Update on Branden...he said what???

So much to update on him. Where to even begin?

He is such a good kid. I seriously mean that and not just because he's my own kid either. I say it because it's 100% true!

In December right before Christmas break. Noboru told me some older kid was bullying a classmate of Branden's. His last name is Sugei, I think, And Sugei is really short, like 2 inches shorter then Branden. But he is a good kid and very outgoing. Anyway some older boys were bullying Sugei. And Noboru was dropping off Branden. And he said he saw Branden stepping in front of Sugei. To block Sugei from the older boys! So, he basically protected Sugei. He always protects other kids from getting bullied. So he has a good heart and is very kind, Branden is *very* popular at school, but he is the protector of the underdog.

I always tell him not to be rough with girls. And be especially nice to kids younger then him. And he does and is. However by the same token, I don't want him to be a wimp either. I mean he still is a boy for crying out loud! So, I also tell him, if a boy is mean or rough with him and is the same age or older.....then he has every right to defend himself. And if some other/older boy hits him first, then he is more then allowed to hit back as long as the other kid started it. I'd like to say I am a hippie and all peace and whatnot. But hey...if some boy wallops on my boy, I want him to be strong enough to stick up for himself and he knows it. So, while he does stick up for himself, he is no bully. He is basically just a well rounded boy. He doesn't go looking for trouble like I've seen other kids do, and he won't go crying to mama either, just cause he starts stuff, he can't finish. He can handle himself and I am happy he can! Good kid...good kid!

All of you know he got a DS game system. And wow, I am really happy I bought this for him! It plays both games, Gameboy Advance games and also the DS games, so we can double our playing, by being able to use and play two different types of cartridges. He is so good at Mario Karts. Noboru likes playing the DS and , so do I. So it is really nice. I ordered him 3 games the other day. And by the email I got from Target.com, they were shipped already and should get to dad's house soon. Branden somehow thinks they are going to be here in Japan any day! I keep telling him...no, they didn't even get to grandpa's house yet! LOL. I guess, he can barely wait for the new games to get here.

He drinks milk milk milk all day and night long. It's his beverage of choice. We got coke in the fridge, yet the kid asks for milk! Geeze, he certainly will NEVER need a vitamin D supplement anytime soon! LOL.

As soon as we move to the new house. And things calm down and we come back from Osaka and Denver. We are going to start Branden in a soccer league. Why? Because out of all sports he seems most interested in this one. Also Noboru played soccer from elementary school all the way to high school. So he is quite good himself. Noboru has been kicking our soccer ball around with Branden since last year and he is very good at it actually. He just uses *only* his feet at this young age (which obviously it's the way it's supposed to be, lol) and is quite accurate at hitting his mark. Noboru also did motorcross all through elementary and high school, but I won't even consider letting Branden doing that! Too dangerous! And also Noboru also did hockey as well, but again....I think it's too dangerous. So, since we both agree with soccer and plus Branden seems really taken with it. Probably this summer he will be joining a soccer club for his age.

He knows his ABC's completely and knows the song by heart. Has for a long time now, so maybe that's not too much news. He is starting basic adding. These are things I teach him and go through with him when we are at home. He also cleans up after himself which I am sure his future wife will thank me for in the future! LOL. After supper, I make him take his own plate to the trash can and scrape it down and then put it in the sink. I may have two boys, but they certainly won't be lazy blobs, who just lay on the floor and expect to be served 24/7! They are learning to be helpful and not lazy! He also helps me chop and prep food for supper. Granted I give him just a plastic dull butterknife to chop with and usually just toss the ones he has cut into the trash, when he's not looking! But I find it gives him great self esteem! And he likes being helpful! To me this is quiet important.

His favorite cartoons are. Mr. Bean on Cartoon Network, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Billy And Mandy, Franny's Feet, Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd and Eddie (this is the only cartoon I really hate btw) Tom and Jerry, Pink Panther, Dexter's Laboratory, and House of Mouse on Disney channel.

His favorite movies are at the moment and remember kids being kids this can change at any second. Chicken Little. Herbie Fully Loaded. And he likes watching Flubber on Disney channel, like last night.

Worst thing Branden has said at the moment? We were at the Outback Steakhouse last week, and some western guy and some Japanese lady were sitting next to us. Right next to us, actually like a cm away actually. Anyway.....so they are sitting at their table and we are at ours. Branden said. "Daddy, how come that guy has a really big nose and is talking English?" (yup he meant "speaking" not talking lol) At that second, it was a total dead silence. I swear you could have heard a pin drop. Noboru and I stared at eachother and I turned pale white. I usually don't find kids saying mean things funny or amusing at all! But, in all honesty, this guys nose was enormous! Thinks along the lines of Roxanne with Steve Martin! The guy was in his late 20's and already severely badly balding. And he thought he was a real Casanova with the Japanese ladies, you could tell. I also think they were on a date! So, yes while he was trying to be Mr. Cool, Branden said...that! As, I am American and most people in my family have big noses anyway, I can safely say this nose was abnormally huge! Even by comparing western standards, his nose was still oddly big!

What did we do? Well, I am usually good at just acting like I didn't hear it. But, I had to wrinkle my face a couple times because I had to stop myself from cracking up with laughter. So, I didn't laugh. I just pretended I didn't hear it. I figured me reprimanding him right there could open a Pandora's box and it could get worse. So, I figured if we could just drop it...hopefully we would all forget about it. Noboru wanted to laugh too, I could see it on his face. So, here we were both staring at eachother Noboru and I, both crinkling our faces trying to hold our laughs in. The man did look our way, so I know he heard it. I think he wanted to die of embaressment too, because of what Branden said. Geeze how embarrassing!

But when we got in the car...I certainly did tell Branden...those are *not* nice things you should say! You can think them, fine! And you can even, tell mommy about them after! But don't tell me, when they can hear you! Sigh! LOL!

