In the purple house

And there was light and it was good

2012-01-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Since opening my early childhood program 6 years ago, I've been intending to buy a light table, but somehow hadn't yet. This year, however, the children's interest in light, color, and transparency is very strong, and my drive for a fresh start had me eager to finally get one. (Not to mention that suddenly it seems they're all over blog-land, so it just felt ridiculous that I hadn't ever gotten around to it!).

I followed Mariah's advice and got this one (no affiliation). It arrived this week, and it's just as wonderful as I had hoped. I couldn't wait to give it a try, so at the moment, it's just on the table in the middle of the studio. I'm hoping to set it up with its own organized spot soon. Meanwhile, we've explored water beads (another bloggy discovery, thanks to Play at Home Mom),

Lucy's used it to create an "x-ray" of "Boogie Bear" (Andi's childhood bear),

and this morning (still in pjs), we explored purple sand with paintbrushes. I started out with a pyrex casserole dish, but wanted to expand, so looked around the basement for something that would keep the sand on top of the light box. I found a storm window, which worked pretty well.

I added jingle shells from last fall's beach excursion, and loved how they glowed. I couldn't resist the gorgeousness, and had to join into the play.

A little winter hike

2012-01-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

A fresh start: self-portrait basket tags

2012-01-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

My fresh start applies to my work, too, not just my personal life. And, in the same way, I'm beginning with the environment. Yesterday's project was small but very satisfying: new basket tags.

Each of the kids in my early-childhood program has a basket where they store extra clothes, diapers, and lovies from home. Early on, when they were all infants and toddlers, I labeled their baskets with their photo, their name, and their personal color (which I use to identify their washcloths, towels, and other supplies). But now the kids are older (nearly 3-nearly 5) and can all read their own names, so that isn't all necessary. I'd recently ordered new photos for fresh basket tags, but before they got here, I had an idea I liked even better.

A fresh start

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

(slipcover, temporarily stalled in progress)
As all the various bloggers started writing about their one-word resolutions this year, one phrase kept coming into my head: "a fresh start." So cliched, for the new year. And yet, it was just what I was craving--desperately needing--in so many aspects of my life. And so "a fresh start" has become my mantra.

I've found myself very motivated so far in 2012, and I've been riding that wave of motivation to create a fresh start in my home. (When my environment is beautiful, it's so much easier for me to create a fresh start in other areas as well.) It has meant very late nights and very little time for blogging, but what a thrill to finally get to some things that have been bugging me for ages.

(Bathroom, on its way from the calming lovely blue we've had too many years to an exciting red; temporarily stalled, too, due to the unfortunate purchase of horrible cheap paint. Benjamin Moore, I do love you.)

(Hallway, being transformed from dull tan to lively pink. I have a hard time with change. Both of these new colors are shocking to me at the moment, but I trust that in the end I'll love it.)

(Andi, motivated to tackle the hallway by a friend visiting from Virginia. Sometimes a friend's help is exactly what's needed to get a fresh start!)

(Still scraping windows.)

Back to work!

A tomten in our home

2012-01-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

One of Lucy's very favorite books this winter is The Tomten and the Fox. Tidying up a cabinet recently, I came across this gorgeous fox I'd gotten once at a tag sale, and was inspired to make her a tomten to go with it.

I'm just figuring out the wonderful world of craft supplies, and am working out kinks like paint pens bleeding on the wood, and tan paint coming out greyish. (I need to figure these things out soon, as I have big peg-people plans for Lucy's birthday next month.) But overall, I'm pretty thrilled with how he came out.

Lucy is too. (Here she is playing with him before the glue on his beard has even dried.)

Finally!

2012-01-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

Yarn along: tying up loose ends

2012-01-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

I finished two crochet projects yesterday! (Well, almost; just need to weave in ends.)

I finally did the sock-monkey coffee-cozy I'd intended for a Christmas gift for my sister. (It got bumped for her birthday next week.) Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to fit an actual take-out cup! (Not without spilled coffee everywhere.) It's awfully cute, though. Shoot. (Edited to add: it fits!)

And I finished my purple cardiff cowl. Next up is Lucy's matching one, by request, and then I'm going to move on to something other than cowls (I've made 5 of these since Thanksgiving!)

I'm reading a bit of fluff at the moment, because I just finished something horrifying. I'm also reading All Together Singing in the Kitchen, written by local musicians/former parent-in-my-classroom/Lucy's infant music teachers Katryna and Nerissa Neilds. Like me, they were raised in a musical home, with parents who made music and instruments all around, and it really shaped who they are. I've just begun the book, but I can tell already it's going to be inspiring and useful. (There are little ideas that are so obvious, but somehow I hadn't thought of them. Like sitting at the piano, playing a note, and playing match-the-note, singing it with your child. Lucy loves to play at the piano, and would enjoy a simple game like that.)

What are you working on? Check out Ginny's yarn along for more inspiration.

A little Epiphany celebration

2012-01-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

The tree, nearly bare.
A three kings' cake, with stars (positioned by Lucy).
A story read over dinner.

A glorious sunset.

Simple.
Enough.

On the last day of Christmas...

2012-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of Christmas, so I think I can still get away with some Christmas photos, can't I? We had a very drawn-out celebration, opening gifts over many days due to sickness and family and friends' travel schedules. We had three little open-gifts-with-friends moments, a quiet Christmas day with just our little family of three, and a big belated Christmas with my extended family of ten. Each one was special, and it was actually really nice to draw it out over time.

Checking out her new tree house with Tim.

Checking to see if Eric liked her present. She'd thought of it herself--"we should get him some yarn, so he can make himself a hat"--and chose the yarn from our stash.

Opening "her" stocking on Christmas morning. (I haven't actually made her one yet. This is one of a set of three my mother made for me and my sisters when we were little. I loved getting to share it with her, and she loved it, too.)

Playing with the amazing mouse family made for her by our 7-year-old friend, Jenna.

Stockings (again, from my childhood) awaiting my family on our belated Christmas morning.

Everyone gathered here, like I like it.

Playing with a game from "Great Jane," in the Christmas dress from Granny.

Silliness with Bob and Alexa. (Our family Christmases seem to always require a silly-costumes shot.)

Three cousins look at Lucy's annual grandparent-gift photo album.

Enough partying.

Yarn along, with an extra book

2012-01-04T03:58:00.000-08:00

(Whoa--a whole week went by! I had so much I wanted to share. Oh, well, it was well-spent relaxing.) Meanwhile, here we are back at the Yarn Along. My cardiff cowl is coming along very slowly (argh...I had to pull out the first row twice! I've been distracted...), but at least I have no deadline on this one! I've started The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, which was a Christmas present. It's such a fascinating book, told all in vintage pictures and scraps of text, as if it's a scrapbook from the twenties. (Lucy says "grown-up books don't usually have pictures!") It doesn't feel quite like reading a novel, but I'm really enjoying it! If you like the 20s or enjoy looking through vintage ephemera, you should definitely check this one out.

And, since I was on vacation, I finished my last book and read a whole other book since the last yarn-along, and I just had to mention it, because it was a great read! After Astrid and Veronika (a truly beautiful book, but very sad), I needed something lighter. I looked through the heap I'd thrifted recently with a friend and chose:

Shelter Me
It turned out to be less chick-lit-ish than I suspected it might be. I loved the characters, and found myself completely wrapped up in the story. It was rather predictable, but I didn't care one bit; it was just the perfect read for vacation. Recommended!

Yarn along: even more cowls

2011-12-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished all my Christmas crochet projects, and it's time for one for me. I've been wearing the not-good-enough-for-a-gift cardiff cowl a lot, and have been wanting to make myself some more scarves for wearing all day as part of an outfit (not just for outdoors). I'd made my wool-sensitive sister a cotton-and-cashmere version, and loved it so much, I decided to make myself the same one. (And Lucy's requested a smaller matching one for herself.)

After the first version of this cowl, I learned to do a foundation single crochet, which made subsequent ones so much nicer (I love the helpful comments on ravelry for tips like that). I'm terribly slow at it and not very tidy yet, but I'm getting there. Meanwhile, I'm still reading Astrid and Veronika, which is turning out to be just the right pace for Christmas vacation.

Now that I can reveal the past month's work, here's one of the finished cowls, made as a gift for a friend:

And, if you're interested in that kind of thing, here's the ravelry link for the replacement red one I made for my sister.

I'm joining in to Ginny's Yarn Along. There's lots more yarn-and-book inspiration there!

The perfect gift

2011-12-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

There are many stories to tell this Christmas, but for now, here's just this quick one--the story of a girl and her bike. I'd suspected that Lucy was just about ready for a balance bike (truly a brilliant invention!), and had my heart set on a Skuut, but for various reasons, we went with this sturdier style. I'd worried because I thought it was ugly, because it wasn't exactly the one I'd thought I wanted, because it wasn't a lovingly mama-made gift. But, oh, the joy! It turned out to be the perfect thing. She rode it Christmas morning, and again in the afternoon, and the next day, and today all the way to the post office. She's already starting to experiment with lifting her feet to glide, and you can see the glee on her face. "I'm always riding my new bike. Because I'm loving it."

What an incredible thrill to give a gift that brings such joy!

Yarn along: beginnings

2011-12-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

Haven't much to show for the yarn-along today, just beginnings. I finished The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (which I liked, but didn't love like the reviews made me expect I would), and I think Astrid and Veronika will be next (for the simple reasons that I love the cover and it starts in dark winter, which seems just right about now. Choosing books is an odd process, isn't it?) I've also finished my last (secret) crochet project, and next in my queue is this coffee cozy for my sock-monkey-loving sister. I don't have much time for either crochet or reading at the moment, but only one more work day and a couple days of cleaning and wrapping, and then I'm on vacation for a week! I'll be hanging out with family and--I hope--crocheting a lot as we chat.

16th-20th activities of Advent: gone in a blur

2011-12-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken on our walk to our village's luminary celebration, an annual event complete with luminarias; a bonfire; cider, popcorn, and donuts; a concert of Christmas music; and--Lucy's favorite--horse-drawn wagon rides to see the lights. I took it minutes after we narrowly missed being hit by a truck as we crossed the street. (I do mean narrowly: 2 cars had stopped for us, we began crossing the road, the 3rd truck didn't stop, we heard it crash into the 2nd car, Andi screamed run!, and we ran, avoiding getting hit by the ricocheting truck by only a foot or two.)

There have been Advent-y goings-on this week. There's been wrapping and mailing and lights and card-writing. But like the luminary celebration, they've been mostly lost in bigger events and emotions this week-- three days of croup, two nasty phone calls, and a crazy driver in a speeding truck...

I've been up too many nights crafting, wrapping, cleaning, so tonight, I'm just sitting in the mess and my exhaustion, ignoring the to-do list, listening, listening, listening for that scary cough, and planning to go up very soon to wrap my baby in my arms where she belongs.

15th activity of Advent: ornaments

2011-12-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Our tree is both extra-beautiful and tinged with sadness this year. My mother and sisters and I recently divided our family's ornaments into three piles, and now my tree is full of childhood memories, my mother's felt dala horses, my grandmother's and great-aunts' crocheted snowflakes, and even more red, straw, and white. I don't want to think about why she gave them to us now, so I'm just trying to focus on the beauty.

14th activity of Advent: wrapping gifts

2011-12-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

Well, let's get a start, anyway.

Here are a few wrapped, but not yet done up with bows and tags (that part comes after bedtime, when I can concentrate). The poor lighting doesn't show it well, but these packages are spectacular. For wrapping paper this year, we're using our vast collection of Lucy's paintings and drawings from the past year (with her permission). I don't think we've ever had such beautiful gift wrap!

