tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44086949964661984522024-03-21T18:12:04.265-07:00Something from Scratchredoing, restarting, regenerating, nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-53554578356183258612014-04-14T15:36:00.001-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.360-08:00We're Back!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHRu1fso5Daa3WWdOhuc-QOEOKrHyGHS6fD1bFKxQoI37NL0nKqJnhpaRMjn-JMYCpiRGiZNaoFSXGi2gGOxs1Ky1ExmYPd74F9N7d9DVmCft2-DdaKVXKV8RfjO7DKnJTQ6XoxBVW5ed/s1600/13255281035_cfa2b46b68_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHRu1fso5Daa3WWdOhuc-QOEOKrHyGHS6fD1bFKxQoI37NL0nKqJnhpaRMjn-JMYCpiRGiZNaoFSXGi2gGOxs1Ky1ExmYPd74F9N7d9DVmCft2-DdaKVXKV8RfjO7DKnJTQ6XoxBVW5ed/s640/13255281035_cfa2b46b68_o.jpg" /></a>
nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-42960586372781958052011-01-28T06:37:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.353-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpS3T5zvHvlOqunHfDswoX_kMqWS7yt-2DzQvtk3n4lqX39XGETeDW_Pz12ZLNF7W9yx0GKBZvu5-Ss9YckS-6jNsI9YdDmQduMbOy-oxoe_axbm7zcWqrX4BszfMOnRWwXDbzNWfUQ5L/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpS3T5zvHvlOqunHfDswoX_kMqWS7yt-2DzQvtk3n4lqX39XGETeDW_Pz12ZLNF7W9yx0GKBZvu5-Ss9YckS-6jNsI9YdDmQduMbOy-oxoe_axbm7zcWqrX4BszfMOnRWwXDbzNWfUQ5L/s320/DSC_0023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567248217464712018" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-66510754878130156692011-01-26T16:14:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.381-08:00Home made playdough<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2jFpB2IfobJryi4FruaoLWrgamOxJFd2Nu9uEAr2B9KySrxhoI3BkQdUM5yIWxDeY44-ORqfjFT2ukjtX-hbZ64K-7CyWodguGFtKYM_CkiPDOaAwVmKdAH3xJD8f9jalcheGNhR8tqM/s1600/DSC_0055.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2jFpB2IfobJryi4FruaoLWrgamOxJFd2Nu9uEAr2B9KySrxhoI3BkQdUM5yIWxDeY44-ORqfjFT2ukjtX-hbZ64K-7CyWodguGFtKYM_CkiPDOaAwVmKdAH3xJD8f9jalcheGNhR8tqM/s320/DSC_0055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566658440564227826" /></a><br /><br />Once again inspired by <a href="http://www.artfulparent.typepad.com/">The Artful Parent</a>, Audrey and I made some playdough today. <a href="http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2009/11/an-artful-day-embroidery-and-playdough.html">Here</a> is the recipe from her site. We made only half the recipe because we were low on salt and cream of tartar, which, frankly, I'm amazed we had at all since I don't have any idea what the heck it's for. <br /><br />So we halved everything, and then halved it again so we could make two different colors at once. I've also see this done with the food coloring added once the dough is taken out of the pan and this might be a good idea if you want to make a lot of colors at once. I would have just made one color if Audrey hadn't insisted on making her sister's favorite color (blue) in addition to her own (pink). They are always watching out for each other. <br /><br />Here is the original recipe:<br /><br />5 cups water<br />5 cups flour<br />2 1/2 cups salt<br />3 Tablespoons cream of tartar<br />10 Tablespoons vegetable oil<br />Food coloring<br /><br />Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Z4NPL9KelhDCZKZa37nwQoJd5_jG-nNTZzQt2yzngrD8hbJ5Y0MALgj8KfY2diDai8zhihfRUxLmNrlkogy5wUsOwtBQcT0bFDsNpHrBWm9T01W_Z57cij4zvOCe0GMvKNmursUT4tAR/s1600/DSC_0024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Z4NPL9KelhDCZKZa37nwQoJd5_jG-nNTZzQt2yzngrD8hbJ5Y0MALgj8KfY2diDai8zhihfRUxLmNrlkogy5wUsOwtBQcT0bFDsNpHrBWm9T01W_Z57cij4zvOCe0GMvKNmursUT4tAR/s320/DSC_0024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566656655699673298" /></a><br /><br />Cook on low heat, stirring regularly. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl2pztQXgELT2vFALPOjQn6tKdINdCGoXHbjRsWx_KywGT9-k0M_tyfd3xB0dQn9IuN5uTJikNDY5f76f9IYOFrOU7xX-PtXIHs1PzTUltXqL60VBg49RAHV_010ZUHN5qwEACCqKMitY/s1600/DSC_0034.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl2pztQXgELT2vFALPOjQn6tKdINdCGoXHbjRsWx_KywGT9-k0M_tyfd3xB0dQn9IuN5uTJikNDY5f76f9IYOFrOU7xX-PtXIHs1PzTUltXqL60VBg49RAHV_010ZUHN5qwEACCqKMitY/s320/DSC_0034.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566656917550193938" /></a><br /><br />Add oil, then flour. Stir until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4LfcBR1kjoG8EqbqQ9t_8WGadGhM4aSfL6EiViybcKZz-AvoOVjq7SK33ZADtF10vRcmq3c3SHHvyW7pb29Bh5kZtJnvG10nZVEK4IdcOndoYl2F8aiYJSOUVAUCvPuXKFzDDh_cD0fJ/s1600/DSC_0036.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4LfcBR1kjoG8EqbqQ9t_8WGadGhM4aSfL6EiViybcKZz-AvoOVjq7SK33ZADtF10vRcmq3c3SHHvyW7pb29Bh5kZtJnvG10nZVEK4IdcOndoYl2F8aiYJSOUVAUCvPuXKFzDDh_cD0fJ/s320/DSC_0036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566657136965516802" /></a><br /><br />Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUIr6rMFlufCZ1ylyR26kPxWwHbr5i4zGt8Y1vgzLnQUv60w-oMwCvyiqk1ppqNZZQzdo41Tuv4w3t5UbmKDBum0n9jnsfff24j4YnIkXzT9qOQ12G2SGP5_go6GeVr6kdiuhppSyk0Uz/s1600/DSC_0037.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUIr6rMFlufCZ1ylyR26kPxWwHbr5i4zGt8Y1vgzLnQUv60w-oMwCvyiqk1ppqNZZQzdo41Tuv4w3t5UbmKDBum0n9jnsfff24j4YnIkXzT9qOQ12G2SGP5_go6GeVr6kdiuhppSyk0Uz/s320/DSC_0037.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566657386150763602" /></a><br /><br />Instead of their playdough tools, I gave them some random kitchen tools. The ice cream scooper was the biggest hit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdTVRZh9cVZUr_JNKfJKWhA1ZghXqh32WZBjInwu6xDVA015RjaWeIzNQYVjlJcbKfMghS4PI5e5BChROarSbt-56YYg-H1ucsJ0c-2id_Zb5qZ2w-BbS6ohzi4jcSoe5D_8fQgi6V1_q/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdTVRZh9cVZUr_JNKfJKWhA1ZghXqh32WZBjInwu6xDVA015RjaWeIzNQYVjlJcbKfMghS4PI5e5BChROarSbt-56YYg-H1ucsJ0c-2id_Zb5qZ2w-BbS6ohzi4jcSoe5D_8fQgi6V1_q/s320/DSC_0044.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566658303251401762" /></a> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzW7F3eO4QvhmMScpsJgLDjr_dagZRDWWCsHEnHsCKQy3QNY7Y9CMUtLcHGStS_eomincI0Cy_iQBosvFS1KVG9upAgNFUShuUGTNrspvljreFBdHuJiUe15NBHHtRiDkeRo4m74dZ-B8-/s1600/DSC_0045.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzW7F3eO4QvhmMScpsJgLDjr_dagZRDWWCsHEnHsCKQy3QNY7Y9CMUtLcHGStS_eomincI0Cy_iQBosvFS1KVG9upAgNFUShuUGTNrspvljreFBdHuJiUe15NBHHtRiDkeRo4m74dZ-B8-/s320/DSC_0045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566659098301270962" /></a><br /><br />Audrey pretended to lick that ice cream for quite some time and even if she managed to eat some, at least I know it isn't toxic!nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-68427214455317004882011-01-07T05:36:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.384-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSL0nljGuSIaHqM8Y0lD2BWHpJHJzI4nEOu_T4Fqi_eGT7hRj8gSTzbDxPjogCIFIhybe81J7XgrpYqs0RdmtptqrPZ6tJ-Q2SOossyvG0ZG5NU3l5-Ne-ICeqvmxL8CXTMW23mfyCTLHI/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSL0nljGuSIaHqM8Y0lD2BWHpJHJzI4nEOu_T4Fqi_eGT7hRj8gSTzbDxPjogCIFIhybe81J7XgrpYqs0RdmtptqrPZ6tJ-Q2SOossyvG0ZG5NU3l5-Ne-ICeqvmxL8CXTMW23mfyCTLHI/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559437775327925122" /></a><br /><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-54276812259201164842011-01-06T17:06:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.363-08:00Put on a Musical<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIrhhdtYYFEjthBXUM4TINSulMl9rGtdv3b4L5OmWFVZ9fLo6cCYNcuKofD5EPlmalLA4MtnAdVxede1JbryEahVd1tozlk8SV-c8lXshjBItPlwgiuUH-CMqcEAyn3JQ4BpKVqcs25Ab/s1600/DSC_0032.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIrhhdtYYFEjthBXUM4TINSulMl9rGtdv3b4L5OmWFVZ9fLo6cCYNcuKofD5EPlmalLA4MtnAdVxede1JbryEahVd1tozlk8SV-c8lXshjBItPlwgiuUH-CMqcEAyn3JQ4BpKVqcs25Ab/s320/DSC_0032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559251327663057970" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, Erika decided we should put on a musical. We recruited Audrey and practiced while Corey was away on a business trip so we could surprise him when he got back. The musical was "Fairy Friends" and was about two fairies who secretly help people by finding things that they have lost. The plot is all Erika, I would have gone with something more along the lines of Godot. <br /><br />First, we made a backdrop:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5k4E824BlHwxyaG312rD0vGHljvErg5rSsBd6FpyR_3NSvisGvp-ISsx4j3ou0lXxRxZ37pj4SgM80b473lFvRgbwnZAscEkBcsXvTCm_dBWPNtMMQlkydpw7eswXKIA4pdh_Su1axRP/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5k4E824BlHwxyaG312rD0vGHljvErg5rSsBd6FpyR_3NSvisGvp-ISsx4j3ou0lXxRxZ37pj4SgM80b473lFvRgbwnZAscEkBcsXvTCm_dBWPNtMMQlkydpw7eswXKIA4pdh_Su1axRP/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559246126192402002" /></a><br /><br />Then we rehearsed:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDpjdhdLM4Ce5pdDZeZutuV-fWxLWaI3_9i63LHj8x7fKrPy2SV_emVeTvvaAedFgPSqVob18jr1fAYYu3bKBs7K8HcYyQ6H-D4xAtB_Ks5Or_jOG20l50zNhDMeeBm3URJWEDGUco8q2/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDpjdhdLM4Ce5pdDZeZutuV-fWxLWaI3_9i63LHj8x7fKrPy2SV_emVeTvvaAedFgPSqVob18jr1fAYYu3bKBs7K8HcYyQ6H-D4xAtB_Ks5Or_jOG20l50zNhDMeeBm3URJWEDGUco8q2/s320/DSC_0008.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559246701241006066" /></a><br /><br />And made handbills:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvl9jeI5RG8MRovfwNA5J0eJGPdtuAaoqus2FqUIb8sr17BSXSQB0vx6jjEJP1YoSM6URG2nwIRbg5OPPiaYnUID7B4xVJj0YngZcyT66zc9VFx14rLWibhimu2NvvwC-6SUPBh8sX7EK/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvl9jeI5RG8MRovfwNA5J0eJGPdtuAaoqus2FqUIb8sr17BSXSQB0vx6jjEJP1YoSM6URG2nwIRbg5OPPiaYnUID7B4xVJj0YngZcyT66zc9VFx14rLWibhimu2NvvwC-6SUPBh8sX7EK/s320/DSC_0019.