Archive for the ‘Life in Tennessee’ Category

We’ve got one heck of a photographer-friend, Jenni. She’s also the mastermind behind the Oobleck cupcakes I posted yesterday. She was at our Dr Seuss shindig yesterday snapping photos like crazy. She posted all the best ones on her blog, but I thought I’d share my favorites with you here.

Getting into the spirit of the Cat in the Hat

Just how I envisioned it:

• Reading Dr Seuss
• Kids gathered around
• Parents close by
• Snacks not too far off, either.

It was the perfect party, in my opinion. Lots of friends came and brought Dr Seuss books and food. The house was decorated with pictures and books in honor Dr Seuss. We visited, shared and played for hours. Thanks everyone who participated!

What makes a perfect party, in your opinion?

Brent came home early from school the other day with the brilliant idea to take the girls on a nature hunt. We drove to the start of a trail that would take us through two covered bridges and a tunnel. When we parked the car, we asked the girls to look around outside and help us make a list of the things we might see on our nature walk. With our list in hand, and a camera in each girl’s hand, we set out to find everything on our list.

Our list: We added to it as we saw new things like the water and little rocks

After looking at all the pictures, which item on our list did we NOT find? There was only one.

Looking for something new to do with snow?
Try painting it!

We had more snow when we woke up yesterday morning. So much snow, in fact, that Brent’s test was canceled and postponed two days! It actually wasn’t that much snow if your from, say, Utah like we are, but it IS a lot of snow for Tennessee. Especially since it’s snowed so many times recently. Maybe we brought it with us. Hmmm….

So, I sent the girls outside to play while Brent shoveled the driveway. They were excited to get dressed up but then hesitated at the last moment. I was in no frame of mind to bundle up and play in the snow so my mom graciously stepped up to the challenge. But they were only outside a few minutes. The next thing I know they are back inside with a bucket of snow cookies. Then they decided to paint them for decorations.

I diluted the poster paint down with a lot of water and doled out brushes, bowls and snow cookies. And the girls got to painting. Aren’t they darling. You can tell they were still a little cold from being outside.

Sammi painting snow

Elli painting snow

After the cookies, they wanted more snow so my mom filled the bucket with snow from outside and the girls got to form it into different shapes. I love the eyeballs.

This was a great activity for me because we were able to enjoy the snow without spending time in the freezing cold.

What have you done to enjoy the snow?

We were in Nashville over the weekend. And by we, I mean my mom, the girls and me. Brent stayed behind to study his little heart out for his tests this week and next. We were in Nashville because I attended the Blissdom Conference (I mentioned that last week) where I was inspired by amazing speakers and other bloggers.

After the conference ended on Saturday, I grabbed a sleeping Sammi, a hungry Elli and my poor bleary-eyed mom and headed over to the Rainforest Cafe. I was probably the most excited to eat there of the group. You see, we watch Curious George. He’s my favorite of all the cartoons. At the end of the show it shows the ads from the sponsors. Rainforest Cafe is one of Curious George’s sponsors here in Tennessee. I’ve seen those commercials for months now and had no idea where there was a Rainforest Cafe and so hadn’t really pursued it. But when I booked our hotel room at the lovely Gaylord Opryland Hotel, the gal told me about the Rainforest Cafe and how close it was to the hotel. The anticipation set in.

We called ahead and made a reservation (our time was 7:43 precisely, though they were forgiving when we were a few minutes late.) When we arrived, we were blown away by how well decorated the restaurant/store front was. We were transported into the rain forest. While we waited for my mom, who parked the car for us, Sammi saw a large snake wrapped around a huge tree branch and asked, with a note of worry in her voice, if that snake was going to get out of the tree. I explained that it was a toy snake that could move like how her train moved.

That conversation ended up being a theme throughout the restaurant. There were mechanical animals everywhere! Our table was fairly close to the elephants and on the other end of the restaurant there were gorillas. Elli was a bit frightened the first time we saw the elephants move, but I explained they were just toys and not real animals and that seemed to calm her down. Evey time they moved, I’d just say “toys” and it would help her remember. By the end of dinner, they were really comfortable with everything and wanted to explore. We walked around and touched the elephants and gorillas and climbed up on every chair we could to look at the fish tanks. Sami loves seeing “Dory” from Finding Nemo.

The food was delicious, but a bit pricey. It seemed like a lot of people there were celebrating birthdays. I’d probably only be able to justify the cost again if it were a birthday. They do have the killer volcano dessert that I’ll save room for next time. It’s ice cream inside walls of chocolate with a sparkler on top. Fun! Our server was fantastic and even brought the girls balloons. Those balloons even made it home to show off to Daddy.

But my favorite part was when we left the restaurant. At the bar, the bar stools are the bottom half of animals, complete with tails. We had to jump up on a few and take pictures. I adore giraffes and Sammi has always like tigers. We’re still discovering Elli’s favorite animal.

What’s your little ones’ favorite animals?

Click on an image to read more about that project!

Christmas-Themed Projects

Jesus Spelling Activity

Materials:

• cookie cutter letters: J, E, S, U
• 1 sheet of cardstock, red or green for a Christmas theme
• scratch paper, decorative or plain, enough for the 5 letters
• glue stick and scissors

My part: I used the cookie cutter letters needed to spell Jesus. Then I pressed them in an ink pad and “stamped’ them in order on a piece of cardstock. Then I stamped the letters again on pieces of scratch decorative paper I had. I cut out the letters from the scrap papers.

Sammi’s part: She used a glue stick to put glue on the back of each letter. Then she glued the letters to the cardstock matching each letter to it’s shape. I let her choose the letters in whichever order she wanted; she, of course, started with “S” since it’s her favorite.

