Thursday, my big/tiring backyard clean up day, Kumon, roasted chicken dinner, geeze what a busy day! Ha ha ha! : )

Since the rain we've had where I live in Chiba, has seemed to delay my schedule of cleaning up my backyard and winterizing it. Grrr! Ha ha ha! But today, although it was chilly, there was no rain and the sun was shining, so I went out in the backyard and began cleaning things up as soon as I got Branden sent off to school this morning. Yuppers, my day began at 6:30 am. Ha ha ha. Oh well, life of a mom, so I won't complain I guess. Anyway, at around 8:30 am, we headed out back. Noboru's shift was from 3:00pm today, so he was home with me in the morning and he wanted to do the backyard as much as me, he had his own stuff he wanted to cleanup in the backyard. Thank god, we are always on the same page, with respect to stuff like this. He he he. So, we threw on a sweatshirt on Noah and he got to play outside all morning long, while us, his parents worked and started to winterize stuff. I got out the broom and started sweeping off the big playground. Any cob webs? Well, if there were any, they got all knocked down today! Ha ha ha! And the swings, the pull up thing, I pictured, all got a severe wiping down with a wash cloth and some Orange Clean. The entire playground of ours, was spic and span before I knew it. But yup, it was work and it took time, I didn't wanna do a. half assed job, and it took me, nearly an hour to finish it properly. But I can safely say, our playground is superly clean now. No grime, there! : )

I flipped the table and chairs over next and gave them a proper sweeping down with my broom. And with rain and stuff expected all winter. And of course we don't want "wood rot" to happen to our table and chairs, so we would be packing them safely away into the shed. Next I swept off our entire terrace, as it is a huge patio to begin with, it was work. And my broom sucks, because it's teeny tiny. Note to self, buy a bigger broom pronto! But, I was glad to get it done. Nonetheless! : )

All these little toys, digging toys, tricycle and Anpanman car etc, all had to be cleaned by me first and then packed away safely in the shed until Spring. Sheesh, a lot of work this morning. But the backyard has been looking like crud lately and it needed to be done before winter really kicks in full force. And that old, 100 yen soccer, ball that looks halfway deflated. It went into the garbage bag immediately!

I am sure many of you will know what exactly I am talking about. Do you know how freezing cold the water from a hose is in the winter time? I'll give you a hint, it's freaking cold, cold as heck! : )Yes, I froze my ever loving hands off this morning. This morning with the cleaning of my two sons backyard toys. I brought out my kitchen soap and got an old rag and started cleaning one by one. I was happy to get them clean. I felt better making sure they were clean before I put them into the shed, but sheesh my hands were cold! Ha ha ha! : )

Lot's of soapy water and lot's of scrubbing by me and it came out squeaky clean. I let them sit on the terrace for a while to dry a bit before I put them into the shed. All the toys are now put away for winter. : )

I had bought these 2 roasted chickens right before Halloween and they were in my freezer. I took them out in between cleaning the backyard and getting a drink in the kitchen, the chickens needed to start defrosting a bit. And I have made the offer once before, but I will offer it again, just in case. If anyone ever needs a whole chicken. I have access to them. They are really cheap. You can see by the pic, the bigger ones are 680 yen and the smaller one is 398 yen. If anyone ever wanted or needed one, I would be happy to send them. And if you wanted, I could send them COD, or whatever, if that made you feel better. Whatever is fine. But I just wanted to offer once again. I know many of you have easy access to Costco, but many of you do not, just like me. So, anyhoo, just trying to help, is all! : )

See all the work I was doing on Thursday? I had it all done by noon, seriously, yes all this was done in the early AM. Okay what did I do next? Wreath, yes the wreath. I further did more winterizing. And I got my Spring and Summer wreath that usually hangs up beautifully on my front door and I packed it away. I also got all my bright pink flowers that usually hang nicely in my 4 hanging flower pots on the front porch and I took them all down and I put in my winter red poinsettias instead. Yay! Now my hanging flower plants are all ready for winter now! He he he! : )

I put up my Christmas wreath on our front door instead. Each week, of November I will slowly do one thing to get ready of Christmas. Oh my gosh, I just love the holidays! They make me so happy! : )

Okay after my switching the wreaths and the flower pots out front. I went back in the backyard and got to work yet again. Meanwhile Noboru was just as busy as me. He was doing all the edging. He edged around the jungle gym. He edged the entire yard actually. And then he mowed the lawn, as well.

