One Punch Wonder

There are some scrapbookers who have a million tools and embellishments in a room that they devote entirely to their craft. I don’t have either. I am just a regular mom. I scrap because I want the stories and objects that go along with the pictures preserved together in whole memories. My pages aren’t perfect but they are perfectly me.

This is one I really like. It is simple, easy, and clearly the focus is the pictures. I used just three sheets of cardstock (two sided orange and yellow), one punch, and a pen. (and glue) I punched all around the edges of the pages and backed them with strips of orange. Then I took all the bones that were made with my punch and wrote out the title. The date bone and the journaling were made from the scraps from the backing.

This was a fast, easy, 15-minute page.

Little Kids Can Do Chores Too, Pt. 1

Yes, moms little kids not only can do chores – they want to. Embrace the age of little helpers so that when they reach the age of being little gripers instead they are already in the habit of doing jobs.

Don’t worry doing some work around the house will not rob them of their childhoods it will however instill in them a stronger sense of family as everyone gathers around to clean up the shared environment.

As long as they are super easy and fun the kids will be able to help out without being overwhelmed or spending too much of their day doing it. And you will gain more time with them because believe it or not the job will go faster with the help of the little ones (after a period of adjustment).

Job #1 – putting away laundry.

Too hard for preschoolers you say? No way! Just get a wash bin from the diswashing supply isle of Wal-Mart or whatever, paint or decorate it so that it is not just a white bin. (in each kid’s color if you organize your stuff that way which I do and highly recommend)

Then you organize their drawers so that each part of the drawer is clearly separated i.e. one part of undies, one for socks, one for jammies, etc. So that as he picks up each item of clothes he knows exactly where to put it.

Voila! Clothes that have been put away by a 5 year old – her drawer was chosen because it looks better than the 3 or 2 year olds – but they do it too.

Thomas Recall

The Silicon Valley Moms Blog had this up today. I thought every mom knew about this already but I guess not if they are just posting it now. It is important for everyone to know about since most moms (especially of boys) have some Thomas trains in their house.

http://svmomblog.typepad.com/silicon_valley_moms_blog/2007/07/ready-to-post-t.html

Favorite Book of the Week

My kids and I go to the library just about every Friday for story time. We bring the “big pink library bag” with us and fill it with four books a piece times four kids plus plenty of “Mommy please can I get this one too”s until the bag is almost too heavy to carry. We are such a sight that the library staff all know that I homeschool and that my kids love to read.

There was even a time when my husband came with us and chose to watch them by letting them explore the globe they have – this didn’t really work because they kept racing back and forth to say things like “I just found the state of Russia” “Not ’state’ sweetie, Russia is a country.” So that those who where not annoyed in the check out line asked if I homeschooled them – of course I do – what other 4 year old would seek to learn the names of countries when they could just spin the globe around and around.

And every week there seems to be a favorite book that we have to read every night and that they fight over getting to take to bed. This week it was one that I chose just because the cover was interesting and my 2 1/2 year old likes alphabet books. It is called “The Human Alphabet” by Pilobolus (please don’t ask me how to pronounce it – I have no idea). It is a really neat book full of pictures of dancers making the letters out of their bodies.

My 5 1/2 year old and aspiring gymnast – known around here as Gymnastigirl because she is always, always doing gymnastics skills around the house was thrilled with it. She even conned her almost 4 year old brother into helping her try and make some of the easier letters. Which was adorable, hysterical, and slightly dangerous – there is a reason why dancers spend half their lives training – but try to explain that to a little girl.

The boys really liked it too – it has a lot of visual interest with the brightly colored leotards the dancers wear and is like a guessing game for the little guys as they try to tell what letter/picture is being made.

As a mom who has several small children all kinda close in age (and who has been reading various alphabet books for 5 years now) I liked it because it is so different from the other books of its kind. Its so nice to see something that can capture my jaded attention.

It was also the topic of tonights post-bedtime, pre-sleep fight. Who was going to get to take this book to bed? You would think that sooner or later they would realize that no one ever wins this kind of fight because I will always choose to take the object (whatever it is) away so that no one can have it. So I guess I get to sleep with “The Human Alphabet” tonight.