Bedtime Book Basket: The Cat at Night

"The sky is dark and full of stars,
but everything else is like day to him.
Night is the best time of all –
the time when he likes to go exploring."
- Dahlov Ipcar (The Cat at Night)


We have a new favorite in our bedtime book basket...

We received a review copy of this gorgeous book by Dahlov Ipcar! In "The Cat at Night", we follow a cat on one of his nighttime adventures and we see what the cat sees. The paintings are exquisite and the story, a delight. Each spread portrays the cat as we would see him, a silhouette in the shadowy night. A turn of the page transforms the same scene as the cat would see it. Satch enjoys trying to locate the cat in each nighttime silhouette before turning the page to cat-vision.

Look closely.
Can you find him?
Lovely, isn't it!

Most Alive Monday: Love Notes

A lot of people have asked me if a/o how I taught Satch to read and write. I didn't teach him. He sort of figured it out on his own.

One day during a drive, he started calling out letter sounds that he recognized in words. He would say things like, "I hear two M's in mom". However, he wasn't making a connection visually...he was just sorting things out in his head. So, when we went to a family wedding in KC, MO last year I decided to get one of those Leap Frog vids as back-up entertainment, if needed, during the long drive. Well, he loved it and immediately made the connection. Then I started leaving him "secret messages" on his magnet board for him to "de-code"... simple words like "hug" etc. It wasn't long before he started leaving me a secret word. His interest in reading quickly grew so I introduced BOB books. He LOVES these books and he was very excited to be able to read by himself so we began exploring word puzzles and word games to further nurture his interest.

One Autumn weekend he told us that he wanted to pick apples, and see how a tarantula eats. So, I said, "OK, lets make a list" and I helped his sound out and write the words "apple" and "spider". Then we went to visit Ramona and we sussed out a swell orchard! Afterward, we crossed them off our to-do list!

On my birthday, three days later, he left me this message on the magnet board!

Soon after, he began writing his messages of one or two words and now he's writing simple sentences. That is how it happened...no lessons...no flashcards...no fancy computer programs. It's truly his accomplishment, not mine. I had very little to do with it.

Can I tell you that I love the way he uses a lower case i ( like my favorite poet of all time ) and how I just adore his fancy E!!!

I also love that the little Fairy Orb necklaces that I made for my favorite kidlets was featured on One Pretty Thing!

*Postscript - Two days after I wrote this diary entry, an article entitled "Children Teach Themselves to Read" appeared on the Psychology Today blog!

*About Most Alive Monday: I've decided to make at least one "most alive choice" each day and post my favorite each Monday. This, of course, is to motivate me to consciously "live juicy"! I hope you'll join me and share your "most alive moment" in the comments section so we may inspire each other.

Rivers Know This

"Rivers know this: there is no hurry.
We shall get there some day." - Winnie the Pooh

I'm not sure if it was the lavender aromatherapy bubble bath or the sensory integration, but I'm grateful for this drama free bath!









*Yep...that's Ikea hanging storage for all the bath toys that I've tried to make bath time less traumatic for all of us!

It is hard to believe that this is the same boy who freaks out over a drop of water on his face.

Valentine's Past & Present

"kisses are a better fate than wisdom" - e.e. cummings

The Valentine's card that I made for my husband...

A very old Valentine's card that my Grandfather sent to my Grandmother. The girl and boy do in fact resemble my grandparents, and they did have a black cat named Pywackit...

A Valentine's card that my late Dad made for my Grands with a photo of my brother and me...














The Valentine's Crayons that Satch and I made during the blizzard for his friends (from our bottomless pit of crayon nubs)...















Robert made us heart shaped pancakes for breakfast... Satch and I made Valentine's Moon Pies for our dessert that eve...

And last but not least, the Valentine's book that I made for Satch

Some scenes from Valentine's past...here....here...here...and here.

Celebrate the Boy!

I'm please and humbled to have two of my Satch-centric creatures featured in Celebrate the Boy!

There are a few snakes left in my Etsy shop and they all have tales to tell (no pun intended). Pop on over and meet, Penwood, Fifi, Linc, Dante and Clem!

Most Alive Monday: Snow Castle

or why all the neighborhood kids flock to our nest...



The robins have arrived and the daffodils are beginning to emerge and I fear they both may be a tad early as we received TWO respectable snow storms just three days apart. Satch began making tiny snow castles, his very own twist on sandcastles, and I was so inspired by his idea that I couldn't resist making him a giant snow castle to play in.

We started building it after a warm breakfast of oatmeal with fresh strawberries and cream...

