Shorts shopping for the boys...Uniqlo, Old Navy and Nishimatsuya

Clothes wise for both Branden and Noah they both have plenty of shirts/tops, but not nearly enough shorts. Noah's problem isn't waist wise it's length wise, Noah can still wear his shorts from last year no problem waist wise. Size 130cm. However length wise, they (the 130cm) are way too short to wear this year. And I'm not gonna let him run around looking like a ragamuffin. Hahaha. So, I knew he needed 140cm size shorts. Also, here's 1 more tidbit to add to the mix. You know how on American kids clothes there is that inside waist adjuster...meaning the elastic band with button to cinch the waist smaller, right? Do you know what I mean? Well get this...that button for whatever reason hurts Noah. I don't know if  it's because he's so skinny/thin that the button stabs his bones or what, I'm being serious. : ( That adjustable waistband never bothered Branden at all. Not ever! But it really and truly causes Noah pain. He has that orange pair of Gap shorts and green pair and 1 other pair and every time he wears them he tucks his shirt into his shorts or pants because as he says "the button hurts me" Being a mama, it hurts me hearing that!!! : ( One morning, as Noah was getting ready for school a few weeks back, he was wincing at that button, I grabbed my scissors and cut the buttons out that morning on a pair of his shorts! I did ask him if it was okay and he said yes please! Poor kid! : ( So, for Noah, I prefer to buy Japanese pants and Japanese shorts and it's only because we have adjustable waistband issues. : ) So back to the story, last week, the day of Noah's observation day and emergency drill, that morning, I ran to my nearest Nishimatsuya. Hoping to buy 5 pair of shorts, just to get it over and done with. The quality we love and the prices are very fair! Did I wait too long? Was I too delayed hitting up Nishimatsuya for summer shorts? @.@ Yes, apparently so! They had only 1 pair of shorts in size 140cm. Oh brother! So, I wanted 5 pair and ended up with 1 pair. Oh well, at least we had 1! So there's the bright size at least! These are them. And these same exact pair we bought Noah last year in size 130cm and they were his most favorite pair of shorts of last year. So, I was happy to find them in the bigger size this year. 

979 yen, just add a decimal, so about $9.79 US. Very affordable. And the waistband doesn't hurt Noah at all. 

Meanwhile you know how in yochien every June 1st was the day you switched from winter uniform to your summer uniform? Well, same at our local JHS. Branden's summer pants arrived last week and they look exactly the same as his winter pair except they are thinner. And he needed short sleeve tops, button up ones. And no jacket for summer. Ordered 3 short sleeve dress shirts from Cecile. Love the quality and prices. 

Branden needed a special type of collar. And remember how I said I felt that Cecile ran small in their sizes on the long sleeve tops (school/dress shirts), well I made sure to order 1 size larger in these short sleeve tops. 170cm. 

3 is enough to make sure he always has 1 clean. Since we are not in rainy season yet here in Chiba (almost), I can wash 1 every single day so Branden always has 2 clean hanging. Also, I will NOT be putting these in the dryer only because I am concerned about shrinkage. So, I'll just hang these inside when the rainy season finally hits us. So, considering all that, 3 was just a better number for us. 

Again, like I said, both Branden and Noah have enough summer shirts/tops. But not nearly enough shorts! So, this last Saturday, May 31st, we 4 all knew that was "shorts day!" The day we were to look for shorts for the boys! We were to hit up Uniqlo, Old Navy and Nishimatsuya, all in Tsukuba, of course. First we went to Uniqlo. Next was the Old Navy. Again just our good luck! Old Navy was having a weekend shorts sale! Sale...that word is music to my ears! : ) I hate paying full price on anything, sorry. : ) 

After we finished the Uniqlo, Old Navy and Nishimatsuya shop and had indeed found what we were looking for, we now needed some dinner. Hmm, go to a regular sit down restaurant was an option. But another cheaper option was to head to Costco in Tsukuba and eat dinner there, I suggested Costco. We ordered 1 whole pizza for the 4 of us. Also, Noboru and Noah each had a hot dog too. Whatever pizza was left, we took home. Dinner was pretty cheap. We even shared an ice cream and headed home. Many good sales and a nice and quick dinner. Not too shabby for a Saturday. : ) 

Branden feeling pretty awesome and happy! He got a haircut the very next day, by the way, Noah too. : ) 

Old Navy, Uniqlo and Nishimatsuya. 

