Let's catch up! : )

Oh goodness, so much to catch up on! : ) Where to start...where to start. Well, Noah's duckie rainboots got here. He's been using them ever since on rainy days. : )

Branden's rainboots got here too. It's rained about 4 days since they've had them so they've been put to good use so far. : )

One of the meals I prepared last week. We all had corn on the cob with butter, salt and pepper, a nice buttery baked potato and some rice and yakitori. It was a pretty good simple meal. : ) Made this last Thursday.

I also made a gratin at the beginning of last week.

And last Friday we were all TGIF and stuff, so ready for the weekend to be here. And so we had an easy pasta and garlic toast. Wish I would have had time to run to the bakery to get a nice loaf of bread to make garlic bread but ahh, well we were all pretty tired so we kept it simple. And that's okay, it was pretty good. : ) : )

The dvd's came for us last week. The kids liked both. Though we definitely enjoyed Underdog more then the other one. I actually found Underdog pretty funny. A few laughing out loud, type moments for sures.

Also last week, I am not sure if you can read the number, that 2-2 means, the 2nd grade and 2nd class. That's the class Branden's in. And this is his first cucumber that he grew on his cucumber plant at school. Yup, he's got plants at school and the plants the school sends home. @_@ But he brought this home and I peeled it and the kids and I shared this with just a sprinkling of salt and it was pretty good.

Also last week, my neighbor Rumi-san brought us some freshly dug up potatoes. Three of them were like enormous sized, the other 2 were normal sized. The size actually shocked me a little. I made baked potatoes out of these! Ha ha ha. I had a normal sized one and it is pictured above with the yakitori dinner. I made Branden and Noah, the super sized ones, they loved em'. : )

Saturday, June 27th, was the day at Branden's elementary school for us parents to go and observe and also do fun type activities with our kids. It was a lot of fun! In this pic, the guy teacher, was talking about static electricity from this balloon. He wanted us to rub the balloons with different things to see if we produced static.

Errr yup, Noboru thought of rubbing the balloon on Branden's head. I thought of using a tissue and rubbing the balloon with it. And it didn't produce much static, ha ha ha. And sure enough one person accidentally popped their balloon and it scared the living daylights out of the rest of us in the room. That family was pretty embarrassed. But it was cute and we all laughed about it. And then we moved to another room and did an activity and then switched rooms. I think we switched rooms 6 times total.

And kakigori/shave ice!!! Yumm. But it was for kids only, none of us parents got to have any but that's okay, it was more then fine. We were there for the kids and they enjoyed it. I think in the background of this pic, you can see all the different flavors the kids could chose from. : )

And now we were in the gymnasium. And this was essentially just red bottles and blue bottles. You were assigned a team. red or blue and then when they shouted out, everyone was supposed to run and go knock down the opponents bottles. So the red team goes knocking down all the blue bottles and vice versa. Meanwhile trying to pick up their own bottles.

And of them in action. It was like a frenzy of fun and it was really interesting to watch actually.

And Branden's science stuff they all got to make and bring home. It looks like just slime to me. But they made this gloop and so B was really happy to have this stuff. They made this on Saturday with us parents. : )

After enjoying our Saturday at the school, we went home, relaxed. Branden had about 7 of his classmates come over and so he had friends over playing in the backyard last Saturday until 5pm when the bell rang. I didn't really mind so much, they stood outside and had a good play. One little girl came in to go pee, but other then that, they all stood outside and played their hearts out. After everyone went home, we all had chicken chow mein/sara udon for dinner that I made.

We watched "My Cousin Vinny" on satellite last weekend. It's funny, no matter how many times I see this movie, it never stops making me laugh! I love this movie.

Monday was what we called, a date with dad. Basically it is just one on one quality time with Noboru. Since B went to school on Saturday, he had no school on Monday. And since I was going to be gone at Costco with my friends. It was just Noboru and Branden and hubby thought why not go do something fun together just them two. I thought that was a great idea. And Noah had yochien that day. So, here is a pic of Noboru and B leaving the house about to go spend their day fishing together!!! : ) Fishing hat, bucket, yup they were ready. : )

Noboru took this picture with his keitai/cell phone. So the quality isn't so good, sorry. : ) But they caught shrimp and fish. They released them all back though. And Noboru said there were a few grandpa types there and they all chatted with Branden and gave him pointers on fishing, lol.

