Bits from the weekend!!! : )

Okie dokie, so, Noah and I went to pick up B and Genki on Friday, and got a bit of shocker because the one teacher who usually walks the kids down. Told me that Branden's head hurt today. I told her, "thanks for telling me" (in Japanese of course) but was a bit surprised because, my kids have the healthiest immune systems ever! You guys who read this blog can even attest, they are like never sick. Maybe once a year tops. Heck, thought it doesn't matter, I seriously don't think
they weren't sick all fall and winter or Spring at all. And I mean not even once! That how freakishly strong their immune systems are! Weird, I know, lol! So, yeah, telling me my child's head hurt or anything was a bit of a surprise to me. Hmm. So, I made sure Genki and B got safely into the minivan. And as I was driving down the street with the 3 boys (Noah was with us too obviously) and since Momo-chan is a 3rd grader, she stays at school later, which is why I will usually take to her school but don't bring her home, since she stays an hour later then the boys! : ) I asked Branden right away, in the car, "what happened", "are you ill", he told me, "I threw up at school today" Okay now I wondered why they didn't even call me at home!!!! I woulda been more then happy to go and pick up my son! This sorta made me upset! Anyways, I was just glad to have my son. I dropped off Genki at his home. And we went home too. He said he had a headache. And Genki helped him by going to the teacher and told the teacher, "Branden kun is sick" (yup that Genki is a true friend) and at that moment, B went running down the hallway to go vomit in the bathroom. Luckily for him he made it and didn't make a mess. But man! So, anyways, I stripped him down threw his clothes in the washer just in case and then the dryer. Meanwhile, I gave B, some Children's motrin/ibuprofen to squash his fever. It did, it brought it down immediately. I threw him in the cool shower, and he got on a clean pair of house clothes. He said, he felt better but I made him stay home Friday and rest! No playing with his friends that day! : ( Also, the boy that sits next to Branden has been out sick since Wednesday. He missed school Thursday and Friday. First worry I had was, "oh gosh whatever that kid had he must have passed it on to my kid" ha ha ha. Horrible thing to admit, but honest. : ) (and no he didn't infect B at all, lol), The boys who sits next to B has strep throat. Yikes, btw! But Branden, luckily didn't get any of that at all, thank god and his mom, was very responsible as soon as she knew her son was ill, he had kept him home. Anyways, we had a quiet dinner Friday night. Chicken chow mein. By dinner time Branden was feeling back to normal and we all had a good dinner.

Saturday morning, I checked Branden that morning, and yup, he had a mild fever that was still intent on lingering some more. Though the rest of him felt fine and genki. However we decided that he should stay home and forgo the tinier undokai (big one is in the fall) Branden was really sad about it, and he cried! (he usually whines for nothing, so I knew he was just really really sad for missing undokai) : ( He loves sports of any kind and really wanted to go! However, we didn't want to possibly make others sick if B had anything at all (don't wanna infect anyone either, lol). Which he didn't. And #2, we worried he could get worse. So one day to rest, was what we decided. So, we gave him some fever reducer Saturday morning. It squashed any lingering bit of fever that was hanging around and it didn't return. By 2pm, he was 100% back to normal. The person who was in charge of this sorta stuff and also the president of the kids club and who was running the small undokai happens to be my close good friend, Rumi-san! Remember I brought her the Costco rolls, that's her. Anyway, she was nice enough to bring the treats that they gave to each of the kids after the undokai. Yup, she saved Branden's for him. So this is what he got. He was really happy with the treats! : ) And I was quite happy she did that for my son! : ) Huge brownie points for her from me, no doubt!!! : )

Saturday night, I made buffalo wings for dinner! : ) I baked 2 packs of them in the oven with the McCormick seasonings! : )

The 3rd pack of wings, Noboru asked me to try this sauce. We had seen it at the store every week forever and we've never tried it before. So, I said, sure what the heck! (turns out this sauce rocks!!!)

While the 2 packs were off cooking in the oven. I meanwhile followed the instructions of the back of the other pack. It said to roll the wings in flour and fry in a bit of oil. So, I did that! : )

Our dinner! What the four of us had Saturday night, we had buffalo wings, green beans, rice, and a salad! : ) Not a fancy meal but I good basic one nonetheless! : )

This is what the buffalo wings sorta looked like with the Japanese sauce packet. After I fried thoroughly, I placed them in a bowl and put the sauce on it and made sure they were all sauced up and ready for eating! I was really unsure if I'd like this sauce or not! However, I must admit, I loved this flavor of sauce, it makes a lovely tasting chicken! I will be buying this again but next time, I would like to try it on chicken breasts! Anyways, yeah this sauce is delicious, I think I just found a whole new meal to cook here in Japan! Yay! : )

