Send A "Hug" To A Loved One

Ok, so this is going to be a short post, I think...but I wanted to share what my preschooler has been busy with this morning. Such a special treat for Mommy to get out the big paper for a project!

 

My little sister, Julie, moved off to college a couple of weeks ago, and since it's the first time she's lived alone (well, without family nearby- I don't really miss the days of living with 3 roommates!!) we decided to send her a care package to let her know we're thinking about her. I saw this great idea on Pinterest, of course - and my husband would be sighing if he were reading this because he is all too aware of my Pinterest addiction- here if you want to check it out: http://www.supermommoments.com/2012/08/send-hug/. Obviously, this was just way too cute to pass up.

So, we pulled out the materials- just used a huge piece of newsprint (left over from my college art days) - a sharpie, a bucket 'o' crayons, and a super excited preschooler!

 

Just have your kiddo lay down with their arms extended in a "hug" on the newsprint or other large piece of paper....

...trace around their body with a Sharpie...

 

...color in their features...

 

...write in a message....

 

....and wa-la....

 

 

For laughs- does anyone notice or recognize the box I'm using? Haha...it's the only one I could fit that would fit everything!

 

Now, that's a package any college kid, or grandparent would be excited to receive!

And if you're sending it to a college kid, make sure you send some edibles as well so they don't starve on you!!

 

 

 

 



How to Make Your Own Foaming Handsoap

So hear my heart on this. I know that most of the world has much bigger problems than buying foaming hand soap. I don't know why it ticks me off, but it does. I have three (YES you heard me correctly - THREE) foaming handsoap dispensers that are mere seconds away from being empty. (Why do they always have to empty at the same time?)

 

And today I don't know. Maybe it's the lack of sleep (3 month old)....Maybe it's the rush of getting my preschooler packed up and out the door for school. Maybe it's the shelling out of $10 (or more) to replace HANDSOAP. Maybe I just don't feel like schlepping to the store right now. Again, I don't know. But I digress. I don't want to buy the handsoap.

 

And a brilliant/crazy thought runs through my head. I'll bet you could make some. It would be so CHEAP. (4 bottles of soap per month, at $3 each, times 12 months in the year...unbelievably that is $144 on HANDSOAP!!) There can't even be that much actual soap in a bottle- it's probably mostly water to make it foam, I thought to myself. I've seen the commercials- people use Palmolive dish soap on everything- including those ducks rescued from oil spill disasters. Why not just pour some into the bottles I already have, add some water and call it a day?

 

Ok, so then I think- somebody else has got to have already had this brain flash. I can't be the only one, right? (I hope? I'm not crazy, right?) So, a very short google search ensues. It wasn't hard. Just a couple clicks of the mouse to sweet validation/victory.

 

You can visit these fine sites and more if you don't believe me:

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/ht/Foaming_Soap.htm

http://thecountrybasket.com/saving-money-by-making-your-own-liquid-foam-soap-refill/

http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2012/03/make-your-own-non-toxic-foaming-hand-soap/

 

 

There are many different reasons why these folks have chosen to make their own handsoap. And many different ways. Do what you think is best for your own household. All I know is- I didn't have foaming handsoap this morning. Now I do. I didn't have to go to the store. I didn't have to pay any money. Most importantly, I didn't have to put make-up on or change out of my yoga pants to leave my house. We needed soap (with a baby in diapers, a  4-year-old, a dog, and a cat, believe me- we NEEDED soap). Now we have soap. And, it even looks pretty on my countertops. Seems so simple. It's blowing my mind a little.

 

If you want to make soap like I made today, here's how.

 

Gather your ingredients. All you need is a foaming soap dispenser, some water, and some Palmolive (I like the pomegranate scented kind because it smells good and it's pretty) or I'm sure other kinds of dish liquid soap would work.

 

Now, pour a wee bit of the Palmolive into your hand-pump. I didn't measure. I just put in what I thought looked about right. I actually ended up putting a little bit more in than you see in this photo to bring it to a better "foaming consistency." Trial and error, baby!

 

 

Fill the rest of the pump with water. I used water straight from my sink (I mean- hey- that's the water I'm washing my hands with anyway, right?), but you could use distilled as some of the other websites suggest. Watch out- it starts foaming right away!! Note- do this over the sink!!

 

 

Now, screw the lid back on. Here's the fun part: do a little shimmy-shake with the bottle to distribute the soap. I'm shocked at how simple this was to do, and how good the soap came out. I'm going to wait and see if my husband even notices the difference. 

 

 

Pardon my English, ya'll, but it smells good, looks good, works good. And probably best of all, it was cheap and easy to do. Now I better get to work on that soap pump you see in the background!!

 



Happy Labor Day, Ya'll!

Had such a lovely Sunday night last night with my little ones. It was a girl's night since my husband was at orchestra rehearsal. Now, don't judge me here....I opened up a can of those lovely o's covered in "marinara sauce", dumped them in a bowl and heated them in the microwave for my four-year-old. Yes I did. And we sat at the counter and ate them and then popped up some kettle corn for our movie night. So sweet to get some cuddle time in with her after putting my 3-month old down to bed for the night. We played "eenie-meenie-miney-mo" to decide if we would take a bite of kettle corn or a bite of the leftover Sweet and Saltines that I had made for my sister (she just moved away to college, so these were made to take back to her apartment so she wouldn't starve to death!!). Trisha Yearwood- thank you for your recipe (Get it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-and-saltines-recipe/index.html). Delish. And you can take a note from our household and pair it with a healthy-sized bowl full of kettle corn. The highlight of movie night was hearing Caitlin sing "...catch a tiger by it's toe; if he SLOBBERS let him go. Eenie-meenie-miney-mo." Haha. It was pretty hard to keep a straight face.

