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July 21, 2014

Road Trip Activity Binders (a link round-up)

We just got back from a week long vacation. The hardest part is the 10+ hour ride getting there and back. We like to break up the ride some but no matter how you slice it getting ready for a 10 hour road trip with a seven and five year old can be tricky. I’m willing to do some maneuvering when at the end I’m burying my toes into Lake Michigan sand. One of the must have essentials on every trip is each kid’s entertainment backpack and binder.

The backpack contains the iPad (and headphones), a brand new coloring book (that they pick out and I save) and crayons, a new notebook with a few pre-drawn doodles that they can color in, a few books, and their binder.

In their binders, I like to put classic road trip games and a few surprises as well. Here are links to the sites I use:

Coloring sheets

Made by Joel (my favorites)
Crayola
Dabbles and Babbles (she has some great coloring pages if you look around a bit – her robots and monsters are awesome)

Worksheets (math, handwriting, school refreshers)

Dad’s worksheets – Violet did these as time trials last year at school, so I thought I’d add them as refreshers.
Worksheet Universe – they have lots of great activity sheets for younger kids (preschool-first grade)
Paging Supermom – an overabundance of awesome
Handwriting Worksheets

Games/Mazes

Mr. Printables – great mazes
I Spy (travel), Slug Bug, and Alphabet Search
The License Plate Game
Paper/Pencil Games (like hangman, tic-tac-toe, dots & boxes)

I like to put everything but the coloring sheets in page protectors and give them each a dry erase marker. To keep the coloring sheets tidy, I use a plastic envelope that’s made for 3 ring binders. I’ll also put stickers and other odds and ends (a coupon for an hour of radio control for example) in there as well.

We’ve had a lot of success with them. Violet even spent one evening “just working on math problems” when she needed a little down time (in this she is NOTHING like her mother). What are some of your road trip tricks? Do you have games or activities you can share with me?

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July 7, 2014

Our 4th

We headed up to Jesse’s family cabin on Thursday and spent a long weekend enjoying family and food. And when I say food, I mean food.

Crepes (sweet and savory), blueberry muffins, eggs, bacon, ham, strawberries, peaches, pineapple, cherries, watermelon, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken salad, italian salad style veggies, chips and dip, veggies and dip, corn on the cob, cornbread, baked beans, mushrooms, oysters, shrimp, steak, ribs, lamb, lasagna and that’s just what I remember.

We swam. And tubed (Violet got knocked off the tube for the first time and didn’t forgive Jesse for HOURS. He felt terrible, I thought it was hilarious but only because I knew she was okay). And watched the fireworks from our boats under the stars.

We shared stories and projects and laughs.

The older cousins entertained the little cousins with fireworks from roadside stands. And played “Pretty Pretty Princess” and Bingo.

I swam and knit and threw the ball for Molly about 5000 times.

It was a beautiful weekend.

May 15, 2014

Lately

Yesterday, I emptied and loaded the dishwasher using my knee walker. It took me 25 minutes. I was so proud of myself that I called Jesse to brag about it. We’ve also figured out that Jesse can bring laundry down in the morning, I can wash it, dry it, fold it and he can bring it upstairs and put it away. Small victories.

My bum print is permanently etched into the corner of the couch and I’ve completely taken over the window ledge. Knitting, list making, checkbook balancing, Diet Dr. Pepper drinking (yes, I’ve started doing that again. I’m going to give it up after Memorial Day weekend for the summer, maybe). And lots of reading. David Sedaris for laughs and Lit by Mary Karr because it’s been on my bookshelf forever. I’ve also been doing lots and lots of bird watching because I’m not already enough like my mother.

Red, purple, and gold finches have pretty much taken over my feeders, but my favorite are the red winged blackbirds (I never thought of them as “feeder” birds, but they visit quite a bit) They make me think of being a little girl and the park by my grandmas. Funny how a bird call can instantly make you think “summer”. We are lucky enough to live by a marshy area so we have them often. I love to have the windows open – I listen to them in the morning and the spring peepers at night. I’m growing to love this home of ours. Even if my blood is stirring for another move. (We’ve been here for a total of 2-1/2 years, so of course I’m ready to start packing and go – another Mother trait) I even have the house picked out.

May 1, 2014

Currently

Reading: I haven’t picked up much since I shared my books read post and if I don’t want to fall behind on my 50 book goal, I need to pick up the pace. I did start An Everlasting Meal and I’ve been looking through scores of friends-given-magazines (godsends, my friends). Thankfully, I’ve also been given quite a few book recommendations. I’m supposed to wear this boot for about another five weeks but I’m off the pain medication. Hopefully I’ll be able to read more or my brains might turn to mush and run out my ears with all the television I’ve been watching.

