Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Ostlund Family. We hope 2008 blesses you with health and happiness for you and for your family. We love you!

Angel or Devil?

Emma's 1st grade class sang as angels for the school Christmas program in the cathedral on Sacred Heart campus. Emma sang so sweet, for a moment I almost believed she was an angel....

Then she pulled the "talk to the hand"... ah ha... there is my Emma. Don't worry Emma, you are an angel to me.

The "Bottom Song"

Jonas' pre-school class prepared songs for a Christmas program. I asked Jonas what song he liked best. He replied, "the bottom song." What? I was confused. I repeated my question and he repeated his answer, "the bottom song." I told him his class does NOT sing a song about bottoms and Jonas adamantly replied, "yes we do!" So I asked him to sing it for me.... "Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad.... I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the BOTTOM of my heart." Hilarious.

(* remember that scene in Friends where Joey said that guys can turn anything into something perverted?... that may be true. Poor Feliz Navidad.)

Christmas in Tokyo

Merry Christmas from Tokyo! Many have asked if the Japanese celebrate Christmas. Based on what we have observed, they do celebrate Christmas, but not to observe the Christian beliefs associated with it. They celebrate Christmas mostly for the fun and festivity of the season. So from Japan we say Merii Kurisumasu to you!

Photo 1: Sleeping Beauty Castle at Tokyo Disneyland dressed for Christmas

Photo 2: Colonel Sanders from KFC dressed as Santa

Photo 3: Elves.... Dwarfs... what's the difference? I think the Japanese may think they are the same... very funny! The Drawfs move and dance to music ... this day they danced to the reggae tune of "One Love, One Mind... lets get together and feel alright"... pass the pipe

Photo 4: Large present stack that lites up at night at Roppongi Hills Plaza

Photo 5: We take a picture each year at the Christmas Tree lot when choosing our tree. However, this year we went to a shop called Don Quixote and bought a tree in a box, complete with built-in-lights... and of course we still took our traditional "tree shopping" picture

Photos 6, 7, 8: Our kids decorated the "boxed" tree with just as much enthusiasm, as they would decorate our usual fresh 8 foot Christmas tree

I like the Santa Hat to improvise a "Christmas tree topper"... from the dollar store (hyaku en)

December 15th we will travel to California for my sister Lisa's wedding, and then head to Indiana for a relaxed Christmas at home as a family. Merry Christmas to you!

Happy Happy Birthday Tracey Dear

Today my birthday, December 7th. I decided that turning 35 is a milestone; old enough to know something, but still young. So to take a day off from what I normally do and to officially waste time, I spent the day putting together a slide show modeling my 35 years of bliss. Of course my life is not always blissful, but I choose to focus on the positive and happy times. Remember, "in every life, no matter how full or empty one's purse, there is tragedy. It is the one promise life always fulfills. Thus happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but delight in it when it comes" (thank you Charles Dickens). Here are some of those happy moments to share with you. Ignore the vanity... hey, its my birthday!

Love,
Tracey

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Do you remember the Sesame Street song and skit, "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things are kind of the same. Can you guess which kid is doing his own thing? Now its time to play our game. Its time to play our game." While at Showa Koen I had a really funny moment when I realized how easy it was to spot our children's pile of shoes... Are Americans really this sloppy? Or is it just our kids? Believe me when I tell you, our pile was THE ONLY pile that looked like this. How embarrassing.

Its Autumn Time at Showa Koen

Japan uses amazing ideas in their parks. This gorgeous autumn day, we traveled to Showa Koen, a park in Tokyo. At this park, you ride your bike from pit stop to pit stop. At each stop, there would be a new climbing activity. At one pit stop there was a series of nets. At another pit stop there were a series of square mounds surrounded by a man-made fog. But our favorite pit stop was the large MARSHMALLOW MOUNDS to jump on... bounce, bounce, bounce. We went with my friend April and her girls and I think we spent close to 2 hours watching our kids jump on the marshmallows. Everyone was pooped out at the end of the day, including the Mommies. We ended our day with hot cocoa from the vending machine on our way out. Who knew?... hot chocolate, the perfect temperature, from a vending machine! We are falling in love with Japan

Turkey Day?

Everyone has asked if we had Thanksgiving in Japan? Well, the kids did get the day off for parent/teacher conferences which lasted all day, but Glenn had to work as usual. The Japanese don't celebrate the Native Americans and pilgrims first feast in early America... go figure. It was a long day so I called Glenn at work and said, "remember that scene in Christmas Story where the turkey gets ruined and the family goes out for Chinese food? Lets do the same for Thanksgiving." Glenn was on board with the plan and we met him in Roppongi for dinner.... it wasn't Chinese, it was Outback, but it was funny nontheless.

*side note, we did have a more traditional thanksgiving dinner on the following Sunday with some friends.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Everyone in my family knows the infamous story of "Tracey and the Tunafish Sandwich". I was 4 years old and was told to eat all of my tuna sandwich before I could eat my ice cream (vanilla served in a brightly colored cone with random names from the 70's... Pam, Bonnie, Sharon are some I remember). Well I figured out quickly if I hid my sandwich I could get that ice cream sooner. So, like the genius I was, I hid it under the couch. However, my mother who was smarter than me found that sandwich and made me eat it, crust and all.


Well as it turns out, my son Jonas who is almost 4 years old, inherited more than my blonde hair. He too was supposed to finish his sandwich before getting his ice cream. After he valiantly claimed to have finished it, guess what I found in the bathroom trashcan?? Yup. At least his made it to the trash. And, after consulting with Glenn, no we did not make him eat it.

