Friday Do-Over: Thanksgiving Countdown

As soon as Halloween is over it's time to put up the Thankful Tree! Last year Kiddo's first leaf was for "School"! I was pretty thankful for school, too, but what about "Mom?" I ranked no. 3, behind "School Bus." Oh, well. First Published 11/13/09.

It seems everyone and their mother has a thankful tree this month. Here is ours back on the first day. We each hang a leaf before dinner and I also try and read a Thanksgiving book at the same time (see below for some decent ones). I hunted in the park all of October to find the perfect branches, but it wasn't until after a big wind storm that I found some good ones. I was going to use real leaves at first but then I remembered that one of our cats ate a leaf display I put out one year. I love using that little bowl on a pedestal for the leaves-in-waiting. My great-grandfather made it.

Reading Assignment:
In November (my favorite)
Thank You, Thanksgiving
Thanks for Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving Door
The Ugly Pumpkin
Thanksgiving With Me
Setting the Turkeys Free

B is for Breakfast

Christy over at Superheroes and Princesses is always making cute food for her kids. I once tried to make shaped sandwiches for Kiddo when he was 3. It was a desperate attempt to get him to eat; it didn't work so I gave up.

Fast forward 2 years and now I am always trying to get him to eat a nutritious breakfast which does not involve opening a cardboard box. He will NOT eat the oats I make, no matter how many yummy add-ins I put on it.  Sometimes he will eat scrambled eggs and lox if the eggs are smothered in cheese. Sometimes he just wants an apple, with a side of cheese. Lately I have been trying my hand at making sourdough pancakes, which he liked at first but then he started rejecting them. So I made them into letters and numbers. He declared that the numbers and letters tasted better than the circles.  Which is fine by me, as long as I don't have to start adding cheese to the pancakes.

As you can see, they don't even need to look nice.

And sometimes they really don't look nice.

Once I accidentally cut them up before he had a chance to see them on his plate. He lost it. I had to cut a circle pancake into a "5" before he could settle down.

I know there are all sorts of cute pancake molds out there, but I can't deal with Teflon and I really don't need another gadget taking up precious drawer space in my tiny kitchen.

I'm curious, am I the only one who doesn't open a dry cereal box? What do you feed you children for breakfast?

Giveaway Winner

I'm guessing it's because I didn't shout GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!! at the beginning of my post that there were just three people interested in the giveaway. Usually there is nothing like a giveaway to bring the comments out of the woodwork.  Hey, I've done the same myself.

Of course, I collapsed in total and complete devastation when I realized the lack of comments clearly meant that pretty much no one is interested in reading my Urban Picture/Chapter Book posts.

Not to worry. I've recovered, knowing that at least the winner of the giveaway was a loyal reader, interested in the post, and not just in obtaining free stuff (I'm hoping, anyway).

I wish I had books for all three of you lovelies, but alas, only Christy will get it this time. Christy, send your address to momandkiddo at gmail dot com, and the book will arrive in no time.

Homemade Halloween Costumes Need Not Be Perfect

It is very tempting to buy a cheap nylon Halloween costume. After all, they are cheap! And your kid wants to be some licensed character. And, did I mention, they are cheap! So it's easy just to go that route.

Don't do it!

It is so much better to help your child make his own costume. Really, it is. And you don't need a sewing machine. It doesn't have to be perfect. Show your child you value his creativity by encouraging him to put together something using his imagination and resourcefulness. The local thrift store is good for piecing together pirate, princess or storybook character costumes (you'd be amazed what you can put together out of your closet, though). The local art store clerk can help you figure out how to transform a cardboard box into a robot or train. And seriously, just ignore the blogs that have perfectly crafted Homemade Halloween costumes. They can serve as inspiration, but perfection is overrated and just makes you feel inadequate.

Kiddo decided he was going to be a school bus for Halloween. I helped him cut the yellow poster board and put on the straps, but he decided the design (hence the green windows, heart and smiley face), cut it out and put it together himself, with a little help from double stick tape. He is so excited about wearing it for Halloween.

He is certainly much more excited and proud than he would be had I gone to the Ricky's Pop-up Halloween store and picked him out some plastic get-up. And, also, might I say that the reaction from the treat-handing-out-public to homemade costumes is much more enthusiastic that to that of the latest nylon Disney princess costume. Not that your kid shouldn't be a Disney princess, but she can put together her own costume (yes, really)!

I tried to find you some good DIY Halloween costumes sites, but like this one, they seem to be mostly Mom-made, which totally misses my point. The costumes should be KID-made.

Happy Halloween, I can't wait to see your costumes.

P.S. (I know this is a long post)
Here was the train costume Kiddo wore the last two years:


See? Totally un-perfect, but he loved it so much he wore it 2 years, and almost again this year.

