In My Shoes

2011-12-21T22:15:00.003-07:00

2011-11-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to come up with a way to improve my sons reading comprehension - he is a fine reader, but can't always remember details. We have also wanted him to have read the scriptures before he is baptized, so we came up with a plan to tackle both issues: Read one page of scripture each day together, have my son write 2 or 3 things he learned from what we read, and draw an accompanying picture. (It actually tackles so many things at once that I am ecstatic: drawing, writing practice, reading comprehension, learning the scripture stories, family time....the best in so many ways).

My daughter has joined in as well and I can honestly say this is my favorite part of each day. Their interpretations are awesome and even pretty funny.

By the way, of the various family scripture study plans out there....we have not felt too successful. What are your genius ideas? Please tell me what you do that works.

2011-10-06T11:11:00.000-06:00

The kids got to this one. My little boy finished off the collar and buttons for me, and also drew his own version down in the corner. This is my mom when she was in second grade. I don't typically draw from photos, but I needed a break from my super wiggly models.

2011-10-05T11:31:00.001-06:00

2011-10-03T11:48:00.002-06:00

2011-09-30T16:01:00.000-06:00

You have to know when to quit. And today I knew when to, but I kept drawing anyway.
Sometimes its just too tempting to try and make beautiful lines.

2011-09-29T23:23:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you wonder how it is you started posting late night sketches on your blog. Oh ya, your brother got you to agree to it.

2011-09-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

And other times you draw your husband late at night while he plays the guitar. But his hands are moving fast and that makes it a little challenging.

2011-09-27T11:33:00.001-06:00

Because sometimes, in order to find time to draw, you have to make your baby draw, and then you have to draw her drawing.

Look What I Found...

2011-09-15T20:46:00.000-06:00

Remember my living room, all painted mauve and sponge painted white on top? I suspected wood paneling underneath one of the walls.

And I was right.

Naturally, it needed to be uncovered...

Review

2011-09-04T11:50:00.001-06:00

This summer we had will be hard to top.

My kids loved the Oregon Coast so much that they didn't notice that the water was ice cold, or the winds a bit uncomfortable. Since I noticed, I focused on loving the local food. (If you are in or around Newport Oregon, go to La Maison for breakfast, Luna's for lunch, and Local Ocean for dinner.)

We played kick the can every night, games only ending when someone got injured...and there were several injuries, with some people STILL recovering...

We spent time with our favorite people, our family...

We have worked our way through as many hikes as we can...

...taking little one with us in her carrier...

...we painted the streets many times over...

...I ran Ragnar and had a blast...

...we even got dad out on a hike! Yay!...

...and ate many meals with my favorite people.

2011-08-28T09:14:00.000-06:00

Dear 3-year-old,
You may not remember the summer your Papa hauled you around on his shoulders on hike after hike, but he will, and so will I.

We will also remember you laying down and the trail and saying, "Hold you, HOLD YOU!!!", or, "Did you see all the flowers papa? The yellow ones?". You always pretend for the first 5 minutes of seeing Papa (or anyone, for that matter), that you are too shy to talk. But then you warm up and cuddle, ask to be held, and tell them, "I love you soooo much!" You are a pretty fantastic three-year-old.

Summer Hiking

2011-08-10T23:14:00.002-06:00

My very kind brother sent me a book titled "Best Easy Day Hikes in Salt Lake City".

And I had a moment when I wondered why on EARTH haven't been taking my children hiking this summer. Well, ok, there are obvious reasons, like a 3 year old and 1 year old, but I mean, my parents took my sister and I hiking all the time. I spent most high school weekends with my friends on some small local hike or another.

So we immediately set out to do 1 or 2 hikes each week. They've all been totally kid friendly, less than a mile, and my kids think it's the best thing we've ever done. I'm feeling really really silly it's taken me this long to think of this. (Ok in my defense, I generally don't like to leave my home with little ones under 3, and for sure hiking can be dangerous with kids that age, but still...)

Ensign Peak. Short, easy, amazing views. We always bring my dad because hiking is so much more fun with him. And also, he can manage the 3 year old.

Temple Quarry Trail. Paved! Paved!, so baby could just chill in the stroller the whole time.

Silver Lake. Pretty much a classic for the area. Moose sightings are frequent. My little boy sidled up to me and said "Mom, I'm scared of that Moose." I half kidding said, "Don't worry, when we have Papa with us, we don't ever need to be scared. He knows all about wild animals." Then I realized that I would actually probably be scared without my dad around too. Phew, thank heavens he keeps agreeing to go on these with us.

Lisa Falls. Another classic. Really short, great for amateur rock climbing, and a fantastic waterfall.

Ocean School

2011-08-03T22:38:00.001-06:00

Just to make sure we go completely over the top with my child's marine life obsession, at the beginning of summer I decided we were going to make our own ocean. I taped blue butcher paper over the largest free wall in the house. (In the kitchen.) Then each week we checked out every book the library had on one marine animal at a time - dolphins, whales, sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea lions, sea horses, squid....etc. We immersed ourselves in that mammal/reptile/fish, and then added it to our ocean. Most of these, the kids drew. I tried to get the animals to be in proportion to one another. I also find it humorous that our now 3-year old can correctly identify several of these sea creatures correctly. I mean, she doesn't respond to "how old are you?", but ask her which one of these is the Mako Shark, and she'll be spot on.

Oregon Coast Trip Journal

2011-08-01T15:12:00.001-06:00

We just returned from a week long trip to the Oregon coast. 30 people spread between two beach houses, 17 of them children.

I always take a million pictures on trips. In fact, since having a digital camera, I probably have 10,000 + pictures on my computer. Not ONE of those pictures is printed. So for this trip, I took along my FUJI Instax camera, and plenty of Instax film.

Each child was made a journal for the trip. I used Oregon coast maps to cover it, and filled it with blank paper. I brought along plenty of colored pencils, glue (for gluing in tickets, maps, etc.) and photo tabs for mounting Instax pictures.

Each day, I took one photo of each child at one of the outings (the beach, sea lion caves, lighthouses, etc.) And each night we gathered to journal the day. Here are a few outtakes from my daughters:

Just how big is a whale? / Summer Painting

2011-06-25T23:48:00.000-06:00

I have a child who has been obsessing over marine life for about a year. And what I have learned about these obsessions is that you dive in, and obsess right along with the child. They are going to whether or not you are along for the ride, so you may as well join them in going over the top and make it fun.

We live around lovely older people who are fairly quiet. They don't drive in and out much. We view this as a perfect opportunity to take over the street whenever we want.

