Christmas party, the boys practice “marathon” and their 2nd and final flu shot for this season done and taken

Okay, I last left off at Black Friday/Japanese Labor Day.   So this is what happened next....Saturday, Noboru worked. And so my dad and Branden and Noah and I stayed home inside the warm house. It wasn't raining last Saturday like how it did the day before. But it was *really* cold last Saturday. And we had more then enough food here at the house so we stayed inside and watched TV, ate, talked. The boys did Kumon homework. We had lunch. The boys went and played in the backyard.  But for the most part, we all stood inside.  Sunday however the boys had a kodomo kai/ kids party but a Christmas one. This was held at the plaza of course. : ) But it was a Christmas kids party and was only for our housing community kids who go to shogakko. I mention this because I thought it was an elementary school, everyone is invited Christmas kai/party. And my dad and I went into the plaza. I was thinking we could chit chat with Sera's mom and a few of my mom friends. And I realized hmmm, there's nobody here except for who lives in our housing community. What's up with that? Hahaha.  And the only mom's present were the 6th grade mom's because they have to host it as a 6th grade/final year mom. That I do know.... since next year I'll be working that.  So, I did chit chat with the 2 mom's whose daughters represented our country town school in swim club like Branden did....they live in our housing community and both have 6th grade daughters. I greeted them and my dad and I left. Noah and Branden stayed with all the other shogakko kids from our housing community. So, since the boys were off enjoying the Christmas party....my dad and I went and picked up some things for Sunday's/that nights supper. And then we swung around and picked up the boys from the Christmas kai/party. This is what Branden got, a snack bag and they have a drawing each year and last year Branden won a Spongebob cup. This year Branden won the One Piece cup. He was quite happy about winning the cup.

This is what Noah brought back, and his Christmas present he won was a badminton racket.  It's a Christmas raffle and you draw a number and that's how you know what you won. Sunday, Noboru came home, dinner was all ready for him. He saw that the boys enjoyed the Christmas party. "Daddy daddy look at my cup!!!! Daddy daddy look at my racket!!!!" So Noboru knew they had a pretty great time at their Christmas party.  Sunday was really nice. It was nice quiet and pretty cold outside.

Monday was just a day for my dad and I. Because, Noboru had to work. Both Branden and Noah had school. And so this was our day together, my dad and I. : ) We lingered here at home until 9:30am drinking a nice cup of coffee or two....enjoying ourselves and chatting away.... until the malls opened at 10am but we left the house at 9:30am.  We went to the nearest mall in the small city near our town.  We walked around the mall my dad and I. He looked at the men's clothing department. We looked at all sorts of things. We stopped at the Daiso. My dad bought a few things at the Daiso and also at the mall. Just a few omiyage type things.  Meanwhile, Noah had asked me for stickers the other day. And said a few of his classmates are trading stickers and could I get some next time I'm out and about. And I said sure. I had it written on my list so I picked up some Pokemon and One Piece stickers and he's been trading them since.  Also, they both were near out of tape and needed more Zousan-/elephant tape. So I crossed that off the list also. I also crossed a few stocking stuffer type gifts off my list as well. And so my dad and I enjoyed walking around and around 11:50am we went to Saizeriya for lunch. My dad had a pizza and the drink bar. I had a pasta dish and the drink bar too.  We must have sat there for an hour enjoying our conversation and drink bar.  I enjoyed my day with my dad a lot. And I knew he was leaving Tuesday/the next morning. We left the mall around 1:30pm-ish and headed back to my town. We unloaded our stuff. I need to hide the stocking stuffer stuff really well. And then we went and picked up the boys from the plaza.  We had dinner. We had a really great last night. The boys went to sleep around 8:30pm but Noboru and my dad and I stood awake watching TV and talking until 11:30pm. I went to sleep and the next morning, we got up, dressed and the boys had to go to school early since we were dropping my dad off the airport afterwards. We dropped the boys off at 7:18am-ish. And headed straight for the airport. Waved my dad a "see you later" since good byes are always sad. And we went home. Feeling pretty good that the time with my dad was so fun. The boys were super bummed out grandpa was leaving. But they know they'll be seeing him soon anyway so that helps.

While my dad was still in the airplane on his way to Guam. I ordered my dad some stuff on Cyber Monday (though it was Tuesday for us in Japan) Stuff I knew he'd love! And as you can see, the message says...Merry Christmas Grandpa (though you can't see the grandpa part, but it's on there. And it says Love, Branden and Noah.  So my dad is well taken care of for Christmas.  The boys, Branden and Noah are 98% done too,

This is a back track, sorry. This happened 2 days before my dad arrived. Tuesday. I  went into the attic and pulled out a few of my small Christmas trees that we usually have around the house both downstairs and upstairs. This one pictured is an advent tree and it has advent ornaments and it has colored lights, this is now out and upstairs.  And the tree with clear lights I put into the genkan/entrance area/hall area.

