A Bit Of This and A Bit Of That

Flat Stanley

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:07:00 +0000

We had a Flat Stanley come and stay with us for the weekend. we already had plans so we couldn't do anything special, so Flat Stanley came to the supermarket to do the grocery shopping...

and went to football practice* with Ebi-kun....

and then, Sunday we all went to Kawasaki to see a friend...

and today Flat Stanley will be flying back to The States, a short but sweet visit.

Ebi-kun got his new bag at last, I sold some of this Lego fabric the other day and he saw me packaging it up and was distraught, he thought it haw 'his' piece! And you thought I was the one with the stash problem :o) Anyway, when he was a footie practice I had a pile of sewing to do, I finished up quicker than expected so I made him a new little bag, the inside has this fabric and so it is reversible, he loves it *phew*.

*If you happen to be in the Saitama area and want to join the football club, it is held on a Saturday afternoon at Yonohonmatchi, Dave is a fully qualified coach and it is all done in English. Drop me a line if you are interested in joining.

Stamps

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:08:00 +0000

I made these for my nephew, I have got him fabric ink to go with it but haven't managed to hunt down a plain T-shirt yet. I decided that this year, gifts don't have to be 100% handmade and gifts that encourage making your own thing are good too.

Sorry the posts have been a bit thin on the ground, bit busy at the moment. I made myself a new pair of slippers yesterday and they are FAB even if I do say so myself. They were quite easy and I photographed the process, I just need to get the scraps of paper pattern onto the computer.

My guest blogger was very happy to receive comments and has replied if you want to check back :o). It did take him quite a while to type it up but he did it all himself, the main parts was he couldn't find the letters on the keyboard, he kept saying that the letters are not in order. LOL.

A Guest Blogger Today...

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

I am ebi-kun.

I playid with lego today.

I am going to be a knight when I get biggr.

see you nect week.

Ponyo

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Yesterday, after the expedition to the shops we came home shattered and so a bit of quiet time was in order. I put on Ponyo, it is the first time we have seen it and it is lovely. It is from Studio Ghibli and a Hayao Miyazaki anime, the same creator as Totoro, another of my favourites.

Ponyo is a little fish who is washed ashore and rescued by Sosuke, a five year old boy. Ponyo wishes to become a little girl and uses her magic to do so, the only problem is that by using her magic she as disrupted the balance of nature, the only way for her to remain as a human and the world to be saved is if Sosuke loves Ponyo for who she is, no matter of the form she takes. Of course, he does, the world is saved and they all live happily ever after!

Ebi-kun has fallen for Ponyo, he wants her to be his friend too, ahhhh.

When I was at university, part of my thesis was to write and film a kids TV program and have suitable research for backing up my choices. Back then, you know in the olden days, the internet wasn't what it is today but there was a lot of interesting papers coming out about the influence of TV on children. I think a major influx of these papers were due to the James Bulger case, where the two boys were apparently allowed to watch 18 rated horror films. There are a lot of programs aimed at kids that I feel incite violence, they use the idea that it is good vs evil but the only way to overcome evil is through violence and the kids re-enact the scenes in the playground or park.

We were at the park a while back, Ebi-kun was playing with another boy of the same age, the boy started playing out one of these scenes and hit Ebi-kun with a stick, his mother apologised to me, saying that it was from the TV program he watches! Unbelievable.

Sorry, I seem to have gone off on a tangent, if you are like me, and fussy about what your child watches, I can highly recommend Ponyo and if you haven't seen Totoro yet, then what you waiting for?

I am interested to hear what you think is suitable viewing for little ones or your opinions about little ones and TV.

I am still here...

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:34:00 +0000

We have been busy, but a secret, can't show you because they are Christmas presents type of busy! We have been doing some work too, Ebi-kun is reading everything in can lay his hands on and yesterday started making up a story with these magnets. That was, until he ran out of words to make proper sentences with!

We have also been working on our continent swap goodies, I have tried to include Ebi-kun as much as possible in the process, he took some of the photos we are using and helped make the 'festival' poster. It was a bit of a production line kind of job since we have 6 sets to make. He has also helped with picking a recipe and picking which photos to use for other parts of the swap.