Marine life obsession ("Just how big is a whale mom? A bottlenose dolphin?!! A common dolphin?!!") combined with our quiet neighbors has resulted in some serious street painting this summer.

For the curious, a bottlenose is around 10 to 12 feet long.

And a blue whale is over 100 feet. So our blue whale is over 100 feet.

Blue Whale took us 4 hours to paint. And it's a darn shame that I couldn't get up in a helicopter to photograph him because the pictures will never do him justice.

And the common dolphin is around 7 - 9 feet long.

The killer whale is about 35 feet long. Yes these are all life size.

Jasper Johns: 0-9 for kids

2011-04-19T23:09:00.001-06:00

I am finding that children work in abstraction very comfortably. When we try to make things look "real" they immediately start fretting over how theirs doesn't look "real" and anxiety and tears are common. (Especially if you have the wrong art teacher). They love being freed of making it real, and love being told to only think about colors, shapes, and how they feel.

My goal is to get them very comfortable in abstraction and color because I find that if you start with realism first, you can potentially have artists who think about color, shape, and relationships between those things as secondary, if they think about them at all.

For my sons kindergarten class we looked at Jasper Johns' 0-9 series. JJ drew the numbers 0-9 right on top of each other, so that the final result was a bunch of shapes, and the numbers became secondary. Then he addressed the resulting shapes with color. This seemed exactly the kind of thing that kindergarteners could tackle, and feel confident.

I also like that this project addresses many things that kindergarteners are learning about - writing numbers for example. Shapes, colors. It's all very curriculum appropriate.

Jasper Johns, 0-9 Series

My son, drawing the numbers right on top of each other. (Pardon the lightness of the photograph).

And colored in the resulting shapes with colored pencils.

Just in case...

2011-04-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

...you got a super weird email from me saying I'm being held at gunpoint in London....it's an email scam.

I am actually working on a new project involving small wooden tiles with small copies of artworks modgepodged onto them. And eating strawberry crepes.

Much less frightening.

Ocean Cake

2011-04-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

You know whats awesome? Letting kids take over full creative control. Takes a huge load off my shoulders. And makes them happy. For example, this year my son had very specific instructions for his cake:

Tall
Circular
All blue, except
The top, which needed to be white. Like ice.
Small hole in the top where penguins will be standing around, Swedish fish will be in the hole.
Fondant dolphins and sea gummies on the side, so that the cake looks like an ocean.

I think I have finally learned to let them be creative, and me be grunt labor. Although honestly they prefer to be grunt labor as well, and really only have me there as standby. I am also learning to take them very literally, and to not insert my own ideas into the process.

Built by kids, too. And look at my daughter, getting ready to cough on it. Awesome. (As a side note, look, she is in prison jammies. Zipper in the back. Her efforts to change her own diaper 3 times lately in the morning has cost us over $300 dollars.)

Towel Backpack

2011-04-08T11:22:00.002-06:00

When you are hauling around any number of children to swimming lessons, you start to want them to carry some of their own things. Towel backpacks are super simple to make. And since towels take up the most room in the beach bag, you've just freed up some space for everything else.

Pin two 15" long straps to a 13" x 13" square of terrycloth, centered on one side. Pin remaining ends on bottom corners. Pin and sew the 13" x 13" square of terrycloth onto the top corner of a beach towel. (Straps on the inside!!) Zigzag three sides to towel, leaving side with centered straps open. (This is on the short side of the towel).

Then to pack up, just reach your hand in the pocket, and pull the bottom out. Stuff the rest of the towel in.

These also make great party favors if you are doing a water/swimming themed birthday party - which is what we are using ours for. I bought terrycloth and serged up the sides, assuming that would be the cheapest route.....not so. I think buying a ready-to-go towel would save time and money. Then all you would have to do is sew on the pocket and straps. Super simple. But you know me. Always finding a more expensive, time-consuming way to do things.

Spy Bags

2011-03-24T23:38:00.001-06:00

You know, because children have a lot of secret missions. Like "sneaking" (heavily breathing and tripping over things) up on their mom while she folds towels. Watching their two-year-old sister watch Curious George. Those kinds of things.

The only thing not pictured are black gloves, and we are still on the lookout for a wig. (I actually own two wigs, but cannot find either one. One is a Cleopatra wig, the other is a wig that I wore to my Italian Class for an entire semester. Ha ha, I know, but you'd be surprised how liberating it is to walk by people you know and have them think you are just someone with gross hair).

Art Time - Cookie Cutters

2011-03-21T10:12:00.001-06:00

We started with jar rings, tracing circles all over a paper, overlapping. Color all the intersecting shapes a different color. We also used their first initials, hearts, and other cookie cutters.

Abstract Class

2011-03-20T23:07:00.003-06:00

I have been musing over how to teach my kindergartener about emotions, controlling them, but without talking about it directly too much. (Because frankly, when I start to talk, he glazes over and starts to think about dolphin pillow pets.) My first goal was to work with color, abstractly.

I set out all the markers, and navigated to the iTunes store on my computer. I then turned on a sampling of music - all kinds of music - and asked him to draw how the songs made him feel. (iTunes store song samples are the perfect length for this activity - about a minute and a half). One full sketchbook page for each song. I did say I wanted to see all kinds of shapes and lines and that the lines did not have to be anything other than lines. Not a new trick, for sure, but a good one.

The unintended bonus was that he literally danced as he drew. So funny.

Our songs included:

Dooley
I will survive
Nature Sounds - Thunderstorms
Ode to Joy
Groove is in the heart
Mariachi
Nature Sounds - Dolphins
Istanbul
Monster Mash
Pachelbel's Canon in D
Somewhere Over The Rainbow - IZ
Moonlight Sonata
Like a Prayer
Mad About You
Take a Chance on Me

We almost had him.

2011-03-16T22:47:00.000-06:00

The trap was set, perfectly balanced with a skewer, and notes that read "Dear Leprechaun, push stick backwards so dog doesn't get you." A plan that took hours to devise, scheming behind closed doors, the art room off limits to two-year-olds who could ruin their perfect plan. A homemade doughnut dipped in green glaze was the perfect lure, they just knew it.

And then, imagine my surprise, at 10:16 p.m. March 16th, as I am minding my own business curled up in my fluffy robe reading the pasta chapter of my new cookbook, when I hear a loud crash in the kitchen. Yes, he left gold, and yes, he left blue gummy whales for my allergic child, but no, we didn't get him. And we were so so close. We know we were so close because his little leprechaun vest was caught in the trap. He must have had to wriggle out of it to get free.