Watching: What am I not watching? I’ve rewatched all but the last Harry Potter movies and that’s the plan for tonight. I’m loving the new season of Game of Thrones and this season of Mad Men is redeeming the previous two. This last episode when the partners sit down with Don…PERFECT ending. I’m looking forward to next week. I’m also watching Once Upon a Time. Jules has this theory that shows tend to go downhill in their third season and I’d have to say this show is holding true to that maxim. It’s still watchable, but a lot of the magic has been lost for me this season. Maybe because I was never a fan of the whole Wizard of Oz thing? I don’t know…Do you watch it?

Goals: After walking away from the cleanse, I’d have to say my major goal this month is to just get my foot healed. My house is messy, I have an abundance of projects I want to complete in the yard, and we finally are having spring (though you might not know it this week) so I want to get out and enjoy!!

I’d also like to break out my big camera more this month. I haven’t been using it very much but I recently took a Lightroom class and I’d like to put some of this new editing knowledge to use.

Eating: I just ended that ~~three~~ one day cleanse and my stomach is feeling a little skittish. I’ve been eating plenty of salads and drinking my favorite mojito tasting juice as well as the green juice but I’m not really ready to take on much more than that right now. I wonder how I would have felt had I finished the whole thing?!?

Listening: I need some good music recommendations. I haven’t been listening to much lately besides the house music that Jess plays when he is working at night. I still can’t get over his spotify music choices.

Blog watching: I’ve been reading knitting bloggers like crazy lately. And the pictures onAlicia Paulson’s blog are simply breathtaking (as is everything else she does). If it wouldn’t be completely weird inviting someone who has no idea who I am over for tea and knitting, she would definitely garner an invite. I stumbled on How Sweet Eats a few months ago and the recipes are great but I absolutely ADORE the crumbs. She’s got great beauty finds and random bits and she makes me laugh so hard. I’d love to swill a cocktail with Jessica. What is it exactly that makes me thing bloggers = sharing a beverage? Non-bevarage related blogging news: THIS. Elizabeth Esther knocks this post on mis-using the bible out of the PARK. And I can say that because I’m guilty of doing each and all of those at one time or another.

Knitting: I can not finish my mom’s sweater for the life of me. With as much lying about as I’ve been doing, I told her I’d have it done by her birthday but this collar is taking me a lot longer to finish than I anticipated. I LOVE the pattern and the yarn is GORGEOUS. I’m using Brown Sheep’s Lanaloft sports weight in Purple Iris. My gauge seems to be running a little high but when I knit the test swatch it came out perfect so I have my fingers crossed it fits her well. I found the pattern in Green Gables Knits by Joanna Johnson. I love this book. It shares pictures from L.M. Montgomery’s Collection, quotes from “Anne of Green Gables” and every single pattern is one I want to knit. After this I have a few other Christmas presents to finish and I want to try a pair of socks.

Loving: Night-time snuggles with my kids. It terrifies me to no end how close Abram is getting to kindergarten. He’s still my snuggly little boy and our evening conversations make me laugh. I recently wrote down the highlights of one simply because I don’t ever want to forget how adorably clever and silly and wonderfully his little boy brain works. And Violet amazes me with her stubborn refusal to just close her eyes and sleep. She simply WILL NOT SLEEP until she has exhausted one of us into falling asleep with her. In the last few weeks, we’ve just given in and have started lying with her until she sleeps. I’m getting better at staying awake longer than her, but not much.

So what are currently enjoying, loving, doing this month? Do you have some music recommendations you can give me (I like everything)?

April 24, 2014

Books Read

I’m 15 books into my 50 book goal for 2014. I hardly read a thing in March and very little in February so while the couch sitting has been annoying, it’s given me a chance to get back on track with my goals. Here are the 15 I’ve tackled so far this year:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD, *Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, A Widow for One Year by John Irving, *The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman, *The Giver by Lois Lowry, *Here I Go Again: A Novel by Jen Lancaster, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R. R. Martin

Sutton by J. R. Moehringer, *The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, *Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) by George R. R. Martin, *World War Z by Max Brooks

The * denotes books that I would recommend reading. If I wasn’t already ruined by the show, I might have recommended the Game of Thrones books. As much as I want to continue being a “the book is better”, in this instance, I can’t. The books are good and I’ll continue to read them, but if you were going to pick one – I’d say watch the show.

Sutton, Bad Mother, and A Widow for One Year were also reads that I mostly enjoyed, but just not enough to go around recommending them to most people.

I’m also looking to compile 20 book recommendations for a project so please share your favorite reads with me in the comments!

April 4, 2014

My Top 10 Reads (Right Now)

I had coffee with a former professor to chat about my future graduate school attendance (I’m getting excited and nervous). Excepting her love of an author I can not stand, she has magnificent taste in books and is one of the few people I know who loves them as much as me. We spent a good deal more time talking about what we’ve been reading and not what I’ll be studying, but that’s one of the reasons I like her so much.

With books on the brain, I started thinking about ten books I’d toss in a backpack if I wanted to go with tried and true favorites and a blend of genres/styles. These aren’t necessarily my favorite 10 of all time (because that would be impossible) but they are all books I’ve read multiple times and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. They’re perfect if you are looking for something to read on a trip or just to mentally get away.