8 pieces of luggage, is what we brought back, sheesh!

Getting to Hawaii was the easy part. We just stuffed out medium suitcases into our large one . We left with 3 suit cases and 1 carry-on. Now we came back with the 6 suit cases. Plus the carry-on and the extra carry-on we had to buy in Hawaii. 8 total. Phew it was ridiculous coming back. But we did it. We managed! : )


This is the carry-on we had to buy while there! It was absolutely nuts with all the luggage!


This one contained nothing but brand new clothes for the 4 of us.


Tons of socks on top.

















If you got kids, you'll know they seem to constantly need new ones! It's nuts! All these are for Branden. The Ralph Lauren ones are for when he goes to school. The rest are for wearing about town or home or whenever. Since mostly all of them came from the outlet, again it was cheaper for us to just buy them there versus buying in Japan.



Branden just turned five 2 month's ago. So these socks in size 4-7 are perfect! All his socks are this size. Noah's socks were bought in size 2T/3T. With him turning 2 in 6 month's it didn't make much sense for me to buy socks in size 12 mos to 24 mos. Besides socks always shrink up anyway. Plus Noah has freakishly large feet, same as Branden.


Here's the socks Noah got. Again they are all in size 2T/3T. In the US the size is also your age. Many sneakers socks for this coming summer and many long socks for winter right now. Branden also got many sneaker socks and many long socks as well.


Cars pj bottom's. These were sold separately. They had the bottoms and not the top. Go figure! But it's okay, Branden has so many Cars t- shirts he can wear one of them with this for sleeping and lounging after bath time.



This is a 4 piece mix and match set of Spongebob pajamas in size 6T. I searched 3 different stores before I found his size!

Cars undies and race car undies! Very cool for little boys, he was happy getting these! reminded me of under-roos in the 70's! Ha ha ha! : )

Some aloha stuff and my jammies, lol! : )

I bought these hats for Branden. They didn't have these in sizes for Noah unfortunately. But oh well, he will inherit these in the end anyway, lol. One is a size small which is Branden's size now (size 5-6) and the other is a medium he can maybe wear those next year or the year after who knows. Anyway they are reversible, so only 2 hats really, but in 2 different sizes. Light blue and navy blue for the one hat. And the other is a bright blue and red. I got these at the swapmeet and they were just a few bucks each hat, very cheap and great deal for such cute hats! I love buying hats for the kids, lol.

My brother in law Jun and Satoe finally found out the sex of their baby. It's going to be a girl! She'll be born in March sometime. So, I bought this for my niece! I can't wait for her to be born! : )


I got these for the boys. True authentic Hawaiian shirts have buttons made out of coconut shell's. I bet most people don't know that! These have brown coconut shell buttons. I always buy their aloha shirts from this place, every time we are in Hawaii! Size 2 T for Noah, even though he won't even hit age 2 until July. And size 6 for Branden even though he just turned 5, a few month's ago. I bought Noah's in a paler blue since he is so much more fair skinned then my beachy Branden is. Noboru wanted to buy matching shirts, but I wanted aloha that matched each of the boy's features and coloring.

I got 2 pair of pajama bottom's. Now just between you and me, I've got pajama's that are as old as 9 years old. Some are 4 or 5 years old. And some are newer like just a year old. But I figured I could use some new ones. I got these 2 and will just wear them with a black thermal long john type top, or a 3/4 length boat neck black shirt since I have quite a few of those tops. Maybe some little black ballet slippers and a pony tail for my nights at home. So, this is what I will be wearing this winter season in my house. Again, sorry no Gucci jammies for me or anything like that just Mickey and my girl Tink (Tinkerbell), ha ha ha! Just 2 pair of simple and slightly baggy and comfy pj's for me on nights I hang out at home for after bath time! : )

Osh Kosh outlet and some Carter's and Gap thrown in here a bit! : )

This is the stuff Noah got from the Osh Kosh Outlet, the day after Christmas. Sales were freakin' out of this world cheap! Sure the outlet was so busy and it sucked since we parked the car so far away and all! And the crowds were unbearable! But I got the best savings and deals, so it was worth it! I also stocked up on those 2 adorable winter sweaters for next year! That little snowman one, just makes me smile! : )


Osh Kosh overall's in size 2T and 3T. I'm glad I could find these and stock up on them when I did! I looked for a 6T for Branden but they didn't have any overall's in his size. Granted they had size 7 but no size 6, figures doesn't it? Ha!


