Boy Meets Rim

Boy brings rim home.

There are times when I allow my children to do things simply because I can't think of a reason why they shouldn't. I didn't like to hear "no" when I was a child, especially when it seemed there was no good reason to say no. I dislike it just as much now that I'm an adult when I hear parents say "no" just because. I wonder, why not? What would be the harm of saying yes, or better yet, saying nothing at all?

So when Aidan found various car parts down by the railroad tracks the other day and decided to roll a rim home, I thought, "Why not?", and I said nothing. To be quite honest, I was curious if he'd have the determination and stamina to bring it all the way home.

He did. And now we have a rim in the dining room. I'm just glad he didn't decide to bring the crankshaft home.

Build a Fort

Do you remember the scene in the movie, "The Holiday", when Jude Law's daughters show Cameron Diaz their room - and it's one giant fort made out of quilts, blankets and pillows, complete with strings of white Christmas lights? I adore that scene.

Yesterday when Avery asked me to help build a fort, I gave it my best shot and tried to create a little magic of our own in the middle of the family room. It's really a shame I couldn't have invited Jude Law over to give me a hand, but I think we managed OK without him.



It took a few sheets, clothespins, wooden clips, bungee cords, a little imagination and a whole lot of patience, but in the end, Avery gave me a hug and said it was the best fort ever.



Another perfect and completely free summer activity.

Another Season Has Come to an End

Avery's third season of synchronized swimming came to an end over the weekend. She placed third in the championships! Yay!

As I was sitting in the bleachers watching routines and figures this weekend, fanning myself in the hundred degree heat, handing out quarters to my kids to buy more Otter Pops, wondering if and when championships would ever end, I realized something very important - I was surrounded by love. The hundreds of moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends that came to cheer on the synchronized swimmers came out of love. They sat on hard metal benches, drenched in sweat, just to watch their girls (and one boy I should add).

I am not by nature a "soccer mom", or a lipstick-wearing hockey mom. Participating in organized sports is way out of my comfort zone. But my kids love their activities, and I love my kids, so I suck it in and sign them up. I sign the registration check as I sign away our weeknights and weekends, but I sign with love.

Our kids most likely do not realize all of this, and of course I'd never tell them. They'll find out one day for themselves when they're sitting on the sidelines, cheering for their kids, perhaps wishing they could be somewhere else, but knowing they are right where they should be.

And now I'm off to find out when we can sign up for basketball.

As We See It

So often when children draw, they draw from their imagination.



Like elephants in pajamas,



or royal mice (a gift from my little artist friend, Olivia).

Sometimes they draw things from experience,



such as a synchronized swimmer's ballet leg, performed by my synchronized swimmer hundreds of times.

When Lori of Camp Creek Press began posting observational drawing art lessons back in February 2008, I jumped right in. For Valentine's Day, I bought my kids (and myself) a sketchbook, just for observational drawing. We sketched a few times, but my kids weren't thrilled about our little lessons.

Our interest in observational drawing was rekindled when George brought home a dead Io moth found in a parking lot one day.



Rather than all of us sitting down at once, I set up a comfortable drawing area in the living room, with the moth in the middle and the sketchbooks around it, and encouraged my kids to sit down when they had a chance and draw a picture of the moth.

This seemed to work much better than our previous attempts at observational drawing.



For our recent Neighborhood Math and Science meeting, I brought a basket of ordinary objects from around the house and made each of the children a little sketchbook out of card stock and blank paper. I heard a lot of "I can't draw that!" comments, but eventually they were drawing.



Some children spent the entire time working on one single drawing,



while others tried to draw every single item from the basket.



I encouraged the children to draw the items from different angles, notice small details (like the little hairs on the carrot), think about scale, and observe the shadows around the object.

A fellow parent even joined the fun and sketched a few objects. He commented that observational drawing takes a lot of patience and concentration. I agree, and I think that perhaps observational drawing is a good way to develop such skills, especially if they don't come naturally.

I kept one of the small sketchbooks for myself, and plan to keep it close by this summer and fill it up with my observations.



I'm beginning to remember how much I like to draw.

I'll Be Seeing You

In some new unfamiliar places. I've been getting around lately, and haven't told you about my adventures.

Eren, our favorite Vintage Chica, interviewed me for her Summer Unschooling series.


Helen, purveyor of Homeschool Style Bytes, shared my recipe for homeschooling.



Kelly, of The Misadventures of Kelly and Kelly, interviewed me about sewing.


And finally, our local magazine for parents, Sacramento Parent, published my article about unschooling, in which I share my recent interview with Mary Griffith, author of The Unschooling Handbook.

