Pictures of our last day, Jayce's Perspective.

I was downloading pictures and found these from our last day in Japan.  I of course demanded that we spend part of it at the beach.  We only had the morning until Jason had to drop off our car to its new owners.  What I love about these pictures is Jayce had the camera for a big part of the day.  I get to see what he thought was worth taking pictures of, I think they are cute.

Digging for sand toys.

They decided to splurge and pay for a banana boat ride.  The Japanese are always worried about safety.

They are waiting for the ride to start, I don't think Jason was impressed.  It was impressive enough for my boys.

I love all the selfies!  I wonder if the sign is warning about Typhoons or what.  The wave is picking up that poor kid.

He loves the soda machines and Shisa's!

Jayce will miss the vending machines and soda choices.

A wooden ship playground, the kids love the zip line.

I had never read this sign and always wondered why they chose a wood ship for a playground.  Thanks  Jayce for the story!

More cute selfies!

Our final sunset, it was beautiful.

Jayce is Certified!

Our Youth Center here in Okinawa is awesome.  The director Mr. Rhinehart does amazing things for the kids.  This past October he was able to provide a scuba certification class to the youth.  Since Jason and I are now certified we jumped at the chances to allow Jayce that opportunity.  He had to mow the lawn a few times and do some other chores to pay for half of the fee.

He had fun through the process.  He was nervous for a few of the tasks (so was I).  I think it was good that he was in the class without his parents, so he would tough it out through the scary parts.  He did awesome and is now certified.  He finished up his certification while my parents were visiting.  Here are a few pictures of Jayce the Scuba Diver.

Tired after the swim.

The equipment is pretty heavy.  At one of the dives Jason had to help Jayce out of the water, he was tired.  This time he made it out on his own.

The jealous bystanders.

Looking at these pictures makes me want to dive.  I really hope I can get in one or two more dives before we leave.  I just need to find a willing babysitter to watch Jude near by so I can nurse before and after dives.  Any locals interested?

Double Digits

Jayce did have a Birthday a few weeks ago.  He has hit the double digits - the big One Oh!  The big day was shared by two other major events, which made the day extra special and extra crazy.  Of course his biggest request this year was books.  He added over 5 books to his collection and I think finished all of them by now.  A few new clothes for the summer and a remote control helicopter.  The helicopter did not survive 20 minutes of use before it was busted.  We thought maybe we should have supervised a little more, so it was replaced and that one was busted in record time.  Jason then spent time using parts from here and there to give him a more play time before they both went in the trash.  Live and learn, I guess.

For food he requested: grilled Salmon with a dill sauce, fresh tomatoes, deviled eggs, giant pickles, raw green onions, fresh mushrooms, oven roasted potatoes and cheese biscuits.  For his cake - Shakes!

Happy Birthday to my Jayce!  You are one unique kid.  

-You love to read and are developing a fun sense of humor. 

-You love anything Greek or Egyptian.

-You are busy writing a book, or is it 5.  You are planning on being an author when you grow up.

-You have an awesome imagination and love to create whole new worlds in your head. 

-You like to draw, especially dragons and fighting scenes.  You plan to illustrate your novel.

-You occasionally refer to yourself as a "ginger", you are proud of your red hair.  You think you are more Irish than you are. 

-You excel at anything you decide to.  

-Your favorite food is seafood.

-You wish we could move to Idaho now.

-You want to do what is right, a great example to your brother and sisters.

-You are the best big brother and are such a great help to your Mom and Dad.  

You are one amazing person.  I know things are not always the way you want them to be, but life is still great and I love spending it with you.  We love you and are so proud of you.

Consequences For Mom

One day last year I made Jayce mad at me.  He was sent outside.  I don't even remember the reason for any of it now.  While he was outside he decided that I needed to learn a lesson.  So he wrote me a message...   NO MOM

On the back of the car, scratched into the finish.   Lesson Learned.

The only reason he has lived to tell this tale is our car is a beater and will have to be junked when we leave the island.  Hopefully, they all understand that there is a zero tolerance policy for this choice.

