Children's Book Monday

I have noticed lately that I do not read as many pictures books to the younger set as I did to the now "older" set. A lot of it is a lack of  time. I miss the days when play-doh was the highpoint of the day for the kids and nap time was mine. (Wait, nap time is still the high point for me. It's just my nap I look forward to now not theirs!) In an attempt to be more intentional I will be  asking the "older"(this is a loosely defined term-judged mainly by one's ability to reach the clothesline) kids what are/were their favorite stories. Then, I am going to start with reading those stories to the younger folk that scamper around here and somehow manage way too much media time while I wade through things such as fractions, run-on sentences and Chinese with the older set. The Boy chose A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman.

Of course I planned a mini-interview with him about his book choice.

MOM: What do remember thinking/feeling about this book when you were younger?

THE BOY : I had a little yellow bear that I would hold when  dad would read the book to me. (insert sheepish grin) I guess I thought it was my bear's story. 

EXITS STAGE LEFT

MOM: Huh?!?!? Did he really just share that with me?!?!?! Very cool. 

Interview Over

Ta-Da!!!

The boy's room is complete. (Well,mostly.Tomorrow we move everything back in and he still needs some curtains and new bedding but the really big stuff is done!)He knew exactly what he wanted on his walls. We found the inspiration over at blik.WARNING:: You could drop some serious dough over there!




My dad and I made the stencils and then The Boy and I painted them on. The Boy also knew he wanted to use chalkboard paint to make a chalkboard above where his desk will be.





The floor was the tricky part. It used to be a shaggy, rental brown, floor to floor carpet.I loathe carpet. Besides all the germs and dirt that get trapped under it, keeping it nice looking with six kids, two dogs ,six cats and a rat is impossible. We have recently tiled the rest of the house but I needed to be able to do this project on my own. I was concerned about my skills in that area. There was the stick on tile option. Which I thought at first I would go with but it ended up being cost prohibitive and I really wanted something indestructible. We chose to paint the cement floor.





First we cleaned it really well with a solvent I am sure will be found to cause cancer! Then we simply painted a design on with regular ole' paint. We actually used the leftovers from several different projects. Then we sealed it with a wet-look cement sealer. This process took about a week due to high humidity levels around here. It took the paint forever to dry. The girl's room was pretty crowded for awhile. The Boy requested a special logo for his floor and J was glad to help out with this part of the project. All in all, I am very pleased and more importantly so is The Boy. Next up, the girls room but I truly need a couple of weeks without the chaos home improvement causes around here.

WIP

One of the nice advantages of being THE Boy is you get your own room!

August Highlights

August was a crazy, busy month for us. I have been away from this little spot due to a combination of a router-computer-thingie problem and and all the stuff we packed into this past month! Life is slowly tilting rightwards to (our version) normal. I wanted to take some time this week to let ya' in on some of the doings around here. The lack of computer time shot my productivity through the roof. I finished several WIP.

The Boy is not much of a model, so this was the best(only)shot I got of him in his new pants.


I made him another pair in tan and a coordinating set of shorts.


I am always suggesting he try a print or at least another color. But no!!! The Boy's wardrobe consists of dark colors and lots of pants/shorts with elastic waists. It is nice to have one child keep things simple. I have some girls that are very picky about style and colors and one who is insanely concerned about comfort! So really, I am not complaining about The Boy. There is one color he has taken a particular liking to lately . . .



He's moving up. In the end though, his favorite color will be black again:)

The Neatest Thing I Ever Sewed

The Boy, at times, has it rough. He has five sisters, no neighborhood boys to play with and a very short fuse. He really struggled with his temper and part of the over all plan to help him was signing him up for karate. We were led to an incredible dojo. As part of The Boy being considered for advanced classes he had to memorize the verses that go along with their doctrine statement. On completion of this he received a patch of the American flag. I was given the honor of sewing it on. As The Boy would say,"Sweet!".

FYI : The brace is not a result of karate class. He just fell of the bed and had a minor broken bone. BOYS!!!