Health check up finished, How we spent our 4th of July, Family game night, and yup it's Hawaii for sures!!! : )

Last week, like I said in my last post, we went to Toys R Us to get just a few things for Noah's upcoming birthday. : )

The hubster and I went. Didn't buy a whole lot as usual. Just 3 presents from us. : )

After leaving the toy store, we went to Don Quijote. Noboru was actually looking for something specific but didn't find it. However we bought a pack of curry senbais and left. Then we headed to go have some lunch together, just the two of us since the kids were at school. : )

We went to the Osho, a Chinese food restaurant, everytime we go have Chinese we always go here. It's so good. This pic was of my lunch. The servings are huge. I had to take half of mine to go. It was just too much food. Noboru and I sat and ate, talked a lot and then headed home. Anyway that was one of our days from last week. : )

One of Noah's obento lunches. Yakitori on a bed of rice, some steamed green beans and 3 fries. Some apples and 2 jellys. Leftovers basically. : ) I've made yakitori twice this month so far. Ha ha ha. I think I was in a yakitori type mood maybe. : )

A quick picture of Noah from last Thursday or maybe it was last Friday? I forget the exact date but it was sprinkling in the morning as we were on our way to the yochien. : )

And yup, I did do my half of the butterflies. : ) They were due Monday July 6th but I turned them in anyway on Friday July 3rd. : ) I didn't wanna wait to the last second, yet I didn't wanna do them too early either. LOL. Worry wart that I am, so I thought Friday was a good safe choice. Ha ha ha. Thursday afternoon, I did the faces like they wanted. And then I thought maybe they looked a bit plain. So, next thing I know, I am tracing the butterfly wings with crayon then adding polka dots. Honestly it was just a lot of fun! And I kept thinking how the kids would be happy and like those happy not scary, lol, butterflies. So, I just enjoyed myself a lot. : ) And then.....dundundun!!! I started thinking..... Should I decorate the back? Or should I leave the back plain? Decisions decisons. : ) : )

And sure enough as in the pic, I decorated all the backs of my half of the butterflies. Ha ha ha! Anyway I was pretty happy with how they came out and I hope the kids like them. If the kids like them that will make me happy.