Then they said they went and had ramen at a ramen shop and on the way home they apparently went and had 100 yen shakes from Mc D's. Branden had so much fun, he kept talking about how much fun he had. Noboru had fun too, because he got to share his hobby with Branden. I was pretty glad they enjoyed their day. Anyway they had a great Monday.

Same day the hubby and B went fishing. My girlfriends and I went to Makuhari and went to Costco. Five of us yochien mommy's total and 1 cutie patootie little girl. : ) Monday June 29th, we all met up at 9am. We all hopped into Mayuko-san's minivan and hopped on the highway. We all shopped, then had a quick lunch before jumping into the minivan and heading back to the inaka. It was SO packed. Couldn't believe it was a Monday.

I didn't get a whole lot of stuff. : ( But just a few things. I got this pizza margherita. Everyone of my yochien mom friends also brought back a pizza each as well. : ) We must have all been craving pizzas. : )

Donuts, tortillas and dinner rolls. I know I rarely rarely go there. So this may be old news to most of you. But, has anyone noticed how the amount of donuts greatly shrank??? They used to sell 24 in a box and now they sell just 12 in a box. Is this like this everywhere or just at the Makuhari one? I was pretty surprised, also the price increased too right? I was really surprised. Two of my friends got the donuts too (Mayuko-san and Noriko-san), Miyuki-san got the muffins though and my other friend (Jogo-san) got the bagels. : )

I picked 2 magazines. Anyone keeping up with the Gosselin thing? : ( I happen to watch "Jon and Kate Plus 8" whenever I am in the US. I started watching the show because it was of a western mommy and an Asian American daddy and all their cute cute kids. : ) I think I have missed about 80% of the shows though because I just don't have enough chance to watch them. Anyway it seems they are getting divorced and just the whole thing sounds sad. : ( Anyway I am greatly out of the loop, so I picked up these 2 magazines to catch up on stuff in general. Also, picked of some salsa and dish washing liquid for the dish washer, and some kids vitamins. Again nothing too great or anything. : )

Needed more Spray and Wash, goodness, between Noah and his school socks. And the occasional stuff B gets on his clothes, I need this stuff.

Lean ground beef, going to make hamburg and probably some yummy burgers too. : ) A big bag of red cheddar. We do love our cheese around here. And that's seriously it. Aw well, just a few things, so not too bad. : ) I was looking for a few things at Costco Makuhari and they didn't have them. They didn't have the kids pool, I had seen on the Flying pig. And they did't have any tortilla chips. That was sorta a bummer. But I did have a great Monday the other day, with my friends. And I did end up ordering the pool and chips online anyway so it's okay. : )

Yesterday/Tuesday after driving B to school because it was raining cats and dogs yesterday. And coming back home to make obento for Noah. I got myself dressed and ready to go because I had another meeting for the "games group" From 9am-11am the game group, spent our time upstairs making little bags and purses out of Pet bottles again. I brought 4 cleaned and rinsed bottles, my scissors and stuff. And went upstairs. It was like Santa's toy shop upstairs, *except* we weren't elves and we didn't have toys, instead we were mom's and we had pet bottles. Ha ha ha! : ) : )But we cut, taped decorated each bottle with stickers, put handles on them. Two hours worth. I made a ton of bags, I'd say I made about 15 bags/purses yesterday, not counting the ones I made on our first meeting either. And these are just the snack holders but a lot of work went into this project by us. We made 250 bags total. Every single one of us in the games group is doing a pretty awesome job. I am looking forward to seeing what the other 2 groups have been doing as well. I think our kids will be enjoying this summer festival a lot! : )

