Now blogging at THIS SIMPLE HOME.

Now blogging at THIS SIMPLE HOME.

At This Simple Home

  • Homemade Magic Shell - I remember having Magic Shell once as a child. The chocolate syrup drizzled over my ice cream magically turned crispy hard. Mmm... So I was rather excited t...

Friday, October 30, 2009

Betsy-Tacy

Betsy-Tacy (Betsy-Tacy Books)I have another series to read! Reading to Know introduced me to the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace, but I really found out lots of information that had me intrigued at Library Hospital. You can read a recent post here. I have to admit, I have only read the first book in the series, Betsy-Tacy, but I loved it. It is of a simpler time. It's a chapter book about two little girls with wonderful imaginations. Simple illustrations would encourage a young reader to read even more.

Most of the characters and events are based on Mrs. Lovelace's growing up years. One of the fabulous things about these books is that they grow with the reader. Each book's reading difficulty (and content) and vocabulary grow with the reader from what I understand. The series begins with five year olds Betsy and Tacy. It ends with the book Betsy's Wedding.

So now I have a problem. Do I put these books (ALL of them, and the companion too) on my wish list, or do I wait and hope that M might enjoy them and give her them one at a time beginning with her fifth birthday?

I borrowed Betsy-Tacy from the library as I do with almost all the books I read, but they only have the next book in the series. Hmm. I am not so sure I want to wait! If you enjoy the Little House or Anne of Green Gables books like I do, I highly recommend you consider reading this series too! (Honestly, I haven't read Little House series in 25ish years, but I do own it now! I have listened to as many of the Anne books on audio as I could find, but I haven't actually read each one.)

If you have a girl who can read in your life, you could also introduce her! Don't forget to check out the Library Hospital's Betsy-Tacy posts for more info! She has been a long time fan, unlike me who never heard of them until recently! Have you read it before? Do you plan to read them? Tell me your thoughts!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

stART: Mouse Paint

M is home from preschool this week (with a little rash), so we had some extra creative time.
We borrowed the book Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh from the library. It is really, really cute. Three little mice who jump in some paint. Then they walk in some puddles creating new colors. It is super for showing children how to mix primary colors to make new colors.
For our ( story + art= a great) stART, I read the book again while doing the project. Each jar of paint was a blob of paint on the paper. We pretended the q-tips were the mice's feet. And then we mixed colors.
This was fun, but I think we could revisit this again when she's older. I did this spur of the moment, but there are lots of activities out there. Here is one site of ideas.
For other stART activities, visit A Mommy's Adventures.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Health...and Life

I shared this on our family blog, and wanted to share it here too. So I guess three years ago (to the day on November 3rd) our lives were turned topsy-turvy when we took M to the ER because she was vomiting at 17 days of age. Her heart rate was in the 320's. She went into a form of cardiac arrest. She was admitted to the Cardiac ICU. She remained in the hospital for two full weeks with the diagnosis of SVT-fast heart rate. You can read more here, if you want to.


It was hard. It was scary to know that we were responsible for checking her heart rate with a stethoscope throughout the day and during the night. When we traveled to visit family, our trusty little stethoscope went with us. Not only that but she needed medicine for her heart every six hours (and later 8). So we set the little alarm on my new digital watch and gave her the medicine as needed. We hated drawing up medicine. Giving it to Meghan wasn't so bad...unless she spit it up, or worse, threw up from gagging on it. Giving medicine to Meghan was easy. She was trained from a very early age. She (and I) gets her first ambulance ride at the age of five months when she has a febrile seizure (not admitted to the hospital). She and I have our second ambulance rides in another two months when we are in a car accident (when Derek is in San Fransisco).


Fast forward two years. E is born, and the day we are discharged from the hospital after his birth, we head to the ER and are admitted because he is dehydrated despite his excellent nursing attempts. After they finally get the IV in, he is fine though we stay in the hospital for a couple days. E has been our healthy little boy until now.


Fast forward one more year from his birth. Our healthy little boy as a seizure that lasts several hours long. He rides in the ambulance for the first time. He seems to make a full recovery, though the reason behind the seizure is unknown. We know a seizure could return any day, but pray that it doesn't.


