Another Great Question...

My 5 year old is full of them! This morning's question was: How does water put out fire?
Good one for 7 o'clock in the morning! I am not a scientist. I have a Liberal Arts degree for a reason. I have to say that I am proud of myself for answering correctly (cuts off the oxygen supply and reduces the temperature). I did tell him that I would check online to make sure and give him a definitive answer this afternoon. He already knows about elements and compounds, so he understands what oxygen is. I am sure I did not know that at 5. He's going to keep me on my toes!

Etsy Treasury Thanks!

Thanks to all of the curators who included my items in their treasuries this week (Sept. 19-26)! Please visit their shops! Their collections will be featured in the left column of my blog for another week or so, and then moved to my Treasury Archive!

aisha123
sweetartboutique
beachflowerdesigns
dbsj
poppyswickedgarden
CicaleTdesigns
figurativepie
momerath
violasboutique
ArtbyAmarose
dancingintherains
RoughMagicCreations
forestofice

Treasury of the Week

I was trying to decide which Treasury I would feature this week. They are all so wonderful. I just received notice that my Peacock Lantern was in a new one. It made my decision. Here is "A Smidge of Teal" by ArtByAmarose. I love the understated elegance lit with touches of teal. Simply Gorgeous!

Please visit the current Treasury list to the left!

Earlier Treasuries are in my Treasury Archive (starting Sept. 2010)

Discovery Kids Becoming The Hub

We love Nick Jr. ! Nick Jr. has wonderful educational shows geared at Preschool and Kindergarten children. There are NO COMMERCIALS! How wonderful is that? Well, my son is getting older. He is outgrowing many of their shows. We have searched and searched for shows that are educational and age-appropriate. PBS Kids, of course, has great morning and afternoon shows. Nathan enjoys Arthur, Word Girl, The Electric Company and Super Why. His favorite is Fetch! We had nothing to watch during Prime Time as a family. Then we found Discovery Kids. He loves Scout's Safari and Adventure Camp. These are fun for all of us to watch and are educational. We have adjusted to him seeing some commercials. Well, I just found out that on October 10, Discovery Kids becomes The Hub. The Hub is a partnership between The Discovery Channel and Hasbro. That's right, Hasbro. The toy company. Get ready for ads disguised as entertainment. Their new lineup includes: GI Joe (violent), Strawberry Shortcake (insipid), Transformers (violent), some Japanese anime (violent) , among others. Not the quality lineup I was hoping for. Great. Thanks a lot Discovery Channel. I saw that Adventure Camp is staying. Can you maybe throw us bone and include something else educational for kids? How about Crash, Bang, Splat! or Scout's Safari, or the Myth Busters Kid's show? Please?

Project Embrace "Laugh" Challenge

Here is my entry for the Etsy Project Embrace "Laugh" Treasury Challenge. It is titled, "Giggle, Snicker,...Laugh!"

Treasury Thanks!

Thanks to all of ther fabulous curators who included my items in their treasuries this week (September 12-18)! Their gorgeous collections are all listed in the left column of my blog. Please click through and leave comments! You can view their Etsy shops by clicking on the links below:

AdroitJewelers
Myrtle Leaves
LoveArtStudios
inmyigloo
assilemward
Noelsa
CNJceramics
rctees
BlueberryCream
lynchgirl
simplysuzula
earlybirdcreations

Front Page! and Treasury of the Week

"Warmth" by lynchgirl made Etsy's front page today! I just missed it. I went to the grocery! I returned to two orders and tons of views and hearts! Thanks so much to lynchgirl for including my Swirl Suncatcher and congratulations to all involved!

I think that if a Treasury makes the Front Page, it automatically becomes my Treasury of the Week! If more than one hits, well, just keep 'em coming! So, I'm cutting the Treasury of the week contest short a day. Here it is!

I won!

I never win anything, but my Spiral Sun Suncatcher won the etsy Project Embrace "Luminosity" Challenge! Yay!

Etsy Project Embrace Challenge

My team, Etsy Project Embrace (teamepe), has a new challenge! The theme is "Luminosity." I have entered my Spiral Sun Suncatcher. It is one of my favorite designs. It has a gorgeous glow in the sun! Please visit the challenge blog to view all of the entries!

Treasury Thanks!

I just noticed that the new way that I list the Treasuries is not crawled by Google. My solution is to post a weekly list of people who have included me in their treasuries. This way I won't glob up the blog too much, but it gives the treasury makers their "props." Here is the list for this week:
Foret
JealousyDesign
JanMarieArts
dancingintherains
BelandariaDesigns
soyonsheureaux
RoughMagicCreations
redsangre

Their fabulous collections can be viewed in the left column. Please click through and leave a comment!

Redshirting Boys for Kindergarten

The problems that my son has had starting Kindergarten, have made me think about the issue of "Redshirting." That means voluntarily holding your child back. Because of their slower social and fine motor development, it is almost always boys who are redshirted. If my son weren't so intelligent and curious, we may have considered that as an option. However, we decided that on top of being academically bored, he's a big kid. He would completely dwarf any child in a Pre-K class. Many people redshirt their sons to give them this physical advantage. I don't agree with that.

