As soon as I post this post about what we've been up to this week, I am no longer behind with blogging. Phew! I think you can see the fields in the background of this picture, they are now all plowed, no more rice. All gone! Also you can see the boys and their friends running and playing in the backyard. It's Branden, Kouiki-kun, Genki-kun and Noah. These kids still play all the time together. After school. Or right after Kumon. But they get together every single week. And play play play and run run run! Or riding bikes together, exploring in the rice fields, zarigari hunting. Just typical country boy life type stuff. : ) They're all good kids. I keep an eye on them all when they are around and their mom's keep and eye when they go around the other friends houses. It's a good close knit community we live in. We look out for one another here. : ) As I am sure that's how it is in lots of places too.
One night, I made subuta. I bought a pork loin and used pork this time, just cut and cubed and floured and fried. So sweet and sour pork. It was pretty good. Flavor packet comes from Cook-Do. : ) 
It was dinner we had on Saturday night, I think. : )
Sunday night, we had Indian curry. Hubby actually cooked dinner for me. I got to watch and chit chat with him and keep him company though. : )
As he was getting ready to puree the onions, carrots and garlic. And some apple had to be added in here.
And when it was finished. The naans we just got at the store and used the toaster oven to warm them. I think you can see actual steam in this pic. It was pretty hot and boy was it spicy. This was really good though. : )
Monday night this week, I made niku jaga. The days have been quite warm this week. Funny because last week our days were sorta chilly. But the nights still cool down sorta chilly like.
My serving from Monday night.
And our meal from yesterday, Tuesday. We had oven baked chicken leg quarters. And when they were finished baking I put teriyaki sauce on them. The skin was real crisp and it came out really nice. A nice simple meal. Granted no 5 course meal or anything. But it's okay. We don't mind simple around here. : )
Since I had leftover teriyaki sauce, I sent Noah to school with yakitori. Didn't have yakitori sauce but the teriyaki was sufficient, it was fine. So 3 yakitori sticks on a bed of white rice, some steam green beans, some sprinkles for the rice, B never liked the sprinkles but Noah loves them. An Ultraman cheese. And some apples. A basic lunch but an okay lunch. Oh yeah and 2 mini jelly's. : )
Also this week, my friend Noriko-san surprised me by bringing me homemade cookies at the yochien this week one morning. They were delicious. They were made with raisins, cranberries, oats, so much healthly yummy stuff. She said she used whipped peanut spread versus butter so they were pretty healthy and so good.
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things get shipped from the states to Guam. And how fast Guam ships stuff to Japan. The shipping is fast. 
These are the things we picked for B.
Not a lot at all. Just 1 pair of sweatpants on sale. 1 pair of jeans on sale. And 2 long sleeved tops for this fall and winter, also from the sale they had the week I ordered. And 1 coat.
The coat I really liked for Branden. Size 8. And a really good medium weight coat for winter, when B was really little I used to buy him the deep freeze, super winter type coats and the poor thing would be melting to death and his cheeks would be all flushed, ha ha ha, now I just get the thick good weight medium weight coats and layer the kids instead.... so no more overheating the kiddos, ha ha ha, live and learn right : ) Of course if we lived in a colder climate we actually might need the super heavy down filled type coats though. : ) We do a lot of layering around here in winter when we go outdoors.
And only 2 things for Noah since he gets a lot of stuff that used to belong to B. And next week I will start working on Noah's closet.
This pile of clothes on B's bedroom floor. I went and pulled out all of Branden's size 7's. This was my 1 big task for the week this week. It wasn't over in a day either. It took me 2 days to get his bedroom closet and clothes all organized. I had him try on each thing, and yup it took forever. 90% of the things size 7 were too small, so I packed them up in a clear plastic box and packed them up away in the attic for someday when Noah needs them. Luckily though, some stuff still fit and still could be worn. Yippy. 3 pairs of his jeans from last year were high waters when I had him try them on. He hadn't worn them since April and they fit then. But Monday night when he tried them on, they were way way too short. So they were rightly packed away. However, 2 other pairs of jeans were still good and usable lengths. So, I really don't mind what the size says, 7 or 8. It fit, so he can use them still. Also the coats didn't fit, but one did.... the Hillfiger yellow one still had wear and fit well, so he can use that as a play coat this Fall/Winter. I was glad we saved some stuff and could use them further. And glad I got the too small stuff all nicely packed and put into the attic. This was a 2 day job. But I had to get it done.
I know, it looks like slim pickings in B's closet for right now. : ) But 2 weeks ago it might have been full to the brim but the most were outgrown. At least this way I can see what fits. And I know now, everything in B's closet fits him. Nothings too small. Everything that's in there, should be there basically. Also, I went through every single drawer and did the same thing. And so now Branden's clothes are organized, Fall ready and all the sizes are right/correct. I also made a list of what B needs for Fall. He needs undies, and long sleeve shirts.
