Artstart's Artscraps

On St. Clair Ave. just east of Snelling as you head into a quiet neighborhood, you suddenly see this eye catcher.

Artscraps is an extension of Artstart.  Artstart is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing an art enriched environment for children so they can experience the joy of creating for themselves.  Artstart is very active in the community by hosting and participating in school residencies, classes and workshops, field trips and festivals, parties, and their own art gallery.

Artscraps makes it possible for the entire family to be involved in art together.

Artscraps must be bigger than it seems, but every single square inch is smashed full of supplies.  What kind of supplies, you ask? Well, it's not called Artscraps for nothing.

 Paper, felt, buttons, pins, stamps,    

stickers, random game pieces, boxes,

envelopes, old greeting cards,

coils, golf balls, yarn, pens, needles, ribbon, lace,

cardboard, feathers, springs, paper shreds, wood,

you name it--it was there. 

There was a small work area tucked away.  The work area itself was just a work area, but the are was beautiful.

Artscraps is definitely not a place you go for the ambience.  You go to get your stuff that you need.  Because most likely, they will have it.  You go to talk to the artists roaming through the crowded aisles.  You go to get an idea for an inkling of an idea for a project.  You go to pick up Artstart's current edition of their newsletter and book.  You can go there with your kids because the whole premise behind Artstart is to introduce your children to the arts.

While they are banging the metal jar lids together, they are experiencing art.  While they mix the buttons with the clip-on earring backs together, they are experiencing art.  While they carry around a dangerous looking piece of wood that came from who knows where, they are experiencing art.

Not once during all these experiences did anyone stop them.

As always, I liked the bathroom.So here you go!
Artscraps' bathroom.

And it had good smelling soap to boot!

Highlights:

• It was very easy to find.  It's on the end of a residential block surrounded by all kinds of homes.  Only the butcher shop across the street was a business.
• Despite the overstuffed shelves and tightly packed aisles, there was a definite method to their madness. The sewing supplies were located in one spot and the stamps and paper and cards were all clustered together.  Baskets were in one corner and boxes were all together.  
• The staff knew their way around the floor without any hesitation and were eager to help!
• All the supplies are donated from people's houses and overstocked items.  
• My absolute favorite part about the store was the realization that I don't have to keep buckets and buckets of supplies myself.  Artscraps has all the scraps I need.  I don't have to worry about collecting.  Artscraps is doing that for me!  Oh, what a relief.

Disadvantages:

• The aisles are stuffed full.  It's hard to move around the store easily. 
• Parking is all street parking
• It's impossible to leave Artscraps empty-handed.  With everything being so reasonable priced, you can easily fill up your arms before you are done looking around..

Artstart's Artscraps is unlike any place you have ever visited.  I highly recommend making a trip there just for the pure joy of discovering an unknown treasure.

Before we could leave, we needed to stop by Artstart's own Charles Schultz's Lucy for a quick picture!

Check Out Become.com

This post sponsored by become.com.

The more I check out this website, the more I am impressed.  While they  have plenty of opportunities to buy merchandise directly from the website (for instance, items like sculptures of hands, hanes cotton front close sports bra #g373, hanging jewelry organizer with zippers), mostly become.com exists to help you find the best price at a store near you or at your favorite webistes.

Who wouldn't want more information.  One time when I was still working outside the home and my third baby was 3 months, I begged a friend to tell me what the best deals were at the grocery store.  That didn't work out the greatest, but we tried.

However, become.com is super helpful for almost anything you need/want.  Type in what you are looking for and voila!  What makes this even better is that you don't have to do a bunch of couponing to find the best deal. If you have a coupon for your purchase, all the better.  But it's not necessary.

Become.com is a great way to find the best deal for the things you need NOW and not what you plan on stocking up on.

This is huge.  Especially for families like us who live in a very small house with a lot of small people!

