Happy Father's Day!

How to Eat an Apple

Swimming Lessons, Day 5

I didn't blow bubbles today.  I can't remember how, and I don't ever plan to do it again.  I don't plan to get any parts of my head wet, either.  It's a good thing we have a weekend break before I have to try again.  Even though today didn't go so well, I still love Ms. Chelsea and look forward to seeing her again.

Swimming Lessons, Day 4

Here's an update on swimming lessons for you.  Yesterday, I did the unthinkable:  I got wet up to my nose and blew bubbles out my nose.  Ms. Chelsea and Mommy were so happy!  Ms. Chelsea is very patient.   She spends most of each swimming lesson carrying me around and getting me deeper into the water.  I think that's really fun.  She also holds me on my tummy so that I can kick like a fish.  That part is fun, too!  But when she wants me to lay on my back and kick like a fish, I just won't tolerate it.  Somewhere along the line, I've become scared to get my face into the water and terrified to lean my head back into the water.  I haven't gotten the back or top of my head wet yet this week.  So, I'll keep putting up with a little bit more of her persuasion each day, and we'll see how it goes.  I really do like swimming lessons and Ms. Chelsea!

Another Playroom Project (from Mommy)

I have a new project completed that makes me smile every time I see it, so I have to share. I was inspired a few months ago by the Picture Perfect Wall. I loved the idea of a system for making a picture collage on a big wall, and I had a big, blank wall in the playroom that needed some help. Here's just one thing you can do with their amazing system.

My playroom budget didn't allow for the price tag, however. Thank goodness for Ikea Hacker, which has been inspiring me to do things myself for just a little bit of money. I decided to make my own wall collage using Ikea's Ram frame series. They are super cheap and paintable. Instead of glass, the clear part is plastic. I figured that would be great for the playroom both because they'd be unlikely to break and because a kiddo would be less likely to get hurt in the event of any wild playtime. Ikea's website lists the dimensions of the frames, so I cut out some little models with graph paper and played around with them until I had a plan that I thought would work on the wall. (That may sound silly, but I figured it would be sillier to drive all the way to Ikea, pick out some frames I liked, and get home to find out that I needed different ones.) Here's what Jeff and I chose.

So...we purchased the frames, and I painted them and distressed them a bit with sandpaper. I used painter's tape to map out the boundaries of my plan on the wall and started hanging pics. Here's what our collage looks like:

I have to say, I had so much fun choosing the pictures! I had to leave out a lot of special ones, so if you are a close friend and don't appear on the wall, it's not because I love you any less. :) These pictures include our parents and siblings, some of our favorite hikes, and some faraway friends. They make me happy. (And here's a little secret: I put velcro dots behind the frames to keep them straight. I don't think it would be relaxing to have to straighten frames every time I come into the playroom.)

And this is what our "picture perfect wall" looks like on the far wall of the playroom. It would have taken a lot less time if I had ordered the system. But, for a tenth of the cost of ordering one, I'm thankful to have come up with an "Ikea Hack!"

(To see other playroom projects, click here, here, here, and here.)

Edited 2/25/09: Thanks to Jules for mentioning us here! So fun!
Edited 5/25/10:  Thanks to Laurie for mentioning us here!  Yay!

Catching Up

After Daddy got back from camping with Mr. Rob and Mr. Perry, they were at our house for a little while. It didn't take much work to convince Daddy and Mr. Rob to play trains with me. They even brought the trains downstairs.

When you look at these pictures, you might think the grown-up guys are enjoying the trains even more than I am.  And you might be right.

Just look at their smiling faces!

I've been going to swimming lessons every day this week.  As it turns out, I'm the only kid in the time session that Mommy chose.  Some sessions have as many as 15 kids my age, so I got a pretty good deal having the teacher to myself.  Her name is Ms. Chelsea, and she's really nice, even though she thinks I should get my face wet.  She hasn't convinced me to do it yet, but I'm getting a little more comfortable each day.

Mommy picked some squash from Daddy's garden today.  They're pretty!  We'll eat them tomorrow.  In this picture, I'm trying very hard to convince Mommy that every squash must stand up in the bowl without leaning.  Mommy is not a very good listener sometimes.

Back to Normal

My dad has been on a trip. This time it wasn't a business trip, but a trip doing guy things like camping and hiking and getting dirty. Someday, I'll be big enough to go along, but this time I stayed home with Mommy. 

