We're in!

We made it into our house, just before the throngs arrived and the Solstice party started. Things are still rather sparse, as most boxes are still unpacked but we'll be able to settle in slowly and spend the holidays together in our "new" home. I am so very glad. We even managed to get a tree today, and Ari loves last years thrift store candle tree (so many to blow out at the end of dinner!) He is adapting pretty well and we are trying to keep things as mellow as possible with all that there is to do. I think he's pretty happy with the new space.
And Sammy is done! I still have some last minute crafting for other gifts, but this one is done. He has not made his arrival yet though, I am waiting for a time when things feel a little less hectic so that Ari can really get to know him.

Here is the detail on his clothes- that bird trim makes me happy.
And here he is snuggled (squished might be a better word) into a wooden doll cradle my mom found at a garage sale last summer. And the fuzzy acrylic blanket? That was my doll blanket as a girl. Makes me all sentimental.
There was a lovely solstice gathering at the farm last night. A potluck and candle lit walk through the woods that the kids just loved. The moon was out and the night was warm. Most of the pictures I took looked like this:There was also a sun pinata that Ari took a swing at and managed to bump lightly a few times before the big kids got to breaking it open. He filled his pockets with coloured feathers and jingle bells, completely bypassing the candy (I don't expect that to last forever!) He woke up this morning saying "kieeds!" (kids) and "party!" and we assured him that there was going to be plenty of festivities to be had in the days to come.

Merry Merry!

makin' stuff

I managed to unearth a few things from the heaps and piles in the craft corner to take some pictures. I made a zillion felt stars and a few little pears for the tree I still hope we'll get. Making these was therapeutic, I could imagine them on a little tree in our finished home and I would feel less scattered and antsy. There is also something very exciting to me about starting our own family traditions, and small as these are, they are something that will likely be hauled out by little hands for years to come, and that thought makes me smile. Ari is already breaking them in.I had made a bunch of these before I got the purl newsletter with a tutorial on making felt stars. Theirs are lovely, and the instructions helped me figure out how to sew the loops on properly, but just for the record, I made mine first!
And this is the last sleeve of a little sweater I am knitting for Sammy-the-solstice-doll. Sammy has a full head of hair now and some half finished clothing, and he is still just hanging out patiently with his arms outstretched, hidden under the piles of other projects, just waiting to snuggle his boy. I started this sweater ages ago, and just pulled it out again. It feels like a frivolous sort of project. I've been telling my husband that it is a a way to learn how to make a real human sized sweater. Which it is. But it is also fun just on its own.

And there is also some fun projects emerging from this bag of wooden goodness. I found that my local hardware store carries tons of wooden forms for cheap- trees and dolls and snowmen and beads and doll pins and eggs and fruit. I was giddy picking them all out and I think the fellow at the counter thought I was a little wacky. He also likely would have preferred that my toddler had not been throwing the beads around the store shouting "Ball! BALL!" before I could catch him.

And there is still lots of tromping in the snow going on around here. The weather has been beautiful and just right for playing. Cold enough not to get soupy, but not so cold that your nose hairs freeze. Just right.

a floor sander, a sleepy baby, and me.

Here are my feet on the smoothest, loveliest floors north of Vancouver. Also pictured is my dear friend the floor sander for whom I have developed a strong affection. I really couldn't have done it without her hard work and dedication.

I do not have a picture of the other things that have been going on around here, because after the big push to get the floors sanded and varathaned, (not totally done yet) I started going a little crazy. I have been in serious denial about how much work there still is to do and how quickly the time has gone. I actually counted how many days we have left before this house we are staying in fills up with guests and relatives (not our own,) and I started panicking. I have been managing to keep it together with being out-of-home all these months, but something about the idea of not having a home during the holidays makes me want to sit down and cry. And with Perry working full time, there isn't much I can do during the day towards getting the project done. Construction zones just aren't good places for toddlers. So I started crafting. What else is a girl to do?

I don't have any pictures of projects just yet, they are all in a big heap in the corner of the room we are living in, and I keep forgetting to take out the camera. I will. That is something else I can do while I twiddle my thumbs waiting for Perry to get home so we can get some work done.

I do have a photo of my adorable boy sleeping, however. This nap (when was it? I can't remember, it's all a blur,) was an exceptional one, he just fell asleep while reading books to himself. This never happens. Never ever ever. This terrific, wonderful baby of mine is not wonderfully terrific at sleep. It is not his strongest trait shall we say. So a nap in a pile of books is most certainly photo worthy.

