Finally!



Not fancy, but functional.


For years, I have been wishing for some boundary to our front yard. Our grass just runs right into both next door neighbors' yards, and not like I want to seem un-neighborly, but I would like a little privacy every now and then.

And the need for a boundary is greater now that I have two active twin toddlers who need a visual reminder of where they can and can not go.

So, after years of talking about it, and dreaming about it, we went out and purchased plants to put on our property line. I would love a little white picket fence, but our neighborhood isn't a fence neighborhood, and the fences are much more expensive than some greenery. And even though I would have liked some very high-brow boxwood hedge, we went with a quick solution that we could afford:

The very common aborvitae.

We bought a bunch of small ones -- very small -- but because they are small they will likely establish their roots faster and I know they will grow like weeds, since aborvitae seem to do. Someone remarked that it will be years before they provide true privacy, but it's OK, since I know I will blink my eyes and they will be 6 feet tall.

We managed to get one side of the yard planted this weekend, and it feels like a major accomplishment after years of talking about this. Hopefully the other side will be tackled by next weekend, although it's going to be a very rainy week for us in the Northeast. But we are halfway there, and after a few bags of mulch, the sides of our yard will be definitely defined for the little ones.

In other garden talk, I was so happy to see that "My Yard Goes Disney" returned to HGTV on Friday night! We love watching this show as a family, and Friday's premiere episode was definitely a very cute design that our whole family loved. They made a mini-golf course in the backyard! It was adorable and someone our family would love. The course even had an outdoor train track and a castle doll house. Love, love, love!

You can see more photos of this "My Yard Goes Disney" makeover at
 http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/magical-backyard-makeovers/pictures/index.html

The show is on Friday nights at 8 p.m. We set our DVR and watch it as a family and always enjoy talking about whether this would be a makeover we would want or not. This one was definitely one we would want! (You can see some past episodes' video here.)

Rocks in the Garden

One of my currently mostly-green gardens.
Hopefully morning glories and moonflowers will be spreading up that trellis soon.

I adore garden decor... Little statues, birdbaths, stepping stones, etc. are so fun to add to a garden and add some personality. (I say that with caution, as one doesn't want a circus of garden statues in one's yard... but a few cute touches here and there are nice to break up the greenery while waiting for perennials to bloom, right? :)

Garden decor can put a dent in one's wallet, so sometimes you need to be a little creative. The little space in front of my beat-up bird bath needed "something" but I didn't want to put another plant in this garden.

The solution:

Rocks. That's right -- rocks! Rocks totally rock, right? Little stones add interest and texture and are -- wait for it -- FREE! Anyone with a child knows kids love to collect stones and rocks and all things nature, so why not put those buckets filled with rocks to good use. Most of these are from trips and travels and beaches and rivers and dirt roads. They fill in a space. They add some interest, with varying colors and shapes. (See the heart-shaped ones?) They stand-out on the mulch. And they look like a path to the ol' bird bath and give it a little more pizazz than being lost in the sea of green.

I always loved how Diane Keaton's character in Something's Gotta Give collected white beach rocks. Such a simple thing, but easy as well. So if you have a bucket or jar or bunch of rocks somewhere, give them a home in your garden. In the fall, put them back in your bucket so they don't get lost under snow and leaves, and in the spring, plant a new patch of rocks back in the garden.

Pool Noodle Garland

Recently I was browsing on Pinterest and I came across this and decided to re-create the project myself. Do you do that? Do you pin stuff to make? And do you ACTUALLY make it? I try to make things I like -- not everything, since materials can be expensive, but I do like to find little projects and recipes to make life more interesting and to bookmark for the future.

Any-who... Back to the Pool Noodle Garland via Dollar Store Mom. I headed over to Dollar Tree to see if they some pool noodles and, lo and behold, they had the same three choices that Dollar Store Mom used. (I really wanted more color choices, but I wasn't spending more than $1 each -- this is cheap crafting, folks!) I picked up the three colors as well as a plastic clothesline to string everything on. The original project uses twine or string, but I figured the blue-and-white clothesline would be sturdier (and more colorful).

Ironically, while I waited to tackle this little craft, my husband worked on getting our pool ready.

And he saw the pool noodles and decided to use them for a late afternoon swim.

So much for that... I headed back to Dollar Tree to get three more!

The project was super-easy-peasy-simple and I think it's pretty cute and colorful. We have this totally boring, bland, plain white stockade fence around our pool ladder for safety reasons. It's a basic box where we can leave our towels and get in the pool and I think it's kind of ugly. This year, I wanted to jazz it up a bit and I thought this garland would be an easy and frugal way to add some cute summer color.

Basically you slice up the pool noodles into little flat shapes and then thread them on the string/rope/twine/whatever. It's as easy as that. Except when I got out the kitchen knife and slice up the pool noodles, the twins are intrigued and begging for a piece. So I hand Buddy Twin a blue pool noodle flower, and he takes a bite out of it.

Seriously.

He chomped on a pool noodle. I guess he thought it was fruit or some other food since I was cutting it up on the kitchen counter.