All my holidays I have in separate plastic boxes. This is one of my Christmas boxes, just one of them. The others I haven't pulled out yet.

I wanted all the Christmas door hanger-on folks on, before my dad got here for Thanksgiving.  Santa and snowmen are on all the doors throughout the house now. And as you know all the Christmas lights are on and done for outside.

This is the tiny Christmas tree with white/clear bulbs in the genkan area. The ornaments for this are fantastic. The detailing. This Santa for example has real glitter on parts of him.

The white "frosting" for this gingerbread man is really glitter. All the ornaments are pretty cool and this tree is, like I said,  in the genkan area. The only tree not up right now is my big tree that stands in the living room and I'll get him up this coming week.  But everything else Christmas wise the decorations are all done. Mini tree upstairs, mini tree in the genkan area, door knocker type decorations are on all the doors inside and the outside lighting is long done. Last will be the big tree in the living room.

Also before my dad got here I went to Sanki.  When I first moved to Japan a friend of mine told me, to get towels and blankets go to Sanki. So, if I didn't pick it up in the US I always went to Sanki. Anyway, I cruised over to my nearest Sanki and they had the fleece blankets that fit the twin bed type sizes 140cmx200cm.  For 999 yen. So hmm 1000 yen seems about the going rate. These were a nice weight thicker then the Nissen ones. Though to be fair, fwiw, both Branden and Noah love their Nissen ones go figure and say they are the perfect thickness for their beds. Anyway these Sanki ones were super cute colors and patterns the price was cheap/great and the size is great. I like something big enough it could cover you from head to toe type.  So I bought 2 from Sanki, because they were cute designs.

I like this one. It's eye catching, and really warm. And the price...loved the price.

This one was the same size and also 999 yen.

I liked the colors and pattern on this one also. Black with white flowers.  Anyway we have plenty of fleecy blankets now for cuddling on the couch.  Or if we do end up driving to Osaka at New Years we'll definitely have enough blankets for the road trip, hahaha.  Pack some pillows some snacks. It would be pretty fun if we go.

One day after my dad left. Wednesday. This was a practice run for the "marathon" our elementary school does every Winter.  This was just a practice run. 5th graders and 6th graders are running together.  I saw Branden walking up the road.  I was in my car and parked. I didn't exit my car I just watched from afar.

They all warmed up and stretched first. I know a few kids saw me. Again, I just wanted to see. And no one else was there mom/parent wise.  Branden is in the orange vest in this pic wearing his school gym clothes/pants and school gym sweatshirt.

And then in the distance...I see a bunch of teeny tiny shrimps walking my way! : ) Could it be? Could it be? While yes it was.....the ichinensei's!!! Yay Noah-chan! Go go go kiddo! But, again I just sit in my car. Trying not to bring any attention.... that yes I was there. I watched the kids stretch, and then they took off running. The 5th and 6th graders together first.  And then the first graders. the other grades ran/practiced a different day.

I saw them start running and then I went and ran my errands for the day. Store run and whatnot. Both the boys did see me. And that's okay.  As long as they know mom always tries her best to be there no matter what. of course I wouldn't want to embarrass them and ...their friends think I'm cool anyway. But yeah...I just wanted to see my boys practice their run.  And I'm glad I got to see it.

Noboru wanted heated grips for his bike. So that's what he's got so far Christmas present wise. Again, I listen to everyone and write down things they'd like.  He's gonna flip when he sees this.  During his commute to and from work each day he often says how cold his hands are. How he'd wish to have some hot grips. So, yeah....anyway I know he'll love these. And I'm still listening to him for any other ideas also. He mentioned yesterday he needs a new fleece so, I might pop down to Uniqlo Narita this coming week.

This has been my favorite drink for the past 2 weeks now. It's Yuzu Mikan. And I love anything and everything yuzu anyway.... but this drink is so freaking delicious! I'm thinking about buying a case next time I go to the grocery store. And when I stick one in the freezer and it turns semi slushy. OMG! Even better. Love this drink! I taste more yuzu then I do mikan and I do love both. But yeah this is my favorite drink this Fall/Winter 2012 for sure right now. : )

A Charlie Brown Christmas was on ABC the other night. Of course we watched it! And while my dad was here, we watched Frosty the Snowman. I am loving being able to catch all these Christmas specials on TV.  Even though yes we do own the DVD's for them.