Suddenly, our counters are cluttered with medicine and syringes. Again. And this little boy has a very strong opinion about how awful it tastes. But it's different now. We've been through a difficult time before. Honestly, though this is not what we want for our family, in some ways this situation is easier than what we went through a couple years ago with M. (Though can I tell you that E's hospital stay, in some ways, was worse than M's? The only time she cried was when they were trying to replace mulitple IV's. E cried A LOT. And could not be comforted for hours at a time.)


Vigilance is in watching and listening (and making sure the monitors are always on), not in trying to count heartbeats. We don't have to disturb E's sleep to give him medicine. We don't have to wonder if we missed something, since we will know if he has another seizure. So this is a bit easier on us as parents. Don't get me wrong. In many ways this is horribly difficult. I don't mean to be flippant. But really, we are extremely blessed. Sure, most parents can't say that all of their children have spent days in the ICU. Probably many can't even say their child has been seriously ill. M and E might have some health problems, but they're manageable. (I am thankful for yet another great specialist. We've heard great things from multiple people about Evan's new doctor!)


Just by spending an hour in a children's hospital tells me that my children's problems are tiny compared to others'. I never want M's speech disorder or their health problems to be a thorn in my side. It's just life. But the fact is that God has given us these children for a time. God has a reason for all things, and through all of this we have learned that we can never take our children for granted. Seeing a team of a dozen hospital staff work on your child is a solid reminder that life is fragile. If you are a parent, I hope you haven't experienced what we have, but I also know that you may have experienced the loss of a child or daily difficulties with your child's health.


 May each of us appreciate life, no matter the "quality." Life, at all ages and stages, is still life. It is still to be treasured. (You know how expectant parents say they just want a healthy baby? Yes, that is ideal, but really, all babies are a blessing. But that annoys me because life is to be cherished, even a difficult life or a short life. We will all have struggles, it's just harder to see our children going through them.) So thank God today for the people in your life. Tell them what they mean to you. And go give your children a hug.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Featured On...

The kids were "featured" over at Totally Tots today to celebrate their birthday. You can see it here. If you click the picture it takes you to our blog. Very sweet!

Handmade Christmas Gifts

So I probably have some big dreams for Christmas this year; but in actuality I probably won't get everything done. 1. Mouse puppet - I will be making a pattern and the mouse will go with 2. Felt fruits and vegetables - I'm not sure what free patterns are out there since I need some very specific patterns. I will probably make them up as I go, but seriously, if you have an idea of how to make GRAPES, please share with me! Together the mouse and the fruit will go with the book Lunch by Denise Fleming. It's a great book and great for a little puppet kit. 3. Silhouettes - I just think it'd be neat to do these now before the children get any older. See my sidebar for two examples under "upcoming projects." 4. Family Tree - These will be for some family members. I already made some. You can see some here. So those are some ideas I have at this point. When I saw the idea over at Mommy's Wise Little Bookworms, I decided to take a break from our stress and share. Want to see more handmade ideas? Head on over to here. (It's nice to be home from the hospital, but it is better to not worry about E. Maybe I'm in denial, but I am really hoping that this was a one time thing. Even though he is on meds for seizures, I am really hoping that they aren't even needed. You know?)

Monday, October 26, 2009

WE ARE HOME!

Just a very quick note to let you know we made it home. E is not taking bottles well (especially formula/milk), but he is mostly willing to take juice. We have the two medicines that he has to take. Some side effects are irritability, clumsiness, and drowsiness. We've definitely noticed that E is particularly happy. He was walking pretty well before this (10-20 steps), but today he only took two steps. We'll see how it all goes. Please keep us in your prayers about the seizures as well as hydration. Thanks!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Minor Complications

M, our 3 year old and E both have hand, foot, mouth disease (not related to the seizure). The doctor M saw has said she's no longer contagious, but she is not allowed at the hospital because of all the sensitive patients. Understandable of course. It makes me sad because tomorrow we will celebrate E's birthday. This shouldn't complicate our time at the hospital other than some basic changes like the staff wearing gowns and gloves and M not allowed to be here. E has diarrhea due to the antibiotic. Today he sat up like a big boy, so his strength is back. However he spent much of the day crying. It is exhausting for us, as his parents to see and hear this. He also fights sleep something awful. It's almost 8 o'clock and I'm going to try to go to bed in a while.

