Throwback Thursday...

This pic was taken June 21st, 2011. Grandpa was in Japan visiting us. And has always enjoyed walking the kids into school or going with me to pick them both up from school. We had dropped off Bran at school already earlier that morning in town. Now we were both dropping off Noah at yochien in the small city nearest our town. Grandpa kindly walked Noah into school and handed Noah off to his most favorite teacher in the whole wide world... the Yayoi-sensei. Noah wearing his summer uniform. In Japan the kids have a summer uniform and a winter uniform. Bran's high school, even has a summer and winter uniform too. Hahaha. : )

Anyway today is Thursday. It's raining here, ever to lightly and only off and on at times. But we're still going to BBQ as soon as Noah gets home from elementary school today. Bran is home already. You know...this week is all half days for Bran. It's just going to be chargrilled burgers, hot dogs. Fries. Super simple tonight. Tomorrow we will be far from town. We'll be at Bran's school for our parent teacher conference thing. I can't wait for the weekend to be here. Can't wait! I'm not cooking tomorrow night, as I said yesterday. We're 80% leaning towards Domino's. And 20% leaning towards a sit down restaurant. Who knows. We'll decide tomorrow. And gee whiz... I hope we can find Noah's plain navy pair of swim trunks for shogakko/elementary school tomorrow evening, plus Bran some shorts for summer!

About 10 days ago, I ordered my dad the cutest t-shirt from Esty. An extremely witty couple sentences on the shirt are what made me know this was perfect for my dad. Picked the color, and everything. Showed the kids and Noboru, they all loved it and thought it was perfect for my dad too. So I ordered it. The very next day. It was made and shipped. It arrived in Guam this past Monday. My dad loves it and had a laugh about what it said. It's what my dad received this year for Father's Day. I know he got the shirt a little too early. But when you order things from overseas and it's actually hand made... you have to order early because sometimes things can take longer to get made or shipped. I totally understand that. But this seller was fantastic and sent it at lightning speeds! So am super happy my dad received it and loves it. A little too early for Father's Day. Yes...maybe. But that's okay. : )

A quick update...

Happy Friday everyone! TGIF! The weekend is just about to kick off...as soon as the kids come home from school. Then it's time for our weekend to kick into gear! Yes!!! I can't wait! : ) Anyway it's Friday...der...just said that. My dad left Japan Wednesday, he flew back home... first class to tropical and gorgeous Guam. He's back at home. Visiting with friends since he's been gone for officially 1 month... visiting our family in Denver, Colorado and in Japan (us here) It was a wonderful trip. And I'm so glad my dad was here to spend Saturday to Wednesday morning with us. Anyways...what's up with this picture? Well, my dad's 69 years old. He'll be 70 this coming August. August 3rd. And he's pretty up to date for his age group. He has a lap top. He chats with all his friends and family that way. Emails. And he Skypes me every single day, we communicate daily. But the one thing... my dad doesn't do is use a cell phone. I think because....unless he's traveling or vacationing. He's home and has a land-line. And if he's not home, and is on vacation... he uses his laptop and Skypes. So for the most part... he's never been interested in a cell phone. My dad though for his age does...shop online and he is very comfortable with his laptop and being online. But yeah he has avoided cell phones. My mom (my parents are divorced) on the other hand is 62 and she uses a cell phone daily... in fact she has 2. And she uses a computer. And is very tech savvy. My dad too is lap top savvy, lol. Just...he has never felt the need for a cell. And to be fair....to my dad. He has friends and family his age... who don't even use computers and won't and have zero interest in them. So...anyway....my dad was in the kitchen. Noboru was in there, I think you see a snippet of Noboru's arm in this pic. And Noah's finishing his supper. And the rest of us already finished our dinner. And my dad asks Branden about cell phones. My dad tells Branden..."Branden, I think this is the year for grandpa to get a cell phone and figure out how to use one!!!"  "So that is one of my goals for 2017!" Aww. How cute!!! : ) Branden and Noah both...*love* grandpa. Adore him to absolute pieces. So Branden ran upstairs and brought down his cell phone and showed it to grandpa. And said...here grandpa, see if you can get an idea via my cell. So, my dad asked Bran...does this have a camera? He said, of course grandpa and he showed him where and how to use it. Noboru chimed in and said..."cells today are like mini computers." : ) And so Noah chimed in and said..."let grandpa ask your phone a question." So my dad asked Bran's cell phone. "How far away is the sun from earth?" And his phone replied back in perfect American English...with the answer and the whole bit! Anyways...this pic and my story of what chatter happened that evening....it's nothing major or serious. It's just this...day to day type stuff. YKWIM. Like...grandpa deeply thinking about getting himself a cellphone for the first time ever...this is his year! Grandpa the year 2017, the year he will get himself a cell phone. : ) Hahaha. And the whole family...just supporting him. Helping him. Seeing and looking at Bran's cell...wow and realizing...cell phones do all that? Yep..yes they do. These little moments all patched together make life so fun. So interesting. So amazing and real. : )  We love you dad. And I know you love us. So yep...he left back home on Wednesday. And honestly... it's been just a very chill...relaxing week. We're looking forward to the weekend. For sure though too. : ) 

