In My Thoughts

:: Our Zoo book was included in Gae's Loveliness Fair all about Picture books this month.

 

:: Soulemama has a post up about paying extra attention to the dinner meal as an important part of the daily rhythm.

 

:: Making a few Easter basket surprises from Susan B. Anderson's newest book Itty-bitty toys.

 

:: I stared at this lovely quilt for far too long when I saw it for the first time yesterday. I may have to make that one this summer!

 

:: Booklists. I'm collecting names of easy readers for Ender since he has the books memorized after 2-3 reads. I'm trying to keep a balance for him of comfortable favorites but also something new every once in awhile. I think we've exhausted Little Bear books, the Bob books are on the boring side, and we have all the Frog and Toad books that we're reading through again. Any favorite easy reader suggestions?

Do Over

We had a really strange weekend, and I'm still catching up.

 

A do-over would be great.

 

So instead of a fabulous post by me, I'm going to point you toward Green Apples for a post that sums up my feelings about crafting mistakes.

 

How do you feel about crafting mistakes?

 

For me, knitting is awesome for mistake making. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to rip it all out, but that yarn is still there for another try. Ripping back isn't exactly fun, but at least you can try again, right? I'm working through Elizabeth Zimmermann projects right now and was told by a few people that I'm "crazy" to even attempt them since I've been knitting less than two years. I suppose my opinion is to just go for it, and I did. I think you learn a lot more by doing and making the mistakes along the way than always sticking with what you know. I haven't found the E.Z. February Sweater to be any harder than anything else I've knit, just a little brain bending due to the fact that I've only knit one adult sized cardigan before.

 

Sewing is a bit of a different animal for me. I'm not afraid to try new techniques, but I'm always a bit nervous when I cut into fresh fabric- once cut you can't go back. Sometimes a cutting mistake means improvising something different (and sometimes better) than the original plan, but sometimes it truly means scrapping the whole thing.

 

How do you feel about crafting mistakes? Do you boldly head into new techniques and styles or do you hold back?

(This Moment)

 

Ezra playing "sleeping" earlier this week.

If you'd like to see other moments, visit Soulemama.

Gray Daybook

Outside my window…

It is gray and cool again today. It rained much of yesterday and it looks like it's going to spit on and off again today.

I am thinking…

about mini-units for Kindergarten. I'm making plans for an About Me unit (learning our address, phone number, city, and other things about our family), and compiling some book lists for science topics Ender has mentioned lately.

I am thankful for…

Quiet evenings. Since we've been able to get outside more readily my boys have been falling asleep quickly and easily at night, making for the quiet evenings I'm needing lately.

Always Learning…

Ender has been reading a lot of easy readers lately and getting the hang of recognizing sight words a little more quickly. He's also been really involved with helping me plan for the garden this year.

Ezra has been lining everything up lately. I mean EVERYTHING- toys, shoes, pillows . . . he started categorizing some things too- stacking little books together, big books together, etc.

From the kitchen…

Not a lot lately, to be honest. I'm having a bit of a hard time adjusting to the schedule for this quarter, but I'm hoping to catch up over the weekend. We have plans to make bagels and prep a few meals for later in the week.

I am wearing…

Jeans, a black long sleeve t-shirt and my blue Shalom cardigan.

I am creating…

Lots of booklists.

The first sleeve of my February Lady Sweater. (!!!)

Easter surprises for the boys.

I am going …

to make it through the next three weeks. That's when the annual recital for the studio is- and I have 55 individual performances. Between now and then there are the programs to design and have printed, reception details to finalize, hands to hold, nerves to calm . . . It all gets done somehow every year. Every year it comes together in time. And every year I still stress the same way!

I am reading…

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan and looking through a GIANTstack of knitting books from the library.

I am hoping…

To get my Easter ideas for the boys to come to fruition- I'm trying to find as much spare knitting time as I can!

I am hearing…

Episodes of The Guild. Again with the geekiness.

Around the house…

We are still in spring cleaning mode a little bit each day so that by the time we  can have the house opened up full time everything will be clean.

One of my favorite things…

Green apple shampoo. It's the best smell to me first thing in the morning!

A few plans for the rest of the week . . .