Basic Needs

Yesterday afternoon E started on clear fluids and then got to have formula and applesauce. Around 10PM we were taken from the PICU and sent to the "floor." Thankfully we're in a room now. E was stable enough long before that, but there just was no room for him. E is getting stronger and stronger. His eyes are open now, though I call them "dopey eyes." Due to all the medication, he looks--drugged. He is holding his neck up, too. We had several crying spells yesterday. By this I mean that he cried for 30-60 minutes and refused to be comforted. It's so hard. So tiring. Though I may be exhausted, apparently my body is thrilled with the two hour stretch of sleep I got tonight. It's after 2 AM. And I just can't get back to sleep. Thankfully E is sleeping! We've been told that we'll be in here at least until Monday, so tomorrow we'll celebrate his birthday here. We may not know the cause of the seizures when we leave, but he will continue to be on anti-seizure medication (though a normal, low dose). M came to visit while we were still in the PICU. She wasn't too interested or concerned with E, but she liked that the television could be moved up and down. (It's on a crane-like neck.) So E is eating. He is sleeping. We have a room. And a roommate. The baby roommate is having some tests done so I have to walk quite a ways (not on this wing) to use a bathroom. At least there is a sink in the room I can use.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Hungry and Tired

It was a rough night. I think we had about a two hour stretch at one point. E is really upset when he's awake. And he's hungry. The poor guy can't eat yet. One issue is that his breathing is questionable. (At one point last night I wondered if he would need the tube again; thankfully it was time for a breathing treatment that helped). He also doesn't have enough strength to sit up/hold his head up yet. Regardless, he is not happy. Every moment he's awake is a fight. He's sleeping again. He wrestles with us and his tubes until he gets tired enough to sleep. We're not sure if we'll be leaving PICU today. I hope so. On a different note, below is a fun post. It was scheduled out, so there's some creativity for you today!

Featured Friday

Today I am blog swapping with Fwanda. After you read all about Fwanda and her incredible craftiness here, you can hop on over to Fireflies and Jellybeans to read about me and some of my crafts. Be sure to check out lots of their other posts for some great craft inspiration!
***************************************************************
Hello Live Learn and Love readers! I am so excited to be swapping blogs with this fun, and cute blog! Annette has som fun ideas and great giveaways- huh?!?
Let me introduce myself:
I'm Fawnda from Fireflies and JellyBeans, a little DIY craft blog I co-author with my best friend Jeannine! Here is a little bit about me: I am a SAHM (that is a stay-at-home-mom) to a son. I am married to most amazing man (sorry ladies- I found him first!) We adopted our son from Korea about 10 months ago! He is 19 months old and he is truly a joy and probably one of the cutest kids in the world (right along with yours!). I tutor High School Math students (Before I became a SAHM I was a math teacher).
I love to craft!
I rediscovered my sewing machine about 8 months ago and I love it! I also love to make cards. I am addicted to the scrapbook paper packs (They have a theme for everything! and I want them all! ) I am a pretty picky eater so I prefer to be the one who cooks!
My hobbies besides crafting include:
Reading - I just got done reading the twilight series and loved it! Some of my other favorite books are Harry Potter (all 7 of them!) The Time Travelers Wife, The Princess Bride (Yes it was a book before the movie!) Watching movies- and than quoting them! Some of my favorite movies are: The Princess Bride, Mr and Mrs Smith, Ocean's 11, Pride and Prejudice Talking on the phone- I love it... I know I am weird! Hanging out with my girlfriends -Who doesn't love that?!?!
I just opened an etsy shop: Funky Joy Where I sell reusable snack bags, lunch bags and Auto trash bags. I am always adding more stuff so be sure to check often! Check out the snack bags here.

Check out the lunch bags here.

Check out the car trash bags here.

We have some great Halloween ideas for you!

