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| TGIF! Happy Friday everyone! This was the view I had while driving Branden to the train station this morning. It does say 0 KM because since nobody was on the street... but Bran and I, I stopped snapped the pic and then drove off. First things first. The movie date with my 2 friends didn't happen and I think that was the best, smartest and safest idea. Last evening, one sent the 3 of us a Line message, saying the weather forecast is actually worse than originally expected and asked the rest of us, should we cancel? I thought the same thing. No need for any of us getting in a car accident... just to see a movie, kwim? Not worth it. Our safety should come first. And so we all messaged and all came to the conclusion... that yes we should cancel our Friday morning movie date. And that was a good idea... because it keeps us 3 mama's safe. : ) So we talked about 6pm-ish Thursday/last night and decided that last night. I woke up this morning and sure enough it was all white outside. Snow all over... once again and the roads looked like this. @_@ I packed up Branden's lunch and he got dressed and ready and I drove Branden to the train station. The roads were ugly. Really bad looking. They were this and you can see it was still snowing and it's snowing even right now as I type this. I can only imagine what the roads will look like tonight... when I get Bran around 5pm-ish because stuff starts freezing solid by that time and I hope the roads don't look like an ice skating rink outside with black ice. @_@ |
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| After I dropped off Bran, I stopped and snapped this pic of the rice field that surrounds the backside of our train station. And look at the snow on my side window. Branden even wiped it off. Anyway it's been a cold bitterly cold day here in my town. The sky is a pale gray color. And as for Noah. I got an email from Noah's school around 6:20am and it said they were on a "snow schedule" meaning school for our local elementary school starts at 10am. So Noah was home a lot longer than usual. Which was nice. I did get an email from Bran's school... but it said, school is still happening. But that the high schoolers... don't need to wear their fancy but dangerous slippery loafers that they usually wear....they could wear sneakers because of the slippery conditions. So Bran wore his Vans today with his high school uniform. |
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| Anyway, I finished all my house cleaning by yesterday afternoon. I did that because I was planning on the movie today and like to get my work knocked out of the way first. So, I do not have any house cleaning to do today at all... since I did it already. I am making chicken curry nabe tonight with lots of yummy healthy veggies and some udon noodles. Perfect for this cold weather. And I did run to the local grocery store in town at 10 am after dropping off Noah at school because tomorrow February 3rd is Setsubun. And I was looking for something for my kids for that. Just something cute and festive and yummy. I love these cakes anyways but was happy they decorated these up for Setsubun. I seem to buy these every year, lol for Setsubun. I like them because they're 95 yen each they are chocolate roll cakes quite long/good sized with delicious chocolate whipped cream and when they're nicely sliced the amount of just 2 of these... stuffs my family. So that will be dessert for tonight. Anyway, it's barely 1pm now. I just finished my salad for lunch. I finished all my house work yesterday like I said, so I am gonna just chill and rest on the couch now until I pick up the kids later this afternoon/evening. Noah 3:45pm and Bran 5pm-ish. I will chop up the veggies around 3pm real quick and preset the rice. But basically, I am totally free and will now go and watch Hoarders on TV. Gosh these people on Hoarders are so weird. Anyways, have a great Friday and nice weekend. Stay warm. |
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Last Friday, February 3rd was Setsubun for us in Japan. You can read more about it 
And Noah wearing his mask!
The day of Setsubun, right before I picked up Noah at yochien. I ran to my favorite bakery. I knew they'd be making something special for the kids. And sure enough they did. Oni cream pans! I picked up 2, one for Noah and one for Branden. I put them nicely in the front seat, ran and picked up Noah, we came home. Unpacked all his yochien things. Then we went and picked up Branden. And the boys were really happy eating these oni cream pans for dessert after we had dinner that night! : ) Anyway there you have it...our family's quiet little Setsubun 2012.
Here is a look back at Noah's Setsubun of the years before. I thought that would be an excellent idea especially since Noah's graduating this year. This was last year, when he was a pink badge. Noah as a nenchu.
And this is when Noah was a little red badge. Noah as a nensho!
