Home-made sandpaper letters

I made the sandpaper letters from Montessori Method at home. I did these just to create some craft for myself, I guess. We were trying to get the basement finished. I remembered the instructions at the end of "Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years". I got an extra pack of fine sandpapers.



First I traced the letters on the back of the sandpapers. I used the print letters given at the back of the book. I realized I neededa carbon copy paper. But it was so cold outside. I used a black crayon on a white paper to do the same thing. You need to trace the letters backwards so that the mirror image on the other side (sanded) will be correct. Then I cut the letters. This part is really tedious.


Then I cut 3x4 rectangles out of the the poster boards. Blue for wovels and red for consonants.


I glued the letters to rectangles.


Here they are. The weird letters the picture above are additional vowels in Turkish alphabet.

I cut the bottoms of two milk cartons to make containers for the letters. I am trying to find nice adhesive cover paper to decorate those. Once I do it, I'll post the photo here.

Random Picture Challenge 4.0

On a Sunday afternoon, before his sister, Ela had arrived, my son is enjoying a quiet time with his beloved dad and listening to music. The rest of the series show them, hugging and snuggling on the carpet.

By the way, I finally went through all of our pictures and had 600 photos printed. (see first random picture entry post) 600 photos in print quality from a duration of 2 years. Can you imagine the number of total digital photos in our hard drive?

For more Random Picture Challenge entries visit 4 Little Men.

Cheap Cheap

I got hooked on craigslist.com, dollar and thrift stores. This happened because I saw on other mom blogs and homeschooling blogs, moms creating inspirational playrooms or classrooms , shopping from dollar and thrift stores.

I got amazing deals for furniture and other stuff.

I got these shelves for $10 each.

This one is the basement. I organized kid's toys somewhat applying Montessori environment.

I used this one to create a kids' corner in the living room. It's matching the rest of the furniture.

I got this trampoline for $50. It's like brand new. I wanted something like this since I had seen it in Gymboree. It's very small, does not occupy much space. Burak can move it around. Ela can get up on it and down by herself. It is pretty safe with two handles. I got on craigslist, searched and it was there. Waiting for me. :) I just had to drive for 45 mins under the thick snow. But it was worth it. I love it as much as my children :)

I also found a pretty clean Little Tykes Car from one of our neighbors. Burak loves it. I think their granddaughter grew out of it. It's sitting in our garage and Burak asks to ride it everytime we get in the garage. Poor thing, he has to wait 5 more months until the weather gets warm.

Now I'm thinking, what else I could have gotten cheaper instead of paying the full price. Buyer's remorse is kicking in :P

Future of Chicago Public Schools

I started looking for job postings and thinking about updating my resume on job search sites.
In two years, my son will be starting Kindergarten and my daughter Preschool. I feel like we will have to put them in a private school and instead of public school based on the most recent news.

Our own Mayor Daley (of Chicago) picked the ex-CTA (public transit sytem) Chief to head Chicago Public Schools. He does not have any education background. He's replacing someone who was picked as "United States Secretary of Education". Can you imagine the difference in the credentials of these two leaders (for this particular position)?

I just cannot find a way to digest this decision and Mayor Daley got his first big F from me for sure.

Now I need to get back into workforce asap and get ready for private school bills.

Loving to be a SAHM

I love to be a stay-at-home-mom on days like these. Take a music class... then run to the museum to enjoy free museum days... [Museum of Science and Industry has free admission until Jan 31] Especially now that Ela is 13 months old and she can walk.

So it is not a stay-at-home!!! situation really, but I enjoy these things. I enjoy my kids' dragging me from exhibit to exhibit instead of me showing them the way. I enjoy the fact that it takes us 2 hours to get from the music class to the museum. I enjoy watching my little daughter trying to imitate my son climbing a wall :P

It's unfair that in this economy we "have to" have two incomes to live even a moderate life style, with a house in a good neighborhood, some extracurricular activities for kids and maybe a private school.

So I feel lucky and savor the days like these as much as I can, since this is temporary, until ve deplete all of our savings.

Last minute getaway

Two Fridays ago, a friend of mine called me to ask me why I haven't replied to her evite. Apparently, she used my e-mail address which I use only to register for memberships, and receive ads. As I was going through my inbox, which I haven not checked for a month or so, I saw this newsletter from a ski resort. We've gone there years ago. Since I was craving for a ski trip I opened the mail and saw this last minute getaway deal. It was for a free lodging if you purchase 2 2-day lift tickets. The deal was valid until 4pm that day. I immediately checked computer's time on the right bottom corner.

And.... of course it was 3:52 pm. :)

I called the resort. They told me to but the tickets online first. I was IMing my brother as I was trying to reach my husband over his cell.

To cut the story short, that was one of the most hectic 3 hours of my life. We purchased the tickets and rentals, reserved our hotel, packed out suitcases, got the kids ready. We were on the road at 7:00pm.

One of the possible deal breakers was the snowstorm that night. I convinced my husband but he had really stressful 4 hours until Madison. it took us 7 hours to get to the resort. It was 3 am when my head fell on my pillow. Luckily, the kids slept along the drive.

I was so excited. So excited to be skiing again. So excited about the deal we got. So excited about the sunny weather.

Then BAAAM. I had a really well executed faceplant and my ski goggles smashed my cheekbone. It was ok until we got back to the hotel bacause cold outside was keeping the bruise down. The next morning I woke up to see a boxer's face in the mirror. I skied the whole day next day regardless. Nothing could banish my excitement.

(also see previous Wordless Wednesday picture)

The funny thing is I have been going around with this really bad looking, swollen and purple eye for the past week. Noone, not even a single person I met, asked me anything. I forget about it because it doesn't hurt. Then I remember and wonder what people are thinking.

My husband cannot grasp how I still like skiing and did not care about the eye. :) I am ckecking my other e-mail regularly now. For any last minute deal like that, I am ready with two kids in an hour baby.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy WW and keep warm!