Also on Friday July3rd, was my breast exam and pap smear. My appointment was at 1:45pm. It was definitely pretty interesting. But I am so glad I got it done. See those 3 big RV type vehicles in the pictures? I'll explain. Okay first I arrived at the place with Noah at 1pm. I was a little early. Hoping they could sort of let me go before 1:45pm and lucky for me, they did. Anyway I went into the building. Handed them my paperwork. And sat down with about 8 other ladies. For our town in the summer, they have 3 days and all day long during those 3 days, you can get an appointment to get checked for free. I was at first thinking it was going to be like a cattle call type thing, but not really at all. Anyway so I am sitting down. Most ladies that were sitting looked to be in their 50's. Though 2 younger ladies around my age also came. So it varied in age. They called my name and I went in the back. Once there, they tested my blood pressure. She said I have excellent blood pressure, no need to be concerned. Okay, that is good to know. : ) And then she walked me to the next station. At the next station they said my # is 14 and to go to the great big RV to the far right, but in the picture you are looking at it was the far left. The RV with the orange swirling stripe on it. They did not allow Noah to go in the RV's so the lady working there, watched Noah while I went into the RV. I had no idea what to expect when I entered. It was pretty quiet. There was like a lady doctor and 2 lady nurses in the front behind a curtain. One came out and told me and 1 elderly granny type to take off all our clothes from the waist down. And to cover ourselves with a towel. They had sent a letter to my house suggesting for anyone getting the exam to bring a towel and I brought my great big peachy coral colored type towel with me that I have had since I was a uni student, but it's one of my favorite towels. Okay so the nurse told us to get undressed and then the nurse left. It was just me and the granny type lady. We didn't speak to one another and we tried not to make eye contact. I think we just wanted to respect each others privacy and basically she didn't wanna see my gaijin parts anymore, then I wanted to see her wrinkly granny bits. So, I faced the other way, got naked from waist down and covered myself with my old faithful towel. I think we both felt relieved after we got covered in our towels. They called me first. Not by name now, they called me #14 (the other parts of the test they called me by name : ). It felt pretty anonymous, phew. In the US, when you get gynecological exams, you lay on a flat table, unmoving table and place your legs in stir ups. However, after having Noah in Japan, I know it's different here. So, I laid on a table but it was more like a seat, they did have stir ups, but just as I sat down. And yes there is even a curtain between my face and the doctor, so I can have even a bit more privacy. : ) Anyway as soon as I sat down in the chair with stir ups, they shot it up high in the air, the chair must have hydraulics or something. But I felt like a car getting a tune up, or a car at Meineke or the Jiffy Lube. The way that chair just shot me in the air like that. @_@ She tested me for cancer down there. results are not back yet. But I think I'm fine. When they were done, the chair was lowered and I left. Never actually seeing the doctor though I heard her voice. I went back into the room where the granny was still standing with her towel. And now we just smiled a quick smile at each other. And I got dressed and they called her in. I was dressed and leaving when 2 new ladies were sent in there. I never went into the middle RV. I wonder what's in there? Anyway, by now, they told me to go to the last RV, the yellow one with green stripes and before I went inside they instructed me to be naked from the waist up but to cover with my towel. It was seriously dead silence in there. And I do mean, complete and total dead silence. I actually got worried after folding up my shirt and bra that no one was in there at all. The lady came into get me but spoke very soft, very soothing type voice. It was an ultrasound type breast exam, no painful machine like I worried about. She laid me down on the flat table, still softly talking. She put that gel stuff on my breasts, same type of stuff they used on my tummy when I was preggers. The gel was really warm. She searched my left breast first, she took a very long time. Just being thorough. But of course worry wart me....thought, "she's taking too long, should I be worried?" Anyway she was very thorough and she didn't say anything really like, looks okay. No cancer. Just nothing. Just when she was finished with both breasts, she gave me a tissue to wipe off. And then I went and got changed. I was finished with my exams completely by 1:30pm. I felt so so so relieved and proud of myself for going and getting this done. I am sorta nervous about the results, but I think they'll be fine. : )

Yup, glad I went last Friday! : )

Last Friday, I made a simple curry. It was the weekend and I knew I had to make something but I didn't wanna be in the kitchen forever. So, this was pretty great. : )

Dinner last Friday.

We really are pretty big on the family time around here. And last Saturday, around 8pm, Noah had already fallen alseep. We whipped out Jenga. : )

I really love this picture a lot. Because it captures the whole mood so well. The big smile on Branden's face. And goodness... look the whole thing was balancing on that 1 thin red wood piece.

We played 2 rounds of this. Oh yeah, ahem. Guess who knocked down the jenga from this picture? I did. : ( Bummer. Ha ha ha. : ) Branden knocked it down the 2nd time though. And Noboru is feeling just a bit too proud of himself for not knocking it down. So hopefully B and I can get a rematch soon. : )

My dad, sent Noah this birthday card with some money in it for Noah to pick out a gift he wants.

Thanks dad. And yup, I had Noah call and thank grandpa via skype. : )

Grandma Mitsuko sent a sweet card and a gift card from Toys r us.

I'll try to translate my best....."For the Noah that's always happy" : ) And you know, most people that meet our kids irl, that's usually the first comment they'll make, 'they're such happy kids" . And yup, we had Noah call and thank grandma Mitsuko too. : )

An ichiman yen gift card. Does that mean we will be making another trip to Toys r us. @_@. Aw well, it's okay. : ) : )

Last Saturday morning the Flying pig stuff came. Smallest order in the world I think. 2 things.

Just an inflatable pool for the boys.

And a freakishly big bag of tortilla chips.

