Books & Other Things

First Art- Art Experiences For Toddlers & Twos by MaryAnn Kohl
I had this fantasy for the summer that I was going to do weekly art projects with Red Fish and introduce her to all sorts of new media and ideas. The summer seems to have gotten away from me. We have painted a few times, colored a lot, done sidewalk chalk and used a lot of stickers. That's about it. This book has great recipes and ideas for toddler art projects. I'm trying to set a goal to actually use some of them by the end of the summer.

The Creative Family by Amanda Soule- A great reminder of the things I truly believe about the importance of family, love, creativity and imagination in parenting. I wish there had been a few more project ideas but I love the sentiments in the book. My ideal parenting would be full of creative projects, family traditions, and a lot of imaginative playtime. I totally agree with Soule's ideas about toys and art supplies. Kids need a few quality toys that can create an imaginary world. Art supplies should be readily available and high quality. Kids should be given tools to explore the world around them rather than distractions like television and video games. Now if I can just find the energy to implement these ideas in my family.

Other than reading I've been starting to nest quite a bit. Before Red Fish was born I went crazy reorganizing the house and getting the perfect nursery ready. I feel the same urge to do that now but I'm having a hard time getting anything done. Turns out it's much harder when I have a toddler and my energy disappears at a shocking rate. I did manage to make a set of curtains for Red Fish's new room (I love my nursery too much to change it for the next baby and I just barely finished repainting the fish) Her room is coming together at a snail's pace. Good thing I don't plan to move her over until New Fish gets a little bigger and needs the crib instead of the cradle. Maybe I should plan on her room being done for Christmas instead of September. (My plans turned out to be more expensive than I planned so everything was put on hold until I could save up more money.)

I've also gotten to about 1/100th of my organization projects I wanted done by September. The fridge has been scrubbed this week, the pantry reorganized and all of the kitchen cabinets have been reorganized. That just leaves... the rest of the house including the scary garage and basement that never really got totally moved into. Wish me luck!