magnetic poetry

(Weston and/or Ammon's doings above)

I like it. I remember seeing it in a cool store in Carytown in Richmond when I was in high school. It was fun stringing together random words to create funny/poetic phrases and clauses; to be all poetic like. My sister, Julie, gave this set to Weston for Christmas '08. It's the cowboy edition. The original is really fun, too.

They have a kids "first words" set that I recently bought on Amazon. It's been great for our beginner readers. They like making a long line of words in no particular order and then reading them to hear how silly they sound. We also like to sort them alphabetically. I love how the words have been their toys.

Kate wrote a story called "get the book". Check it out.

ClothesLine & FuzziBunz

Clothesline's up! A large Thanks! goes out to Westonian (and Spencer for bits here and there) for laboring! (Rancher man would rather be fixin' fence or drivering tractor than doing a project sich as this.)

The line's been up for like 3 or 4 weeks now. I used it for the first week or so. Then it just got too dang cold out and the clothes would freeze solid. This week it has neared 40 degrees. Hallelujah that it is above freezing.

So these FuzziBunz (website)...FuzziBunz (blog)...

The midwife put one on Jiles when he was first born. I thought that it was the cutest diaper ever. And I liked the whole idea of them. So we bought 12 of them. We got to hand pick which ones we wanted.

(Some of the girly ones have flowers on them.)

They are microfiber fleece on the inside (no diaper rash!) and gortex-like on the outside and have a bunch of snaps to adjust the tightness on the waste. (How's that for a description?)

Anyway, I like them. He has been wearing these same 12 diapers since birth - actually only 11 because the 12th one I picked pink, just in case next baby is a girl (okay, he's worn it a few times). He will probably outgrow them in the next month or 2. I'm not sure whether or not to buy the next size up or not. ? ? ? For $ reasons alone. Any opinions?

I'm not a total cloth junkie though. I do use disposables, too, for convenience when we aren't at home, but at home try to just use the cloth diapers.

As far as ClothesLines and the hanging of clothes there upon > > >

LOVE.

#1 reason: the overall therapeutic quality of the activity

2nd #1 reason: the SMELL! I love how a blanket or a basket full of clotheslined laundry fresh from outside can make a whole room freshen.

2nd reason: the great view. Looking at hung laundry flap in the breeze is so peaceful and so country.

I also like these reasons found on simple mom dot net. Their reasons are more concrete than my reasons. And I really like their site.

One of the best feelings in the world is being exhausted from playing and working hard all day outside and slipping (freshly showered) into a bed with crisp, line-dried sheets and smelling the outdoors as you sail away to sleep!

BO{junior classics}OKS

It was 11 degrees when I took Kate to school just before noon today.

It was 3 degrees on our way home from the store tonight. Can we just

say, "burrrr!"?

We have been staying inside a lot, reading lots of books by the fire. Some of the kids favorites are these:

10 cents a pop.

I got these from a yard sale when Spencer was a baby. 10 cents a piece. There were 3x as many. I wish that I had just bought the whole set. REEally wish I had. 10 cents each. My kids are in love with them. They play with them - stacking them up, etc. - more than reading them. I think that they mainly love the colors. So do I.

I just think that they are cool. The spineless one is Alice in Wonderland.

Ever read any of 'em?

I've read most of Oliver Twist, some of Tom Sawyer, all of Gulliver's Travels, the beginning of Black Beauty, and half of Alice in Wonderland. How's that for book-dipping/reader's ADD?

Ezra helped me tape the spine on some of the books that needed it. He ran his finger across the title on the front cover of Oliver Twist and asked me what it said. I told him. A little while later I saw him running his finger across the title again saying quietly to himself, "All of our toys," instead of Oliver Twist. "All of our"...Oliver. Get it? Yeah, well it cracked me up.

Btw, does anyone know what year that is that Ezra is pointing to? I do, but do you?

wARmERs

Leg warmers. I wore them as a little girl, as I'm sure many of you children of the 80's did. My Grandma made me a really cool, and really warm, purple and white stripe pair. I LOVED them. So when I saw these new leg warmers a while ago, I was excited for Kate to wear them. But the cool thing is, they aren't just for girls now and they aren't just for legs. My boys [and Kate] also like to wear them as arm warmers.

.

They are made out of a light cotton, instead of the thick knit ones I had as a kid, so they are perfect for springy weather. I can't wait to get these on our baby's chubby legs. You can get them at Target or on etsy [knottybabylegs on etsy is one maker] and probably many other places.

Okay, I know I could stop here and the pictures above would suffice for example on the whole leg/arm warmer thing, but.... I just had too much fun following Kate around taking the photos posted below. All 30 of them.

Diggin' on these

these here d*s goodies...

It just makes me want to thrift and create!
I saw the link to this funky fab little site in a Cookie Magazine 2 or 3 months ago and have been quite partial to it since. They have great ideas in a plethora of departments, some of which being: D.I.Y. crafties; before and after furniture &/or room revamps; city guides; art shows; items for pets; recipes (which I wish I had more of a penchant for); sneak peeks of homes with their decor/design (one of my favorites); fabrics, etc. It is sort of a catalyst site for many artists/products/items/ideas; all, or at least most, posts have links to other websites or blogs. Es ist sehr toll. Ich liebe es.

Check 'er out.