Bits and pieces from the week.

Alrighty, everything in this post has happened within the last week (7 days) The last Broncos game of the season for us. We lost. It was a very close game. Very very close game. So close that for most of the game we were ahead. It finally came to a head when we tied. And we went into over time twice. Yes, 2 overtimes! Because the first overtime nobody could score either team. So it was a real nail biter of a game. Edge of your seat type game. We had a lot of hopes. We would have loved to advance further in the playoffs! But not going to happen for us this year unfortunately. However and I want to say, The Denver Broncos had an incredible season 13 wins and 3 losses this year, so yeah we did play pretty great this year though unfortunately we didn't play good enough to go further. : (  I look forward to watching the superbowl. Wish we were in it of course! Haha. But love football to my core anyway. : )

In other news see this package sent to Branden...

Remember the 25,000 yen each of the boys received for otoshidama this year. Well, Branden loves Noboru's. And Noboru managed to convince me to let Branden buy one. 19,000 yen or so for it. And the rest of his money went into savings for him, he has a good amount in there. Noah meanwhile the miser hasn't spent even 1 yen of it yet. hahaha. : )  Little random story here about this. Branden accidentally left one of his dictionary's at school when he needed it at home this week. Instead of turning on his computer in his room, he just turned on his tablet and looked up the 1 kanji he was looking for and he found it in a snap. : ) I did tell him though don't forget your dictionary tomorrow! And he hasn't the rest of the week.

Let's see what else have I been doing this past week?  The new season of The Biggest Loser started and look who's back! Jillian Michaels!!! The contestants were surprised! Hahaha. I have her DVDs and I really like her so it was nice for me that she's back.  If you're somehow worried about a possible spoiler about the BL show, please skip these paragraphs.

This season looks like it's going to be a wild season! Jackson here, walked on the treadmill about 30 seconds and fell right off! They had to run and go help him. Poor Jackson! : (

This guy too! Like 2 seconds after Jackson fell, this guy fell right off too. The 3 coaches were like! @_@ What the heck?!!! The part that grossed me out to the bone was some person was vomiting in the gym/work out room. Bleh just thinking about the sight or smell of vomit. I felt sorry for everyone in that room.  So yeah it looks like it's going to be a very interesting season.

You already know about the snow we were hit with. This isn't even the end of the snow we got. We ended up with more then this. Not Colorado amounts of snow. But a big amount for this area. But yeah it's been so cold around here all week.

Tuesday night of this week immediately after the boys got out of school, we went directly to Costco Makuhari. Lucky for us it was as dead as a doornail. We skipped the top floor and went straight for the basement where the food is. We bought this pizza for dinner that night. Since the drive takes us so long, cooking dinner that night wasn't an option.

Rotisserie chicken for dinner for the next night. Perfect for us since Noah swims Wednesdays.

Big bag of potatoes so cheap. We use potatoes a lot in our household. Mashed potatoes, gratin potatoes from scratch, baked potatoes. Breakfast type potatoes. You name it, we need them. : )  We are actually thinking about growing potatoes this year.

Misc pic of stuff. Pasta sauce. Bug hunk of cheese. Fine ground black pepper and mixed nuts.

Frozen waffles for quick mornings Monday through Friday. And dinner rolls (half are frozen in the freezer)

1 pack of shrimp and 2 packs of lean ground beef. I split each pack of beef into thirds and put them in freezer bags and threw them in the freezer. So 6 packs of ground beef in the freezer now. I was disappointed that they were out of 2 things. I was wanting/wishing/hoping to buy the tiramisu (we love this) and I walked around the bakery looking but, didn't see it. I mean I walked by good. And I could tell it wasn't there but still hoping against hope it was somehow there so I asked a bakery lady. And she said we don't have them in today come back tomorrow! @_@ We live so far away that's pretty much impossible.But again not her fault. So, I smiled and said thank you. And walked away. Man, what a bummer. What are the odds really. Anyway then went to the next aisle to get corn tortillas. Nope didn't have them either. I really need them we really use them. Enchiladas and tostadas. Again, I made sure to walk the aisles very good, Noboru was looking too. However no worries because I ordered them online from the same place I buy tortillas. So, since we ordered anyway we bought 3 dozen flour tortillas and 2 packs of corn (each pack has 24 corn tortillas) Anyway we quickly checked out, ordered the pizza and before you know it we were in the MPV heading home. From the time we arrived at Costco in the parking lot and were leaving the parking lot of Costco only 50 minutes, so we really are quite fast in there, hahaha but we also know of the long drive so that's why we hurry. Time was short for us, so we paid the toll ways both ways so we could get home as fast as possible. Still took the whole evening though. But it was faster taking the highway. I know, I keep saying it, but I can't wait until Costco opens in Inzai/Chiba New Town. We will probably go to Costco Makuhari 1-2 more times and then after that Costco in Inzai opens in August 2013. So hopefully we can hold off on going as much as possible until our closer one opens.

