Halloween 2015...

October 30th! The day before Halloween, my family and I, were all set to carve our Halloween pumpkin! Jack the Pumpkinhead, as we like to call him/them every year! : ) Also, because Branden is 14 years old now and Noah is our little ten-ager! The boys helped out a lot with the carving. In fact the actual face/character carving on the pumpkin, Branden did that entirely himself this year for the first time! However Noboru, always was near, helping them. Coaching them. So that way, when they're adults, they'll know how to do it!

In real life, Noboru is so silly! Always trying to make the kids or myself laugh or have a good time. It doesn't usually come across in pictures. In pictures he mostly always looks serious, but I think that's just because in Japan most guys over 40 won't smile so much in pictures, why? I don't really know why. I am noticing some of Branden's classmates start to do that too. Get a stern/serious look, when a camera comes around them now. Interesting.  But this evening, I managed to capture a few pics of Noboru is his usual silly state. 

Noboru being a complete dork as usual and the kids laughing about it!

Somebody said something really really funny. Of course me being me...I had to add something equally hilarious to add to the conversation! Of course that made absolutely everyone turn around and look at me and laugh hysterically! We are all pretty quick witted and can think of come backs or replies or add ons... instantaneously! We do have the liveliest conversations. Things that would have you all in stitches! You can just tell by these pictures...how much fun we have when we're all together doing something! We are a very supportive family, but we are most definitely a very fun family to be in. We like to laugh and we do so...all the time!

Noboru showing Noah how he wants him to cut around the top. 

Go Noah go! And Noboru looking on. Helping him, talking him through it. Hold here, and be careful for this....that sort of thing.

Right here, Branden added, "Noah, I hope you don't have a, slip on the knife...and accidentally stab my arm!" I say immediately..."then honey... move your arm!"...I mean duh. : ) 

So Bran moved his arm a bit down and out of the way. And Noah repositioned himself as well. But again you can see Bran laughing about it. And Noah was too. Again it's all very light but really funny.

Here's the next conversation. Jack The Pumpkinheads insides, the kids and I always called them "pumpkin guts" I started calling it that and the kids always followed suit, back when the kids were babies. But here...Noboru smartly chimes in with a question. Apparently a very good question and you can see he's slightly smiling/cheeky facial expression. But he asked..."if this is Jack's head. Then would they really be guts. Wouldn't they be his brains?"...Again, I admire we are all have thinking caps here. My quick and honest reply. "I never really thought about it...but actually yes you're right, they would be technically Jack's brains, I suppose" But then he is polite and he says..."but I think either way is fine." And then I am also polite and I say..."yes but technically you are right and I am wrong, they wouldn't be his guts technically at all." So, I ask the kids..dad's right, so should we change and start calling them pumpkin brains...or keep calling them pumpkin guts? We wondered and pondered. But then switched talking about it completely because...a new song came on the radio... that we all love! Drake's Hotline Bling. And then we started singing, the kids and I. OMG, Noah is becoming *such* a great dancer!

More chatter from all of us!

Branden making faces at me!

I'm glad that we're all close enough to play around with each other like this! And fwiw, I stuck my tongue out, right back! Ha! Noah meanwhile giving me side eye! 

Noah singing now and Branden giving me the cheesiest smile, I have ever seen! That's right Bran...you are such a ham for the camera! Love you though!

Noah cleaning out the pumpkin guts...or should I say... pumpkin brains? Dundundun! Oh, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter either way. Meanwhile the rest of the family just chilling being complete nerd-o-ramas! Or Dork-o-rolas!

Cleaning out the pumpkin, cleaning out the pumpkin!

Go Noah, you can do it!

Noah being silly!

This pumpkin had the most seeds, we have had in years! We were all sort of very surprised, by the sheer amount of seeds we had this year.

Branden said, just let me go... sit at the kitchen table this year and I want to carve the face all by myself. We were at first all like...what??? @_@ But Noboru said...he's 14 and if he actually is asking to...we should let him. I agree. So, I said okay, "have at it then!" Bran first decided what he wanted to carve. Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. And he found a picture he liked, he then drew the face free hand on paper, then he taped it on the pumpkin and carved what he drew free hand. 

