The Stay at Home Librarian

Pretzel Number Mats Printable

2011-11-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to downloading the pics from my camera. Posting our pretzel making activity is long over due. It was so much fun. I hope you take advantage of my printable and use it. Of course this is an activity you could do without the printable, or you might decide to make shapes instead. Regardless, a lesson on cooking and on math in one day is priceless. I haven't been able to take too many pictures of "school" recently because it is a distraction for Ada. That may sound like an excuse to be a bad blogger, and it sort of is, but when you hear "take a picture" after a 5 year old has done the most basic of tasks, you'd want to remove that intrusion and distraction from your learning space pronto.

I've read that some kids aren't being taught handwriting in school. I didn't really worry that it was a real threat until I watched a little girl a few weeks ago make her letters and it was all wrong. I don't know if I'm making Ada neurotic yet, but I watch almost every letter she makes, and she hears me in the background "start your letter at the top". I know that making her letters incorrectly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but since I homeschool, I don't have to rely on someone else to tell me her strengths and weaknesses. One of those weaknesses is numbers, when I had the opportunity to make them fun, I jumped on it, and she loved it!

First print off the cards:

Pretzel Cards 1
Pretzel Cards 2
Pretzel Cards 3

Then make some pretzel dough:

PRETZEL RECIPE
1 pkg dry yeast
4 c flour
1 ½ c warm water
1 tsp salt
1 egg
coarse salt

Mix all the dry ingredients, except the coarse salt, in a bowl . Add the water and mix thoroughly . Separate the dough into balls in order to form numbers. In a small bowl beat the egg with a fork; then add a little water. Brush numbers with egg and sprinkle with salt . Bake at 350ºF until golden brown .

Ready, Set, DOUGH!

Roll It!

Willa was happy to join in on this math activity!

Mama's and Willa's numbers ready to cook!

I over-salted the first batch, but they were still yummy.

Well, that's it! If you decide to make your own pretzels, I hope you'll come tell us about it.

Pretzel Number Mats

2011-10-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

We're making pretzel dough tomorrow in school. The idea isn't mine, it's from Calvert. I was supposed to do it on index cards, but why when I have Publisher? If you happen to use them, I hope you'll come back here and tell me about it.

First print off the cards(I'm going to laminate them):

Pretzel Cards 1
Pretzel Cards 2
Pretzel Cards 3

Then make some pretzel dough:

PRETZEL RECIPE
1 pkg dry yeast
4 c flour
1 ½ c warm water
1 tsp salt
1 egg
coarse salt

Mix all the dry ingredients, except the coarse salt, in a bowl . Add the water and mix thoroughly . Separate the dough into balls in order to form numbers. In a small bowl beat the egg with a fork; then add a little water. Brush numbers with egg and sprinkle with salt . Bake at 350ºF until golden brown .

I remember now

2011-09-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Why I stopped blogging! Uploading and editing pictures is a pain in the patooey. Jason's parents paid us a surprise visit last week, so as homeschoolers can do, we took the week off and enjoyed their visit. We started back this week, but had a week full of appointments. Ada was evaluated by a speech pathologist, and her speech is not as bad as I thought. She has a small lisp that she will begin once a week oral motor therapy. We've also finally had Micah's 18 month check-up and Ada's 5 year check up. Each time I go to such an appointment, I want to run back to Virginia. I miss our pediatrician that much! The one we went to today will do, but she is no Dr. Amory. Don't get me wrong, I miss my Dr too. Maybe because they were in the same building!

We're getting ready to start American Heritage Girls next week. I've been going to weekly meetings for a month. I'm excited, but a little anxious, because I've yet to see the handbook for my level. We started soccer on Monday. Consequently, we've decided to stop doing gymnastics for now. We've started one more activity about which I am really excited. Ada and I will be going to Common Ground Montgomery on Friday afternoons to volunteer with the inner city youth there. Our first visit was today, and I have to tell you that I am humbled by the work going on there. I pray for the day that I'd be make a similar sacrifice; willing to move my family into such an area as this in order to shine the light of Christ. I complain about our neighborhood when our car is egged, our truck is keyed, things are taken from our front porch, but there is no comparison between where we live, and where this ministry is located. Ada had a wonderful time and wants to go back every day. That's a quick and dirty of our two weeks.

Call me Crazy

2011-08-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

It seems that we're doing Calvert PreK at half pace, but Willa does so many of Ada's activities with her. Additionally, many of the activities she does are reinforced with what Ada has done or will do- left and right for example. Willa is becoming increasingly interested in doing school, and honestly, I'm scared that I won't have anything prepared for her, but that is the nice thing about Calvert! It doesn't take a huge amount of preparation. I'm getting better at this, just a little.

Today I deactivated my Facebook account. I found myself checking FB "really quick" before school in the morning. It's become a waste of my time. We chose homeschooling, even before we moved to Alabama, because I felt led to homeschool. Looking back, I now see God's hand. He knew we'd be here, and I needed 5 years to get prepared. After much prayer, the thought to wean myself off of FB crossed my mind. Preposterous. People no longer blog. We need FB, for what? Keeping tabs with 568 people? I don't think so. People will be forced to email, text, call, and check my sporadic blog posting to keep tabs on us. I've put too much on my plate and something had to go. Now if I only had the will power to see it through. I'd rather be quilting anyway.

Here are a few pictures of our Willa Bean:

Working on her alphabet

Left and Right Calvert PreK

Working on "top/middle/bottom" with Ada.

Kai Lan is over , Fairy is on, gingerbread man is under the rainbow.

We <3 topsy turvy. Little Red Riding Hood -Calvert PreK.

Willa worked with red and yellow in preK

Willa on the balance beam.

With her 3 year old friends and Miss Roxanne.

Just in case you haven't heard enough whining from me, I feel like I'm neglecting the baby. I try to wear him out in the morning so that he will nap in the late morning so I can get what Ada and I need to get done. Shoo Wee. I need more hands. I will admit, I have some jealousy thinking of the life I could have. If I chose the modern traditional route, Ada would be in K, Willa in preschool in the mornings a few days a week, and just for good measure, I could put Micah in a Moms Morning Out program. The only conclusion is that mothers who choose to homeschool are crazy. That, or they don't enjoy personal time. Then I remember that my kids are getting their Mama 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (a rough estimate;) ) During gymnastics I listen to Moms who think that in order for their children to have a quality education, and an advantage, that they must be sent to the "best" schools. Best schools are the most expensive, or those that are seemingly the most exclusive. I listen to people fret about applications to sought after schools and I'm glad I'm crazy. I'm crazy for this little boy and his sisters:

Micah works on a puzzle in a rare moment he has alone with his mama.

Such a smart boy.

Calvert Kindergarten Week 2

2011-08-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

If things continue to go well, I might just get the false impression that this homeschooling thing will be a breeze. We're settling into a routine now (read the baby has cooperated and slept quietly during the early afternoon). I've decided to drop Leading Little Ones to God for right now, and pick it up once we're done with My ABC Bible Verses. I don't know why I was doing them concurrently. I'm a paid member of Raising Rockstars Preschool, and Carissa uses the verses in her printables. I have to admit that the paid membership was a bit different than I expected, due to my own confusion- not her misrepresentation. The printable bundles she offers for sale now is more what I thought the membership entailed. I still don't think the $10 fee was a bad investment. It doesn't expire and I have two more children with which to do it. I still haven't used many of the powerpoint shows available in the members only section, but I am using the letter presentations in alphabetical order each morning for some additional technology instruction, more exposure to sight words, and to get Ada to sit still for more than one minute so that I can braid her hair. Calvert presents letters alphabetically, RRPS does it from easiest to hardest, so each powerpoint presentation stands to be different in the review portion.

All three children had a dental appointment on Monday. Everyone got a clean report with no cavities. I decided to just skip school that day and makeup the missed lesson on Saturday (don't you love homeschooling). However, just as we prepared to sit down and get down to work the in-laws surprised us by arriving a full day ahead of schedule on the unplanned trip we'd only learned about the evening before. Week two wasn't finished until this morning.

Math:

We worked on several positional words:

over,under, on (although technically, there is no "over" in this picture, only posing)

Willa is under the rainbow, MLP is on the rainbow.

top, middle, bottom

This is our most favorite toy. This is a more complicated version of top, middle, bottom.

Ada learned her left from right. She knew this already because she is left handed, and knows it makes her special. There is also a song we sing that comes from the Handwriting Without Tears Get Set For School CD. The Hello Song emphasizes that when saying hello we use our right hand. Simple, yet effective.

left vs right.

I am happy to say that during our review today, Ada had mastered thick and thin. I guess I don't need to rush to enroll her in some sort of education program due to my ineffectiveness as a teacher.

Reading:

Reading is my favorite time of the day. Ada really likes to get involved also, and sometimes we can entice Willa to play. We read four stories this week: "The Little Engine that Could", "The Tortoise and the Hare", " The Lion and the Mouse", and "The Enormous Turnip". Ada's favorite were the latter, because her imaginary friend, Mousie, is (of course) a mouse. She also (like her mama) enjoys a big word or two and enjoys enunciating the word "ENORMOUS".

The race. It also included Perry the Chipmunk, her favorite buddy of the non-imaginary kind.

Handwriting/Phonemic Awareness:

We worked our ways through letters, Ff, Gg, Hh,Ii, and Jj. I am afraid I have created a photographing monster. She is allowed, with permission, to use my camera to take photos. What if photography is something she could excel? When importing the photos, I came across several interesting, including about two dozen of the roll-a-dough letters she made. (and a few non-letter things she'd made).

That's a handwriting sheet from the RRSP program. I have the letters in sheet protectors.

We learned several poems. One was Little Miss Muffet. According to our Calvert manual, a tuffet is "a small stool". Ada quickly made use of the crate stools I'd made prior to the start of school. Ada, a bowl, a spoon, and an imaginary spider, and the stage is set for reenactment of Miss Muffet's frightening experience:

Eating curds and whey.

Micah has a great helper hand!

Science:

We did discuss the body in science this week. We made butcher paper outlines of our bodies as quickly as we could, but Micah is a tough force to reckon with. Ada's outline did get posted on the wall above her bed, just inches from the reach of a stretching on tip toes baby boy. We had a lot of fun making our own song to the melody of "Farmer in the Dell". We rhymed words for the body parts we named.

My body has many parts,

Hi-Ho the merrio

My body has many parts.

There's a cut on my butt,

a cut on my butt,

Hi-Ho the merrio

There's a cut on my butt.

Let's get Physical:

Now, you might be asking yourself "Self, why are her kids always in leotards?" We are budding gymnasts. Not really, but we do go to a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The outfits you see in these photos just so happen to be our newest purchases from Kohl's. Otherwise, the kids are wearing their PJs, or what they've chosen to wear that day.

Stretching before class.

Mama's lesson:

The highlight of our week was playing Simon Says. This week I am thankful for homeschooling to be able to realize that it isn't necessarily shiny curricula, well drawn workbooks, hours spent compiling lap books, or any of those other "must do" things part of today's homeschool.

We listen to mainly contemporary Christian music. I love that there are several resources available for Christian parents in order to "hide the word" in their hearts through music. Our favorites are Seeds Family Worship. We're also listening to Songs for Saplings when we do our phonics lesson. The short songs make a nice break in the day. I don't remember specifically which song Ada was singing at this particular time, but she's learned that we can praise God in song, and that our songs can be a gift to him. When I snapped this picture I couldn't help but think of the young woman she could become, possibly singing in a praise band (but not if she has her mama's singing talent).

We're Official (!!!):

2011-08-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Homeschoolers! Here are my pretty little ladies with their new school gifts. A "Boo Boo Kitty pencil pouch for Bean.

and a "Boo Boo" Kitty backpack for Tater.