Branden is now wearing a size medium in the men's department! Can you believe it!!! @.@ Holy cow! He can fit in the smalls perfectly BUT, but if he should grow 1 tiny dot length wise or 1 tiny dot waist wise, or if I should throw in the dryer and they shrank a tiny dot, they'd be unwearable. The mediums fit perfect with room to grow! Which is why we picked the mediums, just seemed like a smarter pick. 

Navy blue Uniqlo house shorts on the right. And this pattern shorts for wearing outside and about on the left. We all really liked that pattern for Branden. The prices were higher at Uniqlo for men's shorts, than at Old Navy in Japan for what it's worth. But we like both. As, a mom, I notice prices a lot. So, just something I wanted to mention. 

Branden is a 28 inch waist at Old Navy in regular stuff, but if you see this, it says 'slim fit" so they are cut smaller. So, in this style he's size 30 in the waist. Also the shorts prices for men were 1400 yen ($14 US) a pair and the shorts that they had were tons of different cool styles! Kids shorts at Old Navy were a mere 1000 yen ($10 US, didn't get a single pair though because of the waistband)

These are both from Old Navy and both slim fit and so both size 30. Every person who walked into the store touched or looked at the tan shark shorts on the right in this pic. Many Japanese young couples said...look how cute!!! And they were! So, Branden ended up with these hibiscus ones on the left and the cream/light tan shark ones. Only 1400 yen a piece, we were really happy about the price. And Branden has room to grow all summer. They're not gigantic, but perfect size with a bit of room to grow too. 

These tops are only $5 in the US. But they were 900 yen here. Which is fine, Branden got this, he's a size small in men's tees. 

Also swimming at the junior high school is coming up shortly and so all kids need to bring a pair of flip flops to walk to and from the pool in. These flip flops were 2 pair for 500 yen. 2 for $5 bucks basically. Love that deal! So bought a pair of navy blue for Branden in the men's department and a pair for Noah in the kids department. Bought both of the kids flip flops for swimming for 500 yen! Loved that deal! : )

Noah's are navy blue too, since the swim uniform/required outfit is navy blue. His have bright green skateboards on his flippies though. : ) And Noboru wanted that change purse for himself and he took off the keyring already.  : )  

Both Uniqlo and Old Navy, not bad for Branden. He'll still probably end up with 1 or 2 more pairs of shorts and maybe 1 more house shorts but again...not a bad start. His tees are done, summer wise he needs no more tops, and summer shorts wise, he's 90% done. So almost done. : ) We're getting there. 

Also, I'm not sure why this picture is laying sideways. Grrr! : ) But, while at Uniqlo, I got 2 pair of house shorts. Just something I can throw on to be in the house in, throw my hair in a pony tail, fitted tee and these shorts. Granted, I wouldn't go run errands in them, but they're fine for wearing in the backyard and on weekends when I'm just staying home. : )  I'm an American size 8, so I don't have problems buying clothes in Japan at all. But shoes, hahaha, I do have trouble finding shoes that aren't super teeny tiny. : ) But yeah nice to get 2 comfy house shorts for myself. 

Navy blue pair with flowers on them on the left and a plain gray pair on the right. 

We did check and see the shorts Old Navy had for Noah's age/size and they had fantastic deals only 1000 yen a pair, like I said. They had jean ones, cream/tan ones, khaki/olive, all sorts however they all had that adjustable waistband and button, so we passed on all those. Oh well, we did however go to Nishimatsuya in Tsukuba. Noah got 4 pair for 3800 yen. So a really good deal. : )

This pair has no adjustable waistband and only 879 yen. 

This pair was on sale and only 779 yen. About $7.79 US. And these have that comfortable cloth waist band. So more comfy for Noah's stomach and waist. 

These are those 2 pair up above. 

