Fire Trucks-Week 2

Our Mail "theme" went so well last week!  I felt like I was a good mom, and Emmett got a lot out of reading books about the post office, mail carriers, and how the mail system works.  We even got a letter back in the mail from his teacher!  She is fantastic!! :)

Since last week went so well, we decided to do it again this week.  We picked fire trucks because this boy is FASCINATED with fire trucks.  Well, everything except the noise.

We went to the library again and checked out books on fire trucks, fire fighters, what to do if your house is on fire, and how to prevent fires.  We also got to go visit a fire station thanks to our good friend Christopher.  It was SO HOT outside, but he let us look at the trucks, climb on the trucks, and he even put on his fire gear for us.  Jessica and her two sweet boys joined us at the fire station for the "tour".  :)

We had the best time "driving" the truck, seeing all the cool tools, and testing out all the equipment.  But do you know who I think enjoyed it the most?  My husband.  :)  He was like a big kid that day.  He asked a lot of questions that he probably wanted to ask back in second grade when he visited the fire station, but never got called on to ask.

Emmett has been talking about it since we went, and I can tell he had a good time.  We wrote Christopher a thank-you note and colored a fire truck picture for him, and then we mailed it (see, combining the two weeks).  :)  I feel like I'm doing my part to enrich him (including fussing at him to put down the rocks and look at the firetruck, damnit) and to give him those hands-on experiences, and I hope it helps him to put the pieces together.  And I'm having fun, too. :)

Mail-Week 1

So in my quest to do things with Emmett, we decided to write a letter to his teacher.  Because he loves the mailman mail carrier so much, I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some hands-on learning with him.  We wrote a letter to his teacher (okay, side story: We were having a great time drawing, and he kept pretending like he was going to write on the wall with his crayons.  I kept telling him that if he did that, we would have to stop our picture/letter to his teacher and put his crayons in Toy Time Out.  So what did he do?  Wrote on the wall.  I think I was more upset that we had to stop our fabulous mommy-son activity that I was so proud of and forcing on my son than he was.  Isn't that always the way?) and put it in an envelope.  I had to explain what an address was and why it was important.  Of course, I didn't have any stamps so we had to wait for me to get some from the store before the "lesson" could proceed.  I finally got the stamps, let him put it on (we're lucky it made it to the envelope), and headed to the post office (another place he LOVES).

Now, mailing a letter can take about 5 seconds when you drive through and put the letter in the box.  But now that wouldn't really be the right way to go about this.  So instead, I drag a two-year-old and a baby inside the post office just so he can stick the letter in the mail slot himself.  I got a strange look from the man who held the door for me but still tried to beat me to the line.  Thankfully I wasn't headed there or he could have gotten the stroller on the back of his ankles in a heartbeat.  He seemed to be saying, "Um, lady, you can just drive through over there.  Idiot."  So in we shuffle, stick the letter in the mail slot, and shuffle back to the car.

At the library today, we got two books on mail/mail carriers.  One book talks about what happens to the mail (The Post Office Book: Mail and How it Moves by Gail Gibbons) and one is called Goodbye, Curtis which is about a mail man who is retiring.  Guess what Emmett's teacher's name is who we mailed the letter to?  CURTIS!  We were MEANT to do this.  :)

I added my own personal note in the envelope to Curtis to explain what we were doing in hopes that she'll make a big deal about it on her end when she gets the letter.  The books and a little explaining here have helped him understand how it works, and I truly think he gets it.  We went out and met the mailman today when he dropped off the mail, too.  I am happy with how this whole experience went, but now I have to think of another one for next week.  :)

Unplugging

Have you seen this car commercial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkljLxddVI4

I know it was meant to sell cars, but it struck home with me.  I feel like I spend most of my free time in front of the TV and the computer.  In this day and age where childhood obesity is at its highest, and I am certainly not winning any awards for being in shape, I am trying to look at the message I'm sending to my children.  When Emmett comes home from daycare where he's had fun all day with NO electronics, he sees me sitting in front of the TV or the computer, he gets bored and wants to do nothing but watch TV.  I feel like that's a huge parenting FAIL.  Don't get me wrong, there are times when I just need 10 minutes to feed Annie or 5 minutes to unwind, and Fireman Sam IS super hot, but he doesn't need to see me doing that for hours at a time.

So this week I have made a promise to myself to try to make a change.  When he comes home or when I spend time with him, I want to be completely unplugged.  This morning, it would have been so easy for me to turn on Super Why and he would be a happy camper.  However, Annie was cooperating while Greg cut the grass, so I sat down and played with my child.  We looked at pictures, we wrote a letter to his teacher at school, we played with puzzles, jumped up and down (not recommended for those with prolapse), and just had fun spending time together.  I feel better (less guilty), and I have to say I feel like I have a little more energy.

