Sequins & Sofas: 5 Things

A few things that make me smile...

1. Little Wooden Ikea Mannequin- For many moons, I have strolled by this little friend during my Ikea shopping adventures and thought, 'I like him. I want one.' Finally, the day came when he needed to come home. He's weird, and he's mine. $5.99

2. Norwex Polishing Cloth (purple) and Dusting Mitt- I don't have a ton of Norwex-y items and still sometimes clean with (gasp) Windex...but these 2 items are lovely. Shiniest mirrors EVER and dusting has never been so fun. (Notice how dirty the mitt is. I must really be good at dusting....)

3. Trader Joes Chana Masala- Another TJ favorite. Not quite as good as the real thing (Everest on Grand has the best...go there and eat...go now) but it does satisfy a craving for curried chick peas in a pinch. Toss over rice and you have it.

4. Bissel Swift Sweep- Yep...pretend you are a 15 year old movie theater employee and 'vacuum' to your little heart's content. I only have one rug in my house in need of vacuuming and the rest of the flooring is hard wood....so it is the perfect tool for all my housekeeping needs. $20 at your local home improvement store.

5. Little Silver Bracelet- I used to wear a simple silver cuff but have retired that old friend for a newer model. This one is my FAVORITE! It locks into itself and is so petite and cute...I wear it every day and it goes with all things.

Toddler Talk: To the Rescue

We took the Tods to the local Firestation last week...it's our big summer excursion to venture into the community and learn about all things Firetruck!

It is a funny experience to behold. We talk about going to the Firestation a few weeks before, look at pictures and books about what we might see, and get prepared for the event.

We gathered the kids up in 5 wagons and headed out. The Firefighters are always so kind (and not quite sure what to do with all the little 1 and 2 year olds staring back at them).....we sat in the grass as they pulled the Firetruck out and let us climb inside:

They let the toddlers spray some water from a mini hose and touch the big wheels:

In the meantime, one of the guys got dressed in full 'I'm coming to rescue you from this burning building' gear. This is where it got interesting...

A few kids were amazed and excited at this....the rest were terrified! Ahhh! 7 to 8 wee little tikes clutching their teachers shirts like they were going out of style. The firefighter got down low to everyone's level and let them touch the gear (if they wanted to), let them see that it was a friendly face under the mask. Although a little sad and scary for a few, we cherish this experience for little people to meet and see a real firefighter in person. To have that experience in a casual and controlled environment to recall and have a frame of reference to remember what a firefighter is. We hope that, should the ever be in a real fire and need to be rescued, it would not be the first time to see this larger than life figure before them.

He took all his gear off at the end to show them that he was still just a person...then he slid down the fire pole....weeeeee!

We extended the curriculum this week to talk more about what we learned and saw. We printed the pictures from our trip for them to look at, added some firefighter related book into the mix and then I made this:

He he he...Firefighter paper doll. We will talk about what firefighters wear to rescue people and let the kids help get him ready for his job.

If you have kids or care for kids, I highly recommend stopping in to your local Firestation for a tour. As long and they are not called out to save someone in the world, they are very happy to show you a Firetruck and let the kids touch some gear...they often have some stickers and plastic hats to give away too! You can always call ahead to ask about their policies or schedule just to make sure! Do it, it's a blast and quite educational!

Sequins & Sofas: Paint, Paint and more Paint...

So I just need to record for myself all the things that were made more beautiful by a coat (or 2, or even 3) of fresh paint. To have a place to look back in 30 years and remember where I started. Some things I have already shared, but having all the projects in one place just makes me happy:

The trunk. It has traveled with me thru many houses/apartments and has been a variety of colors over its life. Now spray painted red.

The shelves. Hand crafted by my Dad, love. Took a long time to paint each little nook and cranny but totally worth the work.

The mirrors. 1 old (was gold, now white) and 1 new (was brown, now coral). One painted with a spray can, the other with a brush. Much improved and fits each space to a tee.

The walls. Many friends taking time out of life to make my walls sparkle with color and love. Many thanks! Bathroom- Plum Purple. Kitchen- Avocado Green. Bedroom- Melted Strawberry Ice Cream with a Whipped Cream White stripe. Yum.

The middle of the mantle. More spray paint...of the chalkboard variety. Fully intend to draw a roaring fire on future chilly winter evenings.

Metal Cabinet Countertop. I had a cute little cabinet that I wanted to make into a peninsula in the kitchen. It's top was a speckly white Formica-type material and my other countertops had been painted grey with a special countertop paint. Found a can of touch up paint in the basement and re-did the little cabinet top to match.

Bathroom frames. An ode to my former and current dwellings (3 frames, once gold and now silver to match the decor of the bathroom. A map of Duluth, the State of MN, and the City of St. Paul).

Bedroom essentials. LOTS of spray paint for these items...my trigger finger was injured for days. For real....it was ouchie. But totally worth the sweat and tears to achieve the desired result. Pure white accents in a sea of pink perfection.

I am thankful and amazed to be gifted with a home that more than fits my dwelling dreams. Thankful to have 'stuff' to paint and the means to have the ability to make them into anything I want. Blessed beyond measure.

Toddler Talk: Butterfly Bonanza!

Every summer at my preschool, our amazing Curriculum Coordinator supplies each classroom with a bunch of teeny, tiny monarch butterfly eggs...she is quite the professional at seeking these little gems out from the undersides of milkweed leaves! Have you ever watched the process from start to finish? It is quite miraculous...mind blowing really.

Anyway, this summer is no exception and it has been fun to watch the toddlers examine the containers and ask questions about what is happening. In true form of a 2 year old, the most fascinating topic usually revolves around how many BM's the caterpillar has made that day and why? Why? WHY?

My dear co-teacher C had a great idea to expand the topic over a week's time. She made a giant paper butterfly life cycle and broke it up into 5 days. We cleared our big chalkboard and told the toddlers that something amazing was coming to our classroom Monday morning! When they arrived to school after the weekend, this is what they saw:

Day 1:

What could be in that egg? Some said a chicken, others a dinosaur....we would just have to wait and see.

Day 2:

Welcome, little caterpillar! We were intentional about not pointing the board out to anyone but letting them discover what had 'happened' overnight on their own. We had many excited faces when they noticed that the egg had hatched!

Day 3:

Woah! That caterpillar sure is eating lots of leaves. We made sure to add some BM to the leaf this day since it was such a hot topic of conversation examining the live caterpillar containers a few days before....plus, it made me chuckle...BM's are funny.

Day 4:

We have spent many days over the past month talking about a chrysalis and learning to say the word chrysalis. Much to my delight, a few kids noticed the change from overnight and shouted out "CHRYSALIS!!" (Insert proud teacher moment here). We had more discussion about what might come out of the chrysalis...again a few suggestions of large wild animals without wings, but most declared and wanted to share that they knew it was a butterfly!

Day 5:

Boom! Butterfly Bonanza...the kids went crazy and it was so fun to take them thru the stages of butterfly life one day at a time.

We currently have 4 real life chrysalis and a few little caterpillar eggs to keep watch over...waiting in anticipation for the butterflies to emerge and for jolly toddler faces to light up! Photos to come.