This is the yuri-gumi class. Noah's the first row, 3rd one from the left. : )
They're singing a song here. : )
Still singing. The note on the gate of the yochien said long socks required for all kids. I was thankful for that, only because Noah has only long socks anyways. Well except for that pack of medium length socks we had to buy for undokai. ; )The kids just about ready to switch to a different song. Next one...with jingle bells and a few other instruments. : )
Kids were singing and about to start jingling!: )
And as you can tell, now it was indeed time to ring those bells. Noah did his and his friends on the right and left were also jingling their bells. Well done Noah, well done kiddo! ; )
Then the red badges left, pink badges went on and the nencho in between. And then the red badges came back on and did this performance. Noah was a squirrel! : ) : )
Really getting into it here! And all smiley! : ) Go Noah, go!!! : )
As you can see behind the kids. That chairs name was "dozo" and so people kept taking what was left on the chair and replacing it with something else! As you can see in this picture, the squirrels, left the baguette of bread for the chair. And took what the animals before had left. Then the red badges performances were done for the day. The pink and blue badges had two performances left, one each. Three red badges were chosen to be in the nencho-san's final performance and Noah was asked to do that. He was quite happy about that. : ) What part did the 3 red badges play???? Look at the next pic to find out! :P
They were sheep. They had to sit behind the grass and not move! Ha ha ha.
A little smile from Noah. : )
Some of the nencho class plus the 3 sheep. Some angels and the 3 wise men. : ) : )
Okay here is nearing the finale. We have Mary and Joseph. They are really into their roles here! Awesome job kids! And then.....
Our "Joseph" cracks a little smile, bless his heart. And mind you I can see in this pic he is missing at least 1 front tooth. : ) That charming toothless grin made me smile. Yup, a toothless grin from our Joseph. But he did such a fine job and he's probably only 5 years old, so he really did a fantastic job as Joseph considering he is only 5 or 6 years old. None of us expected him to be all serious anyway. Well done little guy! I think he did a fine fine job! All of the kids did a great job! They all did their best!
The 3 wise men brought gifts and so did everyone else in this particular play. The sheep herder and her sheep *ahem* (Noah-chan) walking and just brought a gift for the new born baby Jesus.
Nearly done, well done kiddos, well done all of you!!!
And then that was that! It was all over before you know it. It was an awesome play! All the classes, red, pink and blue all did so well!
Finishing up the final song, applause from all of us parents. Then we parents went downstairs and waited near their classrooms. And we headed home. Got the pizza dough made and sitting. Final vacuum around the house.
Everyone at the yochien were given a wrapped present. That was very nice of the school. It was a book by the way. : )
Meanwhile I had a lot of missed delivery notes in my mail box PLUS the 2 final December DVD's came in the mail. After calling the kuroneko and the regular post office, they said they'd redeliver within 30 minutes. Which was great for me, because I was due to leave and get B from shogako and meet my MIL at the swim school. So glad the redelivery was going to be fast and to just get it over with and done. This was from my MIL (mother in law)
Karaage, potato salad and her super hot buta kimchi sauce. Man she must have been reading my mind because I have been eating buta kimchi a lot lately and working on my own make shift sauce. Hers is delicious and way better then mine, so I was happy to get some.
The kids last presents from us. But these ones are from Santa. (wink wink) And will be hidden and even taken to Guam so we can lay them out in the middle of the night all nicely wrapped. There are 2 smaller things in the box so it won't take up any room in the suitcase.
A batch of cookies for my BIL and his family. I wrote to Satoe-chan. And I did that because as a wife myself, I know how good it feels to be included especially from my husbands family. And I want her to feel the same. And my BIL knows we love him already. And she knows too. : ) But I wrote to Satoe-chan. And I gave these to her at the swimming school and boy was she happy! Her face lit up and that made my BIL happy. So, I was glad the way I did that. And would you believe she brought us something too?
She brought 2 snack packs for the boys. 
Cookies and cakes from Kaldi and I thought that was really right on of her to do that! Man, my SIL is so cool and so nice!
A whole array for the boys. Hmm, next time I give them something I'll put to Mia-chan, sorta mix things up that way. : )
Mitsuko and Noah watching Branden down below Wednesday evening. Noboru was sitting to my left. Mitsuko really enjoyed watching her grandson swim!
