Otoshidama, Books arrived from Amazon and LOVED the book "Losing Kei", Noah's passed a level in swimming and the Gap kids stuff got here!!! : )

Remember when the hubby asked me, what I wanted for Christmas? Well, he did buy me the new car and that was my partial Christmas present slash necessity. And then he got me the 2 nightgowns. Well, he said how about some perfume or something. I suggested books. : ) I wanted that Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook for ages! I love Martha Stewart a lot. I think she's fabulous. And so, I was really happy to have ordered this book. Then I chose the book, "Part Asian, 100% Hapa" I love this book, the book has a full picture of a half Asian on every page. And they were all asked 1 question...."what are you" Some answers were funny, smart, cheeky and some down right brilliant replies to the old...'what are you" question. I have been wanting this book forever, they don't stock it in Guam and I have checked 3 times. Didn't have the luggage space in Denver last September. And anyway, yeah I was really thrilled to get this book. Branden flipped through it, and I want my boy's to grow up feeling confident and happy with who they are. They already are, but this book is so cool! And both my boy's enjoyed looking through it and checking out all the excellent color pictures in there. I also picked the book, "Does Anybody Else Look Like Me", a fellow western mom married to a Japanese wrote this book and I like her views and take on things a lot, interesting read. Finally, the book I wanted for Christmas was..."Losing Kei", I remember when this book first came out. And the lady who wrote this book has a blog, as most of you know. I remember when she had her blog originally on Blogspot, I think I commented on there a few times. Then she switched to a different blog addy and I enjoy reading her blog once in a while. She's funny. I enjoy her MIL and laundry posts most of all. But, I had been wanting to read this book. I wanted to read it, because it was a relationship between a couple like many of us are (western wife/Japanese husband), okay they divorced in the end. But, I loved the thought of a book or romance/relationship between an American woman and a Japanese man. So few books like that and for me, I related to a story like that a lot. :D I also liked the idea of the travelling book of "Losing Kei" that has been making the rounds in Japan. That Trisha started off, right on Trisha for that. : ) But, I wanted a copy of my own, one to keep. : ) When I went to Denver, I printed out the book info for the book. And when I went to Barnes in Noble, in Denver, I was very disappointed they did not have the book at the particular store I went to. Believe me, I had one of the guys there looking all over the store for it! So to my disappointment, I left Denver without my copy of "Losing Kei". And when, I decided to ask for some books for part of my Christmas present, it was a no brainer that I would be getting it! In fact it was the FIRST book, I threw into my cart!

My own thoughts on, "Losing Kei" I loved it! I thought it was a fabulous book, from front to back. So well written. Such rich characters and the story was awesome! I tell you this and I am really and truly honest with this. I read this book in 1 day (and that's a big thing for me and tells you how good this is)! I started it last Saturday and I could not...would not put it down! I think I put it down for an hour to fix dinner for Branden and Noah, but as soon as dinner was done, and baths were taken, I went right back to my book! And as I have said, many times before....I am more of a National Enquirer, tabloid magazine reader, Parents magazine reader and usually have no time to get lost in books. But this book was so fantastic it just sucked me right in! I truly enjoyed every moment and page of this book! From her heartbreak with her American boyfriend Phillip. To landing in Japan. Meeting, and falling in love with Yusuke. The ice-cream that melted on the counter (hubba hubba, wink wink). Their marriage. Her MIL! Oh man could I relate to having MIL issues. This whole book just appealed to me so much. I was so devastated when they finally divorced. As I was reading the pages of that.....when Jill finally asked him for a divorce. My own heart was beating as I flipped the pages. I was crushed when they divorced. And I had to stop myself for a second and say to myself...."geeze Gina, you must really be into this book" LOL! When they divorced and she couldn't see her son. I could feel her despair. Again, this whole book was so amazingly well written. When Yusuku in the book remarried, I was a bit sad. And when the MIL had died, I had wondered, why couldn't Jill have just toughed things out. She would have been free after the MIL had passed away. Again, though these sorta questions and stuff that come to mind only show and prove how wonderful this book is and how much I truly loved it. Because the book is perfectly written, I wouldn't change a single thing. And sometimes stories aren't meant to have picture perfect storybook endings, so I loved the realness of this and I did love the ending and the ending was a good happy one, granted minus the marriage.: ) But yeah, it honestly was just such a fantastic read, I had thought about this book even days later. This book is fabulous, you guys, as I am sure many of you already know. It's a flawless read! I am even thinking of bringing this book with me for the airplane in Guam in 7 days. Because it's really so good, this is something I can definitely see myself reading more then once, that's for sure.! I really really loved this book a whole lot! Anyway, I just wanted to say what a fab book it is! : )

Baked a plain yellow cake this week. Could have frosted it, have a few containers of Pillsbury chocolate frosting and such in my pantry but ehhh. Sometimes just a nice simple yellow cake with no frosting at all is best. It was a good thing to munch on though. Especially with a nice hot cup of coffee. : )

Made some niku jaga one night. Maybe on Sunday night? It was really good. Such a nice hot simple one pot meal type meal. White rice on the side as usual though. : )

Otoshidama: We got the boy's otoshidama in the mail on Tuesday since Monday was a holiday in Japan. In Japan at the New Year kids usually get money from family members. Since Noboru's family comes from Osaka. We didn't get to see them. : ( But we did have the boy's call grandma Mitsuko and actually also Noboru's grandma too. Mitsuko had held onto the money that was for Branden and Noah and she was kind enough to send it on to the boy's. They ended up with 22,000 yen each! So about $220.00 US for B and $220 US for Noah. So not bad at all. They actually did pretty well for themselves regarding otoshidama. Anyway thought this might be interesting for those of you not in Japan. Sorta cool to learn about different stuff like this huh? : )

In other news this week! Noah moved up to another level in swimming this Tuesday! He's too little to be a number! He's only going through the flowers right now. He is now a sunflower!!!! As you can see in this picture! Awww! : ) But he's doing really good with his swimming lately and I think he's going to be an awesome swimmer like his older brother! : )

I think it was Tuesday, that I made sara udon/chicken chow mein. All white breast meat, lots of veggies on a bed of crunchy noodles with a side of white rice! It was so good! : )

You might see this bag and you might think trash. Cut up paper bits, should be discarded! However, I see this and I see a MASTERPIECE! A real work of art! : ) As the sensei wrote in black marker on the corner, it was indeed Noah's. It was his first time he had ever used scissors at the yochien (he's used kid ones at home before but first time at school) and she saved the bits he cut up! And kept them for me in the clear envelop! Awww! This sensei is sentimental! She is a total fluffy heart! And I think she rocks! :D In all honesty though. We have known this sensei, since she was hired at this school. And she used to ride the bus home with Branden and Genki every single day. So we've known her for a good 2 and a half years! She's known Noah for a good 2 and a half years too! She remembers when he was really little and I'd walk him up to the bus stop and he'd be sitting in his stroller. And I have always been so friendly with her and she has always been so friendly with our family. It was just good luck, I guess that she turns out to be Noah's sensei! Ha ha ha! She is a lovely sensei though. Very kind, very considerate. And she literally tells me everything. She tells me daily reports on how Noah's doing, every afternoon when I pick him up! I am glad, I have that close kind of relationship with the sensei though. Tuesday, when I picked up Noah. She told me, "today Noah was playing with a puzzle" And she said a few more things. And then on Wednesday she told me, she took him outside in the morning and he slid down the slide. And then she said he played blocks in the afternoon. Oh and funny thing....Noah had been calling her..."coach" since that is what he was taught to call them at swimming school. But on Wednesday she told me...today was the first day he called me sensei!!! She was all excited and happy! And I was like...oh yeah? And then Thursday, she said, they made finger paints and they got an impression of his hand, yup she gives me the whole skinny on everything, lol. Noah also tells me every detail as well like when he told me, "sensei got some green paint mommy on my shirt but the sensei wiped it all off!" Ha ha ha. I said...oh yeah? Busted! Ha ha ha. Just kidding, she wiped it all off, so no worries. : ) And today when I picked him up, she told me he colored most of the day and then she read the class a story, when I peeked in the window he was sitting on the floor with the other little kids captivated by the book the sensei was reading to them. Also, I want to say....how there is like 2 teachers per class and 1 helper. Well, the 3 new kids, including Noah. They are having a sorta 1 sensei who always stays with them and is helping them transition. And the sensei we know, is the one who is the one helping Noah make his transition. She sorta sticks with him the whole time. Gives cuddles. She said she thinks that next Wednesday will be his first day to have lunch at school. So, I guess that means his transition period is nearly over. They're all really happy with how well he's doing. No tears, no cries. Just doing really well. And the other little boy and little girl? They are also doing super! The little girl is completely doing fine and adjusted. And the little boy is doing wonderful. So these 3 are going to indeed do just fine. : )And they really are very caring at this school. Anyway I am going to save Noah's first time he ever used scissor clippings. For when he's older. : )

