A few odds and ends!!! : )

Before I catch up with you all from Saturday through Tuesday basically. I think it be best to tell you the story of the injury, that unfortunately happened on Halloween night.: ( Now keep in mind, we had carved the pumpkin the day before. It was a Friday evening, Halloween night, in fact and things were quiet over here. The start of a 3 day weekend (no school Sat, Sun or Mon.). And I was in the kitchen preparing supper for my family. Branden was outside riding bikes with Kouiki and Genki-kun. There was a bitter chill in the air and it was growing dark outside. And it was before 5pm, because all the kids come in at 5pm when the song plays. If you live in Japan and have a community song or noise that comes on different times of day, you will know what I mean. Anyway, not much was happening. Noboru and Noah were in the living room watching TV together, smells of dinner filled the house. And I excitedly could not wait for Branden to come in at 5pm, because then we will have dinner and then we wiould be watching all our fun Halloween programs! Yay! The niku jaga was now just simmering, oh man it smelled so good. I glanced at the clock and it said, 4:46 pm. Ahhh not much longer, I thought. Music softly played in the kitchen, I was listening to WINGS (Paul Mc Cartney and wings) While songs of...."Maybe I'm amazed", "My love", "Uncle Albert", "Jet", "Silly Love Songs" etc, softly played while I sat waiting for my son to come home and watching the dinner on the stove. I feel at this moment in time, calm, relaxed, happy and warm, and yes also hungry.: ) Can't wait to start eating. Next thing I know, the door bell rings. Hmm perhaps B came home early. Nah he lives here, he wouldn't ring the bell, I thought. I answered it and it was Kouiki. He was frantic. His panicked state, instantly caused me to panic. And when I panic, I lose my ability to speak or understand Japanese well. not sure why, but it happens. Just refer to the Christmas part we had last year and I gave the most stupid speech in public and even cut in front of line and spoke before my turn for reference. Ha ha ha. : ) So, anyway where was I? He's panicked at the door. I am now panicked at the door as well. The things I could pick out was, come quickly, there was an accident. I kept thinking and forgive me..."oh dear god please don't say it's my baby" "Not my son"...meanwhile he kept talking, and I kept flipping the words into English inside my brain. Genki is injured, there's a lot of blood, come quick. Okay it wasn't my son, I could again breath, but only barely...... because it was Genki and he's like my son. So, as fast as I could, I slipped on my flip flops and I took off running. Black short sleeve t shirt (because wasn't exactly expecting to be outside running down the street and we do have central heating so that's why I was in a short sleeve) and gray sweatpants with black stripes down the sides and flip flops. Not sneakers or anything, didn't have time. Not a stitch of makeup. I followed Kouiki in the cold nippy air, and by now it was 90% dark outside. It looked nearly night time. Two blocks I ran. I saw Branden holding up his best friend, Branden did not leave his friends side! I just switched to English at this point because again, I can think better in English and this was an emergency. I asked Branden right away. "Where are your and Genki's bike" He said they were up the hill at the park. I said, you and Kouki go and get the bikes right away and ride them back to our house. meanwhile, I picked up Genki and carried him the 2 blocks to my house. What did Genki look like? Blood gushing from his mouth. So much blood he actually had his hand cupped and it was full of blood. I carried him just like I would carry my own 2 babies. And I picked him up andlike I said, I carried him the 2 blocks to my house. I kept rubbing his back, and speaking to him in Japanese. I assured him, I would call his mother right away, not to worry and he would be okay. Genki was crying, tears and blood everywhere. Noboru and Noah were walking up to us at this point, I think all the blood shocked Noboru, he did leave the house with his cell, I left so fast I didn't grab my cell/keitei. And he right away called his mom. Good thing she lives just a few blocks away. They came running down the street right away. We offered to take them to the doctors that night but she declined. Screw dinner at this point, they're like family! She said she would have her husband take them tomorrow, so we didn't take them. Noboru brought out a flashlight and we checked his mouth, he was really injured. It looked like a piece of upper gum on his upper part of mouth was where the injury was. Kouki had told all of us, that Genki-kun was riding his bike down the stairs and this was the result. : ( He did bleed a large amount, but he seemed no worse for wear, go figure. I never left his side, not until his mom got there. I hugged him, reassured him, and wiped his tears away, only the way a fellow mom would know how. And I know Genki's mother would do the same to my son if the shoe were on the other foot. I've known this little boy, since yochien days. I know when Genki-kun lost his first tooth. And as most of you know, he's my son's very best friend in the whole wide world. Sigh. It was really shocking to have this happen to him and for us. We have since seen him a few more times after this obviously and he is just fine now. Thank god. And yes he did go to the doctor. But anyway, yes that was our little fright we had on Halloween. : ( I hope nothing like this ever happens to anyone we know or love. I am sure it will.... but I still hope it won't. : ) We did go inside our house and we did wash up. I changed my shirt. And we had supper and watched Halloween programs. we did text his mom to ask how he was and she said he was fine. That was a relief. Anyway, we did get a bit of a scare on Halloween. : ( Honestly? I was really scared you guys, when all this happened! : ( Poor Genki-kun.: (
Saturday was bitterly cold. A gray day. No rain, no snow. But really cold. Branden played with a few friends, riding bikes that morning. I did remind him, how dangerous riding bikes were and reminded him to not ever ride his bike down the stairs. Yup, I think what happened the night before, somehow scared me a bit and it was on my mind some over here. : ( He

