Little Page Turners

cardinal in the forest painting

2012-01-24T11:16:00.001-05:00

I love art teacher's blogs. Their projects are so darn cute, and now that E is school-aged she's able to do much of it. I found this lovely idea on ARTASTIC! via Pinterest and was thrilled with how it turned out.

The birch-bark effect was created using a comb and dabs of paint on white cardstock.

She then cut strips out of the paper for the tree trunks and glued them to the construction paper, trimming off the ends. The cardinal is made out of one red circle and the snowflakes from scrap paper hole punches.

A was appalled at the idea of NOT using a paintbrush, but I did convince her to use the comb to create patterns in her painting.

Footprints in the Snow by Michael Dahl

I have to admit this book is nothing particularly special. It's just a simple counting book. BUT it does count by twos, and I think the pictures are adorable. A loved flipping through the pages, and that cardinal is just the perfect little cousin to the one we made. If you run across it in the library, ignore the ho-hum narration and use the sweet pictures for your own learning purposes.

easy puff paint for "snow" paintings

2012-01-18T12:24:00.003-05:00

I was organizing my pantry yesterday (I do hope you live a more exciting life than me), when I came across some self-rising flour that expired when my eldest was still in diapers. Instead of tossing it, I set it aside for this puff paint recipe I found recently on Frugal Family Fun.

Mix equal parts salt and self-rising flour, adding enough water to make a pancake-batter consistency. Pour into a squeeze bottle. (We started with one of those 3 oz. travel bottles, but I ended up switching to an old rinse-aid bottle which worked much better.) I drew a simple snowman shape on blue construction paper and then asked A to trace the lines and fill in.

When you're done with your design, microwave the picture for around 30 seconds on high.

The "paint" puffs beautifully. A giggled her head off watching it puff up in the microwave. After it cools for a few seconds, it's ready to color. I was surprised at how well marker works on it. (And yes, she's aware her snowman has three eyes. She thinks it's hilarious.)

I tried to get A to draw snowflakes by intersecting three lines, but it was developmentally beyond her. So I handed over the bottle and let her experiment with the last of the paint. Again, she thought it was the neatest thing to microwave her art and make it puffy.

Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner

Have you read the latest in the "snowmen" books? This time a boy imagines what it would be like if his snowman could play with him all year round. I'm a huge fan of the previous snowmen books, and can't wait to get my hands on this most recent addition. (But with only one copy in our library system, I'm just going to have to!)

Snowflake Paintings

2012-01-12T13:55:00.001-05:00

I think this idea came from Frugal Family Fun (and even if it didn't Valerie is fabulous enough to deserve the credit in any case). All you'll need is masking or painters tape, cardstock, and paint.
Create a snowflake shape with strips of tape in the center of your paper, or let your older children design one themselves. (We took the opportunity to discuss how snowflakes always have six sides.) Then simply paint the entire surface of the paper.

Wait until the paint has completely dried before removing the tape, or it will tear the damp paper. E wanted to use purple paint, but I gave A dollops of blue and green and love the end result.

I'm so glad to finally have something wintery to hang in our art display! It's been looking empty and forlorn since I took down the Christmas art.

Snow by Cynthia Rylant

We picked this one up at the library today and A loved the illustrations while I enjoyed its descriptive language. Again, this one is not a story - there's no plot. Rather, it's a description of different kinds of snow. Rylant describes snow in sentimental terms focusing on its relationship with the world around it. There's the quiet snow that shyly falls in the middle of the night, and the cheerful snow that comes during school and takes you home. Then there's the light dusting of snow that let's you see bird tracks or the light of a streetlamp.

While my three year old may not have appreciated it, I enjoyed exposing her to a well-written book and enjoyed the memories it stirred in me of past snowfalls.

Snow Music by Lynne Rae Perkins

This is an interesting one. The story - such as there is - is about a boy looking for his dog who ran out of the house one snowy morning. The book itself is a description of the sounds through the snow as the dog, a boy, a girl, a deer, a rabbit, and a squirrel cross paths throughout the day. Each character makes different sounds through the snow, and this music is worked cleverly into the illustrations and moves the story along. It's one worth checking out.

It's a marshmallow world...

2012-01-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

It might not snow here this year (and after last year, we can hardly complain) but that's not going to stop us from having some fun.
After picking up a few snow-themed books at the library, I pulled out the marshmallows and let the girls play. E did a great job building a marshmallow igloo, while A used toothpicks to create "snowflakes."

Then we built a candied snowman to complete the scene. (I know the igloo looks a little worse-for-wear in this picture. It may or may not have been attacked by some hungry little girls!)

I think all these marshmallows are just begging to be melted down and mixed in with some rice krispies, although E's made me promise we'll save some of the little ones for "snowman soup" (aka. hot cocoa).

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

This is one of those mood books that doesn't tell a story so much as captures a feeling. A little rabbit wakes up to find that it's snowing. School is canceled, the streets are quiet, and his father's plane is grounded. All day long he and his mother wait for the snow to stop.

This book is like a poem, capturing the quiet still feeling of a snowy day with it's sparse language and lovely illustrations. A sweet book to read before bed after a cold winter day, and a nice companion to the classic The Snowy Day.

The "comfort food" of books...

2012-01-06T13:59:00.000-05:00

This was not how either of us thought we'd be spending the week. She puking into a metal bowl. Me disinfecting every surface. Twice.

Confined to her yellow loveseat, she's watched nearly every Disney movie we own and whole seasons of PBS programming. And just when I think I'll go mad if I see one more episode of Wild Kratts, she turns off the TV and asks me to read to her.

We're halfway through her first foray into Narnia. I can't think of a more perfect book to escape into during a week of sickness. The Chronicles of Narnia are my comfort food. They're the books my mom read aloud to me as a child, and the ones I turned to after my dad died. I hope for the same for her - that the adventures of the four Pevensie children will capture her heart and imagination, transporting her from her bowl and her couch into a marvelous land called Narnia. And that she'll want to return again and again.

What is your "comfort food" book?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T09:42:00.003-05:00

Handmade Christmas: Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion

2011-12-22T12:30:00.002-05:00

When I saw a tutorial for a Land of Nod inspired cushion, I knew it would make the perfect Christmas gift for my girls. This little beauty cost me less than $20 for materials but more than 3 days of blood, sweat and tears. Now that it's finished, I can say I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and can't wait to place it under the Christmas tree.

I wanted to monogram the cushion, but lacking an embroidery machine I settled for an applique. This font is Cooper Std Black. I loved the idea of having a handle for lugging the pillow around and the piping makes it that much cuter.

And of course I couldn't make just one!

Now my each of my girls have a soft place to rest their bum while they read or watch tv. How long do you think it will take before they use those handles to start swinging these puppies at each other? I'm giving it maybe 30 minutes. :)

When I finished up around 11pm last night, my husband asked how much I would sell these on Etsy. I told him $500. Each. Seriously, I am so impressed at you experienced seamstresses who can confidently whip up anything out of fabric and thread... and I will never again cringe at the prices you charge for your creations!

If you want to attempt a cushion of your own, check out this tutorial by Living with Punks.

Marshmallow Cereal Wreaths

2011-12-20T12:25:00.000-05:00

These were a staple of my childhood Christmases! This year I wanted to share the sticky, gooey joy with my girls, so we made up a small batch of Marshmallow Cornflake Wreaths after school.

Ingredients:
- 6 cups cornflakes
- 1 bag marshmallows
- 1/3 c butter
- green food coloring
- vanilla (optional)
- M&Ms

These are made just like rice crispy treats. Start by melting your butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the food coloring. Now add your cornflakes and gently stir to coat.

Place mixture by 1/4 cupfuls onto wax paper. Form into wreaths with buttered hands and add M&Ms for decorations. Yields around 18 wreaths.

I think they made the perfect finishing touch to our cookie tins! These are going out to the neighbors this afternoon.

We also included spritz cookies, orange spritz cookies, chocolate crinkles, and toffee bark.

Of course, we saved a few for ourselves...

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her cookie series are absolutely darling. The cookie books don't tell a story, rather they use cookies as a way to define certain concepts, in this case, Christmas-y concepts like anticipation, charitable, and moderation. The illustrations are just as sweet as the cookies they depict!

String & Glue Angel

2011-12-17T10:38:00.000-05:00

I found the inspiration for this angel on Family Fun. I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical on the ability of school glue to hold together a bunch of string, but it looked too fun not to try.

What you'll need:
- string
- white school glue
- water
- styrofoam or wooden ball
- gold wire/string
- paint
- scrapbook paper

1. Mix the glue and a little bit of water in a cup. It should look more like cream than milk.

2. Make a cone out of paper and size to fit your wooden ball. I found a template here. Place on top of a water bottle for easier handling.

3. Immerse the string in the cup of glue and wrap carefully around the cone. We ended up using multiple pieces of string. Set out to dry overnight.

4. On a piece of wax paper, arrange glue-strings into a wing shape.

5. Curl and layer smaller cuts of string to fill in the wings.

6. Paint the angel's head as desired.

7. When the wings and body are dry, peel carefully from the wax paper and cone.

8. Hot glue everything together, adding the halo and pillow fluff hair if desired.

Now we have the perfect little topper for our playroom tree!

Some tips: I tried both watered down school glue and mod podge. As you can see the mod podge (right wing) left a lot more glue between the strings. Stick with the school glue for the wings, but if you want to brush your finished body with mod podge, it might help hold the body together better. I also ran some lines of hot glue on the inside of the body to add stability.

My two favorite "angel" books:

Great Joy
by Kate DiCamillo
Read my review.

The Littlest Angel
by Charles Tazewell
Read my review.

Easy "Clay" Ornaments

2011-12-12T17:55:00.000-05:00

When I saw this "homemade clay" recipe from Busy Bee Kids Crafts, I knew I needed to try it. Our salt dough ornaments from several years ago were looking a little worse for wear, and I figured A deserved the whole cookie-cutter ornament experience.

The clay was simple enough to make: 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups water. Just mix in a pot over heat until it forms the right consistency. Then cool enough to touch and knead, just like you would when making playdough. The clay begins to dry immediately, so you need to work fast. Roll out the dough on wax or parchment paper and cut out the ornaments with cookie cutters. Use a toothpick to create holes for hangers. Leave out for one to two days to dry.

I found the thinner and smaller the ornament, the better it dried. Our larger, thicker ornaments cracked horribly, some into pieces. If you want larger ornaments, stick with salt dough. The clay did paint beautifully, though, using acrylic paints. We tied ours onto the girls little playroom tree using yarn, and I think the final effect turned out charming.