Our first ~~day~~ week was ~~a little~~ bumpy. We've never been a family who flourishes on a schedule, although I am sure we could probably benefit from one. The goal was to have our lessons finished by lunch time. Crossing my fingers, I hoped the baby would nap in the morning, but he had other ideas. My aspirations where to get both K and PreK done in one day, but at the start of day two, I knew that PreK with Willa would have to wait until we had settled in a bit. We finished all five lessons in the K program, and just two in the PreK. It suits us. Some days Willa wants to "do school", others she wants to play. I'm fine with letting her choose for now. I would be okay with Willa taking two years to do the PreK program, although technically, I do think access to the internet program expires after 13 months with Calvert. We do have paper copies of the lesson manuals, so it won't be an issue.

We started each morning with our calendar. I saved this cute backdrop from the trashcan after VBS. Our calendar came from the Target $1. I especially loved the yesterday, today, tomorrow posters. When Micah ripped ours off the walls and rendered them unusable, I went on a mission to locate more. FB friends were checking their local Target $1 bins. I did finally locate two, and I bought them both! Micah has since then, ripped another off the wall, so I'm not confident it will be a long lasting learning aid in our space.

It was windy on Monday.

Additionally, we're reading through Leading Little Ones to God. We have the Seeds Family Worship CD's, and I'd love to work them into our program. Totally Tots has some wonderful printables that I'd love to use, but, if I'm being honest, my kids so far haven't responded that well to my printing and laminating efforts, and I'd rather save the trees (and spend my free time quilting) instead of printing and laminating. I realize I may be breaking some supermama homeschooling rule, but I've decided to embrace my inner slacker. It's not very Montessori, or Mason of me, to be sure. This year I have decided less is more. I've only been an official homeschooler a week now, yet the top of my homeschooling closet is filled with curricula I just knew I needed, and great ideas I'd seen on blogs, that I had to do with my kids if their homeschooling experience were to be the best possible experience. Meh. My goals are more short term. Survive the first week. (check). Survive the first month (now in progress).

FIAR

We did not get to any of our Five in a Row activities this week. At this point, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that we get some done. Perhaps in time, I'll change my mind. But, my hope is that as school becomes more of a habit for us, and we get in a rhythm, that we'll make time for it.

Reading

In Calvert K we did A-E this week. Ada struggled with the lower case "a" on day one, and I was sure that she'd never learn it. I took advantage of the chat line offered through Calvert and asked if I shouldn't be supplementing the curriculum with, I don't know, something. I have the Handwriting Without Tears program, should I somehow add it in? Calvert is alphabetical, HWT starts with the easiest letter to write and progresses from there. How would I do it? I'm happy to report that I could detect no exasperation in the typing on the Calvert Education Counselor with whom was unfortunate to answer my plea for help. S/he was only patient and helpful. At the end of Week 1, she's doing just fine learning to writer her letters the ABC way.

We read several stories: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Three Little Pigs, and Henny Penny in K. We also read The Little Red Hen in PreK.

The Three Bears are sad.

Topsy Turvy: Goldilocks

Math

We discussed several different topics in Math- in/out, thick/thin, near/far. Thick and thin were harder to grasp than I ever could have participated. It made me have an appreciation for how, as a parent educator, we can be acutely aware of the with what ones student is struggling and work to incorporate instruction into everyday activities instead of relying on a a third party to first alert us to the issue. Since realizing that Ada had was having difficulty with thick/thin, it's been a constant subject in our house. Would you like a thick piece of cake? or It is hot outside, would you like a thick or thin shirt?

Willa studies "in and out".

Thick

Thin

Far

Near

Ada sorts buttons by shape and size.

As I said, we didn't get far in our PreK lessons. By week's end, Willa was asking for school. She worked on the color red. She separated the red buttons from our collection, found red items in the room. But the big hit was the Fit a Space that was part of the Calvert PreK program.

Willa identifies the red Fit a Space pieces.

Each day Ada completes 2 Calvert checkpoints, one for reading and one for math, each day.

Ada working on technology.

My goals for the next month is to get into a specific rhythm. We have extra curricular activities to juggle, and let's not forget, a cute baby with which to play. Gymnastics is Tuesday and Thursday after lunch, so we do well on those days. Piano is currently on Friday's at 10:30 am, but I may reschedule those lessons until after lunch. Our barrier right now is the nap time and melt down times of the cute baby:

We did school in our PJs!

Additionally, we'll continue to work on Calvert daily with Ada, and with Willa as she indicates an interest. Also, we have several FIAR units planned:

Storm in the Night with a study on clouds.

Story About Ping with a study on Buoyancy

Lentil with a study on the senses, and to learn the Pledge of Allegiance

Weekly Snapshot:

Ada boogies to the "Alphabet Zoo".

She played Beethoven

2011-08-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ada had her first piano lesson today, and she really did play Beethoven. Her piano teacher has more patience than any adult I've ever seen, and the personality that Ada will just chew up and spit out. In the end, she did learn. Jason has told me I'm one of "those" parents. I've gone out onto the soccer field before in the middle of a game. Ada was running after the coach grabbing at the whistle around his neck, ignoring the game around her. He assured me it was "just fine", that she was only 4 years old, but well, to be honest, I don't buy it. Ada doesn't act that way at home and it's like she senses when adults in power will allow her to get away with murder and gets out her ammo.

But, today I held my tongue, and got up and left the room, and decided to let the professional do her job the way she saw fit. Ada had decided that she,not the teacher, was going to run the lesson. Ada knew how to play the piano, and was going to do it her way. The teacher did get control of the lesson, and without too much detour I might add. There was no frustration on the part of Ada, so there is something to be said about this method of teaching. Ms. Lisa seemed to have all her hair left at our departure, so I guess there are successes in other ways.

On the way home, we did talk about the fact that piano lessons did cost money, and that I expected her to be respectful at all times to teachers and adults with whom I have given the authority. Her piano teacher had run into a little difficulty at the hair salon, and at a little car at the gas station and was over an hour late for our lesson. Ada was hungry and tired of waiting. Otherwise, I think I probably would've been one of "those" parents. I just can't help myself.

My apologies for the iphone photo:

Manda Made Quilts

2011-08-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

I did decide to go ahead and make a quilt blog. Hope to see you over there.

Manda Made Quilts

WIP Wednesday #1

2011-08-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

I did get something accomplished this week! Wendi at Bethadeezoo requested "girlfriend blocks" for her month *coughcough July* in my Simple Modern Quilt Bee. You can read her tutorial here. I have to say I LOVED this block. I'm definitely a "liberated" modern quilter.

As my fellow participants posted their pics, they included little bios. Of course, as I pieced these two girls, it's weird, but I really connected with the process of making them. They formed their own personalities. I don't think I could ever try my hands at doll making. I'm having a hard time letting go of these ladies.

"Abby has a love for all things retro and is ready for her first day of school. She's not afraid to let her style shine. She's ready to make a statement with her jet-black dyed hair. While her friends love baking on the beach, Abby has always been obsessed with protecting and keeping her whitey white skin. She's definitely one of a kind, and not your average teenager."

The fabric I used for the dress for the next block reminded me of my Mama, and I wanted to incorporate a stack of books into the block ( I am of course, the Stay at Home Librarian). From the beginning I used Mama as inspiration for this block. Her name has been slightly changed ;)

"Meet Darcy. She's your reliable girlfriend. She's not one to get caught up in drama or gossip, so you feel comfortable and at ease while confiding in her. She's too busy with her hobbies to betray your trust. She sews and bakes(rarely for herself), but you'd be hard pressed to find her without her nose in a book(or kindle as it were). I had to draw on glasses, because she wouldn't be my Mama without them."

My five year old looked at all the girlfriends with me posted to the Flickr group, and she has decided she wants a girlfriend quilt. I'd planned on asking for more Spiderweb blocks the next time I participate in a bee, but I might have to get this block instead.

Now, to get to the point. My works in progress. This is my spiderweb quilt, and I love it Love It LOVE IT. I got all these blocks made for me in bees, but these are just half of them. I want to make 22 more because this baby is going on my bed. It'll also be my first full sized quilt. Progress has been at a standstill because I ran out of the Alexander Henry Larkspur fabric. I bought the last pieces they had over a Sew Fresh Fabric, so I'm ready to go again. Well, and as a newish quilter, I don't have an abundance of scraps to use as strings. The middle square is Kona Eggplant. I have almost and entire bolt of it, so there is plenty of fabric for a border and the backing.

This is a quilt I'm making for a friend from high school. I had my babies 10 weeks early. My youngest twin, Aleah, died at 9 months old from problems directly related to her prematurity. Stephanie had her baby several weeks early this summer. I haven't seen Stephanie since we graduated in 1994 (ack), but I knew I wanted to make her a baby quilt as soon as I knew he was leaving the NICU a healthy baby. I had these shot cottons and they are soft as a baby's behind. I used the tutorial over a Quilt Dad for Wonky Log Cabins. I have 6 blocks made, so it is a little bigger than a baby quilt. I need to sash the blocks and figure out a layout. The backing is the same as the sashing.

To do:

High on my priority list is to cut my charms for the Rainbow Fabric Charm Swap hosted by Ellison Lane.

Also, I need to make my bowties for the Scrappy BowTie Block Swap.

Projects with little done:

Garden Fence Quilt Along- I'm not too far behind. I want to get the two previous things done before I start anything else. I have two fabrics I'm thinking of using. I have the Fiesta prints from the Hope Valley line, and I have Amber from the Heirloom. I don't know which to do.
Urban Lattice Quilt Along- I have the fabric, and one FQ partially cut. I'd totally forgotten about it until I started this inventory.
Houndstooth quilt- I have the black and white fabric, and I've drawn up a pattern on graph paper. I got the idea from my cosmetic bag.

I've since discovered ready made patterns, that I might just go ahead and buy for simplicity's sake.

Willa's Birthday Quilt

2011-08-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

This was definitely a quilt where I learned the most. It was the 2nd I pieced, and the 2nd the 2nd I quilted. It was finished Jan 2011. It is made using fabric from Hobby Lobby (perish the thought)! There was no fabric stash to be spoken of. I was using my Mama's rotary cutter and sewing machine. I didn't know about he importance of uniform seams, so the size of my blocks were ALL over the place. Additionally, the kids would press buttons on the machine changing the settings of the needle placement. It really is amazing that it came out at all.

I tried to baste this quilt with basting spray. I know that there are those who've had great luck with it, but I did not. I free motion quilted it, and in the process the quilt sandwich slipped so much that there was a huge crease down the back and the backing didn't go all the way to one corner. My solution was to take out all the quilting on that side. I then stretched that corner of the quilt and did an emergency baste. It worked, and I was able to finish the quilting and get it bound the day before her 3rd birthday. Once I washed it crease down the middle didn't seem so bad, although it is still noticeable. Also, the binding ended up being about 4 inches too short. Of course I didn't notice until it was nearly sewn down. But, I did manage to get a scrap of fabric in there and the binding joined.

She loved it- and she loves owls. But I do owe Willa a quilt made out of quilt shop quality fabric. I wasn't disappointed in the mistakes in it 1) because I didn't have a lot of money invested in the fabric and b) I really did learn a lot from the process. Quilting has definitely caused me to compromise on my perfectionism.

And here is a picture of Willa on her birthday. She was in a Wizard of Oz stage. She asked for a Witch and a Witch Cake on her birthday. So we celebrated with Glinda the Good Witch.

Micah's I Spy Quilt

2011-08-01T15:43:00.001-07:00

A pic- not from my camera phone. Setting squares are also the backing., a photo by stayathomelibrarian on Flickr.

This was the first quilt that I officially finished. I made it for Micah's first birthday. It is free motion quilted. The setting square and background is an Alexander Henry fabric.

And here he is, enjoying it!

Star Clock

2011-08-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

Source: littlestlearners.blogspot.com via Manda on Pinterest

Our schoolroom clock was inspired by this little goody on Pinterest. I did, however, have an idea that improved upon it. Meet our Star Clock. I popped the top off of this old (and smudgey) clock of ours. I first put a star sticker on the end of the minute hand, and the I taped numbered stars to the wall. Ada is already telling time.

