Photo Album of Recent Oshman Outings

The girls and I went to a Japanese tea ceremony.  First we were served this little sweet treat made from cherry blossoms.

The we received this very thick green tea, which was super caffeinated and not too tasty.  We downed it, though, and then couldn't sit still. 

Here are some of the other children on the field trip. 

Here are the girls and some of their dear friends in our backyard.  Each Thursday we get together with a family who has two girls (ages 11 and 14) and one new little boy (age 1).  We're both homeschooling and adoptive families, so we really enjoy our regular get togethers. 

We had the above girlfriends over for a sleepover and Abby Grace helped me make personal pizzas for everyone. 

 Hannah talked the girls into painting her nails in the bathroom. 

Dinnertime!

Bedtime!

 This was Piper's first swim in the ocean about a month ago.

We have such a cute dog. 

GOTCHA DAY!  This was an incredibly important day for our family--one year with Rebekah in the Oshman family.  We celebrated in many ways.  First we went to KFC for lunch, because we went to KFC the very day we brought her home from the Im Jai House.  We figure we'll always have a KFC near us in Asia or the US, so it'll be our Gotcha Day tradition. The Colonel was happy to see us. 

 After lunch we went home and enjoyed the sunshine by reading outside in the backyard. 

 Just wanted to include this: the gifts Abby Grace found around the yard and presented to me.  I am adorned with no less than 5 such gifts each day from Abby.  Sweet girl. 

For dinner we enjoyed Sushi at Yoshi's, our favorite restaurant. 

Then we came home, rearranged the living room into a theater and watched "Megamind."

The girls are in Art Class every week now.  They're learning to draw.  Rebekah has a lot of talent in this area.  I'll scan and post some of her drawings soon. 

 Our Japanese neighbor, Miyagi-San, brought the girls fun treats on March 3rd, which is Girls' Day in Japan. 

 We went to a Japanese-American wedding recently and this portrait of the bride and groom was in front of the church.  I had the kids pose with it since we weren't likely to get a shot with the actual bride and groom. :) 

 This is scary and I can't believe I am even posting it.  We had a pirate-themed murder mystery dinner here at the Harbor to raise money for the Im Jai House.  Mark was "Captain Red Beard."  I was a mere kitchen wench. 

Cuties Zoe and Rebekah helped too. 

 Our good friends, the Coias, have a new son!  His name is Hudson and my kids are his biggest fans. 

We used to call the Coia's house a "spa" but now they have a one-year-old. 

A recent trip to the aquarium, which we visit about every other month.  The kids love to handle the starfish and sea cucumbers. 

Rebekah is a puzzle queen!

 At Kristie's baby shower for Hudson. 

 Family Mart is a local convenience store--one on every corner.  I just wonder what this sign on the wall in their parking lot says.  

 Rebekah caught this large crab at the beach a couple weeks ago. 

 Piper had a great time playing with it! 

Me and my brown dog in my mostly-brown living room.  

Beach day this week at Onna beach, which has an awesome cave full of tide pools and beautiful fish.  An amazing setting! 

Hannah's Quotables

While driving alone in the car with Hannah a couple days ago she said two funny things.

1. "Mom, I'm sorry I was bad to you when I was little."  I said, "That's okay, Hannah, I forgive you."  She said, "I forgive you too Mom."

2. While listening to some Christian worship music with a chorus that says "Praise Him, oh Praise Him" she asked "Why does is keep singing 'Raisin! Raisin!'?"

Zoe's Poem

"My Poem"

This is the sea
And this is the boat
Up my boat flies
And down it is thrown
Then my mother calls me to life
The field is the sea
The swing is my boat

copy write Zoe Anna Oshman
March 2011

Catching Up on Some Sweet Moments

It's really good to be home.  I absolutely cherished every minute we had with family while we in the US, but my soul feels more settled now that we're back and have no plans for major travel anytime soon.

I think I am becoming more of a homebody in my old age.  Home, though, isn't exactly a place of calm--with four kids, homeschooling, a puppy, ministry, a fairly constant stream of visitors and phone calls, I often feel like I am on a fast-paced hamster wheel.  Who needs travel when all of that whizzes by me in front of my face everyday!?  But I do LOVE this hamster wheel and I am so thankful for each energy-zapping ingredient in my life.

It just means I can't blog too often.  So here goes--mainly to keep the family happy and well-connected to us--I am listing many events and photos below.  Enjoy--I know the grandmas will!

