Sight Words

My oldest daughter is in kindergarten this year and, so, she's learning to read. Instead of going with flashcards for her sight-word practice, I picked up a bag of little wood tiles cut to various sizes (I think it was $2 at Hobby Lobby, for around 200 little tiles) and I write the words onto these little tiles with my trusty sharpie.

Way better than flashcards 'cause A) they're pretty; B) they're more durable; C) she loves moving the words around to make sentences. We keep 'em in an empty peanut butter jar (clear plastic) on the bookshelf.

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Alphabet Wall

I have a large wall in my dining room that needed a little help. I had three large, framed pieces of art (ok--they were framed finger-paints that my kids did a couple years ago, we're THAT fancy, lol). But the space just didn't seem filled.

So I took an idea from one of my favorite blogs and came up with a very BIG, very simple and cheap solution that's PERFECT for any home, but especially perfect for a home with little ones running around. The inspiration in the above blog is MUCH better, but we don't have a saw. . . or anywhere to paint. . . and this is a rental-house, so I don't want to put too many holes in the wall. So this is my cheap-skate version.

Meet my Alphabet Wall. Printed onto pretty scrapbook paper, traced circles using a dinner plate, cut and scotch-taped to the wall.

Such an easy and pleasing way to fill the wall and my older daughter uses it for reference, now that she's started writing.

And our old finger-painted masterpieces have a new, more appropriate home in the girls' bedroom:

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Please Leave us Alone

My neighborhood is flooded with solicitors. At least three days a week someone would knock on our door to ask us about Jesus or talk about lawn-mowing, fence-mending, pest control or selling *whatever* out of the back of a pick-up truck (literally).

Also, my landlord would always send workmen over for various repairs WITHOUT BOTHERING TO NOTIFY ME that an appointment had been made to do so. So I get big dudes on my porch, unannounced, claiming that they need to come in to fix this-or-that. I don't think so.

ALSO, this house is designed very poorly and my front door is not visible from the street, it's tucked away in a corner of my porch.

And, finally, my husband works nights and I'm often alone with my two little girls.

So I don't open the door when people knock. Period.

But my kids are loud and sometimes (although I tell 'em not too) they peek out the windows at the strangers on our porch, which makes it hard to pretend no one's home.

So I put up a sign, even though I was doubtful that it would help, to tell everyone, in essence, "yes, we ARE home, but we are totally ignoring you." I never thought it would work.

But it DID work to an extent I never could have imagined.

I researched "no solicitors" signs and discovered that it's a poorly-kept secret that the houses with "no solicitors" signs are the BEST houses to sell stuff at. People often put those signs up because they HAVE TROUBLE SAYING NO. Savvy salespeople hit those houses harder than others on any street, often coming back two or three times. Not a good choice, people. Throw out your cute "No Solicitors" sign immediately. Also religion does not fall under "soliciting" in the law, so Jesus-peddlers are told to never heed such signs (which aren't legally enforcable when posted at a private residence, anyway. They can only be enforced when posted at a business).

I still get solicitors approaching my house all the time but--miracle of miracles--they see the sign and WALK AWAY. Couldn't believe it when it started happening. Often they leave a business card or flyer on the porch, but most of 'em don't even knock anymore.

When unexpected workmen show up, they read the sign, go back to their trucks and call my land-lady, who then calls me to tell me that she made an appointment on my behalf (she's gotten MUCH better about it, since the workers kept bothering her while standing on my porch waiting to be announced, lol).

Anyway here's the sign I made (printed on paper, glued to a wood plaque, sanded down and sealed against the weather). I super-glued magnets to the back and slammed that baby front-and-center on my front door. LOVE it.

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Kid's Activity Calendar

About a year ago, I designed this wall calendar for my living room's play area. My kids were 4 and 2 at the time and really needed to know what the plan was when they woke up everyday. They can't read yet, so pictures--not words--were definitely the way to go.

This is a rental-house, so I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in the wall (or else I would have mounted all this more prettily on wood backing and used hooks to dangle the activities off of each day). Scotch-tape was the cheap-o, more temporary route I took.

