My List Making Progeny

If you know me at all, you probably know that I am a "To Do List" kinda person.  If you know me well, you know that I very likely have a to-do list stuck in my back pocket, another one written out in my "This Is My Life" organizational notebook, and possibly a third one tacked up somewhere in my kitchen.  I freely admit that I may be a bit obsessive about my lists, and I fully support the non-list types, but my lists are a permanent part of my inner-most being and they aren't going anywhere.  So you can only imagine my joy when I discovered that there is another list-maker in the house:

IAN:

Go to desk

get lunch

do school

shoulvell (shovel - the snowy driveway)

clean offois (office - also known as the card table in his bedroom)

rest time

See how work is going

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My favorite is the "see how work is going"  item.  For a list maker like myself, having an item that is so easy to check off is a wonderful thing.

Did he stick to his list?  Well, he crossed everything off, so I guess he did. We list makers NEVER cross something off a list before it is accomplished.  However, I didn't see this little project on the list, which means he allowed himself to be side tracked.  This subject will be raised at the next "List Makers Unite" club meeting.  In case you can't tell from the picture, the project is a sign for Daddy, made from cardboard, scrap wood, football cards, scotch tape, nails, glue, rubber bands, and fabric scraps.  The first item on his list for tomorrow will be: "Clean up all the sign making supplies from the basement floor."  And I will be the one who draws the line through that item.

While all this list making and crossing off was going on, I was also crossing a final item off of my own list - the "Finish all the pre-Christmas Sewing Projects" list.  Today I finished the last one:

After an initial use tonight, I regret not making the shoulder strap double the width I made it and I also regret that I didn't put interfacing in the front pocket (it flops open too much), but it held just the right amount of stuff so I will still deem it a success.  It doesn't hurt that I received an unsolicited compliment from a complete stranger, either.  

So, with a new purse capable of carrying a whole stack of to-do lists, I can move forward into February with a brand new list of Valentine-themed things to do.

Weekend Projects

This past weekend was pretty typical: a little work and a little fun.  The fun was mostly on my part while the work was almost all on Aaron's.  I finished up a sewing project that has been waiting for my attention since last September (one of those projects that I talked about here).  Blair was pretty excited to have a "new dwess."  Isn't that fabric fun?

Aaron worked on installing the shelving in our storage closet.  It used to be our coat closet, until we re-worked the guts of our house.  Now it is brand new storage space, and I had quite a bit of fun filling it up.

I'm thinking maybe a laundry hamper in this spot, but that would mean doing more laundry, which would NOT be fun.  Oh well.

The Rules are the RULES

There are two rules that I am trying very hard to burn into my children's souls.  The first rule is "Clean up your old mess before you make a new one."  The second rule is "Work first, then play."  In theory this will make my life (and their future lives) easier.  In practice......well, we are still working on practice.

This afternoon I had a project I really, really, really wanted to work on, but there were several messes scattered around the house.  Since I had just finished nagging (yes, I did nag, and I'm proud of it!) my kids about cleaning up their toys before dragging out more I decided I better put my money where my mouth is.  Besides, there is always a chance my own mom will drop in and she might be tempted to remind me of some rules she tried to burn into my own soul.  (I love you Mom!)

So, first I cleaned up this mess:

Somehow my forcing them outside made
their mess my problem.

Then I washed these:

I decided that it was legitimate to wait to take care of this pile, since more laundry was "in process."

After my home was returned to the normal, immaculate state:

Image found here

I FINALLY got to get started on my project:

It is a brand new Console Table for the front entryway.

And when I was all done putting it together, do you know what I did?

I cleaned up the mess, of course.  Because as the rules state: you can't start a new project until the old one is cleaned up.

Every Snowflake is Unique

"MMMOOOOMMMM, WHEN ARE WE GONNA MAKE SNOWFLAKES????"
It is a January tradition, and my kids are figuring out that I am a sucker for tradition.

Since the weather is decidedly wintry today (hovering around zero degrees), it seemed like a good idea to let the little wild ones go crazy with scissors and paper instead of leaping off of the furniture.

See Ian's face?  He thought I needed "some action in the picture."

Brynn had her heart set on something more then just snowflakes.  She had spotted this project the other day when she was looking at Pinterest over my shoulder.  There is a free template here, but I just drew my own and used some old red file folders for the bodies.

Then I cut out some snowflakes - no two the same - for the skirts.

If you want some ideas for how to cut snowflakes, check out this site.

Viola - Snowflake Ballerinas.

They make a really cute window decoration.