Aha, and what do we have here? When Noah was a pre yochien student. When he was a yellow badge. : ) Noah as a man-sansai-ji (pre-nensho)
What's up. Well, Noah passed another level in swimming. Way to go sweetheart. : ) That was on January 28th. And then the following day on a Saturday the boys had their dental check up.
Branden and Noah get their teeth checked and cleaned every 6 months (so twice each year). And the dentist gave them an appointment for Janauary 17th originally but that date didn't really work for us at all, so we switched it to January 29th. So, on Saturday, both Branden and Noah had an afternoon appointment for a thorough teeth cleaning, fluoride treatment, they got to watch a movie while they got it done. And then got an examination by the dentist. No cavities for either kid. Sorry about the scary teeth on the wall pic, I usually take a pic of the office waiting room. But it was so full with parents and kids. There was no place to take a pic without anyone realizing I was actually taking a pic except shooting it at all wall real quick and quickly putting my camera back into my bag. ; )
After their dental appointment we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant. They make some delicious fried rice. The chicken is so good. All white meat chicken and so flavorful. Delicious gyoza too. We all enjoyed, the kids also had egg drop soup and we went home afterwards.
But along the way Noboru wanted to eat taiyaki with custard inside. So we stopped off at Narita-san because we knew they'd have someone selling taiyaki there and sure enough they did. : )
All the shops along the roadside.
Taiyaki with custard. The kids call them, fishy custard. meaning the shape but not the flavor. : )
So many tourists in this area. : )
We came home. Noboru and the boys quickly showered and I showered afterwards real quick. We all got switched into our comfy clothes the boys into their PJ's. And we had family movie night at home. The boys enjoyed the butterfingers, I bought at the Cainz store that week. Everyone just relaxed. It was a nice way to wind down the day. And the kids do brush their teeth right before bed, so. : )
That Sunday, same ol' same ol' I tell ya. I clean the house during the week. And the weekend is my rest time, but I do air all the blankets out, which you can see both Branden and Noah's along the fence in this pic. And wash shoes and clean the kids uniforms and school stuff. It's not too hard and doesn't take too long. They do have some of the cleanest shoes around though. ; )
Uniforms drying in the breeze.
There was a fire not too near our house. But not so far away either. But on one of the mountains near us. Not really a mountain type mountain.... since I come from Colorado and when I think of mountains I think Rocky Mountains or Pikes Peek. So, I guess you could say...hill? Anyway on one of the hills near us, there was a fire. What happened exactly? I don't know. It first started around dinner time. And we heard the fire trucks, we heard a bunch. And so we knew there was a fire someplace. We knew it wasn't our housing community. But figured it was somewhere close. Anyway, we then had bath time. Kids got on their PJ's. And I was in yoga pants and wet hair. And we still heard sirens. It wasn't until, we went out in the backyard did we see flashing lights and the fire trucks. It is quite far away but still visible. Hard for you to see with this picture especially with the flash on. It was those dots or specks in the background.
This is on zoom. A bit blurry but it gives you a good idea. Those firemen and volunteer firemen worked so hard! We could see actual flames from the hill. But it was nearly out by the time we were out in the backyard. Yes kids in their pj's in the backyard and me and my yoga pants and wet hair. We stood in the backyard in the dark watching. It was quite cold, like freezing temps so I ushered the kids into the house and myself too. Noboru wanted to stand out there a little while longer. Just about 5 extra minutes watching.
These are the fire trucks. There were so many people down there trying to contain that fire and put it out. Which they did.
4 boxes of cereal. You already know, the kids are both hooked. I know that and it's fairly cheap, so I don't mind 200 yen a box. But Noboru, he tried it 2 weeks ago and now he's hooked too. @_@ So, he wants me to make sure there's enough for him too now. So, there I go every week buying 4 boxes of cereal. I really do need a little sign you know. This cereal is not for me. Or, I am not a cereal-aholic. : ) Something like that. Knowing my luck, the lady at the store probably thinks it's me who loves this cereal and eat 4 boxes a week. LOL! It's not me though. Okay I do eat a handful or so a week. But wow. Anyway. What I wanted to ask was...has anyone seen those new Straight tea cakes?