Also in the Sacramento Parent magazine this month is an article on the class size increase here in California (have you heard we have no money?), written by Lisa of Paper Cup Poet. She asked me what we're doing in response to the school crisis:

Molly Dunham, a mother of two who lives in Auburn, joined her neighbor in creating a math and science club for their neighborhood kids (ages 4-11) when he saw less-than-challenging lessons coming home from his children’s school. Their first project involved hatching 1,000 turkey eggs. “We charted how many were hens and how many were toms. At the end we graphed the results on the computer and printed out a bell curve, then discussed probability.” At their second meeting, the group built a geodesic dome out of newspaper. “The kids worked together, rolling up newspaper into tubes, taping the tubes together… it was a blast!”

My neighbor and I hatched the math and science club idea a few months ago. He hosted the first meeting back in May, and yes, we hatched 1000 turkey eggs. By turkey eggs I mean flipped coins, heads = hens, tails = toms. We put ten coins in a clear plastic container with a lid (taped on), put the ten children in five pairs, and had each pair flip the container of coins 20 times and record the results. Five pairs x ten coins x 20 times = 1000 coin flips.

My neighbor set up a spread sheet and had the two oldest kids in our group enter the results. He then generated a bar graph, and sure enough, it was a bell curve. It was also a great way to introduce probability in a hands on, visual way.

Our next math and science club meeting was also quite visual and hands-on. We made a geodesic dome out of newspaper.





This project involved problem solving and cooperation, as well as A LOT of newspaper. The kids and I will definitely do this project again.



Our neighborhood group has met five times so far, and we've done some amazing projects. I've learned quite a bit myself. I planned on sharing the rest of our activities with you this week, but we received an unexpected invitation to go camping tomorrow. So instead, you'll be seeing me next week.



I've started my Summer Lovin' link list on the right hand side bar, and will continue to fill it with fun and frugal activities that we're enjoying this summer. Feel free to share any fun and frugal ideas so that we can try them too!

Picked

With the help of the awesome random number generator, we've got a winner of the wrist pincushion.




Cassandra of Dandelion Bones!

Thank you for all your lovely comments - it was truly a pleasure to read about the Billy Vance's in your lives. In fact, my mom and I were chatting on the phone about some of the comments the other day. We both loved Rhea's comment about humans being like hens, our mouths like beaks. Having watched a lot of people and a lot of hens, I concur.

When I pulled the carrot seen above, I couldn't help but think of the comment from ... : "if you let the baby stand up like that he'll be bull-legged".

I stumbled upon some beautiful ribbon the other day and plan to make several more wrist pincushions. I haven't done the whole Etsy thing for a while, but I'm considering setting up a little shop with a few handmade items. We'll see how much I can accomplish this weekend.

I found a great post from MooMama (thanks to her comment on yesterday's paper crane post) about 100 Fun, Frugal Things To Do With The Kids. So many great ideas! I was inspired to do something new, fun and frugal with the three girls at my house today.



We made maple sugar. Avery has been asking me for weeks to buy maple sugar from the spice lady at the farmer's market, but with cherries, berries and stone fruits in season, I'm hesitant to blow a chunk of my budget on a small jar of maple sugar. But with a surprisingly small amount of maple syrup, we were able to make our own jar of maple sugar while having fun in the kitchen with friends.





I'm sure this activity will be remembered long after we run out of maple sugar.

I have many more fun and frugal summer activities to share with you next week. I plan on starting a new list on the sidebar of all the fun things we do, complete with links to the instructions when available.

I wish you all a safe, fun (and hopefully frugal) holiday weekend!

Holding Pattern

The kids are on summer vacation, and it turns out that I am too. They're gone more often than not any more. After breakfast, phone calls are made and they disappear out the door. Gone to play, swim, build forts, ride bikes, climb trees.

I stay at home, cleaning, writing, knitting, cooking, reading, cleaning. It's kind of nice, being at home alone. A girl could get used to this. Paul Simon keeps me company. He brings back such sweet memories: Being a young girl, listening to the Graceland album with my Grandpa. Being a teenage girl, sitting on a stainless steel counter in the bakery at Albertson's, watching the boy I hopelessly loved make doughnuts, listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water (and troubled water it was). Being the mother of a three year old girl who sang Cecelia on the karaoke machine on display at Costco. Good times, all of them.

I stay at home, finding ways to fill my time, waiting for the kids to come back home. It's new and strange and wonderful, this sense of freedom we're all experiencing. It feels a little bit like a foreshadowing. I'm glad we have years to get used to it.

