Around the house...in books

It's fun when we all get to visit to the library together..I even get time to look for books for me. Sometimes I forget there is a whole other section to the library other than the one with little tables & chairs. My favorite spot for quick browsing is the "sewing & needlework" section..dewey decimal 740s") We left with a heaping stack of books..here's a peek.

ScienceBob

Jack is doing a science experiment/lesson Monday for his class. We've had all year to come up with a good one & just recently have we really started looking. Honestly, science has never been my thing. 9th grade biology & it was all down hill after that. So I've been trying to push this project over to John..he did minor in biology. But it is Jack's experiment, right??..shouldn't he be choosing the project. He has some ideas about taking his balloon rocket car. But it's partially broken & the virgo/teacher in me has a lesson plan in mind.

I found this great website yesterday www.sciencebob.com . It is so easy & fun. Wish Mr. Bob could have been my 9th grade biology teacher. He makes it seem so easy to understand. I like the fizz balloon & film canister rocket. Stay tuned to find out which one Jack chooses.

Idea/Work Basket

Do you have one of these?? Ideas brewing..work that you want to get done...

Just a few things brewing over here as we come to the end of February...
*dreaming of more sunshine & long bike rides..
*starting a new knitting project (new meaning...different yarn, much loved pattern)
*thinking about what fabric I'd like to buy to make a layered skirt.
*wishing I could freeze time & capture every second of all the little things I notice about Jack & Maddie. eg watching Maddie read aloud to her barbies & Moo; seeing Jack's wheels turning as he pretend plays. conversations with him that seem adult-like.
*feeling happy for John to be home & have dinner together.
*looking forward to eating popcorn & watching a movie - "No Impact Man"
*reading "Time Travelers Wife" & imagining all kinds of things.

Package from NC

My niece Caitlyn is the same age as Jack...3 mos younger & Every few months, my sister has been mailing Caitlyn's clothes that she has outgrown. Maddie LOVES it..what girl doesn't love new clothes. She esp. loves that they smell like her cousin!!! This morning she had a blast going through her new outfits. Thanks Aunt Sandy!!

Waking up to the Shrek Theme Song..

The kids were up early today & jamming music in Maddie's room. This was the first song I heard this morning. It did make me want to get up & dance..later they moved onto "Who let the dogs out?>" a strange latin, reggae version!!!!!!!!!! Where do they find this music?

Paper Dolls

I got this idea from http://www.bluebirdbaby.typepad.com/
& with lots of help Maddie had fun making these little characters this morning. She named them; Alice, Lily, Lela, Goldie, Keegan & Little Bear. The cutting of fabric was a bit tedious, but really easy for her to glue. The best part was picking thru the scraps of fabric & coloring their faces. I have a feeling we will be making more when Jack gets home:)

Recorder

A few weeks ago I ran across my "sweet recorder music book" from my music ed. class in college. I vaguely remember learning some of the required songs for the class & I had no memory of any of the notes. But I knew I somehow ended up with two recorders..I'm usually trying to put them somewhere inconspicuous") (out of sight..out of mind). But finding this book, made me think it may be fun for the kids to learn some of the notes & have fun playing with the recorders. Today Maddie was quick to set up the book & play away. I tried to show her how to hold her fingers & play a G with three fingers..just like the books showed us, & she tried for a second. But had much more fun improvizing her own notes to some of her favorites....something like this..."oh ,my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling clementine: & twinkle, twinkle little star.

Minuets..

Jack assignment for the week..JS Bach Minuet #1

Listening to..

This always puts me in a good mood. So needed in February:)

New stitches..

Do you ever feel like you have a zillion things swirling around in your head...never sure where to start??? I feel like I am bouncing around with "to-dos"...books i want to read, magazines i keep picking up never to finish, late night ideas...I can never quite remember the same the next day. I'd love to have a more organized space...I know I get more done when I get somewhat organized. It just takes so much time to get there.
Enough rambling...I finally got around to cutting a pattern I've been wanting to start an A - line skirt. If I can master this..I want to move on to the "barcelona layered one" Hoping I can get past the zipper.