More surprises! My kids came in at 10:19 p.m. March 16th because they were all in knots with excitement and had apparently been checking the trap every few minutes. And so life goes, most of the fun of St. Patrick's day 2011 is already over. Although I'm pretty sure no one else is bringing a real life leprechaun vest for show-and-tell.

Art Studio

2011-03-15T22:37:00.000-06:00

And finally, after living here nearly a year, and after taking off pretty much a year and a half from anything art related, we have our art studio. The first day it was operational, the kids and I literally spent the entire day together in it. It is what makes me happiest, I'll be honest.

The space we had for this was a large unfinished area of the house. We needed to divide it into two rooms though, with my husband needing a larger portion of the room for his home office. Of the large unfinished space, 7' x 14' could be for the studio. We also needed my art room to double as space for the laundry room, food storage, sewing room, and future kitchen when we redo our kitchen. Sound daunting? Our mantra throughout the planning process was "think like New Yorkers!!" And in the end, I was able to consolidate what was in our previous home 2 much larger rooms, into this small space.

Entering the art studio. Sewing table pushed against door to furnace room since we rarely need to get in there.

The kids work area. Cabinets in this room are all from Ikea, as are most of the other storage solutions. These cupboards contain the kids art supplies as well as mine.

Laundry at the end of the room. We had to get new stackables because we really needed to squeeze every inch of workspace out of this room that we could.

Most of these cupboards contain our food storage.

The computer is only temporarily in here. Like I said, we need every inch of workspace possible. Also, we put in a mini-fridge for when we will be using this room as our kitchen. Right now it contains "special drinks" for my husband. (Anyone else hooked on Bundaberg Ginger Beer and San Pellegrino Aranciata and Limonata?)

This is the larger space that is my husbands office, which is separated from my art studio by a pocket door.

And here goes a BATHROOM WRECKER...

2011-02-22T22:48:00.001-07:00

I'm all hyped up on manners these days. I realize kids will be kids, but when I think about some of the things my children do at home, I get all concerned about how they are acting when I'm not around. Our library book theme the past two weeks has been every book about manners that I could check out. There were two absolute gems - one of which I will be purchasing. And that's saying something because I am picky about editing what gets to stay on our shelves when the library is free and can keep us clutter free in at least the book aspect of our lives.

Manners Can Be Fun, by Munro Leaf. Seriously, add it to your next amazon order - for $10 it goes over all kinds of annoying characters and why you do NOT want to be like them. His other books are on hold. I'm sure they're awesome.

And What Do You Say, Dear? by Sesyle Joslin. Also very good, beautiful illustrations, and a clever approach.

Cookies Without Butter

2011-02-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, we found out that one of our children is allergic to a ton of things. Nuts, of course. Dairy also. When I heard the dairy/lactose bit, my mind went racing for days. Do you realize how dairy is in nearly everything? I never realized how much butter I used! And cheese! I don't think there was a meal or snack without it. Oh, cheese. I'm still in remorse over the cheese ban...

Most processed/packaged foods are out, but that was no biggie because we never really had much of them around anyway. But, my kids love their homemade cookies. We went a few months before I got brave enough to experiment. Or maybe desperate enough to experiment.We finally tackled an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that really is a winner. My allergic child was over-the-moon excited.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Set your oven to 400

Combine:
6 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
6 TBSP canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

To that, add:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
3/4 cups white flour
2 TBSP ground flax seeds
2 1/2 cups instant oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips OR raisins (if you have allergy issues, look for semisweet chocolate chips without milk or lactose added)

Bake about 9 minutes. They will not brown the way a cookie does with butter in it, so be careful to not overbake.

"How old are YOU!"

2011-01-10T13:13:00.002-07:00

Ah, the guessing game of judging the intelligence of a two year old. I call it a guessing game because there is a story circulating about Albert Einstein that he was a late talker. So often we like to judge future intelligence based on whether or not a child is potty trained by a certain age, talking by a certain age, and can answer certain questions correctly at a certain time.

Yesterday we asked my two year old her name. She pointed to herself and said "Wonange". (Which is how she says "Orange"). We asked her how old she is. "How old are YOU!" she shouts back at us. The only reason I've been trying to work with her on learning these things is because other people as her these questions, then stare at me like I'm a bad parent when she answers, "Wonange". I just shrug my shoulders and smile, fumbling, "She's my third...".

But of course she knows her name. She's been turning her head to it since she was teeeeeny.

I remember asking a neighbor boy (Gilly) how old he was. He said "Truck". I knew he was three.

Does it matter if a child knows how old they are at two? Would a two or three year old even really understand what that means? Essentially for the little ones, it is a game we adults make up to keep us entertained, not something we need to see as an early indicator of a child headed to Harvard.

And if this isn't a case in point... When I was little I was always testing off the charts academically. Special schools and special programs were mentioned to my parents - for kids as bright as apparently I was. But guess what? I was only bright until it involved math or science. Once those two things became a bigger part of curriculum (around sixth grade or so)...guess what? I was, eh-hem, average. Meanwhile, a few kids I knew who couldn't/wouldn't talk until later, and struggled in the early years of school, are now lawyers and engineers.

I am officially taking the pressure off of myself to have my daughter call herself anything besides "Wonange".

Meowing.

2011-01-07T07:16:00.001-07:00

My thoughts on New Years Resolutions here.

I think back on my past and cringe.

Not that there is anything horrifying in my past. (Well, there are some photos of me in a "Blossom" style hat).

Right now I'm cringing thinking of how I behaved in college.

My poor roommates.

In church I would "meow" the hymns. Never sang a word. Just meowed like a cat.

I would get oil paint on their coats when I painted in the kitchen, and oil paint doesn't really come out.

I also frequently up and decided I needed some new pants or a shirt, and would sew all night on an old, loud machine.

And I'm pretty sure when on a whim I decided to cut my hair in front of the hall mirror with some dull, goopy craft scissors, I made a huge mess.

I'm sure my roommates remember all the immaturity better than I do.

But, I roomed with some pretty amazing people. Who have all gone on to become even more amazing than they were back then.

Kate - business owner , river rafter, and amazing mom.
Audrey - my former dating coach ("men like long hair Pam"), and pretty much Martha Stewart, she is the ultimate homemaker. (her advice did work, by the way.)
Suzanne - fastidiously tidy, thoughtful, emergency room nurse with the BEST stories, mother of twins
Vanessa - the only person to make me laugh my "ugly" laugh. She is that funny.
Anne - supremely kind, witty, mother of three with a gift with words you will envy.

Girls, I probably owe you some kind of spa package, only you could have used it 12 years ago when we lived in that pink cinderblock thing we called an apartment.

Wow, it has taken me a long time to get to what this post is actually about! Today I am writing over on Anne's blog about my wacky New Years Resolution process. It makes me sound weirder than I actually am though.