Tackle Football

The season is finally winding down.  We have 2 events left, trophy ceremony and Round One (fun day).  This was an intense season of football.  They started practicing in September.  The first 2 weeks they practiced every night for 2 hours.  Jason was gone during the first few weeks and I thought it was going to kill us, I had little kids getting sick at practices and trying to keep them happy for 2 hours.  Towards the end of the first weeks Jayce wanted to quit,.  I talked him into waiting until Jason was home so he could help him out.  I could only kind of help.  The couch cushion was a great tackling dummy (the big one with a little elbow in it!).  It helped a little until Jason was home.

Jayce did really well for a month or so, he was enjoying the games and practices.  Then suddenly he was sour again and we struggled with practices off and on until the last 2 weeks of the season when he really wanted to quit.  He decided to hang in there for $50 (no complaining was required).  Towards the end of the season he was playing for almost every offensive play.  He had come along way.  Their team is ranked #1 in the league for his division.  It is always fun to be on the winning team.  Our team won every game except the 2 we tied.

At his teams banquet he was given the award for Biggest Heart.  I can't think of a better award to win for an athlete.  They commented that they thought he was going to quit and hung in there and that he never cried (I think all of the other boys cried at least once).   You should see his arms, he is getting way to big.

School Projects

I have a hate love relationship with big school projects.  I love them because I get to spend a little more time with my kid working on something together (and the crafter in me enjoys it).  I hate them because, well... they are work and one more thing in my already busy schedule.  We have a had a few this past month.

Jayce was assigned an Indian project.  Jayce wanted to do a poster, the crafter in me hates them.  So, I persuaded Jayce to build a replica of a dwelling.  We of course chose Cherokee (that is the tribe Jason belongs to).  After doing some research we started building.  We had to enlist Jason's help on the construction of the bones of it all.  We tried to not just have it look like a replica, but be built correctly as well.  We were close, but not exact.  I had fun and I think Jason and Jayce did too.

Grahm was assigned to make a vest out of a brown paper bag.  It was part of his costume for their Thanksgiving program.  We made it the day before it was due (of course).  I didn't like the design so I started trying to get it to lay down like a vest should.  We had it looking nice.  Grahm was a little nervous of it after I had verbalized that I had made it wrong.  I offered to get another bag and re-make it correctly (I was even hoping, then it would lay better).  He said no and ran off to play.  Well at 8:00 am the next morning (30 minutes before we need to leave) he announced that he was going to be too embarrassed to wear the vest we had made.  Why did he have to pull that card, why didn't he just say he didn't like it.  So we scrambled to finish packing lunches and made another vest.  At the program I saw lots of different looking vests, the first on would have been fine.  Oh, well.

Jayce was recently assigned to make a clothespin doll.  Why?  I still have no idea.  Jayce chose to make Harry Potter.  This was an easy project and I really was able to stress being careful each step of the way so the final looks good.  Lucky for Jayce his mom has a huge scrap bin and we were able to find black fabric to make a cape.  His teacher tried to keep it!  Now he is hanging on the tree.

3 Boys and a 5K

This time Jason and Grahm also participated.  Grahm has been begging to run everyday since Jayce's last run.  It is going to whip Jason into shape because Jayce views running as his private Daddy time.   So, Jason has to run with each of them seperately and now Charlotte is begging to go.

 Since they were running so fast, I hadn't set my settings.  Next time I will be ready.

Jayce ran ahead of Grahm and Jason up till the end.  He ran a good quarter of a mile ahead, but at the end they had over a half mile up hill climb.  That combined with his faster pace took its toll and he couldn't be motivated too much at that point.  So Grahm and Jason came in just before Jayce.  Their times....  28.??  and 29.??  Jayce shaved off 5 minutes!  They both beat lots of adults.  We are so proud and hope they continue to enjoy running.  At this rate we might have to invest in that double jogging stroller!

Beat, but so proud!  Sign in was at 6:30am - I think they need to be up a little earlier so breakfast doesn't make them feel yucky.

5K

Kicking it at the end.  Go Jayce!

