A New Project

This project turned out really well but was a royal PITA.


My brain does not like puzzles, putting things together, making pieces fit. Anyone who knows me knows I am not very precise with things and this one really tested me. I loved the concept and the finished product, but the process was really painful. I should not that the star is not flat, it is a dimensional barn star.

I had to actually make the pattern for the pieces, I wanted them all to be uniform and similar. It would have been a lot easier to cut each pictures to size in unique shapes and put them on the star but I wanted a pattern throughout, and each arm of the star to be the same. So I decided to torture myself and make a pattern and then try to fit my pictures onto each piece (I am getting the sense this is not making a whole lot of sense).

The pictures are printed in 8x10 size. You need a total of 10-13 and a mix of horizontal and vertical, but if you try this at home I recommend using mostly vertical ones. They just fit on the pieces better. Modge Podge to stick them down and to coat/seal on the top (I have not done that yet).

I have the pattern if anyone is crazy enough to do this at home and I will gladly give you the pattern. The end result is gorgeous and it was all worth it. It took me probably 5 hours total, and that does not include selecting photos. It will take you much less since you would have a pattern.

Thank goodness The Boss approved!

Having Happy Holidays

We have had a really nice break this Christmas with Dama having so much time off. We have done some really fun things all as a family.

We went ice skating the other day. Dama is quite pathetic on skates and could not help me at all with the kids because he is completely unstable and the smallest breeze will send him crashing to the ice :) So I took Lucas around, dropped him at the bench, sped around the rink once on my own, picked up Ellie...lather, rinse, repeat. It was really fun though and Dama probably did 5 turns around the rink, compared to my 20. Lucas ended up being able to sate a tiny bit on his own. The rink was really nice but I wish they had those little walkers for kids that some rinks have.

The next day, we went to Green Lake and the kids rode their bikes all the way around. Ellie was on her new Princess bike that she got for Christmas. She did really well and made it almost all the way around without complaining. Then all of a sudden she burst into tears "I am so tiiiiirrrreeed!". So Daddy carried her the rest of the way as I pushed her bike. Lucas made it all the way around and we did the 3 miles in 56 minutes.

Yesterday, we went to Marymoor Park and went for another long walk. We walked around the doggie off leash area and I put the pressure on Dama for us to get a dog. We saw so many cute and sweet dogs. I have always loved Sheba Inu which is a Japanese dog with a curly tail. They are really smart but they are not really good with cats and they have to be trained well (I am much to lazy for that!). Same goes for the Schipperke. I love those dogs too but they are notorious high energy and needy dogs. Dama likes black labs. I love them too but think they may be a bit big for us. I always come back to the pug as my choice. No, we are not getting a dog anytime soon but Dama used to say when Lucas was 8 or so. Now he is saying when Lucas starts school. Progress!

I also have to mention that I have not cooked one single meal since Christmas dinner. Dama has done all the cooking, every meal for all of us. Is there some rare disease that may be causing this that I should know about?

Hi!

It has been a while since I updated. I am having visions of throngs of people visiting my blog, tapping their fingers impatiently, refreshing multiple times....just waiting in desperation for my next post.

Am I right?

So, I finally go through all my orders for Christmas. So now I am focusing on our Christmas and a bit of relaxing thrown in. The kids are done with school so it will be nice to have days where there is nowhere to go, nothing to shuttle the kids to. Just days where we can do whatever we want.

Dama started his own blog. It is all in Japanese but it has a lot of photos so it may be worth a look every so often. I need to stop him from posting such unflattering photos of me though!

Dama's Blog

I am still taking orders from local friends and family so if you still need a last minute gift, let me know.

Pictures!

Here they are! A slideshow of about 8 minutes so grab a snack!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home Sweet Home

We are home safely and the trip home was fine. Jet lag is a bit of a bummer but I think we will all be fine in a day or 2. The kids went to bed at 7 last night and are still asleep at 12 noon! I have tried waking them but they are tired.

I have a ton of pendant orders to get through in the next few days. The orders kept rolling in while we were gone which is great, but I have a lot to do. In between all of that, I will be putting together a photo slideshow of our trip to share with all of you. How do you pare down over 1000 photos? Any tips? ;)

Our bags got searched on the way home which was such a fun experience after such a long trip. We had 7 bags and they confiscated a bunch of food things we brought home with us. Apparently, beef and chicken products are a no-no, that includes anything with chicken bouillon. The good thing was we did claim everything on our customs form so there were no fines. And the officers were as nice a possible which made it very easy. We were not alone, there were many in the same situation.

We are off to Canada on Thursday for a reunion of sorts, my old swimming friends are getting together for a night on the town. I will be bound to home after that, my passport is up for renewal in January!

On Our Way

We are leaving for the airport soon! Look for additional pictures and entries after I get back.

Days 5 and 6

We are just getting ready to go to the shrine. Mama is preparing "red bean rice", a food of celebration for the big day today. She will give a bento box full to all the neighbors. The kids are eating and getting ready to get dressed in their fancy clothes.

Yesterday was Tokyo Disneyland. It was pretty crazy! Luckily, Lucas was able to ride any ride he wanted so that was good (height requirements). We went on Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours (a Star Wars ride, he was in heaven!), some car race thing where both kids drove the cars, Cinderella castle (Elise wore her costume all day), and It's a Small World. The kids had a great time and we were amazed at how clean it is and how polite evryone was.

The day before, we did go to Obaachan's grave and cleaned it up, brought flowers and said prayers for her. Lucas did meet his great-Grandma when he was 6 months old and she just loved him. The cemetery was way out in the countryside, surrounded by cabbage and radish filds, on the side of a hill. There was a small shrine there where Lucas rang the bell 3 times for Obaachan.

After that, we found the mandarin groves. This was such a fun experience. The kids ate a lot of oranges and we filled our bags. The smaller the orange, the sweeter they are. Wait til you see the pictures! I am planning on making a slideshow after we get home so it will be easy for everyone to view them.

Everything has gone so well so far. The kids are eating well and sleeping well, which were my two biggest worries. But they are being troopers and enjoying every minute of the trip.

Got to go! Thanks for following along and for the comments. We miss you all!

Oh, and to Mum...Ellie was pouting yesterday at Disneyland and I asked her what was wrong. She said "I want to go to randma's house!". So I guess it is safe to say that Grandma's house outranks Disneyland!