I love my kids, I hate my blog, and I miss carbs!

I love my kids

Wow. I really do. The transition to four kids now that we're full strength (Boy Wonder came home last week!) wasn't really as hard as I thought it would be.


Sure, sometimes I think all I EVER say is "Get off that!" or "Leave your brother alone!" or "We don't put dirty underwear on our sister's head!" but really, my house is a safe haven of order and calm. HA!

This week was the first week of third grade for our Boy Wonder. It was hard to watch him walk into the new school knowing how nervous he was about being the new kid. He came home that first day a little bummed that he didn't make a friend, but by Tuesday afternoon he'd not only ridden the bus for the first time (dubbed "Best. Experience. Ever" by the kid himself), but he'd made a few classroom friends. Life in third grade is good, folks, life is good.

First day of third grade and a happy little brother.

The younger ones and I alternate between local parks and the two libraries in town. Boo still insists he's big enough to ride the bus to school and that he's deserving of a class of his own, but with enough promises of slides and swings, he relents and let's his big brother go. He's too eager to grow up.

The girls? Well, they're angels. No, it's true. McK is a champ at dinner and eats enough to get her power lifting career off and running in the near future and Riley Roo sleeps. A lot. Like, all the time. I guess I would too if given the chance.

I hate my blog

OMG. I really do. I changed it a few months back when I was wallowing in the dark of Alaska and all I could think about was lemons (I still don't own my own damn lemon tree) and sunshine. Now? Well, I just don't connect with it or the design scheme. It drives me crazy, really, and is a big reason I don't update it often. (The other four BIG reasons being the minions I live with who treat me like their personal pack mule and cleaning lady).

That said, it's being updated AGAIN this week. Can you forgive me? I hate cleaning and remodeling as much as the next person, but when you just don't jive with the name or the look of your very own sacred space (Ok, it's just a blog, but whatever!!), nothing feels right.

I spent about an entire week agonizing over the name. I finally remembered my favorite Shel Silverstein poem and BOOM! Life was magical again. Updates soon.

I miss carbs

I made the mistake of looking at myself in the mirror last week. Not that I was expecting Elle Macpherson to be staring back from the foggy glass or anything, but after three kids in four years, my body just seemed to give up and say "@#$K it!"  And I'm only 34!!!!

It was a sort of galvanizing moment, I guess. I had an image of myself carting around these same 30 pounds and being miserable while my kids grew. No energy to get through the long, beautiful days that come with the territory when you have four children. No love for myself. Fear of mirrors and any sort of pant WITHOUT an elastic waist. I mean, really, what sort of life is that?

So this week I started a process I like to call the 60 Day Gutcheck. I'm not great at struggle or discipline, but after I took my "day one" photo on Monday, I'm pretty sure I'd be willing to eat dirt for two months to get a fire started under my ass.

Because money is tight and personal trainers and diet programs aren't cheap, I'm sort of mish-mashing a few programs together and hoping for success. I have a copy of Bob Harper's Skinny Rules that gives me a few guidelines to follow when it comes to my awful eating habits (is "crap off your kids' plates" a viable food group??) The rules are pretty strict and I'm eating pretty bland, colorless (read it: carbless!) food...but seriously, ya'll...have you SEEN my "day one" photo?? Taste is obviously overrated.

From Weight Watchers, I'm stealing the journaling concept. I've read too many articles that state people who write down what they eat lose more weight than those who don't. Not saying I don't groan each time I have to write down "four bites of Boo's chocolate chip cookie," but the point is that I'm owning that shame, sir!

And workouts? Well, gym time is a commodity I'm not really afforded right now so I snagged P's Insanity set and you'll find me every afternoon cursing out Shawn T. and his brigade of skinny, ab-crazy devotees. When I can't take all the bouncing and jumping, I have a couple Yoga and Pilates dvds to torture myself with.

I promise to share the progress photos. Eventually. Like when I'm already Kate Moss-skinny and am allowed within ten feet of a baked good again.