said okay and went on his way. He rode for a few hours and came back home at noon for lunch and didn't go back outside after that because he said it was just too cold to play outside. After lunch we went back on the couch and cuddled up some with warm fuzzy blankets and big fluffy pillows. And I saw my old spotty bananas. They looked like giraffe's with all those spots. I had 3 old bananas. And with the bananas being so hard to find right now in Japan with that whole banana diet and such. I couldn't just through them into the trash. So, I ended up making banana bread from those 3 over ripe bananas.

Mixed the bananas and the walnuts into the flour and other ingredients. And put it into the oven for an hour. : ) Meanwhile, I got Noah's swimming backpack all packed up and ready to take him to a Saturday swimming class. Branden came with me and we both watched through the window. : ) I turned off the oven right before we left to the swim club! : )

Back from swim club now, and it was starting to get dark by looking at the window outside. The banana bread had already cooled off. And I sent Noah to go unpack his backpack upstairs. And then they played in the living room together while I got dinner started.

We still have a good amount of Halloween candy. We've been all munching some here and there. I will munch a Kit Kat or something during a movie or something. We are trying to get this candy eaten up! Ha ha ha. : )

Oh yeah I can't forget, Noah passed to his first level this week! We are so proud of our little Noah. He is now on his way to becoming a good swimmer. : )

Saturday, we had Chinese for dinner. We had sara udon, or if you're from America, a better explanation would be, we had, chicken chow mein! Lot's of fresh chopped up veggie, lean chicken breast, lightly stir fried beforehand. really nice and warm dinner.

Chicken chow mein, served over a bed of crunchy noodles. Yumm, it was a very good Saturday nights dinner.

After bath time and Noah had long fallen asleep, Noboru and Branden played Biohazard in multiplayer mode! It's a fun age, he and daddy can both play together and have a fab time together. They played for a few hours actually. Meanwhile, I was on the couch and watching TV and enjoying my nightly hot caramel machiatto. Noah meanwhile was like this....zzzzz. : )

Sunday was another day of pure rest. No where to go, and not wanting to go anywhere either. Ha ha ha. Just staying home. Staying in our nice warm house. I woke up Sunday morning. Hmm, all weekend, I have been waking up around 8:30 am. Given the fact on weekdays I usually wake up at 5:30 am, I was getting an extra 3 hours of snooze time every morning. I felt fantastic all weekend. And with Monday being a holiday. Sunday felt even more restful knowing the day after could be spent resting too. Ha ha ha. So, I sat and had a slice of banana bread with a thin bit of butter on top. And a nice cup of hot coffee. Watching the news, CNN. And then just relaxing the rest of the day. I really made an effort to stay away from the computer this weekend because I wanted to just concentrate on my family. So my computer time was really limited by my own self.

