Weekend recap and randoms up until now...

The DVDs from America arrived last week. I'm still waiting on 1 DVD, though (Corrina Corrina). But the rest all got here safe and sound. : ) The box from Amazon.com was super cute this time. The box was yellow and it's to promote the upcoming Minions movie. : ) Here's Stuart.

Bran and Noah, really like Bob though! : ) Hi Bob! : ) 

One new one. Fifty Shades of Grey. Having heard all about this one, I watched this is the daytime when nobody was around. It was a good movie. I know it's going to be a 2 or 3 part movie franchise, based on the books. But the way they ended this one. It was like they were in mid sentence talking about the car and next thing, I know, she jumped in the elevator. And I was left thinking? Is this....seriously.. how they ended it? @_@ Hahaha. 3 older movies also pictured, but really good movies that I am glad I have now. Friday night was family movie night. We watched Gung Ho. It's a comedy, Dealing with cultural things between America and Japan. Noboru had never seen it before, but he loved it. The boys totally loved it. So that was last Friday night. We watched Gung Ho. : )

I am happy to have Blood Vows, with Melissa Gilbert, this was a made for TV movie, but a real good one. I'll probably watch this in the day time, while the kids are at school and Noboru's at work. It's a good movie. Just more for ladies though, a love story and a bit dramatic. Ends sort of...not so lovey dovey of course. But a great movie.  

We have The Giving Tree. It was a favorite of both my boys. However, you have to feel sorry for the tree. The kid is just so darned rotten. So, in this book..the boy is still a bad kid, but let's just say...he gets his "just desserts" in the end. : ) Both the boys enjoyed this book. : ) 

You all more than likely know...our weekends are pretty important around here...in fact we start planning...them on Wednesday. Hahaha. What will we eat over the weekend (mostly at home) what DVD should we watch. What sort of soda shall we buy, because during the week we typically don't drink soda. So we really get excited for the weekends. The plan was set. Noboru would be bringing 2 large Pizza Hut pan pizzas home from Narita on his way home from work. And I would meanwhile pick up some sodas, Friday in the day before the boys would get out of school. The kids requested melon sodas, I also bought lemon Cokes for the following day. So, I knew a 7-11 run would be in my future Friday. Noboru requested..."just buy him a 2 liter or 1.5 liter of Mitsuya Cider." Okay, so I ran to the local drugstore for that. And a run to 7-11 to get the sodas. My former yakuin team member from last year, works at 7-11. So we chit chatted a few minutes while I was picking up the sodas. I told her..."movie night tonight, we have a DVD." Which one she asked? "Just an old one", I replied but a comedy. She said..."comedy's are always good."  She and I talked back and forth a few minutes. And I left. : ) 

Snacks picked up...check and check (bought at the drugstore when I picked up Noboru's cider.) My final thing for Friday, pick up the 2 kiddos at the plaza. And they both hopped in the car and we went home right away. Noboru was just pulling in at home, at the same time too. 

Noboru said..."it's so super hot...let's eat right away!" I said yes! : ) Look how hot and steamy this bag was. Hahaha. : )

One pepperoni lovers and 1 pepperoni, mushroom and bellpepper.

Baked fries. We all quickly ate. Everyone took turns showering. And we got right down to the movie. Gung Ho was amazing, even better than I remember, so funny. We finished the movie really early, so everyone had free time after that. I watched the Big Bang Theory after that. The boys went upstairs and played the Wii. Noboru watched Youtube. It was a nice night Friday. And Saturday was equally as nice. Saturday was low key and relaxing. 

Sunday, was Father and son time. Noboru took Branden and Noah shrimping. To catch shrimp. I know and understand that Noboru needs some alone time with the boys, you know...and go off and do guy things once in a while. Go fishing..or go shrimping. Branden and Noah adore their dad. And he them. Noboru took all these pics and LINE messaged them to me, as they were happening. 

Hi sweet pea.

