元気が戻ってきた！

Kai is feeling better!

Luka is here for support!

"Hey big bro...let's hang out!"

「お兄ちゃん、元気出して！」

そして日本からのお菓子、フエラムネと一緒に付いてきたおもちゃです。

「一緒にご飯食べたい！」

This is a little toy that came with a Japanese candy.

Kai likes this guy so much for some reason...and he wanted to eat dinner with it♥

Christmas Tree ♫

今夜ツリーを出しました！

風邪気味のカイも少し手伝ってくれたよ～

Post Thanksgiving of course means Christmas decoration time!

I love decorating the tree. This is still our 2nd year with this tree so I need to find more ornaments.

プレゼントもこんなに！

ママ買い過ぎだね...

I've been buying presents for months now, of course mostly for the kids.

I found a few good deals over the weekend too so there's more to come!

そして昨日は久しぶりにエリカと2人きりでお買い物にお出かけ。

今年オープンした日本のラーメン屋さんにやっと行けました！

こちらは「北海道山頭火らーめん」

めっちゃ美味しかった！

ここ数年いろいろと日本のラーメン屋さんが出来てるけど、

だいたいアメリカ人向けの味でとにかく味が濃い！

でも「さんとうか」は美味しかった！多分ひーちゃんとジロミも好きだよ！

これはとんこつ・しお味。真ん中の赤いのは梅干！

Did some Black Friday shopping with Erika on Friday--was able to go out for a quick lunch.

Been wanting to try the ramen shop, Santouka and it was soooo good!

There's been quite a few Japanese ramen shops opening up but I want to say almost ALL of them are way too salty...and I think they're catering to the American taste buds.

Santouka was not overly salty and the portion size was perfect too.

I need to bring James here!!

カイが風邪...

一昨日から風邪気味。

今日も一人で昼寝がイヤで、パパと一緒に昼寝。

Now Kai has the cold...

He didn't want to take a nap in his bed so he came downstairs to nap with daddy♥

Happy Thanksgiving..!

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

Another year of MANY things to be thankful for...!

And another year of an amazing feast prepared by my parents!

(How will I ever top this when I start cooking for Thanksgiving??)

今日は Thanksgiving Day!

ひーちゃんがまたステキな料理をたくさん作りました。

Luka ate quite a bit of thanksgiving food!

ルカも食べたよ！

「いただきま～す！」

お豆ちゃん。

顔に見えるでしょ？

Check out this bean!  

The two quinoas made it look like a face..it was cute so I didn't eat him.

I brought Kai's new favorite activity--watercolor paints!

He got pretty creative and drew a few pages of 'abstract art' that I thought were great!

Thank you for the feast!

ごちそうさまでした～！

the poncho bib...!

So I really like the 'Dribble Burpy Bib' by aden+anais.

(I got it as a bonus item in Luka's Citrus Lane box)

It's like a baby poncho♥

it's soft, absorbent and provides good coverage!

Kai likes it too♥

カイは日本からのパジャマを着ています。

ありがとう、ばぁば！

watercolor crayons...!

Turns out, Kai LOVES the watercolor crayons we got♥

I'm so glad!  

He used up his whole watercolor paper pad, so I'll need to buy some more.

Watercolors are a no-mess deal.

I like it!

like father like son...!

watching daddy play some mario kart at Target.

he's quite intrigued!

長靴。

these rain boots feel weird on my feet...

「長靴...いつもとちょっと違う。」

with rain boots on, he gets the OK to splash in puddles all he wants!

doctor visit...!

お医者さんを待っているところ。

シートをめちゃくちゃにしちゃったよ～

Waiting in the pediatrician's office--9 month well check!

Luka completely destroyed the paper sheet....

It was just Luka and mommy♥

Daddy watched Kai at home.  

It was much easier than all four of us going to an appointment.

Happy Luka is back...!

Luka likes his new bibs!

ルカも風邪が治ったみたい！

元気に戻りました。♥

Kai didn't seem too excited for the jumbo puzzle :(

But look who IS! More like tearing it apart though!

みかん♥

今年のみかんも美味しいね！

This year's mikan is so good!  I remember I ate a lot last year...

Kai likes to peel it open.

the kiddos opening their boxes...!

Kai had fun with the puzzle--he needed mommy assistance of course. 

It's still hard to put together by himself.

Luka loves the roller...I'm so glad!

and the book.  Very cute!

