Six for Sunday

Some bloggers do a "five for Friday" post, which is basically just a bullet formed way of giving 5 highlights of their week, five thoughts, five pictures, whatever....

Well, I decided to be a rebel and make mine six... 

Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll do it on a SUNDAY.  

So here it is.  My "six for Sunday".

**One**

Saying good bye to Bob was sad.  He was and is THE most generous person I have ever met in my life.  He was my buddy.  He made me laugh.  Always.  He treated my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law like royalty.  He will be greatly missed.  I found out his nickname for me was "queenie".  That just makes me smile.

**Two**

I love the snow and don't mind the winter, but even I was feeling it was getting to be too much.  The sun has been shining the past few days, and I can't tell you how grateful I am.  It just makes everyone so happy.

**Three**

Michael's (not so) new contract for work states that he is suppose to get at least one full weekend off a month.  He is off this weekend and I love it.  No matter what we do.  Even if we end up just staying home and being bums. I love being with him.  Weekends off are cherished.

**Four**

I'm having a hard time figuring out a balance in my life.  Does anyone else feel like this?  In the past I've always felt I've had a pretty good balance, but for some time now my life has been out of balance.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.  How do you juggle family time, with relationships, with cooking, working, cleaning, exercising, grocery shopping, time with God, and on and on?  I think I'm also lacking motivation.  Where can I buy some more of that?  "I'll take motivation for a thousand, please.  Thanks Alec".

**Five**

Church was just what I needed last night.  I love my church.

**Six**

I think it's hilarious how kids are so in awe of teacher spottings in public.  I find myself in places where former students are (not necessarily mine, but maybe just went to my school) and they always stare.  It's hilarious too, because they always think they are being sneaky when they sneak a peek but to an adult it's so obvious.  I was spied on by three different kids last night at church.  So cute.  I probably would have done the same thing as a kid.  (Only I went to a baptist school where all the teachers had to attend that church, so I was never given the chance. :)

Happy Sunday.

I hope you are enjoying some sunshine today!

Oh how I love thee... (7)

(This is the first picture of us ever taken.  It was 2 weeks after we started dating. 

He had just come in from the rain, so those are water spots on his shirt.)

...let me count the ways!

I love that Michael respects me.  Simple, but HUGE.  I didn't necessarily grow up in a situation where women were respected.  When I tell him the car is making a noise and he says "Ok, I'll get it checked out" it makes me pause for a minute.  In my head I think "really? he believes me?".  When we are driving somewhere and he asks me what way I think we should go, I'm thrown off a bit.  He respects me for who I am, the opinions I hold, and the ideas I share.  I love that about him.  I also love that he's taught me that I deserve that respect.

List o' fun-- The Library

 WARNING:  This post has lots of pictures and even more information.  Don't be alarmed.  It's all good!

The library probably seems like an obvious place to take a child, and it is.  However, the library is so much more than a place to check out books and go to story hour.  I don't think the average person even knows about all the library has to offer.

The first thing I tell people about the library is that you need to shop around.  This had never occurred to me until I started working with Little Man, and I assume it hasn't occurred to most.  Usually people just go to the library that's closest to them, right?  When I started out, I took Little Man to the "city" library whose name matched his address.  It has fun stuff, but the story time was literally in a room with 4 white walls.  The story time had music and finger plays and books, but the atmosphere was missing.  Their children's area was great, but that wasn't where the story was held.  Someone told me about another library that was close and we checked it out.  It is AMAZING.  At least I think so.  I don't remember libraries every being so cool when I was growing up.

It has a story garden theme and the story time is literally in a castle.

See the wooden castle doors?  There are 4 doors entering the story time area.

A toddler story time was taking place, which is why the doors were closed.

Surrounding the outside of the castle are life like characters from books.

 

  

Inside the castle is just as cool

 

  

Hello! Comfy benches for the adults to sit on!!

Story time is also not what it use to be.  It's not just read a book or two and be done.

They sing songs, practice rhymes, use a felt board for illustrations, practice numbers/letters/counting, move around to songs and finger plays, have bubble time and so much more.

There are other things that I like about the library besides just a fun place to have story time.

When we go (usually every other week) we spend a minimum of an hour there, but could easily spend two or more hours.  I see lots of hours at the library with my own children some day.  It's FREE! :)

There are three tables set up to listen to books on computer.

I believe each table has at least four computers.  There is always one open!

Little Man listens to a story (or two, or three) while I pick out our books.

They also have a big one of these and a little one of these.

 

Why do kids love these so much?

You can see there is a table off in the background...

There are always crayons and theme or holiday related coloring sheets set out.

Little Man isn't into coloring, so this is generally something we skip.

