Penguins in WA!

I know I write about a lot of books and tell you how great they are, but this one really is great. Both of my girls begged me not to take it back to the library after having already renewed it TWICE! lol We also got to check out  "Oops" written by the same author and it was just as captivating! I was so bummed that our library doesn't carry the other books she wrote!

What do you do when you find something great? You share it! And thats exactly what I did! For our next library meet up with friends, I took this book to read. On our way out the door, I asked the girls to dig through their puppet bin and find a penguin. I couldn't believe it when we realized that we didn't have one!!!

So, I felt inspired and came up with this guy! Isn't he a cutie? I was so excited how he turned out! I have recently got my etsy store slowly up and running and I'm adding things as I get them done. I don't have him on there yet but will soon! :) And I make all sorts of other puppets too! Stop by and check them out on Facebook!

When I saw these penguin counters we just HAD to make them! I do have to admit, the rocks were not easy to find. I searched for the ones she used but couldn't find them ANYWHERE!!! I had finally given up hope when I happened on to these ones at Walmart for $3. (They were in the floral department!)

I thought that I would end up doing most of these but my daughter started on them and ran with it!!

When it was all said and done, we now have 100 little penguins to use for math counters! As soon as she had finished painting them, she started counting them until she got to 100 and as soon as she was done with that she started counting them by 2s! Then she asked "What else can I do with them?" and I pulled out the Add it! Math Game and Subtract it!Math Games that I printed out from Confessions of a Homeschooler. (Her site is a wealth of information and printables- seriously go check it out!)

Raggedy Anne up North!

I love the idea of sharing something vintage with the girls... They had gotten Raggedy Ann dolls for Christmas a couple years ago and they are still one of their very favorite babies. The idea that in a world of crying, walking and talking babies (you know those really freaky ones in Walmart that go off when you walk by) a rag doll still has her place... well that's just wonderful to me.... so of course we thoroughly enjoyed this book and will have to add it to our wish list of books! :)

For this book, you could do just about any craft relating to hearts and would go along just fine. The last week or so has consisted of me making anything I could in the form of a heart shape... instead of plain circle biscuits, they were hearts. Instead of boring ol' sandwiches, why not take a cookie cutter to it and make it a heart sandwich? Heart pancakes anyone? The list could, and has in our house, gone on and on....

For our craft tho, I made the girls each a heart necklace to wear and wear them they have! You'd have thought they were made of gold for as much as they have worn them! I'm glad that they can still be happy with the simple things, and hope that it never wears off!

If you'd like to make a heart necklaces too, head on over to SkipToMyLou and let her know I sent you! I just love her little garland and love adding her little crochet hearts to our Valentine necklaces! Enjoy!

I got this link from a fellow homeschooler and have been listening to old records ever since! Click on the picture and it will take you to the site, you can listen to and have all sorts of great old childrens albums!!

Writing good things in Washington!

In a world full of text messaging, emails and phone calls I fear that there is something being lost.... there is something to be said about the written word and something that makes a hand written note span the test of time. You can't bottled up a text to treasure many years down the road and unfortunately, many people don't even value the ability to write in cursive any more! I think that's why handwriting has always been a big deal in our house. I give the kids a week or so after a holiday or birthday before we start the painstaking process of writing thankyous... but you know what? I think that sort of thing is important. If they aren't thankful enough for the item received to write a short thankyou then they don't really deserve to have it! :) When I gently remind them of that they are more than happy to write that note expressing their gratitude! That being said tho, there are so many more ways that we use writing on a daily basic and this book gives us great examples to follow!






This book really struck a cord with me and just goes to show how many ways we are all learning to be better writers! While we only got to do a few of the things in this book, I plan on doing a few more before we have to return it to the library!

This week we finished up our Christmas thankyou cards (I never said it was a quick process!lol), wrote a story and started on Valentine's cards...

In amongst all the writing going on at our house, we also got a treasured letter in the mail from the girls' Great Grandparents.. there is always so much excitement when they find envelopes addressed to them! And I love that they will have these letters hidden away in a box to treasure for years to come... writing has power!

Now I must ask you... have you Written Anything Good lately? :)

February book picks!

Ok, the books have been picked so here is a teaser! Please check them out and read along!