Picture taken from Thursday/yesterday. Says 4:09pm or something.  The boys just got home from Kumon. They get off school at 2:45-3pm Thursdays. They called me at Kumon around 3:45pm and I hopped in the car to get them. They came home, switched into sweatpants and house clothes and had a snack at the table and then did their homework. They were done in like 5-10 minutes and were off playing with friends outside until 5pm. I meanwhile snapped this pic at 4:09pm and started cooking dinner.

Chicken chow mein/sara udon. Lots of veggies, some chicken.

The sauce packets in here and the crunchy noodles and we had it all with white rice. It was a good dinner. The boys and I sat and ate, we talked about their day, my day. Noboru was meanwhile at work. But, I packed him 2 sandwiches I made for him as a snack and stuffed him before he left too and he had dinner waiting for him at home when he got home. He also had sara udon. We had 2 packs of this sara udon, I'm only showing one though in the pic. : )

I'm still treadmilling like a maniac. And I did so many crunches yesterday, my tummy is a little sore today.

Anything else to say? Hmm. American Idol comes on for our family tonight and for the folks in Guam. So, I can't wait! I love all the music Nicki Minaj makes and I wonder how she and Mariah are going to get along. So, I can't wait for that tonight. Today is Noboru's birthday, he's 41 this year. I bought him a new motorcycle helmet which he picked out and he loves it! He's going to be using it today for the first time. He's working a swing shift today so going out to dinner isn't something we can do time wise. But I told him, whatever you'd like me to make, I'll cook it for your birthday dinner. He said "your spaghetti and meatballs" and I said consider it done! So he'll get home in enough time to quickly shower, and come and sit down eat his dinner and watch American Idol with us. : ) Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and salad for us here tonight. : )  TGIF everyone, we all made it. Enjoy your weekend. We will be enjoying here too. Plans for us for this weekend? Nothing, just staying home and relaxing. : )

Branden and Noah’s winter observation day! Yakiniku bbq in the backyard! And the Denver Broncos vs. Raiders game and my thermal hair straightening

 Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 was our elementary school's winter observation day. We have them in Fall, Spring, Summer and Winter, hahaha : )  I really enjoy going to observation day personally because I like to see what the kids are doing and learning. Who their friends are. etc. And it gives me a chance to talk to the other mom's and dad's. And interact with the teachers. I often say on here that my favorite observation days are the type where you can go anytime of the day. This is perfect for most of us. I have a few mom friends who work for example and one works at the local mall which opens at 10am. And this type of go anytime visiting day is perfect because even she for example can go and watch her child before work and she feels happy she got to partake in the observation day too.  This also works perfect for parents with multiple kids in the shogakko, like me who have a 5th grader *and* a first grader. This way I can go to see one son and then next class visit the next son. And they both get my full 100% attention. So yeah my favorite type of observation day is the "you can go anytime of day" observation day. My least favorite observation day is the "you go to the last class only" observation day! I really dislike this type of observation day a lot. Because Branden and Noah only get half of our attention before we are zooming off to the next child. Noboru and I take turns, I watch one son first half, meanwhile he watches the other son and we switch. This is okay-ish....but I feel often I am entering someones class where I am only understanding half of what's going on.... because the instructions were given out at the first/ start of the class. So....having said all that. December 4th was a go to the "last class only" observation day.  Noboru's and my plan was originally, I go to Noah's class first half, he go to Branden's class first half and we switch in the middle of class. However now add in this wrench into the mix. Noah's class was called "play a game with your parents" So, was I to play half a game with Noah and then Noboru enter the last half and not know what was going on at all? Do you know what I mean? Also...Branden was having English and he wanted me there for the whole thing also. After lots and lots of debate. We decided what was best was for this time....I would attend Branden's observation day only. Because he was doing English and that's clearly my strong suit out of the other mom's. Hahaha. So, yeah I was most needed for that. Noah meanwhile was fine with having daddy/Noboru being with him the whole class because it was just a bunch of active games and Noboru is perfect for that.  However, I only have 1 camera and so, since I was going to be with Branden the entire time. Noboru took my camera and took pics of Noah and his observation day. So long story short. I have no pictures of Branden's observation day because I was actually with him and Noboru took my camera to take pics of him since I couldn't be there.  Here's a pic of Noah playing with his guy friends. Best buds!

Noah taking a turn here.

I wish I could have been there and watched Noah. But, I know he had a blast with Noboru.

