Sunshine Smile

needle felted bugs

2012-01-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

Seiju has a needle felted stag beetle that I made a while ago, and recently requested that I should make Taisei a rhinoceros beetle. Those two bugs are our favorite bugs, and I was delighted with the idea. I love how the new rhino beetle turned out. Taisei loves it too! I sew on a pin so that they can put them on their clothes.

ニードルフェルトでカブトムシをつくりました。聖樹がこの間熱を出したときに作ってあげたクワガタ君にお友達を作って欲しいと頼まれたので、今回は大生にカブトムシ。ピンをおなかにつけて洋服につけられるようにしました。

The territory battle!

対決の時。

I really enjoyed making bugs for my boys, so I thought I have to have one too. A pretty yellow beetle, one of those shiny ones. My beetles make my boys smile, and that makes me smile too. It's a win-win.

子供達のためにつくった虫たちが、かわいかったので自分のためにもつくってしまいました。コガネムシの色からインスピレーションをもらいました。私のシャツについてるコガネムシをみて子供達がうれしいそう。それをみて私もニコニコ！

oh boy! oh happy day!

2012-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

Taisei is two! When he woke up, there were some presents in the teepee in our living room. He proudly wore his birthday crown with a "2"on it. Taisei has been a really sensory person, (do you remember last year's present?) and loves soft cuddly things. He was so excited to find a super soft bear in the teepee!

I am going to bombard you with his birthday photos on this post. (It is mostly for his grandparents though...so bare with me!)

大生が二歳になりました！朝起きたらリビングのティーピーの中にたくさんプレゼントが入っているのを発見！フワフワの物が大好きな大生、（去年のプレゼントはこれでした。）ふわふわのクマちゃんに大喜び。

日本にいるじいじとばあばのために、今日は大生のお誕生日写真をたくさん載せちゃいます・・・　

I had to make sure I made something for him of course. I was also feeling a little bit competitive, perhaps, toward the perfect fluffy bear that he was going to get for his birthday (which was NOT made by me.) So I HAD TO make an alligator for him. An alligator would totally be better than a bear, I thought!! But I think he loves the bear more...

今年の私からのプレゼントはワニちゃんでした。フワフワにクマちゃんに対抗できるのはワニしかない！っと思い、頑張って作ったけれど、やっぱりフワフワクマちゃんの方が好きみたいです・・・

Seiju loves the alligator!

聖樹はワニちゃんがお気に入り。

Allen made a catapult for Taisei. It's really really strong and, this mama is paranoid that its mighty force is going to crack windows or some walls when it is used with marbles. Of course, the boys love it! But I had to make some bean bags for them to use... just to be safe.

お父さんからのプレゼントは投石器？！日本語ではどう訳すのかちょっと疑問ですが・・・あの、昔の戦いに使ったような武器ですね。アレンはビー玉を使って遊んでもらいたかったらしいですが、ちょっと危険なので豆袋を作ってあげました。

For snack time, we visited our favorite cupcake cafe in town called, Just Cupcakes.

近くに最近できた、おしゃれなカップケーキ屋さんでおやつの時間。

And the day ended with ice skating! His favorite part of ice skating was to eat ice off of his tiny skates.

そして夜はアイススケートへ。　実際に滑るのよりもスケート靴についた氷を食べるほうに夢中でした。さすが大生。

The next day, we had a birthday celebration with mama's cake. It's not a birthday without mama's cake!

次の日にケーキをつくってお祝いしました。

Taisei is no ordinary kid. He possesses the dark magical power to bring me down to the two-year-old level and make me kick and scream as if I was one of them. I had not known how hard and frustrating parenting could be if it was not for Taisei. But it is all worth it. No matter how frustrating, when I get to hold him and look straight into his dark brown eyes for a moment, and then tickle him like crazy, and then bury my nose in his neck and inhale the oh-so-sweet-Taisei smell, my super mama power takes over his dark magical power. And then I feel so So lucky to be his mama. So blessed.

大生が生まれてから、「これが修羅場か」と思うことがたくさんありました。大生は母の私を簡単に２歳児のようにしてしまうような魔力のようなものを持っていて、母親の私が２歳児のように泣きわめいたり、怒ったりすることも、この二年間多々ありました・・・大生がいなければ、子育てがどんなに大変なものかという事を知ることはなかったような気がします。でも、大生をぎゅーっと抱きしめる時、、まっすぐに目をみて、それから、クスグリマシーンになって、コチョコチョおなかをくすぐってから、大生の首に顔をうずめて大きく深呼吸をする時、大生のなんともいえないあの甘い匂いをかぐ時、ああー、母親やってて良かったなあっと思えるのです。そして、大生の魔力よりもっと強い母の力がわいてくるのです。こんな気持ちを味あわせてくれる大生に感謝。

picture pie

2012-01-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this book by Ed Emberley? It is a fun book that introduces kids how circles can create so many things in so many ways! I talked about another one of his books called, Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book before. I have been a huge fan of his illustrations since I discovered one of his books at my local library when I was six years old. His drawings are so simple, yet witty and whimsical!

エド・エンバリーって聞いたことありますか？小学校２年生の時に図書館でエドエンバリーの顔の書き方の本を見つけて以来、大好きです。シンプルで簡単なのに素敵っというところがいいですよね・・・今回紹介する本はピクチャーパイという題名で、円や円から作れる形だけを使って色々な物を作れるという本です。　指紋スタンプの本もずいぶん前に紹介しました。

We use compass, but you can use small plates or cups to draw out the circle.

コンパスを使ってもいいし、お皿やコップをなぞって円を書いてもオッケー。

Seiju quickly turned the whole thing into a narrative. For non Japanese readers, the shark is saying "Hey, wait up", and the fish is saying "I DON'T WANT TO!!!"

聖樹は早速おさかなを作ってから、そこからお話が広がったらしいです。「おいまてよ。」・・・って（笑）

And then, Seiju moved onto pretty birds and butterflies and added some personal touches.

それから可愛い鳥やチョウチョを作ってから、周りにお絵かき。ナカナカいい調子。

In the mean time, Taisei loves to just play with a glue stick. His favorite is to put one of his fingers or a color pencil into the glue stick.

大生はノリで遊ぶのが大好きです。特にお気に入りは、スティック糊に指や鉛筆を突っ込んでグリグリする事です。

Or he tries to cut everything. He was not successful at cutting a color pencil though.

大生は工作の時間になると、ここぞとばかりにはさみで何でも切ろうとします。さすがに色鉛筆はきれないだろう・・・

And naturally, everything ends with space battleships and shooting things. Yup, that sounds about right.

やっぱり最後には宇宙戦艦になりました。

a wooden tank

2012-01-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

One Saturday morning, Allen decided to make his 5 year old son the happiest kid on the block. Seiju was ecstatic about this tank and decided to color it with his color pencils. I smiled at this father and son collaboration. Two of my boys, creating together. I have a feeling this is just a start.

土曜日の朝、私がスーパーから帰ってきたら、アレンが聖樹のために戦車を作っていました。　もちろん聖樹は大喜びでした。迷彩色に色をつけるんだって、色鉛筆で色をつけました。

Walking in NYC

2012-01-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

We took a day trip to NYC. I was busy taking care of kids in one of the busiest cities in the world, so I barely got to take photos... I found a cool colorful building. (Allen was maybe looking at me like, "um, walk faster." So I was in a hurry, and the building isn't even in focus on the photo. ahhh!) <--- This pretty much sums up my day in NYC.

ニューヨークへ日帰り旅行。物凄い人ごみの中で、子供達の世話に追われて、写真どころではなかったのですが・・・カラフルなビルを見つけました。でも、アレンはドンドン歩いていくし、でも写真は撮りたいしで、結局やっと撮れた写真はアレンにフォーカスしてしまった。（一日中こんな感じでしたー。）

The subway was Seiju's favorite part of NYC.

聖樹はもちろん地下鉄が一番大好き。

Seiju said that the trains were not as "clean and new" as the ones in Japan. I guess kids are honest...

「東京の電車のほうが綺麗だね・・・」っと子供の正直な意見。

Taisei's favorite in NYC was chasing the pigeons. I have to remember to bring some bird feed next time!

大生が一番うれしそうだったのは鳩を追いかけている時でした。田舎には鳩がいないのです。

Brooklyn Bridge! It was so beautiful!!

ブルックリンブリッジ。すごく綺麗でした！

Of course, we had to get hotdogs, but they were really gross. If anyone knows where to get good street food or cheap food in NYC, please let me know!

ニューヨークと言えば、ホットドッグでしょう！っと思い食べてみたけれど、本当にまずかったです。ニューヨークで美味しい屋台や安くて美味しい場所を知っている方がいたら、是非教えてください！

Grand Central Station

2012-01-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

We were awed by the beautiful Grand Central Station, NYC.

ニューヨークのグランドセントラル駅。感動しました。

our little Christmas

2012-01-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

The night before Christmas... Kids are too excited to go to bed! For how to take a cool Christmas tree photo like this one, go to this link!

クリスマスの前日、子供達は興奮状態！

Christmas morning, I don't really need words to describe how excited they were. One thing Seiju told me was that his favorite part of Christmas was when he came into our bed in the morning and snuggled up to tell us "Merry Christmas." That warmed up my heart!

待ちに待ったクリスマスの朝。　二人ともプレゼントをあけるのに夢中。でも聖樹曰く、クリスマスで一番好きだったことは、朝、私達のベッドにもぐりこんで「メリークリスマス！」って言えた事だそう。何だか心が温まります。

Seiju has asked me to make this pokemon character, called Churine this year. (which is strange since he has never seen the show...I thought!) I guess he had seen is somewhere and fell in love with it.

聖樹にはポケモンに出てくるチュリネというキャラクターを頼まれていました。ポケモンを見たことがないのに、どうしてポケモンキャラなのお～？っと思いながらも作りました。どこかでみて、大好きになったらしいんです・・・。

Papa is tired after a long Christmas day!

お父さんは疲れて寝ちゃった・・・

Mr. Berg got a new bow-tie for Christmas! He is looking pretty good, wouldn't you say?

アレンには新しい蝶ネクタイ。ナカナカ似合ってます！

{this moment}

2011-12-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This is an ongoing project from Amanda Soule.

｛今の瞬間｝写真一枚。言葉は書きません。覚えておきたい、今の素敵な瞬間、シンプルでいてすばらしい瞬間を捉えた写真を金曜日に載せています。

アマンダ・ソウルさんのプロジェクトです。

{this moment}

2011-12-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

let it snow... making snow globes

2011-12-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

I saw this post on Our Best Bites blog and thought that it was such a fabulous idea! I put some warm coats on the boys and took photos of some imaginary excitement. " Look! Snow is coming down!!" They were all confused about that. I printed them out, laminated them, hot glue gunned down the photos and some Christmassy stuff to the lids of jars. Put in water, glycerin, and glitter. We had snow globes with my boys inside!

スノーグローブの作り方をこのブログでみて、早速試してみました！まずは子供達にコートを着せて、写真を撮ります。「ほら、空から雪が降ってきたー！！」っと言ってみたりして。この時点では子供達には何がなんだかわからず、ハテナ顔。写真をラミネート加工してから、クラフト糊でビンの蓋につけて、ビンには水とグリセリンとラメパウダーを入れたら出来上がりです。

Seiju was like, "Wow, mom. I have to hold my breath."

「息を止めなくちゃいけないね！」っと聖樹。

The result was awesome! Kids were so excited about them!! I do recommend using liquid glycerin. I found them in the laxative section of the pharmacy. I was that crazy woman who asked a poor pharmacist, "I want to make snow globes, what do you recommend?" The glycerin definitely makes glitter snow go down slower than just water. I didn't seal the jars with glue or anything just in case something gets gross inside of the jars. I haven't had any leakage problems at all. It is a super fun and cute winter project for you and your kids!

素敵なスノーグローブの出来上がりです。子供達も大喜び、母も感動！グリセリンを入れることで水の中のラメパウダーが、水だけを入れた場合と比べると、ゆっくり落ちていくので雪の様に綺麗に見えます。　瓶のふたに糊をつけて水が漏れないようにする方法もありますが、私は何もしませんでした。でも水が漏れたりすることは今のところありません。　子供達と一緒に楽しめる冬のクラフトアイデアでした。是非ためしてみてくださいね！

{this moment}

2011-12-15T12:14:00.002-08:00

. . . . . . . .

family (tripod) photoshoot 2011

2011-12-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

One unseasonably warm winter day, we packed up our camera and tripod to take our family photo. We try to take at least ONE decent family picture with the tripod while the kids are running around and having no vision of how we actually look. That. my friends, is a big task. (Someday, we shall have a day that we can pay someone to take our photos... like fabulous Mr. Shoda!) You can see our last year's family picture here.

毎年、我が家では秋ごろになると三脚を担いで、家族写真を撮りに行きます。いつもプロの写真屋さんに取ってもらいたいなあっと思いつつ、貧乏性（いや、節約家族といって欲しい・・・）の我が家はナカナカそれにも踏み切れず、毎年のように三脚を使ってファミリー写真を撮るのが家族の伝統になりました。でも、子供達を追いかけながらの写真撮影。どうしてもうまくいきません。一枚だけでも、ましな写真が取れれば良しなのです。ちなみに去年の写真はこれです。

Our tripod family photo.

三脚で家族写真。今年も撮りました。

handmade advent calendar

2011-12-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

Our advent calendar is done! I wanted to make it simple and fun　and looked at this and this, and this. I also wanted to do more to embellish it... but maybe next year! Every single day, boys were asking me how many days until Christmas, so I had to get this calendar made quickly.

クリスマスのカウントダウンカレンダーが出来上がりました。参考にしたのはこれとこれとこれです。シンプルなカレンダーを作りたかったのですが、シンプルすぎるかなあ～っとも思います。でも、毎日の様に「お母さん、クリスマスはあと何日でくるの？」っと聞いてくる聖樹に、できるだけ早くカレンダーをつくらなくっちゃ！っと言うことで、シンプルなままで完成。来年にはもう少し飾りをつけようと思います。

it's a shape of Christmas tree.

クリスマスの形に数字を並べてみました。

I made two little elves: Taisei elf and Seiju elf. The boys can move them up every day! I have been doing lots of needle felting lately. It's so easy and fun, I just can't stop.

そして、エルフ君たちも作りました。大生エルフと聖樹エルフです。エルフ君たちを毎日コマの様にうごかして、カウントダウンしていきます。最近、ニードルフェルトにハマっています。簡単に色々と作れるのでやめられません！

Boys are really excited about the little presents they receive everyday, but they are more excited about their own elves, I think. Those elves get taken out of the calender often, but some how make it back to where they are supposed to be...

大生も聖樹もカレンダーに大喜び。ポケットの中には小さな飴やチョコが入っているので、日が変わるごとに小さなプレゼントがもらえます。でも、何よりも自分のエフルがカレンダーの中に居るのが嬉しいみたいで、毎日エフル君たちがどこかに消えてしまいます・・・でも、いつの間にかキチンと戻ってくるんですよ。

{this moment}

2011-12-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

. . . . . . . .

5th year

2011-12-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

We had a birthday boy in our house today. Seiju turned 5 today!! Wow, I can't even believe that 5 years has passed since he was born. Last night, Seiju asked me to put his crown on his head before he woke up so that he would be "surprised" in the morning. I promised that I would.

今日は聖樹の５歳の誕生日でした。聖樹が生まれてから５年も経っただなんて信じられません！昨日の夜、寝る前に「お母さん、朝起きたときにビックリするように、聖樹が起きる前にお誕生日の冠を頭にかぶせておいてね！！」っと頼まれました。分かってたらビックリしないじゃん。っと思いつつ、「まかしといて。」っと答えました。

Taisei had to put on his own crown when he saw his big brother wearing his.

