Saturday's family fishing fun!!! : )

Saturday morning, around 9am, Noboru suggested we go and do some fishing, in the small country-ish city (the same one Noah goes to yochien in) Branden was at school for the last fishing trip, so I said sure, this way all 4 of us could go together this time. We got dressed quickly and left the house by 9:30am. Headed to Mc D's. We each had a breakfast combo/set. Kids had orange juice, and I had hot coffee, Noboru had iced coffee. Everyone had sausage mcmuffins but me, I had the egg mcmuffin. The kids got a vanilla soft cream on the way out and back into the car we went. About 5 minutes later we arrived at the fishing spot.

Unloading the car, grabbed one of the spare blankets we always keep in the car for me to sit on.

Noah holding the tackle box, the smaller one.

Quite a few grandpa types fishing.

Everyone had something to hold. Noah the smaller tackle box, Branden the bucket which we'd throw the fish in. Noboru had the larger tackle box and the senbeis. LOL.

Noah fishing! And see that fisherman behind Noah? And see the other boat closer... that is old and filled with water. Well, obviously the answer is "wading boots", but I asked the kids, how do you think that man got into his boat? They thought of stilts and all sorts of answers. Noboru laughed and I smiled. They pondered that question for a good long while until I told them. ; )

Branden had such a great time! And I bet he can't wait to go on Spring break.

On a nice comfy blanket, I sat and enjoyed my 2 sons and my hubby fish their little hearts out. I watched them. People watched the other fishermen. Some guy was throwing a frisbee and it accidentally fell into the water, watching him try to get it out and yes he did get it out, was also quite interesting. : ) After an hour and a half we left and headed home.

Noah, was it so windy that the wind blew your hat off? Good thing I kept it in my purse for safe keeping! ; )

Branden and Noah each caught 1 tiny fish each. And we released them right back into the river before we headed home. That was Saturday!!!

Major milestone accomplished here, Noah's training wheels came off last week!!!

My gorgeous little boy, we are so proud of you! Last week, your first week of Spring break and dad and I both tried to keep you active. Daddy, was set to take you for a bike ride throughout the neighborhood, just like he does with both of you kids. And he noticed something. You were not using your training wheels. He came into the house and asked me to come outside. He said, Noah's training wheels are not moving and that means he's not using them at all. He took you around the block to make sure and sure enough you were riding on just the 2 wheels and not using the training wheels as a safety net at all. So, he said, I'm going to take his training wheels off. I was scared, typical mom worries about her kids type fears. But after seeing what Noboru was talking about, I could see he was right. So, he went to the shed and got the proper tools and took them off . Those training wheels just lay on the concrete and you got on your bike (which used to belong to your older brother) and off you went. I remembered Branden fell a few times when he had his taken off, so I was somewhat bracing for it. Dreading your fall Noah, but you never did. As odd as it sounds, it's honestly true. You did not fall once. You went back and forth up our quiet country road. And we watched you go back and forth, back and forth. Branden was at Kumon at the time, so this had to have happened last Thursday. I will date it and everything for you. But that's your story of the day your training wheels came off. It is still March and you are technically still a red badge. April 7th is when the new semester begins and so April 7th is the day you will become a pink badge and not a day before. We can't believe it, a red badge and your training wheels came off. Ayumi-chan's mom came out of her house (across the street neighbor) and marvelled and said, she could not believe you were riding a bike without training wheels, she said, you're too young. But she ohh'ed and ahh'ed you, as did we.

And there you went. Zipping back and forth.

You're so amazing!

And with a great big grin and still riding!

And coming back. You rode back and forth for a good hour. And you've been riding just about everyday ever since.

Noboru still wearing gloves from when he took off the training wheels. We could not be prouder. I tell ya kiddo, you're one amazing little boy, age 4 and your training wheels are off already, way to go sweetheart! We are so very very proud of you and your milestone/accomplishment!!! : )

A week full of firsts!!! First backyard BBQ of the year! First week off school for Spring break for Noah! And a few other things! : )

All of this post happened last week. But since we were busy enjoying it so much. I couldn't find the time to post it up. A week delayed but that's okay. This is what we did last Tuesday, Noah's first official day on Spring break. We took him fishing. At a local creek in our town. Tuesday was a lovely day weather wise. The weather forecast said possible chance of rain. It didn't rain all day long. I kept telling my husband, "you watch, if it does rain at all, it will rain right before we have our BBQ" We joked and laughed about it. Hoping it wouldn't happen, but sorta making light of it, if it did. We fished here for about an hour and a half. And it was about an hour and a half before Branden would get off of school. And this creek is pretty close to Branden's school, and the town is so quiet and with so many rice fields at every which way and wide open spaces we can actually hear the school bell chime when the bell rings.

