this week's library book

We stumbled upon this new version of Alice in Wonderland while at the library last week. Though I love Lewis Carroll's original Alice, it's nice to have a short version that can be read before bed. (And even nicer when the abridgement is done by Jon Scieszka.)

The real star of this book is the artwork of Mary Blair. When Disney decided to make a movie based on Carroll's book, Mrs. Blair was asked to do the concept illustrations for the film. (She also worked on the movies for Peter Pan and Cinderella, and created the characters in It's a Small World before leaving Disney to work as a graphic designer.)

After hearing about the lack of women at Walt Disney in 1938, I wonder what is was like for Mary to work in such a "boys club". She joined the company in 1940, and her husband worked in the animation department already, which must have helped.

Apparently Walt grew to be a big fan of Mrs. Blair, specifically her use of color. It's such a treat to see these original concept drawings and compare them to the final film. You can see how clearly the animators followed her lead.

I guess I can just cross my fingers and hope that Disney will consider releasing more of Mary Blair's work. (Can I put in a request for Peter Pan next? Pretty please?)

Note: Looks like they already have released a version of Mary Blair's Cinderella!

learning time

I've been trying to keep our summer schedule pretty loose, it is summer after all. We've had a few family reunions and a few weeks of swimming lessons, but other than that we're free to spend the day as we see fit (which usually includes the beach or the pool, or both).

I do think we need a little bit of structure, so we've been having a specific time set aside as solo "learning time" each day. C, who is five, plays with his alphabet puppets or practices his letters (I bought this large writing pad when it was on sale at Pottery Barn Kids, it's the perfect size for his big handwriting). Bee, my three year old, plays with matching games or animal flashcards. I get to catch up on email for a few minutes. It's really a win all the way around. I have found that the kids will sit still a bit more easily if learning time is accompanied by a snack of some sort, cookies and milk work nicely. I'm hoping this practice will get them ready for the days I see coming when we're all gathered around the dining room table working on three hours of homework! (When does that start nowadays? second grade?)

As I prepare to send C into the public school system in a few weeks, I've been reading up on what I can do to get him ready for kindergarten. It seems the most important thing is to incorporate learning moments whenever we can throughout our day: at the grocery store, sitting at the beach, driving in the car, etc. Every outing can be a chance to learn.

So how are you getting your kids ready for school? Any important tips I should know before I send my little boy off to kindergarten?

juice box boats

My kids are always playing their own version of the game "Sink or Float". We fill up a plastic bin with water in the backyard and they run around looking for things to test. For example: buttons, postcards, leaves, rubber bands, small rocks, popsicle sticks, keys, bouncy balls, pez dispensers, etc.

Did you know juice boxes float? Turns out they make excellent little boats. If you read Parents magazine, you may have already seen these boats in their August issue.

To make your own juice box boat, follow these easy steps. 1. Cover an empty juice box's straw hole with tape. 2. Cut a 4" high by 3" wide triangular sail from a Tyvek envelope (I used an old USPS Priority Mail envelope). Decorate the sail with colored tape and make a little flag. 3. Push a small wooden skewer through both sides of the box so that it sticks out underneath about an inch or so. 4. Use tape to attach your sail to the skewer.

We've made several versions of these boats this summer. We take them down to the little creek that runs through the regional park nearby and see how far they can sail without tipping over. (If your boat seems especially tippy, cut a narrow slit in the top and slide in a few pennies.) Happy sailing!

the county fair

Is there anything better than the county fair? I get a little excited when it comes to town. The kids loved riding the ferris wheel, visiting the new baby animals, crashing into each other with bumper cars, watching the pig races, and eating corn dogs. And while all that is fun, I go for a different reason...

Classic black and white photo booths, the best I've seen on the West Coast. As you may already know, I love photo booths. It's getting harder and harder to find the old-fashioned dip and dunk kind, they keep getting replaced with those hokey digital photo booths, but these booths at the county fair are the real deal.

We always do a few strips. One or two with all of us, and now that Bee and C are getting old enough, a strip or two all by themselves. I love waiting for the film to slide into the little drying slot and seeing the poses my little ones chose. The strips this year were particularly good! Until next year county fair.. until next year.

H is for Holli

My friend Holli is having a baby, and since it's her third boy, she doesn't need much in terms of baby clothes and other gifts you might think of. Some friends and I decided to put together a bag for the hospital. Using a tote bag that I picked up at MUJI, I added the letter H using my favorite freezer paper trick.

We filled the bag with all sorts of her favorite things: magazines to read, favorite treats like M&M's and Clif bars, minty gum and chapstick, and a cute hospital gown (I didn't know these existed, but thinking back to the dingy blue gown I wore at the hospital for the birth of my two kids, something pretty would have been nice).

this week's library book

There are lots of versions of The Little Red Hen out there, and I haven't read them all. But this version by Jerry Pinkney is my new favorite. My mother used to tell us this story all the time when I was growing up. I can't read this book without thinking of her, ever calm, trying to get dinner on the table while enlisting the help of her six kids.