Friday Freebie and Giveaway Winner

Winner of Stamp 'N Stitch Handpainted long sleeved toddler tee will be announced now  that it's LONG after the noon hour.  
Sorry about the delay. 


The winner of the Lemon Handpainted Long sleeved Toddler Tee is 
Tamar!


Congratulations, Tamar!  


February's Monthly giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated!


When you download this freebie, you get the two photocards to put on a page and every item that is used to make those cards.  So you can use the pages themselves or make your own with the separate elements.

These are .png files, so you can use them with any software.  However, you have to put them on your page as an embellishment or as a "photo."  You will need to expand the files after you have downloaded them.


 MyMemories.com has such fun software, and you can go to their website to learn more.

If you choose purchase this software, you can use my code on the checkout page to receive $10 off and $10 worth of free merchandise. (Disclosure:  I receive a small compensation if you use this code, but at no cost to you!)

This is my code STMMMS49979


Go here for your freebie

The James J. Hill House

Check out my giveaway from Stamp 'N Stitch for a hand-painted long sleeved T for you toddler.

Heading south on Snelling Avenue past the fairgrounds and past Interstate 94, you drive into the quintessential St. Paul.  You will past Marshall and Selby Avenues.  You keep going until you go to one of the most elaborate areas of all the Twin Cities:  Summit Avenue.

(Photos courtesy of little_sob)


Summit Avenue has big houses, extravagant yards--be them small--and beautiful fences.  This section of town is not only breathtakingly beautiful, but it oozes history and culture.  The houses don't make you itch so much as to see the inside (which you totally want to), but you want to know the story behind the house.

Each house has it's own individual unique personality.  You won't find the same house along this magnificent parkway.  And that's what this parkway is:  Magnificent.

From Snelling Avenue, if you turn east, you will ultimately end up at the Cathedral.  As you meander closer and closer to the Cathedral, soaking it all in, you will come upon the James J. Hill House.

And this house?  You CAN go in.

Image courtesy of http://photobucket.com/profile/rodgergawkrodgerveryjr/index

Because James J. Hill and his wife and his family of 10 children are all dead.

This house is a historical monument/museum. 

Who is James J. Hill?  

And why do I care to go into his house? 

First of all, you care to into his house because you can.  It's one of the only ones on Summit Ave you that you are can check out without being a freakish weirdo by asking a complete stranger if you can look around their house. 

But if that isn't reason enough, let me explain who James J. Hill is. 

He was born in 1836 as a Canadian.  Hey, we are Minnesotans here.  We have nothing against the Canadians.  

He worked in St. Paul in the the shipping business for 20 years and then with some other investors bought out a bankrupt railway.  He renamed it the Great Northern Railway in 1890.  

If nothing else, James J. Hill was a positive thinker.  If you call it great, it will be great. 

He died in 1916 with 63 million dollars.  

63 MILLION dollars!

63 million dollars is a lot of money now. 

Can you imagine how much it was a hundred years ago? 

Oh, my WORD!

So with that kind of money, what is spending $931,275.01 on a house?  The house was 5 stories with 36,000 square feet.  It had 22 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms (THIRTEEN!), 16 crystal chandeliers, a 2 story art gallery (in his home), and central heating. 

This house is beyond today's standards.  Way beyond.  

Well, maybe not to a 63 millionaire.  

But I can't think that it would be too shabby to one of those either.  Even today.  

James J. Hill is the picture of a rich man during the Gilded Age of St. Paul, but he was a rich man who worked really really hard.

K5 Learning Review

Sweet Girl is a very smart girl. 

She is very bright.  

She caught onto reading so quickly that it wasn't funny.  As she learned to read, she taught her 4 year old sister to read as well.  I think that strengthened her reading skills even more. 

It was seriously amazing to watch.  

Since she picked up reading so quickly, I never thought anything about the rest of her schooling.  The most important educational thing to learn is to read.  Right? 

Well, it is in Kindergarten.  

In 1st grade, they start learning more things. 

Like Math. 