Sunday morning, you know, I went to the salon and got my hair cut and colored! It came out excellent! Exactly like I wanted! It's always amazing to me, how a totally different "hair do" can change your mood or feeling! I look completely and totally different. Though I looked fine before, lol. I now feel, cool, funky, flirty, sexy! Okay, okay, silly and dorky to say, but I really do, love my new hair do a whole bunch! Anyways I love my new hair cut! No pics, sorry! : ) Meanwhile while I was at the salon, Noboru took the boys to the mall to play games! Like an arcade, if you will! : ) Sunday, we had cheeseburgers at home. With some of that ground round, we bought at Costco. I fried up some bacon. We had cheeseburgers anyway we wanted. Bacon, lettuce, any toppings you like. I also fried up some french fries. Dinner was great and simple as usual! And also, Branden did get to play with the kids in the neighborhood on Sunday, all afternoon in fact, until our cheeseburgers and fries were done! : ) After dinner, we all got clean and Noboru and Branden read some Japanese books together! Then the boys went to sleep! I meanwhile had an iced coffee and watched TV in my night shirt, until I was dead tired! : ) Monday, I decided to make some sweet and sour chicken! No big deal, I have made this many times throughout the years! : ) However, they have a new sabuta sauce out now. This one has "black vinegar", I usually use the normal one. But, I had been wanting to try this one, just for the heck of it! : )

Just a basic flour mix, of salt and pepper. And a bunch of lean chicken breast cut up! In a bag because I don't want yucky hands. Ha ha ha! : )

Shook the bag and voila, that was easy! : )

Monday nights dinner! Hmm, it looks just like the regular sweet and sour, however it wasn't. Let me give you my honest opinion! : ) Or the opinion of my whole family, how's that?! : ) Now Noboru, he said this was the best, he loves this one, it's the sabuta flavor he grew up with in Osaka, whenever his parents would go have Chinese at some restaurant. Okay, so he loved it! Meanwhile let me give you my thoughts. As I was squeezing the sauce into the pan, I was over come by a strong and I do mean *strong* smell of vinegar! With fan on high, the smell was still noticeable. And I was not sure by the smell, I would like this or not. So, yeah the heavy smell, made me question this meal completely! The boys walked in the kitchen (and yk kids are so bluntly honest, here's what they said)..."what is *that* smell mommy???" "Is that cheese?" Noah agreed, "yes it smells like cheese mommy." Noah said, "are we having cheese for dinner?" No, I said! LOL! (kids! : ) Okay now they mentioned that cheese comment/thing, now I was thinking, like what kinda cheese? "Limburger or Muenster cheese or what?" LOL! I said, let's just eat it kids! Trying not to show my own questions about the strong odor. Okay so the kids and hubby were all eating. Hmm. Kids were gobbling it down. Husband was praising this meal while gobbling it down! I still had yet to take a bite because with the strong smell, I worried how it would taste (big chicken that I am!!!), so, I finally bit the bullet and I took a bite. And another and another! The taste was fantastic. It was actually pretty good. It's just that strong smell thing. It really caught me off guard! And this is the funky information that I have to add because it's true. After we ate. The boys and I seemed to burp a lot. Now, I am not a belching type gal! Unless, the fizz gets me from a soda, I will seldom burp. I'm just not a burper, lol. The boys neither. So, it was unusual that I was burping like 5 in an hour. And the worst thing is the smell of the burps! Highly offensive and the flavor of the burp? Hmm, let's just say, it wasn't so pleasant! So, Noboru wants me to make this one again right away, he is a fan of this now. And while I do like the flavor of this. The smell of the food and the burps. Ummm, I think I will just stick with the regular Cook Do Sabuta sauce from now on. I am sure my husband will be disappointed, lol! : )

In other news!!! On July 3rd, our yochien year books, will be ready to be handed out! So, for the graduating yochien class (the mommy's), we all decided to go and have lunch someplace, all catch up with one another and that way we can also pick up our kids, their year books at the same time! I am looking forward to this lunch on July 3rd, very much! Can't wait! : ) It's going to be a nice mommy's lunch thing! : )

Still working, on working out! Nope haven't given up at all! : ) Yup, I'm still at it, I find I don't do it everyday like I was at the start of the year. I work out on my treadmill about 3 times a week, however I do my sit ups every single day. And I have decided the other day that starting this week, I am going to try and shrink my meals a bit. Just my servings for myself, is all. Not a diet at all. Just if I can make my meals a bit smaller for this next month and see how that works. Anyways, it's just a test. I'll see how it goes! : ) Because I do like to eat and do have a healthy appetite and have no intention of starving throughout the day and night either, lol, so we will see! : )