Rice fields behind and the school is actually in the background too. Our house is on the opposite side of the school. Not on this side of the school or on this side where the creek is, we actually live on the opposite side of the school near some other rice fields. Not near this creek. We do live near creeks but not this particular creek. Okay TMI. ; )

Okay I zoomed up a tad. See that nice big modern newly built school sorta elevated? That's Branden's elementary school. It's a really nice elementary school. Central heating and everything. His school is awesome.

Father and son walking down getting ready to get their fishing on!!! ; )

Playing and dancing and happy. And look at that sky behind. Big clouds loomed, we wondered "hmm maybe it will rain after all" Fishing was fun for them. They fished and fished and fished some more. They released a few back before we left. We heard the school bell chime. And we gathered our stuff, hopped in the MPV and drove to the school to pick up Branden. Nothing like the entire family with smiling faces picking you up! B happily got in the car and we headed home. The meat by the way was already sliced and marinating with sauce in the fridge. And the rice cooker had been programmed to have the rice ready at 3pm. So we knew it was just about finished when we got home.

Here's a pic of Noah fishing from last Tuesday!

Noboru loves fishing. Where I enjoy blogging when I have the spare time. That's very much the way my husband feels about fishing. And with so many canals and creeks around where we live, and with an ocean pretty close to us. He's in hog heaven for much of the year regarding his fishing. He fishes with a few of his male coworkers, his buddies. And he also takes the boys when they have off school. I go sometimes. Granted I really don't care for it. I find it pretty boring. But I go because I know it makes him happy. And he never complains when we go shopping and I try on outfit after outfit. Or get sucked into a makeup counter. So if he can go and still smile and not complain I have to do the same too. And I do. : ) And being married since 1997 we are most definitely not newlyweds here. But respect for each other we have always had and sorry if this causes an eye roll so be it, but my husband is my best friend, he really is. ; )

While I clicked this picture, Branden was upstairs changing his school clothes to his house clothes. Noah was also changing into sweatpants. This is a house where we don't put on airs. Sweatpants and long sleeve tees for the kids and hubby. And cropped wide leg black yoga pants with pink 3/4 sleeve shirt and a pony tail for me. Not a stitching of make up on. The meat was marinating for most of the day. We marinate it in the sauce on the right. And we use the sauce on the left as our dunking sauce. The veggies were also lightly marinating in sauce last Tuesday.

And then poof guess what happens. Literally minutes after I pulled the meat from the fridge? Rain! Not a down pour. Not raining cats and dogs. Just a sprinkling. As you can see the few light sprinkles on the patio window. But yup, we were right. It rained for our BBQ! We got a chuckle out of that! And no...it most certainly did not stop our BBQ one bit. : )

Skinless boneless breast meat and I cut off all funky and fatty bits. Charcoal BBQ's give the meat the best flavor. Man this was good.

I had the kids sit down to eat first, I wanted them to eat while it was hot. Noboru had his beef and pork grilling. We use plastic mats when it's just regular meal time and only pull out the cloth ones when it's holiday meals or when company comes over. Shhh. ; ) But for just us, we keep it simple and easy wipe downs of the mats is totally appreciated. Especially for your average night.

Everyone is eating. Talking and eating, talking and eating. We heard every detail of Branden's school day. Right down to what he had for lunch (of course we could read it on the school menu) but getting his version about lunch is always interesting. Some pretty funny stuff happens at lunch time in his class. They do not have lunch in a big lunch room like how we do it in the US. Here, they have lunch in their own individual class. So they eat with just their own class and their own teacher.

Noah looking at his big brother listening and hanging onto every single word. Noboru eating and listening. And me listening and taking one of the last pictures before I put my camera away and enjoyed our private time, our meal time.

My serving. We ate, we dunked we wrapped our meat with flat lettuce leaves. Not iceberg lettuce but a different kind. It was so good.

Now his eyes are fixed on daddy. Noah was now listening to a story from Noboru. Being the youngest in our family he does get to hear a whole heap of stories. Anyway this was my last shot of our BBQ from last Tuesday. We had a fantastic first day of Noah's start of Spring vacation. We fished, we BBQ'ed. It was a pretty great day.