I'll be sure to update the 60 day progress once a week or so if you promise to send carbs. Lots of carbs. Ok, forget that last part.

Hope your week is great!

Calling Boy Wonder!

Oh, how I LOVE this time of year!

Each May, I struggle with a weighty sort of depression when my sweet, sweet boy...my firstborn, the leader of my ragtag band of minion/children...gets ready to leave for the summer. No matter how excited he gets to visit his father and the other side of his family, it's a fight to make my face match his in excitement. And yes, many, many times, I'm faking it.

Summer passes so slowly when he's gone, and to compound the matter, he hates the phone. (Pretty sure it's a genetic thing because I hate it, too). But as summer winds down and the month of August marches on, things start to change. He wants to talk more. He's got the countdown marked on his calendar ("three more days, Mom! Three more, days!")

This summer was especially hard for us all. Two days after he left for the summer from Alaska, the rest of the family sold everything we owned and relocated to Houston. We got a new apartment, a few pieces of new furniture, and brand new routines without him. And no matter how hard his little brother tries to explain how utterly cool the new pool is, he can't do it justice for his older brother.

So we all sit in anticipation of his Monday morning arrival. Just one short week later, the little man begins a new third grade adventure in a new school. His grandparents mailed him a GIGANTIC box of school supplies. My folks have been mailing him school clothes, new shoes, and a bright orange backpack he picked out.

It's that time again. Life's ready for all new adventures...all we need is the Boy Wonder.

Mission Possible: How the Secrets of the Success Academies Can Work in Any School

I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of "Mission Possible: How the Secrets of the Success Academies Can Work in Any School" to help answer the following question parents, teachers, and administrators face every year:

Stagnation, being unable to accomplish one’s job at a high level, is one of the greatest sources of low teacher morale.  Why do you think this country treats teaching so differently than it does other professions?  

This is a topic that really hits home with me. Boy Wonder has been in two (soon to be three) elementary schools in his short academic career and the differences between a "good" teacher and a "great" teacher are amazing and startling and eye opening.

We started out with an amazing kindergarten experience. It was hands-on, it was challenging, it was encouraging and rewards-based. Our son thrived in a situation where he worked hard and earned praise or certificates for his efforts, even if his effort didn't always mean he'd figured out the problem completely. The "carrot" he chased was often just far enough out of his range that he'd bring whatever concept he'd been working on home and mull it over with us. It was fantastic and we saw his brain power quadruple in capacity in nine short months.

Fast forward the next two years in a new school and a new program. It was supposedly "self driven" where the teachers took a back seat and let the kids go at "their own pace." Have you met my child? He's brilliant. But his "own pace" takes him straight over to the cut and paste table during free time and not to the challenging books or puzzles station. That's just him. He loves to create Lego men out of recycled math quizzes and glue sticks.

 When we had problems with Boy Wonder's most recent teacher (second grade), we took the problem first to the teacher, then to the program, and then to the principal. Many parents did. And unfortunately, the results never changed. The principal was focused on the "problem" kids. The ones lashing out at teachers, skipping classes, fighting, cursing, failing. There was no emphasis on the rest of the student population--the ones that weren't necessarily in their fancy "advanced elementary" program, but weren't destined for juvenile hall, either.

It was a school-district wide culture, we found. Unfortunately, with the pressures the schools felt to pass this mandated test or that one, to keep violence and bullying from overrunning their schools, they had precious few resources left to encourage, empower, or train their teachers. (At least that was our experience at this particular school. I can't speak for every parent in the district and I'm not trying to.)

Bringing this post back around to the question, I think teachers are no longer tasked with merely leading our children through educational rigors to bring out their best, they've been tasked with so much more that should not fall on their shoulders. They're expected to play psychologist, social worker, educator, nutritionist, and ambassador when dealing with strained relationship between parent and child. As such, they often fail to deliver the necessary results that drive test scores up and translate to lower graduation rates.