Oh and he got 2 magnet trains last week. And he tells me....mommy Gordon is a maggot! I know kids often sound like they speak with an odd accent at times when they're little and I know that's typical. But...yeah! For the last couple days, he has been killing me with the old..."mommy, Gordon is a maggot!" I say....oh yeah? Gordon is a magNet huh? Hopefully he will say magnet perfectly soon. Because I wonder what you all in Denver, will say when Branden says Thomas or Gordon is a real maggot! Oh geeze, we don't have any friends, named Thomas or Gordon or anything right? If so, sorry he *isn't* calling anyone a little maggot. He is actually saying MAGNET! LOL.

PS, the pics are what I snapped of Branden today after our lunch. And, yes I certainly do proudly hang all of my sons artwork masterpieces from yochien! I'm his biggest fan! LOL, I am just so crazy for both my boys. Proud mommy here! : )

Six month's old, yippy! An update on Noah!

Wow, Noah is now officially six month's old! He has grown so much, it's absolutely unbelievable.

I think sometimes he is getting ready to crawl, but then I recall it's too soon yet still. But he sits on his knees and his arms prop him up, so he is like in this doggie type position. And he rocks back and forth. He does this all the time. It has become his favorite thing to do. And he lunges at stuff to grab for things. He practically dives for things. He is actually rocking back and forth in this computer room right now as I type this right now.

He eats just about everything we eat with a few exceptions of course. But, I find as long as I cut up things real small, he really enjoys to eat what we eat. Obviously he isn't eating hot spicy curry, or any sweets or anything that could still be too dangerous for his age or get lodged in his throat, but he does quite alright for himself.

Also, I think because Noah has an older sibling, he learns things faster, just because he has an older kid that he watches intensely. Just about everything Branden does, Noah wants to do too. If Branden for example is playing his DS game, Noah lunges for it too! Branden has a gazillion cars here at our house and sometimes as boys do, will carry his favorite one with him. Well, Noah now likes to carry a car with him too. He likes to slobber on it, lol. But he does try to mimic his older brother a lot. And language, Noah is constantly hearing 2 people constantly speak native English here at the house. Where as, when Branden was a baby he only heard me. So, I think he learns a ton. Also Noah loves to laugh, he laughs out loud and smiles all day and night long! He really is one of the most happiest babies, I have ever seen.

He likes music just like Branden did when he was a baby. And as most parents usually think about their own kids. Obviously I think Noah is a genuine genius, just like I know Branden is!

He got a big bright colorful train for Christmas and that is the toy, he plays with the most of all. I really think it's because Branden plays with his Thomas trains in the living room. Meanwhile Noah plays with his own bright infant type train side by side his brother. So, they both play and interact. I don't have to make a point of having "play dates" anymore. Because they got each other and play with each other, all the time. Although, I will still totally get together and do play dates, for sure, but I'm just saying it's now not the *only* way I can let Noah get interaction with others, because he gets to interact with his very own brother every day!

When Noah wakes up now, that he is getting mobile. He will roll himself over to Branden's side of the bed and slobber on his face and grunt at him, until Branden finally wakes up! And Branden too! I will tell Branden not to wake him up, but sometimes he gets so excited he will just sit next to Noah and watch him sleep and I will catch him sometimes purposely waking him up....and he will tell me. But it's just cause I love him! So they do get along quite well. Like two peas in a pod actually.

One last bit on Noah. He has hit the "afraid" of strangers age! Yup, beforehand he loved absolutely everybody. But when my mil was here last time, he cried for dear life! I think they actually thought my mil was a kidnapper at the sento....lol. The way Noah was carrying on being held by Mitsuko. But he warmed up to her, by the time she left though. Also, when Kaori was here a couple days ago, Noah cried again! : ( But he also warmed up to her before she left too. I know this afraid of strangers thing, goes in and out as babies grow, so hopefully this will pass soon.

I'm not sure when we will go to Denver, but I hope Noah gets over this by the time we go there. And we are also going to Osaka in February too and I hope Noah doesn't act like this, when we are there either. LOL.

So basically, Noah smiles and giggles all the time. He tumbles and rolls like a cactus blowing in the wind, lol and is quite good at this. He actually gets to where he needs to go, by rolling all over the house. It's quite funny to watch. He grunts and makes all sorts of strange baby noises. He is a gas machine and farts first thing *every* morning! Good thing they aren't the stinky kind! Just smell-less full of air kind. But they are *very* loud! I usually say....Noboru! And he gets embaressed even though it really isn't him who farted! I do this to Noboru every morning, lol! Noah is eating quite well. And he does this rock back and forth type thing! Like a baby lunge type thing, basically Noah is growing up and fast!

The pics were taken today. The boys and I had just finished lunch at the time and I was cleaning Noah's high chair and wiping the top down. And I figured, hmmm maybe I should just click a few pics of him. I'm glad I did. When he was laughing in one of the pictures, that's because Branden was in the kitchen and making him laugh.Branden always makes Noah happy and giggly! So he was laughing too. And then as I was at the sink and wiping down the high chair top meanwhile, Noah, got this really bored look on his face, like "hurry up mom, geeze it's taking forever" lol, I thought what a bored face! So I took a quick snap of his hurry up mom face too! LOL.

A bit more progress on our move

We made an appointment with Skyperfect and they are coming to our new house to hook us up on January 30th. And on January 10th, we are meeting some public service guy or whatnot. I'm not exactly sure if this guy is from the public service or phone company or which department they are from. But some yellow wiring is encroaching on our front yard. Honestly between you and me, it's just hitting our yard on the outer edge/rim of one side. However, Noboru and I both don't like it and today he called them and complained about it and he asked them to take it off completely or move the wiring off of our property. Could be a telephone wire is what I'm guessing. But whatever it is, we will figure this out this coming week, on January 10th. Because the guy will be meeting us at our new house, to see what he can do for us. Either way the wiring can't stay in our yard. Because we both hate it.

