The mural was completed just over a week ago with one final coat of sealant. Now it should be grubby hands and stubby crayon proof! Here's a tour of the finished piece...

It ended up being 26 hours of painting in all, which I thought was a good start for my largest mural yet. I'd promised Isia that I would take her to visit "Mama's painting" when it was all done. When we arrived she asked, "You painted all this?" I assented, and she said it was beau-ti-ful! She went around the room looking at everything and asking questions about the animals. Interacting with it, just as I hope all the little patients will. I even hid pictures within the mural- a blue triangle, 5 snails, Nemo, etc.- to help them look even more closely at it. My thank-you gift to the doctor's office was a worksheet for the kiddos introducing myself, detailing the process of painting the mural, and giving the list of everything I'd hidden for them to find. I then included space at the bottom for them to draw their favorite animal, just as I had drawn mine (the whale!). 

Today I'm...

...excited about our newly arrived package of tongue depressors. 

...thinking that a box of 500 seemed like a lot less in type than in person.

...researching every possible tongue depressor project.

...enjoying our recent rainy days.

...thankful for the Calico Critters that Isia loves so much. 

...happy for colder days and warmer layers. 

...eager to carve out more time indoors to be together, and for projects too!

Wishing you a happy middle of the week!

(And all ears for any recommended tongue depressor projects... *wink)

What do you get when you combine paint, a ziploc bag, and a window? Early literacy skills! Does that surprise you as much as it did me? While I taught English, it was never to little people and so I've had lots to learn with the process of teaching someone how to become reading-ready. It turns out that creating on a vertical surface- whether it's writing or drawing or painting- helps to build arm muscles, confirms the "up and down" of writing, and helps to improve hand-eye coordination. And last, but not least, it's fun!

To begin with, you'll need a ziploc bag (You might consider splurging for name-brand or freezer bags for extra strength against little nails). Then you'll add your paint to your bag. We did all three primary colors, which did inevitably turn into brown at the end. Next time I think it would be fun to add only two primary colors to really focus on the new color that develops. 

Then you get to poke...

and write! Isia enjoyed this for a long time, and continued to come back to it throughout the day. Billy toddled over at one point and wanted to join in the fun too. He loved poking at it although he really wanted to rip it down. To keep it on the window, and not all over my floor, I ended up taping not only the top of the bag but the sides too. It worked! 

Color mixing notes: The lighter a color is, the less pigment it has. So it's very easy for another color with more pigment to change it. For example, it takes only one or two drops of blue to turn a batch of yellow into green. However, it would take batches of yellow to have the same effect on blue. Coincidentally, if you do only use one or two colors make sure you give greater priority to the lighter color. For the primary colors: yellow is the lightest color of all, red is darker than yellow, and blue is the darkest of all. Also once the colors are mixed in your bag, and everyone's curiosity had waned, don't forget to snip off a bottom corner and squeeze out your newly mixed paint to use in another project (smile).

Are you someone who could just spend a whole afternoon making lists? What to buy at the store, books you want to read, craft supplies to pine after, your favorite smells, etc. And what better than a chart- that compares two lists with each other. I wanted to share with my love of lists and charts with Isia, but how could she possibly enjoy something she couldn't read? It finally dawned on me, she might not be able to read words- but she can read pictures!

We were discussing stores and working on the words "open and closed." (What does an open store look like? What does a closed store look like?) We had colored in pictures of an open store and a closed store (via Brainquest Pre-K Workbook) and glued them on two cracker boxes. We were making up stories about them when she asked me if our house was a store. I wanted us to find out together, so we made a chart to compare them. 

We realized they do have a lot in common, but not everything. Although any place she doesn't have to sleep or bathe has a special place in her heart, she realized she would not want to live in a store. And, as the one who works hard to make this little house into a home, I was happy to hear it. Success!

First there are the wallets, which are my favorite. I love the little, portable size and enjoy designing my own. (Tutorial from previous post, here.) And then there are the standard, growing-up-much-too-quickly shots...

...because I promise you, just yesterday, both of these kiddos nestled perfectly into my arms. I've heard recently that "the days are long, but the years are short." Indeed, they are. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember." 

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