Now, I want to explain myself.  I am a very firm believer that kids' ages do not determine what they need to know. 

Some kids are ready to read at age 4.  Some at age 8.  

Sometimes it doesn't click that quickly and it takes some time and lots of repetition before the light comes on.  That doesn't mean anything.

With that said, Sweet Girl wasn't getting her simple math facts.  She could do word problems until pigs flew, but just the simple 4+3=7 was not easy.  She simply guessed.  Her teacher said that she needed to pass a certain level test by January so I needed to work on these simple facts with her. 

What?  She didn't need to pass the test in January.  She could pass the test whenever she was ready to.  But it was painful to watch her struggle.  She would get so sad and upset that she didn't know the right answers. 

It was about that time I was offered the opportunity to let Sweet Girl try K5 Learning.  K5 Learning is a beneficial and fun computer tutoring system. Or at least we found it to be.

 

Features:

1. Tutoring program
2. Math facts practice 
3. Spelling practice 
4. Math and reading assessments 
5. Personalized help for each client and each student
6. Preschool curriculum through Grade 5 

What I liked: 

• Eager help but not too many emails from K5 staff.  They waited for me to respond to their emails before they helped me out.  And they waited for me to initiate conversation. 
• I liked the math facts tutoring:  it was repetitive, audible, and visible. 
• The different groups of tutoring possibilities.  I could choose to practice math facts or I could choose to follow their curriculum with a bigger, broader spectrum of math.  
• They included short computer games after a few lessons. 
• Sweet Girl logged in with her name, and I as a parent logged in differently behind the scenes to make the necessary changes. 

What was challenging 

• I had to go in to the settings and manually increase the answering time.  Their automatic setting is 2 seconds. And even when Sweet Girl would get the right answer, it took her a while to find the number on the computer, so it would mark it as unsure.   There was a lot of pressure on getting the answer right correctly.  My goal was for her to get it right. 
• I wasn't completely happy with the Math teaching curriculum.  It started with subtraction, and right now Sweet Girl was learning addition.  I couldn't figure out how to fix that. When I did figure out where to go, I still had a hard time setting it up correctly for her. 
• Sweet Girl had to do the assessment for reading and honestly, she so didn't need to do that.  I felt that was a waste of time.  But oh well, at least she was able to feel successful. 

Did it help?

I can tell you that Sweet Girl did GREAT on her January tests! 

I would have been proud of her either way because she is growing into a strong and loving girl. 

Wait, she always was one.  But she's growing even more.

If you are looking for a tutor, K5 Learning could be the thing for you!

In the interest of full disclosure I wasn't compensated for this review except for the 6 week free trial I was given. All the opinions are mine and are honest.

become.com

This message is brought to you by become.com. 


I am learning more and more about shopping online.  There are all kinds of websites out there.  There are websites for the biggest deal of the day or a coupon  that you purchase online for something you'll purchase later. 


Whether you are looking for door draft stopper from walmart or cheap etnies skate shoes or mens fedora hats xxl, 2 1/4 downturn brim (I know.  It's random, BUT you never know!), you can find the best prices through become.com.


Become.com is different from other deal websites.  First, of all they have a huge variety of different products.  Secondly, the website is full of information.  Finally, become.com is a good resource of great deals.


Become.com's variety is huge.  You can choose from automotive products to baby gear, magazines to travel, toys to office products.  Collectibles and jewelry. instruments and computers:  This website seems to have it all.


If you are armed with information, you have power.  Become.com gives you that power by comparison shopping for you and having product reviews available.  Become.com searches the millions of websites out there looking for the information you want.  They give you the total price including shipping and tax, so there are no budgeting surprises.  They just need your zip code.


Become.com also determines what stores are the physically closest to you, scans the internet finding you the best deals right away, and helps you to keep a list of products for the future.