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559247430728617826" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_X8ay17zxolq2ldexDKkLxSyMU-DJ7y1FN_UxnrOTj3Bj9Ob2vTeDRABKHSsBUoPpXrHbaDI2pmVmta6BGwq9yQztcbWm3_3ekZQy8HMOx8SKBR7dJ39BuiLLuB6cV4AevWzQZb8vPKt/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_X8ay17zxolq2ldexDKkLxSyMU-DJ7y1FN_UxnrOTj3Bj9Ob2vTeDRABKHSsBUoPpXrHbaDI2pmVmta6BGwq9yQztcbWm3_3ekZQy8HMOx8SKBR7dJ39BuiLLuB6cV4AevWzQZb8vPKt/s320/DSC_0013.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559247419531606146" /></a><br /><br />Then we set the stage and made room for the audience (of one):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tfCx3nsbGBG_CJ07Ell8_GTHTu53-50ZwN6tERuiQxoKEpKr5xmHXwBBK7NOWlg81DPUy5lxcssuKq49bD3lqqzsvwayw9lc5YFux-e0O1Zuy4H7dnt02-TTwQdU1Bn0d9zcYvETmM7U/s1600/DSC_0020.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tfCx3nsbGBG_CJ07Ell8_GTHTu53-50ZwN6tERuiQxoKEpKr5xmHXwBBK7NOWlg81DPUy5lxcssuKq49bD3lqqzsvwayw9lc5YFux-e0O1Zuy4H7dnt02-TTwQdU1Bn0d9zcYvETmM7U/s320/DSC_0020.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559248150425786418" /></a><br /><br />There are no pictures of the actual musical because, of course, there is no photography allowed during a show. We decided on three very short scenes and the girls remembered their parts better than I expected. Of course, the dancing went on a little longer than in rehearsal, but it was fun to see them so caught up in the moment. <br /><br />After the show the proud actresses took their bows:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAer-X83z1LeKTTkWVBHsJet0UPLApglmnfewvxNVDhiJ8Bqug4cmXjO0zwH4QRmoynAhAwOXiQ9-8hWB8rrguCjqQd_lyR7Yam5rBHsb66Y1y_XsH-196X76uiMEdsWIBikk0icEIdISt/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAer-X83z1LeKTTkWVBHsJet0UPLApglmnfewvxNVDhiJ8Bqug4cmXjO0zwH4QRmoynAhAwOXiQ9-8hWB8rrguCjqQd_lyR7Yam5rBHsb66Y1y_XsH-196X76uiMEdsWIBikk0icEIdISt/s320/DSC_0029.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559251323570325506" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-35517052239687804342010-12-29T15:44:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.345-08:00Make a Puppet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3u4ham5KEGNT8WcWGb3N21C7zUwRdqXMGhzcIGOn4tWJxpCBzOf66TIDHiqoxdeW20Qgj_4WT9fIT1wjETTTOPKGS_IifrlLCx4oXU5NhDPbmXmKJLMQYnAWjE_vUXio23pZ3jG2rWYv/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3u4ham5KEGNT8WcWGb3N21C7zUwRdqXMGhzcIGOn4tWJxpCBzOf66TIDHiqoxdeW20Qgj_4WT9fIT1wjETTTOPKGS_IifrlLCx4oXU5NhDPbmXmKJLMQYnAWjE_vUXio23pZ3jG2rWYv/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556260751380639954" /></a><br /><br />Puppets are awesome, right? Yeah, they are. <a href="http://www.dia.org/">The Detroit Institute of Arts</a> had a puppet performance by Preston Foerder (whose website I can't seem to find) and the girls and I headed over with some friends. The puppeteer came on stage dressed like a janitor with all the likely tools and then proceeded to tell stories from Grimm's Fairy Tales with his puppets, which he made on the spot from mops, dusters, bags, and socks. The kids learned that you can use everyday things to make something truly spectacular. After the show the museum had a puppet making workshop for the kids. They provided scraps of material, yarn, markers, glue sticks, googly eyes, and the cut off fingers from canvas gloves, which provided the base of the finger puppet. Great idea, right?! Go get some gloves at your local hardware store and let the kids go nuts! <br /><br />The kids each made a few puppets and then found a way to put on a puppet show right then are there! We will definitely be doing this again soon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW_E6iDXQUhy4GWQGQAUpjfkdnlzSsgmFGt9_wlNVW8MgxCWGUFiJ8snaaATOrkzkCvK6a4nKN8C6j4-5-2Ax98eeuFLHNMbxzqU0MGkcnKQmPtKz_diR4wqIIbIY5Xqv7olrjD85OMBJ/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW_E6iDXQUhy4GWQGQAUpjfkdnlzSsgmFGt9_wlNVW8MgxCWGUFiJ8snaaATOrkzkCvK6a4nKN8C6j4-5-2Ax98eeuFLHNMbxzqU0MGkcnKQmPtKz_diR4wqIIbIY5Xqv7olrjD85OMBJ/s320/DSC_0005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556259555975948066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIRJzDzcI1uXQnkV2020lfvz7vYuyjxVtm_4UcPzVB0psLrNtZvOqT1qpAsuTWK9zNjKDfGhjSxWdg3FrZu0Ytwse4LXUsUsj3s0A2fIqWZ5dj34hRFb3SpiYpkEPt0vbU9zXARCp1cLS/s1600/DSC_0014.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIRJzDzcI1uXQnkV2020lfvz7vYuyjxVtm_4UcPzVB0psLrNtZvOqT1qpAsuTWK9zNjKDfGhjSxWdg3FrZu0Ytwse4LXUsUsj3s0A2fIqWZ5dj34hRFb3SpiYpkEPt0vbU9zXARCp1cLS/s320/DSC_0014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556259836958282546" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4tXUNFFjKFoUqFtp852sn4OQEgE-0uuw5PTNk3psGpS26MUtcbItJmXFZdcQ9ZKjNoD5sXj_G5RXy5qF4R0sOmQxHuO5rrXsUOiSlVy8Yd0r9acGBGECwfzxt_HqxWY7UM_3FkHW48U5/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4tXUNFFjKFoUqFtp852sn4OQEgE-0uuw5PTNk3psGpS26MUtcbItJmXFZdcQ9ZKjNoD5sXj_G5RXy5qF4R0sOmQxHuO5rrXsUOiSlVy8Yd0r9acGBGECwfzxt_HqxWY7UM_3FkHW48U5/s320/DSC_0015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556260082596346306" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-89411984016299566312010-12-07T07:04:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.400-08:00Our visit to Santa was kind of anticlimactic. This was the first year that Erika agreed to talk to him, so I was kind of excited. She sat on his lap for the obligatory picture, told him what she wanted (a porcelain Cinderella) and was done with it. There was no magic in her eyes. Audrey didn't even really want to get near him, but agreed to go sit on his lap if Erika went with her. She asked for some bells and looked quite suspicious of the whole thing. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFbfZ-REt5UuEbYDxKQ1GSAS06Fas0Dol4T7UXZ2116l7tc3pXOtdeWy4kcLOUBAqYCv_uTiM6VIH9FIcdoNV9aIOn3ClGM9EGmj5CTocuOttrvwHAKI6TLHiaq6eB11ZiQIRllPxeUfG/s1600/DSC_0087.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFbfZ-REt5UuEbYDxKQ1GSAS06Fas0Dol4T7UXZ2116l7tc3pXOtdeWy4kcLOUBAqYCv_uTiM6VIH9FIcdoNV9aIOn3ClGM9EGmj5CTocuOttrvwHAKI6TLHiaq6eB11ZiQIRllPxeUfG/s320/DSC_0087.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548002436561011202" /></a><br /><br />We cut out snowflakes from tissue paper on the 2nd of December. There are no pictures because I was too busy folding paper and assisting in cutting.<br /><br />We were supposed to write letters to Santa the next day, but the girls didn't seem interested, so we didn't. This is supposed to be fun, right? <br /><br />On Saturday we got our Christmas tree! That morning I started searching for places to cut down our own tree, but then I remembered that it was cold out, and that it was a 45 minute drive each way. The "lot" tree is perfect and we aren't all covered in sap. Now I just have to remember to water it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwOTiDnDhsTgXT3zIqViXkT8GBxfpJ0SOGgbA3okaVfO_AC09DEpz17hPz3uM2N3YM4CMM9Xock09ZC_DOGUIGfW408AYalP9qbwZ6q8gwA1hALYWbfOzLzriNgKoWYHLIHbfeH3nf7MC/s1600/DSC_0147.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwOTiDnDhsTgXT3zIqViXkT8GBxfpJ0SOGgbA3okaVfO_AC09DEpz17hPz3uM2N3YM4CMM9Xock09ZC_DOGUIGfW408AYalP9qbwZ6q8gwA1hALYWbfOzLzriNgKoWYHLIHbfeH3nf7MC/s320/DSC_0147.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548005982188842962" /></a><br /><br />On Sunday the girls and I went to see the Nutcracker with their Mimi. We magically ended up with front row seats and the girls loved it. Erika was enchanted and hardly blinked. Audrey asked a lot of questions very loudly. I know that we will do this every year and love the tradition of it. <br /><br />And that brings us <span style="font-style:italic;">almost</span> up to date. Yesterday we made ornaments for the tree. Erika and I made some salt dough and cut out holiday shapes while Audrey napped. In the afternoon the girls painted their ornaments. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm00enlnQy3A4qi16hxzKUhyeY6egDG4tWLAl3lpAgU4ZNshh7vwGC_LfeDONkaSzIVjauyq35ocltMIs4fjgz9_GXPuGeR4w-_2G6TBAXJ03W2PhYxMihxwgH7PjVXnY18gWWxJmx7swY/s1600/DSC_0049+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm00enlnQy3A4qi16hxzKUhyeY6egDG4tWLAl3lpAgU4ZNshh7vwGC_LfeDONkaSzIVjauyq35ocltMIs4fjgz9_GXPuGeR4w-_2G6TBAXJ03W2PhYxMihxwgH7PjVXnY18gWWxJmx7swY/s320/DSC_0049+%25282%2529.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548011901489854706" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBg-zJXf37gb8NobrDEPQH7sC3ewQ0Q6vJD7jZB_IvNmCVNo-pn4TGwF5qGp4c9T08REIbvieN1bvQaGL-8EbfHduffMJEmMr7JYySZal9D8YOb_8PQoj1lTIIA-7yFhyjG1NrCy2QN0A/s1600/DSC_0051+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBg-zJXf37gb8NobrDEPQH7sC3ewQ0Q6vJD7jZB_IvNmCVNo-pn4TGwF5qGp4c9T08REIbvieN1bvQaGL-8EbfHduffMJEmMr7JYySZal9D8YOb_8PQoj1lTIIA-7yFhyjG1NrCy2QN0A/s320/DSC_0051+%25282%2529.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548012148564863634" /></a><br /><br />If you want to try this yourself, <a href="http://crafts.kaboose.com/saltdoughgifttoppers.html">here</a> is a salt dough recipe. And <a href="http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2009/12/salt-dough-ornaments-for-the-tree.html">here</a> is The Artful Parent's glittery version of the ornaments. <br /><br />And finally, today we are going to a local coffee shop to donate a few toys to local children whose parents are unemployed. <br /><br />And how about you? Holiday shopping done? Tree trimmed? Lights up?nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-5530380418251519072010-12-01T05:30:00.002-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.366-08:00Countdown.