The clothes from the Gap via Expat Express got here for the boy's!

Two pair of shorts for Noah.

Noah's exactly 3 years 6 month's old. So he's 3 and a half. For his tops, I just went ahead and got 4T. Smarter that way and can get more usage from them. However not even an option for his shorts or pants. Because he's got such a skinny waist and booty. This kid has literally no junk in his trunk at all! :D Ha ha ha! So, a 3T will fit him forever as far as his shorts go! Green shorts were on sale.

I loved these shorts because I love that shade of green a lot. And I liked the faux plaid double waist band in these shorts. And they look so soft and comfy.

Got this sweatshirt because it went to well with the shorts.

All his tops, sweatshirts what have you, we got in size 4T.

Long sleeved top with a nice periwinkle blue Gap logo with that same green color lined around the edges.

I thought this would look cute with the green shorts. Very basic and still comfortable. Maybe a pair of sandals or Crocs and a floppy hat come Spring or Summer.

And if he wore this on an airplane or went to Disneyland or anyplace and it got chilly, he would have the matching sweatshirt to just zip up.

This long sleeve orange shirt you can sorta see. Love the #'s stitched on each arm. And I figured a sweatshirt in orange would be good too.

Same thing...if he got cold at least he would have a matching sweatshirt.

And another mix and match short that goes with orange obviously. A short sleeve orange T shirt with the brown bear logo. The 2 short sleeve tee's with bear logo's were also on sale.

Two more mix and match green tops.

All tops 4T.

I loved this speed buggy type car on this top. He can wear this with the green shorts or with some jean cargo shorts or whatever. It can be mixed and matched with a lot. This was on sale.

And last mix and match for the green is a short sleeve with gap bear logo. There will be a bunch of different ways to wear those green shorts now. I imagine he will get a lot of usuage out of the green elements this Spring and summer. And he has a bunch of orange as well and so he can mix and match a lot of those orange things too. And he also will be wearing a lot of yellow too, so again he can mix and match the yellow stuff with other yellow things. Lot's of yellow, orange and green for Noah, as always. : )

Two last tops for Noah! One retro Superman top and one bright and yellow top.

This one is cool, because it's got the...hang loose hand, lol! And it says...Cool Dude! And the color is great. 4T. So he'll get a lot of usage from this. This yellow hang loose/shaka top was also on sale.

These Junk Food Tees at Gap in the US are pretty cool. I got Noah 1 and B got 2. They're pricy though...so Noah got his in a 4T and B got his in an 8. That way they'll get more usage from them. Plus kids grow like weeds so I'm not worried. : )

Superman! And I like how it has an almost faded sorta look to it. I can't wait to see Noah in this one this summer! : ) With some shorts and a pair of Crocs. : ) This Superman top was on sale.

A nice pair of yellow jammies for Noah in size 4T for next winter for Noah! : ) And they say....CHILL! Ha ha ha. : ) These were on sale.

Hmm, Noah seemed to get more Spring and Summer stuff, meanwhile Branden seemed to get more stuff for next Winter. I didn't plan it like that. For starter's everything in Branden's size 8 size, although he's technically only 7 years and 2 month's old right now. But that's the size we're getting for him now. Anyway a bunch of stuff in size 8 was sold out. They didn't really have many short sleeve or light weight long sleeve tops like they had for Noah. Meanwhile they had no real sweaters or anything for Noah next year either. So, no worries, I could just get what they had and make do like that. So, For B, he mostly got winter stuff. However B will be getting a good amount of Spring stuff in a few month's. Probably will just drive to the Gap at Chiba New Town for his stuff. Plus he has a great deal of Ralph Lauren tops we got in Guam not too long ago, so he's doing pretty okay. : )

Got this really thick fleece zip sweatshirt. For Branden in size 8. It was on sale and he can wear this to school next winter.

I like the little rubber logo on the sleeve. Also you can see how thick this sucker is! He will be toasty warm next winter with this one!

2 pair of PJ's for Branden in size 8. Rugby big thick bold stripes. These are really going to be cute PJ's for him next year. And again on sale. The after Christmas sales were killer! They were so good!

A cream colored size 8 zip up sweater. This was really unusual because the inside of the hood had a cool design.

He can wear this to school next winter too. And I liked how the numbers on the chest were in orange. LOL. And the inner hood part I really dug a lot too.

3 tees for Branden. Wish they would have had more available in the after Christmas sale. Oh well. : )

The Beatles! Who doesn't love the Beatles? Everyone loves the Beatles and everyone has their own favorite Beatles tunes! My mom always played the Beatles among other stuff. And I have played them a lot too. Branden knows the words to about 7 beatles songs by heart. And Noah knows, Yesterday and parts of Michelle! : ) I will enjoy watching my son wear this, this summer! : )

The Super Friends! LOL! Another retro vintage looking tee! I can just imagine my kid, wearing a pair of flip flops this summer and a pair of cargo khaki shorts with this. Maybe heading to swimming class or having an outside BBQ with us at home! I dig this shirt a lot! : )

Yup size 8 again!

A nice color. This is for B.

And mom these next few pics are for you, since you and your gift cards at Christmas paid for the majority of this stuff. The boy's say "Thank you grandma" The sweatshirt is a little baggy but hey, nothing wrong with a slightly baggy sweatshirt. And I fold the sleeves no problem.

Awww! : ) Can hardly believe he's in yochien! Do kids grow in no time or what?

The size 4T top fits him almost better then those size 3T shorts, even with a simple fold of the sleeve. Even in this pic, those shorts look nice and roomy, ha ha ha! And the length on them! Yup, considering his body frame, it was indeed right to get the 3T bottoms and the 4T tops. But he's such a sweetheart! A really really good boy! : )

Dinner on Wednesday, pork chops (American style) rice a roni and broccoli)! Also, I have been walking every single day. What I have been doing is, Girl Japan and I have been emailing each other via our keitei's daily (from morning to night tracking each other's daily progress throughout the day), working out at the same time. So exercising together, even if we live far apart. But it's been helpful in that we have been inspiring each other, cheering each other on and giving each other the drive to get our steps in each day! But yes, I have still been walking treadmill everyday! I feel so healthy and so proud of myself you guys! I truly have been working my butt off! Literally! Ha ha ha! : )

Now it's time for the end of my post tid bits! : )

How Noah's handling school? He's doing and handling it flawlessly! No bumps or hiccups to speak of at all. And believe me, I'd tell ya if there were any, but there's none. He's a little trooper!

