HOW TO MAKE A BUTTON

Thank you, Bee and Rose, for passing on the info. from April Showers on how to make a blog button! I am much better with the old-fashioned kind of button maker, I'm afraid, and even though the instructions were very simple to follow, I still had issues. Heavy sigh. I gave it my best shot, and at least there's something up there in the corner to show for it! It's been a good weekend so far; we've played some games, watched some movies, and spent some time with good friends. Isn't that what it's all about?! We had a yummy dinner tonight complete with a recipe for ribs from a friend, and lots of fresh veggies! Even the dog had his way with a few carrots and some spilled mashed potatoes! Besides a little work that needs to get done tomorrow, I have really high hopes of getting in that great room of mine called my CRAFT ROOM (or more commonly, the place where the kids go to watch t.v.) I'm thinking of attacking my scrapbooks from another direction--one I started a while back when I was feeling overwhelmed with the incompletion of it all. I decided to do a book for each major "theme" in our lives, and expand from there. For example, I have a book entitled "HALLOWEEN". It certainly doesn't contain all the photos I take for that given holiday (hello, have we met?!), but just a sampling of a few pictures of the highlights. I also have a book called "BIRTHDAYS" with a 2-page spread for each birthday party for each child. Since my husband and I were married over the July 4th weekend, that holiday holds special significance not only as a national holiday of our great country, but as a celebration of our marriage. I have tried to take a family photo each 4th of July weekend, and these photos go into the "JULY 4TH" book. You get the picture (pardon the pun!). I also have a "YEAR IN REVIEW" book concept, and that one is a bit overwhelming because there are so many years that remain undone. With the 365 day photo challenge from BECKY HIGGINS, future years may be easier. Especially if I actually remembered to take photos every day. Ugh. Anyway, here are a few photos of the books as they are right now, and some other projects. With any luck, I'll be working on them here and there throughout the rest of our (rapidly disappearing) summer! I think the temp. here is supposed to be 156 degrees or something like that tomorrow--I don't watch the weather reports anymore--really, what's the point? The only thing I know for sure is that I now need oven mitts to grasp the steering wheel of the car and open the doors from the outside, and tongs to remove the keys from the ignition once we get where we are going. It's the price we pay for our beautiful winters here in Arizona. And I can say that, although I've had 2nd degree sunburns before, I've never lost a digit due to frostbite. I figure I'm about even.Photo tour of our home.


Year in review book, no journaling yet, only notes.


Another page of the same book, ready for pictures.


Birthday book, year 2. Incomplete, naturally!


Thanksgiving photos, recipes, traditions.


Book of Christmas cards from one season, not decorated yet.


Just a fun school idea that the kids and I did here at home.

ABC book of baby's first year, the first book project I had ever done.

Another book of Christmas pictures and letters from family and friends. I put these out every year in a Christmas basket so that we can look through them and remember years gone by!

IT'S SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN'S GOOD!

Just an ode to summer today. Yes, we live where it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk in the summer (never been tested by me, just an urban legend we like to pass on). Yes, sometimes the car does smell like burning ass when you get in--especially if you have leather seats. And yes, I have gotten 2nd degree burns while wearing 50 SPF on an overcast day at the pool. But still, summer also means lazy days, not having to get dressed until noon--heck, not getting out of bed until noon most days--and catching up on all the projects that there's never any time for during the school year. So far, here's what we've accomplished:

• WE HAVE BASEBOARDS!!!!! We put wood flooring in a couple of years ago, and due to time and budget constraints, we weren't able to add the baseboards until now. YEA!
• We have recovered our dining room chairs. Okay, we used duct tape because the staples wouldn't go through the wood, but they're MOSTLY done.
• Rearranged furniture in the living room--just awaiting the addition of the game table and some floor cushions!
• Sanded and partially painted the re-purposed coffee table to be a game table--waiting for a windless day to finish.
• Pajama pants--lots and lots of pajama pants!
• Reorganized pantry.
• Clean (but you have to look REALLY quickly) playroom (I wasn't quick enough to get a picture, darn it).
  