Wednesday morning and Noah does what he usually does on the "weekends only". He's unloading the utensils from the dishwasher. You see, I'm a firm believer that chores are a good thing for kids. Granted we're not talking huge tasks, but tasks all the same. They make kids feel useful and productive. And I've been having them do that since Branden was a little guy. With Branden, when he was 2 years old, I had him start with tidying the shoes in the genkan. Put his toys in the toy box. Those were his 2 main tasks as a wee little 2 year old. Granted sometimes the shoes were not EXACT matches. Sometimes my shoe was paired with Noboru's shoe and we thought...what???? But try he did. And we applauded it. And he got so good, he whipped that genkan into shape like a pro in no time. Fast fwd. And Branden is now 8. I don't have my kids do tons and gobs of chores. I do want them being kids. And I know with all the extra curriculars B does, I don't wanna add extra stress. But chores he does do. Branden's chores are, he vacuums the stairs once a week. He makes his bed every morning. Keeps his room clean. I wash and fold his clothes but I place his clean folded clothes on his bed everyday and his chore is to put his clean clothes into the appropriate drawer, obviously I hang the hanging stuff. He also sets the bath at night. Granted we have buttons to turn the bath on from downstairs too. But rolling the bath cover on top and stuff he runs up and does every night in the colder months. And this is basically it. Not huge gobs of stuff but just enough to make him responsible. And he is. Now what are Noah's jobs? Well, when Noah was age 2, I had him start with the same job I started B with. Fixing the genkan everyday. And even at age 4, this is still Noah's daily chore. Every morning and every evening he fixes the shoes in the genkan. Our shoes are always straight and orderly thanks to Noah. Noah's other chore is, he has to put his clean clothes away into the appropriate drawers too. I place Noah's clean clothes on Noah's bed every day and when he comes back from school, he puts his underwear and undershirts in his underwear and his undershirt drawer. His shirts in his shirt drawer and his pants in his pants drawer and his sweatpants in his sweatpant drawer which is also his PJ drawer and so on. I watch and I sit on his bed and still watch but I be darned he gets it right and he does it and I am so proud of my son for doing this. He's growing into a wonderful responsible little boy. Granted I hang all his clothes that need to be hung. But helping out, he does do. Noah also is responsible for keeping his room clean meaning his toys have to go back into his toy box when he's done playing with them. Granted he's not perfect and I can tell you, I have stepped on my fair share of lego or train track to kill my foot! And have me limping ouch ouch ouch. I vacuum their rooms daily, wash their bedding weekly, keep their windows in the bedrooms sparkly clean. And the furniture dusted. All Noah has to do, is make sure his toys go into the toy box and his clothes go into the correct drawers. And he does. he's still in training. ; ) But he's doing fantastic. I also make sure Noah is the one who unpacks his obento when he gets home from yochien everyday in the afternoons and I am always standing by in case he needs my help. And he leaves it on the green counter for me every day. And I clap and whatnot. Well done Noah. And I go upstairs and make sure he takes all his yochien stuff off and get his stuff put away. He's really trying hard. And he's a good kid. What's in this picture? Well, on the weekends, I ask the kids to unload something in the dishwasher. Granted I do 95% of it but I do want them to help. Noah unloads the utensils every Saturday and Sunday. Not sharp knives and stuff, just forks, spoons, butter knives. And Branden unloads all the kids plates. They both do this every weekend. And I do the rest. With Spring break now in effect, Noah is now unloading the utensils everyday now. And Branden as soon as he gets off for his Spring break will be doing the kids plates daily as well. Good kids. Good good kids. And they do like helping out. It gives them a sense of pride and confidence that they can do stuff. ; )

Well done my son!!! You know which spot the kids spoons go, where the adult forks go, kids forks, and whatnot. What a good sweet kid you are! A very helpful boy!

And wanting to keep my boy a bit active, on his 2nd day off school. We baked a banana bread last Wednesday with 3 overripe bananas. Which made this bread so sweet and delicious. And Noah was taking a pic with Noboru's old cell, it still works, granted it can't make calls, but Noah charges it daily and the camera works and whatnot. ; )

About to mash those bananas.

Creamy smooth batter and about to add some pecans.

And done! You baked a very delicious banana bread my little cutie pie!

And right before we went to go and pick up Branden. I had Noah help make some lemonade. I had him shake the bottle. I said....shake, shake shake. Shake, shake shake. And he did!

All in all, Noah enjoyed his first week off last week. He was off from last Monday at 11:30am. That's when his Spring break began. He fished, he enjoyed BBQ. He baked banana bread with mommy. We did laundry together. Another day, we went out in the backyard together and we played kick ball with each other. I loved that! We had so much fun doing that. We've worked on some flash cards. The # cards. he can count 1-100 in English and Japanese (I should have him learn 100-200 during Spring break). I have an animal flashcard deck as well and he can say them all in English obviously and 90% of them in Japanese. Like monkey and horse and stuff he knows in Japanese, easily. But for words like camel and armadillo in Japanese he forgets. But we're getting there. The phonics cards he loves. We also took time to enjoy lunch together everyday. And we also had down time of just vegging out together watching Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny. He is also aware he will be starting Kumon this year and he is okay with it. He knows that Branden will be in the actual same classroom with him so that's going to be nice and totally reassuring to have big brother sitting nearby. I also will be sitting in the classroom for probably the first 2 weeks until he gets used to it. Sitting on the parents seats toward the back quietly reading a book. I'm thinking sometime in April, May or June. Anyway that's what Noah did last week for his first week off Spring break. I will also be blogging Branden's Spring break as well, as soon as it starts though.

Let me give you some dates: Branden's last day of school is March 24th. March 23rd and March 24th are half days for Branden. He has already brought everything home already for the most part. Pianica is here at the house, his crayons, all his books.