Look at that Noah! You caught one, now which one was this? The tiny fish or one of the shrimps you caught, it's hard to tell in this picture! : )

Good job Bran! This is for surely a shrimp. Oh and for what it's worth, all the shrimp they caught they released right back! No shrimp or fish were harmed. Hahaha. : ) It's just for plain ol' sport and father and son bonding. : )

Hi 2 other shrimp, in Branden's hands. : ) And Noah looking on! : )

Noah caught 9 shrimp. Branden caught 8 and Noah caught a tiny fish. Noboru caught one, but to be fair to Noboru, I think he probably didn't try at all. And plus he was too busy talking to the boys and taking pictures and enjoying their day together. But they were there for a long time, they brought lunches that they bought from a grocery store, along the way and drinks. They made a whole day of it, from the morning. Kids need their dad's. Of course kids, also need their mom's too. : ) But there are things, I can't teach them and vice versa. : )  We sure do, love you two kids so much! : )

And what did I do Sunday? Well, they did invite me to go shrimping too. But, you know...I know they need their time. So, I declined. I said, "ya'll go ahead and have fun, plus I can get dinner made by the time you guys return...plus I can relax a bit" ....I cleaned the kitchen Sunday for an hour. This is bleach...for like 98 yen from Cainz/Besia. Like 85 cents US. I bleached the counter tops. Threw the table cloth in the washer machine and then hung it outside to dry. Wiped the table and chairs down. How do the chairs get so grimy in 1 weeks time. @_@ : ) I checked dates on stuff in the pantry and fridge. Put the table back...meaning put the clean table cloth back on. And prepped supper. I made Italian meatballs. Rolled a bunch of those for pasta for dinner later. I did place the rolled meatballs on a plate and wrapped in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. I meanwhile went outside for about 5-10 minutes to check on the plants. 

The 4 hatch green chili are in the blue buckets. I was going to buy a real planter, 4 of them, but they cost like 500-600 yen each. And this bucket, does the same job a planter does except, it cost only 89yen each and since nobody is going to be seeing either (except you guys, and you guys don't mind right)...meaning the planter or bucket it doesn't really matter, so I picked the cheaper buckets (smart to be penny wise, I say, especially since vacation is coming this summer.) So, I thought this was the better deal. And in the box are the jalapenos, still babies still. They sit outside all day, getting fresh air and sunshine on my back patio, but at night they go into the shed. : ) 

I did rest for a good couple hours also Sunday. I watched cable. And relaxed. When they called me and said they were on their way home, is when I got the pot of water boiling for the fresh pasta bought from Costco. Also, cut and sliced some Costco dinner rolls and put some garlic spread on those and toasted them up. 

Fried up the meatballs and veggies (bell peppers and mushrooms) and added the sauce. They arrived home and took quick soapy good hot showers, then it was time for supper. 

We all ate. They had a really great Sunday and so did I. : ) I was happy to hear all their happy stories from their shrimping adventure. 

We had some fresh cantaloupe for dessert Sunday night. Sunday night we watched Mr. Baseball. 

Monday, I started my period. Sorry TMI (too much information) and I felt really yuck. I had major cramps. I took an Advil in the morning. Felt better but still not super great. I vacuumed the downstairs and swooshed the downstairs toilet. But Monday for the most part, was spent resting on the couch. I needed a day. I did make dinner and stuff though. And picked up the boys from school of course. By the time the boys got home, I took a 2nd Advil and the Advil kicked in and I was semi back to normal.  Tuesday, I was totally back to normal. No cramps at all. Noboru was off Tuesday so we decided to head to Costco in Chiba New Town. However we stopped for a cheap breakfast first. I had some pancakes, a hashbrown and an iced coffee. Noboru had a chicken crisp and a Filet o fish. Just as we sat down 2 guys came in and they both also ordered the Filet o Fish as well. Hmm, apparently the Filet o Fish is popular in the mornings here? Hahaha. : ) 

A new product sighting at my closest Costco. If you like these, you're in luck! Ricotta cheese stuffed ravioli. OMG, I love these. Quick easy meals. These are pricey, I feel 1900 yen for 4lbs, is a little high. But, for my family of 4, I get 2 meals out of this. So, not too terribly bad. Wish it was cheaper of course though. I had to buy a pack. Just to try. We haven't had these yet. And see those delicious cheese pizzas in the freezer section in this picture too. We love those. Didn't buy any this time...but those are super good. 