And this is the 2 other pair, again that comfortable waist band. I did take Noah to the dressing room and have him try them all on. Because again he's pretty thin and we had to make sure they fit (wouldn't fall right off) and they all fit fine. Phew. : )  So these are the 4 bought from Saturday. I did though throw them all in the dryer hoping they'd all shrink a tad in the waist, anyway though. : )

Aha, and this pair was bought 2 days earlier, the day of the observation day/emergency drill. 2 pairs found in Noah's favorite style. So twin favorite shorts, hahaha, but just a larger size. : ) The 2 on the bottom left. Noah doesn't need tops or tees or shorts. So he's pretty much done for summer 2014 clothes wise (thank goodness). Maybe he'll get a pair of room wear. Or if I can find a color pair of shorts for him. But otherwise Noah is done.  Branden meanwhile just another pair of shorts or two and that should be it. We are almost done and then we won't have to think about clothes until the Fall. Yes! : ) I'll be so glad when it's all over and done. : ) 

Also bought this spray deodorant for Branden. He uses American stick deodorant for his underarm area, but he sprays this on his chest and back before heading out to school, just keeps him smelling fresh throughout the day, the scent is Clear Ocean it smells very clean. That's all. : ) 

PS...Didn't rain buckets or anything today at all! @.@ It did lightly sprinkle for about 5 minutes. However, once again the weather forecast says tons of rain for tonight and tomorrow. Hmm. We will see. : ) 

Weather forecast for today...

According to the news Kyushu already started it’s rainy season. Here in Chiba, we have not quite yet started the rainy season, but soon. However, today’s forecast says it should rain extremely hard here in Chiba. As in, watch out for landslides, type rain!? @.@ Granted, I do believe the weather forecast and most of the time they’re right, but I also take it with a grain of salt too. Either way, I clearly won’t be hanging laundry outside this morning. : ) And Branden got a ride to school along with Noah this morning. Again just taking extra measures in case it really does come down super hard. I also had the both of them take along umbrellas just in case.

The 9th grade girl across the street though rode her bike. So it does make me wonder, if the rain will come. But on the other hand, the grandpa next door, who owns a small roofing company and is a roofer by trade, didn’t drive away this morning, so perhaps he *is* expecting rain. The boy next door also got a ride and he usually rides his bike. Hmm. Not a drop coming down yet, but I keep checking out the back patio window to see if it has started. And Noboru? He thinks the rain is coming for sure, in fact he’s outside sprinkling grass vitamins/nutrients right now before the rain comes. : )

Happy Thursday everyone. Swimming tonight for Branden and Noah and dinner will be ginger pork, broccoli, rice and miso soup. Just an easy dinner on swim night, greatly appreciated. : )

Also, one more thing, I have to work this coming Sunday (8am-12 noon). It’s a kids club thing. All districts will show up for this, even the other elementary school will be showing up. Only people working it will be the president/kaicho, 2 vp’s/fuku kaicho, of every district the town has. So us 3 will show up and rep for our housing community. Junior high kids invited too. So, I expect a ton of kids to show up, especially since the whole town of kids are invited (2 elementary schools and 1 junior high amount of kids, plus lots of parents) Branden and Noah will be there playing games, Noboru is going to walk around, enjoy and to keep an eye on the kids, and I’ll be working some game, us 3 ladies together (yakuin heads). : ) 

Bits and pieces...

Alright ya'll...alright you guys. : ) This post is like so old and crusty! Most of this stuff happened in March maybe a few happened in April. @.@ Gomen gomen (sorry) It's like almost not worth mentioning... it's such old news, but as you all know how crazy March and April were here, I have the choice to either delete these pics or just put it up. I put these pics up months ago and they have been sitting there ever since it an unpublished post. So it's now or never. It's a bits and pieces type post.  Jean jackets are really in style they have been for the last year. I bought one from Old Navy for myself last year. And this year, I decided to order them for the boys too. However I waited until I could catch a sale on these. I usually prefer a 25%-30% off sale but 20% off wasn't so bad, better than paying full price though. Branden's is in size xxl which is the last size for kids sizes. It is plenty big and will be able to wear for at least a year. So he'll get tons of usage from it. And Noah's is in size M, size 8-9 and he's very small boned and a skinny minnie so he'll be able to wear it for a while. They did wear this in Spring a few times and will be able to wear it in Fall too. It's much too warm now to wear them. But I am glad I did get them for the boys and on sale is always best! : ) 

