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! :)

Sibling Valentine Love

Topher wrote a haiku for Valentine's Day. It was about Bella. And just about the sweetest , cutest thing I've ever seen!

Bella

Little, Sweet

Sharing, Laughing , Playing

A funny little girl.

Sister.

By: Topher

The Lime Moustache

Date night with the hubby. Just using his p&s camera, but oh so funny!

A Cute Little Nun

A special order cute little nun doll. :)

Some recent Photography

I am now posting my photography at http://nikkipaigephotography.blogspot.com/. But here are few recent photos from a trip to the beach & park with the kids over Christmas Break.

Tube Sock Snowmen

So my friend's son came home from school with one of these and we just had to make some.  They were used as table decorations at the Christmas party. The one in the middle I decorated because my son decided legos were more important than snowman decorating.  Basically we took a mens tube sock and filled it a bit with rice then used a rubberband to tie it off. Then you add more rice and tie it off again.  Add rice once more and tie it off, then you can fold the top of the sock over to create the hat.  (I was thinking next time we should paint or dye the top black to make the hats stand out.)  We then hot glued the hats around the head to keep them in place and hot glued on all the accessories.  Voila! Tube sock snowman!

Christmas Stockings

I made Christmas stockings for the family. Bella's was made a few years later so hers is not an exact match, but it suits her personality. :)

Nikki Paige Photography

I have created a new blog for my photography. Please check it out and feel free to comment on the photos. :)

http://nikkipaigephotography.blogspot.com/

Vampire Pumpkin

I crocheted this little guy from a free pattern on plantejune's blog.  Then I turned it into a vampire!

Beware the vampire pumpkins!

Tote Bag Free Pattern Link

Someone asked where I got the pattern for this tote bag so here is the link.

http://www.freewebs.com/capscrochet/patterns.htm?blogentryid=4083355

Enjoy! It really makes a beautiful bag.

My Favorite Quilt

This is my favorite of all of the quilts I have made. It is a baby quilt with prairie points. It was my 1st time doing prairie points and I love these fabrics.

Supa Cool Skull Hats

3 Newest

A Hawaiian girl doll, a soft squeaky baby blue and an ocotopus baby toy.

free pattern for octopus can be found here :

http://steffi-stitch.blogspot.com/2009/08/douglas.html