Saturday July 4th. American Independence day. Anyway I thought since it was sprinkling off and on that day for us here. So a BBQ for us was unfortunately out of the question. : ( But, I decided to bake a homemade from scratch apple pie. Yummmm! : ) What's that saying again....as American as apple pie. : )

Cinnamon, lemon juice, a bit of flour for thickening. brown sugar, etc etc. : )

This smelled so good. : )

And homestyle cheeseburgers. I figured our meal should be American for the 4th! Ha ha ha. : ) It's not very often that we make cheeseburgers at home but when we do, they are so good. : ) I had lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mustard and ketchup. Apple pies all done by now in the pic. : )

Real cheddar, crispy fries. I was so ready!!! So was the rest of the family. After we ate, is when we showered and then later that night is when we played jenga. : )

So good! : ) Just proves, you can take the girl out of America, but you can't take the American out of the girl. : ) So, happy 4th of July for whoever else celebrated it. : )

Had to get Branden ready for another smallish field trip. Just around the inaka near the school someplace. But with a bit of preparation, I got him ready for it. : ) I always translate my list in English. Fishing pole, rainboots, bait, bucket and towel. : )

You know how Noboru is in the dad's club at the elementary, right? Well, 2 of B's classmates dad's told Noboru that they were having their kids wear fishing boots. I said, fishing boots??? I just didn't get that, why not use regular rain boots? Now you know Noboru's hobby is fishing anyway. So he listed me like 5 reasons why B needed fishing boots. (shakes head) I just didn't get it and still don't, ha ha ha. But Noboru insisted and said he will use them a lot. etc, etc. Errr anyway. Hubby went and bought B a pair of boots for fishing. It has to be a guy or man thing. Or perhaps a fishing type guy thing. I am still shaking my head in wonderment about it. Ha ha ha. : ) Anyway they did make Branden happy. And now Noboru and B and some of his coworkers and their sons are all going to go on a father and son fishing thing soon. So, hopefully he'll use them then too. @_@ : )

And just when I thought the end of school drawing near, means no more things to buy, is when we got anther note saying Branden needed origami paper by Tuesday. Yup, it's neverending, ha ha ha. @_@. Good thing to have a good sense of humor about it though. So a trip to the 100 yen, and 3 packs later. And that was that. Oh please no more notes home with new lists of stuff to buy. Ha ha ha. : )

My friend and neighbor down the street Rumi-san (karaoke partner and bowling pal) brought over even more potatoes this week. These are humongous potatoes. They're downright giants! Ha ha ha. I am going to have to do something really nice in return but I am still thinking what it should be. : )

Last weekend, I got sucked into Youtube. My husband likes and watches Youtube quite a bit. However, I tell my husband basically everything. We're really close. Anyway I was talking with him about what a bummer it is that Kyle XY was gone off satellite. And he said...."It's on Youtube, just watch it there." I checked and sure as heck, he was right. So, I started watching where I left off. And I basically had 6 episodes to watch until reaching the end. I watched those last weekend in bits and I am so glad I got to see those like that. However now I am a Youtube convert @_@ and I have been checking out other shows now. I watched cycle 12 of America's Next Top model from start to finsih this week and loved it!!! Absolutely loved it!!!! Watched that in bits all this week. Now I am trying to decide what to watch next. : ) : )

Sunday, this past Sunday I made chicken noodle sooup. Just simple. It was very nice.

Sunday, I put name tags/stickers on all of Branden's stuff. All of it was due to be at the school on Monday.

Monday July 6th and yup, more rain showers. : ) Branden going into the elementary with his fishing pole, boots, bucket, etc etc. : ) And funny, as I dropped him off I saw a few other of parents dropping off their 2nd graders with fishing poles too. : ) Different grades do different stuff, I think the 3rd or 4th graders went on an overnight trip. Another grade went on a big field trip far away someplace. : ) And meanwhile the 2nd graders have been in full fishing mode by the sensei's. : ) : )

Monday morning after both kids were sent to school, Noboru and I went and had breakfast at Mc D's. We haven't been in there in ages, we usually eat at home and if we eat breakfast it's usually Coco's. I had an egg mcmuffin combo. : ) He had the sausage mcmuffin combo. : )

He was searhing on his wireless, something about our upcoming vacation.