When we were about to leave, each of us were handed some construction paper. Some are making beetles, some lady bugs. Jogo-san and I were given the butterflies. So, this is my homework! 50% of the butterflies. Ha ha ha. : ) This must be done by next Monday. And they said only to write happy faces on the little butterfly faces, not scary ones, ha ha ha. I said, okay! : ) I will do it! : ) And so, what will I be doing this week or weekend? Making butterflies. Ha ha ha. The kids will catch these butterflies in a net and win a prize. : )

When I got home yesterday from the yochien. I was a little tired. : ) I took a 30 minute nap. A power nap, I think. Ha ha ha. : ) And then, I woke up and had a little lunch and then watched Driving Miss Daisy. Noboru watched it with me, we both really like this movie a lot. He actually owned this on VHS when I met him. : )

I only could watch an hour of it because I had to go and get Noah from school. But we enjoyed it.

What else have we been up? Gee lots and lots. : )

Noboru flew to Osaka on Wednesday June 24th. He came back early morning (around 9ish) Friday June 26th. He went to go and visit his dad. I'm really glad he went. As a lot of you know, his dad has been in the hospital since Branden was 2 years old. It's pretty upsetting for Noboru because he is/was just as close to his dad as Branden and Noah are with Noboru. : ( His father has alzeimers. He only remembers stuff from about 5 years ago and older... he has zero memories that are newer then the past 5 years (5 years and newer are hard for him to retain). So he knows me. And knows Branden but thinks of Branden as being age 2 . It's like in his mind everyone is frozen in time. Branden is now 7 and I think if he were to see B as a 7 year old it would be shocking, could be a bit scary even. He has no memory of Noah at all. When we went there 2 year ago he sat and stared at him but didn't know who he was. And that was pretty sad because my father in law is a fantastic guy, he really is so sweet. He doesn't know Jun is married and even if we tell him he is married and has a daughter he won't remember it the next day. : ( So in his mind Jun is single still. Yeah it's pretty sad for the whole family, especially since he used to be so full of life and so fun and kind. I have been asking Noboru to go and visit with his dad because god only knows how long he will be here. And he should see him, as much as he can. Finally he got the chance to go and it was really good for him to go to Osaka, he enjoyed visiting with his dad very much. He says his mom is well. My sil and nephew and niece are well too. Kobby my nephew will probably be going to spend 2 month's in America with his dad. So that's a good thing.

Last week was certainly a loss of 2 great people. : ( The loss of Farrah Fawcett and the loss of Michael Jackson. I had known by reading the news that Farrah was quite ill, so although I was sad to hear the news it was somewhat expected. Does anyone know what I mean. Still sad but not out of the blue is what I mean, but still quite sad. : ( Now the Michael Jackson thing totally and completely caught me off guard and totally threw me for a loop!!!! Friday morning at 4:45am, my keitai rang and it was my husband, he called to say he was on his way to Itami (sp?)airport and going to be arriving in Narita at 9am. I went back to bed. And at 5:30am I woke up and got both boy's ready for school. I turned on the CNN and they said, Michael Jackson had cardiac arrest and was in the hospital. I couldn't believe it. I still was getting both boys ready for school. But I emailed Noboru and said, Michael Jackson was in the hospital. Okay by now it was 7:28am Japan time and we were driving down the road, I was driving B to school and Noah in jammies sat in his car seat in the backseat. My keitai rang, I answered it only because I was worried maybe Noboru got bumped from his flight or something he said, "I'm at the airport and Michael Jackson died" I said. What??? I hung up because I really don't wanna get in trouble for driving and talking. I dropped off Branden, he knew and heard the news from us. And then Noah and I drove home and sure enough it said it on CNN. It was sorta, surreal right? He was a very talented man. I know he was at times thought to have believed to live a weird or at times an odd life. But it was pretty sad news all in the same. : ( He was way too young to die. Now this week, it's on the news about who gets his 3 kids, who gets his estate. The "will" from 2002 just came out. Is that the most recent one. Was he on prescription pills or wasn't he. Just sad, all in the same. Anyway I thought I'd share.....my favorite album of Michael's, for me.... it was the "Off the Wall" album. My 2nd favorite was the Thriller album. I also dug the older Jackson 5 stuff quite a bit. I liked the things Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy said about him and Diana Ross and Liz Taylor also said really nice things as well. And Janet popped in my mind, I think they were the closest of the siblings, right? They always seemed so close to me. Even when they did the song Scream together. Ahhh, anyway, I just wanted to say, I hope things turn out okay for everyone involved. : (