I didn't have time to write this morning since we left early for a coffee/lunch/shopping date. I don't know why I thought it would be a nice relaxing day out with 3 kids in tow, I am sure Mel was as shattered as I was by the time she got home. I had made a treasure hunt card for the two older kids to do together, they had a list of things to 'spot' whilst we were shopping, didn't work so well with the two of them, they spent most of the time racing around the shop. Once Ebi-kun was on his own and had no one to chase, he got right into it, so much so, that he refused to leave the mall until we had found everything on the list!

Right, bath time for a certain little one, who is going through a spate of nose bleeds at the moment, so he is off to bed early, I don't think we have made it through the night for about a week and i maybe following him, after I have got through this massive pile of cutting out first....

What a great idea

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:46:00 +0000

My mom was telling me about a family friend, Shirley. She has two grown up daughters who have decided that for Christmas they are only allowed to spend ten pounds per person, that is already a great idea BUT they also added the condition that they are only allowed to spend the money at charity shops! Apparently Shirley's grand daughters have already had some great finds, it would be interesting to se what they found. Sadly, we can't do this in Japan, as there are no charity shops!

Talking of shops, we had to go into town yesterday to pick up some bits and bobs. I don't like shopping with Ebi-kun in tow, it takes me three times longer to get it done but I do like having lunch with him. Ebi-kun LOVES trying new cafes and new food. I admit, I usually only pick places where I can read the menu - so if it is a kanji heavy menu, I give it a miss, I don't eat fish and even if you tell the waiting staff this, they don't class shrimp, clams, anchovies etc. as fish! Anyway, yesterday we spotted a new place, the menu was in French and Japanese so we decided to give it a go - I should note here that I don't speak French either but I reckoned I could make an educated guess.

We had a lovely lunch with French toast in a big salad which came with 4 fancy dressings, Ebi-kun couldn't decide which one so, I put a bit of each and he dip-dipped his salad in them and we had a side dish of gorgonzola potatoes. They were quite strong so I wasn't sure if he would like them, but he wolfed them down. When we had finished he thanked the chef and told him it was delicious. I just love the fact that we can eat out properly and not have to resort to the likes of Mcdonalds.

The lovely Jackie AKA Mee A Bee has given me a Kreative Blogger award, Thank you. I am also keeping the promise I made to myself last time, so thank you again and let's leave it at that!

making, making, making and not cleaning!

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:25:00 +0000

and the answer to yesterdays question is... dinosaur hats! As I was making the bags a little hand kept coming and pinching the scraps, when I went to see what he was up to, this is what I found.

I have made 4 of these little bags for Christmas presents, they are for 2-3 year olds so they really are quite small but they are also reversible. I made each one in different fabrics, I think this one is my favourite though, sorry about the pictures, the weather is awful and hence the bad lighting.

side one, with gardening girls fabric

the other side with this cute walk the dog fabric, I have used this in a big bag before, but not a kiddies one

Ebi-kun has also been busy, apart from dino hats, he kitted himself out with an archers outfit, protective bucket helmet (we used this at Halloween for a bean bag game), a bow made from a coat hanger and elastic bands, a quiver that I made from a piece of felt, arrows from cardboard - although my mom did suggest to Ebi-kun that he used garden canes or possibly felt tip pens as arrows, ohhh she is so brave when she is the other side of the world!
He also decorated his own slippers, I couldn't find any shoe style slippers for kids, only the slip on kind, which would be an accident waiting to happen the way he charges around the house so in the end I bought a pair of the yochien pumps, they were a bit, well, white for my liking so I gave Ebi-kun my fabric marker and fabric crayons and left him too it, stylish!
We also had a full day of painting, I can't show you the results yet because they are going to be Christmas presents. Wednesday I invited my neighbour over to teach her how to carve stamps, so we had fun stamping, Ebi-kun decorated two shirts but I forgot to take photos.

I also had a couple of custom orders to finish off, which wasn't easy since I sliced my thumb open last night on the parmasan shaker, how is anyone's guess. So there we have it, lots of creating and very little cleaning - that is life!

making bags....

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:56:00 +0000

that is what I am up to.

