I am all of a muddle today, I was going to tell you all about our fancy new shelves in the pantry but then decided to take photos once it is completely finished, bet you are looking forward to that post LOL. Then I realised that I hadn't posted last weeks MTD, so here it is...
Clockwise from the pink check flag, cheese and pineapple, eda mame, sausages, yoghurt and raspberry jam, rice ball with sprinkles x2, little apple cake and cucumber sticks in the middle.
Remember the new so cute you want to squeal picks that I told you about in this post? WELL.... I raided the shop and bought all the packs that they had (probably making the checkout girl think that I was some kind of crazy bento fiend) and I have put them in the shop, I only have a few left, so get over there quick sharp!
Our old place mats were looking a bit on the grubby side and I bought this fabric a good while ago with the intention of making place mats, well this week I finally got round to it, I teamed the linen up with some cute polka dot fabric, I can't help but grin when I look at them!
I made two of each mat and a a runner plus matching coasters
and now Ebi-kun is learning German and French since out teaspoons have
different French words on them
I think out all the pictures, this cow is my favourite.
It looks like Ebi-kun is having a growth spurt, how come they don't seem to grow for months then suddenly they shoot up over night, T-shirts that fit him fine last week are now looking suspiciously like crop tops! I picked up a few plain T-shirts last weekend and the next day I had a parcel from my swap partner Kristel. She always picks cool things to send and this time was o exception, the parcel included a set of stamps with washable ink, so you can design your T-shirt, pop it in the wash and start over next time. I couldn't wait to try it so I made Ebi-kun an alien T-shirt with a speech bubble... (the dodgy wink is his new 'pose')
We were going out with a friend for lunch, so this is what we stamped for the first attempt :o)
When it come out of the wash I will let him write what he wants, should prove to be amusing.
So, yesterday was ensoku or day trip and we went to one of the local parks, it was the whole yochien that was there so about 100+ kids and their parents and younger siblings. We started off with games, the classes were grouped into grades, there are 3 classes in Ebi-kun grade. There were coloured cards in the middle of the circle, the kids had to jog round until the sensei called out a colour then they had to race to pick up the card and then return to their parent(s).
So that the kids would understand how to play we had to demonstrate,
daddy-ebi looks like he is enjoying it more than the kids!
Next up was the wheel barrow relay, Ebi-kun was asked by the sensei to demonstrate too,
he was much quicker the second time round!
I love this shot of the boys :o)
Then there was time for free play, the game of the moment seemed to
be all holding hands and spinning round until the chain breaks
and they all fall on the floor giggling and
let me tell you, those white t-shirts are no longer white!
Then it was lunch time and of course a cute bento had to be made...
The parents had a quick meeting and I somehow got volunteered to help carry the
We finished off with some folk dancing, the kids had already learned the dance
so they were leading, it was very cute to watch and after that we were dismissed.
Some of us hung round, the kids were itching to get into the wading stream and it was a lovely warm day, this is the posse of best friends and they are typical little boys, Ebi-kun splashing T-kun....
T-kun giving it back...
An insane amount of giggling and screaming was going on,
This is one of my mom's favourite quotes and she is talking about kids, she also says that the amount of dirt on a child is equal to the amount of fun they had. If that is the case Ebi-kun must have had a whale of a time at yochien yesterday, he came home black.
So, Sunday and Monday it poured down all day, yesterday was fine and the kids got to play in the big sandpit, they have wheelbarrows and proper spades making it quite physical play. Apparently Ebi-kun build an onsen (hot spring) with the black sand and then relaxed in the water, that explains a thing or two, shame the sensei didn't hose them all down at the end of the day LOL.
Other snippets of yochien....
If it is not raining we have to do exercises - (sounds like stretching exercises) and run round the green track marked in the yard about 31 times. All the sensei's run too apart from the head sensei, he stands by the side and high fives all the kids as they go past.
About painting
When we do painting with sumi, not ika sumi* painting sumi I have to stick my bum in the air.
*sumi is the black ink used in Japanese calligraphy, ika sumi is squid ink. and I still have no idea why he needs his bum in the air!
Tomorrow we have a yochien trip to the park, heaven only knows what that will entail but I do have to make a bento, need some bento inspiration...
OK, this is my first geeky type of tutorial so I hope you can understand it. This is a combination of requests, I was asked how I had put the PDF file in my post a couple of weeks back and also where I had got the frames from for the activity Ebi-kun was doing in this post, so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone, as it were.
