Family Stick Puppets

There are times when I welcome the rain this time of year I think because it gives me a guilt-free excuse to stay inside and enjoy indoor time.  I have been summer quilting and crafting with the kids this spring which has kept us moderate lately.  The frenzy of early spring has passed and with most of our vegetables in the ground, I don't feel like I am losing time in the garden if weather keeps us inside.

Last week my daughter wanted to make puppets.  We didn't have any popsicle sticks on hand so our Lincoln Logs became the sticks.  Each family member got a puppet and a signature t-shirt (or dress), each 'puppet' was taped to a lincoln log, and much family entertainment followed.

They have provided for some much needed comic relief during tense dinnertime moments.  Now they are perched on the windowsill over the kitchen sink, reminding me during some reflective moments not to take it all too seriously.

Outside and In

The weather has been moody lately.  70 degrees one day, bitterly cold and rainy the next.  I am trying to have a store of both outside and inside ideas because we never know what we are going to get around here in April. A smattering of this and that, of outside and in, makes up our days these days.

outside

and in

Are you outside or in these days (or both)?

Garden Markers

Please forgive me for posting about painting and gardening while Japan is in the midst of such a tragedy.  I don't have a lot of words for what is happening so I will stick with the words I have...

With the emergence of warm weather, I do not do a lot of thinking about how we will spend our afternoons.  When the older two are done with their quiet time and the littlest is up, we simply go outside.  There are trucks and mud, sand and bikes, shovels and pails and any combination of the aforementioned. Built-in entertainment.  I.love.the.outdoors.

Lest I lose perspective though, this is March in the Northeast.  March is not exactly balmy.  I am overzealously putting on my bathing suit (not really, but almost) and mother nature is still blowing some freezing temperatures our way.  

All of this is to say that we do still have some indoor days in our immediate future.  If not from freezing weather, then at least from rain.  I am trying to come up with a store of springtime indoor activities that can hold our attention inside when we can not be out (we have all had just about enough of Candyland).  Last week on one of those rainy days, I broke out the acrylic paints (I do get some cold sweats with those though.  Acrylics and preschoolers and dining room.  Ack.  Acrylics, preschoolers, dining room, and blue plastic tarp makes it slightly better).

I got the plywood rectangles at our local Michael's for 99 cents each and then I ordered some of these to anchor them in the ground.  We have some more plaques on the way that I ordered online so we can finish the project up on another rainy day.  

Holiday Gifting Continued: Heavy Baby

For our littlest one's second Christmas, I made a Heavy Baby, my second Waldorf doll.  I did cheat a little though--this time I purchased a premade head from Dream Pixie.  I remembered quite clearly how laborious a process this part was for me (and how incredibly sore my hands were!).  I did underestimate how long the rest of the process would take me and saved the doll-making until the bitter end, resulting in more sore hands.

Our Heavy Baby is quite literally heavy.  He is filled with millet and scented with lavender oil. 

Besides stuffing the head, embroidering the face is the most time-consuming and tedious part.  I did have some trouble with the first eye and wish I had practiced on some scrap fabric (my last minute making frenzy prevented that--argh!), but no one seems to notice but me.  We love this little (heavy) guy already!

A Garland of Leaves

Ahh, the bright oranges, reds and yellows of fall seem so far away, don't they?  Winter is swiftly approaching and I am not quite ready for my goodbyes to fall yet.  Our late November skies are greying to white and our trees are nearly bare.  It happened so late this year and fall seems too short.

With this ephemeral season in mind, I decided that we would give Ginny's idea a shot (although I have to admit, it was especially enticing because it gave me a reason to {1} buy beeswax and {2} use the funny little mini-slow cooker that came with our real slow cooker). While the leaves were still falling all around us like little gifts from the sky, we collected them from a variety of trees for our garland and pressed them between the pages of heavy books for a couple of days.

Once the leaves were ready, I melted the beeswax in the mini-cooker (this was, perhaps, the best part--the sweet smell of beeswax might be one of my favorite things in the whole wide world).  Then taking turns, we dipped our leaves into the melted wax and let them dry on some newspaper.

Finally, we threaded a needle with some thicker thread and strung our new garland!  It now hangs on our mantle and although the leaves have lost some of their splendor, it still serves as a nice reminder of those not so long past orange, red, and yellow days.

Making New Crayons from the Old

We had a cozy, crafty, homey kind of weekend over here.  No plans, starkly bright blue skies and good moods all around.  We spent most of Saturday morning melting down the many, many crayon bits that we have accumulated over the years.  As I have gotten older (and maybe wiser), I have resisted the urge to throw away useful bits like crayons that we get in restaurants or ones that are too small to use anymore so the collection we have amassed was really quite impressive.  

We began by sorting the pieces--the fun part for my girl.

Then, using the mini-muffin tins I got expressly for this purpose, we prepped them for the melting.

After that, we put them in the oven heated to 350 degrees.  They came out looking like this in under five minutes.

Now we have six (or so) new sets of crayons.  I am going to bag them up and give them as party favors for middle's birthday in February.

