okinawa hai!

CONTRIBUTED BY KRISTY WELLS Music Class Six months ago I found an ad on the Okinawa Yard Sales website with information regarding a new music class available on the island. Lauren Baskins had recently moved here and brought with her the amazing learning experience called Music Together. Music Together is a music and movement class [...]

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MOPS Cards CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN PARKER Your three-year old spilled his orange juice, and while you are on your hands and knees cleaning it up, you notice the stale Cheerios from days gone by hugging the floorline that meets the wall. You crawl farther under the table, promptly bang your head, and eventually pick up [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER SHAFER  Parenting is not always a bowl of cherries, especially when you have an energetic, in-your-face, rambunctious, and all around difficult five year old son.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my children, but they can be quite the handful. Recently, I stumbled upon the new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class at the Courtney [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE When I learned that I was pregnant with a daughter, my mind immediately filled with girlie thoughts: butterflies and flowers.  Tea parties and princesses.  Pierced ears, painted toenails, and makeup (way down the road).  Tutus and ballet class. My little girl is about to turn six, and I have yet to [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE It’s a fact: little girls (and many little boys!) love to dance.  Back in the US, dance studios are everywhere.  The opportunities to sign them up for classes, rehearsals, and the culminating recitals are seemingly endless… and the tiny dancers eat it all up. Here on Okinawa, however, the opportunities to [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY JANNINE MYERS Raising bilingual children these days is nothing new, and here on Okinawa there are many families with children who are daily exposed to more than one language. But having the ability to speak, hear, and understand a language is not the same as being literate in a language and for many [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE As a parent, there are many milestones that we anticipate for our children: first time rolling over; taking their first steps; saying their first words. Getting their hair cut. When my daughter was just over a year old, her hair was growing out a bit erratically; her bangs were too long [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER NORDELL My daughter and I tried out Alligator Steps for the first time last month. It was even better than I expected and has turned out to be the perfect way to spend some one on one time together. I was thrilled when Larissa told me about the Japanese Class they were [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER NORDELL My love affair with bento making is a long and ongoing one, which I am sure was evident in my previous post about bento shopping. Needless to say I have always been fascinated by the effort and care that goes into Japanese bentos. Now that my oldest daughter is in school [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER NORDELL Every Saturday at 9:30 for the last month we have made our way over to the Emery Lanes. My 5 year old daughter is in the local bowling league. When our neighbors first suggested that she join I almost laughed out loud. What a funny sport for my 5 year old [...]

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