Mommy showed Daddy her love by letting him have the camera all to himself on his guy trip.  As you can imagine, this took a lot of love.  But Mommy really loves Daddy, so it wasn't so hard.  

I showed how much I love Daddy by helping Mommy miss him.  And the way I did that was by keeping Mommy on her toes the whole time Daddy was gone.  I have learned the fine art of arguing, and Mommy doesn't seem to appreciate it.  So, I'll keep trying to get her to appreciate it.  At any rate, we've very glad Daddy is back, and the guys had a good time.

For today, we're just going to share a couple of pictures that we thought the grownups would appreciate.  They show how much gas costs at Daddy's camping destination.

Dont' worry, Daddy filled up the tank close to our house where the prices were not quite as shocking.  Still unpleasant, but not quite so bad!

(In other news, I have started swimming lessons this week.  I go every day this week and every day next week.  I'll tell about it in another post!)

How to Sleep

I've been doing this for a week or two, and it works great.  First, take your pillow and lay it at the foot of your bed while the bed is still made.  Next, pull your comforter and sheet over you so that the comforter is next to you and the sheet is on top.  Finally, snuggle in with your lion and seal and pretend you're in the house or bed of your favorite animal.  It makes for a great night's sleep!

The first night I tried this, my dad let me go to sleep this way.  Then, late at night, he came into my room and put me back in bed the "regular" way.  When Mommy and Daddy came to get me the next morning, they found me snuggled in the new way.  I guess they didn't realize how serious I was about my idea!

Because of Compassion

Three Reasons to Celebrate

I think I forgot to tell you about some reasons to celebrate around here.  The first one was Monday:  Jared's birthday party.  

Here I am watching the other kids play in his pool. I didn't feel like playing in the pool until a couple of hours later. Mommy made me go be with the kids, but she couldn't make me play until I was good and ready.

Jared likes vehicles and had a lot of them for me to look at.

His mom likes to make cupcakes inside ice cream cones, and I really like them that way, too.  Happy birthday, Jared!

The second reason to celebrate was that we had Natalie's birthday parties on Tuesday.  My mom had me wear some cute clothes, but I was not in the mood for posing.  So, she strapped me down to take this picture.

Natalie has a cool water table that I got to play with.  I loved the water wheel.

And, she has an amazing bubble machine.  The last time I saw one of these was at Emma Claire's first birthday party.

Here I am clowning around with Grandpa and Doreen.  Happy birthday, Natalie!

The third reason to celebrate came yesterday, and it doesn't involve cupcakes, but we're still very excited.  You can read about it on our adoption blog!

Carl Makes a Scrapbook

Our friends, Mr. Jeff and Ms. Michelle, went on a family vacation. Daddy told them about Powell's Books, so they gave it a try. Daddy says it is the best bookstore ever, and he used to go there for fun on his business trips before I was born. Maybe someday he'll take Mommy and me there. Anyway, Mr. Jeff and Ms. Michelle loved Powell's. And, they brought a souvenir back for me:

I don't know who was more excited, Mommy or me. This is a story about what a dog and his little girl do while their Mommy goes outside to garden. They are supposed to watch an educational video, but they pull out the mommy's scrapbooking stuff instead and make a beautiful scrapbook. It all sounds like a lot of fun, but unfortunately, I don't have a dog to scrapbook with. (After three and a half long years, I still haven't convinced my parents to get a dog.)  And my mommy doesn't tell me to watch a video while she goes outside. But it's still very fun to think about. I love my new book!

Here I am reading to book with Ms. Michelle. Thanks so much for my book!

Happiness

Another Project (from Mommy)

I know I don't need to start another project.  But if I did, I think this would be it.  I can just picture this mobile in Jonathan's room.  Or the nursery.  Or the playroom.

And it would be so fun to pick out the fabric for all the little birds.  Too cute.  I've been feeling very crafty lately.  But I'll restrain myself.  If you want to make one, you can read about it and get the directions here.

Modeling?

Mommy, I love Emma Claire.  I really do.  But do I have to test her headband for size?  I guess I should be glad that you didn't make me try her ponytail holders.