The boys start school: Branden returns April 5th and Noah returns April 7th. So they will be out of school quite a bit and the rest and relaxation is going to do us all a world of good. They still have swimming though. That's year round and they both love it. We are still greatly wondering who will be Branden's 3rd grade teacher. Man or woman, nice or mean. We don't know. And half of his class will be split into another class. There are 20 kids in the ninensei #1 class and 20 kids in the ninensei #2 class (B's class) And this year, they will get 10 from each class. So it will still be 20 in each but they will be mixed from the 2 classes. Just when the kids are so used to each other have bonded for 2 years, eaten together daily 5 days a week. Etc etc. They will be split up. And the other classes parents we really don't know all that well and they really don't know us either. Talk about being taken out of your comfort zone. ; ) Granted, will we survive? Obviously, yes we all will. But it doesn't help the wondering and bit of butterflies we're all feeling. Either way, I'll blog it and that way you can all go through it with me, even by just virtually going through it with me. I'll feel, I'm not alone with you all reading and rooting us on. ; ) Ehhh, but that's not until April and no sense in losing sleep about it now. No sense in worrying about something I needn't worry about yet. In April, I'll let you all know how I'm feeling. ; ) ; )

Anyway you guys, our family had another first last week. It's a pretty big milestone as kids go. Noah had his training wheels taken off last week. I was going to put that at the end of this post. But you know what. When Branden had his training wheels taken off, I created a post especially for that. And I felt somehow horrible or bad if I would have put that major milestone for my youngest on the end of this post. So, I think the right thing to do, is to do the same that I did for B. And create a post highlighting just that very subject. About Noah's training wheels being taken off. So that's what I'm gonna do. That post will be coming shortly.

Went to see Sherlock Holmes with friends, last Friday! : )

Last Friday was the day I met Noriko-san and Jogo-san at the movies. The movie started at 10am. And so, right after we each dropped off our kids at the yochien we each drove and parked and met each other at the movie theater. My car passed Jogo-san's car around 9:10-ish in the AM. I was on my way to drop off Noah and she obviously had already dropped off her daughter and was on her way to the movies. So, I dropped Noah off. And went on my way to the movies. I saw her car in the parking lot already and parked and went in. She was looking at the movie posters on the walls inside. New release movies and the soon to be released movies. We saw the great big movie poster for Alice in Wonderland. My dad saw it in Guam last Saturday (2 days after he left Japan) my dad said it was so good and in 3-D. But for us in Japan it comes out sometime in April. I forget the exact date. When Noriko-san arrived we bought our tickets and picked our seats and then went and got our snacks. We each got our own popcorn. And I had a soda, which I don't drink all too often (once a week) but I do at the movies. And they each got some delicious smelling coffee. I wondered if they were caramel machiattos, because I definitely smelled something sweet perhaps caramel in their drinks in the theater. We sat down. Saw the previews to the Sex and the City 2 coming out sometime soon. Jay Z's, featuring Alicia Key's "Empire State of Mind" played during the Sex and the City preview and I was definitely swaying my head to that! Can't wait to see that! Sherlock Holmes was good. I'm glad I saw it and I can tell there will totally be a part 2. We actually all said that, after the movie ended. After the movie, we all went to Mister Donut. We had donuts and talked. And laughed and talked some more. The picture on the wall of the guy who started Mister donut hung on the wall. And we got to talking. Who is that. What's his name. And I finally just said....Maybe that's just Mister Donut. Okay maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny. We all laughed. We talked about what we've been watching on TV. What movies did we like with Robert Downy Jr. I said, Less then Zero, Chances Are, The Pick Up Artist. Jogo-san liked a lot of his movies and knew lots of the movies he's been in. Talked about Adam Lambert a bit. Was he in Japan last week? We were wondering that. Talked about Easter a bit. Lent and coloring eggs. Plans for Spring break. And then it was time to go. With big chocolate heart box in my car, I was on my way to the yochien. Noah gave it to Chi-chan and we went to go and pick up B directly at the elementary. We went home. And started the weekend. How was last week? It was fantastic. My dad was here, so that was nice. The kids schedules are winding down and that's nice too. The Olympic ceremony was fun. Last week rocked.

On Noah's last day of school, he got this gift from a friend/classmate. He's a very popular boy at school and has lots of friends.

Very thoughtful. I know who gave it, so I will have to do something nice in return for sure.

