I had ambitions early on last week to create a set of printable valentines to share with you all. Of course, it turned out to be a busier than normal week around here, and then someone (whose name begins with Z and who doesn't believe in wearing socks unless absolutely necessary) was mostly disinclined to let me settle down to work on said cards anyway.
But then Annie 2.0 found herself stuck in a snowy grocery store parking lot with a dead car starter and a bag of tortilla chips on Friday morning, and after the small folk and I appeared on the scene for purposes of rescue, I found myself with an extra pair of adult hands around the house for the afternoon. And so: valentines for you.
There are four different card options, as well as matching printable envelopes for each design. You can download the valentines and envelopes (in a five page PDF file) by clicking on the link below.
We are having our first real snow day of the season, with All Things being cancelled in honor of a big storm that actually managed to make it far enough north to visit our house. I feel like we often miss out on the rest of the New England weather phenomena because we are so close to being Canadians instead.
Mariam and I are supposed to be readingBecause of Winn Dixie as our new read aloud book, but a funny thing keeps happening. One of us will walk by and see the book laying on the table or on the couch and just not be able to resist the urge to pick it up and read just a little. And before long, it is necessary to inform the other partner in Winn Dixie that they will need to take a minute to catch up before read aloud time tonight so that we can all be on the same literal page. And so we move on through. Such a great book. Actually, it is the book for the Read Aloud Book Along right now. The discussion these days has been light, and has moved over to Good Reads, but, it is still fun to be reading the same book with some other families. Someone noted in the discussion over there that this is one of those books that draws you in immediately because it has such a great opener:
My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher,
sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice,
and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.
Love that.
Anyhow, I suppose I was going to talk about other things here today, but just like with the vaccuming, laundry folding, baby chasing and all the rest, I just seem to be getting distracted by Because of Winn Dixie.
If you haven't had a chance to vote in The Homies blog awards yet, today is the final day to give your virtual thumbs up over there. Bird and Little Bird is nominated, and although I won't make it to the next round, I do seem to be hanging in there with the top twenty, which is really fun. If you can, stop by and vote for this here blog, and consider casting a second vote for Ginny's blog, Small Things.
edit to add: Bird and Little Bird has just been nominated for an award in The Homies, over at Apartment Therapy. Would you pretty please visit and cast your vote for my little blog? I don't expect to even make it to the next round, but would love to get just a bit more attention for the projects that I do here (especially Alphabet Glue). Oh! And Ginny from Small Things is nominated as well. You can vote for more than one blog, so give her a thumbs up too if you can. Thanks, all!
Before I launch into my planned mini-tirade about tangled yarn and excessive pet love, can I say a quick thank you to everyone for your lovely reception of the newest issue of Alphabet Glue? I cannot even tell you all how much I appreciate all the kind words about this newest installment. Really.
In knitting news, I have made some good progress on the yoke of the Tea Leaves cardigan. That being said, there is something we need to talk about, and it is this: Madelinetosh is the nicest, most lovely, fluffiest yarn I've ever knit with, but it tangles like nobody's business when you try to wind it into a ball.
I almost have no words for the madness that ensues when I put the skein onto my swift and attempt to tame it into a knittable sphere. This latest skein took me hours to wind into a ball, and the whole time I was trying to figure out what I had done to make such an incredible mess of the whole situation. But then! But then, I put it out there on Twitter, and it turns out that the tangled Madelinetosh is A Thing. All these other folks chimed in saying that it had happened to them too, and they thought that they had done something to make it happen as well. So, I consulted The Google. And guess what? It really is a thing. And apparently knitters the world over already knew about it. But not me. No.
But when yarn is this nice, I suppose that you take a deep breath, and do some kind of curse-free mindfulness practice while you just sort it out.
And then, there is this guy. He has shown, almost from the beginning, a reasonable fondness for things like pets. I'm pretty sure that the dawning of a new day of Cat Love is his purpose for getting out of bed in the morning. But lately, the animal enthusiasm has reached new heights and is becoming almost problematic. Like yesterday, when we stopped to get some pet food at a local farm and yard store that happens to have a resident cat. Baby Z loved the cat, as he apparently does all cats. But he loved it so much that we had to have an epic meltdown about not being able to just climb all over said cat and snuggle it and pet it and nuzzle it indefinitely. This morning, on the way home from the farm, there was crying about not being able to touch the goats.
Believe me, I am all for enthusiasm about whatever you feel like getting enthusiastic about, but leave it to one of my kids to take it to a whole new level.
Good Monday, friends! I am quite happy to announce to you all that Volume Eleven of Alphabet Glue is officially ready to take up residence in your virtual laps. This news actually comes as a bit of a surprise to myself (and the people who live with me) because somehow, this particular issue of the magazine just came together so easily and so naturally and so very well, that the usual last minute panic about whether or not I could manage to get it done on time was suspiciously absent. Indeed, I finished days ahead of schedule. Apparently, wonders truly never do cease.
Volume Eleven has a little bit of each of the things that have made
past issues of Glue such great bookish fun for families. Inside this newest
installment you will find instructions for simple scientific experimentation, imaginative
inspiration for young writers, and paper crafts that manage to toe
the line between whimsical and practical.
I suspect that the reason this issue pulled itself together almost without my noticing is, simply put, because it is really a pretty good one. The projects complement one another nicely, and they are pretty much all of the easy, seat-of-your-pants variety. You could decide to throw them together on a whim, using only materials readily available around your house and yard on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
To read up on the newest issue of Glue and to find out more about what you can expect to find tucked inside its bright and shiny pages, visit the brand new Volume Eleven page here.
And, in recognition of the continued enthusiasm that you all have shown for my beloved little publishing project, I thought we should get a little celebratory giveaway action going. Because I do like to say thank you. Volume Eleven has five new booklists inside, including a list of our family's very favorite books ever. For a chance to win a bundle of five books (a well loved title from each list in this issue), use the widget below to enter. I'll notify the winner on Friday afternoon.
Our mailbox blew away in some pretty serious wind that we had yesterday afternoon, and despite offering Mariam her standard fee of twenty-five cents plus expenses to recover it, we are still sans the little wicker basket we usually use for a mailbox. Yesterday, that meant that we just didn't get any mail, so this morning, Mariam thought that she should give the mailman a bit of information about the current state of affairs.
Some people were very excited to see dad coming home from the hospital this afternoon. I thought he was going to scale the fence, his sudden newfound climbing ability powered entirely by enthusiasm and love.
And, I am officially in proofreading mode. Volume Eleven of Alphabet Glue is written, photographed and laid out in my nerdy computer software program. It will be ready to land in your virtual laps on Monday morning, and I can't wait to share it with you!
I am a participant in the Amazon affiliate program. When you purchase from Amazon by following my links here on the site, I get a tiny commission. I only link to books that I truly believe you'll enjoy, and I don't accept any payment for my humble and often wacky opinions.