I also think legislators are misguided when it comes to "bottom line" economics and schools. It's easy for them to cut budgets and spending for our children because the outcomes and "products" are ten years or more out. So they cut budgets, underpay teachers, and overload them with responsibilities. Then they blame them for declining test standards and graduation rates.

Kinda tragic, really.

The Book

Moskowitz

"Mission Possible: How the Secrets of the Success Academies Can Work in Any School" is written by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia. It's geared toward teachers, principals, education reformers, and parents and tells the story of the New York Success Academies. In addition, the writers impart the lessons they've learned along the way when it comes to encouraging teachers, pushing students toward excellence, and building award-winning literacy programs.

It's a call to action...a challenge to make every school great, no matter what resources are available.

The book includes a DVD with teacher interviews illustrating the concepts described in the text.

Want more information about the authors or "Mission Possible"? Visit http://bit.ly/NgXHVm

What I Took Away

Lavinia

I loved the sections about reading and writing, an area in which we struggle with our own child. When a subject bores him, he retains very little. And yet, long after bedtime, I will find the same child under his covers with a flashlight reading the lore manuals to his favorite fantasy video game (written for adults.) Around the breakfast table in the morning, he can tell us which Gnome King in which Gnomish century began the war with the Trolls...amazing, really, when he's pushed toward something he likes, he can achieve anything. When allowed to remain in the comfortable, known pool of what he considers "boring" books, he languishes with his comprehension, no matter how well he can read.

The bottom line, according to the authors, is to push him. Rigor is their battle cry, and they claim its the best way to excite students and teachers to do great things. I have to say, I agree.

The Giveaway

The authors were kind enough to send me a copy of their great book. They were even more amazing in that they sent a copy for you, too. All you have to do is comment and I'll select a winner next Monday morning, August 20. Just tell me (and the authors) what your school experience is and how you work as a parent to make it even better.

Thanks so much and have a blessed week!



Disclaimer:  "I was compensated for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own."

The Minions: The 2032 Edition (Where are they now?)

Yes, I have a little time on my hands. A lot of time, actually.

As I sit here, I think about who my kids are and with this new, adorable addition, I catch myself guessing what she’ll be like in the future. Blonde hair? Brunette? Daredevil? Bookworm? All are fine with me, I’m just a nosy person by nature and love to speculate.

So speculate I did and I came up with a blog update I could write in 20 years, letting my loved ones know just what my grown children are up to.

Dominic

At 28, Dominic is the author of the bestselling, million dollar steampunk/goblin/zombie comic book series “Boy Wonder’s Tomb of Doom.” Recently optioned for the big screen, the series will also be made into a MMO/RP video game—much like “Warcraft,” the beloved video game of his youth.

Currently dating this year’s SI Swimsuit Edition cover model, Dominic says he has no plans on settling down anytime soon. He lives in a multi-million dollar treehouse in Northern California with his cat, Miko Jr., and said Brazilian bikini model.

Andrew

At 23, Andrew is a five-time heavyweight IBJJF world jiu jitsu champion, after defeating his idol and honorary uncle, Roger Gracie, both in their division and in the absolute division. This comes after graduating this spring with honors from Stanford with a  master’s degree in chemical engineering , a degree he plans to use to discover the next renewable fuel source, ultimately ending the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Andrew is engaged to his elementary school sweetheart and fellow IBJJF jiu jitsu lightweight champion and rising MMA superstar, Ava Cannonier, and plans to get married at 25, after earning his first million dollars (and getting permission from the bride-to-be’s Killa Gorilla father, retired UFC light-heavyweight champ, Jarrod Cannonier).

Kenna

The rebel of the family, Makenna (21), bucked her mother’s traditions and prejudices and is a junior at the University of Texas in Austin (much to Grampa Gary's delight), where she is the president of her sorority and captain of the Longhorn cheerleading squad.

 Dating the Longhorn quarterback and presumed first-round draft pick in the 2033 NFL draft, Makenna is a dean’s list student studying biomedical science with plans to participate in the university’s fast-track medical school program. In her spare time, Makenna runs marathons, works in local animal shelters, and knits hats for newborn babies at the hospitals where she volunteers.