I was hoping to get some short sleeved shirts like I got when I was here last April but they only had long sleeved stuff out. And with it being Hawaii, I thought they'd always have summer stuff out but I was wrong, lol! So I got Noah this long sleeve sweatshirt for next year in a size 2T. These were so cheap! Like Nishimatsuya prices type cheap! Great deals! So I got it to stock up on!



Gosh these sweaters were like $50 or $60 US originally but with them being Christmassy and with it being December 26th, they were marked off so much I think I paid $12.00 US each sweater in the end!!! Now Noah will be 2 and a half next winter. I was totally on the fence on sizing! Should I buy the 2T or the 3T? I flipped back and forth about it. I rarely ask for help when it comes to stuff like this because I usually make the decisions when it comes to this stuff myself and very quickly I might add. I asked Noboru what size he thought. He said, definitely buy the 3T! He said if it's too small it won't fit and can't be passed down to anybody! And he then added bigger covers smaller anyday! He said, Noah will more then likely fit the 3T perfectly next year when he's 2 and a half. And if we bought the 2T there is a chance he won't be able to wear it at all. Because size wise he won't be a 2T next winter, since he will be 2 and a half not 2. Also nothing is worse then a skin tight sweater! So I'm happy we got the 3T for next year. Again felt a bit odd walking out with a 3t when he's not even 2 yet. But I guess that's what us expat mommies have to do.....stock up. And I wanted to buy this sweater for Branden as well but they didn't have the snowman sweater in Branden's size at all. But again, with outlet shopping you can never be certain what size they will have.

Got this at the Carter's outlet for like $6.00 US. It's for Noah for this coming summer.


Gosh this is identical to Noah's except if you see the inside you'll see it says 6. Clearly this is Branden's. I wanted to stock up on this for him as well.

Branden's luckier because they had this in blue for his size as well. So Branden got 2.


Got this for Branden! He can wear it this coming summer! : )












I got these pj's for Noah for next year in size 2T. I'll tuck these into his closet along with his winter sweaters for next year! It'll be a nice surprise next year! : )

The Disney store, Ralph Lauren and my ballerina flats from Banana Republic! : )

This stuff came from the Disney store. We were there shopping the day after Christmas. The day after Christmas was our major shopping day! We only shopped 1 day out of the whole 8 days we were there. The cars shirt, we got for $2.50 US. Seriously the store people filled 2 big tables with t shirts. All Disney character's. Women swarmed the table like bees flying out of a hive! It was nuts! I zeroed on this rather quickly, the size was size 5/6 and I bought it! Branden's into Cars right now. And I was glad I got this after Christmas deal on it! I also got him some Buzz Lightyear undies from there as well. Marked down as well. : )


Okay these are some of my girlie stuff I had to get as well. Three cute cool pair of undies. 2 with a princess crown on them and the crown has all sorts of embellishments on them. The other pair looked like a love tattoo on them. I also got some simple and cheap basic bikini's. And some socks and sneaker socks. Again nothing fab. Nothing to certainly brag about but I do like to be as thorough as possible on my blog. So that's why I mention it. : )



Two pairs of extremely affordable/cheap as heck black slippers. Now let me explain. I'm not really a slipper wearer myself. But in Japan, wearing shoes in a house or a school is a total no no! In my house, I wear them once in a great while but mostly I don't. However when we go to Branden's school or school functions all the mom's usually bring their own slippers. Usually fancy ones. I usually wear the school provided ones. Meaning the pukey green plastic colored ones! Ha ha ha! That all the husbands usually wear, ha ha ha! I've been wanting to buy my own pair, but my feet are rather large for Japan (25cm, 9US), so while I was in Hawaii. I bought myself 2 pair. The ones on the right are like ballet slippers, very thin material and I can bring these to the school easily. The other pair look nice and I might take them to the school as well. They were freakishly cheap, granted not as nice as some slippers I've seen the other mom's wearing but these will be fine enough for me! : )


