Post-Matilda Post

Oh Sam I love the images you've pulled together. Did you know I was thinking about being a fox for Halloween? I have these grand notions of a papier-mache mask. If I get my act together... Do you have a good papier-mache receipe? I'll have to find one.

Yes, a fieldtrip to see Mr. Fox is an excellent idea.



And testament to just how in sync we are, we are reading Matilda! K has taken to counting the "naughty" words as we go along. Seven in last night's chapter. We watched the movie over the weekend.

Other books we are into right now:

Fanny & Annabelle by Holly Hobbie

As a child of the 70s, I have a soft-spot for anything Holly Hobbie. This is a hit with the 5 yr old, and is a follow-up to her beloved Fanny. (I think Fanny is the better of the two. Such a good book!) Oh, but this one made David cry!

George and Martha by James Marshall

Heavy rotation again with the 5 yr old. Good stuff.

Annie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright

The 8 year old likes this series, and this one is the latest. She is going through a book every day and half now! I think I'll to put her onto Enid Blyton - I loved the Famous Five when I was 8.

Beyond the Bakesale: The Essential Guide to Family School Partnerships

Guess who is reading this one? Ha! I have to say, though it is written for Public School Administrators and Teachers, I am finding it very inspirational, and thought-provoking.

Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith

And this too. He is my go-to when I am feeling discouraged about our Public School system. Is there a theme here?!

The Grand Central Baking Book

Counteracting my Beyond the Bakesale reading. I LOVE this book. Molasses cookies on the schedule today.

How To Be Free by Tom Hodgkinson

Ok, thought I should include what is on David's nightstand. I bought this for him, reading about it somewhere - can't remember now.

Mr. Fox

Tracy, are you taking the bugs to see Fantastic Mr. Fox? Maybe we should get a field trip together. I've just finished reading the book to the boy and it was indeed fantastic. We are now moving on to Matilda...



1. IMG_2579, 2. Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox, 3. Fox, 4. il sogno, 5. Matte Stephens, 6. Freddy, 7. Fantastic Mr Fox, 8. Fantastic Mr Fox_6, 9. Fantastic Foxes, 10. redhood, 11. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, 12. ron2-10-09 084a, 13. Untitled, 14. "The Thrill of the Hunt" detail 1, 15. Untitled, 16. Fabric Farmers

A love letter, of sorts

Dear Two Green Chickens,

I know we don't post to you as often as we should or add items to the shop as much as we would like. But we've been busy of late. We have other coops to run, chicks to feed and fuss over, farms to commute to everyday. But it doesn't mean we are not thinking about you. We talk (text) about you often, have dreams and hopes for you, and look forward to the time when we can spend more time with you.



Please accept this new banner (designed by the very talented and fantastic Mr. Britt, more on him later) as a token of our love.

With love and affection,
Tracy and Samantha

Above is some artwork sent to us by S. Britt while working with him on the new banner.

Speed Thrifting

Between work and kids there is not much time to even thrift anymore. I'm resorting to 30 minutes on a Friday night after work - thank you Salvation Army for staying open late. Friday nights are more forgiving, no homework, no getting to bed on time, not even a bath! Well, the baby usually needs a bath but the boy can get away with it.

So in I go, after work. I look down the crockery aisle first then round the corner to the "other" aisle and this is usually where I find some great vintage paper goods. See below for a fantastic box of envelopes I recently found. Over to the bedding and fabric corner - why is there never any good fabric yardage at my SA? A zoom through the kid's clothes and a walk down the adult skirt and dress aisle in search a fabric. This tactic can sometimes unearth some wonderful and inexpensive yardage finds like the William Morris and Marimekko skirts below. I'm imagining making the baby some sweet skirts or tops from this. Imagining because I don't have time to sew anymore either...

How do you shop at the thrift store?

Get off the couch!

New to me, Kids Off the Couch, is a free weekly e-newsletter "that offers parents fresh ideas for using movies to connect their kids to culture".

You can sign up at www.kidsoffthecouch.com and check out their archives for kid-tested pairings of great family films and cool adventures in Los Angeles, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, apple picking at Riley's Farm and making apple prints with the kids.

saracarr

I think these will be my go to gift this holiday for the 8 and under crowd...

I love everything in sara's shop. The egg cozies would be a great stocking stuffer too!

(found via bloesem kids)

wiki-d

My favourite native plant nursery - Theodore Payne, in Sunland - has a new Native Plant Wiki chock full of useful information for the native plant gardener.


encelia californica

Listen up!

On a tip from Blair today, I picked up a ::free:: episode of Boomerang. Get it here. If you don't know Boomerang, their tagline is "it's like Public Radio for kids".

Check it out!

cool tool

Whole Foods has introduced an iphone app to "put healthy and convenient recipes in your pocket." Thank you very much!

Read about it here.
Download it on iTunes.

what's for lunch?

today:
nitrite-free oven-roasted turkey on whole grain bread with mayo and mustard
organic dill pickle
carrot sticks (chopped myself)
organic grapes and strawberries
organic whole grain pretzels
H2O

packed in:
lead and bpa free lunchbags from hanna anderson
bento boxes picked up at comic con by a friend
kids konserve stainless steel containers
klean kanteens

I find making lunches one of the biggest challenges of the school year. What are you packing?