**I am still passing on some awesome advice Anne gave to me in college when I wanted mint truffle hot cocoa, but only had plain. "Just go brush your teeth, then it will taste minty."

Happy Holidays

2010-12-27T16:18:00.001-07:00

Must Be Santa

2010-12-20T08:18:00.003-07:00

For family around the globe who couldn't be here to see it in person... My mom on accordian, my husband on piano, my brothers-in-law on upright bass, drums, and tambourine, me on guitar and sisters/grandkids/dad on singing.

Original version here.

Bathroom Renovation Update

2010-12-15T22:42:00.002-07:00

A big sigh of relief. Phase Two of the renovation is nearly complete. An office, an art room, but first up, a bathroom. I am a before and after junkie. ANY before and after - a haircut, a weight loss, a good cleaning, and especially, a renovation. Good or bad. I love to see what people do. So, lest we forget, bathroom BEFORE:

And after. We demo'd the whole bathroom and started fresh, mostly out of necessity. Carpet needed to go, and a heat vent in the floor had gotten rusty. We knew we wanted to make the whole back area a big, open shower, and I'm really happy with the result.

We really didn't know where to start on a bathroom. We had seen plenty we liked, but nothing we absolutely loved. Finally we came across some tile that we loved (American Olean, for the mosaic and the blue on the wall) and went from there. I had also seen some frameless shower doors and thought they looked so cool, we went with it. Also, we really loved the Duravit sink.

I love cutouts in showers (mostly because I dislike hang-y, caddy things because they look like an afterthought).

Gagging

2010-09-24T21:34:00.000-06:00

I have been told by many a person that I am a picky eater. Yes and no. I will actually eat about anything as long as it is of good quality. Fresh ingredients. Good cheese, and increasingly, organic meat. (I hope hope you have plans to see Food Inc.) Homemade food. These are foods I get excited about. Kraft mac and cheese? No way. This mac and cheese, substituting a good gruyere for the cheddar? Once a week if I could afford that kind of caloric intake.

My insistence on good food is causing problems for many a person. It can be expensive. It can be time consuming. And, more often than not, in fact, 9 times out of ten, my children totally hate it. I mean, they eat good food, for sure, but their realm of what they like is really really small. Recent examples of anger inducing meals:

#1. Bobby Flay Lemon Curd Ricotta Pancakes. (thanks Jessie!) Were it not for the substitution of wheat flour, this would totally be dessert for breakfast. It was absolute heaven. But not for L, who literally gagged and barfed and cried. Gagged. On a five star rated Bobby Flay recipe. I made fresh lemon curd. Dusted the final product with powdered sugar. M, ever worried about my feelings says, "it's not my favorite mom, I like the other ones you make."

#2. Quesadillas. Its a Williams Sonoma recipe from this cookbook. Roasted poblanos, Tillamook monterey cheese. Wrapped in a dough I made, and fried. Served with fresh guacamole and salsa. And my children.....gagged and cried and had to have dry cereal instead. Tears! Over fried cheese!

#3. Tamales. Recipe from above mentioned cookbook. I don't even have to tell you how it went. Adults loved, kids hated.

I know, I am expecting my small children to have an adult palate. And actually, my 2-year old is on board with everything I throw in front of her. She's game for anything from fresh limes to salsa.

But I'm stubborn. I will persist. They will thank me for their sophisticated palates when they are older, right? (Ha!)

School Clothes - Girl Style

2010-09-07T21:10:00.005-06:00

I limited M's designing this year to two outfits, since she has too many clothes as it is. She very timidly told me that she wanted her school clothes this year to be "more rockerish". And as a brave new step for me, I let her pick out all the fabric. It was all hot pink, or black, and sparkly.

On the left: Drawing of what was to become a pink sparkly shirt that ties around the neck with black ribbon. It is actually a resubmission as I got it totally wrong last year and used a fabric with dots instead of sparkles. For pants, leggings with ruffles on the bottom.

On right: this one is a bit confusing, but she wanted a t-shirt embroidered with the drawing of the girl in sunglasses. (I'm pretty sure this is another ed emberly). Anyhow, then she wanted a black vest, and a jaggedy black skirt. Also a resubmission from last year, because, again, I got it wrong last year. She wanted it actually jagged as opposed to the implication of jaggedness. To be worn over jeans, but it's still too hot for jeans, so she is wearing it with the ruffled leggings. And I vetoed the black boots for now. An obscene amount of shoes already made that an easy decision.

For the leggings I just purchased some, and serged on the lacy ruffle. Embroidering that shirt took awhile because she requested more stars. HUGE thanks to my mother in law for literally slaving over that lined vest. I haphazardly assigned her the vest, thinking it would be easy, but it turned out to be like the hardest thing she's ever sewed (and that's saying something - she's amazing.)

So I learned a lesson that probably most good mothers have already learned. Let kids make their own decisions - within reason. It is totally reasonable that I could have let her pick out her own fabric last year, and I could have followed her a lot more literally. This year? She wears these clothes every day. She loves them, and is SO happy I let her have full control. They really are awesome.

School Clothes - boy style

2010-08-08T20:35:00.009-06:00

I have another child entering the public education system. This time a boy, and one who really could probably care less about designing his own clothes, like his sister. However, drawing his own designs (one from and Ed Emberly drawing book) and having his mom stitch them onto his new Tee's? Very interested.

Edit: to transfer his drawings I used a tracing wheel and transfer paper, available at every sewing store. And if you aren't sure what it is, just ask a worker. The paper transfers a light, chalky line. I also ironed on fusible interfacing on the underside of the shirt for support while I stitched. L reports this as a little itchy, so he'll be wearing undershirts with these shirts.

Edit 2: If I had it to redo, I would use the lightest interfacing available - I'm regretting the heavier weight that I used. And actually what I would do is first stitch on the design, then iron in interfacing to protect the stitching and knots.

Stealing

2010-08-03T21:22:00.005-06:00

Originally posted on my art blog (which it has turned out I have never had time for) almost one year ago.

I have given every ounce of artistic and creative energy I have to my children since the first one was born.

My reasons for doing this:

They need(ed) me. Every minute they were awake. So I needed to make it fun for me.
I have to have a creative outlet.
Art brings me joy and if I am happy and enjoying what I am doing, they will be happy.
I wanted to give them a childhood full of happy memories.
I wanted to give them a childhood full of unusual memories.
I wanted them to learn about art, because not much of it is taught in schools anymore.
I wanted to teach them about art in a unique, fun way. Many times in ways that were not in our studio.
I feel I have a unique gift or even simply a unique desire to teach my children about art, and doing this has unleashed more creativity in me than I have ever felt in any other artistic endeavor.
I want to fill every aspect of our lives with art, most likely to fill the hole in my own life. The gaping hole of not sitting in front of paints and wood. But it has not only filled that hole in my life, it has made it overflow. It is enough to just do art with my children. I feel no saddness about not doing my own art.