Anyway, every Saturday, after the kids headed off to bed, I'd update their calendar for the coming week, with photos representing various activities, holidays, appointments (storytime, playdate, dentist, birthday party, school, soccer, etc.) and each day I'd just move the blue arrow so they'd know what our itinerary was. Worked AWESOME. They'd climb out of bed and wander into the living room and immediately turn to the calendar to see what the plan was.

And another photo, with a bit more perspective:

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Teacher Block

Sorry for the lack of photos, I'm posting some old projects and didn't think to document 'em any better than this!

Christmas gift for my daughter's kindergarten teacher. Mrs. teacher-lady (I'm not going to publish her name) has five rules that the kids recite frequently. So I got a small block of wood (I THINK it was, like, 1.5" square) and printed, cut, glued, sanded one rule on each side of the block with "Mrs. [teacher-lady]'s Rules" on the sixth side. She loved it. And, since I already had all that stuff on-hand, it cost me absolutely nothing. Score.

Inspiration for this was from my favorite "I'm feeling crafty, but have no idea what I want to do" blog. They taught me how to make little blocks of wood be awesome and I ran with it! Check 'em out:

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Magic in our House

Right now, I'm working my way through my first Nancy Drew Mystery (curiosity got the better of me at the library last week)! It's cute and all, but I can't help thinking that if a cute and innocent (read: naive) girl was driving all over the place today, barging into stranger's houses she'd probably be raped or get caught up in a sex-trafficking operation before she knew it. She wouldn't be invited in for cake and impromptu birthday parties by total strangers. The times have DEFINITELY changed.

At any rate, I'm on a mission to scout out the FIRST book in various famous kids' series to try 'em out, so when I found the first Magic Tree House book a couple weeks ago at my local used book store, I was pretty excited to give it a whirl. It was about dinosaurs (which have always been favorites at my house) so it reeled 'em right in. The second book is about knights & castles (I picked it up at the library last week, also).

Currently looking for a CHEAP lot of these books on ebay or wherever. I think they are books that we'll be able to re-read and they're really--REALLY--enjoying them. Of course they're both BEGGING me to read the second Harry Potter book, but I told 'em they'll have to wait a few years. Harry gets pretty scary pretty fast and my oldest daughter is pretty sensitive to that kind of stuff.

In the mean time, I think we'll have plenty of adventures with Jack and Annie to distract us.

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Kennedy's Photos

Today I had the pleasure of taking photos for another friend! We went outside ('cause it's GORGEOUS today) and I got some pretty decent shots of 18-month-old Kennedy.  Here's a preview for the family:

 

I'm very excited to to work on these photos, as I shot have them in RAW & jpeg format and I'm curious to see the differences in my BRAND NEW software. . .yes, I bit the bullet and bought PhotoShop today. Finally. Haven't used PhotoShop since college, hopefully it'll all come back to me!

Anyway, a huge thank you to Rebekah for letting me get some more practice! I'll give you a shout when the photos are ready.

Clelie

Well, I just finished my first--ever--paid photo gig!! Honestly, I was EXTREMELY nervous, but hopefully I'll get over that a bit as I gain experience. Deep breath. . . phew. Ok. I did it. I took photos and I got paid, so I guess I'm a photographer now. . . (!)

Here's a preview for the family:

I didn't have a good camera when my kids were babies, so photographing an infant (well) is definitely a new challenge! Luckily, Clelie is gorgeous and agreeable (mostly) and her mommy is kind and patient. . . with both of us! We stole the idea to take photos of the baby on Mommy's wedding gown with some heirloom pearls--how sentimental and sweet is that?!

A big thanks go out to Amber and Mark for giving me this opportunity! It's an honor to take photos for you guys, I hope I did her justice!

I still have some work to do on these, but they should be ready by tomorrow. I managed to get 20(-ish) usable shots, hopefully most of 'em will be to your liking!! I'll give you a phone call tomorrow.

