Story Telling Blocks

aka. one long time wished for project completed - in 15 minutes!

I've wanted some of these story telling blocks for a long time now. There are some beautiful ones out there. But as you know by now, I'm cheap. Plus, I wanted to "do it myself." (gee, where do my kids get it from?) One evening a couple weeks ago, I was purusing OnePrettyThing while the kiddos were eating dinner & found Teach Besides Me's tutorial for making these things. What was best was that she listed all the phrases she used, so I didn't have to use any brain power trying to think of clever words. One of the things that has stopped me from making these in the past has been buying the blocks. I either forget when I'm at the craft store, or they are way more expensive than I thought they would be, so I planned to come back with a coupon. Looking at Karyn's blocks, they seemed to be smallish...just the size of the cubes inside the blocks that my kids happened to have spread all over the floor that very minute! So I grabbed nine and a sharpie. While my girlies were munching, I scribbled away. They were so interested, they couldn't wait for me to be done and take a picture. Since the blocks' creation, they've been played with by my children and several others we've had over. I'd say they're a hit AND something crossed off my "someday" list! Crafting win!

(P/S - I realize the photo is upside down. I have been having such difficulty with this shifting of photographs with Blogger lately. (Fine on my computer, upside-down or sideways on the blog...) It has been hampering my bloging actually. SO in the interest of having an imperfect post up vs. not ever getting any post up, no matter how perfect, I'm leaving this upside-down-yet-understandable photo up. Thank you for your understanding!)

Who got a makeover?

That's right, I did! The twins brought out their stash of nail polish, face powder, and lipstick and did their mom up last night. We were trying to keep cool, enjoying the evening temperatures outside when they pounced on me. I had on four layers of lip stick/gloss by the time they were done, the most prominent layer being bright, bright pink. (Sorry, no photo of that.) The best part, while my nails were drying, they took turns giving me a massage! Now THAT made my day! It was the most fun, least fighting, and most positive interaction I've had with them in many a day.

Happy Summer to You!

Sorry, my dear Two Readers

I have written two, 2!, posts recently, and Blogger tries to load the pictures sideways, & I am not skilled in the ways of html to fix them. On top of that, the lazy days of summer that I was blissfully daydreaming of in very busy May? They haven't transpired. The two weeks of summer vacation so far have been whirlwind. "We are out of bread ALREADY?" A mom doesn't get summer vacation. She still has to do everything she usually has to do, just with EVERY child underfoot inbetween every impromptu playdate, beach gathering, and graduation party. Here's hoping your summer contains more lazing than mine thus far.

Happy Summering!

Sorry I've been absent. We had a big week here. First week of summer vacation, our dog's first birthday, and the first camping trip of the summer. (impromptu, too - awesome!) Here is Charley's first birthday cake, made lovingly by his "sisters". Yes, we lit a candle and sang to him. He just wondered when the heck they were going to put that delicious smelling pile of ground beef, potatoes, carrots and apples down where he could reach it!

Then we were able to acquire some camping in one of our national parks. I'll bet you can guess which one. We've been here before with the girls, but always in September, so they've never seen the waterfalls. It was a great trip, despite one child having an accident in their sleeping bag the first night, the super cold nights, and going to bed one night, leaving Charley tied to the picnic table - he almost was a bear snack! (Don't worry - he was only out there for about five minutes before I realized.) We had a minimal about of fighting - for our family.

Hope your first days of summer vacation are going great!

Summer Calendar

Today is the first day of summer break for us! Yea! I forgot to turn off my alarm, so guess who was up at 6:50am anyway? That's right, me. Actually I was up anyway, due to a very loud bird who has moved into the backyard. He announces from a very early time that he is up and doing all the bird things he needs to do.

My kids have a hard time with transitions. We need to explain what is happening when and give them lots of time to process. They are not good with surprises. Even though summer is more laid back, there are still days we need to be places on time (doctor's appointments, play dates, etc.). The calendar also lets them know if they even need to get dressed on a particular day!

I made my calendar in MS Publisher. It is three pages. The first page is just about the day: Monday, June 6th. The second page is titled "What We Are Doing". I thought of the activities that we will commonly be doing, like Pajama Day, Water Day, Field Trip, and listed these, with space to put the particulars, like which park we're going to. There is also an "other" field, of course. The last page is titled, "What You Can Do To Help". I'm really trying to encourage cooperation. Sometimes it takes so long to get out of the house, I'm exhausted by the time the fun activity has begun. So the "help" page lists some common getting ready activities, like "pack for a road trip: DS, drawing, DVDs", or "pack bathing suit, towel, and sunscreen". Then these pages are slid into Avery page protectors (I love these things - they work perfect for white board markers!) and taped onto the wall with painter's tape. I know the painter's tape is not beautiful, but we rent and it comes off easily without leaving residue.

Keep in mind that my kids are readers already. If you have pre-readers, choose some clip art to describe the activities. I'm really happy to share what I've made, but I encourage you to make your own, so you can add all your family's favorite activities. If you'd like me to email you what I have, leave a comment!

Happy Vacationing!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at SouleMama for all to find and see.