DIY Bookmark

We're all going through such a unique time in our history and we're all doing our best to stay sane and safe. One thing my family has really ramped up while in quarantine is reading. My kids are spending more time reading (sometimes with a fight, sometimes without), and so have I. Even if that means I set up hammocks in the backyard to ensure extreme reading comfort when the weather is beautiful.

Please enjoy this printable DIY bookmark that I created for you and your kids. I designed it for the parenting website I co-founded that’s currently going through a redesign. I will share it there once I have it back up and running.

Most big kids will be able to do this by themselves. Younger kids may need a little help. My 10yo could do it all on his own, my 6yo needed a little help cutting out the teeth. Feel free to share on Instagram and tag me, @alextebowdesigns and also tell me what your favorite book is or what you’re currently reading.

Supplies needed:

• A printer

• Paper or card stock

• Scissors

• Glue stick

• Favorite book

Step 1: Download and print the page with a color printer. Your bookmark will probably last longer if you can print on card stock, but use what you have. Photo paper will work too. Download the file here.

My 6yo and his smirk, hahahah

Step 2: Cut out a bookmark with scissors. My 6yo was able to cut this out by himself with a little help needed to cut out the teeth. 

Step 3: On one bookmark, fold the teeth triangle to the square’s center. Then fold the eyes triangle to the square’s center. 

Step 4:  Apply glue to the back of the eyes triangle and place it back over the teeth triangle. Let the glue dry. A simple glue stick worked great. Some white glue may take a longer to dry.

Step 5: Find a comfy place to sit with your favorite book and use your bookmark to save your spot. Or go sit in a book corner with your book corner! 

Feel free to share on Instagram and tag me @alextebowdesigns and tell me what your favorite book is right now. My 6yo says that Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio is his current favorite. My 10.5yo’s favorite book right now is Major Impossible by Nathan Hale. I’m currently rereading The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher in anticipation of TWO new books coming out this summer.

What are you currently reading?

Thankfulness and Quarantine

We hit the 6 week mark since our schools closed and they will remain closed through the rest of the school year. This makes me sad because my boys have really awesome teachers this year and this was the first school year where I was actually able to volunteer more in their classes. But I understand and I’m not complaining, just sad. I can only hope that the hot summer climate and folks continuing to maintain social distance will allow us to go back to school in August and not have to start a new school year virtually.

I know that we are tremendously lucky in that my husband still has a job and I am able to continue to do freelance work from home. I’m grateful that I am able to be home to help my kids figure out online schooling and that I never got rid of my old MacBookPro, so both of my kids can have their own designated school space. I’m grateful for Google Classroom and for our amazing teachers and how they have moved curriculum online almost seamlessly.

I’m thankful that I don’t typically struggle with anxiety when the world isn’t dealing with a pandemic, but I have am definitely having my moments with what’s going on in the world. I have a harder time falling asleep at night and when I do, I dream of things happening to me and my family that I cannot control. I dream of swimming in a lake only to have it suddenly turn into an ocean and waves are coming over my head. I dream of hiking in the mountains and rocks are falling from above us or winds are threatening to blow my kids off the trails. Why is it that in my dreams, it’s Mother Nature who’s out to get us??

Local fishing pond. It hasn’t yet been stocked this spring, so it’s been nearly empty!

We are chugging along, figuring out a new sense of normalcy in this utterly unique time we’re experiencing. Yes, there have been pandemics in the past, but this is the first in this day of instant access to news and social media. I think sometimes it’s a tremendous help. Other times it’s a hinderance. I have had to make a point to stay off of Facebook more than a few days these past weeks just to give my mind and stress levels time to settle.

Here are a few more things I’m thankful for:

· Bicycles - My 6yo got a mountain bike for his birthday so now we can do bikes rides together. We’ve been exploring paved bike paths and trails and getting some exercise that doesn’t involve whining from my kids.

· Watercolors - I’m not sure why, but I’ve been so much more inspired to paint these last couple of months. And thanks to technology, a clip to hold my iPhone, and my son’s encouragement to create a YouTube channel, I have done a couple of time lapse videos of new paintings. I have more in the works (in my head), so stay tuned! I want to make a bunch of picturesque spots on Utah’s BLM and public lands, so that’s been my current research.

