Removal Blackboard

Almost a year ago I was thinking about all the things I wanted to do in our new house. One of the things that I thought I would definitely do was paint a portion of a wall somewhere so Lydia would have a chalkboard. It is super popular now a days and there are zillions of chalkboard colors now and tutorials to make your own chalkboard paint. However, when we bought the house there were so many things to do that this project fell off the radar. Then I realized that the play room had very textured walls and it wouldn't quite work.

In my search for alternatives I found chalkboard contact paper on Amazon. My actually thought on this was that I could cut this into shapes and stick it on things for sorting. I also thought it would be cute during Christmas for gift tags. Neither of these projects happened.

Yesterday, I thought of the roll and figured I should just use it. What was I waiting for? When I was little I loved little nooks and crannies. I would build tents and tuck pillows underneath to read. I wanted Lydia to have a little hideaway space too. The best one is a mini hallway that connects her room to the bathroom. I simply cut the paper, and stuck it on the wall. Eventually, I think I will get an inexpensive canopy at Ikea for that space too.

The contact paper worked out perfectly. The chalk was great. And Lydia was thrilled with this new addition. The best thing about it is that it peels right off without damage to the wall. It was cheap and so I don't feel badly for using it and tossing it whenever we may be finished.
 

It was a fast and easy project and Vivian I think loved it the most. She played with the back side of the contact paper sheet for ever. She loved the sound and crackle it made. It's hard to tear and doesn't dissolve easily in a little mouth, thus it was an instant sensory toy! She was so thrilled it was even hard to get a picture that wasn't blurry.

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OMG! I am going to be 40!

When I was younger one of my favorite movies was "When Harry Met Sally," and not because of it's most famous scene at the deli but rather because of the vignettes that were told by couples to show the passing of time in the movie. I loved the stories of how these people met and how their interactions expressed what their relationships were like. I can still recite most of the lines.

There is a moment in the movie when Megan Ryan's character has just found out that her ex is getting married and she says in a hysterical tearful moment,

"But I am going to be 40!"
Billy Crystal responds, "Yes, in 8 years."
"But it's out there, like a big dead end."

She was 32. I am now older than her character was, by 5 years. The dead end is closer than it ever has been before but that's really not my big revelation.

I had a birthday recently and it did occurred to me that I am almost 40. The number 4-0 is  indeed a little startling. I am not afraid of it or paranoid about it. It is what it is. But I wonder what when if ever I will feel like an adult. I am married. A homeowner. A mother. A professional. And still there are days that I am not sure if I really feel, like an adult.

There are hints of my age that creep up on me like the idea of going out drinking makes me go "eh" and shrug my shoulders. Where there was certainly a time in my life that going on drinking on a Friday or Saturday night was a definite, not a fleeting thought. Now I consider the morning after. The dehydration and melon head feeling of going out the night before, is it worth it? Now, I also consider the calories. Is that tasty import worth the extra 20 minutes of exercise that I have to do? My answers are normally, a resounding no. It's not worth being half a person or half a mom the next day. To be honest, I am okay with that and there is a part of me that is happy about it too.

Getting older, at least for me, but I am willing to wage that this is the case for most women, is of course the fact that weight is harder to lose and pictures of myself when I was younger make me wish I appreciated my body more then, but what really triggers my, "whoa that's grown up!" moments are such small things like ordering coffee after dinner or better yet, offering people coffee after dinner when they come over. No 20 year old does that; that is an adult thing to do, well unless the 20 year old is a hipster.

This morning my colleague and I were talking about a friend that craved out a bizarre niche in life. He is successful and happy doing something that can not be found in a career counseling office or on monster.com. He found his passion and relentlessly followed it. Culturally it is so much harder to do such things. We tell kids to do what you love when you grow up, but what we really want them to do is to pick something practical. Be able to pay your bills, have health care and feel safe.

What makes 40 feel like a big dead end at times is the same thing that makes me realize that I am really an adult. There are still things I want to do, and there is a fear that I won't be able to do them. Don't get me wrong, the things that I am now are pretty fantastic. I will want be a wife, a mom, a teacher, a daughter, a friend...but there are few more things on the list and maybe one day adult will be on there.

Reuse, Recycle, Art!

For the last couple of years after we dyed Easter eggs, I throw handfuls of pasta into the dye cups. I usually have a ton of different shaped pasta in the pantry. Our local grocery store seems to always have pasta buy one get one free, so we stock up.

 

The colored pasta work for us in many different ways. I used it for sorting skills, all the blues together, all the reds, all the weird blackish ones that are supposed to be purple ones together. I used them to help develop counting skills. For example, how many wheels do you have? Pasta is also perfect for threading skills; small motor skill development. I got out a piece of yarn, tied a big knot at the end of it and let Lydia put a bunch of different size pastas on the string. After a while, the pasta gets dropped and breaks and we throw it out slowly.