First, prepare your PDF file. I make most of my files in Photoshop so to make it into a PDF, I go to print and there is a PDF option. Click on that, put in the file name and it's done. I think Word has a similar function, alternatively you can use Adobe, they used to have a system where you could create 5 files a year for free, not sure if that still exists.
Now, you need to sign up at Scribd, it is free and easy, just follow the instructions. One you are signed in you should come to a page with this on it...
Click on upload, find your file and upload it.
A new screen will appear like this....
Fill in any information that you want to add and press save.
The screen will now look like this (once you add more files there will be a list of them)
Click on the title of your file, which will bring you to this screen...
Now click on Share and Embed and a pop up window will open like this...
If you are using blogger you want the Standard HTML (obviously if you use wordpress click on the other tab). Click on copy, this will save the coding. Now go to blogger and open a new post like normal, to insert the code you need to be in Edit HTML, I like to type what I want to say in Compose mode then add the HTML code when I am almost finished. Simply paste the code where you want it and hit save. I highlighted the code in pink for you but it isn't usually like that :o)
and that's it! easy peasy and here is the file for working with the phonics miniatures... Frames Worksheet
We did some arty experimentation the other day, what we did was to pour some salt into a small tub then took a piece of chalk and ground it into the chalk until it changed colour, then we sprinkled the salt onto the road and sprayed it with water. The colours were far more vibrant than usual and with the salt it had a crystallised appearance.
He then drew onto the salt with some more chalk, which dissolved and made some great new colours. When we checked it the next morning it had gone rock hard (and I started to wonder if it would in fact wash away, luckily it did!) It would be a fun way to introduce colour mixing and I am sure we will be doing it again.
Ebi-kun had his first sleep over on Saturday, he went to stay at his best mates house, along with another 7 kids, they had a BBQ, played with glo-sticks in the dark, stayed up late and watched a DVD and had lots of fun by the sounds of it. Apparently most of the kids didn't get to sleep until midnight and then they were up again at 5.30am! Needless to say Ebi-kun was really tired yesterday. This of course meant that hubby and I had a night out, whoo-hoo, I decided I wanted to go and see a film, since the last time I went to the pictures was when I was 8 months pregnant with Ebi-kun, nearly 5 years ago, it was Star Wars and very loud, Ebi-kun kicked me all the way through it! We had a nice dinner first and a wander around the mall and then went to see Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX in 3D and I really enjoyed it. The only downside was that I had to wear my glasses and the 3D ones, which wasn't too comfortable but the film itself got a thumbs up from me.
Thank you to everyone who looked over my new improved site and leaving me feedback. I think I have fixed all the typos (I prefer to call them that than spelling mistakes lol). Now, I have another question....
For the website package I am using I can only offer the items for sale in one currency and I only accept payment through Paypal. Using Paypal, there is no problem to pay in a currency different to your own, they do the converting.
For me, it is better if I sell my goods in Japanese yen but I am worried that if I do that, it will put people off buying since many are not familiar with the yen and so at present I sell in US$.
So, if you were browsing through my shop and wanted to buy something would it put you off if the item was priced in Japanese yen?
Would you be more comfortable if there was a rough conversion rate in the description for example if the item was priced at ¥1000
I have just finished unbreaking my website, I ended up doing quite a bit of tinkering, bit like cleaning the fridge, you know, you start be wiping up a bit of spilt juice and the next thing you know you have defrosted and cleaned the whole thing!
Anyhoo...if you could take a look around here and let me know if you spot anything odd or links not working properly or just come back and flatter me, that would be really lovely.
Cheers! off for a large mug of tea before heading to the post office....
Since I knew that we were going to be stuck in the car for a long time on our recent trip to Kitakami I tried to make Ebi-kuns little space as comfortable as possible and decided that what he really needed was a tray cushion. We had a tray and a cushion knocking around so here is how I did it, it is super easy!
What you need:
A tray that you can drill holes through
a cushion, mine was a mogu cushion, it is filled with tiny beads which makes it very squishy and easily molds to the shape you want it to be.
long needle
strong thread
drill and 3mm drill bit (well that is what I used it, as long as the needle goes through the hole the size isn't that important)
sandpaper
Before you start, check that the cushion fits well under the tray, if your cushion is a bit on the small side you might want to drill the holes closer to the centre. So, drill 2 holes in each corner of the tray, the holes should be about 1cm apart, sand the rough edges.
When it is finished it should look like this.
