Gretchen's new book, on habits, is available for preorder

The names of the book is Better than Before.

It is available for preorder which really helps Gretchen.

I have been reading about Gretchen's thoughts on habits, for months, as she has been writing. Very good.

You know how I feel about habits - forming good ones to support our lives, nipping self destructive ones in the bud, setting up proactive ones for our families.

She is not a weightloss person, but all she writes is applicable to getting one's life together, and in my opinion, good health/weight/food conditions are part of a life well lived.

I added a lot of pictures/ideas on the quiet church bag topic

Here is the first post.


Things we learned (about the bag) -

Put a small pack of Kleenex in the bag.

Read the board books, at home, a lot, so the child knows them by heart and can "read" them at church as they flip the pages.

So, I think having books that are prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary, like we discussed) is actually the best plan. I have those two, will be looking for more. ADDED LATER - I found some possibilities, pictures below. Please let me know if you find any others.

I think an I Spy church book would be really great. ADDED LATER - I think I actually found some, they are not board books, but they look like an educational version of I Spy for the bible. Pictures below.

The extra pages/scenes in the magnetic set are paper, and are meant to be placed against the inside of the tin to have things stick. (Not a fan of that concept) So, I am taking the pages to the hardware store to see if there is something (not sharp) metal that I can glue on the back. There are a lot of great animals in the set, four places to stick would be better.  ADDED LATER - nothing that would work at hardware store (and it is a huge one) so trying teacher supply store.

Lacing cards were big hit. Middle had to tie knots on one end of each string so they did not pull through the starting hole.

I also think the bags should not come out until a set time at Mass. Maybe it is after the Entrance/Greeting. It might be fun to have the kids watch for the priest and recognize them by name, and then get to open their bag. Maybe it is much later. But I think a delay and tying it into Mass would be smart.

I discovered, on Cafe Press, can search by the emblem/image/artwork and find all the products using it. So, I was able to find all three, on the style lunch box I loved.

AND

I found some additional books for consideration.

NOT board books, and I have not seen them, but looks like the I Spy concept I was pondering.

Kids Quiet Bag for Church turned into my GO TO gift for Baptisms

Here is the second post on the quiet church bag topic.






I must like having "go to gifts" for set occasions. Actually I guess it is more accurate to say - I love having a great idea for a gift and then being able to fine tune it and give a variation of this gift each time this occasion arises.






I have mentioned my current favorite for weddings is a pitcher. They are very rarely given/thought of any more and I think much appreciated.

My "go to" for baby shower/new baby is swaddling blankets which I make out of flannel. Again, not likely to get duplicates and much needed for a baby.

Our favorite for confirmations is a (15") beaded cross. We love these. We do not make, we buy.

Our standard for high school graduation recently has been letters hand painted by middle. We have given lots of these. (If we are invited to baby shower, we give the blanket. If we are sending new baby gift to the same family, we do letters.)

I still do not have a set gift idea for First Communion. So if you have ideas, I would welcome them.





I now have a set gift for Baptisms - Church Quiet Bag. And I love it. Very original and not likely to be duplicates. I put a note (below) with it explaining to save for preschool years. Sometimes there are grandma/first grandchild baby showers and one of these bags would be a really, good idea.

I mentioned this quiet bag for church way back here, asking for ideas. I got great ones.  Thank you. Which lead me to do a little web searching.

Remember, my goal was to only include church related things. And I tried for Catholic too.

Since I have been garage sale-ing, this has been especially fun.





This bag had a bit of an evolution, here is my thought process -

This (below) ended up being my inspiration piece. I did not buy it. Although one could, use it as it is, or add to it. It is a very reasonable price.  The bag I bought is the next picture. My bag is bigger. And my bag being bigger lead to different bags.

Love the illustration on this bag (below). Can't beat the price. I kept this one for myself. Very roomy. Too roomy in fact. Which lead to me buying the next bag(s) as my gift(s). In fact, I ordered three.

These are lunch bags. I thought I was going to like the brown handled ones best. But these were made to roll the top edge over a couple times to secure the Velcro. This is just awkward. I ended up taking them apart, attaching the velcro at the bag's top edge, and moving the handle higher. Yes, a lot of messing around. I did it for the two brown handled bags I had already ordered, below. Not ordering any more of this style. It is the third picture (below) that I love.

I had also ordered this third bag, because I loved the picture. I did not think I would like the style of the bag, but I really  did. Very good handle for little hands. There is velcro at the top to hold everything in the bag. The bag is actually very roomy.  I ended up using this bag as my Baptism gift  this past weekend. My RCIA sponsor's daughter had a baby over the summer. We (husband, middle, middle's boy, and I) went to the Baptism and then back to their house for an Open House. 

This is the first thing I put in my gift bag this weekend -

 I do not think any of my kids had these type of magnet sets, so it was a totally new to me idea from the comments on my original post. The tin box is 6" x 8 1/2" x 1" so it is a very nice size for a church bag.

