New Additions

Posted in Family, House and Home by teamtradermom

I know I haven’t posted in a while. We’ve been busy. That’s no excuse really but it’s the truth.

I mean, hello, the OLYMPICS were on! I could not tear myself away from the TV – even when the boring sports were on (*cough* the marathon *cough*)!

But now that’s behind us and life can resume its normalcy, if there is such a thing.

We were busy during the last few weeks creating various art projects. All of them (eventually) got hung up on the Gallery Wall too.

The first project was one I did after seeing creations like this. I figured, how hard could it be?

So I grabbed some supplies from Michael’s and got to work. First I spray painted a basic wooden plaque.

Then I printed an outline of Nebraska, drew a heart in the center (most people put the heart wherever their city is on the state but since Omaha is all the way on the right, it wouldn’t have worked) and lightly secured it to the plaque with tape. Then I took my brads and hammered them in around the outside, trying to get them evenly spaced.

Then it was time to thread it! I tied the thread (I chose green) in a knot around the top left-hand most brad and then started wrapping it around each brad from one to the next. I measured that there were 4 outside nails to every 1 inside nail so each inside nail got threaded 4 times – 1 per outside nail.

Once that was done. I took another string and wrapped it from nail to nail around just the heart, to give it an outline and finish it off.

Ta da!

If I had it to do over, I would have put the brads closer together, especially on the left side. But all in all, I’m happy with how it turned out. It’s something unique and colorful to represent where we live!

And here it is on the wall!

The other project I did involved some stenciling letters I found in the Clearance bin at Michael’s. They just happened to have a “T”, “C”, “S”, and “I”, for $1 a piece, so I bought all 4, and a canvas, and went to work!

Here is what the final product turned out to be!

I started with yellow because I’ve decided the Gallery Wall will be a rainbow of colors. I want every color represented. Yellow felt right to me. I wanted the “T” to stand out as it’s the first letter of our last name and therefore the common shared letter amongst all of us. So I made it black. Then I made the other ones blue because I like blue and yellow together, plus it echoes the color scheme of the playroom and dining room.

Here it is on the wall!

I haven’t decided if I want to leave it next to the red piece or move it up under the Nebraska thread project. I think I’ll probably move it, to balance out the big blocks of color and fill in the big space on the right.

I am happy with how it turned out. It’s simple yet makes a bold statement.

Finally, the piece de resistance! Isabella’s ode to the Olympics!

I tried to get her to do something like this but she decided that smearing the paint was more fun. Not what I had in mind but that’s ok – it’s actually something better because Munchkin did it!

So there you have the latest additions to our gallery wall!

I can’t say good-bye though before showing you today’s activity – flying a kite!

A Spiderman kite no less.

CJ showed her how to do it first.

And before long she was a natural!

She had a blast and we’re already looking forward to doing it again!

If you liked this, you might also like:

Proud Moments | Are you Smarter than a 2 Year Old? | Dress Up

25Jul2012

Proud Moments

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

When you’re a parent, you inherently have an undercurrent of emotions that run through you on a constant basis – worry, joy, frustration, confusion, fear. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to get bonus feelings like pride.

Tonight was one of those nights for me.

It’s currently a one hundred million degrees outside – too hot to run around and really play as a kid. So after dinner I took Isabella to the mall so she could play on the indoor playground.

I both love and loathe this place.

On the one hand, it’s a nice option for too hot, rainy, snowy or windy days. And it adds some variety. On the other hand, there are always kids in there that are too big and run around like crazy, creating chaos. I ALWAYS worry that Isabella will get knocked over by one of them.

Usually Munchkins approaches these play areas with hesitation. She watches the kids for a bit before deciding to jump in. Not tonight! She ran right in and got to the business of playing!

Proud moment #1.

She also is somewhat intimidated by slides. She will go down but with our assistance. She did that tonight but then decided she wanted to go all by herself. And she did – 3 times!

Proud moment #2.

Then she ran over and shimmied up another obstacle, going all the way to the top for the first time!

Proud Moment #3.

Then it happened. As she was walking around on one of the taller pieces of equipment, holding my hand, I told her I had to let go in order to get to the other side. As soon as I let go, a bigger kid ran by and knocked in to her. I saw her teeter on the edge of this thing, probably 4 feet in the air and I reached out to grab her but I was too late. She fell and landed flat on her face and tummy.

Every parent in the place stopped and gasped.

I think I squeaked out a little “oh no!”

Isabella started crying.

The boy ran off.

I grabbed her and carried her off to the corner, away from everyone else. She was more scared than hurt (me too). She had hit her chin, forehead and elbows. No bruises or anything. Just shock.

My fear had come true.

But I knew that the most important thing was to get her back out there playing so that she didn’t develop a phobia. I gave her the option to keep playing or sit and watch. She chose to play!

Proud moment #4.

As someone with many fears in my own life, I know how hard it is to get back on the proverbial horse after having fallen off. I was so proud of her for doing just that!

I rewarded her with a cookie (only giving her a piece of it) and some Bug Juice.

She even rode up the escalator all by herself (well, while holding my hand).

