she and whim

The library is such a fun visit for the shorts and me. They all go straight to their favorite section – my boys love non-fiction books on animals and cars, and the girls head for the juvenile fiction. I’ve enjoyed reading the juvenile/young adult classics that I didn’t read as a kid and new literature too like The Penderwicks series! :) We also have a family tradition of stopping at local book stores when we’re out of town, and they each get to pick out a book. We write in the cover where we were and the date. Half Price Books is a family favorite too!

So, I have this goal to build our family library. We have a decent collection going, and I was inspired by the book The Library and the character’s own checkout system she devised for her personal books. I had to explain the old-school way of checking out books to the shorts – the paper pockets with cards and date stamps. I checked out The Borrowers over the summer and it had the paper pocket still in it! So they got to see a real, old, date-stamped pocket :) Then I set to work on making pockets and cards for the girls’ books.

We decided to make them for chapter books only, since it was a pretty big undertaking and they’re the only ones that are old enough to work the system. The pockets are blank so each girl can write their name on their own books, and our last name goes on the family books. The checkout cards have “Date Out” instead of “Date Due”. We wanted it to be a family history of when the books were read and not about dealing with returns – no late fees here! And when our future grandkids come over they can check out books their mom read at their age. :)

Here’s the Library System I made for you to print as well. There are many colors! We printed one of each and sorted the books that matched each pocket color so we had a count before printing.

You’ll need these supplies to make them:

a cutting mat, xacto, straight edge, #65 smooth white paper, and double stick tape. We also bought this date stamp at the craft store! It’s so fun to stamp the cards!!

After you trim the pocket, fold the two tabs to the back. The double stick tape is wide enough to secure the tabs and adhere to the book in one step (see above photo). We found it easier to write on the pockets before attaching them to the books, but you may want to attach first so you don’t loose track of which goes where. The last page of the PDF file is the cards. Just trim them out using the crop marks, being careful not to cut through to the neighboring cards. The two rows are pretty close together to save paper!

And now you have your own official home library system! Yippee skippy and happy reading :D

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

The boys are doodle bug (and general animal) loving fanatics. Now that spring is here, they are on the hunt every day. They miss their doodle bugs at night or when they drop them and can’t find those little guys again. My favorite was when my youngest came shuffling out of his room the other morning, shoulders stooped, and I asked what was wrong. He said in his little 2 year old voice, “I miss Sweetie. She was my doodle bug last night. I dropped her on the deck and she fell down the crack. *sigh* She was a wife.” :D And he shuffled to the kitchen all sad. So after all this heartache, we decided to make some doodle bugs to keep in the house to play with too, just in case we need an emergency buddy.

We had to do serious doodle bug research for this project, so we decided the best doodle bugs were at the park! So we headed out…

…only to find a hungry tree that gobbled them up! After a quick escape, there was lots of exploring, playing, and finally some doodle bug hunting. Then we found one!

And don’t even think about taking that doodle bug away – or that cheetah in his pocket. :)

The next day I made a quick pattern (that you can use too). It’s just a simple line drawing in 4 sizes (a dad, mom, kid and baby, as requested by my guys). I cut the grey fabric from the pattern, then cut strips of striped material and sewed them to the bottom of each grey piece. Then I stitched them together leaving a hole at the bottom. These are the bugs, some inside out and some partially stuffed. I like the striped fabric, the black being their many little legs :)

And action shots of the fellows… one serious and the other, not so much.

After they stuffed them, I stitched closed, and then Mr. 5 year old drew the stripes and eyes on with a grey fabric marker. I’m glad we made so many because 4 have already disappeared!

We also made a set for their cousin’s 2nd birthday. Hope he enjoys them as much as my guys do :)

Yay for doodle bugs!!

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

Spring has sprung here! And did we have a downpour last night – I was so thankful (and surprised) everyone slept through the thunder. The kids recently decorated our front windows with their Crayola Window Markers (and some of the wall by Mr. 2 year old, but we won’t count that). I love that their doodles were so springy. We’ll be keeping these up for a while!

Here’s Isaiah 40:31!

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I’m excited about our kids learning this one. It’s their Pop’s favorite verse, AND my most favorite band, MuteMath, has a song that goes with it perfectly. It’s Peculiar People and you can play it below. Did you know that my man and I went to their Dallas concert?! It was fantastic! Every time I see this pic I can’t believe I was actually there! :)

	Mute Math – Peculiar People
	Found at Genius MP3 Music Search Engine

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

Our family has been memorizing Bible verses for several months. Every week or two I pick a verse (sometimes influenced by an upcoming holiday) and design it to be relevant with the content. Every word is on a separate piece of paper and I hide them around our living and dining room… then each kid takes a turn finding a word! Then my oldest gets her Bible, looks up the verse, and they all help put the words in order. We use poster putty to stick each word on our front door. I love this because they are all able to participate (my kids range from 2-9yrs), it’s a game, the design helps make memorizing easier, it promotes great discussions, and best of all, they’re hiding God’s word in their hearts! And I’ve made it digital so you can print it too. This week’s verse is Psalm 32:8! “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”:)

I print on 80# cover (card stock), smooth, bright white paper, and cut out with my Fiskar scissors.

P.S. In the past I’ve handwritten and cut each image/word out freehand. I’ll re-do our past verses in a digital format later, and post so you can have those too. :)

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}