Noah's birthday is next week. July 7th. And we are getting ready for it in bits. Hubby and I, took a trip to Toys R us this morning. Can't believe he'll be 4 years old next week. Grandma Mitsuko said she's sending him a Toys r us, gift card and my dad sent him a card with some money in it a few days ago. thanks dad. : ) We'll be ordering his Baskin Robbins birthday ice cream cake probably tomorrow. And taking him out to dinner the actual evening of his birthday. It'll just be a quiet little family thing next week. Very low key and simple as usual. : )

I have a breast exam this coming Friday. I believe a pap smear will also be involved because they are checking for cancer there too. I have had yearly girly exams like clock work all my life. But since we've been in Japan, I am afraid, I haven't gotten checked up like I should have. So anyway my exam will be in 2 days. Noboru will be working, so I'll pick up Noah from school early Friday so Noah can go with me to my exam. A few of you know my mom had breast cancer. She beat it. But somehow I always feel more nervous when getting checked. Anyway I will just feel a great sense of relief, after I get my exam on Friday and then they give me my results. : ) I hope the results don't take too long. Ha ha ha. : )

What are everyone's summer plans??? Anyone have anything planned? Anyone going home for the summer? Or perhaps maybe planning on staying in Japan, and doing something fun here? We have a few plans. Noboru got 11 days vacation off in July. We're pretty happy about it. So we're indeed going to go and take a family vacation. Not to Guam this time. More then likely we will be going to Honolulu. The flights look open so far. We've been checking daily about that. If the flight gets too full we will go to Los Angeles maybe or someplace. Maybe even Denver. But the flights (there's 2 each day) to Hawaii look pretty good. So far we're planning on that. If the flight looks good 7 days prior, is when we'll probably book our hotel. So right now, I sorta hesitate to say. But yup the plans in motion so far and it looks good. So we've been in crossing our fingers mode over here. : ) Each flight has over 200 seats available so far, so 400 seats available so far total, so it does look pretty open and good and we only need 4 seats anyway. : )

Going to the movies: Noriko-san, Mayuko-san and the Jogo-san and I made a plan, to go and see the new Harry Potter movie in July. I think they said the day it opens we have a yochien thing. Games meeting or I am not really sure. But I think we agreed to go July 16th? A day after it opens? Is that right? Don't quote me the days I could be off, a bit on the dates.: ) But anyway yup we are going to the movies to see that when it comes out. I think we are going to buy our tickets a week in advance. I am pretty excited. Jogo-san said she read all the books. So she knows her stuff. Me on the otherhand, I didn't read them, shame on me! So, I will be pretty surprised. : )

Anyway my real life is just pretty busy lately, but fun type busy, not to worry. : ) I am pretty lucky that I do have a good network of irl friends and we do fun stuff together like Costco, movies, etc. So, it keeps me busy. And then the summer festival prep also has me pretty occupied at the moment and should be keeping me occupied for the next 2-3 weeks. Ha ha ha. But I don't mind so much. And now with vacation plans and such. So....anyway, I did want to at least catch up some. At least a little bit. : )

TV Talk: I am so totally into Kyle XY, every evening at 8pm, Monday through Friday, I am watching. A faithful viewer I am, I am. Ha ha ha. The new season of Dexter is so good, hubby and I love watching this when the kids go to sleep. And same with the new season of Ghost Whisperer. I'm still watching Hannah Montana with the kids and Wizards of Waverly Place every night with the boys. Edited to add: They seem to have taken off Kyle XY. And they left me on a cliffhanger, ha ha ha. I watched up to season 3 episode 10. I think the show gets cancelled mid season 4? But I would like to catch the other episodes. : ( I hope the sci-fi channel here in Japan decides to air them. : ( Bummer about Kyle XY. : (

Okay, I'm sure I have more things to add, but I have to run to swim school right now, so I better end this here. Have a great week, you guys!!! : )