Fragile Hearts

And, I'm a bit late, but HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

My simple Valentine's decor for my mantle. I'm definitely going to do variations on this theme throughout the year. Doesn't get much more simple (or cheap) to cut paper hearts!  I was GOING to take all the left-overs and scraps and sting 'em together for some garland or to hang from fishing line from the chandelier over our dining room table. But I got sick, or a kid got sick, or SOMEthing got in my way. That's life. Maybe I'll save 'em all for next year!

Anyway, we carried this theme over to kiddie-land. I cut hearts for my 5-year-old and she made valentines for the kids in her class. I wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" (I have awful handwriting, but I wasn't going to waste printer ink on a Kindergarten class who won't even notice) on one heart, "To:" on another and "From:" on a third. Bright Pink, Blue and Green. Then my daughter filled 'em out with the appropriate names in the appropriate places and we glued 'em together. She passed 'em out at her school party (along with a Valentine's pencil so we don't seem so scroogy).

Then we had a romantic dinner of pizza and buffalo wings at a table set with all kinds of romantic nonsense from the dollar store--heart plates, cups, balloons and confetti EVERYwhere. Oh yeah, and my eldest daughter decided to be Batgirl. Sigh.

But the BEST creative-thing about this Valentine's Day? I made the best. drink. ever: Strawberry Crush (that's pop--or "soda" if you're not from Michigan, lol) with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. That's some good stuff.

Much love to you and all your loves!!

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Reward Center

I picked up this (what IS this, anyway?) mail organizer-thingy at a garage sale a few weeks ago for just $3. It's metal; the black part is chalk-board and it's all magnetic.  It's hanging over the kids' bookshelf in our living room.

I turned it into our new Reward Center to help my kids focus on some particularly irksome habits.

I slid the kids' names into the label-holders and then cut some pretty little rectangles out of scrapbook paper and punched a hole in 'em. I added two glass jars (re-purposed cherry jars, actually)--one for each child, a bathroom cup (mod-podged with old newsprint to make it pretty) and some popsicle sticks. Then I hung a pretty do-hickey with a bunch of rules on it from the magnetic board. Confused?

Here's how it works:

The pretty little cards of paper hang off the middle hook. When I catch a kid being GOOD (this is not a punishment center, after all!), I take a little card and hang it under that child's name. At the end of the week, we see how many cards each kid has. For every card they've earned they get to pick a popsicle stick, which goes into their cherry jar. The popsicle sticks have rewards stamped on them: "massage", "bubble bath", "wagon ride", etc.

During the week, as rewards are redeemed, the popsicle sticks go back into the cup in the middle to be up-for-grabs again at the end of the new week.

It's working GREAT!  What earns rewards in my house? Monkey gets a card if she eats her dinner WITHOUT complaining, whining or getting up & dancing around. Bugger gets a card if she sleeps all night without wetting her pull-up; she can also get a card if she does NOT complain about having to go to school on school-mornings (but that's only happened once, so I'm not holding my breath on this one!).

 

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In Defense of a Spider-Man Fan

Dear Jeff,

I know Jeff is not your real name, but I’m going to call you Jeff so this note can be our little secret, ok? Nobody else needs to know that it’s you I’m talking to.

At kindergarten recently, you told my daughter, Cooper, that she shouldn’t like Spider-Man because it’s only for boys. I want to ask you why you think Spider-Man is not for girls.

I know the Spider-Man toys are in the same aisle with the cars, muscle-men, trains and other superheroes at Wal-Mart. But there’s no sign on that aisle stating “NO GIRLS ALLOWED.” In fact, most of the toys in our home (for my two daughters) come from that aisle; we adore dinosaurs and superheroes ‘round here.  You should come and see our Robo-Raptor--he’s pretty awesome!

And I know the aisle with all the pink toys is a little intimidating to boys, but I want you to know that you are welcome there--just as girls are welcome to chose toys from the superhero aisle.  I hope your mother or father has told you that you can play with dolls if you want, or cook elaborate dinners in a play-kitchen.  I invite you over any time to have an Easy-Bake playdate (cookies aren't too girly for you, right?).