朝起きて、聖樹が冠をかぶっていたので、「大生も！！」。

His birthday present was placed in his teepee with lots of balloons. I see that this is going to be our tradition.

プレゼントはたくさんの風船と一緒にティーピーの中へ。　これは毎年恒例になりそうです。

Taisei was so excited to see all of the birthday decorations that I put up while they were asleep! He said "it is beautiful!"

子供達が寝ている間に飾った誕生日のデコレーションに、大生はビックリ。「おかあさん！これ、きれい～！」っと大喜び。

Seiju and I made some sailing ships for a birthday display. They were also thank you gifts for his friends. He picked only two friends to be at his birthday luncheon (so weird, that boy sometimes...), and I was fine with that decision.

聖樹と一緒に作ったヨットの飾り。招待したお友達へのプレゼントです。

Seiju's birthday present was a beautiful wooden sword, a shield, and a belt. I ordered it from this amazing store. The belt and shield are both made of leather, and we were really impressed and happy about how well they were made. I am pretty sure they will last for a long time even under brutal battles that take place in our house hold.

聖樹のお誕生日プレゼントは剣、盾、そしてベルト。この素敵なオンラインストアで購入しました。ベルトと盾は本皮でできていて、しっかり作られているので、我が家の男子たちが繰り広げる激しいバトルでもへっちゃらです。

Now Seiju can defend himself from his little brother's vicious attacks!

盾のおかげで弟くんモンスターからの攻撃もへっちゃら！

I thought that it would be fun to make a sailing ship for his birthday, so the boys and I worked on it for a couple of days. It turned out so wonderfully, and the boys loved it!!

お誕生日には、なにかスペシャルな物をつくってあげたい！っと思って、考えついたのが、このヨット。この日のためにみんなで頑張って作りました。今日はちょっと寒かったけれど、晴れていたのでたくさん遊んでくれました。

The birthday luncheon.

お誕生日のランチ。

Seiju's favorite chocolate cake was served! And of course, Mr. Berg had to torch the cake to impress his 5 year old boy! He had a fun play date/luncheon, and I think he had a great birthday!

ケーキは聖樹の大好きなレアチョコレートケーキ。そして、もちろんお誕生日のキャンドルは本物のトーチで。５歳になった息子をビックリさせるためにお父さんだって頑張っちゃうんです。　はじめてお友達を招いてしたお誕生日のランチ、聖樹はとっても嬉しそうでした！

let the holiday crafting begin!

2011-12-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

Every year, I regret that I don't have an advent calender. And this year, I am making one. I know... it's already December 1st, and I am late. But hey, I am still trying to make one for my boys. The boys and I are also preparing for Seiju's 5th birthday that is coming up (so soon!), so my hands are busy! I am hoping I can finish making it soon... I think I will be the master of pocket making by the time I finish my advent calender.

アドベントカレンダーって知っていますか？　アメリカやヨーロッパでは伝統的なクリスマスカレンダー。１２月１日から２５日まで、クリスマスのカウントダウンカレンダーです。毎年、「ああー、欲しいなあ」っと思うのですが、ナカナカ気に入ったものがなかったり、手の届かない値段だったり・・・。　でも今年は頑張って作っています。もう１２月１日になってしまったのですが、何とかもうひと頑張りです！完成する頃にはポッケット作りの達人になっているような気がします。

big boy bed #2

2011-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

The time seems to be literally flying over my head.... My baby boy (Taisei) already graduated from his crib and is ready for a big boy bed... So here we go again; went to work. When Allen made Seiju's bed, he made an identical bed for Taisei, so that in the far far future, it could be a bunk bed when stacked them together. And the "far far future" is here. Oh my! Seiju and I (and Taisei...well, he "helped") painted the bed, and Allen made a ladder that would also work as a guardrail.

生まれたばかりと思っていた大生も、もう赤ちゃん用クリブを卒業して、普通のベットで寝るようになってしまいました・・・母としてはちょっとショックな様な、嬉しいような、なんとも複雑な気分です。ということで、家族で活動開始！アレンが聖樹のベットを作ったときに、「ずっと後になって大生が大きくなった頃には二階建てベットにできるように。」と大生用にまったく同じベッドを作っておいてありました。その「ずっと後」がすでに現実に！！（なんてあっという間だったのでしょう・・・）　それをみんなで組み立てて、色を塗って出来上がり。アレンがはしご件レールを作ってくれました。

They are so excited about the bed. Seiju is so proud to be on the top bunk and lets his brother come up. Taisei is so proud to have his own big boy bed and gladly goes to sleep on it.

二人とも大喜び。聖樹は二段ベッドの上に寝られるのがとっても嬉しいようで、大生は自分が聖樹と同じような大きなベッドで寝られるのが嬉しいみたいです。自分から、嬉しそうにベットにもぐりこんで寝ます。

We added another new thing in their room. We used IKEA's DIGNITET and wires to create a display space for an endless supply of boys' drawings. We have Seiju's favorite drawings in this space at the moment, and he can change his favorites whenever he wants. I really like the clean lines instead of what we had before; although, we still will keep our previous display string in my craft room! I am considering these happy yellow duvet covers for our boys' bedding...

そして、新しく聖樹や大生の絵を飾る場所を作りました。IKEAのカーテン用のDIGNITETという金具を使いました。ゴチャゴチャした感じになりやすい、聖樹のお気に入りの絵や工作をスッキリ見せてくれるので、気に入っています。以前のシステムよりも便利です。　布団カバーには、素敵な黄色い縞々のウェストエルムのカバーを検討中です・・・

a new sweater...

2011-11-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

I made a new sweater. I really love it. I used a thick knit fabric and used a V-neck blouse pattern from this Japanese sewing book.

セーターを作りました。お気に入りです。暖かめのニット生地を使いました。パターンは「秋冬春に着たいナチュラル服」という本の中のVネックのチュニックのパターンを元にしました。

growing up green

2011-11-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

Growing Up Green is a brand new store that opened in my little city. Heather, the owner of the store is a superwoman who juggles and balances her store and her two lovely boys. The store carries lots of great hard-to-find products and toys, so I thought I would give you a tour of the store! You can read more about the store and Heather on her website here.

私の小さな町に素敵なお店がやってきたので紹介しようと思います。Growing Up Green：「グリーンに育つ」というお店で、このあたりでは手に入りにくいナチュラルなオモチャなどが置いてあります。オーナーのヘザーはこの町に私が引っ越してすぐにできたお友達でもあります。彼女も男子二人のお母さんです。

She carries lots of barefoot books with beautiful illustrations.

普通の本屋では手にはいらないベアフットブックスも店頭に並んでいます。

Cloth diapers and menstrual pads. 布オムツや布ナプキン

Heather has story time and sing-along on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30.

毎週、火曜日と木曜日には歌の時間や読み聞かせの時間があります。

Hand died baby clothing. 手染めの赤ちゃん用の洋服。

There are lots of eco-friendly toys, craft supplies, cleaning supplies, baby carriers, AND MORE in the store.

エコなオモチャ、自然派のクリーナー、ベビーキャリア、クラフトの材料なども売っています。

And while mamas look around and shop, there is fun kid area to occupy little kiddos. I am really exited to have her store in our city! If you are local, you have to check out this store!!

Growing Up Green: 266 W. Market St. York, PA 17401

子供の遊び場もあって、お母さん達がショッピングをしているあいだに子供達は遊んでいられます。地元に住んでいる方がいたら、是非立ち寄ってみてくださいね！

proposal after 10 years: １０年目のプロポーズ

2011-11-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

We dropped off our kids at their friends' house and were off to our date night. This was no ordinary date night. No, no, it wasn't. I knew I was going to be proposed to that night, and I had been feeling sort of nervous all day because of it. I picked out a ring that I loved and gave it to Allen earlier. Why am I getting proposed to after we have been married for 10 years, you ask? Well, it is because there was no proposal 10 years ago. And I thought it was about time Allen officially proposed to me. But why a new ring? That is because I lost my wedding band AND engagement ring on our first year (or was it second year?) of marriage during my ceramic class. I took them off because the clay was getting into them and messing up my pots. Alas, they were lost forever. I imagine they were fired in one of the kilns at the University of Washington...(well, I don't know exactly what happened to them, but I think it is romantic to think that they were melted in a kiln.)

子供達をお友達に預けて、アレンと二人でデートの夜。でも、この日はいつもとは違う、スペシャルな夜なのでした。実は、アレンが私にプロポーズをしてくれる日なのでした！結婚１０年目でどうしてプロポーズなんてするのかなっと思う人もいるかもしれません。それは、アレンが１０年前にちゃんとプロポーズをしてくれなかったからです。（そして、それを私が根に持っているからですね。）そして、結婚１年か２年目に結婚指輪＆婚約指輪をなくしてしまったので、今まで適当な指輪をしていました。大学時代に取っていた、陶芸のクラス中に、ちょっと外した間になくなってしまいました。今頃は釜で溶けてなくなっていることでしょう・・・　　
っと言うことで、一日中ちょっと緊張気味でした。

After we had a lovely dinner, we went up on a hill that looks over our little city, and walked around, kind of nervous and awkward. There was a perfect full moon in the sky; the city lights were illuminating us softly, and then Allen knelt down! Sorry to smother you with the corny lovey-dovey story, but it makes me smile big to think back on this special night. I really was nervous to see if Allen will want to stay married to me after all that we have gone through. After all, I am definitely not the easiest person to live with, you know?

夕食を食べてから、夜景がきれいに見れる公園へ、なんだか恥ずかしがりながら歩いて丘の上へ。満月が明るくて、夜景もきれい。そして、そこでアレンがプロポーズしてくれました！　なんだか自分で書いていて恥ずかしくなるくらいのお話を書いてしまってごめんなさい・・・でも、自分というこんなクレイジー人間と１０年も一緒に住んでいて、本当にまた「これからも一緒にいてください。」と言ってくれるのかどうかが、ちょっと不安でした。なので、なんだか嬉しくて、ニヤニヤしてしまうのです。そして、人にも言いたくなっちゃうのです・・・

Yeah, I have a wedding ring!!

わーい。結婚指輪、もらったぞー。

We just took a walk in the park together after that. The walk reminded us our "school days". When we were both students at the University of Washington, we didn't have time or money. So we would walk to a bookstore at night, or just walk. Some times we just walk being silly, our eyes closed, on a piggy back ride, or just holding hands together. So we walked around the park remembering how young we were back then.

その後は二人で夜のお散歩をしました。学生の頃を思い出しながら、お散歩。結婚した当初は、学生結婚だったので、お金も時間もありませんでした。クラスや勉強が終わった後、よく夜に二人で本屋さんに歩いて行きました。時には、ただ、夜散歩をしました。ふざけて目をつぶって歩いてみたり、おんぶしてみたり、ただ手をつないで歩いたり。若かったなあ～。なあんてそんな事を思い出しながら公園を散歩しました。

Now I have a beautiful ring to remind me of the warm feeling that I felt that night. Our life doesn't seem to happen in "ordinary" order, but I guess that fits us well. Extraordinary.

ささやかなリングだけれど、あの日のホンワカ気分を思い出させてくれる素敵なリング。我が家では何事も順序よくは行かないけれど、それも我が家。

{this moment}

2011-11-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

. . . . . . . .

eco cooking: 鍋帽子でエコクッキング

2011-11-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to share my new discovery/creation with you. I found a new way to cook!! It works surprisingly well for stews, soups, chicken or pork dishes, steamed dishes, and more. It's a pot cover! It is basically the same theory as the slow cooker minus the bulky heavy thing that you have to keep in the kitchen cabinet. All you need to do is to make a pot cover and a piece that goes on the bottom of the pot. The idea is to keep the heat in for a long time to extend the process of cooling down. Whatever is inside of the pot will be cooked and penetrated with gorgeous flavors.
Bring your pot to a boil, and then move the pot to the counter top and put the cover on. For root vegetable, after 20-30 minutes, it is done perfectly. For meat, cook it on the stove for 5-10 minutes, and then put the cover on for at least an hour. I love how I can cook delicious food without using space on my stove and I can save energy.

前々から気になっていた鍋帽子を作りました。何年か前から「婦人の友」という雑誌を講読していて、そこによく鍋帽子のお話がでてくるので、作りたいなあっと思っていました。そしてついに作りました！これが驚くほどに便利で、肉じゃがや、煮物、お肉料理や蒸し物もレンジの場所をとらずに簡単にできてしまいます。しかも電気代節約になります。煮物なら沸騰させてから火から下ろして、２０－３０分鍋帽子の中においておけば、味もしっかり染みた、美味しい煮物が出来上がります。しかも煮崩れなし！

You simply place your pot inside of the pot cover after it is nice and hot.

沸騰させたら鍋帽子へ。

I used the left over fabric from our boys' curtain project (love IKEA fabrics!) and the quilted heat resistant fabric for the inside (from Jo-Ann Fabrics). You can also use quilt batting and another fabric for the inside. (I was too lazy to use the batting...) There are instructions on how to make it, but they are in Japanese. The illustration is really good, so you get the idea even if you don't read Japanese. For the instructions, you can see them here and here. I would be glad to give you a tutorial if you are interested. Just e-mail me or leave your comment!

ここでは息子たちのカーテンを作ったときに余った、しっかりめの生地を使いました（イケアの生地）。中の布はアルミ生地のキルティング加工されている物を使いましたが、ポリエステルの厚めの中綿を裏布とあわせて縫ってもいいです。実際に「婦人の友」では中綿を使っていました。私は面倒なので、アルミ生地を使いました・・・作り方はここやここへ。

I made stewed pumpkin for one of the dishes for dinner (Kabocha, to be precise). Yummy! It is usually easy to melt and lose its shape, but with the pot cover, it held its shape perfectly since there is no agitation from boiling on the stove. I love how I can forget about it, and the extra dish for dinner would be ready. I think it will be great for summer time too since I hate turning on the stove for a long time while it is hot already. It's the perfect eco cooking, and I hope you will try it too!

かぼちゃの煮物も型くずれもなく、味もきちんと染みこんでいて、美味しく作れました！ほっておいても出来上がっているのが嬉しいですよね。夏の暑い時期にもお勧めです！

fall harvest

2011-11-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

One bleak fall day, because we were so jet-lagged from our trip from Japan, we decided that the best way to wake ourselves (and kids) up was to go apple picking. We made it back just in time for the fall harvest season!

肌寒い秋の日。時差ぼけがなおらないうちに、日中、何とか起きていないといけない！っということで、りんご狩りへ行ってきました。今年は秋のりんごの収穫の時期が終わらないうちに日本から帰ってこれたようです。

Taisei is focused on eating as usual.

もちろん大生は食べるの専門。

I see lots of apple pies! Don't you?

アップルパイがたくさん作れそうです！

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Seiju wanted to be a "baby duck" since last year. "Because they are cute." was the reason. I have no idea where he came up with that, but I was excited to figure out how to make him a baby duck! And I knew that Taisei wanted to be exactly the way his big brother would be. So here they are, my ducklings! I had a pattern for a hooded sweat shirt, so I simply added little hair, the beaks, the wings, and the bum. They are super easy costumes with maximum cuteness & warmth.

去年のハロウィーンが終わってから、次のハロウィーンは赤ちゃんカモになりたいっと言っていました。理由は可愛いから。（？）毎年のリクエストに答えて、どういう風にコスチュームを作るかを考えるのもハロウィーンの楽しみです。大生はいつも聖樹と同じ！と、言うわけで、今年のハロウィーンは二人で赤ちゃんカモになりました。　パーカーシャツのパターンに頭の毛、羽、くちばし、おしりをつけただけの簡単コスチュームですが、暖かくて可愛いので大ヒットでした。

Making Jack-o-lantern.