WFMW: Avoiding Summer Boredom

It's Works for Me Wednesday!  This week's theme is "Mom, I'm Bored."  (Big apologies to my mom for saying this when I was a kid!)  These are some ideas I have for keeping boredom away this summer.  Granted, they may be obvious and/or may not work for every family, but I hope they get your creative juices flowing.  (Thanks to my dear friend, Kathy, who had me thinking about this ahead of time!  I've been jotting ideas down as they've come to me.)  If you have other ideas, please let me know in the comments section, or just comment to let me know you stopped by!  You can also post about this on your blog and post your link at Rocks in My Dryer.  Here we go...

• Regal Cinemas Free Family Film Festival - You can search to see if this is happening in your area.  Enjoy nine weeks FREE of kid-friendly movies!  AMC is also hosting Wednesday dollar movies for kids.
• Toddler's Busy Book or Preschooler's Busy Book - My grandma found one of these for me at a yard sale, and it's full of quick, easy, cheap things to keep your kiddos happily occupied, usually using items you already have in your home.  Lots of them are things that we adults did when we were kids but have forgotten about.  Your local library may have it.  One of these books could keep you busy all summer, especially if you have rainy days in your area!
• Spend time drawing pictures and writing letters to your Compassion child on a regular basis.
• Find a hobby that your child(ren) love to watch you do.  I have fond memories of watching my mom sewing when I was little.  Now my son loves to watch me sew, or at least play near me while I'm doing it.  We both enjoy it.
• Barnes and Noble - They often have a train table.  Mom can relax with a Starbucks drink while the kiddos look at kids' books or drive trains.  It's also a fun time to read new books to your kids.  (Any of these ideas that are at stores will probably only work if your kids don't have the "gimmes."  But if it's relaxing for you, it's nice to enjoy someone else's air conditioning and a change of scenery!)
• Your local educational/teacher supply store - Ours has both a very well-equipped Thomas train table and a Calico Critters table that my son enjoys.  There are a lot of toys that are OK to touch and look at that can keep us occupied for a good hour or two.  You can also get great ideas for how to work with your kids on skills over the summer.  We need to work on writing and drawing.
• Grow a garden - whether it's a true plot outside or a cup in your kitchen window, kids can get a lot of satisfaction out of this.  Even planting a bean can be great.
• Check out your local library.  We enjoy going to ours not only for the books, but to play with their selection of kids' puzzles.  My son plays with the puzzles while I check out books, music, and videos for him.  Many libraries have a weekly storytime with a craft that may be fun for older kids.
• A couple of moms here are teaching a weekly summer class for kids at the library that will involve gymnastics, music, and stations for 2-4 year olds.  It's going to be at the library, so it will be cheap-just $3/session.  Your library may have a list of what's going on in their "community room" or similar setting.
• MOPS - Your local Mothers of Preschoolers group is probably taking a break for the summer, but they still may be hosting events for kids and/or families.  If you're not already a part of MOPS, you can contact the group(s) near you to find out more.
• Choose an author and read lots of his/her books.  Your librarian can help with this.  Very young children might enjoy Margaret Wise Brown.  My three-year-old loves Virginia Lee Burton.  For older children at the beginning of elementary school, you might try reading aloud a Laura Ingalls Wilder book like Little House in the Big Woods or Farmer Boy, and for children older than that, try C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.  And I'd love other suggestions!
• A park with fountains for playing.  Do you have one near you?  We do, and it's a relaxing place to meet for a playdate.  The kids are very occupied and the moms can watch and chat.
• Sonic.  Not the healthiest, but a fun place to meet for lunch outside.
• Swimming lessons at the local public pool
• Vacation Bible School - Lots of local churches have VBS at different times of the day on different dates during the summer.  You might find more than one that works for you.
• A mom at our church is setting up a moms' time two mornings a month.  The kids play in the nursery, supervised by hired sitters, and the moms work on whatever they want.  A church near you may offer this, or you might try organizing this yourself.
• Bike ride - We can do real bike rides if we use the bike trailer, but we can also do trike rides.  My friend attends a church with a big, secluded parking lot that has no traffic during the week.  We have taken our kids there and let them ride their tricycles while we chat.   There's lots of room for them to ride, but they're very supervised.  And I think the staff at the church loves to see the kids riding.
• IKEA - If you have one near you, you probably already know this...bring the kids!  For potty-trained and older kids, there's a supervised play area where you can check them in and leave them for 30 minutes if you like.  But, for all the kids, there's stuff to look at and play with throughout the store, and it's OK for the kids to do that!  And the kids' meals at the cafe are cheap:  $.99 and up.
• Babysitting - I'm considering hiring our favorite sitter for a few mornings this summer to just do things on my own for 2-3 hours.  Our son would think this is great.  And, if what I've been reading about the teenage job market is true, your local teen may be grateful for the job.  Trading sitting with a friend is also great.
• In our more desperate moments, we've been known to walk around Wal-Mart or Target just for a change of scenery.  My son loves to "give an animal a ride" while we shop and "put it back with its animal friends" when we're done.  I don't know how long it will last, but it only works since I don't buy him anything-we only buy gifts for other people.  :)  And with the price of gas, we may not do this very often this summer!
• And remember, our attitude makes a big difference.  Last night, my husband gave our son the choice of going to the park, pulling weeds, or watching Cars.  He got super-excited about all three.  Seriously.  (I'm sure that was partly because they all involved spending time with Daddy.)