Or you can come and play dress-up. We have a HUGE dress-up collection and you can be ANYTHING you want--that’s why it’s so fun to pretend, right? Isn't that the whole point of a costume? You can be a pirate or Batman or a princess or a gorilla and I promise no one will judge you under my roof.  Intolerance is not tolerated in my home. If you choose our Darth Vader costume, I promise no one will assume that you’ll grow up with magical powers and that you’ll use 'em for evil instead of good. And if you want to be a princess no one’s going to assume you’re going to be gay. At least not in my house, because things like that don’t matter here. I hope they don’t matter at your house either.

I wish all the toys were mixed up in the toy aisle. I wish the costume packages didn’t say “BOYS” or “GIRLS” on them and I wish I could tell you that I bought Cooper’s cherished Spider-Man hoodie in the girls’ section, but sadly, our society hasn’t evolved that far. Not yet.

Do you think Cooper should like dance classes and princess movies?  She’s taken dance lessons (and enjoyed them, but she likes soccer better) and we have EVERY princess movie ever made. We also have dolls of every shape and size, we have purple ponies and sparkly nail polish. Do you have any of those things? My girls have lots of all kinds of toys, but Cooper prefers the same kinds of toys that you like. Princesses don’t do much, anyway, do they? Do YOU want to play with princesses? All they do is sing and wait for a man to show up. That’s not much fun, is it?

But Spider-Man?! Way cooler than any princess, right?!  He saves people! He fights the bad guys! He swings from these HUGE skyscrapers! It’s exciting! He’s a kind person who’s really--really--proactive in doing good. Princesses, mostly, want to be pretty and get married to a guy who can carry a tune.

If you chose to like princesses, Jeff, then I will absolutely support you, but I hope that you see why little girls like my daughter think Spider-Man is more exciting, more fun and more worth her time and aspirations than most of the toys down the pink aisle.

So next time you think Cooper shouldn’t like something because of her gender, ask yourself what you would like if YOU were a girl. Girl toys are seriously lacking in adventure and inspiration. Do you know those words yet? That just means that they’re not fun or exciting--they don’t DO anything.

Maybe when you grow up, you can find a way to make fun, exciting toys for girls--movies with girls as the heroes--saving people and having crazy adventures (while FULLY clothed and shirking love, mind you). There aren’t many female heroes for my daughters. So you can share Spider-Man with Cooper, right? Doesn’t she deserve to have superheroes, too?

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Mustache Cup

Where, exactly does one put a paper mustache collection? Hmmmmm. . . .

I made mustaches for my daughters (yup) awhile back by tracing mustaches (from mustache templates, wouldn't ya know) onto pretty scrapbook paper, cutting 'em out and hot-gluing 'em onto little craft sticks. My girls LOVE dress-up and a mustache collection just seemed like a must-have all of a sudden.

Come on. . . you want 'em, too. I KNOW you do!

But where to put 'em. . . .? Too fragile to toss into the dress-up bin for sure.

I found these wood candle holders at GoodWill (I think I paid $3 for the pair). One had a tall glass with a half-melted candle inside it, the other was empty. I had to break the glass to get the candle out, then I just ModPodged cute paper to the inside of the candle holder to cover the holes (so stuff doesn't fall out. . . plus the inside is kind of ugly and I doubted my ability to match the paint). It was a bit too tall, so I dropped an empty yogurt cup in to the top and it was a PERFECT fit--hurray.

And: ta-da!  We have a pretty way to display our mustache collection, on top of the book shelf in my living room. It proudly stands next to our wooden dominoes sets and framed kids' art. . . and below my NEXT project: our Reward Center, which I'll post on next!

And the twin of my mustache cup is my MUCH-anticipated bookmark holder. Sits on my brand new (to me) bedroom dresser.

