Have Fabric - Will Sew

You have always been incredible at creating games, projects, and generally keeping yourself really busy (and my house really messy). And recently your skills have come out through the medium of the cloth. 

Your Auntie gifted you a trip to the Downtown LA garment district to pick out some fabric for your bday. I could KICK myself for not getting more picks of the other fabrics and creations.

But you whipped up this little number in about 30 minutes or so - hand stitched no less.

Dear lord child. You are A-MAZ-ING. And I totally would have been friends with you if we had met randomly when I was 9.

Arboretum Gardens - Homeschooling

These baby girls are gonna be good buddies :) 

It was SO DARN HOT momma friend L suggested sprinkler run throughs. It was divine. Willsie didn't think so though. LOL He was not lovin it.

I love this shot. Love love love it. Our Madam S with her buddy Little J

Bugs in a tree - cute homeschooling girlies.

LA Zoo field trip

Thursday is field trip day. At least we try to do that. It's also Nana Day, errand/apt day, and just another day day.

But today it was field trip day. We went to the LA Zoo......which is built in an alternate universe by the way. Don't believe me?? Go there, and try and contest that EVERYWHERE you want to go is uphill from where you are. How is that possible?! I just know that I do hate that part and must gripe about it every time I go. Moving on!

On this hot summer day we found refruge in The Lair. A beautifully and blissfully air-conditioned indoor exhibition of reptiles, etc.

Savannah was a blur of activity. She loves animals so this was heaven for her.

"Oh yook momma!" I heard this a lot 

Bearded dragons (I think) were a big hit

gotcha!!! that's fake ;) When I saw her out of the corner of my eye I almost fainted.

Snakes take me to my dark and scary place.

Love this moment.....why I homeschool. They were on a mission to talk me into the merry go round. Turns out they were successful.

First time!! Milestone! She was a little leery but since the older kids were enjoying themselves it helped.

L - I have a feeling outings will become more difficult with you next year. Right now I am savoring every last minute of you still enjoying just about everything we do. You are rad.

Oh sweet cool mist fan - thanks for that! Future Charlotte - please don't kill me for including this picture.

xoxo

Value Tales - teaching character qualities in a secular (ish) way

Many moons ago I came across a great idea from Michelle Duggar. She is an amazing woman with 19 children. Yes 19!

I have written about her before here and here But ai! I digress! This is not the place to gush about my obsession with that amazing woman and her ways......

While reading her books & watching her show I learned about their character qualities list and how they use it. I absolutely LOVED this idea but alas I am not Christian - so what's a mom to do?!?

It seems the character based teaching materials out there are written from Christian perspectives and worldviews which are great in many ways (which is why I use Sonlight.com for most of our homeschool curricula)  but I really needed something that aligned with our family value system and Scientology religion better.

So I spent.....ummmm......a really long time.....too much time maybe....creating my own chart. I used the Duggar's as a base and took out or changed ones to suit us better and searched our religious texts for more insight. I spent hours combing through, thinking it over and pouring over dictionaries for good definitions. I also read through The Way to Happiness many times (non-religious moral code) to get ideas.

It was a labor of love. And I loved every minute. Even the ones that were way too late getting the excel spreadsheet to format properly.......ok maybe not those.

But I wanted more meat. I needed more books and items to give it "body." I used trusty ol' Facebook to ask the good people for help. And a friend turned me on to Value Tales. This series for children takes a famous person from history and uses their main character trait to tell their story, while emphasizing that trait. Perfect!!!!!!

Here's my system:

1) Several times a week (is my goal!) I will pull out our chart which I keep on my kitchen cabinet but also in a manilla folder for easy portability.

Ideal Character Qualities Document
(I am new to sharing on google docs & can't seem to make it appear as it does in Excel. If you want a copy comment here with your email and I will shoot it over to you. Or better yet help me figure out google docs! :)

2) I will have one of the children pick whichever one they want for that day. And I write it down on the folder. It ain't pretty but it's functional. This way I can keep track of what we've covered.

3) I will read that character quality definition aloud to them and explain it up a storm. 

4) I then ask them to give me examples of both the ideal character quality and it's opposite. For example they would talk about Compassion and examples of such, and then Indifference and examples of such. 

5) I usually have them act them out too. They love that part. Right now C is very into horses and L is very into spy's and weapons - so if they are having trouble I will give them an example within their zone of understanding/reality.

6) I then have them spend some time (5-10 minutes) reading from one of the Value Tale books.

Hooooooked!