ハロウィーン当日は大きなパンプキンに顔を彫って、ジャックオーランタンを作ります。この中にろうそくを入れて、玄関のところに置いておきます。

Going out to trick-or-treat!

トリック・オア・トリートへ出発。門灯がついている近所の家を回ってキャンディーをもらいに行きます。

When they finally came home, they didn't even take off their shoes before they opened the rappers and start nibbling on candies... The detox will be brutal, I am thinking. In the mean time, mama & papa tax will be forced upon those candies! (I can't wait...)

家に帰ってきて、靴も脱がずにキャンディーを食べ初めた二人・・・先が思いやられます。

Tokyo Toy Museum

2011-10-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

We have been back in the States for a week now, but I still have some things that I want to share with you from our trip. One of them is about Tokyo Toy Museum in Yotsuya. I am a huge fan of beautiful open ended toys, so this place was like a dream land to me.

日本から帰ってきて一週間が経ちましたが、もう少し日本の写真を載せたいと思います。聖樹と一緒にいった東京おもちゃ美術館は木のオモチャマニアの私には、夢の様な場所でした。

A big bath of wooden balls. The edge of the bath was also a marble run. Genius!

大きな木のボールのお風呂。淵はボールが走れるようになっていました。

A huge wooden structure.

大きな木の家。

Seiju, playing with one of the toys. There are beautiful wooden toys from all over the world for kids to touch and play, or just to look at.

ディスプレイだけの物もありましたが、世界中から集められた木のおもちゃで遊べるようになっていました。

My dream: a perfect set of Ostheimer wooden figures

ドイツのオストハイマー社の木のフィギュアがこんなにたくさん・・・。夢です。我が家では毎年、クリスマスに子供たちに贈ります。

A huge abacus.

大きなそろばんがありました。

Vintage Russian toys in display. Love the colors!

ロシアのビンテージのおもちゃ。なんて素敵な色！

Traditional Japanese Toy.

だるま落としに挑戦。ナカナカ難しかったです～。

Vintage Japanese Toys.

日本のビンテージおもちゃ。

The museum was in a beautiful old school. There was such a great world in this building for not only kids but for grown ups. Seiju and I had a great date here. I loved that there were so many different toys and kids round them, but somehow everyone was quiet and calm. Kids were totally immersed into their own imaginations. And that just made me love wooden toys even more.

閉校になった学校を改装して、おもちゃ美術館がその中にありました。大きな窓からあふれる光の中で、たくさん子供がいるのに、たくさんおもちゃがあるのに、皆なぜか静かに遊んでいました。イマジネーションの世界に浸っていたんでしょうね。そんな魔法のような木のおもちゃ達を、私はもっと好きになってしまった一日でした。

Fire truck and Tokyo Tower

2011-10-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

Fire trucks have very special place in our family because my brother is in the Tokyo Fire Department. There was a festival in Tokyo one day, and the fire department was letting kids go up on their special fire truck. Of course, we had to go and check it out.

弟が勤めている東京消防庁は、我が家では親近感のある組織です。この間の港区民祭りで、東京でも３台しかないという消防車に乗って上まで昇れるというので、ワクワクしながら行ってきました。

Waiting to go up.
いよいよ聖樹の番！

The fire fighter had a cool shirt.
消防士さんのシャツ、ナカナカ。

Safety harness
命綱

Going up!
あがって行きます！

and up!
高い～！

And after that, they played some drums.
そして太鼓を叩いて終了。

There was a beautiful temple near the festival, and it was next to the Tokyo Tower (a famous tower in Tokyo that is an actual imitation of the Eiffel Tower.) And I thought that the contrast between old and new was so interesting!

お祭りの近くに増上寺があって、東京タワーの新しさとお寺の古さのギャップがおもしろい景色でした。

Tokyo Sky Tree and some serious talk

2011-10-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

My brother took us to Tokyo Sky Tree the other day. It is the new antenna tower for the digital broadcasting and a new attraction/ touristy spot. Although the tower is still under construction, a lot of people visit there to admire it. Since it is really tall, we can see it from everywhere, and we can actually see it from where we live. (well, we live kind of close to it.) Kids really liked seeing a tall tower from the very bottom! You can read more about Sky Tree here.
There was a sign on the its construction site that says, 「上を向いて、頑張ろう、日本」"Look Up, Japan. We can do it." (well, at least that's my translation of it.) Since the tsunami in March, Japan has suffered through so much heartache as much as economical decline. People tend to "look down" and get depressed. The whole Tokyo is literally darker since we are trying to conserve energy during the day. Most stores, houses, trains, even hospitals turn off as many lights and elevators as they can. Parents wonder what effects the radiation have on their children as they live their everyday lives... So this sign "Look up, Japan. We can do it." really hit my heart. We are still recovering from everything that happened and is happening, but we do have to LOOK UP and give our best!

東京スカイツリー、高かったです。最初は見るたびに、おお～っと思ったのですが、高いが故にどこからでも見える事に気づきました。実家周辺でもみえます。でも麓に行くとまた迫力が違ってよかったです。　まだ工事中なのに、結構な人が見物に来ているんですね。
　　工事現場の幕に「上を向いて　頑張ろう　日本」っと大きく書いてあって、ジーンときました。今回、日本に帰ってきて、成田空港で初めて感じた事は「室内が暑い＆暗い」でした。そして節電でどこもやっぱり暗いことや、放射能の事や不景気の事などもあってか、なんだかやっぱり元気がない日本を感じました。でもスカイツリーをみて、上を向く事は大切だなあっと実感。上を向けば自然と元気が出るような気がします。ここが踏ん張り時の日本！これからです！

sports festival

2011-10-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Schools in Japan have sports festivals around this year. Kids work really hard to prepare for this day: practice for their dance routines, relays, short running races, tag-of-war, and other events.
Parents and grand parents flock around the small school ground and cheer for their little ones.

聖樹の幼稚園の運動会がありました。幼稚園のお友達といっしょにみんなでがんばりました。

Trying to throw as many balls as possible into a basket!

玉いれ！

Get ready...

よーい・・・

GO!!

どん！！

He talked about the short distance race all year. And he was not the fist like he wanted to for a whole year, but the third. He was so frustrated! But then, he really liked the yellow ribbon for the third placers and he was happy.

一年中このかけっこの事を話しては、「今度は一番になる」って言っていたのに、本番では３番！残念～。でも、黄色のリボンが嬉しかったみたいで、ご機嫌はすぐになおったみたい。

His dance routine

ダンス、「まるまるもりもり」。

s
the superhero race!

年中さんたちの競技種目、「元気船隊、ゴーカイジャー！」
母子ともに日本の文化が味わえた一日でした。

a walk in Kitasenju

2011-10-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

I walked around Kitasenju with one of my friends one day. I found beauty everywhere.

北千住散歩。たくさん素敵なものを見つけました。

snack store

駄菓子屋さん

A happy old couple on a bike

仲良しの二人

An alley

路地裏

A cool painting on a wall

不思議な壁画

An old shrine with tons of stickers

お札がたくさん張ってある神社

An auspicious dog

コマイヌ

Mochi store

団子屋さん

I ate most of the mochi before I remembered to record it. Yum.

お団子、撮る前に食べてしまった。

An old tea kettle

やかんと七厘

{this moment}

2011-10-07T04:44:00.000-07:00

. . . . . . . .

a date with Seiju

2011-10-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

Walk in a park

上野公園でお散歩。

We saw a huge whale.

シロナガスクジラに出会った。

Went to a cool dinosaur exhibit at National Museum of Nature and Science

国立科学博物館で恐竜展をみた。

Got on a really long escalator.

長い長いエスカレータに乗った。

Stared at bullet trains go by for a long long time.

I missed spending time with Seiju alone. It has been a while since we had a date together, and I realized how important to have "us" time. He is truly an awesome person, and I am a super lucky girl to be his mama.

新幹線が行き来するのを長い間、眺めた。

聖樹と二人きりでのデートは凄く久しぶでした。　そしてお互いにゆっくり一緒にいられる二人の時間を作ることの大切さに再び気づきました。聖樹の母である私はなんてラッキーなんだろうっと思えた一日でした。

a walk in Roppongi

2011-10-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

I met a mama spider in Roppongi. I have been a big fan of Louise Bourgeois' work since my art school days. I have met other mama spiders in London, NY, and Washington DC.

六本木でお散歩。　ルイーズ・ブルジョワのママスパイダーに出会いました。彼女の作品とは美術大学時代に出会って、ずっと大好きです。

I found a cool pattern.

模様があった。

I found art galleries.

素敵なギャラリーも発見。

I found a roller coaster on top of a building. (!?)

そして、ビルの上にジェットコースター？！　（謎だ。）

bugs!!

2011-09-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

In Nagano, there is an amazing insect museum, called Kobuchizawa Insect Museum. We visited there one day, and it was breath taking. First, there was an awesome play area with a huge Japanese rhinoceros beetle.

長野のこぶちざわ昆虫美術館というところへ行ってきました。素晴らしい昆虫美術館で、感動の連続！花パークフィオーレ小淵沢っという大きな公園の中にあるのですが、子供の遊び場も大きくてたのしかったー！しかも、大きなカブトムシもいました。

These colors, shapes, and patterns gave me so many ideas for dresses and future work!

自然から学べる配色、形、パターンが新鮮でした。

An awesome wall display with real blue butterflies. Amazing.

壁一面に敷き詰められた青いチョウチョ。光の反射によって色が変わるのもスゴイ！！

I love stag beetles. I think they are one of my favorite insects.

私が大好きなカブトムシ。

They had some alive stag beetles there, and Seiju wanted to sketch one of them. He is a hercules beetles and is the biggest stag beetles!

生きているカブトムシも何匹かいたので、聖樹はその中から一番好きなカブトムシを選んでスケッチすることにしました。これはヘラクレスくん。一番おおきなカブトムシなんですって。

We didn't have so much time, but Seiju did a pretty good job, I think! I love it that he wants to draw whenever he is impressed by something.

あまり時間がなかったけれど、ナカナカ上手に描けていました！何かすごいなっと思うとすぐ絵を描きたくなるって、いいなあっと思います。わたしも見習わなくてはっと思わされます。

into the woods 2

2011-09-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

While we were in Nagano, we visited a beautiful farm. We could see Mount Fuji (the highest volcano/mountain in Japan) in the back!

長野にいる間には富士山の見える牧場へ行き、

Fed a friendly goat

羊にハッパをあげ、

Laughed a lot

たくさん笑い、

Climbed several fences

フェンスに登り、

Sighed at beautiful mountains

美しい山にため息をつき、

Pulled by a cool big tractor

トラクターに乗り、

Rode a horse

馬に乗り、

Ate ice cream everywhere we went

どこへ行くにもソフトクリームを食べ、

Played lots

たくさん遊び、

And rode an old steam engine.

そして、古い機関車に乗りました。

into the woods

2011-09-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

20 years ago, my dad fell in love with a mountain called, Yatsugatake and built a log cabin at the bottom of the mountain. Thanks to my parents, we get to visit the beautiful mountain range every year. It's a small log cabin (but huge logs!), but it's beautiful and peaceful.

もう２０年前になりますが、長野県にある八ヶ岳に惚れ込んだ父がその麓にログハウスを建てました。小さな小屋のようなログハウスですが、サラリーマンの父が建てた汗と涙の結晶！そのおかげで、私たちが毎年のように美しい自然を味わうことができます。感謝！

Kids' favorite part of the cabin was the wood stove, of course. And they also loved wrestling with each other and sleeping together with my mom on the loft!

子供達が一番気に入ったものはやっぱり薪ストーブ。でもロフトでレスリングをするのも、みんなで雑魚寝するのも、大好きだった見たいです！

fall festival

2011-09-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

It's a fall festival season around here. People show their gratitude for their harvest to local gods by having festivals. Our boys were able to join the neighborhood fall festival this year, and carry a little shrine, called mikoshi. If you want to know more about Japanese festivals and mikoshi, here is Wikipedia's description.

日本は秋祭りの季節です。近所でお神輿がでるということで、我が家の男子たちもお神輿担ぎに参加しました。ハッピを着て、ねじりハチマキをして、神輿担ぎに出陣！

This is the kids' mikoshi. (There is also a mikoshi for grown ups.) The elders of the neighborhood put some batting on the poles and wet them so that it will stay cool and easier to carry.

子供神輿。町会の大人達がお神輿にサラシを巻いて、水をかけて、子供が持ちやすいようにしてしてくれました。

Taisei was more interested in eating than walking around with a shinny shrine. The whole neighborhood provided snacks, water, and some little envelops of money for all of the kids to be fed and hydrated.

大生は食べるのが専門。近所中でお菓子やジュース、アイス、御ひねりなどをふるまって、子供達を応援してくださいました。

It was a really hot and long day for kids, but the boys had an awesome time. I hope they were able to learn a little bit of Japanese culture!

暑くて長い一日でしたが、子供達にとっての日本の夏の思い出がひとつ増えました！

following her footsteps...

2011-09-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you a little bit about my grandmother. She passed away when I was 8 or so, but she made everything for us until she became ill. Every year, she would knit and sew amazing clothes for us and all of our school bags. We would always request what we wanted for our bags that year, and she made them and sent them to us. One year I requested a clock, another year was a giraffe and a hippo, a favorite cartoon character, and so on. In this photo, I have her clock bag. It was one of my favorite bags that she made for me.

私の祖母は私が８歳の頃になくなりましたが、何でも作れるすごいおばあちゃんでした。毎年のように洋服やセーター、幼稚園や学校用のバッグを作っては送ってくれる人でした。毎回リクエストをしては、おばあちゃんはどんな物を作ってくれんだろうっとワクワクして待っていました。上の写真に写っているのは５歳の頃に祖母が作ってくれた時計のバックです。

My mom keeps all of grandma's creations, and after 29 years, I still get to see the bags and learn from them. The buttons of the clock looked like yummy candies when I was 5, and apparently, my friends thought the same. I remember that the bag was quite popular, and I would give those candy buttons to my classmates as gifts. So the half of buttons are gone now.

物を捨てない母のお陰で２９年経っても、５歳の頃のぼろぼろになったバッグが残っていました。そのバッグを手にとって、祖母がどのように作ったのを見て学べるという事が何よりもうれしかったです。５歳の頃には幼稚園のクラスでもこのバッグが人気で、飴のような美味しそうなボタンをお友達にプレゼントしてしまって、半分しか残っていません・・・

I used to stare at this side and tried to figure out the story behind this mysterious scene.

この不思議な場面を見ては、物語を想像していました。

Most Japanese kindergartens require or encourage parents to make school bags (and other necessary things) for their kids. I had an official excuse to make a bag for Seiju, and this mama was happy. I knew that I wanted to make him the clock bag.

幼稚園から手作りのバッグを作るように言われたので、もちろん私はウキウキ。祖母の時計のバッグを作ろう！っと思いました。

When I was working on this bag, I wished that my grandma was still with us. (as I often think!) She was so creative and was an amazing crafter. I could have learned so much from her. I also felt like maybe my grandma and I were a little bit alike. But I really love how the bag turned out! I hope Seiju will keep those candy buttons safe...

