bright eyes + blue eyes

project life : getting started

This year, I'm using a scrapbook system called "project life." The system is basically a kit with coordinating accessories and divided page protectors. Most scrapbookers who use this system do a 2-page spread for every week of the year. (!!!) At the end of the year, the family has a nice summary of the year's events. In addition to the photos, most people incorporate lots of journaling and info into their scrapbook.

I'm doing a much more scaled down version. Two pages per week is more than I have time to keep up with. My personal goal is to do a 2-page spread for every month of 2011. If I like this system, I'll keep going in future years as well.

 

I've completed the bare bones version of my January pages. I have other bits & bobs that I'd like to add. Also, I have some journaling that I plan to include. I'll post again when I'm completely finished with the January pages.

Hopefully this little kit will result in a fun family album, full of 2011 memories. I hope my hubby and children will enjoy flipping through it.

 

 
More about Project life can be found here. {My particular version of the kit was purchased in 2009 and isn't available anymore. But there are current versions available.}

goodbye, efficiency (part three)

goodbye, efficiency (part one)

goodbye, efficiency (part two)

And now, without further ado, I bring you the conclusion to this series:

goodbye, efficiency (part three)

So, there I was as a young bride, trying to get all of my systems on to the computer to make them all more efficient.

But here's what I've learned over the years: There are a few downsides to having everything on the computer.

(1) When there is a computer problem, EVERYTHING in your life is affected. All of your daily productivity is tied to the healthy functioning of your computer.

(2) Computer programs tend to have issues now & then. For example, my lovely recipe software has crashed at least twice over the last decade. When it crashed, it erased all of the recipes that I'd entered. Yes, I had a back-up of the recipes, but there ended up being problems with the back-up as well. (I'm sure some of this might've had to do with user error--but still, it's a huge hassle, no matter why the crash happened.)

(3) {I saved the biggest downside for last} Going to the computer every time I need a recipe, and every time I need an address from my personal address book, and every time I want to listen to music, and every time I need to enter an item into our family budget is a huge distraction in my day-to-day living! While I'm at the computer, I end up checking "just one other little thing", and suddenly I've blown 15 minutes instead of 15 seconds. Add up all those 15 minute chunks over the course of a week, and suddenly efficiency doesn't seem quite so efficient anymore.

Here's my metaphor:

Time = A gallon of milk

Small dishwashing sponge = Computer

Imagine pouring a gallon of milk out onto your kitchen floor. Then imagine dropping the little sponge right into the middle of the puddle.

Slurrrrrrrp.

Before you know it, quite miraculously, the little sponge has absorbed ALL OF THE MILK.

{conclusion of metaphor.}

SO: about a year ago, I said "goodbye to efficiency," and decided to use the computer only for things which required a computer (i.e., email, blogging, digital photo storage, etc.)

I now have paper-based systems for my calendar, my recipes, my addresses, etc. {My recipe system is definitely still a work in progress. I'd like to crank that system into a well-oiled machine, but haven't been able to carve out the time as of yet.}

Sidenote: Also, over recent years, I've developed a new appreciation for the art of handwritten "life details." For example, if you close your eyes and think about it, you can probably envision the handwriting of people who you love. I can immediately call to mind the distinct handwriting of all four of my grandparents, my parents, my siblings, my husband.....

In fact, just the act of remembering handwriting characteristics of people I love makes me happy. (Which is sort of amazing in and of itself--how is it that the inky curves of particular lines can bring to mind the essence of a person I love? Pretty nifty.)

Whenever I'm at my grandmother's house, one thing I like to do is go in her kitchen & open up the built in drawers to the right of her refrigerator. They're little drawers (one drawer? more than one? I can't remember) about 6 inches wide--perfect for her collection of handwritten recipes. There are TONS of recipes in these drawers. Many of those recipes have been in those drawers for decades. They're well-loved and yellowed with age. And they're precious to me. I flip through them with appreciation for all the love and care which has been experienced in my grandmother's home. I think about all the thousands of family meals which have been enjoyed around her table. I think about the friends and family members with whom she's shared recipes, and how many of the cards in her collection carry stories of their own. I flip through my grandmother's recipes, and I'm inspired.