I haven't made dessert in about 7-8 days (last time was the apple crisp). Last night after supper...Noah said..."mama, you haven't made dessert in a very long time." @_@ Hahaha. I said...you are right kiddo. And I will fix that, I promise! Tomorrow after school...when you get home...there will be something dessert-y waiting for you. Okay? He smiled and said okay. : ) So this morning as soon as the kids went to school. I threw this cake in the oven for 33 minutes on 350 degrees F. And I treadmilled until the oven beeped. And then I got off. Let the cake cool. Threw my laundry from the washer into the dryer. And I vacuumed the upstairs. The stairs themselves. And also vacuumed the downstairs. Swooshed the downstairs toilet. Washed my hands. Folded the laundry. Frosted this cake. And wiped the sink upstairs down in the laundry room. And called it a day...house cleaning wise. I only walked 33 minutes today on my treadmill. Oh well...at least I got half of my daily exercise done for today. I also...managed to prep 85% of dinner. So it's pretty much done. We're having a pot of beans and a pot of pork green chili. And we have 2 dozen tortillas. And a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. The beans are done. The pork is almost done in the oven. And the roasted chili we grew last year is defrosted. Dinner will be finished.... super easy as soon as the boys get home from school. Noboru will be missing dinner. But, I fixed him a huge lunch this afternoon before he left for work. I'm feeling pretty good because the house is clean. Dinner is nearly finished. It'll only take about 20 minutes to complete after the kids get home. So...seriously just about done with that. And the kids and I have a plan to watch the movie called... "A Dog's Purpose" tonight here at home. Have a great weekend everyone. : )

Throwback Thursday...

Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Today's TBT is going to be a cool mix of pics from March 2010. Here is Noah being a typical silly kindy kid, while fishing with his daddy and his brother. This pic was taken in our town. It's the area where the elementary school kids run their "marathon" at every year. 

It's very important for Noah and his brother to spend time with their dad. Boys need to have that male role model growing up, it's so important! Their bonding guy time. Noboru loves fishing, so he takes the kids fishing with him often when it's Noboru's fishing season.

Same day, we had a backyard family BBQ. That's one thing that's great about having your own backyard in rural Japan. The freedom to have a BBQ or freedom to play and run and jump and swing in the privacy of your own backyard any old time you'd like. Just...whatever... you know what I mean, it's so nice. : ) 

We've never let any rain stop us! And boy does a fresh charcoal BBQ smell amazing. 

Eat up kiddos! : ) And tell me all your funny fishing stories. : )

Just a nice simple little family BBQ. 

Another day! In March 2010! Noah had mastered riding his bicycle without training wheels while still in yochien/kindergarten! We let him practice until Summer with Branden's old bike. And after he worked out all the kinks. And had no more spills or drops. We bought Noah a brand new bicycle. But we waited until Summer...because we knew he would be crashing a few times before he got it down 100%. Which was super smart. : )  

Big smiles, Noah loved not having those loud training wheels anymore. : )

Again more fishing for Noboru and sons! : ) This time they went fishing in the small city nearest us. 

The boys getting that "dad and son quality time" : ) I just sat on a nice big fluffy blanket on the grass and observed and I also brought along a tabloid/ magazine. And let Noboru do his own thing with the boys. They fished. They put worms on hooks. They caught fish. Chatted with fellow fisherman, mainly grandpa types near Noboru and the boys. : ) And basically had a great day. : )

Another day captured in March 2010. The boys playing with an Anpanman ball. In our backyard. Just goofing around basically being silly boys. Getting all their kid excess energy out...while outside. : ) 

And another day captured in March 2010. A visit from grandpa. My dad and a smiling Branden.

Noah and grandpa running around like maniacs. And basically having a blast during grandpas visit. The kids absolutely adore my dad. : )

Final pic from today's TBT, my dad walking Noah into our Roman Catholic yochien. The kindergarten Noah and also Bran went to/attended.  And that's basically it really...just a misc, picture collage from March 2010! : )

Update from now: We are packed and ready for Guam already. The kids get out of school today at 11am and go on Spring break from 11am today (for us Americans) and end of the school year (for us in Japan) I call it both ways because I am flexible like that...just depending who I am speaking with. I can't say when we are leaving detail-wise and when we are coming back specifically, just for privacy, ykwim. Not that anyone really cares... but still...it's better to be safe than sorry, if you know what I mean. But we are leaving soon-ish, let's put it that way. And I'll be more specific after we're back and stuff. Bran and Noah are pretty excited. We're going to go to 1 movie while there, we have it narrowed down to Batman VS Superman or Zootopia. We have seen previews to both and they both look like fantastic movies. I think the boys are leaning more towards Batman VS Superman for now. I'll let them decide. : ) I think for us, for our little family of 4... to be able to get away for a few days and just unwind and sorta celebrate being back together again. It's going to be really nice. My dad is ready to see us and hang out with us and we are too. Anything else to add? I had my birthday this week. It was really *really* awesome. Just very laid back and chill. We 4 went out to dinner to celebrate, we had an amazing ice cream birthday cake from Nagano, at home afterwards. Just a nice little quiet family birthday. I love quiet low key birthdays like this. My favorite type of birthday. : )

My Dad's visit to Japan, November 2015...

My dad was here with us in Japan last week for 3 short nights and 4 days. He was here from last Tuesday, November 24th and he left Japan, the evening on Friday, November 27th. He brought us a bakers dozen of freshly baked Winchell's donuts.

Strawberry filled, blueberry filled, chocolate coconut (2 of those) and 1 regular coconut crunch and 2 lemon filled donuts. They were delicious and we all enjoyed and had those, the next morning for breakfast! Wednesday November 25th! Thank you for bringing these delicious donuts dad, it was a nice surprise! : )

3 more packs of the seasonal flavor of Twix, the gingerbread ones! Yumm!

A large Cost u less size of garlic salt. He knows how often I use this, haha. : ) 

And 2 packs of Kraft mac and cheese. We didn't really need my dad to bring anything with him this time, because Noah and I were just recently there. But...it was awesome that he did. Always appreciated though... especially since we really don't have access to this type a thing with living in Japan. 