We also have to go to the recycle shop this coming week and get rid of some stuff.

Noboru actually is going to give one of his single coworkers who lives in a tiny apartment by himself, our fridge for free. I don't mind one bit! I think if one of our friends can benefit from our moving and inherit something of ours, they are more then welcome to. Otherwise we can just sell it and get some cash, I guess. But giving it to friends is better, I think. I guess the guys fridge is super duper tiny. Ours we are using now is tiny, I think too. But it is 305 liters, so for the guy it's bigger then what he has now. Noboru said the guy is really happy to be getting it...and asked. So when are you all moving? LOL, he wants the fridge, I think.

Also this week, I have to get my residency card changed to my new address. And get Noboru's stamp thing registered to the new house as well. We picked up the paper work for Branden's new school that he will be starting in April. It looked fine, but I guess I'm just used to his school he goes to now. Ughhhhh so much paper work and things that need to get done it's amazing!

My uniqlo surprise

Wow what a surprise. With the house stuff and a hundred things having to get done with this. I forgot that I ordered a few things for myself from Uniqlo about 8 days ago. I was wondering last week, where it was. But over the last couple days, I must have had other things on my mind because today when I peeked through my peep hole and saw a man carrying a box, I thought, huh? I opened the door and saw it said Uniqlo on it and then I remembered right away. So, it was a nice surprise indeed.

Tonight, I'm making chicken cutlet. I bought 3 chicken breasts yesterday. And I also bought some shredded cabbage that I guess we're supposed to always eat with fried stuff. Because according to my mil, it soaks up the oil from deep fried foods (in our bodies?)? Is this true or not? I'm actually not sure. But I don't mind eating it and since she scared me about the grease needing to be soaked up stuff a few years ago...lol. I always buy this anyways when we eat it (just in case she's right, ha ha ha)

I *really* need to go to my regular grocery store ASAP. But since it's been closed since December 31st until January 4th or 5th. Many stores and stuff close like this for a few days for New years. Some bigger chains are open but, I need my cheaper grocery store to open quickly. I've got food, but not as much as I usually keep in my fridge. So, I gotta go tomorrow or else.

Also, I found out Branden doesn't have to go to school until Jan 10th, so not until Monday, which this is so nice! A few more extra days to snooze in late.

Now, I'm going to Target.com to order a few DS and gameboy games for Branden real quick and otherwise just sit at home and relax and stay warm and otherwise be lazy tonight. Just basically enjoy my night : ) I think I'll have my dad give these games to Kaori and have her bring them back to Japan for me, since she'll be flying back through Narita and Noboru works there and so does Jun, so I can get them passed back to me quite easily.

PS, I mentioned otoshidama in another post. And for most of you, you are reading this from America and must be wondering what in the heck this is. Otoshidama is when kids in Japan get gift money from relatives. I asked Noboru do most kids get this in Japan? He gave me that "are you kidding" look and said, absolutely! And then went on to add, that it would be unheard of to *not* get otoshidama. And then he went on and said...it's the equivelent of Christian kids, not getting any gifts for Christmas whether they be from Santa or mommy or daddy or whomever, but you kwim. So, I knew most people got it, but according to him. It's really a *must* to get this. Geeze, somehow what he said about it being the equivelent of not getting Christmas presents, is what most stuck in my head! So, I guess this is pretty major here in Japan. I'm glad my kids get otoshidama every year at least. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed hearing about this Japanese tradition.

We went to Toys R Us in Makuhari last night

Yesterday in the evening after we dropped off my sil back at the airport, we went to Toys r us. We got each of the kids something small, with their large amount of cash they both got. We are going to hold onto most of the money and keep it in the bank that's especially money for the kids *only*. Like, I said they each got something small. Noah got a toy bar. And Branden got a carrying case for his Nintendo DS. They had a whole bunch of styles for carrying it, but I found a really cute sporty style and got him that one. He also got a protective thin layer of plastic, this thing protects the screen of the game itself (this was so cheap, like only 500 yen or something) and Branden picked his own toy and chose 2 magnet Thomas type trains, he actually got, Henry and Gordon.

Thoughts on Noah's toy bar. This was really difficult because they got 2 types of toy bars. One that is called a soft toy bar with soft plush toys that keeps toddlers 6 mos and older entertained. And then a harder toy bar for the same age, 6 mos and up. Both are actually great! I really had a hard time deciding because after careful thought and looking at each one of them like a million times. I decided neither of them was superior or inferior to the other. It all boiled down to personal choice. And I liked both. And they both have advantages. The soft bar is nice because it has a tiny mirror, which let's face it, all little kids like looking at themselves in the mirror, lol. And a tiny cloth book. Some of the soft toys make noises. Some light up. And if the baby hits himself up on it, he won't hurt himself.

The good side of the hard toy bar it's got good hard toys kids might like to chew on and play with too. I really liked both...hard and soft toy bars. They also were practically the same price maybe just 300 yen more for the soft toy bar, which is the one I got.

Noboru being a guy was no help whatsoever. But he said, get the soft one, cause it's electronic. And it makes noise and light up. Ummmm okay! Total guy, brain (anything that lights up or makes noise they think is a hit, lol)

In the end I went with the soft one, because...I put both of them up to Noah in the stroller and he grabbed for the soft one, two different times. Now, I usually will depend *on my own* decision but since I was so on the fence, on this and liked both so much equally anyways. That's how I decided on that. : )

Thoughts on Branden's Thomas trains. Hmmm, Branden has mostly all the battery operated Thomas trains. Boco, Mean clamp train, Thomas, James, lady, Diesel, Edward, Gordon, and so on, to infinity, I think. He also has a good deal of the magnet ones as well. Not as many magnet ones as he has the battery ones, but he has about 8 magnet ones at least. He was missing these two guys, so which is why he wanted them last night. And we said yes.

I'm counting on Noah to be into Thomas trains when he gets older since most kids in general like him (thomas) eventually anyways. So, hopefully with two kids using these, they will be a good investment since they both will be playing with them eventually anyways.