Cart picture from this Tuesday. Laundry soap, this is cheap for the amount you get and the scent is really nice. Choco croissants. Extra lean ham. Tortillas, the ravioli and 1 rotisserie chicken. 

My old camera case to the left. I like this camera case a lot, it's just too small for my new camera. The new camera case to the right. I like and wanted the same color and style. : ) 

Noah just started cooking class in the 4th grade at his school. And he had it today in fact for the first time. They made something called "fruit punch" not the drink like we in America think. : ) Anyway he said he might need some mikan or pineapple (canned) Branden made fruit punch in the 4th grade too. So, I remembered. : ) I made sure to buy a few cans and when Noah got home from school Tuesday he said, since it was their first time cooking, that they didn't need to bring any ingredients this time. Hahaha. @_@ No worries, this canned fruit was just 98 yen a can and it will just be added to our "earthquake disaster box" of foods we keep in 1 big box. Canned fruit is something we keep a lot of in our box of emergency food. : ) 

Noboru had seen a little snippet of this movie and so he really wanted to get this DVD, so much so, he got on Amazon and ordered it right away. It was available from Amazon.jp even though it's a DVD for American DVD players. Which we have an American DVD player, so he ordered it and could barely wait for it to get here. On the cover of this DVD is Kevin Bacon and he's bringing a fallen Marine back home. The marines first name was Chance. And so the movie means...he is taking Chance home basically. It was an HBO movie, but it was an amazing movie. I can see why Noboru wanted to see this. The boys watched this, with us. 

Noboru needed to go to the Daiso on our way home from Costco on Tuesday. And so, while he was getting his few things. Gardening things. I was meanwhile looking around and I found these 2 things. Toiletry bags. The bags say Refresh Time. And they have cute little drawings of, beauty essentials or face products. And again, since we are planning a vacation this summer, these will come in handy for sures. 

The small one was 100 yen and the big one was 200 yen. A real bargain. : )

Anything else to add?  Yes, we finally decided where to go for our vacation. We decided we will be going to California this year. It was really close and a very hard decision between California and South Korea. Probably like the hardest decision ever. We would look at South Korea travel YouTube Videos. And then go and watch Universal Studios videos off YouTube too. But as time gets closer, we had to make a final decision. And I just 1 day, made a list on a sheet of paper, we all listed all the pros of going to California.  For one...there's Universal Studios while the kids are still young enough to enjoy it. Plus there would be no language barrier, like we would have in Korea (though I don't mind at all). Plus California has good food and shopping. Food is...In N Out Burger, El Pollo Loco, Sonic (love Sonic, they have a coconut cream pie shake and those slushys, OMG) Chick Fil-A,  many good Mexican restaurants, Arby's, Steak N Shake (hello they have a Nutella, shake for crying out loud) Okay clearly this girl needs a shake, hahaha. : )  And the shopping, they have Sephora, Walmart (sorry their prices are cheap and I don't mind shopping there at all, if it saves me money, if you are going to buy a bottle of Advil does it matter which store you bought it from, for me personally I prefer buy it at the cheapest price possible and Walmart is usually it) They have Target, Our hotel we booked is right near a really nice shopping mall (which has a Sephora and Bath and Body Works and stuff) and there's a Target at the same mall too. Yay! And a Costco is near-ish there too. Noboru found a really good hotel and the ratings on Trip Advisor are really good. So considering Universal Studios and the food and the shopping and language ease. We went with California. We will also be going to 2 movies while there too. And plus the 9-10 hours worth of movies we will get on the plane back and forth to and from Japan we will be so super caught up on movies. Hahaha. : ) So we were really happy to finally decide. And then sad thing...then we heard on the TV all about the MERS outbreak in South Korea and we were like thinking...wow. How sad...we were so close to picking South Korea. : ( I would still like to go to South Korea. Maybe this winter who knows. So, as of right now. We have the dates picked already. Noboru requested 9 or 10 days off already. As Noboru always says we need to have a back up plan always. It's just smart to have one since we are flying non-rev. And our back up plan is the same as last year. Honolulu, Hawaii. Once again Honolulu has never let us down, not ever. : ) However our #1 goal is California. But if for some horrible reason the flight got full and we couldn't get to California...knowing we can always count on Honolulu is peace of mind. Because there's always a room available. And they have almost everything California has except...no Sonic, no Chick Fil A, no El Pollo Loco, no In N Out Burger, No Steak N Shake and no Universal Studios. But the bright side is they have everything else...Arby's and Sephora etc, gorgeous beaches and the best shrimp ever. So...the plan right now and hope is for California. and we are quietly keeping the emergency back up plan, the same as last year.