• Painted picture frames for ART GALLERY wall.
• Organized and labeled files (just an OCD thing...)
• New recipes tried.
• Lots and lots of salsa made.
• First-ever attempt at LETTERBOXING in Sedona.
• Working out, rock climbing, and basketball at the Rec. Center.
• Lots of movies, friends over, and wine-drinking (just the adults).
• Standard-issue Super Dog Cape made for Super Dog (sometimes the "S" stands for Stupid, sometimes for Silly) by the daughter.

I still plan to get a handle on my scrapbooking--at least a start. I still plan to reread Stacey Julian's book to be re-inspired to take control!

On a sadder note, the Something Lovely that I was going to make? Um, not so much. My journal ended up looking like a bit of a fabric-covered nightmare. Luckily, I googled journal covers, and found this great tutorial for any who are interested. Maybe one day I'll learn to read the directions first--but why ask for permission when you can ask for forgiveness?

SOMETHING LOVELY

I'm off to try to make something lovely today. Not sure what it's going to be--I made LOVELY salsa last night (a family favorite, I make a batch almost every week!), and cleaned all the LOVELY bathrooms, so now I'd like to go make a scrapbook, fabric, journal something-or-another. Vague enough?! I have a few hours before basketball games tonight, so thought I'd try my hand at a fabric-covered journal. I have a bit of a journal addiction--I've never met one I haven't liked (or purchased, perhaps). I love to buy the old style composition notebooks when they go on clearance after the back-to-school shopping is done and then cute them up with paper and doo-dads. My daughter and I were on a PAJAMA PANTS binge a week or so ago; here are some of the fabrics we used.


Yes, that is CROSSWORD FABRIC you see--I'm a big fan--WORD NERD, I am. So off I go to CREATE. If the result is picture-worthy, I'll post it! Have a great day!

THE KNEES OF SUMMER

Do you remember having knees like this? It brings back some great summer memories for me. My knees still look a little like this, but that is another story, and it probably involves cleaning. Or being clumsy. Or stairs. If I close my eyes, I can still smell the fresh cut grass and hear the distant buzz of the lawnmowers all over our neighborhood. I can hear the voices of my friends as we played freeze tag for the zillionth time in our front side yard (the size of a regulation baseball field--I had it so rough). I can taste the carrots pulled directly out of the garden dirt, wiped off on my shorts, and maybe--if a parent happened to be watching--rinsed off with the garden hose. I have not, since my childhood, tasted a carrot, radish, or peas as delicious as those were. I can smell the hamburgers and hot dogs grilling on the barbecues, and picture all the dads out back (we had no fences) watching the kids play while they grilled. Here's to summer, to the all the great memories, and of course, to the knees of summer. Ah, to be a kid again.

ORGANIZATIONAL EYE CANDY!

Flaves of the day: Pineapple-Mango and Strawberry from Bath and Body Works. Makes you want to eat a fruit salad.

In the spirit of getting myself ready to organize, I thought I'd pass on some pretty pictures to inspire! These images give me a sense of calm and happy--just like a picture of the ocean, or of a lovely dirt path down a clearing in the woods. Okay, maybe not JUST like that, but still...it works for me! Here's my little cleaning/organizing routine.

• Fire up the fragrance burners with a combo. of invigorating, fruity scents--think clean house, here. (see above)
  
• Put on some favorite music--either dance music, 80's music, or something a little jazzy, like Nora Jones.
• Put on the most comfortable, old, soft "cleaning uniform" you can find--my favorites are my circa 1990 Old Navy 4th of July tee shirt and yoga pants.

You are now ready to begin any domestic task that awaits you! I am going to go create some labels for my files right now, and I'll post pictures later.
Now without further ado, courtesy of REAL SIMPLE, here are the promised pictures!

This is a good look for a closet...if you only have seven shirts.

Disclaimer: The lovely "boy and girl closets" will only look this way up to the point
where the boy and girl enter the room.

Now, go forth and organize!