Ballet flats from the Banana Republic, very Audrey don't you think? LOL! With capri's or with jeans, I will be wearing these tons. But to be fair to me, I also got them at the outlet mall and if you check the price you will see I got them 50% off! So since I got such a good deal, I'm thrilled! And totally my style! Very classic and girly! : )

Wearing these with a black turtle neck and a pair of blue jeans and my black wool pea coat and my black wool beret and my hair down. I love it! I'll wear these for our PTA meetings! : )


This Ralph Lauren vest was also bought on the day after Christmas at the Ralph Lauren store at Ala Moana shopping mall! I was hoping to find this at the Ralph lauren factory outlet but no luck! It was marked down considerably though which was cool. And Branden will be wearing this to school so for us it was worth buying it!

We are just cheapskates with (hopefully) good taste, ha ha ha! That's what I always joke with my husband about! : )


A little pouch for when I run to the store, I can fit my drivers license in there and wallet. And it has a strap so it's good. And the thing on the right is a digital camera case cover and it also has a strap.


Noboru got 2 t shirts from Ralph Lauren and I got 2 as well. I also got a navy blue sweatshirt again with the little red polo player. It'll be good for just zipping to swim class or yochien with a pair of jeans and maybe a preppy tortoise shell head band or a pony tail or something. Just comfy mommy clothes.

I maybe shouldn't show this sweater that I got for myself. I mean I don't mind wearing pj's with Tink on them or Mickey. But wearing outside the home? I usually won't do that, not ever! But, I don't know...I just liked this sweater. It could be because of the classic/plain/simple navy blue color, I again am not sure. Could be because I've always owned dogs and I love dogs! Could be because I have been a mommy for so long now, that it actually looks okay to me for wearing this? Ha ha ha! Or could be, it will simply put a smile to my kids faces when I wear this! And you'll think I'm lying but I assure you I'm not! It was 50% off. Again so cheap, I said what the hell. And with a pair of jeans and some le Coq sneakers and my Starbucks plastic tumbler filled with my drink, as I cruise between school and swim school, I can almost see me wearing this! Ha ha ha.

A few DVD's and some DS games that Santa brought for Branden and a few more things! : )

Just a few DVD's. We all like movies and picked up a few while we were there. And also Branden received a few DS games for his game from Santa and he was thrilled about them.
I got this since I'm really into this show and season 3 hasn't started in Japan yet. Fox channel in Japan, starts showing season 3 at the end of this month, but I really don't want to wait and catch 1 episode each week for the next half year, so I figured buying it this way, I can watch them all right away! Ha ha ha! : )
I buy this soap every time we are in Honolulu. If you caught my blog last April when we were there, I also blogged about them as well. I buy them at the DFS (Duty free shop) and they are expensive, $8.00 for 1 single soap! Ridiculous actually! But a splurge I allow myself! They smell freaking fantastic and the scent really lasts, I smell like Hawaii after each bath, I know that sounds dumb, but it's true! And the Fekkai hair glossing cream and shine spray for my hair, again ridiculously expensive but I figure I torture my hair enough with coloring it and whatnot, I better be kind to it! Besides these are really good hair products and they smell amazing! Some Nars lip gloss and some Smashbox eyebrow stuff and that's about it! Again nothing uber fantastic here! No Jaguar or anything like that...just the few indulgences that I allow myself, so what the heck! Ha ha ha! : )


Yes, we brought back our boogie boards! Why not, they travel everywhere with us, until they need replacing that is! Ha ha ha! : )

My husband, god love 'em! Brought back a ton of Christmas lights and Christmas decorations and stuff. We went to the after Christmas sales everywhere! And I tell ya! He hit Kmart and Walmart for Christmas lights and whatnot! He said next year he isn't dong the icicle lights, he wants to do a more traditional old fashion type white light next year! Oh geeze! Ha ha ha! But he did get all his stuff between 50% off to 75% off for it being after Christmas and all! Granted he had to battle it out with the other Christmas time hoarders as well! Meanwhile I shopped for toiletries!