This past July, I went to Jack in the Box in Guam, to look for a Jack head, these are quite popular in states like California or Hawaii, people put them on their car antennas. However they were all gone in July. Noboru had asked me to bring him back 1 in July, to no avail. Anyway, I had long forgotten about these. And so did Noboru. However, my dad's memory is razor sharp! A memory like an elephant! And he came bearing 3 Jack heads. We were really surprised. Noboru was so happy. So a really nice surprise. : ) 

The first night my dad was here, I had made chicken cutlet/katsu. And veggie and rice and whatnot. And the 5 of us enjoyed that Tuesday evening for dinner. Wednesday morning would be a busy morning. I woke up at 5:30am and came downstairs and started in on making the boys lunch. Filling Noah's thermos. Going upstairs, washing my face and getting the kids up and ready. After the boys left to school. My dad and I waited until 9am and then we headed to Costco. They open at 10am. Not sure if you can read this or not, it's a tad far away. Anyway, it is Reese's Peanut Butter cups (yum) a big huge bag regular price is 2,058 yen (about $20 US, holy crap that's expensive) but because they will be expiring November 30th. They are marked down to 598 yen. Oh heck yes! I mean...if it were bread or milk or meat...yikes especially meat! I would not buy nearly expired products to save money. Because...I don't want to drink sour milk or rotten meat, you know what I mean? However...it's *just* chocolate! And that price...and that savings. The chances of ever getting a deal this good again? Few and far between. I bought only 1 bag. But, I saw quite a few Japanese ladies with 2 and 3 of these big bags of Reese's in their carts. And you can't blame them...that was one heck of a deal. And again..it's not like we're talking about milk or meat. I'm fine with it! Best purchase that day! : ) 

I am sure they are long long gone now. 

This is that Australian margarine, it was on sale. 428 yen for 1kg of margarine. That is seriously...a shockingly great deal! What worries me though is...I hope they don't discontinue this...

They first started selling this in huge quantities, and now all they sell is this small amount. I worry that maybe nobody else is buying this, but me.... and so Costco Japan will phase this out? Gee, I hope I am wrong. It is healthier than the average margarine. And the price is like...holy crap cheap! @_@ If they take this off the market at Costco Japan, I will be truly disappointed. But...I did buy 1 of these just in case. 

I forgot to take my usual cart pic. I'm sorry about that. Pictured is, margarine, 4 kinds of sliced cheese, whipped cream for the pumpkin pies and potatoes, I was very disappointed in these potatoes in the box...I usually buy the huge Costco bag of potatoes and love those. But, I switched and bought the other type they carry, the ones in the box and out of all the potatoes in this box...4-5 of my potatoes had huge dead bugs inside them. Where as the bag of Costco potatoes maybe has 1 bug in the whole bag, sometimes not even 1. I will never buy this box of fresh potatoes again...I almost forgot, I also purchased a huge salad from Costco and dinner rolls. Oh and tortillas. 

These were purchased at Cainz/Besia near Costco Inzai, last Wednesday. I am only sharing these pics because of the adorable characters on the bottles. The Natchan has Yokai Watch characters on them. And the Lemon tea ones... one was Nemo characters and the other was Monsters Inc. characters. Here is Dory and Sully on this side...

Nemo and Mike on the other side of the same bottle...

Yep and C is for Crush and B is for Boo. : ) Again same bottle, just different side... So cute right. : )  Bran and Noah enjoyed these last week. While doing their homework 2 days last week. 

Huge honkin' bag of Reese's for super cheap! Yes, please. : ) Fantastic deal honestly. 

This pic was taken Thanksgiving day. Last Thursday! We have 3 packs of fresh baked bread from the bakery (so fresh they didn't even twist close the tops of the bag yet, at purchase). In Japan, bread comes in very small amounts of slices... compared to the US. So, that's why we needed 3 packs from the bakery. And there is a place in the small city nearest me that carries Lay's. And so every Thanksgiving we buy 2 bags of them. 

Wednesday, immediately after coming back from Costco, my dad and I baked homemade pumpkin pies from scratch. We made the butter crust and we talked and we talked. He cracked the eggs, whisked the Libby's easy pumpkin pie filling with the eggs, I added the pumpkin pie spice and I added the evaporated milk and he kept on whisking! We talked and laughed and it was probably one of my best memories from this trip... this time with my dad being here. 

Wednesday evening, we family of 5 went to Saizeriya. It's just... super basic Italian, it's a chain restaurant in Japan. We all ate, we all had unlimited drinks, from the drink bar. Sodas, coffee, iced teas, you name it. We really enjoyed dinner Wednesday. We all went home, took turns showering and watching TV. My dad loves the ID channel, and so do I. So we watched Investigation TV. Murder mysteries, forensic type shows. Thursday we had dinner ready and rarin' to go! Noboru got home just before the kids were to get off school... so he went and picked up the boys. And when they got home we all sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was amazing. And will be... it's all short and sweet post, coming up next. And then Friday. The kids were at school, with leftover turkey sandwiches and sides. And Noboru was at work. And my dad and I went to the small city nearest my town, last Friday. And he bought a few things he wanted to take back to Guam with him. Noboru was home by 2:30pm. And the kids were both out of school by 3:45pm. And my dad's flight was at 8:10pm. Last Friday. 

It's always best to get to the airport a little earlier then later. That way, you're not in a mad rush. All 5 of us hopped in my car and we headed to the airport. We were there by 4:45pm. And in this picture, is a very blurry picture of my dad. My cell phone camera doesn't usually take such bad pictures, I was touching the wrong button and then when I clicked the right button it came out all blurry. And so...it was... what it was. : ) He checked in and he flew back to Guam, in first class. Flight benefits are something we appreciate so much as a family. And it keeps us...with many visits back and forth. Just something we never take for granted. : ) Anyway that was my dad's trip in a nut shell. It was short and sweet and really nice. : )

Throwback Thursday...