Living Craft joy in Washington

As a teen, I can remember being so anxious for the mailman to bring my newest subscription to Teen or Seventeen magazine. At the time it felt like my lifeline to what was new and cool at the time....It gave me a window in the lives of other teens and ads for the latest and the greatest in fashion (which I obviously never listened to anyways! ha!).

In my early twenties, it was Cosmo.... the newest trends and styles... and the articles on "How to meet Mr Right" are almost laughable now... what was I thinking!? lol

As a newly married woman of 23, I can remember being anxious to get my newest Better Homes and Garden edition... again, thinking it was my view of what is new and cool in the way of cooking and keeping a house . Are we seeing a trend here? :) I moved quickly past that one and right on to the world of Martha Stewart! :)

Being a new mother a few years later, I found that same excitement when the mail carrier would deliver my Parents and Parenting magazines and thought they were just the greatest source of information about kids, the newest trends for toys and safety and helpful how-to sections for moms.... That worked for a little bit but then I discovered the fact that talking to other moms is a better education than any magazine will own up to! lol

I have since moved passed all of these magazines and honestly look back on them all with loving thoughts but have kind of burned myself out on their repetitive articles and rather lame creative ideas....




Which brings me to the newest periodical love of my life! Living Crafts magazine is definitely the new joy of getting mail! :) I literally can't wait for each edition (4 yearly) to come and feel much like a stalker when I know it is on it's way! lol  During our move, my summer copy got forwarded before I was able to get the address updated and I really thought I was going to go crazy waiting for it to catch up to me!!

This magazine is THE magazine for any Waldorf/nature inspired, green crafting family. It has articles that I even share with my girls... our favorite being one written by Fiona Duthie called "A sweater for a year" which took us thru the entire process of raising a sheep, sheering the wool, making the yarn and knitting the sweater! I just love to know the how and why about the everyday things we use without even giving credit to how they came to be. Appreciation of life and everything in it is key...

This magazine also has articles on story telling and how to incorporate it into the lives of the children around us and the puppets (which you know I am crazy about!) to go along with the stories!I find so much inspiration in these publications and want to shout it from the roof tops every chance I get! EVERYONE should be reading this magazine!

One of their newest endeavors is their  new blog! They always seem to be adding more and more ideas and tutorials for making amazing, high quality crafts that will last for generations!! My favorite new blog post is the next thing on my list to create! I have been wanting to make a set of post office items for the girls and this looks like a perfect gift for Valentine's day!

So please, go check out Living Crafts magazine, I just know you are going to love it as much as I do... your kids will thank you for it!

A mishap month

I don't know about you, but I am having trouble getting back into a routine this month and I'm sure you've noticed that this blog has been out of sink too! So... I thought for now, I would just share with you weekly about some of my favorite go-to craft books! What better way to start the new year than with inspiration right!?

Just because things are a bit crazy at our house with reorganizing (long story) and other school work plus some other unexpected issues of life, doesn't mean we aren't reading and crafting... just not as organized as I would like to be! And definately nothing worth sharing for all to see! lol So, this month's blog posts will be more about ideas than story topics and we'll hopefully get back to our regular schedule, if not a better one, in February!

And so... for this week's craft book I give you....

This is by far one of my favorite crafting books and has gotten so much use it's ridiculous!

Woolbur in WA

It was a Moms Night Out, way back when we were still in TX that I stumbled upon this book. You see, our MNO events always ended with a few of us going to our favorite Hastings store for coffee, book shopping and girl talk. Somehow we always ended up in the kids section, looking thru books. It figures, that on our one night "off", us homeschooling moms couldn't just shut it off and have some down time but instead surrounded ourselves with our favorite friends and children's books! Yes, I know... we are strange... but boy do I miss them...

Anyways, I found this book, about none other than a sheep that thinks outside the box (an idea that has plagued me my entire life!) and wool yarn/knitting! What could be better than that! I thought about that for months until I actually got it as a gift from my mom! lol I guess liked it enough to talk about it ! haha!

And, so.... on this cold winter day in the Pacific northwest, I urge you to go check out this book. Snuggle up with a warm cup of tea and enjoy... I'll be back later this week to show you what we've been up to!