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoFUNRIrjuj1wwPCxhEGgoGg3LU80eWMRvIVkt_ka9U22xfji5xAiN6MsFf22GugHEklhTIChwPY9xzRDrFhGhby-ApbuNwkN0a2gZ38xNthS-_7RhWt69ewsUxUwR9_jh3nHgJSV8ZFV/s1600/DSC_0068.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoFUNRIrjuj1wwPCxhEGgoGg3LU80eWMRvIVkt_ka9U22xfji5xAiN6MsFf22GugHEklhTIChwPY9xzRDrFhGhby-ApbuNwkN0a2gZ38xNthS-_7RhWt69ewsUxUwR9_jh3nHgJSV8ZFV/s320/DSC_0068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545712719629472258" /></a><br /><br />Let's just ignore the six month hiatus and move on, shall we?<br /><br />I was up late last night finishing our advent calendar. Last year we made a paper chain advent calendar and there was an activity written inside each of the loops. I was going to do the same thing this year, but decided at the very last minute to do something different. I wanted little envelopes, but wasn't sure how to make them. Then, in a flash from the past, I remembered that the middle schooler in me still knew how to fold a piece of paper into a little envelope to be passed in class. <br /><br />Take a square piece of paper and fold it into a triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s1600/DSC_0075.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s320/DSC_0075.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709069071672818" /></a><br /><br />Fold in the sides of the triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s1600/DSC_0076.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s320/DSC_0076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709257848211970" /></a><br /><br />Fold up once:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s1600/DSC_0077.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s320/DSC_0077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709429540905490" /></a><br /><br />Take one flap and tuck it into the note, I mean envelope:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NE5APUqeA7MyF0ltFb9ZShEnFWXJcGu-Tc19urBnPW7i1289ur6Yrr3kZtMIEhUTDAQI8rLbbyNC7AbSeYMxNSyTq6ZtpKeOA6n5GYP0RRO0WByBNCOThKwW-yv9eXOZIoacjGK6qkgd/s1600/DSC_0078.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NE5APUqeA7MyF0ltFb9ZShEnFWXJcGu-Tc19urBnPW7i1289ur6Yrr3kZtMIEhUTDAQI8rLbbyNC7AbSeYMxNSyTq6ZtpKeOA6n5GYP0RRO0WByBNCOThKwW-yv9eXOZIoacjGK6qkgd/s320/DSC_0078.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545711374184348034" /></a><br /><br />Take the other flap and fold it over the other side so that it looks like a little envelope:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaIvu3jQbuPkuXqJWi2NQ22iIOFf7qh8dVXnmvlZg3tmjoRIQeUiAEJWZdyCoFkDuhom_NTigBHd6oplMgIBNxCFu5GEL2vdoXV2kVZHPCPWTS1xL-5WHXQnxR2oh-JNBKl4U7Nlm7HaC/s1600/DSC_0079.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaIvu3jQbuPkuXqJWi2NQ22iIOFf7qh8dVXnmvlZg3tmjoRIQeUiAEJWZdyCoFkDuhom_NTigBHd6oplMgIBNxCFu5GEL2vdoXV2kVZHPCPWTS1xL-5WHXQnxR2oh-JNBKl4U7Nlm7HaC/s320/DSC_0079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545711774958582130" /></a><br /><br />Tada! Cute, huh? I wrote one activity in each envelope and taped them to some raffia. As you can see, today's activity is going to visit Santa. Come back and see what we have planned for the rest of the month! I will post our activities daily.nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-63025733536780402162010-12-01T05:30:00.001-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.372-08:00Countdown.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoFUNRIrjuj1wwPCxhEGgoGg3LU80eWMRvIVkt_ka9U22xfji5xAiN6MsFf22GugHEklhTIChwPY9xzRDrFhGhby-ApbuNwkN0a2gZ38xNthS-_7RhWt69ewsUxUwR9_jh3nHgJSV8ZFV/s1600/DSC_0068.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoFUNRIrjuj1wwPCxhEGgoGg3LU80eWMRvIVkt_ka9U22xfji5xAiN6MsFf22GugHEklhTIChwPY9xzRDrFhGhby-ApbuNwkN0a2gZ38xNthS-_7RhWt69ewsUxUwR9_jh3nHgJSV8ZFV/s320/DSC_0068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545712719629472258" /></a><br /><br />Let's just ignore the six month hiatus and move on, shall we?<br /><br />I was up late last night finishing our advent calendar. Last year we made a paper chain advent calendar and there was an activity written inside each of the loops. I was going to do the same thing this year, but decided at the very last minute to do something different. I wanted little envelopes, but wasn't sure how to make them. Then, in a flash from the past, I remembered that the middle schooler in me still knew how to fold a piece of paper into a little envelope to be passed in class. <br /><br />Take a square piece of paper and fold it into a triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s1600/DSC_0075.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s320/DSC_0075.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709069071672818" /></a><br /><br />Fold in the sides of the triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s1600/DSC_0076.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s320/DSC_0076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709257848211970" /></a><br /><br />Fold up once:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s1600/DSC_0077.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s320/DSC_0077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709429540905490" /></a><br /><br />Take one flap and tuck it into the note, I mean envelope:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NE5APUqeA7MyF0ltFb9ZShEnFWXJcGu-Tc19urBnPW7i1289ur6Yrr3kZtMIEhUTDAQI8rLbbyNC7AbSeYMxNSyTq6ZtpKeOA6n5GYP0RRO0WByBNCOThKwW-yv9eXOZIoacjGK6qkgd/s1600/DSC_0078.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NE5APUqeA7MyF0ltFb9ZShEnFWXJcGu-Tc19urBnPW7i1289ur6Yrr3kZtMIEhUTDAQI8rLbbyNC7AbSeYMxNSyTq6ZtpKeOA6n5GYP0RRO0WByBNCOThKwW-yv9eXOZIoacjGK6qkgd/s320/DSC_0078.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545711374184348034" /></a><br /><br />Take the other flap and fold it over the other side so that it looks like a little envelope:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaIvu3jQbuPkuXqJWi2NQ22iIOFf7qh8dVXnmvlZg3tmjoRIQeUiAEJWZdyCoFkDuhom_NTigBHd6oplMgIBNxCFu5GEL2vdoXV2kVZHPCPWTS1xL-5WHXQnxR2oh-JNBKl4U7Nlm7HaC/s1600/DSC_0079.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaIvu3jQbuPkuXqJWi2NQ22iIOFf7qh8dVXnmvlZg3tmjoRIQeUiAEJWZdyCoFkDuhom_NTigBHd6oplMgIBNxCFu5GEL2vdoXV2kVZHPCPWTS1xL-5WHXQnxR2oh-JNBKl4U7Nlm7HaC/s320/DSC_0079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545711774958582130" /></a><br /><br />Tada! Cute, huh? I wrote one activity in each envelope and taped them to some raffia. As you can see, today's activity is going to visit Santa. Come back and see what we have planned for the rest of the month! I will post our activities daily.<br />nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-9224613472187194322010-12-01T05:30:00.000-08:002015-02-05T11:04:43.406-08:00Countdown.Let's just ignore the six month hiatus and move on, shall we?<br /><br />I was up late last night finishing our advent calendar. Last year we made a paper chain advent calendar and there was an activity written inside each of the loops. I was going to do the same thing this year, but decided at the very last minute to do something different. I wanted little envelopes, but wasn't sure how to make them. Then, in a flash from the past, I remembered that the middle schooler in me still knew how to fold a piece of paper into a little envelope to be passed in class. <br /><br />Take a square piece of paper and fold it into a triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s1600/DSC_0075.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzM5JU9rK8Bo1fX5CZC58wCxaBhyphenhyphenc06anQKWXj55UJdiopI2_lLNFZ4J60dwJA9wjicPOvTaZGzEl9NjKiCCcti3zKXC09pjsGn7Q8BAxw-_17nDY9VT9LgeJfTFQ82S4wVTDxmrVmAInY/s320/DSC_0075.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709069071672818" /></a><br /><br />Fold in the sides of the triangle:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s1600/DSC_0076.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TWoMHqc5NY8c_ElIYrkqqd7b9xGrL7OmqYXF9msKWiUseA6kizguY3kjFWXSsshEZevGFracuALMQ7IjJpTFpVhyphenhyphenjCPSiHDRO4ugU2GUM_v7x1NRBFXQipA8-81ktSds7jFPg4iF4zVu/s320/DSC_0076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709257848211970" /></a><br /><br />Fold up once:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s1600/DSC_0077.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMlfej0IfIlElFO-2SAhT4s_QVNfg7z6s34f77lRHS0X7s-yaE_mrKV0zlbCaSiGvVgXeTWIe9s90udxL9qe48VP9xyLt9F3-Em7zx-MATJ0EA7Gy9Qn_1a8WYmibEKrmUZ6ayFqTm1jn/s320/DSC_0077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709429540905490" /></a><br /><br />Take one flap and tuck it into the note, I mean envelope:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPnRzHJWTGW4p3bVmeiJjggT2oPqlpa5cSjXgg8y4l9DV7b7mgS1x3pDTixiPPgjo_jcoDW2iyiYTwuV4aVYRB89i6PpTD3gU08kEb1ZgGdSDXipMbvCt-Is4ne_eYFDxeLmmPbBTHjTH/s1600/DSC_0078.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPnRzHJWTGW4p3bVmeiJjggT2oPqlpa5cSjXgg8y4l9DV7b7mgS1x3pDTixiPPgjo_jcoDW2iyiYTwuV4aVYRB89i6PpTD3gU08kEb1ZgGdSDXipMbvCt-Is4ne_eYFDxeLmmPbBTHjTH/s320/DSC_0078.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709586409305810" /a><br /><br />Fold the other flap the other way to make it look like an envelope:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXB1QNK1M35080QnNbyvqnhyphenhyphenHl1xozxZf7akuzlpASSnyzETdDvuG36DkDgPpu6Jg3rHVclIX_Q6s21UaVjfyEp1kMOXy48fah5tG2VyZq7bCZlj43ag9DcaYhscgU1gCICDt9NBFQtzG/s1600/DSC_0079.