A Pirate's Night Before Christmasby Philip Yates

I've got this one on hold at the library and I can't wait to get it. Because nothing says Christmas like pirates, right?

(If you're in the mood for more traditional Christmas books, click the label "Christmas" under the title of this post to get a full list of all my past Christmas posts and book reviews.)

Simple Child-made Christmas Story Book

2011-12-05T14:06:00.001-05:00

Last year I ran across Musings of Me who posted an adorable 8-page Christmas storybook she made with her toddler son. I remember thinking, "I need to do that next year!" Thankfully someone pinned one of the pages, and I found out Michelle was now selling the instructions for the book as a downloadable pdf.

So now A and I have a project to work on together between now and Christmas. I'm taking my own creative liberties with the instructions, using the craft materials we have on hand and giving the project our own unique style. When we're done, we'll have a handmade keepsake book, telling A the Christmas story through her own artwork!

Oh Christmas Tree! Trimmed Trunk Plaque

2011-11-29T12:43:00.001-05:00

Here's an easy craft you can do with paper scraps and the trimmed trunk of your Christmas tree.

This weekend we took our annual pilgrimage into the country to cut down our own Christmas tree. White pine don't grow well here, so we're left trying to find the perfect cypress or spruce. Some were too big...

Others too small...

But we eventually found one that was "just right." (Actually it's still about a foot shorter than I would have preferred but after two farms and an hour of driving, we decided it was "good enough".)

When we got the tree home, my husband trimmed off the bottom of the trunk to make a more even platform. I saw the wood coin lying in the yard and snatched it up for this simple craft.

To make your own, you'll need five strips of colored or scrapbook paper, one star cut-out, mod podge, and of course the trimmings from a tree trunk. Most nurseries will trim any pre-cut Christmas tree you buy, so be sure to snag that extra piece of wood.

To begin, let your child spread mod podge over the surface of the plaque. While it's still wet, they can arrange the paper strips onto the plaque. Paint mod podge over the strips and allow to dry.

Ta-da! A cute little Christmas plaque ready to add a little cheer to a bookshelf, mantle, or (if you add a hook) the wall.

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

This charming Christmas tales features gentle rhymes, simply lovely illustrations, and a sweet message of friendship and kindness.

Every year, one lonely tree watches all the other trees on the farm get chosen to become someone's Christmas tree. He's been overlooked too many times and is now too large to be taken home. His forest animal friends see his grief and take it upon themselves to decorate him for Christmas, letting him know he is truly loved and appreciated all year round.

What childhood looks like in November...

2011-11-21T14:01:00.001-05:00

What's the point of raking all those leaves into a huge pile...

unless you're going to jump in them?!?

Hope you're enjoying Fall as much as we are!

A Mayflower for a rainy day...

2011-11-17T13:31:00.001-05:00

We woke up this morning to rain clouds and snotty noses.

I was supposed to run errands.

She was supposed to attend the Thanksgiving party at preschool.

But we stayed in our jammies, left our hair unbrushed, and opened up the art box.

Cotton balls and glue. Paper and paint.

And the story of believers who left their home for the hope of a new life in a new world.

It's a beautiful day. :)

I'm linking up to:

Colorful Leaf Printing

2011-11-08T14:56:00.001-05:00

The leaves are finally changing here in Virginia, and the trees are all golden and russet in the afternoon sunlight. On our walk today we came across a tree with huge yellow leaves and immediately plucked the largest for this craft. I've been just dying to try out leaf printing since I ran across the idea on Pinterest.

We started by squirting different colored acrylic paints onto a baking a sheet. I then smudged them with paper towel into the general shape of the leaf.

E pressed the leaf into the paint and then carefully placed the leaf onto the paper, pressing it some more. We made sure we placed the leaf vein-side down.

She peeled back the leaf to reveal a gorgeous fall print. We made two prints, but there was still plenty of paint left on the pan. Kleas used one pan for an entire class of preschoolers, but since I didn't have other (awake) children in the house, I printed off this tree template for E to paint.

Although its meant as a wedding keepsake (get your guests to ink their fingerprints onto either side of the tree), I added the word "thankful" and let E fill it in with her own sweet prints.

I truly am thankful for smudgy prints and the dear little fingers they belong to!

Autumn Walk by Kelly Asbury

I mention this book every year, but that's because I love it. Ignore the average illustrations and instead listen to the rhythmical, stimulating language throughout the book. After reading this to your kids, you're both going to want to romp through fallen leaves, sip hot apple cider, and glory in all that autumn offers.

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

A classic Ehlert, this book follows the life of a sugar maple from the viewpoint of a young child. Gorgeous watercolor collages fill the pages while the narration provides interesting information about the beginnings of the maple tree.

Naughty Toes: Book & Craft

2011-11-07T14:48:00.000-05:00

We're two months into dance lessons and E is doing great. She originally begged me to let her learn tap, but I'm more of a ballet sort of mama. So we were both very happy when I found a class that teaches both. Right around that time I also discovered this darling little picture book.

Naughty Toes by Ann Bonwill

Chloe and her sister Belinda join Madame Mina's class with very different results. While Belinda is a natural dancer, Chloe has what Madame considers "naughty toes." She spins when she should float, she flashes when she should shine. Through it all she defends herself with a quiet confidence, until Mr. Tiempo recognizes her true talent and sends her a present: tap shoes!

I love Chloe's positive attitude and insistence on being herself. The book draws clear differences between Chloe and her sister without falling into sibling rivalry, which I appreciated. The illustrations use a lovely pastel color scheme, and the story flows with a beat Chloe would appreciate. A fun book for the little dancers in your life!

To go with the book, we made these ballerina paper doll chains. I found the ballerina template here at The Crafty Crow and resized it to fit a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper. I cut out the dolls and we decorated them using crayons and colored pencils.

For the tutus I simply sewed a line down the middle of a crepe paper streamer and then pulled on the thread to bunch. Then I cut off pieces for the tutu, folded in half and glued in place. They did unruffle quite a bit once cut, in which case we just gathered and glued until it looked right. Once they dried those little dancers were ready to flit and float across the room... as were MY little dancers!

Disclaimer: Naughty Toes was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

The Ultimate Harry Potter Party!

2011-11-01T14:09:00.000-04:00

I love my friends. When I invited them to an adults-only, Harry Potter-themed Halloween party, they didn't look at me like I was crazy. Instead, they spent hours searching for just the right costume and came ready for a good time! So please forgive this completely self-indulgent post, but I just had to share with you my ultimate Harry Potter party.

The Invitations

For the invitations, I found a drawing of the Marauder's Map online and printed it on parchment-colored card stock. On the inside of the invitation, I drew little fading footprints with name plaques of several Harry Potter characters. On one of the name plaques was a link leading to this picture:

One person set their paper completely on fire and another never figured out the riddle, but the rest were able to successfully reveal the hidden message (painstakingly written with a baking soda solution):

The Decorations

Of course guests entered through platform 9 3/4.

I was really pleased with the way my house banners turned out.

Honeydukes!

Anyone forgetting a wand was able to pick one up at Ollivander's. The wands were bamboo garden stakes I cut up and spray painted. I found the Ollivander's logo online.

What would Hogwarts be without the Sorting Hat? I made this out of a Target's Dollar Spot witches hat, mod podge, paper bags, and a couple binder clips.

Then I added a few other details around the house.

The Guests

Everyone did such a great job on their costumes!

Luna Lovegood

Bellatrix Lestrange

Dolores Umbridge (and baby owl!)

Voldemort

Sybil Trelawney (who won our unofficial "best costume" award)

Neville Longbottom & Hermione Granger

Fenrir Greyback & a victim

The Menu

When guests arrived they were directed to Potions class where my husband mixed their "potion" of choice. If you're interested, you can download his recipes here.

Of course we served butterbeer - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic - and pumpkin juice.

Dinner was served in four courses:

- baby spinach salad with strawberries & walnuts and homemade poppy seed dressing
- curried pumpkin soup with orzo
- roast hippogriff (bottom round roast) & yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, green beans
- butterbeer cupcakes, pumpkin pasties, Hagrid's rock cakes, and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans

The Games

Find the Golden Snitch!
This was an informal game. I spray painted a small whiffle ball gold, threaded a wisp of tulle through it for wings, and stuck it on a wire that happens to stick out of a doorway in our home.

Who Am I?
We did this one during dinner. Guests had to ask yes or no questions to figure out which character was on their forehead.

Harry Potter Trivia
First we divided the guests into houses by pulling a house name out of the sorting hat. Then I took turns asking trivia questions to each team. Gryffindor ended up the champions! (My husband - Ron - begging the hat to sort him into Gryffindor.)

It was a great evening with friends and fellow lovers of Harry Potter! Everyone had a wonderful time... except perhaps for the littlest guest!

Ha! I promise little Lizzie was just fine - her mom was standing there taking pictures with the rest of us!

It's Halloween!

2011-10-31T13:11:00.002-04:00

It's Halloween and my girls are all ready to go trick-or treating tonight!

This year they are coordinating in their Wizard of Oz costumes. I adapted an old dress into A's "Glinda Gown," but E's grandma made her Dorothy dress from scratch with a matching dress for her doll.

I couldn't let these cuties have all the fun!

They'll be accompanied tonight by the Wicked Witch!

For last minute Halloween activities check out my Halloween Pinterest Board.

The Book That Eats People by John Perry

If you're looking for a "scary" book for early elementary schoolers, this is for you. It's funny, goofy, and slightly disturbing. From the title page, the book warns you that in your hands is a book that EATS PEOPLE. It chronicles the history of the book and all the children and adults it has eaten, the steps taken to try to keep people safe from it's hungry jaws, and the final warning to WATCH OUT - because this book EATS PEOPLE! The illustrations are great and silly enough to keep kids from taking the story too seriously. While I wouldn't read it to my 3 year old, my 6 year old thought it was hilarious. I think boys (and dads) in particular will enjoy the slightly dark humor throughout.

A loose tooth!

2011-10-28T15:02:00.000-04:00

I was beginning to think it would never happen. The child FINALLY lost her first tooth!

I had a moment of insanity where I considered making our own tooth fairy door... and then I thought about making a tooth fairy pillow... but I'm up to my eyeballs preparing for my upcoming Harry Potter party (can't wait to show you!), so I went the easy route.

I searched Etsy and found this adorable little pillow for a reasonable $10.

My daughter's new snaggle-toothed smile? Priceless!

Bear's Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson

All the Bear books are adorable, and this one is no exception. Bear is experiencing his first loose tooth! His friends do their best to calm his fears and help him pull it out, but in the end Bear is able to do it himself. Gentle rhymes and beautiful illustrations make this a quality addition to the series.