Next was the rearranging of the shed. We took everything out. I swept everything. And odd because not one single cob web in our shed. Hmm. Really clean. I think the nice thing about living in Japan, is people tend not to collect too munch stuff. Or keep unnecessary crap. Mostly because they don't have the room for the excess junk. But I like that. And yes, I have seen some old houses while driving that have junk all the way to the tippy top in rooms. They must be like old pack rat types, ha ha ha. But as a whole, people seem to be more minimalists here and I love that. We do the same. And if you have read when we cleaned stuff out 6 month's ago or so on my blog, in our attic and shed both, and when we drove to the dump to trash some old stuff, you will know I am not full of crap. Our family really does do a massive twice a year clean up and throws anything away not in use anymore. We just don't wanna keep unneeded junk laying around. Plus it looks junky and messy. So anyway, we looked through things. Stuff we need, like the inflatable pool in the Summer, my red bike, the 3rd car seat we use for travel. The bubbles, we kept. Other stuff we never used we trashed. 21

The result? A very clean, extremely organized shed. With just the basics. And absolutely nothing in there we don't need. Really minimalist type and we like it that way! Bring on the winter now! We are ready for it now! : ) Razor scooter, electric car, our fav BBQ, all safely inside the shed now. Man, it was work! : )

Table also safely inside.

There's my lovely wreath that usually hangs on my front door in the Spring and Summer months. And there's the boys bubbles. And yup that's their toy lawn mower below the wreath. And yup, those are my spring, pink flowers all safely tucked away for the winter! He he. I hate to say it, but with regards to cleaning up the backyard, we kicked ass today! Ha ha ha! : )

A perfectly swept terrace. Just the extension cord sat on it, because Noboru was gathering all his extension cords, to make sure he would be ready for the Christmas lights he will be putting up in a few weeks. And then he put them into the cupboard into the shed for easy access.

The yard looks amazing now. All the edging is done. Even around the jungle gym. And the yard has been properly mowed and now it was time to come inside. We went inside. We each had some lunch. Noboru had an instant noodle and I had an instant UFO, yakisoba that I shared with Noah. I also had a mikan. I had an hour of nothing to do, and I took an hour nap. Noboru and Noah did the same. Before I knew it, the alarm was ringing and I had to go and walk down the street and pick up Branden. I was exhausted, I won't lie. I made sure Branden changed his clothes from his uniform to his regular clothes. He had 2 mikans and a glass of milk, odd combo I know. And he grabbed for his Kumon bag and Noah and I hopped into the car and I drove B to Kumon. I came home and I spoke to my dad on the phone for about 10 minutes. I had told him how I had a splitting headache. I took an Advil and I got the chicken prepared before I went to go and pick up Branden from Kumon.

I got my margarine mixture, garlic salt, pepper, parsley. The same way I always cook it and have blogged about it before. It's nothing fancy just a simple basic recipe, not frills. But it always comes out really good.

I put my herbed margarine between the chicken breast and under the skin. Chopped my whole garlic and after I salted the cavity, I placed a couple cloves in each chicken. Rubbed the extra margarine mix on top of the chicken.

And then I added some additional black pepper and parsley. And chucked the chickens into the oven.

I glanced at the time. And I still had a bit of time left, but just barely. So I got out a roasting pan and washed some potatoes and some sweet potatoes. Threw them into the oven as well. And then I drove Noah and I, back to Kumon. By now, I had an absolutely killer headache. I mean it was killer, you guys. It was throbbing, pulsating. It was almost like my head was going to explode. I sat in the car for about 5 minutes and then Branden came down. Thank god he did, because I just couldn't handle my headache anymore. I wanted go to home. Oddly enough when we got home, in about 5 minutes. And we came into the house and got our comfy clothes on. And relaxed some. My headache went away. Perhaps the Advil kicked in or what. But I felt better after we got home. Not a dot of work for me for the rest of the night. I just relaxed and we ate.

The broccoli boiled and steamed on the back burner. Meanwhile the potatoes were cooked. One tiny baked potato broke up in cooking. Which was fine. I had tons of extra anyway.

The chickens came out perfect, nicely brown, crispy skin. Crunchy skin actually, ha ha ha. And the meat inside was really tender and the flavor was infused with all those different spices and flavors and it was great! I was starved by now. Shoot, I only had a UFO instant noodle all day long. No wonder I was starving! And I was exhausted! Man, was I ready for dinner. Meanwhile my hubby was working until 11:00 pm tonight. So I fixed him a plate so he could eat when he got home.

