living up to my sleeves - Homeschool Blogger

thank You...

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:00 -0600

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Thanksgiving.

Homemade Christmas #1: Shutterfly Scrapbook

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:49:00 -0600

One really fun homemade gift to receive is a scrapbook. I love going through our old scrapbooks, looking at how much things have changed, how much things are the same... how really awful fashion was in the late nineties.

However, this is a really time-consuming project on the gift maker's part. A scrapbook seems like the perfect gift for that someone on your list, but, snap, there's only about a month to make it, and with all the other things you've got to do... well, that idea's going to get shoved to the bottom of the proverbial sock drawer.

Enter the Shutterfly photobook.

I've made quite a few of these, and while it's not quite the same as scrapbooking, the result is always beautiful and it's so simple to do.

You basically just sign up, upload your pictures, put them in the book, order it, and in a couple weeks there's this gorgeous, glossy book on your front stoop.

Of course, if you're one of those meticulous people like myself, you may want to do more, and you can! You can choose from bajillions of backgrounds, fonts, borders & layouts.

I've made a few of these for friends moving out of state (or, in one case, to another country). They're a great way to put all those memories together in a neat little package.

And, you know, what else are you going to do with such, erm, gorgeous pictures like this?

(I guess this is sort of a borderline-homemade gift, but it's early yet. The insane craftiness is on its way.)

Duncan & Ella Hope

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:26:00 -0600

Firstly, thanks for all your wonderful name suggestions for my little guy! In a sudden burst of creativity, I came up with one on my own-- Duncan. Named partially for my favorite character from Monarch of the Glen, and partially because its meaning is "brown fighter," and while I can't picture this Snorgenwoffle (more on that later) being much of a "fighter," he is brown.

I've also decided (with help from my friend Lucy) that this "breed" of amigurumi are called Snorgenwoffles. They like to sail around in little cardboard boats and are really fond of Motown music, especially the Supremes and the Jackson 5.

Now, if there's one thing I can't stand is a lonely softie, so...

...this is Ella Hope.

She's taller, but she's actually Duncan's little sister. She would like to be a really famous YouTube singer like Nataly Dawn or maybe even Julia Nunes, but she doesn't have hands, so she can't work the webcam.

Also, if you're wondering about the tattoo, A) it's pen, and B) today's the third annual To Write Love on Her Arms day. TWLOHA is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. Check out their site here.

I personally don't struggle with these things, but what these people do is amazing, and I think we all need to support it.

So, sometime this weekend or in the coming week, write love on your arms. You're asking for a question-- "Why's love written on your arms?" Tell them the story & spread some hope.

meet my new friend.

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:44:00 -0600

I'm not sure what his(?) name is yet. Any ideas?

why, hello november.

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 13:59:00 -0600

you sneaked up on me
all of a sudden.
please don't do that.
I like it better when the months go by
so slowly & draggingly.
please talk to august, or june.
they know how to do that.

thanks,
Maddy

the Hippie Apron.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:54:00 -0500

For lack of a better name.

Sewed this guy up this afternoon. Thought it was cute. And even though I think the retail stores are done reliving Woodstock, I still like me some tie-dye. Wish I could say I'd dyed this myself, but it's actually a scrap I found in my drawer and decided to use.

This is based on the fantabulatic Amy Karol's Vintage Apron pattern from Bend the Rules Sewing, the same pattern I used for this guy a while back (is it strange to refer to aprons as guys?).

I am a fan of the half-apron. Simple enough that my mind can wander as I make it, easy enough to make in under an hour, and still you wind up with something elegant (or psychedelic) in the end.

I'll eat you up I love you so.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:38:00 -0500

I've mentioned before that my mom is a preschool teacher. That means she's one of those super-organized people who happens to have a stash of Handi-Wipes on hand at any given moment. It also means that she is an aficionado on children's books, a trait that, among others, has passed down to yours truly.

Needless to say, our expectations were pretty high for Spike Jonze's new film-- Where the Wild Things Are.

I was not disappointed.

Now, I've seen quite a few awful children's movies. Potty humor, dumb jokes, plot-less storylines... that's pretty much all that's out there for kids.

But Wild Things is different. It's thoughtful, which is so often used as a euphemism for dull, but this movie is exciting, just not in the comic book action way that we've all grown used to.