· Virtual Taekwondo Classes - We’ve been a taekwondo family for years. My oldest started when he was three (he’s now ten) and my youngest started just a couple months shy of his 2nd birthday. Then I started taking adult classes about two years ago. Martial arts have been amazing for my kids when it comes to agility, focus, and discipline, but for me, it’s the longest-running workout program I’ve ever done since adulthood. Our studio has almost-seamlessly moved all of our classes to Zoom. They’re adapting and changing the curriculum to work with the tools and space that we all have at home and it’s been so nice to be able to keep that evening routine in our family. Between my boys and me, we’re doing 4-5 classes each week. They keep my stress and anxiety manageable and are a welcome bit of near-normalcy.

· Virtual Yoga - My gym closed in mid March where I happily enjoyed spin classes, yoga, and lap swimming. I really miss the swimming and spin, but they’ve created yoga classes I can do at home, any time I want. I’m so, so thankful for them.

· FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Hangout - We sang happy birthday to my niece via Zoom when she turned three and we couldn’t be there for a birthday party. We received multiple videos from family and friends when my youngest celebrated his 6th birthday at home. My oldest read a book to his cousins via FaceTime (and will do it again). My kids chat with friends on Google Hangout or Zoom while they build things in Minecraft together. My husband did a Zoom call with our cousins to share how we make mac n cheese. We regularly FaceTime with my sister, brothers, or my parents and eat dinner together. We chat with cousins who live in other states and countries and this pandemic has brought us closer. My kids’ teachers are using Google Hangout to teach lessons, administer tests (my 6yo went up a reading level, yesss!), and spend time with their students.

· Outdoor Spaces - Since the stay-at-home recommendations came from our governor, all city parks, splash pads, skate parks, and bike parks have closed. There is even caution tape wrapped around pavilions that shade picnic tables. We aren’t technically banned from leaving our neighborhood to explore outside, we’re just advised to maintain social distancing. So a couple of times each week we head out to find some wilderness to play in. We’ve driven past quite a few trailheads and parks to see nearly-full parking lots and just kept on driving. Sometimes we end up at our local fishing pond, where we’ve barely seen anyone there, or we drive an hour or more to a more remote spot to enjoy a picnic lunch, some hammock snuggles, and maybe some fishing if there’s a pond or stream. Even some sand to dig in or trees to climb can be enough to keep my boys happy. In these unique times I am SO thankful for where I live.

· My Mother in Law - My MIL was visiting us from California when shit got serious there and shelter-in-place orders were put in place throughout most of the state. She tried to fly home early on and missed her flight. Since then, we just convinced her to stay here. Our house is small (feeling smaller than ever right now), but she has her own bedroom and bathroom. Best of all, she’s cooking up a storm for us and making both my life and my husband’s life easier because of it. She’s enjoying trying new recipes and experimenting with new methods. Knowing that she’s taking care of dinner helps me not stress about having enough time to get my own work done AND be there to help my kids with virtual school. Her presence also lets me leave the house while my husband is at work and take a little alone time when I need it.

· Hammocks - Just because.

What are you thankful for during this tough time? Any positive things coming from it?

30 Things - Hike it Baby

I had the privilege of creating an activity sheet for Hike it Baby back in 2017 titled: 30 Things to do Outside with your Kids. I made it very graphic-heavy and it was a really fun challenge to arrange it all. Folks could print it out and check off the items they found or even stick it in a sheet protector and use a dry erase marker. I also made a PDF version where the checkboxes could be clicked using Adobe Reader.

The first one went nearly-viral on Facebook with hundreds of Likes, Comments, and over 8000 Shares. It was really awesome to see.

The popularity prompted us to do a couple more. We’ve also made Spanish versions of all three of these.

30 Things to do in Your Neighborhood was created in 2020 when the world was quarantined and getting out to parks or some outdoor spaces was difficult.

30 Things to do at a National Wildlife Refuge was created in cahoots with Portland & Vancouver National Wildlife Refuges.

These have been so much fun to create, I hope we can do more in the future. What else could we do? 30 Things to Find at the Beach? 30 Things to Find When Camping? 30 Things to do on a Night Hike?