How am I handling both boy's going to school? Honestly? It's hard! One kid going to school is okay. But trying to balance both the elementary schedule and the yochien schedule at the same time is proving hard! Frankly it's been kicking my butt all week! I have NOT got my groove with this yet at all! Granted, I have not messed up or made any mistakes this week. And for that I am pretty happy. But somehow it isn't second nature to me yet at all. It's going to take me some time to get adjusted to the 2 kid 2 school juggle. But I have faith that I will get it down! I mean, I got adjusted to both the yochiens and I did okay. I got adjusted to Branden in elementary and we did okay. And so, this is just going to take some time too. : )

TV Talk: I have still been watching, Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case, Desperate Housewives on Lala, The season 1 finale for Veronica Mars was wild, huh? Still enjoying Hannah Montana every night with the boys. But I am loving Weeds a lot and Fat Actress a lot. And I have gotten into the show....Cashmere Mafia this week too! It's a great show! I can't wait until American Idol starts for us in Japan! I know my dad's been watching it in the US already! I also am a convert to the show, 2 and a Half Men! So funny! And I can't wait to start watching, Samantha Who with Christina Applegate. It's looks good!

Was very sad to hear that Ricardo Montalban had died! I liked and admired and respected Ricardo Montalban so much! I grew up with watching him on Fantasy Island! Man, he rocked that white suit every week! He was a classy guy! Seemed like a very good soul that guy!

Bummer! : (

Vacation to Guam is in 7 short days! Yes, we leave next Saturday! I have a funny story about this. You all know where my hubby works, my bil also works there too. Which is really unusual but anyway. So, while hubby was working on say Tuesday night. Noboru was flipping through a Guam brochure in Japanese. And his coworker says. "you going to Guam?" Noboru says, "yes the week of the 20th or so" And then the guy says...."oh yeah that's right you and your brother must be going together" Talk about a lightning bolt moment for Noboru! He said..."what???" So when he saw him that evening, he asked Jun. They were both shocked and surprised. Neither of them knew the other family were going! Noboru got home and told me.

How do I feel about it? I'm so happy! I love my bil Jun a lot and my sil Satoe a lot too. They are really sweet, kind people. And my niece is a sweetie pie. So, them going is no problem for us. And Noboru meanwhile said, they actually seemed really excited by us going to be there too. They have their own stuff to do and we have our own stuff to do too. And we drive in Guam and they take trolley's. But we will try to have a dinner and a breakfast buffet with them though. And maybe a little pool time with them too. Our trips are overlapping though. They arrive Jan22nd. We arrive the 24th. Meanwhile they leave the 26th? And we won't leave until the 28th. Anyway it's going to be sorta cool! I told hubby, good thing that man mentioned it. Otherwise we would have run into each other by total accident somewhere and went....wwwhhhhhatttt? Ha ha ha. They've only been to Guam once before, and this will be their first time of staying at the Hilton. But believe me...with me getting used to both the boy's two school routine. I could REALLY use a vacation!!!! I really and truly could, you guys!!!!

Tomorrow January 18th is Noboru's birthday. He will be 37 years old! : )

Ipod nano is back and working just fine! Got all of my songs back on there as well, so glad to have that before our trip!

That airplane that crash landed in the Hudson river? What an awesome pilot! And glad everyone made it off the plane alive and well.

Singer Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in jail for falsely imprisoning a male escort and basically handcuffing an escort to a wall? I loved Culture Club way back in the day. So, wow! : (

Have a wonderful weekend you guys! I am just going to enjoy my weekend, be a lazy bum at home and enjoy my family to pieces! And for hubby's birthday tomorrow, I am going to be cooking him a very special quiet little family dinner here at home tomorrow. The four of us will enjoy it. And of course we will be having cake and ice cream as well. : ) And next week, when we are in Guam, I will take him to a nice restaurant, while we're there and celebrate that way too! Yay, exactly 7 days from now, we will totally already be there, I can't wait! Anyway have a lovely weekend you guys! : )

Noah's awesome first day of school!!!! : )

I woke up at 5:30 am, my usual time to get breakfast going for Branden and make sure he gets out the door, by 7:30 am. I didn't drive him to school on Friday, hubby did at 7:30 am. At 7:30 am, I switched from getting B ready to getting Noah ready. After he finished his breakfast. I then took him upstairs, brushed his teeth, washed his face, did his hair and got him dressed. I meanwhile popped on my own clothes, I even put my face on a little (meaning my makeup). But I didn't go all out or anything, because I know by now, these are the ladies we will see every single day, with no makeup on and stuff so best to just get comfortable as quickly as possible and I am. I just used some concealer (shu uemura) for the under eyes area and some Mac studio fix powder foundation for all over my face real quick and some Nivea lip balm. I really keep it simple. Wide leg jeans and a black turtle neck and black ballet shoes with teeny tiny white polka dots. Feelings of the morning? All of us were feeling completely and totally fine. I felt I got all my butterflies out of the way from the day before and for that, I was grateful for that. Noah was happy and this is the one picture I managed to snap as we were leaving and heading in the car, yesterday morning. He did have to wear his raincoat because it was very lightly raining. More like a super light dizzly type rain though.

Arriving at the school: As we pulled in the parking lot. Lot's of mom and dad's pulling in. Kids from all the different grades/badges/classes being escorted by their parents. The school bus was also gone, so was off picking up a good amount of kids, as well. Parents pulling in quickly for 2 minutes of droping off the kids, getting back in their cars and then another set or bunch of parents would pull in and do the same. Meanwhile, while I was watching all this in the passenger seat, Noboru was parking our car. After he turned the car off. Noboru went to the trunk and got out all the bunches of things and supplies for Noah that we needed to take to the school. Meanwhile, I was getting Noah out of the car seat.

At this very point, we heard something. Looking at the school, we saw a little girl being carried up the stairs and into the classroom by her dad. He was taking her into the classroom. Same classroom Noah's in. She really didn't want to be in there. She was crying, her face was red from crying and her arms and legs were kicking wildly as he carried her into the class. The mom was also trying to help. Meanwhile we were still in the parking lot across the street. Noboru and I didn't say a thing about that family having a rough time over there. I think we both had been through that rough time when B started and it made us remember that. Granted B never flapped his arms and legs like that, but we have enough good sense to feel empathy. To feel for that little girl as much as, feel for her parents. They must have went through hell yesterday. Us going through something similar with B, definitely made us feel for that family yesterday a lot. And that's all I'll have to say about that. : (

When we finally made it across the street and into the school grounds. A teacher came and greeted us. Hey I know that teacher, I thought. She knew Branden. I think she is going to be one of Noah's teachers. I'll let you know when I find out. There seems to be like 3 teachers or so per class? I haven't got the skinny on all that yet. Anyway, now we were standing right where that girl and her mom and dad were just standing. Another teacher came out to greet us and I switched Noah's shoes from his French shoes to the inside shoes. And she grabbed all of the stuff Noboru was carrying and she said, "we don't need you to go inside" the longer it's dragged out, the harder it is on the kids. (Branden's original school dragged it on long, we also were to sit in the class us... parents until the kids got used to it. It was just an ordeal, and for us, I prefer this schools way of quick and as little of drama as possible.) So, before we knew it, she escorted Noah inside. I hugged him first though. And that was it. It all happened in less then 2 minutes. I think we walked back to the parking lot and got ourselves in the car and were thinking..."was that it?" "Did it really just go down that quickly, that fast?" Like poof, bang boom it was over before we even got ready for it to be over. Noah wasn't sad. Noah didn't cry, not a single one. No watery eyes or anything. I think in the end, he was really prepared and he also wanted to be a school kid like Branden, like his big brother. So, in the end. He came out really okay.

