Goodness, where did the Summer go? Don't get me wrong, it was such a fun Summer this year. With Disneyland for Noah's birthday. A visit from grandpa, the local "old school pool", Toy Story 3. The Guam trip, "Twilight Eclipse" for me and "Despicable Me" for the boys. The big pool with wave pool etc., that we recently went to. Not to mention the countless bbq's we enjoyed here at home over the Summer, plus the gardening the kids got to enjoy. And many dvd rentals and family movie nights with big bowls of popcorn and the family time. We also played a round of Sorry! (family board game) last week. So we did really enjoy our Summer quite a bit. Just sorta sad to see it go....sniff sniff. : ( And I guess a bit sad to get back to the school year once again. But, I know it is unavoidable...so I will do my best to prepare us to go back to school. : ) So what have we been doing since last I blogged? Honestly.....just enjoying every last bit and second of Summer we can. School doesn't start for us here until this coming Wednesday for B. And Noah starts this coming Thursday. So Sept 1st for Branden and Sept. 2nd for Noah. Noah will have half days for the Sept 2nd and 3rd. But yep, the running here and running there will start for me once again this coming Wednesday. ; ) The pic above is of when we were in Saitama last week sometime. We were hanging about enjoying the bits of Summer left and since we were in the area...and it was lunch time, Noboru suggested we have lunch at Costco. I agreed so we went.
This is the Costco, I blogged about once before, it's near an Ikea and a lalaport. I think it's in Shin-Misato? Don't quote me on that though...I am not from that area, so I could be a bit off on city/area names. ; )
It was so crowded in there and all we wanted was lunch and a pizza to take home for dinner that night.
There was no place to sit, so we walked around and around and around for a spot. Finally some nice people left and we got a spot. We sat and ate and then I saw a man and his wife looking for a spot too as we were just about done with our lunch, there he was holding his food and drink just waiting. Boy did I know *that* feeling of wanting a spot to eat while the food is still actually hot...we just had that same feeling 30 minutes earlier. ; ) So, I waved him over and gave them our spot (we were done anyway), boy was he happy! : ) So, the 4 of us got up and gave our spot to the guy and his wife, meanwhile then Noboru took the boys to the boys bathroom to go pee before we drove all the way home, I was standing holding the huge box of pizza and the lady/wife we just gave the seats too, went to get toppings on her hot dog and she gave me the biggest smile and head nod/bow. I smiled and head nodded back. Right on, I thought.
Cold by the time we brought it home...but when it was dinner time we just reheated in the oven. For us rarely getting to Costco, we have had Costco cheese pizza twice this Summer so far? Pretty uncommon for us. Good thing we just happened to be near one.
I washed Branden's shuji clothes yesterday. Just black basic shorts, an old black tee that used to be Noboru's and a cheap smock that we don't mind if it gets black ink on it or not. And it has. Ha ha ha. Better these clothes then his regular clothes I'd say. I washed them, they dried in the sun and are now folded away until school starts. His gym uniform, actually both the boys gym uniform I will wash this coming Monday that way it's still fresh and clean for when they start this coming Wednesday and Thursday. Oh dear I already sound like I am going into school year mode, let me gong myself real quick. ; ) Side note, those tomatoes are going out of control. We don't even know what to do with them anymore. We are officially tomato-ed out!
With school starting soon, I checked my calendar for September and had a few things written on it already, which surprised me. I have Noah's sweet potato dig written down and Branden's undokai/sports day coming up. So, I started to write a list last week, of what I needed to get from the 100 yen/Daiso. Because sometimes I go in there and get my 2-3 items and then at home go d'oh! And realize I forgot this or that. So not wanting to do that again, I started with my list. And yesterday/Thursday the boys and I headed to the Daiso. For the sweet potato dig, I needed a pair of kids sized gardening gloves for Noah and because we have 2 kids and Branden comes with on sweet potato dig day, I bought 2 sets of kids gardening gloves. So, there I was yesterday with my list with my 2 boys and looking at the huge selection of gloves. Found what I liked and started knocking things off the list while we were in the Daiso. Went and paid and we left. Then we headed to do the weekly shopping.
I chose these because I liked that they had non slip stuff on them. I recalled seeing some kid using something similar last year. Sorta made a mental note of it and remembered it this year.
