I'd rather celebrate Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

Did you know I have a mini eco-activist on my hand?

My daughter is on a mission - already, at the age of 5 - to save the world.  Why?  Because, as she puts it, she "lovesssss nature!!"

This girl not only talks the talk, she walks the walk.  She will find, and pick up the nastiest pieces of trash while we are on walks.  She will chastise you for leaving the water on for too long.  She hugs trees.  I'm not kidding.  She's a full-on tree-hugger.  I love it.

So to celebrate Earth Day, we are in nature-saving mode.  And we have a few things to suggest to you, if care to join us.

First - go see Oceans.  We are going to see it right after school - I think the kids will love it.  Plus, if you see it during the opening week, Disneynature will make a donation in your honor to save our coral reefs.

Second - have some earth-friendly fun!  We made a cereal box purse, a paper roll wallet, and a ribbon holder bracelet.  They are oh-so chic and very simple.  If you need directions, shoot me an email or comment below and I'd be glad to help you out.

And lastly, if you are a blog owner, you can make your blog carbon neutral.  Why would you want to do that?  Well, because the average blog (with 15,000 visits a month) has a yearly carbon dioxide emission of 8 lbs due to the immense energy usage of computers, servers, and the like.  The good news, is that only one tree can neutralize that emission!  The even better news is that you can join the "My Blog is Carbon Neutral" program and make your blog green with out even leaving your seat.  You just make a quick post, grab the button, send an email, then - voila! - a tree will be planted just for your blog!

That, my friends, adds up to some pretty fantastic green-making.

Now no excuses - go do something green, then pat yourself on the back.

I'd rather get excited!

I tend to get a little over excited about Disney.  This trip for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference is no different.  Actually, it's probably worse, seeing as how I've never felt the need to color code my attack plan.  Oy vey people, I need help:

My ical layout for the trip.

That is just the tip of the iceberg.  I have my favorite guidebooks (The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and Passporter's Walt Disney World book) all marked up with dog ears and highlighters.  I have all my dinner reservations (ADR's in Disney-speak) written out and stowed away in it's own little folder - along with my outgoing info for Disney's Magical Express pick up service.  It goes on and on, and it's out of control.

Being that their mother is obviously certifiable, my kids tend to get a little excited about Disney too.  It has been pretty manageable this time around - because they only found out 3 weeks before the trip.

( I should interject here that we always have the best intentions of surprising the kids with the trip.  We have done it successfully with smaller trips, but we can never hold in our excitement for Disney, so we always end up spilling the beans.  This can be hard for a kid if you let them know as far out as we have - over 2 months before our first family trip to WDW.)

The problem, then, was how do you keep your kids from going mad with anticipation?  Our solution is a countdown calendar.

The first year we made it a big deal and did a huge scavenger hunt.  We gave them clue cards and had them go searching around the house for the items that matched the clues; sunscreen, a bathing suit, a camera, a disney coloring book, etc.  They were to piece the clues together to figure out what we were doing.  (They were clueless.)  We even took the hunt on over to Grandma and Granddad's house.  (They were one of the clues because they were coming with us.)  To end the hunt, the girls found a personal note from Tinkerbell in my parents mailbox.  She told them how excited she was that they were coming, and gave them a cute little box with cards and stickers so they could make a countdown calendar.

My eldest getting a little cheesy.  We pulled off that day's card, and kept going til they were all gone.

I don't even remember how we told them about it last time, but we did make the calendar together again. This time, I wanted something to be left on the board to look at as we got closer, so we did it a bit differently.  We punched out circles that were glued onto the board and decorated them with stickers, drawings, and photo's of us on our last Disney trip.  Then we added a number that indicated how many more days til the trip.  On top of those circles, we stapled more circles - punched out of pretty scrap paper, with a matching date - and then attached it all to the board.

I don't have a good pic of the bottom circles, so just imagine their awesomeness.

This time we are going high-tech and have downloaded a countdown clock for the computer.  Mac users can try: The Disney Trip Countdown from Apple.  PC users can try one of the many countdown programs available via a google search - including the Intercot Countdown Timer.

These calendars have really thwarted the "Mommmmmmmy, is it time yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet?" questions.

It does not, however, stop them from saying, "Mommmmmmmmmy, I want to go to Disney NOWWWWWWWW!"

But, then again, it doesn't stop me either.

I'd rather teach my daughter her ABC's

Actually, my daughter knows her ABC's pretty well. She can spell her name, make most of the letter sounds, and name most letters. But, she has a problem with lower case letters....it's like a foreign language right now. Plus, she says some sounds wrong -- R's and L's make W sounds. So, in looking at this cute paper I have that would never be put to use (I have had it forever and never did anything with it) I came up with a quick game to help her learn and have simple fun.



I just cut up the paper with a circle dye cut, then drew the alphabet -- all lower case, then all uppercase letters. After playing a few rounds of memory, we decided it was smart to write which letters were upper and which were lower, along with a line to use as reference. If you play memory with them, break up the cards into smaller sets first, and as your child gets better, add more cards. Ask how they look different. Ask what sound they make.

I plan on putting them in a leftover gift bag as storage. And I think I'll come up with a bunch of uses for them. Pulling on at the beginning of the day to have a "T" day. Pulling one out of the bag and having her go get me an object that begins with that letter. I'm sure they'll be well used.

I'd rather win!

I finished up my May Christy's Craft Challenge! I decided to make cute little hair clips for the girls.



I had to use 5 different materials: scrapbook paper, blue fabric scraps, buttons, floral wire, and silk daisy flowers. I came up with a ton of ideas that involved sewing -- but seeing as how I suck at sewing, those were quickly icksnay-ed.



As you can see, I kinda suck at photography as well. Ah, well -- One day I'll have a nice digital SLR and it won't matter. Until then (read: never), I apologize.

It looks as if the competition is putting up a good fight. So go vote for me! Or for the best person, if you feel morally obligated. {Either way, it's me all the way, baby!!}

I would so rather be crafting

I would so rather be crafting. Take, for example, right now. I could:

a. do laundry
b. getting ready for an upcoming yard sale fundraiser
c. planning dinner
d. organizing

Instead, I am thinking about what I can craft up for mothers day. And yesterday, I was crafting a butterfly note holder when I should have been making dinner. And I have been known to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning just to finish a craft. (Although, I am also a big procrastinator. Hence, why I it took me so long to post on this lovely blog.)

Now, I don't craft as much as I would like. I am slightly computer addicted, so I first have to draw myself away from blogs and facebook (oh, and...hello, twitter, my new friend!) Granted, I am on these sites to get more crafty knowledge (and play bejeweled blitz) but still....the internet is my friend. I guess I tend to get stuck in the "in between's" and that, my new blog reader, is why I have created "I'd rather be crafting." Because, while I would rather be doing it, I still need a swift kick to actually do it.

My hope is to push myself to post here my crafty pursuits. And to forward on awesome idea's that I have yet to do. And to hear what others do. And to learn how to do it.

There it is. Hopefully, I'll be able to fulfill at least one of those objectives. And if not, maybe I'll at least make some new friends.

Thanks for reading,
Mandy

PS...Want to see aforementioned butterfly? It was my non-entry (did I mention I procrastinate?) to Christy's Craft Challege: