Born Blonde
Real life truly is funnier than fiction...
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A Little Change
I have finally finished organizing all those recipes. You will now find tabs at the top (look up) leading to individual recipe categories. ...
Verses
Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! Luke 1:45
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Thursday, September 19, 2024
10th Grade School Pictures
I can't believe this child is in the 10th grade!!! How did that happen !?!
So, per our usual, I took her to JCPenney's Studio with Groupon in hand for her school photos.
The photographer really got into the school picture theme. She had several that involved props like apples and books.
But we got some good pictures out of them. And the one she absolutely loved with both apples and books is on its way to us.
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Fidget Lap Blanket
I recently attended a meeting for people who sew called Sewing for Service. I became intrigued by something called "fidget mats" that they were making. I had heard of such things for babies and autistic children.
But they were making these for nursing homes (people in wheelchairs, etc. get bored with sitting in one spot and having nothing to do) and places that have people with dementia (like Alzheimer's).
It is basically a mat (about placemat sized) that has lots of different things to 'play' with and several textures as well. They were also incorporating it into lap blankets so they have something to keep their legs warm but also allowing for fidgeting.
I decided to give them a try.
My first effort was just a basic mat.
I used random things I found that I had not used yet and picked up a patch and some wooden flowers from the dollar store.
After realizing how hard it was to come up with things for each block, I ended up Googling some ideas. I came across one mat that was a scene rather than just random blocks so I tried making a similar one using a few of my own ideas too.
While it must have been a poor year for rain (lol) as seen in her misshaped egg and the puny corn leaves, I still think it turned out cute. And I found that cute farm fabric at Hobby Lobby for 40% off to use to frame it and cover the back with.
Next I decided to go with a garden theme. I found a pretty sheet at the thrift store to use for framing and backing it so I just had to come up with a fidget block for it.
This is what I have so far. The butterfly is felt and beads. The sunflower is my crinkly center with ribbon petals and 3D leaves. I found a flower patch for little white daisy type one and the bee is another patch I found and sewed to a felt back attached to a ribbon. The tulip forms a cup so the bee can slide right in. The pink flower has more 3D elements with a big white button to play with in the middle.
It isn't finished yet. I still have to do something where they go into the ground and I have a couple more things I'd like to add.
But I think it's looking good so far.
What about you? Any ideas for fidgets to help me out?
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Friday, September 15, 2023
9th grade School Photos
Thursday, September 14, 2023
8th Grade 2022/23
As usual, we had a lot of fun in 8th grade. Despite the autism, adhd, and low vision, we keep on plugging away.
And we had plenty of adventures.
Her science this year consisted of a lot of individual units about different things. We actually really enjoyed doing science this way. For a couple of months, we focused on one general topic and learned a lot about it then went to the next topic. We also worked on a corresponding lapbook for each science unit so that she basically had one folder that told all of the interesting things she had learned. It was like having a little memory book that captured all the fun things we had done with that unit too.
Like this experiment determining what the best conditions were for yeast to grow.
So we set up an ant farm. She proclaimed that it was like having her own little tv. We all enjoyed watching them work.
Unfortunately, they passed because no queen was included and that is what eventually happens despite our best efforts to keep them alive.
At the beginning of our year, we went to the local park and gathered a sample of pond water to try out our new microscope and hopefully see some interesting creatures.
This was a literature project where she made up her own tall tale.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Another Memory Quilt
You may remember that I made Chick a Memory throw some time ago. Well, I finally had some time recently and was able to get to work on Rugrat's.
I decided to go all the way and make an actual quilt this time, especially since I had plenty of shirts saved up from her adventures.