I don't want him growing up thinking that "really living" is us sitting in front of the TV or the computer.  In this age where everything is on a screen, I want him to look up and see what's going on in the world right in front of him.

To anyone reading this: PLEASE do not feel like I'm being judgmental of you or your parenting if your child is watching TV.  This is something I want to do to help ME unplug, to enjoy the world that's around me, and to encourage my children to do the same.  I may be back to watching TV tomorrow, but for today, I want to try to make a change.

Craft Addict

Pinterest is the devil.  Seriously.  I love looking at it for all the cool ideas that other people come up with and then decide that I need to make some of these things myself.  But as I've said earlier, I am not crafty.  Not in the slightest.  I have started two projects and found 3 more that I've either bought materials for or want to do and haven't completed ANY of them.  See below:

1. Pallet bookshelves started June...of LAST year.

2. Annie's hooks

3. Hair bow board...good thing Annie doesn't have any hair yet.
4. Growth chart ruler (see Sarah's blog) :)
5. Crate (see hell, I mean Pinterest)
6. Butterfly wreath (see Pinterest again)

Greg won't let me buy anymore supplies until I'm done with the projects I have.  Smart man.  To my defense, I AM taking care of a newborn.  She sleeps a lot, but I still don't feel like I can go run power tools outside while she's sleeping inside.  I guess that's what monitors are for, though.  I also don't feel especially confident in what I'm doing, so that makes me procrastinate as well.

Okay, goal for the week: Finish the bookshelves, Annie's hooks, and stain the wood for the ruler.  That should be simple enough.  Yeah, right.  :)

Pattern-envy

While on maternity leave, I find myself needing to get out of the house EVERY DAY or I become super crabby.  Even though I previously vowed never to return to Hobby Lobby, I have found myself there at least four times.  It's like a moth to a blow torch...  I completely disagree with a large retail chain that is closed on Sunday and closes during the week at 8:00.  REALLY?!  How do you stay in business??  Oh, people like me, I guess...

On my most recent trip, I perused the fabric section.  Let me mention that I do not sew.  At all.  I don't even know how to turn on a sewing machine.  I have seen all of these fabulous projects on pinterest that require a sewing machine, and then I hang my head in shame.  Hot glue is my friend...thread is not.  I came across three beautiful fabrics that I would LOVE to do something with, but other than cutting them into a square, that's about the extent of my capabilities.  Here are three I saw:

This third one...had I seen it earlier, I would loved to have built a baby nursery around these colors!    I am sensing a pattern (pardon the pun) with the first and third one.  I had no idea I was drawn to black, white, light blue/teal, and lime green together.  :::Drooling:::

I did end up buying a simple fabric that's pale pink with brown circles on it.  I am going to use it (with my hot glue gun or stapler) to make a hair bow holder for Annie's room.  I just have to find a good frame and some ribbon I like.  Oh, and a place to hang it on the wall.  Did I mention I also bought fabric off of Pick Your Plum the other day as well, and I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do with it.  I think I was secretly hoping I would grow sewing skills overnight, but that is yet to manifest itself.  I'll keep you posted.  :)

Balls

Mine have dropped.

I put up some paper lanterns in Annie's nursery the other day with scotch tape stuck to the ceiling.  I thought they might hold, but the fishing line is pulling through the tape, and now there are only two of the original ten left hanging from the ceiling.

Tomorrow I am going to try to hang them up with a command hook or two and then tie the line to the hook(s).  

Another FAILED project I've been working on is Annie's shelf.  It's going to be similar to Emmett's, but I don't have the cut-outs already.  I bought some, but they don't match and they are too big anyway.  I tried to stencil a butterfly shape on there, but of course it leaked under the stencil.  I have an idea on how to fix it, but if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.  