Here are the kids servings. Branden's servings are growing bigger and bigger as he gets bigger, ha ha ha. Also, after he finished. And he ate every single bite by the way. He asked for 3 more potatoes. I said 3 was too much for his tummy. But I gave him 2 extra bakes potatoes and so he had 4 buttery baked potatoes total. Plus the veg and the chicken. And they even shared a hot buttery croissant. They were both stuffed to the gills. Oh also, B noticed I switched the flowers and the wreaths right away. He got so happy about that. : )

My serving. Garlic herb roasted chicken. Super crispy skin, tender meat. White rice, broccoli. And croissants. I warm the croissants in the toaster oven before dinner and butter them. Dinner was excellent. I know it's only Thursday night. But the week is winding down and I am looking forward to the weekend so much! Because I wanna do absolutely nothing all weekend long! Ha ha ha! And I won't feel a dot guilty about it either! Come on weekend, where are you? : ) Anyway, that was my busy Thursday! : )

The boys got good and squeeky clean. An so did I. And I soaked in the hot bath for about 30 minutes. Oh man it felt great! My muscles felt all rubbery and relaxed. I felt refreshed. From the start of my day at 6:30 am until now. And now was my time for some much deserved rest and relaxation. The boys got their jammies on. And I got on my jammies on too. Mine were pink fleecy type PJ's, with penjuins on them, ha ha ha! And I had my freshly washed and blow dried hair in a pony tail. No makeup obviously, just a soapy smelling girl. Sitting on the couch. Noah zonked out and then I carried him to the bed upstairs. And Branden and I spent some one on one time with one another. We each sat in our jammies on the couch and watched TV together and munched popcorn , then he got quiet. I looked and he was fast asleep. So, then I carried him upstairs to bed as well. Boy is he getting heavy by the way, sheesh! I came back down the stairs. Got my pillow all fluffed up, curled up on the couch with my blankie (my blanket obvously, he he) and I munched some popcorn and had a glass of peach tea with ice. And watched TV until my hubby came home. I warmed up his food for him, he ate. And then he took a shower. I felt sorrier for him, since I knew he was even more tired then me. He sat in his jammies and joined me and the bowl of popcorn and we watched TV. We both watched TV together for an hour, before we both got too exhausted to stay awake anymore. : )

Tuesday! : )

So Monday, I cleaned up the upstairs. Tuesday was my day I had planned to do my outside work in the backyard, however with all the rain we got, it sorta threw a wrench in that plan, ha ha ha. No worries, there's always something to be done around my house, sigh, grumble, sigh. He, he. So, today was my big/long kitchen deep cleaning day instead. I do that every week like clock work. Yup, I do clean my kitchen everyday, obviously. Like generic stuff, like sweeping or vacuuming my kitchen floor daily (I do both depending on my mood), washing down my stove, loading and unloading the dishwasher, the typical crap.: ) So this morning after I got B sent off to school, I started with a good wiping of my kitchen table, No biggie, I do that every morning too after we eat breakfast and at night after dinner, same as most of you. But, after I swept, I moved the chairs into the living room and started filling my kitchen sink with hot soapy Mr. Clean and water and got down to mopping straight away. Music of the day? Today it was yet another mixed CD made by me, and it contained, The Smith's and Human League, just old stuff today. Also, one good thing about living in Japan, we don't wear our shoes in the house, and because of that the floors stay pretty clean. But a once a week, good thorough cleaning/mopping is needed with my 2 crazy sons around. Those crumb droppers that they are! Ha ha ha! Needless to say I have to sweep or vacuum the floors downstairs twice a day, yikes. is that not crazy or what! Yup, I seriously do that, sigh. Once in the mornings and once in the evenings. With my 2 boys around I just gotta keep on top of my floors, sigh! He he he! : )

An awful lot of mopping went on that morning. And rinsing and rinsing to infinity it seemed. Ha ha ha. And then, I wiped off the counter tops. And rearranged my food pantry. Went through the fridge to toss out anything old, same stuff all us moms do (the usual : ). And wiped down the shelves in the fridge. Put in a new bowl of Arm and hammer in there as well. Cleaned up the living room and the toilet downstairs. And then Noah and I had lunch. And then before I know it, I was picking up Branden. Making sure he unpacked his obento. Yes, I make him do it himself (I want him to be able to do stuff for himself). And make sure, he put it into the dish washer. And made sure he changed his clothes into his play clothes. And then the boys went out in the backyard to play for an hour or so. Coming into the house only to get a quick drink and then they ran back outside again. I folded my last load of laundry for the day. And then it was time to get dinner started.