Before Value Tales......................................After Value Tales (riiiiight)

7) I then ask them about the book and the character's quality and how it helped him/her succeed. I also ask questions about what they think would happen if that person didn't have that quality, etc. I might ask how they are that way/not that way in their life and how it help/harms them. Not sure if the cog wheels really turn the way I hope - but I can only lead the horse to water right?

This is not a perfect system. It's a baby begining. If anyone out there in cyber space has a great system for teaching ideal character in a secular way - please share!

xoxo

For those wondering how/why to use Sonlight if I am not Christian.....

Why: It's a fan-flipping-tastic homeschool curricula. And that is an understatement. Have I really never shared my love of Sonlight before?? 

I chose them because:

1) I fell in love with the highly organized and almost scripted daily checklists.

2) It was recommended by Heather Sanders of the homeschooling section of Pioneerwoman.com

3) It is literature and history based. This appealed to me as I think an education based on textbooks is pointless - too boring and bland. History does not come alive via textbooks. Sonlight uses quality novels galore in addition to a few textbooks. It's maybe 10% textbook and 90% historical novels, etc.

4) YOU CAN TEACH SEVERAL CHILDREN AT ONCE SPANNING AN AGE RANGE. This might be the #1 reason I chose Sonlight.

5) Because it's Christian based - the novels are quality, they are based on moral character and true heroes. I have cried more than once while reading a novel because I was so moved by how much a single person can do for the good of mankind.

6) They have have incredible customer support system. And their teacher's manuals and weekly notes are incredible. I could weep for how much I love them, and how they have literally thought of everything. 

How: I just don't read or do any of the specific bible activities. I bought a children's bible that my kids love and they can read through that to get acquainted with the bible stories which I think is incredibly important. There are times when Christian world views come about in the general readings, and I use those moments as teaching opportunities and social studies. Since Christianity is a widespread religion with many teachings agree with, I don't find harmful or confusing to expose the children to other people's religions and views. On the contrary, I love that it's ME exposing and being available to answer questions. It has also lead to many, many very deep conversations about our own religion and how our views differ on some things.

Bento Boxing Part Duex

If you missed part one just scroll down. Or click. I'll wait. No really - it's cool.......

You know what Bento-ing is now??

Great!!!

Here's what I've been up to since first starting last month in my attempt to handle our picky toddler whom we swear is a breath-a-tarian and in general make the kids happy about food.

Right up front I am going to apologize for not linking all products. I am just not that cool. But I bought just about everything from allthingsforsale.com and LOVE them. Cheaper than Amazon or anywhere else I have found.

The top half of Willsie's snack Bento. 

Oval Bento box which I love & it's only $4 & has two tiers

Dividers (balled Baran) I don't recommend these ones - too flimsy

C's fish & dog sandwiches :) and super thin apples

A new bento shipment!!! YAY!

Excitement!

Awe!

Alien hardboiled egg :)

My "alien's attack" bento

Excitement & awe

A "make your own" Love themed bento box

This was today's bento for W. LOL!! Those lips are from a sucker that I cracked off and threw away knowing those lips would make hundreds of hysterical lunches. I love this idea - it's from Jill Dubin

W's "Panda Love" bento

C's crazy face sandwhich. Love those candy eyes. I save up my JoAnn's coupons and run in there real fast every few weeks to grab ONE thing for 50% off. Why not? I pass by there 3x a week anyway.

These lips are from our Mr. Potato Head supplies

And when you need a toddler babysitter - pull out the bento supplies and some soap! ;)

Or open the supply drawer and let them get crazy!

I've been having a lot of fun. I sure don't do things this fancy every day. Some days I open up the boxes and wrack my brains for what to fill and kinda throw it in there with some picks. That's ok by me. They  never seem to notice. Love Bento-ing!!!

Bento Boxing 101 - huh?

I was recently turned on to the world of the Bento Box. What the heck is that??

I first learned about it from my new favorite website Mysmallpotatoes.com. 

Wait a second - back up. It actually ALL started because a friend of mine was telling me about “busy bags.”

“What the heck are those?” was my response. She showed me - and I was off. Like a rocket. Totally Allie LeBaron style up-until-1AM-researching-it style. Ooops.

Anything that helps me be a better mother, a more nurturing mother, a mother who doesn't want to kill children at 5pm kind of mother, that is something worth 1AM research.

Anyway, in my journey to figure out this new and exciting area of my mothering career I was spending some time on Pinterest (my other new favorite way to spend my downtime!) creating an idea board for preschool busy bags. And while doing THAT I came across the word “sensory bins” which seemed closely related. 