Two shirts for Noah. The Beatles were like one of the best bands ever ever! : ) And Run DMC is so old school. : ) Branden has that same Run DMC shirt. :  )

Branden received this Rolling Stones tee. Perfect since he's 12. : ) Noah has this tee too though. : )

This was the biggest most enormous package to come in the mail. I knew the 2 jean jackets were in there. 

Also to be fair, this was before we knew Old Navy in Tsukuba had opened up. These tees and jean jacket at the back are all Noah's. I'd say he's all set for summer tee shirt wise. : ) 

These are Branden's. Branden wore his jean jacket and Rolling Stones tee when he went to karaaoke and stuff that day with his junior high classmates. : ) They all thought he looked pretty cool. : ) 

Washing the insides of my washing machine! Hahaha. This says you are supposed to wash your washing machine every 2 months. I wash ours every 3 months. But, I do totally make sure I do wash ours every 3 months like clock work. : ) I did this first week of April. I'll do mine again at the end of June. Just to ensure it's clean. You just pour the powder inside the washing machine and let it agitate for about 2 minutes then pause it for an hour and then run it on a regular setting/wash cycle. 

I also like to unscrew the bottom of my washing machine it's only 1 bolt/screw. I take it downstairs and wash and scrub it with dish soap.

Flip it over and scrub it back there too and then screw it back on and won't do this again until 3 months. 

Spring season, also means the boys would be starting to take thermos daily. So for the Spring season, I washed Noah's thermos cover in the regular wash and hung it outside to dry. It came out looking better than new! I did Branden's the following day. And some kid has the same thermos as Noah and though Noah's has his actual  name on it with a name sticker, I did tie this orange cord on the outside zipper bag last year. Because 2 other little boys in Noah's class have the same thermos as each other (not the same as Noah's though) and 1 of the 2 boys drank the other boys thermos because they couldn't tell them apart. And apparently the 2 little boys were very upset with each other. : ( Glad Noah wasn't involved in that...however there is 1 little boy who does have the same thermos as Noah and just to make sure that type a thing doesn't happen between these 2 kiddos, I decided last year to avoid that...to tie a bright orange bungee type piece to Noah's thermos that way that kid knows if it's his instantly or Noah's and Noah can tell instantly too if it's his or the other kids. So lucky for us because of this bright orange cord tied on there, Noah and that boy haven't mixed their drinks up at all. : ) 

Gym clothes and Branden's uniform shirt hanging outside one day. 

Remember how I went to the elementary school observation day first part of April. And I went through Noah's desk!!! Because I could go in his desk and see what's what! I made sure Noah got new paints, new crayons and coupy. Meanwhile Branden needs special pencils just for drawing. @.@ And he also needs special paint brushes. Branden got 2 different packs of paint brushes, these came from a DIY, so not the cheaper Daiso brushes, I made sure to get him a nicer quality since he mentioned his teacher urged the kids to get nicer brushes. They only cost about $3-4. But, if the teacher specifically said to the class no 100 yen brushes (not sure what's up with that, it was the teachers request of her students, not ours)...then I wasn't going to get them from there then. I also purchased a pack of brushes for Noah too. So 6 paint brushes for Branden, 3 paint brushes for Noah. That other brush is for Branden's shoe cleaning. When I scrub them once a week on weekends. Also Branden needed a blue pen and a red pen. Oh well...it was the start of the school year and so...just making sure all this stuff is done and bought and now we won't have to think about it for hopefully 6 months at least. 