A Bat Garland

2011-10-19T21:25:00.001-04:00

We're all decked out for Halloween with a fall mantle and paper bat garland! I love paper garlands. They're fun, easy to make, and cheap.

To create the garland, I folded a piece of black construction paper accordion style and traced a bat silhouette onto it. It took three pieces of paper to create enough bats for my ginormous fireplace. Then I simply stitched the papers together with my sewing machine. Yes! You can sew paper and it works surprisingly well. It's a great project to introduce your kids to sewing.

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

Forget the belfry, these bats want to be at the Library! Three bats hang around bored one evening when it's discovered that someone left the library window open. Thrilled, the entire community of bats rushes to frolic and play in their favorite building. The younger bats wreak havoc around the place, until an impromptu storytime introduces them to the magic of a good tale. (These tales are clever, batty takes on traditional stories and fairytales.)

The illustrations are rich with detail and make me want to read the other titles in this series. Check this one out as an nontraditional Halloween story!

Favorite Pumpkin books

2011-10-19T12:34:00.000-04:00

The front of A's preschool transforms every year into a pumpkin patch. And every year we go to pick out the perfect pumpkin.

This year I took the opportunity to do a little photo shoot with the girls. They looked so cute in the festive shirts and matching bows my sister-in-law made for them! (They're for sale - the shirts, not my girls - on her website Just for Me Sewing.)

If you're wondering how I managed to get both girls happily posing for me... they were promised a pumpkin of their choice at the end of the photoshoot. Worked like a charm. :)

The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz

Think The Ugly Duckling, pumpkin edition. A pumpkin wanders around being rejected by Halloween-themed creatures until he discovers he's not a pumpkin at all. The pictures are bright and cheerful (making some of the scarier creatures not so much) and the rhymes are well-written. To be honest, however, it was a single line that sold me on this book: "Oh my gosh! I'm a squash!" I laughed out loud when I read that for the first time. Pure genius and alone worth a LPT recommendation.

It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall

Here's a colorful Halloween book perfect for preschoolers and toddlers. Forget ghosts and witches, this holiday book starts in the springtime as two children plant and tend a pumpkin patch, eagerly awaiting their future jack-o-lantern to grow. Painted paper collages will capture the attention of even very young children while the simple and educational text will introduce kids to the life-cycle of our favorite fall squash!

Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Diane Ochiltree

E loves this book, and while I'm not as enthralled with the story of a raccoon that accidentally dumps 16 pumpkins down a hill, I like the math concepts hidden inside. The main character goes to load up her wagon with pumpkins for Gramps. At each stop she makes, she adds twice the number of pumpkins, starting with 2, then 4, and so on until she gets 16. Here, the wagon tips and spills the pumpkins down the hill. Sam is upset she ruined Gramps pumpkins, but he hands her a spoon and together they turn the bruised pumpkins into pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Cat, Squirrel, and Duck live harmoniously together in their pumpkin-shaped home. Their lives have a certain rhythm and each have their own role in making their favorite pumpkin soup. One day Duck wants to stir instead of add the salt. When a fight breaks out among the three friends, Duck runs away and the others decide to make the soup without his help. Of course, it doesn't taste the same and when Duck returns they make up and let him stir. He splashes soup everywhere, but the others don't mind. They realize that the friendship is more important.

Five Little Pumpkins by Ben Mantle

What would October be without the Five Little Pumpkins? The classic poem is a staple in preschool classrooms and homes this time of year. I have seen numerous versions in print, but this newest release is one of the cutest yet!

What a Hoot! Sandwich

2011-10-06T16:08:00.001-04:00

When Christy @ Superheroes & Princesses mentioned her owl sandwiches to me, I knew it'd be a hit with E. Christy's were open-faced which wasn't going to work in a packed lunch, but I found these instructions for an owl PB&J from Cute Food for Kids. I simplified it a bit for a quick but fun lunchtime surprise.

To make this owl, simply cut around the crust, then scoop off the top (I used a biscuit cutter). Slice your scoop in half for the wings, push in two chocolate chips for the eyes, and add a triangle crust beak, gluing it in place with peanut butter. That crust "branch" won't get eaten by my picky 6 year old, but it looks cute and helps wedge the sandwich in place.

One Odd Old Owl by Paul Adshead

Has anyone read this book or anything by Paul Adshead? I admit I have not, but the reviews on Amazon intrigued me. They speak of hidden pictures and riddles throughout. If there's one thing my six year old loves, it's a good mystery. Our library doesn't have this particular title, but I've got a hold placed on another Paul Adshead book, so I'll let you know how it is!

Owl Shapes

2011-10-05T15:58:00.001-04:00

More owls! After our paper tube owls, I had the idea of letting A create an owl of her own out of paper shapes. Like all good ideas in this digital age, someone had it before me. I found this adorable template online and got to work.

It's been a while since we last reviewed shapes, but A did a great job naming the circles, ovals, and triangles. To create the owl we worked on "big" and "little" to choose the right sized shape for each part. Then she glued the whole thing to another toilet paper tube. (Yes, apparently we go through a LOT of toilet paper around here.)

Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

This isn't a book about shapes, but it covers colors and is cute to boot! One little owl stays up way past her bedtime to discover all the amazing colors that come out during the day. Each collage-illustration features simple but vibrant scenes of each new color. In the end the little owl decides the starry sky is most beautiful of all. Fun, cute, and perfect for reviewing colors with your toddler!

Check out these other shape activities and corresponding books!

Paper Tube Owls

2011-10-03T16:44:00.000-04:00

Our temperatures plunged this weekend from the 80s to the 50s, suddenly ushering in Fall. After three years of kid-crafting, I have to admit I'm a little tired of pumpkins and apples. So we're celebrating the season with owls!

Okay, so I have no clue what owls have to do with fall, but they seem Halloween-ish, so we're going with it. I found this cute craft idea on Frugal Family Fun, showed E and then let her loose. I cut out the wings for her from scrap fabric, but she did the rest on her own. Aren't they fun? I think they'd make great placeholders for an owl-themed board game. I've got dibs on the red!

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

If we're going to talk about owl books, we've got to start with Owl Babies. Beautiful illustrations help tell the story of three little owls who awake to find their mama missing. Owl babies are born at different times and these three feathery siblings are infused with distinct personalities. The story is simple and geared toward very young children, but the illustrations are lovely and worth a look at any age.

P is for Peacock

2011-09-07T10:09:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to love the peacock (along with the rest of Pinterest and the world). All those rich colors just beg to be incorporated into a fun craft.

To make our peacocks, we started out with coffee filters, blue & green food-coloring, water, and an old medicine dropper. I love this activity with little ones and have used it before to make fall leaves. Once the coffee filters were dry, I cut out some simple shapes for the peacock's body and let the girls assemble their birds.

To make A's tail, I simply folded the filter asymmetrically in half and then again in thirds. I then made the mistake of giving her an entire bottle of elmers glue. (I HIGHLY recommend using a glue stick with this project.) I also took the opportunity to teach her how to write and upper and lowercase P.

To give E a bit more of a challenge, I cut out feathers from the filter to let her create her own unique peacock.

I love what she came up with!

Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson

Larry LOVES being in the limelight. He just knows this book is going to be FANTASTIC because it's all about him! But as more and more animals weigh in on what the story should be about, Larry becomes increasingly annoyed. How dare these characters steal his spotlight! He wishes they would just go away. But when Larry gets his wish, he learns that being alone in the limelight is a lonely place to be.

My girls and I love this clever little story with its cast of quirky characters. The illustrations are equally as quirky but also lovely. Our favorite page contains a gorgeous illustration of Larry in all his glory with shiny foil highlights.

Disclaimer: Limelight Larry was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Potato Blueberry Stamps

2011-08-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

I know, I should be starting on apple and pumpkin crafts, but I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. Between random earthquakes and impending hurricanes, we're managing to enjoy our last few days of summer break. Last week my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by taking a road trip up to Acadia National Park in Maine.

On the way up, it seemed there were "Wild Maine Blueberry" signs and stands at every corner. We didn't buy any blueberries, but I did pick up One Morning in Maine for my girls and was inspired to do this little craft when I got home.

You're supposed to use a cork for this project, but I didn't have any on hand, so I grabbed a fingerling potato instead. I simply trimmed each end and notched an X into the potato flesh. The girls then dipped either end of their potato stamp into some blue paint to create their blueberries.

When it had dried, they glued on popsicle sticks to create a simple basket shape. Such a fun and simple end of summer artwork!

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Written by the author of Blueberries for Sal, this sequel follows an older Sal through an average Maine morning. Blueberries do not feature in this book, but it does chronicle the loss of Sal's first tooth and her trip into town with her father and little sister. This time the plot takes a back seat to the beautiful monochromatic illustrations of little Sal and the Maine coast. Having just returned from there, I could fully appreciate the accuracy of the beautiful depiction of the New England coastline. Although it's a little long for early preschoolers, older children will enjoy the quiet chronicle of a child's morning, and kids of all ages are bound to love the artwork.

One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano

If you're looking for a blueberry-themed book for younger children, check out this cute little story from Tiger Tales. A simple counting book, the story follows the journey of one runaway blueberry while two ants, three ladybugs, four caterpillars, etc. all try to catch the blueberry for their own. Sweet illustrations and rhyming text make this a great read-aloud for classrooms or at home.

Disclaimer: One Little Blueberry was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Because the kids shouldn't have all the fun...

2011-08-07T13:05:00.000-04:00

Work is crazy-busy right now, so the 10 blog posts I have written in my head are going to have to wait a little longer. I did manage to find a little time for some personal crafting, whipping up this Pinterest-inspired wreath for my newly painted front door.

I found the tutorial for fabric rosettes on Little Birdie Secrets. Once you get the hang of twisting the fabric, it's a quick and easy project. The wreath was hiding in my attic and all the fabric was from previous projects, so this project cost me nothing.

I think it looks great on my new bright blue door! Our black door bugged me from the day we moved in, but this new color makes me smile every time I pull into the driveway.

I can't say it looked as good on my dog... or as pawprints on my hardwood floors, oriental rug, or tiled kitchen!

With some elbow grease, and a little help from a neighbor, I was able to get it all up. Although the dog still looks a little smurf-like. :)

Mud Kitchen Fun

2011-07-26T09:03:00.001-04:00

Forget store-bought toys, this year A got a mud pie kitchen for her birthday! I scoured local thrift stores for furniture that might work, but in the end used things we already had on hand. The girls have already spent hours in the kitchen preparing salads, soups, casseroles, and of course, mud pies.