New inside shoes for Branden, with Kumon and regular school he needs 2 pair. And Noah got a new pair, before Summer started so he only needed 1 new pair for Kumon.
The bag from Daiso.
The shoe inserts are for up to a size 17cm, and Noah's size is 18cm white shoes. I think I can get away with this size of shoe insert this one last time and then I will start buying the bigger size and just cut them down with scissors around Christmas time. But these will work fine for this semester. 2 new washing the school rags for Branden. A nylon body wash scrubby for Noah (Lightning Mcqueen, B just got a new one recently) and kitty for myself, because I have sensitive skin and the adult ones are a little too rough for my skin. A potato peeler because mine broke last week. And this is sort of funny but, the potato peeler selection was so huge since last i bought one, so many new ones to choose from. New cool ones and yet would you believe I picked the one I had bought 5 years ago? Yep, just too many new styles and I couldn't make up my mind on them and I finally decided to just get the familiar and yep, I picked the same potato peeler and the exact same color as last time. @_@ Speaking of which. The new camera? I hate it. Okay maybe hates too strong of word. But...I just didn't like it at all. I took it for the Guam trip and it just drove me bonkers. It was not even remotely like my old camera. My old camera may have less pixels or whatever. But it was a camera I was used to, am comfortable with. And the new camera lacked the "take a pic through a glass setting" and the "swimming pool setting" Thing is, at the swim school I do often take pics through the glass window and we do swim at a pool a lot and I did love that pool setting. So, when I got back from Guam, I traded cameras with Noboru. He now has the brand new camera and I now have my old was broken and now isn't camera. The camera Noah "fixed". ; ) And I couldn't be happier. Hmm, I really do sometimes stick with things familiar don't I? Oh dear.
What's here...one car (looks sorta like a VW beetle to me) band for the metal winter obento. Our measuring tape needed replacing (why do you ask? Well because My darling husband took it to fishing with him to measure how big his fish he caught were and the tape measure came back smelling all eau de fishette. So, I said he could just keep it) and so that's why I needed to replace our home measuring tape. @_@ Yep, husbands, gotta love em'. ; ) Straws, the bendy kind. Cotton swabs for ear cleaning. The 2 pair of kids gardening gloves and 1 mini hand rake thing for the upcoming sweet potato dig. Man am I on top of the getting ready for school stuff or what? I'm trying...I am certainly giving it the old college try here. : ) Fruit picks/sticks for obento and some obento cups, the mini small ones for veggies.
These I loved. Because usually obento cups are cartoony or colored. Arty. Hmm, horrible description but I think you know what I mean. Hopefully. You know like pink ones, green ones, Or you can get ones with bunnies or frogs and stuff on them and I do like those too, I do. But these ones are real pics of tomatoes. I've never seen them before and I do go to the Daiso at least once a month for something or other. Anyway, I liked them and so I bought them for Noah's obento stuff. They had them in the different sizes too.
See the different colors? I wonder what the other pictures will look like.
Since it was Summer, I let the kids eat the jelly's that were in the pantry for Noah's obento's long ago. And so, I luckily remembered to buy another pack of them to actually prepare myself a bit for obento making. I'm slowly getting the boys ready for the return of school.
Yesterday while buying the weekly groceries. I also bought the weekly popsicles/ice-cream. I bring my calculator with me to the store every week (not that I really need to, I just like to). I've always done that. And I try to get the best deals, save the most money I can. I enjoy doing that. But I always buy 1000 yen of snacks for the fmaily every week. $10 dollars. It isn't so much when you count all 4 of us share. I usually get some popsicles/ice cream. Some cookies (those butter and/or the chocolate chip 100 yen ones are great.) A few bags of chips or senbei and that's usually about it. This week, we got the generic cider popsicle ones (98 or 99 yen), the generic/store brand fruit ones and some cookies and cream icecream. Not bad treats for the week. We also got a few bags of chips (88 and 98 yen each bag), curry senbei (88 or 99 yen) and 1 box of butter cookies (100 yen) and 1 box of choco chip cookies. Thrifty but still enjoying snacks. : )
These are the last 2 DVDs for August, The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. Love Sandra Bullock and saw this movie in the airplane but I picked it so Noboru and the kids could see it, it's a good heart warming true story we'll watch it this coming week sometime. And the other one is...good grief the title for this is long it's....Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief . A good action movie and we saw that one already the other night, the whole family enjoyed it.