Next, simply tie a knot in the end of your thread and then sew the tray to the cushion, securing it in each corner. That's it you are done! Pop it in the car for next time you have a long road trip, you don't have to use it in the car of course, it would be just as handy for someone sick in bed or to have all your crafty bits on whilst you are sat in front of the TV.
This cushion is a bit big but at least he will grow into it LOL. I like that the tray has sides since he was playing with cars and the such like on it, meant that they didn't roll away.
after trying to add a couple of new pages and fix a link or two I have managed to completely break my website. Please bear with me whilst I bang my head on the wall and swear at the computer in an attempt to fix it, may take some time.....
I really enjoyed reading your crafty disasters and I can relate to many of them, I dread to think how many times I have sewn or stuck something to whatever I was wearing. When I make clothes for myself it is unheard of for it to fit first time, I somehow manage to make the item either two sizes too big or two sizes too small, but I suppose we learn from our mistakes - or not, in my case!
Saturday morning Ebi-kun had yochien (twice a month he goes on a Saturday), we gave him the option on whether he wanted to go or not since he had football practice in the afternoon, he chose to go. It was quite odd for me and hubby, not having Ebi-kun around, so we went to do the shopping, had a lovely coffee by ourselves first and managed to get round the supermarket in record time! After lunch we went to footie practice, it is about 40 minute drive and I don't usually go but the weather was lovely and I had some hand sewing to do so I went to enjoy the weather too. The coach is a friend of ours and he does the practice all in English, Ebi-kun loves it!
Then Sunday we went to watch Omiya play, Dave (the coach) and his family came too, since the boys have started football together they have become best mates, Ebi-kun first met A-kun when he was 6 weeks old, so they have always known each other but it is only recently that they have decided that they are mates.
A-kun is also quite an arty/crafty kid and he has made 'flags' for himself and Ebi-kun to use at the match, so cute! The matches here are very family orientated, there were loads of kids and women too and whereas back home there is a big police presence, I counted 8 police officers. Dave, who is a fellow Brit and I were talking about the difference between Everton and Omiya, he was saying that the last match he went to, the fans were shouting abuse at their own players, nevermind the opposition. Then my husband told me that if you shout abuse at the players here you get booted out of the match (presumably by the 8 police officers) and black listed! I am not much of a footie fan but it is fun to go along once in a while, it is a good atmosphere and they sell beer in the stadium too LOL.
The kids also got to meet the mascot, yes, it's a squirrel there is another difference, I can't imagine an English club with a cute fluffy animal as a mascot, maybe there is, I am not really up on my footie mascots. There are also two Japanese teams that play in pink, something that would never happen back home :o)
so it was a fun weekend and good to have some downtime.
I have to say, I have enjoyed reading all your likes and dislikes, olives don't appear to be very popular and I wouldn't like them in my tin either, along with any type of fish, raw, cooked or otherwise and any kind of curry! I would love a selection of cheeses and any type of fruit, yum!
Anyway, you are not really interested in that are you, just want to know who has won, well it is....
This is the first full week at yochien and we are slowly finding a new rhythm for the day. The mornings are actually the easiest part, 6.00am the boys get up and get dressed and start preparing breakfast and I get up about 6.30am, they get up earlier so that they can have a bit of daddy time. Daddy gets home late most nights and very rarely is he back before Ebi-kun goes to bed so they have their time in the mornings. By 7.00am we have finished breakfast, I get Ebi-kuns bento things ready and clear the table whilst he brushes his teeth then he packs his bag and goes through the check list to make sure he has everything he needs and daddy gets his things ready at the same time. Then the boys usually have 10-15 minutes time to play or read together, daddy leaves around 7.20am.
Once daddy has left, Ebi-kun puts the clean dishes away (his job) which usually only takes a few minutes and then we read, well he reads to me. I have found that often, after yochien he is too tired to read but he is full of it first thing so it works quite well. 7.45am he goes to the toilet and gets read to go and I water the garden as we wait for the bus, then he is off and I am free!
It is once if has gone I find it hard, if I get on the computer that is it, I am sucked in until the bus arrives back again and no housework gets done but having tat big chunk of uninterrupted time is so tempting, I really don't want to be hassled with housework but then I don't want to be doing the chores when I could be spending quality time with Ebi-kun, I think what I need is a house maid (in my dreams!)
Ebi-kun gets back around 2.30pm and up to now we have played it by ear, some days he is exhausted so he has a nap other days he wants to play or curl up on the sofa with a pile of books, I still want to Montessori activities with him but until we are back into a proper rhythm we will take it each day as it comes. How do you organise your day?
