My Book Shelf - August 2011

I originally wrote this post sharing my reading list at the time. This idea came from Grams at Grams Made It.

I thought it was a good time to revisit my list.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close.

I enjoyed this book.  It was really funny and made me wish (almost) that I was a single New Yorker.  I can completely see this book being made into a movie.  I want to play Lauren.

I am still involved in my Bible in 90 Days challenge.  I am very behind though and am trying to work through the roadblocks that keep popping up taking my reading time away.

The Hobbit is still in my reading basket.

I will start my next audiobook on Monday on my way to work.  I'll be listening to Haunted Ground by Erin Hart.

I found this on Audible.com and don't remember much about it except that it was interesting enough to add to my wishlist.  Here's a little description about the story:

When farmers cutting turf in a peat bog make a grisly discovery -- the perfectly preserved severed head of a young woman with long red hair -- Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and American pathologist Nora Gavin team up in a case that will open old wounds.

I love listening to audiobooks with Irish accents.  So I know on that point alone I will like this book.

Have you found any good books lately that you'd like to recommend?

Pinkie's Picks - August 23, 2011 (and Etsy news)

First, let's get some news out of the way. The Etsy Share theme for the week is football. Preseason is underway and regular college games start Labor Day so let's start hunting for items to help us cheer on our favorite teams!

Another tidbit of news - I am currently working on setting up my own Etsy store. I have a few items listed already but I am just not happy with my photos yet so it's all rolling out very, very slowly. But I will get there and when it's all up, I will have a Grand Opening.

It's been awhile since I posted any Pinkie's Picks so that's what I'm sharing today.

For the best step by step stitching instructions I have found, try Stitch School.

If you want step by step cooking videos, try Visual Recipes.

I'd like someone to make me these cake batter pancakes from How Sweet It Is.

If you can't get your family to eat lima beans, make a lima bean wreath out of them like this one found at TipJunkie.com.

For those of you that have to pack lunches for the kiddos and have already run out of ideas, check out the $5 Dinner Mom's favorite sites for lunch ideas.

It won't be long before the haunting begins again.  I love this vintage clip art of a witch and the moon found at The Graphics Fairy.

I know a certain friend of mine in Iowa will appreciate this Mini Cooper party just like I did.  From Farmstyle Studios.  The cake is smashing!

I think this chalkboard lunch box would be a great way to leave special notes to your sweeties when you send them off to school.

I keep telling Hubz that I can spray paint our bathroom fixtures and we can have a whole new look but he thinks I'm crazy.  Well, thanks to Saving 4 Six, I have proof now that I'm not so crazy.  Well, at least about this point anyways.

Kidtivities - Washing the baby

I mentioned earlier here that I am enrolled in an online Montessori training class. Montessori lessons are broken up into different categories or areas of study. One of these areas is called Practical Life. Practical Life is just that really - activities to teach children how to care for themselves by doing normal everyday life things that help instill confidence and well-being in a child.

I came up with this activity which we call "Washing the Baby" after seeing several other blogging Montessori moms sharing similar lessons.

First off, we gathered up a plastic washable doll, baby wash, lotion, baby powder, bath tub (which in this case is the small dish pan that we use for our sensory tub), wash cloth, towels, and some bath toys for the "baby".

I placed everything on a tray and showed Bean what do do with each item and how to wash the baby. Bean had a great time with this activity and asks to do it again and again. We have the cleanest baby doll in the neighborhood.

After Bean finished washing the baby, we moved the tub off to the side and she dried the doll off.  She loved applying the lotion and powder.  This doll is clean and smells so good!

We have to work on the proper handling of a baby but that's another lesson.

This activity is designed to teach children how to properly wash their bodies.  By learning how to wash the baby, they see how to care for themselves.

After the lotioning and the powdering, Bean diapered and dressed the baby, too.  Then she promptly put the doll head first into a bookbag and started carrying her around.  Like I said, proper baby handling techniques will be taught later.  One step at a time.

Weren't you watching her?

This is what happens when Daddy is supposed to be watching Bean.

Can you see the part of her hair that is missing?

She did this quietly in her room while Hubz was on watch.  I have no idea where she found the scissors she used to do this.  But she found some and she cut her hair and Dora's, too.  Dora is about as happy about her new haircut as I am about Bean's.  Great job, Dad.