Alrighty, you guys. That's enough blibber blabber from me for right now. Hmm. Not a peep out of me for the last 5 days and now I'm all...Chatty Cathy. : ) Sorry about that. : ) Just wanted to catch up with you all real quick and make sure, we're all on the same page again. One good thing is...now I am fully concentrating on the handful of American Youtubers, I usually catch up on when I know I am going to America. I usually...this is weird but I'll share it. There's about 5 beauty bloggers in America that I really like their videos but...if I am *not* going to America, I find I will not watch their videos. My reasoning is this...if I am not going to America  for example for 10 or 11 months, and I watch their video...I will be watching and think...Oh man...bummer. Hahaha. basically...if I know I have no chance or option to buy it...there's really not much point in me watching the video. It would just drive me nuts. However, I do get to America once a year and so, when I know I am going there...I will watch all their videos....I won't watch all 11 months worth of what I missed, but as of right now...I am watching every video for example EmilyNoel83 has made since January 2015. Same for CofeebreakwithDani and Ingrid Nilson (MissGlamorazzi)...I am also catching up with EssieButton, she's from Canada and she's just the absolute best, you guys (she is the only non American, I watch as far as Beauty Vloggers go, she's the only one.) I will check up with their Instgrams every week year round but not their videos. But now, I know I'm going there...I am in this huge catch up mode. trying to watch all EssieButton's vlogs since January too. Also, if you like cosmetics. And if you are Canadian you really really need to be watching EssieButton for sures, it's your patriotic duty ya'll. : ) She's from Canada and quite possibly the funniest girl, ever on this planet. She is in a long term relationship with an Asian man from the UK, she now lives in the UK. But she goes back and forth to Canada, she has tons of Canada love and even has a Canadian coffee mug! Seriously...any female on the planet if you like cosmetics you guys should be watching her. But especially if you like cosmetics and if you are from Canada you should *really* be watching her. She's amazing. She's natural, EmilyNoel is natural too, meaning they don't seem fake, like they're trying to hawk products to you. And she's in an AMWF relationship meaning an Asian male with a white female...not tons of us out there. Ya'll should be watching her. So...if my blog should get quiet again...I am more than likely...am madly trying to catch up on about 6 months worth of of their favorite cosmetics. January favorites...February favorites, March, etc etc.  Alrighty, time for me to end this post. This post is way too long. Sorry about that. : ) 

American Embassy in Tokyo, Kua'Aina Burger and Krispy Kreme donuts at Ikspiari...

Tuesday, June 2nd was the day to get ourselves to the American Embassy in Tokyo. The US Embassy alots/allows 30 US passport applicants each day. No more than that number. You can book your appointment on the website, which I booked the boys appointments for June 2nd, last month. The appointments fill up really quickly. And I needed 2 appointments, since both the boys were applicants. Both parents need to be there, unless you sign an affidavit or something because they worry about parental child abduction and whatnot. Perhaps 1 parent doesn't know the plans for the child to travel. Type thing. So, we both went and have both always went to these, together. American adults passports last 10 years. But for American children, our child passports only last for 5 years because kids just look and change a lot, in a 5 year span. Which is understandable. The passport cost $105 US each. $210 US for both and with the exchange rate the passports were 26,000 yen. Yep, super expensive for passports, however our kids need them, so it's just an expense we expect. Noah will be 10 this July so naturally his passport time is up. Branden will be 14 this October. So, I would imagine his passport would be good until *next* year however...he had needed a replacement passport once and so that's why his timing is super off on his passport, hahaha. No worries though.   