And I am still holding out hope of being in our house before the the holidays. I envision our beds set up in the bedrooms, a christmas tree with a few decorations (I've been sewing those, we've never actually had a tree before) and not much else, but creating a special little family space for ourselves. If we really work really really hard...maybe...

how to keep warm in winter

:: Ari and mama colouring collaboration::

It's funny that as soon as I posted about the joys of getting outside with my little guy, the temperature dropped so low we couldn't get out at all. We've had frostbite warnings for several days and the wind was so cold that when we stepped outside for a moment, Ari just gasped for air, so inside we've been staying. This big house we are staying in is hard to keep warm in this kind of weather, and so we didn't stray far from the wood stoves and spent lots of time snuggling under blankets. :: snow on the back deck:

Today we were able to get out for a short walk before we got too cold. The wind has died down and now it is clear and beautiful, but still hovering around minus 25, which is pretty cold for a baby (pretty cold for me too!) Our pipes froze when the temperature dropped and the dishes were piled high and we were itchin' for baths. We managed to sort our the heater and heat tape in the crawlspace and some of the taps thawed, but we were still without hot water in the kitchen side yesterday morning. I checked it before putting Ari down for a nap, and it was still frozen, and I ended up falling asleep with Ari, which is a rare occurrence. When we woke up and I brought him downstairs I found that I had left the hot water tap on and it had thawed out nicely, but apparently the drains had frozen in the meantime. The kitchen was a lake.

Our phone had died earlier that day so I couldn't call for help and Ari was desperately asking for the potty (warm running water will do it every time!) The drawers by the sink had been left open and both the cutlery and dish towels drawers were spilling over. After swearing profusely and standing in the middle of it all wondering what on earth to do, I started mopping. I found a dry spot for Ari and the potty and later stuck him in his highchair with cookies (helpful things those cookies!) and rung out the dish towels a thousand times, emptying the bucket in the laundry room. I managed to get the water mopped up and the dishtowels in the wash and the baby out of the highchair before collapsing on the couch with a drink. I almost never drink, but this seemed like the right occasion. The drains have since thawed, and after another crawlspace expedition, the saggy drainpipes which were the cause of the problem were fixed, so there will be no more drains freezing. And now the dishes are done and we've had baths and done laundry. All good ways to keep warm in winter.

sleigh rides

One of my favorite parts of being a mom-at-home is spending time outside with my little guy. Ari loves to wander around the farm, and our walks are a big part of the rhythm of the days. With the season change we were having a hard time staying with this ritual, as the mud and slush and general yuckiness was making it hard for Ari to walk, and for me to be inspired about being out and about with him. But now that the snow is here to stay, we are back in the groove and loving our outside time. Once the dreaded bundling is complete, we head out the door singing our going-for-a-walk-song. Our rhythms are greatly inspired by the Enki idea of singing through transitions- and it works so well!


Ari leads the way, usually straight to the chicken house, where he calls out "egg, egg, egg!" until I open the gate. We usually end up following the cats around for awhile- there are two frisky young ones who like to race up and down trees and leap around and keep Ari giggling. Once he's tired of walking we go and get the sled and the blanket and bundle him in (he loves that part!) and we are off.

And I love this part. I pull him down the driveway and into the forest and we watch the birds ("deedeedee" he calls out to the chickadees,) and listen to the creak running under the ice and test out all the echos by calling out our names. I see things differently with him, the beauty seems clearer and deeper when he is the one pointing it out, and he keeps me out of my head and right there with him. Today he kept pointing at the trees saying "moonstar!" and he was right, the ice crystals on the branches looked just like the sparkling night sky.
Once we are both tired out we head inside for lunch (after kissing those sweet red cheeks- no photoshop there, that rosy cuteness is all his own,) and then I take the dozy boy to bed. Because all that fresh air makes a baby tired. That's the idea anyway.

tree art

Ari has only been playing around with art supplies for a couple months, but already I have more of his artwork than I know what to do with. What exactly is a mama to do with all this paper? So far some of it has been carefully labelled with his full name (does any other mama get a kick out of writing their kids full name? I just can't quite believe there is this little person on the planet who will be forever known by this title we choose. Amazing really,) and the date of its creation. Others have been handed out to the grandparents, and, of course, there is plenty decorating the walls and refrigerator doors, but I can see there is going to be much more than a mama can possibly use.
I have a hard time letting go of any of it just yet, each painting or page full of scribbles has a little bit of him in it and I love how wholly he throws himself into his "paintin." He asks to paint almost every day, and loves to smear it around and try out every colour.
He's also got his friends hooked. This little friend happily stayed up at the painting board for the better part of an hour (long after Ari had decided to jump down and whip his wooden turtle toy around the room) painting long deliberate marks on her paper.
So with all the hoards of artwork we are collecting, I decided to cut up some of them (the ones that didn't make the "keep forever", "pack up for relatives" or "decorate all available surfaces" collections,) to make into christmas cards. I gave Ari some fancy paper to use for this, but I remembered Amanda's terrific buisness cards she made from her sons wet-on-wet artwork. I pulled some of Ari's watercolours to try chopping up and they are my favorite. Now if only I can get it together to actually write and send the cards by the holidays, that would be really something. But new years cards are nice too, right? And people need a little bit of cheer come February, so I should be set.