I also put this lacing set in my gift bag this weekend -

Ordered these lacing shapes (Noah's Ark theme, so still church related). This was in comments too, I think. And also in my inspiration bag. I think I was picturing heavy felt, for some reason, looking at the Amazon listing. It is very nice, durable, strong, firm plastic. Very easy to hold and lace. The aglets (or eiglets) are nice and long, for easy stringing. Really nice set.

 I also put this little set of books in my gift.

Other books sets I have ordered and now have on hand for Baptism Church Quiet Bags -

These (below) are all board books. I found them at used book stores and garage sales. These are in my bag (that I am keeping, now you know why I kept the big bag).

These first two are most definitely Catholic. 

Second set of two clearly Catholic also.

Patricia Pingry has some really excellent board books. These are not Catholic books (per se) but I really like what she does.

 These two are also not Catholic. Youngest went through them at the bookstore and said that there was nothing in them that was confusing, and we loved some of the pictures. So we were very pleased to add them to our little collection.

These are just sort of universal themes. And they 'go' with my Noah's Ark magnet set.  

I can see having several sets of themed stuff which is switched out regularly to keep the bag fresh and interesting. I would not load my bag with all of these things at the same time, but mix them regularly.





I have my eye on these last three magnet sets (below). I think they would be great additions. I am making note of them here. BUT I think they are too big to fit in the lunch size bags. They would have to go in the big bag. -

To give you an idea of the (larger) proportion of the bag I kept for myself -

These are the items I included in the Baptism gift this weekend, I just put them in the smaller lunch bag with the exact same picture. And there was plenty of room in that bag for a lot more things.

And two more items (below) I noticed. Not for my Church Bags, but as good gift ideas for small children for religious events.

Rosary

A nicer copy is here.

Netflix has really changed how we watch things, even on regular TV

Oldest and I were talking yesterday (phone, he is in grad school on east coast).

Several years ago the girls and I started watching Fringe. Cannot remember if it was DVD's through Netflix or the library or if it was on demand or what. I think it was a very long time ago.

And we loved it. We only got a season or two into the series when oldest said the series went downhill for the rest of the seasons. So we stopped watching.

Yesterday oldest said he had downtime over the weekend and was watching Fringe. I think he said he started back at the beginning. And he said he stood corrected. He said watching it all together, it was most excellent and the plot line was creative, tight, sophisticated. He said little things were all woven together, all the way through the seasons, which he missed the first time watching one episode a week, and only watching part way through the series.

He said it ranked between Stargate and Star Trek, both beloved at our house.

In having this discussion we talked about how we really cannot stand to watch a series, one episode a week, any more. We like to emerse ourselves in a series and watch only that series, from start to finish.

For things like American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice - I let them pile on the DVR and we watch Netflix style.

So we might watch all of the chair turn auditions, back to back over several days, during The Voice season. And then let the face to face part of the competition accumulate and watch all of it, consecutively.

Sing-off which is a very short accapella competition, the girls and I recorded all of it and watched Netflix style when we all had free time.

I blink (special button on remote that skips a set amount, I keep it set at 1 minute) through the commercials for all recorded shows. So I NEVER see any commercials.

I increased our Netflix subscription from 2 to 4. So four TV's, anywhere in country, can be on our subscription at the same time.

Neither oldest nor middle has cable TV, they only watch Netfix or on line.

And we only have ONE TV hooked up to cable at home these days.

Youngest has Netflix running on her laptop as background while she does certain kinds of homework.

All three of those kids have a tough academic year. I want them to be able to get on, when they need to get on.

Plus, middle and her boy watch a lot (Dexter and Twighlight Zone series currently, I am going to tell them to try Fringe next) as date night when they are together. They live in same college town, but do not have much free time because of full class loads. When they have time to watch, together, I want them to be able to get on easily.

Husband watches on Eliptical daily.

And I watch in streaks - when I am in my little room under the stairs sewing, which is kind of like a background/company thing, or when I REALLY can't sleep, I watch on my iPad in bed. Normally I only watch TV, with my husband, in the evenings. Those other two are exceptions.

TV is a release, relaxation thing for all of us. And as long as everyone is getting what they are supposed to be doing, done, I have no issues with it, personally.

"He believes people are generally better off choosing to be part of a lesser known organization where they have a greater chance of standing out."

My brother is listening or reading David and Goliath right now.

I got a text from him yesterday saying the book talks about what I have always said about not letting a kid go to a college where they just barely get in and are at the bottom of the class.

I found this in my email inbox this morning. (I put the text from the link in comments, in case the link disappears over time).

My card box

I looked back a couple years and did not see a picture of my card box posted. I can't remember what year I did this, so it might be a repeat.



We keep empty bins in the attic. I am talking about plastic storage bins with lids. Our life with bins changes. Sometimes bins are still good, but are no longer needed or have been replaced. I KEEP those outdated bins, because they almost always come in handy again.



My cards were stored in a bin, in no particular order up until a few years ago. Just piled in a bin. If you needed a card, you had to dig. Envelopes had gotten separated from their matching card. A mess.

One day I decided the "no order" part was really bugging me, probably after I bought a card only to discover later that I had one for the same occasion.



