Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Have a magical, seussical, wonderful day! Want to have some fun? Check out Seussville and then head on over to the Read Across America site for ideas on celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss! Need a copy of your favorite Seuss adventure? Amazon has them!

Here’s an oldie, but goody… Alex at age 3, reading Go Dogs Go… Enjoy!

What Seuss piece is your favorite? My most favorite, if I have to pick just one, is:

xo

Bek

Holidays!

Please see my Etsy shop announcements for details on holiday shipping!

I have also been listing like a madwoman today!

Here’s a sample of the new treasures!

xo

Bek

Rolling Rolling Rolling….

You Got To Roll Me….

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

Keep the dice a rolling

keep the game a moving

don’t ever lose that die!

Rain and wind and weather

hell bent for jenga*

wishing my bro would lose and cry…
*uses a six sided, six color die according to wikipedia.org. Yes. I checked. Would you expect less of me?
We are just getting to the point where playing board games is not eerily reminiscent of my childhood (as an only child, living in the middle of the woods, no cable, and I was the weird kid. I learned to play every game by myself. Even hide and go seek. It’s true. More on that someday. I’m just starting to own that part of me.)…

Alex will sit and play and follow directions (with a great deal of repetition on our part) for a little bit- though his attention is still somewhat short…

All of the games we have happened upon lately seem to have die or dice involved. We have been rockin’ the Monopoly Jr., Clue Jr., and Mouse Trap.

Part of the motor skill challenge has been rolling the die or dice (and actually having it change to a random side). Part of the “I have an almost 6 year old” challenge has been getting him to not pretend to roll it so that he miraculously gets 6 every time, because at almost 6 bigger always seems better even if it gets you sent back to the start of the game board.

We also tend to play around our lovely Noguchi glass coffee table as we can all sit comfortably (and my work is usually overpowering our little kitchen table…Still want my Edison farmhouse table. Someday it will be mind. Someday.) Not only is there glass, there are a few choice knick-knacks near by that are probably not-so-durable and there are two big club chairs and a love seat. My arthritis refuses to get down on the floor to retrieve overzealously thrown dice (actually it’s more of a problem evolving back into an upright position these days).

And I fear glass chips and broken knick-knacks. And face it, my kiddo is wonderful with many things, but his motor skills are a major work in progress.

So here is my solution.

I took a tin with a clear lid (the lid covering is plastic- I do not suggest trying this with a glass-topped tin) that is of the “deep” variety (I got them from SpecialtyBottle.com – the one shown in my image is a 4oz/deep). I popped the die in, closed the lid (the lid isn’t terribly loose but it is not secured outside of friction- so if you feel you need a sturdier hold try some masking or electrical tape around the edges.

And voila! Alex can shake-shake-shake and I no longer have to go fishing for game pieces, the coffee table is intact, and my curios are happy campers and have removed their helmets and safety goggles.

This also helps teach him the rules of “rolling” – he has to give it a few shakes and put it down. This has made a huge difference in his comprehension of rules- those of the game and those little social game play rules. Eventually he’ll roll by himself, but for now this lets us play and show him the joy of playing boardgames as a family. He can focus on playing and not obsessing over this one small part.

The containers are too big to squeeze into most manufacturers game boxes and I like to keep all parts in their respective boxes, so we have one “rolling” container. If he was younger and more apt to try to consume the parts during game play, we would probably secure the lid more permanently.

xo
Bek

Facebook
Etsy Shop

You Rascal You…

Rascal

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

Rascal, the ring…
Very, very old Bakelite (older than vintage, younger than antique, by definition)…
Had some scotties and some ring blanks and went to town….

Available in my little shop on the internet superhighway… or zip me a message for more information…

Always Be Clever…

xo

B

ps. I have that song stuck in my head (You Rascal You)…Boyo is forever on a Louis kick (lots of Armstrong and Prima)…Glad he is more into the tune than the lyrics…Yikes! I have to give this another listen! Not the nicest song in the world…But oh so catchy…Perhaps I’ll swap it out on his song mixes with The Music Goes Round and Round!

Argh.

Argh.

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

In a recent raffle, baldguy won tickets to Pieces of Eight– a fun Pirate ship excursion into the Gulf of Mexico… They are currently repositioning to service the keys…I do recommend it- it’s a freaking awesome pirate ship with modern amenities and a rockin’ band of pirates. Fun was had by all!

It was so nice to be disconnected from the world for a bit, out on the boat… Here’s a picture of boy on the boat. He doesn’t understand that a costume or a painted on mustache are just pretend- he thinks they actually transform him into another person.
I was amazed that he let them draw a mustache on him.

After around 5 minutes he furiously tried to wipe it off and had a running in place moment of freaking out when he declared

“Just me. I want to be just me. No pirate me. Just ME.”

It was huge though- he went on a boat, he tried something new at lunch, he had his face painted, he took pictures, he wore a hat and a pirate hat, and there was a brief moment where he donned an eyepatch.

Awesome.