We officially named our dog Piper.  Yes, after our favorite author and pastor, John Piper.  He's a dog lover, so we think he'd be honored.  She loves to hang out in our chiminea. 

What could be sweeter than smiling girls and a puppy at the beach? 

Having daughters means they want to put flowers in Piper's fair, dress her up, take her out to tea, and more. 

Hannah and Mark made a tower as tall as her!  By the way, to any moms out there--we gave the girls these blocks for Christmas.  They are very quality and very cool--you can construct just about any well known building in history by following guidelines in a book that comes with them.  The blocks are painted and make beautiful creations, as well as bringing history to life.  They keep Hannah busy for hours.  They're pricey, but there's 200 blocks and we found them on sale for $130.  

The cherry blossoms are out this time of year in Okinawa.  It's always gorgeous and we always drive north to the mountains (ahem, ant hills) to see a lot of foliage in one spot.  

Abby Grace lost her first tooth!  It came out on February 10th, my brother's birthday.  If she hadn't lost it (somewhere in the house--ew!), we'd send it to my bro as a gift. 

Zoe lost a tooth about 5 minutes before Abby Grace!  Both came out during dinner and the girls were so thrilled to lose them together. 

Mark is the tooth fairy and told them if they lost teeth on the same day they'd get "triple bucks" for them!  Each kid found Y300 under their pillow the next morning.  Not bad--I think I'll look into pulling some of mine. 

Hannah also wanted to be photographed at that moment, even though she didn't lose any teeth.  She's on her bottom bunk, which she shares with Abby Grace, who sleeps on the top. 

Last Saturday we went out for breakfast and a walk on the beach with Piper.  

On Monday, Valentine's Day, we hosted a massive party here at the Harbor for the homeschooling association that I belong to here in Okinawa.  Just picture about 80 kids, 30 moms, crafts galore, lots of candy, too much icing....yeah, it was messy.  Thankfully an entire committee steered the event--I just had to show up and clean up a bit after receiving tons of help!  The kids had a blast and Hannah has asked when the next Valentine's day is every day since then. 

Every Christmas for the last 7 years I have gotten together with my friend Shirley to make cookies.  She heads up the Okinawan branch of a ministry called Ai No Kesshin, which means Loving Decisions.  They come alongside Japanese women in crises pregnancies and offer support and encouragement to avoid an abortion.  They then foster the babies that are given up and place them with loving families who live here.  My good friend Michelle mothers an ANK baby and my dear friends Ron and Kristie are waiting for their baby to come home from Shirley's ministry.  As Shirley says, "Pray for babies!" There are about 300,000 babies killed by abortion in Japan every year, so Shirley's work is important.  She and her husband have adopted three of their own and continuously foster and place new arrivals.  Here she is with Tomoyuki. 

We got together to bake Valentine's cookies, since we missed Christmas! 

Bethany is a couple years older than Zoe and they have been friends since preschool.  They attended a Japanese preschool together (they're 3-years long in Japan) and have been good buddies ever since. 

Mark and Piper

Well, that's it for now!  I'll try to post more photos soon.

Piano and Puppy

We've had an eventful two days!  Yesterday the girls were in their first piano recital on a stage and in front of a large crowd.  Despite their 2 1/2 months off while we were in the States, they all managed to do a great job.  Mark and I were very proud of their performances and thankful they had a positive experience.  Here are brief videos of their performances (mainly for the grandparents to enjoy!).

First up was sweet Abby Grace who was so nervous she was unable to introduce herself.  After her teacher told the crowd her name, age, and song titles, she bravely played two songs.  Abby was the youngest student/performer of the day.

Next was Zoe who approached the stage with great poise and played beautifully.

And finally Rebekah who doesn't love being the center of attention did a perfect job.  She has learned to play the piano quickly (as she has everything else!).

Onto the puppy part of this post.  Meet Coco--our new chocolate lab.

If you want to see four little girls giggle with huge delight watch this video of Mark bringing the new puppy in the door.  The girls didn't know he was bringing a dog home (neither did I!) so we were all very surprised.

Mark, as you may know, is a perpetual window shopper.  We have been window shopping for a dog for almost our entire marriage.  I truly didn't expect today to be the day that he pulled the trigger on dog ownership.  I'm so glad he did, though.  Coco (I think that'll be her name) is very sweet and already a huge blessing and addition to our home.  Here are a few more shots from our first day with this sweet pup.