How about dressing your whole family as pirates with this Thrifty Costume How To!
Or check out this Gum Under A Shoe easy costume idea! You can make this Trick-Or-Treat Bag from a bandanna!

Here are some of my other favorite projects that I have done: Fall leaf table runner

I don't just sell them, I also show you how to make them! (I am nice like that!) Reusable Snack Bags Same with the Snack bags... Probably not the best marketing plan but I would rather have friends than money! : ) (although- if you would like to buy one that would be great too! Friends AND money is the best!)
Be sure to stop by Fireflies and JellyBeans for some fun ideas!

Thanks Annette for letting invade your blog today! It was so fun!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Breathing Tube is Out

Just a quick note to share that the breathing tube is out! That also means he is sometimes "awake" though his eyes are closed. He hates all the tubes and that he can't move his arm (due to a no-no cast where the IV is). The neurologist told me that we can expect to be in here until Monday. (Happy birthday to E...) We have some family visiting from out of town this weekend, and will be happy to have the additional support and entertainment for M.

PICU

Not the normal post, but I consider my readers my friends... We are at AI DuPont Children's Hospital with our son. (For those of you who don't know he turns 1 on Sunday.) This morning when I went in to get E he was having a seizure. We're in the Pediatric ICU. Seizures aren't new to us since M has had two (3/2007, 3/2008), but M's were harmless, short febrile seizures. E's seizure continued and continued, though it changed while we were in the ambulance and seemed to stop. But it didn't. By the time we made it to the hospital (which is about 50+ minutes from our home) it was still happening off and on. Seizure meds only helped so much. But now he is doing okay. He has had an EEG on his brain which showed no seizure activity. The spinal tap came back clean. We don't know what is truly happening. It will be another 48 hours before one of the test results comes back, so E will not be discharged before then. Derek was at work, of course, when this happened. I called him after calling 911, but based on our experience with M, we weren't too concerned. Eventually I called our parents and pastor. At some point Derek and I realized he was very needed here, so he went home and collected toiletries, clothes, and reading material for me. He was even thoughtful enough to get slippers and the laptop. (And boy are we happy that the hospital has wireless. Three years ago it didn't, but we didn't have a laptop then, either. Pastor Bill arrived before Derek, and by that time I was mostly done crying. :) I will post updates if we learn anything more. The anti-seizure meds got him out of it, but it took a fair amount. He's sedated due to all the medicine, but they will let him wake up at this point. He is restrained though, so that he does not try to pull out his breathing tube. (That will be removed when he's awake and alert and ready to have it gone.) Other than that, we wait for test results, though nothing is coming up positive yet. In the meantime, we ask for your prayers. Thank you.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Stitched Card

I made this card in the spring when our good friends moved to a new house. It was inspired by Marie at Make and Takes. She is yet another great source for inspiration and has many stitched cards designs available and a good tutorial. This little house was my own design though. One thing I learned was that next time I design my own stitched card, graph paper would be very helpful! Recently some people we care about have moved. I'm not sure if I will manage to make another stitched card or if my Cricut will help me. I still wanted to share this though!
These are pretty simple to make. To make the template was pretty simple. I first sketched the house. Then I used a push pin to put holes in the template. I used the cork on the back of a trivet to protect my kitchen table.
Next I placed the template on cut cardstock and pushed all the way through the cardstock. Then I used all six strands of embroidery floss to create the card using the back stitch. Just don't tie knots or you will have bumps where you don't want them! I just used the needle to thread the floss back through some of the stitches on the back side of the card.
You will want an accent color, too. It will give you added assurance that the backside of your card won't show through! Marie recommends spray adhesive. Since I didn't have any, I just used what I had on hand from my scrapbooking supplies.
(And I will apologize now for the crooked picture!)

Monday, October 19, 2009

The First Day

For those of you keeping up with us, today was M's first day of school in her speech and language classroom. When she woke up, she was concerned that the sun was not up yet. It was a bit early (especially with a little boy who was up most of the night).
M had a great day from the teacher and bus driver's reports! M also told me that it was fun. I am so glad she liked it and had fun. She did fall asleep on the way home, but it was almost nap time.
Thanks for your prayers! I just hope every day goes so well!
I will also warn you that my posts might not come too frequently now that my main subject is in a school of her own. (Pun intended. hehe.)