What the heck is a sensory bin?! Another new word/idea! I was EXCITED!! What else didn’t I know?? And in my search to understand sensory bins that lead me to the beautiful & inspiring website - MySmallPotatoes. She is the master of the sensory bin, the busy bag, and many other child related things. I love her. To death. The kind of love to death that isn't creepy or weird. Promise.

Upon reading up her site I stumbled upon, completely by accident (or was it?) her whole “What’s in YOUR Bento” series and away I went….

Phew – that was exhausting to explain. But kind of fun to follow how cool & inspiring ideas form in my rabbit chased kind of a way…..

Back to the Bento Boxing!!!

What is it?? 

The following is an excerpt from a fantastic article at LunchInABox.net called "Bento FAQ"

What is “bento”? Is it the style of packing? Is it the box? Is it the food?

A bento lunch is a compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box. Historically, it’s a Japanese box lunch, similar in concept to the Indian tiffin, the Korean dosirak, or the Filipino baon lunch. In Japanese, “bento” or “obento” refers to the packed meal, and “bento-bako” refers to the bento box itself. See the Wikipedia entry on bento for more details.

What are the benefits of packing a bento-style lunch? Is it healthier?

Bento lunches seem to be becoming more popular in North America recently.

• Packed in reusable containers, they reduce lunch waste such as plastic baggies and disposable containers, and allow you to pack a wider variety of food for lunch.
• Portion control is also easy if you follow the general packing rule of thumb of 3 parts carbs, 1 part protein and 2 parts fruits and vegetables, without candy, junk food or oily foods. Packed this way without gaps, a 600ml box holds a 600-calorie meal — a simple method for weight loss without counting calories.
• Picky eaters may be tempted by an attractive presentation of a variety of foods.
• Save money you might have spent on restaurant meals by bringing food from home; the savings from less than a week of eating packed lunches makes up for the initial cost of a bento box or lunch container.

Hopefully that handles any initial confusions. Anyway - one look at the first picture here from MySmallPotatoes and I was hoooooked. I went on to Amazon for my first set of Bento Boxes and matching little containers and then a few days later went to the website she recommends for supplies, AllThingsForSale.com and I was like a kid in a candy store. This was so exciting!!!!!

Here are my very first Bentos & the results......

This is C's snack bento. Not all that pretty - but super fun!

Strawberry & grape "people," acovado slices w/ a bunny food pick, orange slices, dried mango slices w/ some cereal.

This is W's snack & lunch bento. 

L's snack bento. Even a 10 year old was flipped out.

 

 Star shaped cucumbers and carrots - to die for right??

Response.......SUCCESS!!! The second pic is him chastizing me for putting in something alive - oranges. The nerve of some moms!

His response to the star cucumbers...."Ninja stars - how cool mom!!!"

Even though I have NO problem getting C to eat a variety of things - she's a girl. Girls love cute things. She was FLIPPPPED out by the whole idea.

But the true test was going to be W. The pickiest eater on planet earth. Our very own "breath-a-tarian." The child that survives on.....we don't even know! 

So I packed him his school lunch with a Bento and talked about it on the way to school.

Looks pretty much how it always does...container is new - but nothing drastic. He probably wouldn't go for drastic. I wasn't there for the big reveal at lunch time - but when I picked him up I asked how he liked his lunch. 

His response "More Bento momma??? I want eat more Bento lunch"

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY???? 

When we got home he was so happy about food in general he ate some cereal (my standards are really low with this guy) from a regular bowl.

Happiness!

I then branched out and bought a few more food picks and sandwich cutters and this hard boiled egg mold! SO FREAKING CUTE! My pictures are totally copied to look like Arlee's from MySmallPotoatoes :) 

Step 1 - the molds. Too cute.

Step 2, place a warm hard-boiled egg in mold

gently smoosh them into the mold, close & place in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes

Voila. Pure awesomeness. 

I am a total Bento Boxer now. My kids talk about them ALL THE TIME. They are always checking up on me to see if I am making them for the next day. It has cut down considerably on the pickiness and saves me time! Why do I bento box if I am "home all day homeschooling." Because 1) I am not always home all day 2) It saves me precious time in our school day that I don't have to waste at the counter when I should/could be helping a student 3) It handles the "what should I eat" and tells them exactly what to eat and in what quantities. 4) I really enjoy making their food cute and it makes them immensely happy. It's win win.