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday! And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, that's A-okay, hope you are doing well too! We are a day ahead here, so it's Thanksgiving here! It's still morning 11am-ish. And both Bran and Noah are at their school today since it's not a "holiday" here in Japan. The pumpkin pies, I baked from scratch, last night are in the fridge as we speak (or type) The turkey is in the oven. I went to Costco yesterday with my dad to get last minute Thanksgiving things (like a big fresh mixed salad and Costco amount of potatoes, etc) It's cold and rainy and gray outside. But it's toasty warm in the house. Umm, what else...my dad's here, you already know that part. : ) We will be setting the dinner table soon, since we like to set it early. Not with food down, just with holiday place mats and pilgrims and stuff, you know what I mean, I hope. : )  Noboru is at work and should be home by 3pm. Noah gets out at 3pm. And Branden gets out at 3:30pm. So we should be having dinner around 4pm-ish tonight. We will be putting our Christmas lights on the house this weekend, so by this Sunday our house will be looking like this pic. This was a picture of our house here in Japan, taken in 2008. 

Happy holidays everyone! : ) 

My dad’s visit to Japan! Goodies he brought us, goodies he brought back from Japan. Hitting Costco with my dad twice, Baskin Robbins also twice, our entire family hitting Kua ‘Aina for some of the best burgers from Hawaii, as our Undokai celebration dinner! Plus us buying a dozen Krispy Skremes, while at Ikspiari!

My dad arrived in Japan, September 9th before lunch. He came with a few goodies for us in his suitcase! He brought me 2 small cans of Crisco, because with the Fall cooler weather, means baking season will be underway soon. Brownie mixes and yellow cake mixes are already in the pantry and a nicely greased pan is definitely a nice and needed thing! : ) The huge Crisco big tub size is, so big, so bulky, that it is hard to pack in a suitcase. Which is why I too, always bring the small cans of Crisco, just more travel friendly, these smaller cans. : ) I also use this, when I make my roux for pork green chili. Which is why, I don't ever buy the butter flavor Crisco hahaha. And since I have a fairly new Crisco at home too, it's nice knowing these are in the pantry nicely reserved and waiting. So, a gift, I really appreciate and will definitely use. : ) 

My dad also brought us 4 bags of Cheetos. Yum! However, the one bag to the right popped in his carry-on bag. No worries! : )

Pepperoni for homemade from scratch pizza. Again, just something so appreciated and something we'll definitely use! : )

American chocolate for family movie night! We watch a DVD here every Friday night or Saturday night. Depending on our schedule that week, but it's just 1 night a week and it's a ritual our family started doing since the boys were teeny tiny. And even now, they look forward to our family movie night. We pop homemade popcorn on the stove, we have chocolate of some sort, drinks if we get thristy. This is of course after supper and showers. Thanks for all the chocolate dad, you so totally rock! : )

Americans love Mexican food! We just do! We love us our, Taco Bell, Chipotle, and of course authentic neighborhood places too. With living here though. It's impossible to find good Mexican food. And I have been to quite a number of Mexican restaurants here in Japan, a few in Osaka, 2 or 3 in Tokyo. I have also been to El Torito. And I personally felt the restaurants were not very good. And really overpriced. So, since I can read and I can follow directions. I have a very good authentic Mexican cookbook and I make my own stuff now. Cheaper. Don't have to drive 3 hours into Tokyo and 3 hours back, feeling disappointed with the quality of the Mexican restaurants, Tokyo has to offer. So, it's a win-win for us here at our house. We did bring back that 10 pounds of beans from Honolulu in July. About 6 bags from Guam in August. And wow, look at this pic, each bag is 1 pound, my dad brought us 14 pounds of pinto beans! I think it is fair to say, I have squirreled away, the best stock pile of pinto beans, this year! Hahaha. : ) And with Costco carrying flour tortillas and Kaldi carrying corn tortillas. And with my green chili and jalapeno plants still producing chili. I'm pretty set here! I also use these in my Texas or Wendy's type of chili con carne, type of chili. Kidney beans are best for that, but then...I'd have to stock pile 2 types of beans. Meh. : ( It's easier for me this way. We'll use these for both types of foods and only stock pile, 1 type of bean. I tell ya. Come Fall and the crisp air or the coldness of Winter, I will be so thankful, I stock piled food supplies in the pantry, like I always do every year. It's just something, I know, I will be thankful for later. : )  

Reading material. I love reading American gossip mags. Thanks for bringing these dad. Now, I have something good to read while, I am at the plaza picking up the boys after school. : )

September 10th, my dad and I went out to lunch. We went and had ramen. 

One of the meals, I made while my dad was here. Baked ravioli, we had it with garlic bread (toast) and a simple store bought salad.

Another night, we had Italian yet again and we had baked chicken parmesan over pasta. 