A year or so ago, when I was looking at those recipes, was when I decided that I'm done with efficiency. I'm currently working on editing/refining my handwritten recipe collection. 

As an added bonus: Now, instead of someday handing my grandchild a jump drive with all the family recipes, maybe I'll have some yellowed-cards-with-stories to pass along.

A few related books/links:

The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by E. Schaeffer

Script and Scribble, by K. Florey

Hamlet's Blackberry, by W. Powers

NPR Morning Edition: Hamlet's Blackberry, To Surf or not to Surf {mom, remember when you told me about this interview? I haven't read the book yet, but I want to.}

Letter Writers Alliance

* * * *

unrelated photo:

A couple of years ago....

Riding bikes and playing football at the high school track/field...

 

 

 

 

 

weekend homework

Superboy had the task of re-writing a familiar story. He was required to use interesting adjectives & adverbs. Here's how it turned out:

ants and grasshoppers: a familiar story re-told from ellie and abbie on Vimeo.
 

craftsanity podcast : lilly bean market

(This is another old post that I'm re-publishing. Can you tell I'm busy this week? Not much time for original words. But thankfully I'm not too busy to cut and paste text. Here ya go! And by the way, the font always acts a little strange when I cut and paste. Various sizes, etc. Very odd.)

I listened to an interesting Craftsanity podcast recently. Episode 66 features felt-play-food-designer Hilary Seabolt, who shares the story of how her creative hobby turned into a thriving business.

I've always loved play food. Seabolt, in the podcast, helped me put my finger on why exactly this toy category is so special. In the interview, she says something along the lines of: play food is so incredibly versatile. The child can play house. Or restaurant. Or store. Toddlers love play food. Pre-schoolers love it. Elementary school children love it as well.

Additionally, food play is a creative outlet that has been present throughout the centuries--regardless of geographical location. Children have been creating make-believe worlds with play food...generation after generation...all over the globe.

Also, the best toys for little ones (IMHO) are the ones which inspire creative play. These sort of toys function as "props" for the little plots and scenarios dreamed up by that particular child, at that particular age, on that particular day. These plots change from month to month and year to year....which is why the same toy can be enjoyed over a period of five (or more!) years. Play food is definitely in the "creative play" category, which is one reason why it is such a universal phenomenon.

A few of my favorite items from Lilly Bean Market: the pita sandwich, the sushi (which  would delight SG, considering her current fascination with california rolls...), and the tea bag (so very cute!) 

The Lily Bean Market prices are higher than what you would pay for a big package full of factory-made plastic food at Target (btw, we have that kind here at our house as well!) However: there is certainly something special about handmade toys. Children recognize this as well as adults. There are certain play food items which we own (most of our "special ones" are wooden...felt is new to me) which are simply more cherished. On a related note, I haven't jumped  into the deep end of the Buy Handmade movement, but I have rolled up my jeans, sat on the side of the pool, and stuck my feet in. And I must say--the water feels refreshing. 

After all, if we all bought more handmade, meaning-filled, living-wage-producing items for our children, what would the result be? Perhaps fewer toys (given the price discrepancy?) Well, frankly, I'm not sure that fewer toys is such a terrible idea.

Then again, there are no handmade Legos (which are fantastic, if you ask me)...so I'm not really sure where I fit into this whole issue. Definitely food for thought. (ha!)

In the meantime, I think I'll make it a point today to ask Pumpkin if we can play restaurant so that I can have a piece of this fabulous cake. :-)  (Remember buying it with me, EBS?)

P.S. Part of my fascination with play food involves a certain item which holds, in my family, the title of "most treasured toy which has been enjoyed for six consecutive decades." It's a wooden ice cream set which lives in the bottom of a chest of drawers in my grandmother's living room.

My mother played with it when she was little. So did my Aunt Helen & my Uncle Joe (to my knowledge they played with it as well...must check on when this toy was actually purchased.) I played with it when I was little, as did my siblings and my cousins. And now, when we go to Nannie's house, my children love to "play ice cream shop."

P.P.S. Do you have favorite play food toys to recommend? What about play food memories?

quadrilla

Note:

This is an old post.

I wrote it Dec 08 and posted it on my old blog. Why am I re-posting? Well, I'll tell you why. The other day, as we were watching the This Too Shall Pass video, we were all delighted to see a Quadrilla block in the "machine." You have to watch closely--it's near the beginning of the video. 