My birthday gift from Noboru. You know, the movies I wanted were just 1 for my birthday. I only really badly wanted Twilight New Moon. And the 2 books. However, hubby told me, since it's an order from Amazon.com and not Japan. Just get $100 worth of stuff versus just 1 thing. That way to him it justifies the shipping. I could not think of anything else I really needed. So, I ended up choosing things for the rest of my family versus getting something I really didn't need for myself. And no, I'm not a martyr or anything, I assure you. ; ) It's just to me, birthdays are about my family versus stuff. So, anyway....I chose "Where the Wild Things Are and Ponyo in English" For Branden and Noah. We have Ponyo in Japanese with English subtitles but wanted this version as well. I saw my husband last month try to rent Vacation with Chevy Chase at Tsutaya discas, but they only had the Vegas Vacation not any others. And my husband LOVES those movies. And so do I, but he does love those so I chose the 2 pack of vacation movies secretly for my husband (he thinks I got them for myself ; ). :P And Branden enjoys reading so much, and I ordered him the book...."The Day My Butt went Psycho". Branden loves to read, he reads everything and anything now days. And I chose for myself, High On Arrival. By Mackenzie Phillips. If you remember I bought that book last year by Valerie Bertinelli. She was also on "One day at a Time" anyway so was Mackenzie Phillips. And honestly I watched that show when I was little sometimes, but was way younger then those characters. I was more into The Fact of Life show and Different Strokes ("what you talking about Willis!!!", lol just kidding). But anyway, I caught Mackenzie Phillips on Oprah last year and it talked about this book. And it seemed really sad and I thought to myself, I should read that book. I'm on page 100 right now, I read some of it before bed each night. And all I can say is wow. At times when I read it, I think, she was too wild, way way too wild not only can I even barely imagine half the things I'm reading, but I can't even remotely relate to these stories. And then sometimes as I flip the pages, I think to myself, what a strong person to endure all that she went through. I am not sure how I will feel when the book ends. But for right now. I feel nobody really protected her like a parent should have. She was allowed to live a much too wild life. Her dad was in the Mamas in the Papa's. Before reading this book, I just knew of her that she used to be in One day at a Time. Not really knowing what she does now. The Mama's and the Papa's may be way before my time though, but I am not totally in the dark, I do know who they are. I had heard she was on drugs and busted a few times but didn't really know anything about her. But like I said, the first 100 pages. She's a very intelligent person. A deeply thinking person. A truly feeling person. Some absolute horrific things have happened to her and I am just in awe of her. I can't relate to her experiences or her. But it doesn't mean I can't feel respect for her because I think she's an incredible human being. I really do. I am really glad I ordered this book and look forward to finsihing it. Branden meanwhile is on the 2nd chapter of the "psycho butt book" ; ) I'm glad I could order something for us all for my birthday. ; )

I also ordered my 2nd book by Suzanne Kamata (amazon shipped this seperately, it got here first). I read this in an afternoon, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So much so, I could not put it down. I kept saying, just one more story and then I'd read that story and then said, one more story and then by the time I knew what hit me, I read the whole book. I could relate to so many of these stories. I completely enjoyed her book.

Last Saturday we had baked pepperoni sandwiches with melted cheese on top, some lettuce and some fries. It was an easy but delicious dinner last Saturday night. : )

Last Sunday we had curry and rice and drank some lemonade with ice.

TV Talk, Glee's getting funny! Still watching the Foodies channel and the 2 cooking shows in the evenings. "How I Met You're Mother" is probably becoming one of my favorite shows. Have been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer repeats. Those are always good. American Idol is getting good and I really like Ellen as a judge. She has such a quick wit and she's so funny.

In the news.....Cory Haim passed away. Sad very sad, I remember him in "License To Drive" and the "Lost Boys". And the guy who was on Growing Pains who was Kirk Cameron's best friend named "Boner" committed suicide. Sad as well. I tell ya, I watch the news everyday, the CBS news with Katie Couric and also CNN. And I am always surprised at some of the news, I see. Kate Gosselin's going to be on Dancing with the Stars. I'll be interested to see this. Glad she's got a new hairdo. That reverse mullet was driving me a bit crazy on her. And I like her, I totally do. Granted she was a bit bossy and verbally abusive to Jon in the marriage I felt. I have never spoken to my husband the way she did hers. However to be fair, she also carried most of the parenting on her shoulders and so I can see why she felt snappy at times. Jon to me seemed mentally checked out on the last season. Like..."pick any bunk bed you want Kate, I don't care." I could see that towards the end. So, yeah I could feel her frustration and perhaps if I had 8 to deal with I would be just as frustrated as her. But the cheating he did and how he's conducted himself since. All those Ed Hardy tee's he's been sporting and the earring.... with bikini clad girls in Vegas. The condo in NY with it being only a 2 or 1 bedroom. My first thought was how can he fit his kids in there. Obviously it's his bachelor pad. hence not kid friendly. Anyway before I get way off topic. They seemed like a loving couple to me in the first couple seasons and gradually the fighting got worse and worse and it just got really ugly. I wish they could have got back to together. Those kids all of them are so adorable and cute. Watching them through all those seasons I almost felt like I knew those kids. Like when...Alexis used to call her toy alligator, her "elder gator" Ha ha ha. Seeing their marriage dissolve through the seasons was so incredibly sad to watch. I still find myself throwing in season 1 on DVD since we have the first 3 seasons on DVD. And smiling at the family they used to be. Anyway, let's just say. I will be tuning in for sure to see Kate Gosselin on Dancing with the stars. ; ) Oh and I read yesterday Jon is now living in Utah at his newest girlfriend's parents' house. Goodness me. Also, did he gain about an extra 10-15 pounds since he split with Kate? He looks heavier to me now, then when he was with Kate. And no, I am not on either side. I think they were both equally responsible for the marriage ending the way it did. I do wish they could have saved it. It's just the way he's behaved since their split has been pretty bad. That makes me scratch my head. And the way Kate's acted since the split hasn't been nearly as bad, I know the ladies on the View like her and I've definitely felt myself warming up to her again myself. Anyway yeah I'll definitely be tuning in for DWTS. Okay, switching subjects now for sure. : )

