years ago for someone's mermaid party.  Then after the sea monster party I was inspired to finally work on the mermaid quilt for which I have been collecting fabric for the last 15 years...  I finished the front and back!  But I'm not going to attempt to quilt it, so it can wait until we get back stateside.

The big sisters made the marshmallow fondant monsters for the cake.  This cake was a little thick on the frosting even for me.  And that's saying something!  With the huge amount of marshmallow on top, it was sweet overkill.  But good, you know.  It was a fun party!

Here is A working on her megalodon.

Thrifting in Yokosuka

The curse has been lifted!  Sort of.  Instead of having to stay within 3 kilometers from the main gate, we are allowed to go to anywhere on the Miura Peninsula, which is about five kilometers wide by 10 kilometers long.  Not much, but hey!  For months this spring we weren't allowed off base at all, so I'll take it.  For now.  We actually haven't even been able to go very far, because B has been on call for many days, and he has to remain within 20 minutes of the hospital.  Out west where I grew up, you could get a good deal farther than 10 kilometers in 20 minutes!  But here in densely settled Japan, it doesn't work that way.  But luckily there are lots of quirky shops and streets to explore here close.  B and I have been visiting "recycle" shops, or thrift stores.  They can be an adventure.

Even heard of the saying "dumber than a bag of hammers?"

I'm still pretty new to thrifting in Japan, but in my limited experience there are two types of thrift stores here.  One is similar to what you might see in the US, like Goodwill.  Here there are a couple brands of those: Wattmans, and a bunch of Offs, like Book Off, House Off, etc.  They have isles, things on hangers, and so forth.  The other kind I have discovered you can find while traveling down a street by looking for a shop with junk piled in front.  These have tiny isles, or no isles, and just mounds and mounds of stuff.  

Here is the outside of the shop we went to the other night.  (It's the second type of shop...)  It's a very short walk from our base.

It's so fun to poke around in these places.  And although we are coming up on another move, and I'm trying SUPER hard to not acquire too much else, I still like looking around- and it helps with not buying if I take pictures of the cool stuff I find...

I don't know if you can see, but there are two big old huge mallets down there.  Mjolnir's big brothers.  B thought maybe they're for pounding mochi?

If you ever wanted a golden calf...

Walking back to base.

And then on Saturday, we drove to a truly unique shop that everyone on the Yokosuka Thrifters Anonymous facebook group calls BW.  I really like this shop.  It's a series of shacks, run by a wiry man who speaks pretty perfect English, and really hates masks.

Pretty twine.

Some art I liked.

And I don't really like watermelon, but I was sorely tempted by this kokeshi.  I mean, I already own a pumpkin headed kokeshi, so it would fit, right?  But I resisted.

Here is B, gazing into one of the more impassable areas of the shop.  We ended up buying a really old mechanical clock, very dirty and broken, for 500 yen, or about 5 dollars.  B can fix it when he feels like it.  It has a pendulum, and potentially makes a nice chime.

I don't go for the usual tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog things) stuff.  They usually have grotesque breasts and male genitalia, and the inhibited/Scandinavian/Mormon upbringing part of me thinks they're uncomfortable.  But this one hanging up is super cute!

On the way home from BW, we spotted a shop with junk piles outside!  There was a pay parking lot close by, so we pulled in.  And then we had one of the experiences that make me dread moving from this place.  B was looking at the car, and the parking thing that raises up under the car, making sure you have to pay before you leave, and I was out on the sidewalk with my phone, using google translate to try and figure out the pay machine.  All the sudden a guy on a motorcycle pulled in, and came up to help me.  He didn't speak English, but B came over, and with his Japanese the guy helped him figure out that we needed to pay when we come back from the shop, not before.  I thought the guy must live close, and be pulling in to park himself.  But no, he just hopped back on his motorcycle and drove away.  He only stopped because I was obviously in need of help.  It was so kind!  I love Japan...

This recycle shop was tightly packed, and a bit pricier than BW, but fun to poke around in.  A red pay phone?

And I really liked this dish set.  This shop seemed to specialized in stuffed pheasants.  There were a ton of them.  And I don't mean the kind of stuffed animal my girls hoard...  

We went back to the first thrift, which I guess is called PX?  The one close to the train station by base.  B wanted a second look at some chisels he was eyeing.  He didn't end up getting them, but he bought some drill bits that are amazing.  It turns out they cut perfect, smooth holes.  But I saw this lovely wooden plate.

And one last thrift find:  A charger, shaped like a cow bum.

 

The Pandemic: Things to Do...

We went from being busy with school, church, and swim team; with lots of playground time, to staying almost exclusively within our own walls.  

The girls helped us clean and organize the sheds, and we got rid of much stuff.  Now all three of our little sheds are tidy and able to be easily walked into.  

Here the girls are talking to our neighbor, M, who is the chattiest kindergartner ever.

 B rebuilt my excellent Sashiko, who now no longer protests loudly at how much I overload her.

 I tried to notice sakura season on my way to and from the commissary.

 We have played some games...

 There has been much tickle torture...

 B has been helping cook, and expanding his Japanese culinary repertoire.  This curry udon (with homemade udon noodles) tasted amazing- but, unfortunately was soooo spicy 3/5 of us were not able to eat much. 

 The girls built tents to watch General Conference, King Benjamin style...

 The girls found some of my garden stakes and had sword fights, then made a game using the stakes to toss frisby rings to each other.

 We've been trying to have the girls help more with cooking.  My mother was fantastic, but boy, was she bad at teaching me to be an adult...

 A made bread sticks with my Mom's recipe.

 B and I snuck out to see the special spring lights under the sakura.

 We started up the couch to 5 K plods, which has been fun in a painful way.

 The girls got caught up in a neighborhood camp out. 

 There were tents everywhere, kids up on rooftops.  It looked like a refugee camp.

 I reread some HP, including the new British illustrated version I had checked out from the library before it closed.  Why can't anyone get Sirius right?  He's a newfoundland.  Obviously.

 

Getting Sirius wrong aside, the British version is so much better!  The part in the third book where they're in the Shrieking Shack has always bothered me.  Lupin would not say "Here, boy" to Ron.  He just wouldn't.  But Sirius would.  He doesn't really know Ron yet.

I made the girls do some zumba.

And they joined a crane folding challenge, trying to fold a thousand cranes for each of the four schools here on the bases.  They only made it to about six hundred I believe.  It was a good time taker!