tea

So, maybe I spoke too soon. This week has been full of sickies too, though nothing too serious. But the kids have both been under the weather, and the weather itself has been less than spectacular for outdoor play. Add that to Perry's very busy work week has made for a very long week. But it is Perry's birthday weekend and my parents offered to have the boys so we could have a date last night which was such a treat. And we are planning some fun family celebrating of the most terrific papa around. So things are looking up.

back

::Ari eating lunch with the daffodils- "it's spring at my place!"::

Just popping in to say we are recovering just fine over here- thanks for all the kind wishes for our health. It wasn't anything too serious, but when mama is down with something, things get crazy pretty fast!

But now we are just a bit snuffly, and getting over the last of the post-sick-grumps (do you know those? They are nasty!) I did some cleaning up and shuffling of the kids toys and they are getting so much play again. Ari was thrilled when he came in and found things moved and tidied. He commented on all the "new" toys (the had been there all along!) and gave me a hug saying "thanks for cleaning mama, you always find my toys for me!" Worth it just for that.

Perry was gone to Vancouver for an art show opening for the weekend so I kept the boys busy and out till their bedtimes so that they would fall asleep in the car and I wouldn't have to attempt bedtime on my own! And now we are back together and another week is here and all I need to feel human is to catch up on some sleep. Good night!

sickies

We're down with a bug over here. I think we are on the upswing after several days of sick (that last post was created awhile ago and I had set it to post itself... I was attempting to sleep upright with a restless baby on my chest at 11:05 last night. And for a good portion of the rest of the night too.) We've been pretty lucky this winter, hardly sick at all, but I guess our time had come. Lots of herb teas and chicken soup and book reading and snuggling under wool blankets. And I finished Dori's balaclava I was working on too. Plus, I got to watch some really terrific puppet plays. Highly entertaining, with the added bonus of me not having to move very far or very fast! Now I'm off to bed again. Dori is sleeping soundly, thankfully, and I hope I'll be doing the same soon too. Goodnight!

a book post

I've been wanting to do a book post for awhile now- books are so central to our days, and now that we've truly entered this realm of imaginative play, where story lines are acted out and played over and over, the quality and content of the books we keep in our home seem even more important. I've gotten quite a few questions about kids book lately, so maybe I'll write a few posts on the subject -because it is a topic I have quite a lot to say about! (And for the record, I am only linking Amazon as a convenient Internet resource for reading about the books, not as a suggestion about where to purchase your books from. Local and indi is always good when you can swing it.)



There are a few books that have really been making their way into Ari's play lately. This seems like such a telling sign that they are meeting him at his developmental level and have really sunk in deeply. Some of these are:



Owl Babies: A board book that has been with us for awhile. A simple story about some baby owl siblings who are waiting for their mama to come back to their hollow tree. Many mornings when Ari crawls into bed with me he becomes my baby owl. There is usually some flying and flapping around the room involved in this game too.



The Brambly Hedge stories, particularly The High Hills: These books are just so incredible. The details on every page are enthralling and the stories as so simple and sweet. The characters are mice who live have lavish parties and go on many exciting adventures. Ari regularly pretends to be Wilfred the mouse, shouldering his adventurers pack and helping to get us all out of trouble with his rope and ice pick.



A lot of Otters: I think this is the book that started the Baby Otter game, or maybe we bought it because he was playing Baby Otter? Either was it is a magical story and the illustrations are luminous. We love a lot of Barbra Helen Berger's books.



The Tomten: This classic was part of Perry's childhood and him parents bought us a copy long before we actually had any kids to read it to. The farm in the story looks so much like our own, and we see Tomten footprints everywhere.



Home for a Bunny: A thrift story find that Ari really took to. A bunny looks for a home and finds one.



I've mentioned Ollies's Ski Trip before, but the characters- Jack Frost, King Winter, Mrs.Thaw, have become a part of everyday discussions about winter for Ari. He's been commenting lately on how often Mrs.Thaw has been visiting lately, and he is not pleased.



We've also been enjoying Shirley Huges books from the library. We have Dogger out right now and it is a favorite. And I have been meaning to thank Cybele for the sweet package awhile back of this Shirley Hughes book that has become beloved around here. Thank you so much Cybele!





We have just recently added the reading of a "chapter book" to our evenings, noticing that Ari was ready to follow a more complicated storyline, and also needing something that would help to slow him down before he entered into his bedtime routine with his Papa. Ari is still too young to follow a single story through from day-to-day, so I have been trying to find books that are collections of stories with a unifying theme. Right now we are reading The Barefoot book of Animals, from the library which we've been enjoying. I think I'll try and track down a few more of these collections.

And a few of Dori's favorites:

Really anything with pictures of babies or farm animals goes over well with this guy right now. The above picture is a thrifted Old MacDonald golden book. He loves it a lot.