Citrus Lane November box 2014 for Luka...!

So I explained in an earlier post about Citrus Lane.

quick recap, it's a monthly box subscription for babies & kids ages 0~5.

it costs $29/month with the contents usually exceeding that value.

I bought Kai's 3-month subscription with a good deal over Halloween.($20/month)

and for Luka I used a coupon for 50% off, so THIS box cost me only $14.50.

And here is Luka's Citrus Lane November box!

As soon as I opened it, I was excited!

Rainbow Roller by Plan Toys

Citrus Lane loves wooden organic toys, which I love too! But they are expensive.

I was happy to see this.

This is a baby roller with a rattle inside.  It encourages the baby to crawl.

Perfect for Luka!

Retails for $12.00

Opposites Board Book by Barefoot Books

Thick cardboard book perfect for babies.  The illustrations and colors are so cute!

I love this.  Kai was reading it too.

Retails for $6.99

dribble by aden + anais 

These like soft burping blankets that can also wrap around as a bib.

I was surprised to see this in my box actually.  

Turns out, Citrus Lane just partnered with them and I got one for free!  

Awesome surprise and I can never have enough bibs.

Retails for $22.00

Super Bib 2 pack by Bumkins

Speaking of bibs...here's more!

With these, we were able to 'customize' an item and Luka's box was the bib.

They had different designs like Mickey Mouse, fire trucks, etc.

I chose Monsters Inc. because we are very much a Pixar family♥

Retails for $12.95

Blueberry, banana and quinoa Oatmeal by Plum Organics

This is a food sample.  

I'm very familiar with Plum Organics.  I buy a lot of their fruit and veggie pouches.

This looks like a new product.  I'll try this and see if Luka likes it!

My sample value ~$0.95

I must say, this was an awesome box!

The total value comes to $54.89 

Luka loves the roller--he's playing with it now.

And the book is such great quality and design, I love it and so does Kai!

the bibs are awesome--plus one was a bonus!

I definitely loved Luka's box over Kai's.

I guess we'll see what we get next month♥

Citrus Lane November box 2014 for Kai...!

Our first Citrus Lane boxes arrived today...!

Citrus Lane is a baby/kids monthly subscription box for ages 0~5.

Every month you receive 4-5 items that are age appropriate for your child.

Usually toys, arts & crafts and occasionally items for mothers.

It's quite pricey...$29/month.  But the value usually exceeds that.

They almost ALWAYS have a deal going on.

I signed up for the kids during the Halloween sale.

I got a 25% off deal so I used some of Kai's birthday money to subscribe for him.

My deal brings it down to $20/month for 3 months.

After 3 months, I'll decide if I'll renew. 

here is Kai's box!

Looks like he got 4 items this month.

The Animal Boogie Jigsaw Puzzle - 36 pieces

Kai will have fun with this.  He started showing interest in puzzles when I was doing my puzzle a week ago.  These are nice jumbo pieces too.

Retails for $12.99

Faber-Castell Watercolor Crayons - 15 count

I used to work at an art shop and Faber Castell is a really good brand.

Although we already have plenty of Crayola crayons, I've never played with Watercolor crayons.

I guess that means you can apply water and use it as paint as well?

Interesting!

Retails for $14.99

Faber-Castell Watercolor Pad - 6"x9", 10 sheets

A watercolor pad for the crayons.

Hopefully Kai is interested in trying...I have a feeling I might need to wait til he's a little 

older to try this.

Retails for ~$4.00 (estimate)

Juice beauty Green Apple Age Defy Hand Cream - Full size

So this one is clearly a product for me!

Age defy hand cream? o yes! I'll take anything age defying.

And it smells very nice♥

Retails for $12.00

This was Kai's November box.

I think he'll really enjoy the jumbo puzzle and I really like the hand cream.

I'm not sure if Kai is excited with the crayons.  We already have some so it's nothing new to him.  Introducing him to watercolor painting is questionable.  He doesn't really have patience right now so maybe when he's a little older. 

This month's total value comes to $40.00

Value-wise, this is a good box!  Product-wise, it's okay.  

I saw the box contents for 2-1/2 year olds online and Kai 

would've LOVED the items in that box.  

It seemed much more fitting to him.  

I'm thinking of maybe aging him down in my profile 

so he gets the 2~3yr old boxes instead of the 3~4.  We'll see!