This was delicious. We also had chicken cutlet while my dad was here, we had homemade taquitos, with rice and beans on the side. We also had a great big pot of pork green chili and a side of beans. We had all sorts of things. We ate a lot of Italian, we had Mexican food twice, we ate Japanese a handful of times (the chicken cutlet, etc) and had American twice, once was BBQ pulled pork sandwiches topped with coleslaw and a side of potato salad. we ate well, let's put it that way. I like to show, my love for my family by cooking for them. That's one of the many ways, I can show them how, I feel. : )

Since my dad was here from, September 9th to the 20th, he got to try so many drinks! He enjoyed going through the drink aisle and picking many different things to try and to taste. : ) Orange flavored water and green apple soda, to name a few. : )

Between the 2 Sports Days, regular life was still happening here too. Like every day I packed both the boys a lunch to take to school. Noah's is on the left, again he has such a tiny tummy tank, that he needs only a half a sandwich and 3 fresh crunchy apple slices, plus a full thermos with iced tea. Bran, on the other hand needs 1 full sandwich, plus Noah's other half sammy, is his sandwich now too and 3 crunchy apple slices, as well as a thermos with iced tea too. : ) 

Gearing up for Branden's undokai. With tons of mini rotisserie sub sandwiches on my mind, for Bran's undokai picnic lunch, we picked up 2 whole Costco rotisserie chickens and a huge 2 pounds amount of sliced fresh mango. Again for Branden's undoaki of course. Have, I ever told you, just how much, I love mango? I truly love mango, you guys. Like so much so, that I could eat it every day of my life! That's how much, I love it! : )  And for around 1000 yen, for this huge amount, it's sort of a fantastic deal. I will have to buy more of this. : )

My smiley happy dad! Look at the background and how dead Costco was! My dad and I got there by 9:50am! They were already open for the general public and so we went in and did our shopping quickly by 10:25am, we had already finished our shopping, checked out and were enjoying a quick lunch before heading back to our town. During the 11 days that my dad was here in Japan with us, my dad and I went to Costco Chiba New Town twice. 

What else did my dad and I do, during his visit. That's right. We also went to Baskin Robbins twice. That's because Baskin Robbins was having an anniversary special and for a limited time only, they were selling 2 scoops of ice cream for 300 yen! It was 31% off. In Japan this may be called Burgundy Cherry. But in the USA, it's called, Cherries Jubilee! And that's my favorite flavor of ice cream. So, that was, one of the flavors, that I picked! : ) 

My dad picked mint chocolate chip (yum) and banana. I picked cherries jubilee and banana! We ate our ice cream and talked. It was so much fun having my dad here! You all already know how important I feel family is. So yeah, I really enjoy when my dad comes for a visit! : ) 

Again regular life was also happening while my dad was here. And you know that the boys always get new socks and undies and whatnot every Fall. So, 2 new packs of school socks for B (6 pair total). 3 new pair of polka dot underwear for B too. And 3 packs of socks for Noah-chan (9 pair total, but to be fair 2 of his packs, were under 200 yen and plus Noah didn't get any underwear this time, so it all worked out to almost the same, even Stevens/fair and square). 

Branden also picked out a new cologne, it smells clean and fresh and light. Something from the drugstore, so the price was good/fair. Between all the body sprays Bran has, deodorants and the cologne, Branden's bedroom now smells like a teenage boy lives in there! He's not over doing it, he just smells, really really nice. : ) 

We bought Branden, new uniforms a month ago. 2 short sleeve gym shirts and 1 new pair of gym shorts. I blogged about it last month or so. And again, I am always fair to both the boys. And I want the boys to show up to their undokais wearing a nice bright uniform, a fresh and new one. Again, I just don't want anyone to think my 2 boys are ragamuffins. : ) So, we went to the uniform shop in town and purchased 2 new short sleeve uniform tops for Noah and 1 new pair of shorts for Noah too. That way Noah would be all nice and spiffy for his sports day! : ) 

I had Noah's undokai socks picked out. A brand new Nike pair, and the blue stripes matched his uniform perfectly. Yes...I know. Perhaps, nobody on the face of the planet would, overly care about such fine details. But then...this is just me. It's how, I am. Good or bad, it's me. It's just how I roll. And again, it is a small tiny way, I can show my love to my child. "Mom cares this much!!!" And a brand new gym hat for Noah too. And yes, I did wash Noah's new uniforms on the quick wash before the big day! : )  Some of you will read this and "get it" and some of you won't and that's okay. : ) 

No, this is not my toilet paper, hahaha! If any of you are curious what 1 American grandpa is interested to bring back to America with him, from Japan. This is something my dad brought back. My dad likes Japanese toilet paper. I personally prefer American TP.  Anyway, he likes the scents (we don't have scented TP in the states) he likes the colorful TP too. He also likes the printed TP as well. When he takes it back, people will often comment on my dad's unusual TP, friends of his who visit his restroom. This is probably a YMMV type a thing. Because I personally prefer plain white TP. I prefer unscented, but I am using a scented herb-y one, since the unscented ones are hard to find. Since mid August, every time I go to the shops, I see this crazy Halloween Tom and Jerry TP and I think, who is buying this? Like seriously... who is buying it? I imagine lots of people. However, when my dad saw it, he was like score, "I'll brb, let me go and grab that pack of Tom and Jerry Halloween TP." He loved the pictures on the TP. And so yep...who is buying this? Apparently my dad. Hahaha. : ) And for the record, this was a first time ever for me to see 3 ply toilet paper. I use 2 ply toilet paper, but I had never seen 3 ply before this day! Hahaha. : ) 

These are the other goodies that my dad brought back with him. These came from the 100 yen shop called Seria. I personally think the quality of the Seria 100 yen stuff is higher quality then the Daiso. Don't get me wrong, I love the Daiso. But, Seria has some *really* fantastic quality stuff. American 99 cent stores, have the cheapest crappiest quality stuff ever, not even worth the 99 cents, If you have ever been to Japan, you'll know exactly what I mean. But Japanese 100 yen stuff is really high quality. Daiso stuff is nice quality, but I am always so impressed by the stuff I find at Seria. : ) Anyway, during my dad's stay, he kept commenting, that he loves my chip clips and clips, I use in my kitchen. He told me, he feels the clips he buys in America, are like $2 bucks each and very big and bulky. I told my dad, I buy them at the 100 yen and they are technically laundry clips, but perfect for clipping stuff in the kitchen. so that's why my dad picked up the clips in this pic, far right bottom. : ) My dad also picked up, a comb, a men's nylon towel to wash your body with, he loves using those! He picked up 2 ice trays, 1 for the tiny crunchy small ice and 1 with shapes, of hearts and stars and stuff. He also picked up a rice spoon with a happy face. He picked up, purple (cleaning the house) gloves in size medium, for his girlfriend and a purse hanging hook for his girlfriend. a pair of tortoise framed reading glasses for himself. He loves the quality of reading glasses found at the 100 yen here. He also picked up 3 dish sponges with happy faces and 1 went to his girlfriend. And 1 pack of toothpicks. Because my dad saw mine and said...how much he loved my toothpicks because they are sanded and shaped/designed really nicely. And so he bought a pack for 100 yen. 