But we have the most fun when we get to share the kitchen with friends!

Mud Pies and Other Recipes: A Cookbook for Dolls by Marjorie Winslow

I'd buy this book in a heartbeat if I thought my girls would actually read it... it's just too cute for words! Check it out on Amazon and see some of the adorable recipes inside.

For more mud kitchen inspiration, check out my pinterest board!

An Ice Cream Birthday

2011-07-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

I cannot believe our littlest is three years old! We had a wonderful time celebrating with a very small, but successful ice cream themed party. I made four flavors of playdough for our few guests to enjoy: mint, strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. The chocolate recipe came from Pre-Kinders, but for the rest I used my favorite playdough recipe. (Hint: if you use boiling water, the process is much faster).

Pony beads and heart-shaped beads were set out as sprinkles, cardboard cones stacked ready, and I filled an old Hershey's container with yarn "chocolate syrup."

Bowls and spoons also stood by ready and waiting.

Instead of party favor bags, each child was given an ice cream scoop with their name on it...

As well as their own apron, courtesy of my talented mom. She made the girls' aprons out of sheet material and the boys out of bandanas!

Menus stood by for the adults to put in their orders.

We kept our party deliberately small, but the few guests there turned our pretend ice cream parlor into a hub of activity!

Yum! Looks good enough to eat! (And yes, most of the kids did try. :)

When they'd filled up on pretend ice cream, we let them have the real thing: an ice cream pie. For this one, I simply spread softened strawberry ice cream (A's favorite) in a prepared graham cracker pie crust and topped with sprinkles. After an hour in the freezer, it's ready to serve.

For more ice cream themed party inspiration visit:
- Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
- Spell Outloud (where I found my printables)
- "Ice Cream Cone" Cupcakes
- One Charming Party (for the best cake idea!)

ABC Scoops

2011-07-20T21:39:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Ronald Reagon, July is National Ice Cream Month and we're celebrating all week long with ice cream crafts and activities. Today I whipped up this simple matching game for A as we continue to work on her ABC's.

I google-imaged "cone" and "ice cream cone scoop" and found this great cone graphic as well as a template for a scoop. I printed off a bunch of the cones and cut them out, writing a lower case letter on each one. For the scoops, I used Photoshop to fill in each one with a fun pattern. (Squidfingers.com has some fabulous patterns for free.) You could always just use the template to trace and cut out of scrapbook paper, though.

Eventually I'm hoping A will be able to match the upper and lowercase letters, but until then this is working great for letter recognition. She might just know all her letters by the time preschool starts!

A Little Ice Cream & Book Review

2011-07-18T21:57:00.002-04:00

A is turning 3 this week and to celebrate, we'll be throwing her an ice cream-themed birthday party. So all week long, I have fun ice cream crafts and activities to get us in the spirit.

I found the inspiration for this adorable little ice cream bowl on Sew Homegrown. For the bowl, simply use the bottom half of a plastic Easter egg. Then let the kids glue in whatever puffs you have on hand. Glue a bit of ribbon along the edge of the egg and you're done! You can also let the kids decorate with beads, glitter, string (for syrup), or anything else they can imagine.

Now their dollies can take a break from tea parties and enjoy an ice cream party instead!

The Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger

This is one of those books that has really grown on me - and thank goodness, since it's currently A's favorite. When Teddy and his mother check out a new ice cream parlor, Teddy is told he can pick anything on the menu. Anything?! Teddy's imagination runs wild as the writing changes from prose to poetry, and Teddy dreams he is the ice cream king. Most of the book contains Teddy's wild fantasies about ice cream castles, mountains, and seas. But as the story wraps up, he realizes that even something as wonderful as ice cream falls flat when enjoyed alone. The book switches back to prose and Teddy orders a giant banana split... with two spoons.

I found the change in narration to be awkward the first couple times I read it, but the poetry is good and the illustrations are charming. Every time we read it, it's clear my littlest is enthralled with the idea of exploring her own ice cream world.

Disclaimer: The Ice Cream King was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Chicka Chicka ABCs

2011-07-14T10:16:00.001-04:00

Strange but true: my kids have never liked Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It's a classic, and a brilliant one at that, but I could never get either of them to sit down and read through it. Until yesterday.

I found this great activity idea on Pinterest which changed both of the girls' minds about the book. Yes! I'm on Pinterest (follow me!). Really the idea came from Pinterest via I Heart Crafty Things via The "Mailbox" Magazine, and it's no wonder it's spreading like wildfire. So simple and so cute!

I took an old cookie sheet and free cut a trunk and four coconut leaves. I pasted these on using a water-soluble glue and then simply stuck the magnetic letters on top. A has been playing with it ever since.

I created it as a alphabet reinforcement activity for her, but she prefers counting each letter as she puts it on the tree. Either way, it's educational, fun, and free... my kind of game.

If you're looking for more alphabet books to read with your toddler, we really enjoyed these this week:

A Is for Apple by Georgie Birkett

From one of my favorite publishing houses, Tiger Tales, this simple board book was a huge hit with my alphabet-learner. Each page includes an indented, traceable letter along with a lift-the-flap example of an object that starts with the letter. My daughter was fully engaged with the book and excitedly asked me about every letter she didn't know. It's honestly the first time I've seen her excited about learning her letters. Every time she got a letter right she broke into a huge grin and the declaration: "I'm so smart!"

Charley Harper ABCs by Charley Harper

This was pure eye candy for me. It's a simple ABC book - just the letters and a corresponding picture - but those pictures are gorgeous. A seemed to enjoy it, and I know I did as well.

Summer Reading Programs

2011-07-07T13:35:00.000-04:00

E and her daddy bond over many things, but xbox Lego games are a particular favorite. Together, they have gone through all of the Lego Star Wars games and Lego Indiana Jones. Lego Pirates of the Carribean is next in line. Much to my husband's annoyance, I have insisted we not purchase the new game without E earning it somehow. (I'm also hoping the delay means we can buy a cheap, used copy!)

Our public school system releases a summer reading list for each grade at the end of the school year. I printed out the first grade list and divided the 25 books into groups of 5. E has to read each book and write 4-5 sentences about it. When she completes a set of 5 books, she gets to move one of the cut-outs into the pirate ship scene. When all 25 books have been read and reported on, "Pirate E" will be placed on the ship, and she and Daddy get to head to the game store.

My eldest thrives on systems of reward, so she is flying through the books and writing up the reports without a single complaint. Thank goodness the books are taking awhile to come into our local library branch... otherwise I'm pretty sure she would have knocked this out in a week!

If you don't feel like setting up your own summer reading program, here are some you can find at your local bookstore and online:

Barnes & Noble
- For first through sixth graders
- Read any 8 books, record them in the downloadable journal, and get to pick out a free book from a list.
- The download also includes a few activity sheets

Borders
- For kids 12 and under
- Read any 10 books, record them in the entry from, and pick out a free book from a list.
- (I think their free book selection is better than B&Ns.)

Scholastic
- Help set a new world record for summer reading.
- Log reading minutes, register online to earn points and enter sweepstakes.

Pottery Barn Kids
- Complete one of their selected reading lists and receive a free book.
- At participating stores only.
- (And if you have a PBK close to you... I hate you. :)

Your Local Library
I know ours has a great summer reading program with lots of special events and free swag, and I'm sure yours has something too. If it's really cool, feel free to comment here and brag on your library. They all deserve a little love.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T08:35:00.001-04:00

Our poor house looked rather unpatriotic, so the girls and I did a little "easy batiking" to help improve the view. I sewed the flag out of some scrap material, and then used gel glue and watered down acrylic paint to decorate it. You can get full directions for how to batik with kids here.

Now we are off to enjoy my mother's fabulous home...

And a much nicer view!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!

I'm still alive!

2011-07-03T21:20:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted anything, but we've been having way too much fun!

E graduated from kindergarten. (That's her on the end... aren't her new glasses adorable?)

We went camping as a family. (My very first time!)

Enjoyed a morning in Thomas Jefferson's Home.

Spent some time driving around a safari park!

(It took some time to convince A that the animals didn't want to eat her.)

Went to see the amazing Natural Bridge.

And of course stopped to check out Foam-Henge!

Our days have also been full of visiting family, trying to whip our poor yard into shape, and decorating our new home. But I'm excited about the rest of the summer and even more excited to share with you all the great books we've been reading and fun crafts and activities to go along with them!

Cute Garden Stakes

2011-05-11T11:07:00.013-04:00

Our vegetable garden is finished, and while some of the plants are looking alarmingly limp and yellow, others seem to be thriving. Regardless, the girls and I are finding gardening to be great fun, and we decorated our garden yesterday with these adorable garden stakes.

We found the blank plastic stakes for cheap at our local hardware store. I drew simple vegetable shapes on construction paper which E helped to cut out and A helped to glue on with mod podge. When the glue dried, I gave the labels a good coating of clear gloss spray paint.

I love how colorful and hopeful they look out there: the promise of a bountiful harvest... so long as I can keep the plants alive!

The Surprise Gardenby Zoe Hall

I've come to love Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern (illustrator) for preschoolers. Their books are simple, fun, and so engaging for little ones. Together they have written several books, all of which explain something about nature to small children.

In The Surprise Garden three children plant different "mystery" seeds in their garden and wait to see what grows. They sort and plant their seeds and mark each type with a different colored stake. Then they carefully water and tend their garden, watching the various plants sprout and grow. In the end they have an amazing harvest of fruits and vegetables: all gorgeously illustrated in Halpern's cut-paper collages.

On this Mother's Day...

2011-05-08T17:19:00.015-04:00

I am so grateful for these two little girls who made me a mother, and for my own mother who I still rely on daily for encouragement, guidance, and wisdom. On this Mother's Day I'm giving myself full leave to be sentimental: I'm going out to pull out those baby albums, grab my kids close, and read them On the Night You Were Born. And if I start to cry, everyone will just have to forgive me! I can't help it that I feel so blessed.

How to square foot garden

2011-05-04T14:17:00.065-04:00

I have wanted a vegetable garden for years and in our new, sunny yard it's finally a possibility! Last weekend I roped my husband and father-in-law into building me a square foot garden.

Square foot gardening is becoming a popular way to grow vegetables and herbs in your own backyard. The technique uses raised beds laid out in squares to grow the plants in a small amount of space and with relatively little work. For a 4'x4' bed, all you need are two 10x2x8' untreated wood boards cut in half, four metal corner pieces to help reinforce the corners, nails, twine, and 8 bags of miracle grow soil.