Branden with the turquoise swimming cap. One of the boys on the left of B with one of the black swimming caps is his very good friend since their yochien days. That is Aoi-kun! : ) Since they were pink badges is how long they've known each other. And the girl on the right with the pink swimming cap and pink goggles with her hands on her hips. That's Saya-chan! She went to a different yochien completely. Branden and her did not know each other until they started the first grade. They were in the same 1st grade classroom together and are in the same 2nd grade together now. And she lives in the same housing community. For whatever reason, Branden and Saya-chan get along REALLY well. They're like really close friends. Branden has best guy friends for sure, but she is his best girl friend for sure. She's always riding her pink little bike to our house and playing. She was at our house just this past week. And B also goes over to her house to play too. Her mom is really nice too! : ) She's an only child. So Branden going to swimming club is a learning experience yes, but it's also a really fun social time for him too. He gets to be and hang with all his friends.
The kids are paired up in groups of 3 and they must swim against each other and work on timing. By now they all have the techniques and swim moves all down already. Now it's timing. The timing has to be right or it's a no go! So you are matched with your level and then you swim against each other. Branden is the one closest to the bottom of this picture.
You can see the 3 kids in the water racing, B is on the bottom of this picture, the turquoise cap, far left I guess would be the description? He's ahead by a hair in this pic, and Branden won the race. My friend told me, "Branden's hayai" I thanked her, but told her, sometimes he can "run out of gas too though" Ha ha ha. : ) You know, don't wanna seem boastful so it was a better way to reply. The kids all by now, know how to do those wicked cool underwater turns to switch direction in swimming. Dykwim? Like you swim one way get to the end of the pool, and wanna switch direction so, they do a little flip under water and it's amazing to watch them do that turn.
The coach determining who to pair up against one another next! My MIL meanwhile said, geeze if the pool is 25meters and he has swam way over 4 times back and forth, he swims more then 100 meters in one swim class? We said, yup they swim more then that actually. She was like @_@ And they go *fast* I mean like super speed competetive type fast, they all wanna make the time, so she was like doubly @_@ They must have gone back and forth 6-8 different times just during the matches/races. Mitsuko loved watching the kids swim. My BIL stood and watched it for a bit as well. Mia-chan was asleep in the car so Satoe could not come in.
Branden's in the middle in this pic. His one friend in the black cap on the left (but not Aoi-kun). It always sucks to have to swim against your good friend. : ( But they do it. When they're in the water and swimming against each other it's not personal at all and they know that totally. And when they get out.... they get back to chatter when they're outta the pool.
Branden ready in the dive position, waiting for the couch to blow her whistle for the kids to GO! The coach paces along the sides of the pool back and forth. Keeps checking her stop watch. Making corrections, you need to do this or correct that. Kids hear and make the correction for their next turn in the water. This goes on for a good length of the class. But kids rest when it's not their turn. 
And then it was over, and for literally 2 minutes before class ended they got to play. And only about once a month they get to play after class so it is rare so they made the most of it. It almost seemed like only for 1 minute. Ha ha ha. Also, I think Branden was having trouble deciding if he should play with the guys or Saya-chan. But Saya-chan called him over and so together they went and got this floating mat thing and they went in the water and splashed together. Yeah they really are good friends. : )
Saya-chan smiling and leaning in to tell B something. : )
Man, she's still telling him something. Branden's face is a bit blurry during this pic, but he's smiling. What she told him? You sure got me! He didn't say! : ) And no it's not like hubba hubba they like each other. They'e truly just good good friends.
We went home, all 5 of us. I showed my MIL to her room, gave her a clean towel for her shower (she knows which room to go obviously, but manner wise it was nicer of me to go upstairs and show her anyway). Told her she could go ahead and shower first, since I have to get dinner made. I took care of everything. She said okie dokie. And took a shower. I meanwhile got the crust rolled out, toppings on the pizza. Salad made. And we all ate dinner in the living room on the coffee table. It was just a casual dinner, nothing fancy at all. She loved the pizza and the salad. We all ate dinner. Branden was STARVING because he swam so much. After we ate, I showered a fast shower, Noboru cleaned up the dishes, just put them into the dishwasher. I came out in like 7 minutes, Then Noboru and the boys showered. Real quick. My mil was in bed by 8:30pm. The kids too. And I stayed awake until 9pm. I need that little 30 minutes at least to unwind, to decompress. Sorta surf the channels watch a little TV before bed. It helps me relax.