Friday, October 16, 2009

Top Five Toys

Christy at Superheroes and Princesses suggested doing a top five favorite toys post today. I think it's great to share ideas sooner than later for Christmas gifts. M is about to turn three years old. In no particular order, some wonderful toys... Play-Doh- We have the duffel bag kit. It is the perfect starter kit with the "needed" accessories like the rolling pin, scissors, and spaghetti maker. We still Doodle Pro by Fisher Price- We have the dinosaur version, so it comes with a bone and dino foot print to use, too. Even our son (almost 1) loves to use this and draws daily with it. Blocks- We have Lego Duplos (the basic start up and a couple of additional sets),as well as, a nice set of wooden alphabet blocks. Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Musical Learning Chair- I got this at a yard sale two summers ago and gave it to M for her second birthday. It was a huge hit for many months. For E's safety, we put it in the basement for several months. Just recently it was brought back out and both children love it. Puzzles- We love any wooden puzzle, especially Melissa and Doug brand, but they are really hard to store. We have an Elmo puzzle book (not wooden) that we just love too. It has five puzzles inside and it's simple to store!

I highly recommend the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD for ages 2-4. It's not a toy, but still worthy to be included in my top five post. Though M does not sing along, she knows each letter's sound because of it. She'll sing the song with me, just not the video.

Visit Superheroes and Princesses for other toy recommendations.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

YCMT Winner

The winner of the YCMT Not-So-Scary giveaway is #7 Crystal Congratulations and enjoy!

How to Build an A ~ by Sara Midda

We really like the book called How to Build an A. It's written by Sara Midda. It comes with a mesh bag filled with pieces to form letters including long and short rectangles and big and little "bumps/rainbows." Each page has a simple sentence and matching illustration. There's also a small illustration to show how to build the letter. Can you see the capital and lower case i's below? M needs help with a lot of the letters, but there are others that she loves to make on her own. Doesn't the D look nice framing her face?
In full disclosure some letters are hard to make because the pieces need to be stacked in order to fit. (To make a capital B, the two bumps have to overlap a bit. It's a bit awkward, but I don't see any solution to it.)
I highly recommend this book for three and four year olds!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Portable Sandbox

There are a few reasons why a real sandbox isn't ideal for us, but I still wanted my children to have the sensory stimulation and  fun that a sandbox provides.

Our version is simple. It's a plastic storage box. Inside I buried several little "treasures." Included are mini-popsicle sticks with our names on them, rocks, colored pasta, ribbon, and a plastic crab. I also included a couple of scoops from E's formula. (I don't throw them away.)
After they were buried, M had fun playing for quite some time. 
We still need to work on the idea of not throwing sand, but this activity will be something we do often. It will be stored in our garage and taken outside when we use it.

Just a note: If you plan to make a sandbox for a little one, make sure you use play sand. It's been sanitized, unlike other sands.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Not-So-Scary Giveaway

This may be my third giveaway this month, but really, that is NOT normal! It just happened that way! Here is a fun "Not So Scary" giveaway for you. Youcanmakethis.com is giving you another opportunity to win patterns! This is a $50 bundle and includes the following ebooks: Fancy Filled Tutu with Bonus 40 Tutu "Recipes" Pumpkin Polly Patterns Paper Piecing Project: Pumpkin Patch Pillow Frayed Applique: Too Cute to Spook! Little Miss Spider Applique Patterns How to Applique the Easy Way Hocus Pocus Patterns Just a Little Something for a Happy Halloween Table Runner WOW! That's a lot of sewing for you! Personally, I'm not a fan of scary/spooky Halloween items, but these patterns are cute and include something for everyone. To Enter: Leave a comment telling me what your favorite costume was as a child or a favorite Halloween memory. Extra Entries: Leave an additional comment for each additional entry.
  • Visit You Can Make This and tell me your favorite item.
  • Be a follower of this blog.
  • Comment on any non-contest post on this blog. (If you have commented before, that counts, just leave an additional entry.)
This giveaway is open world wide. Leave your comments by noon (EST) on October 14th. Remember to leave a way to contact you!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Final Countdown