Two hours to kill: With two hours to kill. I voted we should just go home. Just be normal and hang out and wait. Noboru said we should hang near the school just in case. I said okay. So we went into Mc Donald's. This was a bit weird, first time in like 6 or 7 years we haven't bought a combo meal for a child, while at Mc Donald's. How weird, Noboru and I were thinking as we were ordering. Then the manager of Mc Donald's said...."where is the baby" (she obviously meant Noah) Noboru said..."today is his first day of school". And she said...."oh that is probably going to be really lonely for your wife then"...yup nothing like having the ol' Mc D's lady telling me I am going to be lonely. Ha ha ha, she didn't mean it in a bad way. She's a very nice lady though and I think she was just trying to show empathy towards us. So, I appreciated her kindness and she's known us forever, so. That was pretty nice. We sat there for about an hour. Getting refills of coffee after we ate our morning combos. When we could stand it no more. And we still had another hour to kill. We hit the 100 yen shop. I bought Branden some glue for school. And then we walked around the 100 yen shop forever. Yet still only ended up buying the 1 glue. We had about 30 minutes leftover of time so we walked into Tsutaya. Hubby read some books and I flipped through some magazines. I did tell Noboru....this is just too ridiculous we shoulda just went home. But anyway, we were there and things couldn't be changed so no sense in being upset or rubbing it in. So, we went into Tsutaya and I flipped through magazines. I flipped through many mama magazines. Then I flipped through about 2 hair style mags. And was now on to going through, Non No and JJ, but I had to mention the music. They were playing some really good music in there. There was a Japanese girl singing on the CD and she remade 2 of Madonna's old songs. And the remakes were actually really funky and really good. It had my toe tapping in Tsutaya, that's for sure. And then....a Japanese guy redid one of Abba's old songs. Not Dancing Queen or anything. But yeah our Tsutaya was playing really good music. After that, we went upstairs and rented a DVD for Friday night. A sorta treat for us, for surviving this day! Ha ha ha! And then it was time to pick up Noah! So we hopped in the car and went to pick up Noah.

I saw the principal/encho sensei, walking out of Noah's class. And heading to her office. We went in to greet the principal and the secretary. The principal had told us she was just in there playing blocks with Noah. I thought that was very cute. And then, we went to Noah's class, he was waiting outside in his raincoat and holding his teahcer's hand. He wasn't crying or anything but he did look pretty happy to see us! Ha ha ha. The sensei, told us, that he was a really good boy and Noboru asked her, "did he cry?" And she said..."no he didn't cry at all" We were all sorta surprised but really proud. Noah, if you read this when you are older, I wanna say, you did perfectly! You didn't cry, you were so strong! I think you will do okay with this yochien stuff afterall, honey! : )

Other tidbits regarding yochien: When we got home, and checked Noah's backpack, the monthly newsletter for yochien was in there. It said they welcome 3 kids for the month of January. Noah's name and a littler girl's name was on second and she is in Noah's class. That was more then likely the little girl and her parents we saw that morning. And then a little boy entered, but he is in the other class. All 3 kids starting are age 3. The other little boy in the other class. We saw his parents that morning and we saw them again at 11am. As we picked up Noah, while they picked up their son. The 2 boy's were both waiting in front of their different classes. But, that mom smiled at me really big and bowed and I in turn, smiled at her just as big and bowed too. Ahh, we are both going through the same thing. Her son seems to be handling things really good, same as Noah. In closing I think, these 3 new kids will do really well. Noah and the little girl and the little boy in the different class. And I think these 3 starting in January, was a great idea, because in April a whole other bunch will be starting and these 3 will get a lot of individual attention since it's only 3 new kids starting in January. So that was sorta a really good move. And the little girl will come out of it, just like Branden did. So, I have no worries for these 3 new students, I think these 3 will do just fine! I am so proud of you though Noah!!! You did it baby! And Tigermama, thank you for sending me that email. When I woke up Friday morning (I hope you are not blushing reading this) when I opened my email and to get an email from Tigermama, that said..."Go Noah go!!!" I was like. Right on! Just the sheer thoughtfulness and kindess of people, I am always so grateful for. I am surrounded by a good group of friends (meaning all of you)! And from the bottom of my heart Tigermama, thank you. : )

Yochien greetings: In the morning, half of the mom's I already knew. Many who had known us since when B was there. Another who knows us from swimming school. Many mother's said..." is your youngest starting today" "A few welcome backs" Hisashiburi's" It was pretty nice. And a few mom's I had never seen before in my life, but I think we'll be okay. As long as we're friendly and nice and helpful with the school and sociable. Things have always worked out.

Still feeling a bit worried how I'll balance it out when I start making obento and stuff. But with everything, I'll just have to figure out which way works best. I think maybe I will have to make them both eat breakfast at the same time as that will save me time. But again, it should take me a week to get fully adjusted to doing the 2 kid, 2 different school's juggle and two step. :D

Friday evening: After Branden had been picked up, that's when we went to go to the grocery store. So, we went after we picked up B. That was a bit different then we planned. But, we got our weekly groceries. And then went home. By that time it was raining pretty hard and bitterly cold. We were glad to have gotten Noah's first day of school out of the way. Glad it was the weekend. Glad we got our weekly shopping out of the way too. We warmed up the leftover cream stew and curry. Yup leftovers for us Friday night, ha ha ha. We took quick showers and just threw in the DVD we rented afterwards. Shut the computer down really early in the afternoon. Had a really quiet night. The DVD we rented was really a flop. It wasn't really good at all. We rented a DVD called "the Happening", with Mark Wahlberg. Noboru disliked it and I admit I did too. Ha ha ha. Anyway all in all, it was a good day! Noah's first day of school? A success, a real positive experience for us!

Weekend plans? Nothing, not a thing. Monday is a holiday, so no school for the boy's. Today at 1pm, Branden and I will take Noah to swim school, but other then that, we are just staying home. Tonight, I am making roasted pork for supper, and either baked potatoes or au gratin potatoes, I haven't decided which kind yet. And some veggie. Have a lovely weekend you guys! And thanks for always supporting us and our family. I love blogging and supporting all of you as much as you guys always supported us. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks! Have a lovely weekend all of you!!!! : )

The fall that was heard from across the street, among other things! : )

As most of you know, this is a pretty busy week for our household. So many things have happened. So much, it's hard to know where to start. Branden returning to school, Noah about to start and all other things squished in here. A fall, a Ipod gone crazy and you get what I mean! : ) And then, I wasn't going to even blog about it all, because just too many tiny things going on at once, but I think if I somehow lump it all on this post, you may get the gist of it all. : ) This is what Noboru brought back that one day, I said he went to Costco. I forget which day now and I've got about 25 minutes to type this all out, or else it may never get done. And I got a few other things to get done today. So forgive me if this post is all over the place. : ) Where was I? Oh yeah, he brought back virtually nothing. And that's good, I asked for virtually nothing. :D Because in about 20 days we are heading to Guam and we really don't need too much. Just vitamins for the boys. 2 bottles of those. The dinner rolls for mini sized sandwiches for obento's that I will again start to make again. And tortillas for all those sandwich wraps that I will be using for obento stuff too. That's it, that is seriously all I asked and he brought. Oh yeah he brought pizza for dinner but that's it. And I haven't been to an actual Costco in ages. I don't even remember how long ago that was, was it around Halloween time? Before Halloween, I know that.