The next morning. My mil went outside and enjoyed the view and did some light stretching. She told me the way the sun rises right behind our backyard and the view always takes her breath away. I smiled, let her have at it back there. And I meanwhile got B sent to school, Noah ready for his 2nd and last Christmas recital of the season. And got myself dressed as well.
Thursday morning you will never know how busy I was...man it was crazy, I was like a flash or a blur that morning. Rushing one kid to elementary and 1 kid to yochien with his granny, plus getting myself ready. You truly have no idea how I zoomed from here to there that morning. But with it being the 2nd to last day of school, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel for sure. While Mitsuko and Noah were at the yochien enjoying/performing the recital. I was at home baking my mil's batch of Christmas cookies. I wore my apron so I didn't mess up my clothes. Music cranked up in the kitchen and baked her a few dozen to take back to Osaka. At 11:45am Noboru and I headed to the yochien to get my MIL and Noah. She loved the recital. We went to lunch afterwards. We went and had Indian. Yup 3 weeks in a row! They must think that's my favorite place by now! LOL. I had as usual, the kobocha/pumpkin curry and I debated whether I should choose hot or medium, medium or hot? Hmm. I went for the hot. It was so good and not as hot as last time. We went home, and I got her all packed up with cookies and stuff. At 2pm, Noboru and Noah left to drive my MIL to the bus station so she could cath a bus to Haneda airport. Meanwhile at 2pm (same time), I left in my little red car to go and get Branden from school! I hugged my Mil said good-bye and we both drove off, Noboru driving away in the MPV and myself in the R2. Thursday was nearly over. B did Kumon after school and came home and enjoyed supper and just relaxed. I have been doing the count down. And that night I told the kids, only *1* day of school left!!!! Woohoo! 
Friday morning, I got both kids breakfast, made sure Branden got dressed and stuff. Branden was driven to school, by me in my fleecy yoga pants and sweatshirt (as usual). Noah in his jammies. But he ate breakfast already. Rushed home with my Starbucks tumbler with hot caramel machiatto (instant store bought but delicious). Rushed in the house, got Noah's teeth brushed, his hair combed. He sat watching cartoons while I got myself dressed and my face on. The ceremony said, the start time was 10:15am. I arrived at 10am. I am a tad embarassed to always be a bit early but then again, it is better then being late right? ; ) ; )
The candle light ceremony was gorgeous and lovely as usual. All the kids came in and brought a Christmas stocking to the baby Jesus. Us mother's all lit candles Manami-sensei lit my candle, then I, in turn lit Jogo-san's candle with my candle and then she in turn lit Rieko-san's candle and so on and so on. It was very beautiful. The nensho class sang a song that is one of my favorites. Then the other classes sang. So the nencho sang then the youngest class, the red badges sang next, then the pink badges (the middle class) sang last. It was really really cool. From 10:15-11:20am and then it was over! At 11:20am, we went downstairs and collected our kids and went home. School was officially on Christmas break for Noah! Woohoo! I thought, 1 kid down, 1 kid to go! : ) : ) We sat at home and relaxed. Noboru took Noah to swim school at 2pm. Meanwhile I went and picked up B on his last day of class at 2pm, as well! All the kids for Yuka-sensei's class came walking down the hill, wearing Santa hats. The ninensei #1 class did not make hats. : ( But the Yuka-sensei's ninensei #2 class (the class B is in) made cool Christmas hats! All the kids were lugging all their school things and seat covers etc back home for the winter break. Loaded up my son into my car and we went home! Now we were officially on winter break! Both kids now on winter break! And yes, I honestly really did do my happy dance.
