I’ve heard people say bloggers paint a hyper-stylized portrait of their lives. Maybe they’re right. Maybe it’s more art than reality. I don’t know. These thoughts are too deep to have heading into a holiday weekend. But, in the interest of balancing the universe and all, today I’m going to keep it real. Here are a few scenes/notes from recent weeks:
My daughter is singing The Cure. All by herself. Just broke out into spontaneous Cure. Next thing I know, she’ll be dying her hair black and using my eyeliner.
The ice cream truck is driving around the neighborhood at 8:42 pm playing Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells. I’m at a loss for words.
I’m not unlike a toddler: I can only handle so much excitement before I need a two hour nap.
Imagine you’re the door-to-door verizon guy looking to peddle your wares. You knock on the door to what appears to be a completely normal house. The door opens and out bolts a dog who piddles on your feet and 6-year-old in handcuffs.
Wishing you all a wonderful long Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy yourselves!
Whooee! Hear that? That’s my ‘Cajun accent. I think today’s cooking class introduction calls for a little Justin Wilson, don’t you? Jennifer Buchet is here today with a great recipe for Crawfish Risotto. You’re gonna love it. I gar-on-tee! xo, Jen
Crawfish, crayfish, mud puppies, mudbugs, crawdads—they’re all just funny names for a smaller cousin of the lobster. Whatever you call it, it is good to eat! Recently, my family held our annual crawfish boil, serving 100 lbs of these little Louisiana lobsters. Surprisingly, we had some leftovers. So what does one do with all this extra meat?
Have you heard about the iphone app called 8 mm Vintage Camera? It uses filters, similar to hipstamatic and instagram, and applies them to your video.
The app has 8 film filters: 1920s, 60s, 70s, Sakura, XPro, Noir, Pela, and Siena. You can also adjust frame lenses and jitter. There are a ton of options for you to play around with and experiment.
A couple weeks ago, on a whim, I took it out for a test spin. The kids were walking atop a low wall and I thought, man, that’s such a kid thing to do. So I broke out my phone and shot a series of them doing just that: walking on walls.
I imported the clips from 8 mm Vintage Camera into another app called ReelDirector. ReelDirector allows you to play around with transitions, text and cuts. Once you have your clips put together, touch render and you have a movie ready to go. You can upload it to youtube or save it in your phone.
I will say, it took a pretty long time, which, I freely admit could be operator error. But all in all, it was a lot of fun to play around with.
Today’s lesson is inspired by Frida Kahlo’s work and so it is fitting that we begin with a brief background of this famous Mexican painter. Depending on your child’s grade, you can vary the length of the background information. I really like opening by reading the picture book Frida, by Jonah Winter which gives a great story of her difficult childhood and illness. You should be able to check this book out of the local library, or find it on Amazon.
It’s good to stop while reading to highlight the vibrant colors used in the story. Mexican homes and culture love to use bright colors, and Frida uses this in her artwork. You can point out that Frida Kahlo suffered polio at age seven, and was in a terrible bus accident a few years later. These events forever changed her life and she dealt with her pain and sadness through painting. Painting was like breathing for Frida. When she was forced to stay in bed for months, it was painting that helped her continue day after day.
One of the things Frida loved to paint was her parrot Bonito. And that is what we are going to sketch and color in today’s lesson. This is also a great introduction to drawing animals and also proportion.
I’m an instagram junkie. It’s true. On weekends, you can find me on there snapping away like mad. I love little glimpses into other people’s worlds and what they find interesting.
I hope you had a lovely week. I had so much fun experimenting with new projects and columns this week. Did you see them? I love that kind of thing. It’s my happy place.
I was talking to Dave last night about the blog and some of the things I’ve tried to do over the years. I said, “You know what? I think at the core, I want to be a good host—introduce people to other interesting people, tell entertaining stories, and maybe cookupa fewideas.” So I hope you’re enjoying yourself. The contributors and I are so excited to bring you all this fresh content. Honestly? We pretty much live for it.
And now the links…
The latest issue of BIG kids magazine is totally gorgeous, as always. I’ve heard they’re almost sold out. Grab a copy before they’re gone.
However you came to parenthood, planned or unplanned, I think you’ll identify with this piece by Elisabeth Dahl— Passport: A True Tale of Motherhood
What happens to 3 out of 4 girls after reading fashion magazines? This. via Katie from Salt + Pine
Estelle launched a new project: an online magazine dedicated to natural beauty and healthy living. You’re going to want to pin the heck out of it.
Do you love or hate party favors? Hate? Then you’ll love this list because Molly takes the guess work out of it for you. Just pick something from the list and they’ll ship to your door. Done. Love? *ahem me* You’re going to ooh and aah over the round up. Either way, we all win. Thanks Molly!
Five ways to maximize your cognitive potential. While I think this is great for us adults, I can’t help but see some parenting guidelines in there as well. [sidebar: I found this article while writing the intro to the Adventuring piece. I wanted to explain WHY I thought it the idea of exploring new places was so important. But I couldn't pull it off. So instead, check out the section on openness/seeking novelty thing. She does a far better job explaining it than I ever could.]
You’ve no doubt heard about the launch of Olive Us—a series of shorts created by Design Mom and her husband. Totally adorable! My daughter said, “If I had a 1,000 thumbs, I’d give it a 1,000 thumbs up.
Have you heard about DIY.org yet? This week, a friend introduced it to me. It’s a new project launched by a group of guys (one of them helped create Vimeo) aimed at ‘maker’ kids. Which, if you’re a fan of what we do here on Classic Play, your kid probably fits that label.
It’s still new, so I’m sure there are some kinks to work out, but the premise is pretty interesting. Kids can upload pictures of their projects and share them with other maker kids. Keep your eye on this one. For more information, check out Geek Dad’s review on Wired.com.
This post is an introduction to a piece I penned for my partnership with Goldfish Smiles. It’s an idea for using laughter to help ease lunchroom anxiety at school. The school year is almost over, but there’s still time to throw a little silliness into the mix. Who doesn’t enjoy a little silliness?! Enjoy!
To help my kids manage any stress that accumulates at school, and help bridge the school-home gap, I turn to the science of laughter. Laughter can reduce stress, help you live longer and help you connect and bond with others. [click here to keep reading]
I’m all about experimenting. So in that spirit, I’m going to try a new column here on Classic Play called Adventuring. Something slightly more organized and in-depth than the Weekending in Pictures thing I typically do. This is evolving. In fact, after I wrote the piece, I realized the format is a bit unusual. I’m not sure where I’ll take it eventually, but that’s kind of what adventuring is all about isn’t it?
So what’s the premise? Right now, I hope to take you to some of the off-the-beaten-path places we go. I’m sure I’ll throw in some well known ones too (I have a ton of photos from the Philadelphia Museum of Art I can’t wait to share). The idea is to discover adventure and wonder in unlikely places.
Ready? I’m kind of anxious. Let’s see where this thing takes us…
This post is an introduction to a piece I penned for my partnership with Goldfish Smiles. It’s an idea for using laughter to help ease lunchroom anxiety at school. The school year is almost over, but there’s still time to throw a little silliness into the mix. Who doesn’t enjoy a little silliness?! Enjoy! 