聖樹の幼稚園バッグを作っている間中、祖母が生きていれば、もっと色々と学べるのになあっと考えていました。（これはいつも思っている事なのですが！）祖母は本当にクリエイティブで、いつも手を動かしていました。このバッグを作りながら、私は祖母の持っていた才能には程遠いけれど、少し共通できる物があるような気がして、嬉しくなりました。私がつくった時計のバッグ、聖樹もとても喜んでくれました。ボタンの行方はどうなるか分かりませんが・・・

Yochien 2011

2011-08-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of Seiju's kindergarten. He went to the same school last year for 2 months, so he was so excited to go again! His school is actually the school I went, so it is so sweet to see my kiddo waring the same uniform that I used to ware.

今日は幼稚園の始業式でした。今日から幼稚園の体験入園が始まり、今回も運動会に参加します。去年も行った幼稚園なので、知っているお友達もいて、聖樹も楽しみにしていました。幼稚園が私の母校ということもあって、自分が小さい頃着ていた制服と同じものを着ている聖樹を見られて、なんだかくすぐったい気持ちになります。

Seiju's new shoes are not pink this year. He said "I wanted yellow shoes but couldn't find them." At least his name badge is pink! (He is a big fan of pink.)

今年の聖樹の運動靴はピンクではありません。聖樹は黄色い靴が欲しかったのに見つからなかったらしいです。ピンクが大好きな聖樹なので、名札がピンクで嬉しいみたいです。

This is a photo of me at Seiju's age. I am waring fall/winter uniform in this photo though. Seiju will be waring the same uniform from October. I hope he will have lot of fun in school!

私が聖樹と同じ年の年中さんだった時の写真です。着ている園児服が秋冬物ですが、聖樹も１０月から衣替えで、この制服になります。幼稚園、楽しく行ってくれるといいな。

home sweet home

2011-08-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is my house that I grew up in. My dad designed this house from scratch almost 40 years ago (Another engineer in the family!), and it is somewhat traditional house from Showa period. It's old and small (and messy), but I feel so blessed to be able to come back to the space I grew up in. I see so much beauty in everyday things even though they are old.

実家はドリフターズにでてくるような、昭和の家。いつも帰ってくると、こんなに小さかったかとびっくりします。古くて狭い家ですが、父が設計を手がけて建てられた家は、父が大好きな木を沢山使った木の家です。そして私が育った場所でもあります。古いものを壊して新しい物を作るのが盛んな今ですが、実家のところどころに見られる古さも傷も、なんだか美しく見えます。

Tatami mat is a traditional flooring in Japan.

畳。

Front door awning

玄関先

Adjusting...

2011-08-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

We are just starting to sleep while the sun is down and wake up when the sun smiles down. Do you remember this pos t from last year? It's amazing how much Seiju grew since then.

時差ぼけがやっと直ってきて、やっと太陽と共に起きられるようになってきました。去年同じ場所で撮ったこの写真、聖樹の背が伸びたなあ～っと実感。

my superhero

2011-08-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

We got to Japan safely. Getting here was an adventure for sure, but Seiju was a superhero that helped mama with his brother that day. So thanks to my helpful superhero, the flight went relatively smooth without any tears or meltdowns. But Taisei had a lot of fun running (yes, running) on a plane. At the end, I think everyone on economy class knew us since we went around the cabin over 20 times... up and down the isles. There were whole a lot of climbing, jumping, going under (and being dragged out) of our seats, disturbing sleeping people, touching people's things or begging their food, and socializing with strangers. After 14 hours of lots of apologizing, forced smiles, sweats, and staring at the sky map on my small screen (hardly ever moving!), we finally got here.

日本に着きました。まだ時差ボケが治っていません。（今日も朝の３時に起きてしまいました～。）　１４時間のフライトは物凄い大変なものでしたが、スーパーヒーロー聖樹がたくさんお手伝いをしてくれたので、比較的スムーズにいきました。問題の大生はというと・・・通路を走る、席に登る、ジャンプする、下にもぐる、そして引きずり出される、周りの人の席に行っては食べるものをねだる、寝ている人を起こす、周りの人に大生語で話しかける・・・などが主な行動。お昼寝は３０分で終了。１４時間、常に苦笑いと冷や汗と共に誤りました。疲れたよ～。

Seiju was so excited to be on a plane!

聖樹は飛行機に乗れたので、大興奮！

So, here we are! We are going to start our adventure. But first thing, first. A cute haircut!

これから２ヶ月、新しいアドベンチャーが始まります。でも、まず始めにする事。美容院に行って、１年間延び放題だった（それもどうなの？）髪を切ってもらうことです！

girls' pencil case

2011-08-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends, Beth has two adorable girls. I made girly pencil cases for them. You can make it too. Here is the tutorial! I used my favorite fabrics from Japan and love how they turned out. They are totally funky artsy pencil case, don't you think? I hope the girls will like them too!

お友達のベスにはふたり、女の子がいます。その子達のためにペンシルケースを作りました。作り方はこちら。　ファンキーでアートな感じが気に入ってます。喜んでくれるといいな。

{this moment}

2011-08-19T19:44:00.001-07:00

. . . . . . . .

diaper bag organizer

2011-08-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

Recently, I realized that my diaper bag is a complete chaos. There is unnecessary amount of diapers, wipes, liners, snacks, toys, change of clothes, and everything else you can think of. My bag has been so full and heavy without even knowing what's inside! (Life just accumulates, doesn't it?) So I decided to organize what I carry everyday. And this is one of my efforts to organize my diaper bag (or my life, perhaps...)

I carry:
4 cloth diaper inserts
1 diaper cover
4 wipes
1 spray bottle with water
4 liners

最近、自分のバッグの中がグチャグチャだという事に気づきました。オムツや着替え、子供のスナックやオモチャがゴチャゴチャと入っていて、知らない間にバックがどんどん重くなっていました。これは、何とかしなければ・・・っと思い、まず初めにオムツ周辺の整理をしようと思いました。

いつも必要なもの：
布オムツ４枚
布ワイプ４枚
ライナー４枚
オムツカバー１枚
水スプレー

This is a really simple organizer with a vinyl for easy checking, and I used Velcros at the opening.

簡単でシンプルなオーガナイザーですが、中が見えるように前はビニールになっています。開け閉めが素早くできるように、マジックテープを使いました。

I know it's just a simple thing, but I feel much better! Now I am working on a little pouch to hold all of the first aids stuff, such as band-aids, an antibacterial spray, a lip cream, and so on.
What's inside of your bag? Mine is definitely a work in progress.

こんな些細な変化ですが、なんだかとってもいい気分です！今度はバンドエイドや消毒液、リップクリームを入れられるような、小さなパウチを作ろうと思っています。
皆さんのバックの中には何が入っていますか？私のバックの中は・・・ただいま工事中です。

{this moment}

2011-08-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

. . . . . . . .

cloth birthday bag

2011-08-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a birthday party for one of Seiju's friends the other day. Birthday parties are so much fun! But I always have a hard time, buying any type of wrapping or bags. It breaks my heart to see papers being ripped and thrown out. I have been trying not to use wrapping papers since last Christmas. So I usually just whip out some cloth bags for a present.

この間、聖樹のお友達のお誕生日パーティーがありました。お誕生日でも、クリスマスでも、なにかプレゼントをあげるとなると、ラッピングペーパーが必ずつき物ですよね。でも、破かれて捨てられてしまうだけのラッピングペーパーに何だか、悲しくなってしまいます。去年のクリスマスから、ラッピングペーパーを買わない決心をして、お誕生日にも、自分で簡単なバッグを作ることにしています。

It's reusable and it's super cute!
In Japan, we have a tradition to use decorative cloths to wrap gifts and everything else. The cloth is called, Furoshiki. (but I think I can use some beautiful cotton fabrics, no?) If you are interested, you can see some here. It's interesting and definitely another possibility for a beautiful gift wrapping!

簡単で、そして何かに使ってもらえるのでちょっと便利です。お試しあれ・・・
日本文化の風呂敷も良い考えだなあっと思っています。このサイトに素敵な包み方がのっていたので、今度試してみようと思っています。

traveling with (small) kids

2011-08-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

I have a 14 hour flight coming up in a week. I know... I will be able to be with my family and friends once I am there. But being in a confined space for 14 hours with a super active 18 month old and a busy minded 4 year old boy is daunting enough to make me dread going back home. Eighteen months old might be the hardest age to fly. They are always on the move and never have a long enough attention span to watch any movies. On top of it all, Taisei (my 18 month old) is a wanderer. I have been "image training" on going through a really mean security gate and getting to the boarding gate, and boarding the plane all in my head many times now.

So basically, I am panicking.

To prepare for the flight, I am collecting lots of little "surprises". I have been looking for small toys that might trigger their interests. I have been making little bags with clear vinyl and Velcro tape for every little things so that they are organized in their carry-on bags. Taisei loves Velcro, so opening the bags might be entertaining to him as well.

Here are some of the things I am taking on a plane.

日本行きがあと一週間と迫ってきました。子供二人と母一人で１４時間のフライトが待っています。１４時間という長い時間と、狭い機内と、２人のアクティブな子供達の事を考えるだけで、日本に帰るということ自体、無謀な気がしてきます。１８ヶ月というのは、映画を見るほど集中力はなく、なんでも触る、登る、食べる、投げる・・・ハッキリ言って、長いフライトには最悪の時期ですよね。私は考えるだけで胸がドキドキして、チケットを取った瞬間から今まで、常に緊張しているのでした。

そんなわけで、この一ヶ月というもの、フライトに備えて準備してきました。どんなものを持って乗ればいいのか、吟味して、面白そうな小さな玩具を少しづつ集めました。布とビニールで作った小さな袋に少しづつ入れました。マジックテープが大好きな大生のために、マジックテープをつけたので、ひとつひとつ、袋をあけて玩具を出すのも楽しいかなと思いました。

そんなわけで、今日は機内に持っていく玩具を紹介します。

1. Constructable and collapsible toy: This is by Mudpuppy, and this company makes lots of great toys with fun designs.

１．組み立てられる＆片付けられる物：Mudpuppyという会社の物です。デザイン性があって変わったおもちゃを出している会社で、車や町が組み立てて好きな様に作れます。

Here they are in the bag.

袋に入ました。

2. Shadow flash light. They are great on a plane since they turn off the lights for the most of the flight. They are not bright at all so that my kids won't bother other passengers with it. I am also packing some glow sticks.

２．影で遊べる懐中電灯：機内の中はほとんどの時間、暗くしてあるので、光物は大切です。これは、キャップをつけると影で遊べる懐中電灯。小さな豆電球ひとつなので、他の乗客にも迷惑がかからなくて良いです。

3. Magnetic toy: We are big fan of robots. (mama included.) Magnetic toys are great because little pieces stay put in a small metal container. You can buy it here.

３．マグネットのおもちゃ：自分でロボットを組み立てるマグネットです。箱にくっついて、バラバラにならないので便利です。

4. Origami: Our kids love origami. I am taking regular origami papers too. This one is by DJECO, and kids can make animal faces.

４．折り紙：子供達は折り紙がだいすきなので、普通の折り紙も持って行きますが、ちょっと面白い折り紙を見つけました。DJECOという会社のもので、動物の顔を作れる折り紙です。

5. Open ended figures: They will keep my boys busy for a while fore sure! I found them at TJ Max for $2 each. I am a big fan of Sprig Toys (and TJ Max), so I was really excited to find them on discounted price. I bought the ocean explore man and the Glider adventure man.

５．想像力を育てるフィギュア：これといった特徴がないので、自分で色々想像して遊べると思いました。Sprigの玩具はリサイクルのプラスチックで作ってあるので、ちょっとエコな感じ。（？）近所のディスカウントショップで発見！Sprigのおもちゃは気になっていたので、大興奮。
　

6. Activity books: You can trace and scratch this book with a wooden stick, and the fun sparkly colors appear! I am also taking some sticker books.

６．アクティビティー本：　この本は木の棒でなぞって削っていくと、ピカピカでキラキラの色が出てくるという本です。これは恐竜バージョン。他にも色々な種類があるみたいです。

7. Mess-free wonder paints. I think this will come in handy for my 18 month old.

７．それからこれももっていきます。

Other small things such as modeling clay, pipe cleaners, and a tape are also in my bag already. Now I have to get some food that my kids might like. Treats might actually be the best "present" for my kiddos. If you can think of ANY suggestion of how to fly with kids, what to bring on the plane, please please please let me know!

他にもスナック＆おにぎり、粘土やテープなど細々と持って行きます。　子供達にとって、普段は食べられないスナックがきっと一番のプレゼントなんだろなあっと思います。もし、お勧めのおもちゃや、小さな子供とのフライトへのアドバイスがあったら、是非教えてください！

tutorial: how to make a pencil holder

2011-08-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Our new set of Lyra Chubby colored pencils arrived recently so that we can take them to Japan with us. (it's coming up soon!) Also some of our pencils were getting really short, so it was time to refill some!

I like to have some kind of pencil case for our kids' color pencils so that they are portable and organized.

Here is how to make an easy cloth pencil holder. I apologize for any confusions that you might have since I am horrible at explaining things...

Materials needed:

- 2 x main fabric
The height of the fabric is 11" and the length is the number of pencils + 2 inches. For example, if you have 18 colors then the dimension is 18" + 2" = 20" x 11"

- 1 x pocket fabric
Dimension of the pocket fabric: (the number of pencil + 2 inches) x 7"

- a ribbon: about 30 inches

新しいリラの色鉛筆が最近届きました。あともう少しで日本へ帰るので、色鉛筆を持っていけるように用意したんです。聖樹は毎日カレンダーにバツをつけて、カウントダウンを始めました。
と、いうことでペンシルケースを作り方です。

使用するもの
メインの生地２枚
高さは２７ｃｍ、幅は色鉛筆１８色の場合、４５ｃｍ　（色鉛筆一本につき２．５ｃｍと考えてください。）

ポケットの生地１枚
高さは１７ｃｍ、幅はメインの生地と同様、色鉛筆１８色の場合、４５ｃｍ

リボン、またはバイアステープ　７０ｃｍ

1. Prepare the pocket: I had 18 pencils, so I cut one sheet of 20" x 7" linen fabric for the pocket.

１．ポケットを作ります：私の場合は色鉛筆１８色なので、１７ｃｍ　ｘ　４５ｃｍに生地を裁ちます。

2. Creating the double folded edge: fold 1 inch of one (horizontal) side and press to create a crease.

２．　ポケットになる上端を三つ折りにします：　ポケットになる上端を２．５ｃｍ折って生地にアイロンをかけます。

3. Open up and fold 1/2 inch to the line you previously created and press.

３．アイロンをかけた後に開いて、さっき作った線までまた半分に折り、アイロンをかける。

4. Fold again and press, creating a double folded edge for the pocket. Sew the edge.

４．＃２で作った線をまた折ってから、ミシンで直線縫い。三つ折りの出来上がり。

5. Mark the pocket fabric in one inch intervals to show the lines between each pencil, and pin the pocket fabric to the main fabric. Sew the pocket fabric to the main fabric along the marks.

５．ポケットの生地に２．５ｃｍ間隔でしるしをつけます。それをメインの生地の上において、ピンで留めたら、印に沿ってメインの生地とポケットを縫い付けます。

6. Lay down the fabrics and the ribbon as they are shown (but with the top not folded back). You want to sew the right (patterned) sides together with the ribbon facing inward. (so when you flip it inside-out, the ribbon will be outside.)

６．上の写真の様に、ポケットをつけたメインの生地ともう一枚のメインの生地を（柄の面）を合わせます。この時にリボンを中側に向けて縫ってください。（ひっくり返したときにリボンが外に出るようにします。）

7. Finish the edge of the ribbon.

７．リボンの端を始末します。

8. After you lay down the fabrics, sew around the edge. Don't forget to leave about 5 inches (at the top) so that you can turn the whole thing inside out.

