Water fun (and a parenting question)

It was hot this weekend.  It’s always hot in Alabama in the summer, but this weekend brought us temperatures in the mid-90s and a heat index of 105 degrees.  We don’t usually see that until mid-July, after we’ve had a chance to build up a bit of a heat tolerance.  Since we were already at Bridge Street, we let the boys have a little fun in the fountain park they have there.  It was pretty crowded, but the boys both had some fun.

I really try to let them just do their thing, but I find myself on a constant repeat of “don’t run, walk please, please don’t run” as they move from fountain to fountain.  I saw several kids slip on the concrete and fall while we were there.  None of them were hurt, thankfully, but I wonder if there might be some kind of non-slip padding or texture that could be added to this area.

We had a little trouble with getting Alex to follow rules while we were there.  Children are supposed to wear shoes and, as you can see in the photo above, not everyone does.  Alex didn’t have a problem with that one, but we also asked him not to put his foot over the hole where the water comes out.  There were so many children there that it was hard for them all to have access to the water and covering it up made it not fun for some children.  We asked Alex to be considerate of the other (smaller) children and have fun in other ways.  He did this at first, but when other kids his age started covering up the water spray and their parents didn’t do anything about it, he thought he should be able to do it, too.  We explained again that he needed to be considerate of the other kids, but he was hot and tired and it quickly turned into “but that’s not fair!”

We hear “that’s not fair” a lot around here.  Often, that just means Alex doesn’t like something we’ve said, but sometimes he’s right.  How do you handle things when friends of your children have rules at their homes that are significantly different than the ones at your house?  We’ve had some incidents in our neighborhood recently that have shown us that not all of the parents in our neighborhood are on the same page with what appropriate behavior is and I wonder if any of you have faced the same thing and how you handled it.  Share your thoughts and experiences, please!

Fun with Fruits and Veggies!

Several weeks ago, a new Earth Fare store opened in our city.  If you aren’t familiar with Earth Fare, they are the healthy supermarket.  My family was SO excited when we heard they would be opening here!  We try hard to make smart choices with our shopping, but it’s sometimes difficult given our limited choices at the more traditional grocery stores we have.  Earth Fare makes it very easy for me to pick the healthy option.  They won’t even sell products in their stores that contain trans fats or high fructose corn syrup!  (You can check out their food philosophy here to see the other ingredients/processes they will not sell.)  So, on the rare occasion (ha!) when my children are hanging like monkeys from the shopping cart and I’m  just grabbing what I can from the shelves, I can be assured that my purchases might not match my list, but they will be healthy.  Anyway…even before the store was open, Earth Fare partnered with Bridge Street (our local outdoor shopping area) for an Earth Day celebration.  They had children at the event sign pieces of iron that would later be turned into a sculpture that was specially commissioned by Earth Fare.  The unveiling of the sculpture was this weekend and we were there!

It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the petals all have the signatures of children who were at the Earth Day event.  As part of the unveiling festivities, Earth Fare had a fruit and veggie face making contest.  Alex was very excited and spent a great deal of time picking out just the right features for his face.

While Alex worked hard on his face, Declan was VERY excited by the seed-planting station they had set up.  I’m sure the original intent was to actually plant seeds, but Declan much preferred to push the wheelbarrows around.

Alex eventually finished his face and submitted it for the contest.  You might be able to see some of his “specialty features” in the photo below:  mushroom eyebrows, tomato eyes, and tomato feet.  He didn’t win, but he was very proud of it and so were we!  We hung around Bridge Street for a bit after the judging for some fountain park fun.  I’ll share some of those photos tomorrow!

Simple Pillowcases for the Small Set

I started making seasonal pillowcases for my older son a couple of years ago.  It was originally just a Christmas thing, but quickly became a good excuse for me to stockpile cute holiday themed fabric.  There aren’t a lot of holidays in the summer, so I made a few random and cute ones for those months.  I started with a simple pattern from somewhere, but I’ve changed it here and there over the years.  Alex has a standard pillow on his bed, but Declan still uses the toddler-size pillows so I modified the pattern for the smaller ones.  These are really simple to make and would make a great project for a beginner or as a project to work on with the kiddos.

The standard size makes a large case for the pillow, but I think that makes it easier for smaller hands that might have trouble putting a pillowcase on a pillow. Here’s what you’ll need to make the standard US pillowcase:

• 1 yard of cotton fabric for main section – if you’re using a pattern that has a directional design, you will need more than one yard to get the correct size of the main section facing the right way.
• 1/3 yard of coordinating cotton fabric for the cuff
• coordinating (or contrasting, if you want) thread

Step 1

• Wash and dry your fabric just as you will when the pillowcase is part of your normal laundry routine.  This will allow most of the shrinkage in the fabric to happen before you sew.  It’s always frustrating to me when my seams end up all wonky because I was in a hurry and skipped this step.
• Press your washed fabric.