Penguin

This penguin is one of the crafts found in my new eBook: Laptime Songs for Mommies. Sammi had fun putting this cute guy together then adding her own touches.

Go ahead, make the purchase that will help you bond with your little one through music, books and snuggling. Purchasing today, at the limited-time, introductory offer of $10, you’ll get a full-color, interactive version of Laptime Songs for Mommies, a black-and-white printable version and the 6 songs in MP3 form that you can burn onto a CD. This purchase will benefit you and your little one for years to come. —Laptime Songs for Mommies

Treasure Pouches

I made these for Sammi’s friends for Christmas gifts. Each one has the initial of the child it belongs to. I filled each pouch with a bag or two of fruit snacks. The idea is they can hold any little “treasures” your little one may be attached to and want to take everywhere.

Materials:

• felt sheets in different colors
• scissors, fabric glue, sewing maching
• ribbon

I folded a sheet of felt in half longways then cut off a third. This makes the pouch. Before sewing the sides up on the pouch, attach your letter and shapes using fabric glue and stitches. Some I stitched by hand and some I used the sewing machine. then sew up the sides, fold over the top edge and sew to make a hem for the ribbon. Cut a slit in the front middle of the hem then thread the ribbon through the hem. Voila, an easy, personalized gift for the little ones in your life.

Visiting Santa

I had to share this picture of the girls’ first encounter with Santa this year. Sammi was excited to see him and visit with him. She asked for toys and didn’t get any more specific than that. Elli was not the least bit interested in Santa. Poor thing. But she has enjoyed wearing a Santa hat and a bell on a necklace. The girls saw Santa at the Tree Lighting Ceremony on campus at Lincoln Memorial University. They had a great program that I thought was the perfect blend of the religious significance of Christmas and the holly, jolly side of the holiday. Afterward we were treated to a stellar performance by the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra. We had to leave early because the girls were desperate for their beds, but what we experienced of the orchestra was energetic and full of holiday spirit.

Here’s a reminder of the Wordless Wednesday picture from yesterday:

Saddleback Caterpillar

Here’s the story for Tell Me Thursday

We were in historic Cumberland Gap when my mom was visiting. We were wandering around this adorable little community and paused in the little park area with benches and shade trees. We were hanging around this one bench while Sammi and Elli were playing with the fallen leaves. I turned around at one point and saw this caterpillar. It hadn’t been there a minute ago and then there it was! It must have fallen from the tree.

Sammi was intrigued by it, of course. It had the craziest colors and the design was so clean cut it looked like it was painted on. I thought there’s no way this is real! It didn’t move at all. We got close; we backed up; we took picture after picture and it still didn’t move. Sammi reached her hand out a couple times, but we kept telling her to leave it be. We were trying to teach her to protect the creatures around us and not harm them. Little did we know it was us who needed protecting.

The caterpillar is called a Saddleback Caterpillar and is one of the slug family of caterpillars. It only grows to about an inch in size. These slug caterpillars have venom on their hairs that cause reactions to a person’s skin when pricked. The information we found compared the prick to that of a bee sting but the reaction is much more severe (unless you’re allergic to bee stings, I guess). It also said the reactions are far worse in young children, the aged and those with sensitive skin. Sammi is young and has VERY sensitive skin. I’m so glad she didn’t touch that caterpillar.

Here’s the site with some interesting info on the Saddleback as well as other slug caterpillars. It’s interesting to me that they all are intriguing in their appearance. Very flashy and very dangerous. Seems to be a theme with things in life, doesn’t it?

Saddleback Caterpillar

Yes, we saw this with our own eyes and I took this picture with my camera! Find out more tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, check out Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Elli looking longingly out the window just wishing it wasn't so rainy, again.

What do you do on a rainy day, when all the world is gray?

Dress up like a clown!

Or make cute and funny faces for the camera!

Whew, I’ve got to sit down!

What do you do at your house on a rainy day?

Welcome to Tell Me Thursday. I’m excited to share more about our partial family photo with good friend Carol Rice at the International Storytelling Center (ISC) in Jonesborough, TN. Here’s the picture from yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post:

Here we are with Carol Rice

We loved attending the Storytelling Festival last weekend. I probably loved it more than the girls. They were a bit restless and didn’t want to be confined to seats. But we had a fun time exploring a new location and meeting up with a friend from Utah. I’ve already gone on at length about the value of storytelling, so I’ll get right to the picture.

We are in the ISC in front of the Wall of Storytelling. Our friend from Utah is Carol Rice of Cherish Bound. She is dedicated to the art of storytelling and helping people capture their own personal stories in beautifully bound books. In case you can’t think of any stories, her company also has lots of great tools to help you find the stories that you want to preserve and share.

I Heard a Story...

The ISC has recently teamed up with Cherish Bound to help Festival goers to capture their experiences at the Festival. They’ve put together this terrific little book, I Heard a Story and Thought of You, that is easy to personalize but has professional photos from the festival already included. That is right up my alley because I usually buy postcards because the pictures are better than anything I can take! They also have a Family Tree storybook to preserve your family history.

The International Storytelling Center is also joining the world of Social Media and can be found on Twitter. They’ve recently updated their website with tons of information about ISC, where to find storytelling events and how to stay in the know on future events.

I was lucky enough to be able to share my thoughts on how to make the Festival more friendly towards parents and little ones. I’m excited they cared what I thought and look forward to enjoying the festival again next year.

Here we are with Carol Rice

Find other Wordless Wednesday posts at WordlessWednesday.com