Inside shoe cleaner and also works great for junior high shoes. They do have one with bleach, but I use this one. My neighbor who has a 9th grade daughter will go outside and spend about a good hour scrubbing her daughters shoes by hand. She is amazing with her daughters shoes. As for me...what I honestly do is...I take Noah's inside shoes for example, to the laundry room run 1 shoe under water and then hold above the open washer machine, I squirt this shoe cleanser on the shoe and on the brush. Doesn't this look like a mini toilet brush btw? Hahaha. Anyway I scrub the shoe really hard on all sides with this brush and I also scrub the inside of the shoe to make sure no foot odor or anything, you know what I mean. I scrub everywhere. It take me about 3 mins. I put the shoe in the washer machine and again run the 2nd shoe in wash real quick a wet shoe can pick up the cleaner better and make foam better. Scrub the outside and inside and then put it in the washer. Grab Branden's JHS white shoes and again run 1 shoe in water, squeeze a line of this blue cleaner on the shoe and scrub the living daylights out of it. Scrub the laces, like crazy, the inside of the shoe too and the outside of the shoe and drop in the washer, it does take me about 15 minutes at most for both Branden and Noah's shoes. I then run them in the washer, I do add regular laundry soap. And then throw both pairs outside on the patio to dry for all day. So, while I do wash their shoes every week like clockwork, I do what's easiest on me. And it works for me, so... : ) 

Noah received his soprano recorder. 

It came with his name engraved on it, in gold. This way the kids won't mix up, which one is theirs. Noah's been using it ever since. : ) 

Also in April was "show and tell day" for Noah's class! The theme was..."bring what you are most proud of!!!" Stand at the front of the class and give a 1 minute or so speech about why you are so proud of whatever it is that you brought. Maybe the kids might have a question for you or the teacher might have a question for you. What is inside this Old Navy bag? Noah's swimming trophy! He brought his swimming trophy. He talked about it and he shared the 2 pics down below and he said his classmates liked the pictures and the silly poses. : ) Noah's teacher is new to the school, so she did not realize Noah is a swimmer. So this show and tell helped the teacher get to know her kids a little bit better. : ) 

Noah and his trophy and his silly poses! You know in things like soccer, for example it takes a whole team to win! And that's a good thing too, don't get me wrong. But in swimming, you are depending on that win on only YOU. Only you can win or pass a level. No teammates can help you, I'm afraid. It's all up to you. And so yeah....Noah was so proud to have earned this trophy.  : ) You did it kiddo!

Proud of you! And soon he will have that swimming competition. Just have fun, no worries either way kiddo. You're still pretty young. 

I shared a pic of the swimsuit from the website pic.... but it got here the last week of March. Yep, Lands' End swimsuit arrived and love it. 

This is what it is, if you remember. This rash guard and I have a swim miniskirt but it's a different one. 

And I have this tankini top to wear under the rash guard. I can't wait to wear this.: ) 

Noah's shuji/calligraphy bag came with contents inside. It's so cute and of course I had to name sticker the whole shebang! Hahaha. : ) 

My dad did send me a beautiful birthday card. in March. I just never had the time to post about it. Until now. 

Branden had a class field trip. Just the 7th graders went. They went to the Ueno zoo and a museum, pics coming later on that. But, I had asked Branden, do you still want to use your hamburger obento or would you like a big kid obento. : ) He said he can use both, but for his first field trip he would like to bring a bigger kid one. No worries, so I found this black one on the right for super cheap at Trial. And the Phineas and Ferb plastic storage containers on the left were super cheap too. See the top part of the black obento, it is a spot for chopsticks. And the Phineas ones could hold sliced fruit or also leftovers in the fridge, that type a thing. The Phineas ones are not obentos. : )

Yep special compartment for your chopsticks. The black obento was 780 yen or 880 yen. A good deal considering it had chopsticks too. And the Phineas set of 2 were 250-280 yen for both. Not a bad deal really. : )

These were Branden's snacks for his class trip. Of course he shares some koala cookies with someone and they share a handful of theirs. Anyway, I'm just happy to finally get this post up. Yes, yay me! Finally. Hahaha. : )  Only took a billion years. : ) 

Noah’s class observation day and the yearly emergency drill at the local elementary school

Last Thursday, May 29th was Noah's observation day at the local elementary school. This was a, "you can go any time of day type of observation day!" Also at the end of the day, everyone (including parents) were to be outside on the school grounds at 2:20pm for a "practice emergency drill" I went to Noah's last class, also, I came early and the kids just finished their lunch and were brushing their teeth! Look at that little boy in the background smiling at me. His mom and I are friends. And there's Lily-chan there in the stripes in front of Noah, she is so cute! And the little girl nearest my camera gave me a big wave, after I clicked this pic. 