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXB1QNK1M35080QnNbyvqnhyphenhyphenHl1xozxZf7akuzlpASSnyzETdDvuG36DkDgPpu6Jg3rHVclIX_Q6s21UaVjfyEp1kMOXy48fah5tG2VyZq7bCZlj43ag9DcaYhscgU1gCICDt9NBFQtzG/s320/DSC_0079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545709742953762786" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Tada! Cute, huh? I wrote one activity in each envelope and taped them to some raffia. Come back and see what we have planned for the month! I will post our activities daily.<br /><br /><br /><br />nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-42435850786735055662010-06-23T18:36:00.001-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.350-08:00Busy Bee<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9_Fr8yudLp9SAXLhuBf5F-pMkeeRiM9HJpeP9MN1XIpYGpw11E1x2vL1fEVpK73lbkDtXUSojoc3VA6oQfANo900u7h24jFQuAkOKCbJ7uY4f7tfvo78yOrxKn2YKPEmdzkxPfX_wWBF/s1600/IMG_3516.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9_Fr8yudLp9SAXLhuBf5F-pMkeeRiM9HJpeP9MN1XIpYGpw11E1x2vL1fEVpK73lbkDtXUSojoc3VA6oQfANo900u7h24jFQuAkOKCbJ7uY4f7tfvo78yOrxKn2YKPEmdzkxPfX_wWBF/s320/IMG_3516.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486158195620754066" /></a><br /><br />I know. I've been missing in action for a bit too long, but I can explain. First, there was our little bean's second birthday to plan and stay up late preparing for.<br /><br />It was an ice cream party, but I just had to make some mini cupcakes, too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXmofVin_16imMRSFlz9u7Dqdan48s6It54wVuP4Lt_fY3BIUvI52s_xu-xHY6Q8QxrwqhvRP4OYzJJcM-_TAasEnhd0sYPjBmSB6SXkzl7EI4BuIUNgHUo0oshKfJ9IcVefCVzmg99_B/s1600/4693960411_6716a2c8b6_o.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXmofVin_16imMRSFlz9u7Dqdan48s6It54wVuP4Lt_fY3BIUvI52s_xu-xHY6Q8QxrwqhvRP4OYzJJcM-_TAasEnhd0sYPjBmSB6SXkzl7EI4BuIUNgHUo0oshKfJ9IcVefCVzmg99_B/s320/4693960411_6716a2c8b6_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486152813099381794" /></a><br /><br />And, of course, there was ice cream. We had tons of toppings and let the kids make their own sundaes. <br /><br />Audrey had a great time and loved all the attention. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx7Q_Dfvu3IQwEhTBw8Gm7wrlnqzxMwdBeXRI1nVxvoaz7BC19yfwd1UmmtSJjRTa3l9UVndBpkbzjzhfAhlDpexWZltA7qCZhXbSQ0aVXGX_a35r4mpmtonjDB1WLN7K88i7bpjdNaXf/s1600/4693959685_363d85d321_o.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx7Q_Dfvu3IQwEhTBw8Gm7wrlnqzxMwdBeXRI1nVxvoaz7BC19yfwd1UmmtSJjRTa3l9UVndBpkbzjzhfAhlDpexWZltA7qCZhXbSQ0aVXGX_a35r4mpmtonjDB1WLN7K88i7bpjdNaXf/s320/4693959685_363d85d321_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486152841828942098" /></a><br /><br />There was a pie eating contest. Audrey didn't win, but she was happy to sit and eat that whipped cream one little fingertip full at a time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggpf1X8BBAkOfdtgCCUaM3xmaEdeMSFvh54An7A4IyzJwQCq_fupV6EWEqBXUPqxyM4fez4-0NtD91HW454BOH326gW20Kh39Abc0hgSsp2q6lxFUHsxFt2Z3zLjB_a2tilV8kHm73BuP/s1600/4694590032_1b9c024025_o.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggpf1X8BBAkOfdtgCCUaM3xmaEdeMSFvh54An7A4IyzJwQCq_fupV6EWEqBXUPqxyM4fez4-0NtD91HW454BOH326gW20Kh39Abc0hgSsp2q6lxFUHsxFt2Z3zLjB_a2tilV8kHm73BuP/s320/4694590032_1b9c024025_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486152818963392498" /></a><br /><br />And there was a relay race with water balloons in ice cream cones. It was about a zillion degrees that day, so water balloons were a big hit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzlnGDwLL5g6FruLy4WTYazDXmgYVLHEfUhfjQbR6_hAhF3CAl7Ud5zsLGSf2apLVg87g4eUZ5idM-LxNmwne8aKE2osr6TmoUhyphenhyphen2nz1OVzgK6PtUZAGG6HhDo6UXr4-3z_H_J-8iGPOc/s1600/4693950003_ed17230dd4_o.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzlnGDwLL5g6FruLy4WTYazDXmgYVLHEfUhfjQbR6_hAhF3CAl7Ud5zsLGSf2apLVg87g4eUZ5idM-LxNmwne8aKE2osr6TmoUhyphenhyphen2nz1OVzgK6PtUZAGG6HhDo6UXr4-3z_H_J-8iGPOc/s320/4693950003_ed17230dd4_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486152834149446482" /></a><br /><br />After the birthday festivities I had to get ready for a solo trip out to California for a dear friend's wedding. This is all you need when you travel alone. Amazing, isn't it?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdxC39ryhL2jrPIV6dvzktyYuXZ4uhiSfUmr9MUwfIlpXBCuR-Jp50v8pMLIi_fk16Kdk47ixyvGexooj0BTqb9NxdQD70Dzx2WgtfSXkrEPUsOMgD7dS55WhfDbb5p5VUyKEzzwwxC2Z/s1600/IMG_3514.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdxC39ryhL2jrPIV6dvzktyYuXZ4uhiSfUmr9MUwfIlpXBCuR-Jp50v8pMLIi_fk16Kdk47ixyvGexooj0BTqb9NxdQD70Dzx2WgtfSXkrEPUsOMgD7dS55WhfDbb5p5VUyKEzzwwxC2Z/s320/IMG_3514.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486155383835897634" /></a><br /><br />Visiting with wonderful friends that I don't see nearly often enough, witnessing the union of such a special couple, and spending the weekend driving through the bay area with my Dad, talking each other's ears off, was so spectacular. <br /><br />This is just a slice of what I've missed writing about, which brings me to my final reason for slacking. I have somehow managed to pull a tendon in my hand. It hurts. It hurts more when I use my left hand like I'm doing right now. So, forgive me if my posts are short for a while- I have to give this thing a chance to heal. <br /><br />I hope the last few weeks have been as good to you as they have been to me!nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-33615925918670483042010-06-04T05:12:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.340-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4I6MPAAz7MrCd3a72ohq6d4B1og7HvQVJQWSNjcxYE46oPOmfwUzM43zERAs3aRdFDkVB-VMW2ehn6E9LD6z_AaJvT1ugZpuzzs_dONfbWeko0tZqS_GcGHmeLmUlP1ySDuSJ8euldAo/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4I6MPAAz7MrCd3a72ohq6d4B1og7HvQVJQWSNjcxYE46oPOmfwUzM43zERAs3aRdFDkVB-VMW2ehn6E9LD6z_AaJvT1ugZpuzzs_dONfbWeko0tZqS_GcGHmeLmUlP1ySDuSJ8euldAo/s320/DSC_0023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479091135836081122" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-39917800314606993322010-06-02T11:39:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.348-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0OHrYOeAotHkqP4q_GceaEFBkCokLinNcMpOdv5-mN2T2jWFkm58v8vupyL9x9KzAqdlzqq0GFMXGtjkbek3Xlj4nIt_Zdhhdwy333OwjxR5CqKOwq6wDofGpFg_Yx7sCCQXh49sziEf/s1600/DSC_0107+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0OHrYOeAotHkqP4q_GceaEFBkCokLinNcMpOdv5-mN2T2jWFkm58v8vupyL9x9KzAqdlzqq0GFMXGtjkbek3Xlj4nIt_Zdhhdwy333OwjxR5CqKOwq6wDofGpFg_Yx7sCCQXh49sziEf/s320/DSC_0107+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478251156082430146" /></a><br /><br />Corey and I both love sweets, so our kids didn't really stand a chance. It's hard trying to teach a kid about self control though, when it comes to chocolate and candy. "Why can't I have more marshmallows?" Erika kept asking me over and over again one day. So, I took her to the computer and showed her a food pyramid. And we talked about the things she can eat lots and lots of, and the things that need a little moderation. To really drive the point home, we made our own food pyramid chart to hang in our dining room. <br /><br />First we went through some old Real Simple magazines and cut out pictures of food (grocery store circulars would be great for this, too). Then we talked about where they went on the chart, and glued them into place. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj13NWqcZGWo4DE_fCWg1FyrH9M57lGwlxV-Aqalf1NKTVv4PdRz4kAhPz37nhfuBauxpT8OT2hg7v1VQDzNiwWCFx2i83Q9AkJegA3_XBXn__CKw7KCT5Hn2IBhkEslxp6pmJivsEkwmm/s1600/DSC_0100.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj13NWqcZGWo4DE_fCWg1FyrH9M57lGwlxV-Aqalf1NKTVv4PdRz4kAhPz37nhfuBauxpT8OT2hg7v1VQDzNiwWCFx2i83Q9AkJegA3_XBXn__CKw7KCT5Hn2IBhkEslxp6pmJivsEkwmm/s320/DSC_0100.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478249821834700482" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkR7M-l7t6znmBL9yjKAqfo855IbHwKObS0l19m8vJWtXNvjwROtb-q2ih1y3pJ_2oSR5r6uSzBHo6eJVx8z53y_69F_G47uIhgQLpwF6e1rv5zejM9SiaxjjF98VHaGaZMP9-wG3F9o-w/s1600/DSC_0103+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkR7M-l7t6znmBL9yjKAqfo855IbHwKObS0l19m8vJWtXNvjwROtb-q2ih1y3pJ_2oSR5r6uSzBHo6eJVx8z53y_69F_G47uIhgQLpwF6e1rv5zejM9SiaxjjF98VHaGaZMP9-wG3F9o-w/s320/DSC_0103+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478249826888328258" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEq3Yrv95D2nUTf1P2_MnoVjYAx2qdxu0TfoBbes9cpxmTgvPjSxuW0niqfnyoH7LOGXK9nV-9KCPRRLZD6qvA8FeKCtukMPjrC6cZdIqNFRjRnc-Y2ud_ggFmoDR43JGbbTbnmJeUDkT/s1600/DSC_0105+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEq3Yrv95D2nUTf1P2_MnoVjYAx2qdxu0TfoBbes9cpxmTgvPjSxuW0niqfnyoH7LOGXK9nV-9KCPRRLZD6qvA8FeKCtukMPjrC6cZdIqNFRjRnc-Y2ud_ggFmoDR43JGbbTbnmJeUDkT/s320/DSC_0105+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478249834395858578" /></a><br /><br />And then we made these.