These are the presents Noah had received from the school. All kids received them. The book, it's a really nice thick hard cover book. And a bag of snacks. Our school rocks regarding giving really cool gifts to the kids, it certainly makes the kids faces light up. : )
My good friend Jogo-san went to Disney-Sea this week. And she brought me back an omiyage. And I really appreciated her thoughtfulness. The Nemo ride just opened, October 1,2009 and so this gift was realy cool. Chocolates are inside. Chocolate with rice krispie stuff inside. So think along the lines of a yummy Nestle Crunch but a different shape and they're all wrapped individually.Yumm. : ) It's nice to have good friends, and honestly for that I feel really really lucky.
Christmas art projects for both of the boys! The Christmas stocking was Noah's. : ) And the hat was what Branden made at school in the 2nd grade! : ) I think they both did a great job! : )
Awww! : )
These are the DVD's. The last 2 DVD's we rented for December. Two comedy's. Night at the Museum 2. And Year One with Jack Black! We saw "Year One" last night (Friday) it wasn't as funny as I hoped. : ( And tonight we will see the other one. And tomorrow morning before we leave we will drop the DVD's in the mail and get them sent back to Tsutaya Discas right away.
All the baking I've done. This batch of M&M cookies I baked on Tuesday. : )
They came out really good and colorful. perfect for Christmas, everyone got some of these as well as the butter Christmas cookies. : )Any last tidbits? Hmm.
Jun is in Guam right now. He left Thursday or Friday, I forget. He leaves Guam earlier then us. I think he leaves the day after we get there. So we will have a 1 day overlap, at least. Maybe we can go out to dinner. We'll see. : )
Kids and I are all packed. Noboru got himself packed this morning, thank goodness because man, he makes me so nervous waiting until the last second, lol. Snacks and carry-on are packed.
And this evening we will be BBQ'ing. Yup, it's true, it's winter. And it's freezing cold. All week I have frost on my car windshield. It has snowed in a few parts of Japan already. But not here. But yeah it's been darn right cold. And at night it has been dipping below 32F so indeed below freezing this past week. However, we have been craving yakiniku. And instead of going to restaurant, we figured why not just fire up the grill? So, why not, what the heck! : ) So many neighbors have their fireplaces burning, and the farmers always seem to be burning something anyway, ha ha ha. So, yup, a BBQ we will do this evening. Probably will start it around 3:45pm, so really soon. We'll eat in the house obviously but, we can't wait. : ) So tonight we'll just take it easy with a small quiet backyard BBQ in Winter nonetheless. And then shower, bathe and get ready for Night At The Museum 2. And tomorrow morning we head to Guam.
Please everyone have a very Merry Christmas!!! And I'll catch up with you all when we get back! Happy holidays, peace and love!!!! : )
Here's a picture of our family on Thanksgiving day. We were having a prayer before we ate, my dad was the one giving grace as I quickly snapped this picture and then joined in prayer before starting in our dinner.
The lights by now have already been hung and everything is all nicely set up, the timer goes off at 4:50pm every single night! : ) But wait a minute...I think I am getting ahead of myself. : ) I better back up a minute and catch up with you all first. Swine flu wise... oh dear so much has happened since my last post.
Okay this is where I left you all last post. Branden was diagnosed with the swine flu last Friday. And the day after that, the following Saturday Noah came down with a 40 C fever, I also wasn't feeling well either! @_@
See these adult capsules of Tamiflu? Yup, these little suckers were mine. Noah had swine flu and so did I. Everyone came down with swine flu in our family but Noboru. So last Saturday and last Sunday, the 3 of us were as sick as dogs! : ( My throat, my stomach, it was horrible. I even thought about canceling Thanksgiving dinner. Because I was having trouble even putting socks on my feet or slapping a pony tail into my hair or shuffling myself to the kitchen to make myself a cup of hot tea much less imagine how I was gonna whip up a pie...from scratch nonetheless! The good thing is the Tamiflu works fast. I hear Relenza works just as fast too. By last Monday, I was feeling much better not 100% granted, but I could at least clean house like mad on Monday and I was feeling way better by Tuesday when my dad had come. Branden was 100% back to normal by Sunday morning and Noah was back to normal by Sunday night. But of course they finished all their meds and stuff though. We did get ahold of Jun and would you believe they were recovering from it too. So, it all sorta worked out for us all in the end. Kids were done with their meds by Thanksgiving anyway. And I was done with my meds by Friday morning. The day after Thanksgiving day.