In addition to Trisha Yearwood's delicious Sweet and Saltines recipe, I made Giada de Laurentiis' Turkey and Spinach Taquitos (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/turkey-and-spinach-taquitos-recipe/index.html) this weekend with the ground turkey meat I didn't know what to do with. They turned out absolutely fabulous and get the stamp of approval from my husband, 4 year old, mom, college-aged sister, and myself. Try it. You won't be sorry.

Wow. It is now September 2012 and my original (ahem. ONLY post) took place in September 2011! That's pretty ri-di-cu-lous if you ask me! But, I'm back, and yes- I'm typing this and sending these words out into the great world wide web- I'm here to stay. Well...I think I'm here to stay. I can do it!? Maybe? Yes? Any votes of confidence out there? Ok, let's face it. A lot has happened since the last time I posted. I am now the mama of two (yep- had a baby) beautiful girls. My oldest is in preschool now (tear...well, many tears to be accurate) so between chauffeuring her around and taking care of my little one (3 months old!) I'm kinda busy. Did I mention I launched an online store through the Teachers Pay Teachers website? Check it out if you have a chance at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Hootie-Patootie!) Anyways, all this to say that 1)I'm super busy being a mama, 2)I'm super busy being a wife, 3)I'm super busy doing freelance graphic design work, but 4)I really want to start doing this blog thing and taking it seriously...maybe that's not the right word...consistently. Yes. Consistently.

 

So, what am I working on right now? Thank you for asking. My preschooler is really into math and simple addition right now and low and behold, she asked me for some "pirate math" to do. Not knowing what this meant exactly or where to find said "pirate math" I designed her a pirate math printable, which turned into an entire booklet of pirate literacy and math activities. Which turned into turning that booklet of pirate printables into another booklet of pirate printables for older primary students.

 

What else do I have in the works? I'm throwing a "Bee is for Boy" babee shower in just a tad over a month. So, hopefully some super cute pics are on the way.

 

Where am I going in the days and weeks to come? I'd like to turn our quiet, pretty much unused eat-in kitchen nook into our learning corner. I don't know yet if I'll be a homeschooling mama or a hands-on-room-mom at my daughter's school next year, but either way, we'd love to have a useful spot for thinking (this feels a little like a Winnie-the-Pooh reference), for being creative together, for reading, doing homework, whatever is thrown at us as we embark on the school years. I have many ideas for our corner that I'd love to share with you. (And my sharing this IN PRINT will hopefully motivate me to get organized and get goin!)

 

So, come along with me on this adventure...that's the way I'm choosing to look at it. I'll probably be sitting here with a great big cup of coffee typing and posting pictures...you can bring your cup of coffee and snoop in on what we're working on, whether it's learning to read or just doing some fun crafts!! From the heart, I hope that what we're doing will inspire you, and that you'll inspire me too. And, it'll be fun.

 

See ya next year for my annual blog post!

 

Just kidding.  :-)

-Amy

Hi from Alma!

Sometimes I feel like I have been teaching my whole life! Then I remember that I did spend a few years in college, and before that, I spent most of an eternity doing chores on a farm! The best years, however, were the ones I stayed home with my own little girls every day.

I have 25 years of teaching experience (3 of them were in SC, the rest in Florida). During that time, I have taught EELP (Early exceptional students), Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. I love first grade the most, I think, because the little ones come in ready to learn and ready to please. They are so sweet, for the most part, and there are so many "lightbulbs" going off all year long. They go from reciting the ABC's to decoding and chunking words like hippopotamus, and on to reading chapter books fluently.(Not to mention the tremendous amount of math they learn, as well as all of the other curriculum.) Another perk is that they are so darned complimentary. "You are the best drawer in the world." "Yeah, better than the art teacher." They bring you letters, pictures, and cards."You are the best teacher I ever had." "I hope you will be my teacher next year." "I love you so so so so much." They just keep my heart smiling!

Part of the key to teaching reading is to get children to love books. One way I do that is by doing author studies with related projects, such as the ones we will be offering on TPT.  Another thing I have learned about teaching reading is to have children discover that they can be writers, and others will read their work.That just sets them on fire for reading.

My philosophy is to work hard all year, but have fun with the little ones while I am at it. Keep a developmental perspective, moving and squirming and singing and chanting when necessary. Accept all students at their level, then teach them all by differentiating instruction.Provide tons of direct, research based instruction, celebrate the milestones, practice, practice, practice, and encourage everyone to do their best. Surround children with books, help them where they need help, and they flourish and grow!

Shining teacher moments to me are when former students make a special effort to stop by for a hug and to catch me up on their lives. One young lady came running out of her own place of business with her new baby in her arms. She had seen me standing in line at a theater...recognized me from more than 20 years earlier, and asked if I remembered her, and said she really wanted me to meet her new daughter! That brought tears to my eyes, and joy to my soul. Of course I remembered her, as well as all the others who have paraded through my room over the years! I love it!
-Alma

Happy Fall Everybody!

Welcome to the Hootie-Patootie Blog!

The coming of autumn motivated me to find a minute to finally take my little hootie for her three-year-old photo shoot, albeit about three months late. So, off to the lakefront we went on a very hot, very non-autumnal feeling morning here in sunny Florida. I can't believe what a big girl she is now, and moreover, how long it's taken me to pull out my camera.