What I Done Learned Today

Showing Dad what he learned in school.

This is a book he made at school. It's about Breathing. He showed us all the exercises he can do to breath air into his lungs.

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten.

Lesson #1-How to Breathe! :)

A Happy Quilt for Baby Rylee..

Okay...THIS one was hard for me to give away!!

But since it was for Rylee...(My sister, Cammy's baby girl)...it was alright. I guess.

We missed meeting Baby Rylee (then unknown gender and name!) by a month when we went to visit them in July of 2010!

Me and Cam...

This is Cammy and Josh...how sweet!

And here's the sweet baby Rylee now.

Yeah, now that I know that sweet baby girl...it's more than alright!

I didn't have enough of that chenille fabric for the back, so I added this strip to it. Looks sort of like I planned it that way all along. :)

I love the bright happy colors. This quilt is very ME.

I hope it's Rylee too.

Owen likes to get his picture taken with the quilts I make.

This one might my favorite. I want it in a queen size!

Dishes

Why can't they want to do dishes when they are older?

Not just when they are little.

Notice the flowered apron is being worn inside out so it's not too girlie.

Fortune Teller Booth

When I was asked to be in charge of the Fortune Teller Booth at last year's school carnival, I thought it was sort of a risky idea! I thought parents would object to their children dappling in such witchcraft! :)

But I was told it would be one of the most popular booths there. (The PTO lady had previous experience.) And she was right!

Without spending any money, I decorated the booth with what I had and what I borrowed.

That blue stuff is butcher paper that I crumpled up. I should have made it longer, but was so short on time I couldn't redo it.

I cannot believe how popular this booth was! The kids were lined up to get in.

I just googled pictures of gypsy fortune tellers and printed this one. I made the paper look old...

We used one of those electric globe balls. It shoots all these bright currents around and they follow your hand when you touch it.

This picture isn't the best. My flash lit it up too much. In reality, it was much darker inside, only lit by a table lamp and the ball. So it looked a lot cooler than this.

That's me, Madame Rose. I started out giving their fortunes, but the Junior High students loved doing it, so I got booted and they took over most of the time. (Thank goodness. It was getting a bit tedious.)

Now for the fortunes. How was I going to give fortunes to these kids? We thought of Tarot cards, but I was afraid again about parent reaction to something like that. I mean, some people really believe Tarot card reading (and I have no idea how to do that) and some people have negative feelings about them.

We didn't need the controversy!

After looking around a bit, I decided just to make my own little Tarot-like cards. They would represent various themes like Love, Travel, Art, Wisdom...Nothing bad or negative.

Here's what I used to make my own Tarot Cards:

I cute up a bunch of cardboard - old cereal boxes. Then I modge podged some interesting/pretty scrapbook paper on one side of them.

On the other side, I modge podges various pictures I printed off the internet (using Google Images). The pictures had to do with the different themes. (I wiped a little stain on the edges, after this picture was taken.)

Clovers=Good Luck

Planes, cars, trains, boats, and a globe=Travel

Brain + an Eagle=Good education gives you power

Hollywood Star=Fame

Cupid=Love

Question marks=An inquisitive mind

Owl + Stack of books=Value of wisdom and good education

Theater Masks + Sun and Moon=Artistic, dramatic

Backpackers horizon/hikers on mountain=Adventure

The way we ran the booth:

1. One child would enter (or more if they were nervous to go alone).

2. Madame would welcome them. Let them touch the ball, because it was too fun for only her to do it!

3. She would have them choose 3-4 cards from the deck (pictures down).

4. Then she would spread the chosen cards on the table (pictures up) and give the fortune.

Fortunes were always positive and for the most part true.

For example: "Oh, This card tells me that you have a very inquisitive mind. Do you like to learn? Yes? I thought so. This card tells me you will have an adventure in your future. And this one with the owl says you will be very wise if you study very hard."

Or you could start with a question: "Do you like art? Oh What kind of art? I thought so because this card tells me you are very artistic."

We didn't want to give any bad fortunes. "You will die in three days." Hahaha... Could you imagine the calls the school would get?

It was amazing how many kids thought this was "for real." That I was a real fortune teller telling them their future! I told a few kids that it was all for fun. I didn't want them taking it too seriously.

So, if you need a good booth for the school carnival, I highly recommend this one. It was one of the most popular booths there. It was really easy to run. And I didn't hear one negative comment from anyone. What was I so worried about?

Ward Talent Show

Last Saturday we had a talent show in our church.

Justin sang with his friend, Eric. They sang a song Justin wrote called "Into the Trees and Out of the Woods." The title has nothing to do with the song. They think that's funny/cool. That's the plan for all the titles to their songs.