See, this super cute girl with the purple pony tail ball thing. That's Lily-chan. She and Noah are really good friends. Out of all the boys, Noah is her favorite boy that's a friend. And out of all the girls, Noah's favorite is most definitely her......Lily-chan. : ) She goes up to my tiny red car at the plaza everyday and waves at me or Noboru depending on who's picking him up and also waves at Noah. She's such a cutie pie. And she lives in our same housing community. According to Noboru his mom approached Noboru on observation day, when this picture was taken and said, I am so glad Noah and Lily are such good friends and please let Noah come to our house anytime to play. Noboru said same goes for Lily that she's welcome anytime. : )

Meanwhile, Branden's English class was so fun! All us mom's were there..... all us 5th grade mom's. We all watched. They did English greetings, they played Bingo. They sang songs. It was pretty funny. Us mom's were cracking up, because one of my mom friend she's just so funny The teachers said a "what's this game" and they had a picture of a shoe...we all had to scream out what it was as fast as the word came into your mind, both parents and kids....so I screamed shoe and many screamed shoe, the funny mom screamed out....slipper! Everyone turned around and laughed and just in fun they told her..."are you kidding?.... that's a shoe not a slipper." And she is so funny she said and no she wasn't mad at all....everyone was just having a ball but she said..."well I don't have my glasses on, so do I get half points for that?" hahaha! I said yes she should. And some were saying yes but some mom's were laughing some said no points! Teachers were laughing. We were all laughing. Honestly English class was so fun that day. I laughed so hard that afternoon. Especially funny mom, man she can crack up anyone! She's so funny! Literally before you knew it, class was over. The bell rang and I was glad I got to enjoy Branden's class 100%. And gee those mom's are a hoot! I had my keys to the MPV, Noboru had his keys to the MPV.  And whoever gets there first we said depending on who gets out of their meeting first. I somehow got to the MPV first. Then Noboru about 3 minutes after me. Not too far behind me. And then the boys came out and down the hill and met us at the MPV about 5 minutes after that. And we were done. Winter observation day done for 2012.

We had yakiniku that same night as observation day if my memory serves me.  It was marinated all day. It was white meat chicken breast and Noboru had beef or pork. We also had mushrooms also that were well marinated.  So cold outside. But we ate inside so it didn't matter too much. We just ran outside every couple minutes, hahaha. : )

It was a simple but delicious yakiniku dinner that Tuesday. We wrapped out marinated meat with a little rice in lettuce leaves and some kimchi.

Did any of you take the "Gangnam style" poll on Yahoo, last week? Like this says, "thanks for voting", I took the poll. I voted for, "I'm over it" It was all the rage, end of Summer and maybe start of Fall. Believe me, Branden and Noah were all doing the horse dance around the house, as was I. But late Fall and up until now. Meh~ I'm over it.  Was totally good while it lasted though and fun! It was on heavy rotation on the Honolulu radio station and Guam radio station I listen to via my itouch when it first came out. Now I rarely hear it, as often anymore.  Less and less air time for sure now. But when it was hot...it sure was a hot song! : )

December 6th was the Denver Broncos vs the Oakland Raiders game. It was on Friday morning for us in Japan, December 7th though.  We were all set to watch it. Also, what was so funny is our friend. One of the guys who lived in Honolulu when we did, who was also sent there for the same amount of years as Noboru and we all lived in the same condo complex. Anyway, T, was an exchange student in California and so he was/is as hard core a Raiders fan as Noboru is about the Broncos. Anyway, one thing they have in common and they are great friends is they both like football a lot.  And working for Delta, how each employee uses or chooses to use their travel passes is always as different as the person. For example, Noboru has 1 coworker and he and his wife *love* Hawaii. They love it! He was one of the Honolulu guys too. Anyway so every chance they get, they fly to Honolulu. Not to Guam, Not to the mainland US. Nope, they go to Honolulu about 3-4 times a year. Yep but that's okay that's their hobby and #1 destination. Then there is another of Noboru's coworkers and his hobby or travel choice is he is in love with taking those ocean liner cruises, ykwim. Like the Love Boat type cruise. Except he's married he's got kids and their favorite cruise is the Disney cruise. They use their travel flight benefits and fly to Florida mostly or LA (they did that once, last time, if I remember correctly) and take the cruise out of there. They go about twice a year, for a full week at a time. And we often see the pics and those are always super cool to see. They love those Disney cruises and that's their thing. And more power to them. He also has a married coworker and he and his wife go to Europe a lot and I do mean about twice a year could be even 3 times a year, he has so much knowledge about it.  Now back to the story...T's thing is...since he's a Raiders fan, that's his thing is the Raiders and sports. He often will take his vacation days and he will fly to California and watch a football game. He also btw went to the World Cup in South Africa. So that's his hobby or thing. Sports and the Raiders. Ykwim. Noboru's and my thing. Hmm, not sure we have a particular place. We sorta go to Guam a lot or to Honolulu sometimes and Denver every once in a while but no....we don't seem to have a specific particular 1 point. Anyway...T took his days off and he was set to fly to California and watch the Broncos and Raiders game. Lots of teasing from Noboru to T back and forth. Whose team would win. T told Noboru he thought the Raiders would lose since they have lost the last 4 games in a row or something like that, so he wasn't so hopeful. But yeah so we watched the game here at home. Meanwhile we knew T was in the stands somewhere when we watched the game live.