I liked and chose this bag for Branden's game because if you notice, it can be worn 2 different ways. Diagonally, across the body like how I wear my own bag or it can be worn like a "fanny pack" type.

My sil came to Narita today!

As usual, I have so much to blog about today. I got a good sleep, woke up about 9:30 am. Noboru mentioned that Kaori would be flying into Narita today. We found out last week, that she needed to get back to the US for some application or extension for her to be out of the US, since she has a green card. Some weird rule that she has to set foot on US soil once out of a 12 month period. And if she is living overseas and wants to keep her green card she has to get some document. So, since she doesn't want to give up her green card, she has to go all the way back to Denver (where her green card was originally issued) and do her paperwork. So, long story short she has to go to Denver. It was so last minute she couldn't even get a seat through Osaka, where she's from, so that's why she flew through Narita. She has never seen Noah and has just seen him through pictures and video tapes. So, we picked her up at Narita since her flight didn't even leave until 4:00 pm. We had lunch and chatted and she got to spend time with both the boys. It was nice. Real nice.

My sil will be coming back to Japan on January 13th. We asked her to bring us a couple things back. An extra toilet seat cover and toilet mat (they only had 1 set of it in Guam, figures huh? ) So, she will try to pick that up for us.

My sil also brought the boys their otoshidama (Japanese New years money, the kids get), so that was cool.

I'll blog more tomorrow, I'm getting sleepy.

I had the best day today!

My day was so super! I met up with my friend and with her daughter like we planned. Costco was fun. My friend did some awesome shopping and got many cool things.

I got, Olay Shea butter body wash (we went halvers on this, they came in a two pack with two big bottles, so she and I each got a big bottle of our own). And we both shared some Bounty paper towels (we went halfers on this too, we each got our own 4 or 5 rolls, but just split the cost which really helps! I was really happy we both split these 2 things! Because it splits the costs! And that way, I can buy something else, I might not been able to buy, since I am in a super budgeting mode because of the house right now. So, splitting stuff is awesome for me and for her too. Plus it saves room in your house, that way you don't got 9 giant size paper towels hogging half the linen closet for instance, because 4 is all, anyone really needs for the month anyway. So it works! Plus saves cash.

And, I got a rotisserie chicken (instant supper for tonight), Cascade dishwasher liquid. And some Perfumes Decoer body lotions in the White Musk and Freesia scent. I have actually got a funny story about this lotion btw, My friend and I both wanted some of this. And they were sold in a 2 pack. We each wanted our own 2 pack. But most of them were White Musk mixed with a tube of Cotton Candy scented lotion. Somehow the thought of rubbing cotton candy over our bodies didn't appeal to either of us! So, we were looking through them and then I found one that was White musk that came with Raspberry. Hmmm, this wasn't what she or I wanted either. Suddenly she said....."too bad they don't got one with White Musk and with the Freesia! Out of no where, I saw just that very thing! I grabbed it and gave it to my friend. Because she called it first, lol. So, I still wanted one too, so we basically tore the entire rows of lotions apart and went on this intensive man hunt for the two pack of lotion. You'd think we were searching for a golden ticket or something. Both of us with our arms in there checking each pack. Japanese by-standers were around and looked on and not sure if they were just watching two foreigners searching so intensely for a certain lotion. Or if they actually wanted to look for some too but, we both didn't move, we were looking for what we were looking for and that was that. Oh and, my friend did find another two pack of the White Musk and the Freesia. Yippy! So, that was cool and yes really funny! So, *we* were the ones who messed up the Perfumes Decoer lotion display. (shhh!) : )

We all had pizza and chocolate churros for lunch and sodas. We were lucky the pizza was fresh and hot out of the oven because it was really good. We were chatting and happy.

My friend got, Olay Shea body wash, White Musk and Freesia lotion. Tide Cold water liquid detergent (2 of these, she was super smart to stock up), Bounty paper towels and bounty napkins, Kirkland antibacterial wipes, Oxy Clean, Cascade dishwasher liquid (against she was smart to buy 2 of these). And Oral B toothbrushes. And a rotisserie chicken. And some daikon kimchee. And I think that's it. But, I might have forgot something, but this at least gives you all an idea of what we did today. And what we each saw and bought.

We left Costco, and we were having such a great time, that she suggested we go to Starbucks and Carrefour (sp?) I said yes of course because I was having so much fun, I thought what the heck! We went to Carrefour. And she bought a few things like olives, man they looked good. And she bought another rotisserie chicken. The chickens here looked even better then the ones at Costco. And now that I know about these, I would like to eat one of these real soon. They had a garlic one, a French one and an original one and some other kind,but I forget what it was called. And again, in my friends defense, chickens are quite small to begin with. If you want leftovers it isn't a bad idea to have 2 chickens yk. Hmmm, maybe I shoulda got a Carrefore chicken too, lol. Oh well, next time. We went and sat down at Starbucks and had a nice chat.

I honestly had one of the best and funnest days I've had in a real long time! Her daughter is a total star. She really is wonderful to be around! She made me laugh all day long! And my friend, just has this wonderful relaxed and fun, attitude that just clicks right with me quite well. It's really cool just hanging with the both of them. I really felt I could let my hair down today and just relax and be myself and have fun and I really had a great time. My day was truly awesome! Not one single bad thing, could be said about my day today!

