Handmade Iron Maiden Lunch Bag

One of my son's Iron Maiden shirts ripped, so I told him to keep it and I would make something out of it.

It has been sitting in my craft closet for months.

 School is about to start and he wants me to pack him a bento for lunch.

He has a double bento and a tupperware for a salad, so it is too much to fit in the bags that are supposed to hold bento boxes.

Plus he didn't really like any of the bags he saw.

Mom to the rescue!!

He now has a new lunch bag made from the old Iron Maiden shirt!

 Sweeeeeeet!!!

Goomba & Shy Guy Scarf

Since we are moving back to the midwest after 5 years on a tropical island, I am making scarves for the kids.
 I hope it keeps them warm this winter. I asked them to pick some Super Mario Bros. characters. 
C picked the Goomba and a Shy Guy.
I think it turned out pretty awesome!

Here is the scarf and then C modeling it for me. :)

Heading Home

Soon our tour of Okinawa will be ending. It has been a great 5 years and we hope to return again someday.  This is pretty much home to our kids. They have grown up here. B was born here and is confused when I say that we are going "home", I mean this IS her home.  Although we are sad to leave, we are excited to be moving back closer to home and our family.  Anyway, I just found a photo of our 1st Easter in Okinawa, we had been here a mere 7 months and the boys were so little.  I just had to post a before and after shot of how much the kids have grown since we moved here. 

April 2006

June 2010

and little Miss who was born here. :)

(photo taken Aug 2010)

Preschool Souvenirs

It began a few months ago.  I would pick my daughter up from school.  Now and then she would dig into her uniform pocket as we pulled out of the school parking lot and present me with a most precious gift, a rock. It has pretty much become a daily ritual, one which I have come to treasure.  She misses me so much that she finds me "gifts" at school. How thoughtful! So each day as we arrive home, I pull out a small jar and place my treasures inside.
  

Today's ride home was a tad unusual. Here is the conversation from today's trip. 

 "Get in your seat and buckle up",  I said to her as we pulled away from the curb. 

"But, I've got something for you", she replied.  

 "Okay, give me the rock and then BUCKLE UP", I answered back. 

 "I found you a dead bug Mommy" was what I heard next.

 "What?!" I squeaked as I whipped my head around to see. 

 "It's in my pocket. I'll get it for you." she said excitedly.

"In your pocket? You have a DEAD BUG  in your pocket?" I said in disbelief, although I knew it was true.

 This child LOVES to touch bugs!

"I found it on the playground, but I DIDN'T show my teacher." she said as she fumbled in her pocket.

"Here you go Mom." she said as she forced her cupped hand at me. At this point, I was still driving, so I quickly grabbed my "junk" bin from between the seats, "Put it in here."

After digging in her pocket many times, she produced a beetle in approximately 4 pieces and about 6 rocks.

 AWESOME! 

 A short discussion followed about how we should probably NOT put dead bugs into our pockets.

I think there will likely be many more that make their way home in her pockets. :)

C'est la vie! 

Dinner

Grilled eggplant with olive oil, garlic and basil. Mmmmmmmm.......

On the Patio

B looking at her snail friend.

B's snail friend.

My two goofballs, they make me smile. :)

Teacher Gift

So the school year is coming to an end and I LOVE T's teacher this year. So I decided to make her.  Yes HER!  I made an amigurumi of his teacher!  It turned out really well and I cannot wait for him to give it to her! :)

Thanks for everything Ms. Roy!!!

New & Improved Dwight Army of Champions

My Aunt commissioned me to make 3 Dwight Schrute amigurumis for office pranks! Sweet! These are even better than my 1st attempt located here.  Check out my Dwight Army of Champions!

I crocheted the bodies, hand stitched the briefcases, made numerous accessories and had my husband help with the glasses.  All in all ALOT of work, but they are so awesome!!!!

1st Preschool Bento (or I made Octodogs!)

B has been begging for Octodogs! So for her 1st bento of the school year, octodogs it is! They were very easy to make and super cute!

Cutie Monster

Here is the link to the free pattern I got from craftster.org

Cute Monster Free Pattern

This is so freakin' cute! I must make many more in many colors!

Excited!!!

I finally got my new lens!!!

My 100 Yen Store Treasure of the Day

Everytime I go into a 100 Yen store I come out with atleast 1 large bag full of goodies.  The 100 Yen store, for those who are unfamiliar, is equivalent to the American $1 Store. Well, equivalent may not be the word I am looking for.  Almost everything in the store is 100 Yen which, as the rate fluxuates can be a little more or a little less than 1 American dollar.  But the quality of the goods sold in the 100 Yen store far surpass that of the Dollar Store.  You can buy nice Japanese dishes, bento boxes, hello kitty trinkets, and the kitchen supplies...WOW!  We went to the Yen store to find a scrubber for Bella's school thermos and left with no yen and a bag full of goodies.

Yesterday I hit the kitchen supply section and hit it hard! We had recently broken our whisk, found one.  I also got a rice scoop/spatula for use with the rice cooker, it stands on it's flower shaped bottom for "sanitary purpose" , atleast that is what the label says.  I also found smaller rice spatulas for use in making onigiri and other shaped rice balls, which I will soon be doing for Bella's bento lunches. I also purchased a spatula holder that suctions to the side of the rice cooker, brushes to scrub clean Bella's school shoes, an extending scrubber for her thermos, and my treasure of the day.

The kids and I LOVE edamame beans. But they never taste as good as a restaurant, even when I follow  the directions on the package and boil them for 6 mins. They just aren't as tasty.  So I found a magic bowl yesterday, well, it's really not a magic bowl, but I definitely am amazed that I paid 100 Yen for this little container. 

You put in roughly 6 tsp of water, add the beans, put on the lid and toss it in the microwave for 2 mins.  The beans were super tasty and not overcooked! The kids and I ate an entire bag with dinner last night.  Seriously!  I was amazed and thrilled with my Yen Store purchases as usual! :)

*Also apparently when you eat the beans you need a giant foamy beer. Hey, I'm just sayin'...*

1st Day at Koza Seibo Yochien Preschool

more photos located here:

http://nikkipaigephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/1st-day-of-preschool.html

Preschool Necessities

So I took B's list for preschool to the store and showed it to an employee. It was a drawing of an eye (sleep) mask with some kanji written by it.  He proceeded to direct me to the craft section and point to the elastic. Hmmm..... Just the elastic. So I gathered from the drawings and the fact that I was directed toward supplies that I was supposed MAKE her mask & the pouch to keep it in, plus the cup bag and the jump rope bag.  I took B to the San A and let her pick from the kawaii fabrics.  She chose cute little bunnies. So here is what she got. :)

Cup bag

Mask & Pouch

Mask in pouch

the pouch

Glass Blowing in Okinawa

This was a really cool experience. Ryukyu glass began after the war when they used tossed out alcohol/beer bottle from the US base to recycle into new glassware.  We went on a tour and were able to each blow our own glass to take home. We each got a turn to blow our molten glass orb and then shape it into a drinking glass. What an amazing afternoon.

C

T

C's finished glass

T's finished glass

Big C's' finished glass

Finished glasses

If you get the chance I highly recommend this tour! :)