Have you ever wondered what to to do with those little triangular bits that you cut off when you are making a square bottomed bag? Want to know what we do with them? Pop back tomorrow to find out!

A lesson on marketing

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:32:00 +0000

When Ebi-kun brushed his teeth I noticed that he needed a new toothbrush, I mentioned to him that we would get one when we went to the drug store. ' I want a character one' he said, I asked him why but he couldn't come up with an answer, so before we went shopping we did a little lesson, it was very impromptu and I just used what we had on hand.

I set out my shop with 3 types of Lego*, some were on a card with Anpanman, it was ¥30 a piece, some on a card with a cute helicopter at ¥20 yen and the others were on a plain card at ¥10, these represented the different 'branded' goods. Anpanman is big business here (although I think Pooh-san AKA Winne The Pooh was the biggest selling character last year).

I then gave Ebi-kun some money and a list of the Lego he needed to do a new project, all he had to do was buy all the pieces he needed. I did fix it somewhat by only giving him just enough money to buy all the pieces only if he bought non branded Lego.

It did backfire a bit because he didn't want Anpanman, he doesn't like him, he did want the helicopter Lego, he bought as many pieces as possible but realised he couldn't afford to buy all that he needed. he pondered the situation for a while then asked if he could get some more money out of his money box! After telling him that he could only use the money in hand, he decided to sell the helicopter Lego back to me so he could buy the non branded.

We talked about the lego and the fact that is was, in fact, all the same, just that some had a picture on it which made it more expensive and how companies splash pictures of kids favourite characters on it to encourage people to buy it. We also touched on things being more expensive because they are better quality but I didn't want to get too bogged down with that, we can save that for another day.

Later when we went to the drug store we compared the prices of character goods again the store brand and in most cases they were more expensive. Only time will tell if the lesson sunk in.

*yes, I know it is somewhat ironic to be using Lego for this!

On a completely different note, we did lots of painting yesterday, got 4 Christmas presents done, well they need a lick of varnish but mostly done. I also made a cute little bag and cut out 3 others, we have 4 little friends/relatives that were born within a couple of months of each other so I always make them gifts on a theme, this time, little bags. Photos to follow....

Would you do me a favour?

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:43:00 +0000

I am working on branding and marketing and would like your input. Would you mind popping over to my website jojoebi designs then come back and leave a comment with three words you would use to describe my 'style'?

Thank you!

Now help yourself to a cupcake.....

photo credit AllAboutCake

Discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000

The last couple of weeks I have made some new discoveries which I would like to share. Firstly I discovered Sister Diane at Crafty Pod, not only is the blog full with crafty goodness she also has a crafty podcast, I have been listening to the back catalogue eve since I discovered it, LOVE IT. This week was with Rachel Klien, the face behind the wonderful One Pretty Thing. I have found listing to these podcasts is a great when I am home alone and crafting.

This week I had an A-HA moment when I read Melly and Me's blog post, she is starting a new section on tricks and tips, this is about turning small parts for softies/dolls, want to know how to do it, in a painless, no using foul language kind of way? Pop over here and have a read.

Another top bit of info for those who hand sew, this is quoted from Don't Look Now. I totally love her quilting style and I never knew this was the reason for knotted threads.

Do you sometimes have problems with your thread knotting up and becoming tangled while you are stitching? It may just be because you have threaded your needle with the wrong end of your thread!!! If you are left handed, like I am, you should thread your needle using the end that you cut ...not the end that comes off your cotton reel! If you are right handed you should thread your needle with the end that comes directly off your cotton reel.

I have also joined Skout Trade Fair and met some lovely peeps over there. Like many of the Scout members I plan to do all my Christmas shopping on line, for the things I am not making myself. Another point I read this week (sorry, I don't remember where) is that for a green Christmas we should also think about the kind of gift we are giving, giving something practical, that will get used is much better than something that will get shoved in a draw and eventually thrown out. Top tip to bear in mind when you are shopping :o)

I started on my list last night and made family calendars, since Ebi-kun was born I have made a yearly calendar for relatives but last year I didn't get round to it, as it got close to Christmas I started to get people asking for one! So I ended up doing a rush job, this year, they are already sent to print. (pats self on the back)

Today I plan to cut out a couple of little bags for a couple of little boys I know and if I have time I would like to get them sewn up too but I have a custom order to finish too so it might be pushing it.

Talking of custom orders, I sent this one off last week, it was for two large pouches and two smaller ones using fabric from my shop. They came out really well, there were some scraps left over so I whipped up some tissue holders too. The picture was taken in a light tent that I have borrowed from friend, I think I will have to invest in one.

My brain isn't working

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Ebi-kun had me up in the night, at 2am I hear the patter of feet, he usually comes into our room but instead I hear him charging down the stairs, well the first few and then thump.... thump......thud........ aggggghhhhhh.

He was OK, I don't think he was properly awake, he said he wanted some water, so we sorted him out, gave the necessary cuddles and all went back to bed, not long after, I was just dozing off when I hear the familiar patter of feet again and him charging down the stairs again, both me and hubby shouted him to stop and daddy shot out of the door to grab him.

This time he was in a right tiz saying that the aliens were scaring him. So he came in bed with us, and I kissed the rest of the night goodbye, trying to sleep with Ebi-kun is like trying to sleep with an octopus wearing hob-nailed boots.

Last week Daddy-ebi was off Monday and Tuesday, which was great but it tends to throw a spanner into the works with my schedule but we did manage to get some things squeezed in. We tried the colour mixing idea that I saw on Itty Bitty love. She had laminated the sheets but since they were only likely to get used once I just placed mine in a plastic sleeve and wiped it clean after each experiment. We have done colour mixing before but this was a good way to show gradients of colour. I think we will do the colour wheel next time.

There has also been a lot reading going on, Ebi-kun often picks up two books, one English and one Japanese then goes and finds a spot that he likes, I can here him reading to himself, so sweet. This book he is reading has the outlines of the pictures raised so you can close your eyes and trace the shapes with your fingers.

We don't watch much TV, in fact during the day it doesn't get turned on but sometimes we rent a film as a treat. This time we watched Narnia, I had to pre warn him that Aslan would die but he wasn't really dead, it was a trick. If I hadn't he would have been sobbing and missed the rest of the film. He did enjoy it and drew a picture of Aslan afterwards.
We also got started on the continent swap, I hope to get on with it properly this week and I also introduced addition and carrying a number over. I think he will have to try it a couple more time before he truly 'gets' it, it is fun seeing his little mind tick over :o)

Well, I am off to brew another strong coffee, I think we might both be needing a nap by this afternoon.

waffle-snorts

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:09:00 +0000

There are a possie of waffle-snorts in the shop, I only have one of each made up but if you prefer a different colour combo left me know and I will make one up for you. Or if you are after twins, I can do that for you too!

Or, if you prefer to make your own, you can buy the pattern, it is easy to follow and suitable for beginners.

I have just received the next batch of space cadet dolls so if you would like a sew-it-yourself doll, I have plenty in stock just now.

And finally, Serenity The Mermaid has made it as a printed pattern, up until now it has only been available as a PDF.

If, you happen to own a shop and are looking for new stock, I am looking for wholesale outlets, please drop me a line jojoebi.designs at gmail dot com.

Winter is on it's way

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:47:00 +0000

So, I got on Etsy to find something warm to wear. I came across ideatolifestyle's shop, the clothes are all unique and I fell for this cape/wrap.

I had quite a few convo's with Gerald about sizing, I sent my measured measurements and my UK clothes size but they didn't match so in the end I decided to go with the UK clothing size and hope for the best! The package arrived yesterday and I was a bit worried that it would either be too small or way too big, I shouldn't have worried, it fits perfectly! And it is cashmere/wool blend which makes it oohhh so soft. I LOVE it. I almost made Ebi-kun get out of the bath last night so we could go for a walk to try it out :o) I will definitely be using Gerald's services again and there are some lovely designs in the store, go and have a look.