These are so good! They taste like tea. Branden loved them and so did Noboru. But oddly Noah disliked these. Anyway they also have straight tea lemon soft cookies and the hard cookies, and a few other things.
Branden needed new inside shirts. I just buy the cheapie ones at the Cainz. They need replacing every 6 months or so anyways. So, no need to buy super expensive ones. Plus their just inside his regular shirt.
I am nearly done with the scrapbooking. And right now I have 3 different photobooks (more of a photo album with words and such near it. So sorta like a scrapbook but different. Anyway Branden's yochien one is done. I am on his elementary one now. And I am working on Noah's yochien one now. And, am also working on a vacation book for each for both Branden and also Noah. Phew! So much work. So much writing stories next to each pic. But, they will love them when they are older.
What am I eating for breakfast while the family is eating eggs during the week or a bowl of pancake cereal? I am eating yogurt.
This is my breakfast that I have 5 days a week. A yogurt, a slice of white toast. And I know I should eat wheat but considering the cost of it in Japan. I will buy the 88 cent pack of white thank you very much. : ) And just work out a little extra. And a coffee. I'll have 2 mikans for lunch and a pack of saltines. or a Knoor soup and 1 mikan. Or maybe some graham crackers and a mikan. And then a normal dinner. But I am watching my portions. I eat regular food. I don't want to buy special food or special meals. As cheaply as possible is what I prefer. : ) And I like that on Sparks, you don't have to buy any special food. You can add, for example, today I ate a Taco Bell taco and they'll total the calories for you. Or today I had a medium french fries for example (horrible example but you know what I mean). Or total white toast. It'll total it for you. I like easy. I need easy. Because I'm a busy mom on the go.
What have we been eating for dinners lately. Well, the night Noah passed his swimming test. I made cheeseburgers and fries at home. We had eaten healthy dinners all that week. And a night cheeseburgers and fries was a good way to celebrate. I had the tiniest amount of fries, like 5 or 6 of those big potato wedges but still more then enough for me. I enjoyed my burger. And we all just sorta relaxed. I need to watch what I eat and be mindful and conscious of it, but I don't want to feel punished or deprived either. So, yeah it's a fine line. It's a struggle. I'm human. It's tough. ; )
Another night we had sara udon. Chicken chow mein for you Americans. : ) Lots of veggies, I love veggies.
Another night we had yakiniku, just fried it in a skillet. Kids and I had white meat. Noboru had some beef and some dark meat chicken. We wrapped our meat with lettuce leaves. And it was really good.
Once a week we have one super good thing. The rest of our week we eat fairly healthy. Like two weeks ago it was the burgers. Last week it was the tacos and this weekend it'll be homemade pizza. You know what I mean, I think. And last Friday, we had tacos. Beef for the hubby and Branden and Noah. And chicken for whoever wanted it. I went with chicken. I had 3 tacos. Was I stuffed after 3 tacos? Honestly? No. But I wasn't starving afterwards either though but I stopped at 3. I had a mini yogurt after for my dessert and I felt really proud of myself for stopping at 3. Noboru ate 5 tacos that night by the way and Branden had 4. Noah had 2.
Another meal. No this wasn't the kids dinner, this was mine. Again, I am not perfect. I am trying to get a grip on my portions. It's a struggle for me. Sometimes my portions are really good sized (meaning what I should be eating...the proper amount) and sometimes they are a bit overly large. : ( LOL. So, this night I just used a kids plate. Anyway we had ginger pork that night it was really good.
What a cute oni mask Noah made this year! Last week was Setsubun, for us in Japan and all the kids made oni/monster masks. And the kids all got to throw beans at the school (the elected sensei who was the chosen oni ; ) and cast the oni away!!!! : ) The kids all made them out of tissue boxes, if you look real close you can indeed see it was an old tissue box. : ) And yes Noah's nose for the oni is a bit off/not exactly centered. But then he's just a little kid, he's only 5 years old and you know.... I sort of like the way he made his! : )
Definitely the cutest oni, I've ever seen! : ) Anyway these are some of the things we've been up to lately. : )
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