Riley

The natural born fighter of the family, Riley (20) is a sophomore at Texas A&M University where she studies architecture and works as an assistant professor at her father’s Gracie Barra College Station jiu jitsu academy. After winning her first gold in the women’s flyweight division at IBJJF’s world championship at age 18, Riley has returned to the tournament each year and captured gold in her division and in the absolutes. 

She spends her summers training in Rio de Janeiro and is often on the cover of Gracie Magazine and various women's fitness magazines. Not allowed to date until she is 35, Riley is currently single—much to her daddy’s relief.

Life in L&D

Hello, world. I sit here writing this with a cup of cold hospital coffee next to my laptop, a ginormous scar across my abdomen that I refuse to look at for fear of vomiting, and the 2012 Olympics casting a nice light from across the room while the neat little soundbox is perched next to me. (Don't those things smack of the drive in speaker boxes that you'd hang on your door? Yes, I went to drive ins a time or two before they went extinct!)

Here I sit. Thinking about how our family is now a family of six. How our newest little girl, Riley Makaila, made her entrance yesterday via C-section and is doing wonderful. How she's the exact spitting image of her older brother, Boo, as a newborn. (It's kinda crazy how identical they look!)

My delivery story with Riley is so very different from her siblings. I was scared the entire week leading up to the surgery and had a hard time hiding it the past few days. She was breech and refused to turn the past few weeks and, so, the section was inevitable.

We arrived Tuesday (July 31, a wonderful day to have a birthday!) morning and I was all smiles and chatty until they started poking me with needles and talking spinal blocks. Barf. Our doc was in a particular rush to get the surgery underway, so they sort of rushed P and I through all the paperwork and medications and clothes changing until POOF!...I'm sitting on the OR table leaning on a stranger while the anesthesiologist is drilling for oil in my spine. (I was actually really upset that they made P wait outside during that part...I'm particularly terrified of needles in my vertebrae and do better when he's with me!)

The minute the numbing medication is in place, you have to lie down immediately and that sense of immediacy must have made me panic, because I started to hyperventilate, cry, and get sick from the rush of medication. Let's just say I was a little less than dignified those first few moments. Barfing up the nasty medicine shots they had me take before the OR room. Crying because I couldn't move enough to NOT panic (see of that makes sense...it sure doesn't to me now that I look back!) and the general feeling that my heart was beating so fast it was going to explode in my chest. It was hell.

The doc must have felt sorry for me or was sick of hearing me and my wailing death keen, because he knocked me clean off my butt with some wonder drug and the next thing I know, I feel a huge weight lifted up and off my chest (eww!) and then there was Riley. And she came out swinging and squalling and telling all those doctors and nurses all about themselves. Honestly, she's scored the highest on the Apgar test of all our babies and I think it was based purely on the loud trash-talking she was delivering. It was great!

I slept for the next 13 hours, I'm pretty sure. P said I was in a zombie-like state and that basically sums it up. I remember itching a lot because of the morphine and I was a sweaty sort of mess in the afternoon. But that's about it. Oh, and I was hungry. Damn hungry and resentful that they somehow though lime gelatin and chicken broth was anything less than an insult to a formerly pregnant chick who hadn't eaten in 17 hours. Really, people??

But day two? Well, it's much better. The whole "sawed in half" thing really makes hopping out of bed and dancing the can-can difficult, but I'm working on it. I love laying in my hospital bed on my butt (until my butt goes numb and I have to try to move without activating the deactivated core muscles) waiting for the next food tray. (Yes, I had chicken fried steak tonight. Woo hoo!)

There's hope I can go home early tomorrow and get back to my beloved, busy life with my beloved, busy family. I truly hope so. Riley's siblings are impatient to have her home and I'm impatient to be home with P and the minions.


Hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their summer!

Life Unscripted

Normally, the un-planned way of living gives me hives. Not that I'm organized or necessarily focused, but for some reason I love lists. I love having something to work on or strive towards. I love routines--not because I  find comfort in them, but mostly because I like to bust them to pieces whenever the mood strikes.