Little Man LOVES to play with the felt board.

He will practice his letters, sing songs, count shapes, make patterns, or just use his imagination for whatever story or activity pops into his little head.

They also have a box of puppets and a tree house for the kids to play with.

 

Little Man was putting on a show for me! :)

Doesn't it make you want to be a kid again?

These are all just things we do on our regular library visit, but like I said at the beginning... 

there is SO MUCH MORE!

Right now we are taking a music class at one of our local libraries.  You have to register to reserve a spot, but it's free!  And it goes for 4 weeks.  How fabulous is that?

They have other themed preschool programs as well.  One was a preschool sock hop. Another was about outerspace.  The activities they had for the kids to do were "out of this world" (pun intended), and I can tell you that as a teacher it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to these things.  We plan on going to a superhero one at the end of the month.

During the summer there are all sorts of stuff going on.

Some of our favorites are:

• "The turtle lady".  She makes her rounds (and her living) talking about and showing lots and lots of turtles.  She sets up a big tarp, the kids all sit around the edges, and she lets the turtles roam while she talks.  Then at the end the kids get to "pet" the turtles.
• Puppet shows featuring some of our favorite authors.
• Concerts featuring wild and lively musicians singing all the classics.
• The snake and reptile show (similar to the turtle lady)
• Make and take arts and crafts

This is only scratching the surface of what libraries have to offer.

Check your local libraries calendar out.

Don't forget to shop around.  The closest library might not be the best.  

Drive the extra ten or fifteen minutes and have a blast with your kids.  I promise it's worth it.

Wonder Hanger--As seen on TV

Michael and I are lucky to have his and hers closets.  Unfortunately, they aren't his and hers walk-in closets. :(  Maybe one day.  It is nice to have an entire closet for my clothes, but it gets tight nonetheless.

Here's what our closets looked like before our mini makeover.

 

This side of Michael's closet has his old work dockers, and his AT&T shirts.

Of course, half of them are in the wash, so that's not even how full it could be.

His other side has his old work polos and some dress shirts.

OK, OK.  If you have a good eye, you may have noticed that I've taken over part of his closet.

Yep.  That's my sweater and a few dresses on the left.

What can I say?

 

I chose this closet because it came with a top shelf and a bottom shelf.

Hello?  More room!

 

*sigh* all those dress pants on the bottom that I no longer wear...

And yes, I do color code my closet. :)

So, to give us some more space, we decided to try out the "Wonder Hanger"

 We didn't order it from TV.  We just bought it at Target.  We figured it was worth a try.

Here's the first one..

I left a few hangers empty for some more blue AT&T beauties.

Here's how they look

 

This is them in the right place.

Do you see all the EXTRA space?  

Do you know how many more of my clothes I could hang there? ;)

We only bought one box because we weren't sure, but we might go ahead and pick up some more.

They won't work in my closet with the second shelf.

However, more room in Michael's closet = more room for me!

In like a lion... out like a lamb

Isn't that how March is suppose to be?  I was at work for a little bit on Monday (March 1st) and Little Man and I did a little arts and crafts to bring March in with some fun.

We made a lion and a lamb craft using paper plates.  I found the template at dltk-kids.

First, we painted a paper plate orange for the lion.  We did that first so it could dry.

 

 

While that was drying, Little Man filled a plate with glue and stuck cotton balls on it for the lamb.

A little picture of him wiping his hands, for good measure. :)

Then he colored the templates

 

  

Glued them on...

and added a mane

And we had some lion and lamb cuteness!

 

  

We discussed what type of weather is "lamb" weather and what kind of weather is "lion" weather.

I plan on asking him every day if it's a lion day or a lamb day.

Update

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Bob.  Unfortunately, he didn't make it.  He went to be with the Lord yesterday morning, and we will be burying him today.  Everyone is doing alright.  We appreciate all the love and prayers we have received. 

Back to normal fun blogging tomorrow.... thanks for understanding! :)

Stretching your dollar... (part 7)

Taking care of your CAR

I don't think people think about taking care of their cars as a way to save money day to day, but it will all add up.  Thankfully I have a husband that does all this for me.  Some of these are obvious, but some may be new information for you!

*Change your oil regularly--you knew that, right?!

*Rotate your tires.  We get our tires at Tire Discounters and they do this for free.

*Fill your tires with nitrogen.  This is Michael's number one tip.  It lasts longer.

*Make sure your tire pressure is what it should be.  This will effect your gas mileage and if it's too low or too high, they won't wear evenly.

*If you are carrying some junk in your trunk--empty it out.  The lighter your car is, the better fuel efficiency you will get.

*Try to stay at a constant speed when driving.  This will help with your fuel efficiency too.