Wanttobe Quilter Campaign

2011-07-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

What a glorious time to be a "non-quilter". There's a quarter of giveaways going on at Stash Manicure, in which only newbies can win. If you are my friend, that's you. Here's the blurb from there:

"Hello friends and followers, I would love to invite you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over here.

They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks.

Supplies that will have you quilting

before you know it...From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines...everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too...Tuesday and Thursday are days for us..

All you have to do is email (stayathomelibrarian @ gmail dot com) me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organize. (Don't worry, the info only goes to the hostess and will be destroyed at the end of the contest- I asked) When you leave your comment for the Monday, Wednesday Friday giveaways, be sure to tell them that Manda the Stay at Home Librarian sent you- because when you win, I win too!

Be sure to be a follower at Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure....

That is all! There are over 49 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER!

( p.s you will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with a blogger where you see this message)

I Spy With My Little Eye

2011-07-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Alabama, I have taken up quilting. I'd love a quilt blog (who am I kidding, I don't keep up with this one), but instead, I'm adding a "Manda Made" label to this one in hopes there will be more than just this post.

To commemorate starting Kindergarten, Ada and I made this quilt. First thing, I have an I Spy addiction. My collection has grown to over a thousand squares- thanks to charm swaps. Swaps are a lot of fun, and you get more cute squares than you do what I call "dog butt" squares. (In one of my swaps I swear, I got a square that featured a dog butt.) Ada picked out the squares from my collection for this quilt and decided on the layout of the squares. Of course she picked out the pink fabric. It took me a long time to find a solid to match the setting squares for the backing, and when I did, the fabric was flawed. I think maybe from being left out in the sun at the quilt shop. Let me tell you, I am relieved to have this quilt done.

I looked at this quilt for weeks before deciding how to quilt it. I decided on the lattice in order to complement the backing. Initially, I had thought to quilt horizontal and vertical straight lines along both sides of the seams, but the horizontal strips on the back weren't in line with the strips on the front. In the end, I am pleased with the lattice quilting. I did it on my Janome 8050 using a walking foot.

I pieced the letters below by using techniques in Tonya Ricucci's book Word Play Quilts: Easy Techniques from the UnRuly Quilter. I have to confess that I am disappointed with how the back turned out (to no fault of the piecing technique). At first glance, it is cute, especially with two little girls peeking over the top of it (they were making hearts with their arms).

That "W" is flawed. I prewashed the eye fabric and the Kona. The seams were pressed to set as I went along. I was heartbroken when I pulled the quilt out of the dryer and the "W" had raveled. It's probably more to do with my lack of sewing skills, and less to do with the fact I prewashed, but this will be the last time I prewash anything.

I quilted that one square a little more in hopes that it will not ravel any further. It does draw even more attention to the flaw, but my other option was to rip out all of the quilting. Yeah, right. Flaws add to those character, right? This was the first quilt I quilted using straight lines. My previous quilts have been free motion, and such, the quilting kept problems like this happening. But, I have to tell you, I prefer the look of straight line quilting.

I created the label in PSE and uploaded it to Spoonflower in order to have a FQ made. Next time I'll spend some more time working the colors out. The red is a little orangey, and the black is too brown (PSE's issue, not Spoonflower's). A custom FQ will give you a handful of labels. Isn't it cute? The binding is my favorite part of this quilt. I think I'll bind all quilts in a stripey fabric!

We had to have our 13.5 year old American Curl Cat put to sleep last month. I miss her bunches, and I used this quilt as an opportunity to memorialize her. I apologize for the picture- it was taken with my iphone before the quilt was done, and I did want to share it with you here.

Stats:

Pattern: This is a variation of the Disappearing Nine Patch (DNP); tutorial at Obsessively Stitching.
Quilting: Straight-line lattice on my Janome 8050
Thread: Used Auriful 40 wt white for piecing and quilting
Setting Squares: Moda Chutes and Ladders Confetti Pink
Backing: Bella Solid (color unknown)
Sashing: Kona white
Binding: Sandi Henderson, Farmer's Market Summer Stripe
Resource: Word Play Quilts

From the librarian's cookbook

2011-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

If I were to write a book, it would be a cookbook. This one has made the cut. It's delicious! My darling husband hates rice, but loves cauliflower, so I found this version as an alternative. He loved it. The kids loved it too! Try subbing this "rice" for your next Asian inspired dinner and see if anyone even notices.

Right click to save. Image is .png for use in PSE.

A Crate Chair Idea

2011-07-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I am proud to type that we will be "official" homeschoolers two weeks from today. We've decided to use Calvert this year, but, the librarian in me is going to also be "rowing" along with Five in a Row (FIAR) when time allows. I'm busy getting our learning space ready. Have you discovered Pinterest? If you haven't, go get busy pinning! We needed chairs for our school room. I saw the crate chairs on Pinterest I knew it would be perfect for our space. I found a blog post from a teacher who had made them, but her reported cost per chair was pretty pricey. I knew I could do it for cheaper. And I did.

Get some crates.

I went to Wal-Mart and found these locker sized crates perfect for little tushies, also requires less wood and less fabric. My cost $3 per crate.

Take your crate to Home Depot and have your friendly lumber cutter and cut wood to fit. My cost $5.42 for a 2x4 piece of wood. (plenty left over)
Cover your cut wood.

I got a twin sized foam mattress pad at Wal-Mart. My cost $9 (and I have plenty left over to make more chairs)
On our first crate we didn't use enough foam, so double up to make it puffy enough.
I used some fabric scraps and a staple gun I already had. (If I'm being honest, J did this part ;) ) Staple long sides first, short sides next, and lastly fold down corners. Attach a "loop" so that you'll have a handle to easily remove your top. My cost $0.

I know tutorials usually have great step by step photos, but this is easy. Here is a picture of the inside:

And pictures of the crates ready for use. I'm using mine (in background) as sort of a "library basket" to store books I know that we'll read that week. It's currently filled with books about the first day of kindergarten.

So thanks to Pinterest, I have these cute inexpensive chairs for our learning space, AND I got motivated enough to share it on my blog. I hope that I can keep the momentum going and get back up on this horse.

So, do you Pin?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T00:07:00.000-08:00

I'm disappointed I never really got this blog off the ground. I had grand plans that really aren't coming to fruition because of our circumstances and my lack of motivation and stress level. Recently, I've evaluated the amount of time I spend on the computer, reading blogs, posting to forums, and it's a lot. Add that to the time I spend putting all the wonderful ideas into action, (you know the saving, printing, cutting, laminating) and something suffers. Additionally, I found that my "internet life" had spilled into my real life more than I'd intended. When I'm not on the computer, I think about it. When I'm doing something with the girls, I'm thinking of how it could be blogged, or how to best get the photos for it. I've created monsters. Ada and Willa can't blow their noses without screaming "Take a picture". Anyone with a digital camera knows that it isn't just the taking of the picture, but also the viewing- to everyone in the room. It just isn't what I want. I thought I did, but I don't. I also want to be a better example to my kids than I have been. I'm so "plugged in". There have been times that I have told my kids to "hold on" a minute while I finished something up, and twenty minutes later, I still wasn't done. I rationalized it because most of the time, if not all of the time, I was doing something related to education or kids. It's like the time I was watching Wife Swap and the mom took her kids to daycare so that she could go home and take care of her virtual family. We waste too much time in this world, and this is precious time I can't get back.

So, it was time to go a little low-tech. My girls and I had the absolute best time in the makeshift mudpie kitchen we whipped up for most of the month of September. I have some pics of it in action, but the uploading and cropping takes time too, and then the blogging of it all. For those SAHomeschooling Mamas who have streamlined nad mastered it, I'm jealous. I haven't the gift of organization it takes, and I like to sleep. We're also living in about 500 square feet of my Mom and Dad's house. They are gracious and hospitable, but being displaced has its own bit of stress.

Fortunately, becoming a steward of my time has had its reward. I'm making an advent calendar out of baby food jars. Instead of candy, they will be filled with special activities. I'd love to share the printable with you in hopes that you'll find it helpful. It wasn't made with the intention of being shared, so it isn't as perfect as it might be. Obviously, it is personalized for my family, but I think that you'll find you can use most of the activities in your own Advent Calendar. You could have candy days on the days you can't think of an alternative.

I've also taken up sewing and quilting, and I have to tell you, I have a sense of accomplishment I haven't gotten in a long time. Last night I made Turkey Finger puppets based on a cute tutorial I found at Frog Paper Prince. I do happen to have a mobile upload of it. I made five of them and used them with a printable poem I found at DLTK. The girls loved them.

One last thing, I picked up a pretty cool toy at a yard sale this summer. It's called It's a Match and it is from Discovery Toys. The problem is that once your kid gets bored of the 2 books that come with it, it's over. I made a template in Publisher so that I can quickly make one. If you have one, I'd like to share these docs with you. I've made more, but I'm pretty sure the clip art used in these are "legal". These work best if laminated.

Start Sounds

Animal House

Stick Man Match

As much as I would love to have a wildly successful blog in which I chronicle our every little move, I think I'll just do more of a "high light" reel. Please continue to join us for those sporadic postings.

Muffin Tin Tea Party

2010-09-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Oh where oh where has Manda gone? Oh where oh where can she be?

In Alabama! We've settled into our new (hopefully temporary) home. Not much more than unpacking and organizing going on here. Our move was unexpected and at the cusp of some financial difficulties. The girls, Ada particularly, have been a little anxious. She misses her friends, her room, and our town. I did manage to squeeze in a Muffin Tin Meal on Monday. I tried to make it special. I sneaked out and strung some of our playsilks from the trees. The girls were excited when I pulled out their play clothes and told them to get fancy. It started to rain just as we stepped outside, but that didn't stop us. We had a lovely tea party in the rain. We had Caesar Salad, grapes, cubed cheese, pita crisps, and of course- tea !

We're going to start K4 in October. I'm going to be using the next few weeks to organize and make some plans. Come back and see us soon!

And the winner is!

2010-08-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

A great big thanks to all of those who participated in my first giveaway, and to my sponsor- Magna-tiles. Remember the 15% off discount! Books15

I want some Easy Lunchboxes!

2010-08-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

I'm stalking the internet so that I can win an Easylunchbox Giveaway. (They should just sponsor a giveaway here at the Stay at Home Librarian). Here's one:

Skeeberboo: Back To School Lunch Box Review/Giveaway

Dewey's Showcase- Leap frog Phonics

2010-08-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

I love Leap Frog, particularly tools geared towards phonics. We have their Fridge Phonics. I scored the Word Whammer at a yard sale for $2. But my favorite of their phonics products is the TAG. When I first heard of it I came up with a dozen reasons NOT to get it in about a minute. I try not to buy a lot of licensed stuff, and I didn't see the point in buying the reader so that I could buy Disney books to be read aloud. But, after to my knee jerk reaction, I did a little closer looking. In addition to these "fluffy" books, you can also buy classics. If push comes to shove, they're still books that can be read, just like the "old fashioned" kind.

I love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.The man reading it is PERFECT as the narrator. Ada's favorite I think is Olivia. Willa has the TAG JR, but if I had to buy it again, I would just skip to the Tag. The JR gets very little use. Mama's favorite is the Learn to Read Phonics Books. Both sets gets you 12 readers for $30. The books have three modes "say it", "sound it", and "spell it". I fret over which phonics program I am going to use, when, in all honesty, I have the tools -disguised as toys- to at least start formally teaching reading. Ada learned her letter sounds in just one run through of the Letter Factory DVD. Sometimes I get so hung up on doing things the "old fashioned way". I want to be an involved parent who doesn't rely on something that needs a power source of some sort to educate my children. It is hard to argue with the effortlessness in which Ada is learning to read with the aid of this tool. It's a quiet time tool in our house. The girls sit in their beds and "read", or if Willa is napping, Ada will go to her "coloring desk" to read.

