Disappointed

Almost 5,000 people visited my blog this week, and only 3 people bid on the auction to benefit Japan. *sigh*

Jenn- You are the winner! Please make your donation, and send me your receipt number and address! Thanks for bidding!

March's Box of Fun

Our March Box of Fun was full of books to read and activities to do while we were on the road. We spent the first week and a half of March at Disneyworld (Elliott had a business trip in Orlando), so we had a long way to travel.

E(1) was the most excited about the personalized magnetic paper dolls (I had to watch her closely, so she wouldn't tear them). The girls have these paper dolls printed on cardstock, and I printed them on magnetic paper for our road trip.

O(4) had fun making bookmarks with this bookmark kit from the Target dollar section. I also included free books from Cheerios boxes...I love those books, especially since they are bilingual (Spanish/English)!



O was the most excited about the Samantha book (found at the Dollar Store a couple of years ago).


Fun stuff! Now I need to get to work on April's Box of Fun! Btw, every time I refer to these boxes as a "box of fun" O corrects me and says "It's not a box of fun. It's a box of activities!" Love her!

Beginner Pattern Blocks

E(1) loves her Melissa & Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks.


She has a difficult time getting the shapes into the correct places, but she keeps trying and is learning to complete difficult activities without getting frustrated.

These pattern blocks are a great way to practice shapes and colors, too! I love to watch O(4) help E complete the puzzles...sisterly love :)

(Just so you know...links to Amazon.com are affiliate links!)

Mommy Brain

I had a ridiculous, but hilarious case of mommy brain last week, and I thought you might enjoy this story... (copied and pasted from my facebook page)

I put a dress on E (1) this morning and was feeling nostalgic. I thought "It seems like just yesterday when O(4) was wearing this dress" and "It seems like I just packed it away for O(4), and now E(1) is wearing it." When we were walking to the car to get O(4) from school, I noticed that the dress was VERY long on E(1). I checked the tag...it's a 4T. O(4) wore it last week.

So, what's your funniest mommy brain story?

Tactile Learning...Blue :)

Here's a fun way to learn all about blue!

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or majority with this, but I really don't mind if my kids color on their bodies. We have a few rules...they must ask first; they must use washable markers; they must not eat the markers; and they must not color their faces (E(1) is still working on the last 2!).

The girls had SO much fun coloring themselves. It kept them quiet and busy for quite a while. E was especially engrossed in trying to color her toenails. Elliott came home from work while they were doing this, and I quickly asked him before he saw them "You don't mind if the girls color themselves do you?" He didn't, and he even joined in on the fun by drawing pictures on their hands and backs. They thought this was fantastic.

My mom was appalled, but I'm sure she enjoyed watching all of the craziness :) It took 2 nights of baths/showers to get all of the blue off of their bodies, so this is definitely not an activity that we'll do on the night before O(4)'s recital!


Btw, a reader asked me to include the girls ages by their initials since it can get confusing to remember which initial goes with which girl. So, we are now O(4) and E(1).

Enjoying Our Giant Chalkboard

We've been spending A LOT of time outside lately.  The weather has been beautiful, and I recently read a Charlotte Mason book (Charlotte Mason's Home Education in Modern English (Charlotte Mason Series Paraphrase)) that emphasized the importance of spending many hours (not just one or 2!) outside each day.   We always really enjoying our outside time, but sometimes it just feels like too much work to get out there.  It's definitely easier now that the baby is older, and I am committed to being outside as much as we can. 

We've started taking kayak rides in the lake several times a week.  I was always afraid to take them out by myself because I didn't think I could paddle and hold onto my squirmy baby (and I was afraid that she would stand up and topple over the side of the kayak!).  However, she is really good about sitting still in the kayak.  She understands that she must not stand up, and we have a great time.  It's so much fun to sneak up on the turtles, and we recently saw 5 baby turtles on the base of a Cypress tree. 

 In addition to our additional kayaking experiences, we've spent lots of time walking in the woods, playing on our swingset, and drawing on our giant chalkboard.  O is VERY interested in writing and drawing, and this is the perfect large space for her to do this. 

Japan Quake Appeal Auction

Here is the auction post...finally! Thank you to everyone who emailed and wrote kind comments concerning the death of my grandmama. It's been a difficult time, but it is a blessing to know that she is no longer suffering. O said "now great-grandmama is a beauty angel flying around heaven."

Both of my girls and I are sick. They have their first ever ear infections, and I can't breathe through my nose and can barely speak. It's easy to put this all into perspective and appreciate what we have when watching the news coverage of Japan. So, here's the auction. Bid away!!! :)

In cooperation with Jo from A Bit of This and That, I am hosting an auction to benefit the victims of the earthquake in Japan. I originally thought I would make something to offer up for auction, but since I haven't been home for more than a couple of hours in the past 2 and a half weeks that's not a feasible option. So, I decided to benefit 2 charities through this auction!