a little brighter

I needed a day like this, where the sun shines through the grey and the air sparkles and the light is so bright it hurts, but it burns away the gloom. This last little stretch has been a tough one- we have been pulling late nights trying to get things done in the house after the babe is asleep, painting and cleaning drywall dust and moving things to be ready for the floors. This crunch time has coincided with my parents being away (they never go away. ever.) so childcare is out, which means we are trading off constantly trying to get the work done. So there are no breaks from childcare or working in the house, no time together as a couple or a family, and any moment we do have together is found talking over the baby's head trying to make decisions about construction. It is exhausting and unsustainable, but that is not what this post is about. This post is about this beautiful day that has made me feel better and helped me remember that I am blessed, even if I am busy and tired. I mean, look at these little feet in the snow! And this view. I feel so lucky to be here on this land with my beautiful loves, and I know that all this craziness will soon pass. And even as we are in the midst of it all, there is so many moments that make me catch my breath with their wonder and sweetness. Like Ari learning so much so fast, trying out so many words, saying "it's hea-by" (heavy) as he carries around the firewood, and "happy!" when he snuggles on my lap.
Or putting the last coat of paint on our soon-to-be-bedroom walls and looking out the dust-fogged window at a glorious pink sky and realizing that we now have a window we can watch the sunsets from, and imagining all the nights we will watch the sky change through that very window.
And the pond that has frozen smooth enough to skate on (but not so smooth that it is a hazard for toddlers in boots!) and the neighbours that spent the morning shovelling it off in preparation for their skating party tomorrow night (we will be celebrating American thanksgiving here too, with our American neighbour-friends,) and the cobbler baking in the oven made from the last of the local plums, and my sweet husband who notices things I've left over at the other house he thinks I've been missing- my hand cream, some clothing- and leaves them for me- better than any bouquet of flowers.
And our friends that called when they heard our flooring contractor had backed out of the job to say "How about we come this weekend and put in the floor together?" We really are blessed. And the forecast calls for more sun tomorrow.

bundling

As I write this the wind is whipping against the house making the windows shudder and the snow on the roof blow into drifts over the ridges in the tin. It feels ever so wintry here, and I finally feel ready to welcome it, now that the calender has been flipped over to November for a good couple weeks. The last snow we had turned the whole farm magic, the sun shining on all that sparkling white. I do love winter.

But we are trying to get used to the inevitable bundling that comes with the season. Today I had two toddlers in my care and wondered how mom's of twins do it- the leggings, pants, shirt, sweater, wool socks, felt-pack boots, snowsuit (with elastic pulled over aforementioned boots,) scarf, hat, mittens (velcro fastened tight over the snow suit) all times two. And I need to wear something too. And the one that was dressed first pulled off the mittens to pound on the door to be let out, as the other announced he was peeing (luckily he was the one with the diaper,) and by the time we were all dressed and ready to go out, one toddler (the more verbal one) asked for lunch. Humph. I know I said I liked winter, but this part I could pass on.

But, like it or not, bundling time is here, and so, this scarf. It is actually the fleece scarf that came with Ari's snowsuit, but it was just so grey- it needed jazzing up. Really, why is everything for boys either navy blue or grey? Who made up the rule that boys couldn't wear colour? Yes there are some blues and greys here too, but who could resist these doggies? And the scarf is cozy warm with the fleece back. I modelled it on the Soulemama scarf I treated myself to last winter and which has been happily pulled out again for daily wear. That is some bundling that actually cheers me up. And a picture of yesterday's project. Because barley in a muffin tin can keep a toddler busy all through the dinner-making hour. And that is worth remembering.

getting there

So this reno business is coming along- slower than I would like, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. This is our flooring, stacked in the corners of the big house (it weights over a ton, so we can't stack it all in one place!) to keep dry until it is installed. It is locally milled birch, and we are pretty excited about it- especially after having a combination of old yucky carpet and plywood floors for all these years.
The drywall is done, and just needs to be primed so that we can paint it. That part will be exciting- I will be able to sneak away in the evenings to work on it, and putting colour on walls will make it feel like home. The rest of the house is entirely wood, which is lovely, but a bit much. Breaking it up with some colour will be good.