Travel plans for this year: We're going to Honolulu this year for sure. And also a high chance we're also going to be going back to Denver this year as well for a visit. The thing for us now is when. Maybe June, July, August. We really aren't sure. But destinations are chosen. But dates are not. Hawaii will come first. Denver could even be saved around November and maybe do some Black Friday shopping who knows. But talks and checking of the calendar have definitely been happening. A pop over to Guam could happen anytime. But so far I've been just happily chilling out here at home. This is going to be an amazing year for us, I can tell. The kids are both doing great in school. We're all healthy and happy. It's a peaceful life. Definitely no complaints. : )

Have a great day everyone.

My dad's visit and Noah's olympic ceremony at the yochien!!! : )

My dad's visit was fantastic! Here's a picture of my dad doing the trick of his finger being in 2 (obviously it's just a bent finger and really two fingers ; ) Branden knew that old trick already but Noah believed it and sat in absolute wonderment of what grandpa could do! ; )

My dad and the boys and I played the board game, Sorry! Noah and I were unfortunately the bottom 2 players. My dad and Branden battled it out for first place and in the end my dad won! It was so much fun! When we knock someones pawn out of the game with a Sorry! card, you have to say..... you're Sorry! And we said Sorry! Quite a few times, laughing and carrying on. We had a lot of fun playing board games while my dad was here!

Another day, while the kids were in school. I drove the hubby and my dad to Narita city. Which is a bit of a drive. I had to go there because I needed some graduation cards for some of my girlfriends kids' at the yochien that are graduating this year. I could have bought them at a place closer, but I was hoping to find the best selection for graduation cards/"soon to be ichinensei cards" for my friends so that's why I drove so far just to get graduation cards.

And on our way out. My dad had loved the coconut coffee so much he actually bought a few boxes, which is what he is carrying in the Aeon bag. He packed it away in his suitcase to bring home when he left. I was glad my dad liked the coconut coffee so much.

I needed 5 cards. And I looked and I looked and I thought these 2 were the cutest out of all the cards, I saw. I also picked up a fruit container (Pokemon) for Noah for when school resumes in April.

This card sorta pops out and I loved it.

This one was a pop out card too and the backpack flips up and has writing on it and I loved this one too. And yup, I realized the 5 cards were indeed to all girls. I didn't realize that until I saw the little boy graduation cards/"happy ichinensei cards" and realized, hmm, I need 5 for girls. ; ) I filled them all out during an afternoon last week. With a really cool silverish blue pen. And handed the most of them out on the day we went to Noah's olympic ceremony, last Thursday. The last 2, I handed out on Friday. Manner wise, I knew, giving the cards should be done. They're my good friends that I see every day, every week while at the yochien or when we go out to lunch as friends or to movies and whatnot, and their kids are graduating. Plus I love giving cards anyway. That's always a nice thing to receive. And plus it makes the kids happy. I remember Branden got a good amount of graduation cards/"happy ichinensei cards" from my yochien mom friends. So it was my turn to do the same. All the mom's were happy getting them and I was happy to give them. : )

