Don't Hate

I've been hearing the horror stories of 107 degree temps or some insane, hellish number like that over the last few days in So. Cal. (where my family and many friends live) and I have to say that I am really glad I'm not living there right now. You want to know why? Besides the obvious detestation of ridiculously high temps? Besides the fact that Fall is officially showing off its' glorious hues of red, orange, and gold here in Minnesota? Well, you see, today we reached a balmy high of 69. Yes, 69... I know. You want to know what I did? Are you sure? You might hate me forever...

I turned on the central A/C.

*ducks*

*hides*

*peeks out from hiding spot*

Are you still there? I'm sorry. I know I'm spoiled. It's ridiculous. I just get warm in the afternoon when the sun comes beating in through the huge window in our living room. It really does warm up the house. Really! I could open a window. I would. The thing is, there are bees out there that somehow find there way through the little cracks in the window. Look, I don't know how it happens, but it does! So the windows stay closed and I turn on the A/C. I'm a jerk.

You stay cool San Diego! ; )

Don't forget about ashtinafayelou!

http://ashtinafayelou.blogspot.com/

I have put up a few new posts and have more to come soon. Also, be sure to check out the post I made about the blog party I will be a part of this week (giveaway anyone?)!

Thanks so much!

Books

I love books. Books are probably my very favorite gift to give my children. They may not enjoy being on the receiving end quite as much as I'd like, but overall they do enjoy books... for the most part. I won't lie, they would much rather get new video games or movies or toys, and their dad would be okay with that, but I don't let it deter me from letting books make up the majority of their gifts each birthday and Christmas.

So I figured I would share some of the wonderful treasures I have discovered over the 31 years I've spent on this earth. I've received books as a young child, checked out numerous books from the library as a teenager, read to my children, read for myself as an adult, and used books in our curriculum over the last few years as well.

Today I want to focus on a fun curriculum book because education has been at the forefront of my mind lately (what, with school starting and everything). However, this book does not have to be strictly for home schooling. If you don't home school but have kids, this book will definitely get plenty of use by your children!

ART: This morning a large, heavy box of art supplies from Blick Art Materials arrived on our front porch and got me all kinds of excited! You see, I have a little artist in my home and buying quality art materials for her has been something I've been wanting to do for so long. After discovering ARTistic Pursuits art curriculum, and seeing its' wonderful reviews, I decided to buy the Grades K-3 Book One, An Introduction to the Visual Arts and the accompanying art kit. This curriculum introduces students to the historical side of art with mini biographies as well as the techniques used by those artists.

As excited as I am to start our new art program, I can't recommend it to you yet because I have not actually used it. Instead I want to direct your attention to this little gem:

The Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas (Usborne Art Ideas)

This book is awesome! Not only does it introduce your child to a wide array of artistic medium (acrylic paints, watercolor, collaging, stamping, resist techniques, chalk pastels, oil pastels, wax crayons, and more) but gives several ideas and instructions for projects that are fun, unique, interesting, and creative! I had high expectations for this book after reading the reviews and I was not disappointed. In fact, I was really impressed by the wealth of information and ideas in this book! If you are looking for a book that will help spark your children's artistic creativity but cannot quite afford an art curriculum or don't want to invest in an art curriculum (perhaps art is not quite as high on your list of priorities as mine), this book would be perfect. We love it in our house!

Just be prepared for your kids to beg to pull out the art supplies and make a mess :)

Make each day count!

Rhythms

Yummm.

It's Friday. It's rainy. It's cold. It's windy.

It's perfect.

The start of a new school year has forced me into a new schedule and I am getting used to this new rhythm of our days.

Alarm sounds at 6:50.

Hit snooze.

Hear Little Man cry 1 minute later.

Curse.

Turn off alarm clock and remember the days when hitting snooze actually meant something.

Wake up the Princess.

Keep trying to wake up the Princess.

Reminisce about how much she is like you.

Wish that she wasn't.

Hit the bathroom.

Get the stinky Little Man out of his crib.

Wonder why his diapers reek of ammonia lately.

Drag Princess out of her bed by the hair.

Put Princess's clothes on her body while she whines.

Resolve to take her to school in her pjs next week if this continues.

Reminisce about the days where we all stayed in bed until 9:00.

Wonder why I decided to try this public school thing again.

Remember how much I hated doing this with Miss Artsy.

Serve breakfast.

Poke Princess with a cattle prod to induce a faster rate of eating.

Wonder why this doesn't work.

Poke again.

Cry a little inside.

Poke.

Leave the table before I do something I'll regret.

Like pull out my branding iron.

Realize I don't have one of those.

Wonder why not.

Get my own self ready.

Change the Little Man's stinky diaper.

Tell the Princess it's not time to go yet.

Turn on the TV.

Tell the Princess to get back upstairs.

Beg the clock to hurry up.

Ask Miss Artsy, for the hundredth time, what time it is.

Tell the Princess it's not time to go yet.

Give up and decide to leave early.

Load up the car with the little ones.

Tell Miss Artsy to get dressed and do a chore while I'm gone.

Drive to the school.

Park.

Walk the Princess to her classroom.

Glance at the clock.

Wonder why I thought we would be early but are really just right on time.

Resolve to synchronize our clocks to the school clocks when I get home.

Drive home.

Forget to mess with the clocks.

Collapse in the desk chair for my morning Facebook and blog time.

So there you go. My morning in a crazy list form. As annoyed as I sound (and really, I am annoyed while it's happening), I am actually kind of enjoying it now that I've gotten into the swing of things. I'm not a morning person and so I always know that the morning is not going to be my favorite time of day, but I just try to make the best of it. This particular morning I decided to pick up a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks in an effort to bring myself a little joy.

I think it worked. :)

Have a lovely Friday!

Make each day count!

Random

Today

Alex got into the pantry at least 5 times.

Alex also got into the junk drawer at least 5 times.

Alex also colored on the linoleum at least 5 times.

I'm talking about big scribbles all over my dining room floor.

Alex threw at least 20 crayons to the floor.

We stepped on several of those crayons.

That nearly doubled the crayon count on the floor.

I gave up on keeping the house tidy.

I was on day 2 of being out of Zoloft.

This made today a pretty crappy day.

I slept almost all day.

That gave me a headache.

I'm still fighting that headache.

The TV has babysat my kids pretty much the whole day.

I am not proud of this.

Today was Back to School night for my kindergartener.

She was beaming with excitement over every new discovery.

It was so adorable.

It made my day a lot brighter.

I'm going to put my kids to bed now.

Then I will tidy up my house.

Then I will fold laundry.

Then I will do some embroidery.

Then I will edit photos.

Then I will read in bed.

Then I will fall asleep while I'm reading.

Then I will wake up to a better day.

Make each day count!