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2YLHi9MHPTXa_jCdPCqkZVHLNik2meWCSemHCO6fTKQn2FieR2nuMPkaXoe5uunUCvNVZruJZWGD6j0z4zCjZ6IkbGkh4e9E2zL00V5IyvZF8VqDQqLLpvIXm4kGZ90TuTSsrnFIS8Ez/s1600/DSC_0109+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2YLHi9MHPTXa_jCdPCqkZVHLNik2meWCSemHCO6fTKQn2FieR2nuMPkaXoe5uunUCvNVZruJZWGD6j0z4zCjZ6IkbGkh4e9E2zL00V5IyvZF8VqDQqLLpvIXm4kGZ90TuTSsrnFIS8Ez/s320/DSC_0109+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478250460730874066" /></a><br /><br />I know. I'm evil, right? But you know what? Erika ate her dinner with enthusiasm that night, telling us where each food fell on the food pyramid. She ate her brownie and totally understood why she could not have a second piece.nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-11649750033773932892010-05-31T17:44:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.324-08:00Weekend SnapshotsWhat a gorgeous weekend we just had. The main order of business was this privacy fence that we wanted to get up. Corey and I (with a little help from Erika) spent the bulk of Friday staining it and he and his Dad put it up Saturday. Not a huge home project, but a big one for us. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBr7zjJSeGZw7jCn1Cv9Bf5qLlpHkq_f-iPOKmPh9EUMl-IPTJKVJHRO3sxzIWPu8Z4vdrrmyJrx_7BwVlfJj1v2yyVPbyGrhu2PMmLzKeraXyg_m3MAQGNLdsS27L41d8CxKNmUsCbog/s1600/DSC_0001+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBr7zjJSeGZw7jCn1Cv9Bf5qLlpHkq_f-iPOKmPh9EUMl-IPTJKVJHRO3sxzIWPu8Z4vdrrmyJrx_7BwVlfJj1v2yyVPbyGrhu2PMmLzKeraXyg_m3MAQGNLdsS27L41d8CxKNmUsCbog/s320/DSC_0001+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477602252067149506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCKFW8PVgw4lgZkw0vZoma6Kdy2nqlrvTtyt244tGfY6bdDxctqQXYX2RF7Su4KLWev3gwFT8tItt5tTXpd17fm5i50BmnX_U2UObtGN6OUVFlLwttcRqNL6RjSWARnEjpKdzAGuktGJS/s1600/DSC_0048+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCKFW8PVgw4lgZkw0vZoma6Kdy2nqlrvTtyt244tGfY6bdDxctqQXYX2RF7Su4KLWev3gwFT8tItt5tTXpd17fm5i50BmnX_U2UObtGN6OUVFlLwttcRqNL6RjSWARnEjpKdzAGuktGJS/s320/DSC_0048+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477602572999689778" /></a><br /><br />On Friday, for our five year anniversary (five years!), we went out to dinner at a local brewery and enjoyed an awesome dinner (complete with an eight beer sampler) and uninterrupted conversation with my best friend. <br /><br />On Saturday night we all went to a party with bubbles, chalk, tons of great food, a gaggle of girls making fairy houses and catching butterflies, and an outdoor movie showing of Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. Yeah, it was pretty rad. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGhQk7Z84_lIOCbHyJgEf3N1GrF0EkxkVzun5xBbMQr6h3z016_Ve5-4q62lAotvSxoIIvCdtPUu2W6XRg8dSpJobNZelXvgjjiRhzBdZgCmu33SseJvQQgQuIsphyphenhyphen_CLifeTsRyuu11x/s1600/DSC_0103+(3).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGhQk7Z84_lIOCbHyJgEf3N1GrF0EkxkVzun5xBbMQr6h3z016_Ve5-4q62lAotvSxoIIvCdtPUu2W6XRg8dSpJobNZelXvgjjiRhzBdZgCmu33SseJvQQgQuIsphyphenhyphen_CLifeTsRyuu11x/s320/DSC_0103+(3).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477606789683252914" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnt7fENfh1p_K8y-YhBe81JwFhAvzg-JVOimuUcQQaRb8Lxk_w99hPD_6Q24jpL-VoQOaXsuImFTMVWaUCSi7cBQfdnvuEmZRAI6QVFG_0huzjEe2U7r4rQTpAjY0oBuzEiHYnz71BR7k/s1600/DSC_0089+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnt7fENfh1p_K8y-YhBe81JwFhAvzg-JVOimuUcQQaRb8Lxk_w99hPD_6Q24jpL-VoQOaXsuImFTMVWaUCSi7cBQfdnvuEmZRAI6QVFG_0huzjEe2U7r4rQTpAjY0oBuzEiHYnz71BR7k/s320/DSC_0089+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477606786970047506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNcGyAu5SOXx0S-T4BrVdvhGJTh-ryBG_Ww0e8TK_OKzHYqemwc4-TvzSypwyO3fFFXPYreEIlALz47K-eJrNBNlmecBrOCG7BBpF4_LzGPIh15ROkqiO3Ttpy-m4S5SNoRubRtXfzFOI/s1600/DSC_0055+(3).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNcGyAu5SOXx0S-T4BrVdvhGJTh-ryBG_Ww0e8TK_OKzHYqemwc4-TvzSypwyO3fFFXPYreEIlALz47K-eJrNBNlmecBrOCG7BBpF4_LzGPIh15ROkqiO3Ttpy-m4S5SNoRubRtXfzFOI/s320/DSC_0055+(3).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477606774802147666" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZEfozD3gi3QUiMNKebXhWFN3nJJMlyEmt5RFGvXUTS1GdZfUFO_INehsrJYBbqyvOsocaOBctfQ4T4rAVebO5-4HV9hZUFxAiK3z1QPFIRwrU25M4gj91_SIYCd2YpmUUCYbnB4R8s7b/s1600/DSC_0056+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZEfozD3gi3QUiMNKebXhWFN3nJJMlyEmt5RFGvXUTS1GdZfUFO_INehsrJYBbqyvOsocaOBctfQ4T4rAVebO5-4HV9hZUFxAiK3z1QPFIRwrU25M4gj91_SIYCd2YpmUUCYbnB4R8s7b/s320/DSC_0056+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477606768051110770" /></a><br /><br />The girls also helped me plant some flowers in hanging baskets on the new fence.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLP_sdEB1MUqwEjNTO2zbGmzfzasLgiyucDvgU9op_u7E86t5XeacvXO8TjRD2NOcU82ntBhyphenhyphenK3PRx_OsRAd39I6W5W2Ygvkog3pzcnHgXb5OnZ4kfj96LMXgd4k8gzxo5J7OYJ95eoF0/s1600/DSC_0122+(3).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLP_sdEB1MUqwEjNTO2zbGmzfzasLgiyucDvgU9op_u7E86t5XeacvXO8TjRD2NOcU82ntBhyphenhyphenK3PRx_OsRAd39I6W5W2Ygvkog3pzcnHgXb5OnZ4kfj96LMXgd4k8gzxo5J7OYJ95eoF0/s320/DSC_0122+(3).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477607914127911554" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Enr8Sa8sPqSqG9FIrJoiqUidC5Ce_KmjYFf6EaWAq6nShA6ZewPs32mBeMv3tvRGZJyUyP8g0WWFbXu6GltwcOsL8bHImNHQ-M0s3-DENeeJEg1ZCsqntazi1rpE85cgYk_LN1FvzBqn/s1600/DSC_0123+(3).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Enr8Sa8sPqSqG9FIrJoiqUidC5Ce_KmjYFf6EaWAq6nShA6ZewPs32mBeMv3tvRGZJyUyP8g0WWFbXu6GltwcOsL8bHImNHQ-M0s3-DENeeJEg1ZCsqntazi1rpE85cgYk_LN1FvzBqn/s320/DSC_0123+(3).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477607922959754530" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQ9qfaSU6rSR0rKDmUjUXuAhztUdzlJTBajHXVBgDPeadehk8-_dND2MyYxjOu1J95lT8-9NpklLb1owqfGnSy44232f1o3gQ4zzpfTzCSUBBerE1bSfyrIgVHCxilpfXs9z6QWAk6jmQ/s1600/DSC_0133+(3).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQ9qfaSU6rSR0rKDmUjUXuAhztUdzlJTBajHXVBgDPeadehk8-_dND2MyYxjOu1J95lT8-9NpklLb1owqfGnSy44232f1o3gQ4zzpfTzCSUBBerE1bSfyrIgVHCxilpfXs9z6QWAk6jmQ/s320/DSC_0133+(3).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477607932188685538" /></a><br /><br />And last, but not certainly not least, we had a live Fish Sticks performance in our backyard. Now, you may not have heard of the Fish Sticks yet, but you will. Corey and Erika started the Fish Sticks this last winter and after many practices they played their single, Hawaiian Cowgirl Robot, to a live audience of two last night. While the girls took their showers, I got the stage ready. It was an awesome performance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNPA2SHfBQOfyi_axcxdb1m9OtGh5RZtkaqQGkZ_cx9L3j3s-vX_oZr0_YziPKxKU2iFanOA8GCVoHrznilu9RPNf9AuXttaBFZGGd_aTLUsovNV6JZpSMSuCR_U_IYJnh4pC7P4Y3xDO/s1600/DSC_0184.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNPA2SHfBQOfyi_axcxdb1m9OtGh5RZtkaqQGkZ_cx9L3j3s-vX_oZr0_YziPKxKU2iFanOA8GCVoHrznilu9RPNf9AuXttaBFZGGd_aTLUsovNV6JZpSMSuCR_U_IYJnh4pC7P4Y3xDO/s320/DSC_0184.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477609047415392434" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-11248083404838971492010-05-28T05:51:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.316-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1y2xS8iuKv8_Nk06pFhd0v0fZnd8cxgqDM594W66Fq8W8ss04LhIFpNAlDVkDhYSsFmjKuD7hlLqitcjAVMHB8V6VO9km12J_sRvjnBEiKcpo3m-2R9w-bvzQ2OgbdA5mV7YAKSqWQNIu/s1600/DSC_0006+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1y2xS8iuKv8_Nk06pFhd0v0fZnd8cxgqDM594W66Fq8W8ss04LhIFpNAlDVkDhYSsFmjKuD7hlLqitcjAVMHB8V6VO9km12J_sRvjnBEiKcpo3m-2R9w-bvzQ2OgbdA5mV7YAKSqWQNIu/s320/DSC_0006+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476303937921796562" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-4740538107957408672010-05-27T18:25:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.356-08:00Mrs. Waters Clothes LineWe watering our gardens this morning when Erika came across this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5OeA8uGZmAk_VTfyAD91jarw_y7hnn3hkbaBQgMjkRp7KWtVH0GwzOnPhjCMLHZmmEU7-UQfAWMAhDoYIX_fqsbx_QZvazBOepyTJ5vDf4-mj_8LcpfalLKGV0l8zTSxl8eJuLfzSPjHD/s1600/DSC_0088.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5OeA8uGZmAk_VTfyAD91jarw_y7hnn3hkbaBQgMjkRp7KWtVH0GwzOnPhjCMLHZmmEU7-UQfAWMAhDoYIX_fqsbx_QZvazBOepyTJ5vDf4-mj_8LcpfalLKGV0l8zTSxl8eJuLfzSPjHD/s320/DSC_0088.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476126367487424642" /></a><br /><br />You see it there? That post with the rope wrapped up around it? It's an old clothes line that has probably been there since 1939 when our house was built. This home only had one owner before us and the grandson of the couple who was selling the house gave us the original blueprints, photos of the home just after it was built, and lease. Having these things has connected me to the woman who occupied these walls with her family in a strange way. Every time I see this clothes line it reminds me of Mrs. Waters, the woman I never met, the woman who lived in this home for so many years. Cooked in the kitchen where I cook for my family, walked up and down the same stairs, and hung her family's clothes on this clothes line. I have never used a clothes line before today, but, with Erika's urging, we got it up. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwWbK2WjJnvzkt92BIUfdgz_FwpQW0mjrsmT7bte_Avi7QoGrbMDIDDMZ2pjJzw5W6V30q8G6UmPYo2pq0JjPUyHIs4BnPsXPPSSOB-VPrr2mC7z9of6i4a7iAYspiTw36cIlID7r-Uxc/s1600/DSC_0097.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwWbK2WjJnvzkt92BIUfdgz_FwpQW0mjrsmT7bte_Avi7QoGrbMDIDDMZ2pjJzw5W6V30q8G6UmPYo2pq0JjPUyHIs4BnPsXPPSSOB-VPrr2mC7z9of6i4a7iAYspiTw36cIlID7r-Uxc/s320/DSC_0097.