Funniest Picture Book Ever... EVER.

Sure, there are children's picture books which are cute, amusing, silly, but have you ever read a book to your child and laughed so hard that tears rolled down your cheeks?

May I present to you:

I Want My Hat Back

Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back just came out and when I read this book to my kids, I LMAO - and so did my husband. You will not expect the ending. You simply will not.

Go get it.

Now.

I'm linking (or will be...) this to Feed Me Books Friday, What My Child is Reading and Book Sharing Monday.

P.S. Do not, I repeat DO NOT read any spoiler reviews. But it's safe to watch the trailer.

Shiksa in the Kitchen: Bread(sticks), Apples & Honey

The person in our household responsible for planning and executing holiday celebrations -- Jewish or not -- is the resident Shiksa (that's me). As I have written before, I find the deadline aspect of holidays overwhelming. So much preparation and labor just for one day! I can't cope.

For past Rosh Hashanahs, I've mustered the energy for this yummy apple challah. However, yesterday, as I had already been planning on making sourdough breadsticks with the kids for after-school snack, we turned it into a mini Rosh Hashanah celebration by forming out breadsticks into circles and braids and dipping them, along with some apples into honey. The circle symbolizes the circle of life, and the honey is to welcome in a sweet new year. The hummus is there for New Kid, who hadn't eaten any lunch and was in serious need of protein.

Now I've done my part for the holiday, it will be up to Daddy to take the boys for a walk where they are sure to meet one of the many young men out and about with his shofar. He won't blow it for the Shiksa.

You can learn more about Rosh Hashanah, food traditions and the shofar (don't worry, I never knew what that was before, either) here.

Note: I titled a blog post, Shiksa in the Kitchen a few years ago, now I see there is a blog called that... I hope she doesn't sue me.

Origami: Just Try It

Truthfully, I have always been a little intimidated by origami. This is a shame, since it is such a great indoor activity for kids. It teaches patience, following sequential instructions and helps with spatial reasoning and fine motor skills.

Recently, Kiddo had the good fortune to have an origami lesson with Ben of Friesen Folding. Ben gives origami lessons, either privately or at events, like birthday parties. Kids sitting around calmly folding paper instead of running around screaming their heads off? Sounds good to me.

Ben took advantage of Kiddo's obsession with birds and started out with a blue (Kiddo's favorite color) bird.

While I was watching the lesson, I appreciated that it was someone else giving the lesson, and not me, because Kiddo was listening better than he does with me, but also I appreciated that Ben let Kiddo do his own folding (helping only with the super tricky parts), whereas I would have been interfering and trying to get every crease perfect.

Kiddo was very pleased with his first creation. You can see in the top photo, they also made frogs -- out of card paper, so they can actually jump!

Since I have lots of decorative paper in my arts and crafts cabinet, we will be making some more origami during those cold winter days. I'm happy to say I'm no longer intimidated. One has to keep up with 6 year olds, after all.

So, what about you, have you done origami with your child?


Disclosure: Ben offered Kiddo a complementary lesson, but all opinions and words are my own. You can visit Ben's website here.

Made to Play! (Plus a Giveaway)

Long time readers of this blog will know that I am constantly on the lookout for non-electronic and easy ways to assist me in keeping my very active boys entertained. The made by joel blog has been one of my go-to resources for a while, so I was delighted to  hear Joel Henriques was coming out with a book, Made to Play!

Made to Play! (which you may even have seen featured in this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine) does not disappoint. It includes splendid ideas for making simple but entertaining toys out of all sorts of materials. I rather wish my boys liked to play with dollhouses so I could make the dollhouse furniture, but as soon as Kiddo saw the book he asked, "are there any ideas for transportation in there?"

Mais oui!

Small Wooden Trucks -- which we made out of cardboard, not having a jigsaw at our disposal. The book contains templates for many of the projects.

Kiddo enjoyed tracing the templates, but as you can see, he also made his own MTA bus. And... as you know, the true test of a play idea is whether or not it inspires creative exploration beyond the basic instructions.

We also made the Simple Paper Animation, which was way more fun that TV.

I have two more posts to share with ideas from the book. Look for those in the next two weeks, but in the meantime, why not enter the giveaway to win one of 2 copies of this book (graciously provided by Roost Books). All you have to do to enter is:


1. Please leave a comment on this post before October 9, 11:59 pm EST.
2. U.S. Addresses only, please.
3. For contact/identification purposes, if you don't have a profile linked to an email or blog, please leave an email address in your comment. (If you feel uncomfortable leaving your email, after you leave a comment you can send your email to momandkiddo [at] gmail [dot] com) Anonymous entries will not be considered.
4. I reserve the right to pick a new winner(s), should the winner(s) not respond within 72 hours.


The winners, picked randomly, will be announced on or after Oct. 10, 2011.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes, but all opinions are my own. I received no other compensation. I am extremely picky about the review opportunities that come my way and only review products (usually books) and offer giveaways which I believe have value for parents and kids.

Weekend Snapshots

Have any snapshots to share? Join my link up, it's open all week. Feel free to grab my button from the sidebar or use a text link back here.