I got home. me and all my guys (Noboru included) had dinner. Rotisserie chicken and rice and veggies. And then Noah and I jumped into the shower.Noboru already bathed Branden while I was with my friend. I used the Olay Shea butter. And I must say, I really like this. Give me a couple more days to make sure. But, I liked that my skin afterwards felt super soft, even before using lotion on my skin. So yes, my skin was totally softer after using this. And Noah's skin was softer. It smelled fantastic and clean and great. Super smell. And, I did clean my girly parts and no burn whatsoever. So, it passed the test so far. I'm really liking this a lot. And if this is going to be available in Japan (only at Costco), I can see me buying this again for sure. Could it be too moisturizing for summer though? Hmm, not sure, could be, who knows yet. But great for winter, itchy dry skin for sure! And I love the shea in this, that's actually, why I went halfers to begin with. Remember the Locctaine Shea butter, I bought a while back? I really like shea butter. Let me, use the whole bottle up and I'll post again, but so far I think this is fantastic! Very gentle. I'm going to ask my friend what she thinks of her bottle of this, as well.

Anyway, I'm tired, really tired now, I got my nightgown on. And the boys and Noboru and everyone is fast asleep. So, good night. Hopefully, I will get to sleep in tomorrow. : )

super fast update...gotta run!

I slept in to 12:50 pm yesterday. Oh man it felt *so* good to get that good of sleep. I swear I haven't had a good full sleep like that since before Branden was born! Both the boys slept in too. I felt really refreshed all day long yesterday.

Stayed home and watched movies. We watched the new Harry Potter (the goblet of fire), we downloaded this one as usual. And it's still at the movie theaters, so that makes it so cool to be able to see movies like this. This was the best Harry Potter movie out of all of them! I really liked this one. I might give a review on this in a couple days, because I'm really pinched for time at the moment.

Today, I'm meeting my really good friend at the train station (she's from Canada, which is pretty cool) and we are going to go to Costco. So, I gotta go pick her and her beautiful daughter up quite soon. I'll post more later.

First day of the year, was freezing!

Today was so totally bitterly cold. It was unbelievable how cold and freezing it felt.

Also, it could be with the New Year and all, but they have been showing bunches of shows in their entire seasons, back to back these past couple days. So, the other day I watched a Friends marathon, about 6 hours of Friends, wow! And then last night, I watched one of my favorite shows, called Six Feet Deep. And I watched an entire season of that although, I had seen most of them anyways. And I'm actually watching a marathon of Nip/Tuck right now(repeats for me, since I've seen them all before but I like watching them again). So, I've been quite happy with the TV programming quite a bit lately.

I've also seen Terminator 3, a few times this month already thanks to our cable always repeating the movies so many times. Ha ha ha, but I don't mind since I like all the Terminator movies anyways.

So, nothing new, just the weather is unbelievably cold and I've been in TV heaven with all my favorite shows showing, back to back episodes! : )

Happy New Year everybody!!! : )

Happy New Year to all our family and loved ones! It is wonderful to start a brand new year! Although last year, was really fantastic for us, as a family. We started to build our house in 2005. Our little baby Noah, was born in 2005. So our year was chalk full of blessings. Also, dad had some health issues, which I won't discuss on this forum. But he is fine now. So, we had one heck of a good scare with dad, but other then that, 2005 was a good year and our family is looking forward to roll into 2006 and see what this year will bring to us and our family! Hopefully we will all stay healthy and all have each other for many years to come! Plus the new house is coming this year! So, here's looking at you....2006!

On December 31st, we stayed home. And rented DVD's. And ate good yummy food. Noboru, worked until 9:00 pm. And he got home at 10:00 pm. We all were awake and had a very late snack (me and the boys, ate a real supper earlier and Noboru ate dinner at work with his coworkers). We watched Japanese New Years TV programs that he looks forward to all year long. I grinned and bared it, because, I know how much Noboru likes these boring New Years shows. LOL. We watched the New Year count down and then we got in the car at 12:05 am. And we drove down to the public bath (sento) and we took our first bath of the year. Noboru and his family had this tradition growing up. I am not sure, if this is an Osaka thing or what. But his whole family likes going to the public bath for New Years and Noboru told me that the sento is opened on New Years actually 24 hours for that special day. Because people like to go and take their "first" sento of the year! Go figure! I didn't mind because I love going to the sento anyways. Noboru and Branden went to the guys side and Noah and I went to the girls side. I sat in the aromatherapy bath and the regular hot bath and then we sat in the outdoor bath (rotenburo) and looked at the stars and the night sky totally naked with a bunch of old Japanese grannies! LOL. It was honestly? Really cool and very nice! My tense muscles were nicely melted away and relaxed, I felt like a gumby bendable doll afterwards.

The boys both got their jammies on at the sento. And I put on my fleece pants and sweatshirt and then we sat in the dining area of the sento and I had a lemon shave ice (kakigori). Branden had a choco,vanilla twisted ice-cream cone, and Noboru had a beer. It was really nice. We went home and went fast asleep.

Oh yeah, also in the morning of January 31st. The blinds people called us from Guam. We have been communicating by emails since we went to Guam about 10 days ago. We have been busy ordering which this took forever to order by email. Here's what we got. Noboru likes blinds. I wanted curtains originally but later changed my mind. But then we checked out a United Home model house and they actually replaced their curtains with blinds. Not cheap $5.00 type blinds. But really nice expensive ones. We actually wanted the actual ones hanging in the model house. We looked at the blinds and read that it said Graber. So, we asked United Homes to quote us a deal on those blinds and they gave us a high quote. And we researched it and they are expensive but they weren't nearly the price United Homes was asking! So, because the blinds looked *that* nice. I agreed, yeah let's go for it, since Noboru wanted them to begin with. And we went to the place in Guam, they said they'd ship to us. We looked at the Graber samples they had. Picked out a color called "snowflake" that I chose and liked. And they are actually like 2-inches wide and wood so they aren't thin type cheap looking miniblinds. These are nice and even have cloth ladder tape (okay maybe nobody knows what that is, lol nevermind) Plus we had to get the vertical ones for the big sliding glass doors, besides the horizontal ones for the rest of the house .

Questions like do we want the turn wand on the left or right side. The up or down pull thing on the left or right. Ahhhh questions and more questions. This week was really quite busy. So many tiny details, have to be decided. Also, do we want inner mounting or outer mounting? Hello! I swear if I ever got a friend or loved one, who needs blinds, I have now become an expert and can help! Ha ha ha.