Thanks to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for getting this huge conversation started.  You can visit her blog to read lots of ideas from other readers!

For My Grandparents

This is a post for my grandparents. The ones who live far away love the yard and I knew they'd like some pictures. But, the nearby grandparents are welcome to look, too!  Click on any picture to make it big.

Since Daddy trimmed the redwood trees, some begonias have popped up that we didn't even know we had.  They're very happy now.

And the other begonias are very happy, but the crape myrtles are not blooming quite yet.

Here's what our garden looks like.

The lobelia that you planted in front are very happy.   As you can see, the violas from more than a year ago have reseeded themselves all over the place.  We love them.

The lobelia and snapdragons have been very happy here, too.  The snapdragons are about done.

These violas and petunias and vincas are from last spring and summer.  They just keep blooming.

Here we are working on the side yard a little bit.  

We put in some lavender, star jasmine, and carpet roses.

Here's the star jasmine-one of Mommy's all-time favorites.  We'll get a trellis for it to climb when it grows a little bigger.  You can see Mr. John's Rose of Sharon peeking over the fence.  All the Rose of Sharon trees are just starting to bloom.

Here are this year's baby lemons.

And here are last year's lemons that we need to work on using.  When we're done picking and sharing them, Daddy will prune the lemon tree so that it's not so close to the ground.  We hope you enjoyed peeking into our yard!

A Day to Celebrate

On Saturday, my buddy Ella turned three! We dropped by her house to give her a little gift, and she shared her birthday cake with us.

Here she is working on blowing out the candles on her princess cake.

Since Ella plays grocery store a lot, she got a cash register for her birthday.  I really liked her cash register.  We worked out a little system so we could play with it together.  We seem to work out our own little systems for playing now that we are older.  And Ella was really nice to share something new with me.  Happy birthday, Ella!

After going to Ella's house, we went to Samantha's graduation party.  She's all finished with high school now.

I got to see my buddy, Miriam, and play with this boingy palm tree.  (The party  had a tropical theme.)

And Samantha helped me play with it, too.  Samantha spent most of her party holding babies and entertaining kids like me.  She's nice that way.  Congratulations, Samantha!

Watching Racing with Daddy

The Chair-from Mommy

A long time ago, when I got my first apartment without roommates, I had some sweet friends who gave me some furniture. I still have one of the pieces of furniture: a chair. My friend, Lana, gave it to me. I lost touch with Lana years ago, but in case she ever stumbles upon our blog...thank you, Lana!

After Jeff and I got married, I recovered the chair with a tablecloth from TJMaxx.  Here's the fabric it had when Lana gave it to me:

And here's the fabric I used to recover it in 1999 or 2000.  (I still have the top fabric because I cut it apart to use it for the pattern for the new cushion covers.  I'm glad I saved it so I could use the pattern again!)

I found this tablecloth at Target recently.  It's not the perfect match for the green in the playroom, but for $4.24, I couldn't protest.  It seems only fitting to use a tablecloth for the second recovering project.

Here's what the chair looks like now.  Not bad for a free chair.  And I have to mention...this project was a little like making a quilt.  I only do it every 8-10 years because it takes me that long to forget that it's not my favorite thing to do.

I've been spending more time at the sewing machine than usual, so we have a lot of pictures to catch up on.  We'll work on that later today.