My Oops: On Thursdays after M begins preschool, I will pick her up after Bible study (instead of the bus/van that will usually transport her). I wanted to see how long it would take for me to get from my Bible study to the school, so on Thursday, on the way home from Bible study I drove to the school. M has been asking to go to school, so I did not intend to disappoint her by showing her the school again without getting to go to it. I was shocked when M announced, "School!" Oops, I guess the building is a bit distinct. Thankfully she accepted that we were only saying "hi" and "bye" to the school and not playing. (If you want to read more about our classroom experience, go here.) The IEP: Thursday we also had our Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting. It was pretty straightforward. It included the results from M's evaluation report (which we had already received), goals/objectives, how the goals would be measured, and recommendations for services. They had recommended the speech and language classroom four mornings per week (as we expected). In addition, she will get speech therapy there. They had recommended one 30 minute group session and one individual session per week. We requested a third session (group), and Friday we learned that will happen. That makes me happy! M and her teacher will also have on occupational therapy consultation monthly, but no real therapy for M. The Question: We still don't know how M will get to school. The local school district provides transportation, and we are accepting it. However, I would like to prepare M. She thinks she is riding a bus, and will be horribly disappointed if it's just a van. I also think it will be easy for her to hop on a bus and say goodbye, knowing that she is going to school. A van (though she has never ridden in one) would not feel "special" to her. I was told that we should know by Wednesday. Ugh. That will be a long wait. Days Until M's Birthday: 8 Days Until Preschool: 9 Days Until E's Birthday: 15 So right before M's first day of preschool we'll have overnight company and a family birthday part. Then before her second week of preschool we'll have different overnight company and another family birthday party! WOW! I know some would think my life is rather dull, but we always seem to have something happening! We'd appreciate your prayers during this time. Nine (not including today)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Family Tree

This project was inspired in early summer when my older sister gave me a necklace that had a tree on it and it said, "Family is nature's masterpiece." Really, the credit goes to God, but it's a wonderful necklace and 100% my taste. I have a thing for trees.
Shortly after getting the necklace, I had a vision to make a visual family tree. I set to work drawing the tree. This took MANY hours. It's been a long time since I drew anything other than flowers, rainbows, and sunshines for M. (I used to be a bit of an artist. During college I even took a couple classes...enough for an art concentration with my elementary education degree.) At first I was going to keep the leaves uniform by drawing a pattern first. In the end, I decided to draw each leaf freehand. It makes sense since cutting them out is not an exact science for my hands.
I'm pleased with the outcome. The leaves can hold the name of family members. The circle can hold a family surname or initial. Of course it's important to leave blanks for new spouses, adoptions, or births.
If you make one of your own, please let me know! I do ask that you respect the time and effort I put into this and not copy the tree exactly as it is, but just use it as a guide.
Though I think it would be fun to sell (a tweaked version of) this one day, I am really pleased with how it turned out. The first people to get this were the three friends that signed up for the Pay It Forward post. This is the gift I sent them. They, in turn, choose something...anything...to send to three others.
The three blogging friends who got this (not filled out so that they could frame it and give it as a gift if desired) were Debbie (a friend from my church) at Debbie's Digest, Nicole at The Activity Mom, and Lisa at Cheerios Underfoot.
When I was spending an evening cutting (actually many evenings) the trees and leaves, Derek asked me why I didn't just use the Cricut. Wouldn't that be nice? The Cricut just doesn't do customized cutting for me. Wouldn't that be nice though? (I did use the Cricut for the circle and initial though.)
What do you think? Any suggestions for improving the design before I make any more? I'm already thinking to use darker brown for the tree. I used an off-white paper for the background, but a creamier color might be better. I'm not sure if a printed background would be better. What else might help?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

