Are You Planning on Turning Your Blog into a Book?

I am!!! I 1st started blogging when I was pregnant with O, and my other blog is a VERY detailed account of O's daily life. My intention from the very beginning was to somehow turn it into a book. In fact, that was the primary reason that I even started blogging. I love to take pictures and document O's life, and it so much easier to do that on a blog instead of in a traditional scrapbook. I've made several photo books using Snapfish and My Publisher, but both of these methods require lots of time and uploading of photos. Imagine my excitement when a highschool friend started her own company, Scrapbook Blogger, which slurps your blog and makes a book for you! I've already uploaded most of my 1st blog and some of Chasing Cheerios. After trying Blurb (and finding it very complicated and time consuming for this time strapped mama), I was amazed with how simple Scrapbook Blogger is. Its also EXTREMELY affordable. Its much less expensive than traditional scrapbooking, and I believe its cheaper than Snapfish and My Publisher (although I haven't actually calculated it on paper). O LOVES to look at photo albums each night, so I really can't wait until we have books of the blogs to read with her. I'm also excited to have the blogs turned into books because I think it will be a great memento for O when she has children of her own. I hope that she'll see the different activities that I've done with her and try them with her own children. Check out this interview with Ashley, founder of Scrapbook Blogger, at More Than Just a Mom.

So I Checked My Site Meter Tonight...

and I thought it was broken. My blog had 485 visits today!!! What! That's just crazy. I was sure it was broken or that I was reading it wrong, so I decided to check the referrals. The vast majority of the hits are coming from this link http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/scanimation Cool! If you haven't seen this book, you REALLY should check it out. Its truly amazing! We haven't read it since I posted about it in February, but I need to see if our local library will order it for us. It would be even better if one of O's grandparents bought it for her birthday... hint, hint :)

Phonics Pouch - m

My mom introduced the m phonics pouch to O yesterday, and we also did the work today. She seemed to enjoy it. I was a little hesitant to introduce her to phonics since she is so young, but she's shown such an interest in sounds and letters that I decided to give it a try. We'll stick with m for a while, then we'll try either a or t.

Sewing Block

I ordered this sewing block from Montessori N' Such, and O really loves it. This morning she said she was going to "sew like Duggie" (my mom). She's been watching my mom sew the knots on her I Spy quilt for the past month or so, so she's ready to sew by herself.

Counting in Spanish

O surprised us a few days ago by counting in Spanish. I used to count in Spanish with her everytime we counted in English, but I stopped once she started counting independently (about 6 months ago) because I was afraid she would get confused. While we were camping, I was reading her a book and decided to count in Spanish to see what she would say. I said "uno," then she said "dos, tres, cuatro." I almost fell over! All those months of counting in Spanish and listening to Spanish cds paid off :)

Thrifty Thursday

Today was a slow day for the thrift store! O and I have been out of town since Friday morning (we just got back home last night), so I didn't have time to find things to donate, and I only bought 1 book (49 cents). It was a board book that O is probably too old for, but I really liked it, so I couldn't resist.

"What are you thinking about?"

A online mama friend had the idea to start asking her kids what they are thinking about just because its fun to hear their answers. I thought this was a great idea, so I've been asking O lately. I thought it'd make a fun weekly blog post, and I'll love looking back on the things she's said and how her answers have changed as she's grown. I've also videod a few of her responses. This is how the 1st conversation went...
Mama: What are you thinking about O? (my mom was holding her, and we were standing in my mom's hallway)
O: Hmm?, hmmm? (while looking around the room)
Mama: What are you thinking?
O: night-night! (she was ready for a nap!)

After her nap... (we were outside with Sophie Socks & my mom. We were hoping that the fresh air would help SS feel better)
Mama: What are you thinking, O?
O: grinned and looked down almost shyly
Mama: What are you thinking?
O: night-night (grinning)

I asked her again today, but my brain isn't working and I can't remember what she said. I hope I'll remember to keep asking her. I think this will be fun :)

O's 1st Camping Trip

Writing "name" in the sand with Dada. O announced that she was writing "mama, dada, O, Grace, Socks," and she was very proud. She kept saying "write name."

Helping Daddy put the tent stakes in the ground
Unrolling the air mattress
Taking her own picture :)

For Mother's Day, I requested that we go on a camping trip. We almost didn't go due to bad weather, Sophie Socks, and a full campground. However, the weather improved, my mom promised to take care of Sophie Socks (and I knew she'd take even better care of her than I would, although I'll always feel bad about leaving her), and the campground had cancellations. We had a great time (until we got the bad news about Sophie). O really enjoyed helping set up the tent, and she loved running on the beach and playing in the water. She also really liked "writing" our names in the sand.