Many different countries Embassy's and Consulates are very close in proximity to one another. Same part of Tokyo. However I would have to say the United States Embassy is the largest area wise/land wise of the Embassy's. The American Embassy also has the *most* security and protection, out of the ones we drove by/passed. See this huge white wall? Behind that wall, is where Caroline Kennedy lives, etc. You may *not* walk along the street where the American Embassy is. See this white barrier between the sidewalk and street pictured here? Nobody is allowed to walk down that specific sidewalk. There's a guard standing on all corners. And the sidewalk is sealed off. The other country embassy's are not like this. 

See this Japanese police man standing and guarding the US Embassy here? They protect all sides of the US Embassy this way And see the sidewalk...see the cones, see the walkway near the policeman has a white fence blocking/sealing it off essentially? Yes, totally not allowed on the street of the US Embassy. My thoughts? Well for me being American, it honestly gives me huge peace of mind knowing our Embassy is so well protected. I recall hearing on the news about a few US Embassy's abroad years ago, in different countries were targets or attacked or bombed, so yes it does give me peace of mind especially when my 2 baby's will be inside that day. You may be asking yourself, how can we get in. hahaha That would be a very fair question too. : ) Well... see across the street? See those 2 people walking? Like they can't go across the street any closer to the US Embassy at all, unless they can show proof that they are indeed US citizens or have a reason why they need to be allowed on that side of the street. We walked on the same side of the street where those people were and as we got closer... I had to flash our 3 US passports and Noboru's Japanese passport and tell him (the policeman), I just spoke in English because they're used to it, the cops who protect the area. I said politely...while showing my passport. "Hi, we have appointments, I'm American." He shook his head and let the people know across the street, on the side of the American Embassy side... 4 people were crossing the street. Us. Hahaha. : ) Otherwise you will not even be allowed to get close enough. But, we had an appointment. And had actual reasons to be there. 

Big giant trucks and of course more guards...these are also protection for the American Embassy. Anyway, so our appointment was at 2pm for Bran and 2:30pm for Noah. Considering how far we live away...an afternoon appointment worked best for us. If you want to now... enter the US Embassy you must show you have an appointment and paper proof of said appointment. I know this already so I had my 2 print outs. Everyone had to show theirs. And then you go through a door which weighs about 5 billion pounds this door. And you put all your belongings through an x-ray machine. No phones or cameras are allowed in the US Embassy. Again a safety issue, which is understandable. And again, I knew this already... which is why we both left our phones and camera in my car. Which was parked about 2 blocks away. These pics were taken while we were in the car driving to the parking garage. After we put our stuff in the x ray machine we were cleared to go inside. Keep in mind, there are about a billion cops and police. Then we enter the actual Embassy and are now in the 2nd screening area... we are were in the genkan or entry way of the US Embassy. Another guard goes through our bags 1 more time. There is now 1 US military man in bullet proof glass in uniform watching as everyone enters. Now we just finished our final bag check and walked through the last set of metal detectors. Also...baby strollers are not allowed in the US Embassy they must stay outside the building in Tokyo. It sorta drove me nuts this rule... when the boys were little. But, now that they're older it's fine, but again..it's for safety. I know these rules are just in place to keep our American Embassy safe and us American citizens safe. So that should be the priority and focus. So...all in all, I do not mind all the extra security checks at all. : ) 

The Bran-meister! : ) 