The little red hen finds some wheat seeds on the ground and asks the animals in the barnyard to help her plant them. They all shake their heads. "Not I," they say. So the little red hen plants them herself, with the help of her chicks.

When the wheat is ready for harvest, she asks again "Who will help me harvest the wheat?" And all the barnyard animals reply "Not I". So she does it herself, then marches off to take the wheat to the mill to be ground.

"Who will help me bake the bread?" she asks. Of course she gets no volunteers, so she makes the bread with the help of her chicks. When the aroma of the baking bread circles the barnyard, all the animals come to the window. "We will help you eat the bread!"

But the little red hen clucks "No. My chicks and I will eat it." The last page reads: She set the table for herself and her family, cut the warm, soft bread, then spread sweet berry jam on each slice. Oh joy of joys!

making lemonade

Our fridge broke this week. Since JR was out of town on business, it was up to me to get the fridge up and running and salvage what food we could. I called our usual repairman, but he couldn't come for 48 hours. I was sure our food would not last that long.

I like to think I am a trusting, optimistic person. But when faced with any kind of repair (especially when my husband is not with me) I always assume I am going to get ripped off, overcharged, or otherwise taken advantage of.

So I called my dad. (My parents fridge broke a few months ago and I knew he'd have some advice. He's also just a good guy to call whenever you have a problem.) His advice was simple: call Tony.

Tony said he would be at my house in two hours. He arrived exactly on time, and within an hour and 15 minutes had figured out what was wrong with the fridge, melted all the ice that had accumulated on the freezer coils, grabbed the part he needed from his truck, showed my son C all of his tools, told us a little about his life growing up, and yes, brought the fridge back to life.

I felt foolish for being so untrusting. I blame my ten years living in New York for my cynical attitude. But in one afternoon, Tony has restored my faith.

Later when I spoke to my husband on the phone he asked if the fridge was fixed. I told him about Tony, the brilliant refrigerator repairman. And then my husband said "Did you actually see him replace the part?" Oh honey, you may have it worse than I do.

These are the last of the lemons off our tree, which for some reason stops producing in the summer, right when you need lemons the most. The kids and I have been trying to make a really good lemonade, which is much easier with this tool... perhaps the best thing I've bought for my kitchen in years. We make a big batch of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled together until the sugar is completely dissolved) and keep the syrup in a mason jar in the fridge. Whenever the kids feel like gathering lemons, we can easily whip up a pitcher. Now we just need to find a lemon tree that will produce all year round.

a little thank you

I'm a fan of thank you notes, and I would like my kids to be too. But getting your children into the habit of writing thank you notes before they can actually write is a bit of a challenge. I appreciate every thank you note we get, even the ones clearly written by moms and dads, but it's nice to have a little bit of the childs' personality in there too. So I came up with these speech bubble thank you cards..

First I made a little template out of some thick cardstock and then traced and cut out several speech bubbles from different kinds of paper. My cards are 3" x 5" so I made sure my bubble would fit nicely on the card.

Then I glued the speech bubbles onto the cards and used my handy rubber stamp set to say "A Note from C". Now for the fun part, I had C sit down with me and talk about all the gifts he received for his birthday. I would remind him who each present came from and then I would just write down exactly what he said.

Some of his comments are hilarious. I would never have been able to make them up myself. This makes a thank you card that feels very much like my little boy. And we made a few extras so he can send a little note to whomever he pleases whenever he likes.

brother to brother

A quick shot I snapped at my nephew's first birthday party. It's a note given to him by his nine year old brother. It was folded up and stapled and marked "Top Secret!".

And opened to say "A birthday tickle!" At which point he ran around the table and tickled his little baby brother. Who was, of course, totally delighted.

Can you think of a better gift for a one year old?

sidewalk chalk

I love sidewalk chalk. We always have a pail on hand. The kids can draw as big as they like, not confined to a small piece of paper.

When we lived in Brooklyn we had no backyard. In the summertime when the hot day had cooled off a bit, we spent countless hours on our front stoop. We would blow bubbles, say hello to our neighbors, eat popsicles, and draw with our sidewalk chalk. (I love the way C is standing in the photo above, so earnest and engaged. Drawing can be serious business.)

We make up alphabet games (where you have to jump to the letter mom calls out) and point out the letters we used to see on the subway.

C is fond of drawing long snakes that wind their way across our patio.

You can even leave a note for dad to find when he comes home from work.

Do the kids get filthy? Of course. Does the patio sometimes look a mess covered in scribbles and drawings? Oh yes. But I don't mind one bit.

See more fun ideas for things to do with chalk over here.