play it foward

Happy Halloween!!

We're ending our first month of READY, SET, PLAY with some paper fun.

Reese borrowed an Origami Book from the school library recently. While looking through it, we discovered that World Origami Days are celebrated from October 24 through November 11th.

"American origami pioneer Lillian Oppenheimer's birthday is on October 24th. November 11 is Japan's traditional Origami Day. During this time, people around the world fold origami and teach others their techniques."
                                           - No-Quite-So-Easy Origami by Mary Meinking

With this in mind, we decided to PLAY it forward and share a Halloween tutorial on how to make jack-o-lanterns, origami style.

Reese and I made our first video last night but then we had trouble uploading it. :-( So instead, we included some websites that feature written instructions with photos for you to follow. Just click HERE or HERE for origami pumpkins. 

Reese had a lot of fun making these jack-o-lanterns. She made a whole bag full this morning to share with her class at the Halloween party.

She's not the only one who likes origami. Here are some of our origami models as of late...Reese's 3D cube, Ethan's godzilla size frog (it really hops), my second attempt at a crane and David's chinese balloon that inspired our Jack-o-lanterns.

 

Happy trick or treating...enjoy your candy and we'll see ya next week for November's Rule, #2.

reason #16 why our house rules...

WE DECORATE WITH LEGOS!!!

Doesn't everyone have a Taj Mahal in their dining room?

Or a Tower Bridge in the living room?
 

How about a fish tank minus the tank?

(Watch out, the yellow fish bites.)

 

 

 

I'm sure this sword is a relic.

 

 

And these letters are pure inspiration.

We know LEGOs may not be everyone's style but they are ours.

This is not a dining table, this is the LEGO table,

complete with garage space just below.

 

 

 

One Christmas, the kids even convinced us to buy LEGOs for one another.

(Nah, secretly, we wanted them, too. Lego Christmas Village on the bay window:-)

 But the real beauty of decorating with LEGOS

is that someone is always building,

someone is always helping,

and someone is always dreaming

about the next, great piece that would look FABULOUS in our house.

Nature plays, we just went along for the ride

This weekend, we took a bike ride by the beach. It. Was. BEAUTIFUL!

  

 

 

    

I've already broken our first rule of PLAY

I don't know how it happened. We were I was doing fine, or, so I thought. But it was all right there, in black and white.

I blame my to-do list.

You see, normally, my to-do list is a source of accomplishment for me. I like the feeling of putting a check here and putting a check there. I LOVE crossing things off my list altogether. But last week's to-do lists weren't just about check marks. With all my jabbering on about electronics, I was looking at them differently and seeing something new.

While my daily to-do list was full of activity - chock full of need to do's, must do's and please do's - it had very little in the way of fun-to-do's that were for me. That's right, NO PLAY. Zero. Zilch. My eyes widened in horror. Oh boy, I thought, I'm in trouble. 

I told the kids. They smiled. They laughed. It was cruel. Oh, how they loved seeing this imperfect side of me! Still, they didn't ask how it happened or why it happened, they just kept asking what I was going to do now? Good question.

Honestly, in some ways, I was feeling myself just going through the motions of some days. It had been a very busy month, and yes, busy is good, but to a point. All work and no play makes Nancy a crazed mama!

So what to do? How was I going to inject some PLAY back into my days? It's sad to admit it but sometimes, I need a reminder, like a giant neon sign. I didn't have any neon signs lying around so I went with the next best thing, smiley faces. 

I really rely on my to-do lists so I started to mess around with a new design. These smiley faces remind me of my kids, small but pack a punch. (Reese is the one sticking her tongue, out.) They are a dose of happy and have just enough smirk to make me stop and think about PLAY, once again.

And that kiddos, is a good way to start any day! 

I spy signs of play

Smiles after a football toss...nightly ritual before dinner.

 

Silly moment at swim lesson...if you water Reese, will she grow?

  

Testing our skills with games, Othello and Scrabble Flash.

 

Tennis, anyone?

 

 

READY, SET, PLAY is in motion :-) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The apple and the tree

 

Dear Ethan and Reese,

This is your dad and yes, he is doing a cartwheel. Why? Because it's FUN.

Your dad is on the other side of 40 years old, which means he's an adult, but he still acts like he's a kid. This is a very good thing.

How did your dad get so good at PLAY? Lots and lots of practice.

Your dad will always say YES to playing with you, in the backyard, in the pool and with every board game and lego set you own in the basement. (All 200 plus of them, legos, that is.) When he is not playing, he is singing songs and making us all laugh. He's got a great smile, you see it everyday. And if you make him laugh, you've made his day.

You might be thinking, well, that's just dad, that's who he is. But there's more to it. That inner spark, that PLAY that is so your dad is also inside YOU!  It's in your genes, passed down from generations. Don't believe me? Just think who your dad got his sense of PLAY from?

 

That's right, your grandpa Ralph, another PLAY FULL and funny guy!!!

If there is anything you can learn from cartwheels and balloon hats, it's that there is a lot of PLAY to be had in this life.

So go PLAY, have some FUN and let's not let the apple fall too far from the tree.

xoxo
Mom

In the kitchen...

One artful day, I painted this sign as a reminder for us to keep up with our PLAY this month. When it came time to find a place for it, the kitchen seemed the obvious choice, but where exactly?

 

I poked around looking at old photographs. One favorite spot kept coming up, year after year.

 

 

 

 

 

So many years - so many goldfish - it only seemed fitting that we hang our sign 

at our favorite hang out spot! Can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings:-)