Vintage Kokeshi Dolls

My father-in-law recently brought back these vintage kokeshi dolls from his home in Japan.  LOVE!

Valentine's Day

Got this idea from a design blog I read.  I used a sheet to create the white background before taking the photos.  I arranged the images in Photoshop, then placed three strips on a 5x7.  With the magic of Costco printing, I was able to create this for less than $6!  My daughter and I used Japanese washi tape to adhere the pencils and Kit Kat bar on the back.  Thank you Blonde Designs Blog!

What Is This Thingamajig?

For those of you who don't already know what this is, it's not a megaphone!

This is probably one of those stories that might be more interesting at the time it happened than as a story, but it was certainly one of the most memorable stories I had as a new parent.

One day during my last trimester of pregnancy a coworke rstopped by my office and lent me her breast pump.  She never really said she was going to bringit.  She just placed it on my desk, and said I could have it.  I remember being thankful because we didn’t have one, and it was one less thing to worry about for this new mom.  But honestly, I had no idea how to use it.  Later that day she showed me the accessories, which parts were replaceable, which ones weren’t, and it seemed pretty self explanatory so I was off.

A couple of months later our baby was born and the day finally arrived when I needed to use the breast pump.  It had been a while since I had the talk with my coworker so I couldn’t really remember all of the things she told me.  At the time I was also busy with the newborn that I wasn’t sure if I had the patience to figure out how to use the breastpump, so I asked my husband to figure it out while I breastfed our newborn on the other side of the room.

There I was rocking back and forth in my new rocking chair nursing our newborn, and I could hear my husband turning the pages of the little manual that came with the pump. Then, all of a sudden, I heard him turn on the switch.  Suddenly I heard my husband laugh like I hadn’t heard him laugh in the years I’ve known him.  I looked up and there he was with the two suction cups stuck to his nipples and I see him laughing and yelling “OW!” in between giggles.  Finally he turned off theswitch and promptly said, “Ummmm… I think I figured out how it works!”

It was one of the funniest moments of our new-parentexperiences.  After all the stress ofjust coming home from the hospital and being overwhelmed with the new baby inour lives, it was great to laugh, and I mean really crack up.

Thanks to my coworker who lent us her breast pump, we were armed with the best tools to nurse our newborn, and little did we know it would bring us a funny memory as well.

A Summer Reading List Before Kindergarten? Seriously?!?

Summer Reading 2011

In the summer before my daughter started kindergarten I received a packet from the school containing various material including school policies, a calendar, and registration documents.  One of the items in the stack was a summer reading list. I thought to myself, wow, really?  She doesn't even know how to read yet, and she has a summer reading list?

The instructions noted that the child read, or be read to, at least eight books. I thought, fair enough.  We are working through the list, and we've past the minimum of eight books, and we are enjoying the books.

I surveyed other moms who have kids in other schools to see if their school offered a kindergarten summer reading list, and most of them said no.  It seems, though, that everyone I surveyed was curious about what was on the list. I figure the readers of this blog might be interested too. So, here goes...

• Owl at Home, Grasshopper on the Road, Uncle Elephant, Mouse Tales, or Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel
• Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik (series)
• A Bargain for Frances, Bedtime for Frances, or Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban (series)
• Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole
• Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel (series)
• There Is A Carrot In My Ear by Alvin Schwartz
• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (series)
• Jack and the Beanstalk, The Magic Porridge Pot, or Puss in Boots by Paul Galdone
• Where the Wild Things Are* by Maurice Sendak
• Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey (series)
• The Dream House by Pirkko Vainio
• A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
• Miss Spider's Wedding by David Kirk
• The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen
• The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
• A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
• Olivia by Ian Falconer (series)
• What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins
• The Lamb Who Came For Dinner by Steve Smallman
• Officer Buckle and Gloria* by Peggy Rathmann
• Sammy and the Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow
• Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci
• Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, or The Big Hungry Bear by A. Wood
• Painting a Rainbow, Eating the Alphabet, or Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
• Carlo Likes Reading by Jessica Spanyol
• My Friend Bear by Jez Alborough
• The Polar Express* by Chris Van Allsburg
• Rapunzel* illustrated and retold by Paul O. Zelinsky
• The Napping House by Audrey Wood
• A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
• Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• Make Way for Ducklings* by Robert McCloskey
• Owl Moon* by John Schoenhorr

Poetry:

• Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry by Andrew Fusek Peters
• A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
• Falling Up by Shel Silverstein
• A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne
• When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne

An asterisk (*) denotes a Caldecott Award-winning book.

The Class of 2024: The Countdown Begins



Aquarium Outing. July 2011

In 45 days you will begin your formal education and start kindergarten. We are enjoying our last summer together as a dynamic duo of preschooler and her stay-at-home mom, and we are almost ready. We have the uniforms purchased, the items on the school supply list checked, and the backpack is on the way.

It is hard to believe that the baby we brought home from the hospital a little over 5 years ago is now a big girl ready to write her name, open juice boxes, and ready to impress the world with her charm and ability. I still haven't taught you how to ride a bike without training wheels, but at least I've taught you how to tie your shoes, and say please and thank you.

I will miss spending the day with you, but I cannot wait for you to begin this new and exciting chapter in your life.

I love you.

Mom