Random Friday: Last Friday in July!

• Holy smokes people, I'm tired. Have I said that before? 
• Last weekend we camped. It was not so good. There was a middle of the night wind storm that put me in a near panic attack. Then Mike worked all day Saturday and we couldn't find anyone to come play so it was just me and the kids at the campsite all day.
• Because that was so much fun, we're going again this weekend! But this weekend we have company.
• I think we're gonna try to make giant bubbles today, if I can figure out how not to take the boys to the Walmarts with me.
• Can you all believe that school starts next month? School supplies!!
• And that the Princess turns ONE! 
• Still working on the hexes, and still enjoying it. Need to catch up on pictures though.
• It seems like the blog world is slowing down. A lot of my favorite bloggers are posting less and either I'm super boring or people are commenting less too. Anyone else notice this?

Recent Reading:

• Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy. Reviewed here.
• Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. Classic Quinn.
• The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson. I read this one while we camped last weekend.  I thought it was a nice ending to the first one. I might review it later.
• Divergent (Divergent Trilogy)by Veronica Roth. Started this one yesterday and am really enjoying it. 
• Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan. Levithan is really hit or miss with me, but so far I like this one. 
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Because I never read it in school!

Wordless Wednesday

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Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry by Lenore Skenazy

The Pirate has started telling me over and over that we can't talk to strangers. This is not something that I've taught him and actually isn't something that I want him to learn. I assume this is something they have talked about at school and every time he says it I see flashing lights in my head that spell out "Stranger Danger!!!" Here's the thing though, I'm just not worried that someone will abduct my kids. If I hesitate to let them play outside alone, it's more for the neighbor's comfort than my own. (Hey, my children are LOUD. I'm just thinking of how to be neighborly here.) I won't let the Bug go into the boy's restroom yet, but that's because he doesn't quite have the mechanics down (and he still likes to look or crawl under stall doors to visit other people. Now THERE's the Stranger Danger!) and not because I worry about someone snatching him. I tend to base most of my decisions on what they are capable of doing alone, not fear. I only give my kids limited outdoor freedom, but this is more because I don't trust them NOT to help themselves to things in other yards and not to get lost than because I don't trust the neighbors.


All of this fits nicely with the points laid out in Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry. She advocates letting our kids do things that we were allowed to do as kids. Play outside. Walk to school. Go in the bathroom alone. Eat whole grapes. Skenazy interviewed a lot of experts, people whose job it is to do things like research how many pieces of Halloween candy have really had razor blades in them (none) or poison in them (once, but it was a family member aiming for his own kids, not a stranger.) The book is full of details about how few kids walk to school now compared to our generation, and about how quiet neighborhoods are now that all the kids are inside instead of in the front yard.

The most striking chapter is near the end and I'm going to steal some of the details with you, if only to get you to read the book. One kid in 1.5 MILLION is abducted killed by strangers. They are 40 times more likely to die in a car crash, but my kids are in the car almost every day. They are ten times more likely to die in a house fire, but we slept in our very own beds last night. They are 20 times more likely to drown, but we spent the whole weekend at the lake, in and out of the water. Sexual abuse by strangers is down something like 79% since we were kids. (I can't find that exact quote, I could be off a few numbers.) There are some good strategies on how to teach your kids to be safe- it's fine to TALK to strangers, just don't GO with them! (This is a good thing, as the Bug has a tendency to walk up and introduce himself to everyone he sees.) I don't want to repeat the whole chapter here, you really should just read the book.

The entire book is worth reading. It's fairly short, less than 200 pages, and is full of humor. Skenazy has been named "America's Worst Mom" for allowing her kid to ride on the subway alone and isn't afraid to use that title to poke fun at herself. If you're a parent, I recommend that you pick this one up. It's short and fun and full of encouraging information and ideas.  You can read more at Lenore Skenazy's blog and get a feel for how she writes, as well as her take on the Lieby Kletzky tragedy. It's a great blog, as well as a great book.

