The Ostlund Times

December 25, 2010

Movie Debut Part One

This past spring, Emma and Jonas were cast as children in a TV movie for the dramatic series called

BEST HOUSE 1,2,3

It was a re-enactment of a true story about an American mother named, Diane Downs who shot her three kids in the 1980's. I was initially concerned the subject matter would be too much for them but as it turns out, I was concerned for nothing because it never felt real to them. They would act their scene and it was all they could do not to bust up laughing. Emma knew she eventually would get shot, so she kept asking, "when do I get the fake blood?"

Here is our modeling agent, Ai. She is like my kids' big sister, we LOVE her!

Here is Emma and her abusive mother, only this time, Emma is pretending to give her mother the bruised face. The painted bruises however, are supposed to be from the mother's abusive boyfriend.

Half way through the day's shoot, Jonas was completely stir crazy, so I took both of them outside to do PUSH UPS. That became my new game plan; if they got too rowdy, it was push up time. Even Ai joined in :).

The kids were supposed to be poor, so they look like orphans in every shot. Pictured below, they are at their sad breakfast table where Emma was supposed to be feeding her siblings without any help from her mother (it is a sad story).

Its Big, its Bad, its SUMO

SUMO was at the top of my MUST SEE list in Japan. In May I arranged for our family to go through a tour group months in advance because their matches are only held a few times a year. It was fantastic!

Before each match, a priest blesses the arena and sprinkles salt around the circle as part of a cleansing ritual. The object is to push your apponent OUT of the circle. Each match lasts an average of 30 seconds.

One thing I found crazy is that people are sitting along the edges of the arena, so when wrestlers fall, they frequently land on the audience! One old lady was crushed and I worried she was hurt. When the wrestler got up, she had the biggest smile on her face as if her lifetime dream had come true.

Before each division begins, the wrestlers parade out to the arena and show you their front side...

...and then their BACKSIDE (my favorite part). Their wrap is a symbol of honor, tied in a particular sacred way, but as a foreigner we couldn't help but snicker a little bit.

FAVORITE PHOTO: How do these guys get so BIG??...ha!

Rock On

In August, I took Shailey to see her favorite ROCK STAR in concert...

ADAM LAMBERT!

I liked him before the concert, but was amazed during, and now he is a favorite. Adam's background is in theater so he is an unbelieveable performer who knows how to work the stage. And seriously, it was the most LIVELY audience ever... people up on their feet dancing throughout the entire concert. The fans ages ranged from 3 years old (yes we saw a toddler there) to 86+ (super old lady dancing her heart out). Adam had outstanding ENERGY that connected with his audience, young, old, and inbetween. WOW.

Like a good Momma, I stuck around with Shailey waiting to get an autograph and it paid off. Shailey got her ticket stub signed AND her t-shirt. This photo below is him smiling at Shailey... too cute!

We got home at 3:00am, but Shailey was up and HAPPY and ready for school at 6:30 the next morning.

I love you Shailey.

November 5, 2010

Halloween Back in the USA

Bag it all... tired of blogging old stuff... time to move on mentally and physically....

We are HOME for HALLOWEEN!

This means:

1) Shailey can wear a Halloween outfit to school instead of a uniform

(she is so cute, I can't stand it... and not too old to be festive, even in front of her peers)

2) Glenn can do his famous DOT ROOM porch

He covers our porch in black tarp, adding a few black lights and white dots

Then he dresses in black and put dots on himself... NO ONE CAN SEE HIM!

So when the trick-or-treaters try to take more than one candy.... ZAP!

3) Halloween PUMPKINS do not cost $40 each (hooray)
3 for $10, I don't have to be chintzy, everyone gets a pumpkin!

(Shailey created a "JACK" jack-o-lantern to match her sweatshirt :)

4) We get to dress up as anything we want because

a) I have access to Joanns Fabric store and

b) Americans understand what your costume is

This year, the kids were THE CHIPMUNKS

ALVIN, SIMON, THEODORE

Happy Halloween!

Its Autumn!

While we often pine to be back in Tokyo,

there are moments of JOY where we are completely happy to be back in Indiana.

This was one of those moments.

Family campout on my parent's land...heaven.

Glenn even got out the tractor to give rides in the day...

and in the night when it was so black you could not see your hand in front of your face.

Death Discovery

While taking a leisurely walk in a local neighborhood, Jonas disappeared....

and when we found him, he was dead!

Upon closer examination, we discovered a few clues to his death...

A footprint in the cement next to a cigarette butt... it all made sense. Case solved.

But then, Jonas came back to life.... and we faced a new problem...

was it Jonas or VAMPIRE JONAS and his missing teeth?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Officially Back in the USA

Officially back in the USA.... how can you know for sure?

Is it the cupboards open with stuff spilling out....

"Where should I put popcorn containers?

Yard sale pile, pitch pile, or Goodwill pile?"

Is it the hallway... did we really use a highchair before we moved?

Or, how about the girls room?....

Well I think it is the girl's room.... there may be some beds under all those clothes.

Or maybe the boxes piled sky high in the garage would be your biggest clue.

Our movers were super nice... they unpacked the boxes.... well, they opened them up and piled up the contents. When we needed to find something, we attacked the piles. Um... Houston, we have a problem here.... BIG MESS.