Applique It and It Will Come

Fall. It is on its way. Even if it is over 100 degrees outside.

Thanks for all the t-shirt love. I didn't want to leave Avery out, so I made a tee for her as well. It is actually a tee she has had for quite some time, but I covered up a small hole and a stain or two with a design I've been toying with this week. Don't be surprised if this design pops up again.



I guess you could say I'm having fun during these quiet mornings. I'm enjoying my sewing machine. Just figured out how to do a button hole this morning, and it's about time.



Also loving a little time with yarn and sticks, early in the morning before it gets too hot to touch wool.

Looking forward to spending a long weekend with my most favorite creations. Don't labor too hard this weekend friends!

Mother Stitcher

Sarah made me do it.

Well not really. But it was such a good idea I had to run with it.



What a-cute idea. Get it? Acute. A cute. hehehe.

Son of a Stitch

Did you know they begin teaching geometry in kindergarten? I'm all for it too. Of all the math classes I took, geometry is the math I use most often. The Pythagorean Theorem has bailed me out of more than one project.

So you can imagine my delight when Aidan came home the other day chanting the five syllable word, parallelogram.

Parallelogram.
Parallelogram.
Parallelogram.

I wanted to reinforce his understanding of this new, very cool shape. So I embroidered a parallelogram on his new, plain T-shirt.



I used tangrams, one square and two triangles, to trace the parallelogram onto the tee.



Then I used Scotch tape to transfer the word "parallelogram" onto the tee. I used Word to print out the word in the desired size and font, put the printed word under a piece of clear plexiglass, a piece of tape on top of the plexiglass directly over the word, and traced the word with a Sharpie. I put the Scotch tape onto the tee and embroidered directly onto the tape. The tape peeled away easily when I finished the embroidery.



I was so excited about Aidan's t-shirt that I offered to make him a whole series of geometric tees. I was imagining a bright yellow trapezoid on a black tee, a lime green hexagon on navy blue, maybe even an orange rhombus on a blue tee; but Aidan said he prefers his t-shirts plain. He wore his parallelogram shirt today, but expressed concern that kids would make fun of him.

If anybody makes fun of his t-shirt, they are nothing but a square. Or worse yet, obtuse. And yes, I am a nerd.

The Grandparents Are Coming!, Part Two

Perhaps you remember last summer when I wrote a little poem about my grandparents coming to visit, or maybe you haven't been visiting my foothill home that long. Either way, I experienced a major sense of deja vu last Friday when I received a call from my grandma that my grandparents were an hour away from my house and wanted to stop by. My reaction this time was very different. Rather than penning a poem about not wanting to clean my house, I grabbed my camera to take pictures of my house. It was clean... enough.



Sure I had a project sprawled out on the cutting table in the family room.



My knitting and Avery's journals were covering the surface of Great Aunt Soph's steamer trunk turned coffee table in the living room.



The dining room table was covered with various papers and projects; but no worries. My grandparents weren't stopping by to share a meal. They simply wanted to say hello and use the bathroom, which had been bleached twice in the past week in an ongoing attempt to cohabit with a five year old boy.



The dishes were washed, but not put away. They were drying alongside a bouquet of washed ziploc baggies.

Our house looks lived in, which is exactly what my grandma said last summer when she stopped by. It's a style I'm comfortable with, and relatively good at pulling off. So feel free to stop by anytime friends. I'll make you a grilled cheese and pour you a pint.

Let's Do Lunch

Aidan is processing his new school environment through creative play at home.



Behold the Lego cafeteria.



Tables for four.



A place to order lunch,



and a place to pay for lunch.

I love to listen to Aidan playing with his cafeteria. There are gangsters that pick on kids. Teachers that are really aliens in disguise. Food fights and kicking b-u-t-t (one of the few words Aidan can spell on his own). I'm hoping the real cafeteria is a friendlier place, but I have some doubts.

One of the things I dreaded about our return to public school life was packing lunches. I really despise packing lunches, but I have to say the kids' new lunch boxes make the chore much easier and almost enjoyable.

