Little Layne Turned 5

My sweet Layne celebrated her fifth birthday this month.  She is a feisty five.  Layne loves to climb and tumble. She loves to help momma in the kitchen and rake leaves in the yard. Layne spends time each day creating with paper, crayons, paint, markers and whatever else mom and dad let her get her hands on.  Layne is the little mother to all of her older brothers.  Whenever they get scraped up she is the first one to the first aid kit, quickly dealing out love and band aids.  Layne has a temper but it is because she is so passionate.  She can be stubborn but most of the time it shows itself as determination.  Layne loves music and dancing and is rarely silent.  Layne is our girl.  She is a special one. 

This year we planned a special day for Layne's birthday.  Rather than do a party, we decided to take Layne on a ladies day out.  To accomplish this, I asked her Grandma Pam and Great Grandma Mildred to accompany us to the Build a Bear workshop.  They gladly accepted.  

Here is Layne walking with Great Grandma.  I love how she's looking up to see how a "lady" behaves in the big stores.  She is so precious with her dainty little purse and her purposeful walk. 

We strolled into build a bear and Layne got giddy.  She flitted from one shelf to another touching everything and oohing and ahhing every other second.  Layne was so excited, it made the three of us chuckle.  Layne very quickly decided that she must have a pink bear for her birthday bear.  She hugged that one tight and walked right to the next station.  Layne loved the stuffing machine, she was completely engrossed watching it do its magic. 
Then we headed to bath time.  Too cute!

I'm sorry about the blurry picture but I couldn't leave it out.  Look how happy that little girl is! 

Of course she was happiest when her new Sally Bear was dressed and placed into her waiting arms.  Just like every good momma! 

Happy Birthday Layne!

For The Love of Tinkering



Not a third world country just a 100 year old basement

 These kids come from a long line of tinkers.  Their great grandfather enjoyed tinkering with stained glass and terrariums.  Their grandfather enjoys tinkering with wood and electronics.  Their dad enjoys tinkering with paper and pencil. They enjoy tinkering with everything! 

They recently received a huge cache of figurines from their great grandpa's collection. They are thrilled!  They set right to work tinkering up an environment for the little guys. The paper, scissors and tape are flying in the basement.  I love it. I love seeing them engaged. I love watching them move and manipulate the pieces. The ideas are flowing and so is the teamwork.  Have you ever noticed that? If my kids are actually engaged in a project there is so much less fighting.  Don't get me wrong, the Tindle kids argue plenty but when they are really interested in something the squabbles dissipate. I love it! 



Logan floating his homemade canoe
He's pretty excited!



So what is tinkering and who is a tinker?  Well it can really be anything but it generally has to do with making something, especially a surprising something.  It can be big or little, take months or seconds.  Tinkering is what the tinker makes it.  Here are some photos of things we've tinkered in the past year. 

Carter displaying his bat box.
This kid has mad building skills.

They've worked with paper, wood, cloth, yarn, paint, glue, tape, string, branches, water, plastics, bricks, rocks, leaves, acorn caps, lots of recyclables. Most everything we've tinkered has come to us second hand or been purchased for very little money.  Many of these things were just something that the kids thought up and decided to do.  Some were more directed but most were kid led. Really that's the best kind of fun, right? 

Layne with a syrup arch shortly after
 visiting the St Louis Science center.

                                         

 We take as many opportunities as we can find to let them just go for it. There are tinkering spots everywhere.  We love the many child based museums, art and science centers that we have visited and we've had some amazing tinkering experiences there but most of the time we tinker at home or in our community. 

We built this sculpture on the beach
at one of our favorite campsites.

Tinkering is great.  It isn't a craft or a science experiment.  It isn't really art or math. It's definitely not report writing or spelling. Yet, somehow it is all of those things.  My kids would never be able to build a pulley system for their tree house without a little understanding of how simple machines work. When tinkering a recipe, units of measurement become critically important.  They use color, line, contrast, tints and shades to tinker cards for their family and friends.  Every academic discipline can be explored more fully through tinkering.  What a lovely thing.



Everyone tinkering with their new
color wonder cars. 



If you would like more information on tinkering check out this info by Gever Tulley the founder of Tinkering School.  You can also check out the blog Get Your Mess On to meet a mom who has taken the concept of tinkering and run with it.  Take a look at Berkeley's Adventure Playground for the ultimate example of child led tinkering and how far it can really go.  Don't you think every city should have one of these?



Makeovers = Fun?

So, we have a little girl.  Did I ever think that I would have a little girl? Nope.  I am a tom boy who prefers blue and green to pink and purple, pants to skirts, trees to dolls.  As I carried my second child I just knew that the doctor would confirm my 'hunch' and tell my husband and I that there was another baby boy headed our way.  Not so.  That moment was amazing, surreal and scary all at the same time.  "It is a girl." Four little words. I didn't know what to do with a girl.  I was excited but terrified.  Then all I could think was, well she'll probably be like me and it will be fine. 

Nope.  God blessed us with the most beautiful, adorable girly little girl I have ever known.  She loves pink.  She loves princesses.  She loves babies.  She loves dresses.  I love her.  I have stretched more in the past four years than ever in my life.  I have painted nails and rocked babies and bought pink and allowed dresses (even if they are totally impractical). We have worked out a wonderful girly relationship.  She is so much fun.  She hikes through the woods and picks up frogs and then directly deposits them into her pink princess purse, that she just had to bring along.  She is notorious for wearing cute little pink or white dresses and destroying them in short order by rolling in the grass or digging in the mud.

Today we spent the morning with our home school group doing girly stuff. We painted nails, applied makeup, did hair; honestly, we had a blast.  The organizational/crafty side of me came up with some beauty recipes that the girls enjoyed. It was so neat watching Layne, she was absolutely in her element.  So for those girly moms and those moms like me who profess to be tom boys; here are a few of the activities we did.  They would make great party activities for a princess party or sleep over or just a little extra something for a playdate.

Sugar Scrubs.

Put 1 tbsp sugar into a cup, add a few drops of water to the sugar and mix until the mixture is a thick grainy paste.  Place the mixture in your palm and massage it into the

front and back of your hands. 

Rinse with warm water and enjoy the softness. 

Glitter body lotion.

Put 1 tbsp Cetaphil (or other emolient cream) into a cup, add a 1/4 tsp fine glitter and three spritz of your favorite scent to the cup.  Mix throughly and apply to skin. 

Bath Salts

Put 1/4 cup epson salts into a ziploc baggie, add 4 drops of food coloring.  Seal the baggie and shake the salts until the color is distributed throughout.  Add them to the tub at bath time and they will change the color of your water while softening your skin.

We also had a nail station, a makeup station and a hair station.  The girls enjoyed making some custom jewelry with beads and string that we had set out. Another mom brought in some dress up clothes and all the little girls went to town.

My comfort zone does not include makeovers; yet, I am truly having a great time experiencing this girlhood with my little one.  Thank you Lord for blessing me with a daughter.  Thank you Lord for the changes it has brought about in me.  Thank you Lord for knowing, much more than I, what it is that I need. Now I can say that makeovers do equal fun.