８．二枚の生地とリボンを合わせたら、ピンで留めて回りを縫います。上の方を１０ｃｍぐらい残して、後で中表にひっくり返せるようにしておきます。

10. Flip it inside out

１０．中表にひっくり返します。

11. You will have this opening with unfinished edges.

１１．ひっくり返したあとに、きりっぱなしの端があります。

12. Tuck in the unfinished edge and saw around the edge of the whole thing.

１２．切りっぱなしの端を始末するために、端を中にいれて整えます。そして周りをぐるりと一周縫えば出来上がり。

And here it is.

出来上がりです。

It's an easy-peasy cloth pencil folder. Your kids can take it everywhere they go!

簡単で便利なペンケースです。説明が下手なので、わかりにくかったかもしれませんが、本当に簡単なんです！作ってみてくださいね。

art supplies for kids

2011-07-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Making of art is an everyday occurrence in our house. One of the amazing things about my life is that I get to see my kids make art every single day. As we grow up, some preconceptions as to what art is and what art should be gets in our way. But kids don't care. They just make art the way they want. It's truly amazing to see. I believe that everyone was born an artist. It's so important for us to let them be one.

We don't have so many art supplies, but I wanted to talk a little bit about our favorite art supplies for kids today. It might be because I was given really good art supplies while I was growing up, I have a crazy obsession about art supplies, even for kids. Yes, I am a big nerd! I truly believe that kids benefit from using good quality art supplies that "work well" just as adults do. Also, our boys are to respect everything that we own. Either toys, pencils, papers, or just an eraser, we try to get "good stuff" so that we use them carefully and respectfully. Even if that means we have fewer colors in the box of crayons, that's how it will be.

お絵かきや工作は、我が家の生活の一部になっています。　母親になって、っというよりも私の毎日の生活の中で、一番スゴイと思うことは、子供達のクリエイティビティーが毎日見ていられるということです。大人になると「アートとは何か。」、とか「アートとはこうでなくてはいけない。」とか変な固定観念にとらわれて、「あー、私はアートなんて・・・。」っと思ってしまう事が多い様な気がしますが、子供はそうではありません。子供は何もかも、好きなように絵を描き、好きな様に物を作ります。毎日本当に驚かされます。　子供ってみんながアーティストなんだと思います。それを伸ばしてあげるのが、大人たちの仕事かなあっとも思います。

我が家には画材がたくさんあるわけではないのですが、お気に入りの画材を今日は紹介したいと思います。子供の頃からきちんとした画材って本当に必要になの？っと思いがちです。大人が良い画材を使うと良い仕事ができるのと同じで、子供の画材も、色が長持ちして、描き味や色が良いものを選ぶようにしています。「良いもの」を選ぶと値段の関係もあって、クレヨンや色鉛筆の色の種類が少し減ってしまうかもしれないけれど、それでも「良い物」を大切に使う事も教えたいというのもあって、画材にはこだわります。

These are Seiju's favorite color pencils. They are made by Lyra, and I got them from this store along with the pencil holder. This was his first color pencil set when he got them two years ago. (oh, the pencils were really new and long back then...) Seiju draws nearly everyday with them, and they have been lasting and drawing amazingly. The thickness and triangle shape seem to be great on little kids' hands, and the colors are so brilliant. I can't tell you enough great things about them.

リラ社の色鉛筆はスネークのホルダーと一緒に、聖樹に一番最初に買った色鉛筆でした。ここのネットショップで購入。日本のサイトではこんなお店がありました。買ってから２年も経っているのに、しかも毎日使っているのに、凄く長持ちしています。色もすごく鮮やかで、本当に良い色鉛筆です。

We love our snake pencil holder that keeps the pencils in order. It helps to see if all of the colors are there before we go to bed.

蛇のホルダーも、大切な色鉛筆をなくさない為に大活躍しています。毎日「使ったら戻す。」がルールです。

He saw a motor boat race and had to draw the scene.

ボートレースを見た後に、そのボートのシーンをを描きたくなったんだって。

They are Taisei's pebble crayons, called Crayon Rocks. They are made of non-toxic soy wax, and the texture is so smooth.

これは大生のための小石のクレヨン。クレヨンロックっと言うんです。　無添加で大豆のワックスでできています。描き心地も柔らかくて、とってもなめらかです

They seem to fit into a little 1 year old's hands so perfectly.

一歳児の手にすっぽり入ってぴったりの大きさです。

Mama is happy when the kiddos are drawing. Our drawing time is one of our favorite times together.

子供達が静かにお絵かきしている時間は、どんなに短くても、私の大切な時間でもあります。

At our local market, I recently found these color pencils; they are made of recycled newspaper instead of wood. You can also purchase these here. (but it's cheaper to buy it at the Central Market, if you are local!) It's by a company called Obon, and they make fabulous eco-friendly products.

この間、近所のマーケットへ行ったら、こんな面白い色鉛筆を見つけました。中が木ではなくてリサイクル紙で作ってあるんです。Obonという会社の物で、他にも環境に優しい鉛筆やノートを作っている会社です。

I love the fruit prints that correlates with the actual colors of the pencils.

フルーツの色が色鉛筆の色とマッチして、面白い！

And when you shave them, the shavings look like this! They are just like shredded papers. How cool are they? What are your favorite art supplies for kids or for yourself?

削るとこんな風になりました。子供達も大喜び。

子供達や自分のための、素敵でお気に入りの画材があったら教えてくださいね！

lego boy

2011-07-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Seiju has become quite a lego master lately. On his 4th birthday, he received the Creator, and he enjoyed putting it together. But once he was done with it, the impressive plane just sat on the shelf and collected dusts. I brought back some old legos that I used to play when I was little from my parents house last time I was in Japan. Seiju much more prefers playing with random pieces and making his own thing than following directions. He finally decided to tear apart the Creator plane and add the whole thing to our trunk full of legos. I was pretty impressed with the helicopter that he made the other day; I had to share with you. He can sit for hours by himself making his little creations. (is it the blood of engineer?!) Whoever invented lego, whoever you are, thank you.

最近、聖樹はレゴがとても上手になってきました。四歳のお誕生日にもらったレゴの飛行機は作ってからそのまま飾ってあるだけでした。でも、私が子供の頃に使っていたレゴでは毎日のようにあそんでいて、説明書をみて作るものよりも、自分で作るほうが楽しいみたいでした。最近、ついに飾ってあったレゴの飛行機を崩して、飛行機のパーツも使いながら、新しいものをドンドン作るようになりました。

そして、この間つくったヘリコプターに感動！時間があればいつまででも一人で座って何かを作っています。（エンジニアの血でしょうか？！）レゴを作った人、誰だか知らないけど、ありがとう～！

{this moment}

2011-07-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

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house project: window treatment 2

2011-07-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

I am talking about roman shades again... Well, once you figure out how to make them, it's pretty simple and fast. So I think a couple more shades are in order, and I am sure you will have to hear about them.

Those thin vinyl roman shades didn't last long with Taisei. (of course... he is my Mr. destroyer *ahem...) So I went to work with fabric that I picked up at IKEA. I love their fun fabrics. Check out this site for a fun thing you can do with their colorful fabrics. You can check out before-pictures on this post. It was okay before, but needed some bright colors added to their room. My boys love the birds on the fabric and just lay around on the bed by staring the shade!

またまた、ローマンシェードのお話です・・・一度作り方がわかると、簡単で素早くできてしまうのです。また幾つか作るろうと思っていて、そして、また写真も載せちゃいます。

引っ越してきた時からそのままになっていたローマンシェードを、大生がむしって壊してしまったので、早速、新しいシェードを作りました。生地はイケアで見つけました。（私＆子供達は鳥が好きなんですよー。）イケアの生地はしっかりしていて楽しい柄のものがあって、ワクワクしてしまいます。このサイトでもイケアの生地でできるDYIを紹介していました。　新しいシェードをつける前の写真はここへ。子供達は鳥を見ながらゴロゴロするのがお気に入りです！　

{this moment}

2011-07-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

. . . . . . . .

house project: window treatment

2011-07-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

First of all, it's really hard to take photos of our kitchen because it is always in use and messy. But I have to tell you about my window shade today, so here I am taking pictures of our kitchen! (I am really excited about it.) We have been working on our small kitchen for a while now, like...a year. You can see our 'before pictures' and read about it more here. If you have a lot of time to waste, you can even watch the whole kitchen, crumbled down to dust and coming back together in videos here.

I have been wanting to make a shade for the window for a long time but hadn't figured it out until now. But I finally have a shade on our window!

キッチンは我が家の心。いつも何かしら使われていて、ゴチャゴチャしています。だから、キッチンの写真を載せるのはとっても恥ずかしいのですが、今日はキッチンの窓にシェードを新しく作ったのを紹介したくて、勇気を振り絞りました。　もう、１年ほど我が家ではキッチンのリモデルをしています。（長い～）　ここにビフォアーの写真なんかも載っています。そして、時間がある方はYoutubeのページでビデオも見れます。　　

ずっとシンプルなシェードを付けたかったのですが、どうやって作ればいいのか分からなくて、なんとなく手付かずになっていました。でも、なんとか出来上がりました。

AFTER

I knew I wanted yellow for the shade, and found this fabric at this store. I also have this Martha's book (I love this lady...) to sort of guide me through. The book has very brief instructions to make your own shades, but the tutorial of how to make a window shade is coming soon, so stay tuned!

As you can see, in the photo of the previous post, the back of our island was bare. We put stainless steel boards under the counter top of the island and painted them with whiteboard paint so that kids can draw on it or play with magnets while I am busy cooking. (so at least that was our plan.) It ended up that the whiteboard paint doesn't really work well and the markers don't come off completely. So it looks like kids drew on the cabinet... Kids are only allowed to play with magnets under the counter now. *ahem*

黄色がいい！っと決めていたので、このオンラインストアで生地を購入。そしてこのマーサの本を参考にしながら作りました。この本はいいのですが、説明が不足がちで分かりにくいところがありました。近いうちにシェードの作り方も載せておきたいと思っていますので、興味がある方はお楽しみに！　

前に載せた写真からも分かるように、アイランドの後ろがそのままになっていました。ステンレスの板を張り、それからホワイトボード用ペンキを塗って、私がご飯を作っている間、子供達がペンでお絵かきしたり、マグネットで遊べるようにしました。（っというのが理想でした。）でも、このホワイトボードの塗料、お絵かきしたペンのあとがハッキリと残ってしまって、結局、キッチンに落書きしたように見えてしまうので、残念。子供達はマグネットだけで遊んでいます・・・もちろん、私が鬼の様に忙しくしている夕飯を作るときは、全く遊ばないで、私にまとわり付いてきますが・・・　

AFTER

What do you think?

summer chore

2011-07-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Seiju and Taisei has a new chore for the summer. They are to help me with laundering the little towels and the dinner napkins that we use so much each day.

In Japan, most school require kids to change into "slippers" (more like white slip-on ballet shoes except they have rubber soles) when they arrive to school. I remember bringing them home every Friday to be hand washed over the weekend. I remember washing them outside during summer time. I also remember feeling so accomplished and clean while I looked up at dripping clear water from my school slippers on a laundry line. (ah, maybe that's where I developed the love of laundry.)

So I figured maybe this would do some good for my kiddos too. (maybe, they are going to take over the whole laundry duty completely? someday?)

夏の間、大生と聖樹にお仕事が増えました。毎日使う小さなタオルやキッチンタオルなどを手洗いで洗うことです。

小学校の頃、毎週金曜日に上履きを持って帰ってきて、自分でたわしを使ってゴシゴシと洗っていたことを思い出したんです。そして、きれいになった上履きを見て、達成感を覚えたことも・・・　っということで、子供達にも働いてもらいましょう。っと思ったわけです。

After the scrubbing, filling up more water for the rinse...

すすぎ洗いに使う水を入れます・・・

They work hard...but really they just love playing with water!

でも、結局は水遊びに変わっていて、ビチャビチャになって終わってしまうんです。

But some how they are all clean!
What's your summer chores in your home?

でも、きれいになってスッキリ！ついでに子供達もスッキリ！
夏の特別の仕事って皆さんの家庭ではどんなことをしていますか？

{this moment}

2011-07-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

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celebrating in the forest

2011-07-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

We had a quiet forth of July this year in the forest.

今年の独立記念日は森の中で過ごしました。

And appreciated beauty that this land offers.

そしてこの国の美しさを少し、おすそわけしてもらいました。

We found a perfect stream.

素敵な川も見つけました。

The boys got wet and dirty, but celebrating America in the forest was exactly what we wanted. Quiet and beautiful.

子供達は泥んこになったけれど、森で過ごした静かな独立記念日は最高でした。

boy's world: food fight

2011-06-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends hosted an awesome BOY ONLY party. (how cool is that?) And they had a food fight!! There were jellos, noodles, puddings, marshmallows, and cool wips all scattered throughout the back yard. On the signal, let the crazy messiness begin!

ママ友達の一人が先週、男の子たちだけのパーティーを開いてくれました。そしてパーティーのメインは食べ物ファイト（？）日本語ではなんと言えばいいのだろう・・・（とにかく食べ物を使ってファイトすることです。）　ゼリー、プリン、マシュマロ、ラーメンの麺、生クリームなんかが庭中においてあって、「始め！」の合図でいっせいに始まりました！

Seiju was having so much fun! I had to explain to him carefully that he is allowed to throw food. AND he can throw at people!! He couldn't process that information until he got to the house and saw the food on the ground.

聖樹も頑張っていました。この日の朝、聖樹に「今日はフードファイトがサイモンのお家であるんだよ。そして、食べ物を投げていいの。しかも、人に向かって投げていいんだよ！」っと説明しては見たものの、本人はハテナ顔。「そんな事あるわけないじゃん。」という感じで流されてしまいました。でも、サイモン君のお家について、庭に置かれた食べ物をみてやっと納得したようでした。

Taisei's first injury was a noodle on his hair...

大生はラーメンを頭につけて歩き回っていました。キュート！！

After the food flight... they were in big gooey sticky mess.

終わった後にみんなで記念撮影。

And then they needed to be (sort of) washed.

そして、なんとなく洗って・・・っというか遊んで・・・

And then they had to climb up trees to get their lunch.

お昼ごはんは木の上にくくり付けられていました。木登りしないと食べられない！

And then there was some roasting of lunch over a camp fire. Maybe dry off some wet shirts and pants.

そして、ホットドッグをキャンプファイヤーで焼きながら、濡れたシャツやズボンを乾かしました。

Boys were happy. Very sticky and messy but happy. What a great summer memory.

男の子達にとっては、最高の夏の思い出になったようです。ベタベタでドロドロの最高の思い出！

color pencil case

2011-06-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is a really easy color pencil case. Since we do a lot of drawing at home and outside of home, this has become a necessity. We can tuck this into our bag with some sketchbooks and go!
Tutorial is coming up very soon!

とても簡単な色鉛筆ケースを作りました。お絵かき大好きの我が家では必需品となっています。スケッチブックとこの色鉛筆達をバックに入れてGO!　　
作り方も今週中に載せようと思ってます。

the store is open!

2011-06-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

I am excited to tell you that my store 'Chimney Blossoms' is now open! I talked a little bit on this post about it, but I am donating 100% of proceeds to Japanese Red Cross during June and July. I hope you can come visit!

Seiju drew me a picture one day. It was a picture of our house with laundry hanging next it to dry (ha, that's our house exactly!), and the flowers were coming out of the chimney. So you can guess where the name 'chimney blossoms' came from. I want to keep making fun whimsical things that are inspired by my boys and am very excited to have this store to showcase them.