We love Quadrilla so much--it was like seeing someone we knew in that video. 

It would be kinda like if some friends of ours went to the Superbowl. And then we were watching the Superbowl on TV at our house. {or at the Stewart & ML's house.} And as we're watching, the camera zooms into the crowd. And we see our friends!! There they are!

That's what it was like when we saw that Quadrilla piece.

So here's the old post......

* * * *

I'd love to recommend a specific toy which we absolutely love. It's very unique--and fun for all ages. (well, not little bitty ones...but everyone beyond that.) It was a "big" present from grandparents several years ago & it remains a favorite around here. (Thank you, Gingi & GPoppa.)

The toy is called Quadrilla. It's basically a wooden marble run. (It's so very well made, I might add. Sturdy. Will last and last.) The set comes with the coolest book of visual instructions on how to build various structures--the instructions work for even pre-readers. (Or you can design your own structure.) The name Quadrilla stands for "intelligent playing in wood." Each different color wooden block has a different function. Some let the marble drop straight down. Some send the marble to the left. Some blocks send it to the right. The child begins to learn all these little tricks and quirks. (and the brain wheels start spinning....architecture! engineering! physics!)

Also, you can buy add-on sets to make a bigger run.

Here are some basic designs. 

Here are some advanced designs.

If you want additional thoughts/opinions about Quadrilla, I noticed that there are a lot of reviews on Amazon.

 

photographs

Simply by reading blogs & various online articles, I've learned a lot over the past four years about photography. There's still so much I want to learn!

One of the main things I've learned is to avoid using the flash (when I can.)

Earlier today, I took the following picture of Harriet Hippo. This is how I used to take a picture--point the camera and click the button:

But the more I read about taking pictures, the more I came to value the use of natural light. (i.e., taking the picture without using the flash.) See what I mean?

As I took this second picture, a cute little someone realized there was a photo shoot going on and wanted in on the action.

Then, that cute little someone wanted to get a few portraits with Spesh*.

*Rhymes with Mesh. Short for "Special Baby." Spesh is Pumpkin's most precious baby doll & was a gift from Momma Frances.

 

The thing about not using the flash is, I really don't know how to avoid using it when there are events (specifically indoor events) I want to capture. Christmas morning. Birthday parties. Etc. Etc.

For those, I usually still use a flash. But not always. Still learning.

Anyway, over the years, I've bookmarked lots of great blog posts and websites which have good things to say about taking pictures. I'm going to post a few below. I'll add to this list as time goes on. If you have any great posts to add to this list, I'd love to know about them. Just leave me a comment or shoot me an email.

Happy photo-taking!

-abbie

+ + + +

How I Take Pictures, Posie Gets Cozy

First Flowery, Posie Gets Cozy 

Camera FAQ, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Q&A, Tina Cockburn Photography

Homemade Bounce Flash, Petteri's Pontifications (I haven't tried to make one of these, but I'd like to. I like the pricetag on this particular piece of photography equipment.)

Photo Tips, Little Birds

Here's Marla, Fly Through Our Window

Photography Articles, Two Peas in a Bucket (There is SO much good information here. And all of it is very easy reading--not a lot of technical jargon.)

Clickin Moms (I am not a member. But it does look interesting.) 
 

color

Pumpkin and I are involved in a very fun homeschool kindergarten co-op this year. There are four families involved. The moms take turns hosting/teaching the group. (There are actually five students b/c one family has precious kindergarten twins.)

The co-op meets twice a week, on Mondays & Wednesdays, from 9am until 1pm. It's the perfect length of time. And it's the perfect number of days each week. (Can you tell I love our co-op? Oh, and by the way, Pumpkin loves it, too!)

Before the semester started, the moms had a planning meeting, and we decided to take a thematic approach to our year.

The last time I taught, I chose a color theme. One of my favorite parts of our week was when we colored homemade play-dough with food coloring. (I used Wilton Icing Color Gel. That stuff is awesome. And a tiny amount goes a really long way.) The kids loved the kneading process and watching the color work its way through the dough.