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476128824273670866" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16B9tZclYBF-CYFt5H5Fd5G5xrtKcXdg0Sx1JNGFFMom8cfMLJQNPI6FFetrVxrjorZsdsIrDKqhSJT3SmffLdxBU9js543GDgIszff081xO0jisIkWtILV7PcnwnOPjBeVbT02WnX7q2/s1600/DSC_0094+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16B9tZclYBF-CYFt5H5Fd5G5xrtKcXdg0Sx1JNGFFMom8cfMLJQNPI6FFetrVxrjorZsdsIrDKqhSJT3SmffLdxBU9js543GDgIszff081xO0jisIkWtILV7PcnwnOPjBeVbT02WnX7q2/s320/DSC_0094+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476128809735505778" /></a><br /><br />I've been seeing the pictures that are posted on GardenMama's '<a href="http://gardenmama.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/05/my-entry-2.html">Wash Wednesday</a>' the last few weeks and it gave me the itch. There are lots of good reasons to use a clothesline, but I always thought it was just too much work in an already hectic day filled with chores that rarely get done. What I discovered as I was helping Erika hang up our clothes was that it is actually a break from all the running around. Instead of running down to the basement and quickly tossing the clothes into the dryer, I spent some time outside talking with my oldest about the way things used to be, enjoying the beautifully sunny day, and relaxing. Suddenly, it wasn't a chore. It was a pleasure. I'm sure the allure of this will wear off when I have a giant mountain of laundry in my basement again, but I intend to keep using the clothe line because it reminds me to slow down mentally. And, believe me, I need that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5so5l2wFSaTL7YpsuEtst3ctBL_JwRfIBD2iqKS6j7TgPR2sH9lYChRs9wySF2QCp2hdBqgHjy8_40jtAnTb5LplDZyXCYh8jfcYXGHgsGDTsGIVIkm0_5AWwQtafpaQsfgCidwDPbJ5/s1600/DSC_0139+(2).JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5so5l2wFSaTL7YpsuEtst3ctBL_JwRfIBD2iqKS6j7TgPR2sH9lYChRs9wySF2QCp2hdBqgHjy8_40jtAnTb5LplDZyXCYh8jfcYXGHgsGDTsGIVIkm0_5AWwQtafpaQsfgCidwDPbJ5/s320/DSC_0139+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476132873502243426" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-31827961295569811182010-05-24T17:45:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.336-08:00From the Library<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2Wk69hDqaDuLvnwrRrMDQSjP7L4nUmor98zfxRuCFUAqLTSpjVaZ6IepixlnXQ50-OHiFI8nOfOfDP6-ngkx5BEcpKzzvvOciAffcILl15W4fEv0flfPMPiE1KFAmGP9-_xvGW7e_Wr8/s1600/verses.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 94px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2Wk69hDqaDuLvnwrRrMDQSjP7L4nUmor98zfxRuCFUAqLTSpjVaZ6IepixlnXQ50-OHiFI8nOfOfDP6-ngkx5BEcpKzzvvOciAffcILl15W4fEv0flfPMPiE1KFAmGP9-_xvGW7e_Wr8/s320/verses.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475002978196391010" /></a><br /><br />nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-35011527314784328452010-05-24T17:22:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.342-08:00Beans and MudThe pole beans I lovingly started from seed didn't do too well. Maybe it was the darn squirrels messing with them, or maybe I just started them too soon. Last weekend at the farmer's market I bought some plants and planted them around our bean tee pee. Here is a picture of the new plants next to seedlings. And also some beautiful lettuce at the market, just because.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistHbACEAgTBU5jSTRGLDRtK6G-T7QTu_mXMqcaK3g45tpug35NRilN_1000VHSZx9OEr_H8XDrByoxV8Fs53FovGmnOe4slCMh_ZTjbH353Kgr28ynZvYT4EtG7lFhnHxK24YCVXLvEAI/s1600/IMG_3426.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistHbACEAgTBU5jSTRGLDRtK6G-T7QTu_mXMqcaK3g45tpug35NRilN_1000VHSZx9OEr_H8XDrByoxV8Fs53FovGmnOe4slCMh_ZTjbH353Kgr28ynZvYT4EtG7lFhnHxK24YCVXLvEAI/s320/IMG_3426.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474997476663173026" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2oPLwoRP_8_-BJ5JM84SbcecYJQ6uaXSxTs6p_wR8YWEQ4W9l6OQN6dIESf2-J-t67AGqWy_fMcyzvLArZpxO1AJX541ddxDFsknj4BhbU4zW_Rk_CtXkFV2fgZHtl-lV36f00pQt3Zw/s1600/IMG_3423.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2oPLwoRP_8_-BJ5JM84SbcecYJQ6uaXSxTs6p_wR8YWEQ4W9l6OQN6dIESf2-J-t67AGqWy_fMcyzvLArZpxO1AJX541ddxDFsknj4BhbU4zW_Rk_CtXkFV2fgZHtl-lV36f00pQt3Zw/s320/IMG_3423.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474999352684833026" /></a><br /> <br />And here is the tee pee in the back corner of the yard. The goal is to hide, or at least detract, from that awesome utility post. I will post more pictures if the squirrels don't destroy it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihaSsWKE3EakG_y0MlLjEdNvZfv2PA8fCtaYHqYTORUdwk6lhmkomIMNiX7sRLYoAUTvGpYYW94d94TqKFjqcHlU_7YMrO3Stx_pY-XRYcaVd7H2myxOI7em_WJtGBEujzEPwz6M5byLC/s1600/DSC_0119.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihaSsWKE3EakG_y0MlLjEdNvZfv2PA8fCtaYHqYTORUdwk6lhmkomIMNiX7sRLYoAUTvGpYYW94d94TqKFjqcHlU_7YMrO3Stx_pY-XRYcaVd7H2myxOI7em_WJtGBEujzEPwz6M5byLC/s320/DSC_0119.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474998843225209346" /></a><br /><br />In other garden news, mud is really fun. The sand box with plastic toys isn't nearly as appealing as dirt, water, and a shovel. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRnPoj1Xw3k8dCNMVN9FP2amDZdwCoH_l9TzP-BC4qealJDrPgKQHvDhWVNrfx4QhWPoglJMTIYdaCpHwWZ6gzCYjCtsHMWiXH-z24RQuUWxQuNl1SW_Wzd08hc9Mf5xQGQ4YO1P5BO1j/s1600/IMG_3466.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRnPoj1Xw3k8dCNMVN9FP2amDZdwCoH_l9TzP-BC4qealJDrPgKQHvDhWVNrfx4QhWPoglJMTIYdaCpHwWZ6gzCYjCtsHMWiXH-z24RQuUWxQuNl1SW_Wzd08hc9Mf5xQGQ4YO1P5BO1j/s320/IMG_3466.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475001294343595506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFJHWdRldWT_0W0gS6IHr7lc5F0019seotnYMa2Ebcu9F8Zr3T8xzNQSi-SUFyJ_4J2yecwxdOzlf2V2opPcUQgNe1u-7XbNRIMX0-DJTUSOnc5ZXeD5frmfgXS7nok4XmSrC9fyaPZLI/s1600/IMG_3456.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFJHWdRldWT_0W0gS6IHr7lc5F0019seotnYMa2Ebcu9F8Zr3T8xzNQSi-SUFyJ_4J2yecwxdOzlf2V2opPcUQgNe1u-7XbNRIMX0-DJTUSOnc5ZXeD5frmfgXS7nok4XmSrC9fyaPZLI/s320/IMG_3456.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475001287293985346" /></a><br /><br />A good friend of mine recently set aside a part of her yard for play with a pile of dirt and building materials like bricks and stones. Of course, her kids love it. It has me thinking about the possibilities for this little corner of the yard.nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-746724283421549772010-05-21T10:13:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.387-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifMfcU76WQ7OMURA17pgmIljv63WKs7uLEbLuQqhI0Jim2nUrBNbSDaK07my1oFwSvfUMqYwmDHVeyAHCaq8xyCwkrHAHOjig6CVKLeuU4pWVemd9sI8M8TL5WJglsSWq0O-Mk4ymTNv0/s1600/IMG_3374.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifMfcU76WQ7OMURA17pgmIljv63WKs7uLEbLuQqhI0Jim2nUrBNbSDaK07my1oFwSvfUMqYwmDHVeyAHCaq8xyCwkrHAHOjig6CVKLeuU4pWVemd9sI8M8TL5WJglsSWq0O-Mk4ymTNv0/s320/IMG_3374.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473773516885016594" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-16125376663355945442010-05-17T17:16:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.330-08:00Make You Own Easel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_zYRxrK677jOUJOSwvYZB4gA8QI3I78J59o_v5bYdeXzaR6mr4e2QXWl3DjdVb5hBFcl1aYMEn2wFpjFAyWNyl3VctqZbHxyW9q3JCHCiEJQI6f_zE1QKaNWtYmNFLpQuHGcX6-s1rRR/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_zYRxrK677jOUJOSwvYZB4gA8QI3I78J59o_v5bYdeXzaR6mr4e2QXWl3DjdVb5hBFcl1aYMEn2wFpjFAyWNyl3VctqZbHxyW9q3JCHCiEJQI6f_zE1QKaNWtYmNFLpQuHGcX6-s1rRR/s320/IMG_3299.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472403243584898610" /></a><br /><br />We ordered pizza last night for dinner and as I was about to recycle the boxes this morning I remembered a pizza box easel idea I saw in Maryann Kohl's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Art-Experiences-Toddlers-Twos/dp/0876592221">First Art</a>. Basically, you tape down the ends of the box to create a table top easel, tape on a piece of paper, and let your kiddo paint. We have a regular easel too, but this table top easel takes up much less room when being used, collapses when you're done, and is free! <br /><br />I found a tutorial <a href="http://artexperiencesfortots.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/easel-activities-8/">here</a>. They painted on the inside of the box so that the flaps could catch drips, but Audrey was painting the tape, the table, and her hands during this project, so it didn't really make a difference that we painted on the outside instead.<br /><br />Here is Audrey painting away. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UTK9QcJCq8bCNrOaLyP7S-XTqn2SEg_2IcP-jhQlk3mtTI67MUrXLAtXX9auelZu0J6oHhwj9GcXBvy1YXT1CdnN3x8CvqtuLAPnTLvhjmwNldbs3GxTqOSgGaEvKEeOeM-cp9OSutCd/s1600/IMG_3283.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UTK9QcJCq8bCNrOaLyP7S-XTqn2SEg_2IcP-jhQlk3mtTI67MUrXLAtXX9auelZu0J6oHhwj9GcXBvy1YXT1CdnN3x8CvqtuLAPnTLvhjmwNldbs3GxTqOSgGaEvKEeOeM-cp9OSutCd/s320/IMG_3283.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472402748012906066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFIvUG71i5DXHHlADEMicMyJs3niJWxgo5xnK4JoylEQP-X96zEzeM0iac0kPh5k7M0FGI8hVTxht66XWDnDlmk-53Rv8q5vQIbOCTq-TMqsduXMmxDaM_8fc6xSPz3HlgiitkFQNntLz/s1600/IMG_3290.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFIvUG71i5DXHHlADEMicMyJs3niJWxgo5xnK4JoylEQP-X96zEzeM0iac0kPh5k7M0FGI8hVTxht66XWDnDlmk-53Rv8q5vQIbOCTq-TMqsduXMmxDaM_8fc6xSPz3HlgiitkFQNntLz/s320/IMG_3290.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472402772147751554" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnqjvhZ8LTXELph0Rj0s1I7Aix2VDCb0k3k7NeRkkERuci5RhFXXhSDVFSU-7NbosVQgkBHA7Qb1gXiG58TmeSluMZVCPycst0m7Ur9nMe_c3aWLGld5o3A74c1FV88UGCNL2Hs2DojZf/s1600/IMG_3293.