Free Range Kids
by Lenore Skenazy
Jossey- Bass
2009
213 pages

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Banners banners and more banners

Last night I was talking about my banners to a neighbor and I realized that I am closing in fast on banner number 50! (I think. There might be a few unaccounted for!)
 
So I thought maybe I'd give banner number 50 away.

If you've been thinking about ordering a banner for yourself or your child or a friend or your dog, now's the time.

I'm not going to tell you how close I am to 50.  But if it's you I'll refund your money and send you the banner for FREE.

Here's the shop link, in case you forgot.



PS. This is the sort of thing I'd typically announce over on the Facebook page. You might wanna go "like" that as well!

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

A month of sewing, show and tell.

One of the things I got to do a lot of while mom was here was sew.  With her help with the kids, I made pinafores, aprons, napkins, clutches and a handful of other fun things. Ready for a little show and tell?




First up was this custom order pinafore. This is similar to the one I made for the Princess, only sized to fit a big girl. It's roughly a size 7 or 8. I tried it on the Pirate, who wears a 6, and it was a little big. He was not willing to have his picture taken in a dress though, so you have to imagine it on. I added a bit of bias trim to the neck and a pocket for her stuff. The inside is a rich chocolate brown. I also made a cute set in a cherry print for a pair of adorable sisters. These were sized 12 month and 3T. I'm considering adding these to the shop, but haven't really decided yet. If you need one for a little girl in your life email me and we'll work something out.

Next up, a pair of little pants for the Princess made out of a bandana. SO fast and easy. I have a second bandana that I'm going to make up and I plan to use them for my very first tutorial. I'm gonna call it "So easy you could figure it out on your own, but since its nice to be told what to do, here're instructions!" Catchy, no? (This picture was taken before I put the elastic in, but they are in the wash now, so no complete picture.)

This item and the next are a little, well, boring. First, mom wanted some little towels to put over her dining room chairs. She has 3 cats and 6 grandkids that visit frequently and wanted a little protection on the chairs. We picked up two summery vinyl tablecloths and I cut them down and ran them through the serger. They wouldn't have frayed if we'd just cut them, but "hemming" the edges make them a tiny bit nicer looking.

This was a 5 minute job- stuff your plastic bags in the top, pull them out the bottom. I guess she used the first one she had until it ripped!






Then the napkins. Mom's kitchen is black, white and red so we choose two black and white patterns. The napkins with the dots are half sized napkins (7x14). This is typically the size we use here at home and is great for kids and for tucking into lunchboxes. We did 24 of these (see: 6 grandkids). The white and black swirls are full sized napkins (14x14) and we did 9 of them. We used a simple rolled hem on the serger and it was a quick and easy project.






Next up a pair of gathered clutches. These were a lot faster than I expected. Inside they have a divider and a couple little slots for credit cards. Super easy and fun. The front one is for mom and the back one was supposed to be mine, but I've decided to give it to a friend of mine instead. I'm definitely adding these to the shop, once I find a good deal on zippers.





Last, a child's art smock. This is similar to a bib for a baby, but lined with waterproof fabric and with a large divided pocket. It has arm holes to keep it centered on their chest and ties behind the neck. This one is on it's way to Alabama for use in mom's classroom, but there are more underway to be added to the shop this summer. This version is machine washable, but I'm also planning some with a vinyl top layer that you'd just wipe down when they are done. I'm not sure if those will get a pocket or not.

We also made the two water bottle totes seen here, and there are four more of those cut and ready to sew.

In addition to all this sewing, I found ideas for about a dozen more things that I just HAVE to make, but I think I'll save that for another post!



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Sunday. A return to normal.