When it was pretty much in the bag for Denver, Noboru emailed T's keitai and said..."we're watching from here. Go broncos" he wrote back right away and said bummer and all that stuff. They both laughed and stuff via their messages.... however he did send this picture to Noboru live from the stadium...down below!

He said..."Raiders always and forever!" See how they kid eachother. Noboru lol'ed to that. Anyway, T's wife is preggers right now she should be giving birth in June some time, we're all very excited. But yeah...it was funny. He sent us this picture!

My hair straightening went great. December 6th. My appointment was set for 10am, the first appointment of the day since they open at 10am. I was waiting in the parking lot since 9:45am-ish. with the car heater on. Left at 1pm! OMG it's such a long appointment and long time to be sitting in a seat. I brought a stack of American magazines and read them, every last paragraph. So the mags I bought November 1st when we got back from that Guam trip were read 100%. They washed my hair, conditioned it first thing blow dried it. Then they put solution on my hair for 10 minutes or so, wasn't really paying attention could even have been longer. Then they washed it again. Blow dried it, flat ironed it. Every last piece this took forever, them flat ironing it....took 2 ladies to flat iron my hair... then they put warm solution over the freshly flat ironed hair and let it sit like that.... for another set time. then they washed it all over again gave me another conditioning treatment. Massaged my head and shoulders which felt really fantastic btw. Especially after sitting there for what felt like forever! Then they blow dried my hair and cut it, just the tiniest trim, I did mention please do not cut my hair ,unless it's dead ends, because I am growing it out. So she cut only like the tiniest amount. A mm, lol.  Then she blow dried it on cool to take any hair bits off and then she flat ironed it for real this time and I left. On one hand, hate getting it done, because it's so time consuming. But on the other hand, love getting it done because then my hair is so easy to do at home for the next 4 months. Until it gets regrowth at the root area. So it's really a...love/hate feeling getting myself to the salon for me. But as always glad it's now done and won't have to think about it now : ) Met Noboru at Saizeriya (same mall as the hair salon) for lunch (he had went fishing earlier) left an email for me and said he was at the same mall at the bookstore and if I had time let's go to lunch, so I called him after I was out and we had a fast lunch since we had to pick up Noah at 2:30pm.  Noboru said, "wow your hair got longer, didn't it?" I said, I know right? When wave is uncurled it does get longer. It's now definitely below my shoulders. About 1-2cm below my shoulders but below my shoulders it is. My hair appointment was Thursday December 6th. This was the only time I could fit it in. Because  we were set to head to Guam Saturday evening December 8th. And considering this was a "relax swimming by the pool" type holiday coming up for us, and considering you can't wash your hair for 24 hours after getting a hair straightening. So I had to either get it done on Thursday or....wait until after we got back from Guam. Friday was the football game and I wasn't available Friday, lol. Plus I wanted freshly clean hair for the marathon also, didn't want to show up all grease pit looking, kwim. Also consider when the boys start winter break, they won't be in school and there for me getting to the salon when the boys are home isn't so good either. Though I guess I could do it on Noboru's day off but...sometimes we like to have a family outing.  Plus the other day I had open/available I was busy at observation day. So yeah...this was really one of the few days that worked for me. So this was the day...the best day for me to head to the salon. that way, I wouldn't wash my hair Thursday night. I waited until Friday night to wash it. First time since my thermal hair straightening. And then next time I washed it was in Guam Saturday night after we arrived. So yeah...this was the only day that perfectly fit for my hair appointment.  So glad the ol' hair is done. it's sleek and straight, below my shoulders a pinch already and growing. It's actually a very fun length for my hair right now.  I had us all packed and ready to leave to Guam since Thursday night. And Friday, I had the football game in the morning and prepping for the boys obento for Saturday's marathon. They each needed to bring onigiri. And an empty bowl for the soup that Noboru and the Father's Club would be serving to the entire kid population at school Saturday.  So any nori or sprinkles, I needed to pick up at the store, I had to make sure I had what I needed. Friday night we all went to sleep super super early. Noboru needed to be at the school by 7am. And I needed to have the boys at the school by 7:20am, and from there I was heading to the marathon area/rice field area they were running at. I had to be awake by 5:30am Saturday make the boys breakfast. Pack their thermos. Onigiri. I only wore MAC under eye concealer and MAC Studio Fix (powder foundation) and nothing else makeup wise. It was way too early Saturday morning to wear anything else. I had on a black long sleeve top, a pair of boot cut jeans and my fleece peacoat and a pair of New Balance sneakers. I dropped off the boys and I went directly to park my car along a tanbo/rice field, where Noboru suggested I park the day before. Which was the perfect spot. But more on the marathon in the next post. I got some excellent pictures from that day. : )