I would not say I use cards a lot. But I do use them on occasion.

I might have bought a storage bin to reorganize the cards, but I think I actually found the perfect one in the attic.

I also already had the hanging file folders.

I remember sitting upstairs, watching TV one night, sorting cards, finding matching envelopes, and making my box.

You can tell we are Catholic from this box. Of the seven sacraments, I have file folders for four.

Seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Interesting fact - Last Rites has been replaced as Anointing of the Sick. I do have sympathy cards, but I didn't count that as part of my four.




Every card in the box is with its matching envelope. The envelope file has extra envelopes.



Everyone in my house now uses this file box. It lives in the cupboards in our computer room. Extremely handy.




If I buy a cards, in advance, for a specific person/event, I use a bulldog clip to attach it to the right page on my big calendar that hangs on the refrigerator. Right now there are two birthday cards there, for upcoming months.




I also bulldog clip tickets to calendar pages. We go to a lot of events. A lot of tickets come through this house. If anyone needs them, that is where they always are.

College/trade school boy ideas

If you remember, I sent my nephew card games. 

I had a very hard time coming up with that idea, but was very pleased when I finally did.

He is starting a trade school.

Just (last week) moved into an apartment with three boys he has never met.

My brother sent his address to me.

I happened to get it the same day I was meeting middle and her boy for dinner.

I mentioned I wanted to send something to my nephew, I always have (sent things) to his sister in college, but said I was having a very hard time thinking of non-food things for him.

I can fill a box to a girl in about five minutes in Target.

Boys are a bit trickier.

Middle's boy had very good suggestions. These will last me a while. And I will ask for more, he is a good source.

The first one is a good quality over the back of the door basketball hoop.

I ordered this one (below) from Amazon. The second picture shows an extra (soft) ball I sent too. I read a lot of reviews before settling on those two items. Hopefully they are good.

Another idea middle's boy had (will send later) is a velcro type dart board. (Suggestions of brands or types welcome in comments please, I am sure they are not all created equal.)

Then he (middle's boy) also suggested posters. I will ask my brother for very specific ideas. That is another good idea. Bare walls are not very homey.

I have had a couple texts from nephew, he is adjusting well. Likes the other guys. They have been gaming and cooking, waiting for classes to start.

More photos, still cleaning out my drop box. These photos are all teacher related, I have been hitting garage sales and resale shops looking for classroom supplies for middle (early ed, special ed).

These first photos are all from a retired teacher who was selling classroom items.

You can tell these were well loved, they are very worn. A retired teacher was having a garage sale. She said something like these were place finders or markers. She did NOT say book marks. Can anyone enlighten me? I still have her address, I will go knock on her door to clarify if needed.

ADDED LATER - I found them.

"Kids love these handy little Spaceman and teachers love the way they help students remember to use proper spacing in their compositions. Spacemen are a perfect blend of goofy fun and instruction! And now they come with their own Space Capsule for easy storage, and a space on the back for students name!"

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Books with CD's.

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She very kindly dug through two big boxes of books to find ones she though middle would like.

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Middle can use these herself or have them available for room mothers working on projects if her kids are too young for this type.

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Number line goes to 120. The shells and the markers are for counting. The two boxes are math alternatives. Middle needs a wide range of things because children with autism can need more advanced materials for some subjects.

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The top two bags are matching or reading puzzles. The bottom two bags are magnet matching.

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The fly swatters are for board work. Can be relay races. One looks for the right answer on the board, runs up, and swats it. Poker chips can be for markers or counting. Wrap ups are very fun. We have many. These are subtraction. Google them if you are interested.

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Reading, phonics, sequencing.

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We now have quite the collection of puppets. Several dozen. These are the latest.  Last year middle and I found a puppet theater at a garage sale. Cleaned up nicely, has a tiny curtain and stage light. Middle is the type of teacher who would have a room full of children, each reading to their own puppet.Or one child with autism, reading to all kinds of puppets, if that is what worked.

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These balls are deflated in the picture. The idea is that one inflates them, and then tosses the ball around the room. Where your thumb lands is the question to answer. Very fun.

Main characters were
The setting was
My favorite part was
At the end
In the middle
In the beginning

What is the setting
Who are the main characters
What is the title and who is the author
What was your favorite part
How did it end
What happened in the story

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Wall Pocket Charts. There are 5 little and 7 large in this pile. One came with numbers chart. The white ones on top are 28 individuals with magnets.  If you don't know what these are, see the next picture.

These next pictures were all found at regular garage sales -

This is a pop-up tunnel, tied for storage. The next picture shows it open. This is the third one I have found for middle. 

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Great storage. Bags are washable. 

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Very old, classic, wooden puzzles. I remember these types from when I was a child. 

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The tent, assembled, is the next picture (below). As you can see, above, it disassembles easily. It is made to go on top of a twin size mattress. But the mattress is not necessary. It will support itself, just setting loose on the floor.  I love that it has a mesh top, so kids can see out, teacher can see in. 

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I have been collecting board books everywhere I go - garage sales, Target's $1 bins, resale shops.