A bit of work on the recital, hopefully finishing knitting one Easter gift, and making a much needed run to the library.

The Zoo I Drew

We've been exploring art in children's books recently and Ender especially has been fascinated with copying art work. He has tried to copy several books, but The Zoo I Drew is the first one that kept him busy for more than a page. Ender invited Ezra and I to contribute as well so we would have a "very full book" by the end.

 

The Zoo I Drew features animals in alphabetical order with a short poem about each one. We all announced one animal that we would draw and set to work on a book full of different animals. We ended up with duplicate crocodiles because Ezra made at least 3 or 4! We chose to use crayons, since that's the best medium for Ezra (2yo) right now and half sheets of paper to make the book a bit smaller.

 

 

 

 

Ender decided to copy some of the animal art from the book very closely, specifically the jaguar. It took several tries before he decided on the best way to make the eyes.

 

We put our animals in alphabetical order just like the book, hole punched the sides and put it all together with a ribbon through the holes. Ender designed the cover with sticky foam letters and made sure to remind me to add the authors names to the front!

Spring?

On Friday the 19th we were outside sans jackets, riding bikes and running around at the local park. By 5 p.m. that afternoon the temperature had dropped almost 20 degrees and we woke up Saturday morning to this:

 

And the first day of Spring? It pretty much looked like this:

 

 

It still pretty much looks like that, although our forecasters have promised a return to the 60s by Tuesday. So YAY for real spring on Tuesday I guess!

Seven Quick Takes

 

~1~

We spent yesterday kind of scrambling to get things together for this weekend, and it looks like what free time we have today will be spent doing the same. Family is here from out of town and most available free time is going to be spent seeing them before they head back to Utah and New York and Nebraska.

~2~

I have a few posts bouncing around in my head for next week- one about children's book art, another about observation and modeling, and some knitting of course- so I'll be back next week with more.

~3~

 Ezra is making every effort to use full sentences. It's quite aweseome.

 

~4~

 My February Lady Sweater is about 5 inches from finishing the body. I'm really enjoying this pattern.

~5~

 Even though the Feb. Lady Sweater is undoubtedly fun, I'm taking a brief timeout to work on Easter things for my boys. A little lion and a little elephant are working their way off the needles. I'm using Susan B. Anderson patterns and they are so easy to work with!

~6~

Leprechauns paid us a visit on Wednesday! They turned our breakfast milk green, and the purple jello we made the day before somehow turned green. Mysterious, right? They did leave Ezra and Ender each a gold dollar for their piggy bank, so I guess it wasn't all bad.

~7~

Ender discovered word searches this week. His grandfather found a word search where you look for the same word several times ("find the word HORN 5 times in this puzzle" kind of thing) and it has been so interesting to watch him figure this out. It will also be easy for me to make extras for him if he runs out.

In My Thoughts

:: A great project "planning" post.

:: Ruth Beechick reminders.

:: Finding the Way Up.

:: Great books for outside.

:: Living Simply.

:: Container Gardening.

Toddler Alphabet Work

Ezra recently hit a sensitive period for letters and sounds. He started pointing out words to me about a week ago. Everywhere he sees letters, he announces that there are words to read. He also pretends to "sound out" words like he has seen Ender do so many times, except  in Ezra's English all words begin with "k-, k-, k-". (as in "k-, k-, k- dog".)

 

Ender has patiently been telling him what all the different letters are called, while I tell Ezra the sounds when he asks. He loves the letters W and X and can find them just about anywhere those particular letters can be found. I added language work to his shelves a few days ago, and he's choosing to spend much of his morning with the alphabet.

 

Ezra's favorite alphabet works:

 

:: The Leap Frog Fridge Phonics. He puts a letter in the slot and it sings a short song about what sound each letter makes.

 

:: Felt letters. I cut big felt letters for Ender when he was three and I pulled them out again for Ezra. Ezra sometimes treats them like shapes and builds with them, but I've also put out just a few letters some days (like just the vowels some days, or just the letters in his name, etc.) and he likes to ask the names/sounds of each letter. In following with Montessori I give him the sound right now.