In the news.  A Justin Bieber murder plot? OMG! Did anyone hear that, I saw that on Entertainment Tonight last night! I was shocked. I was like...seriously? @_@  Yikes!  And then there's the whole.... DJ's calling the hospital and the nurse who committed suicide after that. All very sad news. I heard the DJ's have since been fired/let go. Just so much going on in the world now days. And this morning, I wake up read yahoo news and....a deadly shooting in Conn. At an elementary school : ( Hold your loved ones close, you guys. Take care all of you. Please. And plus wasn't there a shooting at the mall earlier this week also. Wow. Just be careful everyone. Please.  Our plans this weekend? Staying home. Christmas shopping's all done. We're finished with everything, now we're just in relax and enjoy the holidays type mode. : )

The turkey arrived Sunday. What an awesome football game, go Broncos! And grandpa gets here Thursday

Our turkey arrived on schedule. Sunday November 18th around noon.  A Butterball Premium turkey! He was delivered frozen and was rock hard. So he's been in the fridge since Sunday. And he is very slowly defrosting. He'll be ready by Thursday morning though, so he can be rinsed clean and thrown in the oven.

We ordered an 18 lb-20lb one. And after throwing him on the scale, he is slightly over 20 pounds verging on 21 pounds. So he's huge!

Being an American, I grew up watching football.  For the most part whatever city or state you come from, that's "your team" of course some states don't have teams or some states have a few teams like California, and yes you could have a different team altogether from where you are from, I guess, if you want to. But I was raised in Denver, Colorado. Everyone in my family was and is a Denver Broncos fan. And so that's just always been my team. And when Branden was born, teeny tiny Denver Broncos hat for him. When Noah was born little Denver Broncos sweatshirt for him and so on. Anyway, the good news is the Broncos have been having an amazing season this year. We are leading the AFC so far. And I hope we stay that way.... fingers crossed! This Monday morning for us in Japan, but Sunday night football for Denver. It was held at Mile High Stadium in Colorado. And I watched the game here at home after getting the boys sent to school. It was a fantastic game. The Denver Broncos played San Diego. And we won.

Go Broncos go!!! : ) Anyway, not much to say except. The turkey is here, has been here since Sunday. I am in Fall/Winter mode happily watching football. I do love watching a good game! And tomorrow/Wednesday is pumpkin pie baking day as soon as Branden and Noah go to school. My dad is flying in Thursday for Thanksgiving. We are so happy about that. And he is staying until next Tuesday.  : )

Bits and pieces! Like American Idol started for us Saturday night. Pineapple Upside down cake, the Superbowl and going to Costco this coming week! : )

Last weekend, last Friday actually, since it was raining cats and dogs and the weekend was about to start, while the boy's were at school, I made a great big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. I took a little short cut and used consomme/bullion cubes as a base but I think we can live with a shortcut here, ha ha ha! It was absolutely delicious and hearty! Perfect for last weekends weather too! We had it for Friday night's dinner and Saturday night's supper as well. Lean chicken, onion, celery, mushrooms, carrots and potatoes. And some delicious pasta was added at the last 8-10 minutes of course. Yumm!: )

The chicken boiled alone for about an hour, and then I added the onion and celery and let that boil for about 45 minutes, and then the rest of the veggies were cleaned and chopped or diced and were sent to the pot and simmered for another hour. After it had the taste, I wanted, I turned off the pot and went and picked up both boy's from both schools in the rain nonetheless. They got home, changed clothes into some warm comfy house/play clothes, like sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt for both of them and then I got the pot of soup back to boiling again. With our warm floor heating and the central heating the house was toasty warm. The boy's kept asking..."what's cooking?" I said chicken noodle soup!

About 4pm, I started making the sandwiches that would go with our soup. Branden's sandwich looked like mine except he wanted mayo both sides. Noah's looked like mine except he wanted mayo both sides and no lettuce. Phew good thing I could keep track of every one's sandwich preference, lol! About now while making the sandwiches is when I added the pasta to the soup. When the sandwiches were done the soup was done too. The sandwiches were great because the thinly sliced ham and the thick slice of provolone cheese ahh, so delicious and the crunchy lettuce and the bread was the good stuff from the bakery!

