Date Night...

Kids asleep, we give the baby monitor to our dear friend Julianne who lives above us, and head out for an actual... date night!

Because these occasions are few and far between, we decided to splurge. However, we had to maintain reason too. The first place we went to was a little Italian joint in a renovated brick basement that looked darling, but when we sat down and looked at the all Japanese menu with meals starting at 3000 yen (about $40), we politely excused ourselves and exited quickly. Yes, we wanted to spoil ourselves this particular night, but one hungry husband + overly priced meals = cause for a new local.

We hopped back on our bikes and set out with no particular clue where we'd end up. We struck gold by landing at a chic little cafe where we'd attended a birthday party the year prior. We were able to order three meals for portion of what we would have spent at the other place, and the food was OUTSTANDING. My big hubby particularly liked the hotpot of seafood and veggies- even a little lobster in there!!

Thank you to the lovely Julianne for giving us a wonderful night out!!

Child's Play...

Continuing with the babes' room renovation, post bamboo bed, we have simplified, de-cluttered, and created a warmer space for these two...

Our friend Kazuko gave us some delightful watercolor art that I adore...

I absolutely LOVE this little wooden vegetable set I found at a recycle shop here. It has become a personal favorite of all of ours!

Discovery... today I found Sol studying the shadow of his hand as the morning sun reflected off of the closet doors. He was intensely focused on the opening and closing of his fingers. I love watching our little ones discover new things. Such rich joy...

Birthday Bed...

Well, our dear 11 month babes have finally graduated from the single-baby crib to the big time. Papa, in all his ingenuity, used the resources at hand to build them ... super crib.

And... WAH-LA!! He created the perfect space for our growing darlings. What's best, bamboo is edible and chemical free, so they really have the safest of environments to grow their dreams in...

The crib gets its last night of dancing...

Another day of play...

Importance of Environment...

Recently I have been on a "beautifying the babe's room to make it comfortable for learning and growth" kick. With it, I have discovered some incredible blogs that I will post below for your own perusing, and will share through photos in a blog to come, what I have created and been inspired with. A friend has let me borrow her sewing machine as well, giving me a fantastic outlet for creating some clothes for the sweet peas...

http://sewliberated.typepad.com/sew_liberated/

http://www.made-by-rae.com/

By way of these two blogs primarily, I have been whisked through the vast world of inspirational links for sewing, crafting, designing and creating- plenty to keep me busy!!

Game video...

My friend Angie posted some great videos of Ray and his teammates from this season's games. Thought you might enjoy!

http://angieyasuda.blogspot.com/2011/02/angie-thinksjust-little-fun.html?spref=fb

Thank you Angie!!

Kazuko and her family...

We met Kazuko last year at the Yamada dairy farm and immediately were drawn to her warm and natural spirit. She loves being outside, and truly loves the hard work on the farm. Last Monday, she invited us to join her and her parents at their home in Yamashina, the next town over from ours...

The first plum blossoms have emerged!!

These are the rain "gutters" from the temples...

On our last visit to the Yamada dairy, I took the baker some of our culinary lavender. On this trip, Kazuko gave us some lavender cheesecake and scones that he had made. I'm not a cheesecake fan, but this was one of the most decadent treats I have enjoyed in a long time...

Kazuko's father, enjoying little Sophia...

More beautiful people in our lives...

Papa's lil airplane...

Q-P...

Well, we knew it wouldn't be long until Sophia would be given her first doll. It happened at a team party; Ray's teammate Shinya was walking around in a restaurant with Sophia, and next thing we know our little lady showed up with this naked cherub.

This doll's name is "Cupie", pronounced "Q-P", or their way of saying Cupid, and is the trademark symbol of a brand of mayonnaise here in Japan. The funny thing is, this little doll has a striking resemblance to our little doll.

Soymilk...

Ray found a video tutorial on making homemade soymilk and dove right in to the project, recruiting some friends along the way...

He began by soaking the beans overnight- they doubled in size...

He took the beans, added equal parts water, and blended them up to a liquid, then ran the liquid through cheese cloth three times...

He then cooked the liquid on a low boil for 20 minutes. WAH-LA! Delicious!!

My favorite part was the "okada", or the left over soybean pulp. I used it to make veggie burgers, which hit the spot- SO good!

A wonderful day...

My friend Angie and I enjoyed a day together with our kiddos at one of my favorite places in all of Shiga. She blogged about it, and did a darn good job recapping our marvelous day. Check out the post here:

http://angieyasuda.blogspot.com/2011/02/angie-thinksface-to-face-time.html#comment-form

Haiku + Speak

Talking without sound

Sweet little hands in motion

Comprehension cue

Today's haiku is dedicated to our sweet little Sophie.

For a while now we have been using the signs "eat" and "more" when feeding the babes, in hopes of getting them to communicate to us when they are hungry. Well, I'd seen bits of Sophia using these signs, but never so sure of them as yesterday when she clearly used "eat" and "more", and Ray saw it too!! And she's using them a lot now that she knows it really works (and she can get more food as a reward!!). It is so cool to see her little hands come together to show us her intent. A very neat milestone...

Leather and Friends...

On Monday we met up with Taka, a friend of Ray's who lives in Kyoto. He's an incredible furniture designer and leather worker. He made this chair, seen here, with two cute little ones...

He also showed me how to make my own leather card carrier. Here in Japan, there is a card for everything- credit cards, train cards, store cards, etc... Inevitably, one needs a case for those cards. I really like Taka's style, and chose to make one out of a beige leather. It took me approximately an hour, and I'm happy with the result. I even had him stamp it with his company logo. Very fun...