 

:: A name place mat. I printed his name on a piece of cardstock and laminated it. Ezra can trace over his name with marker over and over, or we can use dough to shape into letters- tracing is really fun for him right now, so he's using this work quite often.

 

:: In the same vein as the item above, I made a few "trace mats" for Ezra that have a dotted line to follow from one object to another. He can use a marker on these, but usually he just traces with his finger or with a paint brush. Whatever medium he'd like works for me!

 

Presence

This past weekend Superman had two days off in a row for the first time since Christmas.

 

The boys hardly knew what to do with themselves because of all that wonderful Daddy time. All I know is that they hardly acknowledged my existence (except for meals and bedtime) because they were so busy soaking up the time with their daddy. And I couldn't blame them one little bit. His very presence was the most important thing in those two days.

 

It's hard to keep saying "soon" to them, because soon means 10 minutes from now if you're a four-year-old boy, and maybe 2 minutes if you're only two. It certainly doesn't mean "in May". But before we know it, May will be here and Daddy will be done with school and suddenly he'll be here every evening for dinner and his one precious day off every week will be spent entirely with our family instead of bits and pieces between frantic study sessions.

 

We walked together last night before bed. I love this time change because it is light so much later. It was a little cold, but the boys kept warm the best way little boys do- running and laughing. Superman and I walked together talking about plans for summer and somehow it came up that Ender will officially be a Kindergartener this fall.

 

When did that happen? We wondered this together. The last 4 1/2 years have been a happy blur. Wasn't it just a few months ago that we brought him home bundled and small?

 

And it won't be long until Ezra is ready too. If I've learned anything about children since having my own it's that they grow a year when you blink. That's the primary thought on my mind these days- that we only have so much time with them before they are on to the next stage and the next, then off to college and adulthood.

 

I wrote earlier this year about the importance of presence for me right now. I suppose it might seem like a simple thing- maybe it's just me and my particular personality, but my mind is constantly thinking about all the things that should/could be done and the temptation to constantly multi-task means that I can do a few different things at once, but none of them with my full attention and none of them done well. For some things it doesn't matter (folding laundry, anyone?) but for my children? Full presence is definitely required. Every day I'm reminded of this and make the constant decision to be fully present, to be an intentional mother, even more while we are in the days of very little time with Daddy.

 

We are counting down the days until May 8th (54!) when time will be able to stretch for us again and an integral member of our family is home for every dinner conversation and bed time cuddles. His presence for these little things is what we miss most of all.

 

Soon, boys. Soon.

 

This Moment

I'm playing along with Soulemama this week and sharing a moment from our week. Go visit her if you'd like to see more moments and share your own.

(Shalom finished! More pictures to come.)

March Books

We've started into our spring books a little early, so I thought I'd share!

This is a mix of fiction and non-fiction mostly pulled from our local library. There are a few titles that we own because we love the book so much (and they kind of frown up on letting you keep 1 book checked out for 9 months of the year!) but we use our library extensively since they have such an abundance of great books. Our local library system has an extraordinary focus on children's literature and an online ordering system, so it's very easy for me to spend an evening ordering titles then pick them up 2 or 3 days later.

Fiction:

The Twelve Days of Spring Time by Deborah Lee Rose

The Busy Spring by Carl Emerson

Hurray for Spring by Patricia Hubbell

It's Spring, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillert

How Robin Saved Spring by Debbie Ouellet

A New Beginning by Linda Bleck

Non-Fiction:

What Happens in Spring? by Sara Latta

Flowers and Showers: A Spring Counting Book by Rebecca Davis

Spring by Jill Kalz

March by Robyn Brode

Spring by Sian Smith

Spring by Moira Butterfield

St. Patrick's Day:

The Story of Saint Patrick's Day by Patricia A. Pingry

Lucky Tucker by Leslie McGuirk

The Luckiest St. Patrick's Day Ever! by Teddy Slater

The Last Snake in Ireland by Sheila MacGill-Callahan

Shannon and the World's Tallest Leprechaun by Sean Callahan

That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting

St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting

Finished!

 

I finished the (mostly) red socks at the post-wedding reception party on Saturday. There isn't anything terribly special about these socks except that they are the first toe-up socks I've actually finished. I followed the generic pattern found in Wendy Johnson's book using a provisional cast-on and a short row heel.