I had 2 cheap pork roasts in my freezer and today was my plan to make some BBQ roasted pork sandwiches.

Very basic and simple taste. Just salt and pepper and I fried the outside of the roasts in a skillet to brown and flavor the outside with a little olive oil.

Nicely brown and ready to throw into the oven.

Meanwhile, I was thinking today would be a great time to make some lime jello with some pineapple. Yumm, and I was halfway expecting Bill Cosby to come knocking on my door. Ha ha ha. Remember those old jello and pudding commercials, he used to do for the Jell-o company? God, those were great commercials. : )

I also was set to make a really basic no frills pasta dish as well too. Just really basic and quite cheap. With Noboru missing dinner at home this evening, since he has a wonky shift tonight. It's just the boys and I for dinner. So basic meals were in order.

Lightly browning the pasta really gives it a heartier flavor. I saw this on a cooking program a bazillion years ago. And the flavor really improves this way.

A lot of flavors had to go into this. But man, this pictures looks like blech! Ha ha ha. It's preboil obviously. Salt, pepper, garlic salt, red crushed pepper. Just a really basic run of the mill stuff here. Boiling it up a bit.

Meanwhile the pork has been cooked, it looks good, no fat hunks, looks tender and smelled amazing for being such a simple meal. Hmm.

Noodles are a bit firm still. Not all gross and mushed out. A slice of mozzarella cheese.

Meanwhile a coleslaw was needed, but with the little time, that I wanted to spend cooking today. And with only me eating the cabbage part of the meal. The kids don't like coleslaw. So, I just kept it really simple.

I just put some miracle whip in there for the tangy taste of it, and a bit of black pepper and a pinch of salt.

A quick stir and the cheese can't really be seen, but yup, it's in there.

Really cheap, really basic. No frills dinner. But it was really perfect for just the boys and I. Each of the boys had a pork sandwich, Noah only had a half. And each had a full bowl of pasta. It was nice and warm for their tummys. On this chilly willy looking night outside. Good thing our house is freaking air tight, we were warm and toasty inside. : )

And here is what mine looked like. And if you have ever been down south in the US, they do make their pulled BBQ pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top. And remember the Hard Rock when B had his undokai, last month? How I wanted to order that BBQ sandwich but didn't and then I regretted it? Well, Jun's had coleslaw on top of his sandwich there too. And that was at the Narita Hard Rock Cafe. So, no it's not too unusual to have coleslaw on top of your BBQ pork sandwich, really. : ) I wish I woulda had hamburger buns, but my store was out of them and since they are hard to find in Japan anyways, although it can be done. He he. I just found an alternative and used hot dog buns instead. The taste was the same and they were great! : )

And for dessert, the boys and I had jello. Boy that lime jello was great. We all got squeaky clean afterwards and then Noah went to sleep pretty much right afterwards. And Branden fell asleep an hour after that. I meanwhile cozied up on the couch, with my blankie and hot caramel machiatto. And watched TV until my hubby got home. He came home exhausted and tired. And happy to be home. He showered, got his sweatpants on and then he joined me on the couch with his own big serving of lime jello. : )

And update of sorts, what's on the burner this month.

Tokyo Disneyland: Yup, we will be heading to Tokyo Disneyland. We have the day picked out already and I am excited because I've never been to Tokyo Disneyland during Christmas season and to see the Christmas decorations and stuff. I've been in summer, and spring and fall, for sure. And in October for Halloween many times. But we've never been when the Christmas decorations have been out. So, we are really looking forward to that.

Costco. We haven't been to Costco since, when? The end of July or very early August, I think. Anyway, we can no longer put it off, so sometime this month we will be heading there too.

Ikea. As it's a custom in Japan. Grandparents usually buy their grandchild entering elementary school a brand new study desk. So, with Branden entering the first grade in April. And knowing how desks are one thing to go out of stock so quickly with it being, the time to buy and all. We want to go and check desks at Ikea to see, if we find anything we like. If so, my mil has instructed us. When we find the one we like and want for B. For us, to use her credit card (She has given each of her children one, although Noboru and Jun have never used it), and for us to charge whatever desk we like. So, anyway, we will check Ikea and hopefully we find something we like. And since Branden's bedroom set comes from Ikea, hopefully we can make sure all woods and style and color of furniture match, his already existing bedroom Ikea set and stuff. Yes, I am a stickler about all woods and furniture matching for each room. And the wood flooring and furniture has to all match as well. It's my one thing, that really gets me if it doesn't (hangs head in shame). The one thing that drives me absolutely bonkers, if it doesn't match. Sorry. : )

Backpack, well I already mentioned it, but we will be busy this month, also looking for Branden's upcoming elementary school backpack.