The did super good and I'm mad I didn't get a video. (Note to self...or to husband really: check battery on video camera before bothering to bring it to talent shows.)

I sang, "Lollipop" with 3 friends. All of us are married to men named Daniel so on the program we put our group name as "The Wives of Daniel."

We thought we were pretty funny.

Then we surprised our husbands and came out wearing t-shirts that say, "I Heart Daniel." :)

I messed up a few times...but it's all good....enough...

Daniel was the MC for the night. During the "Stupid Human Tricks" section of the show at the end, he even did his magic finger trick.

For me...

Sigh...

I love him.

The end.

My attempt at crocheting...

I didn't really have a pattern for this. I just mad a circle and increased so that it laid sort of flat on top. Then when I thought it was about the size of the top of a baby's head, I didn't increase anymore. :) I had to sort of stretch it to shape it right.

Amy taught me this method. It's easy, but I can't say that they always turn out. And they never turn out the same. I have quite a few hats that I haven't felt worthy of giving away.

And I do have to give them away because Emily won't wear hats. And I don't really wear them either. And if they are little like this one, we don't have any baby heads to fit.

The flower I learned to make by watching several Youtube tutorials. They are awesome. Thanks to all those people who for some reason want to help people learn how to crochet. (I keep accidentally spelling crochet with an extra t! Crotch-et....not pretty!)

Not all the hats I make turn out. Some are too big. Like this one. Justin was willing to be my model. It looked a lot bigger on me...but I'm not willing to be the model.

I don't know what happened to this one. I gave it to someone. Not as a gift (not worthy) but as a "You can have it if you want..." It was big and I don't really like yellow on me. And while that flower is cute, I wouldn't ever WEAR it!

Then one day I saw the flower sitting on my friend's porch. I said, "I made that."

She said she'd been wondering whose it was. She'd found it on her lawn. She said to take it. But I left it. I didn't want it either. :)

Thank you, Justin. You may go.

I copied this crochet snake idea from a mom who made it for Garrett's birthday a couple of years ago. I basically used the same idea as the hat only made it way skinnier and longer.

I only stuffed the head so the body would be nice and floppy. When Justin was little he had very specific requirements for his toys. Superheros had to have movable joints. And if it was a snake it HAD to be floppy!

I made it for a little boy's birthday. Owen was invited and I hadn't gotten a present. We would be too busy the next day to buy one, and it was too late to buy one that night, so I stayed up watching Suzie Orman on PBS and crocheted this, feeling very good about how I was saving money. Suzie would be so proud. (About THAT. Not about most of my other financial abilities.)

I made a pretty lame cape to give him too. It went over okay. I mean, the little boy wore the cape home from his party and used the snake as a whip, a tug o'war rope and a scarf. All in all, it was a creative gift that cost me nothing and was sure not to be duplicated by someone else.

My next goal is to figure out how to follow a pattern.

First Day of Kindergarten

My oldest son took this picture.

Pretty artsy, I think.

I should encourage photography.

I'm so glad Justin thought of getting the camera out for this. I love that he captured the moment. (I know...back in the old days they could tie their shoe before they entered kindergarten. Get over it. )

We are getting ready for school.

The first day of School!

The first day of Kindergarten!

As usual I remembered a little homework assignment he'd received at his assessment meeting, just before it was time to leave.

So we quickly filled it out.

It was all about how he got his name.

Owen means, "Young Warrior born of Nobility"

Owen: "I'm a warrior?"

Me: "I'm Nobility?"

Picture before loading into the car...

"Smile this time!"

Shot of The backpack!

I called him from the store when I got this.

"Do you want superheros, Phineas and Ferb, Mario Kart, or Toy Story?"

"Toy Story."

"Toy Story? Ooorrr Superheros, Phineas and Ferb or Mario Kart?"

"Mario Kart."

"Mario Kart? Phineas and Ferb...."

You get the idea.

Finally I asked, "Do you just want me to bring you back to the store so you can see them?"

"No, You just pick."

Such a boy!

A girl would never say that.

Dad would have asked the question once,

taken the first answer and it would have been over a lot more quickly.

And so I told him the Mario Kart one was cool cuz it had checkered sides.

And THAT'S how we got the Mario Kart one.

Plus, I thought it had just the right amount of cool.

Not too juvenille.

The Dora and Winnie the Pooh ones should be strictly for Preschool.

Notice I didn't even list those as options.

Oh, they were there at the store...

Mario is cool for all ages.

"Let me take your picture"

"We already did!"

"Yeah, but now we're at the school. We gotta have one at the school."

"One more. Open your eyes this time!"

"Come On Mom!"