Day 26 - Flippin' Out!

As rain fell hard around our Dripping Springs home today, my daughter's thoughts turned inward...inside the house, to the DVD player. She loves movies in the rain. And since the deluge interrupted my Wimbeldon watching, I had no objections. She wanted 101 Dalmations -- a great old Disney flick. I still enjoy the Old Disney animation and I love the way every day-to-day item that Cruella De Vil uses appears evil -- her cigarette smoke, her car, even her phone just look delightfully devilish.

So after the movie, I asked Kate if she ever wondered how things were animated. She looked at me blankly. "You know, how drawings become active in a tv show or movie." She looked at me blankly. I began to wonder if she thinks that cartoons are real. I think I thought that, now that I think about it. Anyway, undeterred, I asked her if she'd like to see kind of a basic way of how cartoons are made. She said no. I countered -- "let's make a flip book!" Okay!!! She agreed.

So, I made one of my favorite old flip drawings...it can be found in just about every text book I ever had in college. It's two dots careening towards each other only to collide and evaporate into thin air. She loved it. She made one of her own of a rose blooming. At least she made like the first three drawings of it before she lost interest. But I loved the idea of a rose blooming -- a great flip book for sure and much better than crashing dots. Wish I were as creative as her. She also offered I could make one with a fish getting caught on a hook. She's good. I'm keeping her around.

If I can video these I will post them at some point. If you make a flip book of your own, comment and let me know what you did! They are such low cost fun.

Catch up

Forgive me, it's been 20 days since my last blog entry. Wow, that many days, huh...seems like a lot of days.

I'm just going to list out the firsts that happened during that time and feebly offer my explanation that we've been out of town a lot.

- played at the Bissett's house! Super fun.

- stopped at the coolest reststop in Texas -- Exit 282 on IH35. Have you stopped there? If not, you should. They have great play equipment for the kids. They even have a bit of exercise equipment...great for truckers or anyone else needing to move and stretch.

-Chic Fil A at exit 391 on IH35. This is not a first, we stop there every trip to Fort Worth and back (unless it's a Sunday). Just want to mention it because the manager there, his name is Charles, is the most hospitable, good natured and pleasant restaurant manager I have ever been blessed to meet. The fact that this is not a first for us confirms this. Every time we stop there, he has a warm smile, asks how we are, goes to all the tables to see if the customers need anything. His pride in his work shows. Stop by and see for yourself if you get the chance.

- Finished our first big chapter book with Kate -- "Charlotte's Web" She didn't cry -- I did. Whew, what a good book.

- Swimming at the Buda pool with no floaties!! Kate was great. My son, on the other hand, did fine but lacks the amount of fear that would make me more comfortable -- boys!

- Watched the old Disney cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland.

- Talked to their parents while parents were in Belize (okay, this was more fun for me).

- Made a snake with construction paper and googly eyes.

- Fort Worth zoo -- a first for Andy!!

- Caught in the rain at the Fort Worth zoo!

- Made a wish on a wishbone.

- Watched 4 skydivers float through the sky and land. So great to watch. Kate thought it looked like so much fun. Andy kept saying "planes! planes!"

- Started reading "Stuart Little" to Kate.

- Got a copyright on the song we wrote -- Bug Love.

- Saw a potbelly pig who was staying at Dog Camp!

- Met MB's new puppy, Penny!!

- Fell in love with MB's new dog, Penny!!

- Made blonde brownies (blondies?)

- Tried breathing through a snorkel above water.

That's about all I can remember. Back to regular updates tomorrow.

Day 5 - Little hands

Shhhhhhhh....don't tell my husband. Jesse, if you're reading this, just skip this one.

Okay.

We made a craft for Father's Day. A genuine salt-dough handprint! The recipe is at http://www.babycenter.com/210_salt-dough-handprint_4367.bc

After the gym this morning, we headed out to the park with some friends, supplies, and a gritty determination. Okay, maybe not gritty. The first attempt at making the dough was a little too soupy. We added flour and then we had it. Rolled the dough out on wax paper and the kids pressed their sweet little hands in it.

We opted not to put the food coloring into the dough -- mostly because we forgot to put it in the dough. So, the plan is to let it dry and we will paint it tomorrow. I think it will make a great Father's Day present and was also a fun "first" for the summer.

Day 4 - A song in our hearts!

Today my daughter and I wrote a song together -- first time! I will record it and put it on here soon, but the downlow is -- It's called "Bug Love" it's about ladybugs, dragonflies and butterflies.

This was my favorite "first" so far and I can't wait till we can share it with everyone.