This summer, however, has been a new experience. Trying to work my normal Alaska job from a Houston living room with two small children bouncing off walls. Searching the normal job-finding venues in search of gainful employment come September. Making do with little to no furniture or organizing capabilities (lots of our stuff is still in boxes because we have no shelves. Anywhere!)

This whole "not knowing" and learning to make do with crappy situations (Hello? No truck for a month because it was lost in limbo somewhere? That stunk!) that turn out not to be crappy in the end...just different.

As I type this, I realize I have seven days to get the new baby stuff. Not just fun, ornamental stuff...but real stuff. Bottles. Bibs. Onesies. A bed of some sort. A bouncy chair so at least we can set her down now and then. I have none of these and it irks me some nights when I can't sleep because I've reached the weight category known as "whale."

But they always say the best surprises and opportunities arrive when things are upended and you allow yourself to exist in a "chaos soup" sort of existence for a while. So here I am, universe! Upended, disorganized, unsure, a little lost, and totally ready!

And the photo? Well, those two are professional life-by-the-seat-of-your-pants types. They inspire me!

Hope you're having a great week!

How It Was Supposed to Be and How It Is

In my mind, it was going to go something like this:

On an quiet, well-fed and humidity-free morning, I'd leave my perfectly cleaned house after kissing my perfectly dressed and groomed children goodbye. I'd arrive at the hospital, sign a form or two, blink, and have a perfect ninja baby #4. My hair would still be neat and clean and sprayed into place and I'd be zipping up my pre-pregnancy jeans by 4 p.m.


 We'd be home by dinner because, in my perfect world, Texas hospitals don't make you stay over night and fight with intrusive, blood-pressure checking nurses who wake up your baby at 2 a.m. for fun.  Said baby #4 would sleep through 'til morning starting that first magical night home. What's more? She'd tutor her older brother and sister in organic chemistry and share the secrets of a perfect, flaky pie crust with me after changing her own diapers. No, she'd be potty trained by day 2... in my mind.

But what really happened?

I hit 36 weeks last week and went in for a normal checkup to find things not so normal. 

First, an infection and antibiotics out the wa-zoo. Then severe anemia and iron supplements out the wa-zoo. Do you know how miserable iron supplements are? I'm pretty sure they're served as appetizers in the fourth circle of hell...

Didn't really feel like posting a late-preggo pic, so here's one of an applique quilt
I finished a couple weeks ago. It's a Red Riding Hood quilt right before
the Red Riding Hood part. Come to think of it...maybe I should have posted
a picture of the completed project....ha!

But the kicker was the "oh, gee, your child seems to be head up" talk. We scheduled an ultrasound for yesterday afternoon, which only confirmed it. (Yes, I was sorta hoping for a miracle. Does that make me crazy? Perhaps...perhaps.)

So, with a giant-headed child firmly entrenched right side up, the doctor scheduled a c-section for the end of the month. I'd like to say I took it all in stride and saw the bright side right away, but the truth is, I was deflated and really, really overwhelmed. I still am.

C-sections terrify me, I mean, really, really scare me. Sawing into my abdomen, yanking out a child, and sewing it all back up together again? Sounds scarier than my collection of zombie DVDs. And less fun than a root canal performed in the back of a pickup truck driving 90 down a bumpy dirt road. (I have imagination for days, ya'll!!)

I've been spoiled with my kids so far. I'm back on the mat within a week or so and I'm free to workout and push strollers to parks and cavort to my heart's content. But the word on the street after c-sections? Weeks and weeks of painful recovery. Immobility. Taking it easy. Not lifting, running, jumping, bouncing....any of that. I mean, have you met my family?? We aren't exactly the calm, sedated types and the thought that I'm going to need help to get out of bed for a few weeks makes me cry. And pout. And wallow. And roll around in the mud of my mind like a little piggy.

