Bird and Little Bird

Printable Valentine's Day Cards (For You!).

 

Hi all! As is my custom, I made you a set of downloadable Valentine's Day cards again this year. But then I spent the day today running around to various places and things, including a cermonial procession at the girl's school where the children sent their mummified hens into the afterlife (a.k.a. the school dumpster). The smell was remarkable, in case you were wondering.

All of this is to say that Dawn posted the cards on our behalf, and you can find them and download a set (complete with envelopes!) on the Mud Puddles to Meteors site. Right. Now.

Enjoy!

Join Us For a Flock Migration Mobile Exchange.

Thanks so much to all of you for your enthusiasm about the book! Dawn and I are so very, very excited about the project, and the fact that you all are as well just makes it all the more fun to begin the process of writing, photographing, and creating.

Speaking of which, I know that I previously talked a bit about how much we enjoyed working together on the newest issue of Alphabet Glue, and it has cool to see pictures of families using the projects from Volume Sixteen as they begin to pop up here and there around the interwebs. We thought it might also be fun to organize an exchange of sorts based on one of the projects that seems to be becoming a fast favorite: the flock migration mobiles.

If you are interested in exchanging set of paper birds for mobile making with another family, hop on over to the Mud Puddles site to find out how to sign up!

On Cats and Bags.

As some of you might have already guessed, I kind of like projects. And to be busy. And to make stuff. And do things. And, when it gets quiet here, it is often because I am making and doing things in secret. Shhhh...

 

This turns out to be the case right now as well. As of yesterday, Dawn and I received our contract from Roost for the book that we are publishing with them in 2015. As you might expect, we are just a *little* bit excited about this, and have been all twitchy with wanting to share the news. But these things often have to be kept quiet until they are all official and what not, so I have had to bite my tongue in many a post here over the last couple of months.

 

I don't think I'm allowed to tell you anything more just yet, but when I am, believe you me- I will do so. In the meantime, I can tell you that if you are an Alphabet Glue or Mud Puddles to Meteors fan, this book will be very much up your proverbial alley.

So, a little cheer for good things happening during times of big transition. Life might be tricky here and there lately, but it certainly has its bright spots.

disclosure: These photos are really and truly random and unrelated to anything I just said. The cat sign is awesome though, right?

Alphabet Glue: A Warm Welcome for Volume Sixteen!

 

It took just a bit longer than I was hoping, mostly due to things like busy toddlers, but I am pleased to report that the newest installment of Alphabet Glue is ready at long last. Dawn jumped in with both feet on this one, and I truly could not have built this issue without her. Indeed, I wouldn't have even made the attempt. So a big, big thank you to her. Truly.

 

 

This latest volume of Glue is full of great science and literature inspired projects and printables for all. You'll find migrating birds, mysteries of melting points, libraries sized for matchboxes, and so much more in the pages of this issue, and I sincerely hope that you'll have a grand time doing it.

You can read up on all the details of the latest issue and download a copy of your very own by visiting the Alphabet Glue site here.

Or, if you already know that you're all in, simply click the button below to download the new Glue directly from this post.

Alphabet Glue, Volume Sixteen, $4: 

Alphabet Glue, Volumes Fifteen and Sixteen, $7:

From the Glue Department: An Update

As I slowly dip my toes back in the waters of blogland, I'm finding that I am getting an ever so slightly increasing number of emails wondering just where the next issue of Alphabet Glue might be hiding out. The answer is, of course, in my brain. And a little bit on my harddrive. But you all have been sweet enough to wonder (thank you for that!) and so I thought I should return the favor by offering a little update.

With this fall and winter having so very much to offer in the Big Life Changes Department, I have to admit that my inspiration for things like whimsical science experimentation and paper folding took a bit of a hit. But a new routine is beginning to take shape, and I found myself missing the creative work of putting the magazine together every couple of months. Knowing that there are still going to be a fair number of ups and downs in daily life around here, I felt ill prepared to do much of anything on my own and asked Dawn if she might be willing to help me knock out Volume Sixteen of Alphabet Glue. She said she would indeed.  And thank goodness- because she is my own personal taskmaster and we are now on track to have a great new issue ready for you all very soon. I'm hoping it will be ready for launch in about a week.

I'll keep you all posted, and in the meantime, I hope that you will accept my true and honest gratitude for letting me know that you'd like to see another issue of The Glue land on your virtual doorsteps. It means quite something. Really.

Library Monday: Winter Reading Round-Up.

It has been a bit since I've done the Library Monday thing, and I figured I might flex my book sharing muscles today with a simple post sharing what folks are reading around my house at the moment. Well, M. and me, anyway. The smallest fry is still all about the pigeon.