Another one of our activities was mixing paint (fun!) and painting craft sticks. We then used the painted sticks to make a "ten in the bed" craft project. We had so much fun singing the song together and letting our craft sticks "fall" out of bed one at a time.

(This project is really easy. Just use a stiff white envelope for the bed. Then glue felt onto the envelope for the blanket. I got the idea from this book: Kathy Ross Crafts: Numbers)

In the above photo, Pumpkin took a little break from rollerskating to hold up her finished product so I could take a picture. And I'm glad she did, because it also gave me the chance to ask about the drawing she did on our white board easel.

This drawing was very intricate, so I knew it must have a great story to go with it.

I was right.

The story involves a home, a playground, a city, the North Pole, and the beach.

There was a little drama at the beach. Unfortunately one little child pushed another child, which was very sad. There were tears.

 

But then, Pumpkin tells me, there was reconciliation.

A happy ending. :-)
  
 

fun with acorns (from last year)

{originally posted 10/27/08...we found these really cool acorns & had fun playing with them. They're from sawtooth oak trees.}

#1

Success at last. Commander Perkins had been searching for months for the appropriate headgear to complete his troop's woodland camouflage standard issue.

 

#2

It had long been the tradition of the Breinholst family to don their matching straw sun-hats during the family's annual vacation to Lake Sparren.

#3

Mr. and Mrs. Breinholst weren't sure what to make of the gentleman...although they'd certainly never met, there was something strangely familiar about him.

-+-+-

{photo shoot spin-off.....after we were out of ideas with the acorns}

You can imagine my delight when, near the end of the photo shoot, the children starting running around grabbing different props and composing different shots. This particular concept was entirely Superboy's idea. I helped him a bit with the caption. Here it is:

As he drove down the dusty road, Farmer Bill smiled to himself. He was sure of it--this would be the year that he would win the blue ribbon at the county fair.

superhero birthday party craft

(originally posted 10-22-08)

We had a superhero birthday party for Superboy in August, which was lots of fun. All the guests came dressed as superheroes and we played superhero games.

We also did a superhero craft project, which turned out to be a hit. Pumpkin & Superboy have been playing with their "control panels" for the past two months. 

Here's how to make the control panels. I'll give the instructions for one control panel. Multiply the supply list by the number of guests at the party. 

• 1 Jello Box
• 1 Straw
• 1 small styrofoam ball
• silver spray paint
• foil tape
glue
• black craft foam, cut into a square slightly less than the size of the jello box
• various small wooden shapes (pre-packaged at Michael's)
• various shapes and sizes of craft foam (buy sheets of various colors and cut out shapes)
• markers

Note: We did steps 1-4 the day before the party. On the day of the party, we had the blank control panels ready, along with all the materials needed for decoration.

(1) Take the bag of jello powder out of one 6 oz box of jello. You don't need the powder for the project but you do need the box. Glue the top of the cardboard box shut. (Use rubber bands to hold the top down while the glue dries.)

(2) Poke a hole in the styrofoam ball. Insert straw. We used glue to secure the straw.

(3) Spray-paint the box silver on all sides. Spray-paint the straw/ball combo (aka antenna) on all sides. (This took several spray-painting sessions.)

(3) Place the antenna on the back of the box. Secure with a big piece of foil tape. We did a big square of tape that covered the entire back of the box.

(4) Glue the square of black craft foam onto the front of the control panel.

Now you have blank control panels that are ready to be "programmed and configured." (Be sure to use these terms with your small superhero: this is a very technical business.)

(5) Ask the superhero to decorate the control panel with his or her choice of buttons and dials. Be sure to create funtions for each button. (i.e., this one generates a force field, this one shoots a laser, etc...)

We really enjoyed this fun, inexpensive, superhero craft that encourages creativity and imaginative play.

thankful for fun times at the lake

 

This is a little thank you picture, drawn by Pumpkin, which I'm mailing to my aunt & uncle tomorrow. We wanted to thank them for taking us out on their boat this summer at the lake. You'll notice that Pumpkin (who is the passenger in the above boat) is wearing braids. This is how she draws herself now. I love how she draws those braids.

 

I can really see the Ed Emberly influence in Superboy's drawings lately. The Make a World book, which Superboy loves, uses black stick figures (like the ones on this thank you card) whenever people are called for.