Everyone needs a little R&R

We took a little time off these last two days to get away. Do some sight seeing.  Have a time of rest.  Have a little family fun.  Build some stronger friendships. {Thanks Winters family for letting us tag along. We had a blast!} 

We went to Kagoshima, Japan.  For those who don't know where Kagoshima is. . . . here is a little help.

We live in Japan.  Japan is made up of four main islands.  We live on the southern island of Kyushu in the city of Fukuoka.  We live on the top of the island.   We went to Kagoshima, at the bottom of the island.

I am from Texas and I am always amazed at how quickly you can travel from one place to another - outside of Texas.  It took about 4 1/2 hours to get to Kagoshima.  That would be from Dallas to Merkel!! 

 

We left early on Thursday morning. 

Our first adventure was stopping to see a waterfall. 

 

Starting to see the waterfall . . . I was impressed already.

Crossing the river . . . sidewalks and bridges are so uncool.
 Lets just walk across the stones.

Beautiful!

The kids skipping stones.

Next we headed to the zoo.  I have to say, it was one

 of the best zoos I have ever been to.

I have to thank Jonah, Eli and Alyssa for the great photos.

When the animals would not look at us they would

 begin to speak "tiger" or "llama" to them.

We ended up with some great pictures.

I took 157 photos at the zoo. 

I will only post my favorites.

 

Alyssa and Eli

Black bear enjoying a soak in his tub!

Red Panda - didn't even know there was such a thing!

A sloth . . . just hanging out.

This is ash.  It was everywhere. 

High School Mascot!! 
Goooooo Badgers!!

This penguin was playing with Jonah at the glass.  It was so cute!

Got to see feeding time with the seals. 
This seagull caught a fish for supper.

 

After a long day it was time for the hotel and bed.

We all went to bed with the excitement of

going to see the volcano the next day.

We woke up to a fresh blanket of ash.

 

 

all the cars were covered . . .

everything looked grey . . .

you can see it blowing off the trees . . .

Mike brought a bag home with us . . . ugh, thanks, honey!
 

 

Now it was time to get on the ferry and ride over

to the island where the volcano is.

 

 

 

 

Once on the island we headed to the Observation Deck to

see and learn about the volcano.  As we were all

getting out of the cars the volcano began to erupt.  So very cool!

 

This is the cloud of ash moving over the water and
heading to the city of Kagoshima.



 

And here are just a few pictures from a park we found. 

Kids needed to run off some energy!

 

yea, he's 15 years old!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed our vacation . . . .we sure did!!

Taking a little trip around the globe

 I try to make learning fun.  It does not always happen.  Some days I am full of energy and ready to conquer the world.  Some days I am just thankful that all the kids are still alive by 3:00 pm. 

This year, Noah is taking World Geography.  The textbook we are using is awesome and a very self guided study.  Another bonus is that it provided lesson plans for elementary, junior high and high school.  You can check out this book (Trail Guild to World Geography) by clicking here!  One of the lesson ideas for the elementary age group was to make a paper mache' globe and have the kids add each continent and ocean as they study it.  Me being crafty and loving arts and craft time, thought this would be an awesome way to teach art and geography.  BUT it just would not work for us this school year.  We are planning to come back on a furlough in 2014.  I hated to put all the work into our globe just to have to throw it out unfinished!  So I went to facebook to make a plea for help from all my super cool and crafty friends.  How can I do this globe idea but yet still bring it back with us.  I had lots of ideas given to me.  {Thanks guys!}   I picked the one that would meet our needs and my goals for the kids learning.

I need your help {again}!!  I am looking for people all over the world to help us out.  I decided to do a passport/journal book with Jonah and Eli.  We will continue to study each continent and ocean, but we would like to get information from around the world.  I have typed up an interview sheet.  If you  would be willing to help please let me know.  I am asking that you answer the questions and email them to me.  You can also send pictures too.  I will print out the answers and we will discuss what you had to say when we are studying the continent you live on.  The boys will be able to add a stamp to their passport book and your answers and pictures will be added to the journal.  I think this will really help the world to come alive to them.

Next year we will be studying US Geography and I want to do the same thing only with the 50 states.  So if you can't help us this year, just wait, I will ask again next year!!

 If anyone wants to use my ideas please feel free to use them or share them, but please post a comment so I can keep track of who is using it! 

World Geography                                                        Interview Questions

Please answer each question.  If you would like, you can send a picture to answer any of the questions.  We would love to see the country you live in. J Please email the questions and answers back to us before April 15, 2014.  I will post a picture of our finished world map on my blog and my facebook page in May!  Thanks so much for helping us to learn about the world God created for us!  

Email – japanmomof4@yahoo.com

1.  What is your name?

2.  How many are in your family?

3.  Where do you live?

4.  What continent do you live on?

5.  When did you move to this country?  Why?

6.  What language is spoken in this country?

7.  What are some of the differences between America and your country?

8.  What kind of food do you typically eat?

          Meats –

          Vegetables –

          Fruits –

          Others –

9.  What are some foods you cannot get in your country?

10.  What are some holidays and traditions celebrated?

11.  What kind of government system do you have in your country?

12.  What are some of the laws and how are they enforced?

13.  What kind of health care do you have in your country? 

14.  What is the traditional dress for your country?  What do people normally wear?

15.  What does the money look like and what is the value?

16.  How do most people make a living in your country?

17.  What do the houses look like?

18.  How do people spend a day off in your country? 

19.  How much importance is placed on education?

20.  What is the primary religion of your country?

21.  Is there anything we missed that you would like to share with us?

She's a skater girl . . . .