Sigh.

I pull the styrofoam out of his mouth and, choking crisis averted, continue on with crafting.

The plastic clothesline was thicker and I didn't have a "needle" to thread it, so I taped the end of the clothesline to a big giant needle to get it though the pool noodle pieces. It worked well enough for me to string up as much I wanted. I had plenty of pool noodle pieces left over, and I can make another whole garland if I want, but for now I'm letting the kids play with them.

The final project only cost $4, and like I said earlier, I could make two garlands for this price. The above photo only shows about half of what I made -- the other half links around the front of the fence. Frugal and fun! I'm sure you could add other things to the garland if you wanted, like cheap flip flops, or pin wheels or something to jazz it up even more.

And speaking of flip flops, for another great frugal and fun project, try these flip flop planters from dollar store finds on Dollar Store Crafts. Very cute!

Find It!

We are a fan of the Find It! games. We have a few of them at our house, and we have bought some for family members. Have you ever seen them? Basically they are cylinders filled with little confetti beads, and inside those beads are objects to find. The objects pop out when your shake it and roll it around and try to move the beads around to find a new thing. Each one comes with a notepad that has a list to check off with the objects. Every one has a penny which is extremely hard to find -- so hard that the company's website has a section where you can boast that you've finally found the penny! (We've never, ever, found a penny in any of them, by the way. I swear they've glued it to something in the middle or something.)

There are several version of  Find It! -- they are usually centered around a theme. We have "Kids" (show above). We also have "Sports," which was a gift for my husband. My parents and my in-laws have "At the Beach," since both like to visit Cape Cod often. I'm sure we will eventually end up with others -- I was just looking at their website to write this post and "On the Farm" or "At the Zoo" would be fun ones for the twins in the future; Big Girl would love "On a Bird Watch" since she loves birds. There's also a very girlie "Glitz and Glamour" one that is perfect for any lady in your life.

My parents just went on vacation and came home with a new one for Big Girl -- the "Starry Night" version. It's the first one that isn't the classic cylinder shape, and some of the pieces you need to find are glow-in-the-dark.

My attempt at a product shot.

It's definitely pretty cool, and much harder than the others we have. The objects follow a "space" theme, and you even have to find all the planets. I thought it would be easy to do in the dark, but the objects don't seem to glow as well as we thought they might. I'm kind of wondering if they need to exposed to light to "light up" more, like some glow-in-the-dark objects do. The one negative to this one compared to the others is that it doesn't have the list of items to find on the actual container. All the cynlinder-shaped ones have the list on one end -- this one doesn't have the list on it at all. If you misplace the notepad, it would be hard to remember what to find!

I give all the Find It! games a thumbs up, especially to take on the road for trips. It's a contained game that you can pass around, or a child can do on their own, or you can just leave in a room and look at every now and then. They can keep kids busy for a long time. They don't require batteries!! And they don't take up a great deal of space. The company website even has a list of different ways to play with Find It! here.

They also make great birthday gifts! I've seen them locally in our teacher store, but you also see them in gift shops or, of course, online.

I've seen some "homemade" versions of Find It! games on blogs and on Pinterest, but I think that is one craft I don't need to make myself. I think my homemade version might result in a mess in my house since I'm sure the twins would "find" a way to get the top off a jar or plastic container. The real "Find It!" games seem pretty secure and unbreakable -- so far!

Short Week

After a lovely day off for Memorial Day, it's time to get back to business. Whenever there is a holiday on a Monday, doesn't the short week throw you off? If throws me off... I have work deadlines today, laundry to catch up on, groceries to purchase and housework to do. It's Tuesday but if feels like Monday except it's not... This sort of week really makes me sort of crazy.

It was incredibly hot here yesterday. I swear when it's parade day it's either (a) incredibly hot or (b) raining. Never a pleasant, in the 70-degree range day. To say I was wiped out was an understatement. So instead of writing a book, I leave you with some scenes from our day!

Mom's Guide to... Memorial Day!

Monday is Memorial Day! Most people think of it as the unofficial kick-off to the summer season. We enjoy sunshine, picnics, a day off from work or school.

But we really should remember to celebrate the real meaning of the holiday as well. Memorial Day is a remembrance day, a day to honor our fallen soldiers. We are often reminded of this with our local parades, where veterans march with pride. I am often saddened that our young people don't seem to understand or value this sacrifice that so many Americans have made for us. So, in honor of the occassion, I've decided to put together a quick guide to Memorial Day with simple activities and information to help you "homeschool" your family and celebrate the holiday in the traditional way!

Mom's Guide To MEMORIAL DAY!

Memorial Day was conceived in the late 19th century and was originally called Decoration Day, where the graves of fallen veterans were "decorated." A great summary of the history can be found on this site. It should be noted that Memorial Day honors the dead, while Veterans Day honors living veterans. In either case, it is good to honor our American holidays buy understanding their meaning.