Step 2

• Cut main fabric to measure 27″ x 41″ (most fabric comes off the bolt at 44/45″ wide)
• Cut the cuff fabric to 10″ x 41″

Step 3

• Press the cuff fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
• Turn one long edge under 1/2″ and press

Step 4

• Lay main fabric on a table, right side up.
• Match the long raw edge of the cuff fabric (not the folded edge) with the long raw edge of the main fabric. Pin in place.
• Sew these two layers together with a 5/8″ seam.

Step 5

• Press the seam you just sewed toward the cuff side.
• Fold the pillowcase in half, right sides together, and sew along the bottom and open side using a 1/2″ seam.
• Trim your corners.

Step 6

• Turn down the cuff so that the folded edge you pressed is on the inside of the pillowcase.
• Pin in place and turn right-side out.
• Stitch “in the ditch” (That’s just the area where the two fabrics come together). This should catch the folded edge on the inside and will look neater.

Step 7

• Press the finished pillowcase and enjoy!

If any of this doesn’t make sense, please let me know.  I tried to write it out logically as I went along, but there may be something in there that I missed.  I’d love to see photos if you make some of your own!

Get your Dad to the Doc!

I learned some startling statistics today.  Did you know that men are 31 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor in the last year?  Men are also 30 percent more likely than women to have neglected their cholesterol tests.  High cholesterol is a leading factor in heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for men in the United States.  High blood pressure is another factor and both can be easily detected, monitored, and treated.  The key to all of those things is to get men to their doctor!

I don’t know about you, but the men in my family think doctors are great — for everyone else.  When I was growing up, I remember my grandfather telling my mom to take me to the doctor for some cough or cold.  When he caught the same thing from me, I told him he should go see the doctor, too.  Guess what he said?  “No, I’ll be fine.”  Funny, it was important for me to go see the doctor, but not for him — for the same problem!

So what can we do to help the men in our lives get to the doctor?  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Ad Council have launched a program to help men figure out which preventive tests they need to have and when they need to have them.

• You can visit the Dad to the Doc website and send the men in your life a free Father’s Day e-card.  It’s a friendly way to let them know that you want them to take care of their health so they will be in your life for a long time.

• You can ask your husband, father, brother, uncle or grandfather to visit the Healthy Men website.  This is where they can learn all about preventive care and staying healthy.  The site provides guidance on what questions to ask doctors, what some common tests are and when they are given, as well as a glossary for medical terms they might not be familiar with.

• Finally, while they’re at the Healthy Men site, ask them to take the health quiz.  It’s a simple quiz, but might point out that they aren’t doing all that they could be to monitor their health.

Will you join me in encouraging the men in your life to protect their health and get regular preventative care?  I hope so!

Flat Alex and Declan go to Japan!

My husband had the opportunity to travel to Japan a couple of weeks ago.  As much as we would have loved it, it wasn’t practical (or in the budget) for the entire family to go.  Instead, Flat Alex and Flat Declan made the trip in a suitcase!  You may remember when Flat Alex went to Europe and this trip was similar, but Declan got to go, too!

Here is Declan, happily waiting for the arrival of the train.  He loves trains in real life and I can only imagine how crazy excited he would have been if he was actually there!  I wonder what kind of train they were waiting for?

Ah, there it is, a shinkansen train!  Alex wants to ride on a bullet train in the worst way and asks if we can move to Japan so he can do this.  I don’t think he really gets that you don’t just take one to get groceries when you live there, but I’m glad he has a desire to travel.  We do hope to be able to take the boys there one day!

One last photo of one of my favorite things – Japanese vending machines.  They were everywhere when I was there and you can purchase all kinds of things from them.  This one had my favorite drink in it, so my husband snapped a photo for me.  It’s kind of hard to see, but third from the left in the top row of the first machine is Lemon Water.  It’s so good!  Lemon Water folks, if you happen to find this post, please export your stuff to the US!

Summer Reading

Summer is in full swing around here, but the last several days have seen off and on rain and storms.  The boys have been disappointed that they couldn’t go outside, but we used some of the rain delays to get a start on our summer reading.  We read a lot normally, but the incentive programs provided by many bookstores give an added element of fun.  Who doesn’t love free books??  We’re participating in the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program, which requires Alex to read eight books in order to choose one free book.  He’s a pretty fast reader and is already halfway there!  Barnes and Noble also provides a lot of great downloadable activities to go along with the program.  Some of his favorites are the Geronimo Stilton books and the Magic Tree House series.