The first day of school

You could say we had our first day of school for a new school year.  We really don't know where we fit in right now.  After coming to Japan we put the kids on the Japanese school year.  They start the new year in April and go through the following March.  This was kind of hard for us . . . my kids and I still think like Americans.  It was hard for them to be in school in July.  It was hard for me too.  On Facebook everyone was talking about summer plans and here we sat, doing school, wishing we were on summer break too!  So we switched them/ are switching them back to the American school calendar.  So this week, we started our new school year, while still finishing our books from last school year.  Sunday at church the kids were asked to stand up and tell what grade they would be in this year.  My kids didn't know how to answer.  I told them to pick a grade, any grade and that would be the one for this year!! 

Here are our pictures from our first day of school.  I hope you enjoy!

Noah - 15 years old

Doing some 9th grade and some 10th grade work.

When he grows up he wants to be  - an actor

 

 

 

Rachal - 13

(she will be 14 on the 28 of September)

She is mostly doing 8th grade work.

She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

 

 

 

 

Joanh - 11 years old

Doing mostly 5th grade work.

Wants to be a police man when he grows up.

 

 

 

 

Eli - 9 years old

Doing mostly 3rd grade work.

He wants to be a preacher or a scientist.

But only if they let him freeze things.

 



Mt. Aso = Mt. Awesome!

A family in the church invited us to go on a day trip with them in August. 

They wanted to take us to the area where they grew up. 

We jumped at the idea of seeing more of this beautiful

 country we get to live in! 

Here are some pictures from our trip. 

The smoke is the active valcano at the top of Mt. Aso

Noah enjoying the view

Mountain roads and Rachal = dramamine and sleeping through the trip

Looking down into the valcano.  The sulfer smell was awful.

While we were there, it "burped". 
The gaurds made us all leave the area due to the increased sulfer in the air.

We had the chance to stop at an old train track turned water park.  They were building a new track through the town in 1977, that would include an underground tunel.  As the men worked on the tunnel they found an underground spring.  As they dug the tunel it kept filling with water and some men drown.  After many tries to keep the turnel they decided to give up.  The city later turned the water filled tunel into a fun place to enjoy.

Jonah and Eli playing in the water.

 

Inside the tunel is decorated by different schools and businesses. 

Mike and Rachal with Totoro

Castel made of plastic bottles

Awesome Waterfall.
They use sound waves and lights to make the water
look like individual drops of water.
Everyone wanted to touch and see if it reallly was water....

 

 

...everyone

The end of the tunel still has water rushing out.

Three little words that mean so much!

This summer I learned three little words in Japanese.  Probably not what you think of when you hear the phrase "three little words".  I learned ......

健康保険証

 

びょうき

 

くすり

That would be

 

health insurance

 

sick

 

medicine

 

for those of you who don't read Japanese! 

This summer has been full of medical issues for us. 

First of all we ended May with Jonah falling down in the parking lot of the church.  He and a few kids were playing tag when Jonah's foot slipped on the rocks.  Next thing ya know . . . . . tears, blood, weak knees, upset stomach and swelling.  (I have a family of fainter's at the sight of blood)  After a trip to the doctor the next day they put his arm in a cast for a few days.  It healed up great and he is left with an awesome story. 

In mid July, Mike started having some stomach issues.  Upset stomach, fever and pain.  After three trips to see three different doctors, over a five week period, it was determined that Mike would need to have an endoscopy done.  Upon having the endoscopy done they found a polyp in his stomach.  So that was sent off for a biopsy.  Two weeks later we get the report back that everything was clear.  So that was a huge blessing.  Praise the LORD!!  The doctors put Mike on some stomach medicine and that has really helped too!

{I had planned to post a picture of Mike's polyp but didn't want to gross anyone out!  :) }

The last week of July, Jonah decided he had not seen the inside of an ambulance and that this would be a good time. :)  Jonah and Eli had been outside playing when Eli fell down and scraped his knee.  Jonah being the good big brother came running into the house to tell us.  But before he made it inside he ran into the stairs out front.  So in came Jonah with a large gash on the top of his head.  {remember I have fainter's in this family}  Long story short,  Jonah got to ride in an ambulance to the hospital and ended up with three staples in his head.  He has been checked out with numerous x-rays and he is great!  No cracked scull and the doctor said, "He is normal."  So I am just going to go with that!! 

To end this "Summer of Fun", I had to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled.  Lets just say, I don't do pain very well.  I cried.  No pictures to post. 

I am glad to say that through all of this that God blessed us.  He took care of us when we were hurting.  He provided the money to pay the medical bills.  He lead us to some awesome doctors that spoke some English.  He calmed my heart many times when my child was hurting.  He steadied my nerves as we waited for the test results.  He was right beside me every step of the way.  I love the Lord and I love serving Him - even when we are sick and hurting and far from home.  Because slowly, over the last two years, Japan has become HOME.