Lunges

Smashbook!

I love Smashbooks! They basically are the modern version of a photo album and a scrapbook...

When we take our yearly family vacation to Florida I keep a little sack full of receipts, stickers, business cards, any kind of memorabilia from the trip.

I then get all the photos developed.

Then you just smash them into the book...mine always look kind of happily disheveled...like my life is. Stuff sticking out....not clean and neat and perfect....messy...fun....wild...unorganized...artsy...

Check these out....Smashbook, some fun Tape, a little Pocket, Divider Tabs, Clips,  Washi tape, and Little sticky notes. 

Such great ways to remember fun times! We give one to Brad every year...

Happy Smashbooking! 

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Second language learning ..French

Pipiri has had the most wonderful French tutor for almost three years! She has become a part of our lives and we love having her!!!

Read Here and Here about when we started taking French....

I truly believe that children can learn a foreign languauge through play amd thats exactly what Madame Green and her do.

Madame Green will set up little areas of play.. She comes with her "bag of tricks" which includes many trinkets that kiddos love..rocks, stuffed animals, music, small books, marbles, flowers, eggs...all setting a perfect stage for learning the romantic language.

Pipiri can now read many books in french. She knows about 10-15 little childrens songs and hundreds of french vocabulary.

Thank you Ellen for 3 years of teaching!

Reindeer craft with daddy

They made 9 adorable toilet paper roll reindeer while i had a nice day to myself!!! Way to go daddo!!! 

Feather writing

 

Super ez for kiddos.

Salt or sugar in a cookie sheet maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch full.

Use a feather to practice letters,numbers, shapes, spelling words, drawings!!! 

I have a strong willed child because im a strong willed adult!!!

I have been head strong my whole life just ask my mom.

And i have been "ahem" blessed with one like me! 

I have a screamer, a NO sayer, a kicker, a yeller... A pent up aggressive nutty little spit fire!

Im waiting for the F bomb to fly any day!

I have tried every kind of parenting there is.

The walk away method.

The ignoring method.

The evil eye method.

Ive taken toys away.

Had her take time outs.

Mommy time outs.

Read so many books my brains gonna explode.

Im all about her expressing herself. Being her own person. 

But sometimes the line must be drawn.

Where i draw the line is...

She has to pee. Yep its a big fight. 

She has to brush her teeth twice a day.

She has to pick up her toys and her mess(with assistance). 

She is not allowed to kick, hit, or talk rudely to anyone!

She is to follow directions the first time asked.

She is not to boss an adult around.

Well those are the things i dont tolerate BUT she still does them daily.

So i pray for patience.

I look for ways to redirect her attention.

I use rewards when im super drained and beat! Stickers and suckers sometimes work... But only sometimes!!!

So i try to find supportive mom friends. Nice role model children for her to be around. I make sure shes well rested. Eating plenty of super healthy foods. Drinks enough water. I limit sugar and any junk food. Has tons of outdoor play and exercise. 

Which all for sure help.

For me i take a ton of deep breaths.

Ignore even more bad behavior. 

Walk away from the tantrums.

Keep my cool. 

Workout.

And hang with girlfriends!!!

Good luck all of you mommys and daddys! Its no joke this parenting gig!

 

Natural play dough

I used to LOVE play dough when I was a kiddo growing up in the 70s and 80s! Rainy days spent molding ice creams cones, cows, and puppies!

Today is a rainy day in Nashville and we got out our play dough...natural that is!

Eco dough
Eco dough

Cutters and shapes
Dough Tools

Eco clay

Common decency

I would describe myself as a friendly person. I'm chatty. Loud. I talk a lot. I've never met a stranger. I can find things in common with almost everyone. Conversation is easy for me.

I was in the service/customer service industry for many years!  I served people and I believe I served them well. I wanted all of my clients to feel special and feel as if they had my full attention. 

I made my living by treating people nice and giving them good service. Tips were a huge part of my income as an aesthetician. I would not have had client retention or client referrals without good service. Smiling a lot. Being happy.

 

And as a realtor I would not have done well if I'd had a chip on my shoulder. The client/customer needed to trust me. So I made that happen. I did both of my jobs well in both fields. I worked hard and was rewarded for my kindness, friendliness...for simple being a upbeat, energetic person. 

Ok so that all being said here's my issue.

While yes I understand that if you work retail (which I have in the past as well) that you get paid regardless of how you treat the public....I know you don't necessarily receive tips. Unless you are on a commission for sales produced...

I just don't understand why people are rude or think they have to be rude when working in a "high end" retail store. Do you? 

I myself was talked to so rudely today at not one but two stores. 

I was being nice. I was chatty. Not obnoxiously so...just friendly. And both sales clerks were very rude to me. As if I was bothering them. When all I simple asked was where a certain sweater was and a certain brand of jeans. 

Hmmm doesn't seem to be horrible questions right? I mean really that is your job right? That's why you are there....to help the customer. Me. 