I bought a set of coffee bean earrings and necklace made by women in Guatamala who are seeking shelter from abuse. You can see more about this jewelry and this charity in this post.




To make a bid for this jewelry set leave a comment on this post with your bid amount. Your bid must be higher than the previous comment. You must also leave a valid email address.

Once the auction has closed the winning bidder will be announced and contacted via email. The winner must donate the payment amount to Global Giving and send proof of payment within 48 hours. If proof of payment is not made within 48 hours then the jewelry will go to the second highest bidder.

For help with the donation you can refer to this post (http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-donation.html) The auction is being held on this blog, in cooperation with A Bit of This and That. We are in no way affiliated with Global Giving, that's just our chosen method of getting funds safely to the affected area.

The auction will end on March 31 at 7pm (eastern time).

Peace, Hope, and Eiffel Towers

Yesterday, O drew a picture for my mom. She loves to make drawings and artwork to make sad people feel better. After she drew the picture, she explained it to me. I couldn't remember exactly what she said, so I asked her again today. The pictures consists of a small dot next to a large circle with 2 tall structures on the large circle.

The small dot stands for peace, the large circle is hope, and the 2 structures are eiffel towers. She said "It's peace because we want Guhguh's mommy to feel peace. Hope is because we hope my great-grandmama is getting better in heaven. The eiffel towers are the burying place. I don't know how to draw a grave, so I just drew eiffel towers." I adore this child.

Japan Quake Appeal

Please take a moment to check out Jo at A Bit of This and That's auction and links to other auctions to benefit victims of the earthquake in Japan.



I'd planned to host an auction or raffle from this blog, but life has gotten in the way. My grandmama died tonight, so I know I won't be able to get anything organized to post until the end of this week at the earliest. So, check back then.

Also, if you'd like to host an auction or raffle on your blog or bid on one on another blog, please read this post on A Bit of This and That.

Homemade Puzzles

I made these 2 piece puzzles for O about 3 years ago, and I recently took them out for E to enjoy. 

To make the puzzles I printed pictures of us and O, cut them in half, cut cereal boxes to fit, and then glued the pictures to the cereal boxes.  E loves these puzzles!

Imbucare Box with a Ball

I bought 2 imbucare boxes for E a couple of years ago (before she was born, I think), and I gave this one to her a few months ago. She puts the ball in the opening and it rolls to the end of the drawer.  Then she opens the drawer to get the ball.  E REALLY liked it, but she kept putting the ball in her mouth, so I put it away for a while.  I recently put it back on her shelf, and she has enjoyed it. 

She especially likes opening the drawer and looking inside.



Fun times!

Cutting Wooden/Velcro Fruit

I had a Cutting Wooden/Velcro Fruit activity on E's shelf a few months ago, and she loved it.  However, she always took the fruit back to her play kitchen, so I stopped trying to keep it on the shelf as an activity.

I decided to work with her on this a little more after I watched her take 2 (raw) sweet potatoes from the pantry and take them to the kitchen table.  She then pushed a chair up to the kitchen shelves, climbed in the chair, and reached for a knife from the knife block while saying "cut, cut."  I think my heart almost stopped when I saw her reaching for (and almost getting) the large knives, and I quickly stepped in and got her off the chair.  I gave her a child's knife and let her pretend to cut the sweet potatoes for a while. 





After that I sat down with her to cut wooden/velcro fruit.  She REALLY loves this activity.  It's hard for her to orient the knife exactly right, and I used to have a craft stick out with her fruit that worked fairly well.  However, now that she is bigger, she only wants a knife.  O has also had fun working with E and showing her the correct way to hold the knife to cut the fruit. 




More than anything, E just loves to sit surrounded by her wooden food.  She loves to pull it apart and put it back together, and she loves trying to cut it.  She was so busy playing independently with her play food that I didn't know what to do with myself.  The house was clean; lunch was ready; O was at school; the computer was broken; and I didn't want to interfere with her independent play.  It was a strange feeling for a busy mama :) 

A Beautiful and Simple Science Experiment

This is a science experiment that we do every year when the white Camelias bloom...

First, O poured water into 4 test tubes (I bought these on clearance after Halloween...they were filled with gummy body parts in candy jelly, which we threw away).



Then, she squeezed LOTS of food coloring in to each test tube.  The tubes were red, yellow, green, and blue (the food coloring was so dark that you couldn't really tell which color each tube held at first).



Our last step was putting one beautiful white Camelia into each test tube. 


Within about 3 hours, the petals were already starting to turn colors. This was SO exciting because this is the FIRST year this experiment has worked (and it's our 3rd year doing it!). I realized last year (too late) that it wasn't working because we weren't using enough food coloring.




All of the petals fell off the blue and green flowers after only one day.  Luckily, the girls didn't mind.  I'm so glad this project finally worked!


Thanks to Nonie who inspired me to use the test tubes for this experiment.  They worked perfectly...you should try it!