Square Watermelon Anyone?

I was talking to my mom about these on the phone and she said I should blog about it.

Here are pictures of SQUARE watermelons! Japanese people are very 'space conscience'. Since this is an island nation, space is very limited. Everything is smaller here....backyards, houses, sidewalks, cars and refrigerators. So naturally, Japanese would find a way to take an oval fruit and make it square. They grow the watermelons in square glass cases so that they fit into the refrigerators better. INGENIOUS!

I haven't tasted the square watermelons.....they are grown in another prefecture and are only in select high-end supermarkets. Each melon sells for 10,000 yen = over $100. Really? Honestly I just can not see spending over a $100 on some fruit!

The fruit here in Japan is BEYOND delicious - the rich, volcanic soil makes it that way -- but $100 for a watermelon is r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s!

An eye for an eye

This past Thursday, I was washing clothes and found one of MY classroom Lego men in the dryer. Huh? How did that get in there? I asked a little 8 year old boy (a.k.a. Elijah) that plays with them almost everyday after school if he knew anything about the little Lego man.



He said, "Yes, I put it in my pocket and took it to my classroom so that I could show my friends that I had a Lego man too."



I told him that was stealing because he did not ask me and that he did not return it either.



He looked at me for a minute, scrunched up his eyebrows and said "Can I go outside to play now?"



So needless to say, I didn't think he got the fullness of the lesson I was trying to explain to him. I told him that stealing is wrong and that he wouldn't like it if I stole something of his.



Again he said, "You are right, may I go now?"



He went outside to play and I am ABSOLUTELY sure that as he exhaled he let the memory of "stealing is wrong" out with the wind.

Sidenote: Do you remember being a kid and racing your siblings to the 'good' cereal....(the one with the most sugar) to be the one that gets the cool toy inside? Yeah, Elijah has never experienced that!

So on Monday evening (after Elijah went to bed) I dug in his Lucky Charms cereal box, pulled out the racecar he had been waiting to fall inside of his cereal bowl, neatly cut the plastic bag it was in, 'stole' the car, put the EMPTY plastic bag back inside of the cereal box, shook the box and put the box right back in the cabinet.

Tuesday morning Elijah said, "Yes, Mom! I am almost at the bottom of the box and I know the racecar is going to fall out today!" He has been eating on this box waiting for the car to fall out for 4 days now.

--- the empty plastic bag fell out on top of his cereal

--- he picked it up, looked at it inquisitively and said, "Mom, the car must have fallen out of the plastic.....I am going to pour more cereal until the car falls out. (What a great problem solver!)

--- He emptied the box and said, "I don't know what happened to the car."

--- As he looked at me and held the empty plastic bag, I told him that I stole his car because he stole my Lego man a few days ago. I asked him how he felt about it.

--- He looked at me, wrinkled up his eyebrows, tightened up his lips and with one finger at a time clinched his hand together and balled up the empty plastic bag.

So again I told him that stealing was wrong and that I felt the same way when he stole my Lego man last week.

He then said, "I know that stealing is wrong and I am sorry."

Now before you comment on this post:

1. Don't judge me.....it worked!

Armed Forces Run

Armed Forces Day is May 15th. Did you know that? Anyway, Elijah and I participated in the Armed Forces Day Run this year. Elijah ran the American Armed Forces Kids Run and I ran the 10K.

Ready for the race to begin

My boy is FOCUSED at the starting line!

Elijah's run was first. He was signed up for the 1 mile run, but he followed the bike that was the 3K run = 1.86 miles. He ran the WHOLE way! YEAH!! It took him about 11 minutes.

Here he is crossing the finish line

Here I am about to cross the finish line of the 10K = 6.21 miles. Not a personal best time, 55 minutes, but I finished in the middle of the pack and a good chunk of it was hills!

Eddie did not participate - he was the photographer. Last week he injured himself on his road bike. He was approaching a sharp turn and going too fast. He tried to brake, flipped off his bike, into the air and landed on his back (ouch), and skidded across the road on his left side.

Thank the Lord for bike helmets and no cars coming!! After a family trip to the emergency room we found out that he has a herniated disk AND it is pinching his sciatic nerve. So he has been out of commission for a week now. The doctor said it will take a few weeks. He is doing MUCH better now. He is walking with a slight limp, the road rash is scabbing over (sorry T.M.I.?) and bruises are healing. His road biking outfit is all torn up though.....small price to pay for a life!

Elijah's Hawaii Pics

Thanks to Elijah's Grandpa and Grandma you now get to see pics of what he did in Hawaii. He had such a GREAT time and was kept so busy! Thank you guys so much for keeping him while we cruised!

"Surfing" with his Uncle Mike. I use the term surfing VERY lightly!

Enjoying the sea turtles.....they are H.U.G.E! He was actually feeding them. He saw dolphins, sea lions, sting rays, sharks, penguins, etc.

At the falls in Hilo, Hawaii

Getting ready to snorkel at Turtle Cove

I just love this picture! My lil guy looks PRECIOUS!

Spiderman swimming trunks (check) Spiderman life vest (check)..... in the water for less than 10 minutes because he said the water was too cold....CHECK!

Checking out the scenery from the submarine

In the submarine Atlantis with Grandpa and Grandma...150 feet below the surface of the ocean!

Elijah enjoyed playing with Pen Pen - their pet - big ole guinea pig ......probably because he doesn't have one at home

Elijah's BIG catch with Grandpa .... he caught a few of them actually!

Music runs in Elijah's blood! You'd never guess what he was singing...Michael Jackson, what else!

Grandpa was so impressed with Elijah's natural music ability that he purchased him a keyboard and shipped it out here to him.!! Elijah has promised to practice at least 20 minutes a day. He has kept his end of the bargain so far ......without having to be reminded at all!

Elijah is so blessed to have the opportunity to experience so many different cultures and see so many things at such a young age. He just told me that he wishes we stayed on the cruise for 3 weeks and he stayed with Grandpa and Grandma for 3 weeks. Hmmmmm ...... I replied..."I missed you too son."