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnqjvhZ8LTXELph0Rj0s1I7Aix2VDCb0k3k7NeRkkERuci5RhFXXhSDVFSU-7NbosVQgkBHA7Qb1gXiG58TmeSluMZVCPycst0m7Ur9nMe_c3aWLGld5o3A74c1FV88UGCNL2Hs2DojZf/s320/IMG_3293.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472402762291637954" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_OkNvQ5E2Z1vqqjIgzTX95lDvn4j7RVUBnuinQ5N0qMTirszetswvzetJDdPIej-bgYRK6imo2EN0cT0XupzSwbxAxwuxNzw8tJgaMopaFyvhMr4Vza1aXBB5r7qxjBHTty4pth9nS3jK/s1600/IMG_3287.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_OkNvQ5E2Z1vqqjIgzTX95lDvn4j7RVUBnuinQ5N0qMTirszetswvzetJDdPIej-bgYRK6imo2EN0cT0XupzSwbxAxwuxNzw8tJgaMopaFyvhMr4Vza1aXBB5r7qxjBHTty4pth9nS3jK/s320/IMG_3287.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472402751771574818" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-84066035187526266382010-05-14T06:38:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.394-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitueUlzCxvH2xhyphenhyphenc9dUahNPY3DggWjdV_THs0Z91jKI1pIHhnvomwMYoL3qikVafpmu0WfWu-972mZu9LMT-0POhp9UWb-lw8vpv2OFpR9yx_lByvWIB8sLjTb025C7hSuArMdX4yL5_qX/s1600/IMG_3040.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitueUlzCxvH2xhyphenhyphenc9dUahNPY3DggWjdV_THs0Z91jKI1pIHhnvomwMYoL3qikVafpmu0WfWu-972mZu9LMT-0POhp9UWb-lw8vpv2OFpR9yx_lByvWIB8sLjTb025C7hSuArMdX4yL5_qX/s320/IMG_3040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471120203409478930" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-80448381013125838002010-05-12T13:09:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.390-08:00Serve It Yourself Tacos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CcpUTiDmEfOUUNTbwoHCQZZe20LqQfcWb9407Fp_xB04H47DJfwKkDnl7GfJkbmJ3T6cioUvUhZsYSgzgHyXJXLoScThApY6HLYgCjBFTV4oNZ_S2HqsqeEmdsfw8uiG1lMm9_fJymnK/s1600/IMG_3106.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CcpUTiDmEfOUUNTbwoHCQZZe20LqQfcWb9407Fp_xB04H47DJfwKkDnl7GfJkbmJ3T6cioUvUhZsYSgzgHyXJXLoScThApY6HLYgCjBFTV4oNZ_S2HqsqeEmdsfw8uiG1lMm9_fJymnK/s320/IMG_3106.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481765932829154" /></a><br /><br />Serve it yourself night is usually a hit around here. Sometimes I do it because dinner is a mish mash of random foods, like <a href="http://somethingfromscratch.blogspot.com/2010/03/ha.html">this</a>. Sometimes I do it because Erika asks for it. And other times it is my tricky way of getting them to eat something that they don't usually love. Mexican night used to be a staple of our weekly diet until these little kiddos started protesting. Who doesn't love Mexican food?! So, I had to be sneaky. <br /><br />I gave them tortillas, beans, ground beef, cheese, and sour cream. Start them off with the simple stuff before moving on to grilled veggies and such at a later date. <br /><br />They started off by filling their tortillas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4ghiQTrpSl1wdZR6Cd3uu4SKX_pzigjFNtSy7YfBf2BDM8XcKxYmxgyNDtem11yy0OtuOnio5iZoV67wfBXTZ_zTQ86UHEafIRyF_Hld7WSiF7LUls7nRNEc_B8rXZox4u47cZ8hM09w/s1600/IMG_3097.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4ghiQTrpSl1wdZR6Cd3uu4SKX_pzigjFNtSy7YfBf2BDM8XcKxYmxgyNDtem11yy0OtuOnio5iZoV67wfBXTZ_zTQ86UHEafIRyF_Hld7WSiF7LUls7nRNEc_B8rXZox4u47cZ8hM09w/s320/IMG_3097.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481067426916706" /></a><br /><br />And folding them up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegYz6mt8KSWpsHKeaaBu1WOSeJngEm5OJPkowxQHQ9aK5VTzyhk958HSwnvg4xcu9EWTQELfbXkO4FPSMRazbomjGhuB_Af9RrLp_n5pcNbnMxBuP4WNoY-LsHQ2dvTVjx0AhJpcanRlT/s1600/IMG_3102.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegYz6mt8KSWpsHKeaaBu1WOSeJngEm5OJPkowxQHQ9aK5VTzyhk958HSwnvg4xcu9EWTQELfbXkO4FPSMRazbomjGhuB_Af9RrLp_n5pcNbnMxBuP4WNoY-LsHQ2dvTVjx0AhJpcanRlT/s320/IMG_3102.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481076076728466" /></a><br /><br />But then they kept losing their ingredients, so they just ate with spoons.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXv0etw-pHygmhjawgAfvKIEJroP6o6LQzbX2UInnvTyieRNZBQDwvjni_dAjHSpnEXqCn1ZVJizhcwmKTH7GmwoRi55HKQ5Xc_vYwv6bjDrTiFiPNMcb8qMPbDN7_cTB29y8UAfkyttrX/s1600/IMG_3104.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXv0etw-pHygmhjawgAfvKIEJroP6o6LQzbX2UInnvTyieRNZBQDwvjni_dAjHSpnEXqCn1ZVJizhcwmKTH7GmwoRi55HKQ5Xc_vYwv6bjDrTiFiPNMcb8qMPbDN7_cTB29y8UAfkyttrX/s320/IMG_3104.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481087990504914" /></a><br /><br />Until I remembered that I had hard taco shells and they transfered all their ingredients to those.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4wd1ItJvT_IlmtGc1Tep0rjepmtn2hXbbguubGBLmoGhok5SHZDAI009U39uhkZ8pG8gw5Wf3cwEj7wZbX3qWsuAStCtVcTZfnfNfgigru529cpQPIHZB4wTXC8hfRwTIhDgsIxqarAt/s1600/IMG_3105.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4wd1ItJvT_IlmtGc1Tep0rjepmtn2hXbbguubGBLmoGhok5SHZDAI009U39uhkZ8pG8gw5Wf3cwEj7wZbX3qWsuAStCtVcTZfnfNfgigru529cpQPIHZB4wTXC8hfRwTIhDgsIxqarAt/s320/IMG_3105.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481093281379314" /></a><br /><br />But most importantly- they ate it all! Well, most of it. A lot ends up on the floor on serve it yourself night.nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-6514825026524899352010-05-10T16:19:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.378-08:00A Semi-Montessori ApproachOver the weekend the girls requested to share a room. Their rooms were directly across from each other before and they played in both rooms, but they wanted to sleep in the same room and we couldn't see why not. Erika said it was the best day of her life and Audrey jumped up and down yelling, "Yay!" <br /><br />So here is their new shared sleeping room.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMxHH0NN1dtMFpopz1VOxyAiklKxsci2KJqj32wyFyy4YUXaZTmEnRjwTDNbU5cGIp_XG9TLcdJmmt3ZL3fxyy8ePxJU9CGYFb_qIa3hnLXx4wWamhQxvTgdMFWtRCRexzCXOg6_CrJqE/s1600/IMG_3066.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMxHH0NN1dtMFpopz1VOxyAiklKxsci2KJqj32wyFyy4YUXaZTmEnRjwTDNbU5cGIp_XG9TLcdJmmt3ZL3fxyy8ePxJU9CGYFb_qIa3hnLXx4wWamhQxvTgdMFWtRCRexzCXOg6_CrJqE/s320/IMG_3066.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469790631370852930" /></a><br /><br />I have been drawn to the Montessori philosophy for a long time and have been subtly using it's ideas with the girls. With the change in rooms, I decided to incorporate the ideas for fully. This is definitely just a start using what we already had in the home, but I wanted to share it now so that you can see the process as it unfolds.<br /><br />This reading nook isn't really Montessori inspired, I guess, but it gives the girls a small, calm place to get away and be alone. I placed it next to a bookshelf where I want to create a small nature center. Right now there is a bird's nest, magnifying glass, and binoculars. I also want to add some math materials here. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEH-liY-Ice9lLuCQqXROUGhEx_NGWGNkyC0Os8CuXweGmawpQuav7Qzzc31JP5ytp78zMFjQPaaTEilC5soy6madb3nR0sk9uzmefX4CKKx6sVnmoMxz5lN96AF2jU9E4ovnEyCfQiyuJ/s1600/IMG_3058.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEH-liY-Ice9lLuCQqXROUGhEx_NGWGNkyC0Os8CuXweGmawpQuav7Qzzc31JP5ytp78zMFjQPaaTEilC5soy6madb3nR0sk9uzmefX4CKKx6sVnmoMxz5lN96AF2jU9E4ovnEyCfQiyuJ/s320/IMG_3058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469793661165033970" /></a><br /><br />To the left of the shelf is a desk which I was ecstatic to find at a garage sale last week. I wanted this to be a desk and self care station in one, so I added a mirror, hairbrushes, and clips for each of the girls. I would love some kind of narrow organization center to keep scissors, markers, glue and such here too. The beloved <a href="http://somethingfromscratch.blogspot.com/2010/02/found-typewriter.html">typewriter</a> is next to the desk, though Erika still needs help setting it up because it's so heavy. That basket of stuffed animals and babies to the left of the bed really needs to go, but both of the girls like playing with the babies, so I will have to set up an organized pretending area for them somewhere. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFQ_4Ng_wd1bgJD50JFFVWWjAEV-FLSEXpmqAekALV8fFowrIYZ9dC_NqXY4HFk01pe5e5So522jWDkXB6XF6HAwmSrwJGvAn98A753_38Nl852USvRBSGRO6WO1IAhc819oKF_jcfOxn/s1600/IMG_3060.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFQ_4Ng_wd1bgJD50JFFVWWjAEV-FLSEXpmqAekALV8fFowrIYZ9dC_NqXY4HFk01pe5e5So522jWDkXB6XF6HAwmSrwJGvAn98A753_38Nl852USvRBSGRO6WO1IAhc819oKF_jcfOxn/s320/IMG_3060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469793670389003362" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZfC-UD_0FkEgbJSnU83-7cSuLOf2_D6FuxuD7VWQzX5SijcTMStKMR3mBGsY3yQ4X2ptM8CU3_uFPcJJ50iwPJciYPJi11o_njoyvQPZoGEuhx3SuEt_Hr0iQ_ATk1oFdWoV4YvbhHGI/s1600/IMG_3065.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZfC-UD_0FkEgbJSnU83-7cSuLOf2_D6FuxuD7VWQzX5SijcTMStKMR3mBGsY3yQ4X2ptM8CU3_uFPcJJ50iwPJciYPJi11o_njoyvQPZoGEuhx3SuEt_Hr0iQ_ATk1oFdWoV4YvbhHGI/s320/IMG_3065.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469793695892497922" /></a><br /><br />On the wall next to the desk I put the doll house with all the furniture and dolls in a bin on the bottom shelf. I saw <a href="http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/nursery-tour-vincents-montessori-inspired-room-018643">this</a> great room on Ohdeedoh and remembered that I had nature cards similar to the ones used in that room, so I placed them around the girls' new space. The ones next to the doll house are all about space. I put some calming ones in the reading nook, a few around the mirror, and some more above the table on the other side of the room.