Not only does it do all the dirty work for you, but also you can choose to purchase immediately and go straight to that website (if it's an online purchase) from become.com


I think my favorite. feature is the total price because I hate when I'm trying to budget and I see it's 10 dollars.  I  usually forget to factor in the tax and/or shipping and handling.  So this is great.  And why  hasn't anyone thought of doing this in the past!


I think we will be doing some shopping through become.com in the coming months as lots of birthdays are coming up!

Choo Choo Bob Is Coming To Your House!

Check out my giveaway from Stamp 'N Stitch for a hand-painted long sleeved T for you toddler.

Choo Chooooooo!

Holy Smokestacks!  I think there's a train a' coming!

 Right into your living room!

Choo Choo Bob's is one of our family's favorite places in all of the Twin Cities.  Just today, out of nowhere, Dash said, "Mama!  I wannagotochoochoobob's!"

"I'm sorry, buddy, I don't know what you said."

"I said, 'IWANNAGOTOCHOOCHOO BOB's!'"

Oh, of course!

Soon you won't have to travel there to get a taste of the experience.

Bob Medcraft, the founder of Choo Choo Bob's Train Store, first and foremost  is a TV/movie producer dude.  He's worked on a bunch of things like movies (ever head of Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwartzenblahbalh?),TV commercials, and music videos.

Music videos for bands like Bare Naked Ladies, Prince,  Incubus, Matchbox 20, and the Foo Fighters.
Oh, yeah, they were just on the Grammy's.
He's  famous. Totally!

Bob Medcraft had always wanted a store, so he opened Choo Choo Bob's Train Store.  He had always wanted have a store, and he had always liked model trains.  He had a train set up in his basement and the son of family friends would come over and called him Choo Choo Bob.

And there you have it, folks.  How Choo Choo Bob got his name!

After Bob opened the store, he produced a TV commercial that was received super well.  So he got the idea of doing a show.  Once a TV man always a TV man.

So he along with Joe Martin and Wilson Webb created a show based on a dude named Choo Choo Bob--imagine that, huh--played by Sam Heyn, and we the viewers are called engineers, invited into his clubhouse.

Think of Choo Choo Bob's Train Show as a modern goofy Mr. Roger's Neighborhood or a not quite so eccentric Muppet show.  As a mom, it's actually fun to sit down and enjoy it with your kids.

Every show has a song or two that is shared with other characters: Engineer Paul (Paul Howe), Engineer Emily (Emily Fradenburgh), Conductor Dave (Dave Tufford), Charlie Rat (Charles Hubbell), and Rich Kornbelt (Rich Kronfeld).

 Sometimes there are guest appearances.  Sometimes there are field trips.  Always you can expect Rich Kornbelt to be something completely off the wall, Conductor Dave and Charlie Rat to argue, Engineer Paul or Engineer Emily to do something new with Choo Choo Bob, and trains, trains, trains.

June 1, 2012, Choo Choo Bob's Train Show is targeting to launch regionally on network TV. Gotta start small, but even so the region is pretty large including Fargo ND, Sioux Falls SD, Rochester MN, Mankato MN, Lacrosse WI, Eau Claire WI, Duluth, MN, and of course (as it is based here) the Twin Cities.



But did you know that there isn't just one Choo Choo Bob?  There are two!  
Recently, Bob Medcraft was introduced to Bob Vince who is a professor at the University of Minnesota who is now excitedly investing monetarily into the Choo Choo Bob vision. 


Let us all say:  Thank you, Choo Choo Bob Vince and Choo Choo Bob Medcraft!
Let me hear you! 



Oh, and I need to make an adjustment from my last review of the store.  I said the walls were not painted bright colors.  We were just there (again) and I made it a point to look at the walls.  


They are painted bright colors.  However, the biggest wall is just a creamy tan.  And that was what I noticed most.   There is a blue wall and an orange wall and a yellow wall.  And there are walls that host the birthday party rooms that look like train stations (which I did mention).  I guess if it's not the full rainbow of colors I do not think they are bright. 


But I was wrong.  They are.
Bright, that is.