Avery picked out the bento box,

and Aidan picked out the tiffin box.

I purchased them through Angelinhome.com. One of the best investments we have made this school year. No more searching for containers with lids that fit, wondering if the Ziploc baggies will make it home, having to clean the baggies that do survive. No more lunch boxes that stink despite frequent washings.



As for me, I am enjoying hot lunch, everyday around 11:30, picnic style on the family room floor. Grilled cheese with homegrown tomatoes on homemade white bread, a side of polenta and fresh fruit. Yummy. After lunch is free choice time. Perhaps I'll play with Legos.

Breathing Lessons

Summer has taken a deep breath and let out a cool breeze. Cool enough to drape blankets and quilts over the backs of our favorite resting spots.



I too am taking a deep breath, inhaling my newly found personal time, exhaling into my newly acquired personal space. Five whole hours every day and the house to myself. Breathe in, breathe out. Ahhhh.

There are floors to be scrubbed and green beans to be pickled. Terry Gross will keep me company with her breath of Fresh Air.



When my work is done, I'll settle down in this cozy location to graft the toe on sock #2. Later today when the kids get home, we'll take this quilt outside and spread it on the grass in the shade. Avery will do her math homework, Aidan will practice drawing little a's and b's, and I will cast on baby sock #2. Perhaps tonight we'll snuggle under this same quilt and read a few chapters together.

Take a deep breath in, exhale slowly. I think I'll get used to this new schedule just fine.

What A Difference A Day Makes

First of all, a huge, ginormous thanks to all of you for your kind, supportive and encouraging comments on my last post. I was an absolute wreck Wednesday morning when I decided to shift my burden to the shoulders of my online comrades, and boy did you carry my load graciously. I can't tell you how much your words lifted my spirits. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy days to reach out to me.

For those of you who want the rest of the story, Avery and Aidan are extremely happy at school. Aidan's dream came true and he has a super nice teacher. Avery has already established her position as teacher's pet (I know what you're thinking Mom and Dad, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). They've made new friends, received invitations to parties, and identified the bullies and queen bees. We've had several conversations about staying away from such troublemakers, like the girl on the playground who boasted her parents were so rich they paid the school extra money so she could break the dress code. Why does there have to be one of those girls on every playground?



Doesn't that look like a happy face? For a very attached mamma's boy, he is easing into his new role with surprising ease and style.

I've shed no more tears since Wednesday morning. My biggest fear was that my kids would be unhappy with their decision, but their huge smiles after school laid my fear to rest. I miss them while they're gone, but the time really does fly. I am enjoying the quiet, the house that stays clean for more than five minutes, and the opportunity to work on my own projects.

Two quotes have sustained me through the last two weeks:

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." Maya Angelou

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln

I think perhaps those two thoughts sum up almost every self help book on the market. They have certainly worked for me. I've changed my attitude and decided to be happy. And now I'm off to find some more happiness at the half-off sale at Salvation Army. Have a wonderful weekend friends!

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round

A common question when you homeschool is, "How long do you plan to homeschool?"

I never had a solid answer to that question, but I did have some lofty goals. Do you know of a good homeschool college program?

But life is unpredictable my friends. Today I put my kids on the big yellow school bus and sent them off to kindergarten and third grade.



This was not my choice. I was happily homeschooling my little heart out, but my kids have been lobbying to go back to "real" school for quite some time. Aidan even told me about a dream he had that he went to school and had a super nice teacher. Avery would salivate every time we mentioned the phrase "public school".

It hit me one sleepless night that the decision to send my kids to school was not my decision at all; it was theirs. My goal for homeschooling has always been to follow my children's lead, to let them decide what, where and when to learn. I had the misconception that our education system was linear, with public school at one end of the spectrum and unschooling at the other. I now see that, just like the wheels on the bus, the spectrum of education goes round and round. Unschooling led my children right back around to public school.

I'm not quite sure if this is what John Holt meant by trusting our children, but allowing my kids to pursue the education they want feels like the right thing to do at this time. It hurts just a little, well actually a lot, but I'll get over it. The tears will eventually dry up, won't they?