Thanksgiving planning is in effect, as well.

Christmas lights are also going up at the end of this month.

Plus the fact, I have a yochien mothers lunch thing, sometime this month as well.

Holy cow! : ) It's a bit busy, sure, but not any more or less then anyone elses house.

As for my plan this week? Do I have anything planned? Nothing unless you count, boring ol' housework, ha ha ha. Today and tomorrow are my big gigantic clean up days. I have yard work to do in the backyard. I have to clean up the boy's playground. Wipes things down. Sweep the patio. Mopping the kitchen, which is my weekly task. My toilets (my twice a week task), just got so much to do. I also have stuff to put online for sale on Yahoo auction. And I am bidding on one thing online at the moment as well. Wish me luck, I sure hope I win the auction! Ha ha ha! : )

And tonight? Well, I'm making sukiyaki for dinner! : )

And what has our family been watching on TV lately? Well you know,I just loved talking about American Idol on my blog last season and Dexter this season, same ol' same ol, TV type talk I guess. Or chew the fat on the latest movie I've seen, etc. Well, anyways for our family over here, we've been watching the first 2 Sunday's of the new season of "So you think you can dance" all I can say is, OMG, it's so hilarious. The guy who calls himself "Sex", yes that's the name, he calls himself, was on this season again. He still can't dance to save his life, but he's so funny to watch! Some of the people on there are just hilarious and fun to watch. And the good dancers are amazing to watch too. I really agree with the judge, Shane Sparks a lot of the time. Also, we added the Fox Horror TV to our satellite line-up, so now we get to watch that channel now, ha ha ha, how crazy is that? I watched Stella on Cinefil last week in the afternoon sometime. It's with Bette Midler (yes I just love Bette Midler), it's sorta an old movie. But it's good. The ending made me cry, I sat in the afternoon, eating my lunch while B was at school and Noah was down for a nap, meanwhile I grabbed for my box of Kleenex. And last night, the hubby worked the night shift the kids were fast asleep. And I stayed awake watching the Astronauts Wife with Johhny Depp. It was on some satellite channel here in Japan and it started at 11:30 pm. So obviously I stayed up much too late last night. I've seen the movie a few times before. But it's good. And umm, this could be just me. But, the wife shoulda just stayed with Johhnny Depp. I mean sure he was really some alien from outer space, lol. And not really her husband, lol. But man he's a hunk. Ha ha ha. Wink, wink! (obviously I am just kidding here) I woke up really tired this morning, thanks to the Astronauts wife. Oh yeah and I got some killer cramps and some major freaking killer PMS this morning, oh the joys of it all. Oh well, as long as I take an Advil, I should be okay (knocks on wood : ). He he. : )

Sunday was when the last small order came in! Phew! : )

Part of living in the countryside of Japan means I have to order stuff online, versus driving there myself and pick things up on my own if I need a speciality item. And frankly, for our family the benefit of living in the country is still best for our family, so we don't mind having to order stuff online once in a great while. Anyways, we ran out of mini chicken cutlets/catsu (breaded breast meat with cheese) . We use these for Branden's lunch sometimes. And driving to the Co-op just for one item seemed too ridiculous. And I don't want to join the Co-op because I find the prices are just too expensive, I get my groceries cheaper elsewhere. Sorry, but with anything it's personal choice. So, Noboru and I searched for them. So many places had them. The ones we bought are restaurant grade, so they are close as homemade as you can get. No fatty hunks. And they were like 380 yen or so a pack, I forget the actual price. So we bought 3 packs of these, just so we'd have them on hand. We got these on Wednesday afternoon. And it was a relief they got here. One thing to cross off my list! : )

On Sunday, my Flying pig order came in. I am sure all of us, foreigners living in Japan, know about Flying Pig, I've blogged about it a few times in the past myself. I like them and it is a saving grace for me, considering how freaking far I live from Costco Makuhari. We ran out of waffles, plain and simple. And B loves them. And with weekdays being so hectic, we appreciate the ease the frozen waffles allow us, so I placed my order at the beginning of the week. Ordered some waffles and the quickest day they could get here was, Sunday, today. So, Sunday was waffle delivery day. : )