We'd love to hear more about the tools that you use- in your schooling, in your organizing, or just with your getting on with things. This is your last chance to earn 3 extra entries to our Magna Tiles Give Away- just by participating in Dewey's Showcase.

Our 2010 Curriculum Choices

2010-08-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

As the schooling world prepares to start back to school in the coming days and weeks, our family is in the process of making an 835 mile move from Virginia to Alabama. My plans were for Ada to take a literature, science, and art class at the local co-op, but those plans have of changed. The small town to which we are moving in Alabama offers very little. It isn't so much that I will miss Virginia, but I will definitely miss the family friendly activities so abundant and close to us. There is not even a single play park to which we can go play. The nearest Chik-Fil- A is an hour's drive. My kids LOVE "chicken lay". There is no "bouncy place" (an indoor play place with moon bounces). There is no YMCA to go to for swimming lessons. There's no Christian church, not to say that there are no churches, but we are non-denominational independent Christians, and there is none. But as Ephesians 5v20 tells us, we are going to be thankful for everything. We're thankful for this unique opportunity for my parents to be an every day part of the lives of their grandchildren. I can safely say there are no homeschooling co-ops. Virginia, especially the Fredericksburg area, is a homeschooling haven. When you tell someone that you homeschool, chances are- they've considered it too. I can imagine the looks I'll get in Alabama, but I felt led even MORE now that we'll be in Alabama.

One of the things that draws me to homeschooling is the ability to set your own schedule. Ada will be 5 in May, and Lord willing, we'll begin her kindergarten in June. Ideally, I would like for us to utilize an academic calendars based on trimesters, so that way we can school year round with short breaks between terms. Her first quarter of kindergarten will be June-August 2011. While everyone returns to school in September, we'll be on break, affording our family the opportunity to vacation on off season rates! Our second quarter would begin the first of October and go to the middle of December. The third quarter would begin sometime in January and end in March. April and May would be our "summer break" to begin again in June.

But for THIS K4 year, we're going to take some of our curriculum out of the pages of the Well Trained Mind.

Handwriting Without Tears PreK
Explode the Code- Books 1, 1 1/2, 2, and 2 1/2. Homeschool Buyer Co-op has an offer for the on-line version for 50%. Not sure which we'll choose.
The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading- I'll have to get a copy since the one I'm using belongs to the library.
Easy Readers. (We have Bob Books)

I had planned on becoming an Usborne Book Consultant this month, and with that not possible right now, I'll have to figure out how to get my hands on some affordable readers otherwise! I do plan on becoming a consultant, but I want to do it after we get settled and I have 12 weeks to devote to the incentive program. I've been pricing readers suggested in the Well Trained Mind at Rainbow Resource.

Math:

Magnatiles
Manipulatives (I got some foam counters in the Target Dollar Spot)
Cooking- we're going to work on measurement in the coming months by reading recipes.
Financial Peace Junior- The girls are going to save to buy a trampoline using the tools in this resources.

Language Arts:

There are one million and one resources on the WWW today about how to make any sort of animal out of a letter of the alphabet. I don't want to do something simply because it is busy work. We may once again do some letter collages, and we will do some of the activities available at Homeschool Creations, and might even spring for a membership so that we can just print everything off. But the bulk of our alphabet learning will be combined with scripture memorization. These two sources are going to be the "spine" of our curriculum.

I made a Bible Verse Checklist to use to keep track and reinforce what we've learned.

Literature:

We're once again going to be using units from Itty Bitty Bookworm. It is a literature based curriculum designed for preschools, but it can be adapted for use in the home. You can use it as an exclusive out of the box curriculum, or you can tailor it to your own needs with a little tweaking. We're going to tweak. For example: The Bible verse for the letter A from Songs for Saplings is Psalm 17v8- Keep me as the apple of your eye. For that week, I'll print out and use the unit from Ten Apples Up on Top. If you have any questions about IBB, please feel free to post a comment and I'll email you.

Take a look at our previous adventures with IBB at our old blog Tater Tot School

Science:

In packing up the school room, I found a copy of Our Father's World from the God's Creation Series that I'd forgotten about. I got it 4th hand from my friend Heather. Can't beat free!

Crafts:

I also found a copy of A to Z Bible Activities that I got for pennies a couple of years ago. I usually don't squirrel things away for this very reason. I forget I have them, and then find them, when it's too late. It just so happens, that due to our move, it is a very timely discovery.

Asked and Answered

2010-08-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that we live in the age of information. I've already packed my text from my History of Libraries course, but I remember that the sum total of all written history that has survived can be packed into just a gew MBs. My favorite classes in library school were those concerning Info Sources. It is just as it sounds, we learned where to go to find answers to all sorts of questions. For one of the final projects we were given pages and pages of questions which we had to answer. One might think that with the proliferation and growth of the Internet that this part of librarianship would be phased out, that users merely consult Google for their answers. Granted- the internet has empowered the people, but as long as there is information- there will be librarians.

There is a joke:

How many librarians does it take to change a lightbulb?

I don't know, but I could look it up for you.

I endeavor to answer all the questions my children have. We write them down and we look the answers up together- even if I do know the answer, often times we go through the process of finding the information. Why? Because I want to raise Information Literate children.

I've decided to make their questions and my answers a little feature here at The Stay at Home Librarian. I got lucky with last night's question and found a suitable answer that wasn't part of Yahoo answers or Wikipedia. While driving home last night from grocery shopping the sunset was beautiful. Ada wanted to know why the sun was orange and big. It seems like a simple question, but it's a multipart question.

Why is the sun(set) orange? I knew this one.

The sunset is orange because the sky is blue.

I am fortunate enough right now to be the mother of a 4 year old who will accept this answer, but I did find a resource on the scientific answer behind it, but it also includes a project that we're going to do to illustrate the answer! (This is called Evidence Based Answer)

Science Made Simple

Sky in a jar

What you need:

a clear, straight-sided drinking glass, or clear plastic or glass jar

water, milk, measuring spoons, flashlight

a darkened room

What to do:

Fill the glass or jar about 2/3 full of water (about 8 - 12 oz. or 250 - 400 ml)
Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (2 - 5 ml) milk and stir.
Take the glass and flashlight into a darkened room.
Hold the flashlight above the surface of the water and observe the water in the glass from the side. It should have a slight bluish tint. Now, hold the flashlight to the side of the glass and look through the water directly at the light. The water should have a slightly reddish tint. Put the flashlight under the glass and look down into the water from the top. It should have a deeper reddish tint.

What happened: The small particles of milk suspended in the water scattered the light from the flashlight, like the dust particles and molecules in the air scatter sunlight. When the light shines in the top of the glass, the water looks blue because you see blue light scattered to the side. When you look through the water directly at the light, it appears red because some of the blue was removed by scattering.

The second part of her question was why it looked so big?

I think the answer is because it's on the horizon but I didn't know why it looked bigger on the horizon. Consulting web sources, there seem to be some disagreement as to why. None of the explanations came from very reliable sources, so I did an advanced google search limiting my results to domains that end in .gov and then .edu to be sure that I could get some of the most reliable information on the web. The answer is that it is an optical illusion. The sun and moon both seem larger on the horizon. As a keyword in your search use "moon illusion".

There are some great evidence based experiments you could try to prove it.

"To convince yourself that this is, in fact, an optical illusion, put your head between your legs and look at the Sun upside down when it's on the horizon: it should look the same as it does when overhead."
Cameras don't catch it. To prove that it is an illusion- try to photograph it.
Look at the moon through a tube

What causes moon illusion? I don't know. And neither, does it seem, does anyone else. It's a great source of debate. It has been raging since the time of Aristotle. There are lots (8 in the most recent book published) of different hypothesis and explanations, and even at least one scholarly article. Personally, I see God's hand in the unexplainable, especially as it concerns something so beautiful as the setting sun and rising moon.

The pudding:

Space.com
NASA Science News
The Moon Illusion

Dewey's Showcase- the Wii

2010-08-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Shoe Wee. I have been busy this week. We're in the process of packing up our home and moving to Alabama. Ada continued with her swimming lessons, and has two more weeks. She finishes on the Thursday before we move. I hope we're able to find an indoor pool in rural Alabama for her to continue her practice. It's amazing how natural swimming is to the very young. She can already swim much better than I can, which isn't very impressive.

When we've been fortunate enough to have friends watch the girls so that I can pack. There were a couple of times it was me verses them verses packing, but we're making good progress. I've been reluctant to introduce the girls to video games. Ada got a VTech V-motion for Christmas when she was two. She didn't care for it, it frustrated her, it frustrated me, I swore to lock up all the TV's and deny the existence of video games when asked about them. In weeding his video game collection, Jason came up with a handful of them to trade. He asked about games he could get for Ada. My friend Heather from There's No Place Like Home Homeschooling Board had just recently been talking about getting her son a Wii game. They're just a few months apart, so maybe it was time to revisit my ban on video games. Ada got Kai-Lan Super Game Day from Santa but it never kept her interest. I won't lie, the prospect of giving her something to do while I packed weighed in on my decision. Don't judge :) After some googling, I settled on a Dora game and Boom Blox. Dora was a huge hit. It's so simple, At one point I played it one hand while playing with Micah. She hasn't played Boom Blox yet, but I have played Kai-Lan with her.

I did enjoy the confidence, joy, and sense of accomplishment that Ada experienced while playing the game. With some rules and consistency, I believe it can be a positive tool in our home. She hasn't cried of whined when she's been told it's time to wrap it up. She still prefers coloring and reading to the Wii, so- so far- so good.

Please excuse our lack of updates over the next couple of weeks, but please continue to send your friends to enter our Magna-tiles giveaway. If you participate in Dewey's Showcase- you get 3 extra entries!

Magna-tiles Giveaway

2010-07-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am exited to offer my first giveaway. I am the self proclaimed biggest fan of Magna-tiles. I was indeed their first fan on Facebook. When I contacted them about a giveaway on my blog, I was delighted when they responded that they would be happy to be a sponsor. I believe that Magna-tiles have endless possibilities as a learning tool in the homeschooling world, and I am happy to get the word out. Visit Dewey's Showcase to read our recent review of Magna-tiles.

What are Magna-Tiles?

An amazing 3-D hands on learning tool that fosters math, science, and creativity. They are manufactured by Valtech. And they're fun!

Says Who?

Their most recent Award is from ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailers Association) and was the Best Toy for Kids 2009.

Specs?

Magna-tiles offers a handful of products. The standard magna-tiles are plastic and come in a 32 piece set and an100 piece value set. The translucent magna-tiles are the same, but clear plastic, and cost a little more. We have the translucent set. These sets contain the following pieces:

32 pc: 14 Small Squares, 2 Large Squares, 4 Isosceles Triangles, 4 Right Triangles and 8 Equilateral Triangles;
100 pc : 50 Small Squares, 4 Large Squares, 15 Isosceles Triangles, 11 Right Triangles and 20 Equilateral Triangles.

The Deluxe set is a 48 piece set that contains some specialty pieces- like a swinging door! Ada most often makes houses for her imaginary pal, Mousey, so she would LOVE this set. This set contains: 12 Small Squares, 4 Large Squares, 6 Isosceles Triangles, 10 Right Triangles, 11 Equilateral Triangles, 1 Wheeled Piece, 1 Arch and 3 Special Shapes. This is the set that Valtech is offering to one of my lucky readers!

We haven't had the pleasure to play with them, but these pictures they sent us sure make us want to!

Where do I get them!

If you want to buy them right this very minute, use the store locator to find a business near you. If you use their store for online shopping they are offering a discount to my readers. Use the code Books15 for 15% off your entire order. This code is good until the end of September. If you need convincing, think of it as a math or science resource for your homeschool. Christmas is right around the corner. Oh, and did I mention- they offer a money back guarantee if you aren't satisfied?

How do I win?