My dad also brought back a pack of pumpkin Kit Kats. 

And since, I was at the 100 yen for about an hour enjoying myself chatting with my dad and whatnot. I meanwhile picked up 3 packs of yellow, lime green and white hangers for Noah and I picked up the jewel hook for myself. I actually picked 1 up for myself first and that prompted my dad to decide to get one for his girlfriend. 

And of course, a few days later, my dad thought about it and said, if we were near that 100 yen again, he'd like to pick up some extra reading glasses. No problem, of course we went back. : ) My dad picked up 1 spare extra reading glasses for himself and 1 pair of reading glasses for his girlfriend. So, my dad left Japan with 3 pair of identical reading glasses. hahaha. : ) 2 for him and 1 for his lady friend. My dad also brought back highlighters. My dad reads books a lot and he likes highlighting the best parts and that way, when he rereads the book, he'll enjoy the highlighted parts. : ) My dad also has a weekly men's only, bible study every Wednesday or Thursday night and uses these there too. : ) 

I meanwhile, picked up some mini forks so the boys can pick up their fruit, inside their lunches. Regular colorful animals far left and since October is almost here, I made sure to pick up, the Halloween-y black cat forks and 2 packs of Halloween napkins for their school lunches too. : ) I also picked up 1 pack of letter writing paper and envelops. And I picked up this adorable black and white polka dot glasses case. : ) 

Doutor is a coffee shop here in Japan sort of like Starbucks. But on a much smaller scale. Anyway, I ran out of coffee sticks, I usually use Blendy, in the green box but saw these and thought, might be worth a try. How, did I like them? Honestly? They tasted no different between these and the Blendy. Would, I buy them again? Sure! But, would I go out of my way, to buy them? No! : ) I like them though. : ) 

I was planning to make yakitori for one of Noah's food choices at his undokai. I bought the yakitori sauce at a regular grocery store and the skewers, I bought at Seria (the 100 yen store) I like this pack, fat skewers on the right and thin ones on the left. I prefer the fat/wider skewers though. : ) 

By Friday September 18th at 1pm, we had already been emailed a notice from Noah's elementary school telling, all of us parents, that the undokai for the next day, was in fact, being postponed by 1 day. Yep, we sort of expected that! : ) The original plan, was we'd have the undokai Saturday September 19th and then go out to a celebration dinner afterwards. Because Noboru had the day off on Saturday. And the plan was my dad would fly out/leave Japan Sunday morning. However, with the day and date change by 1 day. We immediately switched my dad from the stand by list from Sunday morning, to the Sunday night flight instead. So that was reshuffled nicely. And we now had to rethink about Noah's celebration dinner too. So, since we knew a celebration dinner Sunday was not going to be happening after Noah's actual undokai since my dad had to catch his flight immediately afterwards, with not a second to spare and Noboru would be at work. And Saturday was now out of the question, because Saturday was "spot saving day" at the elementary school and also obento prep day. So, since Noboru was off Friday and Saturday, that week. We decided to go and have Noah's undokai is over...dinner celebration on Friday. Granted was it 2 days before Noah's actual undokai? Yes, it was! But again...you can be angry and throw a tantrum. Which is not our personality at all...any of us here. Or you can just roll with it, the best way you can. And say..hey it's out of our hands. It's out of our control. And the positive is...at least we have Friday to celebrate. Is it 2 days before the actual undokai? While yes it is. But hey...when life gives you lemons, it's always best to make lemonade! Just do the best you can, is what I'm saying! Because hey...in the grand scheme of things in life...is this a huge deal? Dude.... this isn't even a grain of sand, size wise, compared to other huge things people deal with in life. This is such a non issue. If you really think about it. So keep on smiling. And we all did. The boys got out of school Friday and we were like..."hurry drop your stuff off at home kids, we're heading to Kua'Aina for dinner!" The kids were totally surprised. We were still sorta surprised too. Hahaha. But happily so! And we hit the road right away. To Ikspirai as fast as lightning, September 18th! : )  

Hi family! we had just went to Krispy Kreme to pick up some Krispy Skremes! Hahaha! And were now on our way to Kua'Aina. What a fun idea, for an undokai celebration dinner!

A little bit blurry, but my dad absolutely loved Ikspiari! He loved Krispy Kreme and he loved Kua"Aina the most! He enjoyed his night there at Ikspiari! My dad, had seen this place on my blog before many times, because we're Kua'Aina lovers, big time! But this was a first, for my dad being here, but he absolutely enjoyed himself! He had a blast! We all did! Perfect way to spend a Friday night!