I know, I know...put on the big girl panties and get going already. Truth be told, this has been one easy pregnancy. I skipped the entire first trimester, never felt much discomfort. We moved to Texas in month seven and a half and this little ninja child never once complained or gave me much grief. And I guess when I said all my prayers for a healthy, happy child, I agreed to take her however God chose to hand her off to me--"bikini cut" scars and all. Just part of the small price for such a beautiful family the mister and I have been blessed with.

Still...how long do you have to hold a pillow over your abdomen when you cough or sneeze to avoid blowing out stitches?? Yikes...just not sure how ready I am to be an invalid for the rest of the summer, no matter how accepting of the way things are I am. Pray for us!

Happy Summer!

A Day in the Life: June 28, 2012

I've been meaning to get this post thrown together for a while now. The pictures have been ready for about two weeks, the blog is getting a little behind and a bit stale...you know. Perfect timing for a new post.

I've just been a bit lazy, that's all!  This sort of post was inspired by a photography blog I follow. Turns out, the author's life is way more interesting than mine and she's all shades of skinny and adorable so she shows up a lot more in her daily life photos (not so the case with me...8 months prego is not kind to my ego).

But here it is. A sort of semi-routine we've come up with here in our first month in H-Town.


6:22 a.m.
Look, I totally know the microwave clock says it's past 7 a.m., but that's only because I was in too much of a fog to snap a shot at the REAL time Andrew arrived in our room, annoucing "Kenna's awake! Kenna's awake!"

7:05 a.m.
I take small comfort in the fact that they look just about as tired as I feel, too. I just don't understand their infernal need to wake up so early if they're sleepy and crabby themselves.

7:55 a.m.
Breakfast #1. Feed the animals before they eat the blinds. It's true.

8:30 a.m.
I know I've mostly kicked my need for drive-thru coffees and the fact that I have to pay nearly $5 for the damn latte irks me---but this morning I really needed that shot of espresso. So don't judge.

9 a.m.
Breakfast #2. (What are we, Hobbits?!) Coffees imbibed. The adults are now hungry and we have a new favorite taco truck thanks to a friend of ours introducing it to us. Note the sign about drugs and tacos. Brilliant, right?

9:10 a.m.
Waiting for her breakfast tacos. In case you're wondering, Kenna's order is a bacon, egg, cheese, and potoato with a flour tortilla. She moshes that thing.

10:20 a.m.
Pool time. It hits the high temps by around noon in our neighborhood, so if I'm going to be outside, it's going to be brief, and usually before 11:45 a.m.  I'm not one for humidity, it seems. We love our pool. It's empty every morning and we make the most of it when we can.

11:45 a.m.
Kenna's usually passed out at this point and Boo needs his lunch. Today's lunch was a half-eaten sandwich and totally devoured strawberries. And some construction vehicles parked on the table for good measure.

12:30 p.m.
Me at the "office." Until maternity leave ends, I'm gainfully employed and do my work out the Alaska office. After maternity leave? Well, hello job search and hello back to the cubicles. *Sigh*

2 p.m.
Boo is getting restless by now. I'm taking too long at the computer and we've still got a minute or two to wait til we get to leave for an evening up near Spring, Tx when we take dad to work. I'm hanging on to this picture for dear life...because some day he's going to think he's too cool for his dad and I and I'm going to have to remind him of his "velcro sneaker and backwards nundies" days.

4:45 p.m.
We braved the Beltway and drove 45 minutes to drop P off here, where he was covering classes for our friends. I'm not sure we came to a complete stop before speeding out of the parking lot towards our next destinations.

5:35 p.m.
It's been a long time since I've lived in the same city as a Hobby Lobby. The kids seem equally impressed, surrounded by Christmas decorations, don't they?

6:40 p.m.
At the Barbara Bush branch of the Harris County Public Library. Great kids section, though not very friendly librarians. This is Boo's first choice of the evening, "Sammy Spider's First Shabbat." No lie.