Your mandatory entry is to visit the Magna-tiles website and poke around. Come back here and either tell me in the comments what you learned or how you could anticipate using these in your homeschooling (look in the idea gallery).

To earn additional entries (be sure to leave a separate comment for each):

"Like" Magna-tiles on Facebook and comment on their wall that the Stay At Home Librarian sent you. A handy link link is at the bottom of each Magna-tiles page (1 extra)
Follow them on Twitter (1 extra)
Follow me publicly (1 extra)
Follow sahlibrarian on Twitter (1 extra)
Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste if you want: (1 entry)

@sahlibrarian is hosting a a giveaway for a Deluxe set of @Magnatiles. Enter to win: http://bit.ly/9ml0ow. Ends 8/21

Blog about this giveaway- leave me a link (2 extra)
Participate in Dewey's Showcase. You'll have 3 opportunities during this giveaway. (3 extra each participation for a total of 9 entries)
If you win, will you blog about your prize? If so, give yourself an extra entry.
If you win, will you send me pictures of your Magna-tiles in use so I can blog about them? If so, give yourself an extra entry.
Take Dewey to your blog (grab my button) (2 extra)

This giveaway is open to US Residents only. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. I don't want you to miss out on your prize, so be sure to make sure I can reach you by email if you win (make sure I can at least get to you through your Blogger profile) or just leave your email in one of your comments. For more fine print, please see our policy and disclosure page. The contest will be open until Saturday, August 21st at 11:59 PM the winning entry will be selected using Random.org.

No entry for it, but take the time to press the FB button below and share with your friends ;)

Magna-tiles

2010-07-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

We first came across Magna-Tiles when we attended a yard sale sponsored by a local church preschool. When we toured the preschool Ada sat down and played with these blocks. She asked to play with the magnet blocks over and over again. When it came time for her birthday, I started looking into them. I didn't know what they were called, but did find what I was looking for on Amazon. After reading the reviews, which are overwhelming positive, I did decide to get a set. There are many different sets available for many different budgets, but I settled on the translucent 100 piece pack and hoped it wasn't a purchase I regretted. I haven't, for even one moment. The kids play with them almost daily, and it is something we can do together as a family. We keep them in a clear plastic bin that travels easily. We take them with us when we go to visit friends, and they are a big hit wherever we go. When we get visited by friends with children, it's the first toy asked for. More than one child has asked his/her mother for their own set of "sticky blocks". Not that you'll want to send them back, but if deciding to make a purchase- Magna-Tiles offers a money back guarantee.

The tagline for Magna-tiles encompasses why I love that my children love this product. Magna-tiles "where math, science, and creativity meet". It's a product that will grow with your child. My preschooler loves them, my toddler loves them, my 10 year old niece loves them. The educational opportunities for these tiles are endless. Basic shapes are easy to teach, but Ada now knows terms like hexagon and pyramid. I watched last week with pride as Ada taught my 10 year old niece how to use two of the right triangles to make extra squares for building bigger towers. We use them to count, to complete patterns. In the future we'll continue to use them to learn geometrical terms- like pentagon, and math concepts- like fractions. And we'll continue to build houses for Mousey. There's nothing more convincing that a toy is a perfect toy when kids learn while playing. Here are some of the structures Ada has built. They're taken using my call phone so that I can upload them to Facebook.

Be sure to enter our Magna-Tiles Giveaway. Good until 8/21/10

Each day has enough trouble of its own

2010-07-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our family has been through some pretty tough times this week. Jason, a hard working, and God fearing husband, lost his job around Memorial Day. It was the 4th time in 2 years. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to stay in our home because he is still unemployed. We're in a state of limbo right now, but we know God will provide. I'm already looking forward to how God will use this for his good. I have it on my heart to take care of my parents in their senior years, and this will certainly make that easier. I also have it on my heart that God may be calling us to serve as missionaries in China to serve in an orphanage for medically fragile children. I've never felt called to be a missionary, but I trust God. If He provides, Jason and I have agreed that we will go if this is what God has prepared us for with the life and death of our daughter, and with all our financial struggles since her death.

The next few months will not be as organized as we like. I've decided not to choose any curriculum. We're going to pick and choose some of the Units from Itty Bitty Bookworm- both the Bo and Bailey curricula. Ada is signed up to take 3 courses at the local co-op from August to December. I hope that it works out that she'll be able to go the full year. I'm sad I can't show you pictures of the cute schoolroom I've been organizing, since aren't going to use it. We ARE going to keep on doing what we do: having fun, crafting, and reading books- no matter where we are. You can be sure that it will be chronicled here.

We did have a good week regardless! I'll start by showing you the face behind the words. I'm sure that many of you are just like me- the only proof you exist is the archive you are creating, and the occasional tryst your camera makes into someone else's hands. At least as holders to the key to the archive we get to delete those most of unflattering pictures. If there were a law for neglecting cameras, I would be the first convicted of camera abuse. My lens is always dirty, so I apologize for the (lack of) quality:

Also forgive the cheesy grin.

One of Micah and his new teeth. He got one of his top teeth this week also.

Goofy Ada. I wanted to take a picture of her freshly blow dried hair. It's usually a hot mess. She's standing on the bench where we house our learning tools. Most of them have been removed from boxes and are in gallon plastic bags. It's also where we keep our bags. I use the top of it as my own personal "reference shelf". Don't you love that nightgown! Once I learn to sew, I'm going to start looking for old pillowcases so I can make more.

Ada had swimming lessons 4 days this week. She's scheduled to take 4 a week for a total of 4 weeks. She loves it; she's a fish. Her daddy hopes to have her on the swimming team next year. Ada wants to do it this year, but I vetoed that plan even before our housing crisis. She's just too young and I don't want her to learn to hate it before she has a chance to love it. She swims because she loves it.

Here's my little fish practicing her breathing:

She needed a pair of goggles, and we did decide to get a swim cap so that her hair wouldn't constantly be in her face. Here she models them both- with a bit of attitude.

We did a felt puppet craft this week. I got the kit for $1 at AC Moore. It was great for lacing/sewing skills, and Ada was able to use the picture of the finished project in order to determine where all the pieces should go. Willa was able to get in on the fun with a lot of help, but she soon lost interest. Micah watches with great interest.

Know what I love? Kohl's. Our closest Kohl's has a family bathroom with a "little kid" toilet, so my kids love it too. I do not know how they stay in business. I love love love the $10 cards they send in the mail. Free Money! I only shop at Kohl's when they give out Kohl's cash. More Free Money! If you find yourself not using your $10 cards and Kohl's case- let me know and I'll put them to use. They sell Melissa and Doug puzzles, I get Melissa and Doug puzzles, for free! Almost. I paid $1.77 for this one. It's a bit above her abilities right now, but she did a good job putting it together. She's pointing to where Manini (my Mama) lives. It's probably where we will move temporarily until Jason gets a job.

Behind Chicken-Lay (Chik-Fil-A) the "Bouncy Place" (The Playroom) is Willa's favorite place to be.

Matt 6:31-34

³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Homeschooling on a dime

2010-07-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Have you been to Tar-shay (Target for you less refined) lately. I love dollar stores, so of course I would be attracted to their dollar bins at the front of the store. I try to stay away from the $2.50 bins, but I just couldn't help but see all the great teacher supplies. I made an art caddy a few weeks ago. My $8 version is much more cute, but there is a plastic art caddy available now at the Dollar Spot. We're on a tight budget, so I was unable to buy everything I wanted, but I could NOT pass on the table pocket chart. I had planned on getting these book organizers from Oriental Trading to use in our work box system. They have these at Target for 2.50! I only got one. Be sure to head to your local Target and stock up on your homeschooling supplies. There were square storage bins, a perpetual calendar, and who knows what else. I know the first place I'm going after Jason gets his job. Maybe it won't be the first, but when I'm free to shop- I'm going to shop!

I also picked up 2 fleece baby blankets for $1. I'm going to use to pink one to make these three little pigs finger puppets. The other blanket is Zebra striped. A zebra striped Wolf. Hah.

Sew What?

2010-07-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

I promised myself months ago that we would have a mostly handmade Christmas. Since we are well into the 2nd month of Jason's unemployment, we're counting on a handmade Christmas (with the exception of a trampoline). I get so much inspiration surfing blogs and my "want to do" list has become to big for a realistic "to do" list. I want to make the girls a Waldorf Doll each. It isn't necessarily for Christmas, but I'd like to also make each of my children a quilt. I have a quilts from my mother and grandmother. I sleep with one that my great grandmother gave me when I was a child. The more I surfed and bookmarked, the more it became obvious that I was going to need a sewing machine. Mine broke last time my Mama used it. I've never once wanted to use it, but now that I want to use it- I can't. Figures.

Enter Craigslist. I found a listing for a machine for $25. One owner, claims to be in good condition- but it was made in 1962. Get what you pay for, right? WRONG. This machine is AWESOME. I've surfed around and in good working condition it sells for 200+. Of course it isn't my intention to turn around and sell it. My intention is to use this blessing from God to embrace my artistic ability and to provide a joyful Christmas for my family. Or start projects, get impossibly stuck, and mail them to my Mama to finish.

This is a machine that has personality. She needs a name, and she'll get one. But first, I need string. Or is it called thread? Is there a difference? For right now I'm just content to look at her. She works. She's complicated with antique technology, but she works- quietly. The manual (which is apparently hard to come by) designates it the "greatest sewing machine every built". I believe it. It does a million things I'll never use it for- monogramming, buttonholing. It's got 4 different foots, blah blah blah blah blah blah. It sews in a straight line? Check. My first project is going to be this quilt. Be forewarned. If you have just one crafty bone in your body, do not visit that link. You will be inclined to get your crafting groove on- to become- dare I say it? Obsessed.

Ain't she a beaut?

On to other things. I've been working on a felt board project. I decided to go with Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Ada has been "reading" this book for as long as I can remember. It's the perfect book to build confidence in your child. It has a wonderful rhythm to it that just makes you want to chant in. Children memorize it easily and it has great cues as to what is coming next. I did some google searching for felt board pieces, and I found a cute set and decided to use it. Jason is going to hack our Ikea Easel to make the chalkboard a felt board. (I remember this being one of the items for which Ikea lowered the price. I don't think $25 is accurate if you're thinking of buying). Yes, the blue horse is missing(as Ada reminds me) from our set, but I haven't quite settled on how to make his mane beautiful. I'm not sure that the girls are going to be able to wait for me to be done.

I did Purple Cat tonight. The girls will be delighted to play with her in the morning. Her whiskers are being starched, so excuse her lack of them. She's my favorite so far. Instead of using the face from the pattern, I personalized her to the book.

If you have any ideas or links for felt boarding, please let me know. I'm definitely going to whip up the girls a set of felt food for Christmas. I can't decide if I should get a a pattern from Etsy, or take the time to search out freebies on-line, or -heaven forbid- figure it out on my own.

Muffin Tin Monday

2010-07-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

A day late and two muffin "tins" short.

Fourteen pepperoni. The package says that 13 is the serving size. I'm not superstitious in the least, however, my Nunnie (maternal grandmother) was indeed. I remember watching her get her quilting things back out after she'd already cleaned up for the evening because she'd only pieced 13 blocks. So- 14 pepperonis it is.

Tomatoes Salad. I love cherry tomatoes. These are soaked in Balsamic Vinegarette. I joke with my friends that I would eat cardboard soaked in vinegar. (Only it isn't a joke. I love the stuff!)

Left over lima beans.

Ham and cheese fresh from the sammich maker. Remember when those things first came out? We ate sandwiches for weeks! Of course, it wasn't a cheap thing back then either. I promise you, my Mama; she got her monies worth.

Dewey's Showcase 3

2010-07-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Dewey's Showcase where we showcase the tools that you use. Take a moment this week to showcase a tool you use and come back here and link up below. For more information, visit the link above.