Now the kids are back to their other winter question: "MMOOOMMM, WHEN'S IT GONNA SNOW?"

Second Best Project Ever

 When we arrived home from our most recent "Project Day", Ian announced: "Mom, that was the second best project EVER!"

I asked: "What was the best project ever?"

Ian: "Having snowball fights with marshmallows" (See previous post).

I'll admit that was using marshmallows for snowballs was a pretty awesome idea that I thought up, so coming in second best is still a pretty great accomplishment.  Good job, Grammie!

 The "Second Best Project" was using torn paper to create sunset backgrounds, and then cutting out black shapes to make silhouette pictures.  At first the kids didn't understand the silhouette concept, but since the early stages of the project involved ripping paper in to strips they agreed to give it a try.

 Oh, I forgot to mention there was gluing too.  Any project with gluing has great potential.

 Eventually they figured out that silhouettes were a little like shadows and they moved on to phase two of the project.  It helped that phase two involved cutting.  A project with ripping, gluing AND cutting is sure to be a winner.

 So know we know.  First place projects involve food fights, and second place projects involve ripping, gluing and cutting.  What do you think qualifies as a third place project?

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Here's a picture of the younger set.  Their favorite project is to lead the action songs during our music time.  Aren't they adorable?

"It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter"

"It's a marshmallow world in the winter, 

When the snow comes to cover the ground, 

It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day, 

I wait for it all year round."

Like Dean Martin, my kids wait for snow from the moment the temperature drops below 40 degrees.  When snow actually begins falling, their joy is complete.  But then, along comes a January thaw and the snow all disappears, and faces get long and moods get grumpy.

What to do, what to do....

How about use the rest of Dean Martin's song as inspiration and use marshmallows (and cotton balls and white crayons) to imitate snow?  As these fun materials started to appear on the kitchen table the long faces began to melt along with the mushy snow outside.

Blair went with a blizzard theme - and ate the mini-marshmallows as fast as she glued them onto the paper.  A little Elmer's glue isn't dangerous, is it?

No surprise, Ian started on a snow fort that morphed into a marshmallow shooting artillery piece.

I had a bit of fun too:

Ian took one look at my little sculpture and made one of his own.  A mini-marshmallow food/snowball fight may or may not have taken place in our kitchen.  Okay, it did.  I went for precision targeting while Ian took the barrage approach.  Since he can't get online to make a counter-claim, I will declare myself the victor of that little battle.

While Ian and I goofed off, Brynn kept working diligently on her snow family.

When we finished up these pictures the kids were quite pleased.  That is until they looked out of the windows and asked, "Mom, when's it going to snow again?"

Cambo Catchup

My baby isn't so little anymore.  Well, he was never exactly "little", but now he isn't so young anymore either.  He is nine months old and he has suddenly decided that army crawling is something only babies do.  He is already getting pretty quick on hands and knees.

The day after he started really crawling he discovered that all the big kids were cruising along the furniture,
so he had to get in on that too.

After all, it's way more fun to play with the army men who are already set up on the coffee table instead of the occasional casualty who has fallen down to the floor.

 

While Cam was busy practicing his new moves, I finally got around to hanging the name banner I gave him at Christmas.  When I made the banner back in December I used wooden letters from Hobby Lobby, painted the backs and sides with grey acrylic paint, mod-podged scrapbook paper to the fronts, and then hot glued each letter to a length of white cord.

(I've done a different version of this for each of the other kids as well.)

To hang the banner I just put a couple of nails in the wall (GASP) and knotted the cord around them.  It looks just right for a little boy's room.  I'll have to think of a really great project to celebrate the day that Cameron learns to walk!

Until then, I have a whole pile of sewing projects waiting for me.

Happy 2013

Happy New Year!

To ring in 2013, I decided to make some changes to the look of my new blog.  I had a little bit of fun last night, coming up with a new picture to welcome all you readers every time you check my posts.  Due to my lack of computer know-how (you'd think having a blog would have helped in this department, but it hasn't), it took me a while to make it all work, but it finally turned out right.

The reorganization here on the blog is symbolic of my mood toward the rest of my life.  In January I always get motivated to get rid of clutter and dirt around the house.  Maybe it is because getting ready for Christmas all through December meant that things like cleaning and putting away took a back seat for too long.  Or, maybe I am already longing for spring, and hope that a little "spring cleaning" will bring that season a little bit closer.  Either way, I need to go indulge my urge to clean and organize.

Stay tuned as I post some projects that have been cluttering up my project table.