These are such good kids vitamins. I used to buy Branden the Flintstones vitamins, since that's what I used, when I was a kid. But we like these better. And the boy's like the yogurt flavor, after like 2 years of using these we are hooked.

I love veggies, I like lot's of toppings, but in my family of 4. I am the only one, who enjoys them on pizza.: ( Usually, hubby brings me back a slice or two of the combo pizza. And we all share the pepperoni one. However, this time, I asked hubby to bring me back a whole combo pizza. He said, there was no way I could finish a whole combo pizza all myself. Yet, silly me, I wanted one and hoped to prove him wrong. However, I must admit defeat. At 2 slices for dinner. A slice for breakfast the next day, and a slice here and there. And then yup, as you've guessed it, I got burned out on pizza after a while. And even now, I have about 3 or 4 slices in the fridge still. Hubby has kindly not said a thing. No..."I told you, so's" or a thing. But yup, I admit it. My eyes were obviously bigger then my stomach. I write this here, so I may never make this mistake again. Next time? Two slices will be enough. I will have to sneak those last few slices into the bottom of the trash can. *shakes head* I just can't finish it. What on earth was I thinking? :D

The last tidbits, I had somehow forgotten to buy Noah's hat. So had to go back to the granny uniform shop! They were in true form, that day as well. And I forgot to mention this little fact about the granny's. The one who is around 68-ish. Anyway she has a son, he is late 40's. Say 49. Anyway, he was an exchange student in Colorado about a bazillion years ago! So her son loves all things Denver, Colorado! Is that not the weirdest thing? I mean what are the odds of me encountering this family, what are the odds of this happening? I mean what are the chances of that happening? First time I ever went into their shop, she asked me what part of America I was from, I said..."ummmm Denver." Fully thinking she would have no clue where Denver was and would not care. And she actually called her son and he came to the shop, all those years ago. I chatted with him, he chatted with Noboru. And that is really unusual, huh? So that is the connection to Denver. And her son is now a professor or a teacher. Anyway so....when I went to get the hat....which is I guess how I got on the Denver connection in the first place. Between the usual granny bickering. The younger granny told me...they actually had invited a Denver exchange student and they had them at their home this past summer! Ha ha ha. I was like...really, and really surprised! I had no clue! Okay sorry for the meaningless story, but I found it all interesting. And how unusual to find connections like this, especially in tiny towns and small cities like this. Oh yeah, I also picked up Noah's socks from Nishimatsuya. I think these are the best socks for yochien. I used these on Branden the whole time he was in school, because...for some weird reason kids socks get freakishly dirty and the stains don't come out so good. It is the weirdest thing. And the price of these socks is so fair, such a bargain, I don't mind switching/replacing them if they need it. Plus the store is between the yochien and here where we live so not so bad.

Klutz, clumsy? Doesn't look where she's going? I don't know. I don't personally think I am clumsy at all. I usually don't go around hurting myself or others, I promise you, I don't. ha ha ha. But in any case. Wednesday afternoon around 11am, because Branden's first day back was a half day. Anyway, so I left my house, and we all know I got a million and one things on my mind right? I got Noah all nicely secured into his car seat and then I went back to the front door to lock the door. As I was turning around and walking down the 1 or 2 steps, I somehow lost my footing. And next thing I know I was trying to gain my balance but it was obvious pretty quickly that I wasn't gonna get it back and I was indeed going to go splat right on the front of my house! But how bad and how would I land? As my feet lost their footing on the wood step, I missed the concrete step all together and next thing, I knew, I was almost matrix like. My face was falling right towards the metal white American mail box, good thing I avoided cracking my head or face on that, and then a split second later, I fell right on the grass, I braced myself with my arms, thank god. But my feet, knee and everything else hit and scraped the concrete VERY hard! Not sure if you can see it pictured or not. But my left foot, had complete concrete burn, a tiny piece even had blood. It scraped my left shoe even. And my right knee kept hurting while I drove to pick up Branden. I gazed at my knee to see if blood was seeping through my cuffed capri jeans or not. Nothing soaked through. So, kids first. Me last, I drove to the school picked up my kiddo and then went home, I was a bit dazed by the fall. When I got home, I took off my pants and sure enough I had a scraped and bloody knee. By the amount of blood on my knee, I am not sure how it didn't seep through. When I took a bath Wednesday night, it hurt so bad, when I put my left badly scraped foot in and my right knee in the water. Today, I wake with a bruised left top of the foot area and a badly scabbed knee. Where the scrape was, is so tender. Oh yeah, I didn't even get to the bad part! Okay falling was frankly bad enough. But, I got the pleasure of biting the concrete in front of my neighbor lady! My neighbor lady, yelled out...in Japanese of course, but she said..."are you okay", I lay there for a second, through my hand up and said in English first (you know I always say things in English when I get nervous or shaken, hence that "mother's lunch" speech thing nightmare from a few years back, lol) I said..."yeah, umm.... I'm good" , And then in Japanese I quickly said...., "yes, I am okay" "A little embarrassed, but I am okay" ....ohhh how truly humiliating. I think the neighbor watching was worse then the actual fall, to be honest. Ahhh. Oh well. what doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? Then if this is true, I must be tough as nails by now! Right? ; )

What else? Umm, oh yeah Noah's Spongebob obento stuff came on the 7th in the morning as planned. Oh yeah and he isn't going to have obento for a while though. I'll get to that a bit down below though.

Thermos....kids go on a few field trips throughout the year. And Thermoses in Japan are usually pretty good because they got small ones for the youngest of kids and then they gradually get bigger. Branden uses the big Cars one for his field trips, because he's bigger and he gets thirstier obviously and he can carry the heavier themos. Noah will be using the yellow tiny Spongebob thermos and/or the red NOAH thermos. Because they are small, and about all he can carry. The Thomas was Branden's, but he outgrew it when he graduated yochien. So, when Noah gets to about 5 and 6 at yochien, we won't be buying him a single Thermos. He can use whatever Branden used. It's cheaper that way and the Thomas one, was used twice a year (spring and fall field trips type stuff) so they have been used less then 8 times. So yeah Noah will be using the Thomas one when he gets bigger.

I won't pull all the yochien obento stuff I have from when Branden was at yochien but this at least gives you a tiny idea. It's fair to say, we won't be buying Noah a single yochien obento item again. He got one brand new because we don't want him to feel like a total hand me down kiddo, but yeah, he has gobs of stuff he will be using of Branden's. I've already pulled off the name stickers off some of them and replaced them with Noah name stickers. Of course 2 obento's I am leaving for Branden for when he needs them at ichinensei and he does sometimes too. But we are set and I feel really good about reusing stuff. I feel less wasteful and I like that feeling a lot. Besides, he can use, Ultraman, Thomas, Spongebob or whatever. Wonder bread for sandwiches. he's set. I did have to switch the names on the 2 metal winter obento's though. And Branden already warned Noah, how HOT the obento's are when they come out from the warmers. So, he has the heads up from Branden about that, at least. : ) Just have been doing so much. It's the little stuff, like switching the names on stuff like this. And what have you... type stuff. Man....it's been a crazy week. No wonder I bit it on the front steps, I have my mind on just so much right now! Remember this, don't forget that...it gets overwhelming at times. Yeah truly no wonder I went splat! :D

All the sewing...yes I did so much of this on Tuesday night. And then on Wednesday. we came back from swimming Wednesday at 6:30 pm, in the dark. Made supper. We had steak and baked potatoes (the baked potatoes I baked in the day knowing how we would be coming back so late) and then after the boys got fed and took showers. And I took a painful bath with my knee and foot scrapes. I went downstairs and started on the hand written stuff, like writing his names on his white inside shoes and on the "French shoes" and stuff like that.