 

This year, I decided I would use our dyed pasta for more traditional endeavors of noodle art. At 2 1/2, there are fewer things that she likes more than glue. Good old fashion Elmer's white gold. This will entertain her for hours. I poured the glue onto a paper plate for easy disposal and gave her a plate of colored noodles. I set some examples up for her to make little people (wheels as heads, bowties for boys or head bows for girls, little macaroni for hair, ziti for body limbs) but she wasn't quite ready to replicate those, she really just wanted to dip them in glue and stick them on to the page.

 

Since I was reusing the dye, using some leftover pastas and a leftover sheet of lightweight foam, I declared this project an Earth Day endeavor. Once she was done, we decided to give it to Abuelo for his birthday, so it served yet another purpose, because all grandparents love art from their grandchildren.

 

I had some leftover pasta that I stuck in a baggie and kept for another day. The pasta from last year I threw out a couple of weeks before this year, so it last for a while. I would say that if your pasta gets limp after it has already dried completely, it may be the sign to toss it. Otherwise, get creative.

 

During this art time with Lydia, I finally let Vivian use her pudding paints. A few things I had forgotten about 8 months stage. I didn't need to put the paints on a plate. The plate was flung rather quickly and I was cleaning pudding off of everything in the dining room shortly after I gave it to her. I should have just put them right on the tray of the high chair. The fun part is smearing it all over, so prepare for a mess. And since it's pudding it is okay to eat but it makes for a very sticky baby. The sensory experience was so fun for her that it was well worth it.  

Summer Bucket List: Free or Cheap

Every year, about this time, I look ahead to summer and day dream. I am ready for the break and I am tired. I dream of days playing the role of a stay at home mom and since I only get to do that a couple of weeks a year, I want to be sure to make the most of it. This year, I am feeling more cost conscious since we are still working on small projects on the house. Therefore, all the items on the list are either free or very inexpensive. The Summer Bucket List is toddler and baby friendly for the most part, however I acknowledge that a few things, like spaghetti painting will be a terrific mess with the baby. The only thing that bothers me about the list is that it isn't a round number. I like round numbers. So if there are any additional suggests please let me know.

1. Beach (Ft. Desoto and St. Pete Beach)
2. Pool (I have stocked up on Dollar Tree Pool Items)
3. Summer Park Quest
4. Splash Parks (Dell Holmes, Ballast Point Park,)
5. Largo Itty Bitty Pool Time
6. Library Story Times
7. Kid Museums ( Glazer, Great Explorations We have annual passes!)
8. Watch a Sunset
9. Puddle jumping.
10. Bubble Pool
11. Driveway Water Painting
12. Ice Cream in a Bag (I have got to try this!)
13. Spaghetti Painting (When I am feeling brave.)
14. Dress up Tea Party with friends
15. Teach Lydia to love sandwiches
16. Make puppet theater (out of the giant box in the garage that I have been saving for the last year)
17. Make puppets out of old socks, paper bags
18. Massage, Mani, Pedi (I have a gift card. I will also say that this falls under that idea, that if Mom is happy, everyone is happy. So in essence, getting a massage makes a better wife, mom, daughter and friend. I am really doing it for them.)

Weedon Island Preserve

Last Friday, we we took a brief hike through one of the trials of Weedon Island.



As a nature preserve there is very little development. There is a parking lot, a cultural history center that has a couple things on display on the first floor but isn't always open for viewing and board walk.







We've gone taken the boardwalk path several times so today we did only a short portion instead we went towards the Boy Scout Trail. We looked at the map which is conveniently located near the parking.



The cut outs on the map served as foreshadowing all the critters we saw on our hike. We saw 3 armadillos today. This one was pretty friendly and didn't dash off immediately as I tried to take a picture.



There are also black crabs all over. Mostly we saw them on the boardwalk as they tuck into the cracks as quickly as possible before we got too close. The closest I was able to get to one was here and still it scurried speedily away.



Along the trail there were several educational placards which Lydia really enjoyed. She thought it was fun to see what was hiding underneath.



Our only mistake was going to close to dusk. The park as most do closed at sunset. The area is built on the edge of the bay where there are a ton of mangroves.





The trees are so lush and pretty but a hot bed for no-see-ums and other nibbling biters. So we had to hurry our hike at the end so the babies didn't get too bitten up. Dad carried both  babies for a little bit as we sprinted back to the car.


This is a St. Petersburg Treasure .We have been there dozens of times and every time there is something new to see and a new path to explore. There is no designated traditional kid area but its truly family time because we get a chance to talk and point out nature. Lydia ran down the trails and Vivi loved being in the pack. Most of the park is just for pedestrians but there is a boat docking area where there is normally a kayak rental available, an easy day activity.

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