Storytelling Frames by Elizabeth Kartchner

I found this article today and I can't think of anything more wonderful! Please check out the story and pictures - I hope you are as inspired as me to create a story on one of your walls! Looks like I found my Spring Break project - I'm sure it will be a great distraction from all of the To Do List things I should be doing! I'll post pictures when my wall is done, hopefully sooner than later :) Enjoy! Jen


Here's the link: Guest Post : Storytelling Frames by Elizabeth Kartchner

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Wall of Fame

I viewed the photos anchoring this c jane post several months ago and knew instantly of our own basement's destiny.

After all, our stairwell already bears a large 'character-building' crack that secretly begs for a distraction.

And I've mentioned to you before my guilty graffiti love, right?

Right.

So right now we need you to come over and sign it!



I'm currently making a little cloth bag to hold our Sharpie assortment.
It will hang on a hook to the right of the staircase.

AL

Egg-tastic

While the weather was gloomy and cold today, we tried to heat things up a bit by boiling and coloring eggs! We marbled colors and used the white crayon trick - all where a hit! I was so excited to try this new technique I read on-line and it was a moderate success - Tie-dyed eggs! I ransacked Goodwill for as many interesting 100% silk ties as I could find. We completely removed all stitching and wrapped eggs in the tie pieces and in a light colored cloth (old pillowcase). Using a ties I swiped from the veggie section of the grocery store, the eggs were secured and boiled. Here's how they looked. My pictures weren't as clear as I would have liked, but it was too rainy to take them outside :(

Ryan and Chase enjoyed themselves and I suspect we'll probably create a few more before the week is over!

In case my directions left you with a few questions about this technique, here's the link to much more detailed directions with photos. Enjoy! Jen

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/silk-dyed-eggs.html

Celebrating Max

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I made this a few years ago to celebrate his First Five.
Deep into his second five, I can report that he's still pretty cute.

He also happens to be all around amazing.

We love our little man. Don't you? ;)

AL

Jen's Friday/Saturday Favorite

Well, I missed Friday once again - but not by much this time! Darren is very busy this time of year, trying to make the grass greener, so he has participated in several Home and Garden shows around town to advertise his business. I love going to see great new products and beautiful flowers, and I must say the glamourous faux stone hot tubs that make you feel like you're in a disco with flashing lights, speakers and floating drink holders made me daydream just a little :) During the last show I spotted my Friday Fave. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to use it yet, but we will! Check it out!

Firefly fun, what could be better?! There are already holes near the bottom to keep those little buggers glowing and a great handle for a lantern made by nature! Ryan and Chase are so excited! Now if only it would get warmer and warmer so those lightning bugs can come out and play!

Jen

Grateful Posts

I think I may have to post when I think about what I'm grateful for the week instead of just on Friday because I forget!! lol

My first thought for the week was the hardwood floors that Craig painstakingly laid over the course of the last month. His body got quite punished and even ruined a pair of quality kneepads. And the floors are gorgeous!! Seven years was worth the wait. Love them, love them, love them.

And of course my second thought, was my immediate and extended family who believe in me. I have an all-of-the-sudden-really-intense fear of failure and I am really grateful that my family thinks I will succeed even when I don't think I will. Even with intense stress and nerves, I feel the love and support from everyone.

That support is too deep for words so I decided to be grateful this week for the protein shakes Craig makes for me in the morning. As I am yet again on a diet, his small effort really warms my heart that he is 'in' this with me. Protein shakes will be a part of my life for the near future and his experimenting and knowledge is helping me through this trial and err phase. So far, realized REALLY quickly that a protein shake on its own, is a no-go. So far we have added a banana and peanut butter. MUCH better. I just hope that the pulsated banana and whipped peanut butter counts as a liquid!! I can hope, right?

Hope everyone has as good a week as me.

If you haven't seen Blind Side, you should really rent it. It was AWESOME and really illustrates what some youth in our very own country face everyday. I sometimes forget what these kids go home to.

Emily :)

Since you last saw me~

It has become painfully obvious that my kids' social lives have blatantly superseded my own.

Lilah has had a handful of playdates, including one with a big creepy bunny that laid plastic colored eggs:



Max accompanied a gaggle of friends to nearby Middletown, played 4 perfect soccer games, and brought home some hardware:



Finally, Kirby wore the lucky orange socks to his very last basketball game and then later borrowed Jer's visor for Carribbean Night at his school:



Of course, I was camped out in a hallway 'volunteering', which at this stage is code for spying-on-your-preteen.
This photo was as close as I could get... and sadly, the girlfriend who is now 'Facebook Official' was a no show. Too bad - Kirby had even brought her a lei.

The good news is that this was a dance and Kirby was not a wallflower. Which means I have succeeded at one of my main parenting goals.