I can't quite get the colours to be true on the screen, but these are a few small cans for test strips- there are similar (but different!) shades of each colour- plus a couple light earthy browns for the bedroom- waiting for us to pick them up at the other paint shop. So we are looking at that smokey blue for the mud room, the green for the living room, and the orangey- peach for the studio. I am thinking of using the same colour as the studio for Ari's room, but doing a colour wash with it- but I have to figure out how to do that first. Oh! to have a studio! A bedroom for the babe! What luxury and excitement await us!

hello to the day

This is the time of year that we really feel the dark of winter up here in the north. There are so few daylight hours and it is harder to get up in the morning (not for Ari, but for the rest of us,) and it feels like bedtime right after supper (not for Ari, but for the rest of us.) We have a morning ritual of saying good morning to the day, and Ari loves this, he points at the window saying "day! day!" well before it looks anything like day out there. We say hi to the mountains and trees and sky and gardens and hay fields and road whether we can see them or not, and then we peek out the window periodically to watch the light come into the sky and the sun rise higher. Ari has a little perch that he climbs up on to watch the day, and he calls out his hellos "hi dardan" (garden) "hi no" (snow.)
And Sammy says hi too, though he is a little embarrassed about his current hair situation. He has a lovely mohair fringe at the front, but is completely bald everywhere else and the process of giving him hair (is "hairing" a verb? I'm just "hairing" the doll? He is being "haired?") is a rather time consuming process. But he makes me smile whenever I pull him out from his hiding place to work on him, and I just know Ari is going to love him. Next up, clothing. I'm not totally sure what kind of clothes Sammy will like- jeans and a t-shirt? Overalls? Sweater vest?

inside day

We're fighting another darn headcold in this house, and so we are sticking close to home, pulling lots of toys off the shelves, and reading books by the fire. We've had a combination of rain and snow that makes playing outside a little cold and soggy, but we've managed to keep busy. Ari could play in the sink for hours and pulls the kitchen chairs over as soon as the tap is turned on.

And during Ari's naps I am working on a waldorf doll for him. I am really enjoying putting it together, though I see why people charge what they do for them, it is quite a process! I have been looking at Bamboletta's dolls for awhile- I think they are incredible- and I wanted to buy one for Ari as his Christmas/Solstice gift, but she isn't taking orders currently. I still would love to have one of these beauties (for Ari, of course,) but I figured I would try to make a waldorf-style doll for him myself. It wont be as perfectly made, but it will be stuffed full of love along with the lambswool. I ordered the pattern and materials from Weir Dolls and after a few blisters and pinpokes, it is starting to come together. All the body pieces are pinned (it feels a little odd to have doll bits around- and sewing the head together felt oddly surgical.)

I forgot to hide it away when Ari woke up today, and he caught sight of it and went crazy. He ran towards it saying "baby! baby!" and wanted to hug it and carry it around, despite all those pins. At least I know he'll like it, but I probably wont be able to wait until the holidays to give it to him. Not that he knows the difference anyway. I keep thinking about all the things I could make to go with it- a blanket, a sweater, a hammock, a sling, Ari and dolly matching PJ's- this natural toy/homemade goody obsession is like a sickness sometimes.

crowns and princes

We've been puttering away over here, trying to keep on keepin' on through this crazy time of being out of our house and having every spare minute taken up with house projects. I will try not to whine, but I am really really really ready to be back in our little (now slightly bigger) home. This is day three with the drywallers not showing up. I am getting a little twitchy. And so I am making a few things. I've got a bunch of projects on the go, but my sewing machine is acting tired and grumpy (hmmm, that sounds familiar doesn't it?) so hand sewing and knitting are the preferred methods of home renovation therapy. The top crown I made a few weeks ago for Ari's little friend's birthday, and only just got a picture of it when she brought it over for a playdate.

Ari got a hold of his own birthday crown which I was using to remind myself of the pattern, and he has wanted to wear it a lot. I want to keep that one special and strictly for birthday use, so I made him this tree one. It is a lot smaller than the birthday ones, and a simpler design. Your everyday-wear kind of crown. I was going to use some of the duck trim I still have around, but "king of the ducks" didn't sound very majestic. We went for "the tree prince" instead.

And we didn't get any more Halloween-ish than this around here. Us adults were just not in the mood, and Ari doesn't know the difference yet, so we were off the hook. We like playsilk costumes around here most days, Halloween or not.

We really really like them.

our week

We woke to snow the other day. Ari sat at the window in his PJ's exclaiming excitedly about this new scene, but when presented with snow suit and boots he was a little less excited.

Luckily he likes the mitts. He likes them an awful lot. He wore them most of the morning, and was rather upset that I wouldn't let him eat his scrambles eggs with them. He even calls them by their name- "mitt- eeens."

And today we had our first wet-on-wet watercolour experience. Both Ari and our little homeschool friend thought it was pretty neat, though I have to figure out how to keep the paper from bunching up. I do think finger paint might be more Ari's speed right now though, there was a lot of that sort of action going on anyway.

The snow is mostly gone thankfully. I am really not ready for winter and neither is our house. This trend towards milder, snowier winters has its advantages, but I just can't get excited about winter in October. Once Ari gets used to the bundling, he'll probably enjoy the snow, but if not, we'll have another long winter cozied by the woodstove. With very warm hands.