(If you haven't signed up for the giveaway yet, you have until midnight tomorrow!) This idea is not original, but I still wanted to share! Last week we went on a hayride and got pumpkins. The farmers suggested this craft and even gave us some bird seed to complete it. We took pine cones and coated them with Crisco. The birds might enjoy peanut butter a bit more, but we had more shortening. (M knows we bake with shortening. She found out she does not like the taste of it though!) Then we sprinkled some seeds on the cone. (We did add more seeds later.)
I wasn't sure if we should attempt to make these to hang. In the end, I decided since we only have a sapling tree in our yard, we would just set the cones around the base of it. Now I am thinking it would have been better to hang them for the birdies.
It was fun, super simple, and a good outdoor project. And it will feed the birds!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Cookie Cutter Painting

When my mother-in-law gave us a great set of flower cookie cutters, I don't think she thought we'd be using them this way. We dipped the cookie cutters in tempera paint and "stamped" them on paper. I love the way the yellow popped off the page, though it doesn't show in the picture. After we made lots of flowers, M used her finger to color the centers.
This was the card that we made for Grandpa Clark's birthday. Happy birthday!
Honestly, I thought it would be neat to see some color mixing; however, M did not overlap the flowers much.
We save lids. They make a wonderful paint palette. I just used a napkin to store the flowers when they weren't in use.
Sometime soon we'll have to make some sugar cookies to use the cookie cutters again.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway! It's great for a beginner or experienced sewer!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Walls of Jericho

This week we read and talked about how Joshua fought the battle at Jericho. We didn't do a lot except read the story and build many variations of the walls of Jericho. Then our Little People and Lego people would march around the city seven times, we'd blow horns, yell, and the walls would come down. (Our pretend account wasn't fully accurate.) We used alphabet blocks.
We used Lego Duplo blocks.
The best part was making the walls come down! Even E got in on the action!
I was amazed at how many times we built the walls of Jericho! M would say "again" so many times!
Of course we listenend to "Joshua Fought the Battle at Jericho."
Included in Hubbard's Cupboard's weekly lesson plans were some Jericho and Humpty Dumpty ideas. You can see our Humpty Dumpty paper craft here.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Personalized Name Pillow Pattern Review and Giveaway!

You might remember when I was so excited to share this pillow that I made! Now I am thrilled to tell you that You Can Make This is giving TWO readers will get the chance to WIN this pattern.
This really is an easy to follow and easy to use pattern. I consider myself a beginning sewer (and it shows if you look closely). The hardest part for me was getting started! Though I had never before used applique or the satin stitch, the directions made it as easy for me to do it. Really, I think I just need to practice a lot more!
This is an e-book, so you just download the pattern to your computer. With 27 pages of patterns and instructions, you won't be left to wonder how to complete each step. You can print as little or as much of it as you'd like. I printed the letter patterns, but used the computer for the rest of the instructions.
This pattern allows you to sell your product (as long as it is not mass produced). If I had a bit more skill, I might consider this. With all the unique names these days, parents and children love to have a personalized product.
The only downfall that I could find with the pattern was one letter. The capital "M" that came with the pattern had bumps instead of points at the top (though it was tall like a capital letter). Since my daughter is young, I wanted it to be clear that her name began with a capital letter; so I just created my own.
The pattern really allows you to make a quick and simple pillow that is personalized and beautiful. I think it would be great for an alternate backing to be included in the pattern so that if a person wants a washable pillowcase they can make it. Personally, I want all of my children's pillows to be easily washable, and not to lose the fluffiness, so it makes sense to me. I made a simple pillow sham without instructions, though a friend had verbally told me how to do it.
I think this pattern lends itself well to be a great gift for boys or girl; just customize the fabric! I think a 16 year old girl would even like this! You could also make pillows for home decor with the words "home," "faith," or "family" on them. Maybe you like to change things often and would like Christmas or seasonal pillows. It's all in the fabric and word choice!
To Purchase: Go here! To Enter: Leave a comment telling me who would get a personalized name pillow from you. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address if you do not have a blog. Only one comment per person unless you earn extra entries. Additional Entries: (Leave a comment for each additional entry.)
  • Browse You Can Make This and tell me your favorite product.
  • Be a follower of this blog.
  • Comment on any non-contest post (and contribute to the conversation). If you have commented before, that counts, just make sure you leave an entry comment.

Leave comments before midnight on October 7th. Winners will be contacted by email on October 8th and will have three days to claim their prize!

Good luck!!

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