What else? Oh yeah remember that shuji set all the parents had to order for the upcoming new 3rd graders? Well, and remember that school meeting for B's last observation day? Well, before I begin let me just say, if you've ever seen the beautiful Japanese calligraphy. And it honestly is gorgeous. But anyway that ink stains like nobodies business! Like would never ever ever come out type jet black ink!!!! @_@ Oh yeah! Okay so anyway, someone at the meeting asked the Yuka-sensei. "Is it okay for their kid to wear a smock for when they do the calligraphy? And the Yuka-sensei being her nice and practical self, said, I don't see why not. She has a kid the same age, he'll be a 3rd grader this year too. She knows how accidents happen with paints and whatnot. So she said why not. They also said the school knows how badly the ink stains, so the school decided to make it mandatory for all kids to wear their gym uniform during calligraphy time as to not ruin their regular clothes. And yup their gym shirt is white, yikes! At that point, another mother thankfully chimed in! But those gym uniforms are SO expensive! Boy is she right! She isn't whistling dixie about that!!!! Yes they are, I chimed in!!!! Everyone nodded. So someone said what about we send them with an old t-shirt. Good idea. Said someone. And then....so what was decided is the kids can bring either an old t-shirt or a smock or whatever you want. Okay so now you're up to date on that talk during the meeting. Anyway so when I was at the mall last week, buying graduation cards, I checked the price of smocks for bigger kids. And guess what I found? Well for starters most smocks only go up to a size 120cm. Great for yochien kids, but not going to do the 3rd graders a bit of good. Then I priced some fabric at the Aeon too. For what I needed, the cost would have been somewhat high. Plus would need elastic for the wrist area and whatnot. Plus the time to whip one up, hmm what to do, what to do. So, I decided to look on the web. So many places have for younger age kids, but finding for older kids proved nearly impossible, same thing I noticed when I was at the Narita mall. I found 1 place that had up to a size 140cm. And that one was 3,800 yen. Nearly $40 bucks, can you believe that or what! I searched high and low last week. Noboru jumped in and searched too and he found this. They go up to a size 170cm. So they have for the big kids even way older then Branden, which is rare. And the price was cheap. They have light blue, pink and denim. We ordered Branden the denim one in 150cm. It will be baggy yes, but it will last a whole year and he can wear it over his regular clothes and stuff.

580 yen for members and 840 yen for non members. An unbelievable price. I was quite thrilled to have found it. I'm gonna make about 3 copies/print outs of what I found and info share with a couple of the elementary school mom's that I'm friends with just in case. I mean if they can use the info great, if they can't no worries from me either. Either way. Glad I tracked them down. And again slowly getting the kids ready to transition to their new classes and grades for April.

Also, my dad went and watched Noah swim. I think that was last Tuesday.

Noah getting some instruction from one of the coaches.

Go Noah, go!!! : )

Also during last week, my dad played with his grandchildren in the backyard. Here's a pic of Noah chasing grandpa.

Still playing kori-oni. Here Noah was the oni and my dad was using B as a shield. Ha ha ha. Just in fun and boy they played like crazy out there.

And taking a kori-oni break!

Then they switched to soccer. Noah is getting quite good with Branden's help. Meanwhile my dad was standing in the back just soaking in the view. Hmmm, everyone that ever comes here likes to stand in that same similar spot. ; ) Remember my MIL in December? She stood there too. And Jun last Summer. I think that's just the soaking in the view, spot. Ha ha ha.

OMG! Noah, grandpa's got the soccer ball, he's gonna play dodgeball with you now......run kiddo! Run!

You're out! ; )

Run!

Who is Branden going to hit with the ball now that it's his turn! Run, Noah, run dad! ; )

And taking a time out, grandpa checking for a rock in Branden's shoe. And then all okay.

Branden smiling and just playing around with grandpa still.

Noah brought these home last week or the week before but I keep forgetting to put them up.
Hinamatsuri dolls. He made them. And I must point out the girl doll has great big western eye balls. And the boy doll has a more of an Asian or Japanese eye. Is it because he thinks, mommy's are western and daddy's are Japanese? ; ) In any case.... I thought it was cute. And I have already saved this in Noah's big plastic box of yochien things I am saving for him.

The rental dvd's came last week. The Time Traveler's Wife and Orphan (in Japan Orphan is called Esther though ; ) We watched Orphan while my dad was here. Noboru, my dad and I, after the kids went to sleep. Scary! But a good movie. The other DVD we will watch maybe tonight. We still haven't had a chance to see it.

My dad went with me to drop off B every morning at school. And he went with me to drop off Noah every morning last week as well. And he even walked Noah to his classroom, Monday-Thursday. He is a very proud grandpa. ; )

Thursday, the day Noah had the "olympic ceremony" at the yochien and the night my dad was leaving. : ( Here is Noah, they called each child up by name and when they called his name he walked up and collected his medal, said thank you and when the red badges in the yurigumi class all collected theirs, they all bowed. We all clapped! Noah was beaming ear to ear! He was so proud you guys. ; )

And Noah coming down from the stage with medal around his neck.

I love the way they gave out the medals. The difference between gold and silver was so small the kids didn't even realize. But they told us all the day of. See the water coming from atop the whale? See, how Noah's water is gold? Because he got the gold medal. The ones who only were able to get silver, had silver water. And I'm glad they did it this way because we don't ever want any of the kids to feel bad. The difference was so small all the kids were happy. I thought that was a very nice and classy way they did that. Very considerate to all the kids!