All decisions were made and all measurements given. And then we gave him our number and he called us, January 31st morning and we placed our order and gave the go ahead! They are being made in the mainland US and being rushed to Guam, special order, since it's still US postal rates. Then he is either going to ship them on to us or Noboru will fly to Guam and pick them up. Since he can have them go into the cargo part of the plane for free. But either way, we'll get them in only 2 weeks. Not bad. Our price for our blinds for all the windows we have? A grand total of $3,000 US. Yup, 300,000 yen! Just for flipping blinds! But, hey we want quality ones and not cheap yucky stuff. My good friend who bought a new home last year here in Japan told me last year...."don't buy cheap window treatments", she said. I paid attention to her advice. She is also the one who kept telling me. You should get a big American oven. I was thinking that too. But, I was sorta on the fence about it, at the time. But she gave me that shove in the right direction, I needed. She also told me, warned me actually. That many Japanese dishwashers don't hold big plates and don't hold many dishes. Her advice was priceless. I seriously think, when people have gone through the same thing just before you....be smart. Take notes, even if they're just mental notes! And listen! Because you can learn a lot from them. I learned a lot from my friend who bought her house before me.

Look at me know? Look at all the stuff, I've learned since last year? So much about houses and stuff relating to that, but before I had no idea. Who knows, maybe I can pass whatever I know to someone else someday in the future.

Happy New Year everyone. We love and miss you all.

I'm being so lazy today

I snoozed today until 9:45 am. Oh man, I am just loving this holiday vacation! I think, I will seriously be sad next week when he has to return to school on January 6th. Sigh! Lol.

I got up and did 2 loads of laundry. Made breakfast. Just cereal and toast. And I had coffee. And I have been just lazing back in bed ever since. Noah is fast asleep. Branden is playing his video game. So, he is in game mode and totally mesmerized as we speak. And I am just laying down in my bed with the heaters on and I am cozy in the blankets just watching TV.

I watched Larry King Live this morning. I am actually watching Friends on Fox right now.

It feels good to have a week, to just relax and get rested up. Because next week, it will be back to being hectic again. I'm making cream stew tonight. I've got the chicken defrosting in the fridge right now.

Btw, Noboru is really wanting to go to Osaka. I think with the New Year upon us, it makes him really want to go home. We can't be there for New years. But, I think pretty soon, we will end up going. Oh, well, I think this is unavoidable. So, I better try to go in with a good attitude, but so far...just thinking about it makes me think. Blech! LOL, I still have a little time, so hopefully my mind frame will change by then.

the dining room

Here's pics of the dining room. I guess I should have shot it at a different angle to show the whole dining room, huh? LOL. But this at least gives you all some idea of the dining and kitchen at least. Good points are you can see the 1 big window and also the sliding glass door for the dining room, so we got 2 big windows in the dining area, which means lot's of sunshine and light, which is always nice. Plus don't forget the other 2 kitchen windows, so the entire dining/kitchen area has 4 windows. The actual whole house has about 20 or 22 windows in it total. So, we will get plenty of sunshine.

Also, I like that when we were deciding which way to face the kitchen and counters versus the backyard, we made our counter *facing* the patio and backyard, so I can keep an eye on our kids while I am chopping or prepping dinner. This is one of the reasons we decided to face it that way to begin with and now that it's actually done, and we look at it...we realize we made the right choice. That easyness (is this even a word?) of being able to keep an eye, on what's going on in the back yard and if the kids are okay and stuff, gives me peace of mind. Because if my kitchen was facing the opposite way, I'd be constantly turning around or walking through the house with chicken/salmonella hands or whatever I was chopping at the time, yk. This way, I don't gotta drip food bits everywhere while looking out the window because the counter is facing the right/correct way to begin with.

update on my kitchen

Okay, so we went to our house today. While we were there doing the fence estimate and measuring our windows for the blinds, I snapped a few pics of the kitchen. I will share them with you now.

I think this gives you all, one heck of a good idea and look at the kitchen. The side where the stove and counter tops are, are on the left side obviously. In that one pic. And you can see the 2 kitchen windows. And the other pics, are of the other side and that's where the two pantries are. One where the food goes and the other is where the dishes go. And the open space next to the two pantries is where the fridge will go. It sure is bright in there and we get lot's of sun in there too, which is nice. Especially since where we live now, is totally in the shade 24/7, ha ha ha.

PS, it still isn't totally finished yet either, so it will look better when it's all finally done. And also the 4 little holes or openings on that wall near the pantry doors, but facing the other way, that is where our TV monitor for the front door will go and the heating switch and the light switches and stuff. : )

PSS, notice that we chose tiling behind our stove/oven and sink and counter area. We did that because we know with cooking you get grease or food splatter and that could ruin the wall paper, totally right away, yk! So, we thought and asked for tiling. That way it can just be wiped down easy. And also with the sink and obviously water being near, we didn't want water marks/stains on the wall papering either, which is why we wanted tiling near the sink area too...so we asked them to just do tiling on that side, so the walls would always look and remain nice looking and the wall paper or walls wouldn't get all gross and ruined. See? no wonder we have been having a headache, thinking so hard for this past year and all the possibilties and "what if's" lol. Ahh, well it was worth it all in the end, because we're almost done.

Sakai is gonna be our moving company!

Okay, wow what a long day! We ended up calling the old guy who built our wall (he has his own crew) and we asked him if he could give us an estimate to make our fence, because we need that fence on ASAP. So, the kids don't get out of the yard and be smashed like panckaes! Ha ha ha!. And with time running out, we sorta need it quick. He said he was on holiday with it being New Years and all (yup most people get off like 5 days here in Japan). So we said okay and we will talk to him after the new year. Anyway he must have talked it over with his wife because he called us back within 5 minutes saying...he will gladly go to our new house and meet with us and give us an estimate, lol. I guess, the lure of extra customers persuaded him (even though it's technically a holiday now here)

Oh btw, the ant people gave us a high estimate. And we ended up going with the Panda company (Sakai). The ones who came at noon today. We, already made a contract and everything and they will come on January 30th and move the entire house contents for us.