No painting this weekend, though I still have much more to complete. However, as my father was visiting, I took the weekend off.

We taught Kiddo how to play dominoes for points. 

 Kiddo was excited to have a new set of ears towards which he could spew more bird facts.

We took the boys scooting in the park. New Kid hates that Kiddo can go faster than he can.

And my father helped me install a new hallway light (if you can call 16 square feet a hallway). Much to my relief I no longer have to walk under an illuminated golden breast. However, as you can see, I was out of energy efficient light bulbs.

So, what have you been doing?

Books on How We Got Here

Kiddo's first science unit at school is on the solar system. This led to questions, which led to more questions... so I raided the library for books on evolution and the big bang. Here is what I came up with:


Older Than the Stars A beautiful book which poetically explains how everything in the universe is connected.
Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution Illustrator Steve Jenkins AND explanations of evolution? Sign me up.
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story Less of the nitty-gritty. Evolution as narrative rather than detailed explanation. Rather poetic. Thanks to Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns for this one.
Totally Human: Why We Look and Act the Way We Do Ever wonder why you are ticklish? Now you can find out.

I'm linking to What My Child Is Reading, Resource of the Week and Book Sharing Monday.

Giveaway Winner: All Together Singing in the Kitchen

Once again, the bitter-sweet time of announcing winners of the giveaway is upon me. Bitter because not everyone wins. Sweet because two of you do. Ah, such is life.

I used random.org to select the winners of All Together Singing in the Kitchenbook/cd.

#5 Melissa
#8 Joyce

But stay tuned, because I actually have another giveaway next week.

Last Chance to Enter Book and CD GIVEAWAY

I realize that this week things have been a bit dull here in What Do We Do All Day?-land. However, please don't forget to enter my giveaway to win one of two book/CD sets.  All Together Singing in the Kitchen is a lovely book filled with magical ideas to help you create a joyful musical life with your children. It comes with a CD of songs, some new, some traditional.

And if nothing else, don't you need a new CD? I bet you are seriously tired of the one your kids have had on permanent repeat for the past year.

Today's the last day to enter the giveaway. Entries have been light (Why? I have no idea, it's a great book.) so your chances look good.


To enter: Leave a comment on the original post.

Birdwatching

Remember when I told you about Kiddo's love for his Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America?

Well, we have been taking a lot of walks in the park with a pair of binoculars, a field bag and guide in hand.

I must say, Kiddo has been teaching me a lot. I suggested he keep a log, and write what he saw down in his nature journal. However, he never wants to stop and do that.

Just in case your child is not quite up to the Sibley Field Guide, here are a few less ...um... intimidating books on our shelves.


I'm linking this to Afterschool and Learning Lab at Mama Smiles.

Weekend Snapshots

Have any snapshots to share? Join our weekly link up.

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I found I had to send the men of the house out again, as I am still painting! Although I'm not exactly painting a mansion, it takes a while to get things finished when you only have 2 partial days a week to work. I won't bore you with more photos of paint cans and brushes this week. However, I did manage to get a few domestic-y duties in, such as:

Roasting tomatoes. Organic Roma tomatoes were cheap this week. At least I think they were cheap. I don't comparison shop, I just buy all my groceries at our food coop, which is cheap. I also don't "put up" a lot of summer produce since we have no freezer or cabinet space to spare, but as I don't buy canned tomatoes I decided to freeze just a few jars. You can see my homegrown tomatoes in the background, which I brought home from...

... my community garden plot. I don't know what happened, but I didn't have a lot of luck this year. Perhaps the heat wave had something to do with it... Some of my late planted mustard greens are doing well, though.

I also brought home some herbs from my plot, which I used to make delicious mint ice tea and homemade beef bone broth. Incidentally, I am now convinced that my broth is some sort of miracle elixir as when hubby came down with a nasty cold I told him to have a bowl of broth, and the very next day he was cured! Of course, maybe it was just a 24 hour thing... but still!


What have you been doing?

Friday Do-Over: Balloon Races

Where have I been this week? Just practicing a little light blogging. Don't forget to sign up for the Book/CD giveaway, there are two copies available and so far, entries are few, so your chances of winning look pretty good. In the meantime, have some fun with balloons, or file this activity away for a cold winter's day. First Published 3/08/09.

Here is a quick science project which is LOADS of fun: Balloon Racing.

Sadly, I wasn't able to get any good photos of the actual activity due to the 10 minute delay on my ancient camera.

1. Thread a straw on a very long piece of string.
2. Tie each end of the string to a chair and push straw all the way to one end of the string.
3. Blow up a balloon, and while holding the neck tight, tape the body of the balloon to the straw (do not tape the neck of the balloon).
4. Count: 5...4...3...2....1... Blast off!
5. Let go of balloon.
Zooooooom!

If you have space and multiple children, set up a couple of stings and have balloon races.

Reading Assignment:Air Is All Around You (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
Forces Make Things Move (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
The Yellow Balloon
You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum

I've linked this to Show and Share Saturday.