I washed Branden's shuji clothes yesterday. Just black basic shorts, an old black tee that used to be Noboru's and a cheap smock that we don't mind if it gets black ink on it or not. And it has. Ha ha ha. Better these clothes then his regular clothes I'd say. I washed them, they dried in the sun and are now folded away until school starts. His gym uniform, actually both the boys gym uniform I will wash this coming Monday that way it's still fresh and clean for when they start this coming Wednesday and Thursday. Oh dear I already sound like I am going into school year mode, let me gong myself real quick. ; ) Side note, those tomatoes are going out of control. We don't even know what to do with them anymore. We are officially tomato-ed out! With school starting soon, I checked my calendar for September and had a few things written on it already, which surprised me. I have Noah's sweet potato dig written down and Branden's undokai/sports day coming up. So, I started to write a list last week, of what I needed to get from the 100 yen/Daiso. Because sometimes I go in there and get my 2-3 items and then at home go d'oh! And realize I forgot this or that. So not wanting to do that again, I started with my list. And yesterday/Thursday the boys and I headed to the Daiso. For the sweet potato dig, I needed a pair of kids sized gardening gloves for Noah and because we have 2 kids and Branden comes with on sweet potato dig day, I bought 2 sets of kids gardening gloves. So, there I was yesterday with my list with my 2 boys and looking at the huge selection of gloves. Found what I liked and started knocking things off the list while we were in the Daiso. Went and paid and we left. Then we headed to do the weekly shopping. I chose these because I liked that they had non slip stuff on them. I recalled seeing some kid using something similar last year. Sorta made a mental note of it and remembered it this year. New inside shoes for Branden, with Kumon and regular school he needs 2 pair. And Noah got a new pair, before Summer started so he only needed 1 new pair for Kumon. The bag from Daiso. The shoe inserts are for up to a size 17cm, and Noah's size is 18cm white shoes. I think I can get away with this size of shoe insert this one last time and then I will start buying the bigger size and just cut them down with scissors around Christmas time. But these will work fine for this semester. 2 new washing the school rags for Branden. A nylon body wash scrubby for Noah (Lightning Mcqueen, B just got a new one recently) and kitty for myself, because I have sensitive skin and the adult ones are a little too rough for my skin. A potato peeler because mine broke last week. And this is sort of funny but, the potato peeler selection was so huge since last i bought one, so many new ones to choose from. New cool ones and yet would you believe I picked the one I had bought 5 years ago? Yep, just too many new styles and I couldn't make up my mind on them and I finally decided to just get the familiar and yep, I picked the same potato peeler and the exact same color as last time. @_@ Speaking of which. The new camera? I hate it. Okay maybe hates too strong of word. But...I just didn't like it at all. I took it for the Guam trip and it just drove me bonkers. It was not even remotely like my old camera. My old camera may have less pixels or whatever. But it was a camera I was used to, am comfortable with. And the new camera lacked the "take a pic through a glass setting" and the "swimming pool setting" Thing is, at the swim school I do often take pics through the glass window and we do swim at a pool a lot and I did love that pool setting. So, when I got back from Guam, I traded cameras with Noboru. He now has the brand new camera and I now have my old was broken and now isn't camera. The camera Noah "fixed". ; ) And I couldn't be happier. Hmm, I really do sometimes stick with things familiar don't I? Oh dear. What's here...one car (looks sorta like a VW beetle to me) band for the metal winter obento. Our measuring tape needed replacing (why do you ask? Well because My darling husband took it to fishing with him to measure how big his fish he caught were and the tape measure came back smelling all eau de fishette. So, I said he could just keep it) and so that's why I needed to replace our home measuring tape. @_@ Yep, husbands, gotta love em'. ; ) Straws, the bendy kind. Cotton swabs for ear cleaning. The 2 pair of kids gardening gloves and 1 mini hand rake thing for the upcoming sweet potato dig. Man am I on top of the getting ready for school stuff or what? I'm trying...I am certainly giving it the old college try here. : ) Fruit picks/sticks for obento and some obento cups, the mini small ones for veggies. These I loved. Because usually obento cups are cartoony or colored. Arty. Hmm, horrible