Seeking Imperfection

I'm a little late today with this. I had a job interview today (number 7) and they want me to come back tomorrow for a second round, so this week how about education related links? Some homeschool, some special ed, etc. Let's see what I've got starred...

I actually should print this out - I want to make this Leprechaun Book with Paige.

An interesting sound related Montessori inspired activity.

For anyone like me who is involved with severe special education, here's a post I found interesting about eye gaze communication.

Not quite education, but still sort of school related, lunch box love notes.

A homeschool preschool "curriculum" of sorts, Read to Me and ABC. I really liked how one of the things this mom did while teaching each letter was a part called, "Making A Memory."

A list of websites that teach reading.

This year I am having fun with Becky Higgin's Project Life. It is a scrapbook/photo album kit that is made for you to take a picture every day for a year. There are many different ways to use the kit, and I've had fun looking at what others are doing with it.

The Mom Creative hosts "Project Life Tuesdays" where you share how you are doing with your Project Life. I've been wanting to join in, but I keep forgetting. As it is, I'm posting this late on Tuesday...but better late than never!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Paige's first "friend's" birthday party. We had the party at a plaster painting place. Paige painted a butterfly. I have a ton of great pictures from the party. This is her cake, which is a cupcake cake. Each guest got a cupcake, a Hoodsie, and a juice box.



Monday, March 1, 2010

Paige's preschool class was studying dinosaurs in February. Today Paige brought home a dinosaur "diorama." I didn't even know that kids still did dioramas!



Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Paige has been having trouble sleeping again. She doesn't want to go to bed and often wakes up several times a night. Lately she's been very hot when she wakes up, as she likes to burrow under a lot of blankets but also overheats easily. She didn't want to change into something cooler...but we convinced her to when she got to wear one of Aunt Michelle's shelter shirts, just like her.



Wednesday, March 3, 2010

An after dinner snack for me...one of Paige's cupcakes and a Hoodsie.



Thursday, March 4, 2010

Paige worked on thank you cards for her birthday party. She wrote the names of her friends on the envelopes and used a couple of her stamps to decorate the envelopes. She's in her new green nightgown again.



Friday, March 5, 2010

Roland's Christmas Darth Vader is still lurking on top of the refrigerator, next to a "porcupine" that Paige made in preschool in the fall, and some junk that has accumulated up there. Time to clean the top of the fridge.



Saturday, March 6, 2010

One of Paige's cousin gave her a kid sized pizza making kit for her birthday. Today Paige and Daddy made pizzas.



So that about wraps up last week here. Thanks for visiting.

Once again...a few fun links from my "starred" items...

My brother and his girlfriend are expecting their second child in June. Maybe I'll try making a diaper wreath.

I keep meaning to try this action game with Paige, since she is always moving!

A yummy looking recipe for skillet lasagna.

I was actually just thinking about this one last night. Need to print this out and try it with Paige - counting the house.

Another recipe I've been meaning to try - apple brownies.

So many of my starred posts are for holidays. I scrolled through and found Valentine's...then Christmas...then Halloween. LOL

So, the last one is the first thing I bookmarked, this cool castle cake that I toyed with trying for Paige's birthday.

A little over a year ago, I started listening to audio books in my car on the way to and from work. Before that, I'd never really listened to an audio book, preferring to read books "the old fashioned way." I quickly became addicted to listening to the books in the car, and now I get a little cranky if I don't have a story to listen to!

I found that I really enjoyed listening to stories for children and young adults. The stories were entertaining, but not too distracting. One of the women I worked with started listening to books with her children when they were in the car, and found that they enjoyed listening to stories as a family. It is a great way to squeeze in a little educational time...and have it be enjoyable too!

Even though I'm not working with her right now, she's asked that I continue to send her the names of good books. So I started thinking, why not share them here too? Maybe someone else would be interested in listening to a good story. Last year, I started writing down all the names and authors of the books I listened to throughout the year. I was going to keep track of how many stories I listened to. Toward the end of the year I started to forget to write them down...but I've started again this year.

I just finished listening to: "Project Mulberry" by Linda Sue Park.



In Project Mulberry, the main character, Julia, and her friend, Patrick, raise silk worms as a project for a school club. At first, Julia, who is Korean, doesn't want to do the project, as she thinks it is too "foreign," and wants to do something more American.

In between the chapters on the audiobook, the author has "conversations" with the main character, Julia, in which they discuss how the story was written. At the end of the story, there is an interview with the author.

I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it. :)

I used to really enjoy making my "Thursday List" of items that I wanted to keep track of that I'd found on other blogs. Once I started using Google Reader, I stopped making the lists and started just "starring" things in the reader. However, I've been thinking that I kind of miss making my list and sharing all the wonderful ideas I find online. Also, I tend to forget about all the fun things I've starred! So, I think I'm going to start "trying" to share what I've been starring lately. Hope you all find something fun too.

My last five starred posts are:

I am toying with trying out this Courage Jar with Paige.

I'm intrigued with this recipe for Root Beer Cake.

These Valentine's Day flowerpots are adorable, and I think you could do the same idea for different holidays, events, etc.

Scrapbooker Stacey Julian has a section on her blog where she shares what she calls, "sprinkles" which are basically little happy ideas to remind you that it is the little things that make life great. I liked what her family did with their construction paper hearts.

I love the birthday banner on the bedroom door! I also think the balls are a cute favor.

For the past year or so, I've wanted to give a little treat to Roland every day, starting on February 1st, and leading to Valentine's Day. I've seen so many cute little ideas online, and I have all the scrapbooking supplies to make beautiful things, but I just never get my act together to get it all "perfect."

This year, since I'm out of work, I figured I couldn't use "I don't have enough time" as an excuse not to do this. However, the first was fast approaching, and I had bought some candy for him, but hadn't sat down to make the beautiful, perfect cards. So, on the first I ended up handing him a chocolate Dove heart. He asked what it was for, and I told him "Valentine's Day." He said, "but it isn't Valentine's Day yet." So, I told him that I was going to give him a little surprise every day. Not the perfect, romantic, surprise I had wanted, but I told myself it is better than doing nothing, and letting the idea of surprising him with something sit another year. Truth be told, he seemed to enjoy the idea, and didn't once ask me where the beautiful card that should go with it was.

I've only managed to put hearts with cute sayings on a handful of the treats - most of which I put on the arm of the couch where he's sitting when we watch TV in the evening.

This cute idea I found here.


Sorry for the poor photo quality. It is a box of Junior Mints in heart shapes with a construction paper heart that says, "We were mint to be together!" taped on it. Turns out he doesn't even like Junior Mints, so I ate them!

The point being, I've enjoyed picking out little treats for him, and I think he's enjoyed getting them, even if they aren't "perfect" in my mind. I keep telling myself lately that doing something is better than doing nothing. Maybe in the future I'll get the fancy cards done too. Maybe not. But at least I've done something in the meantime.

I'm not sure how it happened.

How - and when - did she go from this:



to this?



Happy 5th Birthday, Paige Girlie!

Oh, and note her "5 Shirt" - one of the things I've wanted to "try" for a long time. I had a hard time with it and needed some help with the sewing, but it's a beginning, and she LOVED it. :)