A simple way to teach children about Memorial Day is to go to the cemetery and decorate the graves of veterans. The graves of any veteran in your family can be "decorated" with a flag or flowers -- be sure to check cemetery restrictions regarding what you can and cannot do. I know the Catholic cemeteries where my family members are buried have several restrictions, but they do allow special flag markers on the graves of veterans; in fact, there a local program to place flags on graves in our region.

A popular Memorial Day symbol is the red poppy, which was originally inspired by the 1915 poem "In Flanders Field" by John McCrae, a Canadian soldier in World War I. He wrote the poem when he noted how quickly poppies grew up around the graves of soldiers in in the Flanders region of Belgium during the war:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.

Veterans have been selling little paper poppies since 1922 outside grocery stores, etc. I can't pass a veteran selling poppies without buying one. My grandmother was an Army veteran, and she always bought the little red paper poppies, often giving them to me. It is one of my fondest memories of her, so I cannot pass a poppy seller without buying one, or two. I keep them in my car, and give them to Big Girl, and often tell my oldest how it is a family tradition to purchase a poppy.

Kids can make their own poppies for Memorial Day decorations, to pass out to veterans, to carry in parades, etc. This page has a fun way to make them out of coffee filters.

A lovely, meaningful treat for Memorial Day is Poppy Cookies, with this recipe and decorating instructions from Kraft Canada.

I pinned this on Pinterest -- isn't it cute?

Source: allthingsthrifty.com via Kellie on Pinterest

Flags are also the patriotic way to decorate! Dollar stores often have inexpensive flags, which can be gathered up for a centerpiece, stuck in flower pots and window boxes, attached to wreaths or tied on bikes for a neighborhood parade. Red, white and blue bunting is also a beautiful way to decorate porches, railings and decks for the holiday celebration. It can be used year after year for Memorial Day, Flag Day and 4th of July celebrations.

Kids can also make their own flags. This "Old Glory" pennant craft is a cute vintage version, recycles paper bags, is inexpensive and is easy enough for kids of all ages.

TipJunkie.com probably has the best round-up of Memorial Day crafts I've even seen. There are enough adorable patriotic crafts to get you through the summer on this site! The site also also has a "patriotic" page with many more ideas, including ideas from readers.

Looking for a game to play at your Memorial Day picnic? Try this "Patriotic Bingo" printable!

I hope you enjoyed this quick Mom's Guide to Memorial Day. As the summer rolls on, I plan on more "patriotic" posts to get us through the upcoming American holidays. Enjoy your Memorial Day with your loved ones and be sure to honor and "remember" our fallen veterans.

Goodnight Books

Source: google.com via Jackie on Pinterest

I believe in bedtime stories. I read to Big Girl every night until just recently, when she started wanting to continue reading something she was also reading during the day. But I would read to her now if she asked -- we've completed many chapter books together and I love that time at night when I read to her. It's calm, it's quiet, and it's full of good stories and great memories.

I've continued the tradition with the twins, although admittedly it is much harder. I can't sit with them in my lap like I did with her. They are much more apt to leave my lap and wander. And they are still in their cribs, so I can't sit on one of their beds yet either. So I plop myself on the floor, between the two cribs, and they sit in their beds and watch and listen -- most of the time.

In many ways, reading at night is very routine to us. The routine started with Big Girl. Clean up faces and hands, change diapers, put PJs on, brush teeth, read three stories and tuck into bed. They know it, and they've known it for a while. They learn pretty quick.

And they already ask for certain characters, or certain book. Curious George and Clifford and Little Bear and shape books and color books and all the good ones that I don't mind repetitively reading night after night.
The last book of our bedtime story session is always, always, always Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I started that tradition with Big Girl, and it worked so well that I had to do it with the twins. (At one point in their short lives, it became apparent to Buddy Twin that this was always the last book before bed. When I read the first line in the book, he would start to cry in anticipation. He's OK with it now because this book is such a favorite. He gets very excited when he sees it and says "My Moon! My Moon!")

Reading the same book every night does not have to be boring. My husband and I may have the lines memorized by now, but it doesn't matter because so do the babies. I prompt them to fill in the last words of each page, which makes it a game. Sometimes, I "sing" the story to them. And although it's a little harder with two kids in two cribs, I try a tradition I started with Big Girl: On each two-page color spread in the book, we have to find the mouse. The mouse is always in a different spot. It's like a little game at storytime.

Of course, Goodnight Moon isn't the only bedtime book worth reading, even if it is tops in our house. Some of our other favorites include this one:

When the World is Ready for Bed by Gillian Shields has some really adorable watercolor illustrations by Anna Currey, and is a very easy, rhyming read that the kids love. We have the board book version. The story is about three little bunnies getting ready for bed and their routine, which is perfect to instill in little ones.

Source: chinaberry.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

We also like The Night Night Book by Marianne Richmond. The book is another rhyming story that says "night night" to many things, similar to Goodnight Moon.

Whatever book you choose as your signature "goodnight" story, it will surely became part of a child's memory. Big Girl still has her original copy of Goodnight Moon on her bookshelf because she will likely never part with it. I hope someday she reads it to her own children, as well as many other of our favorites, and continues the tradition we started 10 years ago.