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the great tollipop giveaway

I just heard about a super cool giveaway on Tollipop.com!

To enter the contest,go to Tollipop.com leave a comment . There are, however, several ways to procure additional entries that you can check out on her site!

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Comments will be open until my bedtime this Friday (April 17th), whenever that may be, and over the weekend I will announce the winners.

Earth Tales First Project

Bedtime in my house consists of tubbies, pjs, brushing teeth, and (my favorite part) bedtime stories! Most, if not all, families have some sort of bedtime ritual which is done every night with varying degrees of success (at least in my house). Last night we decided to begin reading Earth Tales, a great new title from Barefoot Books.

Discover how the rest of the world is 'Living Green'!

The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales -
In this beautiful anthology of folktales, young readers learn how different cultures around the world live in harmony with the rhythms and patterns of nature. Discover how to tread lightly on our precious Earth by following the easy eco-tips and trying out some of the fun and creative activities that accompany each story

The perfect gift for any earth-conscious child!

We read the first story which is the Aboriginal tale of the begin of the world. Gabbie exhausted from a full day of running around like a monkey fell asleep part way through the story. Theo and I finished reading the story and were delighted to find a fun activity. Since it was 8 pm we planed to get painting as soon as we finished breakfast.



The directions said to use a brown or tan piece of paper...we opted for a brown paper bag. We really do our best to bring reusable bags to the grocery store, but every once in awhile we either forget, or buy more groceries than the bags we have brought will hold. I guess we have been doing a great job of remembering to bring bags with, since we were only able to find one bag.

We were instructed to create a picture using colors you would find in nature, like the Aboriginal people would use in there drawings. Colors like brown, red, yellow, and green we decided on the tempera paint that came with our art box. The directions suggested using paint brushes, cotton balls, fingers, and a few other things to create the Aboriginal art work, we figured paint brushes and fingers were enough for us. Using an empty pickle bottle to carry out some water to clean our brushes between color and we were ready.
We gathered up our supplies and headed out onto the porch.


After cutting up our bag into four nice sized bits we got down to business.


The directions explained that Aboriginal art work tended to be a about an aerial view of places and things. We used dots, circles, lines, representing things like grass, water, and bushes. Above you can see Theo's picture of a walk in the park.

Theo put the finishing touches on his second picture of the bush he saw covered in butterflies.

Here are the finished works of art! Gabbie had a lot of fun with dots. I asked her what the dots meant and she looked at me as though I was a small silly child and said in her best my silly mommy voice, "Mommy they are just dots".

Barefoot Books will be planting trees in partnership with Eco-Libris, for each copy of Earth Tales sold in the till the end of April in honor of Earth Day. If you would like to purchase a copy of this fantastic new title or check out what other great books please visit my Barefoot Books site;

www.ReadingBarefootBooks.com

Or to learn more about planting trees to offset the publishing industry you can visit Eco-Libris;
www.EcoLibris.net

Birthday!!! No Way 8

So, my super boy turned 8 yrs old last month. I really can't believe just how big he is. Not just how amazingly tall (and he really is tall) but more how he is turning into such a wonderful person. Since, heading back to school in January he has grown as a person so much. He has some great new friends and is really working hard to learn to read.

While Theo was at school I ran all over the place getting decorations for the house. We have not had the "friend party" yet but we have had two family parties. The cake pictures below is from the party we had with my parents on the night of Theo's birthday. It was the first time since Theo turn 1 that my parents were able to be with us on Theo's birthday.




This is one of my favorite pictures of Theo from his first birthday! I made the flower crown for him. It probably took me 2 hrs to make and I am sure he really didn't want to wear it...but it looks so incredibly cute on him.

Ruby Sky (Whoo Hoo Thats Right!)

Saturday: March 14 - 2pm-5pm

Ruby Skye Presents

BABY LOVES DISCO

Baby Loves Disco transforms San Francisco's hottest club into a child proof disco as children (6 month to 7 years) and parents looking for a break from the routine playground circuit let loose for an afternoon dance party featuring real music spun by real DJs blending classic disco. Plus, bubble machines, a chill-out area, diaper changing stations, a full spread of healthy snacks AND optional cocktails for non-driving parents.

Saturday afternoon is the new Saturday night. Come join us!

Advance tickets at: PURCHASE TICKETS

New Friends

After moving 2,000 miles it can be a bit hard to find your way. Lucky, for us we lived in the Bay area pre-kids so we kinda know our way around. We are finally feeling a bit more settled after almost 6 months :) Oh, and I am way behind on posts... So for the next week or so I am going to be posting a bunch to try and catch up!

It is so funny to think that when you are young and in school making friends is like walking, it takes little thought, once you get the hang of it. After you leave school and especially if you are an at home mom, making friends takes work, sigh....

At last resort you end up making friends at your kids school, lol! Anyway, we have some great new friends with children around the same ages as ours. (Which makes hanging out much easier.) They came over a couple of weeks ago for dinner and brought us a master piece of confection for dessert!

Yummy! Really, it looks amazing and it tastes even better. This heavenly desert was enjoyed by all. (Even Theo who is pickier than anyone loved it!)

Thank you! T.K.T.J!!!!