Moving companies in Japan are a bit different then the US. In the US, most people rent U Haul's and move it themselves, lol. But here, they have movers move for them and they got different grades.

Highest grade is where they come in and pack and box it up for you. Bug bomb, your articles along the way...yes while in the van!!! And then they will unpack it for you! LOL And that is the most expensive.

Then they got mid grade ones too. And the cheapest is where, you pack it yourself and you unpack it yourself.

We found out moving on the weekends is twice as expensive. We could moved in Saturday, but it costed $2,000 US. But, only $1,000 US if we move on the weekday.

The ant company wanted to charge us $1600. But the Panda company is going to charge us only $1,000 US. So not bad considering it's Japan. And they will pack it for us. And place our beds upstairs and washer/dryers upstairs but they won't unpack our boxes...we didn't wanna pay that much, lol! Plus we opted to move on the weekday, which was cheaper!

I wondered why Noboru's coworker paid way more then us considering it was still Narita to Narita, but Noboru said, moving season in Japan is March and those moving companies are double or triple during the moving month. Phew! Thanks god we aren't moving during the high moving season!

PS Noboru called and cancelled our appointment, with the final moving coming to give us an estimate. Also, the company we went with, Sakai, they gave us a gift for coming to do the estimate. And that was 1 kg of white rice. Ha ha ha. For all of you in the US, I think that's about 2lbs (or somewhere around there), so it was really, this itty bitty little bag of rice! LOL especially since I usually buy 10 kg's of rice, this rice looked like a shrimp compared to my usual sack of rice, oh well it was a nice gift anyway! And very useful. : )

We're getting our first estimate right now...

We actually have the "ant moving people" doing our estimate for our move right now. They are downstairs.They came upstairs already. They have to go through each cupboard and each closet to see what exactly has to be moved. So, we were saying "this goes" and point and say "this doesn't" and point...so imagine a hundred..."this goes"...and "this doesn'ts!" Ha ha ha.

We have a rough idea how much it'll be. Because a lot of the NWA guys have bought houses recently and they all recommend hiring a mover vs. moving it yourself. Because one guy our good friend Aki, he moved it himself and he ruined his own brand new flooring. Ouch!

A friend of ours in Narita who lived in a tiny apartment and moved in Narita but to a new house. They had to pay US $1,800!!! I think that's 180,000 yen (sometimes I am off with my yen lol but I think I'm right). But considering he stayed in Narita...from to Narita to Narita. And the cost was nearly 2 grand! Gee can you imagine what the price will be for someone changing different cities?

So, since we are changing cities, but will still be located in Chiba. We imagine that alone will be expensive. Since we are changing cities!

So, anyways I hope our estimate doesn't come back too shockingly expensive! LOL. Good thing we are going to have 3 estimates done. But only two today. Basically the house you buy is expensive, but the cost to ACTUALLY move is enormous!

We gotta disconnect our Jcom cable. Which means we will have to all get new email addresses. And a new home number. All this has been taken care of. We gotta sign up for Satellite TV. Get our new phone #. Get our lights turned on etc. So much actual planning these next 26 days.

Anyway so our plan today is, get our two estimates. Then we have to drive down to our new house....why? Because we are about to order our new blinds from Guam actually. We were going to buy from United Homes, but they charged more for the blinds and it was just cheaper for us in Guam and when we were there last week, we actually went there and asked if they'd ship it to us in Japan and they said yes! LOL. So, although we got measurements already we wanna measure one more time just to be sure.

So two estimates and then go drive down to the new house. Hmm sounds like it'll be a whole day thing today.

Also, we have to decide on how we want our front yard landscaped! Sigh, so we have been deeply thinking about that too. I'm telling you...we are deeply thinking about everything relating to this house so much. But we sorta have to yk.

We walked through the house the other day actually looking for tiny flaws, so we can be ready for the "2 week fix up" Moving into a new house is really a hell of a lot harder then I think most people realize. Front yard has to get done still and back yard. Ahhhh!

And I'm not complaining....because we are busy but in a good way! And this is hard but again...in a good way!

I got your email dad and I'll call you right now! : )

Where in the heck, did my neighbors go?

I have been meaning to post about this for quite some time, but I always get side tracked with something else. So since it's in my mind now, I figure I better blog it before I forget again.

I swear I think my neighbors have met a terrible and grizzly demise! I say this because they disappeared in October and have NEVER been seen of again! Their household consisted of one older woman aged in her 50's (my best guestimate) and her daughter maybe late 20's. And she herself had a baby last July, so the baby has to be like 18 month's old right now? Anyway, we never really have spoken to them deeply, just more superficial type stuff and they have always pretty much kept to themselves around all the neighbors. But we did always greet them every time we saw them and they always nicely greeted us as well. Our other neighbors are more talkative though (perhaps too much so, but that's another post entirely, lol).

Anyways, just one day in October, poof! They suddenly disappeared. They drive a small black car (way smaller then mine) and we've never seen that either. Not a baby's cry to be heard of since, or a car sound or a doorbell or them chatting to and from there car...no more!

At first I chalked it up and thought...hmmm they must be on vacation. The week #2 I thought, gee maybe they must be on a boat cruise, ala the Love Boat type of deal! But, by mid November, I started to really wonder. Noboru, being the wonder brain he is...didn't even realize they were missing! LOL!

I mentioned it to him in November. He mentioned it to the neighbors and they said, they were wondering the same thing! Now, it's the end of December and still no sign!

I could see it if they moved away. But all their things are still in their house. They reformed this house, according to our (nosiest, lol) neighbors 5 years ago, so I doubt they moved away! Anyway....I guess I've got my own stuff to think about.