7:28 p.m.
Oh my, he's getting tired, isn't he? This is the kids' room at Champions Gracie Barra. Boo is playing with new "rescue men" (think Army men, but with a medivac chopper and ambulance) and Kenna is obsessivly beating on the door each time she catches a glimpse of her daddy teaching. She's his number one fan. I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

7:55 p.m.
Just a few more minutes til dad's done. We ran next door to get some awesome Mexican food to go and Boo rallied his rescue team to save a couple downed tortilla chips.

8:30 p.m.
Finally, we're all loaded up and heading home. It'll be about 9:15 or 9:30 before we get the munchkins in bed and I was a bit too zombiefied by this point to snap shots. But you get the idea, don't you? Long, fabulous day in the Applegate world.

Have a great week!

Crafty Tutorial: Button Art and Mod Podge Frame

I don't do a lot of tutorials. Mostly, it's because a lot of what I attempt gets flattened by the crafty fail whale, but it also happens that when things DO go right, I'm too distracted to stop and take pictures.

And what good is a tutorial with no photos?

No good, I tell you, no good at all.

Our house is very, very slowly adding life. We have a table. Chairs. Couch. Loveseat. Coffee table. Bed in our room (poor Boo still has an air mattress, but we're working on that!)

But the walls are bare. Part of me can't bring myself to riddle them with finishing nails to hang stuff like I seem to do in all of our rentals. (I'll be trying out those non-damaging wall-hanger-upper things in this place). And the other part of me, well, that's the girl that got rid of most of her stuff in Alaska, so there isn't much art for the kids' rooms. At all.

This is the part of the story that I found inspiration. It started with my girl, Vanessa, at Tried & True. I've raved about her before (not everyone gets to say they went to high school with a craft superstar!). I'll do it again. She has the best. tutorials.ever. She reviewed a new book in this post: "Mod Podge Rocks!"

Of couse I read it and was intrigued by the author, Amy Anderson, who runs a blog called...wait for it...Mod Podge Rocks!

My bottles of Mod Podge happened to make the trek down from Alaska and I was thrilled at the Serendipty of it all. Or maybe just the good luck. Whatever floats your boat, y'know?

Anyway, digging through Amy's site, I found a post called "Button Art on the Cheap" and really liked it. Reeeeeally liked it and thought I could spruce up a frame with some scrapbook paper and make something special for the girls' room.

Turns out, I could!

I hit the local Hobby Lobby (I have lived 8 long years without outdoor swimming pools or Hobby Lobbies...I'm not entirely sure how) and grabbed a frame and a couple sheets of pretty paper. I had the rest in my craft boxes. (Unpacked, still. Texas is too hot to bother with unpacking when you don't have shelves or bookcases to put anything on.)

Ready for the tutorial? Sweet!

Button Art and Mod Podge Frame

Materials:

Plain wooden frame (can be repurposed, but mine wasn't, so boo on me)



Pretty scrapbook paper, cut in all sorts of sizes

Craft paint in coordinating color

Mod Podge (I used the gloss formula)

Buttons


Hot glue gun


Any extras for your finished frame (I had a fabric butterfly from a flower arrangement that a good friend gave to me when we arrived in Texas. Isnt' she so sweet?)


Directions:

Assemble your materials. I pulled my frame apart and readied a paint brush and craft paint.

Paint the outside and inside edges of your frame. If you are deft of hand and don't mind making slivers of paper and mod podge to cover these parts of the raw frame, be my guest! But I'm lazy and didn't want to really bother with that part. So I painted them...messily, too. That's the great part about the next step...

Apply thick layers of Mod Podge and assemble your paper scraps all around the frame. Be neat. Be messy. Doesn't matter...it all works out nicely in the end!

I cut one of my papers to fit the frame backing and adhered it (yes, more Mod Podge!) to said backing to make the next step easier.

 

So while the frame was drying in all its decoupage and paper scrap glory, I got to glueing buttons on my paper and backing (it's so much easier to have the paper stuck to the frame back for stability).  I kept my buttons in pretty neat little rows, but you should experiment. Also, I thought one plain button was sort of boring, so Boo and I got to finding little, bitty "partner" buttons to glue on top of our bigger buttons for a little height and visual interest. 

