Homemade Books

I went to my very favorite Parents As Teachers class on Monday. In a nutshell, Parents As Teachers is a national program that helps parents in their role as teachers in their children's lives. Our school district's PAT program includes home visits with a Parent Educator, who will come a few times a year and assess your child and also give you tips and information on what stage the child is in and where he's headed next. The program has been invaluable to me, especially when I was a new mom with Katie and had NO clue what I was doing. I mean, no one ever sat me down and told me when to expect a baby to roll over or start talking or walking. I learned some pretty basic things through my Parent Educator, and also some accelerated things to help advance my kids' learning.

The PAT program also offers classes for parents. The class topics range from discipline to homemade baby food to infant massage to potty training, or just hour-long playgroups. But my very favorite class of all is the one on homemade books. The presentation focuses on how kids learn about the printed word, and then how they are even more intrigued to learn when a book is on something they like, or even when a book is about them. The presenter shows different types of books that you can make at home, like Ziploc bag books or accordion books or pocket books or shower ring books. And then she talks about different topics you can write inside the book: the alphabet or counting or first words or search and find. The topics are endless. And the best part of the class? The presenter brings ALL the supplies to make your own book to take home: a comb-binding machine, contact paper, Ziploc baggies, markers, tape, book rings, etc. For me, going to this class is like winning the lottery.

So, being a bit of an overachiever, I took these ideas and ran with them. I think I attended this class for the first time back in 2004, and I've been going back every year since. I love getting new ideas that pertain to my kids' current comprehension levels, and I like using the program's equipment too. (Especially that comb binder!)

I've also started bringing the collection of books I've made with me to the class every year, so I can show the presenter what an impact the class has had on my parenting. This past Monday, the presenter joked that she should let me run the class now.

Since then, I came home and made four more books. I wanted to show some of them (and some of my older ones) to you here. I know I've already posted about some of my homemade books. You can find the fabric sample photo book here. That link will also show you the book I made about Jackson's favorites and also his first words. And you can see the photo ring/book I made with laminate samples here.

Last night, I made a texture book for Jackson.

At the class, I made a shape book too. It was made out of Ziploc bags and the zippers can be opened to change the book topic.

I also made an envelope book. I found the directions here, and it was so easy and fun to make. I turned it into a photo album to showcase the fun summer we had.

Lastly, I converted an Altoid mint tin into a dress up magnet game. This isn't technically a book because there are no words, but the kids enjoy it anyway. I made one for Katie a few years back. I took a photo of her in a diaper and printed it on a sheet of name badge labels. Then I printed photos of her favorite outfits on sticker paper and stuck them onto magnets that we got in the mail (like the kind for business cards). Then I trimmed around the outfits and put them inside the tin. The magnets stick to the outside and she plays dress up. Same concept for Jackson, and this time I included photos of some big boy underwear. Maybe it'll entice him to want to wear them in real life!

Oh, and before I forget... here's the final Story Dice set that I made for Katie. (Here's the link from when I first wrote about it, and it also has links to other versions of it.) I think I might change the name to Story Starters. It turned into a folder with all the dice, an eraser and pencils in a pouch. The paper that fills the folder is lined and has a print out of all the photos on the wooden dice. She can roll the dice, circle the topics that land face-up, and then get to work on a story.

I love using my creativity to make things that will help my kids grow and learn.

Thankful Tree 2009

We're six days into our annual November tradition and having fun with it so far.

Starting on November first and ending on Thanksgiving Day, Katie writes something she is thankful for on a paper leaf and then posts it on a wooden tree. At the end of the month, I save those leaves and put them in the year's scrapbook. It's been fun to look at the things she is thankful for, and also compare her developing writing and spelling skills over the last year or two.

So far this year, she is thankful for these things:
1. my mom and dad
2. anmals [animals]
3. firinds [friends]
4. my bruthr [brother]
5. pepole! [people]
6. clothes [she asked for help spelling that one]

Jackson has moved down in Katie's world. Last year, he was #2 behind "helping." This year, he has dipped to #4. But Mommy and Daddy have moved up this year! Daddy debuted at #13 last year and Mommy debuted at #15. Yay for us!

(Go here to see the list from last year.)

He Lives On

I wrote last week about the 13th anniversary of my brother Jackson's death. October is always a sad month for me because it marks his birthday and "angelversary."

But this year, I wrote a new plot for the story of my grief. (Thanks, Donald Miller!)