Around 11 am, the sun peeked out from the clouds and the boys went to play in the backyard on Sunday. Noah swung on the swings. It was still chilly though, even though the sun was shining.

Both on their playground but playing DS games! Ha ha ha! So classic!

His hero! : ) Side by side these brothers play perched up by their playground in the Japanese countryside. About 10 minutes after this picture was taken, I had to make them come in....it was just too chilly. So, they went into the house for the rest of the day and still played all day and all evening long and not just DS games, they also went into Noah's room and played with their cars and with their trains. Then they went to B's room and played his new Speed Racer track he got for his Birthday. So yeah they played all day and evening. Ha ha ha.

Meanwhile I made homemade pizza crust during the afternoon and around 5pm Sunday night, I turned on the oven to 450 degrees F. And rolled out the dough and baked us a pizza! Half was just pepperoni and the other half was pepperoni, bell pepper, onion and mushroom! This pizza size is huge too, it's like Costco sized pizza, lol. But tastes better though, lol! : )

Dinner on a Sunday evening! By now the degrees outside said, 48 degrees F outside! It was indeed chilly and it even dropped in temp a bit more too. We stayed home, stayed warm and enjoyed our piping hot pizza and I had mine with a coke with ice! We sat watching satellite, eating hot pizza. And with no school the next day, life was feeling quite blissful! : ) Noboru and the boys showered and bathed and I went in afterwards. I guess I could go first, but I like to soak and not be rushed, ha ha ha. I stayed up near midnight, watching good stuff on TV Sunday night.

Monday, I swear, I... by now must have really over did myself with the sleeping in stuff, because I woke up at 9:20 am. Man, did I get to snooze in all weekend or what. We all popped on some clothes, had some toast that they ate in the car and we meanwhile drove to the grocery store. Monday morning, at the grocery store. Hmm, I was sorta expecting there to be only old food left since it was a 3 day weekend. But there was fresh food, pleasant surprise. In fact the lady was unpacking a box of fresh bananas as I walked into the fruit and veggie section, for which I waited patiently for her to finish and picked my bunch and placed them into my cart. I loaded up with groceries. Got so much fresh veggies, potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce, apples, a big honkin' bag of mikans, a real BIG bag of those. 1 big Chinese cabbage. Heaps of meats, pork, chicken, sausages, ham for sandwiches, even chicken nuggets so we can make our own for a lunch some day this week or weekend. Case of jasmine tea, water, 5 boxes of caramel machiatto, because both hubby and I drink this, juice, etc. A box of hot cocoa for the kiddies. Potato chips, laundry soap, tissue paper, toilet paper, you name it, we got it. Paid and bagged all this stuff and then we loaded up the car and headed home. Monday the sun never came out, it remained cloudy and bitterly cold all day. Unloaded all the stuff into the house and then into the fridge or pantry. And then, we all took a load off. We relaxed. Oh yeah, we also turned on our floor heating for the downstairs. The floors are so warm downstairs now.

Monday, I think I checked my email twice, but again really tried to just keep my weekend computer free. The boys and I played the Sorry game. It's a board game by Milton Bradley. It's very fun! We played that game twice. Branden read me a Spongebob book. They're thin, so practically like a comic in thinness, but they are indeed books though. And then I got started in on Monday night's dinner. I was thinking Japanese for dinner. But wanted more of a Japanese American type meal as opposed to a Japanese from Japan type meal. I was thinking chicken teriyaki bowls. You know, something like you'd see at a food court at a shopping mall in American someplace. Ha ha ha. Really good and simple. I just used a bottle of my favorite teriyaki sauce. I think you could make your own, but for simplicity and ease, I just use this. : ) But I do grate a pinch of fresh ginger to sorta add some extra flavor to it. : )

I marinted this for a bit. Added a pinch of black pepper also.

With the tiniest amount of oil possible. I skillet fried the chicken. Let it get a good thorough cooking. But didn't take too long.

Added the mushroms and gave them a quick stir fry.

