Jonah Lisa Land

The Big Day

Well that was a little unexpected blog break as we enjoyed the last days of summer and geared up for this...

Huck is going to the same school where he attended a Reggio Emilio Preschool program. The grade school is unit based with a heavy emphasis on nature and outdoor learning and Huck is in a multi-grade class that includes Kindergarten and 1st grade together.   His class has named themselves The Mighty Mountain Lions and he loves his teacher. 

Jemima wanted to stay and kept asking if I brought her lunchbox.   Fortunately, when it was time to say goodbye she was a champ and gave her brother a big hug and a kiss.

He had a fabulous day and said they got to do lots of math!  Music to a mother's ears.

Avisiting We Go

Jemima and I recently spent a Sunday afternoon delivering our overabundance of lettuce to unsuspecting neighbors.  Read about it today on Unplugged Sunday.

Hysterical Halloween

While you're all still sleeping off the sugar high, I had come tell you about our very cool Halloween here in London.  Huck was a red Power Ranger, Jemima was a pink fairy and we went trick or treating with a big crew of friends including... Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and their sweet daughter Ramona, who went as Shirley Temple.   AHH!

Yes, I'm totally serious.

Yes, it was very fun.

Yes, I kept my cool and didn't act like a dufus.

No, I didn't take any pictures.

I know you're probably all annoyed by that last statement but it just felt too skeevy.  When you have this sort of access in the normal lives of people who are famous, you really hate to betray that trust by posting pictures of them on the internet.  You know?  I'm just not that mercenary.  

We mainly talked Halloween and kids and parenting.  And I will tell you that after a full day of candy and excitement and a late night of walking, their kid melts down just like ours do and they scramble to get home before the unstoppable crying jag takes hold.  Despite the fact that it was oddly exciting, it was also very normal. 

To make up for no Halloween pictures, here's a shot of Maggie working on the film.  

Unfortunately, the whole privileged access thing applies to the film, too.  Turns out it's not really cool for the writer to go around posting behind the scenes photos of the actors on the internet.  DAMN!  This shot was scooped by People Magazine and has already been posted on the internet so it's "safe" to show you. I'm going to try to find some creative ways to get some inside shots for you, so expect a few pictures of Maggie's feet or elbow and the back of Rupert Everett's head along with pictures of ME on set!

Impromptu Summer Splash Party

We had a little impromptu party.  It was very simple but very AWESOME! 

A fun sprinkler attachment, water balloons my mom sent to Huck, BYO squirt guns, old-school pigs-in-blankets and pink lemonade.  It was 3 hours of sheer joy. We also had some buckets of water out for filling squirters and borrowed a cool pink Dora the Explorer Slip 'n' Slide.  

Oh and everyone, except for the one girl who was invited, got their fingernails and toenails painted.  I know, it wasn't really in keeping with the splash theme but it was a nice break in the mayhem and there's just nothing funnier than watching tough little boys in swim trunks sit quietly while their nail polish dries. 

I used a fun party invite template in my email program and sent out invitations to 4 of Huck's friends about 3 days before.  I had originally thought to make it more kids.  We had 10 or 12 at Huck's birthday party back in January and while it was loads of fun, we went to a very small birthday party recently and it was wonderful.  I think they can enjoy each other a bit more with fewer kids.  It was also way more manageable for the grown ups.  

An experienced Mom once told me to aim for a total number of kids at a party equal to the age of your child. That's only 5 kids at a 5 year old's party, including the birthday boy or girl.  I must say, I think that's probably about right.  

Our Splash Party certainly backed up the theory.  More kids would definitely have made for more of that chaos-y, crazy kind of fun, but less of the focused, but equally fun, sort of play the 5 of them engaged in at our little soiree.

I have to say.  It was really easy.  So easy I was like, why don't I do this more often?  Well, maybe I will.

Small Town Parade

A great time was had by all.  We boycotted the big fireworks display because our community decided to invite a very vitriolic, divisive, political figure to speak at our celebration (Glenn Beck), but the parade was a wing-ding and my early-to-bed kids wouldn't have made it until 10pm anyway.

You really can't beat a small, town parade.

Hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

Child's Sewing Basket

I've been doing so much more hand sewing and knitting this winter that the kids have become very interested. Huck asks for bits of yarn and my knitting needles all the time.  Okay, most of the time it's to tie up a bad guy or use as a sword, but I could just tell he was ripe for this.  

I set him up with his very own little sewing basket and showed him how to do a basic straight stitch.  He likes it.  If left on his own he makes rather long stitches so he runs out of thread (embroidery floss) pretty quickly.  But I plan to let him draw on some fabric (you tape it to a drawing surface and just use regular pencil) and see if he can follow the lines with his stitches, which may solve that issue.  He also doesn't know how to thread the needle yet but that's next up.

 

Obviously, due to pins and scissors and such, the activity requires some ground rules and supervision at first.  We also have a dedicated spot for Huck's basket when he's not using it to keep it out of Jemima's reach.