Yup, Tuesday, I had sewn on every label on the 4 hankies. On the Micky one, I did a bit crooked. ; ) But hey, I am not an expert and I said I am not so crafty. Ha ha . But again, I did my very best I could. These have all been laundered and dried and are now all in his closet...waiting. Waiting for Friday!

His gym uniform long sleeve tops. I did one label in Japanese and one label in English. Our school doesn't mind us using English, they've told me, but for the most part I put their names in Japanese. For most stuff we use Japanese. It's easier for the teachers and stuff. Just 1 gym shirt though, or the inside of his hat. And his hankies. The rest of stuff is in Japanese though. I also have a Japanese friend who writes some of her son's stuff in English, so we aren't the only one. And like I said most of their stuff is in Japanese. And now B is in ichinesei, everything of his is in Japanese.

Hat. Even the hat was washed and dried and bounced dryer sheeted. Eveything is now so ready. Last bit of sewing on Tuesday and last bit of writing was done on Wednesday.

Undershirts. I always put name tags on B's, even now I do. First I used the ones with the characters and then I hand wrote his name. But now I just make the cloth labels on my computer, it's just easier for me. And yup there is a place to write the name on the tag inside the shirt, but again, I just followed what the other mom's at our school did and just did that too.

And from the front, you can't even see the label, and the back of the inner shirt just has his name real little, but at least there won't be any mix up, of whose is whose. And now they are washed and not wrinkly anymore! : )

Any other interesting tidbits? Well, my Ipod went mental on me 2 days ago! The wheel on the nano, like if I wanted to play...a song it would jump and pick another song. It got all really weird and it's still new and under warranty so, Noboru shipped it off today. So, now I am without Ipod until it gets fixed, or they replace it or I am not sure exactly. But yeah, it went completely cuckoo nutso's on me 2 days ago. And it also started making this weird little clicking sound when it would go from song to song.

How school's supposed to go down on Friday: The school secretary, called me on my keitei the other day. She asked me...."is there anything you need to know" "Anything you want to ask before Noah starts school?" I said, I think I am good. And she said, she was just making sure. What a very nice school. And love this secretary by the way! Anyway, I did ask her.....when does obento start for Noah? She said...."oh yeah Branden didn't start this school at age 3" I said that is right he didn't. And she said...."until the child gets comfortable at the school and gets relaxed with the teachers and the enviroment they will have short days. So, from 9am to 11am. Until Noah gets settled. I was really surprised. And I really like this way they do things!

I really like that...gradual getting them used to it type thing is so much better. So no obento for Noah for a while. So, on Friday, the plan is, I will drop him off, around 8:30 am or so. Sorta give him time to get adjusted, put his seat cover on his seat. And at 8:45am or sooner, I wanna leave, I do not want to stay too long. And I will come back at 11am. Then I am going to run to the grocery store and do a weeks worth of food shopping and then since I will be a bit pinched for time, pick up Branden directly and then we will all go home. And I will unwind. Noboru did take Friday off work, he's worried about Noah. He knows what happened with Branden, and he was working and so he couldn't get the time off when Branden was having that rough go with it. And so, he is taking Friday off just in case. I am really going to try and take a picture tomorrow. I really will. Now every thing's been done. And all we got to do is just wait. I won't lie, I feel a little nervous about tomorrow. I know in the end, he will do okay and come through it...we all sorta do, don't we? :D Ha ha ha. But it still doesn't stop this butterfly feeling, I have today. Tomorrow morning, will be my first day ever with juggling two kids that are going to two different schools. Each kid has a different time to be at their designated school and a certain time for mom to swing back and pick them up. I better not screw anything up! Or take any more falls off the stairs!: ) Because I got 2 kiddos depending on me! Yeesh. The day, we have been anticipating for the past 6 month's is finally going to happen tomorrow. I can barely believe it!

Tonight, I am making cream stew for the boys and curry for us. Branden has Kumon tonight, he hasn't been there in like....forever! Ha ha ha. I just wanna have a quiet night tonight. Keep things calm and quiet. Because tomorrow is going to be a big day for us. Oh and...yeah I know all the mom's in the older 3 classes and they know us. BUT, the youngest class that Noah will be in. Word has it, all those kids are new. Like 25 new kids, who, I've never seen before and like 25 mom's who I have never met before either. So yeah, I am surely feeling a bit nervous about tomorrow. On the bright side, I got 11,576 steps on my pedometer for today so far. I think the extra bits of nerves or butterflies I am feeling is causing me to get on my treadmill and sorta walk off, some of that excess nervous feeling. : ( Ha ha ha. Anyway back to the treadmill I go, to walk off some more nerves! Have a good night everyone! : )

Noah starts yochien this coming Friday!!! : )

Ahh, as I sit here with my hot cup of coffee and gaze at the pictures I just downloaded, on this here post. I sit here trying to figure out how I am feeling about my youngest and last son/child about to start yochien. My feelings for right now, are honestly really happy. I think and reflect, about how when Noah was first born in Funabashi and how much he's grown since then. And I am honestly so proud he's grown...physically, mentally, socially and so on. He's so outgoing. And I think, yes he's ready! He's indeed ready to start this journey of yochien! He's aware he's starting. We discuss stuff like this openly. "Noah, you are starting school soon" And he says, "I know", so there will be no surprises. Ahhh, I just hope things go smoothly for us on Friday, that's all I can hope. : ) As many of you know, Branden cried for 10 days when he first started yochien. It was a pretty heart breaking experience for me. And the teachers always assured me, "yes he cried but after 5 minutes or so, he settled down and enjoyed the day" Then it would start again the next day and the next. And after 9 or 10 days. He adjusted, made friends and then no more worries after that, and no more 5 minute morning cries. And for what it's worth, Branden doesn't remember not liking yochien or that he cried. I have asked him. So apparently it wasn't traumatic on his part at all....just an adjustment. Now for me, my nerves were shot totally, those 10 days. And then I settled in, too. Noah's lucky, I think younger siblings do have it easier though, because they see their older sibling go off to school daily and YES they do come home after school. They're not just being left there for eternity, lol. *wink, wink* So, they sorta know. They get to watch their siblings do that stuff and so, it's not so weird when it's their turn.

And at least in our family, Noah gets the advantage of playing with all the loads of Branden's friends that come to play in the backyard and stuff. So, he's used to being around lot's of kids, and bigger kids don't freak him out at all. And he's been in swimming school since July and so, yes he's used to being taught all in Japanese and he's fine with that too. So, yes I am less worried about Noah starting school. And I think if Noah has any adjustments or tears, it will probably be much shorter then Branden's adjustment. Ahhh, being a younger sibling does have some benefits. *crosses fingers* and yes I will let you all know how it goes. Geeze, I hope I don't end up crying. But if I do, I won't let him see me crying though, I'll just cry all the way home like I did for B. : ( Ha ha ha. Anyways, here's how I have been getting ready. I have been getting ready in bits and pieces all this passed year. This first picture is the picture of all the yochien bags that we have bought since last year. No, we are not buying anymore. And they were all such good bargains and deals. And this way, next year if he wants to switch bags, we have an extra set. So, we are good until he finishes yochien that's for sure. We have the adorable Sesame street homemade set. All these sets are homemade by the way! I really love that Sesame street set a lot. Maybe next Fall, he can switch to that if he wants. And the Thomas set is so cool with the big pictures of the different trains. That's totally homemade and really cool too! Maybe when he's 5 he can switch to the Thomas set.

