LOVE It! Spelling City

I have one child who needed a little help with spelling this year.  And last year.  And the year before.

We tried expensive spelling curriculum - complete with flash cards and rules and color coded multi-reference books.  Maybe it wasn't THAT complicated, but I was overwhelmed just the same.  There were tears, I tell you.

And then, we found Spelling City.  We LOVE Spelling City! 

Best of all, it's free.  Go online, create an account and you can start adding your spelling lists - saving each one by child, or grade, or whatever you want.

There are games to play and practice tests.  We LOVE it.

What I really love is if I don't have spelling words for that week, I can go lookup the Literature Based Lists.  So if, for example, Will is reading Tom Sawyer - I assign him the "Tom Sawyer" spelling words. 

Compound words, homonyms, geography, holiday lists - just to name a few. 

So, GO to www.spellingcity.com.  Create an account.  Click on "Teacher Resources" to find the word lists.  You'll LOVE it, too!!!

Master Bedroom - Plan

We have lived in this house for nearly 3 years, and I am embarrassed to say our Master Bedroom looks as sad as the day we moved in.  Actually, it's worse than that - since Ken decided he couldn't stand the four-poster bed and unilaterally decided to take it out.

But, I digress ...

I've made a few meager attempts to decorate it, but they all end in blah.  And more throw pillows.  As if we need more throw pillows.  I think I have an addiction.

But, I digress again ...

So, here's the plan:

I've picked a paint color that Ken and I can both agree on.  Miracle of miracles. 

This is Valspar's Pelican. 

I've had this paint chip for over a year, so I have no idea if they still even sell this color.  Plus, I hate Valspar paint - it stinks ... literally, it smells horrible.  So, hopefully I can get a color match at Home Depot and use my favorite Behr paint.  Love that Behr paint.

We want to keep the room neutral, but not beige.  And light, but not pastel.  So, I think this color will do that.

We're also going to do something that I usually make fun of ... and accent wall.

This:



This gorgeous stencil is a design from Jones Design Company.  I love this blog.  Seriously.  Click on this Tutorials link.    You'll love it, too.

OK, so that covers the walls - which will probably take me a month or more to paint.  I mean, that stencil isn't going up in a day, you know. 

After that's done, there are plans for a new bed.  Since the four-poster bed is gone forever, remember?

I'm going to make an upholstered headboard.  I'M going to make it.  Yes, ma'am.

Something like this:

Camden Untufted Headboard, Ballard Designs

or this:

Stevenson Basic Headboard, Ballard Designs

Have you seen this over at Isabella & Max Rooms?

Oh, my.  Lovely.  Perfection. 

More to come!  Comment or FB me if you have any ideas - or want to share pics of your Master Bedroom!

Love It #2 - Lotions and Potions

I have extremely dry skin.  I'm talkin' trip-to-the-dermatologist dry skin.  And in the winter, it's even worse.  I won't go into more detail ... but, it's bad.

So, last winter, my Doc recommended Cetaphil cream.  Not lotion (which I was already using).  The cream - in the giant tub.

the tub o' cream

Doc was right.  It's the best thing I've used for my dry skin.  Especially under my eyes. 

It's creamy, non-irritating, not greasy, smells good.  It's soothing and soaks in.  My kids use it by the scoop.  Even my compulsive hand-washing husband has been known to use it on his dry knuckles.  It's the tub o' cream the whole family can love.  Love it.  Have to have it.

LIKE Cetaphil on Facebook and you will be registered to win a YEAR'S worth of Cetaphil! 

If you have dry skin, get up right now, go to the store and buy this.   You'll thank me later.

Now ... to hair.

I recently had a traumatic hair event.  Color was involved.  Bleach was also involved.  And 2 days later, I had to make an emergency trip to the salon to get my hair fixed - so I wouldn't be confused with Strawberry Shortcake.  It was bound to happen.

Winter makes my hair dry.  Static-y, too.  But, about 2 weeks ago I discovered this:

TRESemme Heat Tamer Protective Spray

I know there are a lot of products out there for frizzy or dry hair.  But, I am cheap.  And so is this.  It's $3.84 at Target.  I mean, c'mon.

I love it because it doesn't flatten my already flat and fine hair.  It's got a little styling stuff in it, too.  It makes my hair nice and smooth - and no static.  It's not too heavy or too silky feeling.  And if you go a couple days in between washings, it doesn't get all greasy looking.  

I also use it on Katie's hair.  Love it.

I hear that TRESemme products are on sale at CVS this week.  3 for $10!  Get up and go to CVS.  See ya' there!

(edited 1/25/11 to add:)

And for your hands, I love these products:

Sally Hansen Vitamin E cuticle oil.  It goes on like nail polish, and it's great for dry, cracked cuticles.  It's a little pricey (which for me, means it's more than $5), but it lasts forever.  I like it much better than creams or lotions.

LOVE this hand cream!  It's very light, not perfume-y, and soaks right in.  In fact, it really doesn't feel like it's going to do much good, but it does.  It even lasts through a couple hand washings (unless you are OCD and scrub like you're going to perform surgery).



Love It or Leave It #1

I love finding new recipes, kitchen gadgets, books, tools, websites - you name it - and sharing with my friends.  So, I thought I would start keeping a record to share with you! 

The first "Love it or Leave It" is for a Christmas gift that I intended to give to my husband, but we accidentally ran into each other in the Williams-Sonoma a few days before Christmas when he was there buying me this.  

But, that's another story.

Here it is ... the Darth Vader Flexible Spatula from Williams-Sonoma.

and here's what I love about it ...

first, it's Darth Vader

flipping my pancakes and grilled cheese

that's just funny

Darth Vader would never enjoy something as yummy as pancakes ...

plus, it's lightweight and angled so it's easy to use.

I think the kids would like to use it - I might let them one day.

For now, he sits here

 

he hangs out with the spoons and whisks, right next to my favorite Mr.

sometimes we let him supervise the tea kettle, but most of the time, he's counting the days until Saturday morning ... when we'll make him flip the pancakes again.

If your family is a Star Wars nerd family, you can get the Darth Vader Spatula at Williams-Sonoma.  It's $12  - and you know how cheap I am - but I think it's worth it.

2 Weeks In...

We just started our 3rd week of school, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of (real) life.

Arc de Triomph meets Pirates of the Caribbean

Salt dough map ... that's taking for-ever to dry