やっと、オンラインストアーのチムニーブロッサムが今日オープンしました！今のところアメリカだけの発送となっていますが、個人的にメールをいただければ日本にも発送できます。でも送料のほうが中身よりも高いと思います・・・この前も書いたのですが、６月・７月の間の売り上げは全て日本赤十字に寄付されます。

ある日、聖樹が絵を描いてくれました。「ままへ」っと書いてあって、家の隣に洗濯物が干してあって、煙突からはたくさんのお花が出ていました。　なんて夢があって素敵な絵なの！っと感動。　という事でお店の名前は「チムニーブロッサム」　・煙突の花・　なんです。これからも子供達と一緒にいることから沸いてくるインスピレーションに生み出される、夢があって心温まる物をこのお店に置けたらなあっと思っています。どうぞよろしくお願いします！

{this moment}

2011-06-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

. . . . . . . .

How to make a sketchbook

2011-06-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Drawing is happening in my house everyday. It is part of our lives now and sometimes takes over our house. Papers are scattered everywhere. EVERYWHERE, and they keep coming...

「絵を描く」という事が我が家では当たり前の出来事で、最近では、気が付くと紙が家中に散らばっていたりします。

Seiju's display string is always full and sagging with multiple layers for his drawings. What do you do with all these papers? I used to keep a record with dates, title, and his name, or take pictures of them and save them digitally. But I can't keep up anymore. And I thought it would be nice if he could draw in a sketchbook, so that the papers are not scattered everywhere. AND I can keep a record easier than a single drawing.

I don't remember when and where I saw this, but I saw a video how to make an easy sketchbook for kids. We make these sketchbooks all the time now. And here is how to make them.

聖樹のディスプレイの壁は、いつも聖樹の書いた絵で一杯になっていて、最近はどうしていいのだろう・・・っと悩んでいますした。今までは日にちとタイトルを裏に書いて、忘れない様に・・・と勤めていましたが、最近はあまりにも大量な紙の山に唖然。カメラで撮って保存してから、紙はリサイクル。

っと、いうことで、スケッチブックを作れば、本単位でもう少し楽に整理ができるのでは？っと思って早速スケッチブック作成！どこかでみたスケッチブックの作り方を思い出しながら、適当に作り始めました。今ではドンドン作っています。

1. fold a stack of papers in half. You can use any kind you want, like letter sized printer papers. In the photo, we are using over-sized drawing paper from IKEA.

１．何枚か紙をまとめて二つ折りにする。プリント紙など、どんな紙でも大丈夫。この写真ではイケアで買ってきた大き目の画用紙を使っています。

2. making the cover: use harder paper like cardboard or bristle paper to give a little bit of support when kids draw in the book. Recycling a cereal boxes is a really great idea too. Put the drawing papers on top of the cover papers (you will need two sheet of papers for a cover), and cut them so that they are little bit bigger than the drawing papers.

２．カバーを作る：硬めの紙やダンボールなんかがあると、子供が絵を描く時に描きやすくて持ち運びにも便利です。画用紙をカバーの紙の上において、画用紙よりすこし大きめにカバーになる紙を切る。

There is cool duct tape on the market now a days, so we use fun colors. You can get them at craft supply stores, Target, or even supermarkets.

最近は可愛いガムテープや色んな色のガムテープがお店に出ていますね。日本にもあるんでしょうか？アメリカではクラフトショップやスーパーなんかに置いてあります。

3. Leaving some spaces between two cover papers, lay them out horizontally.

３．２枚のカバーの紙の間にすこし隙間を作って置く。

4. lay down the duct tape carefully, taping the two cover papers together.

４．まっすぐになるようにガムテープを張り、二枚の紙をくっつける。

5. flip it to the other side

５．裏返すとこんな感じ。

6. and tape the other side.

６．そして反対の面も同じようにテープを張る。

7. and it should look like this. You are almost done!

７．両面にテープを張ったら、もう少しで出来上がりです。

8. Open up your drawing papers and place it on top of the cover, make sure you center the both the drawing papers and the cover. And then carefully flip them together.

８．二つ折りにした画用紙を開いて、カバーの上にのせます。中心を合わせて裏返す。

9. Staple them together. Place an eraser at the bottom and then staple it. Flip it to the other side, and close the staple with something hard like scissors or a bone folder.

９．ホッチキスでとめます。この時に消しゴムを使ってクッションにすると芯が曲がらないので、飛び出した芯を何かハサミなどの硬いものを使って閉めます。

10. We like to add an envelop on the inside just so that kids can put stickers and other things in it. By the way, have you seen Japanese masking tape? They are so beautiful and lovely; I get a lot of them when I go back home...but you can also get them in the US. Oh, don't get me started on Japanese stationery...but if you wanna check out a tip of iceberg, go here.

１０．後ろの方に封筒などをつけるとシールやしおりを入れられて便利です。日本でよく見る柄物のマスキグテープがこういうときに役に立ちます。

11. And done!

１１．出来上がり。

I like to put something to keep the sketchbook shut, so I use these.

私が作るときには、スケッチブックをちゃん閉めておけるように、ボタンをつけるようにしています。

And attach a string from inside, using duct tape.

紐を付ければ、しっかりとまります。

So here you are. Really easy and really inexpensive drawing book or story book for kids. We make this constantly now, and I hope you enjoy it too! What is your recycled project? I would LOVE to know more ideas for making practical things with recycled materials!

こんな感じです。とても簡単で安上がりなスケッチブックの完成。リサイクルができて、しかも便利なお絵かき帳。こんな感じでリサイクルができて便利なプロジェクト、他にもこんなのがあるよっという方、アドバイス待ってます！

growing season 2

2011-06-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

We are embracing the growing season fully this year. We are growing our own veggies. We picked strawberries, and the other day, we went to pick some cherries at our favorite local orchard.
Brown's Orchard is one of my favorite places on earth. It's a beautiful orchard with a charming store that sells their delicious fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and some more local goodness. There is a little play area for kids to play, a snack bar, an ice cream store, a bee keepers house (where kids can learn all about bees!), and a nursery that sells plants and trees too. Their orchard expands throughout acres of beautiful rolling hills. They have a large orchard, especially set aside for Pick-Your-Own lovers like us. We have picked apples in fall before, and it was so much fun!

今年の夏、我が家では自然の恵みを楽しんでいます。お庭ではたくさんの野菜や果物を育てていますし、イチゴ摘みにも行きました。そして、先週は近くにある果樹園にさくらんぼ狩りに行ってきました。
ブラウンズという果樹園は我が家の大好きな場所。果樹園でとれた果物や野菜がお店で売られていて、地物で作られているジャム、ピクルス、チョコレート、蜂蜜、メープルシロップなんかも置いてあります。外には子供が遊べるジャングルジムや、アイスクリームスタンドなどもあって、よく、仕事中の旦那さんと待ち合わせて、子供達とお昼ご飯のピクニックをしにいきます。そして、果物狩り用にも大きな果樹園が設けられていて、季節によって色々な果物を自分でとることができるんです。（なんてすばらしいんだ～。）

Beautiful cherries on branches, ready to be picked!

大きなさくらんぼが枝中にギッシリ！

There were so many cherries, and branches hung down low enough so that my 17month Taisei could pick them. Perfect.

木下の方までさくらんぼがなっていたので、大生も簡単にとることができました。

Seiju: "Mom, I got the twins!"

聖樹　「ママ、双子ちゃんのさくらんぼだよ！」

Higher the better, of course.

もちろん、上へ上へ。

Higher the better, of course.

やっぱり、上のほうがいい。

We had lots and lots of beautiful sweet cherries. So so good.
The lady at the stand told us that this week and next week is the peek for the cherries. So hurry up and go down there if you are in the neighborhood!

たくさんの甘いサクランボがとれました！　本当においしい。
果樹園の人曰く、今週と来週がピークだそうなので、もし行ける方がいたら今週中が良いかも知れませんよ！

sale for Japan, coming very soon...

2011-06-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

It has been three months since Japan was hit by earthquakes and a tsunami. I have been trying to think of what I can do to help. Since 'making things' is definitely what I do, I decided to 'make things'. I did the sale to raise funds for Japan right after the disaster hit, but I have been working almost non-stop for this Japan project since the last sale. For two months, I have been making little ugly bears and funny looking hopesauruses after my kiddos are all asleep in bed. And finally, I have reached my goal of 10 bears and 7 hopesauruses! Wahooo!! You can see some of them above today. I am hoping to put up everything on my online Etsy store as soon as I can. I will let you all know when I do! I am so excited about them (actually in love with them all...), and I hope you are too.

あの津波の日からもう三ヶ月が経ちましたね。最初にした日本のためのセールで、とても反響が大きかったので、その後の２ヶ月間、クマちゃん１０体とシアワセサウルス７体というゴールを達成すべく、子供が寝た後の夜を使って、毎日こつこつと作ってきました。そして、すべて完成しましたー！（疲れたよ～。）　今日のブログエントリーで少し紹介してみました。　ネット販売の手作りサイト、Etsyというお店を通して販売しようと思っているので、興味がある方は見てみてくださいね。

{this moment}

2011-06-10T18:09:00.001-07:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This is an ongoing project from Amanda Soule.

｛今の瞬間｝　アマンダ・ソウルさんが毎週金曜日にしている、写真一枚。言葉は書きません。覚えておきたい、今の素敵な瞬間、シンプルでいてすばらしい瞬間を捉えた写真を金曜日に載せています。

. . . . . . . .

more growin'

2011-06-09T04:59:00.001-07:00

On the note of growing season, this year, we have another raised bed. I decided to plant some Kabocha pumpkins, beans, and green peppers in them. Taisei is excited to play in the mud (I can't keep him out!), and Seiju is excited to get weeds out. (ha! great.)

今年も夏がやってきて、旦那さんがもうひとつ花壇を造ってくれたので、今年はかぼちゃ、シュガーピー、それからピーマンを植えることにしました。大生は土で遊び、聖樹は雑草をぬくのが日課になりました。

Peas are already out.

豆の芽が出てきた！

In another bed, we already have tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, and tons of lettuce.

去年作った花壇にはトマト、メキャベツ、レタスがすくすく育っています。

Lettuces are really easy to grow and super yummy to eat. We are eating HUGE garden salad every single day like rabbits!

レタスは今年初めての挑戦。簡単に育ってしかも毎日おいしいレタスが食べられる。毎日ものすごい量のサラダを食べていて、家族みんなでウサギになった気分・・・

Best part of gardening: keeping kiddos happy and dirty.

ガーデニングの一番いいところは・・・子供たちが手や顔を汚してニコニコしていられること！

ice cream under a parasol

2011-06-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

All I want today is to show you this fabulous parasol.
It is at our near by farm that we get our milk and ice cream from.

このパラソルに一目ぼれしました。
近くにある牧場にあるパラソルです。我が家の牛乳とアイスクリームはこの牧場からくるんです。

Sitting down and eating our favorite strawberry ice cream. Yum.

座ってアイスクリームを食べている図。

Yum, yum.

おいしい～。

We said thanks to the cow that made us such great milk and ice cream.

牛乳とアイスを作ってくれてありがとうってお礼を言いました。

Just a little more thank you...

もう少しプレゼント。

Have a great rest of the week!

もう今週も半分終わり！週末までもうすこしだ～。

growing season

2011-06-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

The growing season has begun in PA. The sun shines lots, and it rains lots. Everything grows.
We have several You-Pick-Your-Own farms around here. (One of many advantages of country living!) I loved this farm, and it was so close to our house. The price was $1.99/lb. Fabulous! And it was a perfect cozy farm for kids to run around and pick beautiful strawberries. Oh and eat them too. (shhhh! don't tell them... although it was pretty obvious after we were done picking...)

イチゴ摘みに行ってきました。我が家の近所にはイチゴ、ブルーベリー、りんご、などをとらせてくれるファームがたくさんあります。（あー田舎ってすばらしい。）　しかも値段が安い！子供達も大喜び。一石二鳥です。

Jewels on the ground.

葉の影に見え隠れする宝石みたいでした。

Seiju was picking them, and Taisei was eating what Seiju picked. The bucket was hard to fill.

聖樹が摘み、それを大生が食べる。バケツに一杯イチゴを摘むのに時間がかかりました。

Looking at Taisei's face, the girl at the farm gave me a smile when she was weighing our bucket. I felt like I should have weighed Taisei before we went into the strawberry patch... He was our other bucket.

Life is good; warm-strawberry-filled good.

イチゴ摘みが終わって、重さを量っている時に、お店のお姉さんが大生の顔を見てニコリと笑いました。大生の体重もイチゴ摘みが始まる前と後に計るべきだったかなあ～。

摘み立てイチゴのある人生ってすばらしい・・・

{this moment}

2011-06-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This is an ongoing project from Amanda Soule.

｛今の瞬間｝　アマンダ・ソウルさんが毎週金曜日にしている、写真一枚。言葉は書きません。覚えておきたい、今の素敵な瞬間、シンプルでいてすばらしい瞬間を捉えた写真を金曜日に載せています。
なので、わたしも真似して一枚。

. . . . . . . .

{this moment}

2011-05-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This is an ongoing project from Amanda Soule.

｛今の瞬間｝　アマンダ・ソウルさんが毎週金曜日にしている、写真一枚。言葉は書きません。覚えておきたい、今の素敵な瞬間、シンプルでいてすばらしい瞬間を捉えた写真を金曜日に載せています。
なので、わたしも真似して一枚。

. . . . . . . .

it's about time...

2011-05-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Seiju has been asking a lot about days and months lately. "What day is it today? What about tomorrow? What day comes after that? Where is the moon today and what shape is it today?" So it was time to make his own calender in English and Japanese. (what?! can you tell I am a little bit weary of his questions??)

最近、聖樹は「今日は何日？何曜日？明日は？あさっては？今日の月はどんな形？今日の月はどこにあるの？」っという質問をよくしてきます。と、いうことで、日本語・英語カレンダーを作ることにしました。

While we are on the subject of calenders... We are loving this beautiful lunar phase calender. It helps us visualize the movement of the earth and moon.

カレンダーといえば、この月食のカレンダー。天文系の質問の多いバーグ家では必需品です。地球の動きが感じられてなんだかホッとするところが私は好きです。

He has been studying and practicing how to read and write for a while, and I love seeing how he is gaining more confidence. I also love his little mistakes!

聖樹は最近, 読み書きの練習をしています。だんだん上手になってきたのが目に見えるって楽しいですよね。でも、ところどころに見える小さな間違いも私は好きなんです。

And done! Seiju thought it would be appropriate to put the lunar phase on his calender. Now he can look at his own calender to answer his own questions. I hope my plan works!!

出来上がり！出来上がったカレンダーには月食の絵を描いたんだって。これで、質問があったら自分で見て、自分の質問に答えを出せるようになるかなあ。ってちょっと期待しています・・・

Kodomono Hi: Children's Day

2011-05-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today was Children's day (Kodomono　Hi）in Japan. Although it is called Children's day, it is a day that we celebrate boys! I just love the fact that there is a national holiday in Japan that celebrates boys because they are just, you know, awesome. It is our tradition that we display a helmet or the whole armor of a famous war lord of your choice and also put up a Koi fish (carp) shaped flags outside. Our boys were really excited to see all these cool decorations up for this special day. For more information about today, go here.

今日は子供の日でした。男の子のお祭り。嬉しくて私のほうが張り切ってしまったかも？！今年も兜をかざりました。

A pretty wall hanging of Koinobori (Koi flags).

頂き物の鯉のぼりの手ぬぐいも飾ってみました。

We made our own Kabuto (war helmet) for boys to wear out of newspaper...

新聞紙で兜も作りました～。

which Taisei did not approve.

