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.
.
Friday, February 25, 2011
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.
.
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.
.
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:
.
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:
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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:
.
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.
.
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:
.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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.
.
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.
.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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.
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.
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!!
.
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!!
.
Monday, February 14, 2011
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!).
.
Monday, February 7, 2011
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?
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?
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)