If your kids also enjoy the Magic Tree House series, you will want to check out the Magic Tree House website, where they have an entire Passport to Adventure planned this summer.  You can print out a passport for your child and earn stamps for each book.  You can even enter to win a Magic Tree House for your own backyard!

What books are on your child’s summer reading list this year?

National Foster Care Month

The following is a guest post from Adopt Us Kids…

“Did you know it would take less than 1% of the U.S. population to provide a family for every child in foster care? 

May is National Foster Care Month and there has never been a greater need to bring attention to children waiting for forever homes.  More than 463,000 children are currently in foster care and 123,000 children are waiting to be adopted.

Children in foster care are loving children.  They are children like Shaquane and Edlina and Albert.  Every child deserves to have a home with caring and supportive parents.

Help us spread the message this month to reach all Americans and teach them about the love and joy that foster care adoption can bring to your life.

Visit www.adoptuskids.org to learn more about fostering and adopting. You can also join our online communities on Facebook and Twitter. “

Please join me and others on Twitter for a one hour chat on Thursday, May 27th at 2pm Eastern.  Use the tag #AdoptUsKids to learn more about National Foster Care Month and answer any questions you may have.

Book Review: Plan B by Pete Wilson

Pete Wilson, pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, has written a new book, Plan B:  What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought he would?  I originally thought I should read this book so that I might have the right words or thoughts to share with friends who find themselves at the end of their spiritual rope, unsure of where God is at this point in their lives and why He has allowed this thing (death, job loss, illness) to happen to them.  I did gain that insight, but I was also so wrong – I needed to read this book because it is about me!  While Wilson talks a lot about people who face some tragic or life altering event and turn to their Plan B, I think the same ideas can apply to those of us who experience small setbacks or disappointments.  Plan B is very readable and packed with biblical stories, modern examples, and challenging questions.  The included study guide will make it a great book for small groups to study together or for individuals to dig deeper into the material themselves.  I’m looking forward to reading through it again!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Moop Love!

We travel fourteen hours at Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with my family in Pennsylvania.  Rather than doing it all again at Christmas time or shipping boxes full of stuff back and forth, we exchange gifts while we are there in November.  We are limited in what we are able to transport back home, so some family members have begun to just gift us with cash.  At first I was a little bothered by the impersonal nature of that.  My grandmother explained, though, that she prefers give us the money to buy something we really want for ourselves instead of just giving us more things to clutter up the house.  With that in mind, I promised myself that I would honor the spirit of these gifts and find something I really wanted.  It took me a few weeks to find just the right things, but I did.

(photo from www.moopshop.com)

(photo from www.moopshop.com)

These bags are both incredible.  Honest.  They are all handmade by real people in Pittsburgh.  The attention to detail is obvious in everything from the pocket sizes and placement to the half-crossed block in the stitching. The Letter Bag has been perfect for hauling everything I typically carry everyday.  I keep my Clutch in the bigger bag, but I like knowing that I can just grab it and go if I ever don’t need to take everything with me.

I’m already thinking about which Moop bag will be my next!

The Sewing Room

When we moved into our current house, we “named” some of the rooms by their purpose. One room downstairs, that was designed as a formal dining room, became the Music and Sewing room. Music is my husband’s thing and sewing is mine. In the autumn, my husband generously offered to relocate his music gear to the office area upstairs so I could have the entire sewing room and dedicate it to my hobby. He also suggested that we renovate the room (paint and minor furnishings only, nothing structural!) to make it more functional. I was all for it – how do you say no to something like that?!

We prepped and painted the walls and then made the 4 hour trek to IKEA for some Billy bookcases, a desk that would serve as the sewing table, and a great entertainment center/bench that would work for us as a window seat. Once we got it all home, we decided that if we were going to start this thing, we needed to do it the right way. So, we ripped out the existing carpet and Rod installed a new hardwood floor. It all turned out to be a much larger (and more expensive) project than we planned on, but we found some great deals along the way that made it not so bad. My sewing room looked great!

Then, not even a week later, things reached a breaking point with Alex and his school situation. We made the decision to pull him out of his current school and bring him home to do homeschool. Sewing room out, school room in.

[EDIT: There are supposed to be photos of the before and after and sewing to school transformation, which help this post make more sense. I can't figure out how to load them, so I'll get those added when I have some technical assistance...]