Toiletries! : )

Now, okay I know it looks like we got a bunch of toiletries and the likes. But, in my defense, living overseas and if your kid gets sick and you can't read the Japanese label, your screwed pretty much! And yes I do buy 1 certain Japanese kids cold med and love it. But like fever reducer stuff isn't available here OTC. So, I buy that stuff back home. Also tampons and again, every western friend of mine also buys their girly private things over seas as well, so I don't think that's very unusual. However buying 2 enormous Costco sized boxes of it was sorta embarrassing but I got over that part of it years ago, lol!



I like the Suave knock-off's of Nexuss shampoo and don't buy them often, even though it's so cheap but since the bottles are usually too heavy for me to lug all the way back to Japan, but once in a while I will. Face wash, again nothing utterly earth shattering here! : )

Cold meds for my boys the Triaminic is cold meds and it has a day and night formula and is safe for 2 year olds to like 11 year olds. Noah will start using this in July when he hits 2. I also got Traminic dissolving cold strips for infants and he will use those if he gets sick before July, we also have another box of those here at the house as well, so Noah's set if he gets sick. And Tylenol cold meds multi-symptom, this is for Branden, just like the Traiminic is. I usually buy more meds for Branden, because he actually attends school and is near all sorts of kids at school and is therefore more likely to pick up a virus or something. Toothpaste for both of them. And Motrin, which is fever reducer, which is safe for a 2 year old and up and even though Noah has 2 bottles of his own for infants it has the age and weight measurement on the back of the box and Noah could actually use this if he ran out of the infants. Granted I hope neither of my kids gets sick or ill with a cold or flu at all!!! However knowing kids and all, it's best that I stocked up, especially since I live overseas! If anything this gives me great peace of mind and knock on wood the kids won't get sick! : )






Now I get maybe 1 or 2 colds a year, so I imagine these adult cold meds will be here forever at our house! Ha ha ha, but again I had a horrible cold back in November and if I ever catch anything like that again, at least like I said, it gives me great peace of mind knowing I can at least read the instructions and whatnot since it's in English versus Japanese. Ha ha ha! Again, hopefully none of us will have to use these at all but again it's nice knowing I have them *just in case* : )



Now we have a great big dishwasher in use at our house, so using dish soap isn't too common, however we do use it once in a while for the odd pan here and there. We go through about 2 bottles a year, so this one should last us a while. I got it because it smells fantastic! Yes, I am a sucker for stuff that smells good, soft and clean! : )




Now Branden has flawless teeth, same as Noah. Branden goes to the dentist once a year in America and the American dentist says he has absolutely gorgeous teeth. Perfect and not a single cavity in sight! He also gets the dental check-up in Japan twice a year, so we are doing an excellent job as far as their teeth are concerned! However I saw this at the store and it was cavity protection for kids. Branden's age, not for Noah, he's too young! He now is using this once a day and it's pretty great! A bit of extra protection never hurt! : )

Passion fruit kids shampoo, oh man this also reminds me of Hawaii and it's tear free and both boys use this. Also the Loreal's version of Head to Toe, except this once actually smells good! It smell's like a clean light coconut not a heavy coconut scent at all. Smell's fantastic this one does, we have been using this kind for the past year and both boys love it!

Groceries!