For a while, Lucy helped to choose each piece of wrap and to apply the tape to the gifts. Then she moved on to creating "a road" with tape and the discarded pieces of paper I'd cut off.

Everything is more fun this Christmas season, with this cheerful, chatty helper by my side.

Yarn along: cowl factory

2011-12-14T06:34:00.001-08:00

Joining in to Ginny's yarn along again today. Not a lot of reading going on this week (though I'm still enjoying this book when I get a spare moment). It's been all late nights and freezing fingers outdoors while I crochet cowls, cowls, cowls. Here's the latest, finished at midnight last night. This one's a gift for my sister, who can't abide anything even slightly itchy, so it's made with cotton/cashmere yarn that feels oh, so yummy! (I may be making a second in January for myself...). Back to work; there are lots of gifts yet to make!

13th activity of Advent: chocolate-chip cookies

2011-12-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Andi's house, if there were chocolate-chip cookies, it must be Christmas.

(Lucy was pretty sure the cookie dough ought to be squished before baking.)

We must have done them right, because Andi declared "now that tastes like Christmas!"

12th activity of Advent: a goat and some bees

2011-12-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

This morning's Advent-calendar tag required some explanation. For many of them, Lucy's been able to "read" the illustration, but she seemed a bit baffled about this one: "it's got a chicken on it?"

Each year, we make a donation to the Heifer Project, but of course Lucy doesn't know that. We thought it would be nice to have her opinion this year as we made our decision about what to "buy": chickens? bees? a water buffalo? a camel? At two months shy of three, Lucy is very generous and thoughtful, and is absolutely ready to participate in such decisions.

I love talking with her about things. At first, she thought we should buy a lamb. (The first thing in the catalog.) I encouraged her to look at everything first, and then decide. As we looked through, she was curious about what each animal was for, asking questions like "does a water buffalo have udders like a cow so they can milk it?" We talked about wool, milk, eggs, manure. She thought we ought to buy a camel. (What a fun idea, isn't it?) I explained that we couldn't afford a whole camel, and asked if she thought we should contribute money toward one, or find something we could pay for completely. Like me, she felt most satisfied knowing we'd "bought" something concrete. (They actually put your money where it's most needed, but it's fun to think you've decided.) So then she chose a goat. I've always wanted a goat, so I liked that plan, too. And I always like to buy chickens and bees, so I gave her the choice, and she chose bees. So it's settled: a goat and some bees. Pretty satisfying, for a family whose focus is so much on local food.

This year, we're also making an additional donation, here. Flower Patch Farmgirl is one of those bloggers I love to read: she makes me think, makes me laugh out loud (which is very hard to do!), and I can't get enough of those cute kids. She and I approach religion in very different ways, but I really respect her faith and conviction, and when she says she want to build a well, I know she'll do it. And I want to help.

I love making this choice a part of our Advent activities. It's a good way to keep the emphasis on giving, rather than on getting. And boy, is it extra fun when your two-year-old helps. Isn't everything?

11 activitiy of Advent: animals and lights

2011-12-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Lucy and I added the sheep to the creche. They were a bit lonely, so we added the shephards, too.

Soon they were rearranged. And again later. Now the big woolly sheep is on the roof of the stable. (That big woolly sheep was a later addition to our childhood creche, made by my cousin at church. It's lamb's wool, and irresistible to cats. It will never look perfect again!)

This creche is the one I grew up with. I find it hard to let it be played with (though it's wood, and mostly sturdy), because we didn't play with it as children; it was for looking. But even though I worry for the fragile bits, I love seeing how Lucy plays with it, and have to let her. (But I happen to know another creche is on its way for Christmas, just for Lucy.)

The tree is up. There were lots of spare greens from the bottom of it, so I've begun using some of them for decoration elsewhere (shown above is my kitchen, looking into our main living space).

Lights...not so much. These are all the strands we have left. Sigh. LEDs, here we reluctantly come. Maybe by tomorrow it will be fully lit.

(edited to add: Oh, thank goodness, there are still normal lights in the world! It's now lit top to bottom.)

10th activity of Advent: cutting the tree

2011-12-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite traditions at Christmas time is cutting our own tree. We've been doing it for years, usually with good friends.

This year, Lucy led the way.

We tried a new farm this year.

It's an old farm, in operation since 1955. Some of the trees are the original ones, planted all those years ago. They use a method new to us: "stump culture." Rather than cutting the tree at the ground, you leave a stump with some branches, which will bend up and become future "trees." Fascinating and sustainable.

It was a new perspective, looking up and trying to judge height, size, and shape from the ground. (Here, Tim uses Lucy to measure a tree.)

Dave had never cut a Christmas tree, so he got the honors.

Goodbye, trees. We'll be back next year.

7th, 8th, and 9th activities of Advent: hanging out with family (and whales)

2011-12-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here I am, blogging in the middle of the night, with three days to catch up on in this follow-the-Advent-calendar rhythm I've begun. But my absence has been for good reason; we've got company. Andi's brother ("uncle Dave") is here for a visit, so there's been a lot of hanging out.

Today's planned activity (look for decorations) was vague and simple on purpose, because I wasn't sure what we'd be doing; Andi took the day off for some sight seeing. We ended up going on a road trip, and though we looked for lights on the way home, that wasn't the main focus of our day. Belugas were.

And penguins, sharks, sea lions, jellies, and family.

(I want this guy's job: penguin snuggler.)

(Lucy has started requesting photos of certain things. She commissioned this last one, and Dave took it.)

And, because I can't be that close to the ocean and not visit, we spent an hour on the beach. None of it seems particularly Advent-y, and yet, it was perfect.

Yarn along: practice runs

2011-12-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

I finished the cardiff cowl I've been crocheting this week, and it's embarrassingly wonky. I'd thought it would be a gift, but I'm going to keep it for myself, as it's wearable, but clearly a beginner's project (the bottom half is all stretched-out with extra stitches and mistakes; the top half is straight and lovely.) I spent a ridiculous amount of time last night trying to figure out how to do a foundation stitch rather than a chain for the next one--I love everything about this cowl except for the tight chain in the middle. Now I'm hoping I have the skills to make the next one better (and much faster, as I'm now one gift behind where I thought I'd be!)

For a quick in-between project, I began work today on some crochet hair ties for stocking stuffers. I'm making some little flowers from a pattern in Crochet Adorned, which I plan to attach to hair elastics for cute ponytail decorations. My fingers feel awfully huge for that tiny hook, but I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it soon.

So I haven't actually created many gifts yet, but let's just call these practice runs for the real thing.

I'm reading The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. I've just barely started it, but ooh, it's good so far! On our recent trip to Boston, we lucked out at the thrift store, finding a huge heap of good-looking books. I grabbed this one because I vaguely remembered reading good reviews of it, and because Barbara Kingsolver gave the blurb for the cover, but I didn't know anything more than that (the advantage of books under a dollar is you can judge a book by its cover without much risk!). A bad time of year to start a good book, though; I find myself thinking "read? make gifts? read? make gifts?"

See what others are reading and creating at Ginny's Yarn Along.

6th activity of Advent: St. Nicholas' Day

2011-12-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

Here are our shoes, late last night, after I filled them. We've maintained some mystery about how they get filled, but Lucy is very adept at figuring out what's "real" and "pretend." When she asked me, as we set out our shoes, if Sinterklaas coming was pretend, I said yes. She seemed fine with that answer, as it fit her view of the world. But somehow, the magic of childhood always takes over. This morning, upon seeing the filled shoes, she asked "Why did he put those in our shoes? Did you see him come? Maybe you were cleaning. Maybe you were still putting me to bed." I love it.

I love this even more: "Mama, yours doesn't have anything special under the grapefruit! Why? If you want, you can have one of my honey sticks." Honey sticks are one of her very favorite treats, and she'd received two. By the time she realized my shoes didn't have much in them, she'd already eaten one, but still offered me the other. She's always that generous. Wow. (Not to worry; Sinterklaas returned later with a bit of candy for Mama.)

Her attitude suited the mood of the day perfectly: giving.

We quickly made up the new-and-improved cookies before the kids arrived this morning.

I assembled simple packages of cookies and a flower made with some of Lucy's painted-coffee-filter art.

And then this evening, we set off in the drizzling rain to leave our anonymous surprises at our neighbors' doors. What fun we had, knocking on the door and then run, run, running away! Most of the neighbors were not home, and when they open the door, they'll have no idea that it was St. Nicholas' Day today, but it doesn't matter. It was joyful, and meaningful to us, and I think it's bound to be a tradition for us in coming years.

Happy Saint Nicholas' Day!

4th and 5th activities of Advent: the rhythm of our season

2011-12-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

I'm loving the rhythm of our Advent calendar. It's just right for Lucy right now. She remembers every morning, and figures out which tag should come out next.

We read it in pajamas.

The finished tags pile up in a bowl on our dining room table. (Toddler tip: if you don't want something mangled, designate a special place for it to go. Now she wants to put it in the bowl, rather than carry it around with her.)

Sometimes, the activity is as simple as adding a plant to our creche scene, and re-arranging the rocks to make space. (I LOVE the way Lucy arranged the rocks here. The symmetry at the entrance to the stable, the graduated rocks... oh, she's my daughter for sure!)

Most of the time, what the tag says is not a surprise. She likes to know what's coming, and we talk and make plans all the time, so it wouldn't work to try to keep events secret.

It doesn't matter. The ritual of it all makes it special.

(Think Sinterklaas' horse will mind some dried lily leaves in lieu of hay?)

Here we are, preparing for tomorrow's plan: gifts for our neighbors.

It didn't go well. There was a bit of a measuring-ingredients snaffu, which, when combined with a 2-hours-in-the-fridge wait time, meant only 4 cookies were successfully made this evening. Oh, well. We ate them ourselves on special Christmas-y plates and called it a success.

Somehow, the simple act of using this Advent calendar has helped us (grown ups) to slow down and appreciate all the little parts that together prepare us for Christmas, rather than losing the magic of it all in the rush rush rush to get it all done. I hope we can maintain this more-sane pace for the rest of the season!

More great Christmas books for toddlers

2011-12-04T18:44:00.000-08:00

I think it's time for the second installment of great Christmas books for toddlers (original list here). Here are some more of this year's favorites:

Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Barbara Cooney.
Ok, it might be exaggerating to call this our favorite, as I haven't given it to Lucy yet (it's going "in" her shoes from Sinterklaas). But it's gorgeous, and I love it, so I'm including it here. Lucy and I were just talking tonight about how Jesus is depicted differently in many different stories by many different people, reflecting their experience. So this version which seems to be set in New England in more modern times makes perfect sense to me. With the same rhythm as Big Red Barn, it's familiar and new all at once; soothing and peaceful.

Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. Do you know Little Mouse from The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear? (If not, and you have a toddler, you might want to run out and get it right now. They'll love it.) He's back here, barricading his huge heap of gifts so the big hungry bear won't get them. But that bear is lonely, and never gets any gifts. Little Mouse's decision is a lovely message about the true spirit of Christmas.

Lucy and Tom's Christmas by Shirley Hughes. Looks like this one's out of print, but if you come across it used (or for that matter, any Lucy and Tom books, or Alfie books, or heck, anything by Shirley Hughes), grab it up. It took me a while before I picked up her books--they looked too-long and not my style. But once I got started reading them with kids, I couldn't stop. They are so perfectly kids' daily experience. My Lucy loves reading about this Lucy and Tom preparing for Christmas, celebrating with their family, and even becoming grumpy from all the excitement (and being helped back to calm by a walk with grandpa).