On the way out we stopped by the Foto booth to take some fun pictures.

Disclaimer: Normally I look nicer than this when going out in public but I had gone to the gym after work and this is my post-workout look. I didn’t bother to clean myself up between the gym, home and the mall because I didn’t really care how I looked for the play area. Didn’t realize it would be documented for life!

Just goes to show that in life, we all take some spills. It’s how we get up and dust ourselves off that is the important part.

And I’m proud to say, Isabella did just fine.

23Jul2012

Are You Smarter Than a 2 Year Old?

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Isabella and I were having another tea party tonight. I picked up a little pink teapot that she has, which plays music, and pushed the buttons. Nothing happened. I flipped it over and looked for an on/off switch and didn’t see one.

“This teapot must need new batteries” I said.

“No it doesn’t Mommy,” Isabella informed me. “See!”

And she slid a little green switch in the front that turned it on.

Guess I’m not smarter than a 2 year old.

If you liked this, you might also like:

Puff | Whistle While you Work | From the Mouths of Babes: Rhyme Time

21Jul2012

Dress Up

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Today I took a walk with an astronaut and mountain climber and then had tea with a princess, railroad conductor AND a Viking. What can I say, I have a wide variety of friends and interests!

When Isabella woke up this morning, we headed out for what has become a Saturday morning tradition – a mommy and daughter walk.

Last week we encountered a flock of geese at the lake, just as the sun was coming up.

This week we stopped to play at the park. My original plan was to just walk and push her in the stroller but she so badly wanted to stop and play. Plus, I figured it was probably the best time to do it, given it was the coolest part of the day. So we stopped and she rode the shuttle to outer space!

We kept walking until we came upon a second park. We stopped for more play time and she was able to climb the curved ladder thing all by herself for the first time (and second, third and 4th too)!

If you ask her, Munchkin will tell you that she climbed the “equipment”. Heaven forbid she use a word that most kids would use like “ladder” or “steps” or “bars”. No no, she climbed the equipment.

We got home and had breakfast, cleaned up and then it was dress up time!

Isabella set up the table with all the foods for the picnic and then it was time to eat!

She was really enjoying pretending to drink that soda since she’s not allowed to have any in real life.

Viking hat looks good on her, eh?

I tried it on for size as well.

Adding a feather boa to go with, naturally (thanks to the Brit for the gift)!

We both also took turns being princesses.

Here’s Isabella’s version –

And here’s mine.

She then took a turn at being a railroad conductor (showing off her fancy jewels)!

While I did my best Disney Villain impression.

MUHAHAHAHA! Beware or I’ll laser you with my crazy eye!

Samson even got in on it!

I was able to snag that pic in the 2 seconds he was not trying to attack the boa. He must of detected a hint of bird scent still left on the feathers because he went flippin’ crazy when we pulled it out of the bag.

We followed the pretend tea party with a real lunch and naptime. At one point, Isabella asked me when I was going to work. I told her I didn’t have to work today and that I would be with her, Daddy and Dude all day! She got a big smile on her face and then ran over and gave my legs a big hug!

My sentiments exactly. Not a bad way to spend a day. Not bad at all!

If you liked this, you might also like:

Puff | Summertime One Liners | Stormy Saturday

17Jul2012

Puff

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin, Miscellaneous by teamtradermom

I’m not a crier. I may have mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating. I am not one to get emotional at movies, books, TV shows or songs.

Except for that ASPCA animal cruelty commercial with the Sarah MacLauchlan song playing in the background. My heavens that is like a arrow straight to the heart! I have to immediately turn the channel or risk a meltdown and then emergency run to the Humane Society to buy up every last puppy there.

At any rate, I may not cry a lot but I do feel emotions. Despite popular opinion that I am “Hard-hearted Hannah from the South of Savannah” (cough MOM cough), I really do feel things. One powerful image I have from childhood was with a certain dragon named Puff.

Remember that one? It’s a song by Peter, Paul and Mary about a little boy named Jackie Paper who has a pet dragon and they play and have wonderful times until the boy grows up and leaves at which point Puff essentially crawls in to his cave and dies. Or as the song goes, “Puff that mighty dragon he ceased his fearless roar.”

Get your Kleenex ready…

Really? REALLY?! This is a children’s song! Come on, man! Every time I heard that song I would get sad and want to cry. Poor Puff! I have outlawed that song from ever being played in my presence again, along with the movies Fox and the Hound and Bambi (come on Disney!).

Well guess what?

My mom gave Isabella a “Puff the Magic Dragon” book today. And behold! It came with a CD of the song!

Puff, the Magic Dragon

(source)

When I saw it I gave my mom a look and said, “Please tell me this is not the original song with the sad ending.”

She assured me that no, this was a different ending, a happy one, where Jackie comes back with his daughter to play with Puff. Great! All is well in the world.

I even played the CD in the car on the way home.

It was not a new version.

It was the original version.

And the weirdest thing happened. My eyes started leaking. There must be something wrong with them. Most likely a side affect of getting older.

Isabella fell asleep so she didn’t hear most of it. Someday we’ll have to explain it to her though.

Or I could ban it from ever being played again. EVER.