One of the things I hate about living in Japan is buying clothes. I do not have an Asian shaped body and the cut of the clothes is very different. Even if you are petite, it is difficult to find things that fit properly and many of the clothes for larger Japanese ladies just look like sacks and use the most awful prints! So, I spend my life in joggy pants and loosely fitting top. I try to stock up when I go home but I end up buying things I don't really like, just because they fit and I only have a couple of hours to do a years worth of shopping. Therefore, I have decided to learn how to make my own clothes, my theory is, if I can find a couple of basic styles that I can make and they fit well, I should be able to adapt them or jazz them up and make them more 'me'. I am starting with Meg's School House Tunic, I have the fabric all washed and ready to go, just have to muster up my courage to do the cutting out. I also have my eye on this book: Design-it-yourself Clothes, maybe Santa will get it for me :o)

Look at the time! I have 5 waffle-snorts to stuff and photograph. What on earth is a waffle-snort you ask. Well if you sign up to my facebook page you will already know (link is on the top left) otherwise you will have to wait a wee bit longer.....

Snowballs

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:36:00 +0000

are in the shop, I only have one set left, grab them before they melt....

Culture Day

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:57:00 +0000

Monday we went to the yochien to sign Ebi-kun up, we got there at 9am, no queues, just handed the paperwork and the money over and that was it. We expected to be there for quite a while and Daddy-ebi had taken the day off work. Oh Well. It was his birthday, we decided to go over to Kodomo No Shiro, I have talked about this place before, it is fantastic. It is a massive kids play centre and it is all free, we spent all morning there. In one of the rooms they alternate the toys, I don't know the schedule but it is something like Lego on a Monday, play food on Tuesday etc. It was Lego day when we were then, not only do they have big tubs of Lego they also have these giant Lego blocks. Each brick is about the size of a normal house brick. Daddy-ebi and I had great fun building a castle :0)

Tuesday was a national holiday, Culture Day, we hadn't planned to do anything, daddy-ebi got on the internet and discovered there was a festival of sorts at the super arena. It was an education expo and was actually must better than I expected. There were lots of stalls set up with hands on things for the kids to do. Ebi-kun got to make a fish hat, a key chain, play some games, try on an astronauts suit...
and he met Asimo, Honda's cool robot. What more could a 4 year old boy ask for?

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:21:00 +0000

The theme this week over at That Little Bit Greener is green Christmas. Christmas isn't really celebrated in Japan, yes, they put up pretty lights but the whole gift giving isn't really big, in fact, it is more of a romantic day/night, couples walking around all starry eyed and it next to impossible to get a table for two at a nice restaurant. Of course, because we are in Japan and the majority of our family are overseas we have to get presents out early to ensure that they arrive on time.

Last year I joined in the Handmade Holidays movement and well, nearly went insane trying to get everything made in time. I swore I wouldn't do it again, not in the same way, that's for sure. So, this is how I am going to have a greener holiday....

Either made or BUY mostly handmade. I love Etsy and the location finder is a great idea to find something closer to where you are sending the gift, cutting down on overseas parcels can only be a good thing. I am also looking at Folksy this year, I have never tried Folksy, anyone else tried it? I have used DaWanda, even had a shop there for a while but it wasn't for me.
Sending friends/relatives a book wish list and have them send the books here directly, I will wrap them for Ebi-kun and put the right labels on, plus, if they order through the Book Depository the shipping is FREE worldwide. Which has got to be good, postage from the UK is expensive, I always feel bad when we get gifts and the postage costs more than the gift!
Not buying wrapping paper, I still have some in the cupboard, so I will use that up, the rest of the gifts will be wrapped in gift bags (see the tutorial if you want to make some) or a furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping cloths. You can wrap almost anything in a furoshiki, there is even a new book out, Wrapagami, showing you how.
Christmas cards - it is difficult to buy packs of cards here and single cards cost a fortune, so for the last few years we have made our cards, we also make postcards rather than cards because the postage is much cheaper ¥70 for a postcard ¥110 for a card, when you are sending out a tonne of cards that is a big saving!
Not to stress over the difficult! I am sure EVERYONE has at least one of those people, in my experience it is usually a bloke, the person who is impossible to buy for without going down the socks/tie/cufflinks route! In my case, it is my step-dad and Ebi-kun's Japanese cousin is pretty hard to buy for too, this year he is really into football so we will just get him some footie related goods. I am not going to beat myself up about not getting everyone handmade goods. Any gift ideas for my step-dad are much appreciated.
Not buying plastic junk toys, not that I do anyway, I would much rather pay that bit extra and get a good quality wooden toy or a jigsaw puzzle, a book, softies for little ones, art supplies - there are so many better options. The only plastic toy I do go with is Lego. Lego is a great toy, open ended and lasts forever and the children can learn many skills from playing with it.