Noah and I meanwhile cleaned the pumpkin seeds very well and then we sprinkled the wet (with water) pumpkin seeds with salt and popped into the oven at 350 degrees F until done. 

These were so delicious!

Branden did such an amazing job! We were quite proud of the job he did!

Branden also gave Jack a scar under one of his eyes, because he said it makes him look way cooler! 

Branden you did such a fantastic job!

My family for Halloween 2015! 

Simply put...I love you guys!

Oh, before I forget, all month long we had these cool pumpkin lights on the front windows. Jack o lantern lights! Very cool! : )

We even switched our normal porch light bulbs, to creepy Halloween ones. They are switched back now, to normal porch light bulbs. But all October our house looked like this! : ) Actual Halloween this year fell on a Saturday. We always have something really good for dinner. We had tacos for supper, Halloween night. We also had a yellow cake with chocolate frosting that I baked in the day time. Also, around 3pm, 3 of Noah's best buds from the neighborhood, came knocking and said let's go trick or treating! I had heard the day before from Noah that...that was the plan. So, I pulled out Branden's old elf costumes and made sure Noah could fit it. And so when his friends swung by Saturday, Noah just popped that on and they went to all their 4th grade classmates houses in our housing community and they received treats from them all, I also handed treats out to all the 4 graders who came to my door. Everybody who saw Noah on Halloween, thought he was Peter Pan! Yep, all the mom's were chattering at the plaza about it..."Noah-kun was Peter Pan for Halloween this year!" And his costume was so cool, they all kindly said! @_@ Hahaha. Elf...he was an elf. But no worries. I guess, if they want to think he was Peter Pan, that's okay too. Peter Pan, it is then! : ) In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter elf or Pan? Eh..not really. Either is fine. Just you and I reading... will know though! : )   Also I noticed the 3rd graders are also trick or treating every year here... but they only stop at fellow 3rd graders houses. So no 3rd graders stopped at my house. Which I would have been happy, if they came but, that's okay. I was happy the 4th graders came. So anyways, that is what our family did, for Halloween 2015 this year! : ) 

Branden's 8th Grade, Fall Observation Day...

Wednesday, October 28th was Observation Day, at Branden's school. At our local JHS, observation day is held over a 2 day time period (at our elementary school, it's 1 day only, so a slight difference). So parents who cannot make it to 1 of the days, have at least an option to catch it the other day. So technically Observation Day was October 28th and 29th. But I came to visit and observe October 28th. I always ask both of my kids "which class would you like me to come and visit?" And this time around, Branden asked me to watch his science class because his grade has been doing a lot of dissecting, lately and it's something he finds very interesting and so he wanted me to come and watch the dissection of a chicken head. I mention it here in the first paragraph, so if it's something that freaks any of you out. Maybe skip this post. Personally though, in America we too dissect things in middle school/JHS too. So, if you are American you probably...more then likely did something along these lines too. It's just normal learning curriculum, for most kids worldwide in middle school/JHS age. However if you come from a country, that does not learn this stuff or if it makes you queasy at all... again...skip the post. No worries at all. I think I shared 1 pic of the chicken head and frankly you can barely see much anyways. You personally see more gore on Grey's Anatomy even though it's fake.. it's still gore. I personally... growing up in Denver, Colorado at my middle school, we dissected a frog and a baby pig! Most kids in my class were mature and took it as it was...a science class and a way to learn. But yep, there were a few immature ones...who made jokes about the class that day and that's sort of sad. And there was also a girl or two who was queasy and left class too, so not really their fault either.... but I really enjoyed the class and took it as a learning thing. I do remember also...the pig in formaldehyde smelled absolutely hideous though. That smell, I do remember. I also was asked by Bran to come and visit English class after science class too. This is the shoe area at the JHS Branden attends. These specific shoes are the 2nd grade JHS kids. Eighth graders basically. 

There are many pictures along the walls, in Bran's class. I enjoyed looking at everyone's picture and reading the little blurbs below them, about each of the kids. It also says what each students semester goal is. Or something they want to say...a message! It was very interesting to read those. Many kids said...their goal was to study 2 hours every night. Another kid said, I don't want to get below 450 on my combined score on any of the tests, this semester. On the wall outside their class, hung all the kids 2 day work experience stories. For all of us parents to read. I enjoyed looking at those as well. I was still reading some of those, when the bell rang and it was time for science class to start. So, I went up to the 3rd floor science classroom. 