All of this pile of undies went to the trash can. They were worn to death and so right away to the trash they went. So, that's how I know B needs new undies now. But he has 5 pairs of size 8's. I'll probably order some from Nissen or the Cecil mail order place here in Japan. But again...at least I went and got his clothes all cleared out size wise. Phew that was a job and a half. : )
You ever find something you even forgot you had? So, as I was going through his drawers, I found 2 pairs of jammies for B for this year. Something less to get this season, so I was happy to make the find. : )
Size 8.
The 2 jeans he had, I cut the tags off and threw in a load of jeans that was about to be washed on Monday.
Now all nicely washed and tucked into his drawer. I feel better knowing Branden's clothes have all been sorted, and I'll feel much better after I get Noah's done next week. Anyway sorry for the mundane post you guys. : ) Anyway, so how has our week been going? It's been going really well. The kids are doing well. I'm doing well, hubby is well. The computer parts were found and bought. Should be arriving today and so my computer might be down a day or two. Though I hope not. Ha ha ha.
Oh yeah I keep forgetting to say. My breast exam and ovarian cancer check both came back fine. I am totally fine. So glad that's done. My results came back in July, it's just my fault, I kept forgetting to mention them. : )
Anyway not that it's important or interesting really, ha ha ha, but here's a few things coming up for us. And this is just a handful of things....
September 10th (tomorrow), I am going to lunch with my 2 girlfriends at Coco's restaurant. Noriko-san and Jogo-san.
Branden has undokai this Saturday, September 12th.
September 14th is my PTA meeting at Noah's yochien
No school for either of the boys Sept 21, 22nd, and 23.
Folk dance practice for me for September 30th. @_@ At the yochien.
Noah's undokai Oct 4th
Noah switches to the winter uniform October 6th.
And our town undokai October 11th.
Yup we have 3 undokais and only 2 kids, lol. And a whole other bunch of things on the calendar as well, like half days etc etc. Anyway have a great week you guys! : )
September 1st, Branden was indeed ready to start school! In America the classes in the Fall mark the start of a new school year, new grade, etc. But for us in Japan our new school year starts in April. So, this was just like coming back from Summer break. No new grade for the kids. : ) It was sort of a chilly day. Not freezing cold but you could definitely feel a slight chill to the air. I sent B to school in a long sleeve shirt and shorts that way if it heated up later in the day he wouldn't melt. All the things he lugged from home at the end of last semester, he lugged back to school September 1st. I put everything he needed into this bag. Seat cushion and cover, crayons, paints he held on the other arm. Pianica (instrument) just everything basically. : ) Sneakers nice and fresh, clothes nice and fresh and clean. He was ready! Dropped him off since that stuff was way too much to carry. And then Noah and I went back home.
This is a pic of the 3 beds blankets and bedding all clean. But before this pic, Noah helped me take all the blankets off from his bed and B's bed. Meanwhile I got all the sheets and stuff off mine and Noboru's bed. Noah and I headed to the laundry mat, it was not crowded at all. It was around 8am when we got to the laundry mat. Noah sat on a seat while I threw all the bedding (3 beds worth) in the 800 yen big blanket washer. We then went into my car and listened to the radio, then came in the laundry mat and threw the blankies into the dryer. Sat for 14 minutes while the dryer dried them and then we loaded the clean bedding into my little red car. On the way home is when we dropped off Noah's navy blue school vests for winter time for yochien. And then we went home and started making the beds. This is B's bed in this pic. His comforter is the map one from Ikea. Noah's is the fishy one from Ikea and mine is the blue floral from Target, lol. Went and made 3 beds. Went down stairs and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee, meanwhile Noah had a waffle.
I also made a great big pot of chicken noodle soup. I made a big enough pot so that we could have it for 2 nights. My reasoning is that.....I knew my first week back at doing school stuff, I would be dragging butt. I was tired. It's exhausting and basically wipes me out. And to have dinner done for 2 days saved me. It helped me a lot.
A little light sprinkling of black pepper on my bowl of soup. The 2nd night we had grilled cheese and the soup, the first night we just had the soup. : ) Hey just being honest. : ) But we had 2 servings each.