KidCalcs 7-n-1 Math Fun. As luck would have it, this app is on sale for .99 today. According to the iTunes store, the price drop is in celebration of it being named the #1 educational app on babble.com. If you aren't against paying for apps, go and get it while it's on sale. There are 7 activities in this app: counting cards, counting puzzle, calculator, number tracing, math puzzles, flash card challenge and count snowflakes. I won't even try to go over all of them all here, but for .99 or even 1.99- this is a steal. The one complaint that I do have is that the menu is split. There are 5 activities on the first page- scroll- and then 2 on the next page. I'd rather they all be on the same page. Minor, nit-picking complaint. Once you choose an activity, pick the gear at the bottom of the screen, and personalize it for your kid. Alternately, you can set age-based settings by selecting the gear at the bottom of the home menu. One may also set the advanced settings for each activity in this menu also. I have to make a mental note to change the high numbers as Ada masters the lower ones. The only way I would improve upon this app would be to enable players so that parents could customize the settings for each child. This would eliminate my need to change it for "ages 2-4" when Willa has managed to get the iTouch from Ada.

I've decided to delay any formal math with my children until at least 6 years old. We're taking the approach that mastery of early math can be accomplished in every day life. However, this is a game for Ada, and since purchasing this app, I have noticed her comprehension of math grow. No doubt this is also in part to the educational TV shows she watches, but I wouldn't be able to dismiss the role this app plays. Dinner has become a word problem. As I've said, I don't fight with my children to eat. I require one bite, and encourage one bite for each year. Ada, as a 4 year old, is expected to eat 4 bites. The commentary at the dinner table is, "I ate 1 bite. Three more makes 4". She spends a lot of time playing with the calculator activity(which is my favorite). Push the "3" and three birthday candles (or whatever coincides with the theme you've chosen) appear. The voice (in our case a woman) says "three". Select the addition symbol and she says "plus". Choose the "5" and five more candles appear, and the woman continues her narration. As a visual learner, I am attracted to activities such as this one.It's a great game and the title of top educational app is a deserved one. As the reviewer at Babble states, it is impossible to do the app any justice in such a short review. We love it, and that's why we're happy to share it as a tool we use.

Next week, we will move away from showcasing apps, and will showcase our favorite hands-on educational learning tool. I am their self proclaimed biggest fan. I contacted the maker and asked them to host a giveaway in order to promote the opening of my blog and their tool in the homeschooling and preschooling world- and they agreed. Come back next Saturday to check out Dewey's Showcase and start entering! I promise- you don't want to miss this one. They've also offered a promocode for 15% off purchases in their store!

Tot School Tuesday

2010-07-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've been farming Ada off to local Vacation Bible Schools all summer. It's made me realize just how short Willa's end was of the proverbial stick. She had a big sister to compete with as an infant, and even before her 2nd birthday, another one came in to take more attention. Six months is such a short time, and such a long time. I've really enjoyed the one on one time we've had over the summer, and I realize how far just a little bit of focus timed goes.

I'll start this week by sharing Willa's vice- her thumb sucking. We had limited it to night time only for a while by having her leave her night nights (we have two) in her bed. Somehow, that fell apart and now we've given up trying to get her to stop. When the time comes, we'll take a collection from the grandparents for her braces. Here she is watching Ada sing at her VBS closing ceremonies, with Night Night up to her nose. I almost always make sure she leaves it at home, or at least in the car. I'm not sure how this even happened really, but here it is.

This one was in our bean bag post- but I had to put it in tot school. She's scooping- fine motor!

She laces!

I'm still not in the habit of keeping the camera around, but here are the ones I snapped today. She got some Tadoodles for her birthday (her 1st 18 months ago). She showcases it well, but she wasn't impressed. She moved onto pencils and crayons a long time ago- and regular markers, like the vibrant neon ones she used to decorate the arm of my living room chair this afternoon.

If I had to choose a favorite educational toy company it would Learning Resources. (Have you seen these)?(And talk about a perfect color learning tool!) We don't have a lot of their toys, but Santa brings us a couple each year, and I've managed to snag a few at consignment sales. The great thing is that they are learning toys- but not. These cupcakes are great toys for creative play, and then so much more. I particularly love the Smart Snacks collection because it doubles as play food. This one is Sorting Shapes Cupcakes.

I've been eying stacking blocks for quite some time. I was at AC Moore with a 50% off coupon, and I just couldn't resist. She loves it. Check out this sneaky face. Guess what she's getting ready to do?

Crash!

I think I may have mentioned it before, but Willa is good at math. She counts, understands one to one correspondence and she's learning counting and adding right with Ada. Here she's counting and sorting bugs.

Willa thrives off of one on one attention. I've cheated her out of sit down lunches with Mama. Usually I get it ready, sit the kids down down and then go off and unload the dishwasher, or jump in the shower while Micah sleeps. My lunch is whatever they didn't eat. I'm an efficient garbage disposal. I wonder why I'm putting back on most of the 170 lbs I lost. Well, that and three pregnancies, and the Mt. Dew. With Ada away in the mornings, I've made it a point to sit down and have breakfast or lunch with Willa. Honestly, it wasn't a grand idea I suddenly had. There was no forethought. I didn't want her to eat lunch alone. Only then did I realize how much she needed it, and enjoyed it. I have to make it a priority for her to get the one on one time that Ada got because there was only one of her. This is Willa practicing closing her mouth while she chews. I pinch my lips together as a reminder to the girls to close while they chew. Willa said "look mommy! I have manners" and pinched her lips closed. If you're the type that notices the small stuff, our mac-n-cheese is green because it has frozen spinach in it.

To see what other tots are doing- go on over to Tot School.

Our First Muffin Tin Monday

2010-07-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

My niece is staying with us for the week so we had three for our first Muffin Tin Monday. Luckily, I already had Micah's set so she wasn't left out. She and Ada went off to Vacation Bible School this morning. Willa and Daddy went to get the van re-inspected. It passed this time and I'm so grateful to have 2 working vehicles again so I can go to my Tuesday morning Bible study. With the house all my own and Micah napping, it gave me the time to try a new fish stick recipe I saw on TV this weekend for inclusion in our Muffin Tin Monday!

Picky eaters grate me the wrong way. If I had to name a pet peeve, it would be at the top of my list. This is because my mother is the world's biggest picky eater! (I love you Mama) When I got out on my own and discovered all this food I'd been missing out on: mushrooms, shrimp, asparagus, broccoli... etc, I became a real foodie. Related to this pet peeve are parents who say "My kid is a picky eater", or "he doesn't like that". We once went to dinner with a family and Ada offered the child a piece of her broccoli. They were around 18 months old. The dad piped up "He doesn't like broccoli" At 18 months? How would you know? I live by the rule that no kid is a picky eater, and by labeling a child a picky eater, parents are only giving their children permission to be picky eaters. It's called a self fulfilling prophecy.

It's hard to raise eaters. Kids would rather eat the same thing over and over again. I serve it again, and again, and again, until it's a normal part of our menu. I don't expect my children to eat any new thing without question until at least the 6th time. They can't use the stove and can't drive the car to the grocery store to get something else. I say often this is not Burger King- you can't have it your way. They eat what I eat. I eat what I like. I like everything- except mustard. I look forward to having teenage kids that we can take anywhere to eat and will order something besides hamburgers and chicken wings.

We've just recently completed our acclimation to asparagus. We're moving on to eggplant. Ada will say "I don't like that" before even putting something in her mouth. But I encourage her to take 4 bites, and require she take at least one bite before she can asked to be excused. We've never had anything that she truly didn't like- except fish sticks, and who can blame her? Frozen fish sticks are gross. I also don't engage in food battles with my children. I grew up to be a morbidly obese adult, and I know that food is the first issue in a child's life of which they can exercise almost complete control. Force them to eat and they'll cry, whine, complain, refuse- mom gets upset, dad gets upset, and there goes the point of family dinners- enjoying one another's company. Granted, I understand that there are circumstances that children are truly picky eaters. Some have disabilities that lead to issues with food. My daughter Aleah lost her suck reflex she was on a ventilator so long and she had a food aversion. Most children don't have these issues, and my friends get tired of my strong viewpoints on picky eaters. I don't mean to offend, so please don't feel the need to be defensive, I'm sharing the "why" behind the "how" we eat. Of course, being, or having a picky eater isn't the worst thing in the world. Some people just know what they like.

Participation in Muffin Tin Monday is the perfect opportunity for us to get out of our food rut, to introduce new foods, to reintroduce already tried foods, and to just have a special day. After I finished cooking, I looked at the mess in my kitchen and swore never to do this again. Ada came home from VBS, sat down at her chair and said "YUMMY!". I'm an instant convert.

Left side- Eggplant sticks(top) and Fish sticks (bottom)

I called the eggplant sticks pizza sticks and served them with pizza sauce. This had WAY too much Italian Seasoning in it. More is less. The fish sticks were DELICIOUS. Ada ate every one and then what Willa didn't eat. I cooked both the same way.

Mix Panko Bread Crumbs, Parmesean/Romano Cheese and Italian Seasoning in a bowl. I rarely measure anything, which is why the eggplant was too strong.
Crack and beat a couple of eggs in another bowl. I used one fresh Tilapia fillet (about $2) and cut it into little bite sized sticks.
Dip fish in egg, then place in bread crumbs and press, transfer to baking dish.
Cook fish for 15 minutes at 450.

Do all the same for the eggplant, but only cook for about 4 minutes. I cut the sticks too thin and it was a mess.

Right side:(Top) carrots and Asparagus Frittata, (Bottom) Raspberry Yogurt and a Clementine.

Beat eggs in a small bowl
Chop asparagus (I used a Pampered Chef chopper)
Heat about 1TBS of EVOO and add 1 TSP of minced garlic (I used kind that comes in a jar)
Add asparagus and cook until it's tender- but not slimy- just a couple of minutes
Add a few TBS of cream cheese (or provolone, or mozzarella). Stir until cream cheese is very soft.
Add to eggs and mix thoroughly
Pour into silicone cupcake liner and cook at 450 until set and a teensy but brown on top. It was beautiful! And Yummy.

And here are my little ladies saying their blessing before digging in:

Dewey's Showcase 2

2010-07-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

This is a popular app on the iTouch in our house. And- it's FREE! There isn't much interactivity in this one, but it a very cute and educational song that promotes literacy. As a enjoyable plus, the song isn't like nails on a chalkboard. As is scrolls, words to the song are displayed on the bottom. This is a great tool for teaching very little ones about body parts. The ads for this app aren't intrusive and won't allow your child to accidentally purchase a full version. At the onset, there are three buttons "about", "Play", and "share". The middle "Play" button is the largest and my children have never accidentally strayed into the "non-fun" part. The about button shares information about the the Montessori Approach to teaching and the developer "Montessori Home" as well as a link to their online store. In this "about" section, there is also information about Frank Leto's music. With the "share" button you can post to Facebook or Tweet the link to the iTunes app and to the video on YouTube. Click on over to the YouTube video and you can see 13 other Real E Fun videos available on the Montessori Home Channel.

Our 1st Weekly Wrap-up

2010-07-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is our first time posting in weekly wrap-up. I was not the best with the camera this week. My parents were in town until Wednesday. We made bean bags with Manini. Ada had VBS this week and swim lessons on Tuesday and Thursday. I have solar urticaria and we've been having 100 degree days here, so I've been hiding in our house most of the week. It's been nice to have Jason to taxi the girls around. He took Willa to the "bouncy place" yesterday while Ada was at VBS. Micah napped and I had the chance to catch up on my Bible reading for the 90 day challenge. Jason's been unemployed 6 weeks now, and I joke and tell him that it isn't that he doesn't work anymore- just that he works for me.