Well, Ebi-kun has settled in well, this is his first full week on full days and he is loving it. The main reason we decided to send him was for the social aspect, there are next-to-no kids in the area that are not in yochien at his age so he had no playmates during the week, we also wanted him to be prepared for school and yochien life helps with that too. Not the educational side more the rules and how things are done in Japan side, that I can't teach him.
One of the things that has surprised me is his eating, although he is VERY adventurous with his food - he will try ANYTHING you put in front of him, he is also a very slow eater and I was worried about this. I was worrying for nothing, he has started eating much quicker, he says that he is never last in class! He is also eating quicker at home too. The first couple of weeks they had the older kids serving the food, I think the idea is for the new ones to see how the routine goes and to get used to eating there. All the food is prepared on site except for rice or bread which the kids take from home.
Yesterday was the first day they had to serve themselves. Some of the kids and the sensei go to the kitchen to collect the food, drink jugs and bowls.
In the classroom they set up the table and chairs, each kid gets a metal tray so they put their own homemade mat on the tray* Then they go to the sensei and she asks if they like the food that she is serving, if they don't she only gives them little bit but they still have to eat it all, they also get fruit and a small yellow, lemon sweet (took me quite some time to figure out that it was a cod liver oil capsule!). They get out their own cups and I think the sensei serves the drink which is green tea (apparently Ebi-kun asked her if it had caffeine in it and whether it was OK for kids to drink LOL). When they have finished each kids cleans up and washes their own bowls/bento box and tidies everything away and then they all brush their teeth.
*remember I had to make all the bags and bits, many of them are a required size, this is why!
So far he has liked everything they have served, from the top of my head he has had, curry rice, niku-jaga (beef and potato type stew), spaghetti with meat sauce, chicken and vegetables and chikuwa and cabbage all 'proper' food and no junk. There is only one day when he came home and said he didn't eat it all and that happened to be the day before he fell ill and he said the girl serving gave him too much.
I know some yochiens give out sticker rewards or stamp your hand if you eat everything but that doesn't seem to be the case, I asked Ebi-kun what happens if you don't eat it up and he says everyone just eats it all! I imagine there are pickie eaters in the class, maybe the no fuss, no nonsense, no rewards attitude of the sensei works - who knows! Or maybe the kids are all starving come lunch time, they have no mid morning snack.
I had to go to the yochien this morning for the traffic safety day, the bus picked Ebi-kun up as usual and I made my own way there. When I got there the yard had been set up with pedestrian crossing and traffic lights, some of the older kids were the police officers waving people to stop or cross the road and other older kids were riding their bikes as the 'traffic'.
It all seemed like a bit of a farce, I had to hold Ebi-kuns hand and we crossed the road a couple of times then the kids went back to do what ever they usually do and the moms got ushered to the hall. Where we had a talk about road safety, advising parents to get helmets for their kids on bikes (for those not in Japan, imagine road safety standards of about 20 years ago, that is where Japan is now, slowly getting better but you still see a lot of kids without helmets, not wearing seat belts in the car, nevermind child seats. A woman who used to live near me would often be seen driving, no seat belt, with her 1 year old strapped to her back!) So, we were warned about such things and got given various bits of paper to read at home. They do manage to make the warning information oh so kawaii though....the baddie just cracks me up!
I also noticed that they have refurbished the bird cages and put in a cute area with a tree and table and chairs, if you look at the picture, I was standing on the path and the other 3 sides of the seating area houses the peacocks and swans, I imagine they will use it as a study area, love it!
I managed to escape and drop by at Madi's house, who lives just round the corner, she has had some sad news recently so it was good to see how she was doing and catch up, we ended up going for a nice lunch, so not such a wasted day after all!
It is really impossible for me to pick a favourite this time, I have saved some of this dino comic print for Ebi-kun, it just cracks me up!
and I love the bold bright colours on this traffic print, makes a change for boys prints
this one I love because the story behind it is so stupid, based on a famous Japanese story where one goat sends another goat a letter inviting him to dinner, the second goat eats the letter before reading it then sends the first goat a letter apologising for not reading, the first goat eats that letter and so the story continues...
I have noticed that at the moment a lot of the fabric has a little sparkle to it, this cute print is no exception
this one, it the odd one, not the usual kawaii print but as soon as I felt the fabric I had to have it, it is so amazingly soft, seriously, you have to feel it, then I couldn't decide on which print, so I got both!
and that is just for starters, go and check the rest out yourself!
