Luck Be a Lady...Named Katie!

You are NOT going to believe this, I don't even really believe it but I won TWO more giveaways!!! Can you believe it, I think this is the most luck I've ever had in my entire life! I am so grateful to be the lucky winner of so many giveaways recently, believe me I appreciate each one!First I won Cathe's Blog Birthday giveaway at Just Something I Made, one of the most inspiring blogs I read. I also especially like hers because she's located in Northern CA, where in my heart I still live. I love "visiting" wine country again through her posts. She's also the source of the cute email button I have on my leftside bar and the thank you one at the very bottom. I'm getting a package of fabulous stuff from her stash. I can't believe she's willing to pass any of this stuff on. You have got to go check out what's coming, she posted beautiful pictures here. I'm sure that my pictures won't do the stash justice! She recently did a post about making these cute nest bottles while on a crafting retreat and I was in love with them. Now I'm actually getting one! She got a huge readership and a ton of people entered so I am still pinching myself that I won.Then I also found out I won the You Can Make This $50 bundle from the Ultimate Blog Party at Five Minutes for Mom. Since my friend Kris at JesseKate Designs's sister owns that blog and she is closely involved in it too, I feel like I'm getting that one from a friend so I am super excited. As a newbie sewer I am especially anxious to try out their great step by step instructions and looking forward practicing and showing off my newest creations! I had been so lucky lately that I didn't really think I'd win anything this time, that would just be...well too lucky so I didn't bother to look at the prize list too closely for my UBP post and just picked a few things that I really REALLY liked...I just looked at the purse from the bundle...winning that alone would've put me over the moon.

It's highly unlikely I have any Irish in me, but did I have the luck of the Irish last month or what? Must have been some birthday luck thrown in there, guess turning 32 wasn't so awful after all!

Ikea Fun

Thanks for all the encouragement over the wavy curly do from yesterday! I was debating letting it be more natural once the humidity hits as that's easier for me anyway but like I said I always worry that it looks all crazy and undone. You know how it, sometimes you can't look at yourself in an unbiased way. I'll definitely try to embrace an unblown out look, at least a little bit:) But it'll be hard because for all of you who would've loved a bit of wave all I ever wanted was really thick straight hair! You know how it is, we always want what we don't have. We had an art filled day with lots of time spent making chalkboard drawing, the long Little Quack art project, and stamping with our over sized stampers. Then we had more excitement at night when we went to Ikea after Brad got home.

She was the best she's been there in a long time. She still had to stop and touch every fake computer in the room displays, but at least this time she'd move on to the next one without throwing a fit. I think the breaks for her to play with the little activity stations, like the one above, helped a lot too. She also went through the little opening by the enterance to the kids section that has the strips of fabric hanging from it again and again. It's the first time she wasn't scared of it.

I only had to carry her a bit at the end, by lighting in the bottom level when her little legs got tired. We bought her some sand toys and an easel for Easter along with chalk and dry erase markers. I'm going to use the plastic floor protector that we used to use underneath her high chair and put the easel on top of that in the basement. I think she'll love painting there.

She fell asleep on the way home, and even stayed asleep when we got home. She slept on the couch in my arms before Brad took her to bed almost an hour early. Guess that no nap this afternoon finally caught up with her!

Storytime Art: Little Quack

This is our contribution to the kid's craft Jamboree hosted this month by Amanda over at one of my favorite children's activity blogs kiddio. I'm excited to find some fun and new spring themed activities, crafts, and recipes. You have until April 2 to head over and sign up!

After a long Michigan winter, I just love springtime when the first tulips and daffodils begin to peek through the ground. It makes me think of baby animals like chicks, lambs, and of course my favorite...baby ducklings. Some of our favorite springtime books feature an adorable little duck, Little Quack. Over the years I've ordered all of the books in the series by Lauren Thompson through Scholastic book orders.

The original book is about Mama duck encouraging her little ducklings to leave their nest and come out into the water with her. Along the bottom there are duck drawings that illustrate simple addition as each duckling joins the mama duck. The story's message is a good one; you can talk about addition, being brave, and trying new things when reading this book. The illustrations of Little Quack and his siblings also really draw the reader in.We made our own little pond scene inspired by the book's illustrations. Here she is working on adding the long grasses around the pond. As always, she relishes any opportunity to wield the glue bottle! It took her a very looonnnnggg time to place all the grass pieces. Seriously, I managed to eat my entire lunch in peace while she worked away, that's a minor miracle in and of itself.We made a handprint duck, I was a little too generous with the paint so the handprint didn't come out as clearly as I'd have liked, cut it out, and added Little Quack to the pond. She's really thrilled with and quite proud of how it came out, as she loves those books. I really liked the project because it gave her lots of gluing practice and was very high interest for her.

I am also sharing this post on: I Blame My Mother's Kid Friendly Friday and Ramblings of a Crazy Woman's Showcase Saturday. Check them out for kid's project ideas and add one of your own while you're at it!