Now that Ada is 4 she has been able to participate in many VBS programs around the area. This week it was at the local Lutheran church. It also happens to be the preschool to which we have considered sending Ada. It's small- only 8 children, and they focus on learning through play. Those who know me know how much I waffle on sending kids to preschool. I don't think kids NEED preschool for academics. I would love for her to have a place to go a couple of times a week to play. That's why I love this preschool. When I call it playschool, I'm not just sugar coating it. She's had a blast going to VBS each morning, and I know that preschool here would be a positive experience for her. I spoke to the director today and told her that due to our current financial crisis, that Ada wouldn't be able to go and she was genuinely disappointed. She said she was going to speak to the board and get back to me about what we might be able to do. So it looks like we're back on the fence for preschool. We'll just pray a lot about it. I don't want going to preschool to sabotage our desire to homeschool.

Today we enjoyed the closing ceremony at her 3rd VBS. She was so happy to see us in the audience. I snapped right after she squealed "there's my daddy". She's a little disappointed that she isn't going back next week. But we have one last VBS next week, then we're doing swim camp for the rest of the summer.

The girls came home and made pizzas for lunch.

We have a bunch of workbooks from the dollar store that Ada has been working on independently through the week. She got to read loads of books with Paw Paw. The only "learning tool" toy I managed to get a picture of was this cute game from the smart snacks made by Learning Resources. We have a few of the snacks, but this particular one is ABC Lacing Sweets. In addition to the fine motor skill of lacing, it promotes alphabet awareness. We've been using it to build CVC words. We work on color recognition and sorting with Willa. There's a lot of bang for your buck with this toy.

If this is your first time visiting us, welcome. Take a second to follow us, or take Dewey to visit your library. Tomorrow I'll be doing our second Show-N-Tell.

Your Mama don't sew, and your Daddy don't Rock-n-Roll.

2010-07-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

My Mama is a wonderful seamstress. She made every costume I ever wore, prom dresses, curtains, Easter dresses, Teddy Bears, and anything I could dream up. When she visits, I usually have a project or two for her to do. I can not sew- at all. I learned a blanket stitch years ago and made felt Christmas ornaments, but I have a phobia of sewing machines. I have a sewing machine- well, I had one. It broke the last time my mom visited. I've had the intention to learn to sew and I've started a few projects, but have never completed a single thing.

I came across this Bean Bag Tutorial and decided that I could do it. It's a straight line. I got felt and fabric and sat down to start my project. Ada said with a laugh "Mama, you don't sew". I was only brave enough to embark on this little project with my Mama near. Now that she's on her way back to Alabama, I'll have to gather the courage to start sewing all on my own. I'd like to be able to whip up something quickly for the kids when they want, or work on some cute crafty thing with them. I'd also like to be able to teach them to sew. Now, I have a little bit more confidence, and I am happy to share my first completed project! If you, are like me, sewing impaired, this is a good project to try.

I cut the felt pieces to 4x4. I used pieces from our Melissa and Doug Shapes- Chunky Puzzle as a pattern for the windows. (They've played with the felt shapes more than the beanbags so far.)

Mama does sew! I did a great job on the straight lines and simple shapes, and also the seam. My Mama did the bulk of the more difficult shapes. When all that was left was to close up the bag, the girls poured in the beans. If you're thinking of doing it yourself- we made two sets of bags. We used 7 pieces of felt and 2 bags of beans.

I attempted to sew up the top of the bags, but ran over a bean with the needle on about the third one. It broke and I got hit in the neck with the projectile it produced. At least I have a justified phobia of sewing machines. Maybe if I sewed with safety goggles? Regardless, I'm happy with the beanbags, especially as a first project. I'm going to get a bigger piece of felt and make a hopscotch mat for Ada. If you know, I'd love to hear of any other ways to make bean bags fun!

Tot School Tuesday

2010-07-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to have Tot School to make me be mindful about purposefully doing things with my 2 year old. A couple of weeks ago we made tin can phones. Willa got them out to talk to her Paw Paw. I enjoyed watching her use them. She's learned that you have to pull the string taut to get the sound to transmit. This easy to do quick project does it's job in laying the foundation for future lessons in sound waves. Additionally, it's fun.

I shared this picture in our preschool corner post, but it's worth repeating. Here's Willa making a pie out of her magna-tiles.

Dress up is a favorite activity in our house. Willa worked through some problem solving this week. She was having difficulty putting her heels on while wearing the snow white dress. It was quite a process that I am at a loss to explain, but she did end up putting the shoes against her dresser so that they would not slip around as she put them on her feet. It's amazing the patience that she has. I don't have it. Ada doesn't haven't, and I think I can safely say that Micah isn't going to be well known for it either. Willa purposefully and diligently worked on the problem until she found a solution. She was pleased as pie when it all came together.

Before & After

2010-07-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Homeschool Creations posted a very cool Art Supplies organizer. I hadn't been looking to update how we currently store our crayons and pencils, but as soon as I saw it, I wanted to do it myself. But, since we're living on beans and rice, it'd have to be cheap. Super cheap. And it was.

First, the before:

My best guess is that this was some kind of carrier, maybe utensils or something. Honestly, I don't know. I got it for free when a friend didn't want it after one of our consignment yard sales. That's an orange sherbet container holding the crayons and a sparkly pencil case holding our colored pencils. It works just fine, and I'm happy to find functionality and recycle things. While we will continue to use our crayon caddy, we're happy to have a more functional organizer.

How cute is that! Remember, cheap was my goal. The tins I picked up at the Target (indulge me and hear tar-shay when you read this word) dollar spot for a mere .25 (cents that is). While looking for a lazy susan I found this turntable instead. It was just $6. It has a lip, so no need to glue magnets to the turntable to get the pail to stick as in the original. It is small, so I can only put 4 tin pails on it, but there were bigger (yet more expensive) turntables available. My total was about $8 for the organizer, and about $2 in new crayons and glue sticks.

Lights, camera, action:

Here is Ada hard at work on her new $1 Crayola work book (Tar-shay), and her .25 Crayola crayons (Wal-Mart), and .75 cents Rose Art colored pencils (also Wal-Mart). Now, I could've splurged and got the crayola pencils for .50 more. I'm picking about crayons, colored pencils- not so much. I'm keeping it on our table. When it's time to set the table, it moves to the island. She loves it, I love it, we did it on the cheap. All is well in our tightened belt world.

Since it's my post title, I'll share another before and after. Last week we labeled everything in our house that would stand still long enough to get smacked with one. By doing this one small thing, Ada has come to really realize that everything has a written word. We'll call them nouns in a couple of years, but for now it's playing an important role in her understanding of language. Ada is a Doraphile. At Tar-shay, in the dollar spot no less, I got a Dora dry erase board, wrote "Book Nook" on it and put it on the back of what she calls her "coloring chair". At the time she was working through her Leap Frog Phonics using her Tag Reader. Notice the board behind her (and a shout out to my mom who has handmade my girls about a dozen around the house dresses out of my grandmother's old pillow cases).

The next day, I smiled when I noticed that Ada had written her first words- without prompting, all by herself. Of course I ran to get my camera to document it. Proud Mamas- you understand.

Dewey's Showcase

2010-07-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our first installment of Show & Tell Saturday. My original plan was to showcase a favorite app or two once a week. However, I've decided not to be so limiting because not everyone has an iPod, some people who do have more sense than I do and don't let their preschoolers near it (see below for perfect reason not to do so), and it could get expensive. Also, I'd like to eventually make this a blog carnival complete with a McLinky, and if that happens, I want it to encompass low-tech, high-tech, hand-made, recycled, up-cycled... resources.

Shape Builder was one of the first apps for our iTouch that we purchased for Ada. It's .99. I'm confident that her love of puzzles has been fostered by this program. In order to complete the puzzle, a child moves the colored pieces into the white outline. Once completed, there is a short audio clip. For example, once the letter M is completed a cartoon mouse comes on the screen and a woman's voice chimes "M says mmmm like Mouse". Ada did outgrow this app rather quickly. There are about 150 puzzles.

She's now progressed to Tangrams. I started by installing the free Lets Tans application. We now magically have many more than that. This is a perfect example of why you should be careful when letting your toddler and preschooler play with your iPod. My best guess is that I allowed Ada to play the game after having had done an update. My password was installed and when she opened the game she was able to buy the Mega Pack. Now she has thousands of puzzles. The Mega Pack is 2.99. Hopefully she hasn't bought each mode separately at .99 a piece. That reminds me to ask Jason to look at his iTunes account and find out. At least it was an educational app. She plays it a lot, and since we don't currently have pattern blocks and hands-on tangrams, this is a great alternative. The modes we own are: kids, junior, classic, checkered, and countour. Ada prefers the contour mode because orange is her favorite color. The object is to "restore the white contour shape with seven orange contour tans". When she does does play the easier modes, she skips all but the puzzles with the orange tans.

Check back next Saturday for more Show & Tell. My app reviews are being compiled on our iTouch Apps page.

Mommy, Teach Us

2010-07-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

I have second guessed not sending Ada to preschool more times than I can count. There is one book to which I return when I need to bolster my confidence. Mommy, Teach Me: Preparing Your Preschool Child for a Lifetime of Learning is a wonderful resource that is a lot of common sense, but that we almost need permission to have. Cooking, cleaning, pouring... practically everything is learning. As you may have guessed, the learning is Montessori style, but you need not be a Montessori convert to incorporate these ideas into your home. For example, my children have a cabinet at their level that contains all of their plates, cups, and bowls. It opened my eyes to how to make my home accessible for my children. We painted a wall in their toy area with chalk board paint. The book really gave me the direction I needed to recognize the things I did with my children as learning. The number one idea I take from the author, Barbara Curtis, is this- "Why send your child to preschool to fall in love with a teacher".

Even before I had children, I had the notion that if I did, I would homeschool. Once I had the kids in my hot little hands and had remembered my vow I became appropriately concerned about institutional learning. I started collecting what I would consider to be educational toys for my children. This was also on the heels of all the warnings of toys made in China. We don't buy much of what you'll find in the toy aisles of Wal-Mart. Leap Frog is our mass produced toy of choice. We still aren't doing much in the way of planned activities these days. We're still on a very tight budget, so as forums are buzzing about purchasing curricula and attending Homeschooling Conferences, I'm saving a lot of snips in Evernote, filling my Amazon wish list, and making plans for the day I have the go ahead from Mr. Budget Man to get some stuff for our school year. Of course, Ada is only 4, and while I had planned on starting K with her this year, I think we will most likely start officially in January.

I thought I'd make my first official homeschool type post on my new blog and share some of our favorite tools. I have to get back in the habit of keeping my camera handy. I uploaded my pictures today and cried over just how few pictures I had of my soon to be six month old. Of course, he would've been crying in them anyway, so I got over that regret quickly.

Topsy Turvy may bring to your mind images of upside down tomatoes, but for me, it is a doll that I always wanted as a child. Turned one way the doll is one character, flipped the other- another. We asked Santa to bring the girls one each and he obliged. We got a Little Red Ridinghood and Goldilocks/Three Bears and I'm not ashamed to admit there are several others I plan to buy. These are wonderful story time toys. Ada got Little Red Riding Hood out today and asked me to read it. I'd just returned The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud to the library so I searched through what we had on hand and found two versions. Ada retold the story turning her doll between Red and the Wolf.

Our favorite toy- hands down- is Magna-Tiles 100 piece Pack. Yes, they do seem a bit pricey, and yes, they are worth every penny. In fact, Santa is going to bring us another set, and Willa will get a set for her birthday in January, and so might Micah. Just read through the reviews on Amazon and you'll be convinced. I don't get any money for expressing my love of this product, but we do love them that much. Here is a picture of Willa working with the triangles.

Ada has finally been given the go ahead to use the computer. In his new found free time, Jason was able to build me a new laptop out of the computer graveyard in his mancave. Ada has been enjoying my old one. I won't get much use out of it because she is left handed and we've set the controls to her handedness. She spent a solid hour exploring Starfall.

I took the opportunity this week to download, print out, and laminate house labels. I had Ada sound out the ones she could read, and guided her to read the ones that she couldn't. Then she and Willa took off around the house deciding which mirror should have a name, or where on the wall the sign should go. If you look closely, you'll see them in the pictures above.