So now the question everybody asks me is, "What will you do with all your free time?"

I have no idea. So far I've done the dishes, washed the slipcover on the couch, said a few prayers and tried to channel some mommy love across the few miles separating me from my children. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that "real" school is all my children hope it will be, but I'm harboring a secret wish that the wheel of education will continue to spin and one day bring my children back home to learn. Until then, I'll be at the corner come three o'clock waiting for the missing pieces of my heart to step off the school bus.

One Down, One to Go

Do you happen to remember the sock I was knitting last December? The one with the cute stripes? Well I'm proud to report that eight months later it is finally done. The funny thing is it did not take me eight months to knit; in fact, I didn't knit at all during that time. I got stuck at the gusset and put it away.

Last Sunday I found myself with some free time and a desire to knit, so out came the sock and by Wednesday it was done.



I started the sock on double pointed needles, but the needles were rubbing my hand the wrong way so I switched to the magic loop. Oh boy is it magical, and easy and fast. I don't know if I can go back to dpn's or two circular needles now that I've seen the light.

I had a few sleepless nights this past week, which meant a lot of quiet knitting time. I really can't complain about that, even if I have been yawning all day. I did learn, however, that trying to graft a toe at 4 AM is not the best idea. I'll have to keep my shoes on if I'm ever around other knitters. (Sorry, no picture; but trust me, it ain't pretty.)

Because I am somewhat of a perfectionist (despite the imperfect kitchener stitch), I have decided to *try* and match up the pattern in the yarn for my second sock. Rather than rolling up a small ball of yarn between where the first sock ended and the next sock needs to begin, I knit up a baby sock this afternoon.



Toes grafted at 7 PM are much prettier. This baby won't need to keep her shoes on.



While I don't need baby socks, it will be nice to have a pair on hand for a gift. And there is nothing like knitting a baby sock in one day to boost a knitter's confidence. Never mind the sock that took me eight months.

We are off to the mountains this weekend. I have high hopes of whipping up the second sock (maybe socks?) in between long bike rides along the river and a fairly large dose of nothing. I'll be back Wednesday, hopefully with another sock or two.

Rules Rule

As a rule, I don't make rules for my kids. Rules are meant to be broken, and broken rules require punishment. As much as I don't like rules, I like punishment even less.

This weekend, however, I laid down a new law that solved two parenting issues I've been having and has a built-in consequence - no punishment required.

Issue #1: My kids spend more time on the computer than I'd like them to.
Issue #2: My kids' rooms are messy.
Rule: No computer time unless your room is clean.

Sunday morning Aidan asked if he could go on the computer. My answer was easy: "Is your room clean?"

So he went and cleaned his room.

When Avery asked if she could go on the computer I asked her the same question. She said, "Never mind, I'll do something else." Fine by me.

But this morning she hatched a plan of her own. "Mom, if I clean the bathroom instead of my room, can I go on the computer?"

To be quite honest, I'd rather clean her room than the bathroom, so my answer was easy.



Aw, the sweet sound of someone else cleaning the bathroom while I sit down with a cup of coffee and my knitting. Rules rock, especially when you bend them.

Old Enough

When did I become old enough to have a daughter who desired to hang posters of teeny boppers on her wall?

Today. Today I am old enough. Today I am 32.

I'd like to blame my advancing age for my lapse in judgement to actually buy my daughter a teeny bopper magazine filled with teeny bopper posters. Or it might have been that I was completely overwhelmed in the grocery store checkout line, holding a 40 plus pound boy with a 100 plus degree fever who had but one request: store bought lettuce. How could I deny him such a simple request? And how could I deny my daughter's simple request for a teeny bopper magazine? I remember summers, 20 plus years ago, that I begged and pleaded for a copy of Teen Beat, just so I could drool over pictures of Ricky Schroeder, Kirk Cameron, and the lesser known Chris Young.

I should be grateful that Avery is hanging pictures of girl teeny boppers on her wall, rather than pictures of boys. I am definitely not old enough for that.