A simple but delicious supper nonetheless! A ham and cheese sandwich and a nice bowl of hot piping hearty chicken noodle soup! And a glass of iced tea with ice! The boy's ate it all up! Branden had 2 full bowls of soup plus his sandwich! Noah had a full bowl of soup and his sandwich. After dinner, I sent B upstairs to jump in the shower. When he came down, we went up. Noah and I showered and got our jammies on. A bowl of popcorn and a few hot tamales later, is when the hubby came home. He had a long day, was tired and glad to be home with us. I warmed him up some soup and made him a sandwich. He was happy to be home! And we were happy to be enjoying the weekend! : )

Saturday we all slept in, until about 9:30 am. Boy did we all need a nice full sleep! :D We relaxed all day and night Saturday. And on Sunday, we did the same, slept in and the whole shebang. : ) Sunday night however, I made chicken fajitas! A perfect way to end a nice weekend.

A nice pan of fajita stuff. Like the directions said, fry the veggies and then take them outta the skillet, then fry the meat and then when the meat cooked add the veggies back in again. Yup, check, check and check! And then I added the water and spices and let it boil and this is what it came out like. Smelled wonderful!

Okay, no fancy shmancy sizzling skillet like at the Hard Rock Cafe, lol! But I tell ya! These tasted fantastic! And so the hubby and the boy's and I enjoyed our last Sunday's fajita night completely!

Monday morning for us in Japan is when the Superbowl came on live for us! Which would make it Superbowl Sunday time for those of you in the US! So, Monday morning, since hubby had the day off. We both got up and got the kids ready together, breakfast made for the kids and everyone sorted and then hubby drove them to both of their schools! Meanwhile what was I doing? I was fixing Superbowl breakfast for the hubby and I! Ha ha ha. When he came back, omelets, skillet fried potatoes, toast and coffee. We watched the 2 first quarters and shouted and screamed! I bet our neighbors wonder why, every January we scream but happy screams for 1 day? And we are usually a quiet household normally, except for giggling in the backyard on weekends. Well, it's the Superbowl, that's why! Ha ha ha. Then half time. It was Bruce Springstein. He's okay I guess, not really my musical taste though. Wish they would have had somebody a little more current. My dad was watching in Denver at my aunties house, they had a Super bowl family party there, dad has a lap top, and brought it and so I would check my emails every now and again and we would type to each other every hour or so and so we sorta watched the game together too, my family and I! : )

I didn't have a favorite to win, I was really either way. It was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals and the Steelers won! Now if it had been the Denver Broncos in there, I would have obviously wanted the Broncos to win and I probably woulda lost my voice with all the screaming I would have done. However, since I really didn't care too much either way this time, we screamed and shouted at the awesome runs and plays that were made! Nobo and I both love football a lot, so we enjoyed the game quite a bit on Monday morning! : )

And these are some of the pics that my dad sends me every now and then. What is this you ask? Well, as most of you know, I'm Italian American. And if you recall when I went home last September to Denver, and saw my aunties house and all the saints through the yard and house, I also come from an extremely Roman Catholic family as well. Catholic school and the whole bit for me and all my cousins. So anyway, every Sunday, after church, and yes I mean literally EVERY Sunday! We would have a family dinner at my grandma's house every Sunday directly after church. My grandma had 10 kids and from those 10 kids are my aunties, and uncles and my dad of course, and then it is all of us cousins, their kids. I have tons of cousins. Typical Italian large family, I guess. Anyway after my grandma died (the year B was born), my head auntie, the auntie I am closest too, started the weekly Sunday dinners at her house, which is so awesome the tradition was continued. So every Sunday is a family dinner and get together. Every Friday night and Saturday us girls of the family, get together to make homemade pasta, and the day before, on Saturday if you have time and an hour to spend come over and help your cousins and aunties roll a mountain of meatballs. It's not all work, it's also bonding time. Talking time. Who's dating whom. Is anyone having a problem they wanna talk about to the other girls of the family, we surely all can help! Did anyone catch the new Target Sunday ad? Anyone wanna go shopping during the week together? Just family chit chat. It's been the anchor at keeping our family as super tight as we are, these weekly family dinners! And that's how I grew up! But then you all know that, I've discussed this through the years on this blog. Or how we, would volunteer at the festival at our church every July and how I grew up always working there. My dad and uncles and aunties making the Italian sausage sandwiches of the bazaar and us younger kids working the raffle booths or the cake walks. And when I got older, I started helping with the sandwiches too. Again, it's just another thing that bonds us that's keeps us as tight as we are. And when I told them all, I was moving to Japan, talk about silence and then tears. They were shattered, heart broken and everything else you can think of and so was I. But then, hubby's job wanted him in Japan and that was that. Doesn't get better with time and I will forever and always deeply miss my family with such a deep ache. : ( However, to help, I go home maybe once a year or so and I try to call them on their Sunday evening family dinner time, my Monday mornings, twice a month. They pass the phone around and I get to talk to as many as I can. Anyways so what's in this picture? A typical average Sunday at my aunties house. 3 types of homemade pasta. And her homemade Sunday gravy (pasta sauce)! I can make a homemade sauce that would knock the socks off anyone. I have family recipes that I have here in Japan. That I will treasure and someday pass down to my boy's. I love my family very much. Anyway, I guess there's a bit of homesickness going around blogland and I understand that too. It makes me pause and think about my own family and what I too am missing. : (And sigh. I understand it too. : ( I think that's what sorta bonds us ladies in Japan, we all sorta "get it" Anyway....