You know, it's so easy to "over buy"/shop at Costco. Because everything looks good and with living overseas, it's easy to want 2 of everything! Ha ha ha. But, I am tough, I guess, I have to show some restraint here, ha ha ha. And I won't allow myself to go overboard like that! Bummer. Ha ha ha. I had made sure my 3 things all got shipped in the freezer box, to save on shipping. Since the waffles had no choice at all but to go in a freezer shipment. And the cheese and rolls, woulda been better to stay in the cool ship but that woulda been 900 yen more. So, instead I just had everything go into the frozen shipment. Just 3 things total, waffles, those yummy yeasty dinner rolls, and a huge hunk of American, Colby jack cheese. Going be making something with this cheese. but I won't tell, just yet! Ha ha ha! : ) And yes, after putting it off for so long, we will be going to Costco this month and Ikea too! I'll have to share more about that, later though! : )

Saturday!

Those of you that know me, know how protective I am about our weekends. In our family, weekends are not for work. They are for relaxing. Hanging with family, basically just being lazy bums. Whether we go to to the beach, rent DVD's, have a family bbq, whatever, as long as long grueling work isn't in the mix, then that's for us. Heck, the work week is hectic enough, isn't it? Between cooking, cleaning, obento making, running to swim class or Kumon, plus baking and such. Our weekends are spent, snoozing and just basically, kicking back with the family! Lazy suckers we are! And yes, we do always make sure all our laundry and the housework is all done by the time Friday evening rolls around. So my weekends are spent just enjoying. Most I ever have to do, is wash the yochien stuff every weekend, that's my only weekend task, I give myself, besides dinner and such. Ha ha ha! Wink, wink! : ) Anyways, so this morning, we all slept in. Thank god my kids sleep in so late! Yay! : ) When we all finally made our way down the stairs, I got breakfast started. I made a nice batch of American crispy bacon. Fried up some potatoes and made omelets and toast. Kids had milk and the hubby and I each had 2 cups of hot coffee. We never even bothered to get out of our crappy house clothes the entire day or evening. We figured, we're home all day and night, we have nobody to impress. So we just hung out like that. And loved it! Heck ya! : )

After breakfast and some serious tooth brushing going on! I gave the kids each a sweater or jacket. And a hat. And we all headed outside. We played the entire day in our backyard.

A nice push on the swings was in order! : )

Sigh, Noah is still not pumping his legs you guys with regards to the tricycle! He's just being lazy still. Just sits and wants to be pushed around the yard, lol! Geeze Noah! Ha ha ha : )

Hello Mr. Noah, Noah! (this is what my dad calls him) : )

Branden's a total ruff and tumble boy! A surfer and boogie boarder in training! A very good swimmer to boot! And as daddy has been making sure, he is one heck of a soccer player as well! Look at this pic, B is kicking that ball. He has great foot movements. Branden can bounce that thing all day long! : )

Weekend play, the boy way! Ha ha ha! And yes, I am the odd girl out here! Good thing, I can join in and give them a run for their money as well. : )

Umm, Noah-chan. You were walking in the line of fire right there! Good thing you weren't hit by any fast moving soccer balls. Ha ha ha : )

Just hanging around, eh? Ha ha ha : )

#1 steer the ship, #2 man your battle stations! Ha ha ha! Oh man, I just love the weekends! : )

And some slip sliding good fun here! : )

Taking his turn! : )

A lot of the rice fields have been cut down. However some haven't. These ones directly behind our house have been cut.

The ones towards the right have also has been cut.

However the rice fields towards the left have not been cut, go figure! At any rate, it's nice to watch them grow! : )

Ribbit, ribbit! Yes, we do live in the country in Japan and it's frog city around here! Usually they are a nice bright green color. However this one was like a brown color. He was a nice frog. And we sent him hopping to the field on the right of our house. And I have to add this tiny little story. About 2 weeks ago, Noboru came into the house. He doesn't smoke in the house, nobody is allowed to do that, sorry. Anyway he said that there was a huge frog hiding in our front lawn. Sorta buried himself in the grass sorta. The kids and I went out front to take a look and sure enough this frog was enormous. About the size of a Big Mac, lol. And he was totally zonked out asleep. Noboru who is obsessed with his lawn care, as we all know and how I playfully poke fun at him about it sometimes, so he was more pissed the frog had put a dent and flattened a piece of his grass, ha ha ha. So he woke the frog up, and had him hop to the field next to our home. OMG, that's hilarious! : )