You know what this is, the chicken teriyaki sandwich, my favorite! The thing, I order always when I'm here! With onion rings! Wish the Kua'Aina in Hawaii carried onion rings. We also picked up, 2 orders of chicken strips as appetizers and 1 order of popcorn shrimp as an appetizer too. Also, Kua'Aina also offers coupons or free stuff on their Japanese website. And we used the coupon and ended up with 2 extra chicken strips for free. Smart to use their coupons! A lot of times they have double your size of drink coupons and whatnot. Which is why we always utilize the coupons from Kua'Aina. : ) 

Branden and Noah enjoying their appetizer of chicken strips. Notice the long sleeve tops, it has been getting a tad chilly in the evenings lately. 

My dad smiling away at Noah! He loves his grand kids so much! We all had combos, which is why we all had drinks in the pics. : ) 

Aha, we caught you Noboru! Dunking your fry in the mustard and ketchup from your burger! Hahaha. 

My meal, plus Noah's grilled onion. : ) Branden likes onions so he eats his own now. We all enjoyed our meal so much! We must have spent well over an hour in Kua'Aina eating and talking and laughing! And my dad saying...what fantastic char grilled flavor the burgers were. And I agree and added, the flavor of the char grilled sandwiches are top notch too. Just amazing flavor!  : ) 

We arrived back home around 10pm Friday night. We had Saturday's breakfast in the bag though. : ) 

For the Halloween season they go from calling them Krispy Kreme doughnuts/donuts though to Krispy Skremes. 

None of us wanted any of the Halloween donuts though, we all picked regular ones. However since it is in season, we'll still call them Krispy Skremes though. : ) 

Ikspiari mall is an actual Disney mall. And so they have a huge store, which sells a lot of the items they sell inside Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disney Sea. My dad was able to pick up 2 things from the Disney store. And because I told the man at the register this was for omiyage, he gave us 1 extra big bag and 2 small bags, so I now have this same Tokyo Disney Sea 2015 bag with Maleficent on it and stuff. It's really cool. : ) 

My dad picked up a really cool 2016 calendar to take back and 1 tin of cookies. I really liked that tin of cookies, so I picked one too. : ) 

This tin has a lot of Disney villains on this! Maleficent, Captain Hook, the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid. The evil queen in Snow White and more....and says Halloween 2015 on it. It also has good people on it too, like Mickey and Minnie, etc. But, I loved it for the villains on it, just really unsual.  

Love that it's stamped with Tokyo Disney Sea!

Because we live super far from Ikspiari. By the way, my dad also said...I know you live in Chiba and this is in Chiba too (meaning Kua'Aina and Ikspiari) but I now understand why you guys stay at a hotel when you guys go to Disney, because it's far!!! We said, yep and we all laughed. It is so far! Anyway we stopped at a rest stop along the way, on our way home from dinner, so everyone could stretch their legs and go to the restroom. And everyone could get a drink for the road. Meanwhile at the rest stop along the highway, my dad saw the super famous really popular Tokyo bananas. And so he bought this box and brought it back home with him, when he left Sunday after Noah's undokai. 

Another pic while my dad was here. The Monday, Branden had no school, because he had the undokai the day before. Branden had a plan to play soccer with Genki and a few other JHS friends. And so Genki swung by our house, Bran was ready and they headed out to play some soccer. Again, they have been best friends since age 4 and they're both going to be 14 later this year. They're both so lucky to have each other to depend on and hang out with!  

Noah's undokai prep, Saturday 19th. Yakitori on the left. And karaage on the right. I was ready! 