Spring Mantel

Emmett has been very excited all the eggs this month (Easter eggs, birds' eggs, etc.), so I decided to do an egg mantel.  I made sure to include two very important "eggs" in there as well.  :)

The Shelf

     I have been looking for a coat-hook shelf for Emmett's room for the past few months.  His room has a car theme, so anything that went with that or even the colors would have worked.  I have looked everywhere, and I finally found one at Hobby Lobby that I thought would work.  It was a simple red board with 4 hooks on it.  I eagerly flipped over the shelf thinking this would be about $8.  It was $16!!!  Um, NO.  Sorry, I'm not normally cheap, but I could not bring myself to pay that much for a shelf with no character.  I was determined to find or make one myself that would be cheaper and better than that one.
     Off we went to Home Depot next door to find some wood and some hooks.  Long story short, I ended up royally POed and Greg wasn't pleasant either after leaving HD.  I could NOT find a piece of wood that didn't look like a 2x4 with hooks nailed to it.  We looked at trim, moulding, etc, and NOTHING looked nice.  We left the store with 3 hooks and a bad attitude.  On the way leaving the store, I had to go to the bathroom (of course).  As I'm sitting there, I come up with a brilliant idea (don't ALL good ideas happen on the toilet??).  I kept thinking, "Where can I find a nice decorative piece of wood that's plain that I can decorate?"  Um, HOBBY LOBBY, the place I had just left.
     So I headed back next door with an empty bladder and a small glimmer of hope.  I found the aisle and the perfect piece of unfinished wood.  I also came across some cute little wood cut-outs that were already painted that would spice it up.  On the same aisle were some cute little wooden letters that I wanted to use.  Lucky for me, there are only 3 different letters in his name, as 4 of the same letter come in a pack.  :)  Add a little paint, a little spray paint, and some elbow grease, and I'm one happy camper with this shelf.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Board $5
Letters $1.50
Cut-outs $0.67 each
Hooks $6
Paint $3
Spray paint for letters...already had

Total $16 for a shelf with MUCH more character than the one at Hobby Lobby

All that's left to do is hang it on the wall! :)

Nesting?? Who's Nesting??

Pinterest is something that reminds you how unorganized your life is how many great ideas are out there!  Lately I've seen all of these organized closets in people's homes, and it made me want to tackle two of my nemeses here at our house-the pantry and the linen closet.  There are some Cool Labels  that you can print for FREE to help you get started.  I LOVE ALL OF THESE!!  The first closet I worked on is the linen closet.  Of course, I forgot to take the "before" picture.  But here's the after picture.

I had each of our things stored in separate baskets so I knew where to find stuff, which made it a lot easier.  But we had stuff that didn't fit, stuff that was in a "random" basket, and stuff that was just in the wrong place.  I used some baskets I had left from school and reorganized all of that stuff.  We had a Greg, Laurel, Emmett, first aid, hand soap, and wallflower basket.  

The stuff was in there neat, and then I had to scrounge looking for the rectal thermometer for Emmett, which happened to be in something downstairs and not in his designated basket.  See, still not a perfect system.  :)  I also made separate piles for the different size sheets and labeled all of those.  This is to help find the stuff, but also to help us remember where to put it back.  

We'll see if this system lasts.  :)  It has made me feel more organized for about a week, which is an improvement.  I did essentially the same thing with the pantry, but I'm not still not completely happy with it.  It is still very jumbled, but it's better than it was.

Has anyone has luck with plastic containers for flour, sugar, etc.?  I always worry about getting air or bugs into those containers.  I'd love to hear any suggestions for fixing this up!

I miss sleep

I have had the hardest time sleeping lately.  Emmett being sick hasn't helped matters, but most of it is solely me.  I keep having really strange dreams about school stuff, and I'm not really even that stressed about school.  It's just WEIRD stuff, like how I am grouping my students or which student I'm seeing for X.  I cannot figure out what is causing this, if it's something I'm eating or drinking or if I'm too warm.  It's IRRITATING.  I just can't seem to turn my brain off.  Any suggestions?

But I NEED it!

So I went in for my glucola (sp?) test the other day during my 27/28 week checkup.  You know it's not the news you want when the nurse says to give her a call back instead of her just leaving you a message.  The acceptable range for your blood sugar is at its limit around 138 or so, and mine was 153.  NICE!  Leave it to me to go above and beyond on the test that you don't want to overachieve.  I go back Monday morning for the super exciting 3-hour test to see if I have gestational diabetes.  The thought of not being able to devour some mac and cheese makes me CRINGE.  Greg said, "Yeah, low carbs is not really your thing, is it?"  That's the understatement of the century.  Anyway, I have found myself craving every food high in carbs or sugar this weekend.  And I'm torn between "better not overdo it before Monday" and "this is the last meal I'll enjoy for awhile".  Cereal bars, check.  Mac and cheese, YES PLEASE!  Crunch Berries cereal, um, HELLO?!?  Is there even a question?!  Tomorrow I am going to TRY to take it easy, but we'll see how it goes.  Hopefully Thursday will have just been a fluke and I can continue on my Peanut Butter Fusion cereal road to May.