This homemade frog set is what Noah will be starting yochien with this Friday! It's gorgeous, and the detailing on this set is so cool! Like the flower that's made out of the button, the frog holding the bright yellow balloon. One is the main yochien bag, a shoe bag, and the gym bag, etc. This frog set is the whole full set and it seems really bright and happy for my little one to take to school!

The bags are all fully lined, so they are thick and sturdy!

Name tags and the patchwork pocket. Just stuff like this, let's the other mom's know, yes his bag is indeed homemade. And we all know that in Japan, sending your kids to yochien with homemade bags is the preferred. Now for me, I really don't mind either way, I truly don't see the big deal if it's store bought at all, at all. : )

This honestly is a very fine Thomas set that Noah has, and so colorful and really cool! I totally think he'll be using this when he's either 4 or 5. At least this way, we got choices and options. And it's obviously this is homemade as well.

And yes the Thomas bags are all sturdy and lined as well.

Noah's main obento/lunch set. Not homemade by me, granted, but indeed homemade, so no worries, with that. He has the froggie place mat to place his lunch on. And the froggie bag that's smaller is for holding his drinking cup! And the bigger froggie bag is for holding his obento box. Notice that frog is holding an onigiri!!! Ha ha ha. Isn't that so smart! I love this! I think his teacher's are going to love this, as well! I am planning to buy an extra set for obento from this same lady, because I really love the stuff this lady makes a whole bunch.

This is the first obento set I bought and I bought this set about 11 month's ago. This is now my least favorite set but it's still cute. But the frog set I do like better though. The blue gingham pattern and the boy story on here....cute.

It's a cute little story. Aww.

And again, 2ply/fully lined. So good quality, but a very simple and nice lunch set nonetheless. : )

We bought these fork and spoon covers about 6 month's ago. But you know, I really honestly think I'll just let him take his utensils in the fork/spoon and chopsticks case they come in. So, I am now doubting if these were a worthy purchase or not. Because when Branden went to this same yochien, all the kids when we'd have "parent go to school days", all the kids just brought their fork and spoon sets alone and not covered at all in any cloth. Either way, I'm sure I'll come up with a use for these though. : )

About 7 month's ago, we bought this adorable cheeseburger obento for Noah! It's so cool! I can see him using this maybe once a week or something but it won't be his main obento though. We bought him a brand new Spongebob obento box and cup and fork and spoon set. They're coming to our house on January 7th in the morning. So, that's all been done and ordered. And the kids at our school have to use metal obento boxes in winter time and Noah will be using Branden's metal winter obento's. Because those metal winter obento's are frankly pretty expensive, and it just feels smart for us to re-use Branden's winter ones since they are like virtually brand new anyway. They're like 2,000 yen each. So much more then a summer/plastic obento. Besides Branden has a Thomas metal obento box and a Cars metal obento box for winter, so Noah gets to switch between both of Branden's 2 older ones. Plus Noah can also use any of Branden's old plastic obento's too and he has tons. Noboru said we should buy Noah 1 obento that's new and fresh and for him and that sorta gives him a good start. I agreed, but the rest he will use from Branden's stash.

Homemade tissue covers. I know, I know (my family and friends when I found this out when B was age 3, we all in unison had to roll our eyes, ha ha ha, and I know, I asked them all..."does a tissue even care if it's covered?".....har har har, believe me... I went through this craziness already). When Branden first started yochien, I sent him to school with tissues, no cover. meanwhile all the other kids had theirs in covers all nicely handmade by their mom's. Doh! I had so many...."am I ever gonna get this yochien stuff down pact or what" moments. I quickly found and bought Branden some handmade ones online, so no worries. but, oh the things I have learned along the way. I could fill a book, I tell ya! Ha ha ha. Live and learn, live and learn! Second time around, and like I've said....I've walked this road before..... I've been there done that. So, I won't even begin to philosophize whether it's meaningless or necessary. I just follow the norm here and by gosh! Here's his tissue covers! I am particularly fond of the orange happy homemade Snoopy one. And I am always on the lookout for them online. The going rate for handmade covers varies from 120 yen to 240 yen, some even go as high as 300 yen. So, they're actually pretty affordable. : ) If any of you ever have time, read the yochien tales from when B was in yochien. They're hilarious. Like the day, I blogged about 4 years ago, how I forgot his hat. Yup, I, apologized to the teacher profusely about forgetting his hat that one day. And she said..."ahh boshi" And that day, I learned boshi means hat. And the post all those years ago is indeed titled...."Boshi means hat!" Ahhh, all those mistakes, all those blunders, all my embarrassing escapades and red faced moments. Now, I have 4 years of yochien experience under my belt and I hope this makes a difference. : ) We will see! : )

Homemade seat cover. Yes in Japan for the most part you will indeed have to make your child a seat cover that sits over their wood seat. And what is inside the seat cover? A safety hood. I like the pale yellow cover for the base of this seat cover and I like the penguins on there playing with the ice. I have already sewn his name tag on here. And have washed this cover and dried it with a bounce dryer sheet. It's ready to go! : )

All of these hankies...I still have to sew his name tags on all of these, probably will do that this evening. So, that's that. 4 main hankies is enough. Maybe at the end of summer, he will get 1 or two more. But honestly 4 is really enough. And he has that smaller towel too that some use for hankies but then those are harder to fit in their pants pockets, so that's why I use the thin ones, and why I mentioned having 4 versus having 5. They fit easier in the kids shorts pocket way better.

Have been holding onto this since we went to USJ in Osaka. Geeze, I have been stocking up and saving stuff for Noah for a long time huh? That was 2 years or so ago. Wow!

All the name tags. First year Branden went to yochien, I hand wrote the labels, TALK ABOUT A HAND CRAMP! 2nd year, we got smarter and computer made them! Now it's easy peasy. And the water proof ones, really don't come off in the water either. They're good! And believe me ours go in the dishwasher and get drenched and they still won't come off! And the crayon sized ones and all the different sizes. And the cloth ones for clothes. And I just sewed on his name tag on his red and white hat! : )

This same plastic sheet, same pattern B used, if you read about this before on my blog some years ago! I used this same pattern for Branden. Let me back track a bit. Branden went to 2 different yochiens. The one when he was age 3, he completed his first year where we used to live. And then after our home was built, we moved here to the country side and so he started a different yochien. At the first yochien he did not need an art mat! But at this new yochien it was indeed needed. It said, and again I am translating but it said..." your child needs a soft BENDABLE piece of plastic they can do clay projects on" Not to dirty the table basically. Obviously they have clay molds. But this is different, they needed a plastic bendable sheet, an art sheet. A plastic work sheet. I first drove to Toys r us all those years ago, how hard can this be, I thought??? Ha! I asked the lady working there, where are the clay mats. She looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my forehead. Errr, okay. I asked a few different ways. She kindly even walked me to the clay and play doh section and I looked myself. Nothing, zip,zilch! Thinking....bendable plastic mat. BENDABLE. Light bulb moment and I thought. How about a plastic place mat for dinner. A dinner mat. It's square and I can find one that semi bends. I bought a Buzz Lightyear one for 850 yen, ridiculous price if you ask me. And then, as you guessed, the yochien teacher actually told me...."I bought the wrong one/kind" yada yada yada. I felt mortified. Insert.,....DOH! So, smart thinking, and not really wanting to go on another wild freaking goosechase again! Thank you very much! I said..."why don't you let me see yours, so I can get an idea of what you are talking about?" I saw hers and...it had tartan red checks and strawberries on it. And I smiled and said, "oh I see" I thanked her and left, holding Branden's hand to my car and Noah sat in my baby Bjorn baby carrier because yes he was just a wee babe at this time, got them into their car seats. As I drove away, I muttered to myself, "now if she didn't just show me a damn plastic table cloth piece, then I don't know what!!!!" And why didn't she just darn well, say so?! Muttering and muttering and driving to my nearest DIY! And I found this. Had the measurements. Asked for a tiny slice of plastic happy yellow kid table clothes. Cost me about 500 yen and I made 5 clay mats from that! SO super cheap! I digress!!!! Anyway....flash forward all these years and now it's Noah's turn....and as the school yochien book says, "each child needs a "bendable mat for clay" (boy do I know what they mean!!! LOL) This is what Noah's yochien book says, same school. Ahhh, there are indeed advantages of walking this road before. I obviously won't be driving to Toys r us for a mat that's for sure. And I won't be buying a dinner mat again that's for sure either. What did I do, this time around? I am so much wiser this time around and I just drove to the local DIY and I asked for the same width sliver and it cost me 500 yen. Thank god for this plastic table cloth that is 100% bendable! And I will be able to get about 5 clay mats for Noah too! I doubt any of you have to bring a plastic mat for art projects. But in anycase. I am always going to share my tale, so hopefully even if one of you, this story will help, then it would have been worth while of my typing it all out. And hopefully save you a day of driving all over town like I did all those years ago! :D