• The kids and I took my mom back to the airport on Friday. It was about 9 hours in the car, round trip. They were as well behaved as one could expect, but it was still torture.
• We're all sad that mom is gone and not just because it's the end of always clean laundry and dishes.
• We'll also miss the nightly brownies.
• I gained six pounds while she was here. I won't miss that.
• I've missed blogging.
• We took the kids to the lake yesterday. We found a great little swimming beach and had a little picnic. 
• Then the boat started stalling so we headed in.
• Only to find that roughly 60 of South Dakota's best fishermen (South Dakota Governor's Cup Tournament) were lined up at the boat launch waiting to go in. 
• Since the boat wouldn't idle we had to cut in line. I think they were not happy. (We tried to wait them out, but after 45 minutes in the 99 degree heat with three kids we were worried that it just would not start the next time and we'd be stranded out there.)
• Then we ran out of gas in the car. Pulling the boat. In 99 degree heat. We took a chance and went the opposite way from town when we realized we'd never make it the 14 miles to town. There was a gas station 5 miles the other way. The car lost power as we turned into the station and we literally coasted to a stop at the pump. 
• It supposed to be 105 here today. I think we'll stay inside and read and sew and watch tv. What do you do when it's super hot outside? 
• I wish we had a sprinkler. Or even a hose.

What I Read this Week:

•  Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. I'd hoped to finish before mom left, but we ended up sewing instead. (More on that later, when I sort pictures out.)
• I can't make these extra dots go away!
• 
I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Headless

Headless, a photo by lharsma on Flickr.

Please tell me that my children aren't the only ones who do this?

Random Friday: No beach today.

• We've been to the lake every day since Saturday. We're taking today off to recover. It's a lot of fun, but there's not a lot of relaxing. I need to stay home and let me kids be unattended in their room for a day.
• Six days on the lake and only I am sunburned. The kids are not. I win the mom prize.
• This morning, I cleaned poop off the floor of every room of this apartment, EXCEPT the bathrooms. I'd like to let someone else be mom for a while, k?
• The Princess has forgotten how to put herself back to sleep. She wakes up every 60-90 minutes. All. Night. Long. I am tired.
• The hexes are coming along, thanks for asking. I'm not putting any pressure on myself to finish quickly. I'm still looking for a nice ticker type thing to add to my sidebar, but meanwhile I'm at 74 hexes made, out of that I've done 6 flowers and of those six I've made 1 into the full ring.
• Mom is still here, she leaves a week from today. I've gotten a lot less done than I expected with her here. We have had some terrific yard sale luck though, I've been trying to photograph some of it to share with you.

Books Read this Week:

• Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)
  Almost done, still enjoying it.
• Just Like Heaven
   by Julia Quinn. As seen in the picture at the top. Classic Quinn.

(So I don't mind the new blogger screen, but where is my handy Amazon sidebar search box thingy???)

How was your week? What's new? What are you dong this weekend?

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Wordless Wednesday, the Beach!

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Friday: Ow.

• Hey, so that part of your foot that is above your heel and below your ankle but not the sticky out boney part? What is that called?
• I seem to have hurt my.. whatever that is. Walking kills. Running is right out. I have no idea what I did, but I'm starting to consider seeing a doctor. I've been wearing a brace and icing it, but it's not getting significantly better.
• My mom is here. She's been here for a couple weeks now. It's mostly going well. She's got a friend visiting her here now, which takes time away from my kids, which as any mama would agree, sucks, but otherwise it's good.
• In case you missed it, I started a new quilt. I'm stupidly excited.
• I have also started making water bottle carriers. If you're interested let me know. I'm going to put a few on Etsy to see how they do.
• Anyone live near a fabric store who can do me a favor? Someone with paypal?
• We've done a good bit of yardsale/thrift store shopping. One day I'm gonna play dress up with the Princess and make you all suffer through it.

What I'm Reading This week (HAHA):

• Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy. I like this. Very easy to read, funny, etc.
• Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. Just barely started.

Ok, gotta run! Have a great weekend everyone.


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.