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Movies of 2011

Since I'm keeping a record of what books I read this year, let's do movies as well. Any movie I've already seen within the last five years does NOT count on this list (so that'll exclude watching ET for the umpteenth time with the littles).  But if I go back and re-watch a movie I haven't seen in a long time, that'll go on the list.

Also included: a ten-second review of each film.

1. Shutter Island (2010). Just as predictable and dull as the book (did ANYone not see this "twist" after the first 10 minutes--or 30 pages?!)
2. Inception. (2010). Everyone seemed to love this movie, but I wasn't expecting much; I don't usually like things everyone else loves. But I did enjoy this one. I saw some major flaws that I won't go into (except pointing out that infuriating aspect of most action movies: the bad guys can't shoot for SHIT, but the good guys manage to kill at least TWO bad guys with every bullet fired. Ugh). Also Leo and that kid from "third rock" seemed really out-of-place in this movie. I've seen enough Leo to last me another ten years, I think.
3. The Golden Compass (2007). I finished reading this series (His Dark Materials) by Philip Pullman at the end of 2009 (and I LOVED it), so I figured I'd give the movie a whirl, though I KNEW it wasn't going to do the book justice. It was a travesty. I think they wanted to cram in every single aspect of excitement & battle, but the left out the heart. It was oddly action-packed AND extraordinarily dull at the same time. There was no depth to it whatsoever. What a shame.
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2009, Swedish). I read the first two books (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire) and while the story was interesting, the books didn't hold my attention very well--the writer (may he RIP) was very, VERY into mundane details. So I wanted to see how the story wrapped up without struggling through another way-too-long book. All these films were good--nothing mind-blowing, but they were good. . . as long as you don't mind subtitles. They're re-making 'em here in the US and I can't imagine them being anywhere near as good as the Swedish versions: the US will play up the sex and violence and probably lose most of the plot intricacies. I do LOVE how the actors in the Swedish films look like real people (lacking make-up and boob jobs, etc.). Lends an air of REALITY to the movies. US should take note: it's ok for haggard  middle-aged women to look like haggard middle-aged women.
5. Eclipse (2010). So, so, so bad. Hated the books, hate the movies--but it's such a pop culture phenomenon, I kind of feel drawn to it, just to see what all the fuss is about. I don't get it.
6. Dreamcatcher (2003). Worse than Eclipse. I'm embarrassed on behalf of everyone involved in this movie. The book was bad, the movie was worse. WHY did anyone think a movie about aliens that are called "shit monsters" (because they explode out of your butthole after a rough bout of horrible gas) would be a good idea?! I had to see this movie just to see how they dealt with that (they dealt with it poorly, very, very poorly). I need to widen my movie-net to include items NOT in Netflix instant-play line-up. 
7. All About Eve (1950). Love old movies. Had no idea that Single White Female was a re-make (lol). Been wanting to see this one for EVER and I'm so happy I finally sat down to watch it (unlike when I finally sat through all 40 hours--it seemed--of Lawrence of Arabia: HATED that one).

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Books of 2011

Let's see how many books I read (start to finish) in 2011. Also: a couple-sentence review (no spoilers, so no worries):