Grab your favorite helpers and drill your box together using screws and those metal corner thingys. Pick out a nice sunny spot in your yard and dig up the grass, or in our case weeds masquerading as a lawn. We laid cardboard down as added protection against weeds. Then fill your box! (Or get your hubby to do it.)

Now you need to mark off your square foot sections. Drill a screw or hammer a nail into the boards at one foot intervals. Then run your twine between the nails to create a grid.

You will be assigning plants to the different squares. Doesn't it look so neat and tidy? It brings joy to my order-loving soul. :)

Now, plant! Of course we had to start with E's peanut seedling, a recent school project. I have my doubts as to the success of her endeavor, but hopefully the tomatoes, squash, and basil my friend Michelle started for me will produce a delicious harvest... right outside my kitchen!

For more information on square foot gardening, you can check out the official handbook All New Square Foot Gardening.

My Garden by Kevin Henkes

Did you catch this book when it came out last spring? I admit I did not. But I'm so glad I finally got my hands on a copy. The writing is beautiful. Kevin Henkes is a master, of course, but this has to be one of my favorites.

Written in first-person a little girl explains what her perfect garden would look like. The flowers would change colors, the bunnies would be chocolate, and anything you planted would grow. In a flight of imaginative fancy, the child takes us into her garden and we all wish we could join her in the fun!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

We spent a beautiful Easter day with family.

Who needs eggs when there are ladybugs to be found?

Happy Easter to you and yours!

A tradition continues...

2011-04-22T16:58:00.000-04:00

We're getting ready for Easter Sunday!

Easter Window & Our Favorite Easter Story Books

2011-04-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

The girls and I decorated for Easter this morning with a lovely stained-glass cross on our front door. I thought about doing this project on our back door, but our neighbors might as well know from the start that we're a little craft-crazy around here.

I just love the effect of tissue paper stained glass. For this project, I made the outline of a cross with masking tape and then let the girls fill it in with cut pieces of colored tissue paper.

They both did a great job and even A was entertained for quite awhile sticking up the tiny pieces of tissue paper.

To keep the paper stuck on, we first applied a watered-down solution of washable Elmers to the window with a sponge brush. Filth Wizardry recommends glue pens, but I haven't been able to find any around here. (Did you ever see her tissue paper window collage? Amazing!)

The cross is just as lovely from the inside. I can't wait to see what it looks like at night!

Our Favorite Easter-story Books:

I've reviewed all of these books before, but I thought it would be a good idea to visit them again. Finding books to explain the Easter story to young children is difficult, but here are my favorites.

The First Easter by Carol Heyer

I think I found this one at Walmart. What I love about this book are the illustrations. They are gorgeous and none of them actually show Jesus' face. The story is explained in detail, although you may wish to rephrase or sum up parts, as the writer doesn't take the time to explain what a "Pharisee" is or what "Passover" means. To see more pictures from this book, visit my original review.

The Easter Story by Patricia A Pingry

This is the go-to board book for explaining the Easter Story to young children. The illustrations are nothing special but the story is told succinctly and at a level appropriate for little ones. Read my original review.

Let's Celebrate Jesus on Easter by Amy Beveridge

I have no problem enjoying secular traditions along with sacred ritual. We enjoy decorating eggs and doing crafts about bunnies as well as attending Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. This book helps put those secular celebrations in perspective and even connects them with spiritual truths kids can appreciate. Read the full review.

Who needs Peeps?

2011-04-19T15:58:00.000-04:00

When you've got bizarre mutant monster marshmallow chicks to eat?

I'll admit it. I almost didn't do this post because these little guys turned out so... odd. But I've been yelled at by my friends for only posting my successes, so here you go. How to make weird-looking marshmallow Easter chicks:

First, be inspired by this post at Living Locurto. Think to yourself that those look adorable and easy and decide to try them, only without the edible markers (because how often do you draw on marshmallows anyway?) and the frosting (because there's no way I'm whipping up an entire batch of frosting for this little craft).

Next, smoosh a jellybean into a marshmallow, hard.

Now melt some chocolate chips and "draw" your eyes and wings with a toothpick.

Break a toothpick in half and insert both pieces into the marshmallow as legs. Now all you need is the "feather" on top. Mix powdered sugar, milk, and food coloring together to form a thick icing. Blob on top.

And there you go! An odd-looking but definitely delicious sugary treat sure to please your kids.

As long as you don't try to take their picture!

Be Patient, Little Chick by Claude Clement

I was pleasantly surprised by this library find. From the moment Little Chick is born he is impatient to do more and be more than a little chick. His mother preaches patience and after several scrapes, he learns his lesson and appreciates his mother.

It's a very straightforward story with a clear moral, but I think that's what makes it so charming. It has a vintage feel of the type of story I might have been read as a child. The illustrations are warm and lovely. Definitely worth a check-out if you happen upon it on your own library shelves!

We heart Splotch

2011-04-17T17:05:00.003-04:00

I'm back! Our move went great (despite the rain - and snow!). We've been busy unpacking, decorating, and enjoying our new digs. But I couldn't let the week before Easter go by without any posts, so I'm back to review one of my favorite new books:

Roly-Poly Egg by Kali Stileman

Of all the books I received from Tiger Tails, this is by far my favorite. Splotch is a little bird who lays an egg: "small- yes, spotty- yes, and absolutely perfect in every way!" In her excitement over her egg, she drops it and thus begins the egg's adventure through the forest.

Each page chronicles the egg's journey from animal to animal and finally back to Splotch. The illustrations are beyond adorable and have a Carle-esque feel in their paint and cut paper collages. A dashed line on each page encourages children to trace the egg's path. In the end, kids get to lift the flap of Splotch's egg, for a delightful spotted surprise!

This book just begs for fan artwork, so we pulled out our paints after church today and got splotching!

I let the girls pick out two paint colors and then they mixed and went to town on the paper. We used folded cardstock so we could give these away as cards.

We each thought our painting was small- yes, spotty-yes, and absolutely perfect in every way!

Disclaimer: Roly-Poly Egg was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T08:02:00.000-04:00

"No Lepeordcons allowd! No Mischief allowed!"

Leprechauns, you've been warned! (Lepeordcons, too.) The house is an absolute disaster. I'm drowning in boxes. We close on our new house today. And I do not need any surprises! E took my despair to heart and made two signs to protect us from those wily little guys. I sure hope it works!

Just in case you are not up to your ears in real estate legal documents, here are a couple rainbow-themed activities you might enjoy today.

A Water Rainbow Xylophone. It's so simple and so much fun. Just fill a set of glasses with varying amounts of water and tint the water using food coloring. We did this a couple summers ago, but I should really bring it out again for A to have a turn at it.

A Rainbow Ribbon Streamer. This one takes a little more preparation, but the toy lasted for well over a year and I used the remaining ribbon in countless projects. In fact, I just packed up some of those spools this afternoon! At the time, I also made a cute rainbow ribbon baby toy.

I hope you enjoy a day full of rainbows and pots of gold... with no mischief allowed!

Classy Crayons & (Giles Andreae Review)

2011-03-15T19:43:00.002-04:00

I recently spoke with the gifted teacher at E's school. Our city's gifted program doesn't begin until second grade, but I was curious if there were anything I could be doing with E now. To my great surprise, she recommended exposing her to a variety of art media.

So I dutifully headed to the art supplies store and decided to start simple: oil pastels. Oil pastels are at their most basic, classy crayons. They blend better - and stain clothes and fingers better - than regular crayons, and are also softer and thus more vibrant.

I am in the middle of packing up my entire house for our impending move across town, so I threw a couple sheets of packing paper on the floor and set the girls to color while I got back to work. To give them a bit more inspiration, I propped up two Giles Andreae books.

Rumble in the Jungle

and

Commotion in the Ocean

Both of these books are collections of short poems, each based on a different animal. Matched with the poems are the riotous illustrations of David Wojtowycz. Alive with color, his drawings match the playful tone set by the poems and engage the eye of even the squirmiest little listener. His characters are happy, vibrant, and full of personality - the perfect pairing for a book of silly poems

To give E a little added incentive, I told her to draw a picture of an animal - just like in the book - and I would write a poem to go along with it. So, ahem, without further ado.... The Jelly Fish.

A jellyfish, happy and fat,

floated by this and by that,

with a terrified look

she spotted a hook

but smiled as it caught an old hat.

Disclaimer: Rumble in the Jungle and Commotion in the Ocean was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

One Rainy Day

2011-03-10T13:03:00.002-05:00

Our house is officially under contract, which means we can once again pull out our messy paints! It's a mild, rainy spring day, so we decided to paint a picture of the rain.

Yes, we do own an easel but it - along with so much other "stuff" - was stored away when we listed the house. The fridge actually works quite well, and A enjoyed spreading the watered-down (washable) blue and green paint onto the paper.

She was also excited to discover the tiny raindrops I had applied ahead of time with a wax crayon. If I were to do it again, I'd fill in the raindrops with crayon as well.

One Rainy Day by Tammi Salzano

Duck loves the rain, because rain means red boots, an orange umbrella, yellow flowers, and so much more. Like any good board book, it's not the story that takes center stage, but the illustrations. Bright, cheerful drawings fill each page and tell the story through colorful and adorable characters. Accentuating the artwork are silver foil raindrops which not only fall from the sky, but drip and puddle on the illustrated leaves.

I thought this padded board book might be a little young for A, but she loved it from the start. It's her current favorite and our must-read before naptime.

Update: You can win your own copy of One Rainy Day! To enter, just visit Tiger Tails Books and comment on your thoughts about ebooks for kids.

Disclaimer: One Rainy Day was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventures

Doggy-themed care package (with thumbprint doggy card)

2011-03-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

My sister's sweet keeshond died recently, and the family has been grieving the loss of their furriest member. Her two boys have taken it especially hard. To help cheer them up - and to celebrate their getting a new puppy soon - I put together this little care package.

Inside is a stuffed dog, our favorite puppy book, a dog-themed coloring book, and a homemade card. The dog is from Target - a great place to find good-quality stuffed animals for cheap. The book is one of our favorites. I love the McDuff series! They are well-written, beautifully illustrated, and just the right length for preschoolers. Plus, at only $10 a book, they're affordable enough to own.

The card was inspired by an image I found on Google, and was super-simple to make.

Simply have your child press two fingerprints on top of each other for two of the doggies: one vertical and the other horizontal. Use your thumbprint (or an older child's thumbprint) for the center dog and add a horizontal fingerprint on top for the snout. Then add your embellishments with a fine-tipped pen.

