4 Out of 200!

I'm not sure that these are our best pics, LOL!, but here's a taste of the 200 they took on Saturday! I'll post a larger album on Facebook if you want to check there!

Children's Blessing

A good friend, (H!), knowing that we are Christians, and that the 7-5-3 ceremony traditionally includes a trip to a local Shinto shrine for a blessing, asked how we explained the event to Jun.

Good question. But, let me back up to ... the beginning of 7-5-3 for us.

When Jun was just 4 months old, my parents came for a special visit from the States. Our church held a special Baby Dedication for Jun, where, in essence, thanked God for the gift of Jun and gave her back to God for his special fathering of her. As Jun has gotten older, that ceremony means more and more to me. I have great fears that she will do something dangerous to herself. Irrational fears based on a great imagination. So, when she goes off to play with some big kids or adults at church and I know they will be crossing roads and I am ready to say, "no!", I remember that God is taking care of her too - not just me. So, that dedication is more and more important to me daily. I guess I don't really feel the NEED to renew it just because Jun got a few years older.

I wanted to celebrate 7-5-3 for Ryu's parents, who are not Christians. I wanted them to know that we loved and cared for Jun a lot, and that the Christian God welcomed prayers on behalf of children - basically I didn't want them to worry that she wasn't blessed at a shrine.

As it turned out, they weren't able to attend the blessing today at church, which was kind of disappointing. So, for me, 7-5-3 became a good chance to finally get a professional picture of Jun and us. However, when I mentioned this to Ryu, I was a bit surprised when the fact that it was a 7-5-3 picture was quite important to him. He was so glad to have the picture to celebrate Jun's 3rd year. Who knew? The man who celebrates NOTHING!

The blessing at church today was wonderful and weepy. We had special music and a testimony from a "veteran" mother. Then the pastor called each family, who had a child 3-5-7 years old, up to the front of the room. First he asked the father to introduce the child. Short and sweet. Then he asked the mothers, "Why are you thankful for being this child's mother?" Well, the first Mother cried as did most of us who followed. All of us have "only children" though some are still hopeful. Each Mother echoed the others' words and thoughts. And we all cried. So so thankful for these kids!

I think I'll take a minute on Jun's blog to list some of the things I did and didn't say today at church, so she will have a record of a few of the things I am so thankful about being her Mama!

I would really like to hear how any one else celebrates 7-5-3 in non-traditional ways!

And the camera is broken - dead forever - and I didn't pull my cell out - so...have to wait on today's pics!

7-5-3 Pictures Today!

We decided to go "against the flow" and have a friend take Jun and our pictures for 7-5-3. Generally one pays a lot of money - the cheapest in our area is $70 - for one picture. This includes rental of a kid's kimono, make up and hair for the child and...one picture. No CD of the shots. Extra prints are an extra cost.

So, we wanted to do something else, as we have at least two sets of grandparents who might like a copy of a picture or two of us.

We used the kid's kimono that Obaachan (Grandma in Japan) DYED (the design on it) for her older granddaughter. And Ryu and I dressed in our Engagement Clothes from 8 1/2 years ago!

And I did Jun and my make-up. Not so hard, it turns out. Though Jun got four mosquito bites on her face Thursday night! So, a little foundation and powder was in order. The more make-up the happier Jun is, though, so that was fine. She loved the lipstick too. Putting lipstick on those soft little lips was a bit challenging! For hair - we gave up. She got a hair cut a few days ago, but the hair accessory we had for her to use was too big and heavy. Her head wouldn't have shown up!

Then came the challenge. In Japan people go to school for YEARS to learn to put kimonos on themselves and others. YEARS. Now, Jun's kimono doesn't have an obi (fancy tied belt), but, just the same - I was pretty nervous when we decided that I would be the one to make the neck look right and tie the strings around her tummy! I checked out some pictures of other 3 year olds' in their kimonos and then - just did it...thinking all the time about how many many many times in my life I have had to "fake it" - doing what I did NOT know how to do, but not giving THAT big fact away. ARGH! As the photographers and Daddy were "boys," as Jun pointed out, they were neither a help or a hindrance. I'm sure I will get the TRUE review when Obaachan (Grandma) sees the pics. Oh well!

And, though I was nervous, Jun had a wonderful wonderful time. She woke up excited about it and had her picture taken for about 40 minutes. She got pretty tired, but did a good job. I want to weigh the kimono she was wearing. It was HEAVY! And she had to wear tabi - the white socks with a special place for your big toes, and zori - the Japanese shoes.

We came home and SLEPT for a long long while! You will get to see some pictures in the near future! We get the whole CD!!!!