Birthday Projects

Well, it took me months of work and sewing (on a sewing machine with only a broken silk foot no less...couldn't find a foot anywhere here and Amazon wouldn't send one to me) and tons of Pinterest nights when I should've been sleeping, but I made all of Little E's 3rd birthday presents and decorations and I might say, I was mostly proud of everything!  Little E wasn't as excited about the homemade presents as I was, but...what do you expect from a three year old!

I had three lanterns in a row over the food...of course I took them down before I took pictures of them!

We had flags festooning every room.

And a pink paper chandelier in the dining room!

I made her a tiered birthday cake as a present.

A breakfast set

Pancakes

Bacon, eggs and a skillet

Mmmmm, bacon

Cinnamon Rolls!!

AND a lovely campfire complete with hotdogs that fit on the sticks and...

...and marshmallows that fit on the sticks with s'mores!!

I had so much fun thinking and making all of it.  I didn't use patterns, just kind of went with my gut and looked at pictures off Pinterest to get ideas.  I've got the itch and now I want to make MORE stuff!  Anybody got more ideas for me to try??

My parents' first overseas experience!!

March has been madness...and not in the basketball sense (although I'm certain my husband is missing that particular madness).  My parents are here on their first overseas trip EVER!!  It has been months in the planning, but they made it!  I honestly didn't expect them to step off the plane in Naha...but they sure did!  They made it all the way through customs and immigration in Tokyo without any help and I'm SO proud of them!  We had a whirlwind first few days of preparing for Little E's third birthday party and then celebrating my little bug.  Then we had a wonderful home worship on Sunday and busted out to see the island the next week.

What a wonderful two weeks!

Little E and Grama at the Pacific on Comprehensive Park

Pizza in the Sky, Nago

East China Sea, Expo Park

Mom had been waiting to dip her toes in the East China Sea.

touching sea cucumbers and star fish!

Papa and the fish

Shark lunch!!

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

Dad at Mihama America Village

Frozen yogurt treat!

Ice cream treat at Shurijo Castle

Shurijo Castle

Walking with Papa at Shurijo Castle

Lovely Shurijo Castle grounds

The King's throne at Shuri Castle

Mom and Dad at Shuri Castle...standing on the royalty road

Shuri Castle

Little E and her skull juice at Sam's by the Sea

My lovely parents at a delightful dinner at Sam's

Eating real Japanese style at Gen!!  Chopsticks only and floor sitting!

Delicious shrimp tempura, edamame and teriyaki at Gen!

Little E is three!!

   We had some amazing friends here for Little E's third birthday and it was really laid back and fun.  It was such a lovely day that I really wished we could've had it outside...but no back yard anymore so we did the best we could.  The theme was HOMEMADE.  Everything from the food to the decor to her presents were all homemade by me.  Took me months!  I'm posting a separate post just on those projects.
   Little E was great...she was so excited for her friends to come for her birthday.  Every time someone new drove up she'd meet them at the door!

Maggie telling Little E that she wants to read the book to Little E as part of the present! Sweet girls.

We got homemade gifts including these amazing ballet slippers made by Elisha!

Also, a homemade doll by Ciara!  Little E calls her Matrushka. 

Homemade campfire from me and Adam

homemade birthday cake I made.  Everyone sang Happy Birthday to her when she opened it so it was even better!

cupcakes for all!

devoured cake!

mmmm, cake.

When everyone left, Little E was sure to say goodbye and thanks for coming.

    Such a blessed day and it made me so thankful for the community of friends and parents we have here in Okinawa.

February 2013 in Review

Ah February!  This was the month of cherry blossoms, valentines and Adam's birthday!  So apparently, the cherry blossom festival happens this month.  A few friends went and said that maybe two or three trees had blossoms and that it wasn't as exciting as they'd hoped.  So we decided against the long trek to Nago with all the crowds.  But we did see some cherry blossoms at our local park (Civic Center Park)

Diana, Evan, Little E and I decided to visit a new park and we saw CHERRY BLOSSOMS!

We hiked up some treacherous "Indiana Jones" stairs and found a lookout.

We headed to the beach one weekend night just to catch the sunset!

Who's that handsome man?

Then we ended up having dinner at Climax Coffee.

We hit up some of our favorite parks because the weather was just gorgeous.

Little E and Maggie, braving the slide together!

Comprehensive Park

We ended out the month celebrating Adam's birthday at Jai Tai!  Yum.

This is the creepy statue in front of Jai Tai.  Little E thought it was beautiful.