We are a Chick-Fil-a loving family. Today was Cow Appreciation Day. Dress like a cow- get free food. We never miss the chance to eat free food! Ada did a great job of cutting out our spots, ears, and noses for our costumes.

In closing, I'll share with you a great song form Tim Hawkins (a homeschooling Dad) and fellow "Chicken Lay" (as it is called in our house) lover.

Wait! I forgot to share the little one! Micah got not one, but two new teeth this week. This is his impression of a Bookworm.

Evernote?

2010-07-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

At the risk of sounding way late to the game, have you heard of Evernote? What a great resource. I have been using Delicious bookmarking forever. In looking for something ...more, I've stumbled across Evernote, and let me tell you, its friendly visual indexing is a librarian's dream. I bookmark stuff on Delicious and then forget about it, or have to go clicking through word clouds and tags to find it again or job my memory. Evernote has the ability to take a snap shot of it. In addition to bookmarking, I have a folder on my computer to which I save a lot of stuff, I just call it "Printables". The save it and forget it problem that I have with bookmarking I also have with saving for later. A lot of the things saved are forgotten about until they are no longer useful; then I have regret and guilt for not having had used such a fun or great resource.

I think that Evernote might eliminate some of that. You can save your clips to folder AND tag. Yummy, Yummy, indexing. Apparently, once upon a time one could import a Delicious collection, but no more, or I just haven't figured it out yet. Having had only recently discovered this resource, I'm brand new to it. If you're shaking your head saying to yourself "Manda, that's so last month", I apologize for my excitement, but I see such possibilities for this. I almost forgot! There's also an app for it. I *think* it is synchronous, but I don't know yet. Of course, I don't have an iPhone, just the iTouch, so I can't take advantage of the camera options. Evernote claims to be "Infinitely Useful". If you've found this to hold true in your homeschooling, planning, recipe keeping, grocery shopping, Christmas list making, party planning. please share! If there's a way to make this product "social" I haven't run across it yet.

My husband's love language is digitalized.

2010-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

I had a baby in January. He'll be six months old next week and is outgrowing the colic stage- just in time to teeth. We'd only done about 6 months of homeschooling before he came. Ada loved it and begged to do it every day. I'd been a parent who'd heeded to the advice of the APA to not let children under the age of 2 watch television. My children never had Baby Einstein videos, although Ada did watch a few episodes of M.A.S.H. as an infant. She loved the do do do da do do of the theme song. I was proud of the fact that my children had no idea who Dora was. When Ada did watch TV, it was something on PBS. Now, I have a confession to make...My girls now know and love Dora. And Kai Lan. And Mickey Mouse. And Authur (who has recently been banned in our home due to some DW like behavor). I could go on, but as you can see- they are watching entirely too much television.

My husband is a supreme computer junkie.He has a server just for media and has laptops hooked to TVs so that he can play things from the mediaserver. He's got a program that works like some kind of super DVR and will record years of Dora and Disney. I've asked what we consider the benefits of each of these shows they watch. Benefit to them, and to us. The only "benefit" that I can come up with is that it keeps the child occupied. Yes, in plain terms, it babysits. When Micah came along, I conceded to let the kids watch Mickey Mouse Club House in the morning. Who am I kidding- I was all too willing to have them sit quiet for the morning so I could deal with the crying baby and catch up on some sleep. It's really gone unchecked from there. Sometimes I'd get busy with the baby or folding clothes and forget that the TV was even on. I don't want to be that kind of parent. I want there to be a purpose to everything my children do- especially without me.

Really, is there a problem with using the TV as a distraction? Not if you need to get a quick shower, or cook dinner. But one of these TVs has somehow ended up in their bedroom, and now Dora and Kai Lan stream into their rooms with the click of a mouse. Darling husband has been at home with us for a few weeks now due to a lay off. We are now in week #5. Did I mention he's a computer junkie? Please don't read this as hubby bashing. His love language is words of affirmation, and seeing them excited at the prospect of 30 minutes of Dora or Tinkerbell fills his lovebank. I woke one morning to my 4 year old playing a PSP he'd made specifically for her. I realized that my inch concession was not just a mile, but several. Just a few months ago when she turned four I agonized on whether or not to get her a Leapster for her birthday. I decided I didn't want to start her on video games so soon, so I settled on Magna-Tiles 100 piece Pack instead. It was my best purchase ever and I will no doubt be including it in our homeschooling activities. So, to see her little hands making Woody from Toy Story video game jump about made me stop and reaccess. She's 4! Sure, I was impressed at her fine motor skills, but I wanted her reading. She has her apps on my touch that she occasionally plays. She plays the Wii some with her Daddy. Walking around with her face in a game is not only dangerous- but totally opposite of where I want her to be. I wanted her chattering about her imaginary friend, playing with her blocks, or one of the dozens of educational toys I've specifically selected.

I look at society and want to be set apart. So, instead of telling him what they can't watch, I've made a list of what I'd rather they watch, and set time limits. He's still able to turn the TV on and use the all digital media server contraption thingy. I also can't take for granted that he knows how to play with them. He doesn't know a Lauri puzzle. Lacing cards? Tracing? He knows computers; he knows video games. He is a great dad, a wonderful one. Being home all day long has been an adjustment for all of us. He's gone from super fun dad who took them to the bouncy place and park to being at home all day dad who needs some down time. They got quantity time from Mama and quality time from Daddy. That balance has been upset.

Last year I had the opportunity to buy Noodlebug DVD's for just a couple of bucks each. I got all of them. I love them. Leap Frog Letter Factory and any from that set, and any of the dozens of Veggie Tales videos we have. I've spent a lot of time burning our children's CDs to the computer hooked to the TV in their room so that they can listen to them instead of watching TV. Day one was a success and I even had a lovely conversation with Mousey (that's Ada's imaginary friend) on the tin can phone we made last week. We did both note that it took quite a bit more energy to keep the kids entertained without the TV, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The gradual wean and controlled exposure will eventually lead to me taking the mornings back so that we can "do school". . I'm not going to compete with Dora. I'm not even going to try. Ultimately, TV time will be a privilege that is earned. It could even include Dora.

For those of you who do have TV in hour homes, what are your rules? There are shows- such as Word World that I love. Maybe I'll ask him to get his computer thingy to start recording those instead of Dora, Kai Lan, and Mickey Mouse.

The Bible in 90 Days

2010-07-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I started it last year. I don't remember how far I got, but it wasn't far. Reading the entire Bible in any amount of time is a tall order. The New Testament is where I do the bulk of my reading. I'm a student on the NT. Right now I'm reading The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era. When asked if I have read the Bible, I confidently say yes, because I am sure I have read each book at one time or another. All the way through- no. The only real OT reading I do now is from Proverbs and the occasional Psalm. I did read Micah recently because it's what we were naming our son, and I felt it was an obligation of naming him so. I wonder how many people would choose Jonah as a name for their son if they knew of his character? Of course Ada and I have read about Creation, Moses and the Ten Commandments. Reading a Proverb a day is a great way to get in the habit of reading the Bible. There are 31 Proverbs, so you read the one for that day. I have a Bible from the Women of Faith that is just the NT with Psalms and Proverbs. Perfect, right? When people express an interest of getting into the Word, I always suggest starting out with the gospel of John. Personally, I love James and the Peters.

I studied the OT as a child, and I took OT in college. It is a wonderful history. As we get ready to formally homeschool, Bible will be as more important as than the "3 Rs"., In the elementary years, the OT will be a good bulk of it. Of course I see the value in being a student of the OT too. That's why I have personally chosen to once again participate in this challenge- it it's only to read the OT in its entirety. This year I am participating with a group of Moms at Mom's Toolbox for the accountability. I'm going to take a suggestion from Jolanthe and use a Bible without notes or footnotes. I do remember that last year I got stuck for an hour doing the math with chart behind the "begats" from Adam to the Flood. During the next 90 days I'm going to just read that days assignment and allow God to speak through his Word. I'm positive there is something waiting to be revealed to me that I've missed in my neglect of the OT. It isn't too late to join also!

Added Gadgets

2010-07-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

I added two widgets to aid in book searches. The first is the link to OCLC's WorldCat. OCLC is a wonderful library organization that is responsible for much of what goes on in libraries. WorldCat is their new-ish feature that allows you to search for items in any libraries across the world. Librarians have been able to do this for some time. It's the behind the scenes of things like InterLibraryLoan. When I talk about a book you'd like to check out for yourself, just enter the title into the book and find it. You'll have to input your zip at some point to locate it near you.

Amazon is a great resource all in its own. Amazon has done a great job of providing loads of information only available in selection aids in the years before the internet. Some items have comments from authors and publishers, and of course, there is the rating and reviewing system that is wonderful. It has a lot of other cool things: recommendations, tagging, widgets for webpages, estores, free shipping on orders over $25. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't taken over the world. I remember seeing the owner of Amazon on Oprah many many years ago in its seemingly overnight successful infancy. I remember something he said that is too funny to be true. He said that their number one selling product was things to keep pigeons off of roofs. Seriously. At least, I remember it going that way. I could've dreamed it, but I don't think so.

I've also added a "Reddit" (way down at the bottom on the right). I want something designed to share news links. Delicious is my default sharing app, but I want something more focused on news type stuff. If you know of an app with a great widget, let me know. Reddit isn't as user friendly as I would like.

Digital Libraries for Children

2010-07-03T12:01:00.001-07:00

I fished out a paper that I wrote in 2008 for a Digital Libraries class I took, and thoroughly enjoyed. I can only imagine how much more wonderful this class would be now. If I were working in the professional libraries, it would definitely be a topic I would take in CE (continuing education) classes. I posted a portion of that paper to my pages. In the bar above it's Children's Digital Libraries. It is two years old, so it isn't as timely as it could be, but I have checked the links and have put additional research on my "to-do" list. There is some good information in there and I hope you enjoy surfing through my finds and will add them to your bookmarks (I use delicious). If you know of a good Digital Library developed for children, please comment below so that I may add it to the list.

Open for business?

2010-07-02T16:53:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. You may have previously visited me at Tater Tot School. It's okay if you didn't. I haven't been there in months. Whatever brought you this way, I am glad to have your visit. My name is Manda. I am married to Jason. We raise Ada, Willa, and Micah.That's only our quick and dirty. Much more about us in months to come.

It is my hopeful goal to raise readers and to pass on to them my passion for books. While I don't expect any of them to follow in my footsteps and become librarians, I do hope as they grow that I have to threaten to take their books away at bedtime, ban books from the dining room table, and that our local public librarians know my kids so well that they put aside books for them. I want them to get so engrossed in books that hours have passed, and chores have gone undone. Not often mind you, but some of my best memories as a child were about reading books. I took and read books everywhere. I even took them to the bathroom, dropped a few in the tub even, and know about how long you can sit on a toilet reading before your legs fall asleep. In the event I left my book at home, and had a few free minutes, I'd go to the nearest bookstore or library and pick up where I left off at home. I went to bed reading and was surprised to see the early morning rays of the sun.

The way to raise readers is to read to them. There are many literature based curricula available to the homeschooler today. Last year we used Itty Bitty Bookworm and loved it. Our son came along in January and since then, we've done very little "school", but we've still done plenty of reading, and that's what we'll keep on doing. This will be Ada's last year before her formal education starts, and we're going to Burger King it- do it our way that is. My only educational goals are to develop good homeschooling habits and to teach Ada to read. We're going to read with a purpose this year and learn through books. I've identified books on math concepts, art, music that we'll work through. Throw in phonics, some crafts, cooking, other hands on activities, and some alphabet printables, and some "life school" and you have our preK year- which will be chronicled here.

Again, welcome! I hope you come back and that you find my ramblings useful. Please take a moment to comment. Follow me on Google. Consider taking Dewey back to your blog. But, whatever you do- stay tuned!