Fiskafriends- The Power of Community Blog Hop 2015

Fiskafriends- The Power of Community Blog Hop

Welcome to Happiness is Homemade!

Thank you for visiting my little corner of the world.  So happy you stopped by!

DIY Sticker Book

When you think about your childhood, did you have an interest or hobby that seems totally outdated in today's world of technology?  An activity that kids of today might not enjoy or even see the purpose in? I sure did!  Besides collecting random rocks around the yard, I was a BIG sticker enthusiast.

Yes, the Scratch and Sniff still smell!

I loved receiving stickers from my teachers, for my birthday and those free ones that would sometimes come in the mail for magazine subscriptions.  Over the course of my childhood, I carefully curated my collection into three sticker books.

I remember carefully peeling stickers off class work and tests so that I could add them to my collection.  I loved going through my books again and again to scratch the smelly stickers or feel the fuzzy ones.

In my constant quest to steer my own boys away from technology and enjoy true play, I worked with them to create their own sticker books.  This is a perfect activity for cold, rainy days or during quiet times when my little one was napping.

I purchased 3-ring binders and page protectors from the office department at Wal-Mart.  The bigger boys picked out some bold binders, while the little guy went plain.  I think the colorful ones keep with the cool 80's vibe I had!

Totally Radical

I made a cover for my little one's plain binder

In each page protector, I inserted a plain piece of white printer paper, so that it would give a solid background for the stickers to be showcased.

After that step, they were ready to get to work!

The boys simply peeled the stickers and adhered them to the outside of the page protectors.  They were repositionable when first applied, probably not so much later.

Great activity for those developing small muscles

This book has been great after doctor visits when they hand my boys a stack of stickers to take home with them.  It has encouraged them to keep the stickers "safe" until they get home to put in their book instead of plastering the back seat with them (or themselves).


I would love to know what  your simple pleasures were as a child...and do you share them with your child/grandchild/etc. today?

Blog Hop Info:

If you would like to be eligible for the sponsor giveaway drawing, START at the Fiskafriends blog http://fiskafriends.blogspot.com/ and follow the instructions there. If you have already done that, I would love for you to leave a comment on my blog.

You do not have to be a Fiskafriend to visit the blogs and comment on our blogger's pages.  International friends are welcome!
 The blog hop begins on March 27th at 6PM (PDT) and will end on March 29th at 11:59 PM PDT. The full contest rules and blog hop list will be revealed on the blog on March 27th. 

Start here and then you're your way:   http://fiskafriends.blogspot.com/

1. Jean Bullock, #8889, http://ez3dpopups.blogspot.com 
2. Susan Slomski, #6150,  http://sueinct.blogspot.com 
3. Cindy deRosier, #4113, http://www.cindyderosier.com
4. Tifany DeGough, #5942, http://inkblotsbytrd.blogspot.com 
5. Cheryl Waters, #002, http://blog.artsyfindings.com
6. Jean Marmo, #7358, http://pagesintime.blogspot.com/
7. Teresa Godines #6857 http://purplebunnypapercrafts.blogspot.com/
8. Michelle O'Driscoll #7586 http://scrapbookingsos.blogspot.ca/
9. Nancy Carroll  #11488  http://nancecarroll.blogspot.com
10. Maya Oren-Dahan #351  http://mayadahan.blogspot.com
11. Amy Martin Jones #8546 http://thetigershaven.blogspot.com/
12. Karen Poirier-Brode (Ladydoc) #2858 http://www.karenscorneroftheweb.blogspot.com
13. Tanya Napier #5407  http://mamabirdy-happinessishomemade.blogspot.com/  (You are here)
14. Pamela Haskin #8040 www.cottagebelow.com
15. Stasia Sloma #9314 http://www.stampzone.blogspot.com
16. Tracy Moloney  #6773 http://tracyscraftyadventures.blogspot.com.au/
17. Kim Chenez #5612 http://scrapbooknstampingfun.blogspot.com/

Why is the Thermometer Out? (And Other Curveballs Life Throws)

I had just returned home from a lovely afternoon of practicing my new

found crochet chain making skill, when upon walking in the front door, I see the thermometer out on the table.  The first words out of my mouth were not a "Hello" or "Hi," but a, "What is the thermometer doing out?"