Just a little walk..

It's hard to motivate myself to walk Bond everyday esp with the weather being so snowy..yes we got more snow yesterday & it's so cold out there. But I found some time today to take him for alittle trek.

Watercoloring..

One of my favorite ways to paint. The kids prefer the messier stuff, but today we just played with watercolors. Jack made a landscpae of a big tree with a playground underneath & Maddie created a flower with lots of sky. We finally had a real blue sky yesterday, but today it's snowy again & the blue is hiding somewhere up there. I guess for now our blue watercolors will have to do..

Valentines..

Love by John Lennon
Love is real, real is love,
Love is feeling, feeling love,
Love is wanting to be loved.
Love is touch, touch is love,
Love is reaching, reaching love,
Love is asking to be loved.
Love is you,
You and me,
Love is knowing,
We can be.
Love is free, free is love,
Love is living, living love,
Love is needing to be loved.

Grandpa 1935-2010

Today's post is in memory of Grandpa Johnson. He passed away today & will be greatly missed in our family.

One of my fondest memories of Grandpa was his visit to NC. Grandpa & Grandma loved visiting us & it was always a treat to have them come. Back in 1999..him & Grandma came to Hillsborugh. I remember how much fun we all had together. While they were there they were so excited to see our first house & spend time sitting outside on the patio. Our house at Timber Oak was like being in the forest..we had no grass, just trees. I remember how much Grandpa liked sitting outside around all the trees. They even came to New Hope, the school I taught at & met my class. The best part of their trip was when we went to my hometown, Oxford. My moms' friend, Arch who has his pilot's license was thrilled to take Grandma & Grandpa up in his tiny 1940s Cessna to show them parts of Granville & Vance County. We all had so much fun & as I think back to that experience, I remember how free spirited Grandpa was & how much they both loved adventures with us.

Cont..

Salt Dough Creations..

With it snowing all day & so much already on the ground, there was no school today. What to do???? Besides go a little stir crazy, why not get messy & add to the craziness of a snow day. What came out of the messiness is yet to be deicded..maybe a necklace or two & some heart shaped valentines. We're waiting for the paint to dry, so this one will have to be continued...

Listening to..

Mondays are always better with Ben. This one is from the reunion show in 08...the guy on sax went to high school with me!! It's hard to pick my very favorite bff songs, but these have a way of making me feel 20something again. Love u Ben@!!!!

Lazy Days..

Really quick & easy skirt made today. Hoping for more challenging projects this week!!

Igloo Building..

I was only a spectator from inside our warm house today.... watching & thinking about how much fun the kids have in the snow. It rarely ever happened for me as a kid, but I definately remember those times that it did. It seems though even if you had a zillion snowfalls as a kid or only a few, it has a way of making you feel like a kid again:)

Embracing Winter

More snow...Yay!! I'm sort of excited to have the white back on the ground. Most of it had melted away this week. Early release from school & lots of ideas brewing as what kind of sewing I can get done this weekend:)

Cloth Napkins

With February comes a new "green goal"...this month we're going to try using cloth napkins only. This usually isnt a biggy since we use cloth napkins already, but I thought I'd try to make it thru the entire month without buying paper towels. I think we can do it!

Lotus Scarf

This was really fun to make! Now onto green........

February...

A brand new month..& brand new projects! New sewing project & a brand new..never tried before, knitting pattern..a lotus scarf. I usually make my favorite patterns over & over..in as many colors as possible, hence, Maddie's green, pink & purple sweaters. But I'm feeling good about this one.

Yesterday I spent some time cutting flannel for pj's. My niece liked her xmas ones so much, she wants a new pair & I making a bday pair for my GJ. Cutting the pattern sizes seem to take the most time & it's definately not my favortie part, but yesterday I had a little helper..not the normal one:)

::Followup on full moon blog.....unfortunately Friday night was overcast & we missed seeing the moon clearly. We could see it's glow! John spotted it late Sat. nite, but it was way past bedtime.