Along the lines of my Collage Kits and Upcycled Field Bags, I think this will make a really wonderful birthday gift for kids in the 4-10 range.  

I picked up the basket and wooden hoop at the local thrift shop for $1.50.  From my own sewing stash I included a few different colors of embroidery floss, some pins, 1 tapestry needle, small balls of leftover yarn for finger-knitting, and a bottlecap pincushion (pictorial tutorial here).

The only thing purchased new was a $3 pair of small thread scissors.  The whole thing cost me less than five bucks.  Might be a bit more if you bought embroidery floss.  I just cut out small "spools" from recycling bin cardboard (1" x 2" with a notch on each end) and wound lengths of floss from my stash around them.

If you wanted to make this a more substantial gift, you could also include a small bundle of fat quarters or a Knitting Mushroom or Knitting Tower.  

We made our own Knitting Tower out of recycled materials.  Works like a charm and is a great way to remind kids to hit the recycling bin for creative inspiration!

January 2009 Recap

Hey, we're almost caught up!  

We had another big, special day in January--Huck turned 4!  We did another Sustainable Birthday Party--Evites, durable plates & cups, handmade decorations, and donations for the Nongo School and Orphanage in Guinea, Africa instead of gifts from his friends.  Don't worry, he got plenty of gifts from family.  The kids decorated their own cupcakes, we all went sledding, then came back for hot cocoa.  Jemima helped clean up.

Other big news for January is that young Huckleberry learned to ski and ice skate!

He's loving both and is fond of asking each night at bedtime, "Is tomorrow a ski day or a school day?" Sadly, sometimes the answer is neither.  

Skiing will have to be it's own post tomorrow. Too many pictures...

Do you have a Surprise Box?

If you aren't already doing this, you must start.  

Find a box, or a bin, or a crate, or a tub.  And begin filling it with little things--books, art projects, special treats, a DVD, Brain Quests, puzzles, small toys, craft project kits and art supplies.  Keep an eye out for good sales or pick things up at rummage sales and thrift stores.   I also stash some of the items sent by Huck's Jazz and Pop.  I occasionally buy a book for Huck and decide it's really too old for him right then.  It all goes in the bin.

Ours currently holds the first 4 Magic Tree House Books , some Pop Rocks and a Take-Along Watercolor Set along with assorted other things.  I've also got The Little Traveler's British Isles DVD waiting in the wings.

I missed the boat on this one but I will tell you that it's best if you keep the location of the surprise box a secret.   I also try to avoid using it as a reward box too often, but, you know...

So when we just need something new to get us over the midday hump, or the weather is crummy, or a play date gets cancelled, or I'm just feeling particularly generous... I hit the Surprise Box and Huck gets a little pick-me-up and feels extra special that day.  

It's a win-win.

Mama's got a brand new bag!

Huck's not the only one sporting a new bag these days.  This was my Mother's Day present from Stephen...

It's a cute little handbag made from the cover of an old book.  It's from a fabulous Etsy shop called A Spoonful of Chocolate Hope.  I would have never known it existed if it weren't for a wonderful Toby Show reader.  Thank you, Dani (and if you haven't checked out Dani's blog, please do so now).  Dani tipped me off to the bag in the comments section, I went to check it out, I loved it, I bookmarked it and I made a mental note to thank Dani and buy the bag.  Those mental notes are tricky.  I'm always losing them in the wash. 

Fortunately, Stephen reads my blog.  When I want to vent about diaper inequality or whiskers on my toothbrush it's unfortunate.  But when he reads the comments, checks out links and buys me stuff my readers find and know I would love, it's very fortunate indeed.

Thanks, honey. 

Collage Kit Birthday Present

Hello and welcome to everyone visiting from One Crafty Place and Kiddio!

I put a collage kit together for Huck recently using a tackle box and craft supplies my mom sent from the dollar store.  Not only was it a big hit with Huck, this is now going to be my easy "go to" birthday gift for little kids.

The supplies consisted of puff balls, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, googly eyes, sequins, tissue paper
& some foam dinosaurs.  All in, my mother assures me it was under $10 worth of goodies.  I filled Huck's box with a good amount of stuff but have a ton of everything left in assorted baggies in our craft drawer.

Next time I get a birthday invitation in the mail I'll pick up a small tackle box at my local hardware store (Walmart or Target for those of you in the civilized world) for under $10.  Then I'll just load that sucker up with supplies from my stash, add a pair of child's scissors and a big glue stick from the grocery store for another $3-4 and tie a big bow onto the handle.  If you have paint pens or paints on hand, write the birthday boy or girl's name on the  top of the box, too.

Then--Abracadabra!--a personalized, fun, engaging and inexpensive gift for any young child.

It's a really awesome sidekick to his Art Supply Caddy, too.

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Be sure to check out our collage kit in action and this other great gift idea for kids.

And while you're here, have a look at some of the other fun Toys and Games we've made.

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