I don't expect much. 

A nice "may I help you" is just fine. 

Smiling perhaps? 

Or a complement will get you really far! 

But please don't act holier than thou. 

Waldorf Elves Faire

The Linden Waldorf School here in nashville has the most amazing magical faire every November. If you live anywhere close its a must see!

Kids can rock climb, see a puppet show, eat yummy food from food trucks and from the cafe, test their skills at archery and Jacobs ladder, create beautiful stick wands, listen to live music,  jump rope making, an angel room for kids only to shop and the Little Seed store (my favorite!!) and sooo much more!!!!

All around an incredible magical day!!!

Martinmas

One of the wonderful thing that I love about the Waldorf way of life is all of the wonderful festivals we celebrate together.

We celebrated Saint Martin also called Martinmas. 

This following is from Wikipedia describing who St. Martin is:

   "The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying from the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me.""

For our homeschool group we started our day with the kiddos having their classes. Followed by tons of outdoor playing. Circle time with poems and songs. The children then acted out the story of St. Martin using beautifully crafted wooden characters. We ate an amazing lunch together. Crafted our wooden lanterns. Had another amazing meal. Followed by a full moon latern walk!

Winter Promise

So i have had the wonderful opportunity to do a curriculum review of Winter Promise's new branch called Spirited Autumn Hope. I asked for the ebooks on Africa being that it is the continent we are studying this semester and most likely the entire year.

If you don't know about Winter Promise curriculum check it out here...Winter Promise.
Or check out Spirited Autumn Hope...Spirited Autumn Hope.

We were given three curriculum style ebooks to try.
Children Around the World
Draw your own World:Africa
Animals and thier Worlds: African Savannah Wildlife

It was a lot to copy...and being that Pipiri is younger I knew each ebook would take much longer than 5 weeks. 

I printed them all and hole punched them ......and put each in a three ring binder. 

Animals and their Worlds: African Savannah Wildlife

Draw Your Own World Africa

Children Around the World Africa

 The ebooks all come with study overviews and national geography standards. 

The above photos show what lovely colored pictures are given to you in their ebooks. Very bright!! Which is so nice...Pipiri loves the different illustrations. 

The above is a guide from Animals and their Worlds. It lists exactly what pages to use for each specific day. It also gives wonderful resources to use...books to check out and sites you can utilize for more information. I find that it keeps me super organized! 

Here are a few books we have been using to go along with our studies. 

The above is an example from Animals and their Worlds. As you can see super bright colors are used...

The above shows a sketch from Draw your own World. Which we have really enjoyed! Finding different countries and waterways of Africa. 

We got out all of our wooden animals as we began to read Animals and their Worlds. 

I would definitely have your globe handy for all three of these ebooks. Amazing how easy it is now for her to name the continents and know how to spell them all. 

We made beeswax continents! Order Beeswax here. Super fun and easy. We found that by putting the beeswax in hot water for a few minutes makes it much easier to mold. 

Spirited Autumn Hope has been a fanatastic way to dive in and learn more about Africa! 

We always look forward to learning more and more after Christmas! 

Celebs in Nashville

TI have lived in Nashville for 14 years!

And I've seen a ton of celebs while living here!

I think the first celebrity I saw was Leann Rimes back many years ago at the Green Hills Mall and many times at the gym. Very nice...shook my hand when introduced. 

Then I ran into Emme Lou Harris at CVS also in the Green Hills area. She's stunning! 

Saw Carrie Underwood in her purple car in the GH Mall parking lot. Super pretty girl.

Taylor Swift yep you guessed it at the mall. Sooo tall. 

Rascal Flatts Jo Don Rooney and his wife Tiffany Fallon at the gym in Green Hills a ton and at a Christmas party. The nicest down to earth people. 

Terri Clark at a hair salon.

Amy Grant and Vince Gill GH mall.

Faith Hill mall, hair salon, and West Elm.

Dierks Bentley many times...country club and the gym. Very kind. 

Jake Owen...gym.. Super friendly! 

Martina McBride...store in GH..

Leann Womack dermatology office.

Trisha Yearwood hair salon.

Kristen Cavallari GH mall.

Foo fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Sara Evans...I was in one of her videos. 

Allison Crouse ...violin shop and a school.

Chely Wright...Target.

Jo Dee Messina...hair salon.

Julie Roberts...many many times at the gym, out and about..restaurants...she's the nicest, sweetest person always! 

Tommy Davidson ...BNA.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman...country club.

Come on to Nashville...you never know who you'll run into! 

Day of the Dead

We love going to Cheekwood especially for their huge Day of the Dead celebrations!

They have bands, food trucks (must check out "Original Gourmet Mexican" the best), tons of crafts, Las Palettas, a market place, art work...and they still had their scarecrow exhibit up which is fantastic! 

Great book to understand the Day of the Dead.

The Spirit of Tio Fernando: A Day of the Dead Story

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