BOOK PLACE MATS (homemade gift)

We drew Andrew's brother's family for the Christmas gift exchange, and I wanted to do something homemade. I spend 24/7 thinking up ways to get kids to fall in love with books, so this gift seemed right up my alley. 

I'd love to do this for my kids one day. While waiting for or eating their dinner, they are exposed to print in a fun, causal way. The little ones are learning to recognize new words and their minds are being conditioned to associate pleasure with books and reading. Early on, this can make a world of difference. 

Ugh. Do I sound like a teacher or what?

But the amazing parents of our niece and nephews don't even need this lecture, so I'll stop now. 




I took a trip to the local thrift store and returned  home with an armload of old books.

I sought after those with bright, beautiful illustrations...




Or those easily-recognized classics most people have memories of and nostalgic feelings for.




Then for FHE, we cut pages out of books...which I might add, was not easy. It totally feels sacrilegious to desecrate a book. I don't care how old and torn and thrift store-y it is. 

I am an elementary teacher, after all. 

For this one, we took apart an alphabet book. 




But I learned that my husband is a scrap booking fiend. We tag-teamed most of these, but Andrew could definitely hold his own. 

Except I had severe doubts over the nursery rhyme he chose for his brother's (not pictured). Andrew rolled with laughter while I had to stress about causing offense. I had nothing to do with that decision, Jeff!

Who knew there were such dirty Mother Goose rhymes?




We arranged a front and back side for each person. At least then, Jeff had choices.




When I found this book in the thrift store, I snatched it off the shelf and actually did a Napoleon Dynamite-style, "yesss."




This was from a book that little Adelle asked me repeatedly to read to her while she was visiting us. So I found another one I could *wince* tear apart. 




Then we dye cut their names, rounded the corners of the mats, laminated everything, and shipped 'em off.

It was a fun project that I hope they enjoy.


I've linked here and here and here and here and here and here and here!

MESSY HOUSE(s)

Keeping up with household chores as a woman with a full-time job, can be discouraging. How do just the two of us mature adults, who are hardly ever home, manage to make such messes?

 But now...we have two houses to keep clean and orderly. 

And one house is a lot worse than the other. 

NYC PICTURE PURGE

Random uncategorized NYC pics:

Flower shop.

Apartments that remind me of You've Got Mail.

High rise. 

Charming.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Andrew checkin' the view.

Secret garden among the pavement and skyscrapers.

Central Park.

The Plaza.

Trinity Church.

1700's.

Becca on the ferry.

Lady liberty.

High altitude garden.

CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT

I raved about my lovely new wreath on this blog over a year ago. Twice, I think--embarrassingly enough. But I bring it up again because of what I found tucked inside the storage box it spends most of the year in down in our cold storage room... 

As Andrew and I were packing away Christmas decorations last January, he disappeared for a few minutes after I asked him to box up my lovely, new wreath. When he reappeared, I was ceremoniously presented with this contract requiring me to sign away (twice) any rights I had to anger and blame in the event of an accident. 

Smart guy, right? 

I completely forgot about it until I stumbled upon it while decorating for Christmas this year. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Although the contract never had to be produced or enforced (the wreath still being intact), it did earn Andrew a kiss for being so dang cute. 

FROM CHOP SAWS to POPCORN

1.) During the phase of trimming the house, I've learned to use...THE CHOP SAW. 

(cue intense music)

I thought it was worth bragging about. It made me feel involved and important to cut the wood that now borders our doors and windows. 

2.) I am purging our house of extra stuff. Room by room, closet by closet, I ruthlessly throw all sorts of things in the pile to donate or throw away. 

I'm not even halfway through the house yet, and it already feels so good.

3.)One of my New Year's goals is to better learn the functions on my camera. I use everything except the full manual setting, because when I do, it turns out like that. Without fail.

Nonetheless, I am determined. I am resolute! I WILL enhance my skills because, hey...there's only room for improvement at this point, right?

4.) I am the new owner of a gym membership these past few months. I've always resisted paying someone for the privilege to exercise when I can simply jog around my block for free. But I've learned that bringing myself to run around the block...free or not... just doesn't happen. 