The Christmas Book by Dick Bruna. While you're looking for out-of-print books, look for this one. Dick Bruna's illustrations are amazing in their simplicity (and are straight out of my childhood), and the story is told simply and at a perfect level for young children. Apparently, there are some versions of this book with a pop-out-and-use nativity scene included; I'd love to get my hands on that one! Meanwhile, I'll read this one again and again and again.

And the one I want to buy next is

Christmas is Here by Lauren Castillo. I've seen it on several blogs, but finally got to hold it in my hands yesterday. It's gorgeous. I love its simplicity, the fact that it uses the text straight from the Bible, and the way she combines a modern family's walk by a nativity scene with the story of the first Christmas. The close-up picture of the modern child peering into the manger at Jesus grabbed me immediately.

(There are more. I may have to do a third list soon!)

3rd activity of Advent: books in Boston

2011-12-03T21:12:00.001-08:00

"Saddle up, girls, we're going to Boston..." was the song singing in my head when I woke this morning. We rolled out of bed and headed off as early as we could for a marathon day of 2-hours-driving-each-way, hanging out with friends, shopping for books for every child on our Christmas list (plus some birthdays), and then--why not?--a trip to a big new Savers thrift store (where we bought clothes and a huge pile of books).

We're the "book aunts," or so we dubbed ourselves when our first niece was born 18 years ago and we started buying books for every occasion. We wanted to be the ones who made sure there were always good books for the kids in our lives. And ever since our friend in Boston introduced us to a huge bookstore with an entire roomful of remaindered children's books, we've made a yearly trek there for our Christmas shopping.

(sorting the books at midnight, with the obligatory cat-on-books in the photo).

We had an amazing time with our friends, who make an all-day shopping trip an event to savor!

Speaking of books, I think it's time for the second installment of great Christmas books for toddlers (original list here). But it's the wee hours of tomorrow already, so I'll have to post those later.

2nd activity of Advent: decorate

2011-12-02T19:02:00.001-08:00

Day 2 of the Advent calendar. Time to decorate!

The leftovers from our wreath-making: a pile of possibility.

A hold-up...I wanted to decorate the dining-room windows, but I just couldn't bear to look past ornaments and greenery to this mess for one more season:

We painted these windows oh, about 10 years ago. And we STILL haven't managed to scrape off that paint! At some point, we just stopped seeing it, and life crowded out that project. But when Christmas comes around, I notice it, and cringe. So, today was the day. An hour of scraping before nap, and then another hour after bedtime (it gets good and baked on after all those years!), and the window was finally ready to decorate. (Hard to see, but those are the Christmas-card ornaments I made last year.)

With window-scraping and 3-year-old-help and lots of cleaning required before decorating could begin, we didn't do all I'd like to do. But we got a good start.

1st activity of Advent: Christmas cards

2011-12-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

We drew the first card from our Advent calendar this morning.

(Let's just get the season's photo apologies out of the way, shall we? They're terrible. It's dark. Some day I'll improve. Meanwhile, I'm sorry for the rotten photos.)

Lucy's art, a 2-inch hole punch, a pen, a glue stick, and a couple of rubber stamps made some pretty cute cards. I stayed up way too late one night last week assembling them all. Now we've just got to manage to write them and send them. I hoped if we started right away on December 1st, they might make it out before Christmas.

Lucy and I wrote a few while we ate lunch today, and then we did a few more after dinner. It's such fun to have her help this year: "write 'us love them'," "write 'I love you'." "You tell me, Mama. What do you think us should write?" With her help, I actually think they might go out on time this year!

Yarn along: easy reading and tricky crochet

2011-11-30T13:11:00.000-08:00

We're having a sick day here--all of us with fevers--so I'll keep this brief. But I did want to share a project with the Yarn-Along, as I'm so happy to be crocheting again! The Christmas-gift bug has hit! I'm making (and unmaking, and making again) a Cardiff Cowl. For some reason, I'm finding this pattern a bit tricky to follow, and have ripped out and started again several times. But I'm loving the look, and the yarn is fabulous, so I still have high hopes. If it works, there will be more.

I'm reading something very unusual for me, a suspense novel: Every Secret Thing, by Laura Lippman. Too much going on right now for "serious" reading.

The photo was taken on the picnic table, as it's been unseasonably warm this week and I've been crocheting while the kids play outside!

Long-awaited Advent calendar

2011-11-27T18:35:00.003-08:00

I've been wanting to make an Advent calendar for years, and this was the year that I finally did it. Rather than look at all the beautiful options out there and try to create the perfect design and fabric choices for us, I decided to just get it done. I remembered that somewhere I had a red corduroy pillowcase I'd gotten once at a thrift store, and I envisioned maybe linen pockets, or maybe vintage tablecloth bits? While I was fighting my way through the heaps of mess blocking my sewing closet door, I found a linen napkin I'd pulled out for another project last Christmas (yes, it takes us that long to put things away sometimes!). Hmmm... That got the ball rolling, and I began to cut and stitch, taking sizing cues from the already-cut-into pillowcase (what did I use that for?) and from the smaller-than-originally-envisioned tags I bought. As I began to sew, I realized the pockets were going on crooked and un-symmetrically, but I just kept on, telling myself when it was all done, the overall effect would be fine.

And you know what? It is. Done and ready to use is what I really needed--not perfection. (Might be a little more perfect with some paint touch-ups behind it though, huh?)

The tags are simple, too. My goal was to make sure we scheduled in all the things that matter most to us, so that the things that matter less won't crowd them out. The activities are mostly things we'd do anyway, but ritualizing them by putting them on our calendar and treating them as special changes them from to-do-list items to family events.

Here's what we have planned:
1. Let's write Christmas cards today.
2. Today, let's decorate the house for Christmas.
3. We're going to Boston today to buy books for gifts. (We do this every year, to visit good friends and shop at a huge bookstore that sells remainders.)
4. It's the second Sunday of Advent. We'll light 2 candles and add plants to our creche.
5. St. Nicholas comes tonight. We'll set out our wooden shoes.
6. It's St. Nicholas' Day. Let's surprise our neighbors with gifts.
7. Someone is coming to visit us today! (Uncle David, but I left the card open-ended so I could re-use it in future years.)
8. Christmas cards are coming. Let's find a place to put them.
9. Let's look for Christmas decorations today. (This might be a special walk or drive, or it may just be as-we-go-about-our-business, depending how busy life gets. I wanted to cut us some slack now and then.)
10. Today we will cut our Christmas tree.
11. It's the third Sunday of Advent. We'll light three candles and add animals to our creche.
and
Today we'll put up our tree and string it with lights. (I liked the idea of adding the Sundays of Advent to the calendar, but after I'd written up all the cards and tried to figure out how to work everything in, I realized that some projects only really work on weekends, and there are only so many weekend days! So sometimes, I put two cards in a pocket.)
12. Let's choose our gift for Project Heifer today. (We put this in here because this year, we want to include Lucy in the decision.)
13. Let's make chocolate-chip cookies today. (Andi's family's tradition.)
14. Let's wrap our gifts today.
15. Today we'll put ornaments on our tree. (Our tree sits ornament-less for a while, because I have so many young children playing here each day, and lots of fragile or precious-to-me ornaments. We like it just fine with only lights in the meantime.)
16. Time to mail our Christmas packages.
17. Tonight is the Florence Luminary celebration. Let's go.
18. It's the fourth Sunday of Advent. We'll light four candles, and add people to our creche.
and
Today, we'll go to the Messiah sing.
19. Let's write some more Christmas cards today. (We'll have to do a lot more than 2 evenings to get them all done, but I figured these would be the times we'd include Lucy in the project.)
20. Let's sing carols at the piano today. (I hope we'll do this often, but just in case, can't hurt to schedule it in!)
21. Let's wrap presents today.
22. It's the Winter Solstice. Let's celebrate with a fire. (Again, trying to allow for simplicity. Maybe we'll go to some event with a bonfire. Or maybe we'll just have a little one at home.)
23. Let's make vamino bars today. (My family's tradition.)
24. It's Christmas Eve! Let's read our favorite Christmas books. (We'll have read them all a zillion times by then. And we may do something else more exciting that day. But again, we're leaving room for last-minute craziness...)
25. Merry Christmas!

I finished it a couple nights ago, and am having a hard time not hanging it up yet (and by the way, it's just weird that Advent begins in November but Advent calendars begin in December). I still remember the Advent calendar my mom made when we were girls, and I hope this one will be as special to Lucy.

Bringing Advent home, bit by bit

2011-11-27T15:11:00.001-08:00

We headed out yesterday morning for our annual "greens gathering." This year, we stayed very close to home, hiking into the bit of woods at the end of our block.

Our destination was this--the tangles of downed trees from our pre-Halloween snowstorm, which brought with them masses of bittersweet we can't normally reach.

We snipped and snipped until our bags were full.

Then, clippers in our back pockets (and heavy layers shed--it was warm out!), we headed for home.

When we found some white pine to add to our collection, Lucy carried it over her shoulder, telling us "I love the smell of these greens! I want to hold it in my nose forever!"

Today, we hauled the whole lot to my mother's condo and made a mess of her dining room and chatted as I assembled two wreaths. I gave her first dibs, and still ended up bringing my favorite one home:

Others of the greens were destined for the dining room, where I set up our Advent wreath in the wee hours of last night.

Coming downstairs this morning, Lucy stopped in the dining room, gazing upwards for the longest time. "Mama, that wreath is so beautiful! I love the way it looks." Then she insisted we eat breakfast in there, rather than our usual spot in the kitchen.

Before dinner, Lucy and I began to arrange our creche scene. Taking a cue from several bloggers, last year we began a new tradition of setting the scene bit by bit--stones in the first week, plants the second, animals the third, and people the fourth. So it's rather barren at the moment, set only with stones gathered by the kids at the river this summer. But isn't that perfect for the beginning of Advent--quiet, dark, missing something, waiting...?

I'm loving this gradual approach to preparing for Christmas, and to decorating our home for the season. Rather than a rush rush to get it all done, we're taking our time, savoring each bit. I hope your Advent has begun peacefully, too.

Craft Friday

2011-11-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, we hosted regular craft parties, getting together with friends to make gifts. In recent years we've had a hard time finding time to do it, but keep saying we want to. Deb, of Bee's Nest, had a great idea: "craft Friday" (rather than Black Friday). I love the idea of getting a head start while it's still November, and of bucking the system by crafting rather than buying on that day. I read about it too late to plan and invite friends, but it's on the agenda for next year, for sure. In the meantime, Lucy and I held our own private craft Friday today.

We spent the morning in the studio (in our pajamas and bed-head, an advantage of no guests). She painted, drew with watercolor pencils, mixed paint colors, and drew on the overhead projector while I transformed some of her past year's art into gifts for relatives and friends.

It was a wonderful way to spend the morning, and now I'm off to a good gift-making start. (I'll show these off with a better photo later.)

Did you make anything today?

Tissue paper "painting"

2011-11-22T17:46:00.001-08:00

(Bleeding tissue paper, watercolor paper, water. When it's dry, the tissue paper falls away, leaving the beautiful blended colors behind.)

A day to ourselves

2011-11-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time we had a day completely to ourselves. Nowhere we had to be. Nothing we had to do.

Today, we had just that.

We stayed in our pjs all day long. Did several loads of laundry. Painted. Read a big pile of books. Played with play doh. Wrote some letters.