Linus using his blanket to wrap the bottom of the tree with it.

Endings always cute!

I also made sure to have both Branden and Noah's Advent calendar ready. Looking for the chocolate in the boxes each day is always a special treat.

The numbers are all mixed up so they're really going to have to look very good to find the right date. : )

What else, basically my dad left Tuesday. Wednesday was the boys "practice marathon" and Thursday morning the boys went and got their final flu shot! So they are 100% done flu shot wise! And Noboru always gets reimbursed from Delta for our flu shots so for us they're free basically since he gets reimbursed for all 4 of us.  Anyway that's it for now.

Oh yeah it rained and turned to snow here about 30 minutes ago. Big heavy watery type snow but turned back to rain when it hit the back patio. Started picking up faster and faster. Started to wonder if it would start to stick but then....it just stopped. Now it's not raining or snowing. @_@. But yeah it's a cold one here today.

 

Tis the season to be jolly! : ) And time for some Christmas cookie baking! Yum! : )

On Saturday, we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Cartoon Network has been airing a lot of those classic television specials that I myself grew up watching as a kid! Thankfully we have satellite and so our boys watch them same as how I used to when I was a kid. They had the Santa one, on after this one, on last Saturday as well. Anyone remember the one elf, from Rudolph, his name was Hermie, he didn't want to make toys, he wanted to be a dentist?! Ha ha ha. We all watched this last Saturday. Computer was turned off and we really enjoyed the heck out of our weekend. Just doing family fun type stuff. Even just staying home not doing too much was fun. : )

Rudolph's dad, wanted him to hide his red nose.

: ( But then of course as well all know, Rudolph saves the day....at the end anyway! But so cool to enjoy all these movies with my kids. It was a very relaxing Saturday, very low key, just staying home and stuff. No big deal or anything. But yeah, we really enjoyed it. : )

Sunday again another relaxing day at home. Saturday in the day B and Noah played with the kids in the neighborhood. But on Sunday, we spent the day together, just the boys and I. Since hubby had to leave to work. : ( We made our first batch of our holiday cookies for this year. The same cookies I have made for 10 plus years. I share this recipe on my blog every year and will always continue to do so. Because it is a very good, basic butter cookie recipe. No weird or strange, hard to find ingredients to look for. So perfect for us ladies in Japan to make as well. I got this recipe off a box/package of butter in America. Inside the package of butter, it read...."BEST EVER BUTTER COOKIES" Who can argue with a name like that? Ha ha ha! Heck, I sure can't. : ) One night 10 some odd years ago, I made a batch. Thought what the heck, I'll try them. And sure enough, they really were the best ever butter cookies, I had ever tasted. Not sure why...maybe simplicity at it's best? Or I don't know what. But they really are truly a great cookie! And so, the boys and I bake about 3 batches of these throughout the month of December. They look forward to making them every Christmas! If you like, feel free to double click the recipe, and use this and bake these for your own family!

For reference, this one box of butter, equals the 1 cup of butter needed. Just trying to be helpful! : )

My nice cold chilled cookie dough. Ready for rolling out! : )

Sunday about 4:30 pm. Both Branden and Noah loved to shake the sprinkles onto the cookies. We had Christmas tunes playing in the kitchen. They both love to cook with mom! And I love to cook with them too! : )

Done with some of the Christmas trees!!! Job well done boys! Ha ha ha! *winks* : ) And of course out of every batch that cooled, the boys had to eat a cookie and I had a few myself while we were baking them! : )

What the cookies look like that the boys and I made on Sunday! : ) A green Christmas tree, and some green and red stars! : ) You know...like for the top of the tree. So stars! : )

A couple dozen cookies, just like the recipe says. Minus a few that we munched on while we baked them! Ha ha ha! : )

My walking steps picture for Monday! : D Let me give you my weekly update so far! : )

Saturday: 9,487 steps

Sunday: 8,913 steps

Monday: 10,877 steps

Tuesday: 8,337 steps

My walking is going really good still. I am walking daily. I feel really good, by just adding this walking regime into my life! It's been a really positive thing for me. : ) I recall what I weighed last month. I usually only jump on every month. And I can honestly tell you that I have lost 15 pounds/7kg of right now. Again though, it is still something I wanna keep really modest about because, again, I have that teeny tiny lingering bit of fear..."will I keep it up?" So again, I am still really keeping things on the down low, staying really super conservative with things. And pretty much staying quiet about things. But yes, I get my walk of 8,000 to 10,000 steps each day. Sunday, I think it was....I really did NOT want to walk on the treadmill. I wanted to do anything but. However, I forced myself on and walked anyway. Only logged 8,913 that day, buy...at least I got it done. So, I was happy afterwards. : )