Apparently a few of Branden's classmates asked Bran, "if your mom will be okay...since we are dissecting a chicken head today"...Bran told me, he said..."my mom did this same type of stuff back when she was in JHS in America too and also she doesn't get disgusted easily" Apparently the kids were like..."wow, that is good to know!" Hahaha. : ) So, in walked Noboru and I. We sat far at the back of class, as not to disrupt class. The main teacher was a woman science teacher! She's pictured here far right towards the TV, is that a TV? Hahaha. I loved that it was a woman science teacher! I only say that because my science teacher back in my middle school was a woman too! I just thought that was cool! There was a helper teacher and he was a man. But she was running the class and I thought that sorta really rocked! I also really appreciated that she made us feel really welcome and she brought us a copy of the paper they were reading in class too. That...I appreciated very much! Made us feel very included! So thank you sensei! : ) You're awesome! 

Everyone in the entire class, was very mature. No joking around. They really took it as a learning experience. The "professor" the nickname the kids call him...the one kid who is so smart, I swear he's borderline genius, you guys! He's from the other smaller school. But he's the one, who wrote he wants to maintain the 450 scores on his tests. He's smart, like REALLY smart,  he's respectful to EVERYONE. And he knows what he wants, he wants to be a doctor! So he enjoyed the heck out of this class. All of the girls in class were like totally mature. Not 1 girl left the class. There was 1 lone boy though...the way he was carrying on. OMG! He was like..this is so gross...so gross...so gross. He was dry heaving. But if he's truly sick, we must feel bad for him. But...it didn't appear really so. At times he was laughing. In a way...and I shouldn't say this...but I think he truly wasn't genuinely grossed out...he just wanted attention. But nobody really fed into it. So, he eventually stopped doing that because...there wasn't any pay off...meaning no attention. 

Again appreciate she gave us these 2 print outs also. These were photo copies from the biology book for all 8th graders, so perhaps if you will be having an 8th grader next year or someday, don't be surprised, if they mention dissecting a chicken head. The object of the class was to remove the brain in 1 piece, extra points if you could remove some of the brain stem along with it. 

Again, because it was a living creature they want you to show respect. A chance to learn. So don't mash it or destroy it, like a serial killer. And the X over the pic on the right...do not destroy the poor chicken head. Also the teacher said these were chicken heads that came from a pet store. They came from a big can. @_@ And they apparently feed some other bigger animal in Japan a great big ol' can of chicken heads. What animals? I don't know, and she didn't say. So...that meant since it was to be food for another animal. That meant no hideous formaldehyde smell. What did the chickens smell like? Honestly just like boiled chicken. If you have ever boiled chicken for chicken noodle soup. Then you know what I mean. Again though...this was bought from the pet store and is usually pet food for something bigger. So no gross chemical-y smell at all. 

All the kids separated in their already selected science groups. Bran and 3 girls. Two of the girls are from his elementary school and 1 of the girls is from the other smaller elementary school. All very nice girls. 

The one and only picture. They all went around the group and took out the specific things that was on the paper/list. Branden removed the brain in full and intact and they also got points because he has some brain stem... long thingy dangling at the back. And the teacher went around to each group. And all the groups did a wonderful job! I liked how they all wore gloves. It got me wondering...did we wear gloves in my class? I sort of think not. Hmm. The sensei also asked the kids to remove the beak, so one girl did that and the sensei asked the groups to remove the tongue. And another girl did that. Again they all took turns. They wrote their findings, as a group. Again...the whole class did amazing. Noboru and I were like...too bad they didn't offer *us* a chicken head. We would have loved the opportunity to show the class our skills too. This class was so beyond interesting! This class was so educational! And boy oh boy...I am so glad no hideous chemical smell, like the pig fetuses had, in my day! 