It wasn't a perfect day. Lucy's got a rotten cold. Nap was cut way too short by a rare accident, resulting in late-afternoon grumpies. The house is trashed, and though I'd hoped to tackle it, taming two rooms of cobwebs was all I managed.

But we baked bread (the "real" stuff, not the 5-minutes-a-day stuff), which is something I've never actually done successfully before. And while we kneaded it, we sang together. At the end of the day, I'm feeling like it was exactly what we needed.

Yarn along: cheating edition

2011-11-16T19:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, this is definitely a yarn-along cheat. I'm not actually crocheting anything at the moment, but I did make it so far as to choose some yarn for some Christmas gifts today. Now, let's see if I actually get started on anything this week! (It's been a long time. Do I even remember how?)

I've been reading The Freedom Writers Diary, which is a flashback for me to the kind of books I loved to read when I was in college, studying to be a teacher (I read all kinds of 60s progressive fight-the-system teacher's books, outside of my classroom assignments). I bought this one at a book sale years ago for my sister, then found out she'd read it, so it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. It's fascinating and amazing (a first-year teacher and the "worst" kids in school accomplishing so much!), but I want to know more. How did they get there? I can't wait to talk with my sister (a high-school English teacher) about her thoughts on this one.

And with the kids, I'm finding myself reading Donkey, Donkey over and over again this week. Four donkeys moved in around the corner from us, and we walked down to meet them this week. That made one of the kids ask for "that book about the donkey that cuts his ear on the nail," and it's been requested again and again. (Fine with me; oh, how I love those Duvoisin farm animals!)

Whoo? Whoo?

2011-11-09T14:06:00.001-08:00

Way after the fact (but really only a few days, if you consider that our town postponed Halloween by a week after a snowstorm left us powerless for several days...), but I just had to share some (terrible) pictures of Lucy in her owl costume.

(No glamor shots here. Random cooler? Peeling paint? Pile of farm totes? You get it all...)

It's not shown to its best advantage here, but I was really pleased with how this costume came out. I was inspired by this wonderful costume, by Lucy's love of birds, and by a recent visit to "see the hurt owls" (Lucy's summary) at a bird sanctuary. I used a felted adult sweater as the base (the sleeves long ago turned into longies), and sewed on lots of feathers from free-from-the-thrift-store pants. I tried four different hat styles before I made one I loved (thrifted sweater with more pants-feathers). The glasses were my mom's idea; she had a pair of Groucho Marx glasses and told us we could rip the nose off, so we added a beak cut from a plastic lid and we were all set.

At home, Lucy was the cutest owl, whooing all over the place (thus the face in the first picture). Out and about, she was more shy, but we still got a ton of compliments. Makes all the late-night sewing sessions worth it!

(I love the felted-sweater base for a costume, by the way, and will have to remember that for future costumes. She had several layers of clothes on under it with room to spare, and she was toasty warm all night.)

Pumpkin play

2011-10-25T11:29:00.001-07:00

There's been a lot of playing with pumpkins around here lately. Here's an invitation to play that I set up last week on the coffee table (with our autumn table in the background):

Last year around this time, the kids were really into clay, and we were using it on a daily basis. So it was a natural extension to create pumpkin-and-clay faces. This year, they remembered, and moved the pumpkins to the studio to do it again:

This year, I was super inspired by this pumpkin head we found at the pumpkin patch:

See his red-pepper mouth and gourd eyes? They're nailed on! Genius! Kids can do that, and make a very satisfying jack-o-lantern (ok, maybe not the lantern part...) all by themselves. I couldn't wait to try it. I introduced the idea to the kids yesterday by showing them the picture and asking them to look closely at how the parts were held on. Then I set up labeled baskets for eyes, noses, and mouths, and we went on a treasure hunt through the studio, looking for parts that would lend themselves to nailing. They came up with some good ones! This morning, we began assembling our pumpkin heads:

(She nailed her pieces on, but I couldn't hold the nail and take photos at the same time!)

Here are some of the kids' creations:

(by a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 3-year-old).

It turned out to be a great way to decorate a pumpkin. I'd love to know if you give it a try!

Apples and Pumpkins

2011-10-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to two farms for apples and pumpkins. It was the quintessential fall day. I'm pretty sure hundreds of bloggers have told the story better, so I'm just going to rely on pictures to tell mine.

Brown birdie pants

2011-10-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, if I wait for the perfect photo of these pants, I'm never going to post about them. So let's go with these, and I'll do a better job photographing the next pair.

Please ignore the fact that her sweater's buttoned wrong, and that I hemmed them too long--sewing after bedtime--so we had to fold them up (still hoping to find a minute to fix that).

And I hope you'll trust me when I say they're way cuter in person!

What I like:

The goofy cute fabric. I went into Joann's one day on a mission for my mother, and couldn't walk past this sale fabric, perfect for my bird-loving Lucy (adorable little birds and peace signs). I love brown for little girls--perfect for playing in the dirt!

The pockets, made from the pockets of an old pair of corduroys that belonged to Lucy's beloved Tim (which makes them extra special to her). She likes big pockets on all her clothes, so she can have a place to stash her treasure (though I'm rethinking the wisdom of huge pockets on elastic-waist pants. Many treasures = falling-down pants!). I appliqued on some birds from the main fabric, in part to cover the old logo, but also because, when I described the pockets to Lucy, she asked if there would be birds on them (she's beginning to offer strong opinions on how things should be made).

The basic shape of the pants: wide and comfy, not too loose on her tiny-little behind.

What I don't like:

The low rise. I didn't expect them to sit quite so low. (I hate exposed bellies!) Next time, I'll add a bit more at the top.

I made these pants from a pattern in Emma Hardy's Making Children's Clothes. (Thanks, Julie!)

It was my first time tracing a pattern from a book with all those overlapping patterns, and it was a good starting place--just two pieces, no markings. The size was good, and the directions were easy and clear. I did, however, note an error in the description for how to make the elastic casing: you were to fold over 3/8", then 3/8" again, and somehow, that was supposed to leave room for 1/2" elastic. (I really hate that craft books nowadays are made so quickly that basic math mistakes like this slip right by!) That error, and my bigger casing to accommodate the elastic, might account for the too-short rise. Otherwise, I was very happy with the pattern, and will definitely be making more (the legs of those brown corduroys are destined to be the next pair).

I can't believe I finally sewed something again! I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum.

And the stack grows higher: tips for library book sales

2011-10-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Ooh, it's my favorite time of year: book sale season! I've been to several good ones in the last month. But last night was the best; it was "friends' night" at my very-favorite library book sale.

Just get a look at this room! This is only half of the "non-readers" room, which also spills out onto a table in the hallway. Everything in here is 50 cents. And though the line to get in the sale was huge, when I entered this room, I was the only one in there.

Here's my stack. It's a very modest one this time! (I've bought so many books over the years, I'm getting pickier and pickier.) Here's my system:

-Head straight for the children's books. They're the best bargain around--cheaper than anything else, but you'll read them again and again and get both art and text--so the value is unbelievable!

-Bring several big huge tote bags. Put anything that looks at all appealing into the bag. Don't preview it yet, just put it in there and move on.

-Keep your book list in mind. I keep an Amazon wish list going of all the great children's books I've ever wanted, and seeing them there keeps covers, authors, and illustrators fresh in my mind, so I spot things easily.

-And yet, don't have a goal. The lady next to me was pawing through boxes, looking for "Thomas the Tank Engine" books, passing wonderful book after wonderful book! (I desperately wanted to offer advice!) Be open to the discovery of something new.

-When you're all finished looking, find a nice quiet corner to review your stacks. On closer inspection, I usually put back about a third to half of the books I picked up. I'm looking for great art, wonderful language, and, often, the innocence and beauty of vintage books (though modern ones find their way into my bag, too).

Here are a few of my favorite finds from last night's sale. (There's more over there on the right, in my librarything.)

As I described the books I'd found to Lucy, she said "the old science books are for you, Mama." Yup. She knows me well.

Are you finding any treasures this book-sale season?

One last bit of summer

2011-10-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

The calendar might say October, but it was 85 degrees yesterday, so I decided we needed one more trip to the beach.

I'd recently realized that we could get to the beach and still have the all-important nap if we left the house at nap time and packed a picnic dinner. That meant Lucy could sleep in the car, and we'd arrive as she woke up, have a few hours to play, a picnic on the beach, a quick change into pjs, and then drive home at bedtime. So I'd searched online for the nearest nice-sounding beach, and found one in Connecticut, an hour and forty minutes away (had Google's directions not led us astray, but oh, well, it'll be fast next time).

It was perfect. A small beach in a quiet neighborhood of modest homes, no walk from the parking lot to the beach (and yet, you didn't feel like you were beside a road), a long stretch of beach to walk on past gorgeous unspoiled land, and millions and millions of treasures to find. Seriously, the slipper shells were a foot deep in places, and we packed our whole picnic basket full of them!

And the driftwood! Ooh, I was in driftwood heaven, dreaming of mobiles and Joel-esque creations.

Today, Lucy and I set up a bin of beach treasures for the children to explore tomorrow.

(And I finally realized that I could bring home all those stinky crab shells I like so much, as long as I set them up for exploration outdoors, rather than trying to put them on our nature table.)

It was the perfect getaway, one I can't wait to repeat.

In the works

2011-10-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

There's something about fall that gets my creative juices flowing. I can hardly believe it, but I finally pulled out my sewing machine after months of it gathering dust. I was up late last night, working on a pair of pants for Lucy. She woke calling for me before I could finish, but I'm close! I have lots of other plans, too, if I can just find the time. Can't wait to share a finished product here again soon!

Simply Ten

2011-10-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a ridiculously long absence. My life, my mood, my time, these past few months have not been conducive to blogging. But I'd rather not dwell there. I'm hoping that coming back here to share the beautiful little moments of life will help. What better way to begin than to join Soulemama for "simply ten good things?" Because there are always good things, if we only look.

So, here they are, simply ten good things:

1. a trip to Maine at just the right time to savor the last bit of summer
2. the thoughts and ideas and constant chatter of a brilliant two-year-old
3. apples, and the right tools to process them
4. the incredible variety of mushrooms in the woods right now
5. fingerpaint
6. good rain gear
7. a breeze and peek of sun after weeks of gray and rain
8. a sleeping baby in my arms
9. being able to call her my baby, though she's so clearly not
10. the incredible freedom of my new Fridays off, now dubbed "Mama-Lucy day."

Yarn along, after a long absence

2011-03-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

(Sick of these arm warmers yet? I am. There's just been no time or energy or motivation for crochet lately, and when I let a project languish too long, I tend to lose interest.)

My family's been dealt a terrible blow recently, and I'm having a hard time thinking about anything else. Blogging about anything seems trivial in the face of it. And yet, life does go on, and I want to spend part of it focusing on the positive.

In that light, I wanted to return for the yarn along, which I've missed.

I'm reading a wonderful new book. I was lucky enough to be able to hear Jodi read from it this week, accompanied by Ellen (the songwriter for the included CD soundtrack). Jodi Picoult cracks me up (when I see her in person), and all her books make me want to block off a day just to read. But the theme of this one, of course, is near and dear to my family's life, and so I was particularly thrilled to be able to see her this time. I love how, whatever issue she's addressing, she can make you feel sympathetic to characters on both sides (doubt it'll happen this time, but you never know...). The signing line was long and super-efficient at this reading, but I managed to tell her "thank you--if anyone can change minds, you can." She said "I hope so." Me, too.