After stockpiling the fortress with a stack of snowballs, we went inside to eat lunch...macaroni n' cheese and hot cocoa. We enjoyed the ethereal scenery, the muffled hush that accompanies a good flurry, and the excuse to toast marshmallows in the fireplace.

Here's how to make your own Quick n' Easy Snow Castle:

1. Dig out a square for your interior floor
2. Dig a trench around the outside of the square to form the base of your castle's foundation (formally called a Battered Plinth), approx. 12" wide - you can shave off excess later.
3. Pat down to good, firm foundation.
4. Begin filling a square storage container to make the stones. We used an Ikea food storage container.
5. Lay the stones, staggering them as you go.
6. Use extra snow as mortar to fill grooves between stones. Satch his Ikea Sandig tools for this.
7. Add turrets, crenelations and perhaps a flag!

I'm thinking they should rename it Snowdig because it makes awesome snow bricks!

*Castle jargon glossary can be found here! And a book of inspiration here!


This is the super cool snowball maker that Santa brought!

THEN...just 2 days after we built our snow castle, we were hit with a blizzard! So we hunkered down with some java logs and some - good - books and some serious comfort food. There were fresh banana muffins (sans the espresso) for breakfast.  There was steamy homemade vegetarian "chicken" noodle soup with warm Tofurkey sandwiches and mushroom barley stew and tomato risotto with fresh mozzarella.

There were experiments...

to learn about color.
(and the left over potions were used to color snowballs)

There were Lincoln Log constructions with demolitions via remote controlled car. There were card games by the fireplace, visits from neighbors and also some body markers.

When the big snow let up, so began the big dig.

Our street was no longer recognizable and people walked right down the middle of what was once a road to take photos.





















Here's the same view after the storm passed. There are many trees down, completely blocking the road.





Our snow castle was buried, but identifiable by its red flag, and...
branches, heavy with snow and ice, created wonderful natural winter forts and tunnels to play in.

*About Most Alive Monday: I've decided to make at least one "most alive choice" each day and post my favorite each Monday. This, of course, is to motivate me to consciously "live juicy"! I hope you'll join me and share your "most alive moment" in the comments section so we may inspire each other.

Play All Day!

After a busy day of chestnut boats and fairy forts, we returned home to find a rather heavy brown parcel on our doorstep. I was beyond excited to discover that it was a review copy of Play All Day: Design for Children from Gestalten!

We ran inside, tossed our wintry layers in a heap, threw some pillows on the floor and slowly leafed through the pages. WOW! WOW! WOW! - this word repeated over and over from my son while I sighed and swooned over this gorgeous tome of kidlicous design. Play All Day is a book that creative parents will want to keep permanently on their coffee table to be devoured by wee folk and big people alike.

No stone is left unturned in this beautiful, ginormous exploration into the art of play - architecture, toys, playgrounds, decor, furniture, illustration and photography - made by creative parents and talented designers around the world.



From the cardboard castles of one of my favorite artists, Ann Wood, to the engaging kid-craft projects of Arounna Khounnoraj of BloesemKids.


In three words...

Innovative,

Imaginative

and

Inspiring!

Most Alive Monday: How Might It Be?

"How might it have been different for you, if early in your life, the first time you as a tiny child felt your anger coming together inside yourself, someone, a parent, or grandparent, or older sister or brother, had said, "Bravo! Yes, that's it! You're feeling it!"

If, the first time you had experienced that sharp awareness of ego, of "me, I'm me, not you!"...you had been received and hugged and affirmed, instead of shamed and isolated?

If someone had been able to see that you were taking the first tiny baby steps towards feeling your feelings, of knowing that you saw life differently than those around you. If you had been helped to experience your own uniqueness, to feel the excitement of sensing, for the very first time, your own awareness of life. What if someone helped you to own all of this...to own your own life? How might it be different for you?" - Judith Duerk

Photo: Satchel's chestnut fleet sailing a puddle

I am astonished by how well Satch is doing with OT. I'm beginning to see more of the boy I knew before this SPD thing started escalating. Clearly he's feeling more centered and I'm so happy for him. He's owning his life, and he knows that I'm here to help him.

"Mama, I love you just the way you are", he said.

"And I love you just the way you are", I replied.

I could have cried right there. The beauty of that moment...so many times I have said those words to him and now to hear them echoed in his voice. What a gift!

Speaking of gifts...check out this bit of loveliness from Amy Krouse Rosenthal...



*About Most Alive Monday: I've decided to make at least one "most alive choice" each day and post my favorite each Monday. This, of course, is to motivate me to consciously "live juicy"! I hope you'll join me and share your "most alive moment" in the comments section so we may inspire each other.