Love is in the air.

Time for the annual Gulde tradition of creating a family Valentine box. If all goes according to plan, it gets decorated and put in a prominent place at the beginning of February. Valentines are made and dropped in the box for family members for two weeks. I do my best to write one thing I love about each of the kids everyday. On Valentines Day, we sit down at dinner and read them to each other. So fun.

I just wrapped a box with brown paper, put a slit at the top, and the kids glued paper doilies from the dollar store on it. So easy for little hands. Sometimes, okay...a lot of the time, I tend to want to get too complicated with them. It's such a great reminder that a glue stick and some doilies can be a legit craft. No need to pull out paints and all that craziness. ;)Francis taking her job very seriously. ;) George giving me one of his signature fake smiles. Don't let it fool you though...he loves crafting. Happy with their creation.

Creative Thursday: Kid Rocks

This week we painted rocks.

First, I had to find the rocks. Finding smooth rocks that are bigger than a quarter proved harder than I thought it would be. After looking in my yard, circling the block, and checking Target, I decided to seek a professional. And after just one trip to Elizabeth Anna's, our neighborhood nursery, my problem was solved. A big milk crate FULL of beautiful, smooth, perfectly sized rocks were mine for $10.

For whatever reason, George wasn't interested and played with his legos instead, but Francis and I worked on them for a couple of hours. We used acrylic paint and I have no idea if they will weather well or not. We also used circle stickers as stencils for eyes which turned out cute I thought.

The results:

My kid rocks (Francis, George and Sam):


Francis's Mommy and Daddy rocks:


Francis's "Boo and Sunshine"


Francis's "Grumpy"


And since it's *almost February, I painted this one and the kids named him "Lovey"


Francis's Ant hill rock called "Anty":


And this one. They named it "The Claw" because it looked like those little guys from Toy Story 3:


After we finished painting, George decided he finally wanted in on the fun and worked with us to make up a game called "Toss Rock." Each concentric circle is worth "x" points and whoever gets the most points, wins. Very complex. ;)


All in all, a great afternoon and it felt great to have a paintbrush in my hand.

The Amazing Mr. Ed Emberley

My sister first introduced me to Ed Emberley's books a few years ago. She bought a handful for her son for Christmas and when I asked her what they were, she kept saying "You don't know about Ed Emberley? Seriously? He's awesome. You should know about these (repeat)," etc. And so, like a dutiful little sister, I took note. And when my oldest started showing signs of being able to sit at a table more than 60 seconds (for us, age 4), I went out and bought a couple. Since then, I have found myself preaching the Ed Emberley gospel. Seriously, folks... she was right. He's awesome.

For those of you who didn't grow up with his books in the 60's, here's a bio. He's an illustrator that made easy step by step drawing books for kids. It's great because more than once I've heard Francis say, "I can't draw that one, it's too hard" and then minutes later, she's all smiles because she ACTUALLY DID IT and BY HERSELF. Not only does it teach her how to draw her favorite animals, but she has gained so much confidence from it as well. It's perfect for that rather unfortunate stage of childhood when your kids evolve from drawing everything to thinking they can't draw anything "right." I hate that stupid rotten evolution. I am in constant battle with it myself.

Francis: Ladybug and Catepiller


Francis: Rollerskating Monkey


George: (unfinished) devil

Here are some of his books on Amazon. I actually bought mine at my local Barnes and Noble. And last week, we actually found another one at our local library so be sure to check that out. He also has a pretty nice website that has a bunch of free activities and games.

Lemonade For Sale!

The neighbors were having an open house today. So I gave the kids their first lesson on marketing (foot traffic = sales) and finally followed through with my promise to have a lemonade stand. Two hours and sixteen dollars later, I'd call it a success. Let's hope we also helped sell the house next door.

Apologies for the lame photo... there was way too much happening to pull out the big daddy camera.

Camera-related sewing tutorials

Found these over at howaboutorange. I have no idea when I'm gonna have the time to make these, but I had to post this in the off chance I do and need to remember where these tutorials are. What a great blog. It's impossible for me to spend less than an hour there, so watch out. It's awesome.

Vacation Memory Jars

Saw these on Martha's site and thought they were beautiful. My kids are young (6 and under) so this seems like a do-able project post vacation.



"Filled with souvenirs collected on trips and pictures developed afterward, vacation memory jars are like little worlds that can be visited again and again. Kids can add to them or rearrange them anytime they like. Bent wire can be used to lower and position objects in a thin-necked jar."

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Favorite Kids' Crafts

Look what I made! :)

Last night I hung out with a friend and we made skirts for our girls. It felt so good to make something. Amidst all the moving and with baby #3 on the way, I haven't been inspired to pull out all of "my stuff" and create. I think I still might make a coordinating shirt, but who knows... today is my official due date so I might be out of time before I realize it.:)

CREATE YOUR BAND NAME & ALBUM COVER:

To Do This

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

Chia Sock

I recently went to a playgroup where we made homemade Chia pets (thanks to our great host and my new friend,Darla) and it turned out so great I had to share. Francis is out of her mind...she thinks this Chia sock is so hilarious.
It's super easy all you need is:

mason jar
sock
buttons for eyes, nose, etc.
Hot glue to attach buttons
potting soil
grass seed

The instructions are likely obvious, but I'll recap for the heck of it:

1) Decorate your sock using hot glue and buttons.
2) Fill first with grass seed so it is at the top of the "head"
3) Fill with potting soil
4) Tie knot in sock
5) Place in mason jar
6) Water (the sock sits kind of down in the jar, I just filled the jar to the top every day I remembered)
7) Enjoy and cut hair when it gets too long. ;)

The photo above shows our Chia sock with about a months worth of growth.