Rain+Fire+Book+Yarn

Equals a very good way to spend the weekend.



*Knit a few rounds, read a chapter, add log to fire. Repeat from * until sock and book are finished.

I had some very nice company.



"Mom, who's the fastest finger knitter?" he asked.

"You are son," I answered.

After turning one ball of yarn into eight feet of finger-knit i-cord, he asked for more yarn.



Even villains have a soft spot for wool.

About the book I read: I don't usually read romance novels, so I was quite surprised by myself when I picked up a paperback novel from the New Release section of our library. I think it was the basket of yarn on the cover that drew me in. Reading the back of the book clenched the deal: small Vermont town, knitting shop, sorcerer's daughter, warlocks, sprites, vampires, witches, Mr. Right (you know, all the usual fairytale creatures).

I brought the book home, but didn't think I'd actually read it. Then it started raining and my outside plans were cancelled. I picked up the book and finished it within 24 hours. It was highly indulgent and completely enjoyable. Most of the books I choose to read require a dictionary and over-extend my level of reading comprehension. Not this book.

"The joy of life pretty much arrives around the same time as my third cup of coffee and the fourth round on my latest socks-in-progress," says Chloe Hobbs, heroine of Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton.

Now that's my kind of lady. I bet she even has a messy house.

Remember When...

This used to be a crafty blog and I promised a downpour of inspiration?

Well, I may be a tad obsessed about food right now, but I'm still that same crafty girl with a backlog of projects to share.

Meet Greta.



Inspired by the dolls made by Ella Pedersen of Little Red Caboose, I made Avery a doll for December 25th. It's hard to believe, but Greta is the first doll I've made for Avery. I suppose I always thought Avery had enough dolls - really, she has plenty - but there's always room for a doll made by mom.

I free handed the pattern and used some vintage fabric scraps that reminded me of Avery (and happen to match her room perfectly). The face is made from a linen doily I scored in a bag of goodies from a fellow Freecycler. I even crocheted a little heart for Greta.

Avery loves her. Greta keeps Avery company each night in bed; they can often be found snuggled under blankets reading cookbooks. Greta has even been to a few sleepovers.

When Avery unwrapped Greta, she asked me if I had won the doll from a blog giveaway. I'll take that as a compliment. It's hard to believe how fast Avery is growing up sometimes. Just today she checked out a book at the library entitled, "A Smart Girl's Guide To Surviving Boys". Oy. But the good news is that she still loves dolls. Phew.

Boys will come and go, but Avery will always have Greta.

Spring 4-ward

Just in time for Daylight Saving Time (set your clocks forward one hour when you go to bed Saturday night!), I thought I'd share a little game the kids and I invented.

The game is inspired by Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect Four and Penta (one of my favorite games as a kid). We used an egg crate scavenged from the garbage pile at our favorite diner and some scrapbook dots I picked up years ago (I always wondered what to do with them).



Each player starts with a small stack of dots - one color for player 1, another color for player 2. You could also use buttons, checker pieces, rocks, small squares of paper, etc., as long as each player has their own color.



The object of the game is to get four pieces in a row. It's a little more challenging than Tic-Tac-Toe but still fast paced enough to play several games in a setting.



The game didn't hold my kids' interest for long, but then again they are 6 and 8. I think this would be an excellent game for preschoolers. A great thing about this game is that when you're done you can recycle it! There are lots of fun crafts to do with egg crates - little flowers, bells, caterpillars. According to my friend Sarah, egg crates are great fire starters too. I think we might use ours to start some seeds. And the diner thought they were garbage.

Have fun and don't forget to change your clocks!

It's Barack Obama Day!

At least that's what we are calling it around here. Quite amazing to watch the inauguration live this morning (thank you Facebook and CNN.com!). Avery did not like the poem read by Elizabeth Alexander because it didn't rhyme. I'm not the biggest fan of poetry myself, but I was moved by the rich imagery of ordinary people and plan to listen to the poem again. I also plan on watching The Daily Show tonight - you know it will be a good one.

Also appearing tonight - The Obama Show at the Eyebuzz Fine Art Gallery in Tarrytown, New York. Guess who's going to be there?

My President Obama finger puppet! I'm very excited that he's traveled so far. Thank you Tara and Tim for making room for my little creation.

Now back to our regular programming.

Good Day Sunshine

It seems almost unfair and insensitive to talk about the weather in California when some of my friends are experiencing a new ice age. Temperatures are way below zero across the map, yet we're experiencing some of the best weather ever. Sunny with highs in the mid sixties. Ahhhh.