Upside down Branden! When the boys grow up, I want them to remember all the fun they had with us, their parents. And I am sure they will! : )

Run, Noah! They were trying to chase you! And yes, that is my shadow he he, (my hairs getting long and no I won't be sharing a pic, so please don't ask, sorry guys!) : ) Our night was fantastic! We had dinner at home, and watched a DVD. Popcorn, leftover Halloween candy, yumm! A nice way to wind down our lazy Saturday! : )

Preparing for the first grade...the Japan edition! Ha ha ha! : )

As, I am sure everyone knows by now, Branden will be entering the first grade at the beginning of the new school year. The new school year might start in August or early September in the US, however in Japan the new school year starts in the beginning of April. Now, as I have only been educated in the United States, and admittedly don't know too much about the "ins and outs of elementary school in Japan", I will just as I always have and do. I will use this blog and continue to type and tell "our" journey of entering the first grade in Japan. Everything I find out. All the mistakes I make, because I am sure there will be a few flubs, ha ha ha. So anyway here is where we are at this point. In September, we ran into some friends of ours at a local small shopette. The guy works with my husband. And they have 2 kids in elementary school, the same school B will be going to. So, anyway, the mom said to us at the bookstore that day. She said something to the effect of. "Branden will be going to the first grade this coming year, right?", My husband told them, yes he will. And then she said...."oh I imagine from November you will be *REALLY* busy then" Again, not knowing much about Japanese elementary schools, at all. I just smiled, nodding my head and said "yes, you are right". I asked my husband about that and he said, in Japan, parents usually start getting ready for elementary school in November. Again, it's all new to me. Now on October 31st, Halloween day, as I picked up Branden from the bus meeting point, where all students and mothers were. About 60 mom's in total, plus kids. The thing of the biggest topic for the big class, was getting ready for elementary school. The buzz was mostly about backpacks. I have received so much advice. So much advice and funny because some advice conflicts with other advice. Oh brother, ha ha ha. : ) And I think it's pretty obvious how confusing all this, is to this American mommy. So anyway, on Friday, today, Branden came home with a packet of about 4 backpack maker catalog's (from the 4 main makers). And I flipped through them. Thought deeply about what all the mother's had told me. Sigh, grumble, grumble. Ha ha. I will get this all sorted out, I am sure. The pic above is of the catalogs all wrapped up. : )

2008, these are all the newest models. And for those of you in the US, what is the price range for backpacks in Japan? Cheapest ones are about, $180.00 US, and they go all the way up to about $600.00 and some can even be more expensive as well. It all just depends. Some are leather, and some are not. That's what I found out. The basic colors and models are. Girls wear red, plain red. And boys wear plain black. Some boys, I gather from the mom down the street says, very few boys at our school, wear blue (I wonder why that is, hmm). Most of them use black. Double sigh from me. In the US here's how the backpack stuff goes down, your parents go and buy you a nice $20.00 or $30.00 Jansport backpack, or if you're younger say kindergarten or elementary school age, maybe a Care Bear or Strawberry shortcake one, if you are a girl. And boy's maybe choose a Spiderman or Superman. You replace them every year, so no big deal. No life altering big deal, like I said. Certainly nothing to worry, fret or have a stroke about. But in Japan, the kids must use them for the entire 6 years and given the price, they have to last that. So, as you can tell, we have been in deep backpack discussion mode at our house.

Now here is the paragraph where I will share every one's advice, that I have been given. And heck I do appreciate all the advice I got from my friends.

#1, everyone seems to agree on one thing. They have all told me to buy a quality one. Again not the most expensive. But they told me to buy one that was leaning on the more expensive side, rather then the cheaper side. And they said, the cheapest ones do tend to break and fall apart. So, after hearing that same advice from about 6-8 ladies who already have kids in elementary school. Plus they also went to school in Japan, themselves, I am inclined to believe this. So, we agree about this.