Also, at the genkan/entrance of the JHS, every observation day, they have a questionnaire of sorts. We were visiting a 2nd grade JHS child. If you are in Japan, you know already. But for those of you outside of Japan. They count 1st grade to 6th grade. The same like we do in America. But in JHS, they stop counting and start at 1/the first grade all over again. Absolutely drives me nuts! In America it's easy peasy, I have an 8th grader or 11th grader. But here....now you must say, hi I have a 1st grader JHS. Or I have a 2nd grader JHS. So now you have to begin the count all over again, from scratch. And I am guessing more then likely you'll have to begin the count all over again in high school? Same how in Japan, every time an emperor dies they start from year 1 all over again. I guess to them it makes sense. But the whole start count from scratch thing... drives me nuts. Like...when I say my son is a 2nd grader now and technically to Japan Bran is a 2nd grader (JHS) do people think 2nd grader...aww how cute... oh she has a 7 year old...yes probably so..but I have a 14 year old! Again...you have to add the word...JHS (in Japanese) 2nd grader. Again. Drives me nuts. So, when I am speaking to my Japanese friends I will say it that way. But in English..I just count Branden as an 8th grader because... he is an 8th grader. I feel absurd saying I have a 2nd grader, when he's taller than I am! Hahaha. : ) What class did we attend? We circled science. We then circled English too. : )  The bell rang and time to go back to the 2nd floor where all 8th graders class rooms are located. 

English class is taught by Branden's teacher, who is the 8th grade English teacher for both grades. She's awesome! I like this teacher very much! She seems kind and nice! Branden thinks the world of her, he truly digs her a lot! Branden tells me all the time..."mom, my teacher is *so* nice"...so because he thinks the world of her, we too think the world of her! I watched her teach English to Bran's class last year... back when Bran was a 7th grader and I watched this time too. I think she's a very good English teacher, very thorough, and I see how she wants to give everybody in the class a chance to try! As she was writing, this on the board, she turned around first and asked a student..."How do you spell October?"  Of course she knows, but she's just getting the kids involved and I loved watching that. And she wrote it down. And she turned around again and asked another student, "how do you spell, "twenty eighth" and she kindly listened as the child said it/spelled it out. Then she wrote it on the board. She also did that with Wednesday. The sensei asked about 3-5 kids and it surprised me that... about 3-5 kids didn't know how to spell Wednesday. Kids were struggling with Wednesday... so she said, "that's okay" and asked another. She seems like a very gentle teacher. Not a...make fun of a child type teacher. You can tell the kids feel totally safe to learn from her. A very relaxing learning environment, if you have a positive teacher like that. There was not a kid... who didn't get a turn in her English class. I am so glad she is Branden's teacher! 

These kids, Branden included are so very lucky to have this wonderful and amazing teacher this year! Hopefully next year too! At 12 noon we left. We only watched half of the English class. We left because we had to run to Costco and given the time the kids got out of school that day, we had to leave then or we wouldn't have made it back in time to pick up the boys. 

We picked up this salad, it's a very nice salad it says salad base. but it's a full salad, it has lettuce and colorful bell peppers and purple cabbage and shredded carrots, it's a full salad. I also like this salad because it's the cheapest/most affordable salad Costco sells. The other one is 1000 yen this is like 598 or so yen. Don't quite me on that price...I'm iffy on the price... but it is way cheaper. I also picked up, cheese, tortillas, ground beef (you can see taco night and spaghetti and meatball etc night was happening.) Ham for sandwiches for the boys weekly school lunches. And pancakes for breakfasts for the weekday. Morning weekday breakfasts must be quick and fast! 

I had 1 slice of pizza. And Noboru ordered a hot dog and a clam chowder. We are hoping they start selling, the curry soup this season. Their curry soup, was fantastic last year! All in all, a wonderful Observation Day, and a nice quick Costco run too.

What did I do the next day, Thursday, October 29th, I had my hair salon appointment. I had a Japanese ionic hair straightening. Followed by a color and then finished up with a cut. Towards the end of November, I'll go back for another color. And in December, I'll get a color and cut. It's good for us mom's to take good care of ourselves. We do so much taking care of our families and our homes. And with cooking and cleaning and whatnot. Sometimes we can put ourselves on the back burner. And a burned out mama, is not good for anyone. So, for me...I like to go once a month and have someone take care of me. I hadn't seen my original hair stylist since Noah was in his last year in yochien. And it was lovely to catch up with her again. She has since had a baby girl. And I congratulated her on that. Her daughter is 19 months. She gave me 2 cups of coffee during my visit. She massaged my head and shoulders. I felt like a new person leaving the salon. I felt so relaxed and ready to once again, give my family, my all. Papa's also need to take care of themselves too, because they work just as hard! I really needed that hair salon appointment. : ) Now I feel much better. : )

Throwback Thursday...