Same Monday, ha ha ha but now it's after school and Kumon. I had B try on the new jinbei we bought for him to wear to Noah's summer festival. Size 140cm. Good size. However, he needs new sandals to go with the outfit. The ones he had last year are way too small. Besides the getting the actual yochien ready for the summer festival us mother's also have to get our kids ready for the festival too. ha ha ha. So, yup, this festival has me occupied lately a bunch still. I now have to track down a bigger pair of sandals for B. As for Noah, I will have him try on his jinbei and see if anything needs replacing. We'll see. : ) : )

Nope, not a growth spurt, B's sneakers were trashed though, but yup, he's still a 21cm for now. He had used them full time since December. So, a trip to Narita's Sports Authority was in order for Monday. Goodness were we busy this past Monday or what? Ha ha ha. : ) : )

They were a really great deal at 30% off and I think they came to 2500 yen or so.

Anyway, the next day, July 7th was Noah's birthday. I'll make another post for that since this post is getting too long anyway. : )

TV Talk: Am still watching Ghost Whisperer. Dexter 3rd season. Gossip Girl is getting so good. Finished watching Kyle XY thanks to Youtube. : ) Watched America's Next Top Model cycle 12. Loved it so much. Did anyone else catch ANM cycle 12? If so who did you like, what did you think? At first at the beginning Allison sorta freaked me out with that whole, she loves nose bleeds stuff. I was like...she what???? And when Tyra said she got nose bleeds as a child and Allison simply said..."jealous" I was like...eww ewww eww! @_@. Ha ha ha. But she sorta became pretty cool towards the end and I thought she became a good model towards the end too. My favorites were Fo, London and Aminat (sp?) I am now thinking about watching the older episodes of ANM on Youtube because on satelite in Japan, we have seen up to season 2, so we're REALLY behind and now that I can watch the whole thing on youtube, I might catch a few seasons/cycles that I haven't seen yet. I think for us with sattelite, we are now getting season/cycle 3 soon. But it's so cool I can catch all the cycles via Youtube. Oh dear, have I opened up a can of worms by becoming a Youtube fan??? I would like to watch all cycles on Youtube. We'll see. : )

Vacation update: yes we're going to Honolulu for sures. The flights are just seriously that open. And we can tell by now it's gonna happen. We already booked the hotel and booked the rental car. So everything's already set. Funny little blurb though. Guess who will also be in Honolulu? The Yuka-sensei. Yup, Branden's teacher. Remember her sister is getting married and they will have it at a small chapel there. Like a wedding type package thing. Anyway, not many people are going but the Yuka-sensei and her hubby and 2 kids are going for 2 or 3 nights. They aren't staying so long, but they will be there while we are also there. Ha ha ha. I told B, "you watch you'll be swimming or walking around in Waikiki and all of a sudden you'll hear...Branden-kun!!!! An it'll be Yuka-sensei. LOL! She's a very friendly nice teacher. but yup, there's a chance while strolling Waikiki we'll bump into Yuka-sensei and family. : ) She knows we'll be there already (9 nights sleeping and playing in Oahu, then don't forget the travel days too....the 1 day travelling to Honolulu from Japan, in the first place and 1 day for travelling back to Japan makes 11 days. B and her have been nonstop getting excited about it. This is her first trip overseas. Yay Yuka-sensei!!! You can do it. :P And another of B's classmates is there right this minute, enjoying himself with his mom and dad and sister, He's a good friend of B's.. : ) I doubt she'll need it, but I am thinking of giving the Yuka-sensei our hotel information, just in case they run into trouble. And we could help just in case. I'll have to ask Noboru what he thinks first though. : )