See, shortly after teaching him to write his name (in all caps, of course - both of my boys entered Kindergarten having never before seen lowercase letters - oops), I began stressing the importance of dancing. Not dancing well, mind you, just having a good time and not taking yourself too seriously.

And, well, he was a maniac. A maniac on the floor.



That clip was for Dad :)

AL

I'm Late

Like the white rabbit in Wonderland :)

It's not a big deal, of course, except that Friday Favorites was my suggestion.

It wasn't that I didn't have lots of things making me happy on Friday because I did.
First of all the sun was spewing warmth and happiness all over the place.
And if I wasn't sure before about the direct correlation between sunny skies and my mood, it is now official.
Seriously, I'm surprised my friends even speak to me between November and February.

Besides the sun, I have lots of good music piled up on my March playlist, an eldest son who sends me e-mails about how lucky he is to have me (I know! ), and some of my spring flowers have already RSVPed to attend this summer's yard...

That's something that continues to amaze me - this whole perennial thing. How do those poor little bulbs survive that unwelcome winter ground and how do they know exactly when to burst out onto the spring scene?

This is the 4th March that I've been absolutely flabbergasted to see tulips come up in the same odd place near the street sign that I planted them just weeks after we moved in.
I remember crouching in the corner of my new yard and reaching over/around my massive baby belly to dig a little hole for each small onion-looking bulb.
Bulbs that became flowers that I could never have grown in my previous climate zones.
And never in a yard that was all mine.

Mine!
It's a bad word in toddler-rearing circles, but it seems to me an absolutely wonderful word.
Especially when it refers to something of little or no value to most, but that one person is deliriously happy to call their own.

I considered getting all 'I love my family so much' here, but really, I was just thinking of this Star Wars hoodie Mom thrifted me:



Have a great week,
AL

Taylor's Attitude

Okay, too funny. Taylor is giving me back any attitude I ever gave mom and dad! Today the teacher told me Taylor did not take a nap. After playing outside for while, she proceeded to push Brooke over out of a bicycle that she wanted. When I got on to her, she yelled back, "Mom, I haven't slept any and I'm not in the mood for this!!"

I really thought I was going to pee myself!

Emily :)

Friday Find

I'm late or am I early?? Not sure which! My fantastic find for this week is a group of books I bought the girls. They are the Clubhouse Readers and they are for beginner readers. I like them because the girls memorize the lines and then learn sight words. That is how I learned to read with Alison reading to me! I love to snuggle up (that is the ONLY way I get to snuggle up to Taylor, she is stingy with her lovin'!) to the girls and they 'read' to me. We usually end up giggling but I love that time with them! Emily :)

Lilah in Wonderland

“Do you think she’s ready?”

The boys and I were contemplating a movie night. In the theater.
We only do it about once a year and, this time, we would need to bring along a chatty 3-year-old.

A chatty 3-year-old with good hearing:
“I ready, Mom. I ready!”
For what? She doesn’t know and doesn’t care.
She’s ready for anything.

While I mulled it over, Max described to her the big screen, and most importantly, the chairs that flip up – everyone’s favorite part.
I decided that we would give it a go.

My confidence waned a bit when I realized we were talking about a 3D movie, and that Lilah had once again decided to forgo her afternoon nap. But the majority rules. Three boys and one mama were anxious to see Johnny Depp acting creepy again, though this time in a really good way – and Lilah was part of the package.

Once we arrived, she set about making the most of her first theater experience.
She teetered on the edge of her seat, a balancing act to keep it flat, and was completely engrossed in the previews, which I had to explain again and again were NOT the movie, but more like commercials.
She really enjoyed the commercials. And she told me so, in her amazingly loud version of a whisper.
When the first few 3D images jumped out at her, she came close to tumbling out of her chair, much to the amusement of the boys, myself, and the entire row behind us.

But by the time those lengthy previews were over, she was ready to call it a night. She announced that she was tired and crawled into my lap.
From that point on she couldn’t keep her oversized 3D glasses on, so I spent a good portion of the movie worrying that she would now suffer chronic migraines from two hours of watching blurry images.
And, of course, it would all be my fault.
Who takes a 3-year-old to a 3D movie?
On a Saturday night?!

But she didn’t complain, she just curled into my arms, and just when I thought she was asleep I heard her sweet ‘whisper’ voice say “THANK YOU FOR BRINGING ME, MOM. I TOLD YOU I READY”.

AL

My Friday Fave

I know my fave is very materialistic of me, but I LOVE this phone!!! What a wonderful world we live in to have such amazing technology! I love to store tons of pics, listen to music, find the closest Starbucks at the touch of a button and now I actually text!! Believe it or not, I even use it at school! It has a voice recorder so I tape kids as they read aloud and play it back for them to critique. I use the stopwatch every week for timed reading passages! Now if only I could expense it's hefty cost since I use it so much at school . . . Well, you can't have it all and it is worth every penny! Jen

Another One for the 'Classy' File

Good thing the gutter's fixed and Frosty is put away, because I couldn't find a vase the right size for these tulips.
I'll peel the label off later, I promise, but they were wilting...

