Bonkers in Barnhart

Archive for January, 2012

Yes, William the Orange likes strawberries, in fact if you don’t share with him he will maul you for them.  Trust me, it’s better to just share in the first place!

And while you are it, why not plant some strawberry plants for the kitties in your life

There were 14,000 entries for $100 Amazon Giftcard Giveaway and the randomly chosen winner is Leslie D-M.

Congratulations to Leslie!!

And thank you to everyone who participated!

What are one or two of your favorite blogs that do not focus primarily on giveaways or reviews? 

I like to enter giveaways and often find reviews helpful but increasingly I find myself searching for those blogs  that have humor, stories, inspirational thoughts, crafts, etc. as I work towards finding my own place in the blog universe

Suggestions would be welcome!

It’s important, I believe, to encourage children to explore their creativity in as many various forms as possible.

My daughter has an imaginative and artistic temperament so we tend to be overrun with her creative output — her day to day production can be quite impressive (and overwhelming!).  I’ve learned to select a few pieces for preservation and photograph some of the others for posterity.

My son, however, has a very different approach to his creative endeavors.  He works in “bursts” of creativity and tends towards a more dramatic, and often 3-D, approach to his art.  Needless to say sculpture parks are one of his favorite “field trips”.

I wanted to share a couple of  Mac’s favorite projects that show both his unique approach to art but also serve as examples of what results when you encourage creativity in kids — the results can be surprising

The Magical White City (made from various bits and pieces scavenged from the garage as well as packing materials):

This particular city provided hours of play after many hours of precise arrangement and placement.

The Robot named Max:

Mac built this almost life-size robot mostly on his own — Dad helped him get the wheels (training wheels from his sister’s bike) attached.   The robot, affectionately called Max, spent weeks being rolled around and played with and made a wonderful buddy.  It finally fell apart but Mac said he’s working on plans for a new one this summer, also out of recycled materials.

And my personal favorite, The Swimming Tree:

Mac collects plastic “swimmers” — small pool toys.  He is especially fond of duckies and has amassed quite a collection at this point!  He decided to create a “swimming tree” since we had put the pool away for the summer and he wanted a way to display his ducks, etc.   He was quite pleased with the effect it created.

Here is a close up of The Swimming Tree:

He worked on The Swimming Tree over the course of almost a week, arranging and rearranging the various swimmers to suit whatever aesthetic he wanted to achieve for that day.  Then he was done and the swimmers moved on to other pursuits   But he has asked to have a picture of the Swimming Tree for his bedroom wall so he can think about other ideas involving nature.

I’m looking forward to seeing his next project or installation, whatever it may be — he’s been plotting and planning so I expect there will soon be something new to view and experience!

In what ways do you encourage creativity in your kids, or for yourself if you don’t have kids?  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Related articles

• Sculpture and Stuff (thelastnoel.blogspot.com)
• Lego Play-Doh Sculpting (amomwithalessonplan.com)

I want you to take a look at this picture:

Is that not the picture of innocence?  There is a feline who could do no wrong — a cat of many talents, but certainly not a single mean bone in his 20+ pound (!) body.

Well, not really.  That adorable face and those lovely golden eyes disguise the heart of a troublemaker,  a rebel (definitely lacking a cause, feline or otherwise), and sometimes even a bully.   I feel like I should burst into a song from the Music Man about trouble right here in River City (aka Barnhart) — I’ve seen too many musicals obviously!

William the Orange is the third cat in our household but certainly top cat in terms of rank, and unfortunately he tends toward more then his fair share of arrogance and attitude.  And lately he’s been picking on the lovely (and older) MacKayla the Empress who is having problems with arthritis in her hip.

I’ve tried various methods to discourage this, the most effective being a spray bottle when William decides to be pushy, but really he’s acting like a brat!

There are days when I wish there were kitty time outs — or perhaps kitty military school!

Do you have a multi-cat household?  If so, how do you handle disagreements/bickering among the various members?

Do you follow a blogging schedule?  If so, what does it look like briefly?

I’m trying to decide if I should set up a blogging schedule, if that makes things easier or not — hmm.