About to enter the class. Noah meanwhile brushing his teeth. The sensei plays a CD and the song is about brushing your teeth! Hahaha and they brush for the duration of the song, however long the song plays is how long they brush for. I entered the class. A couple kids told me, hi and waved and I said hi back...and  I also gave brushing motions with my hand..."brush your teeth...brush your teeth" (In Japanese of course) I said while smiling. The sensei nodded at me and smiled and said "yep, Noah's mama is right!" : )

Noah's shuji/calligraphy hanging on the wall outside his class. Says the 3rd grade and says Noah. : ) 

Noah's artwork inside his class! : )

Then the kids had a 10 minute recess and I went outside to enjoy watching Noah play! Here's Noah in the orange shirt playing with his group of friends! They were about to play dodge ball! 

Run kids run! Try not to get hit with the ball...if so, you're out! Hahaha. 

School grounds and school in the background! : )

The gym!

Jungle gym in the way way background and not sure if you can see the bunch of tires in the ground to the left. Noboru and the rest of the Father's Club guys, put the tires in the ground and painted them all the colors of the rainbow for all the kids to enjoy, they did that years ago.  : ) This is a very good environment for the kids to go to school in. Very country, very rural and peaceful. Now that it's almost summer Noah's class goes on nature walks with the class around the school grounds or walks about the town with the teacher, gee they do that about once a week, sometimes twice a week and they don't go too far. : ) 

Okay so this was only a practice/mock drill. Not a real one, but the school made an emergency announcement and all grades filed out of the school with their teacher, not running but they all walked quickly out.

Hi sweet pea! : )

I am always a bit freakishly early, I always have been. Started at 2:20pm and I was standing outside at 2:05pm. Okay maybe 2:07pm. Here come the parents and many grandparents. To be fair, lots of parents now days work.So just as long as someone shows up for you. The note said, to wait in the basketball court! The note says that every year! Which I did. : )

See, I did! Hahaha. Some parents did not though and the head teacher got on the loud speaker and said..."parents get in the basketball area...get in the basketball area!!!"

Is your child a 1st grader? 3rd grader? 6th grader? The flag will show you which grade. 1,2,3,4,5,you know what I mean, I hope. : ) Then the head teacher said...after a bit of waiting, now go and stand next to your child! This year I only have 1 child at the school, so I didn't have to run from flag/class to class. Hahaha. I stood right next to Noah. And then as protocol says the teacher MUST confirm you are the child's parent or grandparent. She went down the row, Noah is student #10. They do that alphabetically by your last name. Branden is student #3, however Noah's class has tons of kids in it, so he's student #10. So she went to 9 other kiddos first. I heard her, she asked each child is this your mother/father/grandparent? The child stood and said yes. And then she asked the parent...who are you? I am his mom or whoever, the person would say. When it was finally our turn, she asked..."Noah is this your mom?" "Yes", he said. She laughs doing us, not like a  mean laugh... just more of a... this is so obvious but I have to ask you anyway kinda laugh" and I know it's because I clearly look foreign/I clearly stick out : ( (hahaha) and Noah clearly looks like me, no other kid could possibly be mine in that crowd of kids and clearly we are related. But we still went according to protocol and that's totally fine, I heard 9 others go before us, I knew what to expect, it was fine. So, like I said, Noah said, "yes that is my mom." And then she asked me, "who are you?" I said, "I am Noah's mom." which is..."Noah no haha desu!" And she said alrighty and crossed us off the list, waved us good bye and we went home and that was that, over and done for another year. : ) Anyway, the practice emergency drill is complete for 2014 at least! : ) And it was a lovely observation day. : )