Also, I drowned my phone and that's why it's soaking in a jar of rice.
Would you believe that it totally worked?! It's now as good as new.

Although, honestly, the phone's full recovery might also have something to do with its call to heaven, made of its own accord right before blacking out.
Seriously! I discovered it was wet and acting crazy, and before I could remove the battery, it dialed the number 6, lowercase 'o' and lowercase 'd'. So it looked like this: 'Dialing... 6od'.

Good story, huh.

Oh, and it's Fantastic Friday!
So making me happy today is Little Girls That Ask To Craft.



Even if it's way more work for Mommy.
I spent a better part of this morning re-threading a jumbo needle.

Have a great weekend,
AL

Do you Do the Digest?

Our friend Bill once feigned surprise over the fact that we had a heaping stack of Reader's Digests in our bathroom and no senior citizens in residence.
I gave no rebuttal at the time, after all, I also use old-lady lotion (Jergens, in original Cherry Almond scent).

Recently, however, I've discovered the many merits of the RD.

First of all, it's just the right size for bathroom literature. It's not a huge 8 x 12" magazine that slides off the back of the toilet. Or worse, a newspaper whose shiny, non-recyclable inserts fall all over the place.
And there are various articles to choose from that can be customized for the length of your bathroom stay. For example, if you'll just be a minute, you can chuckle over a bottom-of-the-page antidote; and if you have more serious business to take care of, you can read about the cat who can predict death! (March 2010 edition.)

We've had a subscription now for at least three years, thanks to Mom and Dad. Kirby voluntarily writes a Thank You note when we receive notice of its renewal - he loves it just that much.
We received our April edition yesterday and as expected, Kirby disappeared to the bathroom as soon as he got home from school. He later reported that sometime during the second hour both of his legs had fallen asleep.
He read the entire thing from cover to cover, his favorite article was entitled 'The Funniest Practical Jokes Ever'.

So we had a valid suspect when we discovered Max's toothbrush encrusted in ice this morning:


For a long time Max just stared; he was terribly confused. Then he laughed and ran downstairs to accuse his brother.

We plan to do the same thing to Bill's toothbrush the next time he visits.

AL

I Almost Forgot

...that there were other colors besides white and gray.







Thank heavens for Roy G. Biv.

AL

Emily's Fantastic Friday

Also a little late, but I'm completely grateful for my family's support. Really worried this week about 'approval' from family and I was unexpectedly given complete support from each and every one. I love you all and so very lucky to have you in my life! This is going to be a great year! Really wish I would quit crying!!! :)

Love, Em

365 days of happy!

I've always wanted to do a 365 day project. I don't usually take pictures EVERY day, but I should! So much happens each and every day, sometimes for just a brief second, and if you happen to catch it in a pic - well then you might remember that it happened. Which leads right into my bit of Friday happiness, albeit a day late :) This year I am recording OUR year. I am diligently working on a photobook which recounts 2010. Now, I skip a day here or there and add in more than one pic on days too, but overall I have a great record of our year so far. I am so proud that I'm taking more and more photos and I'm up to date on each week!!! It's my Saturday project each and every week and WAY better than laundry! So that's what makes me happy this week! I'm up to date on my project and I'm never up to date on anything! Well, if I'm going to talk this much about it I thought I would share what I've done so far . . . http://picasaweb.google.com/jendarrenmcelroy/365DaysIn2010# When you click on the link you should see a slideshow button and you can view each page a little larger :)

Fantastic Friday

I propose that each Friday we post about one small thing that makes us happy.

Friends and family in general are a given (too easy!).
However, if it's something special that a friend or family member says, makes, or does - that's acceptable and encouraged!

Jen and Em, I will happily grant you each an extension on this until... well, whenever you can post. :)



I found these tiny vintage S & P shakers at a church rummage sale this morning for a quarter.
Aren't they just fantastic?

Have a great weekend,
AL

You're Not Going to Believe It

Every day, my alarm goes off at 7 am and I smell evidence that the automatic coffee maker is, you guessed it -- automatically making coffee.

I then inventory how many extra people snuck into my bed during the night, I roll myself upright and head straight to the boys' room where I begin the process of whispering, coaxing, and finally brutally shaking Kirby awake.

He wraps himself up in his Gator fleece and stumbles down the stairs where he collapses on the couch and promptly goes back to sleep.
Meanwhile, I am in the kitchen pouring.... yep, you know this one too -- Lucky Charms.

But this morning, when I delivered the heaping bowl of Magically Delicious, guess what I saw?

You'll never get this one.

But try...

Nope, not a big spider.



It was THE SUN!!

AL

Post-script: Still 32 degrees, with the occasional 4 foot mound of snow, but it feels much, much warmer. I can feel the vitamin D soaking in.