Of course we have to take advantage of this beautiful weather before it goes away to be replaced by (hopefully) rain and snow - also known as spring in these parts. So today we packed our bag with bottles of water, binoculars and a giant magnet and set out for the nearest lake. I heard that the lake was low, but I was shocked to discover that it is hardly a lake at all. The lake better resembles a river.



We tossed our bag aside, took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and played at the water's edge. I never imagined a day at the shore in the middle of January. I should have packed a beach blanket, sand toys and sunscreen.



Californians may be worried about running out of water and money, but we three Californians enjoyed one without spending any of the other. To quote Avery, today was "the best day ever". Memories like these will keep us warm come spring.

1,045 Little Lessons

I've been known on occasion to take myself too seriously. The last few weeks have been one such occasion. I'm feeling overwhelmed and uninspired. I've been forced (once again) to recognize that perhaps I'm not the mother of the year; this year or last. In fact, I've never been nominated.

Yesterday afternoon, while I was seeking escape from my lonely little pity party by watching another episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and finding solace in TV moms who have also been passed up by the mother of the year committee, Aidan found me and asked for my help. He's taken it upon himself to rebuild the Lego Batmobile George bought a few years ago. George and the kids have built this car two or three times, then they take it apart and put it away in the closet.

There are 1,045 pieces that make up the Batmobile, and 86 pages of step by step instructions to assemble the car. Talk about overwhelming. I sat down on the floor to help Aidan and started to worry that maybe we had lost some pieces along the way, or that Aidan might have missed some steps or put pieces in the wrong place. Here are two fundamental differences between Aidan and me: I don't like to follow directions and I worry; Aidan loves following directions and he doesn't worry.



I looked at the huge box of Legos sitting before me, then I focused on the page of directions that Aidan was working on, and I let my worries go. I helped Aidan, one step, one Lego and one page at a time. Together we accomplished quite a bit.



I have no doubt that as a parent I have skipped steps and put pieces in the wrong places. But this is what I learned about parenting while playing with Legos: When I discover a missing piece or a piece out of place, I can try to fix it. If I can't fix it, I can move on. If a piece is missing, I can find a replacement. If it's the wrong color, I just have to hope that no one notices.

In the end, despite missing, misplaced or mismatched pieces, the Batmobile will still look like a Batmobile. We can do our best to put all the pieces in the right places, but even if we screw up, it'll still turn out pretty cool.

I might not ever be the mother of the year, but hopefully I'll be remembered as the mom who sat on the floor and played with Legos (thankfully a position in which I find it hard to take myself too seriously). Now back to page 37 of the instructions; we only have a few hundred pieces left. I'll be back when it's finished and hopefully I'll be in a better mood.

Then He Was Six

Six is big.

Six is reading, writing, and riding a skateboard.



Old skateboard + new grip tape + a coat of chalkboard paint = a happy boy

Six is not too big to be held by mama,



even if his feet go past my knees when I carry him.

And six is definitely not too big to ask for a pom pom.



I'm oh so grateful that he wanted a pom pom.

Happy birthday baby boy!

Upspide Down

He says "upspide down" instead of upside down. It always makes me want to sing,

Upspide down,
Boy you turn me
Inside out and
round and round

A few weeks ago while visiting the library, he really turned me inside out. There was a little boy in the children's section, and Aidan could not have been more rude to him. Aidan laughed in his face when the little boy introduced himself, and it did not improve from there. I decided the best thing for us to do was high tail it out of the library, so I gathered up the kids and our books and headed for the check out desk. While I was chatting it up with the librarian, Aidan wandered away from me, and next thing I knew he was back by my side and the little boy's mother was wagging her finger in his face saying, "You don't push!"

Could I just crawl into my library bag and die now? I was disappointed with Aidan, and I was also shocked that the little boy's mother decided to get in Aidan's face instead of mine. Now I know how little boys can be; I have a little brother and I've heard plenty of stories about George when he was a wee one. This wasn't our first altercation either.



The funny thing is I forgot about all of this until today. We were leaving the library and guess who I saw? From the look on her face, I'm pretty sure the little boy's mom recognized me too. She gave me a curt smile, and I barely eked out a hi. A few steps later Aidan said, "Is that the little boy I pushed?"

"Yes, it is."

"I really want to say I'm sorry to him."

So we turned around, despite the pit in my stomach weighing me down, and Aidan apologized to the little boy. Then Aidan added, "Do you want to be friends?"

Little boy of mine, you sure know how to turn your mother upspide down.

"Thug means never having to say you're sorry." U-Turn from Weeds Season 3