"Where is Jamie?"

Before we moved the girls and I did crafts in the morning before we packed. One week we were supposed to do farm crafts...but a horse craft we did totally flopped, but this one worked.

Here's a pop up book we made.



First we folded 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock in half.
Second, drew farm scenes on one side of each page. (Garden, Henhouse, barn, pond, orchard, doghouse and pig pen)
Third, cut out a door from each one, using an exacto knife.



Next we folded the paper under, and drew an animal where the door opens.

We colored the hiding animal, and folded over the paper and glued together.

After it dried, I added text and a cardboard cover, then bound it using my bind it all.

The girls LOVED giving me ideas for the different scenes, and deciding what the story was. And coloring it in. We chose "Where is Jamie?" (Jamie is my parent's golden retriever). The whole book is text asking "Where is Jamie" with the tabs showing different animals in their habitats. Then the last page has Jamie in his dog house.

Making a flap book like this would be great for a group of children, having each one draw or color a scene or page.

It's so rewarding writing your own story, try it sometime!

Still Alive

Hello Faithful Readers- all half dozen of you!

I am still alive. Worried, weren't you?

We've spent the last three weeks setting up our house, playing with our family, making new friends and laughing at rambling sob stories connected to furniture listins on craigs list. And let me tell you, there's no shortage of those.

We're unpacked for the most part, but we're still in need of furniture for our living room. And a decision about window covers. It's exhausting. Talk to me in 6 months and I might have a house that's kind of put together.

I've discovered a house really affects the way you live. This is probably a no brainer to most of you.

For example...

I now have space to dance in my kitchen. Now I wanna listen to music instead of boring npr.

I also can see most of my backyard from my kitchen. So the kids can play while I make dinner. Life changing.

I now have a bathroom I can see a computer from. Yes. I can watch youtube while I go. (Jealous?)

Our computer is also very far away from the playroom (unlike in Va, where it was around the corner). So I'm on it less. Which is good.

The distance from our parked car in the garage to my fridge is about 10 feet. No more punishment for humongous shopping trips.

My tv is also very close to our kids rooms, so I have to watch it at night with closed captioning. I think the close captioning edits out profanity. I'm even more sheltered than before.

And last but not least, big house equals better games of hide and seek.

So now you know. And the more you know, the less you don't know.

The Best Two years...

In about 48 hours we will start our journey to Indiana.

Sniff, away from...Sniff....my home.

Here we are two years ago...and then today...

While living here in Blacksburg I…

• Learned how to make friends quickly and have common interests beyond similar circumstances.
  
• Served in Primary (children's classes in church), and came to really appreciate how hard and rewarding teaching every week is.
• Started hosting parties and being comfortable
  
• Spent 12 months deciding what I wanted for my front window curtains, then another 12 months hating them.
  
• Started digitally scrap booking…couponing…quilting…costumes…bread baking…book binding…
  
• JOY SCHOOL!
• Perfected weekend trips to my parents house in Md.
  
• Took longer walks. over a mile long. Started running again, and liked it this time.
  
• Discovered freecycle and scored some AWESOME things.
  

(Pictures from our first year living here)

While here, My Girls…

• Learned how to crack and joke and laugh at themselves.
  
• Have grown into sisters and not just people who live in the same house and share parents.
  
• Are now Princess-obsessed (Sophia) and puppy obsessed (Natalie)
  
• Can now ride a bike and go on walks without strollers.
  
• And scores of other things I can’t remember…
  
  
  

  (Pictures from our 2nd year here)

Blackburg. You've been awesome. Why you ask?

1. Our house was awesome. Built in storage up the waazoo, and a secluded backyard.
2. The town is decorated in Hokie statues. We spotted them all around town and on walks to Kroger. (A hokie is the Virginia Tech mascot and is really a turkey)
   
3. Then there's the tailgaters firing up the grills and cracking open the brewskies at 8 am on game days.
   
4. And I'll never forget all the times I felt old when in the grocery line with all the 18 year olds in booty shorts, who have just diet coke and bananas and beer in their baskets.
   
5. Blacksburg is amazing in the spring. Garden of Eden.
   

   (Blacksburg in all his seasonal glory)
   

6. Plus there's the Blueberry picking. Huckleberry picking. Blackberry picking.
   
7. The hills! I love the Hills! The best is going to my visiting teachees house, seriously a rollercoaster.
   
8. The Huckleberry trail (a bike trail that runs to the next town), plus the national park hikes and bike lanes all over town. And the Caboose Park. And duck pond. And all the professors jogging at lunch time.
   
9. The cutest babies. The babies born in this ward are seriously more cute than the ones in your ward. Sorry, but true. (Back me up on this blacksburg peeps!)
   
10. Last but not least, my friends. Why do we always have to leave our friends behind? There's facebook and blogs and blah blah blah, but nothing replaces seeing your friends often and having a good fat laugh. I will miss you friends.
    

Blacksburg, until next time. I will miss you.