Art Therapy

The recent and upcoming transitions that our whole family has undergone (a move across the country and back again, a new baby, some family strife, etc...) have taken their toll on the whole family and, most noticeably, on our daughter. She has recently begun experiencing tremendous rage and it has been manifesting itself in some pretty problematic ways.

We have been working with her on ways to express her emotions. I recently got her this book at a garage sale. Harvey has proven more interested in it than she is though. We have also been using this to talk about Mama, Papa, and Baby bear's emotions, and how they impact each other.

Yesterday, our friend, an Art Therapist, suggested that I have Norah paint rocks different colors--one for every emotion that she might feel.

We are storing them in a bowl right now, but we plan to put them in a special place of hers. Maybe these will keep help to keep her grounded. In general, I do find that giving children an outlet to express themselves creatively is liberating. Surprisingly liberating. If I keep my mouth closed while they are painting on plain white paper, for example, it is amazing the images, and the names for them, that they create. A few days ago, Norah was drawing small dots all over her paper, "These are song circles, Mama," she says. Song circles?! Wow, if only we could all access this kind of energy regularly. What a healthy place we would live in.

Cooking with Kids

Last week, a good friend and I had our kids cook together. Both of us have husbands that work pretty late and very hard, leaving us with many dinners to have on our own. So her idea was to have the kids cook their own dinners one night. Brilliant!!

And cook they did.


The kneaded their pizza douch, spread olive oil on top of it along with some pizza sauce and mozzerella, Norah and Harvey added a few peppers and... there was dinner.

Another Lazy Days Skirt

Before leaving Portland, I promised Norah that she could pick out some fabric for a skirt because she didn't like the last one I made her AT ALL. I mean, I have to bribe her with lots of forbidden treats to even get her to put the thing on. As a new sewer, I desperately want to see my kids in my creations, so I knew I would make another one in a fabric of her choice. Sadly, the fabric of her choice is not one of my choice, but... she is wearing it and I am loving it no matter what. I got the pattern here, cut the fabric to 16 inches (I think) before the seams, and cut the elastic waistband to 19 inches (18 after overlapping). Olivia, her dolly, has one on the way too.

Settling In (Sort Of)

Our stuff arrived about a week ago to our new (temporary) home in Montclair and we have begun the process of settling back in to our new (old) town. A trip to the farmer's market last Saturday made me feel even more back.

Funny how life throws you those curve balls. i can remember opening day of the Montclair Farmer's Market last year--I was happy to be there and sad that it would be one of my last trips to it. And last week, there I was, returned from Portland, a changed yet still very much the same person, buying my sausage and eggs and my spinach from my favorite vendors again this year.
What a funny life it is.