Yup, Noah completed all 8 tasks! Way to go you little sportster, you! They're both really athletic boys! ; )

And at the end, the encho sensei/principal received a giant cookie medal. She wore it around her head/neck. And the gym teacher also was gifted a medal and the sensei's too. These are our school's sensei's. My favorite favorite sensei is on the far left. The tender hearted sensei that was Noah's sensei when he was a yellow badge. And his 2 current sensei's are the 2 on the right. They both wore pink sweaters. Those are his current teacher's and they are so nice too. Those are all edible real cookies around their necks. And behind is backed with cardboard. It was a nice way to say thank you for teaching our kids this year!!! Whoever thought of that was brilliant!

Each of the red badges.... about to become pink badges received these last week. Bags for art work.

Very nice.

What a nice school. And Noah also brought home this last week as well. On the last day that he had obento at school.

It says, basically thank you for making obento! They do this every year and every semester and I think it's a very thoughtful thing to do. The teachers get gifts and even cookie medals. So they feel appreciated as well. And the sensei's equally have the kids make thank you cards for us mom's who make obento. It's a very good atsmosphere this school.

Noah's last obento as a red badge. Ginger pork that I sliced up in bite size pieces. steamed veggie, rice and sprinkles. a string cheese for extra calcium and some peaches and 2 jelly's. : )

Another obento Noah took last week. Pizza toast, steamed veggie, a few fries, a string cheese and fruit and jelly's.
My dad asked me a month ago, he said. The boys will need a gift for the girls for white day. I said yes. And I mentioned I'd probably bake cookies for them or whatnot. He said they had a whole bunch of Valentine' stuff and he'll get 4 for the boys. Noah needed one, B needed 3. Anyway 2 weeks ago, my dad emailed me and said, they had 1 box that was semi broke. Well not really broke but a piece of the red box was torn off. My dad already got the 4 perfect boxes for the girls. But he said this non perfect box was on sale and should he get it....but for who I asked. He said we can just eat it while I'm there. I said, sure. So, here you have it. 4 perfect boxes of chocolates and 1 non perfect box of chocolates for which we happily devoured last week. ; ) And Russell Stovers makes some pretty fantastic chocolates and Noah loved giving this huge box to Chi-chan last Friday and B brought the other 3 and gave them to Saya-chan, Nozomi-chan and the other girl who I forget her name. Those girls LOVED getting those chocolates last Friday. When I gave it to Noah last Friday to give to Chi-chan, his mom and another yochien mom said, wow that's so big. They were pleasantly surprised. Branden said his classmates were surprised too.

Movie theater extreme butter. We watch a lot of movies as a family at our house and so we eat a lot fo popcorn around here too. I was happy dad brought us some.

String cheese (besides the boys drinking about 2 glasses of milk a day anyway, they eat a lot of cheese) so they were happy to get some string cheese. Dad brought the boys, some fruit loops type cereal. And a big container of Country Time lemonade.

136 servings, this is indeed the big one. And with the warmer weather coming, this will come in handy. Thanks dad.

Easter stuff for Branden and Noah. And plus I'm thinking about having another Easter party.

Some magazines and some pineapple cake. Oh my goodness that pineapple cake was amazing!

Anything to add?: American Idol is still pretty amazing. I also am caught up now on The Hills because I caught the new season online. That is a good thing. Every weekend, I seem to be watching the Sopranos marathon, the past 2 weekends (they show about 6 hours worth of season 5). And I'm eagerly waiting for the series finale/ season 6 to get here. I think it starts today for us in Japan. I know it's long over in the US. But I'll be happy when season 6 starts for us here. Like I said, we saw Orphan, but haven't seen the Time Traveler's Wife yet. Noboru is off work today and tomorrow, so probably we'll watch it tonight.

Noah: His last day of school was today. He got out at 11:20am this afternoon. And we hit the grocery store, to do the weekly shopping after that. Then ran home unloaded the groceries. Noboru being off today went and picked up B and he's at Kumon with Branden right now. I'm so thrilled Noah is on break. Handling 1 kid at school is way easier for me to do then 2 kids at 2 different schools. So now that Noah's off, I feel complete relief.

Branden: B has a normal week of school this week. And then next Monday and Tuesday he has half days. And then he is officially on Spring break. So next week, I'm done for real. But for now my load has been cut in half. And I tell ya what.... I'm about ready to do my happy dance right now!!!! ; )

We are having a backyard BBQ tomorrow evening to celebrate, Noah going on Spring break, we were going to wait until next week for both kids to begin Spring break and asked Branden but he loves BBQ so much he said....let's do it this week. So rain or shine, no matter what, we will be BBQing some yakiniku tomorrow for dinner! I tell ya, Spring breaks are just as much for us parents as they are for our kids. Yes, us parents....we need breaks too sometimes. ; ) Can you tell I'm over the moon right now or what? ; )

What else...I got a heap more things to add. How the movies went last Friday with my friends. How the majority of my Amazon birthday order got here already. And a few other tidbits. But for now, I'm just too happy to sit in front of the computer. I'm gonna go spend some time with Noah since B's at Kumon. Get dinner ready and get ready for movie night tonight. I'll try and get my other post up tomorrow. ; )