Green

2011-03-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

Well. I kind of fell off the face of the blogging earth, didn't I? I knew I was really off when I missed the Yarn Along, twice. (Love the Yarn Along.) I don't know what got into me, but maybe the green I'm seeing all around will help bring back whatever I've lost.

Snowdrops in the receeding snow.

The vintage St. Patrick's Day cards I hung in my kitchen:

And best of all, a package in the mail (not green, though its contents were):

I won!

Thank you, Bley, for your beautiful work and your generosity!

Yarn Along 16

2011-03-02T09:01:00.001-08:00

Work has stalled on my arm warmers, until I can get to the store for a new hook. And I'm still reading The Book Thief (no fault of the book, just of my too-busy life). But mostly, of course, I'm reading picture books. This week's favorites are two vintage Little Golden Books.

Most-read is The Monster at the End of this Book, both by me to the kids, and by the kids themselves. Here's part of what I wrote to their parents today about it:

Do you remember The Monster at the End of this Book? It’s a 1970s Little Golden Book about Grover—and is probably the only t.v.-tie-in book you’ll ever see in this house. But it’s such a great one, it deserves its solitary existence here. We’ve been reading it a lot this week. On the first reading, some of the kids worried it might be too scary (there’s a monster at the end, you know). But once the older kids start laughing, the younger kids edge closer to find out why, and soon we’re past that first reading and on to the pleas for “again!” (If you’re not familiar with it, Grover is worried because the title page said there’d be a monster at the end of the book. He does everything he can to stop us from turning pages to get there. But it turns out it’s just him!) Of course, the kids love it because it’s very funny. And it’s fun to keep turning pages that have been tied shut or bricked over, creating havoc and panic for Grover. I love it for those reasons, too. But I also have a secret teacher-y love for it. Do you see the giant text as Grover yells? And the speech bubbles? And colored lettering? It all draws children’s attention to the text, and keeps it there as they read the book themselves. Big text tells them to yell. Tiny text tells them to whisper. And they’re looking at it all as they “read” the quickly-familiar words, nudging them one step closer on their path toward reading. And read it they do, over and over. I caught everyone “reading” this book to themselves or to a friend at various times today: “I’m going to tie this page up so you can’t turn the page.” “You turned another page!”

And then there's The New Baby (or Baby Dear). Mother cares for her new baby, while new-big-sister cares for her new doll. Totally sweet. I have been so inspired as I read this one over and over by the clothes! There's the cutest green bonnet with embroidered flowers that I think I must make for Lucy. And the striped dress has me thinking about a men's shirt I could transform...

There's lots more yarn-along inspiration at Ginny's blog.

Sometimes, there just aren't any pretty pics to post

2011-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Remember those arm warmers I was making for myself? Stalled, due to this situation:

(Toddler+lovely bamboo crochet hook left down too low=disaster. The photo's not great, but that hook is snapped right in half. Note that it's the only hook I had in that size.)

Oh, and last week's batch of syrup? Looks like this:

(Not your usual pretty blog pic, is it?)

Yarn Along 15

2011-02-23T04:43:00.001-08:00

Still reading the same book and working on the same arm warmers. (We've had visits from 4 grandparents, 1 aunt, and 2 cousins in the past week, so there's been little time!)

Only after I bought the yarn did I read the part in the pattern where it said self-striping yarn would pool strangely on these, and I guess it is. But I'm so happy with how they're coming out! I'd procrastinated getting started because the pattern is for an extra-small woman, which I am definitely not. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to adjust it properly. But I've been trying it on as I go, and it's fitting beautifully, with only slight adjustments (a hook one size larger; one extra row to make more room for my thumb). This is only the second thing I've made for myself, and I'm really looking forward to wearing them.

Want more crochet, knitting, or reading inspiration? Check out all the yarn along posts linked at Ginny's blog today.

Is it sap season yet?

2011-02-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

This time of year, any hint of warmth has us wondering, "is it time yet?"
Friday afternoon, we decided it must be, as it was warm enough to go out without coats.

With great excitement, we headed off to the backyard, drill in hand.

Everyone got a chance to turn the drill.

We were treated to an immediate reward: the sap was running!
Oh, how I love that "drip, drip, drip!"

The next day was frigid, but we'd gotten some new buckets, so we set out again to tap more trees.

Naturally, it's been freezing cold since then, so we haven't begun boiling. But it's coming!

In (and out of) the studio: cutting practice

2011-02-17T11:36:00.001-08:00

There's been a lot of cutting around here lately. (By all the kids, but let's dote on Lucy for a while, shall we?) Lucy, of course, has had scissors in her hand since she was able to reach them on the table, since there are big kids here leaving them about all the time. I learned a while ago to just go ahead and give the youngest toddlers scissor-safety lessons, which is much easier than trying to keep them away from them. But this week has seen a giant leap in scissor skills. Two days ago, Lucy fringed a piece of paper that she was holding herself (scissors in one hand, paper in the other, cutting little cuts into the paper all around all the sides)--so far, she'd asked for me to hold the paper while she did it. Then, yesterday, all of a sudden, she figured out how to turn her fringed paper a bit, make another cut, and make a snippet of paper fall off! What a thrill. She moved from there to cutting a piece of yarn into little snippets. A few minutes later, she'd opened-shut-opened-shut the scissors to cut a few inches across a page.

I am in awe of her persistence and focus and skill. I find myself with my jaw on the floor daily. Wow.

Yarn Along 14

2011-02-16T06:24:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of time for reading or crafting this week (other than Lucy's birthday cake, of course.) But I've read enough to be getting into my book (a slow start, but one that promises to be very good). And I've pulled out this beautiful yarn again, and am determined to get started on those fingerless gloves, at last.

Maybe seeing everyone else's Yarn Along projects will inspire me to get going with them!

Galloping and spinning horses for an almost-2-year-old

2011-02-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Lucy's birthday, but we've already begun celebrating, because she has so many people who want to celebrate with her, and it's so hard to have a relaxed birthday celebration if you have to cram it all in after work midweek. We didn't want to do a big party, but chose instead to have individual time with each of her special people. So Sunday, we spent the day with her Granny, saw a couple of friends for brief drop-by visits, and later had a visit and dinner with her aunt, uncle, and cousins.

I spent Saturday on her cake--my first major decorative baking attempt. First came the cookies--many, many horse cookies. (This was our first try at piping cookie frosting.) We made lots so we could have two special treats: the cake on the weekend and on her actual birthday, the extra cookies.

Then, Saturday night after Lucy went to bed, we prepped the dining room: setting out her crown and garland, her cards and gifts, photos of her as she's grown, and her cake. I've been so inspired by all the Waldorf-y birthdays I see on various blogs with a special table set for the birthday child. It seems like such a low-key, relaxed, special way to honor the occasion. We're loving it as our new birthday tradition. Here's her chair, waiting for her with her crown and the stick horse I've been working on, complete and ready to ride.

(I pretty much followed the directions in Creative Play for Your Toddler, with just a few tweaks. A great book, by the way! I'm thrilled with this horse.)

You can see that Lucy loved it, too.

(I'd love to share--but for modesty's sake, won't--the most joyful pictures of the day: Lucy and her horse galloping wildly around the island, pre-bath, totally nude.)

And here's the finished cake, of which I'm ridiculously proud:

Lucy loves carousels; they were a highlight of her year. So my mom suggested a carousel cake. The brainstorming began around Christmas time: how to make the roof? the horses? the poles? where would the candles go? what kind of cake? (I settled on a yellow cake with lemon frosting and blueberry-jam filling; mmm!) Our friend Tim came up with the brilliant plan of a lazy susan, so the carousel actually turned:

It was a lovely day; quiet and special and Lucy-paced. Perfect.

Tomorrow, she's two. Two!

Just-right Valentine's books for preschoolers

2011-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know it's a bit last-minute, but if you happen to be at the library this weekend and want to pick up some wonderful books for Valentine's Day, you might enjoy these three wonderful ones we've been reading this week:

The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond
I think this one is my favorite. This week, the kids wanted to know how to cut out hearts. I gave a little mini-lesson, and then read this book to them as they practiced. Since then, we've read it over and over. It's the sweetest story about a little girl who gathers up hearts that fall from the sky one day. She studies them and thinks about the possibilities for each one, then works to make individualized valentines for each of her friends: a collar of strung hearts for a dog, a holey-like-swiss-cheese heart for a mouse, etc. I love the emphasis on creating, and on thinking about what would be most appreciated by each friend.

Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli and Paul Yalowitz
Mr. Hatch leads a boring and solitary life--until the day a box of Valentine's chocolates arrives in the mail with a note from a secret admirer. Who could it be? The idea that somebody loves him changes Mr. Hatch's life, and soon he's become friends with everyone in the neighborhood and his life is full of joy. But then the postman returns with the news that he'd mistakenly delivered that package. Now what? You should see the relief and joy on the children's faces when the neighborhood pulls together to convince Mr. Hatch he's loved. I love the sense of community here, and the idea that a little love spreads from person to person.

One Zillion Valentines by Frank Modell
Marvin and Milton are talking about valentines, and decide to make a zillion and deliver them to everyone in their neighborhood. They have some left over, so they sell them--and then Marvin uses the proceeds to buy a box of chocolates for Milton. Again, I love the emphasis on creating (rather than buying) valentines. And I love the child-friendly idea that "valentines are for everyone," and especially that they can be shared between two good friends who happen to be boys. Looks like this one is out of print. Snatch it up quickly if you see it used!

Happy reading!

Yarn Along 13

2011-02-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

I'm joining in to Ginny's Yarn Along again today, although it's a stretch to call my latest project crochet. I'm chaining and braiding reins for the stick horse I'm making Lucy for her birthday.

I finished One Thousand White Women (great read!), moved on to The Red Garden (wonderful!), and have started The Book Thief, so it's no wonder I have little crochet to show!

Check out the links at Ginny's blog for more reading and yarn inspiration!

Almost 2...

2011-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Tick, tick, tick...the clock's counting down to Lucy's 2nd birthday.
I've got a few things in the works for this carousel-loving birthday girl...

Yarn Along 12

2011-02-02T06:30:00.001-08:00

I'm still reading and crocheting the same things as last week, so rather than take an identical picture, I thought I'd share some of the most-requested children's books of the week. (See my tiny heart there on Katy? I'm getting better at them...)

Lucy and I have been reading Nancy Tafuri's Snowy, Flowy, Blowy over and over. As always, we love her illustrations, especially of animals. And this book is of particular interest to Lucy right now because it's about the months of the year. It's almost Lucy's birthday, and she loves talking about when all her favorite people's birthdays are. So when I read "February; flowy," she says "me in February!" and when I read "March; blowy," she says "Mommy in March! Me remember!" etc.

And, of course, we're reading Katy and the Big Snow right now, as our town gets covered in snow much like Geopolis. If you don't know Virginia Lee Burton, run out to the library right now and get some of her books! They're treasures. There is so much to discover in the details and margins of the illustrations, and so much to talk about. I look forward to reading them over and over as she grows, because there's much more to discover and discuss later, though the story is engaging and beloved right now too.

Yarn-along participants should especially enjoy Five Little Foxes and the Snow, by Tony Johnston and Cyndy Szekeres. It's a sweet story about a family of foxes who want to go out to play in the snow, but Gramma keeps them inside because "your paws will be cold," suggesting other pastimes "while I knit--click, click--by the fire." In the end, Christmas arrives, with new mittens for all the foxes, and out they go to play in the snow. I love the illustrations of their cozy nestled-in-tree-roots home, the play and reading and painting and baking going on, and of course, all the knitting! (That's not an affiliate link; just trying to find it somewhere to show you.)