Nathan's first Kindergarten class (we just switched) had 6 six-year olds in a class of 22 (27%...much higher than 9%, which is the national average)! Something to keep in mind is that I was 5 when I started first grade! My questions are:

Is Kindergarten not aimed at 5 year olds anymore?
Is it truly the new first grade?
Are we aiming Kindergarten at girls and excluding boys?
Shouldn't Kindergarten suit the needs of the entire normal range of children who are 5 at the beginning of the school year?
If this trend continues, will most boys be forced to redshirt because they are now 18 months younger than others in the class?

It is a trend that I can't see continuing. I'm starting to consider that it may be better to have separate boy and girl Kindergarten classes.
Perhaps the program needs to adjust, not the children?

What do you think?

Here are some links to articles on the subject (much better written than my little rant...):

http://www.babble.com/Not-Holding-Back-Why-I-didnt-redshirt-my-kindergarten-age-son/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959029,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100905/sc_livescience/moreparentsredshirtingkindergartners
http://www.slate.com/id/2196423/
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Academic_Young/
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_He_Has_Summer/
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Are_Todays_Kindergartens/

New Layout!

Although I love all of the fabulous treasuries that I've been in, they are really overtaking my blog. As a result, I've decided to add a new column on the left, which lists the current treasuries that include my items. I hope that this will make the actual blog posts easier to read. The pictures of the treasuries click through to them. I will still post any of the treasuries that I make in this central area. I would love any feedback on this new layout!

Labor Day

Ah, what a beautiful day! We started the day by driving to Paintsville Lake. We walked over the dam and walked a lovely nature trail. My son collected bird feathers. When we returned, I found my items in 4 new treasuries! After I blog about these, we're hitting the pool. We've had to use the solar cover because of the cool nights we've had, but it's still wonderful!

"A little birdie told me" by BlueberryCream includes my Peacock Suncatcher

"Blue Moon ...love for Lorraine of TrinityDJ", by localcolorist, includes my Moon Suncatcher.

**TrinityDJ is in need of support. She is in the midst of a health and financial crisis. Please visit her shop and consider purchasing one of her beautiful items!*

"Marshmallow Love" by RosemaryJordan, includes my Heart Suncatcher.

"Amorous about Amber" by a2n2koon includes my SunFlower Garden Whimsy.

October Road

A Fall Treasury for this gorgeous Sunday!
"October Road" by LonelyTreeStudio includes my Hot Colors Light Catcher Set.

Love is the Key

Snuggling with my son last night, I was thinking about how he is calmed by a hug and a soft voice. When we changed his Kindergarten class, he showed a remarkable improvement. His new teacher is amazingly compassionate. When he has difficulty, she takes the time to help him work through it calmly. She always has a hug for him. He is so much happier and so are we. I made the above treasury to reflect my feelings.

Saturday's Collections

Three wonderful Treasuries for what was a gorgeous, cool, sunny, Fall-like day:

"The Burgundy Blues" by poppyswickedgarden, includes my Bluebird Suncatcher.

"Under the Sea" by BlueRoomGems, includes my Octopus Lantern.

"Fall's Awakening" by trinitydj, includes my Burst Suncatcher.

Finally Friday!

Here are two treasuries for Friday:

"Imagine Parisian Peacocks Per se" by localcolorist, features my Peacock Suncatcher.

"September Sapphires" by sisustudios, includes my Sapphire Candle Holder.

My Friends' House on Apartment Therapy

OK. Who doesn't love Apartment Therapy? My friends from Columbus had their house featured as one of the house tours! They did a complete renovation of their Italianate Bungalow. Click on the picture above to take the tour!

Hey! I just noticed one of lanterns in one of the pictures! Click on the picture above and view the tour. My lantern is in the living room picture just to the right of the center window, near the bottom! Yay!

Wednesday's Treasuries

Five treasuries today! Enjoy!

"Imagine a Rainbow Rest Stop" by Foret, includes my Peacock Feather Suncatcher.

"Imagine a pale pallette" by tailorbee, includes my Swirl Suncatcher.

"A Fanciful Twist" by waterrose, includes my Sun Flower Suncatcher.

"Now that was one weird dream" by ClosetFull, includes my Sapphire Candle Holder.

"September Sapphire" by RoughMagicCreations, also includes my Sapphire Candle Holder.

Kindergarten Update

Well Kindergarten hadn't been going well. My son was in trouble nearly every day. On the days that he hadn't gotten in trouble, he would come home and cry because he worked so hard to hold himself together during school that he just broke down when he got home. It was breaking my heart. We ended up having him evaluated for sensory processing disorder. Yep. He has problems with his vestibular. It involves hearing and balance. His school decided that they had too many children and started another kindergarten class. We moved him to the new class so that he could have a fresh start. We met his teacher today. She seems wonderful! She really listened to our concerns. She also has a "cozy corner." This will be very helpful with Nathan. Sometimes he needs a quiet refuge when he gets over-stimulated. I'm really optimistic!

Here's a link with more information on vestibular disfunction:
http://www.sensoryflow.com/spd/vestibular/
and on auditory issues:
http://www.sensoryflow.com/2010/03/hearing-doesnt-mean-he-heard-it/