So what are your favorite dog-themed books? The Carl series? Pepper? Spot? Clifford? Biscuit? (Wow - dogs are a really popular subject with children's authors!)

Playdough Fairy Garden

2011-02-24T11:57:00.001-05:00

I mixed up some of my favorite play dough to let A make her own fairy flower garden. This play dough turns out so smooth and non-crumbly, I much prefer it to store-bought. Today we used it as a base for the garden.

I gave A a basket of silk flowers (leftover from E's Fancy Nancy party last year) and let her arrange them in the "garden."

She's got her grammy's gift for flower arranging! When she was finished, I gave her a few of these adorable fairy cupcake toppers to add to the garden. Aren't they precious? My boss found them at TJ Maxx and had to pick them up for my girls.

Half an hour later, and she's still playing in her garden. I don't blame her... I might just join in!

Fairy Colors by Caroline Repchuk

This is about the cutest book I could find on fairies, although it's a little young for A. As you may have guessed, the story is about different colored fairies getting ready for a ball. It's a nice reinforcement of colors, and the sparkly pages will probably hold the attention of babies and young toddlers.

But I want something better. So spill it... other than Disney and Dora, what fairy-themed books are worth reading to my kids?

I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventures

the weak helping the wounded

2011-02-23T16:19:00.000-05:00

I received the sweetest package today from "WonderMom" @ The Fantastic Five. She had seen my post on my car accident, and she and her kids wanted to send my kids a little care package while I healed.

My girls were thrilled with the giant coloring roll, markers, and sculpting clay we received. The package arrived while I was on the phone with my sister. I read her the note written across the back of the envelope: "Sorry this is so late, but we've been recovering from the flu!" My sister said, "Isn't that always the case? The weak helping the wounded."

It's true. We moms are sometimes barely surviving day to day. And yet when crisis strikes, it's fellow moms who step up and help out. It might be all we can do some days to get everyone clothed, fed, and to school on time, but when called on, we'll bring meals, help clean homes, watch each other's children, and send care packages to women across the country!

All because we understand what our fellow women are going through. Thank you WonderMom for your sweet kindness, and thank you to all of you mothers out there who struggle day to day and side by side with other moms. Be encouraged - you are an encouragement!

Guest Post: Benjamin's Mama

2011-02-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

I'm swamped this week with family in town for my husband's grandmother's funeral, so I've asked a couple of my dearest friends to guest post for me. These women have encouraged me in blogging over the past year, and I'm so excited that they were willing to contribute to this blog!

Michelle is a mother of two little boys, ages 4 and 8 months, and she also watches a delightful little girl part-time. She's highly respected among our circle of friends as a great mother. Take it away, Michelle!

It was 74 degrees here! There weren't any rainbows, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless and we made a fun 3-D rainbow mobile. This project is easy and you can find the simple directions for making the mobile at DLTK-Kids. Basically, you print the template and have the kids color a rainbow on both sides of each paper. Then you slide the pieces together to make a 3-D image.

In keeping with the tradition of Little Page Turners, no glitter was used, but if you wanted to make your rainbow sparkly, grab a paintbrush and give it a salt bath.

Look at that concentration! (The sweet little girl isn't mine, but I'd claim her any day of the week.)

Over the Rainbow by Judy Collins, illustrated by Eric Puybaret

Admittedly so, this book was purchased for me as much as it was for my children! The illustrations are phenomenal, the writing has obviously stood the test of time, and to top it off, the autographed book comes with a soothing three song CD. My oldest child is autistic, so we are constantly trying to foster imagination. This is sometimes hard to achieve for concrete thinkers, so this book was just perfect for us. We have all sung this song to our children sometime or other, but have you ever read or thought about the lyrics? "Heaven opens a magic lane", "...there's a rainbow highway to be found", "...just a step beyond the rain", "and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true"... this is just a sampling of the lyrics that inspire you to dream, to create, and to inspire others to do the same. You see why this book is great for the parent as well?

Books for Grief

2011-02-21T17:36:00.000-05:00

We're exactly one week away from the anniversary of my father's death. My sister's sons recently drew pictures of themselves with Grandpa, and my sister posted that she's always amazed at the heart's ability to remember important dates. I'm grateful that this year of "first's without" is almost over.

To make things more poignant, my husband's grandmother passed away last week, and we'll be attending her funeral tomorrow. With all of this on my heart, I thought I would share a few books about death and grief.

When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death
by Laurie Krasny Brown

My (elementary school counselor) sister recommended this book to me after my father passed. I was surprised at how honest and forthright it speaks about death and grief. It talks about what happens to the body, what the grieving process might look like, how friends and family might act toward someone who is grieving, and what different religions believe about life after death. I highly recommend reading the book ahead of time and picking and choosing the pages you feel will most help your child. It covers a wide range of subjects, including suicide, which may not be appropriate to your situation.

Heaven for Kids

by Randy Alcorn, Linda Washington

I love Randy Alcorn. He's one of the leading experts on Heaven, and his insights are always encouraging. This book is geared toward older children, but it's question and answer format is perfect for YOU when trying to answer your young child's questions about Heaven. I was amazed at the insightful questions E asked after my father's death, and this book really helped me give her concrete, Biblical answers about what Heaven is like.

Tell Me About Heaven

by Randy Alcorn

This picture book was too long for my preschooler, but school-aged children would benefit from the story of a boy and his grandfather visiting for the first time since his grandmother's death. Throughout their visit, the grandfather teaches the boy about heaven and helps his grandson accept the grandmother's death. Even if your kids aren't interested in the story, you'll both be inspired by Ron DiCianni's gorgeous artwork throughout the book.

For more books, visit this post from Playing by the Book. Zoe put together a beautiful list of picture books that are as artistic as they are insightful about grieving for those we love.

Since I'll be tied up the next few days with out-of-town family, I've asked some of my best friends to guest post! Woo-hoo! I am surrounded by incredible, talented women, and I can't wait to introduce them to you.

Bubble Counting Fish

2011-02-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

I ran across this adorable bubble counting fish activity at My Montessori Journey and knew we needed a set of our own. While A refuses to learn her letters, she's proving to be a whiz at counting, so I'm trying to find engaging math activities appropriate for a two year old.

My Montessori Journey's fish are super-cute and sewn from felt, but I made these little guys out of craft foam from this template. After I cut each out, I glued-on a googly eye and wrote numbers 1-10 across their bellies. Then they were ready to swim! How come I've never thought of using these florist glass gems in a craft before?

To play, simply ask your child to place the correct number of bubbles above the fish's head.

Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood

I found the perfect book to go along with this activity! Ten little fish slowly disappear from the pages of this book, providing a countdown exercise that leaves one little lonely fish. That little fish soon finds a mate and they have - you guessed it - 10 little baby fish to be counted all over again. It's a simple, straightforward book that will reinforce the numbers 1-10. The computer-generated illustrations are bright and colorful... and full of bubbles!

Who says cars are just for boys?

2011-02-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

I am the youngest of three girls. Our house was full of dress up clothes, dolls, and all-things-girly, but we also had tonka trucks, legos, and even remote-controlled race cars. I love that my parents didn't limit our play options simply because there weren't any boys in our house. Now that I'm the parent of all-girls, I'm attempting to do the same.

This fall, I bought A a set of Playskool Chuck cars having been inspired by a Busy Bag activity I saw on My Delicious Ambiguity. I started off creating roads for her cars using strips of masking tape on the carpet, but that got old quick. When I saw this great fabric at a local fabric store, I snatched it up and sewed a simple playmat for A's automotive adventures.

I also snipped squares of felt fabric in matching colors to create parking spots for the cars. A loves matching each car to its corresponding spot, and it provides an easy lesson on colors. It's such fun to see my little girly-girl vrooming and zooming her cars on the mat and off the mat and all over the house! Of course, she also occasionally wraps them in a pink blanket and rocks them to sleep.

My Car by Byron Barton

Barton is one of those author/illustrators that I fell in love with through my kids. I'll admit I'm not immediately drawn to his primary colored, block illustrations, but toddlers can't seem to get enough. Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs was our first introduction to Barton's simple drawings and sparse stories. After a few readings, each of my girls could easily tell the story themselves.

This book is much the same. Sam is a simple fellow who loves his car and follows the rules. He keeps his car clean and stops for pedestrians. If only all drivers were so courteous! The book makes good use of primary colors and will engage boys and girls alike.

Last-minute Valentines

2011-02-10T21:08:00.000-05:00

Between trying to sell our house, dealing with our car insurance company, dealing with the other driver's car insurance company, shopping for a new car, and trying to heal, I completely forgot that Valentine's Day was around the corner. When I received an email today from E's teacher about passing out valentines, I nearly had a heart attack. I always try to do handmade valentines, but how on earth?!? There's no time!

*Cue dramatic music* Skip to My Lou to the rescue! Cindy @ Skip to My Lou posted these adorable free butterfly printables a couple years ago and am I glad she did. I'm sending the hubby to the store for colored cardstock and lollipops ASAP.

Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond

The artist of the If You Give... books republished her 1983 tale of a little girl and her adventure in the most unusual weather. Cornelia Augusta discovers a shower of hearts and gathers them in her raincoat to take home. Once there she turns each one into a special valentine for each of her friends. Such a sweet and gentle story, the illustrations alone are worth checking it out for your Valentine's Day reading.

Guest Post: Silly Eagle Books

2011-02-09T08:17:00.000-05:00

When Vanessa @ Silly Eagle Books heard about my car accident, she offered the blogger equivalent of bringing me a meal: a guest post! While I'm doing much better, I still feel like I got hit by a truck (or a very large, out-of-control van) so I was thrilled with the offer. If you're unfamiliar with Vanessa and her artsy, book-loving little girls, you're going to love her blog! Take it away, Vanessa...

How to Make Swamp Slime

Lately, my daughter and I have been having a lot of conversations inspired by the book I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. Basically, she comes up with several questions a day along the lines of, "But mama, but mama! What if I were a giant and was so tall I couldn't fit into the house--would you love me then?" (If you haven't read the book, the little boy in the story asks his mom over and over again if she would still love him even if he were a hairy ape, swamp monster, green alien, etc.)

Since her favorite thing to do is make a mess and she's particularly in love with the swamp monster in the book, I thought we would make swamp slime together. The recipe is very simple and it's surprisingly fun to play with even if you don't consider yourself the swamp monster-type!

Here's what you need:
Cornstarch
Water
Green Food coloring (optional)

Essentially you mix 2 parts cornstarch with 1 part water. We just sort of kept adding water and cornstarch until we got the right consistency. You'll know when it's perfect when it feels somewhat solid in the bowl and then turns to liquid and drips out of your hands as soon as you pick it up. (It's freaky, but fun!)