This Throwback Thursday is from the year 2007! Noah was 1 years old, at the time. And we had dropped Branden off at the yochien bus stop that morning! We both waved as the bus took, the only 2 kids from our town to the yochien in the small city, nearest us. Every morning the yochien bus would come and pick up Bran and Genki. : ) And every afternoon, Noah and I would leave a good 10 minutes early. Because I wanted Noah walking, versus using the stroller (good practice and exercise for a toddling toddler). And leaving early, just meant it gave Noah plenty of time to walk there and since he had little itty bitty, 1 year old legs hahaha at the time... it took him a lot longer to walk to the school bus pick up spot, then it would take me alone. So every afternoon, we would leave a good 10 minutes early and that way Noah and I could walk along together enjoying our walk. And if he wanted to stop and pick up random leaves or anything,  or point at a random doggy or kitty...we had the extra time to allow for it. It was getting chilly, definitely Fall weather! Not flat out winter...needs a winter coat type weather but...getting there. : ) Come on love...let's go and get your brother! I'm sure he's ready to come home!

Hey, there were no people playing tennis at our housing community's tennis courts that day! Hmm. They usually were there. : ) 

Alrighty, no more dawdling! Let's go get a seat and wait for the yochien bus, to bring us back our Branden! : ) 

It's funny because we used to have a game. Noah and I. Every time we heard a vehicle coming down the road, I would say..."is that Branden's bus???" And Noah would say..."noooo!" and shake his head and giggle up a storm. And then we would hear another car driving into our housing community. We live in a very quiet housing community... so we can hear a car coming and so again I would say...."well is *that* Branden's bus?" And we would do this for a few minutes back and forth. And sometimes Noah would want to ask me....and he'd say..."is that Bamben's bus?" And I would say..."no, no it isn't!" And of course...at the end of each day...the bus would finally come with very deep bus/engine like sound. And I would say..."well is that Branden's bus?" And Noah would squeal and be running all around the sidewalk area and clapping and waving and looking like a beyond excited little brother! As they were driving up! "Bamben's bus...Bamben's bus!!!" And yes after a while... it did change to, "Branden's bus!" And fwiw, sorry Genki...it was also your bus too sweetheart, but...when you teach a child any language... it is best to start easiest and work our way up! : )  But yep...funny...I still remember that, fun game we used to play. I bet Noah doesn't remember that anymore. : ( So, I am putting that story here. So we both will have the story now. 

Noah....were you waiting for your brother's bus? : )

Where is Branden! You know for a 1 year old..your brother being gone until 2pm...is like being gone forever! Noah could barely wait... until his most favorite *favorite* person on the planet, would return home!

OMG! At last...at last! Tada.....he returned! Noah meanwhile staring at Branden, the brother he adores to absolute bits and pieces! Bliss! Pure 1 year old joy...having your brother returning from kindergarten! : ) Alrighty kids, thanks for letting me, snap this pic! Now let's go home! Oh...that box Branden was holding. Both my kids went to a private Catholic yochien. And on every other Wednesday, they would collect money to donate to charity. So, Tuesday afternoons, the yochien kids would bring the boxes home...which they decorated themselves and the next day...the kids would bring back their donation box with change inside. So every other Wednesday the kids would jingle jangle to school, because of the coins in their decorated Lipton tea box! Noah did the same when he got older too (meaning he jingle jangled with a similar donation box)! : ) 

Not sure if you can see it or not, but Branden had 2 charms on his backpack. 1 was Thomas the Tank Engine and the other was Spongebob. : ) 

Happy 14th Birthday Branden...