Our little bird was running a fever, of course.  Why wouldn't he? We were supposed to go out for a belated Valentine's Day date that very evening.  This almost happens every time we plan a date.  We have had to cancel last minute due to a feverish boy that wakes from a nap burning up.  My own surprise baby shower was not so much a surprise when my middle bird became very ill the morning of.

Many times I have returned from an errand or what have you and walked in the door to instantly see the eyes of a child that has a fever or something else brewing in their little body. We Mama's just KNOW when we see our little one. We don't need a thermometer or WebMD to tell us, we are experts already.  In fact, I knew minutes before my oldest bird was going to have a febrile seziure that I should keep my eyes fixed on him!

Of course I feel horrible when my kids are sick, but it's also tough because our time as just a couple is very limited.  I have told my husband, it  must be the devil intervening (or trying to)- he doesn't want us to keep working in our marriage and sharing these important times together.  Our children's health and comfort always come first though.

We were able to go our for a couple hours, thanks to Tylenol and that the fever wasn't much to be overly concerned about.  It has been an ongoing virus that he has battled for over a week or so, even while on antibiotics for an ear infection. A very high fever even had us hanging out at the ER last week, our visit long enough to watch most of the Grammy awards show.

So, the week has gone without incident, but now the thermometer is back out again...but not for the kids...

Achoo!

On Being Bored...

We are on Day 2 of summer break from school.  On Day 1, I heard the "B" word.  You know the one.
Do they really miss school so much already that they can't entertain themselves at home?  Or do they really expect me to entertain them All.The.Time?

On Day 1, I declared on our agenda would be NOTHING.  No meeting up with friends, no outings, no housework, no crafts.  Nothing.  It started out well enough- The World Cup was on and they wanted to design their own jerseys on a printable template I had found.  They spent time in the yard recreating the soccer they had just been watching.  They played a little Lego.  But then it happened...Boredom.

I decided we would have a chat about boredom.  We talked about what summer will look like for us this year.  I don't need to entertain them every waking hour of their day.  They WILL be bored and they WILL have to figure out how to remedy this by using something amazing called "imagination." I reminded them that there are times that I would like to enjoy reading or working on a craft project myself.  Or that there will be days when I need to do laundry or we need to run errands or do housework. I also informed them that I had plenty of things for them to do for me if they were truly bored.  Those little faces showed they were not pleased.

I saw this article this morning on Facebook and it made me happy:

http://wearethatfamily.com/2014/06/dear-children-let-me-explain-this-thing-called-summer/

Someone on the same team!

As Mamas, we are constantly bombarded with 101 Things to Do in the Summer and Build a Backyard Water Park. We are told we need to plan every minute of every day and make it magical and memorable. We need to have perfectly staged lemonade stands with chevron-striped paper straws.  We need to buy 100 pool noodles to create our own foam pit.  We need to create a bored jar so they can pick an activity on a stick when they are bored.

Listen, I am a planner and I LOVE Pinterest and I do have a Summertime board.  I love planning for them and executing fun outings and activities.  But I also know that they NEED to be bored.  They NEED to use their brains for play.  They NEED to use their hands and bodies for more than electronic devices and games.
I NEED to have my own summer bucket list, which includes finishing 3 classes that I am enrolled in.

So, what happened after our talk?  They went outside, again, but for hours.  They re-discovered our chalk bucket with a neighbor girl and drew a castle, village and traced outlines of their bodies (kinda looks like a crime scene on our patio right now).  They made a propeller type thing out of found wood and screws.  They ate popsicles and got really sweaty.  It was a good day...