Category: Family

365 Stories….


We have a “book” called 365 Stories. It will eventually have 365 stories, but as of now..it probably only has 80!

Some day it will have 365 stories…some day.

I can’t believe we started the book six years ago. I must say I had hoped to have all the days filled in by now. But, life got in the way…..

Sometimes Quinn will write the story and do the illustrations, sometimes Tuesday will draw the pictures and Quinn will write the stories or sometimes I will make the story! It is a little bit of everything..all creative!!

It actually is quite fun that the stories are spanning many years. We started it when Quinn was only 4 years old and River wasn’t even around! Now she is old enough to start working on some stories. On holidays or special occasions, it is fun to see what type of story the kids come up with to memorialize that event! They love going back and reading the stories over and over again!

Atomic Fire Balls, Hot Tamales and Cry Baby Sour Balls……photo shoot…..

So, I am still following along with the Giver’s Log Shoot Along and this weeks assignment was to do a sour face or fire ball photo shoot.  So, we went out and bought some Hot Tamales, Atomic Fireballs and Cry Baby Sour gum.  Everyone got in on the act and got their picture taken.  The real challenge of the day was to put all three different candies in your mouth at once…but no one was up to that challenge!

River didn’t want to try the hot stuff…and I didn’t force her….she thought the sour balls were delicious and didn’t make any good faces…except cute ones!!!!!  Tuesday was convinced that River is too young and didn’t know what sour was…but I assured her, that River knows what sour is…but for some reason…thought the sour balls were yummy!

It was  a lot of fun to look over all the funny faces….especially my own!  I think Tuesday made the best faces of all…with Quinn coming in a close second!

Butterfly Friend….

We have had a butterfly hanging out in our driveway for several months now.  Whenever we are playing in the driveway..he (or she) is there….fluttering about.

Truthfully, I don’t know that much about butterflies. Someone asked me if it was a moth…so I had to do some research and I think he is definitely a butterfly…..butterflies have a “hook” on the end of their antennae and when they are resting, they rest with their wings together, not spread out.  And this little guy seems brightly colored, not dull.  Now, supposedly, there are exceptions to these rules..but in general….I think he is a butterfly.

If you sit still, he will instantly land on you.  Sometimes he has a friend with him, but mostly he seems to be by himself.  He seems to come out around late afternoon and he hangs out until dusk.

When he flies close to your ears, you can actually hear his wings fluttering….pretty cool.

River wants to have the butterfly land on her…….at least she thinks she does…she sits still…and just as the butterfly is about to land…she runs away…….I kept trying to get shots of the butterfly landing on her…but she kept moving away……though she made a cute pose as she waited for the butterfly!

Routine….

Routines…..children crave routine.  One of my favorite routines with River is our nighttime routine.  To encourage her “joy of brushing,” she has a million different toothbrushes and toothpastes.  Normally, she isn’t allowed to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush.  Because when she does, it ends up all over..and way too much of it all over!  But last night, I decided to let her put her own toothpaste on the brush.  Wow, you would have thought I told her she could have as much ice cream as she wanted!  Her eyes lit up and she got so excited…she then got very serious and tried her hardest to get just the right amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush…….I had to take some photos……

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Father’s Day tradition….

A Father’s Day tradition we have in our family is writing stories and creating our own books.  I think we started writing them in 2000, when Tuesday was only 3 years old.  Quinn did his first story in 2002.  And River did her first story last year.  It has been such a fun tradition.  I think the best part is getting out all the old ones and rereading them every year!

I use a template that I created in Publisher and type the stories.  When you make a template, remember to leave a big margin on the left hand side for binding…if  you don’t, some of your text and pictures will get cut off!

Then I print them out on thick stock paper.  The children then add their pictures, usually using  Sharpie markers.  I love the Sharpie markers because they are the brightest and they don’t seem to fade.   After all the pictures are completed….we head on over to our local teachers’ supply store, where they have a laminating machine.  I get all the pages laminated….then we head on over to our local Kinkos/Federal Express shop and I use their work station to cut the pages all out and get them reordered……then I have them bind them for me.  (Why don’t I just have the Kinkos/Fed Ex shop do the laminating?  Because they charge about $1.50 per page!!  It is much cheaper to go to the local teachers’ supply store..they charge you something like thirty-two cents a yard!)

I love the laminating because it brings the vibrant colors out and it protects the pages…makes them seem more like a real book!  I always use a cover page…and then an inside dedication page that says the year.

The kids are always so proud of their stories and pictures!  It is a great tradition or gift idea for any occassion!

Capturing memories….

I took care of my grandmother for about three years before she died.  She died when she was 99 years old.  She lived in the same house for approximately 77 years.   She knew every single inch of that house…inside and out.  I think I knew the house pretty well…but I didn’t want to forget it.  Right before my grandmother died, I saw a photography exhibit.  The entire exhibit was photos of the photographer’s mother’s house…..right after she died.   The little details, the small moments…that you might otherwise forget.

I knew I had to do this…..and I am so glad that I did.   After my grandmother died, before I started cleaning everything out…I went through the house and took many photos of all the rooms….doorknobs, photos, wallpaper, plates, light switches…..things that I knew my grandmother treasured.

Things that seemed so small and insignificant….yet held so many memories.  Lightswitches that my grandmother turned on and off thousands of times, dishes that my grandmother cleaned over and over again, railings that helped my grandmother get up and down the stairs..year after year after year…..the wood worn down to show the years….

I am so glad that I have these memories….and I look back at them often.

They are photos that I will treasure for a lifetime……

Recycling #5 plastics……

For about a year now I have been saving all our #5 recyclables…waiting for our local Whole Foods to start their preserve gimme 5 program.   If you don’t have a participating Whole Foods near you, you can mail your #5 plastics directly to Preserve, but I thought I’d wait until the program came to the Whole Foods near me.  So, I waited and waited and waited, and my #5 plastics started to really pile up.  But, in the last few months, they have expanded the program and now my Whole Foods is a particpant!  Yay!

So, it was time to get all the recyclables together and bring them to the store.  We had to sort through them because somehow some #6s got in there!  I don’t think many places recycle #6s!

So, River, Quinn and I got them all out and put them into a bag and headed to Whole Foods.

By this time River was getting a bit cranky and I had forgotten to pack a snack..good thing we were at Whole Foods….

We had so many recyclables, that they wouldn’t fit into the drop off bin, so we just left them in their bag.   I’m glad to see that so many other people are recycling the #5s.  They also have a cork recycling program.  Of course, while we were at Whole Foods I bought lots of yummy stuff.  I also got River a brand new Preserve toothbrush and told her how it is made from all the recyclables we just dropped off!

Also, at Whole Foods, they have a Nickels for Non-Profits, which is a community program which features a local non-profit for three months.   Instead of getting a five cent credit for each reusable bag…they give you a wooden nickel and you place the wooden nickels into the Nickels for Non-Profit box.   I think it is a great idea and the kids loved putting the wooden nickels into the box!

I was so happy when I got home..happy that I had finally gotten rid of all those #5 plastics…that the cabinets and the garage were cleared of them…then, I opened up a cabinet that I had forgotten about….

Creativity…..

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This weekend was my birthday….and Tuesday and Quinn were secretly making gifts all day Sunday….Quinn loves making little animals and people out of rocks…so I got a personalized rock person..yes, that’s me…..I know..I’m looking old….

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Tuesday had fun making me “11 things I wish I could give you….and 1 thing that I CAN give you!”  I always love their creative gifts…makes me smile!  And once again, I wasn’t able to blow out all the candles!…but I still think I’ll get my wish!

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