A day to ourselves

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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?