Perfect Timing

So Riley got another Little Passports in the mail the other day. She gets so excited when she gets mail; like mother like daughter. Her little passport this month was from Japan and it couldn't have come at a better timing, as I will be in Japan next week.

Let me just say that again, I will be in Japan next week. That's so crazy. I spent most of my evening last night making treat bags for my girls for each day that I'm gone. I write little notes and printed maps and did a concept similar to Little Passports, so my girls know what city I'm in that particular day and how I will be missing them terribly. I plan to pick up some little toys and treats to put in there for them too. I hope they enjoy them and enjoy spending the week with my husband.

I plan to share my little treat bags here as soon as I'm finished with them so other mommies can use it if they ever travel away from their littles.

I love how excited my girls (and my brother in law, Mark) are about learning geography and I love that this little teaching tool makes it so fun. They talked about sushi, Children's Day, fish markets, and had an activity to help better understand the concept of the exchange between Dollars and Yen. Some of the activities I think are geared more towards older children, but Riley totally grasps the concept of the general geography and most of the items included.

Usually they give a clue as to which country is next, but this time they left it to be a mystery. I think there' s a little bit of fun not knowing totally what you're getting yourself into. At least that's what I keep telling myself, as I will be flying halfway across the world to a country where I don't speak the language and don't even know what to pack for, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that I just cannot pass up.

Little Passports

I think it's really important to teach our children about the world around us. To teach them that what goes on here in small town Northern Kentucky is just a freckle of what goes on in the world. In a perfect world I would pack a bag and throw my kids on a plane and show them the world firsthand, but since I'm not a billionaire and my children aren't even quite old enough I think to comprehend other cultures, we're taking baby steps.

I read a lot of magazines. I have subscriptions to quite a few and get one in the mail every few days. Naturally, I read a lot of parenting magazines, being a parent in all. So one day I was sitting on the couch after dinner while my sweet husband was doing the dishes and saw an advertisement for this, and just knew I had to have it for my little Riley, the one that loves to "explore the world" as she puts it herself.

Little Passports (click to see their website) is a San Fran based company that sends the character Sam and Sophia around the world. Your kids can follow them along and learn about different cultures around the world and learn world geography. Unfortunately I'm not getting paid by anyone to say this haha but I think it's a pretty neat little thing for little ones.

It comes with this cute little suitcase, which is worth the $10 alone. 

There is also a world map, a passport where you can put your child's picture, a boarding pass with access codes to online games, stickers, and worksheets.

Each month the characters, Sam and Sophia travel to a new country and a new package comes for a monthly fee that you can cancel at anytime. Super cute and a great way to get Riley excited about learning other cultures and get a perspective on how large the world is.

Plus she loved getting mail with her own name on it, she must get that from her mama.

Blueberry Kit Kats

I love mail. I find myself singing the blues clues mail song every time I get a package. I'm cool like that. At first when Hub told me I had a package I thought it was going to be the chocolates I had ordered from one of the kids in our neighborhood for a fundraiser, literally months ago, that I had given up on. 

It wasn't.

I have officially given up on those... 

It has been so long that I really can't even remembered what I ordered. haha

My older brother (only by 17 months) is currently teaching English in Japan through the JET Program. He has been there for going on 2 years now, which seems like forever! This Christmas he wouldn't be flying home which may be the first Christmas in 24 years that I haven't spent with him. He did send my little family a gift though, which is super cool.

I'm hoping that Brandon and I will be able to go this next spring or summer if we can come up with the funds and visit him, but let me tell you, flying across the world isn't cheap.

Blueberry Kit Kats, why didn't Americans think of this sooner?

Riley thought the baby on the back of the package was really cute!

I thought they were really good and so did the girls.

And no, I'm not sure why there is a dollar bill on our kitchen floor, but such is life around here.

Thanks Uncle Chuck!

We'll miss you at Christmastime! (and all other times too!)

Mail!

I have mentioned many times before that I love to get packages in the mail. Not bill mail, real, fun, mail. Sometimes I feel like Mr. Rogers. Or was it Pewee Herman? Either way, I get so excited to see a package on my stoop!

This is what I've gotten in the mail recently:

My little mommy of two girls heart MELTED away when I saw these! They are seriously the cutest things and perfect for when we go apple picking this fall! Which is something I better start planning now because at the rate things are going now, my girls are going to be in college when I wake up tomorrow.

And these?! These may just be cuter than the apple ones! I hope my girls let me buy them hair bows until they are old and married. Ok. Okay, at least till they are in high school... at least!

These? These are the tiniest little white cheerleading shoes ever made. Ok, maybe not ever made, but they are the smallest size they made at the company I ordered them from! I'm so excited for cheerleading competition in a few weeks!