At this point, we added some green food coloring (to make it more swamp-ish), but you don't have to if you are afraid of dying your hands green for the rest of the day. (The sticker lady at Wal-mart looked at us kind of strangely when we walked past her...)

I Love You Stinky Face
by Lisa Mccourt

If you haven't read I Love you Stinky Face yet, it's a great one to read with your children this week with Valentines Day coming up. And slime-making? That's good any day!

Best Get Well Book... for a cold or a crash!

2011-02-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

I was driving home from work on Friday when a car spun out of control on the interstate and slammed into me at about 60 miles an hour.

I'm sore, but alive and with all bones and organs undamaged. As my mother said, "God bless the engineers of the Dodge Grand Caravan!"

My children were NOT in the car with me and after seeing how horribly A's car seat failed, I cannot praise God enough for His protection on my family! (I'm shopping online today for new - safer! - carseats for the girls.)

I have been showered with love this weekend, as I recover from the bruises and stiff muscles. My husband is taking great care of me and the girls, and we've had so much food dropped off, I'm bound to gain 20 lbs during my convalescence. My husband's Great Aunt Jean (one of the best gift-givers alive) also dropped off the newest Caldecott Winner:

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead

Such a sweet, gentle book! Amos McGee spends each day the same: going about his duties at the zoo, keeping the animals company. He plays chess with the elephant, races the tortoise, keeps the shy penguin company, and reads stories to the owl (who's afraid of the dark). But when Amos is too sick to go to work, the animals seek him out and reward his friendship by helping to care for him.

The illustrations are truly Caldecott-worthy, but it's the lesson of friendship and empathy in the story that make it great. A perfect gift for anyone feeling under the weather!

Whoopee! Whoopie Pies!

2011-02-03T17:48:00.001-05:00

Have you heard? Cupcakes are sooooo 2010. This year it's all about the whoopie pie! It's been years since I tasted one, but when my sister Kim @ Sand and Sisal posted her Red Velvet Whoopie Pies I was inspired to pull out my Mom's old recipe.

Whoopie Pies

Cake:

1/2 c shortening

1 c sugar

2 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 c cocoa

1 egg

1 c milk

1 t vanilla

Filling:

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c butter

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 c marshmallow fluff

1 t vanilla

1. Cream shortening and sugar.

2. Add egg, milk, and vanilla.

3. Gradually add dry ingredients.

4. Spoon batter onto cookie sheet (flattening slightly).

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

6. While cakes are cooling, beat the filling ingredients together.

7. Sandwich cakes with filling. Add sprinkles if desired.

And of course, hand the beaters to your babies...

While you dig into the real thing!

Henry in Love by Peter Mccarty

This is one of those stories that parents will probably enjoy more than kids, but with understated text and adorable ink and watercolor illustrations, it will be a welcome break from Disney Princesses and Dora the Explorer. Henry is a little boy cat who goes to school hoping to woo the little bunny girl Chloe. When showing off doesn't work, Henry discovers that sacrificial giving is more successful. The story is short and sweet, and the illustrations are brilliant. I loved it and think you will too!

Paper tube heart stamps

2011-02-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

It took having children to get me to enjoy Valentine's Day. I love my hubby, but we're both way too independent to enjoy a holiday that dictates romance. So, I channel my inner pink-fanatic at the start of February and dive with my children into a world of hearts, hugs, and warm fuzzies.

Using a couple toilet paper tubes and some red and pink paint, I created heart stamps for the girls. It took a bit of practice to get the heart just right, but once it was firmly creased it worked well as a simple and disposable stamp.

A enjoyed the stamp for about 5 seconds before she moved on to full-blown finger painting. My "H is for Heart" turned into "H is for a horrendous, happy mess!"

E did a great job on her card. I love how the paint splattered in spots... although I later found out it was non-washable paint, and I spent part of the afternoon carefully scraping it off of my dining room table!

Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas

Lily tries to create the perfect valentine for her mom. Each day she makes a new heart, but each day it isn't quite right: too lopsided, too skinny, too pointy. At the end of the week a frustrated Lily gives her mom all of the rejected hearts only to have her mom exclaim, "Oh, Lily! You made me one for every day of the week!"

This simple story has sweet illustrations and subtly teaches days of the week and shapes to young children in a gentle story that kids will easily relate to.

Shadowy Days

2011-01-31T16:47:00.000-05:00

Groundhog Day is Wednesday. I've always found it to be an odd tradition... and a depressing one considering we almost always have six more weeks of winter regardless of Punxsutawney's shadow. But shadows in and of themselves are fun, and groundhogs are so darn cute, we're going to celebrate anyway!

E learned about shadows today in school, so my afternoon activity was a perfect tie-in. I stretched a sheet between two chairs, placed a naked lamp on the ground, and voila! We had ourselves a shadow puppet stage.

Groundhog Stays Up Late by Margery Cuyler

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but there are an amazing number of books about groundhogs out there! This one was particularly cute. Groundhog doesn't heed his friends' warnings and plays instead of collecting food for the winter. When his friends leave him to hibernate for the winter, he gets lonely, bored, and hungry. During a brief thaw, he tricks his friends into thinking spring arrived and they celebrate with a feast. When the snow starts falling, groundhog happily escapes to his den, but his friends have a few tricks of their own.

Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub

Professor Groundhog opens a new Groundhog Weather School, inviting groundhogs from across the continent to study under his tutelage. The book is jam-packed with facts, each presented in such a fun and creative way you're left hungry for more. While too busy and witty for toddlers and preschoolers, kindergartners on up will thoroughly enjoy reading every detail in this clever book.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies

2011-01-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

Jan Thomas is my new favorite children's author. I discovered Rhyming Dust Bunnies a few months ago and was thrilled to find the sequel at the library last week.

Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny!

by Jan Thomas

Ed, Ned, Ted and (rhyming-challenged) Bob love to rhyme all the time. What will they do when the big, mean dust bunny joins their rhyming game? They'll do what they do best!

These books are perfect for 2-3 year olds. Bright, colorful illustrations, a simple story, and fun rhymes on every page hold even the squirmiest listener's attention. With Thomas' trademark humor, you're sure to enjoy it as much as your kids!

Before I picked up E from school, I set up this little book-related rhyming activity. (Along with a plate of chocolate chip cookies, because what's better than coming home from school to fresh baked cookies?) I scanned a page from the book and taped it to a dry erase board. Above Ed's head I wrote a word for E to rhyme.

She had to come up with two rhyming words and one non-rhyming word for poor Bob. We started with simple words like "big" and "cat" and moved our way up to "bless" and "under." (Yes, that's The Hunger Games on the table there. Incredible book! I read it in a day and am now chomping at the bit waiting for a copy of the sequel to become available at the library.)

A also got to be part of the action by erasing the words when E was done... and by eating her fair share of cookies.

This activity was a great success, allowing E to practice her writing and rhyming skills in a fun way. With pre-readers you could always write the words for them, and early readers could use sorting cards to find the rhyming words and place them over the dust bunnies' heads.

I'm linking up to:
- Show & Tell @ ABC & 123

P is for pretty, patient, petite peas!

2011-01-24T07:00:00.003-05:00

Can you tell the pea is doing yoga? I think he at least looks fairly at peace, which is more than I can say for myself these last few weeks. But they have been productive... A is potty-trained, our offer has gone through the initial stages of approval with the seller's lender, our house is listed and we've had a lot of interest in it.

And I even made it to the library this week! One of my favorite finds was a book I've been meaning to check out for ages:

LMNO Peas

by Keith Baker

How can you resist such an adorable title? Inside, it's just as cute. Little green peas dot every page, showing off their amazing alphabet skills. The A peas are acrobats and astronauts; the B peas are builders, bathers, and bikers... etc. Each page features a large letter surrounded by talented, alliterated peas. My girls love it, and I have to admit I also find the little green guys ridiculously charming.

So we pulled out the paint for the first time in weeks to create our own alphabet pages.

I cut out construction paper letters: E for her initial, and P to teach my littlest a new letter of the alphabet. She absolutely flat-out refused to learn it. She wouldn't say it, wouldn't remember it, and let me know in no uncertain terms that she had no interest in me quizzing her about it. I'm hoping the knowledge sunk in anyway. She did enjoy painting fingerprints all over the paper, as did her big sister.

When it was dry, E and I had a blast bringing the peas to life with an ink pen and some e-words like:

and of course,

and my favorite (which I drew)...

It turned out to be a fun little project, and it felt so good to do something creative again with my girls!

A New Year... a new house!

2011-01-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

I know I've been MIA, but we just leaped into the process of selling our current house and buying a new one. So I am currently up to my eyes in painting, cleaning, raking, organizing, and trying to find random necessary paperwork. (Where did I put 2009's W2's?) As if that weren't enough, I'm also attempting to potty train A. It's been particularly fun when those two activities meet, like last night when I'm meeting with the realtor and my toddler comes to me drenched in her own urine and feces.

I will survive, but I might not be blogging much in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I thought I would mention my favorite house/moving-related kids books:

The Little House

by Virginia Lee Burton

I think this is the third time I've mentioned this book on my blog. What can I say? It was my favorite as a child, and I still love it.

The House That Jill Built

by Phyllis Root

Pages and pages of flap-lifting fun for kiddos. I promise the quirky illustrations more than make up for the rather repetitive "House that Jack Built" rhyming story style.

Half A World Away

by Libby Gleeson

We're only moving a few miles away, but this is my favorite "goodbye" book. You can read my review here. It's a fabulous one to help kids cope with moving - or having someone - move away.

So what are your favorite "new house" books? Do you have any recommendations to help prepare my girls for the move?

A New Years Tradition

2011-01-01T16:22:00.002-05:00

Every New Years my husband and I search the Christmas tree for this little box ornament.

Inside are all our prayer requests for the past year. Some of the requests are straight-forward, like healing for our toddler's constant ear infections. Others are lifelong, like wisdom and grace to help us parent these precious children.

But whether the request was large or small, we are always amazed and blessed by God's faithfulness throughout the year. With gratitude, we read through last year's prayers, remove the little sheet of paper, and replace it with a new note full of hopes and fears for the future year.

So before you put away those Christmas ornaments, think about writing out a little list of your own and tucking it inside. This time next year you too will stand in awe of God's loving kindness.

Happy New Year!

Snow Fun!

2010-12-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

The day after Christmas we got over a foot of snow! I know my northern friends are laughing at me, but this is almost unheard of in our corner of the country. When the snow and wind died down, we headed outside to revel in all the fluffy white goodness! Making snow angels...