And then it was Noah's turn. September 2nd and it was now, make sure both kids get on their merry way to both schools. B needs a cold drink everyday. So I freeze it every night for undokai training and dance practice for the undokai. Every morning I take the drink to the genkan so he doesn't forget to take it to school. : ) So many things to not forget, not to muck up by me, ha ha ha. B's undokai is in September, Noah's is in October. I have a PTA meeting very soon. And a few other things I can't forget. It's funny.....after dropping off Noah, and I got home. The house was so so quiet. I sat there at first thinking. Is this like yippy and hip hip hooray finally some peace and quiet? Or a sorta sad it's so quiet. Hmm....I couldn't figure out which one I was...perhaps both. A little of both I think for sures. : )
The first week, the boys went back to school. Last week. Seriously it kicked my butt! I was exhausted all week long. I think it's like the thing I often say, I gotta find my groove again regarding their schedules. And last week? Clearly I couldn't find my groove with it at all. : ) All Summer I was staying awake at like 1am no problem. Now here I was forcing myself to go to sleep at 9:30pm. I was wide awake lying in bed. I stayed awake in bed past 11pm. Just lying there eyes wide open. And the mornings? Ha! Waking up at 5:30am. Total nightmare. The alarm sounded so loud. Louder then I had remembered. My mornings, I did my stuff and got each kiddo sent to school but afterwards I sit on the couch sipping a cup off coffee sorta like shell shocked and zombie like. I felt like I hadn't slept in a million years. I felt sluggish and tired all week last week. Wednesday at swim class last week, boy was I tired. : ) Thank god the soup was made already. Yup, last week kicked my butt big time. Friday, I started to come out of it. I was looking forward to Saturday my day to sleep in. But then funny....after looking at my calendar mid-week, we had a grape picking, sweet potato dig to do. Scratch the sleeping in! : ) Anyway what is this picture of? It's of me dusting the blinds last week. I told myself last week. If I could just get 2 things accomplished each day then it was a plus day. So, every morning I would unload the dishwasher and vacuum the downstairs (this didn't count). And then do 2 things for that day and then just sorta forgive myself all week because I knew I was pretty useless last week. Getting back into the swing of things was hard for me last week. Couldn't help it : ), I was just dragging. So, on one day, I washed the bedding, and dusted all the blinds in the house. The next day, I cleaned both toilets and the shower room (and also vacuumed and did the dishwasher) , but for the most part, I tried to rest, the early wake up was really hard for me to get used to last week. This happens to me though every semester. Ha ha ha. I got very little done last week, but at least I survived last week, ha ha ha so that's the positive. And I did make sure everyone got where they needed to go. All the extracurriculars were indeed done. And I/mom survived. The kids were absolutely fine and had no transition at all. They both go to sleep at a bed time no matter what. So they really didn't have a tough time. It was just me. : )
Saturday morning, at 6am we woke up. I made breakfast. Everyone got dressed and we left around 7:30am. This pic was of the classes before the sweet potato dig. : ) Noah had been to these before but only for when Branden used to go here. Never as an actual student...this was his first sweet potato dig as a student. : )
He's all nicely lined up. Doing the hand movements they're supposed to do. : )
And a prayer before we start with the grape picking and sweet potato dig. : )
What sweet little kids, all of them! : )
Here they were all trying to get in rows to take a group shot.
The front row had to bend down. : )
Hi little guy! Hi Noah! : )
The girl in the red shirt is his best pal Chi-chan!!! : ) Such a lovely lovely little girl.
Group shot for the class!!!
We walked all over the orchards until each of the boys found the bunch of grapes they liked. Noah found his first.
He needed some help cutting them down, Noboru was right there to lend a hand.
And Branden found a bunch he liked as well. : ) I thought 2 were enough but Noboru wanted me to cut my own bunch. : ) So I cut a bunch too. : )
Same as when B went here. From one chalk line to the other chalk line. So about 4 or 5 sweet potato clusters total.
Good grief Branden found a big sweet potato.
Noah did equally really well too. : )
Branden passing Noboru another sweet potato to put into the bag. : ) Noah meanwhile still digging. : )
When it was finally over and all classes finished with both the sweet potato dig and the grape cutting, is when they brought out the free samples. We had done this for some years with B, so we were happily waiting for those free samples. Ha ha ha. We all got sweet potatoes and cups of grapes. Yumm. Sat and chatted with other parents or friends of ours. Noboru gets along really really really well, with Shion-kun's dad. Shion-kun was a classmate of B's, so he and B are both 2nd graders now and long graduated from this yochien. But Shion has a little sister, who's a blue badge. Meanwhile Noah's a red badge. But, this family is very nice. We've known them for literally years. And for some reason Noboru's and Shion-kun's dad, their personality's match. They always chat for ages when they see each other. I meanwhile chatted with my fellow yochien mom friends. Kept my eye on the boys and then that was it pretty much.
Up above where we ate and sat is where some of the green grapes are.
See the grapes and vines and stuff? : )
When we got home, we washed them on the grass in the backyard at first. Because we have a garbage disposal in the sink in the kitchen and with so much dirt on the potatoes we worried about blade damage from the sand. Chopping food and stuff fine but the sand, sorta worried us. So, oh well, it was easier for us this way. : )
All nice and clean and we did give them a rinse inside the house as well. The grapes in the box.
My oh my that's a lot of sweet potatoes. And 3 packs of grapes. I made tempura with 3 of the sweet potatoes Saturday afternoon. And 2 packs of the grapes are long gone and eaten by now. : ) Some other sweet potatoes, I roasted in the oven, boy they were great. : ) We still have sweet potatoes though. 
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