We've got mail

I was very excited to discover Lucy quietly at work in the studio this morning, on a project of her own design.  She'd collected clay, twist ties, wooden beads, and bamboo from their various places and brought them all to the table.

When I came in, she was just beginning her second in a three-part series (one for "mommy, mama, and Lucy--our whole family!"):

As she finished each one, she ran across the studio

to deliver them to our mailboxes.  (There's one there for each of the kids in our early childhood program, as well as for Andi and I.)

(I've just recently returned from a Reggio-inspired teachers' conference at which Lella Gandini described the three-year-old classrooms' mailboxes being transparent, because three-year-olds might put anything in there, such as a half-sucked lollipop.   :-)  So the intentionality in three-year-old Lucy's mailed gifts particularly struck me today.)

Happening these days in and around the purple house

(Thanks for the good gear, Tim and Eric!)

(look familiar, Jules?)

(Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem doing songs from "Ranky Tanky"--a current fave)

(Julie, once we'd talked about it, it had to be done immediately!)

Here

We're here.
 
We're doing our usual things. 

The computer and camera have not been cooperating.  Life has been hectic.  I don't understand how to use this new blogger (please excuse the mess).

But things are starting to look sunnier.
Perhaps you'll hear more from me soon?

And there was light and it was good

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 fresh start: self-portrait basket tags

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.

14th activity of Advent: wrapping gifts

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.

1st activity of Advent: Christmas cards

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!

Craft Friday

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"

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