Noah-chan. We went directly in the area for American citizen services. Which is an area that just deals with services for Americans (file a marriage, need a passport, had a baby). There is another area for folks trying to get a visa into the US and whatnot (like students, etc). But that's a different area altogether. There's a spot, that says place your appointment sheets here. I placed both in there. And we just waited to be called. It's nice being in there. There was 1 African American man with a Japanese spouse wanting to do 2 things, register his baby's birth abroad and get a passport for his new baby. They were a really nice couple (he was military, however he's leaving Japan so he needed the passports and whatnot, to be mailed elsewhere, they told him absolutely no problem : ). A few white/western guys with Japanese wives. 1 Chinese American girl in a high school uniform with her parents she needed a new passport. The last name was Chinese. And 1 older western woman with a Japanese spouse/hubby and a high school aged hafu son, she smiled at me and I smiled at her. And us/our family. We all smiled at one another, all of us, we said hi, hello or whatnot. I like being in there. I feel a sense of camaraderie. We're all in a sense, the same. There was also 1 very older white/western man alone and he struck up a conversation in there with another old guy. I'd say one was late 50's and the other was early 50's. Anyway the older one said..."This place is harder to get into than Fort Knox!" We all had to laugh! Then he said..."I remember 20 years ago...this place had no security...I suppose in those days, we didn't need it...but you could just waltz right in. Sad to say...that's not the case anymore" He then added..."boy has the American citizens services area gotten smaller, over 20 years ago, it was twice this size!"...I did not know that part, that it used to be a bigger area, the citizen services area! Hmm. : ) The lady called us to come to our window, she said she could handle both boys paperwork at the same time and she went through all the paperwork, she talked to both the boys a lot and joked with them... we then paid the cashier and then came back and showed proof that we just paid. Then she called us over 1 last time, so the kids and us... as parents raised our right hands... took the oath, that all our paperwork and information provided was true and blah blah blah. And she said all was fine. She was awesome the lady who handled us. Although I personally find all the people working there super nice. I walked out of the American services area thinking...be well my fellow countrymen/country people...brothers and sisters, in a sense. : ) And we all left. The kids and Noboru went to pee real quick before we left. We walked down the road and to our car.  

We were all super starving and more than ready for dinner, by the time we got to Ikspiari for some delicious Kua "Aina Burger. We even ordered 2 sets of chicken strips as appetizers, while waiting for our main meals. 

Chicken teriyaki sandwich, and onions rings for me and 1 extra grilled onion that I ate. Noboru really dislikes onions, so he just marvels in disbelief, while I munch my delicious grilled onion. He's like...super yikes @_@  I'm like..super yummm. : ) Hahaha. Sorry. : )

Noah sat to my right and Bran sat next to Noboru.

All four of our meals in 1 picture. Dinner was lovely. The staff working there, know us already, not sure how they can remember us, but they always say...the grilled onion is for you, right? And they remember small things always.. from the last visit. : ) Those ladies working there rock!: ) After we ate, we debated if we should get donuts for the next day for breakfast. We took a vote and went and got some. : ) It's in the same mall as the burger place. Then we with donuts in hand,we went to the car and hopped on the highway and went home. It was a long day and a very long drive. But worth it, because now...as soon as the boys passports get here, they're good for 5 years. So that's the bright side.

A nice rare treat.

A dozen donuts and there's 4 of us, so we each picked 3 donuts. We each had 1 at home for dessert and the other 2, we all had for breakfast the next morning. Anyway, that is the day we went to the US Embassy. Now we just have to wait and see when both the boys passports get here. : ) 

Our weekend...

How was every one's weekend? Ours was pretty good here! : ) About a month ago, could possibly be a little longer than a month ago, we placed an order online from a "chili only" farm place in Japan, as in they only sell various types of chili. We purchased 4 hatch green chili plants. The website at the time last month, said they were still too young and when they felt they were tall enough, they'd send them. It came with instructions and warnings. @_@ That Japanese types of bugs are extremely attracted to this type/variety of chili. So either grow it in your house (out of the question because they grow quite tall, granted not rice field height but tall enough) or protect it outside with a bug net. In Denver, everyone knows what Hatch, New Mexico is famous for, the best green chili's on the planet. They sell them along the road, in early Fall (in Denver) and you can buy a bushel or half bushel and they'll roast them right there. You bring them home, and freeze them. I miss those so much. Noboru misses those too apparently. Hahaha. So, we were just shooting the breeze about..."wow, weren't those chili's so good, too bad we can't buy those here in Japan." And so Noboru went on a hunt online and said..."you will NEVER believe this, but they sell them here, there's a chili farm and they sell hatch chili's." Holy moly! He said/asked should we try to grow our own? We said, hmm why not! And so we have since.... long forgotten about the chili talk and order, since it happened long ago. Imagine our surprise when last Friday evening during our sweet & sour chicken supper, the door bell rings and it's Kuro Neko delivery. So anyway...here they are. Hahaha. Will they grow? Will we get enough to roast and freeze or...will they get eaten to death by pesky bugs? I really do not know. But as of right now, the adventure is just beginning. : ) How exciting. : )  