And so we come to the title of my post. Stealing. I cannot escape the feeling that anything I do for just myself is somehow stealing from my children. They are small. They need me, and at no other time in my life will it be more important to be with them than right now. I will never regret time or energy given to them.

But then again. Are they so small? Yes. I mean no. I mean, yes. We've changed, as a family. Literally overnight. Some of my children are not so small, and need me a little less. So today, I took a few minutes from my duties to creating a happy, clean environment for my family, and I drew this self portrait.

And I felt so fulfilled. And happy. And a little frustrated because I cannot quite make the lines do what I want them to. Made me feel like making a cake for Picasso. Because we would all be happy about that. And we would all be fulfilled.

And I think of the time in a few years when they will all be in school. And no one will be begging me to do "projects!" with them. No one will be asking about which artists birthday we are celebrating. And the art studio will be clean.

And those thoughts, fill me with indescribable loneliness. So I realize, I must start to draw and paint for myself again. A little here or there. Because one day I will need it. When my little ones no longer need me. I know it won't be as fulfilling. But I know that I will always need art.

**Edit: I know so many people who have struck the balance between being an artist and a mother - being an artist independent of their children. I envy them. We have no balance in that respect - which, as I said is totally fine for me. All of our situations and children are unique, and our solutions will all be different, yet beautiful. I in no way think my life is the answer for everyone, it is just the only solution I can come up with for now to keep us all happy. And it will change and evolve, because that is what life is about, right?

Homemade Fun

2010-07-25T22:37:00.005-06:00

I was raised on the homemade variety of fun. No fancy vacations, no outings beyond the local parks and not many movies. Our fun was camping, hiking, and in general, staying home. That time home (and living in a time sans so many media options) combined with a mother who was raised on a farm (talk about a situation ripe for homemade fun), made for a very creative childhood. Our fun was all invented. Usually by our parents, sometimes by the kids. I could go on and on about silly games we made up, varieties of play-dough made, games we made up combining jumping out of windows and mattresses, and crafts made out of scraps.

I feel slightly bad for my kids, raised in a time with so much distraction, and so little creativity required of them. If I was raised to believe anything, it is that you do not need (much) money to have fun. And I feel like now I'm working really hard to instill in my children that they don't need to have money to have fun.

Onto what we have been up to - a summer of homemade fun:

The annual paint fight.

And the homemade slip-n-slide, made all the better by grandpa providing a ramp to start on.

2010-06-27T23:06:00.004-06:00

Ok ok, 4 kids is all - consuming. I would post pictures of house renovation progress, but batteries are dead on all cameras and I haven't unearthed the chargers from the moving boxes just yet. But here is a little bit more about me over at ArtFaithLove. And once I have an art studio again (estimated time on that: 2 months) , and am sleeping through the night again (estimated time on that: 5 months) and I fit into something besides stretchy clothes (estimated time on that: lots of yoga, running, and 3 months) I just may finish and post one of the 5 half-done projects I've started...if I finish them (estimated time on that: unknown....I've been known to drag out projects over years....)

For now, aren't these pots great? My husband found them at hip haven, and now they are on our front porch.

FiFi

2010-05-20T17:04:00.003-06:00

I feel like life has been "not normal" for the past year. The kids know it too. M regularly prays for "things to get back to normal" and L asks when we'll be unpacking the "project stuff." Ahh, poor kids, life really has been turned upside down. But some of the "not normal" is good. Actually, most of it is great, but new little sis is the best part of the change so far.

Called "FiFi" by G. (**note, her name is not actually fi fi.) Called just "New Baby" by L.

Part of our "not normal" is that we have been living in our living room for 3 weeks and will be in there for 2 more. So if you are thinking of moving into an older home that needs work, and then remodeling while you live in it, as we have done, this is how you should be prepared to live:

And even though our house is a constant parade of electricians, patchers, plumbers, painters, window repairman, carpenters....I don't have many pictures to show yet. However, the stairwell lighting has been changed. Yay! Even more yay for extremely good online deals that make the lighting you want affordable. We got these George Nelson lamps, only for a fraction of the price online because we found them (slightly) used. (left is before, right is after)

Sugar!

2010-04-29T13:22:00.002-06:00

About a year ago I posted something about how I was going off of sugar totally. I even had a counter on my blog of how many days I hadn't had it. I think it got up to something like 150+ or so.

Anyhow, I realized I never reported on it. And I learned so much. What made me realize I never reported on it was reading Christina's blog. She did a similar experiment, although for a shorter time. What amazed me though, is through all of her reporting, we both came to pretty much the EXACT same conclusions. So really, reading her posts on it are really insightful. And she did a really thorough job.

My food experiment and what I learned
Sugar, Sugar
Honey, Honey
Sweet Recipes

After I had my last baby, of course, I had some weight to lose. In the ballpark of 25 pounds. So I set some insane excercise goals. I think I was running 5 miles a day. It was just the kind of excessive plan that I was sure would get me back into my own clothes in 3 months. Not so. Not one pound budged. Not one.

Also at the same time, and actually for years, I've had really frequent headaches. Like almost daily. Just pop in some tylenol and the problem was solved. But I started wondering if something could change in my diet that would fix my headaches.

Critical in understanding me is to understand the people I was raised by. If you know me personally, you know that my dad is legendary. Way before wheat grass showed up at Jamba Juice as an add in, he was growing it in several containers on our countertop to juice, like in the 80s. He's never been measured at anything above 4 % bodyfat, and on those "how old are you REALLY" tests, he registers somewhere at age 33. I register at 35. He is 67 and well, I'm still a few years away from 35. I have never seen anyone who is very healthy come even close to being healthy in the way my dad is. To some it borders on fanatical, to me it is both inspiring and, ok, sometimes entertaining. He used to wear a blue fanny pack that had nuts and a nutcracker in it, and sometimes a big carrot dug out of the garden with the green leafs still attached. That was his movie snack. I distinctly remember him taking out this treat at a Harry Potter movie. Cracking nuts and eating a big leafy carrot. He denies this though, so don't ask him about it.

Ok and then there is my mom who hid evil, evil Coke under MY bed while I was growing up. (The red kind, not the gold kind. Don't know what the gold kind is? It's the kind without caffiene.) I had two oppostite views of food and therefore am both extremes that my parents are. Picky picky picky about some things like freshly ground wheat and lots of fresh fruit; not afraid of five or six thickly frosted brownies. (I am LDS and hope you know I'm joking about coke being evil....right?)