Yup, got the bendable plastic art mat!

The uniforms for our yochien, are available at private shops, same with Branden's elementary school. I think ours are available at 2 different spots. For the yochien, we go to an "older ladies dressy shirt store" The lady is an old granny, she's about 68 and her mom, who's about 80? But very genki! They sell only old lady, granny dress tops basically. All these dress tops are like 8,000 each shirt and some are like 15,000 a top! So this is a very pricy granny store, ha ha ha! Put it this way, unless you are 60 plus year old, nothing in this shop would be for you! However they are very nice wonderful friendly older ladies! They helped us with Branden's yochien uniform all those years ago. And saw a little again, Baby Bjorn snoozing Noah on my body, meanwhile I got Branden's yochien stuff figured out. Now it's Noah's turn, and they said...."look how big he's gotten" These 2 granny's could not believe how big Noah has grown! Also, this store is so small and so old, they got the uniforms all hidden in different spots that only these granny's know where they are. It's so funny and such a laugh when they search the store for the uniforms. When we got the uniforms for Noah. The granny, younger granny, said..."I forgot where I hid the smocks." And so both granny's went looking under all the tops to see if they could finally locate the smocks. Those silly granny's! Ha ha ha. It is always so funny to go in there and watch them.

Everyone at our yochien has to wear a uniform. A summer one and a winter one. *However* the youngest and smallest class of kiddos, are (according the the principal) too young and small to have the dexterity to button and unbutton, the uniform and it does have tons of buttons, etc. This was the principals decision years ago. So the youngest class will wear just the gym uniform. So, no fancy uniform for Noah until April, he's just too little still. He's just a wee little baragumi yet! : ) But in anycase here is his stuff. He has 2 yochien yellow gym shorts. And 2 long sleeve gym tops. And gym hat and other things. : )

His 110cm, long sleeve tops he will be wearing starting from this Friday. And yes his shirt will have a computer made cloth label with his name on it.

2 shorts in size 100cm because I swear my son has the smallest butt and waist in the universe!

Our family joke is, his butt cheeks are the size of 2 Costco dinner rolls. Yup, that's small! LOL! : )

The smock that nearly caused a granny war! Because one granny forgot where she hid them! Ha ha ha! This is the smallest size they had and according to both granny's, they said this runs freakishly big, we tried it on and it is on the big side. Oh well, he'll get a good year or two usage from it at least though! : )

White inside school shoes and his private school navy blue slip on shoes for our Catholic school. They have the French flag on them....and so 3 or 4 years ago, we (hubby and I) nicknamed these school shoes, "the French shoes"...for example, when we'd take B to swim school and we'd see 3 other pairs in the shoe closet near the entrance, we'd say..."French shoe alert" meaning more kids from B's school are here. And now Noah has his very own pair of..."French shoes" Ha ha ha! They're cool though, we do dig these!

Shoe inserts have already been ordered and on their way! We ordered Noah the yellow giraffe pair! I also liked the dolphin. Next time I might order that one. But the giraffe one we really loved a lot. What is this for, you might be wondering? Well for the little ones who might get their LEFT and RIGHT mixed up, they can easily figure it out with these inserts. And Noah, does mix up and will put on the wrong shoe every once in a while, like most kids have done,granted he doesn't mix them up a lot but every once in a while. So these will help when mommy/me isn't around.: ) Plus he can easily see what pair is his, by looking to find the white shoes with the giraffe inside, so that *really* helps with that too! I have already told him, his white shoes have the one with the yellow giraffe inside. Awww! : )

All of the name tags have indeed been made now! These are Noah's crayons. I placed the computer made labels on each crayon. And then I put tape over the name tag so, it can't be pulled off or fall off. So, I am really well prepared. And I am 99% done with getting Noah ready for school. I have a few last minute sewing tidbits to do. And the inserts and fork and spoon set, I am waiting for, but for the most part, we are done! Noah is going to be starting yochien, so well prepared. So totally ready!

Noah is using Branden's backpack from when he went to yochien, because the bag has not changed and it's still like brand new. And to re-buy it sounded too ridiculous. And the uniforms and stuff like that for private yochiens are really expensive, absurdly expensive, and why waste money when you don't have to, does that make sense? : ) Ha ha ha. But a good luck charm to hang on his backpack, we wanted to buy new. And so we asked him, what he wanted on his backpack. Branden has always had Spongebob, by the way, even now on his ichinensei bag. Noah was insistent he have a Spongebob one. We tried to persuade him to chose another character. How about Mario! LOL. And he said..."but I like Spongebob too and that's my favorite cartoon." We thought, by gosh yes, he's totally right. He loves Spongebob just as much as Branden does. And, so, he should be allowed to use the same type of charm for his backpack, if he wants. And so, we bought him one a few month's back. And now it is hanging on Noah's yochien backpack. And he's so proud! So so proud! So now we have 2 boy's who proudly wear their Spongebob charms on their school backpacks! : ) So anyway, the adventure of Noah in yochien will be beginning this Friday, you guys!

What else should I say? Not much going on lately, besides getting Noah ready for school, just resting and trying to enjoy the last few days before school starts. Branden has swimming this Tuesday and Wednesday. Branden resumes ichinensei Wednesday morning. So in 2 days he starts. Noah starts Friday.

Umm, what else? Noboru had business to tend to in Makuhari today, I didn't want to go, I wanted to rest and stay home. And after he did his stuff, he went to Costco for me. He just is picking up a few things and is on his way home to us now. But he is picking up 2 whole pizza for our dinner tonight, 1 pepperoni and 1 combo pizza! So, we will have pizza for tonight and for tomorrow for sure.

I was very sad, to hear John Travolta's son Jett, has passed away! They have always seemed like a very loving family! Always travelling together. So, my prayers have been with his family. : (

TV talk, have been just watching Cold Case, Desperate Housewives season 2 on TV, here, America's Next Top Model, Ghost Whisperer. Stuff like that! Two nights ago, The Titanic came on and we watched that!

Branden has been exploring with his friends near the rice field and the wild buffer behind our house lately a lot, nearly everyday. Alrighty, I better publish this now....or never! Ha ha ha. Have a good night everyone! : )