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTTBqTjC_49045YsmOCqIXwGcMcDcY7RZucAB2XmOCrxqsIziQvMNiC826bcHDuRV1vz2BuPLsene-ueoXeMJR2L1B_xHyhiHUqP4pGd91qCJoCZwlp0v9eLEIslsQd2VPdaXbTMF1FKZ/s1600/IMG_3063.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTTBqTjC_49045YsmOCqIXwGcMcDcY7RZucAB2XmOCrxqsIziQvMNiC826bcHDuRV1vz2BuPLsene-ueoXeMJR2L1B_xHyhiHUqP4pGd91qCJoCZwlp0v9eLEIslsQd2VPdaXbTMF1FKZ/s320/IMG_3063.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469793686523239074" /></a><br /><br />This table is a great for so many things and we get a lot of use out of it. I wish that our dining room was larger so that it could be the girls' dining table, but it serves well as a work space too. Other things I tried to do was place the art work at the kids' level, remove clutter, and create centers that were simple and easy to clean. These rooms both still need a lot of work and I will update as the work gets done.nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-15693344395181458662010-05-07T05:54:00.001-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.328-08:00{this moment}<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDkBiwf5HryI2wz4sh5FXNsAyyktGOA4uUODqO7WgozFvSgbhSOjW9iLM6s1HN1Axo3xpF5fpOJp5ZnuIuSChSFlZD1mDitTOTAYtODW5rBmvW7u2seX-9F3gxa8OhjtZl96F74StnUdY/s1600/IMG_2950.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDkBiwf5HryI2wz4sh5FXNsAyyktGOA4uUODqO7WgozFvSgbhSOjW9iLM6s1HN1Axo3xpF5fpOJp5ZnuIuSChSFlZD1mDitTOTAYtODW5rBmvW7u2seX-9F3gxa8OhjtZl96F74StnUdY/s320/IMG_2950.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468511049152851074" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCaqUKNn-LhKANbpuai5vLvTEQPHZGB5L8-8Pogwc5EYmTdyOikjIoQnktkYkD9Qc1fZUnfNOs6F0WcbGkoN4cAqHiYenLwWywgoDDZUhksq4Q3Wd1sWtZ635SrWke7TwO4R9i8zxecrgK/s1600/IMG_2951.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCaqUKNn-LhKANbpuai5vLvTEQPHZGB5L8-8Pogwc5EYmTdyOikjIoQnktkYkD9Qc1fZUnfNOs6F0WcbGkoN4cAqHiYenLwWywgoDDZUhksq4Q3Wd1sWtZ635SrWke7TwO4R9i8zxecrgK/s320/IMG_2951.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468511039815813218" /></a><br /><br />Inspired by <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/03/this-moment-2.html">SouleMama</a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408694996466198452.post-88020037216250054842010-05-06T15:06:00.000-07:002015-02-05T11:04:43.397-08:00Magical Morning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0HBKXbNxPTzxeT8GVMpriEB67gFLn8x5mCfskT9b2RUHaPnBdRO0qKF89Az6kSKUXh_iuSG4MUsHUdMXZkQQYLupDO-FOi7yInwqG-NNkrU17_2CnA2erVjjGX-Fmrnuz05d0YwVo_Th/s1600/IMG_2889.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0HBKXbNxPTzxeT8GVMpriEB67gFLn8x5mCfskT9b2RUHaPnBdRO0qKF89Az6kSKUXh_iuSG4MUsHUdMXZkQQYLupDO-FOi7yInwqG-NNkrU17_2CnA2erVjjGX-Fmrnuz05d0YwVo_Th/s320/IMG_2889.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468325945765035154" /></a><br /><br />There is a campus near us that I think is magical. The grounds are filled with gardens, a huge lake, sculptures, fountains, and awesome secret pathways. <a href="http://www.cranbrook.edu/">Cranbrook</a> boasts a science center, art museum, and library too, but we just go for the amazing grounds. <br /><br />Today was our first visit this spring and the girls just loved it. Erika remembered her favorite spots and forged ahead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQZHGZufrO9uaRMTRGai4aZ9yxnlF3RclRX9_QlV6hAcB7VtQJeypT-8Wyq3lgMjlGaF4PUkTuo0aDFKBaUFvPVV-B55QLMpBYgb7k18nIzka57-w10dpP3AzGNVbKguIxYh_0UW7vv7H/s1600/IMG_2873.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQZHGZufrO9uaRMTRGai4aZ9yxnlF3RclRX9_QlV6hAcB7VtQJeypT-8Wyq3lgMjlGaF4PUkTuo0aDFKBaUFvPVV-B55QLMpBYgb7k18nIzka57-w10dpP3AzGNVbKguIxYh_0UW7vv7H/s320/IMG_2873.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468325891496797986" /></a><br /><br />While Audrey stuck close to me, "Hold hand, Mommy."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56i8tGwWmKcir844Feqik_yAZ5Mhfs0BJx32bEJ8YDbKIEcAdygQ2TmOVffhvkpLiGlI57RAQPhwTb2nqd4k8B-QMWkB_aModubSB-nBgmhvY9oJug_YGNJiAYsc9iqJ8i_lfTXvmuYpb/s1600/IMG_2875.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56i8tGwWmKcir844Feqik_yAZ5Mhfs0BJx32bEJ8YDbKIEcAdygQ2TmOVffhvkpLiGlI57RAQPhwTb2nqd4k8B-QMWkB_aModubSB-nBgmhvY9oJug_YGNJiAYsc9iqJ8i_lfTXvmuYpb/s320/IMG_2875.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468325912160350530" /></a><br /><br />I suggested they bring notebooks and draw things that inspired them, so they drew the rocks that they had climbed over.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2oD0SeA90LNRS98co3kjVOFpttbyku4s-QjtfLxItjnc2CVg7iIjUPCRHTDCyRRy1WGb4BqS0FLWP-_mff9yyDrbYxIaSYFW6mR04q3DzNUc-A0LGQN0qWS87R7B9zK23xdYD0i4nOFn/s1600/IMG_2883.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2oD0SeA90LNRS98co3kjVOFpttbyku4s-QjtfLxItjnc2CVg7iIjUPCRHTDCyRRy1WGb4BqS0FLWP-_mff9yyDrbYxIaSYFW6mR04q3DzNUc-A0LGQN0qWS87R7B9zK23xdYD0i4nOFn/s320/IMG_2883.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468325928686722114" /></a><br /><br />And a pond.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBnG2h5GonRko4Uhyd6srVcXo-8w2MKIkclX8aGu4bO5zX0VnVPODyxQ4pH_lwUWgu-Pq_o-rlnEpGPAv4o2W1I93Uu7RPabu4itlbgnkU7qmVK2YQ9Pp13qB17kfrHFHFfFedKzeM5am/s1600/IMG_2894.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBnG2h5GonRko4Uhyd6srVcXo-8w2MKIkclX8aGu4bO5zX0VnVPODyxQ4pH_lwUWgu-Pq_o-rlnEpGPAv4o2W1I93Uu7RPabu4itlbgnkU7qmVK2YQ9Pp13qB17kfrHFHFfFedKzeM5am/s320/IMG_2894.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468325961766632946" /></a><br /><br />We climbed a tree.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna7TseWSHDBAvVNDfmXY0tEpXI-0ZpGhRXzwZXJDQcqJMKFV8w0nY_oOsxAdJhbSB1BVqvuCHGKZfOrD4F0gpfULx_8adqpW-Bqr0GkRDgYcjhWRWJiMEw2bsHkRUAGTnW5-KQC7PYlzo/s1600/IMG_2916.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna7TseWSHDBAvVNDfmXY0tEpXI-0ZpGhRXzwZXJDQcqJMKFV8w0nY_oOsxAdJhbSB1BVqvuCHGKZfOrD4F0gpfULx_8adqpW-Bqr0GkRDgYcjhWRWJiMEw2bsHkRUAGTnW5-KQC7PYlzo/s320/IMG_2916.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468328173047525490" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SLdGEv5p5RcKc4XKfid4qdP86nWHbmRVSdpurbQyFUMIHzv0gd7tEd3uVq7FE44vddeoZrIs4bibeby65eQm9h2JldkPlvwq6NObQGlbaJubjxb43rAvGswoPTcQE97NPHb-gXratDtj/s1600/IMG_2911.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SLdGEv5p5RcKc4XKfid4qdP86nWHbmRVSdpurbQyFUMIHzv0gd7tEd3uVq7FE44vddeoZrIs4bibeby65eQm9h2JldkPlvwq6NObQGlbaJubjxb43rAvGswoPTcQE97NPHb-gXratDtj/s320/IMG_2911.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468328163413630354" /></a><br /><br />And crossed lots of little bridges.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhNS_8D-92w1QiNf6ngxTP4gLhoxyFuoJD4IgcjIlnTVFFS0lZXZ49RoA53djdueW2TpWL5yjoILpcYMMVm7USGp8yu4wP1KjLYfV5bb2NixNZt166bbfEunb7DSL4oF2lFi4LC3od3fT/s1600/IMG_2935.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhNS_8D-92w1QiNf6ngxTP4gLhoxyFuoJD4IgcjIlnTVFFS0lZXZ49RoA53djdueW2TpWL5yjoILpcYMMVm7USGp8yu4wP1KjLYfV5bb2NixNZt166bbfEunb7DSL4oF2lFi4LC3od3fT/s320/IMG_2935.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468328198113016738" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB5kojPF0VwByTiEBVR4XcH5WJO70t035dEZ8Isz_KMzGzfZeq2yxgAEzvJsEp1q9YSUBUfNDN_WysY0NkSBGgtEHxpRQhNAZtIUKhnrodJxzPYgIchKyRzEAJ21AIXY8ZAjmbgoCxCOs/s1600/IMG_2924.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB5kojPF0VwByTiEBVR4XcH5WJO70t035dEZ8Isz_KMzGzfZeq2yxgAEzvJsEp1q9YSUBUfNDN_WysY0NkSBGgtEHxpRQhNAZtIUKhnrodJxzPYgIchKyRzEAJ21AIXY8ZAjmbgoCxCOs/s320/IMG_2924.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468328189657530018" /></a><br /><br />Had a lovely picnic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURx0OjtChUWpR-dl308NrmYAHjLlw5xCt2tJ4NPVfwjehzE7dMBC8xLy595jCKimbY2Yzv6OEzSkh14j-4z6tu1X2foXLDH4j_Rns1ziYzHzK1BlAZjAUnxWfrrf4hc9Xv6WZ7RJ333-p/s1600/IMG_2939.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURx0OjtChUWpR-dl308NrmYAHjLlw5xCt2tJ4NPVfwjehzE7dMBC8xLy595jCKimbY2Yzv6OEzSkh14j-4z6tu1X2foXLDH4j_Rns1ziYzHzK1BlAZjAUnxWfrrf4hc9Xv6WZ7RJ333-p/s320/IMG_2939.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468328214857502786" /></a><br /><br />And flew a kite.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLJ0xVm2I81u6A6oF2FjMtnLRvJSnAhc-J0ppUGOmnvpx-2r16xuXMJ9RhVrbWTuuS-shHk9WE1m7D1RirZqhH4CSdeU9pJIv0vkyts-Uf0L3MJFb8m9HEj48lBH8_5MPY33SceBzZvSY/s1600/IMG_2943.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLJ0xVm2I81u6A6oF2FjMtnLRvJSnAhc-J0ppUGOmnvpx-2r16xuXMJ9RhVrbWTuuS-shHk9WE1m7D1RirZqhH4CSdeU9pJIv0vkyts-Uf0L3MJFb8m9HEj48lBH8_5MPY33SceBzZvSY/s320/IMG_2943.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468329077761625730" /></a><br /><br />Really, I think it may have been a perfect morning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMQ29m3QhvjCU7mWhq5Y912ZAYctk9rMhFqE1_iUyaTK9Zd6GpUVOnxOc5HHDFfanyO8zlu7gd8NgFFmbT6aShAY3Kd87ZuQaZyJFH5RbDVbSqQOlUAbqIZkfjwYSyjaIntFNC3TF8Xow/s1600/IMG_2887.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMQ29m3QhvjCU7mWhq5Y912ZAYctk9rMhFqE1_iUyaTK9Zd6GpUVOnxOc5HHDFfanyO8zlu7gd8NgFFmbT6aShAY3Kd87ZuQaZyJFH5RbDVbSqQOlUAbqIZkfjwYSyjaIntFNC3TF8Xow/s320/IMG_2887.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468329740657813842" /></a>nikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07340330977156872747noreply@blogger.com1