I am also taking part in this fun Friday hop:
The question there this week is:  What inspired your blog name?

Well, I live in Barnhart (a suburb of St. Louis, MO) and I wanted something that would sound good with that while also expressing the chaotic nature of life (my life as well as life in general.  Besides sanity really is seriously over-rated!

 

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It’s all for the love of cats! Enjoy! This fun meme is hosted by The True Book Addict.

This a lap inhabited by a cat.

Who taught those annoying young people to use a camera grumps the cat.

Can’t they tell I need my nap!

(P.S.  Joel Gray may not be good at poetry (!)  but he loves fiction and he highly recommends the book Pie by Sarah Weeks as it features a grumpy kitty he can identify with quite well!)

I have a great suggestion for a new reality show — Horse Moms.  Now I bet you’re laughing at this suggestion — how on earth could this possibly compete with Dance Moms — I mean, have you seen that show lately?!  Well, to be honest, I don’t really watch Dance Moms and I do hope that I’m not that off the wall yet — but some days I think I may be working up to it and maybe I should consider a reality show.  At least it would pay for my daughter’s therapy bills later right?!

What is a mom to do when she spends hours at the stable watching her child ride knowing that she could do better — the urge to leap over the fence and shout advice is almost beyond enduring:

Keep those heels down!

Where are your eyes?  You have to look where you want the horse to go!

Why isn’t your body in position — head, shoulders, heels — what are you doing?  Belly dancing?!  You don’t belly dance on a horse!!!

Heels!   Heels!  Heels!

And that’s just during the ride — before she mounts up I struggle to resist the temptation to lecture (these lessons will drive your parents into the poor house so you’d better ride well!) and after she finishes I try to frame my response in a way that is equal parts useful criticism and loving advice (um, sweetie, do you remember you have to keep those lovely heels down — really, down!!!)

And let’s not even talk about the perils of talking to other Horse Moms.  The casual questions that are not always so casual — how long has your child been riding?   At what stables?  Is she cantering, jumping, prepping for the Olympic team perhaps?   And then the guilt when you start to obsess that your child is not as advanced as child X, Y or Z — really, shouldn’t you be happy with the progress your child has made and with how happy she is riding?   Ok, silly question, at least when in the presence of all those gifted child riders and their beaming moms — sigh.

What is a Horse Mom to do I ask.  It’s an expensive sport fraught with pitfalls for a mom who really only wants the best for her daughter — is an Olympic medal too much to ask?   In all reality, I do not expect her to reach that level (we don’t have that kind of budget!) but I would love for her to reach her own personal goal which is to be able to jump and show (especially at the show in Kentucky that she dreams of doing).

So it looks like I will have many years of Horse Mom fun ahead of me — years of sitting in the cold or heat, helping to groom/wash/pick hooves and generally serve as equine gopher, fighting to get chaps on (what evil person came up with chaps!) and boots off, not to mention cleaning tons of gravel/dirt/manure from boots, off clothes and out of my car, and hoping that this will be the ride that will make it all worthwhile.

And when she looks over, sitting tall and proud on her chosen steed, with a big grin I know it is in fact worth it.  And look, her heels are down — yes!

(Note:  My daughter would, in fact, tell you that I am a very nice Horse Mom — despite my obsession about those darn heels

Welcome to our January $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

After a busy holiday season, wouldn’t it be nice to do some shopping at Amazon on us? 10 Bloggers have teamed up to offer you the chance to win this fabulous prize!

How It Works:

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form. Each blog has a different form. You can enter on one or all the blogs, but the more you enter, the greater your chances of winning! Each blog has daily tweet options so that’s a potential 10 daily entries should you choose!
At the end of the giveaway, all entries will be added up and one winner from all the blogs will be chosen.

Giveaway Rules:
Open worldwide, 18+.
Ends January 30, 2012 at 11:59 pm

The Blogs:

The WiC Project
The Mama Report
Baby Costcutters
Philzendia
Journey to Mommyhood
Bonkers in Barnhart
Mama Writes
The Thought that Counts
Fabulous Finds by November Girl
Musings From a Stay At Home Mom

Read the rest of this entry »