Branden turned 14, you guys! Holy cow, can you believe it? 14 years old, gee the years have really flown by! For many of you, especially if you are family or real life friends, you guys have known B for his entire life! And even for you, online friends/readers, you all have been watching Bran grow via this blog for years. So...if you have been, quietly watching our family throughout the years...thank you!!! Can you believe it? 14, holy cow, gee whiz! : ) Bran received a lovely birthday card from grandpa (my dad) and my dad called Bran on his actual birthday and they spoke and stuff. And Bran said at the end of their call..."I love you grandpa!" He received US $200 dollars. Which, I think translates into 24,000 yen at the time we exchanged it. So a very generous gift from grandpa. Grandpa only has 2 grandchildren, Bran and Noah. : ) 

I know some folks get like 20 birthday gifts each year. And when Bran was a toddler, he did get like a handful of Thomas the Tank Engine toys for his birthday for example. (Thomas toothbrush and a Thomas DVD and a Thomas sweatshirt, ykwim, that type of stuff and maybe a few new trains) Same for Noah, when he was little too. But now that they're older, if they'd like to get a "big" thing, within reason. That's okay. Branden and Noah both had a Nexus 7 and have had one each for, the past 4 years? Was it 4 years, I forget when exactly. Anyway. As with technology, their old tablets got laggy (slow) like when they'd watch a YouTube video etc. Trying to download a new game on their older tablet, it would get even more laggy. Or the new game software would say...their tablets were not capable to handle the newer faster game. That type a stuff. So we knew...they would have to replaced eventually. So, Noah's birthday this past July, Noah went first and he picked a new tablet, he picked a Samsung 9 inch one? It's larger then Bran's. So, I am unsure of Noah's tablet size. But it is a *sweet* tablet. And his tablet is lightning speeds and he's been enjoying it ever since. Bran meanwhile had to bide his time and wait until October. Well of course...it's a birthday gift. As soon as, October rolled around, he started researching. #1 Noah's tablet is not available anymore. Why? Because Samsung released something newer. @_@ So buying the exact same thing Noah had was out. So, Bran did all the research and he found a tablet he liked, within our price range. He wanted the new Asus tablet that just barely got released last week of September 2015 or first week of October 2015, for us in Japan. So a brand *brand* new tablet 2015. However, since it was so new... it was out of stock everywhere. OMG! Seriously it was a real nail biter, if we could even find it in time. But we checked every morning and every night for the model he wanted and when they came in. We ordered it right away. 

This model # here is the highest grade one you can buy. I do not own a tablet myself. However, if I ever do, I will get a less fancier/slower model then Bran, but that's only because I'm not a gamer. And, I totally understand why Bran needed this one specifically...because he plays games on his tablet, so he needs the speed. And so that's why he needed this specific model. So for his case....buying the cheaper one... would have been a bad/horrible idea. But for me it would be fine. Since I don't play online games at all. The boys play, Agario, Minecraft and games like that. 

And grandma Mitsuko sent Bran a birthday card and some money and with some of it, he purchased this Google play card with it. So Bran had a very happy birthday...gift wise. He got something he had been really needing and wanting. And we were happy we could make sure he got the tablet he wanted. When we purchased his tablet, it was 42,000 yen. But now that everyplace has them in stock, they're like 39,000 yen. The price has come down some. 

We asked Branden, would you like to go to Capricciosa (in Narita or Inzai) or Mama Pasta in Narita. Or yakiniku at our fave place or where, would you like to go. It's your day, you pick! Bran from a week away said...I want to go to Jolly Pasta. So, Jolly Pasta it was! : )  We had jalapeno pizza, pizza margarita...

A spicy garlic and mozzarella pasta, Bran, Noah and I picked the same pasta dish (3 of them though obviously: ), meanwhile Noboru picked a sausage and jalapeno pasta. We were all so stuffed when we left the restaurant. 

We have been ordering homemade from scratch ice cream cakes from Nagano the past few years. And this time we received these candles from her. The note basically just says, "thank you for doing business with us/ordering from us, these are candles, please use them."

The candles say...omedeto...congratulations.: )

Cake on the bottom bottom and the 2 flavors of ice cream. The bottom layer is Nutella and the top flavor is Banana. So basically choco banana, except the chocolate is chocolate hazelnut flavor, yum. Seriously you guys...if you can, you should try these birthday cakes out sometime. You'll love them. And the price is no different, then what you pay for a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, except these... you can customize the flavors to your liking and pick any flavor combination YOU want. Where as Baskin Robbins, you get the flavor combo, they set/pick. 

My smiling happy family, enjoying our quiet little family birthday! Happy 14th birthday Branden, I love you to the moon and back kid! I truly do! : )