Added a bit of the sauce at the end minus the ginger. This just came straight from the bottle, because I didn't wanna over ginger things.

I used to like to stir fry my broccoli but the kids don't like that. : ( So, I just steam it and keep it like that. I just made a little because Noboru was at work Monday evening and would not be eating with us. So, it was just enough for the boys and I.

: )

This was my serving. Teriyaki chicken and mushrooms with a pinch of ginger, for flavor. And some steamed broccoli in there as well. All on top of a bed of rice. A really simple, not fancy Monday's supper.

I turned on the hot pot and while it heated. I loaded the dishwasher. And set the bath. Meanwhile the boys had one of these. Have you ever had an Aero chocolate bar in Japan? They are heavenly.: ) Anyway, they also make delicious hot cocoa. And the boys each had a nice hot cup of hot cocoa. Meanwhile I enjoyed an instant hot caramel machiatto. I sent B and Noah to the shower and bath first. I sat on the other side of the shower door and heard giggling, plenty of laughter and could see they were squirting each other with their water guns. I hurried them up and got them into their jammies. They watched Disney channel, while I jumped in the shower myself and I kept the door open while I relaxed in the tub, so I could hear what's happening from upstairs. : ) When I came downstairs, with my own pajamas on, Noah was crashed to the world. So, I carried him upstairs to sleep. Branden, I sent to bed, and tucked him in. I laid in my jammies on the couch until Noboru came in, meanwhile i watched Cold Case. He told me a few stories from work. Funny ones. Tuesday the next day, hmmm. School back in session, the long 3 day weekend over. And really not looking forward to the start of the week. Ha ha ha. Tuesday after school, the doorbell rang and it was his best friend Genki-kun at the door. He was ready to play and go ride bikes through the neighborhood. I smiled and thought...."wow kids are so resilient aren't they", all has been forgotten and he is indeed fully recovered. As B walked out the door, he tells Branden, "let's ride bikes wearing sunglasses"...(I thought why sunglasses, but then that's how kids are, they are always doing something silly and new or thinking of some new way to do something" Branden said okay, let me go grab mine, he ran upstairs and came back wearing his sunglasses. Typical mother mode me....I told Branden. If those sunglasses are impairing you from seeing properly while riding that bike in *anyway*, you take them off, okay? Ha ha ha. He says, okay. And they both rode off wearing sunglasses! *shakes head*. These cool boys riding bikes with sunglasses....hmm, seem like nerds to me! Ha ha ha. Wink, wink! I made kimchee nabe for dinner on Tuesday evening (last night), we have so much we will be having leftover nabe for Wednesday (tonight). Which knowing how crazy my Wednesdays are, I don't mind having leftovers on Wednesday at all! : ) What else...anything else to add? (thinking)

*Have been paying close attention to the election results of the presidency in America. Go Obama, I voted for you!!!! Yes. We. Can!!!! : )

*Also, next week? Or one week during November, our swimming school will be closed. And since my boys go once a week usually. Now I have to work in having the boys go for 4 times in 3 weeks. Which doesn't sounds too hard and it isn't. However, Branden being in the C course, the C course is always busy, so I will have to put in writing and make a request where I want that extra swim day to go. He goes Wednesdays, so 3 days are chosen, but hopefully I can get his spare day penciled in somewhere. And given the C course is always full and all the other parents will be trying for the same thing, meaning to get their days penciled in too. It is going to be a cross my fingers type moment and hope we can get a day we like. For example, Monday and Thursday, B has Kumon. And so we can't do Monday's and Thursday's for swimming, so we can only hope that during the 3 week period we can get a slot in for a Monday or Friday. So....just hoping things go well, for that. Noah is easier, he's in the A course and we don't need to have or fill in, anything in writing or fill out a request, A course can swim any day they want. So, I will probably take Noah twice this week to get that extra day out of the way. : )

*Nothing else to add really. Life is fantastic. Granted it's simple country life, but I've got no complaints. I love the Fall and the Fall weather and enjoy all the soups and stews and baking that comes with this time of year. I enjoy the cozy family time, that also comes with it. Have a wonderful week everyone!!!! : )