I talker to my sister and decided to start a group for remembering my brother on Facebook. I felt kind of dorky about doing it at first, wondering if I would be seen as wallowing in my grief when the rest of the world has moved on. I couldn't have been more wrong. It has been one of the most moving and cathartic events in the process of grieving Jackson's death.

I formed the group and invited some of my (and his) old friends to join it, and within hours it had exploded. I thought maybe 50 people might join and post a few comments to remember him. But as of right now, there are almost 300 members in the group. I am floored by that. And even better? Some of those people have posted photos and memories of him.

Do you have any idea what that means to me? To know that someone I love is remembered by so many? To know that he is missed and there are Jackson-shaped holes all over the world where he's missing in people's hearts? In hearts besides mine? And to hear new stories about someone who hasn't been alive to make a new story in 13 years? It's like he's been resurrected for me, even in just tiny ways.

The most moving comment was one posted by one of his college friends. He who wrote about a conversation with Jackson and Jackson's faith in Jesus. To have that reminder of my brother's faith and to, again, remember that we will be reunited one day brings tears to my eyes.

In the midst of all this rediscovering, I made a decision. I am going to write a book. Ta da! What's it going to be about, you wonder? As of my last count, there are 14 boys named after my brother. I've had an idea brewing in my mind for a while now (for more than a year, I'd say) to track down all those boys and do something to help them learn more about their namesake. I'm not quite sure how this will all evolve into a book, but I'm hoping it will be a sort of biography of my brother and our family, a memoir of my own life (parts of it), and a photo album/scrapbook of Jackson's life. Then I'd like to include the stories of those 14 little boys.

I started writing it last weekend, and I've just been poking my nose around the idea a little bit since then. I know I need to just write and explore my memories, and then I can figure out the format and structure later. Meanwhile, I'll be tracking down the 14 (I have almost all of them!) and doing some preliminary interviews. Will you keep me in your prayers as I tackle this awesome task?

I Need Your Vote, Again!

Help me, dear friends! I submitted a photo of Katie and some of her Girl Scout Daisy troop members to a Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri photo contest. The photo was selected as one of five finalists. Can you help her troop win the contest?

Go here to vote. See the green hat with the words “Troop Round-Up Photo Contest” beside it? Click there and go vote for photo #3. It’s a photo of Katie and three other girls singing on stage. Aren’t they cute?

I have no idea how long the voting will be open, so don't wait too long. Feel free to pass this along to anyone you know and ask them to vote too. Thanks for your help!

Great News to Start My Day

I checked email this morning, and read some great news. We are even closer to a new lupus drug! That might not be very exciting to some of you, but that news made a huge smile break out across my face. I wrote about the first clinical trial here, and was thrilled then because there hasn't been a drug released to treat lupus in more than FIFTY years.

This new drug, called Benlysta, isn't available to the public yet. But now it's one step closer to being available after the completion of a second clinical trial. The next step is for the pharmaceutical companies to submit marketing applications in the U.S., Europe and other locations during early 2010. I have no idea what all that means and even less of an idea how long that might take.

But the beauty of it all can be summed up in one word: HOPE. To know that there is some sort of relief on the horizon for lupus patients gives my heart tremendous hope. There are 1.5 million Americans with lupus, and 5 million worldwide. I'm one of them. How awesome it would be to have a drug that might slow the disease in my body!

Macro Monday

This isn't technically a macro photograph, but I did use my zoom lens and worked hard at setting it up. Humor me.

We had a full moon on Halloween night, and I wanted to get a close-up of it for my scrapbook pages. So I set the camera on "auto" and took some photos. The result was too solid, meaning I couldn't see the craters on the moon like I could with my naked eye. So I tried again. Same result. I thought I must be wiggling my hands and blurring the moon, so I set up my mini tripod and used my camera remote. Still the same. Blurry:

Then in occurred to me that the moon was so bright it was blurring itself out. That lost shot was an exposure of 1/4. So I cranked my shutter speed up as fast as it would go to 1/4000, and got this shot, which is unedited, straight out of the camera: (Can you see the dark moon?)

Then I played around with the shutter and tried all different speeds. This is my favorite shot, at 1/350:

I learn something new every day. What a great life.

Thirteen Years

Athlete - Black Swan Song on MUZU.

Today is the 13th anniversary of my brother Jackson's death. I wrote about it here last year, and included a video with photos from his life. There's also a bit of his story here. I'd love for you to go see these links and help me remember him today. When my friends and family remember him with me, it soothes my soul and helps me feel close to him again.