Project Home: Installment One {Duvet Cover}

Because I am completely overwhelmed by all of the craft projects I want to take on at the moment (like this, and this, and this), I have decided that I need to focus (focus?! what's that? not my strong point). For the year 2010, I am going to be crafting for home. Given that we are moving into a new to us, but very very old and in need of love, home, this seems like a good place to start. So aside from a sweater that I need to complete for the hubby, I am going to be knee deep in sewing, knitting, refinishing, and refurbishing (I am not ever quite sure what that means, but I will probably be doing it) crafty things for our new abode.

Installment one was a much-needed duvet cover for a little one out of Alexander Henry's fabric, Natura. I used a tutorial online and some common sense to put it together. It still needs buttons and a pillowcase, but its a start.

Christmas Sewing

For our Christmas in Texas, I made my mom, my aunt, and my mom's best friend a cosmetic case for their travels out of some cotton canvas. I knew I wanted the kids to be somehow involved in the presents so I had them paint (with acrylics) onto the canvas. I used a pattern from Weekend Sewing. The project involved a couple of sewing skills that were new to me: sewing a lining and attaching a zipper. I found the lining to be quite tedious--too many parts to cut out and match up perfectly.

I really want to LOVE sewing--I mean I really want to, but I am not a perfectionist at all and I haven't figured out how to fudge it successfully yet. Really, I should just invest in another class--I need to practice and build my confidence as a sewer.

Sewing is just so much more practical than knitting. For me, knitting is about the process and sewing is about the product. I have endless patience for my knitting creations. In fact, if I have to rip them out, I occasionally get a sense of relief that I don't yet have to say goodbye to the project. With sewing... not so much. I just want it done. Maybe that is the problem.

Mothers Day Gifts

I knew that I wanted to make our Mother's Day Gifts this year, but I just didn't know what to make. It had to be something simple and versatile as the gift would go to three very different mothers in our lives--my own Mama, my Aunt Donna, and Brian's mom. In the end, I decided to sew up some handkerchiefs from my new favorite book, Linen, Cotton, Wool. I embroidered the first letter of each of their names on the kerchiefs, had the kids paint the cards, and added some dried lavender for effect. The embroidery isn't perfect as I am new to that sport (and neither is the sewing for that matter), but hopefully they will be loved nonetheless.

Loose Ends

I have some projects that have been hanging on around here a long, a very long time and my goal is to complete them before we make the big transition back to Montclair. Today, my sewing machine woke up from its long winter's nap. I had a huge, ugly pile of clothes sitting next to my desk in our office, clothes just waiting for me to add a button, fix a rip, mend a seam. Some of them waited too long--the 18-24 months pants of H's are sadly way too small, but I fixed them anyways as this new little one might just wear them. I dreaded this chore for months, and after one short, enjoyable hour, the eye soar is gone, I have a now "new" pair of old pants that I had forgotten about, Brian can wear his cords again, and I can take that off of my long list of thing to "get done" before our departure. Other items on the list include finishing a couple of Christmas presents (originally for last year), getting some of those half read books off my nightstand so that I can add some more books to read half-way, and a blanket. Here I go...

Birds

We are (or I am) currently obsessed with birds around this house. I am thrilled by their colors, their variety, their feeding patterns--Harvey is just convinced that they are going to bite him. "Look Harvey, there's a blue bird, " says Mama. "Wherl, wherl? " says Harvey moving his head back and forth without really looking at anything. "There H! There!" "Bird, bite me. Bite me"

On a particularly grey afternoon here last weekend, we turned an old orange juice carton into a bird feeder. Cut two holes on the side, stuck a branch though the middle for a perch, and used a coat hanger to hang it up. We got a beautiful hit immediately--a black and white little chirping thing, but the house, as far as I can tell, has been dead since then. Maybe the birds don't like the paint? the orange juice smell? Not sure, but we are still keeping our eyes out for them.

Little Apron for Little Norah

There is something hysterically cute about this picture to me--Norah wearing my first completed sewing project, the tiniest of aprons. Sometimes it is so hard to believe that a person so small can be so big in my life, in all of the big ways that one can imagine. Big loving, big terrorizing, big everything....

I have been meaning to post about this for a while because it has been finished for a few months and I have been off to a couple other projects (will post about those after the holidays) on my sewing machine. Sewing is... different from knitting. It's not that I don't like it; I do. It's just that I have to hone a skill set that I do not already have--attention to detail seems to me so far to be paramount to a successful sewing project. I knitting, I can fudge it; rather than ripping out a project, I can fib my way through it (sometimes poorly, but still). In sewing, well not so much. Nonetheless, I did make some mistakes on this little apron and my small person love sit just the same.

The Creative Family

There are quite a few popular blogs out there that I read on a semi-regular basis. I read angry chicken, a blog about crafting and cooking, Apartment Therapy for cool children's finds in fashion and design, and frolic! for fashion. I enjoy most of what they have to offer, but if I go a few days without reading them, I do not notice. Not so with SouleMama. I read Amanda Blake Soule's blog on parenting, crafting, and creating with children daily and as soon as I get a free moment. There are mornings when i am so excited to see what she posted the previous night that I visit the site briefly for a taste of what I will be able to read during nap time.