Last is Charlie Needs a Cloak, by Tomi dePaola. Again, perfect for those who love yarn! Charlie the shepherd needs a cloak, because his sheep have nibbled his to shreds. So he sheers, washes, cards, dyes, spins, weaves, sews, etc., until he has a beautiful new red cloak. We love watching the whole process, laugh at the sheep's reluctance to share their wool, delight in watching a mouse sneak off with many small objects from Charlie's home, and giggle to see the sheep start to nibble the new cloak right away. I think this is one of the best see-the-process books I've come across.

Check out other books and works-in-progress at Ginny's Yarn-Along!

In the studio: airplane

2011-01-28T13:59:00.001-08:00

After posting about our "beautiful stuff" the other day, I had to follow up with a photo of this wonderful creation, made entirely without glue or tape:

"Airplane," by a just-turned-6-year-old, returning here for the day.

Yarn Along 11

2011-01-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

If you haven't yet joined Ginny's Yarn Along, today's the day to do it; she's hosting a giveaway!

A few weeks ago, Ginny's yarn-along post reminded me of these hearts I'd wanted to try since last year. I tried one, and really struggled with the tiny scale; it came out nearly unrecognizable as a heart. So then I tried this pattern, with more success. That gave me the courage to try more super-tiny ones, and this time, they came out pretty cute. I'm thinking the larger ones will become a valentine's day garland for my kitchen window, and the smaller ones maybe for my mirror.

And I'm still reading One Thousand White Women, and highly recommend it!

In the studio: beautiful stuff

2011-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Reading this post today inspired me to share some of our collection of "beautiful stuff" (known to some as junk; so called since reading the book of the same name).

(A closer look at some of the jars.)

Lucy, at work with some beautiful stuff.

Her finished "red monster."

RIP, Rosie

2011-01-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Today we are mourning the loss of our beloved chicken, Rosie. When I went out to feed the chickens this morning, large dog footprints led to a gruesome scene. I am so, so sad, and full of guilt for not having better protected her.

Yarn Along 10

2011-01-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

Time again for Ginny's Yarn Along.

I finished the necklet I was making for myself last week (after pulling the whole thing out and starting again; apparently that class took all my brain power and I failed to notice I'd made it twice as wide as it should have been). I added some gorgeous vintage-inspired buttons. I love it! It's the first crochet project I've made for myself.

Up next is some fingerless gloves, also for me. Check out that fabulous yarn I got for them! As an added bonus, my friend used this yarn to teach me his mother's technique for rolling a ball of yarn so that you can pull it from the center. I had no idea you could do such a thing! (We got him yarn and hooks for his birthday, and it seems we've successfully recruited him.) I've been wanting some fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm while crocheting outside and to wear when I sit down to work at nap time (if you stop moving, this house is freezing!). Most of the crocheted ones I've seen look too bulky, but these look just right to me. (Wish me luck resizing them; I'm still learning that skill.)

I'm reading One Thousand White Women. (Well, "reading" in the mom-of-toddler sense of the word; I've read one page!)

What are you reading and making?

Jump!

2011-01-14T11:41:00.001-08:00

Like just about everyone else, it seems, we got snow this week. Enough to be super-deep for young children to try to wade through, too deep and fluffy for sledding, too dry to pack into snowballs...so what to do? The kids in the purple house decided to jump!

Senior version (5 year olds):

Junior version (1-3 year olds):

Yarn Along 9

2011-01-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

This is my wishful-thinking morning photo: wishing for a snow day today to read and crochet and drink coffee on the couch. (What do you think are the odds that all the families will stay sensibly at home in the snow today?)

I haven't done much crochet this week, but I did begin a simple cowl for myself (I've made so many crocheted things for other people, but nothing yet for me). (It'll be like this one.) On Saturday, we were in an all-day foster-parenting class, and I'd packed lots of yarn, thinking it the perfect opportunity to do some mindless crochet like this cowl. But it must have been more interesting than I'd expected, because this is as far as I got. (I did finish my sweater from last week; you can see it here.)

I'm reading Home to Woefield, which I'd describe as a fluff read--but a good one. Funny characters, sustainability theme, and the kind of plot that makes you want to keep reading into the night, but completely implausible. Fine--it's just what I need right now, with a sleep-deprived brain and seriously limited time.

Check out what others are reading and making at Ginny's Yarn Along.

Gifts, revealed: Lucy's sling

2011-01-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

Lucy's been very interested in dolls lately, and having been a sling-worn baby herself, she of course asks me to tie those dolls up in a scarf so she can wear them, too. So a child-sized sling was an obvious Christmas gift.

For some reason, I struggled with the construction of this one. Can't tell you how many times I stitch-ripped and re-sewed this thing! But in the end, I'm happy with it (though I think I should have made it a bit bigger, or at least a bit stretchy).

It's reversible--one side is this blue silk-y former curtain, and the other is a blue floral vintage sheet, last seen here.

Lucy is not about to slow down long enough for a photo, so we have to settle for these in-action ones. And check out her sweater--that's the Tiny Tea Leaves cardigan Andi made for her (we were lucky enough to get an early version of the toddler pattern). It is so gorgeous!

Finished!

2011-01-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

I finished the sweater I was working on last week. I didn't post it right away, because I thought I'd take a good on-Lucy action shot of it first, but I forgot:
a) she's a toddler and doesn't slow down long enough to be photographed,
b) there's barely any decent sun these days, and
c) she has nothing that matches this sweater.

Oops.

So, here it is in the boring laid-on-the-table pose. (And yes, that is an end I forgot to weave in dangling out of the sleeve. Lucy has decided that's there so she has a built-in cat toy.)

The sweater ended up quite a bit different from the original. This is how I made my "design decisions":

I used the red yarn until it ran out. Then I used the blue yarn until it, too, nearly ran out.
Thinking I had just enough left for a bird, I started one (from this book). With just an inch or two of yarn left, I decided that bird would have to have a smaller head than planned. That made the bird look better in an upright pose.
I searched for buttons to match, and found one blue and two red. The neck placement on the original didn't work (because the sweater's a bit snug on Lucy; I should have added some stitches), so I moved them down. I took a three-year-old's advice when I was trying to choose blue or red buttons; she said "or, you could use all three."

I'm happy with all those aspects. Less happy with the single crochet stitch around the edging, which I used to try to stop the curling edges (suggested by this pattern). It didn't work, and I'm terrible at evenly spacing stitches along row ends. (Please, don't look too closely.)

Overall, I think it's pretty cute, and Lucy agrees. (Ravelry notes here.)

Now I just have to make her something to wear with it.

Gifts, revealed: homemade books

2011-01-06T10:33:00.002-08:00

In the wee hours of the night on Christmas Eve, I finally got to a present I'd been meaning to make Lucy for months now:

Remember her love for carousels? It has carried on for months, as she asks for the story of the carousel rides over and over, and often retells the story herself in her journal (more on that later).

So I finally used one of my favorite blank books to put together a simple book about her three first carousel rides. (No affiliation, just a fan.)

Handwritten and quickly assembled, it's not particularly beautiful. But it's definitely one of the most-requested books around here lately.

It's not the only handmade book she received this Christmas. We got a package of gifts from our dear friends in Boston, and one of them was an amazing little book from the 9-year-old in the family:

It's personalized in such a thoughtful way. From the bird characters, reflecting their shared passion, to the little white bonnet worn by the Lucy bird, to the names of the characters (Lucy's cats, her cousins...),

to the hammock Lucy bird sleeps in,

and the stuffed seagull toy--every detail is special to Lucy.

We were in awe of Sarah's creation, and took it to our extended family Christmas celebration to share with everyone.

(Gotta love the back cover! Sarah's written many books, and has her own imprint.)

Yarn Along 8

2011-01-05T06:10:00.000-08:00

Back to Ginny's Yarn Along. (Check it out. I'm loving the inspiration it's giving me to keep making progress.)

This week, I'm working on a sweater for Lucy. I'm loving the pattern, which is easy to follow and is coming out so cute. I'm making a wild guess at how to re-size it (it's a 12-month pattern and I'm not that accomplished yet to really know what I'm doing), so we'll see if it works!

Meanwhile, I've been getting lots of inspiration from my heap of new crafty books I got for Christmas. As I work on this sweater, I keep thinking "maybe on the next one I could try one of those fancy edges..." and "maybe at the color change I could switch to one of those interesting stitches..." I haven't had time for actual reading lately, but peeking into one of these here and there is filling the gap.

(And yes, we do barricade our Christmas tree with the coffee table during the day when the house is full of toddlers.)

Gifts, revealed: copycat doily bowls and oat floats

2011-01-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas, I read a blog post which added some things to my already-too-long gift-making list. But it was worth it! Heather had made such lovely and simple gifts, I knew I had to copy them! Here are my versions.

Doily bowls made from vintage doilies stiffened with epsom salts.

(I have to admit I kept more of these than I gave as gifts.)

And "oat floats"--packets (sewn from an old pair of linen pants) full of oats and lavender (from our garden), like a big tea bag for your bath.

Thanks for the great gift ideas, Heather!

Gifts, revealed: ornmaments

2011-01-03T06:22:00.000-08:00

As I described last year, it's our old tradition that I give Andi an ornament each Christmas, symbolic of that year, and our new tradition to do the same for Lucy. It was so much fun this year, decorating the tree and telling Lucy about each of our ornaments. She showed every visitor to our house her special ornaments, explaining who'd given each one. Pure joy.

So, this year...

I struggled to think of the perfect ornament for Andi. It's been a hard year, full of exhaustion and personal struggles. In the end, I settled on a wish for the new year:

A simple pillow, embroidered with a hope for "rest" and a heart on the back, stuffed with lavender for rest and rosemary for remembrance. (I'd show a picture of it on the tree, but it seems to have disappeared to wherever the cats stash their favorite ornaments.)

And for Lucy, a bird. I wavered between "birds" and "stories" for her, as she's both fallen in love with birds and asks a hundred times daily for a "story, Mama, story." In the end, I went with a bird, as she fell for them so soon and continued on in her love for them all year--from our chickens, to the seagulls in Bar Harbor, to the birds in our yard. And so I made her this simple embroidered wool bird, with a tail made from one of our chicken feathers:

(The embroidery was inspired by a book I bought as a gift for a friend...and now want for myself!)

Gifts, revealed: an embroidery basket

2011-01-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

For a 6-year-old, I put together this little basket of embroidery supplies: a hoop, scrap fabric, a needle, and several colors of floss. She'd been asking me to teach her to sew, and this seemed like a good starting place. And she took to it immediately! I showed her how to make a running stitch, and within a few stitches, she decided to freehand a heart shape. When it was finished, I wrote her name on the fabric and taught her the back stitch, which she picked up right away, too. She spent a good part of Christmas day curled up in an armchair, stitching away.

Gifts, revealed: more cowls

2011-01-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

Apparently, this was the Christmas of the cowls; I made several. Here are some more. This one was made from cotton, for my sister who can't stand wool's itchiness:

It's super soft and comfy, and when I tried it on, I wished I were keeping it for myself. (That's my I'm-too-busy-making-gifts-to-primp look in the photo):

I tried a new stitch pattern for this one--stacked shells--after admiring a friend's afghan-in-progress. It turned out to make a quick and beautiful scarf! So I made more. This one (in wool, this time) for Andi:

And this one for a friend (it's hard to see in the photo, but those are some cool clay buttons that match the color of the yarn perfectly):

As I worked on these, each one came out just a bit better than the last--to the point that I wanted to remake the first ones! I think I've got it down, now, and these are sure to become a common gift from my hooks.