Everywhere Babies is one that he loves and I love too. The families depicted are beautifully diverse, the rhymes are cute and loving and just right for wee ones.

Welcome Song for Babies and Mama Mama/Papa Papa were on heavy rotation today.

Winter (And Spring, and Autumn, and Summer too...) I wrote about these books when Ari was small, and now both boys love them a lot. They are seasonal wordless board books and something about them appeals to babies and kids alike. (And you should follow that link just to see how little and cute he was!)

Hush: a Thai Lullaby is a favorite bedtime book. As is Grandfather Twilight. And now, I am off to bed too.

Goodnight!

where we've been

::shells and rocks in a tray from a vintage suitcase- items are for sale in Ari's toy store::

The days have been flying by in a blur- there are various reasons for not getting here very often- a sick kid- (just one and a short illness... *sound of me knocking firmly on wood*) a slooow computer, little inspiration for photo taking, and general mid-winter lack motivation for just about anything. I don't even let myself dream about spring this time of year- I accept that this really is the middle of winter for us. But I do have a lot less of what my mom would call "oomph." It just feels like there is only enough energy to get through the days, and accomplishing anything more feels like so.much.work. you know?

But these terrific kids of mine keep my spirits high despite that lagging energy. They implore me to dance around the kitchen with them (and oh Dori's little bobbing, spinning dance moves are almost too cute to bear,) and invent crazy stories and snuggle me up all day long. It is a good life. ::Ari's toy shop. Every toy from near and far must be gathered together. Luckily this game has a built in clean-up mechanism. All toys have to be payed for, then driven home in the cart and arranged nicely on the shelves back home!::

So we've been doing a lot of playing...

:playsilk "ringtoss"::

And making stuff,

::Knitting up the yarn Perry and Ari dyed me for my birthday. I wasn't sure what to make with is, but settled on a little knitted doll for the preschool and is just perfect for this project.::::A simple garter stitch needlebook made from leftover wool from my very first knitting project ever (recognize it Nik?) For Anna's Children's Year Craftalong group. It knit up so quickly and will hold the big sewing needles the kids use at the preschool.::

::Ari's first sculptural piece- a robot! He drew the face on himself and glued the pompom onto the head with about 300 glue dots. He was mighty proud.::

There has also been lots of walks in the woods and regular tries at cross-country skiing. The weather has been pretty crummy for it lately, but he is a determined little chap and heads out anyway. His brother is pretty determined too- to toddle about in his big boy boots.

Though there is a lot of this-

Happy Friday to you all!

weeee!

Having a brother is fun. Watching these brothers enjoy each other is pure joy.

gnome home

Another catch-up solstice post. I realize it is February. No one really wants to hear about the holidays at this time of year, so let's just call this a crafting post and leave it at that. This was my gift to Ari- a gnome home made with another of Katies's amazing patterns. It has been getting so much play around here.I had no idea how this would go over- you just never know with three-year-olds. But when Ari opened it he actually exclaimed "I always wanted one of these!" and set to playing with it straight away. I can't imagine he knew felted gnome houses existed, I certainly didn't before I came across the pattern, but could there be any nicer words to hear when your kiddo opens a gift you made just for them? I think not.

It is designed to look like a little cob cottage with a living roof, and it really does I think. I didn't get to embellishing it as much as the pattern called for- this was my late-night-before-solstice-morning project- but I am really pleased with it. I made one major blunder late that night and was sure for a few minutes that it was game over. I cut out the door upside down. My mind immediately started trying to think of what toys I had in the closet that I could pass of as handmade as there clearly was no time to start again. Knitting and felting another giant brown tube just was not going to happen starting at midnight on solstice night. But after flipping it over and fiddling a bit I figured out I could turn that ill-placed door into a window. A sort of knot-in-a-hollow-branch kind of window. And I am actually kind of fond of it now, though it does make the whole thing a bit floppier than it would otherwise be. But it has woodland charm, in a funny, floppy sort of way.
And the little people love it still. Hard even to take photos without someone making off with a knitted gnomie.

A couple details: the wooden gnomes in the second picture are from ZooLoo Naturals and are ever so sweet. The firepit I needle felted (early in my holiday crafting when this cottage was going to be just one small part of a whole elaborate playmat with a river and a farmyard...) and has since been picked apart by those sweet little hands pictured above. Not toddler friendly clearly. The knitted gnome is part of the gnome house pattern and knits up really fast. I love it and have about 6 more of them sitting unassembled in a bag in my studio. Maybe next solstice they will make an appearance.

I still have several other solstice crafts to share, but I am running out of steam. Maybe I'll just do one big post in the next few days and be done with it.

goodnight!

ETA: I just noticed on Ravelry that Katie is currently donating 100% of the profits of this Gnome Home pattern to Doctors without Borders for Haiti earthquake relief. I can't recommend her patterns highly enough.