The Fair!

Ah. Vacation at last (I have a week off before my new "school" year). We started it well, with a trip to the fair. Lucy loved it, as I'd hoped, and I loved it more than ever because sharing it with her was such fun.

Of course we watched and petted and fed the animals.

But then Lucy realized there was another lure at the fair: "Rides!"

She watched all the biggest, highest, scariest rides with fascination, saying "Rides! Rides! Me?"

"Me?"

And so we ended our day with rides on the carousel. Pure joy. She laughed in glee the whole time. And I felt much of the worry and anxiety I've been carrying around melting away.

In the studio: top secret

Oh, dear. I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. It's been a rough month here, and I needed to devote my time to my family for a while. I'm sorry for the unannounced disappearance. Thank you for checking back! (And welcome to Pink Picket Fence readers! I hope you'll stay and read a while!)

As a baby step to getting back in the swing of blogging, here's an easy one...what's been happening in the studio this week. Shhh...don't tell. It's a top secret project (hope none of the families in my program are checking this blog!)

We've got one more week left until the end of the school year. This is a super-big end-of-year for me. Four years ago, I started this program in my home with a group of children ranging from 2 months to 2 1/2 years. This year, four of those original children are leaving for kindergarten. They've been here 4 years: 80 percent of their life. And now they're scattering to four different schools, and most of my original group will be gone. As you can imagine, it's an emotional moment for me, and for their parents. We're working on gifts which will be presented at our "graduation" next Friday. For the first time, we're using "real artist canvases."
The kids drew self portraits in front of a mirror, and then copied their drawings onto the canvas. Now, we're in the process of adding color.

I can't wait to see the parents' reactions. But not the tears that will follow.

Please bear with me in this crazy last week; I'm up to my ears in work and food and family visits. But I'll be back!

A knitting book even a non-knitter could love

Is it ridiculous to be super-excited about a knitting book, when I can't knit? I don't think so, not when it's this gorgeous! I want just about every sweater in there! Now, admittedly, the author is a friend. But I would love this book even if I didn't know her. It helps that I've seen Lucy in many of her amazing creations:

a gorgeous reddish pink 3/4 sleeve sweater Lucy wore nearly every day for her first year, when she wasn't wearing...

this beautiful green and blue sweater. And more recently, this lovely combo:


Unfortunately, it was way too hot last night to dress Lucy in a Melissa special when we went to her book signing at Webs. Melissa and Cecily had all their sweaters on display, and they are absolutely gorgeous. (I got to try one on, and wanted to walk away with it! Gorgeous green, 3/4 sleeves, leaf detailing at the waist...ooh, ah...). Lucy got her very own copy of the book, signed by her favorite author, of course.



You need a copy, too. Seriously. This is not an ad--I promise! Just a rave review from someone who's super impressed by the work of her friend. If you can trust a review from a non-knitter, you should run right out and get your hands on this book!

Now, I just have to learn to knit so I can get to work on these sweaters!

In the studio: overhead design

Continuing with my in-the-studio series of happenings from my early childhood program, here's a story from this week.

I came into the studio to find this on the overhead projector:

and this on the table:

Apparently, the overhead-projector design/drawings had been going on for a while.
There were also glass gems:

And chalkboard erasers:

2 kids, working together, on a project of their own design. They chose the materials, arranged them on the projector, and looked at the projected image to draw what they'd made. I love their imaginative use of materials (glass gems on the overhead--expected. But erasers?). And I love the culture of drawing we've established here, so that when they do something cool, their instinct is to draw it.

(I've been inspired by the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, to offer lots of opportunities for children to explore light--as with the overhead projector, which is always available to the children in our studio. And to encourage children to think in more than one "language" (i.e. ways of expressing themselves)--such as here, moving from the "language" of arranging materials to the "language" of drawing.)

Happiness is a polka-dotted basket

Check out my new basket! I found this lovely polka-dot-lined basket at the thrift store this weekend for 75 cents, and it's my new friend. It goes where I go, so everything I need is close at hand. In it when we headed outside today...

-my crochet pattern notebook
-the book Lucy asked to bring outside
-the book the older children asked to bring outside
-my clipboard for taking notes for the children's portfolios (a future post, I think...)
-my awesome new sewing-project bag--a gift from a friend--containing a soaker-in-the-works.

And sure enough, when the kids were making mud-pies and their play was so much more rich without interference from me, I was able to sneak in a few rows of crochet while watching from afar.

Independence Days challenge: green beans

Time again for Sharon's Independence Day's Challenge, already? I've been a slacker blogger this week! Sorry. Summer's a crazy time around here, and it's been hot, hot, hot!! (Makes me grumpy.) Here's my meager update.

2. Harvest something:
Eggs. Grape tomatoes. 11 lbs. green beans from our CSA.

3. Preserve something:
4 1/2 pts. pickled beets with anise. 25 pts frozen green beans. 2 qts. frozen stock.

7. Eat the food:
Lots of zucchini-nut muffins. A rice-lentil-carrot-cabbage-basil salad that came out surprisingly well (with mayo/lemon juice dressing). Another, also good (I think I may actually be learning how to make up recipes--finally, at 41!): chick peas, lemon juice, lots of basil, grated carrots and turnips, chopped lettuce and scallions. Delicious zucchini cakes (our new favorite recipe is from Nourishing Traditions). Sweet and sour chard over rice.

Sharing the bird love

This week, Lucy and I had an unexpected, much-needed, gift of a free day. We took a road trip to visit my great friend, Julie.

Her unschooled, bird-loving daughters, knowing Lucy's passion for birds, set up this provocation* for her on their coffee table:

My favorite bits:
the pink bird, attached by a hair tie to a paintbrush so she could make it fly,
the small bird attached by wire to the eagle, so it appeared to be flying,
the green parrot, whose curves are aligned with the mussel shell it's set beside.

Later, they donned bird beaks as they made music together.

It was so cool to me that a 1-year-old, a 6-year-old, and an 8-year-old could bond over a shared interest in such lovely ways. Thank goodness for great friends and shared philosphies. It was just what we needed.

* Provocation is a word used in Reggio-inspired teaching, meaning something set up to provoke children's thinking.