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Tick Tock

March 25, 2012 By

Several of you have asked about the clocks I have hanging in our living room. Well you were jumping the gun, because I was already planning on posting about them!

Back in California, we had an oversized clock that hung in our living room (a present from my folks). But alas, right before the big move to Japan, it fell off the wall and broke. We joked that “Mr. Clock” was Ollie’s first friend, because when he was teeny tiny, he would just stare at it. I think in his baby book I even listed “Mr. Clock” as his first friend. So sad. We miss you Mr. Clock.

After an appropriate mourning period, I knew that it was time to move on–we needed to replace Mr. C. But instead of getting one really large time piece, I opted to put up three little ones and set them to different time zones. This works out really well since our family is now spread out all over the world! It’s like Mr. Clock had babies! (Yes. I just said that.)

The first one is set to Atsugi, Japan, the second is set to wherever my Hubby is, and the last is set to LA time. When I know the West coast time, it’s easy for me to calculate midwest and East coast time. The clocks were uber-cheap from Ikea and the letters are just scrapbooking letters I had on hand in my craft boxes. Score! I love inexpensive little projects like this!

 

1 Comment Filed Under: Crafting and Decorating

The New House Tour!

March 21, 2012 By

Without further ado…

Our new place! It’s a end-until townhouse on base, so it’s a bit on the institutional side, but I’m slowly but surely putting my touches on it! Here’s the front door. On my list of projects out here: to make a new house number and to get a chair or bistro table or something to put in that little open area right there.

There’s also this little storage area just to the right of the front door. I really appreciate the storage area for our bikes/stroller/etc., but I HATE seeing everything right as you walk up! So, I’m working on some ideas to cover those little doors so it’s not quite such an awkward area.

When you walk in the front door you can walk straight back to the living room/dining room area or you can walk into the kitchen/eat-in area. And here is the eat-in area. This is where I feed my little monkeys every day.

Right across from the eat-in area is the kitchen. It’m not in love with the blonde cabinets, but it’s overall much better than I expected. I have a really neat plan for spicing up this area–so stay tuned!

Through that doorway is the dining room. I am really loving this area–it just seems so cozy! That little white shelving unit is new from our recent trip to Ikea (Yes, they have Ikea in Japan, and yes, it’s pretty much just like the Ikea in the States!). It’s actually empty right now, but I’m guessing as the boys get older, there will be more and more “stuff” to store downstairs, so it’s nice to have some space to grow into.

That is a sliding glass door at the end of the dining room which leads to…

our postage stamp of a backyard! Our backyard neighbors are nice, but as you can see, they have a lot of kiddo stuff in their backyard, and I find the block worth of fenced in backyards a little depressing. So I’m working on some ideas to cover the fence and make it a bit more private.

Our little patio area.

And back in the living room…here is our new sectional! I LOVE it. Our trusty yellow sofa and loveseat that we had in California were super comfy, but they were a bit saggy and would have dominated this room. So right before we left we opted to buy a new piece. We found a great lady in SoCal who makes custom sofas for a great price. And the best part? It fits in this space perfectly!

Heading upstairs, here’s the nursery…well one side of it…the other side just has another crib and a bookshelf. I still have to put up the starfish in here, but otherwise it’s finished. The boys really love it in here.

The guest bedroom.

The boys’ bathroom.

And lastly, our bedroom (don’t you love that 80s country fan?). We have a small (and I mean teeny tiny) bathroom off the master bedroom that I forgot to take a picture of, but other than the bathroom…that’s our whole house! I hope you’ve enjoyed our tour!

2 Comments Filed Under: Crafting and Decorating, Japan

Our Stuff has Arrived!

March 19, 2012 By

Well our stuff final arrived! I was very pleasantly surprised that our stuff was delivered less than two months after it was packed up in California. And we only had one broken piece of glass in a cheap-o picture frame that I think I bought for $3 at Michael’s five years go! The Japanese movers were amazingly effective. They showed up at 8:00am on the dot and had everything moved in by 10:00am and unpacked by 12:30pm. You’re not supposed to tip Japanese movers (it’s considered rude) and they didn’t want any of the coffee I made or soda I had bought for them, but after asking about ten times, they finally started eating the 5 dozen cookies I’d baked (because I was NOT about to let myself be alone in the house with that many cookies!). It’s kind of funny though, they take off their shoes each and every time they enter the house (which was actually really nice since it was a bit muddy outside), but funny to watch them take the shoes off each and every trip inside (and there was a LOT of coming and going)!

I’m working on putting some pics up of  the house now that we’re all settled in, but thought I’d put a picture up of the moving truck–because if you love logistics like I do, you’ll appreciate seeing a whole house-load of stuff in one truck!

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My little doll.

February 29, 2012 By

Do you know what kewpie dolls are? Those big-eyed little dolls from the first half of the 20th century. My best friend’s grandmother used to collect them, so I always think of her when I see them (and here’s a random trivia fact, Hickman High School in Columbia, MO also uses the kewpie as their mascot). Anywho…I’m convinced Ollie looks like a little kewpie doll. He even stands like they do sometimes with his knees locked and his feet  turned out (I have yet to catch this on film, but I’m going to keep trying!). Check it out:

1 Comment Filed Under: Babies
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