Speaking of visual interest, that's the fabric butterfly that was stuck to a dowel and inserted into a beautiful flower arrangement.

You can see the final product in the next photo...

 

A close up. I love the stacked buttons. Heck, I love the whole darn thing and now Boo is asking for a boy version (with dinosaurs and race cars, no less) for his room. We'll see what we can come up with...

Happy crafting!

Summer of a 100 Books: June's Book Report

Funny thing happens when you run out of money after a big move and you just so happen to have children...it seems you have to keep entertaining and enriching their lives, even if you're short the $60 it would take to get them into the fancy, amazing, totally-awesome-looking museum in downtown Houston.

Kids are tricky like that.

In the neighborhood we happen to reside in, we straddle a county line. (Doesn't that sound dirty?)  It's not dirty, I assure you. One is called Harris County (that's Houston) and the other is Fort Bend County (that's the Sugar Land area). And both of these lovely counties happened to have built great library branches within three miles of our house and our kids now know both librarians by name. Or sight. Or maybe not at all...but the point is, we've been there so much in our first month back in Texas that they SHOULD know their names by now.

Last summer, Boo and I embarked on a long, exciting adventure at the Anchorage library and devoured what amounted to 117 books from the time Boy Wonder left until the time he returned to start second grade.

This summer, we have Makenna with us, and while it means a lot more hustling up and down aisles after wayward toddlers, it's a great experience for her. Though libraries be warned, she is a book assassin. We will keep her safely in the board book category until she's at least 15 years old at this rate.

So, even though we have about three days left, here's our June report:

1. Trashy Town (Mr. Gilly and his green trash truck had our waste management loving preschooler enthralled for a few days. Definitely a "must purchase" eventually.)

2. Busy Chickens (this one was for Makenna. It was hilarious. Chickens are hilarious.)

3. Lonely Moose
4. LIttle Owl's Night
5. Baby's Art Book (Makenna victim #1)
6. Boynton ABC (Makenna victim #2)

7. Ladybug Girl (Already a victim before we checked it out, but they'll probably blame Makenna anyway)

8. Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Scherttle (You know Boo and his transportation books)
9. The Witch's Ball by D. Steinberg
10. A Very Brave Witch by A. McGhee
11. Cowboy Ned and Andy by D. Stein

12. Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble by J. Schachner

13. Buttons (B. Cole)

14. The Star Child  by B. Watts

15. Princess Kim and Too Much Truth by M. Cocca-Leffler

16. Queen of Style by C. and M. Buehner

17. Rismonan of the Flashing Sword by E. Kimmel

18. My first Signs

19. Maisy Goes to the City by L. Cousins

20. Clifford, We Love You by N. Bridwell

21. Clifford the Champion by N. Bridwell

22. The Gruffalo's Child by J. Donaldson
23. Clifford the Small, Red Puppy

24. The Prince's Bedtime by J. Oppenheim

25. I'm Big by K. and J. McMullan
26. Oink? by M. Palatini
27. The Daddy Goose Treasury by V. French

28. Cezanne and the Apple Boy by L. Anholt

29. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by P. Fleischman

30. Sweet Briar Goes to Camp by K. Wilson

31. Elmer and Rose by D. Mckee
32. Margaret Wise Brown's Wonderful House by M. Wise Brown

33 George and the Dragon by C. Wormell

 34. George and the Dragon and the Princess by C. Wormell

Notables this month? My personal favorite was "Buttons" by Brock Cole. Not much could be found about the author (as in, he doesn't really have a website so I can stalk him), but the story about three daughters setting out to replace their father's missing buttons (in very clever ways that ultimately land them all husbands) was a big surprise.

The two George and the Dragon books by Chris Wormell were a huge hit with both kids. Boo loves George the Mouse and the fact that he can scare a scary dragon away just by showing his face had him in stitches. Makenna? She had an odd fascination with the red dragon and growled each time I turned the page. Part dragon baby? Maybe.

Hope your summer is a good one!