Gifts, revealed: alphabet rocks

2010-12-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

For those girls in my life who are learning to write, I made these little treasure boxes:

Filled with rocks I'd gathered this summer in Maine,

altered:

I loved this idea.

(Full disclosure: one recipient did say that "this is not a cute present," but she was seen playing with them later. Those are the kinds of gifts I tend to give kids: boring in the throws of unwrapping a zillion things, but appealing later.)

Gifts, revealed: cousins' capelets

2010-12-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

I've been busy with family this week, so no time for posting. But I'd still like to share some of the last-minute (or secret) Christmas gifts I made this year. First--I'm happy to report that I did, in fact, finish all three capelets for Lucy and her cousins!

I ran out of white yarn for the second capelet (yes, running out of yarn seems to be a theme for this Christmas!), so I switched to green and stopped when it, too, ran out. In the end, I like the look, but the yarn I used was far too limp and floppy for this project. Shoot.

Lucy's capelet, on the other hand, came out beautifully! Her cousins won't wear wool, but Lucy doesn't mind, so her capelet has much more structure than theirs. I am in love with the yarn I used (a gift from a friend). So soft and beautiful! Working with it was a pleasure, and was really my first understanding of why people rave about yarn! (Sorry for the hideous photos, but when you finish gifts in the wee hours of Christmas Eve, you have to click it quick and wrap it up!)

I never did get the three-cousins photo I envisioned, with each in her capelet (and, in fact, I'll need to move buttons for the older girls before theirs really fit), but I do think they're awfully cute.

Yarn Along 7

2010-12-22T06:36:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the second of three capelets for Christmas--I doubt I'll make it at this point. (I haven't given up yet, though!)

Among many other things, we've been reading variations on the Gingerbread Man story. In this last week before vacation, the kids and I are making our annual batch of gingerbread cookies--quite an undertaking with 6 little ones!

See what other people are making and reading over at Ginny's Yarn Along.

An oasis of calm in the midst of the bustle

2010-12-20T11:00:00.001-08:00

Our winter table:
two fake-but-I-still-like-them little trees,
a new nativity picked up at the thrift store this weekend so Lucy could have a set to play with,
a favorite book,
a new doily bowl I love, love, love,
and some of those horrible-but-I-can't-resist-'em craft-store cinnamon pinecones.

Making, making, making...

2010-12-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

I'm in the throws of last-minute gift-making here; been working like mad all weekend. Here's what I made in the wee hours of the morning. I thought my childhood doll bed would be a perfect gift for Lucy this year; she's a devoted mama, taking care of babies all day every day. But it was in need of some new bedding. Its adorable cat-patterned flannel was ruined. So I made a new mattress and pillow:

And a new quilt (which matches the larger quilt I was making for her birth...uh, 1st birthday...uh, maybe 3rd birthday??):

Here it is all together, ready for "baby":

Back to making! I have a long way to go...

Sea urchin newsboy cap

2010-12-16T07:22:00.001-08:00

I finished it. And there was (just barely) enough yarn. I cut a few corners to finish it off, but it's plenty big enough.

If I'd known I was cutting it so close, I'd have made the brim a bit smaller--I'm not thrilled with how big it is.

But otherwise, I love this pattern. The hat is soft and cozy and super warm. (And the large brim will be just right for keeping rain off glasses.) Rosina commented on my last yarn-along post that it looked like a sea urchin. Exactly! I hadn't thought of it, but it's the perfect description.

One more gift down. Many more to go!

Yarn Along 6

2010-12-15T04:30:00.000-08:00

I'm joining Ginny again for her yarn along. Not much time for reading for myself this week, so here are the most-requested books by the kids lately.

First is Alfie Gets in First by Shirley Hughes. We've been reading lots of books about Alfie. They are perfectly written for young children--stories about the little details of real life. Here, Alfie gets into the house first--with mom's keys--and shuts the door. He's locked in, and can't reach the lock! The whole neighborhood gathers to help, but in the end, it's Alfie who solves the problem himself. Suspenseful and satisfying; we love it.

Next is In the Snow by Sharon Phillips Denslow and Nancy Tafuri (yup, her again!). I pulled this one out when we set up Lucy's bird-watching station. Again, a simple moment from daily life--a child puts out seeds, and backyard animals gather to eat them. Simple and perfect, with those gorgeous Tafuri animals.

And, of course, with Lucy, we're reading our Christmas favorites over and over.

Meanwhile, I finished the necklet I was working on last week, and I've started another crocheted gift. This time, it's a hat. (Picture me standing out in the drizzling rain with a ball of yarn in my raincoat pocket, crocheting while the children play.) I'm loving how it's coming out. But the once-giant ball of mystery yarn from a tag sale is getting smaller and smaller. Will I make it? Cross your fingers for me.

Made by buttons

2010-12-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the pink necklet I was working on last week.

Partway through, I realized I was doing something wrong--I'd had 9 bobbles, then 8, then in "correcting" it, I worked my way up to 13. In frustration, I stopped for a while, and moved on to a greenish-blue one.

That one was wrong, too. Correct number of bobbles, but see that scalloped edge? Not supposed to be there. (That's ok. I like how it looks.) When I returned to the pink one, I had apparently figured it out. From halfway through, it finally started to look just right.

I was disappointed. But then I went to the store and found some gorgeous buttons.

Thank goodness for great buttons. I think they made these necklets.

Great Christmas Books for Toddlers

2010-12-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Christmas book basket has been out for a while now, and we've been reading one book at dinner each night (as well as other times). It's crammed full of books, but these are our favorites right now, perfect for Lucy at 21 months.

The First Christmas by Robbie Trent, illustrated by Marc Simont
This was my first Christmas book, and the one I remember reading over and over as a child. It is the absolute perfect introduction to the Biblical Christmas story for toddlers: "This is Mary. This is the donkey Mary rode..." Simple and sweet with fabulous illustrations (though very "white.") I was devastated that I couldn't find my copy to read to Lucy this year, so I bought her a new board book. A must have, I think.

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
This, too, is an absolute must. It's the other Christmas book I had as a child, and really, these two were enough. Keats' illustrations are wonderful, as always (and more ethnically appropriate than the first). Of course, we sing it, and Lucy loves the song (doesn't every child?). She sings favorite phrases ("baby Jesus," "Mary nodded," "me and my drum") to ask for this book.

Who is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate, illustrated by Ashley Wolff
This is relatively new to me. I first read about it in Under the Chinaberry Tree (a wonderful resource!) and so was thrilled to find it on a sale table one year after Christmas. It's not appropriate for a public-school teacher's reading list, so it has sat waiting for a few years, and I'm only now getting to share it with Lucy. She loves the anticipation of the animals preparing for an arrival, knowing herself who's coming before the animals do. At first glance, I hadn't thought it would hold a toddler's attention, but it definitely does, with many requests for more.

A Child is Born by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
This is our newest book, bought for Lucy just this weekend because of her many requests to hear more about "baby Jesus." I knew she'd love the cover illustration of the baby, and I loved balancing some of the other books with this view of a dark-skinned Jesus.

The First Night by B.G. Hennessy, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Another very simple and lovely introduction to the Biblical story, written for toddlers. This one, along with The First Christmas, are the reason Lucy can tell the whole story herself. ("Mary and Joseph. Mary rode on donkey. Bethlehem. No room. Keepers said. Manger. Baby Jesus!")

The Donkey's Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri
If you've read my other book lists, you know I'm a sucker for the animals in Nancy Tafuri's books. They are just so sweet, I want to hug them! Here, the donkey doesn't want to frighten the baby, so he hesitates to sing his song. So all the other animals sing their songs first. When the donkey finally he-haws, "Jesus laughed" (Lucy's favorite line). We grownups pretend we aren't getting teary-eyed when we read this one.

Counting to Christmas by Nancy Tafuri
This is a lovely introduction to the Advent season, because it depicts a young girl getting ready for Christmas in simple, non-commercial ways: opening an Advent calendar, making gifts, sending cards, decorating cookies, playing music, making bird feeders, decorating a tree for the animals. I love it. And though I don't think Tafuri's people are quite as perfect as her animals, Lucy loves the wide-eyed, open-mouthed surprise when the girl awakes on Christmas morning.

Shadow dancing

2010-12-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

With the changing light, the children have been noticing, exploring, and talking about shadows. Yesterday, Lucy danced with her shadow outside.

Forward.

Backward.

Forward.

With a friend.

Like an airplane.

With another friend.

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Yarn Along 5

2010-12-08T04:00:00.000-08:00

I'm trying a different style scarf so I can continue on with this yarn. We'll see.

I'm reading Another Place at the Table. I'd read its sequel, One Small Boat, which I loved (though "loved" sounds like an odd way to describe something so devastating). So I was thrilled when this one finally came up through paperbackswap. It's just as compelling as the last, though possibly even more upsetting. (We're planning to adopt through fostering at some point in the near future, and I tend to prepare for things by reading, reading, reading.)

(I'm playing along with Ginny at Small Things, where you can find other "Yarn Along" contributions.)

Play keys

2010-12-07T16:45:00.001-08:00

Lacking the piano I grew up with and crave at Christmas, Andi decided to dust off her high school flute and learn some carols. She began with "What Child is This?" Of course, Lucy wanted to "play keys!", so she got to join in awhile. No carol ever sounded sweeter.

Sinterklaas, Kapoentje

2010-12-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Oops. I was feeling so sick Saturday night, I mixed up the dates and thought it was time to put out our wooden shoes for Sinterklaas. I was desperate to get into bed, and sad to think that this first Sinterklaas celebration that Lucy would remember would be so lacking. I had managed to get to the store for some once-a-year non-local citrus and a few tiny other treats, but had made no other preparations. But...

Over dinner, I told Lucy about Sinterklaas. She knew our wooden shoes well (my Dutch-descent family decorates with them), and I told her we'd put them by the door before bed. As soon as she got down from the table, she got her shoes and ran to set them right by the front door. We followed with ours, singing. In the tiny front hall, we held hands in a circle and sang "Sinterklaas, Kapoentje" again and again, dancing in that funny lifting-feet-high way of toddlers. It was glorious. I couldn't have wished for more.

In the morning, Lucy was thrilled to find an orange, a special candle, and raisins in her shoes. Thank goodness for the infectious joy of toddlers!

Happy St. Nicholas' day (even if the rest of you are all celebrating a day "late"!).

A crochet success!

2010-12-02T11:31:00.001-08:00

Hooray! I finally made something that came out just as I'd hoped!

It's the first of what I hope will be three capelets for Christmas. (Ravelry details here.) I love it! Oh, I hope it'll look as cute on as I'm imagining it will (I'm kind of guessing at the size, but the style is very forgiving).

Horrible photo of cool vintage buttons (must learn how to use my camera!):

Yay! Two gifts down, only a million or so more to go...

Yarn Along 4

2010-12-01T07:38:00.001-08:00

Yep, I've been "reading" the same book for 3 weeks now. No reflection on the book, which is a good read--I've just been the kind of busy and exhausted that allows for only a page or two at a time.

I'm trying again with the cowl with bigger yarn, and again, it's coming out too small. I mean, seriously, this is half the scarf--look how skinny it is! Nothing like the picture I'd seen. Argh!! At this rate, I may never make a satisfactory Christmas present. I probably should have bought the exact same yarn she mentioned until I know more about what I'm doing. It's too bad, because I really love the color of this yarn, and think the person I'm making it for would, too. I've actually quit working on this scarf and started the matching hat to see if that'll convince me to keep going with this idea.