And an email said we could save the spot at the elementary school at 5pm. The note also said, you may not enter the school grounds before 5pm. But you may wait in line. My family and I went to wait in line at 3pm and just so you know, we were 3rd in line. Yes, there were actually folks there ahead of us already. So sit there with a stack of magazines, I did. I flipped through my magazines. Chatted with my dad. The boys chatted with friends. About 10 minutes after we got there, 3 other family's were in line behind me. By 3:45 about 30 families were in line. By 4:30 about 50 families were in line. I don't know if I should say this or not. But, I want to say it. It absolutely has to be said. What I find absolutely disgusting! Is when somebody saves a spot for other people! I think that is greatly unfair. Do you remember...in America at Pearl Harbor, the rule says, you may only get a ticket for how many people are physically there in line that morning. Meaning 1 person cannot grab 20 tickets, for people not there. And maybe because I am American and I think that rule at Pearl Harbor is fair and just! It is not fair to save seats for folks NOT there, while others have been in line waiting before them! Do you know what I mean??? The 2nd lady in line, the lady directly, in front of me. Had 1 big leisure sheet and 1 small leisure sheet. Description, her big sheet was about twice bigger then ours pictured here. And her small one, was a 1 person leisure sheet size. Okay. That doesn't bother me. However. And you all know most things don't bother me at all...I am just *that* laid back. So if this greatly bothered me, then you know! Her "friend" who was say person in line #17. Walked up to her and greeted her and she her. And then lady #2 left and went back in the line to talk to her in private. And guess what? Lady in line #2 brought back her friends leisure sheet under her arm! Seriously can you believe it?! My mind was racing. Yet I said nothing. I angrily thought, this isn't fair! Her friend is #17, but because her friend is second in line she can save her a spot now too? Is that fair? Any logical thinking person, would say this is bull crap! This is not fair! And then get ready for this... but this happened like 4-5 more times with lady 2nd in line! By the time it was all over said and done, she had 6-7 leisure sheets, I am not exaggerating, I'm serious. Another of her quote and quote friends, would come to her...she'd disappear and come back with yet again... another leisure sheet. In America...we would have said something. We would have said. "hey...that's not cool! Knock it off! No Save-sy's!!!" Is that really fair to the rest of us? No it isn't! How come someone can roll up at 4:45pm and now...simply throw their leisure sheet, to chick 2nd in line and that's okay? No sir, no mam, that ain't okay! Not by a long shot! That sucks! And for what it's worth. My dad saw this entire thing unfold and he was so pissed. I mean he's human, he's watching this whole entire thing unfold, right before his eyes, he's so shocked. And he knows this isn't fair either. This sucks! This is like so low...so ghetto! So, no class. So trashy! So unacceptable! I whispered to Noboru, and he said..."we can't say anything. Because...they're locals and we're not!" He said if this was Osaka, he'd be the local. But here...we really don't have a leg to stand on! So, what did we do? We just sat there and took it! I was so mad on the inside. I was just boiling mad! Seething! And here is the worst of the worst kickers. One of Branden's classmates, we call him "caterpillar eyebrows" because he has the thickest darkest fullest groucho Marx type eyebrows. Anyway, "caterpillar eyebrows dad" has always been such a complete pig, if I'm to be honest, regarding spot saving. Every year, he runs like the freaking Chariots of Fire, as if he's *in* the undoaki. And he brings a rope and ropes off about 100 tsubo in size a spot! He's so unbelievably greedy and he does this every frickin' year! Since Branden was in the first grade. But you know what...he's a local. Born and raised many generations from our town. Noboru's from Osaka and I'm from America, so we just have to shut our mouths...fully seeing the injustice and say nothing. Please try if you will... can you understand how unbelievably hard this is?!!! As an American, who was raised to fully speak her mind! Nope, can't say a thing...unless of course we want to be blacklisted. And it's our kids who would suffer if we said anything. So anyway, this year I see caterpillar eyebrows dad like, #21 in line. And I think to myself..."thank you Jesus... there is fairness in this world. And there is karma. And it has finally hit!" And guess what? Local power wins! Caterpillar eyebrows dad, sees 2nd lady in line and comes and greets her. And I am on the inside screaming...please for the love of fairness in this world... please do not help that greedy man! 2nd lady in line goes and disappears with Caterpillar eyebrows dad and she comes back with his infamous 100 tsubo leisure sheet. I swear his leisure sheet is larger then 8 full size mini vans side by side. At that point, I think this just sucks. This lady 2nd in line sucks! Okay, I know....it's not nice to think, bad thoughts about people but...yes I admit, I was thinking very bad thoughts! Hey, I'm human and this is just **so** totally unfair. And sucks so bad. So, I am really boiling with anger, inside. Oh and by the way....Branden's classmate and good friend K. Whispers to Branden, "caterpillar eyebrows dad (he used his real name) is having the lady in front of you, save his spot!!!" Oh just lovely...as if we didn't assume that earlier... now we just have actual confirmation of it! And do you want to hear the most unbelievable thing of all! The 2 ladies in front of me. The first lady who is clearly good friend of lady # 2, they both loudly talk... real loud in Japanese...."I hope *people* follow the rules and not run, because that would mean breaking the rules." Please insert eyeball roll here! At that very moment a sensei/teacher walks by. These first 2 ladies actually have nerve to ask the sensei to come over and the 2 in front of me, tell the sensei...."can you tell the people in line all the way down...please do not run, because we want everyone to follow the rules!" Yes, these 2 angels (being sarcastic) actually just said that! @_@ Okay...now these 2 want to follow the rules? Hmmm! So let me get this straight... they want nobody to run, so they want *that* rule followed.... but they want to break the rules and save spots for people who were not even in line and in order. Interesting... how some people pick and choose which rules to follow! Again, I said nothing, I kept my American mouth shut and just watched this great unfairness unfold, right before my eyes. Because...I am not a local. I would hate to see my sons suffer if I said/spoke the truth! Noboru tried to reassure me and whispered to me..."don't worry honey...imagine how much longer it will take to unfold all the leisure sheets." Well whoop deedoo, not very reassuring. I smiled at Noboru because he too knows how unfair this is...so I just breathed in and out slowly and quietly. Because of the 2 rule breakers in front of me, now *demanding* all people walk and not run. They had the teachers actually shout over the megaphone for people to follow the rules. Yep...follow the rules??? hahaha. Gee, I wish people would practice what they preach! And have some sense of manners. Some sense of morals or morality. Some sense of right and wrong...some sense of, gee this isn't fair to those of us.... who were actually waiting in line for 2 freaking long hours. Yet they would now, like everyone to follow the rules.@_@  We all walked, so the 2 divas in front of me, wouldn't get their noses, all out of joint. And I still got my spot. And yes, she did save him his 100 tsubo leisure sheet sized spot. We saved only the amount of spot, that we needed. And again we would have saved less, if we didn't need to keep a tent free zone. But to be honest...I wish this school would *stop* allowing people to save spots for their friends who are clearly not there or way at the back of the line! Something like a new rule of... you may now only save 1 leisure sheet per family! And I'm not talking about a 100 tsubo sized leisure sheet. It's just wrong. It's disgusting and it's hugely unfair. And I am sorry for saying this...but I just feel that it was just time for me, to get that off my chest. Be fair people. Treat people, like you would want to be treated! And rules should be followed by everyone. The locals shouldn't be exempt!

Anyway, we saved our conservative sized spot/area, as usual. And we headed home. I haven't even gone through, Noah's pictures from his undokai yet. Plus, I still have to white out the name of school and everyone's name on their uniforms, again, I know 99.9% of you all really don't care/mind where we live, but again it just keeps the people in my town safe, by me not listing or naming where we live. Anyway, that will take a few days, I imagine. : )  But yep, this is just a glimpse of all the fun we had, while my dad was here. We went to Kua'Aina, we went to Krispy Kreme. We went for icecream twice. We went to Costco. We enjoyed both the boys Sports Days. We did a lot. We had a lot of fun. We enjoyed a lot of good home cooked meals, here at home. It was just a wonderful visit. Thanks for coming dad, we love you. : )