So back to where I left off. I had some extra chub chub and bad headaches. I vowed to go off of sugar, and I did. (although to be perfectly honest, there were 3 distinct cheats, well planned and worth it). The rules were VERY simple. No calorie counting. No limiting myself on anything else. Just no sugar, high fructose corn syrup. The only sweeteners allowed were honey and maple syrup. My reasoning was that no one ever overdoes is with honey or maple syrup, nor are they sweeteners regularly coupled with other really bad things.

I went to good earth and bought some blueberry and raspberry fig newtons sweetened with honey. When things are sweetened with those, you don't overdo it. Trust me, one is enough. I bought fruit leather, LOTS of frozen fruit for smoothies and I was set.

In the first three months of no sugar, I lost 25 pounds. I also cut back excercising to 3 hours per week and I just did yoga, no running.

Like I said, no sugar was the only rule. So I was free to binge on anything else I wanted. Chips and salsa, WITH lots of cheddar cheese. Fruit smoothies made with spinach, sweetened with either 1 tsp of honey or 1 TBSP of apple juice, and I would even make them on occasion with cream so that it would seem like ice cream - which it totally did. When you say "no sugar" and mean it, there is very little that you can buy that is packaged. So my theory is that I lost the weight because by avoiding sugar, even the 1 gram in a serving of cheerios, I avoided just about any and everything else that could be bad for your health.

AND no headaches. Not one ever for 5 months.

And I am about to do it again. When I have this baby, I will put the counter back up on my blog - "Days without sugar". And you will all want to join me as I hopefully report loss of baby chub chub. OK just kidding, you may not want to join me.

**And one last note. When going off sugar I was really worried about being invited over to someone's house for dinner and what if they made Cafe Rio pork which is cooked in brown sugar and coke?? I decided to try and not be offensive and let things like that slide. They are out of my control and I don't want to be rude. However, it was never an issue. Also, no one seemed to be offended if I turned down dessert and I didn't make a big deal out of it - just said I was too full.

The move: Why we didn't just build

2010-04-27T22:24:00.004-06:00

I include this only by way of information for others that may have similar interests as us, and who may toy with the idea of building a "dream home" that is more contemporary, or modern.

After several years of trying to hunt down the perfect house, and being involved in a few deals on houses that didn't work out, we thought "why not build? It's the perfect time. Land is cheap! You can use your own builder! Your own plans!" And nearly every builder/lot/neighborhood used exactly that to try to entice you to buy their land. And they were all right, to a point.

New living room, another view. Change lighting, knock out part of wall on the right to open it up partially into the kitchen.

After a few frustrating failures in buying other homes, we got a babysitter one Saturday and scouted out every SINGLE piece of available land in our county and the one south of us. We saw it all. Most of it was easy to weed out. But we narrowed it down to a few and got really excited, because, like I said, builders now are pretty much willing to do anything to have work in this market.

We wanted to build something in a Mid-Century Modern/Contemporary style. And we thought that when you bought and owned land, that you got to build what you wanted. I will only share our first experience in trying to buy land/build what we want, but it was a scenario that was repeated a number of times.

This is the basement bathroom, slated to be totally gutted. Should be a real beauty of a before and after.

So we're ready to buy a lot, and I decide to talk to the city to make sure our plans were within code. The city planner told me that they weren't - that their city didn't allow flat roof structures. After lengthy discussions with him as to why, it was an ordinance put into place specifically to prevent homes like what we wanted to build from being built in their city. Ok, I say, so a butterfly roof then, is that ok. Well, says city planner of the city I am starting to dislike, not exactly - people in this city have been known to sue (sue?!) if they feel a house is being built that will "lower their property value". I felt like my head was going to explode. NO, I am by no means rich, but I was not going to build a "trashy" house. In fact on the street we were wanting to build on, it would have easily been one of the nicer houses. So city planner of city I am now starting dislike its people says I need to petition the neighbors on the street, show them the plans and get them to agree to it. So I do it. I print out plans, write a letter, and hit the pavement.

In defense of the neighbors, most of them could care less. However, half of them were very concerned. In conversations with them, they called my modern house plans "trashy". They were concerned about their property value. They said the house didn't match the rest of the houses on the street. (Keep in mind, this was a street with a log cabin looking home, a mcmansion (or 3) and and arts and crafts style home). There was no cohesion in look anyway.

Master Bedroom in new house. Chandelier is being changed and moved, curtains will be changed. Carpet and paint. But the wood paneling will stay.

So we bailed on that particular street. But the scenario was repeated in one form or another in many other lots. They tout that you can use your own plans...but only if you want something with stucco and brown brick, typically with a minimum of 1700 sq feet on one level, and not to be smaller in total than 3300 square feet. You had to have a vinyl fence, and your plans had to pass an architectural review commitee. And there is nothing wrong with that kind of house - its just not at all what we wanted to do.

We were beyond frustrated with our experience in trying to build. Were there lots that we could of gotten away with doing what we want? Absolutely. In not super great parts of Salt Lake. And I love Salt Lake. But I'm not single/without children. I couldn't see having my kids make the biggest sacrifice in our move just so I could have a house I really wanted. What is best for them was way at the top of the list of what was important in the move. We were only committed to make this happen if we could keep them in a safe, child friendly neighborhood.

What we learned:
1.If you want to do something different, modern, contemporary, or otherwise, check with the city first.
2. The only county you could get away with it in Northern Utah is Salt Lake. Maybe Utah County, but we didn't check there. Or if you buy land in a rural/mountain area where your modern home will not be seen by anyone. And I'm not being sarcastic - that's the truth.

Why move...

2010-04-26T13:10:00.006-06:00

1. We traded a 45-50 minute commute for a 15-20 minute one. We tried public transportation but that took 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Each way. Not ideal for a man who essentially has two jobs. (Day, and freelance).

Stairway in new house. To be done: take carpet off stairs, refinish the wood underneath, cover in these, new, up-to-code railings, put up new lighting, remove wood paneling that is sliver-causing, remove rock garden and turn into a play area. Not because I don't like the rock garden, but because it's kind of a bad idea with children.

#2. We traded New for Old. (Or you could call that "new" for "lots of work".) We've pretty much always wanted an older home to update. This could be a post all by itself, but I'll spare you the details for now. We've been looking for several years and had several failed attempts at moving, but, finally, it all aligned. Good house, good neighborhood, closer to work.