Saturday, Noboru had his Father's Club dinner and meeting. And I really don't mind him going because he seldom goes out. Meanwhile... when he's out having fun, I also like to make the night special for the boys, here at home too. Sometimes we'll order Pizza Hut. Sometimes not. We always though, have movie night. We had bought some chocolate raisins for movie night. We were also going to have taco night. Noah's most favorite thing to eat, in the entire universe. So he was super excited,all day Saturday! : ) Our movie for Saturday night's movie night was, Return to Oz. 

We had popped a huge pan of popcorn the day before/ Friday, so the kids and I weren't really feeling the whole...let's make a big huge amount of popcorn yet again. However we just pulled some snacks out of the pantry. Branden, I swear, Bran could eat beef every single day of his life. He loves steak..beef. Beef jerky. So Bran munched beef jerky and chocolate raisins (not at the same time obviously, lol) just throughout the movie here and there. Noah meanwhile munched his choco raisins and some gluten free, sea salt popcorn during Return to Oz. I just had the chocolate raisins and nothing else. : ) The tacos totally filled me up. 

That's right, I can't forget, I also let the boys pick an ice cream, Saturday afternoon. For after dinner. Hey...we do like our weekends special too. : ) 

About to make our own tacos, all the fixins' were right here on the counter. Yes, I think the boys overly toastied some of the shells, but they were having a dance off in the kitchen, totally am not kidding... while watching the shells, while I was finishing the meats on the stove. So they were slightly distracted. Hahaha. : ) 

I really feel, weekends should be enjoyed. : ) The kids and I had the best time! Noboru LINE messaged me once. "how are you honey?" "Are the kids okay?" I wrote back, "we are fine, the kids and I are having a party here at home, please enjoy and have fun too." So he did. : )

Forget the Men in Black. Hahaha. These are the men in yellow! : )  In many parts of Japan, it is the ladies who run the kids school things, events and such and that can give...mama's lots of stress and burden falls to the mamas (which isn't always fair). The mamas have many tasks at undokai or for this or that... but for our town. Our schools and events at the schools are basically planned and run by the papa's. Which is unusual, I know. This fraternal organization like our town has, is AWESOME! And the male teachers at the local elementary school (Noah's school) and the local JHS (which is why I said schools and not school). (Not sure what the other elementary in our town does, but I can only speak about our specific elementary school and JHS. Which all kids in the town attend the same JHS. But...all male teachers must be members of the Father's Club. They must attend the meetings and help out. And as for the female teachers, they are totally off the hook. They are not expected to attend these meetings or help out. And I know many of the female teachers are mama's too and have kiddos waiting for them, so I am sure they appreciate our town being like it is. They elected a new prez, 2 vice prez's and such this time. And guess who is a fuku kaicho this year? Hahaha, it's not me, obviously. It's Noboru! Hahaha. He's totally fine with it, because it's not so much work at all. Noah's teacher was there. He went and introduced himself right away to Noboru. Since he heard Noboru's last name and it matches his students (Noah's) He has a reputation for being very polite this teacher, he said to Noboru "Mr blah blah-san it is a pleasure to meet you, I am your son Noah's teacher" Noboru is very polite too. "He said, same here Mr. Blah blah-san, it is a pleasure to meet you too, I had been wanting to meet you, but I have been busy at work and so until now, we have been unable to meet. Yada yada yada. His teacher tells Noboru, he is from Fukuoka, he is married and he has 2 children, one in the 3rd grade and 1 in yochien and they moved recently to Narita City. So they live in Narita, he and his family. Noboru said, well, you have met my American wife twice so far (at both observation days), we have 1 older son in the 8th grade and Noah is our youngest child. So they chit chatted back and forth. He told Noboru directly..."Noah is a very good kid and a very good student" Ahhh, Noboru said...I am so pleased to hear that. The Father's club dad's and teachers and head teachers and principals are all quite close. So they enjoy getting together and plan and prepare for the next event.    