And I am not dieting. I'm just not. I guess I figure, the holidays are a time to eat with loved ones and enjoy all the yummy things we usually eat this time of year and I don't wanna feel guilt or anything like that this time of season. So, nah, no diets for me at all. I am trying to watch what I eat, not over indulge too much. But other then that, no diets. : ) Just exercise. : )

Monday, after I logged a lot of walking that morning. I started my Monday's cleaning regime. Pushed back the corner dish cabinet. Swept and antibacterial-ed back there. Wiped my shelves off with orange Clean and antibacterial wipes. And then just put everything back. It's decluttered already,so only needs a weekly wipe down. : )

Floor, corners, baseboards. Mopping the kitchen floor came at the end.

Opened every kitchen drawer. Did my monthly declutter of my kitchen drawers. Now they are clutter free. And very well organized.

Not a dot of dust or a speck of dirt, when I was done with it! : ) Rolled the drawers back in and was done.

Back where it goes, dusted off the pics. Placed things back to their rightful spots. Orange cleaned my counter tops and my stove. Washed my kitchen rug and 3 kitchen towels that hang on my oven door. And then started mopping the kitchen floor like a mad woman! Ha ha ha! : ) While the floors dried, I cleaned the downstairs toilet, straighted and swept the genkan and vacuumed the living room. Went upstairs and folded the laundry fresh out of the dryer. Vacuumed the upstairs. And went to go and pick up B from school. Drove him to Kumon at 3pm. Meanwhile got started in on supper! I had walked, I had cleaned. Done everything I had to do for the day. Ahh, the night time, when it starts to be restful. Oh yeah! We had dinner, Noboru and Branden took showers. Noah and I showered. And we went downstairs to check for any Christmas movies. Besides watching Rudolph this week, we have also caught the Polar Express movie on TV as well as a few others.

Tuesday, same routine, wake up at an ungodly time of 5:30 am. Ha ha ha. : ) Make breakfast for the boys to be eaten at 6am.. Make myself a coffee ASAP. Check email, glance a few bloggie friends stuff. Then get back to real life and make sure Branden has his stuff ready, and drive him to school. Noah and I come home. Read Noah 1 book. Currently he is having me read The Cat and the Hat, have now read Cat and the Hat about 20 times these past 7-8 days, ha ha ha! And yes...I do the cool voices for the Fish and the Cat too! Fish says, "He should not be here while your mother is out" LOL! Hop on treadmill for about 50 minutes. About 5,000 morning steps. And then, start cleaning house for about 2 hours. After that...I am free. I might...jump on the treadmill. Prep dinner. Watch TV, scratch my butt, pick my nose. J/k! I am just kidding about those last 2! Ha ha ha! Anyway, Tuesday evening came and after dinner, then bath time, then we flipped on the TV and checked....any Christmas movies on??? And sure enough we were not disappointed. We watched the Santa Clause 2, on the Disney channel! With fresh bowl of popcorn. Ahhhh, this is the life! The simple life! : ) Around here, we get excited by Christmas movies, eating popcorn and munching Christmas cookies! Oh yeah! Good times, good times! Ha ha ha! : )

A perfect way to end a day! Watching the Santa Clause 2! We sure do love watching Christmas movies around here!!!! Oh yeah, I forget...I also went and got my hair cut on Tuesday morning and in the afternoon I took Noah to swim school. Same cut as the last couple times before. Chin length straight bob. Should last me passed New year's for sure. : )

Today's plan? Today/Wednesday, I will be making dinner and stuff as usual. But this evening, before dinner I have to take Branden to swim club. Should be there at swim club until about 6pm or so. And then come home and make dinner.

No other plans this week. Except the boys and I will be baking up another batch of holiday cookies this weekend as well! And hoping to catch some more holiday movies. : ) Oh yeah, next Monday, I am supposed to make Branden an obento/lunch from home. Something about the ichinensei/first graders are going to be playing or doing some project all day at the elementary with the second graders? Or something like that. And so, they will all have lunch together, the 1st and 2nd graders. So the note said, be sure to pack a lunch, a thermos and a leisure sheet. I have it written on my Coca Cola calender on the fridge already, so I don't forget! Ha ha ha! : )
Have a wonderful week you guys!!! : )