Jubitron the Girl Robot, A Review

The first thing I did when I got my iPad mini, was look for some cute apps for Amelia. Jubitron the Girl Robot is the first one I found, and Amelia loves it! For .99 it has been a huge help at bedtime calming down my cranky little one.





The graphics are cute and interactive. The music is great! Amelia has been digging this app since she was 3 months old, and I can't wait for her to learn how to read so she can read the story to me. There is a 'read to me' option that has the cutest British narrator.









This is Amelia's favorite page, because she can touch the head and make the lightbulb pop out! Again, the music really makes it!













I've been recommending this app to all my friends with children. I hope they make more stories of Jubitron and the gang soon!

You can get your very own copy at the Apple App Store.

The opinions here are my own, and I was not paid to do this review. I just thought this app/story was cute and rad and wanted to share.

Do you have any children's apps you would recommend? Leave a comment, I'd like to check them out!

30 Before 31

I'm always making goals and long lists, but I have a hard time sticking to any of it. But I do enjoy making the list and trying. Here are my 30 Before 31 goals (yes I'm 30 OMG!):

1. Make a cheesecake from scratch.
2. Take a sewing class
3. Go to a yoga class. (I tried Zumba last year)
4. Finish knitting the baby blanket I started.
5. Visit Marfa or Santa Fe (or both!)
6. Go watch a movie at the Drive In
7. Plant flowers and keep them alive. (Doing pretty good so far!)
8. Make an exercise journal and find a routine that works for me. (Bye bye baby weight!)
9. Get a treadmill and run a mile a day. (It's too hot to run outside right now)
10. Clean out closet
11. Finish writing and illustrating my children's book.
12. Get screen printed items up in my etsy.
13. Finish making artwork for Amelia's room.
14. Do or sign up for a local craft fair.
15. Read 25 books. (Should manga count?!)
16. Finish my embroidery projects (tea towel and tote bag)
17. Learn to crochet a granny square
18. Sponsor on 3 different blogs to promote my blog and etsy.
19. Have a garage sale
20. Frame/display pictures
21. Finish Amelia's baby book.
22. Finish wedding scrapbook (3 years later).
23. Decorate our bedroom.
24. Go on a picnic.
25. Learn how to manually use my camera.
26. Finish painting the interior of the house.
27. Upgrade my blog and get a redesign.
28. 7 paintings
29. Make a functional and inspiring creative space.
30. Recover our old recliner.

What are your goals? I'm starting today, so you can too!

Writing a Children's Book: Writers Block

I've had this idea for a children's book in my head for years, and one night this idea wouldn't let me sleep. I ended up scribbling in a notebook I kept near my bed, with no light and no glasses; then promptly fell back to sleep. The whole thing felt like a dream, and the scribbles in my notebook looked like ancient hieroglyphs in the morning. I was able to decipher some, but I knew I was missing a huge chunk of my wonderful idea in the chicken scratch. I tried to remember what woke me up in the first place, but all I could think of was looking through the windows of houses at night from the street.

I had no idea how to go about writing a book, but the idea was haunting me. I did some research and purchased a 'how to' on writing and illustrating a children's book. I dove right into the book on writing, and I started thinking of my story in terms of pages (32 is the magic number). As a visual person, each page helped me flesh out my story and it started to evolve into something real. I continued to read through the chapters in my 'how to' book, and suddenly all my progress halted...character study...

Now I find myself with too many thoughts, yet nothing to put on paper. Writers block. As I sit here and write this, I realize my mistake was taking my 'how to' book so seriously and loosing sight of how I normally work; which is backwards and hardly ever following the rules.

I know this is only the beginning, and I have many more pages to write (and illustrate). I've somehow come up with the perfect ending in the middle of my story. Now my quest is figuring out how to get there...