でも、大生は嫌だったみたい・・・

Last night, we put up the Koinobori to surprise our boys... I think our neighbors are going to be talking about us for a while now...oh well. Are you wondering why Koi fish in the sky? There is an old tale that many fish tried to go up a large waterfall, and the only fish that was able to go up the stream was a Koi fish. And the koi fish was transformed into a dragon and ascended into sky. Hence the Koi fish represents great success in life. I hope that our boys will be like koi fish in the old tail and go against any obstacles that might come at them and succeed!

昨夜、子供が寝たあとにアレンと二人で頑張って上げた鯉のぼり。ご近所さんはきっと疑問に思っているだろうなあ。ま、いいか。鯉が滝をのぼって龍になる。とっても素敵なお話だなあ。と思います。我が家の男子たちも逆流にも負けない子供たちになって欲しい！

Boys were ecstatic! Wouldn't you be too??

子供たちは大喜び！鯉のぼりってカッコイイ！！！

And at the end of the day, they took a bath with Iris leaves. Iris leaves are thought to be auspicious, cast out bad spirits, and give strength. So on May fifth, boys have a special Iris bath.
I feel so blessed that I have two healthy & happy boys in my life. What more can I ask for, really?

そして、夜は菖蒲湯へ。「刀みたい」っとか言って、今年は涙も見せずすんなり入ってくれました。去年は「嫌だーーーっ！！」て泣かれちゃったんだけれどね。今年も丈夫に怪我もなく大きく育ってくれますように・・・

happy happy easter

2011-04-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

We had our egg hunt in our back yard. For the first time, I included little bit of plastic eggs that contained some m&m's. (I am not too happy about that...) but kids loved it!

毎年恒例のお庭でのイースターのエッグハント。　アメリカではイースターバニーが知らない間に来て、卵を置いて行きます。（サンタさんみたいな感じ？！）それを子供たちが拾って楽しむ。っというのがイースターのイベントのひとつです。プラスチックの卵の中に飴やチョコがはいっているので、子供たちは大喜び！毎年手作りでつくる卵と混ぜて、エッグハントを行いました。

Time for some egg dyeing! I decided to use onion skin (orange), cochineal (pink), logwoood purple, and osage yellow. I work with a lot of natural dyes but never had worked with eggs before, so you will see at the end of this post that I had some interesting colors...

そして、卵染め。今年は玉葱の皮（オレンジ）、コチニール（ピンク）、ログウッド（紫）、オーセージ（黄）と草木染で染めてみることにしましたが、草木染で卵を染めるのは初めてだったので、面白い色もでました・・・

This is onion skin.

玉葱のおなべ

The cochineal pot. Such pretty color!

コチニール、色が鮮やかできれい！

And we had several colors at the end! Love the subtle colors that nature creates...

草木染で染めると、自然の色が出てやっぱり綺麗！やっぱり草木染の色って大好きです。

I thought that I should put a little bit of vinegar in the pot, so I added a drop of vinegar into the cochineal pot, and then it turned the color black!! Seiju said, "this is not an Easter color, Mama." So it isn't. And I have no idea why it did that, but it's a cool color!

でも、卵を染めたことがなかったので、色がうまく付けるためには酢とか入れたほうがいいのかな？っと思い、ちょっぴり入れたら、あっというまに綺麗だったコチニールのピンクの卵がミルミルと真っ黒に・・・どうしてなんでしょうか？？？　聖樹は「ママ、この卵、イースターっぽくなくなっちゃったね。」っとボソリ。
んー、微妙だけど、私は好きです。何事も経験ですね！

spring is here!

2011-04-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

Did I tell you that I love Easter? I love the bright pastel colors, bunnies, chicks, baskets, eggs, and celebration of spring and the resurrection of Christ...I love them all! Every year, I try to restrain myself from buying those cheesy fluffy bunnies off the shelves... and try to make little things every year to expand my Easter decorations. (Are you laughing at me?!) Anyway I have successfully resisted temptation to buy everything I see at the store, and decided to make a decoupaged bunny and eggs this year. The sheep (or lambs, I meant them to be...)and the bunny garland were from last year. I also have made felted eggs rattles the year before.

復活祭（イースター）が近づいてきました。この時期になると毎年パステルカラーの卵、ウサギ、ひよこ、バスケットなどの復活祭や春を祭るグッツが出回ります。パステルカラー好きの私の大好きな時期。そして春の訪れも感じられて、本当にワクワクしてしまうんです。毎年のようにウサギのぬいぐるみがほしくなってしまうのを我慢しつつ、今年はデコパージュでウサギと卵を作ることにしました。去年は羊とウサギのガーランドを作って、おととしはフェルトの卵ラトルを作りました。

I got the bunny and these eggs from a ceramic store at the market.

セラミックのウサギと卵をマーケットで見つけました。これは、本当は色を自分でつけて、薬をつけて焼くのだけれど、その前のもの状態です。だから、壊れやすい・・・

This is my best friend. Matte Medium: I use this for everything!

これは私がよく使う秘密兵器。アクリルベースの糊です。

I looked in my scraps and found some cute yellow fabric.

そして端切れ箱の中に黄色い生地をみつけました。イースターカラー！

cut them into little pieces and glue them with Matte Medium. You can also use glue for decoupage.

生地をさらに小さく切って、ぺたぺた張るだけ。

I also used old handkerchiefs for decoupaging the eggs.

ビンテージのハンカチをつかって卵もデコパージュ。

And we have pretty eggs and a bunny for our Easter table. We just have to make bunny cookies and dye some eggs now! Seiju-the-dragon is eying the chocolate bunny everyday... I had better watch out.

そして出来上がり。ウサギクッキーを焼いて、毎年恒例の卵に色をつける卵染めをしたらイースターの準備は完了です！聖樹ドラゴンが毎日チョコレートウサギを狙っています・・・イースターまで守りきらねば。

a gift from Rachel

2011-04-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

I received a package from one of my friends one day, and this was inside of it. As soon as I opened it, I couldn't hold my emotions in. It is such a powerful piece of work and so beautiful... I was overwhelmed by sadness and at the same time, felt the strength, hope, and perseverance of Japanese people.

I met Rachel at the University of Washington in Seattle when I was studying fine art; she was my first TA for my weaving class. (oh, such a long time ago!) She now works as an artist in SF. I feel extremely honored to be her friend and miss spending our "art nights" together...

この間、友達から小包が届きました。日本の旗の絵が中には入っていました。この作品を見たとたん、涙が止まらなくなって、地震があってからずっと頑張って抑えていた涙や不安やらがドンドンあふれ出てきました。災害が起こした悲しみがにじみ出ているのに、日本の強さや、忍耐、それから、これからの希望がギュッと詰まっているようで、感動しました。

レイチェルに最初に出会ったのは、私がシアトルにあるワシントン大学で美術を学んでいる時でした。気が会って、友達になって、毎月アートナイトと評した「美術の会」をしていたときの仲間の一人。今はサンフランシスコでアーティスト活動中。尊敬するアーティストのお友達。

You can see more of her work on her website here.
She also wrote about this piece in her blog here.

Thank you so much, Rachel. I love it that I have a piece of your heart in my house. You are the best.

レイチェルのウェッブサイトはココへ。
この作品のことについても彼女自身のブログに書かれています。

レイチェルの心が我が家に少しあるようで、嬉しいです。ありがとう、レイチェル！！

making a butterfly

2011-04-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Seiju picked a "make a puppet" from our to-do-box one day. I told him what kind of puppet he wanted to make, and he said "a butterfly!!". Huh, well okay... I have no idea how to do that...Anyway let's get to it!
We didn't realized that this would take such a long time. We ended up working on it everyday for a week!

この間、「することバス」から聖樹が引いた事は・・・「ペーパーマシェで操り人形を作る」でした。　どんな人形をつくりたい？って聞いたら「チョウチョ！！」っと答えました。母：「んー、どうやって作ればいいかさっぱり分からないけど、とにかくやって見よ～う！」っと言ってはみたものの、この後、一週間このプロジェクトに時間を費やすとは思ってもいませんでした・・・

First, I made some kind of structure that we can work from. The body is just a plastic bag with a masking tape, and the wings were from wires.

まず始めに作ったのは骨組み。マスキングテープとビニール袋で体を作ってから、ワイヤーで適当に羽を作りました。

We made a huge pile of shredded paper. Seiju is a pro at this work.

紙を破って大きな山を作りました。聖樹はおおはしゃぎ＆没頭。

We spent couple of days forming the shapes of the butterfly. Seiju loved working with gooey glue and soaking the paper in it to form the shape. It's a perfect project for kids! We would wait for couple of hours and work on it again after it is dry. I used 1 part flour 1 part water and cooked it until it was the consistency that I wanted.

そしてペタペタと糊でつけて、形になったら白いジェッソを塗ればあとは好きな色をつけるだけ。ココまで来るのに何日もかかってしまいました。紙を何層にも飽きずに付けていって形にしていきました。きっともっと簡単なやり方があるんだろうなあっと思いながらの作業。でも、聖樹は飽きずに毎日ペタペタ＆ハリハリ。ドロドロの糊に紙と手をつけてペタペタ張るのがたのしかった見たいです。糊は小麦粉と水を１：１で火にかけただけのものでした。

Painting time! Seiju wanted to use only two colors. When our kids use watercolor, I let the colors in a little containers from tubes and put some water in them, so that they can learn how to mix colors and get rich colors at the same time. I usually let Seiju mix colors on the paper instead of palette to let him see it happen in front of his eyes.

いよいよ待ちに待った、色塗り！　我が家では、水彩絵の具を使う時には一つ一つの色を小さな容器に入れて水で溶かしてから使います。そして、色を混ぜる時に紙の上で混ぜさせます。そうすると、一つ一つの色が鮮やかに出て、しかも色が混ざるところが紙に残ったりして、色と色の動きを見せてあげる事ができるからです。

Seiju: "Blue and Yellow are mixing up! It's like they are dancing!"

聖樹：「青と黄色が混ざってきたよ！いっしょに踊ってるみたいだね！」

It's finally done! Wahoo!

完成しましたー。

Okay, so it's not exactly a "puppet." but he made a butterfly! That's so super.

操り人形ではないけれど・・・自分で作ったチョウチョ。お気に入りです。

sale for Japan

2011-04-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since the Earthquake, I have been asking myself, "what can I do?" I really don't have much to offer, I realized. But I decided to make "something"...or "anything". I have to do something. So, here are somethings that I made for the aid to Japan. 100% of proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross.
All of the bears are made of vintage indigo dyed fabrics and linen fabrics.

地震の日からずっと、私には何ができるんだろうと考えていました。自分はなんて無力なんだろう・・・っと実感しています。でも、私に今できる事と言ったら「何か」を作ることぐらい。何でもいいから作ろう！っと思いました。「何かしなくちゃ」っていてもたってもいられなくて、作ったのがこんなものでした。全てのクマは日本の藍染の古布とリネンで作ってあります。
このセールで頂いたお金は全て寄付金として赤十字に寄付させていただきます。

Hajime: means the beginning. $45
はじめくん：一刻も早く、被災した方々や被害にあった場所が始めの一歩を踏めますように。＄4５

Akira: means first light in the morning. $45
輝：日はまた登るから。希望を持ってがんばろう！　＄4５

Haru: means spring. In hopes that the warmth of spring and love will reach the people who were affected by the disaster. $45
春：春の暖かさが被災した方々や日本のみんなに届きますように。　＄4５

Hopesaurus: $30
シアワセサウルス：＄3０　
Made of vintage fabrics. アメリカ製のビンテージ布で作りました。

Please contact me at satokoasai.berg@gmail.com if you are interested in any of my little creations to help Japan. There is more to come, so check back with my blog if you are interested in it.

興味がある方は私のメールアドレスへご連絡ください。satokoasai.berg@gmail.comです。もっと色々作っています。興味がある方はチョクチョクこのページをチェックしてみてください。

Updates April 3 : All of the bears and the Hopesaurus are sold!! Thank you so much for your contributions to help Japan. For the month of April and May, I will be producing more bears, Hopesaurus and more (I hope...). And I decided to set up an Etsy store for this, so that transactions will be easier for you.

４月３日：クマちゃんとシアワセサウルスは全て売れました。４月－５月中はクマちゃんやシアワセサウルスを作ろうと思っていますので、興味がある方はこのページをチェックしてください！ありがとうございました！！！

computer desk makeover

2011-03-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

My computer table has been really embarrassing. It was really disorganized and unpractical, and the biggest problem was that it was not baby friendly. I had my computer on the floor, so that Taisei can push the power button whenever he feels incline to. And then all the work would be gone. And then I would be really mad. And then Taisei would be really sad. But then he would push the button again. It was really a bad cycle. I am really embarrassed to even post a picture... but here it is. Don't judge me.

私のデスクは本当に恥ずかしいくらいゴチャゴチャしていて、しかもコンピューターが床においてあったので、パワーボタンを大生にいつも押されてしまって、そして私が怒る、そして大生が泣く、でも忘れた頃にまたパワーボタンをプッシュ！！っという魔のサイクルで困っていました。デスクの写真を見せるのはとっても恥ずかしいのですが・・・こんな感じです。

More to come for my little office space later... But for now, it is a work in progress. I find a solid table ($20!) at a thrift store and decided to paint it and make it work for the space.

っと、いう訳で・・・わたしのデスク周辺を整理する事にして、まずはガラクタ市でちょうど良いデスクを発見。しかも＄２０。

I got rid of all of the ugly hardware and used wood filler to make it smooth. Sanded it down and ready to paint!

金具を取ってから穴埋め、そしてサンディング。あとはペンキを塗るだけ！

A little bit of purple gray paint and pretty hardware from Anthropologie made my computer desk.

暖かめなグレーのペンキを塗ってから、アンソロポロジー（可愛いものが沢山あるお店なんです）でオーダーした金具をつければ出来上がり。

Here is the handle. It fits into my hands and I really like it!

これがハンドル。気に入ってます。

Here is one of the knobs. I really wanted orange knobs like I thought it was on their website..., but they are definitely more pink than orange...I guess this is what I have to pay for the convenience of online shopping. Oh well. At least Seiju likes the color.]

Now all I need is a pretty Mac laptop and some shelving to put pretty things on! I need some convincing to do on Allen for the Mac though...

これがノブ。オンラインストアで見た感じだとオレンジだったのに、実際に見たらピンクでした・・・ちょっとがっかり。でも聖樹が好きな色だから、まあしょうがないか。っと流しました。オンラインショッピング、こういうときに痛いなあ。

新しいマックのコンピューターと、壁にちょっとした棚を設置すれば机周りは終了。っとしたいところです。　新しいコンピューターがこのデスクに乗るまでは、ちょっと時間がかかりそうですが・・・

via natascha

And I can't stop thinking of my country.

そして、いつも考えています。今、自分にできる事はいったい何なんだろうか。

biting dragon

2011-03-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

I saw this post on bkids the other day, and I loved it and had to make it with Seiju. The website didn't have really good tutorial though (or I just didn't really pay attention to the directions...), but we figure it out as we went.

Start with a flattened cardboard box. Use thick and strong cardboard for this! I cut out 2 inch wide strips.

Paint them with anything you like. We used Crayola's poster paint.

Waiting for the paint to dry. Seiju could hardly wait!!

Use those metal pegs to put the strips together. It helped me to lay it all out first.

And then we had a biting dragon! So easy and fun!

...I am trying to keep busy, making tons of fun things and going out so that I don't keep checking for the news from Japan. I feel so helpless, being far away from my family, just stand here, and watch my country suffer... Heart wrenching images and news pierce my heart everyday. I beg you to think of the people there and pray for them and donate.

