Exploring more light box possibilities

How we know she's related to me

She may not be my daughter by birth, but our feet tell the true story.

Yes, there's still snow on the ground in places.
It was about 40 degrees.
Those are her nice warm wool socks in the pot.
This scene was preceded by her saying "don't look, Mama" and ended soon after when she decided that, alas, it's still too cold for bare feet.

Reserved for family

There hasn't been much time to write lately, but that's because we're been spending our free time with family.

My mother moved from four-hours-away to only half-an-hour-away this past year, so Lucy and I are able to spend at least a morning a week visiting with her.

And this past weekend, Lucy's paternal grandparents were in town, so we spent lots of time playing, hiking, and eating out with them.

So there's been a lot of flexing schedules, messing with naps, and traveling around when it would be easier to stay at home.

But family is worth it. I'm so grateful for this time together, and for Lucy's opportunity to know her grandparents.

Please excuse our absences now and then.

This moment is reserved for family.

Lucy's alphabet

In the past few months, Lucy's begun noticing letters everywhere we go. Crossing a parking lot with freshly-painted lines, she excitedly calls out "there's an A for Mommy!" (Mommy's name is Andi), "an L for Lucy and Mama!" (Mama is me, Lise), "a T for Tim!", etc.

We began photographing her letters, thinking some day we'd make them into an alphabet book for her. Because we're keeping it completely Lucy-led (in other words, we don't go out on a letter-hunting walk, but just wait for her to show us another one), it might have been a very long time before all the photos were ready for the book.

But I've begun to learn a good trick of making things, especially handy for busy moms. Don't wait until you're ready. Do it now, or you may never do it. So last week, I grabbed a little photo album (not the perfect one for the project, just the one I had on hand), and put in the four photos we'd taken so far. On the other pages, I put in index cards, on which I'd written the letters for which we don't yet have photos. Now her book is ready to read now, when she's most excited about the project. Quick, easy, not as beautiful as the "perfect" book I might have imagined, but here and in use, unlike those "someday" perfect projects.

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 little winter hike

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.