Sunday, January 6, 2013

Iwako Erasers

I have been searching for miniature food toys to pair with the Sylvanian Families, Lalaloopsy dolls and to showcase in general in the dollhouses.  The ones sold with the Sylvanian Families collection are quite expensive so I tried IWAKO ERASERS FOOD SETS which are small enough to fit with the Sylvanian and could be used for other creative play too.

What I like about those erasers is that they can be taken apart and put together again. And they are very cheap!

Japanese Food Set

This seven piece eraser set includes :
  • a tray (which is the only item that is not an eraser)
  • an oven top
  • a cup of green tea
  • a plate of fried rice
  • a bento box with shrimp tempura over white rice 
  • a bowl of udon noodle
  • a bowl of ramen noodle
  • a pot of soup / noodle

Chinese Food Dim Sum Eraser Set


This seven piece set includes:
  • a plate of pan-fried dumplings
  • a plate of fried rice
  • 2 baskets of dim sum
  • 2 bowls of noodles
  • 4 pairs of chopstick in a cup


This set includes four individually wrapped lunch plate:
  • a plate of fried rice
  • a plate of omurice (omelette filled with rice) with ketchup, sausages, green beans
  • a plate of shrimp tempura, corn, green beans 
  • a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce, carrots and green beans

Fast Food Assortment


The fast food set includes:
  • a tray (which is the only item that is not an eraser)
  • a serving of french fries
  • a hamburger
  • a hot dog
  • a sandwich
  • a milkshake
  • a soda drink
  • a drink in a can

Japanese Restaurant


This set includes seven individually wrapped Japanese food dish:
  • a bowl of udon noodle
  • a bow of ramen noodle
  • a plate of rice and curry
  • a bento box with some meat over white rice
  • a bento box with shrimp tempura over white rice 
  • a pot of soup / noodle
  • a serving of umeboshi (pickled plum) with rice 

I am very pleased with all the food sets! They are bigger than the food set from the Sylvanian Families collection but they still fit rather nicely and the kids don't mind so much the bigger size. Especially if the children are very young, they cannot play with the extremely small size of the Sylvanian Families food sets.


Friday, January 4, 2013

New Year Resolutions

Do you have New Year Resolutions? I had fun with the kids writing down on paper our resolutions and then post them on our door so we can remember them for the rest of the year!

One of mine was to have an emergency kit ready.  I already had one but was reminded on Christmas Day that my kit was not up to date when we had a TORNADO ALERT! This was a first for me because I am used to hurricane alerts but never before did we have a tornado watch.

Right on Christmas day, I was setting the table for lunch when I heard a loud BEEP: the familiar weather emergency signal from my phone.  And flashing on my cell phone was the following message:

EXTREME ALERT: TORNADO WARNING IN THIS AREAL. TAKE SHELTER NOW.

Can you imagine the panic I felt? I suddenly realized I did not have a small diaper bag ready to bring with me. I always have a little carry-on luggage ready for emergency evacuation in case of a hurricane watch but for a tornado, the shelter is very close-by and tiny so we could not bring a luggage that big with us.   So I scrambled as quickly as possible to get a milk bottle, some diapers and wipes and grabbed my baby and my boy to said shelter.  

Thank goodness we did not get hit by any tornado but others in the city were not so lucky and people even died.  It just reminded me of how deadly and swift tornadoes can be.  But after that day I thought about updating my evacuation kit to include items for my newborn daughter.  

Do you live in a region prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters which would require you to evacuate?  Do you have an evacuation kit?  Do you know what to put in that evacuation kit?

The National Weather Service has a website with a special section for Hurricane Preparedness.

It shows you a ton of important information like how to build a Basic Disaster Supplies Kit.

There is even a section for kids with fun games to teach them how to get prepared.

Go check it out! :)