Building (or trying to climb over) snow forts...

And making the coolest snow-kid ever! She was our very own "Snowmen at Night."

Here she is the next day (recognize the scarf?)...

And here she is today...

I only wish I had seen her go!

The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht

E was given this beautiful science book for Christmas. (Perfect timing, Cousin Fern!) We both enjoyed looking through it's full-color photographs of individual snowflakes and reading about the science of snow. The pages are well laid-out, the photographs are stunning, and the science is easily explained. I highly recommend it for your next snowy day!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T14:54:00.000-05:00

From my family to yours!

Christmas Eve Traditions

2010-12-23T20:44:00.001-05:00

The other day in the car I overheard my five year old explaining to the two year old what she can expect for Christmas Eve at my mother's house.

"All our cousins will be there..."

"And Grammy will make us a special dinner."

"Then we'll read the Christmas story and sing songs and we get to do our play!"

"And then we'll open up the presents!"

I had to smile that my daughter knows so well those Christmas Eve traditions that help define us as a family. And while our favorite person won't be with us this year...

I am so blessed to be surrounded by so much love!

May you find love, joy, and peace this Christmas!

Crayon Apron & Book Review: ABC Animal Jamboree

2010-12-22T15:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still an inexperienced enough seamstress to want to show off my creations with a "Look what I just made! Yes, me! I did it!" You seamstress-extraordinaire-types will no doubt notice the uneven stitching and loose threads, but I'm quite pleased with the result and hope A will be too. We give three presents to each child on Christmas morning (something you want, something you need, and something to share), and this fulfills A's "something you want." She's currently obsessed with crayons so I think she'll love this and hopefully won't use it to go on a graffiti spree in the house.

If you'd like to try to make a last-minute one for your kiddo (or just want to bookmark it for a later date), you can find Samantha @ Bobaloo Kids' tutorial here.

ABC Animal Jamboree by Giles Andreae

Here's a fun picture book that would make a wonderful gift for your little bibliophile. Large, hardback, and with brightly colored illustrations, the book is a collection of poems about animals starting with Angelfish and ending with Zebra. The rhymes are cute and clever: "It's great to be a monkey,/ Swinging through the trees,/ And if we can't find nuts to eat/ We munch each other's fleas!" The illustrations are just as fun and sure to captivate little ones.

The book isn't necessarily meant to be read cover to cover, but rather read selectively, as your child's attention span allows. In the top corner of each page is an upper and lower case letter. A isn't interested in hearing the poems, but she loves to have me read her the names of each letter and look at the corresponding pictures. On the other hand, E can read the poems to herself. This is why I love good picture books - they're enjoyed by all ages!

Disclaimer: ABC Animal Jamboree was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Teacher Gift

2010-12-19T21:13:00.000-05:00

I have four days to make five handmade gifts. Wish me luck. I'm grateful that these two for E's teacher are already finished. They were simple enough that E could help me make them.

Hand Warmer
I borrowed this idea from my friend Polly @ Helping Little Hands. Two 4.5" squares sewn together and filled with rice and dried lavender (optional) make great little hand warmers to use during recess. I used some scraps on hand and let E help me with the sewing. If nothing else, they'll make good bean bags for classroom games.

Sugar Scrub
I've been wanting to make these for years! It's so easy, I don't know why I waited. I found cute little jars at Walmart for two dollars each. I filled each about half full with sugar and then poured the sugar into a bowl to mix with enough olive oil to dampen. Then I added dried lavender in the hopes of scenting the scrub. It didn't work, so I'm going to have to beg a few drops of lavender oil from a friend tomorrow. I tried out the scrub, and it works great!

Mary's First Christmas by Walter Wangerin Jr.

And if you're looking for a good Christmas book to give as a gift, this is my absolute favorite. You can read my review here. The book is set up in short, gorgeously illustrated chapters, making it perfect to give NOW, a week before Christmas.

Christmas Tree Cards

2010-12-16T17:23:00.002-05:00

We took the morning to make Christmas cards for the neighbors. I found this cute kid-made card idea at Goody Goody Gumdrops via One Pretty Thing.

Five strips of scrapbook paper, cardstock, and a gluestick was all it took to make some adorable handmade Christmas cards! Even A was able to help with this one. While the girls worked, we had a fantastic view outside of the falling snow!

It never snows in December here in southeastern Virginia! What a great early Christmas gift!

After the snow turned into rain, we headed back indoor to bake some scones to go along with all those cards. For the BEST SCONE RECIPE EVER head over to Beautiful Nest. I made three batches - chocolate chip, cinnamon pecan (not shown), cranberry/white chocolate chip (which didn't turn out very pretty so I kept for ourselves), and orange/cranberry.

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo

It's beautiful. I cried. Trust me - get it from your library and read it to your kids. You'll both be blessed.

Christmas Crayons

2010-12-15T21:16:00.000-05:00

Target always has a few gems in their dollar spot, and a few weeks ago I snatched up a couple Christmas-themed silicone trays. Not surprisingly, these puppies have been showing up all over the blogosphere in fun and creative ways. One such blogger (insert link here when I can remember who the heck it was!) used her trays as crayon molds. Brilliant!

So I sat my little type-A-ers down to the tedious task of peeling the paper off of old and broken crayons. They went at it with a passion worthy of their detail-oriented mother.

10 minutes at 200 degrees was just about perfect in my oven. I suggest keeping an eye on it, because they go from soft to liquid very quickly, and you don't want to the colors to run together too much. Allow to cool and pop out for some adorable (and cheap) kids gifts!

I've Seen Santa! by David Bedford

Here's a cute Christmas bedtime book toddlers and early preschoolers will like. It's Christmas Eve and Little Bear is worried that Santa won't come. He keeps a close eye on the fireplace all night, looking out for Santa, but finding Mama Bear and Big Bear instead. Eventually the whole family decide to stay awake to wait for Santa. They never see him... but HE sees THEM!

The illustrations are adorable and the story is cute, simple, and short - just right for young attention spans.

More Christmas Lunch Notes

2010-12-14T21:05:00.001-05:00

I've had a great response from my Christmas joke lunch notes! Here's another set, this time filled with little messages of love. :)

Edited: I can't find a free file-sharing site I like, so I've removed the pdf and am providing it below as a jpeg. Just right click "save image as".

Chronicle Books - Didn't win, but get a discount!

2010-12-13T17:18:00.002-05:00

So, we didn't win the $500 from Chronicle books, BUT you can use this code for a pretty sweet discount!

35% off + free shipping through December 16, 2011

Use this promo code at checkout: HAULIDAYS

Peace on Earth... and cookies.

2010-12-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas in the Forest by Jan Wahl is a classic I just recently discovered.

Along with Eleanor Schick's lovely artwork, Jan Wahl's poetic language gently narrates each page as the animals work together to celebrate Christmas.

The story is old-fashioned, quiet, and oh so magical!

And to go along with such a peaceful story... World Peace Cookies! Another classic in cookie form, Doris Greenspan's famous recipe might not bring peace on earth, but it's sure to bring a smile to the chocolate lovers in your life.

1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 stick plus 3 T unsalted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t sea salt
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Incorporate until just mixed. Fold-in chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half and form into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Wrap in saran and allow to chill for 3 hours.

When you're ready to bake, slice every 1/2 inch and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Reshape any slices that crumble. Bake at 325 for 12 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk!

Little Tree Window Display

2010-12-09T10:44:00.000-05:00

With a little painter's tape and some Crayola window markers A and I collaborated to make this colorful Christmas tree window display.

Taping off the tree only took me a couple minutes, but filling in the tree kept her busy for a good half hour. Long enough for me to get started on some home made Christmas gifts!

Little Tree by e.e. cummings & Chris Raschka

When Christy @ Superheroes & Princesses posted about this book, I knew I needed to find it. Luckily for me our library had it! I can see why Christy has added it to her collection. The illustrations are superb: colorful, primitive, and yet complex, they captivated both A and myself. The story tells about a little tree who is happy to be taken from his forest to be sold to a little family and decorated for Christmas. The story is based on an e.e. cummings poem which is printed in its entirety at the start of the book. Strangely enough, A was restless through most of the story - I ended up improvising a toddler-abbreviated version - but she asked me to read the poem out-loud and listened quietly to all seven stanzas. Just shows the power of good poetry!

I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventures

What a Surprise! Snowball Survival Kit

2010-12-07T16:36:00.000-05:00

One of the unexpected blessings of blogging has been the incredible women I've met and befriended online. One such woman - Katherine Marie - surprised my girls this week with a Snowball Fight Survival Kit!

In true Katherine Marie-style, it was adorable and filled with sweet goodies: hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, red M&Ms, cookie wafers, spiced cider mix, and rope (licorice). The gift was simple, inexpensive, and completely made our day! Thanks, Katherine, for thinking of us and spreading your Christmas cheer!

While it's cold enough to snow, we won't see the white stuff for another 6 weeks or so (if at all), but I've got a whole pile of clean socks just waiting to be balled up and thrown at an unsuspecting child. :) You've got to love indoor snowball fights!

I Love Christmas by Anna Walker

Here's a Christmas book Katherine Marie recommends. Our library doesn't have it, but as soon as I can get to B&N, I'm going on a hunt for it!

Ollie is a zebra (perhaps the cutest ever!) and tells us all the things he loves about Christmas: twinkly lights, tinsel, angels and reindeer. The text is sparse and the illustrations are oh-so-adorable. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Cinnamon Joy

2010-12-06T20:45:00.002-05:00

It's been a tough year.

I have to admit, it's been difficult to get into the Christmas spirit.

But with a little cinnamon and applesauce - and the help of my two beautiful little girls - I whipped up some Christmas cheer this afternoon.

There's nothing like the smell of cinnamon wafting through the house!

In the end, we created not only cinnamon ornaments but also a better attitude for the whole season!

Cinnamon Ornaments:

Mix 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of cinnamon with 3/4 cup applesauce until dough forms. You'll have to use your hands at the end. Roll out between 2 sheets of saran or parchment paper until about 1/3 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and use a straw to punch holes for the ribbon. Bake at 200 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson

Have you seen this Christmas story from the creators of Bear Snores On? It's sweet and will remind your kids about the reason for the season! Mortimer doesn't like the dark hole where he lives. When he sees a manger scene, it looks like the perfect place to make his home. He evicts the statues and settles in. But when he overhears the telling of the Christmas story, he understands the significance of the statues he's removed. He reverently returns the statues to their space and prays to Jesus for a home of his own... just in time to spy the Gingerbread house across the room!