 

I'm pretty happy with how the striping worked out- I know it's not a terribly close match, but that wasn't terribly important to me this time around.

 

 

I've been trying to pick projects in the last few months that will help me learn new techniques, and the easiest way for me to do that is to pick projects that I really want to make and learn the technique within the project. I just don't do well with the whole "must knit a scarf before you can make anything else" kind of thinking. I've been looking through potential projects with this in mind and I'm holding off on a couple I had posted before. Instead I cast on for Ender's requested hat and for the February Lady Sweater based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Baby Sweater.

I also *finally* wove in ends and put the button on the Shalom cardi. Pics to come!

 

Celebrations

We celebrated new beginnings this weekend. What about you?

Seven Quick Takes

Visit Jen for more quick takes.

 

~1~

I'm on the last rounds of the red socks. Only another half inch or so until the ribbing is done on sock number 2 and I have new socks! I already picked out the next pattern-a Wendy Johnson freebie on her site called Rivulets socks. I've had them in my Ravelry favorites for awhile now and everytime I go through that list I have to stop to drool over them. Time to make them.

~2~

I read a great reminder over at soulemama about taking the time to recharge yourself so that you can better take care of the people you love. That particular thought has been on my mind all week long as I've been feeling stretched again. So Wednesday night I went to bed early and ditched the feeling that I should be using that time to knit or clean. Sometimes the extra sleep is so much more worth it.

~3~

Superman made it through his finals for this quarter! Now we just have to wait to see about those grades. He's taking 2 open-ended classes over the next week before he starts his last quarter. The end is really in sight! I think I need to pinch myself . . .

~4~

Ender asked earlier this week if he could have paper, scissors and glue for an anonymous project. He sat working intently for a long time and triumphantly shared a paper elephant with us awhile later. It's been sleeping in his room the last few days and is NOT to be photographed. Apparently, "elephant is scared of bright lights and just likes to be quiet." (Ender's words).

~5~

I have been reading this DIY furniture blog over the last few days. I can't believe how easy some of those projects look. Maybe something to attempt over the summer?

~6~

Ezra has been really focused on feelings lately, specifically happy and sad. All day long everything we do leads to Ezra announcing whether or not it makes him happy or sad. Last night, Ezra was half asleep as I was singing to him and he said, "Ezra happy for singin' with Mama" as he drifted off. I love the sweet little things my boys say.

~7~

Tomorrow is the big day for my sister! This is our last wedding for awhile. We finished up most everything in the last few days- I got to finish the veil a few nights ago, and everything that can be done is done. All we have to do now is have the wedding! C. (my sister) and J. will be living in NYC after they are married (his hometown) while they continue to raise support to go serve in Korea. They are very close to meeting their goal, and C. will start language school in just a few months (J. is Korean and already speaks, but C. has a lot to learn!). We are pouring our prayers onto their marriage and the beginning of their lives in service.

A Little Painting

 

 

 

March Daybook

 

Outside my window…

The temperature peeked above freezing for a little bit over the weekend and faked my daffodils into thinking they can come up. I truly hope there is no more snow so they really do have a chance.

 

I am thinking…

About spring menus and celebrations (4 anniversaries, 3 birthdays, and a variety of holidays) and changing up the house for a fresher look. Maybe this is some special disease I have, but I get a little itchy if I don't move the furniture around every once in awhile for something different.

I am thankful for…

Good books. Home Education, knitting, cooking, fiction . . . whatever I need can be found in a book.

Always Learning…

Our current explorations are still in space (with a heavy concentration on telescopes), and Ender just asked for the DK Eyewitness Elephant book, so that may be where we're headed next. Ender wrote a long page of K's yesterday for some reason, and he's been measuring everyone and everything again and writing down every measurement he comes up with.

Ezra has been crazy busy with his cutting basket. He asks to cut paper the second  his little eyes pop open in the morning. Scissors and a glue stick are his best friend lately (closely supervised of course!).

From the kitchen…

I'm still on a big soup kick lately. We had chicken gumbo last night . . . mmmmm . . . I think there will be gumbo leftovers for lunch!