I have been looking through my crafty/sewing books for gift inspiration and have a couple book marked already, I won't be sharing what I am making unless I am sure the person I am making it for doesn't read my blog. If you want to know more about the handmade holidays, click on the badge.

And if you are planning to sew something, pop over to my shop, I have some lovely fabrics in at the moment.....

something for the boys

lots of cute prints for the girls

something for the animal lover?

or how about a pattern or kit - free shipping on patterns and kits for Novemeber, just tell me in the message to seller box that you read my blog and I will refund the shipping costs.

and if you don't sew, how about a softie, purse, bag or zipped pouch. I do take on custom orders, drop me a line if you have something in mind.

MIA

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:14:00 +0000

Sorry, didn't have chance to post yesterday, it was hubby's birthday and we had to go and sign up for the yochien. Once that was done we had a nice family day (hubby had taken the day off work) and today is a national holiday - Culture Day, so I feel that we should do something cultured....hmmmm.

Will be back as usually tomorrow, have a great day ;o)

Halloween Muffin Tin Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Yesterday we had a couple of friends over to play, so I decided to make a special lunch :o)

Originally I was going to make each kid a muffin tin of their own but then I wasn't sure what our guests would eat so I made it into more of a muffin tin buffet.

If you want to know what everything is, pop over to Flickr here and roll your mouse over the image, it has notes.

We had a few leftovers and Ebi-kun asked for a spooky dinner, so this is what he had. We had run out of tombstones so he had veggies to dip and I made some cobweb pancakes, and yes the milk is green, he wanted a green spirit so I added some melon syrup, usually used on shaved ice.
So, it is down with the decorations today, Ebi-kun is not impressed, he likes having bats flying over his head at dinner time and ghosts in the genkan!

Tomorrow is a big day, it is Daddy-ebi's birthday and registration day the yochien.

If I am lucky I might get some mommy time over the next couple of days to get some work done, I have two patterns with half written instructions and a sketch that needs making into a pattern....

FairyTale Love

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:37:00 +0000

Some lovely fairytale themed goodness to drool over....

1. musical donkey, 2. "fraulein roth" bag..., 3. Tea Party, 4. Snow White, 5. Gadget Case - Red Riding Hood (front), 6. red riding hood2, 7. Little Red Riding Hood, 8. Magic Mushroom, 9. Princess and the Pea, 10. alice, 11. Red Riding Hood figurine, 12. Forest Family in Green - Needle Felted Wool, 13. gardening girl off white, 14. Fairytale Bib, 15. Little Red & Big Bad Wolf, 16. Alice & Mr. Rabbit - Necklace

Trick Or Treat?

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:08:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I asked a neighbour if she would help me organise a small trick or treat event with a couple of the other neighbours, Halloween is not a Japanese tradition (although it is becoming more popular). I imagined just a couple of families joining in, we ended up with nearly every family on the street that has kids and a couple of families from the next block. Only one family on our street missed the fun, the kids are in daycare their parents don't get back in time for them to join.

Ebi-kun decided this time he wanted to be a mummy....

He looked great to start with, but as time went on, his bandages started falling of! Of course, it was the first time for 'Trick and Treat' for the rest of the kids but they all turned up with some kind of hat or mask, a couple actually had costumes on. One mom had made her 3 kids capes using black plastic bags, this reminded me of when I was a kid, our rubbish bags were black so Halloween costumes were almost always made with a black bin bag! It is amazing what you can make with a black bin bag :o)
The kids weren't sure what to do at first, but soon they had got then hang of shouting 'trick or treat' and then they realised that this equalled getting sweeties, so they were charging off to the next house to demand some more bootie! Once we had done all the houses we came back and played some games, one was dressing the daddy as a mummy - yes that old favourite of wrapping people up with toilet roll. There were 2 dads so guess who got wrapped? LOL. They all took it in good spirits. We finished off with 'What time is it Mrs Witch?' Which sent kids screaming down the street hahahha.
All in all, it was great fun, Ebi-kun is already planning for next years event. I have to say a big thank you to Tammy-chan for helping organise it all. Thank you!
Today we have a couple of friends over, we will play a couple of games and have a ghoulish lunch, they have no idea what they are letting themselves in for....