Not tons of food. Just some comfort food from home (the US) Fritos corn chips! Rice a roni (yumm) some hamburger helper type meal except this one is for chicken and has pasta and cheese and broccoli and it's my fav! Mac and cheese for obento making! Various Pasta dishes, Gravy, chili con carne beans for when we have chili cheese dogs, yummm! Taco Bell, taco seasoning thank god for these since I don't have access to Taco Bell being in Japan! I got 10 of those Taco Bell seasonings and we will use them up that's for sure! Miracle Whip, again for all the sandwiches we make for our obento's! A-1 for steaks, And my god, It would be un-American to not bring along poor ol' Mrs. Butterworth's with us back to Japan, ha ha ha! Real vanilla for cookie baking, not that essence stuff I usually have to buy in Japan or pay an arm and a leg for the real stuff in Japan. And Italian dressing and this stuff is delicious! Just a few food things that make living in Japan bearable, you know what I mean? Well, if you're an expat and reading this, I'm sure your smiling and because you *know* how it feels and you totally will get what I mean! : )






The best part! Cold cuts! I bought them at Safeway grocery store. Kept them safe in my hotel's tiny fridge in our room. They stood chilled until we left for the airport. Hid them in my carry-on and voila! They were still a bit cool when we arrived Japan. The flight was 7 hours. Granted I do this to and from Guam all the time and the flight's only 3 hours! Hawaii's 7 hour flight is still okay. Nothing spoiled at all. And we live so close to Narita, we put it in the fridge right away and it never even got room temperature! Funny thing is, Branden will be heading to school next week with plenty of Oscar Meyer all beef bologna sandwiches and perhaps a few chili cheese dogs and a pepperoni sandwich here and there! We already had chili cheese dogs here the other day and boy were they great!



The cookie molds I got 75% off since I bought them after Christmas. I also got sprinkles and stuff for cookies. And some snack stuff for the kids. Granted Noah's too young to have candy pretty much but Branden can have a few here and there! The hot tamales are mine, I love them! : )

I really like these cookies! Reese's cookies and Almond Joy cookies are so yummy! Again, comfort food, why not? If it makes living in Japan easier and nicer, so be it! : )

The difference between me (an American girl expat living in Japan) and the Japanese women going back home to Japan is they were all holding extra large bags of Gucci, LV, Prada and carrying their new bought prized pocessions onto the airplane and that's fine. More power to them! Meanwhile I was doing the same, except from a western expat perspective. I had my beloved bologna and pepperoni in my carry-on! Ha ha ha ha! Oh yeah and let's not forget Mrs. Butterworth and A-1 in my checked luggage and my mac and cheese, lol how hilarious! : )

Updating today! : )

Okay you guys, We got back December 30th around 6:30 pm. Went to sleep by 8:45 pm when we got home and showered off the flight, ha ha ha! On December 31st. The day after we got back we had to go and take down all the Christmas lights and tree and decorations and whatnot. We really don't like leaving the lights from Christmas from the last year, when we start a whole other fresh New Year. So getting the lights off before January 1st was our priority of the day on December 31st. Other then that? Nothing has been going on you guys. Just feeling content from our trip and also with Branden on school winter vacation and being able to sleep in as late as we want. I've sorta taken a break from my blog as well. Sorry, but I have certainly enjoyed it!

Anyway, with the amount of complaint emails from family and friends telling me to hurry with the blog, I figure I better start with it today. So, today is the day and I will be working on about a billion posts all day long. So, here I start...where do I begin, oh where ever do I start? ha ha ha! : )

Heading to Honolulu today! : )

All the suitcases are already packed. The snacks are packed on the carry on already. The kids portable DVD player and movies and DS game are all packed in the carry on as well. Our flight to Honolulu doesn't leave Narita until 8:00 pm (flights to Hawaii are the night flights for some reason), but to avoid the long lines and crowds, we are leaving our house at 3:00 pm. I threw out all the stuff that wouldn't survive sitting in my fridge for a week, and good thing today was trash day, I threw out all the veggies that wouldn't make it, all the breads, and all the milk and eggs and walked it to the trash area down the street, for the men to come pick it up, since it's trash day (I just said that, lol :) So it seems nothing really has to be done now, except wait until 3:00 pm.

We won't be getting back to Japan until next Saturday, which is December 30th. The flight is 8 hours. I'll miss you guys and will have to catch up with you all, when we get back! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Bye-bye! : )