Noboru has absolutely never been a real drinker, type drinker. And I don't drink at all (the taste is just awful for me) However he would drink once in a while at the Father's Club meetings maybe a beer or two, would be what he limits himself, but these past 6 month when he attends, he feels he doesn't feel very good after drinking. So the last 3 meetings he went to, he has had only soda. : ) Hahaha.  

Sunday morning, our housing community had "gomi zero", gomi means trash and zero, means well...it clearly means zero. Hahaha. : ) So basically it's a street clean up all the neighbors do together. We all met at 9am at the front of the hanchos house (block leader this year)..and then we all separated and went cleaning up. Our street is pretty clean, so we basically as in...all of us on our street had almost nothing to clean up. All our trash bags which they hand out, 1 per each house. Our trash bag was 99% empty at the end of it, and same for the rest of the folks on our street. The man in the way background. That's A-chan's papa. A-chan's a new high schooler this year. That's their only child. A-chan's papa is so super nice. He chatted and talked with Noboru mostly and I a bit. He's just absolutely wonderful. He said...guess where I am originally from? We said where? He then walked out to the open lot next to our house and pointed across the tanbo/rice field,,,he said see that couple hundred year old house right there? We said yes. He said, I was born and raised in that house my entire life! Holy goodness! Talk about a local. He's literally a walk right across the tanbo from where his parents house is (sadly his mother is no longer, but his father is alive and wonderful : ( .) Then he said...guess where my wife is from? We said, where? He said Narita City! We all laughed. He said we're both from really close, right? We were like...totally! You sure don't have far to visit with family! He chuckled! Again we all had nothing really to pick up, trash-wise but we had to manner wise... stand there hold the trash bag until 9:30am. The important thing is...you must show up for it...and stay until the end. A-chan's papa is so down to earth. Like a genuinely good guy. Not showy offy. Not even 1 iota. He always has a smile. We also discussed the crows. The crows in Japan are about twice the size of American crows. And they are not afraid of anything. A scarecrow wouldn't really work on these crows, though we do have scarecrows in Japan too, however the crows are just too tough...real wise guys, these crows, hahaha. Every trash day, they hangout near the net covered, trash area. And their beaks are so big and strong, if they can just punch 1 hole in a trash bag they basically get a free meal. So yeah...we talked about these tough crows in our area. We pointed at the big hole in our net, that the crows made. Hahaha. These crows mean business! Hahaha. : )

Noboru meanwhile found a type of beetle. And put it on his glove.

He set it free, in the empty/vacant lot next door.

Yesterday we went to the American Embassy in Tokyo. And to Kua' Aina afterwards. A blog post coming soon about that. Today's weather forecast for our part of Japan says 100% chance of rain. And the forecast says HEAVY RAIN. Not just regular rain. It has been raining since I woke up this morning at 5:30am. And is even raining right now.

Any movies I am looking forward to this year? Yes, I am waiting for... with great anticipation, I might add. The Terminator Genisys. Comes out in July? Can't wait! I also can't wait for the Star Wars The Force Awakens which comes out in December this year. We are*major* Terminator and Star Wars fans in our house, so we can't wait! Also can barely wait for the Hunger Games MockingJay part 2 in November. Exciting! As for DVD's, I would really like to see, The Age of Adaline. I wanted to purchase it on DVD but it isn't available for purchase yet. I also would like to see the DVD, Black or White with Kevin Costner and the amazing Octavia Spencer. If, I were living in the US, I would have gone to see The Age of Adaline and Black or White already hahaha, they are not out in Japan yet, those 2 movies. Who knows, if we decide to go to California I might be lucky and get to see those in the airplane. : ) I would love that. : )

The boys are both at school right now. Noah gets out at 3:45pm today and Bran gets out somewhere between 3:45pm-4pm. We are having niku jaga for supper tonight, perfect for a rainy day/evening. : ) Fall apart tender pork loin which was seared/braised first (boiling down already) boiling away in mirin, sugar and shoyu goodness, as we speak.Will add onion and potatoes last 30 minutes this evening (so they don't dissolve into nothingness... if I added them too early lol... and then I'll add some frozen green beans the last 5 minutes. So good! Can't wait! So hearty and good! Alrighty, later alligators. : )