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One of the best things we have ever gotten Kate was a TAG Reader. It was our one and only gift for Christmas and she loves it, uses it and doesn't get tired of it. lAtely she has gotten to wear she uses her giant head phones to listen to the TAG reader whenI need her to be quieter. Smart little cookie, she is.
She also has been using her US map with her reader and is very excited about our trip to Florida. Yeah for electronics that really are worth the time and money.
this is my fantastic goodwill find of the week.... or month even. I have never been so jazzed about a find. This little rolling cart cost a whopping $4 and is adorable as all get out. It seems quite red-ish in the photos but it real-life it's a wonderful dark melon-ish color. which is a double score since that has been a hot color for a while now - seriously - when have you EVER seen a melon little old lady cart?
We call it the little old lady cart because Kate immediately asked me why I bought a "little old lady cart" when I pulled it out of my trunk. I found it amusing since Kate is all of 5 years old and live in the suburbs of Austin, Texas. When & where she would have been to form that stero-type - is beyond me. But regardless it is appropriate and fitting.
I knew it was meant for me when I saw it across the cluttered aisles. I have been trying to devise the perfect Library book bag/box/system at the house ....and I was failing miserably. bags are heavy hard to carry and do not look great plopped around. Books are forgotten about and never read if said bag is stored out of sight in closet. The family is too busy to be putting books from bag to box or other storage area.... and when they are put near the reading chair in a nice looking well organized manner.... well they never get returned on time.
The little old lady cart is going solve it. the books get put in the cart at the library and rolled to the car - saving everyones back and shoulders - then wheeled from the car to the reading nook. When it's time to head back to the library ... just grab the handle and go.
Seriously, it's a lifesaver. With the our school year fast approaching and our current checkout averaging at 22 books....it's going to be used ALOT.
*PS it folds flat too - oh my love only grows for my little old lady cart.
This is my new footstool. I have no idea where he is going to reside in my house but I felt he belonged here. A nice $3 buy at the local Goodwill. I initially thought I would recover him...but the leather is actually in great condition. I think I will wait until the focus pieces in the room are in place and decide whether we recover him with some color or leave him subtle.
Source: thedecoratedcookieblog.com via Carrie on Pinterest
The moment I saw the Lollipop photo on Pinterest I KNEW I had to try it. immediately.
Having tackled homemade suckers before and finding myself in the midst of a sticky mess - I felt like i was really rolling the dice. I dreaded the sticky cleanup I experienced last time... but if this was really as easy as it looked....well it was worth the risk.
The general idea is to take three jolly ranchers *unwrapped of course * and lay them side by side on a sheet of parchment paper, which is one top of a piece of foil, which is on a baking sheet. warm up the oven and let the candies melt for about 6 minutes....
Pull out hte pan of semi-melted candies and slide sucker sticks into the gooey candies - let cool.
(The link to the full How-To is at the top of this post.)
Here are some things I learned:
- Don't get distracted (like kate and I did ... we were squirrel watching and forgot about suckers in oven) The sucker really only need 6minutes...any longer and they spread out and liquify. *see photos below of first batch.
- When putting stick in ...lay the lightly where you think you want them, press slightly down and then turn or roll so sucker is all around the stick and sticks stay put.
-it's faster if you have two cookie sheets/ baking pans ready....then you can just switch them out...your only going to fit about 6-8 suckers on each pan.
I love this one - where she is totally ad-libbing her own impromptu moves in between the moves they learned.
The End.
We survived dance class. True to form Kate stuck with her original thoughts:
Ballet is Awesome = Tap is Awful
She did end up pushing through and finishing each class without plopping down on the floor and for that I am proud of her. It was a great experience and while she most likely will never be a Ballerina or professional dancer of any sort... she did take dance class.
We learn some interesting things. First off... Kate does not like the sound of tap shoes. The echo-y room did not help either. Kate is great at including others and would go right up to the other girls arriving and invite them to "hang out by the door and wait for class. She asked them about their weeks and encouraged a little girl who was un happy that her shoes where a different color than the other girls. I was so thrilled to be able to watch her use her gift of... well, gab.... for the greater good.
now thats over and I asked Kate whether she would like to do baseball or soccer next... She asked me which ones has LESS running. Hmmm, we may not have an athlete on our hands. When I told her baseball had less running she replied, "Is swimming a sport? Can't I just swim."
We will see where this takes us....
this Summer has the been the summer of alter-egos. every kids who comes over goes directly upstairs and come down an entirely different person. On this day Kate was a Flamenco dancer named Rupunzel on her way to get married. Her friends the "Boat Princess" and the Magician accompanied her to the church to get married. Not to the magician of course. He said if she tried to marry him he would just disappear before he had to kiss her.
I can't wait to get a picture of the neighbor who really like to be the Viking.