Blessings! Amanda

Day 3 - Dinner with Friends

Today we got to spend the afternoon and evening with some remarkable friends. We've never been to their home before, so I am going to count this as a first today. The family we visited has 3 boys. One is an 8 month old, the other two are pretty close in age to my children. They played in the kiddie pool (whenever I say "kiddie pool" my daughter tells me cats don't like water!!) played with toy trains, and ran around like kids do. Jesse and I had a great visit with grown ups! Dinner was delicious and the fellowship was outstanding.

What better way to start the week?

C.S. Lewis once said, "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

Day 2 - Animal Junction

Have you ever seen Zoboomafoo on Sprout? My daughter and I love that show -- I think there are a total of 16 or so episodes and we've seen them all. Well, if you are not familiar, there's this Lemur, see. His name is Zoboomafoo, Zob for short. He talks, but only after he has had his Lemur snack, something like a garbanzo bean.

All of this takes place in Animal Junction, where all kinds of animals play together. You never know what can happen there (unless you happen to have seen all the episodes several times). At the end of the show, the last line of their theme song urges, "go make an animal friend today - YEAH!"

That is what we did today -- made some new animal friends. My little girl attended a birthday party and there were tons of animals there. Ponies, chickens, a rooster, dogs. And then, inside, two cats, a bunny, a ferret or two, box turtles, fish, guinea pigs. So the kids' "first" today was to pet a ferret and a guinea pig. We also learned a little about box turtles. The male box turtle has orange or red eyes and the female has brown eyes.

Honorable mentions for other firsts: My daughter participated in her first obstacle course and her first water balloon fight.

A good time was had by all!

Day 1 Continued - Organization

No one has ever accused me of being too organized. That's for sure. But today, my kids and I set out to set apart a room in the house as a playroom. Organization: Required.

The Background -

Last December we moved our dining room table out of the dining room and into the kitchen to make room in the dining room for our Christmas tree. We moved the smaller kitchen table into the space between our entry hall and our dining room and put Christmas greeting cards we received, cookies, and other treats on that. The Christmas tree came down in January, but the tables stayed put. The dining room slowly morphed into a sort of chaotic play room. There was no organization to be found, just more and more toys and art supplies showing up in the former dining room.

A First -

Starting this effort to have my family do something new every day has made me realize that there are a lot of firsts we haven't done. I think this is still going to be challenging, but I can't help but think of how hard of a task this would be for some other friends of mine who have already done some amazing things with their kids. Not that my kids haven't had fun...they have and they are very happy kids. But, I have to admit, some friends of mine simply excel at thinking up adventures for their family. They would never need something like a daily blog to motivate them to stretch their wings -- they were born to fly.

Consequently, back here on land, my starting point for "new" things to do is so basic that it can include going through old toys and sorting them between keepers and ones to give to charity. So that is what we did today. After filling a moving box with toys, I enlisted my daughter's help to begin planning a play room. Now we have most toys in one room, with an area for arts and crafts and an area for music. This is a work in progress. I am very blessed in this project too because my good friend Lisa -- a true visionary with an artist's eye -- has agreed to help me make this new playroom look and function the best it can. I think this is also going to make the house more easy going. Organization can set you free -- I get it now.

Day 1 is in the books!

Day 1 - The Inspiration

Yesterday was my daughter's last day of school for the year. What's been on my mind?! What to do next. I don't want my daughter in school for the summer because I am fortunate to be a stay at home mom and I want to make the most of her younger years with her -- what mom doesn't?

And, I have to face facts, I have been in a rut lately. I haven't done as many fun things with my kids in the last few months as we used to. This time in our lives is just so short and passes by so quickly. I would hate to look back and think that I got them into some lousy, boring routine and felt that was good enough.

So, I've been praying for a way to change that, to have the energy and the inspiration to do more. And today, on the first day of summer, inspiration came.

I go to the YMCA in Dripping Springs about 5 days a week. My kids love it there and I do to. More about that, I'm sure, will infiltrate these blogs in the weeks to come. Well, today I figured we'd have a little fun together at the park next door to the gym before the H2O Bootcamp class began. That was something we had never done before. We had a great time. After class ended, I took them to McDonalds, began scrolling Facebook for status updates as the kids played and I saw Ken Shetter's post about doing 81 new things with his kids this summer. I love it -- the inspiration I had been looking for. I know a good idea when I see it, and this was a good idea. It's a challenge, to be sure, but one I am really looking forward to.

This blog will keep a journal of this adventure. Blessings!