description but I think you know what I mean. Hopefully. You know like pink ones, green ones, Or you can get ones with bunnies or frogs and stuff on them and I do like those too, I do. But these ones are real pics of tomatoes. I've never seen them before and I do go to the Daiso at least once a month for something or other. Anyway, I liked them and so I bought them for Noah's obento stuff. They had them in the different sizes too. See the different colors? I wonder what the other pictures will look like. Since it was Summer, I let the kids eat the jelly's that were in the pantry for Noah's obento's long ago. And so, I luckily remembered to buy another pack of them to actually prepare myself a bit for obento making. I'm slowly getting the boys ready for the return of school. Yesterday while buying the weekly groceries. I also bought the weekly popsicles/ice-cream. I bring my calculator with me to the store every week (not that I really need to, I just like to). I've always done that. And I try to get the best deals, save the most money I can. I enjoy doing that. But I always buy 1000 yen of snacks for the fmaily every week. $10 dollars. It isn't so much when you count all 4 of us share. I usually get some popsicles/ice cream. Some cookies (those butter and/or the chocolate chip 100 yen ones are great.) A few bags of chips or senbei and that's usually about it. This week, we got the generic cider popsicle ones (98 or 99 yen), the generic/store brand fruit ones and some cookies and cream icecream. Not bad treats for the week. We also got a few bags of chips (88 and 98 yen each bag), curry senbei (88 or 99 yen) and 1 box of butter cookies (100 yen) and 1 box of choco chip cookies. Thrifty but still enjoying snacks. : ) These are the last 2 DVDs for August, The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. Love Sandra Bullock and saw this movie in the airplane but I picked it so Noboru and the kids could see it, it's a good heart warming true story we'll watch it this coming week sometime. And the other one is...good grief the title for this is long it's....Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief . A good action movie and we saw that one already the other night, the whole family enjoyed it. TV Talk: What have I been watching on TV lately? Cougar Town with Courtney Cox-Arquette started for us in Japan on satellite and it's really funny. I also am still enjoying, "How I met your mother" This show is so funny. All the characters are so funny to me on here. I've been watching, America's Next Top Model. My goodness can women be mean to one another or what? : ( What else have I been watching? Ghost Whisperer is getting SO good. I have been watching every week and look forward to the next week. ; )
What the boys have been watching.....Kids TV Talk, I guess: I've been watching Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana with the boys still. Suite Life. Phineas and Ferb is hilarious, it seriously cracks me up! Courage the Cowardly Dog, Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and the Simpson's and King of the Hill. Oh yeah and the Pink Panther, lol.
Do you ever watch upcoming movie trailers or "currently playing now" trailers... on Yahoo? I do, I do! I saw the trailer to Nanny McPhee returns!!! OMG this looks so good and I'm not just saying that because I think Emma Thompson rocks. Vampires Suck...the trailer cracked me up. Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts sorta spoke to me too. And "The Switch" with Justin Bateman looked so funny too. The little boy (a self admitted hypochondriac) cracked me up so hard when I saw the trailer online! I want to see these movies. I am eagerly waiting to watch them. *happy sigh*
What else....anything else before I hit the publish button? (thinking thinking) I've been doing treadmill quite a bit lately. Wasn't feeling it this Summer so much.... but now that Summer's coming to an end, I am trying to get my butt in gear again. ; )
Noboru is taking both Branden and Noah to the movies this coming Wednesday. Branden gets out at 11am since it's his first day back at school. Branden had asked to see the Pokemon movie this Summer. And we didn't take him yet...so a promise is a promise, so hubby's taking him this coming Wednesday and little brother too. ; ) I'm opting not to go. Though I could end up changing my mind, I suppose. But for now, I think I'd prefer stay home...maybe read a magazine or read some more of my book.
Anyway I think that's it for now..5 last days of Summer left and we wanna enjoy them, the best we can. Anyhoo, I have a load of towels hanging on the fence, so I better go get them down and folded. And we need to have lunch here before Branden and I take Noah to his swimming class today at 3pm. : )
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