Good Will Hunting

Shailey burst through our front door with a blast of excitement, shouting, "mom, mom, look what I got for FREE! It is the cutest outfit ever!" She ran to the bathroom and came out with this...Her school had a fund raiser where they asked families to donate gently used items. Then they sold the items for really cheap, mostly $1 (100 yen). Even at those incredible prices, no one wanted these amazing finds. So, after the fund raiser was over, Shailey rummaged through the leftover piles came home with a whole new outfit: earrings, belt, skirt, purse, and shoes. Isn't she jazzy? I just love this girl.

It's Dog Gone Gross

The Japanese people are extremely clean. Extreme is the key word here. Recently we noticed that dog owners carry "wet wipes" to clean their pet's bottoms after pooping and urinating. This particular pet cleaning moment I caught on film, required two people to clean the dog's bottom: one to hold the dog between their legs and the other to do the wiping.

CAUTION: if this is already too much information, then do not read on... there is more. Japanese pets are not cleaned with a quick wipe, but instead are cleaned by proding the poor animal's anal canal with a series of wipes, making sure not a speck of feces or urine remains. We kept waiting for this particular couple to finish cleaning their dog because they were right in the path we were taking.....but they kept cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. It was disturbing and well... dog gone gross.

All Aboard!

We signed our kids up with a modeling agency here in Tokyo because many advertising agencies use Americans for their models. We learned about this from Glenn's Aunt Kim, who did a lot of modeling with her kids in Tokyo. The modeling process is more simple here than in the states: we paid $10 per kid, they took our photos, I sent in more photos (that I liked better), and next day we got our first audition. We average about 1-3 auditions a week.

The FRINGE BENEFIT of all of this modeling business is that it has forced me to learn the train/subway system. As you can see from the map, it is slightly intimidating.

For our first audition the agent helped us get there on the subway. When the appointment was over she said goodbye.... "wait, you are not going with us on the subway???" Nope. So I had to figure it out myself. At one point Shailey said "Mom, this is not right, we are getting on the wrong train, lets go back up, I know where to go." I trusted her and she was absolutely right. Whew! Later Emma figured out which exit to take once we got off of the train (another complicated part of the process). Again, whew! I am thankful for intelligent children who are paying more attention than their mother.

Choo choo!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Emma's first audition landed her a commercial for Bridgestone Tires! She will be in magazines, a video promotion, and a commercial. Here is her first day of filming... playing Nintendo DS and drinking tea while waiting for hair and makeup. * side note: our kids have learned to enjoy tea... it is served everywhere you go... and yes it is herbal. Starting the hair fixing process... and I think her hair dresser is totally good looking... have I been in Japan too long?
Now in costume...

I was only permitted to take a few photos on the set. Here Emma sits for her "stills". She had to pretend to enjoy an ice cream cone while seated in a van.She made the crew laugh in between takes because she was acting silly, mocking the poses they were having her do.
At the end of this session, she said through a gritted teeth smile, "Can I stop smiling? Good. My cheeks are killing me"- Barbie, from Toy Story

This is her last costume change, for the group shot, where she sat in the "pseudo van" with her "pseudo mom, dad, brother, and grandparents". She had to pretend to chat with her grandparents seated in the back seat (wish I had pictures of that). She had no problem pretending to chat... she is a very chatty girl. She made the grandparents laugh until the camera crew instructed them not to.
We had a great time throughout the process. No one could believe it was her first job. When it was all over, the entire crew gave her a round of applause and told her she was a natural. She will film the commercial portion next week. When the web commercial is up, we will give you the link. Fun!

Halloween Quiz

This quiz is designed to find out if you participate in Halloween activities for the love and adoration of your children or for your own selfish desires?

(Inspired by my favorite moody blogger, Natalie Hoopes)

PUMPKIN CARVING, do you...

a) carve pumpkins to encourage your children's budding artistry?

b) carve pumpkins even though it is a hassle, messy, and expensive (in Japan they cost $20 each) but you want those gross and festive pictures to scrapbook and/or blog?

KID'S COSTUMES, Do you...

a) let them choose what they want to be and let their creativity soar?

b) choose their costumes for them so that you get that contrived family theme you were looking for even if they really wanted to be something scary? (however, if they cry enough you let them change into their Buzz Lightyear outfit after taking the "themed" photos first)?

CANDY, Do you...

a) let them keep their candy and even if they eat too much and get sick you know they will learn from their mistake and isn't that what life is all about, learning?

b) sort their candy... suckers, jolly ranchers, and gum get pitched, best candy bars (Japanese Muji chocolates, Bits, and Lottes) get stashed for chubby parents, 1 ziplock of miscellaneous candy gets donated to Dad's work, and what's left the kids get a little at a time if they eat all of their dinner, clean their room, do their homework, don't fight, and complete 5 extra chores?

(Evidence the candy has been sorted, plus, notice the "Japanese" elements in the stash?)

PARTIES, Do you...

a) let them attend all of the parties and Halloween activities they want because childhood is a celebration?

b) only let them attend those parties with the best photo taking opportunities, with the least amount of work, and that offer to feed them a meal?

WHEN HALLOWEEN IS OVER...

a) do you take your pumpkins to the trash immediately so that your children are not scarred for life from seeing their masterpiece shrivel up and die?

b) do you leave your decorations through November because after all pumpkins are a "fall theme" and if you wait until your pumpkins are so soggy with mold they will smash down more nicely into your trash can?

*If you answered mostly "a" you are a free spirited hippie parent who doesn't know the meaning of the word "control freak". Your children will grow up to live happy and healthy lives full of meaningful childhood memories.

*If you answered mostly "b" you are definitely a control freak and you need to be stopped. Your children may need medication or the "obliviate" spell to forget their childhood memories.