1. 1.3.11       The Turning by Justin Scott.  Probably one of the worst books I actually finished. Ever.
2. 1.6.11       The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman.  A great idea and an interesting story, but I wished it had taken a more personal form. Copying the simple story-telling of the bible left the characters way too dry for my taste. I just didn't care.
3. 1.10.11     Grave Site by Charlaine Harris.  Though I enjoy the Southern Vampire Mysteries (indeed, I was hoping for a new series I could devour), this was lacking the spark of those books. It was a run-of-the mill mystery, could have been written by any of those popular mystery authors. Not a bad book, but definitely lacking something that makes it unique, memorable or (I hate to say it) interesting.
4. 1.13.11     Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay. I'm kind of in love with Dexter. I recognize that the writing isn't actually the best, most eloquent or most riveting, but that dark wit gets me every time.
5. 1.16.11     Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris. Again, hoping for something Sookie Stackhouse-esque, but I was disappointed. The book was mediocre--the only thing that makes it memorable is the very frustrating way it wraps up. I HATE writers who do this and I think I may stay away from Harris for awhile. Very pissed about her cop-out ending.
6. 1.24.11     Portobello by Ruth Rendell. I didn't think I'd like this one, since it's more of a character study than a book that follows a simple plot. But I really, really enjoyed it. Best I've read so far this year, for sure. It's just kind of a look at a handful of people, how weird they are and how they're vaguely connected to one another. Doesn't sound interesting at all, does it? But it was. Give it a chance!
7. 2.5.11     Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott. My mother gave me this book, that she picked up at a used book sale. I didn't think I'd like it, but I did. It was about a mother and a daughter (and a handful of peripheral people) dealing with some stuff. The girl's a great tennis player and has this weird hobo-stalker guy following her around and creeping her (and her folks) out. The only thing that bothered me is that it is so--clearly--a hippie's daydream in terms of how people talk to/relate to one another. Everyone was always wanting to go for long walks and talk about deep issues using flowery prose--that really made me want to gag. People just aren't like that. Maybe a few people are like that, but to write EVERYBODY in this community like that was a HUGE (and obnoxious) reach.
8. 2.7.11     The Ruins by Scott Smith. This was a great horror novel, breezed through it in just over 24 hours. Not great literature, for sure, but it was a page-turner. Every now and then we all need a good, mindless page-turner, right?
9. 2.13.11    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.  Read this aloud to the kids. Bugger's too young, but she liked falling asleep to the sound of my voice, so she'd ask for it when she got tired. Monkey got really, really into it and by the end we had a marathon reading-night (nearly 3 hours) 'cause she wouldn't let me put it down in all the excitement. I don't plan on advancing in the series for a couple of years, 'cause they get kind of scary and violent (and my monkey's kind of sensitive), but the first book is comparatively mild (I read 'em all--to myself--when they came out, years ago). Loved reading it to my girls.

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Display in Play Area

I needed something to fill a wall in the half of my living room that's our designated "play area." I really wanted to display photos and my kids' artwork in a tasteful kind of way, that didn't involved putting tons of holes in the wall (since this is a rental house)!

I had thought about buying a pegboard to hang items on, but felt that pegboard is more conducive to holding chunky items instead of small pieces of paper--drawings & photos.

I had thought about putting up a bulletin board, but thought that had more of a "college dorm" feel, which I don't oppose, but it's not what I'm looking for in the main living space of my house. Plus pointy tacks and playrooms don't mix well.

In our old home, I had an official toy room. To display the kids' artwork in there I simply strung a piece of twine along one wall, tied to some simple wood screws up high on the wall. Very simple, kind of folksy and "clean" feeling.  I decided I wanted the same thing here, but I didn't have a long(ish) wall to string a line along--everything in the room is broken up by doorways or windows.

So I created the below display. I had to buy the wood--although most people probably have stuff like this laying around their garage/basement (cost me about $6), but everything else I already had on-hand: white paint, eye screws, twine and clothespins.  Easy-peasy and a GREAT focal point for the play-area. What do you think? It's got a pottery-barn look at a dumpster-diving price.

This'll make a great (and easily-changeable) holiday display, too. Think: holiday cards! 

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A Few of My Favorite Things

I'm not a big fan of clutter. I try to keep my nick-knack collection to a bare minimum. But I do have a few awesome pieces that make me smile. Today was a nice day, so I took some photos of the weird things I like. Here are a couple of 'em.

This is the gnome that lives in the tree in our backyard. Actually, the gnome usually sits on my kitchen windowsill, keeping me company while I do the dishes. However, every now and then he likes to sit, brooding, by his own front door. . . .

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And this is my tiny hutch (garage sale find), where I keep all kinds of very tiny, important things. Like lost monopoly game pieces ('cause they're about all that'll fit into those drawers). The hutch usually sits on my mantel where my itty-bitty giraffe print can keep watch over our daily activities. He's the only peeping tom that makes me smile.

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