#2, one of my friends, told me to buy a backpack that closed more in the middle of the bag, versus closing on the bottom. Now, nobody else has mentioned a thing about this to me at all. So I am taking this with a grain of salt. But again, the advice was appreciated. Not sure, if I am going to follow it though. : )

#3, my good friend, her older daughter is in elementary school. And her other daughter attends the same yochien as B. She is really beautiful, by the way. Her style is exceptional. And she gave me a ton of advice the day I went to pick up B from the field trip. She's the lady who brought us the case of mangoes when I had that BBQ in the summer, if you recall. So I listened to her advice intently. She said, they have automatic closures on the better bags. And I didn't know that. And she also said this advice. She said, all the mom's are buying the backpacks already and all the more popular ones will be sold out by the end of December, so she told me, "please Gina buy yours quickly", because the popular ones go outta stock quickly. This advice, I will 100% listen to. So my plan is to buy ours before December 1st. My husband and I have decided November we will research and make this our month to buy our backpack. We don't wanna go to buy one, only to find it's outta stock. That would totally suck! She also told me to buy my school supplies by the end of December as well. My god, I thought, this lady is like an elementary school, guru, if she's kind enough to dole me out some advice, I better listen! : )

Her final thing, has got stuck in my head and I can't get it out. What is it? I'll tell you. She said, when her older daughter started the first grade last year. All the mom's bought all the cute fancy red ones. the ones with the flowers, and patterns on them and floral stitching etc.. And the mom's of the boy's did the same. And at the end of the first week, the kids all asked their parents if they could just have the basic red and basic black instead. Meanwhile, the parents had bought the more fancy ones and were shocked and actually she said, many took the bags back to the shops and asked for exchanges for the more basic model. And yes, as she was saying this to me. I sat wondering, they gave them an exchanges? Ha ha ha. But, again, I was just listening. Sigh. So anyway. That's what I have been told so far. And a few more good points as well, but they would take too long to type out. Sorry.

So, with all the good Japanese girlfriends, I have. And this time it totally pays to have good Japanese girlfriends, because they really, really know all this stuff. And they really jump in and help me. And boy do I need it and appreciate it. So where am I, at in terms of the backpack? Well, we know we will buy it by the end of November for sure. We don't wanna drag our feet with that. And we know, we are going to buy one that leans to the expensive side. Just because it has to last the full 6 years. However, I wanted to buy Branden a really cute pattern one I saw in the catalog, however I worry the advice would be true and B would hate it after a while and wanna change it to a basic color, with no pattern. Hmm. Because whether we admit it or not. All kids wanna sorta be the same as their fellow classmates. Nobody wants to be the odd man out so to speak. And if I sent him with the only odd or different color bag, I wouldn't want him to hate it. So anyway that's where I am about the bag. A lot of thought and searching is going to be going on this month! : )

Final thought about the bag and this is what a coworker of my husbands had told us. He said this. A sign of a good Japanese elementary school backpack is it is going to have a **6 year warranty on it.** And anything with less, proves it won't last. And yes, as I flipped the catalog, I saw many with only 4 year warranty's on them. And many had 6 year warranty's on them. Also, consider Japanese backpacks are about 20 to 25 pounds. They are freakishly heavy. So also consider the weight of the backpack. Sigh, so much thought has to go into this purchase. Anyway, again that's where we are in the backpack buying journey! Ha ha ha. : )

Branden has a medical exam to take next week. It's one of those "mass cattle call" type exams for all 6 year olds entering the first grade in April. His good friend, Genki-kun will be taking the exam with him too, since they will be attending the same elementary school together. They have that medical exam on Tuesday November 6th. And on November 12th, I think is when Branden will have to go back and all the 6 year olds who will be entering elementary school, they will be taking a test. They want to know how much your child knows. It's a knowledge test. I am not worried about either test. The medical or the aptitude test. Branden is pretty smart. Really smart actually. He reads and writes in both English and Japanese. Speaks in both English and Japanese. Although between you and I, he prefers English. Ha ha ha. And I hate to say it but, this is where I am thanking my lucky stars we started him in Kumon in July. Just by looking at that rather thick stack of work sheets he has finished. I have absolutely zero worries, if he will be okay or not. I know he will be fine. He'll ace that test come November 12th. And come on, us mom's can be proud of our kids, right? Of course we can! : ) Heck, we'd be odd, if we weren't! He he he! : )

He can read all this. For not even being in first grade yet, he reads really well. When we go to the store, he points, at a bottle and says, ...yakitori! Mikan. Ha ha ha. He can read it and it's really helpful actually. Ha ha ha. His reading is spot on for his age. In both languages actually.

And as the teacher at Kumon quiz's him, and you can see his score here. It's always 10 out of 10. he never misses a beat with regarding his reading. And honestly, the relief this gives me. Phew, I won't have to worry about B at school, now. Phew! : )

His writing, he does writing drills at Kumon all the time. he does know how to write his name in both English and Japanese. And considering, his level will only get higher before April rolls around. I am really pleased. So here it goes, the beginning of our journey to elementary school begins! : )