Entryway in new house. To be done, remove wood paneling(maybe), replace tile with either new tile or hardwood.We may end up going with something similar though, still not sure,

#3. We traded bigger for littler. !!?? What??!! You downsized??? Yes, but only by a few hundred square feet. We have always kind of devoured architecture magazines and books and decided that in general, when you have less space you have to be more creative, and being more creative is way more fun, and yeilds super interesting results. Also, you fill up whatever size house you have, so moving has given us a really really good reason to purge of all the "stuff" we don't need. It's sickening. Once again, "stuff" could be a whole other post. But for now, it's simple: less "stuff" to take care of means more time to do things you want to do. I am well aware that my status as a middle-class American puts me at a much higher living standard then the rest of the world, and therefore will never, ever, lament that I don't have a 4500 square foot house.

Only a partial view of the new living room. To be done: paint over that mauve paint, retile fireplace with something stoneish, new window coverings.

#4 We traded more rooms for less rooms. Kind of related to #3, I guess. Actually, totally related to #3. We have less rooms, but the ones we have are bigger. I've never felt like kids have to have their own room. I've also never felt like I needed 3 living rooms, with therefore a need for 3 sets of couches. We'll all be in closer quarters and I think as a family, that brings us closer to our goal of togetherness. Bryan and I will share studio space, Kids will share rooms.

Back deck. Runs length of the house, floor to ceiling windows along the back of the house. It's one of the big selling features, in my mind. The first thing I do each morning is throw open all the curtains. I love it. **And yes, those railings are insanely dangerous and are in the process of being brought up to code - in a good way, I promise.

The last disco party

2010-04-21T20:52:00.002-06:00

With most of our things in boxes (but not the disco ball!) we decided to have one last party in our first home. The home we lived in for 9 years. The home we brought home 3 (of our soon to be 4) children home to. It still makes me a little sad to see this disco party picture, because that room was my favorite one of the whole house. I love the orange grove Bryan painted. I loved my two oldest sharing that room, sleeping in their little beds that my dad built for them. And, I loved disco parties with the kids.

And even in our new house if we painted the orange grove, it probably wouldn't feel the same. So we won't. And now, I don't even know if we'll be having disco parties. Mostly because at the end of this last disco party, or rather, what caused the party to end, the disco ball crashed, maybe beyond repair. Maybe some things are better left behind.

The move is exciting. We love our new house. We love our new neighborhood. It was the right thing to do. But it doesn't change that most of our married life memories took place there. So many great friends and neighbors that we left. So we need to make new memories in our new home, so that we can all grow attached to it. And we will. Starting with welcoming a new little sister. That will be a pretty good place to start.

Banner

2010-03-15T13:58:00.008-06:00

Because no one wants a heavy post lingering at the top (especially me), how about something involving colors that make you think you are at a circus.

As I have mentioned briefly, upcoming changes for our family are plenty. I have had to be more proactive than I'd like to be about being prepared for things like birthdays and Easter. I'm more of a last minute, late night kind of person, but in our current state if I continued to be that person, Easter baskets would be filled with gross close out candy and there would be a little boy who felt like his birthday was ignored. So, I'm patting my own back for having L's birthday year-in-review ready a few weeks ahead of schedule. While hanging M's birthday installation, which I loved, I determined that I needed to do something a little simpler for L.

So his year-in-review pictures were printed, cut into triangle shapes, mounted on crazy bright patterned scrapbook paper and sewn into double fold bias tape.

We could possibly even keep it and hang it in his room.
Even though his birthday is still weeks away, he already saw it and really wants to keep it up, and I see no harm in getting the most use out of this as possible.

**thank you for reminding me that kindness is still heavily outweighing criticism.

Wow.

2010-03-14T21:27:00.010-06:00

I received an anonymous comment on my blog last night which was ... hurtful. And full of misunderstanding.

My last post pictured my daughter sitting on a motorized scooter with a neighbor - her sitting in front of my friend on a scooter. No she did not have a helmet on, and I was criticized, heavily. In words you don't chuck out unless you mean business. Perhaps most of you would have agreed with the commenter.

My husband said not to respond. Clearly, he said, this person does not know you. Don't fuel the fire he says, no good can come of it.

But as it involves criticism that I disregarded my own child's safety, I decided to respond. (Keep in mind, anyone who IS a parent knows they need no further criticism from anyone besides themselves).

Call me lots of things and you would be right - mediocre. average. ordinary. imperfect. But comments that I exposed my child to an irresponsible danger. That I will defend.

For note: The motorized scooter in question is a childs motorized scooter. I don't know what speeds it goes, but childrens' motorized vehicles generally don't go over 5 to 10 miles an hour. I know it is a scooter intended for the 8-10 year old age group and is not street legal. My neighbor who had Greta on the scooter lives 4 houses away, and from the completely creeping speeds I saw (my neighbor had her foot on the ground balancing the whole way) I would guess it was going LESS than 2 miles an hour. (maybe 2? Jodi, you drove her, would you think it was over 2?) I wouldn't let my child go with someone irresponsible, and going at any speed above a crawl was out of the question. Speed was never even discussed because my friend would NEVER endanger a child and neither would I. I watched the whole thing, no way would anyone have ever thought the speed was a factor in anything, because frankly, my neighbor was essentially scooting along on her feet. No way could my G have gotten hurt.

Clearly the commenter doesn't know me. Ask anyone who knows me. I was raised by the most paranoid woman in the whole world. Anyone who knows me and hears I was criticized for being unsafe will be baffled.

Threats were made about "not reading this blog" anymore. Well, it is a documentation for me, not for you. If you find something fun or insightful, great, but it is a way for me to keep track of creative things I do with my children so that I will remember it, or moments I want to remember. I am not on a publicity campaign for my life. Thankfully, my priorities are straight - with concern for readership of this blog coming in dead last. This blog doesn't even come close to representing my real life in any way. Art lessons with my kids? Sewing? The occasional tidbit about something funny my kids did? My blog represents less than 1% of my life. My blog was private for a really long time - I was hesitant to share my life and it is precisely this kind of experience that makes me hesitant. Being judged by people who see one teeny tiny snippet of your life and decide you are the worst person on earth. And worse, doing so on the assumption that they have all the facts.

And, if there is anything I find more cowardly than leaving an anonymous comment, I will let you know. Please, this blog is not my life and is not important enough to me to keep going if I am to be attacked anonymously. If you have convictions, own them, be yourself, and be proud to be yourself.

2010-03-02T13:51:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the major slow-down in posts.

We are just all very, very, very tired.

So tired we are even sleeping on the floor in full costume.

And will probably be tired for at least six more months. But once we wake up from all of these enormous changes (a new sister! - to name just one), we will be back. And maybe we'll even be back during then, who knows.