Sunday morning the turkey came. I was aware it was coming beforehand. Geeze I even picked the time for that. :P But I think with the swine flu kicking my butt last Sunday morning, when the doorbell rang I was thinking at first..."who is ringing the bell, who could it be?" Looked at the security monitor and saw and then went "duh" to myself and opened it and collected the turkey. Boy did I feel like a dork! : ) We order our turkey from Gourmet Meat World, they're the cheapest we found on the internet.
19.55lbs. He had come all the way to Japan from America.
Monday is when the hubby started on the lights. We keep our lights in an old suitcase in the shed.
Stretching out the icicle lights. Noboru hung the lights while I cleaned the house. We were both busy busy busy last Monday. Oh yeah, last Sunday the day the turkey came. We had got an email from Branden's school saying the whole second grade #2 class was closed for the whole week due to the swine flu. Oh yeah I better back up even more regarding that. Last Friday evening, the day before Noah and I were diagnosed. Yuka-sensei called our house and told Noboru that 4 kids in B's class have swine flu. Some girl (hubby forgot her name), Kouki-kun but not the one who lives in our housing community another Kouiki. Branden and Genki-kun! Branden's best bud Genki, since yochien. Yup the one and the same. : ( So anyway the Yuka-sensei said that info to us on Friday and said if 1 more kid in the class gets it, the whole class will be shut down for a week! The rest of the school will remain open but just B's class would be out. And then Saturday, boy next doors grandma was out in her backyard and we had just confirmed mine and Noah as swine flu. And she meanwhile said she thinks "boy next door" also had it and his little brother and his mother, so they were on their way to the clinic. So that was LAST Saturday. And then the next day, the day I was looking and feeling like crap and the day the turkey came, that's when we got the email that said the whole entire ninensei #2 class was closed for a week. So if you recall the yochien said, Noah may return when Branden returns, so that meant no school for either boy all last week. In a way I sorta liked it. I didn't have to wake up at 5:30am every morning. I didn't have obento to make. I didn't have to race from school to school daily. So, although I shouldn't admit this. Being off for a week sorta suited me just fine. Ha ha ha. Oh brother sorry for admitting that. : )
My dad's flight left Guam at 6am Tuesday morning. My dad arrived at my train station at 10am, 10:15 am maybe. Our original plan was since both boys would be in school and hubby would be at work my dad and I would go to Coco's for coffee and conversation for an hour and catch up. However with the swine flu and the kids being off a whole week, we sorta had to change plans. And that was okay. Branden had been quarantined (by me) at home for 6 days, since Thursday. He badly wanted to leave the house. Noah had been homebound for 4 days. Since they were both feeling better. I let them go in the car with me to the train station, they just stood in the car as did I, but they liked going for a car ride. Branden said, finally some wind on my face. As he walked from the house to the inside of the car. : ) We came straight home and my dad and I just had coffee at home. My dad didn't bring a whole lot this time because well, I'll be there next month, so no real reason for him to drag so much here this time. A case of beef ravioli, this is for the kids for fast lunches and also now that Noah has to switch to the winter metal obento now, he can take this now since their lunches stay in a hot warmer type thing. , Frozen bean and cheese burritos, some chargrilled (chicken breast) quesadilla type fast snack type food. A pack of frozen waffles for the boys, fast breakfast stuff for the weekday. String cheese for the boys to snack on. Hmm, he sure brought a lot of stuff for the boys. But I don't feel left out though, ha ha ha. :P Microwave popcorn the extra butter or movie theater kind. Whole cranberries. Black olives. Cheese for sandwiches.
My dad brought all this sliced cheese for the leftover turkey sandwiches. The BelGioioso is some delicious Italian American provolone cheese as you can tell by the flags on the wrapper. : ) . Every turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving that I had this week, has been made with that. With some soft bread, some miracle whip, crunchy lettuce a nice slice of tomato with a dash of pepper and salt on said tomato, some really good quality provolone and some turkey. Some chips along the side. Dear holy goodness. I have been enjoying leftover turkey sandwiches quite a bit since Thursday. : )
He brought the kids some corn nuts and some airplane lollies. And the turkey pan.