The video above is the music video for the song "Black Swan Song" by Athlete. Please watch it. (You'll have to pause the music on my blog sidebar first.) I saw it on Randall's blog, and had to share it today because it reminds me so much of Jackson. There's the obvious connection because there is a soldier in the video and my brother was a soldier also. But when I heard these specific lyrics, tears flowed down my face:

"Though many battles I have won
I lost too many friends I could count on
And I know they'll be the first to welcome me
When I parachute into eternity"

My dad told me once that when Jackson was sick and death looked like a real possibility for him, he talked to Dad about his fears of dying. I am not sure of the exact details of the conversation since it was between the two of them, but I do know Dad reassured Jackson by reminding him of the first time he ever jumped out of a plane when he was a soldier. He pointed out that jumping was incredibly scary because he had never done it before and didn't know what to expect. But Jackson conquered it and went on to complete many more parachute jumps. Dad told Jackson that death is like that. It's scary because you haven't done it before, but you have to jump with faith and know that you will come through it all okay.

When I heard those song lyrics, I thought of Jackson parachuting into eternity and being welcome into Jesus' open arms. And, one day, the same will happen for me. My heart jumps at the thought of a reunion party. How bittersweet.

Family Fort

Thursday was an early release day for our elementary school. When Katie got home, I promised her we would build a fort while Jackson napped.

I cleared all the crafts off our dining room table/craft room table, and put a king size sheet on the table. I found some battery-operated lighted stars, and put those in our fort too. Then we scurried underneath and cuddled.

It was a perfect way to spend a cold, rainy day. We ate mini ice cream cones, then curled up and Katie read me two chapters from her book. This is the first book she's ever read that has no pictures in it - even The Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones have pictures. The words in this book were pretty hard, but she worked her way through it. I was so proud of her!

When Jackson woke from his nap, the three of us climbed under the table to play. That's where Dan found us when he got home from work. Before he even took his shoes off, he got under the table with us. Imagine all four of us, crowded under the table.

I have no memories of my parents making forts with me, much less laying under the dining table with me and my brother and sister. I don't recall them cranking up the music and dancing around the living room. But these are things Dan and I do with our children. I hope it's one of the things they remember about their childhoods, and I hope it makes them smile.

What I've Learned From Leaves

I have been driving around town the last few days, stunned into awe by the beautiful sights of the leaves changing colors. This one is in our neighbors' front yard:

I asked Katie and her friends to collect leaves yesterday (on one of the rare days lately when it isn't raining in the St. Louis area) and then I dipped them in paraffin wax. I read about it here in FamilyFun magazine, and was excited to try it. I'm hoping the wax will help extend the leaves' life and that I can display them in our house. I haven't figured out what to do with them yet, besides just stare at their beauty.

That's when I realized a leaf by itself can be pretty and colorful. A small masterpiece. However, the leaf's full beauty isn't realized unless it is on a tree with the depth and support of other leaves surrounding it. That's when it becomes breathtaking.

That's the way it is for us, too. You can be pretty and nice on your own, maybe even beautiful. But your true purpose and joy shines when you reflect the beauty of your Maker, and those who surround you and lift you up.

Sometimes I don't feel so beautiful on my own, but my Loves and the Light within make me pretty spectacular.

Macro Monday

This was from our apple picking trip a few weeks ago. Ladybugs must really like apples, because they were all over the orchard.

Need. To. Blog.

I have nothing really to write about. But also, so much to say. I feel like I need to catch y'all up on my life, but there are so many details that I can't pick just one. So I'm just going to write and see what comes out. Feel free to move on to something else if this bores you to tears.

Looked at some old videos tonight. Heard my mom's voice again. Then my dad's. And then my grandmother's. The only voice missing was my brother's.

I've been thinking about all four of them the last few days, listening to music that reminds me of them, wondering how happy they are in heaven. It all got me thinking about a project I want to work on to honor my brother's memory. There are at least 15 kids (that I know of) who were named after him. I'd like to figure out a way to tie those boys together and help them learn more about their namesake, so I'm working on contacting those families and piecing something together.

While looking at those old videos tonight, I came across one of Katie when she was about two and a half. Let's see if I can get it to upload here. (You'll have to pause the music on my blog sidebar to hear this.)


Oh, dear God, can time have passed that quickly? That child is absolutely adorable. There is NO way she is the same sassy pants that lives with us now. Right? Uh... wrong. She's still pretty darn adorable (see the photo below), although she is wiser and knows how to turn it off and on. Ha. (And if THAT sense of payback doesn't make my parents happy in heaven, I don't know what will!)