UPDATE***Just posted today: Easy Homemade Costumes for Slacker Moms @ Mommy Poppins

Friday Do-Over: Get Your Autumn On

With this post I recapture the title of Laziest Blogger: a do-over of a previous conglomeration of posts! Actually, I added a few things, so maybe I only come in 2nd Place.  First Published 10/12/09

All of Internetland has been waxing poetic about Autumn. And why not? I feel like doing the same myself. In lieu of an Autumn Rhapsody, here's a little reminder of what we've done in addition to apple tasting

and cookie making (courtesy Mama in Wonderland).

We displayed the Autumn Wreath we made last year.
Kiddo has been adding to his seed collection.We planted another paperwhite.
We went apple picking for the first time and made loads of apple butter and applesauce.We made apple prints (who hasn't?) (two ways)and  Pumpkin Prints!


You can also do some easy-peasy leaf art:



Happy Autumn!

The Amazing Rectangle

Funny how the boys' fighting inspires  some creative intervention on Mom's part. The boys were fighting over some ridiculous toy which Kiddo wanted to use as something over which he could jump. So instead I put a rectangle of tape on the floor for him to jump over. Now I call it the Amazing Rectangle.

Things you can do with a rectangle of tape on the floor:
Jump over it.
Jump in it.

Jump around it. (Hi, downstairs neighbors!)
See how many times you can bounce a ball in it.

Race cars around it.
Race cars through it.
Use it as a start or finish line.

What do you think your kids would do with a rectangle of tape on the floor?

For more free play fun visit Childhood 101.

Friday Do-Over: Write it Down!

Previously I published a post about introducing a pre-writing Kiddo to the idea of keeping a journal. I'm republishing the idea but with a great book to use.  First Published 10/14/08

Introducing your child to journaling is a valuable way to encourage reflection about his life as well as writing skills. Don't limit journaling to writing! Drawings, scribbles, collages are all great ways to express experiences and feelings. You can work together on the journal with very young children or you can model journaling by working side by side. (see end of post for some great links to more ideas)

If you're like me and appreciate using picture books give you a jump start try A Wonderful Week by Marjolein Varekamp.

Last year, over at Bee's Knees Books I won this book in a giveaway. I am a huge sucker for multi-media collage, so I loved the illustrations of a pig, mouse and frog going through their week. The text is very simple so even the youngest reader can sit through it.

At the end of the book there are idea for talking to your children about the book and more idea for daily journal entries.

If you are able to track down a copy, it's worth it.

Further Reading:
What Color Was Your Day?
Teach Your Child to Keep a Journal
Poetry and Journaling at Journal Buddies
Nature Journal

Travel Games

We just returned from a family vacation and to keep Kiddo busy in the airport and on the plane I devised a number of strategies.

Airport Scavenger Hunt. I made a grid with different things he would see on the way to the plane and he checked them off as he saw each one:

Rush Hour, Jr (Unfortunately this game is totally plastic, and we do have a similar game, Animalogic, which has wood pieces. Sadly, Kiddo prefers plastic cars and trucks to colorful wood animals. But the game was a HUGE hit.) :

A couple of new Stink books (he laughed out loud many times):

I know a lot of people rely on DVDs and electronic games to keep their kids subdued during traveling. I'm not passing judgment because every family has different needs, but to me, electronic tranquilizers are the antithesis of traveling, which is a time to see new places and experience new things. Also, the plane is certainly a place where parents are free from other distractions and can focus on the kids. It's much more rewarding than staring at the TV screen on the back of the seat in front of you (although Kiddo loved the map which showed the airplane's stats and its progress toward our destination).

Saving Jonah

If you are a morning talk show watcher, you may have seen Jonah's story on GMA. If not, you can view the video here.

The lovely Jonah is one of New Kid's pals and his parents are fighting tirelessly to save his life and the lives of other children like him. Please visit his web page, Jonah's Just Begun, to read his story and spread the word. If you are a facebooker: join up.

Friday Do-Over: Marbled Paper

Not exactly the most hands-off project, but great for outdoors on a warm day (not too many of those left!). First published 1/27/09.

Here is a great art project that I found at The Artful Parent. Make marbled paper using shaving cream! Way easier than Martha's method. Plus, it has the added bonus of scenting your paper with menthol!
First you fill a baking pan with shaving cream. Always a treat. Then, using droppers, add liquid watercolors. I love my Discount School Supply watercolors. We've been using them a lot lately. I am hopeful you will read about that soon. You could also used food coloring.Then, using a Popsicle stick or plastic knife, swirl, swirl, swirl.Press heavy paper -- or smush, as Kiddo said -- on top. We used watercolor paper.If you have overloaded on the shaving cream you can pour out the rest of the paint (why bother with the dropper?, says Kiddo) and do more.
Remove paper and let dry for 10 minutes. Remove shaving cream. At first I used paper towels but that smeared the color so I had the brilliant idea of scraping it off with a spatula. This method is also easier when you are simultaneously holding a baby. Mmmm menthol sure does clear those sinuses.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor! (or your kid's labor). We used some of our paper to make a birthday card for Grandpa D.