In Loving Memory of Sophie Socks

Our cat, Sophie Socks, who adopted us 3 and a half weeks ago died today. She showed up on our doorstep 3 and a half weeks ago, and I expected her to go back home at anytime. She decided that we were her family, and she stayed. She was the sweetest, friendliest cat we have ever met. She loved O, and O loved her (although O often did not know how to handle all of the attention Sophie gave her). On Tuesday night Sophie was her typical friendly and fun self. On Wednesday morning she was lethargic and had labored breathing. I called the vet and made an appointment for Friday, but I was fully expecting her to just get better. We gave her water with a dropper Wednesday night because we were afraid that she hadn't been eating. On Thursday, I had to go to work, and my mom was worried enough about Sophie that she decided to go ahead and take her to the vet. It was our 1st experience with the vet in our town, and my mom was not impressed. We brought Sophie to my mom's house on Friday, so her vet (who comes to her house) could see Sophie. Since he doesn' t have an office and therefore no x-ray machine, he couldn't make a definitive diagnosis, but he did give Soph a vitamin shot. On Saturday Soph seemed to feel better. She still had labored breathing and we had to continue feeding her about every hour and a half with a dropper, but she was walking around and seemed to want to be near us. I really thought she was going to get better. My mom took care of Soph while O, Elliott, and I went on our Mother's Day camping trip. We have an appointment for her at a different vet for tomorrow, but mom felt like she needed to take her today. The vet today told her that Soph was really, very sick and since she's such a small cat that she would probably not survive surgery and it would cause her more suffering. She recommended that we put Sophie to sleep. So Sophie Socks is no longer suffering, and we miss her terribly. We are so thankful to my mom for helping us take care of Sophie Socks and for taking her the vet for us. I am devastated by her loss, and I can't stop crying. We had such plans for this wonderful, sweet cat. O loved playing with her in the yard, and Soph even rode in the pedal boat briefly with us. Elliott and I were looking forward to taking her out in the ski boat in a couple of weeks, so she could be our boat cat. O incorporated her into our family, and whenever she talks about "mama, dada, O, Grace," she always includes "Socks." O even tried to write our names in the sand at the beach this morning. She wrote "mama, dada, O, Grace, Socks." We are so thankful that Sophie Socks came into our lives even though we didn't get to have her long enough. We'll miss her for a while and remember her forever.

Thrifty Thursday

Today was a very successful thrift day because I donated MUCH more than I bought, which is always my goal.

Donated: 2 pairs of too small shorts, 2 girls' outfits, 1 pair of toddler pants, 1 pair of toddler shoes, bedroom shoes, 2 sippy cups, 3 plastic cups, 1 plastic plate, 1 car cooler, 1 log holder, 2 plastic pampered chef bowls with lids, 1 plastic bowl, 1 ball, 1 chicken cooking thing, and about 15 to 20 children's books (Elliott's old books that held no sentimental value). There were a few more things, but I can't think of them now.

Bought- pretty little planter for a flower or maybe an activity and 11 juice glasses that will be great for Miss O (she drinks from glasses at all meals and straw cups between meals, in the car, and at night) total spent $5.00

Pouring

We tried a new pouring work today. I found this pitcher (probably a creamer?) in my cabinet, and I thought it would work great for O to pour popcorn kernals back and forth. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. You can tell by her tongue sticking out that she was totally focused on this work :)

Picking Strawberries

O was thrilled to pick strawberries last night from our deck container garden. Grandaddy Harry helped her and showed her what to do. We are excited to have these yummy, organic strawberries that we've grown ourselves. O shared a few and gobbled up the rest! Thanks, Guh-guh!

Color Sorting

O enjoyed color sorting today (it was a GREAT day in O's homeschool in case you couldn't tell!). I had a basket of fruit shaped plastic ice things that I got from the dollar store, and these cups that I bought last year to have for O's birthday parties (don't want to use disposables, of course!). I spread out the cups and showed her how to match the fruits to the colors and sort them. She was slightly confused at first, but she caught on quickly and had fun completing the work. I was worried that I'd given her too many colors at one time, but she did fine. She enjoyed this work, but she didn't want to do it again. I guess it just couldn't compare to the excitement of the Mystery Bag!
Update: O has chosen this work from the shelf a couple of time since I introduced it. She talks herself through the task, labeling the colors, and self-correcting as she goes. She dropped the orange cup as she walked to the mat, and once she set the cups up she said "orange" like she suddenly remembered that she'd dropped the cup. She got the cup and lined it up with the other cups. While sorting she put a green object in the red bowl, paused, said "no, green," then took it out of the red cup and put it in the green cup. I LOVE watching her work.

The Mystery Bag

We did the Mystery Bag game for the 1st time today, and O was just vibrating and squealing with excitement! I put several items in the bag- banana (fake), spoon, fork, toy car, and a bead. I showed her the items, and we labeled them. Then I put everything in the bag and put the blindfold on. I demonstrated how to pull out only one item and then feel it and then say what it is. Then it was O's turn. She guessed bananaa before taking off the blindfold, but she was so excited with the rest of the items that she pulled off the blindfold as soon as she had the object out of the bag. Then she decided that it was mommy's turn. She loved it when I guessed correctly, and if I took too long to guess or guessed wrong she called out the answer proudly. I think this is definitely O's most favorite montessori work EVER!

Shadow Matching Game

I found this shadow mathing game here, and I knew O would love it as soon as I saw it. I finally got everything cut out and laminated, so I introduced it to her this morning. She thorougly enjoyed it and asked for more after she finished. When she wakes up from her nap, I'll show her the shadow matching game that goes with Eric Carle's Very Busy Spider book. She's going to be so excited!