Tuesday my dad had managed to talk me into letting the boys go outside but just in our backyard. Since the whole boy next door family were swine flu victims as well as us. And given we have absolutely no neighbors behind us or to the right of us, sorta figured we had nobody to infect anyway... unless we are talking the mantis or the grasshoppers. :P And with B being stuck in the house for 6 whole days, he sorta could use the break. So, they ran outside a bit in the back with grandpa. We were all wearing our house clothes, sweatpants and stuff, you know...the stuff you would never show you wear but you really really do, when you just wanna be nice and comfortable. : ) : ) We dress for complete comfort when we are home. No fashion show going on at our house when we're home. : )
Wednesday morning, it was raining. Noboru and my dad went out front to finish up the Christmas lights. Now we always have a tradition to set the lights up the day after Thanksgiving even if we do it a few days before we never ever flick the switch until the day after Thanksgiving. So Black Friday is usually the day we turn on our Christmas lights, even as a child growing up, we always turned our Christmas lights on, Black Friday. However with Jun and my sil and niece coming, we decided to break with tradition and light them on Thanksgiving instead. Just a day ahead of usual. So not too bad. : )
The boys helped me make the homemade butter crust for the pies. Branden did the measuring, Noah put the stuff from the measuring cups into the bowl. And then Branden mixed and mixed first. I looked on.
Then Noah had a turn, he really got in there and kneaded and worked that crust really well.
The crusts have to be chilled in the fridge for some time, to hurry things along, I whack them into the freezer. Both of the boys wrapped their crusts into the plastic wrap and I thought they did a really good job.
With both crusts now chilling in the freezer for about 10 minutes. I went out onto the front porch to check on my dad and Noboru. My dad, laid the lighting along the walkway. Noboru meanwhile working hard as well. I brought them their lunch outside, so they worked and ate and worked some more. Meanwhile I got back on track with my pies.
I rolled out the dough and made 2 crusts. Placed them onto the other counter and meanwhile whipped up the pie filling with help of my Libby's pumpkin pie filling. Yay Libby's really does make the best pumpkin pie filling. I do add some extra pumpkin pie spice and whatnots but yumm.
The guys were done with the lights. The pies were now cooking for 75 minutes in the oven. Grandpa/my dad,and Branden worked on his workbook. I had told B, do as many pages as YOU want, the second you get bored and aren't into it anymore, please stop. He did about 9 pages with my dad and when he was ready to stop, he stopped.
Now the pies were done. And considering we had the swine flu that weekend, I could not believe by Wednesday evening, we were right on schedule and the pies were done and everything.
After dinner and baths on Wednesday night. The five of us watched a Thanksgiving DVD. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It teaches all about American Thanksgiving, we all enjoyed watching this DVD.
Thursday, Thanksgiving day. My dad was able to play with the boys in the backyard while I cooked. But my dad was kind enough to peel a whole bunch of potatoes for me before I boiled them and made mashed potatoes out of them. : )
Branden going across the monkey bars.
My dad chasing the boys with a net. Oh the boys ran fast! Ha ha ha. : )
Run Branden, grandpa came so close to catching you with a net! : )
Who's keeping who on their toes here? : )
Noah caught a mantis that morning, by now it was noon. He was nice enough to feed the mantis some lunch, 2 grasshoppers. Blech. : P
The mantis walked on Noboru's arm.
Then grandpa put the mantis on Noah's hat! He loved it!
Side profile of the mantis! : )
By now it was 1:30pm and we were expecting Jun and family over between 2-3pm. So, we had Noah put the mantis back to the wild. So my dad carefully took the mantis off his hat and placed him in the field next door. : )
There he goes.
Good boy! : )
Starting to set up the table. Meanwhile, I had my jeans on, and my face on and my hair done. Old black tee. Was waiting for right before they came so I could run upstairs and slip on one of my argyle sweaters. But that was last minute type stuff. Jun called us as they left their condo. I knew they'd arrive in about 25 minutes so about 7 minutes before they arrived is when I switched from old ratty tee to sweater. Shhhh. : ) A little extra lip gloss on the lips and a mist of CK One and I was waiting on the front porch waving to them right as they were driving in! Phew! : )
That pile of coats in the corner are my bil and sil and niece's. : ) They brought, Costco dinner rolls, dessert (tiramisu from Costco) drinks galore, Qoo (apple) , a really nice bottle of orange juice from Costco, a 2 liter of Coke, Noboru said, he hadn't seen a 2L of coke in Japan only the 1 liters. So that was sorta funny, he noticed that. The boys and my niece played outside at first. Also we did not have enough seats at the big table. So, as it's usual/normal, to have a kids table and an adults table for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We made the coffee table in the living room a make shift kids table. So that is where Branden, Noah and my nice Mia sat for their meal. Okay what's in this picture? Our dinner consisted of a turkey, mashed potatos, stuffing, gravy, salad, croutons, dinner rolls, black olives, whole cranberries. Not counting desserts.
