She Knits Shizknits

morning routine

Friday fun

I took the small men to Le Tarjay today; Little Man had received a gift card for his birthday and it was burning a hole in his pocket- he said he wanted to get a couple of new Bakugan or a Lego set. So off we went to the local outdoor mall. Once we arrived at Tarjay and were in the correct aisle, LM began the long, exacting process of figuring out what he wanted.

It always takes LM *forever* to make a decision....he will think, double think, and triple think about every tiny detail before he decides what to do. Today that meant he spent at least 45 minutes in the same aisle of the toy section before picking a Bakugon toy. He had also promised Monkey Boy that they would choose a Lego set together so MB wouldn't feel left out. Pretty generous for a 7yr old, if you ask me!  They settled on this Racers set, which LM said was perfect because there were two cars- one for each of them.

As soon as we got home, they went into the family room and started building...


It didn't take long for them to finish- these two are Lego building masters!


The neat thing about this set is how it folds up on itself so you can take it with you.

Little Man was well-pleased with his decision....(and check out his new shorter summer hair)


Oh, and look at these adorable reusable bags I found in the dollar aisle...(tho they were $2.00 each)...



Not only are they totally cute, they hold a lot more than I thought. I ended up buying two and using them as we checked out. On the way out of the store I realized how big/sturdy the bags really were and actually went back for two more! LOL!!! I have a reusable bag addiction! They are so handy for so many things...trips to the beach or library...picnics...etc..  And I LOVE the patterns on these!

Speaking of library trips...I was able to quickly hit the library the other night by myself- a rare treat indeed. I went straight to the New Books shelves and just randomly picked a few books....


I have a few more books on hold that I will need to pick up sometime next week, but these should hold me over for a few days!

rel lif

Little Man has made the leap from 'sounding out' to 'reading'. He used to sound each letter of a word out and add them all up to say out loud. But in the last few days he's started 'reading' whole words- not just his sight words, but he's able to actually put the long words together. Today we were at the local big-box store, having the obligatory hot dog lunch when he spied the sign over the relish/catsup/mustard dispensers: "Con.....con-di-....condiments!" As part of his reading leap, he's decided to sort out our bookshelves at home. These are "real life" books. According to LM, these are the books that are "True stories, not made up books" Then there are the "pretend" books I love the thought process behind the categorizing. LM's "Boy's Bible" was on the "real life" shelf. His "First Encyclopedia" was put in the "pretend" shelf. Go figure!

bookish friday

So you all wanted to know what almost-free books we got from our B&N trip...

First I wanted some books about Halloween for the small ones.  So we picked up The ABCs of Halloween. Little man is over most ABC books, but Monkey Boy still enjoys them and this particular version has some fun  revisions on the typical alphabet book..."S is for skeleton".  The illustrations are cute but appropriately creepy, with lots of lovely color.  The small men can spend quite a bit of time on each page, looking at all the hidden 'jokes'.

Continuing the Halloween theme, we picked up two maze books for LIttle Man (who is maze obsessed): Mummy Mazes and Spooky Mazes. The nice thing about these maze books is their price (under $4 each) and the story line that goes along through the book.  Most maze books are black and white with simple drawings, but the books we picked up are full color with large glossy pages.  Little Man likes me to read the story, then he sits down and fills out the maze.  We have several other maze books by this author and they are all great.

Monkey Boy then got to pick out two books of his own. He got a board book about trucks and another Thomas the Train book (I don't know which one because we have about 50 of them and I've forgotten the title).

Then we got Little Man the Ultimate Transformers Book by DK Illustrated.  If you have any of the DK series of books, you know how well laid out they are. Each two page spread in the Transformers book follows the typical DK outline: large illustrations with lots of information in bullet points throughout.  The photos and drawn illustrations are very detailed.  Some of the pages are made so you turn the book sideways, pin up style, and the drawing will span both pages. The UTB is pretty big and has *everything* you would ever want to know about Transformers. Little Man has been carrying this book around and reading it everywhere.

Oh, and what did *I* get? The Cute Book! It's a small hardcover book filled with seriously cute 'mascots' you can make out of craft felt.  The layout is very similar to most Japanese craft mags, with the exception that the directions are translated into English.  But like most craft mags, you don't really need instructions because the illustrations are pretty self-explanatory. Check out this cute little panda robot that I want to make for Little Man: 

There's an adorable little pink pig that I think Monkey Boy would get a kick out of, too.  Lots of other mascots: "Bad Guy", "Monkey", etc.. At only $11, this is a fun little book that won't put much of a dent in the craft budget and looks cute on the shelf.

I also got Doodle Stitching to play with.  This full color soft-cover book is full of different embroidery ideas and projects. These aren't your typical delicate/lacy patterns- they are more whimsical, along the lines of many Japanese embroidery. There are about 10 projects outlined in the book; everything from embroidered shoes to the more typical towels and pillowcases. The whole first section is an index of the common stitches used in embroidery, as well as some 'getting started' basic info. I liked how there were large, clear photographs of each stitch as well as written directions.  I liked this book a lot and am already planning on using some of the designs on upcoming projects.

Not a bad haul for only $10....yay for B&N gift cards!

bookish friday

We read a lot of books around here. I have been a bibliophile since I learned to read (my mom claims I was only 3!) and of course the small men enjoy having books read to them. There are sooo many wonderful childrens' books out there- I'm a *sucker* for a well-illustrated/written book and I'm always on the lookout for another addition to our library.

The favorites in our current rotation:

"Not A Box" A hardcover book that looks like it's wrapped in cardboard or brown paper. Not really a 'story', each page presents a simple line drawing of a bunny sitting, standing, in or on top of a cardboard box. "It's not a box!" the bunny claims...and the next page will have him in a pretend rocketship or race car or pirate ship made out of the box.  The writing is very simple, but both the small men really enjoy shouting "It's not a box!" as we read along.  And it's short enough for to a good bedtime book.

"The Making of a Knight: How Sir James Earned His Armor"

Little Man and I have been reading this book every day for the past week. It's not a book that holds Monkey's Boy's preschool attention very well because there are lots of words.  The illustrations are very detailed and each page has at least one full color painting of the action. The story follows James, the son of a lord & lady, as he goes from being a lowly page to a full blown knight.

The book talks about everything from how a knight gets dressed in his armor to jousting to chivalry. There's even a bit about Sir James falling for a lovely lady. Little Man asks LOTS of questions when we read this book because it's a bit involved for him as it seems to be written more for older children (probably 7+). But he still enjoys the story and illustrations.

"Firefighters in the Dark"

We originally borrowed this book from the library and ended up buying it for ourselves because of the beautifully illustrated drawings. It's about a little girl who hears sirens & makes up imaginative stories about how the fires get started and how the firefighters are going to put them out. The causes of the fires are whimsical (a woman in Mexico eats hot peppers and creates "fire flowers" that the firefighters have to put out), and the drawings hold the kiddos' attention.  It's a bit long for a bedtime book but both Little Man and Monkey Boy enjoy this one.

The Easy Reader Classics "Wind in the Willows" series
Easy Reader Classics are simplified versions of classics, perfect for 5 & under. There are sweet little drawings on each page illustrating the story. We can finish one or two of these before bedtime with no problems. ERC has lots of other books (we are waiting for Treasure Island to be delivered!).

What books are favorites in your household?