Last lovely shot of a pic at my aunties house in Westminster, Colorado. Delicious homemade pasta, salad and some homemade pizzelle, oh what I wouldn't give to have just one pizzella right now! Ha ha ha. I will have to dig out pics from Christmas, the spread is even bigger and more gorgeous. I love and miss you guys, my family in Colorado very very much!!!! : (

And now, this picture was taken from my house on last Wednesday. (Wednesday's) Swimming day in our house, aka busy as heck day! Ha ha ha! Yes, it is true this meal would surely cause my family back home to frown and shake their heads, my auntie might even faint straight away. And I can almost hear them saying..."Gina, Gina what happened, why not homemade?" Ahhhh, all I can say is. Lifestyle. My life with 2 school aged boys means I am indeed quite busy and hey. Sometimes a frozen lasagna will have to do! Could be almost sinful to my family. But sorry guys. I gotta cut corners when I can! I will bake a homemade one soon. And I promise I have that ham bone saved from our Christmas ham, still hiding in the freezer just dying to be turned into minestrone stock for soup ha ha ha! : ) But for day to day type normal stuff, yup, I cut corners when I can! And I'm fine with it! : ) So, Wednesday night after swimming this week, we got home, I preheated the oven, whacked the lasagna in the oven for an hour. While the kids rested, I chopped lettuce and stuff for salad and made garlic bread. And then got everyone served. Don't shoot me auntie V, but it was pretty good. And it was filling and the kids got good and full and we still had time for everyone to get a quick shower and bath and a bit of extra time for reading the Wizard of Oz before bed!

Saturday, yup this Saturday, I finally made my pineapple upside down cake. I've eaten pineapple downside cake bunches of times, but I have never made one before. I was honestly a bit nervous, what would happen when I turned it upside down, would it look pretty, would it come out okay or not come out? And I was happy to say it came out really really great! Yup, another short cut here. Story of my life, but that's okay! Ha ha ha. I used a yellow cake mix from a box as the base of this but it came out awesome! Hubby gave me 3 compliments about this cake. Kids dug right in and Branden wanted a second slice but we made him wait until after supper. I will totally make this cake again! The only thing I learned was....I bought one can of pineapples and I realized pretty much at the get go, I could have used 2 cans, meaning I could have got more pineapple rings on there, but then the cake was mixed and sitting and the oven was already preheated so, I said to myself, we'll make do with the amount of pineapples we have. It still looks cute but yeah, I might buy 2 cans of pineapple rings next time. But other then that, we loved it! Big thumbs up for us. : )

As soon as it cooled we all had a slice. Hubby and I had ours with a cup of coffee. It was great. Then we relaxed on the couch and I snuggled with my blanket and head resting on a big fluffy pillow. At 3pm, I started dinner. A bit early to start it, but I figured I had a burst of energy right then and so I got cracking on dinner then.

While I was cooking and singing some 80's oldies from my Ipod. Chaka Khan, " I feel for you"
Anyone remember the beginning of this song? LOL! "Chaka, chaka, chaka, chaka khan, Chaka khan, LOL! Some old UB40, Homely Girl....the words to this are so sad, poor poor homely girl, lol!

"It must have broke your poor little heart

When the boys used to say,

You looked better in the dark.

But now they`d give all they learned in school

To be somewhere in the dark with you"

Excellent song though, great beat! :D Yeah so anyway while I am singing away in the kitchen the doorbell rings. Branden looks on the security camera monitor thingie in our kitchen for outside and says in Japanese, "who's there?" And it was boy next door, lol! :D He brought us over some snacks from his grandma and grandpa! B and I both, thanked boy next door and he left. : )

These are Noboru's favorites! That was really thoughtful of our neighbors! And it's good to have such close ties to the ones we live nearest and closest too and we do!