I never mentioned that I took Katie to the City Museum again while she was on cycle break from school. Oh, boy. It was so much fun. We played with clay and cut snowflakes and climbed and drove a bus off the side of the building and jumped through fountains and dove in ball pits and took more than 300 photos. It. Was. Awesome. I just went and looked through all of the photos so I could decide which ones to share with you here. Turns out I can't decide. And since I don't want to write a separate post solely on the City Museum again, I'll pick just this one. It is a perfect representation of our day.

Also took Katie to a nearby pumpkin patch before her break ended. The best part of the visit was this corn box (like a sandbox). I personally could have stayed there all day just playing with corn. It was like a meditation garden.

Two other recent outings with Katie: apple picking and a day camp (both with her Girl Scout troop). I've had lots of one-on-one time with her, which has been great.

Jackson and I have gotten back into our groove now that Katie is back in school. It started out a little rough, though. He got strep last week and it passed on to Dan, but we are all fine now. I've never had strep (that I can remember), and neither have my kids, so this was a new experience for me. I think Jackson also had an ear infection, but the antibiotics seem to have cleared everything up. He's back to being his squirrelly, wily self.

Grandma is taking Katie to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous for her, because I think it might be a little on the dark and scary side. She gets scared when she watches Scooby Doo sometimes. I made both her and Grandma promise that if she gets scared, they will leave the movie. (I don't want to deal with nightmares.)

I'm working on some craft ideas right now, and experimenting to come up with some good Christmas presents. My brain is kind of scattered as I feel my creative side try to tug the rest of me over to full-time crafting.

So... enough rambling for now. I'll end with a photo we took on Wednesday as we were all snuggling in the LoveSac. Yes, I know it's a little blurry. But when you're operating with a remote control and trying to get all four of us smiling at once, this is the best you get. You should have seen the ones from when Dan had the remote and decided to make goofy faces behind our backs.

Have a good weekend.

And to my sister... happy birthday! I am so glad you are in my life. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Maybe we'd even go skydiving again. This photo always makes me smile, because you look so great and so happy. I love you!

Good Writing: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Wow. Oh, wow! Thursday night, I finished a book that I love love LOVE. And then? On Friday night I got to hear the author speak at Windsor Crossing and then we met him! ! ! ! (I want to add about 20 exclamation points there.)

You have to understand that for me (an aspiring writer), that was pretty awesome. I was totally geeking out. He even autographed my book. (I wish you could see my geeky face as I type that.)

So, let me back up. The book is called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It was written by Donald Miller, who also wrote Blue Like Jazz. (I read Jazz first, back in September. There will be a movie about it too.) I liked Jazz a lot, but Million Miles completely blew me away. Maybe for the sole reason that I am an aspiring writer and Miller talks a lot about the elements of story and how to write a better story.

But, honestly, I would love this book even if I hated writing. Because Miller calls us all into the bigger picture, and compels each of us to write a better story for our lives. In the Author's Note section before the book even starts, he writes, "The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either." The rest of the book spells out that premise with inspiring stories, tasks that he takes on himself (a hike on the Inca trail, a cross-country bike ride), and amazingly ALIVE people that Miller meets.

In the book and in his lecture on Friday night, Miller says that you can't have a meaningful story without conflict. He said, "If you see conflict, dive into it. It might create tragedy and it might create beauty, but it always ends in meaning."

Through his idea that you can write a better story for your life, Miller also touches on topics that I am so hungry for: consumerism, parenting, and even a bit about obeying God and letting Him be the writer of your life. "I believe there is a writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness."

I love this part too, on page 58:
"...the realization that I was alive would startle me, as though it had come up from behind and slammed two books together. We get robbed of the glory of life because we aren't capable of remembering how we got here. When you are born, you wake slowly to everything. Your brain doesn't stop growing until you turn twenty-six, so from birth to twenty-six, God is slowly turning the lights on, and you're groggy and pointing at things saying circle and blue and car and then sex and job and health care. The experience is so slow you could easily come to believe life isn't that big of a deal, that life isn't staggering. What I'm saying is I think life is staggering and we're just used to it. We all are like spoiled children no longer impressed with the gifts we're given - it's just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral."

Does that resonate with anyone else out there? How can you not feel compelled to get off your tookus and START LIVING after reading that? Life IS a big deal. And sometimes it hurts and has conflict and "might create tragedy but it always ends in meaning."