It sticks to the feel of Maurice Sendak's fantastic book, and it expands upon the very basic plot, making it into something even better (similar to the film adaptations of the Eloise books).

What this movie totally captures is being a little kid. All those things that seem so little now but were so big then-- building snow forts, running, "sleeping in a big pile," making tiny villages in the mud, so much more... it's all there and very real.

Also, hurray hurray, there was not one potty joke! I think that in itself deserves celebration.

One other thing-- I'm so glad they chose to do this as a live action film, not an animated film (especially the horridly over-used 3D-animated film). The cinematography is fantastic. I'm not sure where they filmed this, but the scenery was breath-taking. I think I'd like to live in the land where the wild things are-- as long as I could still come home for supper.

So, I really liked this movie. On both an artistic level and as a children's movie, it's amazing and beautiful (although, just as a forewarning, I wouldn't recommend taking kids any younger than five or six-- some parts would be kind of scary for really young kids). I still can't get the scene where Max sails away and he and the Wild Things "roar their terrible roars" out of my head. And I think I'm alright with that.

back to blogging

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:26:00 -0500

I'm pretty bad at this whole updating thing. I feel like I might need some twelve-step program to get back on the blogging bandwagon.

I love blogging-- sharing thoughts & experiences with caring people around the country-- even the world. And whenever something awesome happens, I think "Oh, I'll get around to blogging about this some time!"

But it doesn't really happen.

BlueJane tagged me, like, a week ago... getting around to it.

Went to go see Where the Wild Things Are last weekend, and I should tell you how wonderful and beautiful it was... getting around to it.

By Sunday night I'll have performed in the play I'm in at our nature preserve's Halloween woods walk 20+ times, and I should tell you about that, too... getting around to it.

You get the point.

It's a bad term. "Getting around to it." You know someone's really not going to get around to things when they say that.

So.

From here on out, I'm not getting around to writing about this stuff.

I am going to write.

Fame & Pocahontas

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:23:00 -0500

My friend Becky & I surprised our friend Emma for her birthday at the movie theatere today (we taped the sign at the movie theatre entrance). She thought she was going to see Fame with her little sister, which she was, but what she didn't know is that we were going to be there, too. It was awesome. We've been friends for twelve years, since our first year of preschool. I'm so glad we've stuck together all this time-- we're the coolest dorks you'll ever meet.

And then I got home after some maniacal musical madness & Mexican meals (I enjoy alliterations) to find possibly the most gorgeous envelope I have ever received...

...which contained a note written in the best handwriting I have ever come across...

(and I'm not just saying this because you give me free stuff, Emily Rose, it's truly lovely)

...and also, my were in the envelope! If you don't remember, I won them a while back. They are gorgeous, Breezy & Emily Rose are so talented.

So this was a fairly eventful day for me. I mean, how often do you get to throw a surprise party and receive paper dolls on the same day?

good music for the almost-but-not-quite-weekend slump.

Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:14:00 -0500

[new discovery] Pomplamoose covering [old favourite] Simon & Garfunkel = too awesome for words, even.

A very long post that really could just say...

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 18:56:00 -0500

This blog's got a new look.

So it's officially fall. Things change in the fall. Leaves, teachers, schedules... blog templates.

I decided that as much I loved my orangey summer template, it was time for a change.

You may have noticed the dork in the upper left-hand corner of your screen, staring plaintively at, if you have a Mac, the Exit button. If you're a PC user, she's just staring blankly at your search bar, or maybe some of your bookmarks.

In any case, yeah, that's me. And my super-swanky photoshopped Happy Crown.

Also, why are the E's in Lee dashed? Well, I found this very awesome font on Blue Vinyl Fonts that mimics those dashed-word penmanship practice things that we all loathed. Or at least I did? I'd forgotten until just recently how much I hated those books, but a couple weeks ago I found some of my old handwriting workbooks from lower el. The exercises are almost always half-finished, some I didn't touch at all. So, most pages ended up looking a bit like my blog banner-- half-finished words with lots of doodles.

Also, from now on (until I come up with a very much better idea), although the general template is staying the same, there may be some surprises as far as my hat & such go. Stay tuned.

autumn as seen through the rain-streaked window pane

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 14:32:00 -0500

outside
wind blows
rain falls
leaves swirl
on the water-dappled sidewalk

inside
the familiar smell
of forced-air heating
warms our toes
and quite possibly
our souls

happy first day of october.

the ukulele

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:06:00 -0500

Awful webcam quality, I know, but I realized it's been nearly two weeks since I got it and I still haven't posted pictures.

antique fairs have a tendency to be vaguely surreal.