My serving. Thanksgiving and the days after Thanksgiving, I wasn't really concerned about watching what I ate so much. I have been doing really good lately. And I did wanna enjoy my holiday and not behave like a total nazi about what I ate, so I didn't restrict myself during Thanksgiving or the few days after. I just enjoyed our holiday as it should be enjoyed. That is Fanta grape soda in the glass. My serving was pretty good. I was so hungry by the time we ate.
Everyone served what they wanted. We had our Thanksgiving prayer before we ate. It was pretty traditional.
We had a nice leisurely meal. The kids all ate really well. I quickly got the tabled cleared off. Noboru helped clear the table as well. I meanwhile started the hot water pot, so I could get some coffee going. We all had coffee and dessert. Everyone had tiramisu and pumpkin pie side by side. The pie had a big serving of whipped cream on top. My bil and sil ohhed and ahhed over the pie and I equally oohed and ahhed over the tiramisu. Sorry no pictures of Noah eating or Branden eating or of my niece eating. : ( We were just all so busy talking, chatting and laughing that I honestly didn't have much time for pictures. My bil brought his camcorder and taped what the table looked like and what it all looked like before we ate. So, I think he was excited and happy being here with us and we were equally excited being with them. Over dessert, they told me how Mia-chan loves Dora the explorer. Which was funny because I had given her, her serving of Thanksgiving on Dora The Explorer plate, lol. My kids also love that show so. Good to know I'm in the know. : ) They said she loved the songs of the show. So, when my niece came into the kitchen I told her..."swiper no swiping, swiper no swiping...OH MAN!!!!!" And I sang her the backback backpack song. And the "I'm the map" song too. I think she thinks auntie Gina is pretty cool because she knows all these songs. I told my bil how smart I think Mia is, yes I do, I do. How much she speaks now, wow! She's a regular little chatterbox! When the 3 kids went outside, Mia followed Noah and Branden and when they played chase, she joined them and chased with them. When the 2 boys went upstairs of the jungle gym, Branden lend her a hand and helped her up so she could join them. She's very social. Both of the boys stood near the base of the slide so when she slid down, she had her back up team waiting right there, to help her and lend a hand if needed. And I did tell the boys, please look out for your cousin, and they said, okay! And they did really well. They're both good bigger/older cousins. : ) Mia calls my boys, Branden oni-chan and Noah oni-chan. It means older brother, but can also be used on close older cousins. Awww. They're going away in December too. Noboru has a week off, Jun has 2 weeks off. We told them our plans and he said he might be going there too. So, we're not sure if they will go or be there at the same time. But he knows the days we'll be there, so we'll see.
Friday morning, after I woke up, I had a nice hot cup of caramel machiatto and a nice slice of pumpkin pie!
Friday's plan? Go to karaaoke for 2 hours and then head to swim school and watch Noah swim! So that's what we did! And it's 50% off during the day so it was very cheap! Plus the free drink bar! Good deal, good deal. : ) My dad sang a lot of songs, so did Noboru and so did I. My dad and I even sang a duet. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee. LOL, we laughed so hard during this one. My dad sang lots of Beatles. I sang, Luka by Suzzane Vega (gee the words to that are sad but a good song though) And I sang Nobody by Sylvia. 2 Madonna Songs. Hotel California by the Eagles. And I also sang Here, There and Everywhere by the Beatles too.
Noboru sang UB40's Red red wine. And a whole bunch of songs in English and also many Japanese songs.
The boys sang Ponyo together!