I'd think I was a big fat crochet failure if it weren't for my capelet, which came out pretty darn cute. I just have to weave in the ends and sew on the buttons, and then I'll show you.

Check out what other people are reading and making at Ginny's yarn along.

Changing station to bird-watching station

2010-11-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to set up a bird-watching station for Lucy ever since reading this post, but I didn't have the right spot. But when I dismantled the changing station we've had on our office window seat for the past year and a half, we suddenly had a perfect spot. As soon as we thought of it, we had to do it (excuse the horrible evening photos!). We made some pinecone birdfeeders and hung them in the bush right outside the window:

Come and get it, birds!

We gathered some bird books, and watched and waited for the birds to arrive.

They didn't come right away, so we contented ourselves with reading bird books. As Lucy looked at this book, she recognized something, and asked me to find it in this book:

Sure enough, two almost-identical pictures of a cedar waxwing.

And then, of course, we had to play around with the binoculars, just in case:

(Oh, and the hat? Andi made it; details here. Isn't it the cutest thing?)

How to get your toddler out of diapers in 4 easy steps

2010-11-29T08:23:00.000-08:00

1. Spend 2 precious, rare, weekend hours to yourself sewing two new pairs of longies. When you find out they're too small, in a fit of frustration, spend tons of money to purchase two pairs of longies.*

2. Buy a pattern for big butt baby pants, designed especially to fit over bulky cloth diapers. Cut out fabric to make a pair. Cut it out again, because you foolishly cut the corduroy in the wrong direction.

3. Begin crocheting a pair of longies. Realize they're coming out too big, but continue on because she can wear them at some point.

4. Realize they're all unnecessary, because your baby has outgrown the need for diapers**.
...
*I must say, they were worth every penny; and no, I have no connection to this company. She'll continue to wear them as super-warm longjohns.

**After 17 years of teaching young children and advising parents on toilet learning, I learned about EC shortly before Lucy was born. It sounded like a great idea--for parents who could be one-on-one with their baby all day. But for a teacher of 6 toddlers? No way. So I put it out of my mind until she was 5 months, when I read some more about it and decided maybe I could do it part time. The first time I put her on the potty, she peed, and I was sold. I have been amazed and stunned by the whole process ever since. Hurray for teaching old dogs new tricks!

Tiny blue cowl

2010-11-28T10:04:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful for some time to crochet--enough time to actually complete a project! If all goes well, I should be posting several completed gifts in the coming weeks.

This one didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped. It's nice, but not as the gift I'd intended. It's due to my inexperience with yarn. The pattern called for bulky yarn, so I went out shopping, because I had none in my stash. But what on earth does "bulky" mean? There were yarns labeled "bulky" that looked just as thin as anything else I've used, and some that were as big around as my pinky! How could those possibly be the same thing? I clearly chose the wrong "bulky" in this case, as this cowl came out significantly smaller than I'd hoped. It's modeled here by my wife, but fits my toddler better. I think Andi will be keeping this one (it matches her eyes), and I'll try again with thicker yarn. I do hope the next one comes out cute; I think the pattern has great potential!

Unofficial Yarn Along

2010-11-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

There's technically no yarn along today, but I've been having fun doing them, so here's what I've been crocheting and reading this week:

I'm still reading Velva Jean Learns to Drive, and though I haven't yet finished Lucy's diaper cover, I've begun working on this capelet as a Christmas present. I have this vision of three cousins lined up for a Christmas photo in matching capes, but we'll have to see how much gift-making I manage in the next month (once again, I've waited too long to get started on all the ideas I have). I think it's coming out pretty cute! I struggled with the increases, ripping out one row over and over because the close-together stitches were bunching up in a way that left me wondering just where exactly I was supposed to put my next stitch, but I'm past that all now and just doing the same cluster of stitches over and over. Fly, fingers, fly!

Books for my bird-loving babe

2010-11-18T11:43:00.001-08:00

Writing about books yesterday reminded me that I never gave you a closer peek into my recently-found treasures, as promised. Here's a start.

I have a bird-lover in the house. Lucy and I have spent tons of time watching our chickens, the turkeys at the farm, the sparrows outside the window by her potty, the crows in the compost bin. She can identify a "dee dee" (chickadee) by its song. She nightly asks for "story: birds" as I put her to sleep. So when I spotted this book at the book sale, naturally, I snatched it right up.

It wasn't until I brought it home and took a closer look that I recognized it. A few years back, I'd had it out of the library at the school where I then taught, renewed and renewed and renewed for a group of children who were interested in learning how to paint birds. We'd used its large, simple illustrations as models for many of our own paintings.

Lucy loves them, too. Most of the birds are ones we've seen, and it's become routine for us to discuss on each page "Mama know? Me know?" (In other words, do you know that bird, mama? Do I?) At the moment, we just look at the pictures, name the birds, and talk about our personal connections to each one. Later, we'll enjoy reading the text.

And then, I spotted this one. Oh, was I excited! Pretty much, if it's by Brian Wildsmith, it's going into my bag. But this had the added bonus of being about birds...

...and fascinating vocabulary. (It gives the language for groups of various birds, as in "A wedge of swans. A sedge of herons.") We love looking at the gorgeous illustrations, and repeating the intriguing words.

Lucy particularly enjoys this illustration of turkeys, which reminds her of those at "our" farm.

One of the things I love so much about vintage books is their beautiful, artistic illustrations. So many of today's books are super-realistic (photos) or condescendingly cutesy-cartoonish. Books like these respect children's intelligence while offering up artistic inspiration. Lucy and I can't get enough!

Let me know if you enjoy these reviews. If so, I'd love to share more of my finds with you.

Yarn Along 3

2010-11-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Hmm...apparently, if it weren't for Ginny's yarn along, I wouldn't have a blog right now. Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Life has taken over. Here are the most-pleasant bits of it:

Taking a cue from some of the other participants, I decided to add a few of our most-read children's books of the week, as well.

This week, I'm reading Velva Jean Learns to Drive. I received it recently from PaperBack Swap, and I think I originally read about it on the Indie Next List from my local bookstore. After Little Bee, I was feeling the need for a lighter read. So far, I'm enjoying this one quite a bit.

I'm still working on the same diaper cover. It's coming out pretty huge. Crossing my fingers it'll work anyway.

The most-requested read-alouds of the week?

Beaver is Lost by Elisha Cooper. We have this one out from the library, but must buy it. It's the (nearly) wordless story of how beaver got carried off to the city by a logging truck, and how he returned. It's one of Lucy's current favorites--especially perfect after a recent trip to Boston (the setting?) and recent readings of Make Way for Ducklings (subtly referred to in the illustrations). She sighs with relief at the end, saying "no lost!" But if your child is older, don't hesitate to check it out--the 5-year-olds love it just as well.

Mouse, Look Out! by Judy Waite and Norma Burgin. This super-suspenseful tale is a perennial favorite here. If I read it once, I have to be prepared for four or five readings in a row. One child, who was sad at drop-off time every day, stopped once I brought this book out--now he comes in asking for it.

A Very Special House by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak. Lucy's other current favorite: she asks for "dee-dee-dee-oh" (its first line), and quotes along with much of it. Delightfully-childlike nonsense. Again, perfect for my 21-month-old, but also great for older kids.

Yarn Along 2

2010-11-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

Well, this could get boring quickly at the rate I am reading and crocheting these days--the photo would be the same each week! So, here's a bit of a cheat--I actually finished crocheting this hat last week, and it just needs a bit of sewing (the button band and button) before it's complete. This will be a Christmas gift (the first I've made this year), so I guess I stuck to my resolution a little bit--it's not December yet, anyway! I'm still reading Little Bee, and enjoying it quite a bit, though there are some truly gruesome scenes I'd rather not have in my mind.

The hat's brim is a little wonky--probably because I used a soft cotton (due to a sensitive recipient who wouldn't put up with the wool I'd prefer). But the pattern was great, and I look forward to making another.

Weekend outing: Sturbridge

2010-11-08T14:00:00.001-08:00

We bought a new chicken coop this weekend, and it was more than an hour's drive to pick it up, so we decided to make a day of it and visit Old Sturbridge Village while we were in the neighborhood. I hadn't realized just how big it was--we were only able to see a tiny bit of it, being on toddler time as we were.

I found myself especially interested in the things that define my daily life these days: home, food, and children:

A simple and practical kitchen set-up:

Watermelons stored up in the attic (in November? I'll have to try that!):

A sweet sleeping corner that reminded me of Laura and Mary:

A trundle bed:

A beautiful baby's bed to keep out the drafts:

A potty seat sized just right for toddlers (fascinating from an EC perspective--no preschooler would fit in this chair):

A cozy scene by the fire with knitting and toys:

A beautiful, tiny, child's desk under a window:

There was lots to engage Lucy, too. Her special request was a ride on the stagecoach:
"Horses! Me in?"

She tried out a butter churn:

And even got to "milk" a "cow."

I really look forward to future visits; a homeschooler's haven, I think!

The shelves are groaning

2010-11-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

And speaking of books...

I got a few more at a recent library sale.

All my spare computer time has been going to cataloging these (thus the lack of posts).

Oh, my goodness, what treasure! It was painful to leave behind the hundreds and hundreds of children's books I didn't buy. Several closing elementary schools' libraries were there, and I felt like I had to rescue these books! As soon as I'm finished getting the heaps out of my dining room, I'll post about some of these vintage goodies.

Yarn Along

2010-11-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

I love Ginny's idea of a "yarn along," which she's hosting at her blog Small Things (share what you're reading and what you're making in a photo: two kinds of "yarns.") I talk about kids' books here a lot, but rarely about what I'm reading (why is that?), and I haven't had many finished projects to share lately, so this seems like a perfect opportunity to share stuff in-the-works.

I'm reading Little Bee, which is described on the cover (by the New York Times Book Review) as "an affecting story of human triumph," and I surely hope it is, because so far it's an affecting story of devastation. I could use a little triumph right now.

And I'm crocheting a pair of longies for Lucy. I sewed her two pairs with two very-rare hours to myself this weekend--and they didn't fit!! I was so upset to have wasted the precious time. So I'm really hoping this pair will work out well. I chose a super-plain organic wool from my gifted-from-a-friend stash (thanks, Melissa!) in the hopes that this pair will be able to go under any dress she might wear this winter.

And here's how projects in the works usually look around here:

Catching the gold...

2010-10-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

...while I still can. It's almost gone!

(the views from our backyard, 2 days ago, before the rain which took down most of the leaves)

Slipper weather

2010-10-27T10:25:00.001-07:00

It's officially slipper weather here in New England--has been for a while in our chilly house! And Lucy didn't have any. So, several weeks ago, I got to work on a pair of tiny slippers, thinking they'd be ready in no time. Well, I messed up. And ripped it all out. And messed up again. And again. And again. It became very clear that I am decidedly still a beginner at crochet. I finally finished them--but they are two different sizes! The second came out much smaller than the first (probably more close to the size I actually needed).

But on her feet, they worked ok, so I called it good enough. I added some pink suede soles (cut from a thrift-store jacket), which work well to keep them from being too slippery on wooden floors.

(Please excuse the horrible shot--we're in that impossible-to-photograph toddler stage!) As you can see, one comes up quite a bit further on her ankle. Oh, well--they still keep her warm.

The pattern is free on Ravelry (and there, you can see cuter ones made by accomplished crocheters!). If I can do it (sort of), you can too!

In the studio: getting to know clay

2010-10-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

This year's group of children is particularly interested in clay.
Yesterday, we explored the clay more even more fully than we have so far.

How well do you know clay?