Chris in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:50:00 +0000

This one is just for you :o)

We need your contact information, please email me

montessori.swapshop at gmail.com

cheers

The rest of the swap members should have got some info through today, if you didn't get it, let me know, ta.

Continent Work

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:54:00 +0000

Ebi-kun has finally finished his world poster, he has been working hard on this for the last couple of weeks. We used a dinner plate for the two circles then he traced around the pieces out of the continent map and coloured them in. He labelled them all and then picked 3 pictures out of the continent folders to represent each continent.
I am pretty sure some continents have either gained or lost land! He spent an age trying to pick just the right pictures. When he was working on it, I put on some world music, it was funny listening to his comments about the music, there were one or two tracks when he would say something along the lines of 'I am glad that has finished, it was giving me a headache' LOL.

I also found this song on youtube, we checked loads of them before we found one we liked, be warned, it gets stuck in your head and you will be singing it all day Yeahh

We have got a swap group together....

Jo - Asia
Martha - South America
Rebekah - North America
Mammalisa - Europe
Chris - Australia
My Boys Teacher - Africa
Chaucey - Antarctica

and possibly a second group...

Asia - My Child's Diary

North America - Montessori Moments

Australia - Karmiec

Europe -Paumon

If you are interested and would like to join, you could choose to represent one of the missing continents for group two, they need Africa, South America and Antarctica. Leave a comment on this post along with a contact email address. Make sure you know what you are letting yourself in for by reading this post first.

Group one, I will set up something with google docs so we can easily share files etc. If you have any ideas on what to include or how to go about doing it let me know, I must admit, I hadn't really thought it all through!

A Child's Poem

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:30:00 +0000

I saw this on Montessori Mama today, although I have seen it before, maybe in one of the Montessori books I have, I can't remember now but I think it is worth sharing.

A Child's Plea
The poem EVERY parent should read!

Today I did my math and science.
I toasted bread, I halved and quartered, counted, measured, and used my eyes, ears and hands.
I added and subtracted on the way.
I used magnets, blocks and memory tray.
I learned about a rainbow and how to weigh.
So please don't say -

'ANYTHING IN YOUR BAG TODAY?'

You see. I'm sharing as I play, to learn to listen and speak clearly when I talk
to wait my turn and when inside to walk.
To put my words into a phrase, to find my name and write it down.
To do it with a smile and not a frown,
to put my pasting brush away. So please, don't say -

WHAT NOTHING IN YOUR BAG TODAY?'

I learned about a snail and a worm.
Remembered how to take my turn.
Helped a friend when he was stuck.
Learned that water runs off a duck.
Looked at words from left to right.
Agreed to differ, not to fight.
So please don't say -

'DID YOU ONLY PLAY TODAY?'

Yes, I played the whole day through.
I played to learn the things I do.
I speak a problem, find a clue
and work out for myself just what to do.
My teacher's set the scene, and stay near-by to help me when I really try.
They are there to pose the problems, and to help me think.
I hope they will keep me floating and never let me sink.
All of this is in my head and not in my bag. It makes me sad to hear you say -

'HAVEN'T YOU DONE ANYTHING TODAY?'

When you attend your meeting today and do your work I will remember not to say to you -

'WHAT NOTHING IN YOUR BAG? WHAT DID YOU DO?'

~Author Unknown

Halloween printables

noreply@blogger.com (jojoebi) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Last year I made some printables and posted them on flickr, how I used them is here and you can download them here.

I also made a sheet for food labels this year, you can find it here.

I am not a happy bunny, I made a new softie last night, and almost finished the second one when my sewing machine decided to throw a fit, no idea what is wrong, I fear that it has to go back to the shop - I hope it doesn't need another month there AGGGHhhhhhhh just what I need just before Christmas.