I'M THE MOM OF A TEENAGER

age 10

How did this happen? I'm still so young...and cute! Well, I am, aren't I?! Why are you laughing? How can I have a 13 year-old boy? It seems like just yesterday I was banging his car seat carrier against my legs while carting him around in it. Just yesterday that my left bicep was noticeably larger than my right one from carrying my chubby baby boy. Just yesterday that I was filling up snack sized bags with Cheerios and sippy cups with apple juice and ice to take with us anytime we left the house. When I close my eyes and go back through the memories, I guess it's about right...we've had 13 great, crazy, wacky years with this boy, and I've loved every single one of them! Once when we were leaving his 1st grade classroom he said something that I found particularly funny. As I laughed, he said, "You just can't take the silly out of me, can you mom?!" No, I couldn't, but I would never try! This is the kid who will tell you a knock-knock joke while reprogramming your computer, manage to leave all his dirty socks out of his laundry basket and complain that he has no clean ones, kiss the dog on the lips but not his mother, and pole vault over the couch "just to see it he could". He will beg to stay on the computer or video game for just a few minutes more, hide around the corner to scare the heck out of me and laugh, give something to a friend in need without ever being asked, and fall asleep with all his lights and radio on every night. He puts a lot of stock in "fair", but is always the one to concede in an argument. He feels deeply, but says little. He is impatient with people sometimes, but never the dog. He once dubbed himself "The Baby Watcher" and is always kind to babies and loves to make them laugh. He has never said an unkind word about a friend. He has to be reminded constantly to cut his fingernails. He is a gifted writer with the handwriting of a serial killer. He can be ridiculously messy, and heart-stoppingly kind. He is gifted beyond measure at many things, but doesn't know it yet. He will be the most generous, kind, and loving husband and father some day, but for today, he's still my (teenage) boy. Sigh.age 9

age 11


age 11--never met a dog he didn't love

age 12

THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION

A Facebook friend posted this to his blog. All I can say is WOW. This guy says what a lot of teachers have felt for years. Please let us stop teaching to the test. Please stop changing the curriculum every 15 minutes (and that's being liberal...). Those of us who do our research already know about the differences in learning styles, and do our best to teach to all of them across the board--visual, auditory, kinesthetic. OF COURSE the basics are important. They always have been, and they always will be. But there's more than one way to get there. There are MANY unconventional ways to get there. I had a student one year, I'll call her Georgie (because that was her name, and it was like, 100 years ago, so I doubt she'll be offended) who absolutely, positively, COULD NOT sit still. Ever. For any reason. She was like a tiny burst of energy in her cute little dress sitting there in my 2nd grade classroom. The problem was, there were also 31 other cute little people also sitting there in my classroom (an injustice unto itself) who were becoming distracted by her inability to control her wiggly self. One day, Georgie and I devised a plan to help her get her work--ANY work, done. From that day on, after the teaching portion of the lesson, I stapled her assignments to the wall. The deal was, as long as she did not bother other people by making eye contact with them or by making noise, she was free to walk laps around the classroom. Each time she passed her paper, she stopped to do a problem (sometimes 2). Guess what? It turns out that Georgie, who had until this time been getting F's on all of her assignments, was an A student! For the rest of the 2nd grade year, she continued to work in this fashion, and at the end of the year, was one of my top achievers. Sadly, the next year she didn't return to our school, so I don't know how she fared after that. I can only hope that other teachers along the way helped her to be herself inside of some basic parameters, and that she learned to speak up for herself and to be her own advocate. A tall order for a 7 year old, but if anyone could've done it, Georgie could have. I was down about losing her until I talked to a teacher friend of mine. I told my friend that I didn't want all of my efforts and Georgie's to have been in vain should she just be plopped into a traditionally-structured 3rd grade classroom. I will never forget my friend's reply. She said, "If you knew there would be a famine in 9 months, would you quit feeding your children today in preparation for it?" When I think of her, and of her words, I know that no effort I make as a teacher, mom, wife, or friend will ever be wasted, and that I will always strive to feed and nurture the creative minds and expressions and "outside the box" ways of every student, to allow them to reach their full potential. Watch this video, you'll love it.