Soule relishes the role of mother and spends her days homeschooling her three, soon to be four, children in Portland, Maine. She's a big advocate of "natural" parenting (encouraging her children to spend a great deal of time outdoors, limiting their exposure to t.v., encouraging artistic expression, etc...). Now, I don't think I am a homeschooler and I know I am not an "attachment parenting" parent, but I do think there is much to be learned from Amanda Soule and her family. While Soule's concept of slowing life down is not hers originally (I think there is actually a whole movement now!), the little moments that she captures on film and posts daily are a constant reminder to enjoy my children and the small moments I have with them right in the here and now. I am not great at this but I am getting better and here I owe some thanks to my cyber friend (although she doesn't even know me cyberly) Amanda Soule.

I recently picked up a copy of her book, The Creative Family and really haven't been able to put it down. I am a little scared though-worried that I might be finding another pastime that will compete with my knitting habit. i got a sewing machine for my birthday from my mom and my aunt and went to the fabric store for supplies for my first project. Wow, is that place fun!! My sewing machine, though, is less fun... I have not yet figured out how to properly thread the thing--every time I do, I end up with a knot. So, off to sewing classes I go. Once I do get the machine working properly, I am excited to start trying out some of the sewing projects she has described. Project updates to come!

Almost There

The three of us are almost four--Brian has been gone since Monday but is coming back late tomorrow night. The week has gone fairly well considering its auspicious start. The sun has been warming our faces and necks and our spirits as well. Harvey is continuing to practice his new dance which is exclusively pelvic thrusts.

Norah and I have done some drawing:



The above is a picture of a dog that I drew. She added legs to it (for the first time intentionally drawing something that resembled the thing she was claiming it to be).

Our house is almost ready to put on the market. We have finished repainting the inside--below is a picture of our new and improved living room walls and fireplace:



We have some small touch-ups on the inside and the outside of the house needs to be cleaned, but we are almost there. In more ways than one, we are almost there.

today was one of those days

that I just felt like crying all day. The recipe for the day was there--couldn't fall asleep last night, Harvey teething and waking up throughout the night, cold day with unpermiting weather, no scheduled plans to see anyone, and bad news on the job front yesterday. Brian is also coming home very late tonight so I knew it was going to be a long one.

I tried though, I really did try. This morning Norah and Mama went out for their very own breakfast while Dada stayed home with the H-Bomb. Norah has been really asserting her independence from me these days. And the more I need love from her, the further away she pulls. So, I have been trying to play it really cool (and I am NOT very good at this). When I engage her rather than seek love from her, our interactions go a lot better. So after our little breakfast this morning (Starbucks was the only place on earth open early enough for our breakfast time), we went to CVS and picked up some paint. By the time we go back home, H was down for his first nap and the painting began.




I spent the rest of the day battling exhaustion and the temptation to crumble into a lump of tears on the floor. When the kids woke from their very short naps, I managed to get outside and ran into our incredibly nice neighbor and his neat two year old. We strolled to the park on this very cold, windy day and chatted about everything under the sun--dieting, real estate, teaching, two year olds, etc... I got some much needed respit from my head while we talked.



Tomorrow will be better. Yes. It will.

Outdoorsy Art

I think I am falling in love with the online crafting world. The only problem i, I have too many ideas and not enough time in my lifetime to get them done. While I am reading my daily list of blogs, I feel my heart starting to pound with some excitement and some near panic--which project should I do with the kids tomorrow? how much time have I wasted with my children already? how many moments have I lost? I find that when I am feeling good and doing something new and different with either Norah or Harvey, each day fills me with wonder and awe--at the human body, at the human mind...

One day last week while Harvey was sleeping, Norah and I went outside looking for things in nature that we loved--well, really I was collecting those things and she was hoarding her new Dora doll from our neighbor Maia. Anyways, we brought some leaves, pine needles, and a pine cone inside and made some pretty, happy pictures.

Norah made this one:


And I made this one:

Easter Eggs!

I remember last year about this time wishing that our Norah was old enough to dye Easter eggs. She grew up so fast in this last year--I hope I never wish her older again. Now I want these days to slow down. I want her to keep saying, "Pick you up," when she wants me (or anyone else to hold her), I want her to keep saying, "Dadee" when she really means, "What is that?" and I want her to keep calling band-aids, ban-bans. These days they are going by at whirlwind speeds.

So we did dye Easter eggs today--a new and nifty no vinegar way. I was kind of looking forward to mixing those little Paas bisquits into vinegar and boiling water, but alas those days, too, are no more. The babies of 2008 put their boiled eggs in a bag, pout dye into the bag and VOILA!, they have dyed eggs. The whole process takes very little time and creates a lot of waste. Next year, I will get some natural food coloring and we will do it our own way.

In some knitting news, I have finished the baby present that I have been diligently procrastinating (details to come). I also have completed the thrid Christmas stocking out of the foursome. I am waiting on the fourth to felt it so that I conserve some water.

Tomorrow, Nonna, the kids and I are headed into the city to go to the children's museum. Wish us luck.