Our Week With a New Addition

If I ever design a house, it will totally have stained glass book windows in the library.  Or literary theme stained glass windows.  Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Sandra Boynton's characters...  

We brought home so many books we had to use 2 cards.  

And make 2 piles.  

Hannah hasn't been able to wear regular pants in years.  I decided to try something.  I picked up a pair of clearance uniform pants, husky size, a couple sizes up from what she wears in other things, from the boys section at Target.  She tried them on and they fit around her prosthetic.  So we cinched up the elastic in the waist (a lot) and I marked where they'd need to be hemmed.  One side is noticeably shorter than the other, but they appear even when she wears them.  

See?  And there's her Year of the Rabbit shirt, too.  This opens up a whole new world for her, clothing wise, so I'm anticipating some more hemming in my future.  The downside is that Katie won't be able to wear her hand me downs.  Even if I removed the re-hemming, Katie's not at all "husky."

Me:  I'll just take a quick picture of the jammies I made for grandbaby Kasen...  

Grumman:  No.

Sigh.  

There we go.  Finished and mailed!  I have 3 more pairs cut out, but it may be a while before I finish those.  

Fortunately, Zach & Heather made a smaller version.  This is Nolan, who's brand new.  I don't like this business of being 2 time zones away from the grandkids.  

Some scrap-kins.  Napkins made from scraps.  Kitty calico reverses to gray flannel, floral reverses to purple flannel.  I have some more napkins cut out, too.  Bunnies, which will hopefully be done in time for Easter, and a Mulan print.  

Speaking of holidays, we've been enjoying Lunar New Year.  I'm never going to be the mom who whips up a traditional ethnic meal from scratch, but I can Trader Joe's like nobody's business.  

And I signed the school up for goodies from Panda Express.  Activity books, coupons, stickers.  This went over well with the kids.  

If you remember the paint project I showed the first half of last week, the finished project is the bunny lantern in the upper right corner.  I did this (over 2 weeks) with everybody from K-5th, and I think they turned out great.  All different, but pretty.  

The first week, the students painted with cosmetic sponges on the back side of the lantern printouts.  We let those dry, and then the next week, they cut the lanterns out, added a bunny for Year of the Rabbit, and used gold marker to write 2023, then added red yarn to hang them up.  

When I told Paul, "I Crikey-ed 50 bunnies this morning," he said I should have just Crikey-ed 2 and waited.  

Speaking of making things, I searched and searched for book theme conversation hearts online, but didn't really find what I wanted, so I made these on PicMonkey.  I laminated them so I can re-use them in the future.  

Sometimes when I have an extra bit of laminating pouch, I stick in a piece of scrapbook paper, or a chunk of map to make bookmarks.  This time, it was a piece of a destroyed copy of Are You My Mother? that I laminated for a bookmark.  I find it so amusing I have it taped to the book return crate for the time being.  The white pieces are blank laminated bits that were left over after cutting out my conversation hearts.  I think I'm going to let the 6th graders decorate them with Sharpies.  

Milestone visit for Hannah.  She gets to change to annual visits with the doctor at Shriners, instead of every 6 months.  

We're going through a lot of books these days.  I'm 22 books into the new year already.  I've noticed I read a lot more in winter than I do in warmer months.  

I'm currently 33% through this one.  Young Winston Churchill has just escaped from captivity and found himself alone in a hostile country.  I'm thinking this is a book I should have read before seeing the Churchill War Rooms in London.  His toy soldiers and other bits of memorabilia would have had more meaning for me with the back story.  

 

Pictures from Churchill War Rooms last summer

Oh Grumman.  

So... a while back, Grumman would occasionally bring me a sock.  Then he started bringing me the occasional kitchen towel.  One recent morning, I woke up to find he'd hauled ELEVEN bits & bobs up the stairs to my bedroom door.  Methinks he really wanted in.  

I can carry scissors for a whole class with one hand.  The talents I am gaining amaze me.  

February is Dental Health Month.  We got toothbrushes & paste from Colgate, and I added a printable book from Twinkl and made up little gift bags.  I wanted to put stickers in them, but I restrained myself for budgetary reasons.  

My not quite finished February bulletin board.  I'll be making the koalas with my 3rd graders next week.  I feel like this one will only be done for a couple weeks before I switch it out to St. Patrick's Day.  

Fortunately, it seems like time is moving faster now that we're back in schools and hitting all the crafty holidays.  I feel like CNY, Valentine's, St. Pat's, and Easter will see us through to Spring Break.  And, I heard that both Annaliese and Brianna plan to visit home (at different times) this year, so that gives me another something to look forward to.