Yup, Ponyo. :P
And then we went to swim club. Some random lady and child sat next to my dad and B. And that was sorta cool. That means they aren't shy around foreigners. : ) I saw 2 of my fellow yochien mom's at the swim club Friday afternoon. And they greeted my dad and he greeted them back. Ha ha ha. But basically we just watched through the window of the swim class down below.
Noah's on the back stroke as you can tell in this picture. : )
One of the younger coaches and Noah meanwhile laughing. He sure does have a blast at swim school. He really really enjoys it a lot. : )
We all came home and had leftovers on Friday evening right after swim club. No worries about serving size during the holiday. We all munched and munched some more. Had some leftover tiramisu and pumpkin pie for dessert, all of us.
And then Saturday, the day my dad would leave, but his flight wasn't until 7pm and our plan was to head to the airport around 4:45pm. So he'd get there in plenty of time and go through immigration and sit near his gate with plenty of time to spare. So with that plan in motion we really had a full day with no plan. So, we thought why not take Noah to swim club 1 more day and that way my dad could enjoy watching him once more. Noah being in the A course could go any day but Branden being in the C course can't switch days so easily so that's why we took Noah once more.
This coach is the Goto-coach. He is my favorite coach of the whole swimming school. He's firm, he doesn't like any mischief going on in class but if you listen and pay attention you will get some crazy mad skills from this coach. He's so good. The photos on my front page of my blog, the side with Branden's pictures, the swimming pic of Branden and the coach, that is also Goto coach. He taught Branden for many many years and still does and Branden really likes him a whole lot. And now he's teaching Noah too.
A facing down in the water Noah. Some of the kids were crowding and not standing in line properly so the Goto coach pulled out the hula hoops and had everyone stand in a hoop, so everyone stood in a straight line and didn't crowd. Smart smart coach. I think you can see the hula hoops and the kids standing in a good line in this picture. : )
Noah kicking.
And getting out of the water about to go stand in a hula hoop line. : P
Goto coach giving Noah instruction.
More instruction even.
Noah was told he is bending his legs too much when he does the backstroke, Goto coach has been working with Noah to correct this for the past 2 weeks. And I think he's getting it about right now. He is also reminding Noah to look at the ceiling, that keeps his face more afloat if he does that. He's getting really good thanks to the Goto coach.
After swimming school, we headed straight to the airport. When we left to swim school, is when we put my dad's suitcase in the MPV. So, we had some time to kill, so we stopped to watch some airplanes landing at Narita airport.
Happy smiles.
Look at this airplane Noah! And grandpa pointed it out. : )
And look at this one too.
Watching more land. My dad is just so close to the boys, the both of them.
All four of them looking on. What a good view of the airplane.
Both kids needed sweatshirts at this point. Man these kids will miss grandpa when he's gone. : (
And by now it was about time to head to the actual airport and say our goodbyes.
My dad showing them his ticket that he was indeed in the correct line. He did have a business/first class ticket. Non rev of course, but by goodness that works!
Yup she confirmed his itenerary and waved her hand as in this picture and welcomed him to check in.
Saying our final good byes before he left. I try not to be too sad, because I'll see my dad in just 3-4 weeks from now. But yeah, when he used to live in Denver and it would be like a long time from the next time I could see him, it was always a very tearful goodbye of course. Now it's more like, "see you later" versus a good bye. At least I try to tell myself that. Sniff sniff. : ) My dad hugged the kids, shook Noboru's hand and then he hugged me last, a very long hug. And then he was gone. : (
I watched him walk away and I thought of all the fun we had and then I smiled. I kept wondering, will he turn back and look one last time or won't he? And then he did....just this one last time and I snapped him waving us good bye. I clicked this and waved and waved and waved again. It was a good trip with my dad... a very good time. : )
Since we were in Narita city, we figured why not have 1 meal that didn't include turkey for a change and have some ramen. This really really cheap ramen place. But very good. I had this spicy ramen with lots of cabbage and veggies. Kids had shoyu ramen and Noboru had something else, I forget. We ate our ramen and then headed to our tiny country town. That was Saturday November 28th.
We arrived home, parked the car. Noboru and the boys took a fast shower. Noah smelled like a swimming pool still. Ha ha ha. So after they got soapy clean, I showered and then we all watched TV in our jammies.
Posts