 

M. has finally decided that she had the necessary literary courage to dive in on the Harry Potter series. I gave her the entire set of books as a gift over the holidays, and she is about three deep at the moment. As expected, she loves it so far. I think it actually helps that so many of her friends have already read them and have spoiled some of the bigger and potentially more stress inducing plot points. She knows that many a favored character isn't going to make it out of book seven alive, and seems okay with this. Big progress in the literary plot acceptance department for my girl.

I've had my nose in a book much of the time lately, I suppose in part because I have had more kid free time in the last few weeks than I have had in the previous nine years combined. I'm in the process of getting my teaching credential transferred to Massachusetts, which in spite of my having a Master's in education, appears to require taking a bunch of tests that prove I know lots of important things. Like what a rational number is and what started World War II. So, there is some reading of that variety going on. But we will skip that business and get to the good stuff.

 

I picked up La Tartine Gourmande last week after browsing through it over and over again at my friend Sarah's house a few days before. It is truly lovely, and I'm obviously a fan of the fact that the recipes are all gluten-free (or easily adapted to be). I've already cooked out of it a handful of times, and everything has been stellar thus far. Love.

 

Being a longtime fan of all things Haruki Murakami, I'm surprised that it took me so long to read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Maybe because I wasn't doing all that much running for awhile there? Either way, I am definitely back to running now, and doing five or so miles most days of the week. This book makes a nice complement to my running routine, and I love the way that Murakami writes. Plus, he lives in Cambridge so it is fun to read his words about running some of the same places that I do.

 

 

I recently finished reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and would absolutely recommend it to all my friends and neighbors. A memoir about the author's solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, Wild is really the story of one person finding a way to save herself through self-reliance, courage, and the healing power of nature and solitude. It is pretty inspirational, and definitely has me itching to spend a bit of time on the A.T. this coming summer. I suppose I can do some of those sorts of things if I find myself without hiking companions under the age of ten, right? 

I could certainly use some new book recommendations for the new year, so if you are reading something worthwhile, please leave a comment here and let us know what it is!

Weekday Morning.

In the rare moments when he isn't hammering something, or building towers up for purposes of knocking them over, or insisting on having another snack, or chasing the cat, he might look like this. And then the house gets so, so quiet. And I think "I should really remember this right here."

The Weather Watcher's Handbook.

Many months ago, I had this idea: I thought that it would be fun to write a nature guide of some kind. I wanted it to be for families, and to have lots of really practical and accessible information. But I also wanted it to be fun, and to have experiments that would bring the facts to life by letting kids get hands-on and maybe even a little bit messy. And, I thought that Dawn should probably be my proverbial partner in crime on the project, because she knows way more stuff than me and is also very good at keeping me from getting um, unfocused. She said yes, and before long that one project turned into about twelve, some of which took on lives entirely of their own. It turns out that we work really well together.

Some of those projects are still in the works, not yet ready to share. But today, we do have something to present to you all: our first e-book. The Weather Watcher's Handbook: A Family Guide to Weather Science is a family-friendly guide to the wild world of weather and the basic science that makes it all work. It is full of bright and beautiful photographs, fun facts, and activities and experiments that show the science in action. If you are raising kid scientists who are curious about the workings of the natural world, this is the book for you.

You can find out more about the book by visiting the Mud Puddles to Meteors blog, or by visiting the pretty new page that we made for the book here.

 

 

Shark Teeth in a Box.

Our nature exchange package from Ginny and Co. arrived yesterday and I have to say, it is pretty spectacular. My girl was absolutely thrilled when she opened it up and started unwrapping the little tissue bundles to find fossilized coral and shark teeth of all varieties. Ginny and the kids send us some really fun and special things, and getting to read through all of the labels identifying the different specimens was very cool. Our own package to Ginny's family is en route, and hopefully will arrive in Virginia today or tomorrow. I hope that they will like it as much as we like ours!

The sign-ups are still open for the Mud Puddles to Meteors nature exchange, if you'd like to share some treasures of your own with another family (and receive some in turn, of course). You can check it out here.

Oh, and happy weekend! I am, as always, surprised to see it roll around again so quickly.

Farm Trips and Nature Boxes.

Yesterday afternoon, in the hours between toddler nap and dinner prep, we made a trip out to Drumlin Farm. A combination of working farm, animal rehabilitation center, and nature sanctuary, Drumlin Farm is just the kind of mixed bag of an outing that my people tend to enjoy. We picked carrots and flowers, ogled a very attractive fox, and Z. yelled joyfully at the resident bunny for about fifteen minutes without taking a break. There were sheep and pumpkins and weird bugs and the gift shop has a good price on my favorite series of field guides. An all around good time was had.

In other news, we are organizing a super fun family nature box exchange over at Mud Puddles to Meteors. If you would like to swap some of your local nature finds with another family, hop on over and check it out.