Blog Award

I love blogging.  My real purpose for blogging is to preserve family memories.  I want to remember as many details as possible.

I never expected to make any friends through blogging.  If you asked me if it was possible to create friendships over the internet before I started blogging, I would have told you that you could not create "real friendships" and people who claim to have done this are probably weird.  Well, call me a weirdo.

I am rambling here, but I recently received a blog award from a few blogland friends and I want you to know that I sincerely appreciate the award.  It is so nice to know that people enjoy reading what I write here.

Ticia from Adventures in Mommydom, Natalie from Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns, Angela from Confessions of a Non-Domestic Housewife, Sherry from A Little Fun With Me and Lu, and Shannon from Mommies Little Artists were kind enough to think of me and pass along The Lemonade Stand Blog Award.  Thank you so much for reading my blog, and for sharing the great activities you do and ideas you have on your own blogs. You should also know that I would be giving this award to all of you if you hadn't given it to me first.

The Lemonade Stand Award is awarded for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude. The rules for accepting this award are:
- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.

- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

- Link the nominees within your post.

- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

There are so many blogs that I enjoy reading.  Today, I am passing this award along to:

My Family, My Forever - because you are truly one of the most genuine people I know and I value your friendship
Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile - because you have introduced me to so many wonderful books
Frugal Family Fun Blog - because so many of the great ideas that my children give me credit for actually come from you
Our Nifty Notebook - because you are so sweet and I always enjoy the honesty in your blog posts
Teach Mama - because we seem to think on the same wavelength so often, and because you help me teach my children valuable pre-reading skills 
A Mommy's Adventures - because your posts are always a joy to read
Funny Days with Mommy and Maddie - because you are a New Englander, you share awesome recipes (cranberry bliss), and your crafts are great too
Live, Learn, Love - because you are one of my original blogging friends
The Activity Mom - because you have so many incredible ideas
Our Random Acts of Reading - because I love this project and I really want more  people to visit your blog to learn more about Random Acts of Reading

Go visit some of these great blogs.

Our New Couch

We recently ordered a Foamiture couch for our playroom.  We were looking for something that was not too expensive and would stand up to the typical abuse of playroom activity.  My husband discovered Foamiture.  The couch came in the box in the above photo.

This is the what I took out of the box!  A shrink wrapped couch!  The directions told me to remove the wrapping and then let the couch sit undisturbed for 24 hours. 

Here it is just a few minutes after I removed the packaging.  I could not believe how fast it turned into a normal sized couch.

Twenty-four hours later, R performed the jump test (yes, she is jumping with a clothes hanger in her hand; I have no idea why I allowed this to go on) and the couch passed with flying colors.  You can see that the couch opens into a bed.  So far, we think it is pretty cool furniture!

We have not been compensated in any way for this review.  I have never seen anything like this before, and I thought it was kind of cool so I decided to post it here.

The Three Little Pigs

We are having so much fun reading The Three Little Hawaiian Pigs and The Magic Shark by Donivee Martin Laird.  (Thank you, Karen)  This adaptation of The Three Little Pigs is set in Hawaii.  The Magic Shark (there are no wolves in Hawaii) tries his wizardry and a few disguises in an attempt to catch the pigs for dinner but is foiled by the little pigs and ends up in the local dump.

The book is fun to read.  C and R loved the disguises the shark wore to trick the pigs, especially the lei seller disguise.  I love the use of Hawaiian words throughout the book, and there is a glossary too.

In addition to using this book to help us learn a little bit about Hawaii for our Fifty States Project, we also made a chart comparing and contrasting this book to the original story.

C and R both did very well remembering differences and similarities between the two stories.  It was a fun game for all of us.

There are Hawaiian versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Gingerbread Boy, but they are not available from my local library.

Tulips in Bloom

You may remember that I received these beautiful tulips free in exchange for telling you about nursery decor at CSN Baby.  Well, they are finally on R's walls.  I love them!  Tulips are my favorite flowers, and I think these are fantastic!  R also has some wooden bins with tulips painted on them, as well as a tulip print that will eventually be hung in her room.  What do you think?

Game Time

We are having a lot of fun playing The Cat in the Hat - I Can Do That Game.  It comes with fun props, gets you moving, makes you do silly things, and keeps you laughing.  Thank you Papa and Grandma M - you hit a home run with this game.

 

A Tutu and Sparkly Shoes

R and I went shopping today, and she is very excited about her purchases.  Every little girl needs a tutu and sparkly shoes! 

Marshmallow Snowmen

Thank you Susana and Valerie for the inspiration.  This was fun and delicious!