Baltimore Aquarium

2011-03-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

All day, I couldn't get hold of my mom. Since my family lives just outside of Tokyo, the earthquake has affected most of my family. My mom went shopping in the middle of Tokyo and was lost in the chaos of the earthquake. I had a really rough day, worrying about my family and people who were affected by the disaster on the coast. It turns out that my mom tried to walk home, but finally at 3:00am, gave up on walking and found a high school that was offering some food and blankets. She got home safely in the early morning the next day. I was so relieved!!

Since I needed to get out of the house and stop thinking about the whole thing for the moment, we decided to visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Instead of $30 per person, it is $8/person on every Friday night after 5:00. What a deal!! Make sure you book the ticket online ahead of time though. We were lucky to have friends to meet up with us too. It helped me to take my mind off of the situation for a while.

They are such good friends. Seiju is quite smitten by this beautiful girl.

Of course, he was a fish-hungry-dragon.

Taisei was mesmerized by all of the beautiful sea creatures.

And I was so inspired by the textures, shapes, and colors!!

Can you find a crocodile?

Another reason we wanted to go visit the Aquarium was that Seiju wanted to sketch the crocodiles and sharks by actually looking at them. (how awesome is that?!) It was amazing to see him carry around his sketchbook, see something that he wanted to draw, suddenly sit on the floor, and start drawing. Wow, I LOVE the 4th year. Last time we were there, all he wanted to do was just run up and down on a sloped floor (I think he was two then.)

Cool shark lights

Seiju and I sat down and sketched sharks and several different fish. We observed them carefully: how many fins there are on their backs and on their tummies, where are they located exactly?, are their eyes small or big?, and so on. It had been a really long time since I sketched in public too, I had forgotten how fun it was.

We had a fun night and when I came home, I was finally able to talk to my mom on skype. It was so nice to see her face, and she actually had a lot of funny stories to tell from her crazy journey to get home. It was a perfect ending to my day.

{this moment}

2011-03-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This is an ongoing project from Amanda Soule. Love the idea!

p.s. Thank you for all of your calls and concerns about the disaster that hit Japan. I had very emotional day today, and my heart is aching for the people on the coast. But I just got to talk to my mother, who were stuck in the middle of Tokyo until now, and my family and friends in Japan are safe.

sewing 101

2011-03-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

Seiju had a first sewing lesson the other day. He was a little bit scared of the needle first, but he really loved it once he got started.

Material needed:
an embroidery hoop
a yarn needle (the big fat needle without sharp end for finishing the end for knitting)
a plain woven fabric
several colorful embroidery floss

There was no rules or guide lines, just let the thread and needle go wild. And this mama enjoyed the moment that Seiju quietly sat on the floor and worked on his sewing, humming his favorite Christmas songs.

We also played with wires earlier that day, and Seiju decided to incorporate his wire duck into the embroidery work. I love that!

And this is what I made for Seiju while he is working on his sewing. A big mustache man. Silly me.

groovin'

2011-03-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

This is what we do every Tuesday afternoon. We have a roller skating rink near by, which is open to kids every Tuesday, and everyone brings their own riding toys and go wild. Taisei is walking lots now and loves just cruising around the rink. We just love the mirror balls and all those cool lights!!

And, of course, Seiju is a super-fast-bicycle-riding-dragon.

a new book

2011-03-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was very excited to receive this book in the mail the other day. Every Day's A Holiday by Heidi Kennedy. It features really great projects that you can do with kids for many occasions all year around. There are some that are kind of difficult for 1-4 year olds, but the book gives me lots of great ideas that I can brainstorm and personalize for my own kiddos. And yes, the book cover has been marked proudly by Taisei already.

Seiju really wanted to make these love bugs, which were project for the Valentine's day. And I thought that it would be fun to make rattles out of these cute bugs. So we used plastic eggs from last year's Easter eggs, put rice in them, and felt around them. (make sure you seal the eggs with plastic tape completely when you are using Easter eggs for felting base!)

It was Seiju's first time felting. So there was some minor difficulties... There were some uneven parts that came apart from the egg shaping. The book tell you to use washing machine to felt, but there is something great about touching the felt by hand in the slippery soapy water! So much more fun for kids, I think.

Mine was going to be a bee, so I put stripes. After much discussion, we decided that Seiju's pink bug would be a pink fish and be named "Miss pink", naturally.

So here they are. A felted bee and a fish that make noise when happy kiddos dance with them!
I can't wait to try the 'shadow puppet' or 'Recycle mini robot', from this book!

entering: a dragon phase

2011-02-26T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, dragon phase. We are finally here. Some of you might remember this post about his dinosaur costume, but some modifications were made upon Seiju's request to make it into a dragon suit.

Now that his wings are on, he can fly and beat up bad dragons. He is a happy good dragon, he says. Mama would have to say he sure is a happy one!

Whenever our kids show interest in anything, I tend to get really excited and give as much information as possible...
So here are some age appropriate(4-6?) dragon sources that we are loving right now:
Books: Elmer and Dragon, The Hobbit, How to Train Your Dragon
Movies: How to Train Your Dragon
Cool stuff that I am looking: Dinobox Stencil Set, Dinohands, knitted dragons, wooden dragon construction kit, wooden dragon.
Oh, I am so tempted to have this dinosaur party: Dinosaur party plan

what is your favorite dragon source?

to do box

2011-02-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

"What are we doing today?" is the dreaded question. Since Seiju is not in school yet, everyday is different. Some days are packed with things to do, and some days are empty on our calender. Sometimes I feel quite guilty that we have an empty day although I believe it is important for kids to have alone days without any distraction or influence so that they can go wild with their own imaginations ALONE.

I have lots of craft ideas and fun things I want to do with Seiju, but I often forget to do them with him. Because, as you know, life is crazy and time goes by so quickly... So we wrote down those fun things we like to do together, cut them into strips.

Folded them and put them in a box.

Now when he asks "what are we doing now?", I can just say, "Go and pick one thing from the box!" I found that this way, I get excited to do more activities with him instead of dragging my feet to play with him. (since in the box, there are things that I want to do with him!) It's a win-win!

The first thing he picked: make a paper airplane!

What's your idea to spend more time with your kiddos? I would LOVE to know more ideas!

for my nerdy hubby

2011-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

I was trying to think of a cute present for Allen for our anniversary but couldn't think of any. But I thought of a great idea that he would surely appreciate. Write something in binary system. Allen loves binary system! Of course! (Oh, you can't imagine my excitement when I thought of this.) So I went to the binary conversion website (yes, there is such a thing, folks!) and figured out how to say "I love you" in binary system. And I also hid a heart in the writing. Can you see it?

Yes, I married a nerd and turned into one.

And I think Allen liked it!

10th year...

2011-02-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

Oh, we have been married for 10 years today! I think this is definitely an accomplishment for me and needs some recognition in this blog. For 10 years, we had a hard time being "romantic" to each other. Sometimes hearts were broken, but I think over the course of 10 years, I have learned to just let go that "romantic" notion in what relationship appears to be, but embrace what we are: funny, quirky, and dorky.

I made shirts for this special day. (well, I was working on this shirt late last night, but I was so tired that I got our date wrong on our sleeve... I was going to put 2011 instead of 2006. Oh, you know what happens when I have a late night crafting to do.)

And do you know how I know Allen loves me?
This morning, Allen kissed me good morning and there was no handlebar mustache.

I love that guy so much. He is my eternal partner and my best friend!!

personalized valentine

2011-02-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

I am having lots of fun preparing for the valentine's day. And Seiju loved giving the gift we prepared for his friends today. We are going to be running around town tomorrow to deliver some cards and treats to more friends!

What are you doing for your Valentine's day?

finger printing

2011-02-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

I have been a big fan of Ed Emberley's illustration since I was a little girl. When I was in second grade, I learned to draw funny faces from one of his books, which I found at a local library. I loved it so much. So I was very excited to find this book on Amazon the other day and had to get it for my boys.

Seiju opened the book and had to dive into drawing.

Seiju loved printing with his fingers and drawing on them.

And after a while, the book got his creative energy going enough that he didn't really need the fingerprints anymore. This is a birthday party among bugs. Do you see the party hats that they are all wearing? He is so funny...

And while he is doing all that, I got to work on my fun project. This is a work in progress... I think it is turning into something. We shall see.

family 2011

2011-02-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

We finally had our family picture taken the other day. It's long over due since we actually wanted to do this for Christmas card... With a tripod and kiddos, we went into a field of snow and manage to take these pictures. Someday, we will have someone take our family photo, but until then, we have a tripod. If you remember our last family picture, we went to the same spot. Yes, we need to get more creative next year.

So Merry Christmas, A Happy New Year, Happy Valentine, Happy St. Patrick's day, Happy Eater, and all that to you!!

kitchen remodel: in progress

2011-02-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

We have been working on our kitchen for quite some time now. It actually started after we left Japan in August and was supposed to be finished by the time we get back home in October. (well, Allen was left behind so that he can do all of the work without distraction. well, the plan didn't go as we planed. ) You can see the first demolition by Allen on this post and the progress on our Youtube page. Of course we didn't really care to take the "before pictures", so what you see in the pictures above are before we actually purchased this house. Everything you see is from the previous owners of this house. They had this house decorated and organized so nicely for the day of the showing!

We decided to take down the wall that you see in the first picture, where the buffet table was. We hoped to create more open environment between the kitchen and dinning area and also to create efficient storage spaces by putting an island.

The cabinet, hardware, counter top, sink, and the pendant lamps over the island (they are for kid's room actually... but I love them!) are all from IKEA. We LOVED dealing with IKEA kitchen system; it was simple and easy to assemble and everything fits perfectly. Well, although Allen might say differently...

We obviously have lots more to do to finish it up, but our kitchen is now functional and efficient (which is so important, no?) and we love it.

Allen is THE person who worked on the kitchen and he did most everything while we (Seiju, Taisei, and I) "helped out." I really didn't know Allen could do this. How does he know how to build a kitchen from scratch?!

More up date to come!

after dinner

2011-02-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

we call this "digesting" after dinner. Allen usually lay on the couch and tries to convince Seiju and Taisei to lay down with him. Usually it doesn't work and turns into a big wrestling match with three boys all together.

夕飯を食べた後、いつもアレンはソファーで寝そべって「消化」という名の「仮眠」をしようとします。そして子供達も一緒に「消化」させようとしますが、大抵いつも、嫌がる子供達と一緒に遊ぶプロレスごっこになってしまいます。

Except this day, Seiju actually fell asleep with Allen. I thought that it was the sweetest thing...but Seiju woke up in the middle of the night that night and threw up. Oh, I guess he was sick. This winter has been hard on kids. I can't wait for warm spring to come!!

でも、この日だけは聖樹が本当に一緒に寝てしまいました。「あー、ホノボノしてて素敵な絵だなあ。」っと思って写真を撮ったけれども、その夜、聖樹がベッドで吐いてしまいました。あー、具合がわるかったんだねえ。この冬は子供達の体の調子が崩れます。
早く春にならないかなあ。

snow!

2011-01-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

snow has fallen from the sky.

雪がふりました。

We are off to make a snowman!

さっそく、雪だるまを作ります！

a perfect valentine card

2011-01-29T20:41:00.001-08:00

via The Hungry Workshop

Mr. Berg has been growing his handlebar mustache for a while now. And this would be the perfect Valentine's day card for me. I am not going to say anything more about this subject...

旦那さんが髭を剃らなくなってから何週間かたちました。バレンタインのカード、このカードが良いなあ。そして髭を本当に剃ってくれるともっと良いなあ・・・

studies

2011-01-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

Seiju said that I should put it up on a wall after I was done painting this small work that I had been working on. It is one of my material studies, and hopefully, I am going to do more of small works.

この間、私が描いた絵を見た聖樹が「ママ、この絵をココにはればいいよ。」っと壁に貼ってくれました。これから、小さな作品をいくつか作ってみようとかなあっと検討中。

In the mean time, Seiju works faster than I do. On his display string, it is always crowded with his paintings and little creations. Yesterday, when I asked if he was playing, he said "No, mama. I am not playing. I am creating." I am loving a 4 year old.

私がノロノロしている間に、聖樹はドンドン製作していきます。　アート・ディスプレイの紐には毎日の作品が付けられます。　昨日、「遊んでるの？」って聞いたら、「違うよママ。遊んでるんじゃなくて、造ってるんだよ。」っと言われました。四歳って凄い！

first birthday

2011-01-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Taisei turned one! yey! I can't believe that he is one now and can't remember how that happened. I think that second child grows up faster than the first one... (that must be it). We were all sick for a week and I threw my back out (oh that was really horrible!), so his birthday was canceled until last night. Taisei was not too sure about his brand new birthday crown...

大生が一歳になりました。もう一歳になってしまっただなんて信じられなくて、いつの間に？っという感じです。やっぱり２番目の子の成長は一人目よりも早く感じるんでしょうね。　インフルエンザで家族でダウンしてしまって、やっと治りかけていた時に、私がぎっくり腰をしてしまったので、大生の誕生日パーティーもプレゼントも昨日まで延期でした。　
大生のために作ったお誕生日の冠は不思議な顔をしてかぶっていました・・・

His birthday dinner. It was utterly destroyed and eaten up.

バースデーディナー。出したとたんにグチャグチャになりました。

And his birthday cake!

そして、ケーキ！

I made him a huge bear. He is such a sensory boy and loves anything that is soft and fluffy, so I thought that I would make a bear with super soft minky fabric. (Simple, right?) It was really really hard to deal with the fabric!! It was not the slipping that was difficult, but it was the dust & fluff that goes everywhere that made me crazy!! I had to wore a dust mask while I was making this bear, and I was covered with the white fluff after couple of hours of dealing with this fabric.

誕生日プレゼントには大きなクマちゃんを作りました。大生はフワフワしたものが大好きなので,　「そうだ！フワフワの生地でクマちゃんを作ってあげよう！」っと単純に思ったのです・・・　この生地がナカナカのくせもので、切るのも縫うのも大変で、なんたって毛皮がそこらじゅうに飛ぶは着くわで大変でした。ダストマスクをつけながら、毎晩、子供達がねてからの作業。一晩の作業が終わると頭からつま先まで白い毛で覆われてしまって大変でした～！

But I forgot all about the work when I saw him cuddle the bear in the morning...Taisei loves the bear and loves to cuddle and wrestle with his new friend.

でも、そんな大変だった事も、大生がクマちゃんに逢って抱きついているところを見たら、忘れてしまいました。くまちゃんの事をとっても気に入ってくれて、いつもハグハグたりレスリングをしたりしています。

I used this pattern for the bear and used the chocolate beige from this store. Both stores were really great to work with. I got couple of samples from the Minky Delight Fabric, and their fabrics were higher quality than what you can get from my local fabric store! I highly recommend them!　　

大きなクマのパターンはココのお店から。生地はココのネットショップのチョコレート/ベージュを使いました。どちらのお店もサービスもとても良くて、Minky Delight Fabricの生地屋さんからはサンプルも何枚か購入しました。近所の生地屋さんとくらべても、生地の質も良い物を扱っていると思いました。参考になれば嬉しいです。

inspiration

2011-01-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Seiju has been drawing and painting a lot lately. The other day, he drew me this picture of a boat and put lots of star stickers on it. I loved it so much, and his drawing inspired me to draw and paint a little bit.

最近、聖樹はいつも絵を描いています。この間、私のためにカードを作ってくれて、そのカードに描いてくれたボートの絵にナゼだか感動されました。星のシールがまたステキだなっと思い、自分なりに聖樹の絵を真似して描いてみたくなりました。

I love laughing fish... I think they are so funny and silly.

笑っている魚って凄く好きなんです・・・だって面白いでしょう？