But, seriously it is a big mystery to me. If you ever see on the news. Maybe not in the US. But, if I ever see on the news here in Japan, that some family was murdered or something else equally as horrible happened to them....I wouldn't be surprised! And yes, horrible horrible things like this happen all the time in Japan, I know because I watch the news.

Their curtains still hang in their windows and their umbrellas still sit in their container out front. Hmmm. I hate to admit it or sound too sappy, but my neighbors got me really worried! Even if I really don't even know em' too well, I'd still hate for something bad to have happened to them.

I'm enclosing a pic of the house in question, lol.

28 more days...until we move!

This week has been so nice. I have slept in quite well each day. I don't even got to tell you all, how nice it has been to *not* have to wake up, so flipping early every morning by my annoying alarm clock! I secretly will be a bit sad, when Branden returns to yochien because that will be the end of my getting to get some extra zzz's each morning, lol. Ahh well.

Anyway, what we have been up to? In 28 more days we will be moving! Does that not say it all right then and there?

Noboru has been quite busy calling movers. He called the ant moving company and the elephant moving company and some other moving company as well. Two of the moving company's will be coming in 2 days. One will come at 9:00 am and the other company will come at noon for estimates. LOL. We are going to have to find out who is the cheapest and go with whomever is cheapest.

We went to our new house today. The entire upstairs is now finally complete. All the wall papering has been done. And the carpet has been installed. The only thing the upstairs is going to get done now, is the lighting will be installed and the toilet will get installed upstairs and that's it...our upstairs will be ready to move in *that* soon! Oh yeah and the sink upstairs too.

The actual stairs themselves have all been carpeted. The living room has had the wood flooring on for a month now, I think. And they were actually doing the flooring for my kitchen TODAY! I got to see them do it actually! They had to carry my big ass stove, from the kitchen to the living room and do the entire floor and then carry the entire stove back after the flooring was finished some odd hours later! It was amazing!

All the wall paper has been finished! Both for the upstairs and the downstairs!

Now just the lights and the ceilings fans have to be installed and both the toilets! And then...they give us 2 weeks of something called "touch ups" and they will fix and redo whatever we tell/ask them to do. And when we say....perfect! We move in!

The outside lighting has to be done as well and the non skid tiling for our terrace has to be done as well as the front porch. So, it is seriously really just about done! Just these tiny tid bits left!

In 28 days, I won't be living in Yachiyo anymore. In 28 short days we will be living in our brand new home. And yes, after a long year of planning and meetings and designing each room exactly where we wanted it and where to put our electrical outlets etc. It's finally just about ready to move in!

The feeling of total accomplishment is so unbelievably, unbelievable! Especially since we actually *designed* each room ourselves! Which is totally understandable why we are so proud.

I should have taken a picture of my kitchen today. I really wish I would have! I will next week, I promise! But all I can say is....I was speechless! And Noboru was speechless too! I just kept saying....it's beautiful, it's so beautiful...I must have sounded like a broken record, lol. I just couldn't think of any words to describe it. I was in total shock. Noboru was awed too! He kept saying...wow your kitchen is so much bigger, then I thought it was going to be! Oh yeah and he kept saying....wow...wow...wow, it's much bigger then I thought...meanwhile I am just going...wow it's beautiful, it's beautiful!

The homebuilders were watching us and were smiling, because they knew we were so happy, by their good work! They knew we were just flabbergasted! But in a good way!

So, I'm going to share some pics from today.

Pictures of the house

Here's a picture of the finished stairs. The lighting has to be done but other then that it's done! Look nice doesn't it? The next pic is the view from being inside my bedroom and I got a clear shot of both the boys bedrooms. And the other pic is from Noah's room and he has a perfect shot of mommy's room and the hallways towards to washroom.

The other pic is of the wall paper that's in every room of our home. I think the term wall paper is sorta misleading because...you say wall paper. And suddenly people get visions of 1970's yellow daisy's or something, lol. Or something shaggerific ala Austin Powers! And that's really not the case, here at all! The wall paper of today, is anti mold and has many added benfits. And looks actually like nice expensive stucco walls or whatever. It looks quite nice and expensive or pricey looking, but it's really quite deceiving, because in reality it's super affordable! We saved a bundle actually! And it looks fantastic and we are quite happy with the money we saved and the overall look! In fact, I don't think anyone would even know it was wallpaper unless I told them. And I don't mind telling anyone, I'm truthful and forthcoming : ) And no, the picture of the wallpaper I took today, honestly doesn't do it justice, it actually looks 100% nicer in person.

Christmas stockings!

I'm including a picture of Noah's stocking, since I failed to include it the day before. The Elmo stocking is what I used on Noah, and no he wasn't allowed to eat the candy cane, but I didn't want him to feel left out if he didn't see it on his too, lol. And since I had the extra one anyways, I made Noboru a stocking, I figured he probably never had one before, when he was growing up and he might like one. LOL, and you know, I was right!!! He really was pleasantly surprised getting one. I gave him a pair of socks as one of his stocking stuffers, lol and some yucky dried squid that he loves and some snacks that would make him smile! And I also gave him some American candy and a few other things as well in his stocking. I think I am going to make him a stocking every year from now on now too (along with our boys)!

Christmas was spent nicely at home and we really had a fabulous Christmas. The boys got many gifts and they also got to spend a nice time with mommy and with daddy and have a nice family dinner.

PS: when I went to Guam, they had many Christmas stockings, with many characters. But none were as nice as what I already had. I didn't want to buy a cheapie stocking, just to have something new. Especially since the three, I have already are heirloom quality! So, next year, I will look for some new ones! But, this year with the house and all, I said...ahh forget it, we can rough it with our stockings from the past! LOL. Besides nobody minded one bit! The santa one I used for Branden's stocking this year was actually his "first" stocking from his first Christmas ever! : )

Today, we had a lazy day of sleeping in and tying up some loose ends relating to our move!