On Saturday, Jason's group sponsored a 5K run to raise money for the Wounded Warrior fund.  Jason has been busy getting ready for the event for awhile.  Jason was in charge of a section of the course (road guards and water station) so he could not run.  Jayce decided he wanted to run.  It has been fun watching Jason and him train (albeit not much).  Jayce really wanted to win in his age category.  Unfortunately, since this is the first year (a new annual event) they only broke the runners into 2 category's - over 30 and under 30.
He was a little nervous before the run started, we found someone else who was running that was willing to run the race with Jayce.  She was not there when we got there and Jayce did not rest easy until his running partner was there.  He looked like he had fun and finished the race with a kick and a time of 34:??minutes. He is excited to run another race with his Dad.

Before the Race.

 A shirt made as requested by Jayce and Jason (My Dad participated in a triathlon and my Mom made him a shirt like this).

Stretching.

Waiting for the speeches to begin and then finally the race.

Passing us and looking strong.

After it was all over, still smiling!!

Jayce's Percy Jackson Birthday Party

First off, a little disclaimer - this party just does not feel up to my standards of making it extra special.  It is hard to plan things when you can't run to your standby stores - Target, Walmart, etc..

I got the idea for the invitations from Thepeanutone's Weblog (just found it in a blog search).  I used a font called PiRhoHerak, you can get it for free on the web.

Sons and Daughters of the Gods!

Please join us in the celebration of Jayce’s 9th Birthday

Camp Half Blood

April 23, 2011 from 1:00 – 3:00pm

Please note that Camp Half Blood has moved to the Isle of Okinawa, our house.

We will practice warrior training, and Ancient Greek. Dionysus will provide the drinks; Demeter will provide the snacks and cake.

Please send an Iris message letting us know whether you’ll be able to attend or if you have been sent on some other Quest. If you are out of Golden Drachmas, you may call 99999999or e-mail xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com to be connected to Micah, daughter of Hera, Goddess of Motherhood.

Please wear protective gear for the anticipated visit of Apollo (sunscreen). If Zeus throws rain and lightning bolts our way, we will watch The Lightning Thief.


 Well it was raining that morning and I thought we were going to be watching the movie.  It finally stopped 30 minutes before the party started and I was assuming that it would be to wet outside. 

As the guests arrived they pulled a name tag out of a bowl (the Oracle).  On the tag it said...

Son/Daughter of HEPHAESTUS

God of Fire

or some other God or Goddess.  Then they were given a Greek alphabet sheet and they were to write their name in Greek.  Jayce requested to be Son of Hades, God of the Underworld.

About 10 minutes into the movie Jason and I looked at each other and said this is not going to work.  Only 3 of the kids were actually watching.  So I ran over to the park area and checked it for small ponds.  It was dry.  So we armed them all with foam swords and gave half of them blue headbands and we went to play capture the flag.  I thought it was fun, but their was a lot of fighting and I couldn't be a referee the whole time.  I guess I needed to make the rules easier to follow or make up more rules. 

After 3 rounds of this we switched to Medusa Freeze Tag. I kept adding Medusas because they were having a hard time getting anyone frozen or keeping them frozen. After awhile all of the girls (Medusas) came up with a game plan of guarding their tagged victims. The boys were getting so mad, but I figured we needed to be flexible at that point. So after the girls finally had all the boys tagged - I made the 4 biggest complainers be Medusas (Jayce was one of them).


 
 Being guarded.

I let them play one more round of Capture the Flag before we headed in for snacks and ice cream.  We served Sprite, Grape Soda (of course), Root Beer, Grapes, Doritos, and Oatmeal Fudge Bars.  Since Jayce does not like cake he makes it hard to make anything, but we tried.  He wanted a sword before we established that he really didn't want cake.  So I came up with this idea and had Jason execute it.

 I wanted to find small toy snakes, but no luck.  So I tried to pipe some from chocolate - I wont tell you what I think they look like.

He was way too spoiled.  He added to his Nerf gun collection, water guns and swords, Lego's and books.