My motivation is zilch. 

But with so much money leaving my pocket each month, you can bet I'll be at that gym almost daily. 

And it feels good to run, lift weights, and catch up on the home decorating shows I never see at home without cable TV.

When I get back, I like to reward myself with a special treat. 

(No wisecracks, please.)

I justify this by using the tiny plastic bowls acquired from our last (and final) date night at KFC. (I swear, that place serves glorified frozen TV dinners. yuck.) The bowls are perfect though, because they hardly hold more than a small scoop. 

It's all about portion control, people. 

5.) I received an e-mail today from my uncle wishing a happy National Popcorn Day. I never knew such a joyful day existed. 

And wouldn't you know, just by happy coincidence, my breakfast this morning consisted of a bowl of popcorn. 

PAPER SNOWFLAKE KID's CRAFT

After a whirlwind of holidays and vacations, I wasn't in the mood for a complicated January-themed classroom door. A few pages of dollar store window clings...and some snow decoration thingies that were left out for grabs in the work room...and I called it good. 

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If I was just a tad less burned-out, I would have created something similar to this. (Does anyone else ever feel like they need a vacation to recover from their vacation?) Maybe next year. 

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For a January craft, I was excited to finally try this out. I saw it a few year ago and liked the variation from the traditional snowflakes kids seem to make every year at school.

Some of my third graders opted to copy the original exactly. 

And some got creative with colors and curls. 

I recently got a GINORMOUS new TV in my classroom--which is exciting enough--but this TV also hooks up to my computer!! Those of us without Smart Boards or projectors get excited about simple things like this. 

I just pulled up the blog where I originally found the craft, and scrolled through Simply Modern Mom's detailed picture tutorial.  Explaining to the kiddos what they were about to do was a breeze, because it was very visual and clear. It was like magic.

And kids apparently pay closer attention to a screen then to their teacher. Having left it up while they worked, I had to answer far fewer questions than usual. 

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I let my early finishers get started on other variations of her snowflakes. 

Next, I hung the finished products inside the front office's display case--either directly onto the butcher paper, or hung with string from the top. 

And then, because I felt the display should be somewhat educational, I googled a bunch of interesting facts about snowflakes, typed them up in a cutesy font, and pinned them up too. 

(Did you know that the largest snowflake ever recorded fell in Montana at 15 inches in diameter?! That little fact blows my frickin' mind.) 

And finally, my overachieving self went out and bought some of that white paper filler used in gift bags, and spread it along the bottom of the case to hopefully, further the look of snow. 

Now, we Southeast Idahoans just need some real snow outside to go along with this cold. This winter has been strangely devoid of any significant snowfall. Who's ever heard of a brown Christmas in Rexburg?

HOUSE UPDATE {sheet rock and trim}

It's been awhile, and an update is way overdue. Between our two-week holiday vacation, and Andrew putting his back out a week after that, things went slower than planned. But events are beginning to pick up again, almost faster than I can document!

About a month ago, the siding was up on the sides and the back of the house.




Now, it's being stuccoed in a "tent" of plastic and tarp to regulate the temperature with a heater. It's been as low as -1 degrees outside this week!




From the dining room window, you get a feel for what's going on inside that tent. 



The kitchen a month ago: drywalled, taped, and mudded. 




The kitchen weeks ago, with texturing on the walls. 




Great room: drywalled, taped, and mudded




Great room: textured




Another view of great room/kitchen




Dining Area: dry-wall, taped, and mudded




Dining Area: walls textured and trim just begun
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Master Bedroom: dry wall with texturing




Master Bedroom: trim and wainscot begun

(loving the tray ceiling)




A Bedroom: walls textured




Guest Room: with trim




Front Sitting Room: drywalled, taped, and mudded




Front Sitting Room: with trim and wainscot begun (and wood flooring stacked ready to install!)

When the house is all trimmed out, we can paint the trim and the walls with the colors I chose. The outside stucco should be finished in a week, and I am SO EXCITED to share our plans for the dining room ceiling. Stay tuned!