Miller also writes about a man he met by chance named Bob Goff. Bob's family starts a tradition in their neighborhood with a New Year's Day parade. The catch is that no one is allowed to sit and watch the parade. You have to jump in and participate. (This Bob Goff guy totally inspires me too.) I love that analogy for our lives: stop sitting and watching and jump in and LIVE.

I can't say enough great things about this book. Please PLEASE go buy a copy and read it for yourself. It is inspiring, uplifting, and some truly good writing. Trust me, y'all!

P.S. Wanna read another take on the book? Go here to see what Anne Jackson has to say. Now you have two good opinions telling you to go read it. So GO!!!

Book photo found here.

Makeup Fun

Katie has a friend named Anna who she met last year when they were in the same Kindergarten class. This year, they are in the same class again and Anna joined our Daisy Girl Scout troop. Since we're on cycle break from school (our district is year-round), Katie invited Anna over to play this past Thursday. It was a cold, rainy day. Jackson was also feeling sick with a runny nose and cough, so it was nice to have the girls entertain each other. I even decided to take Jackson to the doctor, so (with Anna's family's permission) I took all three kids with me.

I digress.

My whole point of posting is because I want to share these photos with you.

I took the kids to Walgreen's and picked out some cheap makeup for the girls to use. They were beyond thrilled, and did each other's makeup while Jackson napped. I expected there to be clumps and blobs of random colors all over their faces, but they didn't do too badly. I mean, it isn't runway ready and it's a little heavy in spots, but it's not the worst I've ever seen.

I can't believe how sassy and old my little girl looks in makeup. Thank God we have a little more time before she hits the age when she'll be wearing it on a daily basis!

Crafts for Christmas

Christmas is less than three months away. Since we have only one income around here and I like to plan ahead and I really like to make things, I have already started brainstorming and crafting some Christmas gifts. I wanted to share them in hopes of inspiring some of you! I might be spoiling the surprise for some of the parents of our kids' friends and cousins, but I know the kids don't read my blog and I'm not worried about spoiling their surprise.

First up is an odd sort of gift. I was at a local store called Leftovers and found a bin of trophy pieces. I rifled through them and picked out parts that I could piece back together with my glue gun and give some of our friends a trophy for Christmas. Katie helped me with the project. There's a soccer player for some of our soccer-playing friends (and Jackson), baseballs for baseball-playing friends, and two dancers for Katie and her friend Sammi (it was as close as I could get to a gymnast). Since we have a no-gifts policy with our neighbors, I'll probably just give their trophies as a regular old Happy (what Mom used to call a gift for no good reason). But there are some others that will be Christmas gifts for family, and hopefully it'll make them laugh.

Second is another gift made from recycled parts. This is a memory game that I made for our nephew, Adam. I made it out of milk jug lids and family photos. I sized the photos on my computer, printed them on sticker paper, and then punched them out with a circle punch and put them on the lids. Adam can turn them face down (literally) and play a memory game with them, or maybe just play a sorting and matching game. I am not sure I'll give the game to him in that organza bag. I might sew up something cuter for him to use. I wish I had more photos of his family on his mom's side so I could make more pieces for the game.

Third is a set of story dice I made for Katie. I saw this idea in a bunch of different places: here and here and here and my favorite here. I stamped pictures on small wooden blocks, and then cut out a photo of our family members and stuck it to a side of each block. The idea is that Katie can roll the dice, and then she has to write a story using those images. I'll include pads of paper in the gift set and also a laminated glossary of the images with the words underneath them so she can spell it correctly.

Lastly, I made something for me and it isn't for Christmas. It's just because I like it. I got these little Pionite laminate samples at Leftovers and decided to make a sort of photo album key chain with them. I printed photos on sticker paper and punched them with a square punch, then put them on the samples. I covered them with packing tape to protect them, then put them on a book ring (the kind you buy at an office supply store).

The ring is hooked onto my diaper bag, where I can show people photos of our family. I picked photos that inspire me too, and it helps brighten my day when I see the photos hanging there. And since it's durable, Jackson and Katie can play with the ring when they are bored.

And before you go asking me, "Oh my gosh, where do you find the time to make crafts like this?" let me explain. Three out of those four projects were made on a Friday night at my Stampin' Up consultant's house. I had printed the sticker photos ahead of time (during Jackson's naptime) and then punched, stamped and assembled them at her house. Trust me... I don't sit around on a daily basis making crafts while the kids are behaving like angels. Uh, no. I squeeze in time for this kind of craftiness during naptime, after the kids are in bed, or when I can get a free block of time while Dan is on kid duty.

I hope you're inspired. Now please share some of your holiday crafting ideas with me!