I am wearing…

A jean skirt, red long sleeve t-shirt and black cardigan. Knee-high argyle socks because I love weird socks and the argyle stands out to Superman every time.

I am creating…

Spring spaces and book stacks- St. Patrick's day has it's own basket this year. Also, still knitting on the Talia vest and the red socks. I'm down to the last ankle, so hopefully I'll have finished socks by Friday's quick takes!

I am going…

to keep my focus. I know that may sound silly, but focus has been a big word around here lately. If I know what's going on before the boys get up our day goes a million times smoother.

I am reading…

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory and Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman. A lot of books about planets with the boys.

I am hoping…

For some time in my kitchen. I got to cook a bunch over the weekend and remembered how much I love it and miss it.

I am hearing…

The soundtrack to the Buffy musical Once More with Feeling. I'm such a geek.

Around the house…

I'm all too eagerly getting ready for spring. I may have pulled some spring-ish clothes out of storage for the boys and I've been sketching for spring sewing. The house got a bit of spring cleaning too- I just can't wait any longer!

One of my favorite things…

Caesar wraps. I've had one every day for lunch for the last few days. Tastes like spring.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . .

Helping Superman get through finals (only one more quarter to go!!!), finishing the red socks, getting outside, clearing the desk so I have a shot at piecing quilt blocks that have been cut but not pieced for far too long.

Learning at Our House

Ready for something educational around here?

I know. Me too.

Thanks for tolerating all the knitting and list making around here lately. I promise it's a vital part of my educational philosophy and process.

I've posted here in the last few months about my thoughts on Kindergarten and the research I was doing to figure out what might best fit our family for our first "official" year next year. There are so many great things out there and I deeply appreciate the merits of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, and unschooling.

So I spent the end of 2009 reading and talking with my husband and praying over these decisions. But for the last 2 months I have put all the Kindergarten thoughts on hold quite purposefully and we've gone about our days. Partly because I needed to focus on this day and the things we are learning and doing now, but partly because that is how I work best. I read and research everything I can find and then I have to let it all sit in my mind for awhile.

So I knit and make other lists that help me feel productive while I let all that information stew.

I began journaling about it over the weekend for the first time since before Christmas and a lot of things that seemed so muddy in December seem very clear now. Brian and I spent part of our time this weekend talking about our goals for homeschooling and a general family philosophy since we both consider homeschooling a lifestyle rather than a portion of our day. I realized also that our current days have shifted into a really comfortable place as far as our "schooling" and that I want to hang on to it for our core.

Every day includes something with math concepts, something for Ender to use his reading skills, and something to write. We also read every day- on average a chapter from whatever read-aloud we're on, something from whatever subject Ender is interested in (outer space at the moment), and as many picture books as they'd like (always Sandra Boynton for Ezra right now. The boy LOVES those hippos!).

Our extras (science, history, geography and all the stuff you're supposed to have besides the three Rs) are by interest right now and I'm perfectly fine with keeping it that way for a long while. We've been reading the Magic Treehouse books a chapter or two at a time and several of them have non-fiction companions- we're on our second of the non-fiction books (Space) and Ender really loves them. Ender is also learning to use the non-fiction section of our library to find books he might like about different subjects and he's already figured out which publishers might have the best pictures in their books. This is the project-based/Reggio Emilia portion of our day. I take a step back during this time and we go wherever Ender wants to go. In the last two weeks it's brought us to learning about how a telescope works, who Galileo and Isaac Newton were, what gravity is, and how people dressed a few hundred years ago. I'm loving the conversations we're having lately, and he's doing a fine job directing himself.

The last two components to our days are time outside and time to make things. Of course time outside will be a bit easier when there is less ice hanging around, but even now we try to get out for at least a little bit. I look forward to being able to be out all morning or afternoon again when it warms a little bit more. Last summer we hit a great rhythm with having quiet afternoons with the making box and I hope a similar pattern will emerge again in its own way in the coming months when I will be home all day again.

So I suppose my little panic about what we "should" be doing has been quelled for now. My plan for when it bubbles up again? Reading through Ruth Beechick's books, Real Learning and looking back through our journey so far to remind myself of how much we have learned from playing checkers and card games and spending all day outside.