My really good friend Noriko-san had given me this, last week! She's made it all by hand herself! They're OHINA-SAMA dolls. Folded completely with Origami paper! I really loved getting these from her and just knowing how long it must have taken her to fold each piece over and over again by hand. Must have taken her a great deal of time! Time spent for me like that, I honestly loved it and appreciated it a great deal! It was a completely thoughtful thing to do!!! She's got a wonderful heart and I'm lucky she's my friend. She also speaks fluent English. I am blessed to know a good circle of ladies at the yochien. They're all a good supportive group of ladies! I'm glad I have such a good bond with these ladies! : )

Saturday night, we had cream stew. I made a medium sized amount of cream stew. Just enough for one dinner and maybe a lunch. And for dessert we all had another slice of pineapple upside down cake. Fast showers because we were getting ready for American Idol to start at 9pm!

It was a bit different with the whole new judge thing. She seems sorta nice, I am not used to her enough yet to know if we like her or not yet, ha ha ha. Noah zonked out to sleep land and so he went upstairs. And Branden caught about 30 minutes of it before he headed upstairs, he was tired. And so it was down to the hubster and I! We munched a bowl of popcorn and watched!

This lady said she was the new judges #1 fan!!! Wow, umm okay! :D

#1 fan brought a book to show the new judge all the songs she's written etc, etc! Nope she didn't make it!

Also blog worthy was the infamous "bikini girl" You know how some people show up wearing weird costumes or "get ups?" Well, she came in a bikini! Don't get me wrong, she had a beautiful face and a fantastic figure! I personally didn't have a problem with her at all. However the new judge Kara didn't like her at all. Simon even made noises like a cats claws coming out. Honestly she sang really good. Meanwhile Kara said, "you didn't sing it so good" And so the new judge actually sang a bit of the same song and bikini girl shot back and said, "but you didn't sing it any better then me"!!!! It was a tense moment between "bikini girl" and the new judge Kara. I didn't have any opinion either way. I personally thought she did sing well. But yeah it was a weird tense 2 minutes, lol! She did make it by the way. And of course the new judge Kara said as bikini girl walks outs she says..." Next time come naked" Uh oh....not saying a word. Not saying a single word! *whistles* Humdeedum, humdeedum*

Did any of you watch American Idol last night? Any thoughts on the show?

Anyway: So now's the time for some bits and pieces:

School for Noah is going so awesome! Some little girl, she's a red badge so maybe she's a year older then Noah, so she's probably a 4 year old. Yup an older woman, lol! She helps Noah at the end of the day, she helps him get his shoes on and she holds his hand and walks him to me every afternoon after class. I always bow to the little girl and say, "arigato", she's being all helpful with him and I find that so cute because she's so tiny herself! Yet she's trying so hard to help him! She's so cool! Oh yeah and Noah now gets off same as the rest of the school, at 1:50 pm. So totally normal time he stays for now. : )

This coming Tuesday/tomorrow, I am going to my friend Noriko-san's house for tea and for origami folding! We will meet there at 10:30 am! I am looking forward to this. These friend's are my, fellow yochien mom's. And later this week, some of us yochien mother's will be heading to Costco Makuhari togeher while our kids are in school. Geeze Lousie, last time I was in an actual Costco, was before Halloween remember? It's been ages! We will be going on Thursday or Friday, I forget the day, but it's this week on either Thursday or Friday, just me and a bunch of my girlfriends will be there, as soon as the kiddies are off at yochien we will all get in 1 car and zoom zoom! We all seem to have memberships and shopping with friends sounds like fun! I am looking forward to it! : )

Regular grocery shopping: I now go and do the grocery shopping twice a week while the boy's are at school and while the hubby is at work. Might not seem important to some of you. But for those of us with kids it's huge! For 7 years, I have been shopping with either a baby or a toddler or managing 2 kids while shopping. And if you've ever been shopping with kids and ever felt frustration sometimes, while trying to shop, with kids in tow, then I am sure, you will surely then understand what a milestone this is for me. Yes, even mommy's sometimes go through milestone moments! I crossed mine 9-10 days ago! First time.... as I shopped, I kept looking for my kids but they weren't there. It would be quiet and I'd at first second think, they wandered off? But then a second later I would stop myself and say to myself...nah they're at school. I've since gone to the store by myself 3 times and it's great. I'm used to it now. It's so much easier. No distractions. Yeah, it's sorta cool! And when the kids get home from school, I've missed them heaps and it's good to get that bit of day away and clear my head a bit. I'm starting to dig this, both kids at school stuff a lot!!! : ) Have a wonderful night you guys! : )