Meet the new additions.

Last week Bean and I stopped into a local teacher supply store looking for a nap mat blanket thingie for her new school.

Sidebar - I still can't believe the child that fights naps and bedtime at home can take a two hour nap in a room full of other anklebiters every day. How is this possible???

While at this store, something caught Bean's eye...something I tried to direct her AWAY from...to no avail.    She must have spent 10 minutes standing there completely entranced by these...things.

She wanted to bring them home with us right then. Mommy Logic finally kicked in and I came up with a couple of brilliant reasons why we couldn't do that.

But she was still talking about these...things...three days later. I had another brilliant idea, or so I thought, and we took her to a pet store so she could weigh all of her options. I was hoping to entice her towards something cuddlier or at least something with fur. No such luck.

So without further adieu, please meet the newest members of the Bean family...

Introducing Phineas and Ferb!

Phineas and Ferb are African Dwarf frogs.  I don't know much about what that means other than they are not supposed to outgrow this box aquarium.  They are NEVER supposed to come of this box aquarium!

Phineas is lighter than Ferb and more outgoing.  Or as outgoing as a frog can be.  I was holding onto the hope that when Hubz saw these...things...his Daddy Logic would kick in and come up with wonderful, mindbending reasons why these...things...couldn't come home with us.  Nope.  Now he spends as much time frog gazing as Bean does.

As long as they stay inside that box thing, I guess they can stay.

First Day of School 2011

Yesterday Bean started back to school at a new preschool. As usual, she was fine but I was a mess. I didn't cry at the preschool though! I have toughened up a little since last year.

Here's a picture to commemorate her first day back this year.

Kitchen Helper

A couple of months ago The Cakeologist offered to make Bean an apron and send it to her. I promised pictures and am just now getting off my duff to post them.

Bean loves the apron very much. She can't be in the kitchen without it on. I think the Cakeologist did an excellent job. I have sewer's envy looking at it.

Isn't it adorable?

Thank you so much, Ms. Cakeologist!  "You dun good!"

Our trip to the Children's Museum

During our vacation we decided to take Bean to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. Hubz asked me what a children's museum was. I told him I was pretty sure that they didn't have various sizes and styles of kids hanging on the walls for us to view but other than that, I wasn't real sure.

I knew they had a child-sized grocery store for kids to "shop" in because I saw it on the website. And I knew that in itself was something Bean would enjoy so that was a good enough reason to make the visit.

They did have an "exhibit" for lack of a better word that shows a little bit about how our food gets from a farm to a grocery store. In this area, kids could sit on a tractor and try their hands at milking a cow.  Kids think this stuff is fun. If they had to grow up on a farm like some of us had to, they'd know better.

Then they got to get on a delivery van with a conveyor belt delivering the farm goods to a store.  In the store section, there were small carts and baskets for the kids to go around and make their shopping selections.  Bean was a pro at this step.

After the store, there was a section with a large play kitchen for the groceries to be whipped up into wonderful meals.

Here's my Masterchef.

After the pretend cooking was all done and we were full on imaginary cuisine, it was onto the "woodsy" section where kids can fish and climb through a tree house.

Hubz is telling Bean all of his fishing tips.  This was a VERY long conversation.

It's hard to make out but both my "babies" decided to climb into the treehouse so I could take their picture.  Such hams.

After the outdoorsy stuff, we made our way through a section all about sports.  Bean wasn't impressed (again, this is definitely MY KID) and we found the sand tables.  Bean loved this section.  She played here for a long time.  I loved the play sand.  It wasn't too wet.  They sold tubs of it but I thought I might could find some recipes online and will eventually try to make our own.  Or at least it's on my to-do list.

There was a section on inventions and contraptions that moved ball pit balls all around.  Hubz liked this section and spent a lot of time there.

Next to that section, kids could plant fabric flowers in flowerbeds.  Again, Bean loved this but she didn't get this interest from me, but I do believe it was probably passed down from my Granny.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon.  We probably will go again if they change out their exhibits or add to them.  Bean really loved it.  It's a great place for toddlers to explore.  Parents need valium and/or earplugs.  Just a friendly parenting tip there.