Books

I have always loved books. I can remember being so happy when I got a new Nancy Drew book, I remember sitting in my room looking throught encyclopedias (at the pictures) on a rainy afternoon when I was a kid. I love going to bookstores.
In my shop, I make bookmarks....here are a couple of samples

I have been wondering though, if people really use bookmarks anymore...I mean are books on the way out and kindles and listening to books online going to be replacing them? Especially in the years to come when my generation (the bookies ) is getting older, and the computer generation that loves their toys, takes over.

I read to my kids every night when they were little. My kids enjoyed the stories. My oldest daughter in particular loved books. She would come home from school with some of the oldest books they had. The real old ones with the stiff cracked cellophane book jackets. I thought maybe she just liked the old style illustrations (that was the artist in me that thought that). So I asked her "why do you bring home these old books?" Her reply made my heart sing, made me love her even more than I thought I could. It still makes me smile today. She said, "I get these books because I can hold it, and when I open it, I hear the crinkle of the old cover, and I know a story is about to begin." She loved the anticipation and the promise that something that she held in her hand would bring, and the sound of the cellophane was the start.

That's what I love most about books. It's a new world about to open up to you, you can hold it close,  peek inside like a treasure chest and then open it an explore.
I hope people still buy books, I hope they still read to their children and show them that they can take an adventure with them wherever they go. I'm going to keep making bookmarks. Keep my hope and love for books alive.

Little Known Facts of The Playground

I wrote this a while go. I supervise at a school at noon hour so I am an expert, yes I am.

1. In a playground, when there is gravel (or some similar ground cover), if there is a "deposit" left by a wayward dog, rather than tell someone that there is poop on the ground so you can remove it, kids will bury it in the gravel, rendering it invisible.

2. Some kids like to pee and watch it go down the slide. We call these kids Scott.

3. Throwing up after twisting the swing around and around and around and around, and then letting it go to spin around and around and around, is common. This vomit on the ground can also be rendered invisible with the "cat- litterbox" method of covering it up.
::Note to nervous moms:: Throwing up like this is no sweat for a kid. They do it all the time, wipe their mouth with the back of their hand, wipe their hand on your pants when you go to check on them, and they are good to go.

4. In the sandbox, water, milk, juice, and ...uh...tinkle, all make acceptable sand-bonding agents for building a castle.

5. Surprisingly, swing seats with dried bird poop on them, will not be used. They are icky. Kids do have their limits. You can however flip the swing seat over, or rub it off on a nearby unsuspecting student.

6. If you are a kid on a swing, even if you have been on long enough to lose the feeling in the lower half of your body, if another kid comes up and wants a turn, you "JUST GOT ON". Time apparently stands still the moment you climb on a swing.

I may add on to this sometime soon.

Classificus Animalia Humanus

Continuing from the note in my previous blog about "if otters were people". I remembered what I was thinking.
This is kind of my two worlds colliding, working with kids, and painting animals.

If otters were kids, they would absolutely be those adorable little charmers, that say "Don't you look nice today Mrs. S", and then as soon as your back is turned they wing a paperball at the back of your head, or stick something on your back.

Fawns, well that's a no brainer. They would be the sweet, shy girls that you can't help but liking.

Squirrels, most definitely are the loopy kids that can't stay still. They also rush through their lunch and stuff food in their cheeks so that they can continue to eat while they are playing soccer, or chasing the girls around while weilding a worm. There are a growing number of squirrels at school these days.

Most kids fall into the puppy category. Both good and bad sometimes. Do what they are asked to, hoping to please and do well. Bark worse than bite, occasionally get cooties, and look at you with sad little eyes when they want something. Then they do something that makes you laugh or go "awww".

There are of course always one or two that remind me of those big, hairy cats that get poop matted and dangling from their bottoms, but I won't go into that.

This is in no way meant to be derogatory by the way. I love them little squirts.