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:13:00 -0500

Oh! Darling.

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 20:09:00 -0500

9-9-09

The Beatles Rockband game, the new remastered Beatles albums... they came out today. Here Comes the Sun, indeed. I feel fine.

let the Beatles references begin...

Do You Want to Know a Secret? So, just Yesterday my mom and I were talking about how they should put the Beatles on iTunes, you know? iTunes is definitely Getting Better about expanding their collection, but they hadn't put the Fab Four on yet. I was losing hope, but I Should Have Known Better. I came across this bit of news, and if it's true... I'm going to Shout with joy. The greatest Rock and Roll Music ever is to iTunes. It's true, I'm a diehard Beatles fan, and I will be even When I'm Sixty-Four.

I'm done now. If you want to read something truly awesome, check this out. Aja doesn't fail to awe me with her amazing blogging (and YES as a matter of fact I do make a guest appearance in her post ;D).

So, on that note, this is The End (ohhhh just when you thought you were done with the Beatles references...)

I love dolls.

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 21:01:00 -0500

And so when my mom said "You got an email saying you won something," I was pretty excited.

Breezy and Emily Rose's new project is really amazing. Paper dolls of inspiring women from history. They'd been posting clues on their blogs as to what their new business was, inviting people to guess. The first one to guess what the project was would receive one of the "C's," as they said (we later found out the C stood for Collection-- of paper dolls) they've been working on, and I happened to be the first one to put things together. Pocahontas and Priscilla Mullins will be in my mailbox (surreal imagery there...) in October. Yay!

These will be beautiful to display now and, way down the road when I'm a mom, will be a lot of fun for my future little girls to play with.

I think that my inner-six-year-old is pleased.

blessed(15)

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:47:00 -0500

Not sure if the entry title means that I'm blessed to be fifteen or if I'm blessed times fifteen (I've never been a math person), but either way is so true.

So, yeah, I am officially at the beginning of the halfway-point of my teenage years.

Or, simply put, it's my fifteenth birthday!

Two of my awesome friends threw a surprise party on Saturday, we played the newest Nancy Drew game (and beat it! After... nine hours...), my aunt and cousin came over on Sunday with the cutest little cake ever. These people are amazing. I must say.

Now, my Big Gift was from my parents, and it was a ukulele! I've wanted one for quite a while. I was really happy to find out that it's easy to play and is just as cute in person as it looks on YouTube. Pictures are coming soon-ish.

As for smaller (but no less sweet) gifts from my parents, friends, and other relatives, I got Do Hard Things, which looks amazing (and has an introduction by Chuck Norris... IMPROMPTU CHUCK NORRIS JOKE: Chuck Norris doesn't write a foreword, the book is the epilogue to his introduction. Yeah. That was lame.), gift certificates to my favorite second-hand shop (Pandora's Closet) and my favorite first-hand shop (Old Navy), some music books, a sweater, the Starcatcher series, and the Nancy Drew Sleuth Guide. And a lot of cute cards.

Birthdays are good. They make a person realize just how lucky she is.

fifteen

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 19:09:00 -0500

it used to sound so old.

when I was little, I thought that Real Life Happened when you turned fifteen.
when you're fifteen you start learning how to drive.
when you're fifteen you're three years away from being an adult.
when you're fifteen you're in high school.
when you're fifteen you're dependable and smart.
when you're fifteen.

so why, when I'm just less than a week away from fifteen, don't I feel any older?

new horizons...

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 11:08:00 -0500

This past weekend, my wonderful friend Karlee invited me to join HSBartists. For those of you unfamiliar with the group, they make free, quality templates for other HSB users to use on their blogs.

I was really excited to join, and you can see my introduction post on the TemplateArtists blog. I'm working on some pre-made templates, and if any of you have suggestions, I'd really appreciate your ideas!

So, be sure to check out TemplateArtists, there's a lot of awesome pre-made templates there if you want to spruce up your blog, and you can also request a custom template. It's pretty nifty, if I may say so myself.

needless to say...

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:34:00 -0500

...I'm excited.