ABC Books

When Peyton turned 3 years old, I made him a personalized ABC Book. I didn't do any fancy scrapbooking or anything at the time, so his was pretty basic. "A is for Art" with a picture of Peyton holding up a piece of his artwork. That sort of thing. But he loved it. And he still does.

And that book has lasted with no problems until about two months ago. When Ella accidentally ripped the bottom of some pages off the spiral binding. Peyton was devastated. I tried to comfort him by telling him that I would make him A BRAND NEW ONE! I was thinking that I could make his brand new one super awesome. And I could make each letter's page all layered and beautiful. But that idea was obviously ridiculous because he didn't want a new one. He wanted the same one. Sweet, sweet boy. So I tied the broken part with a little blue ribbon and he was happy again. Besides, kids don't care about the beauty of scrapbooking, they care about seeing pictures of themselves. (Click on the pictures for a close up.)

As I've mentioned before, sometimes I lag on the mommy ambition I once had, so Ella didn't get hers until this last Christmas when she was almost 4.

She has always adored Peyton's ABC book, so I knew she would love one of her own. And she does!

And honestly, it did take a while to put the books together - figuring out the perfect picture for each letter and all, but it was worth it. The only letter I actually had to take specific pictures for was the X. Luckily, we have a xylophone, so I made each kid pose in front of it. All the other letters I was able to figure out. It was like playing a mental game - trying to match each letter of the alphabet with one single picture out of the thousands that I have of my kids. The very last page just has The Alphabet Song on it. (Click on the pictures to see a close up.)

After I had all the letters represented, I printed the covers and back pages on card stock. Then I printed each letter page on photo paper.

Then I took them into a copy store and had them spiral bound with a clear cover on the front and back.

The whole process was really inexpensive. The only thing I would suggest is that you don't get plastic comb binding - the kind of binding where each little spiral opens. Get the kind of sprial binding that coils all the way down the book. Unless, of course, you enjoy fixing bindings every other day. Because kids can break those plastic comb bindings open by pure mind control. With their eyes closed and both hands tied behind their back. Really, it's quite amazing.

Anyway, back to Ella's book. I didn't want to make it too much fancier than Peyton's, because that wouldn't be fair, so I kept the letter pages in the same style and just prettied up the cover a bit. To the card stock, I glued on coordinating paper and lined the title paper with pretty brown ribbon. Cute, right?

Peyton and Ella love their ABC books so much. And I love that their books are made with all the love in the world.

Happy ABCs!

Caterpillar Party Kit

I love making party favor kits! I just finished this Caterpillar Party Kit for a 3-year-old's birthday party and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Just imagine the pride of 12 sweet little party guests creating 12 sweet little garden caterpillars. The cuteness!

So here we go!

Little supply bags for each guest:

(Since this party kit is for really little kids, I pre-painted the caterpillars' heads and tails and pre-cut the body circles for easier crafting. Because I want moms to like me.)

all filed neatly:

in a cute reusable box:

with a birthday message for the birthday girl that can be used as a table topper or birthday card:

all wrapped up in a brown paper package tied up with... ribbon (Did you totally start singing right there? I should have wrapped it with string in homage, but matching ribbon is much prettier. Sorry, Maria.)

ready to be opened and enjoyed!

It's party time made simpler!

Things Peyton Teaches Ella on the Drive Home

TUESDAY: The Toilet Song

Here's the brand-new song Peyton learned at school. (Thanks, recess friends!) And taught to Ella on the 15 minute car ride home. It's awesome in its my-kids-have-reached-THAT-age-ness:

Totally reminds me of the Parenthood diarrhea song. And don't you just love Peyton as a back-up dancer?

Just in case you're jealous that your child isn't as fluent in potty songs, here are the lyrics:

We will, we will...

Rock you!

Sock you!

Pick you up and drop you!

Flush you down the toilet!

I hope you enjoy it!

FRIDAY: The Pain of Childbirth

Ella: I want to be a baby again.

Peyton: You can! When you die and you go to heaven if you're really good in heaven then you can be born again and be a baby. But it's going to hurt because you have to have sharp scissors sticking out of your tummy.

Ella: Why?

Peyton: Because when you're in Mommy's tummy there's a tube so that you can eat. And when you come out of Mommy's tummy you have to have the scissors to cut the tube. And it's going to hurt!

Ella: Why?

Peyton: Because that's what happens when you are born. And you are going to whine and cry a lot!

Ella: How do you know?

Peyton: Because I have a scrapbook and it shows all about how I was born and the scissors.

Ella: I want to see it!

Peyton: Okay, when we get home I'll show you.

And when we got home he showed her the picture that has obviously scarred him for life:

Maybe I should clarify things a little for him, but, really, this is way more entertaining.

And these two car rides home are much, much better than what I usually get to listen to. You know, the standard screaming about how one kid gave the other one a mean face or is humming too loud or has the nerve to breathe.