Winners - Winter Bag

2010-02-19T08:28:00.004-07:00

Finally winners, your bags will be sent off next week. I used the pattern for a simple messenger bag from this book. I resisted the urge to further embellish it, because that button is just so cool, and the winter tree so simply beautiful. Enjoy!

Pay It Forward Win

2009-12-15T09:15:00.006-07:00

Yesterday I got a package in the mail, with this amazing green sweater bolero in it. One of my amazing college roommates and dear friends Kate Stirling made it. (Some of you may remember her as Kate Nelson). In college we spent our time playing guitars together and singing Joni Mitchell songs. Anyhow, she is currently being a super cool mom to 3 boys who regularly bring her snakes and spiders to look at, and in my book, that makes her brave.

So on her blog awhile back she posted a Pay It Forward contest, which I won, and which was simple to win. I just had to be one of the first 3 to leave a comment, and she promised to send me something handmade. I think she totally outdid herself. I mean, an awesomely knitted sweater, one that no matter how big my belly gets, it will always fit?? Kate, I love you! (But I loved you even before you became a super awesome knitter.)

So I am doing my own Pay It Forward. The rules are simple:

1. Be #1,2 or 3 to comment. You win! I will send you something handmade.
2. I have 3 months to do it.
3. YOU must then do a Pay It Forward on your blog -sending your first three commenters something handmade.

**most likely I will send you a bag of sorts as I love making bags.

new room

2009-12-04T09:44:00.016-07:00

We tried to have M share a room with G. Then L. Neither were necessarily bad, we just got thinking that we do have the space, so why not give her some space of her own. So she is on her own, and is in absolute heaven now that she is able to spread out all her Barbies without anyone bugging her. Happy about a desk that allows her to leave out her art projects without a little sister coloring on them.

I'll be honest, M would love a totally pink room full of Disney princess stuff. But, we worked with her and came to a compromise.

The quilt is one of my favorite parts of the room. Bryan's grandma made the top about 30 years ago, and never finished it. (How many of you can say you have unfinished quilt tops in your sewing stash? I can say I have 3! Lets hope it doesn't take someone else, 30 years later, to finish it.) Many of the fabrics are leftovers from clothes she made Bryan's mom. It is special to me, and even M loves the sentimental value.

And another of my favorite finds, the little orange doll on the upper left. I bought it from littleAshop on Etsy. I am not sure if I can resist the urge to buy more, they are SO darling and so reasonably priced. So far M sleeps with it and sneaks it to school. A sign that she loves it.

Jane Jenni plates.

Bryan found the bed frame and this dresser for $75, and spent a few weeks refinishing them. I am in love with them, and little jealous that M has the nicest furniture in the house.

Her own desk space, bulletin board to show off the latest school projects. Bryan also found this desk on KSL, for really cheap. By the way, finding and restoring old furniture is his current obsession. He brought home 5 pieces last night!

Transparency Installation

2009-09-24T09:24:00.007-06:00

In honor of my first turning 6, an installation of sorts was in order. I had a real 'thing' for transparencies in college, and renewed my love for them this week.

I picked 25 pictures of M, some from each of the six years of her life. Turned them all into B&W, and had them printed onto transparencies. (75 cents each at kinkos). Punched a few holes into the top, and tied thread through the holes. Hung from the ceiling with tape at different heights.

Reliving the memories is so fun.

Hung in the living room to catch the first light of day.

Off to Italy...

2009-09-17T11:19:00.005-06:00

M has had a pen pal in Italy (Michela) for about a year now. It has been so wonderful to see how excited M gets to both send and receive packages and letters. I want it to be a cultural experience and so far it has been beyond wonderful.

In writing our last letter to Michela I got thinking that smores are so everyday for us. We have them up the canyon, all summer long. I asked Bryan about the camping/smore tradition in Italy, and he wasn't sure if it was big there. So for our next package, we are sending Michela her own smore ingredients, and recipe. Complete with a picture of M enjoying a smore.

I'm sending her instructions for the oven, since I'm not sure how convenient it is to build a fire where she lives.

M designs: part 2

2009-09-02T15:44:00.005-06:00

On these last two designs of M's (see first post and second post), I took a few unauthorized liberties, and she let me know it. I really should have known better. I made them work, and she loves them, but there are a few things she wishes I would have stuck with.

For one: on the drawing on the right you will see a jagged, almost pirate-y skirt. I just implied the jagged edge with appliqued triangles. And the skirt fabric really is striped, it's just a little hard to tell in the picture.

She loves this and is completely happy with it, but really had hoped it was backless, as she specified to me several times. I just couldn't see sending my 5 year old to school in a backless dress.

So the school clothes come to a close. Truly, one of the best creative experiences a mother and her child could have.

Fall collection in progress

2009-08-12T07:41:00.008-06:00

Sewing up M's own designs has been such a great experience. Mainly watching her eyes grow bigger and bigger when she sees her drawings come to life. We have used fabric from Bryan's mom and grandma's stashes. (As well as using their vintage patterns!) Making this all in all a free sewing experience.

The pieces that look more professional were sewn by Bryan's mom. She is an expert and offered her help. Thanks Grandma for the help, the fabric, and the patterns.

With a few more pieces to sew up....I'd better get sewing.

An overwhelming amount of art...

2009-08-06T10:55:00.003-06:00

Every week or so, I have to go all throughout the house and take down all the artwork that has been taped up so that we can make room for the next week's creations. I take art down from my bedroom door, the fridge, the kids' closet doors. The actual art room itself is totally wallpapered. I go through and keep what is their best effort. I know it sounds harsh that I chuck a portion of their artwork away, but seriously.... there is no way we could begin to store it. So I keep the best. And when I have accumulated enough, I just zig zag them together.

"Fancy people speak...

2009-08-03T12:28:00.003-06:00

French!" So says M. Heavily influenced by the Fancy Nancy books, M has for many years now requested that I teach her French. (Which I myself do not know.) Now, I'm sure that a then 2 or 3 year old did not understand the meaning of "I want to know French so I can be fancy." (The meaning being years of hard work.)

Also, a few years back I made my too-small-to-understand children the promise that if they learned a language, I would take them to a country that speaks that language. Spanish seems the obvious choice since we are near(er) to more spanish speaking countries than anything else. But, our heart is just not in it. I mean, learn French = go to France. Bryan promised too.

So, here is where my promise to my children and M's desire to learn French merged with my love of Europe. We are giving the language program Muzzy a try first. We'll see how it goes from there. And I'm fully prepared for the idea that we may totally bomb and say "this is too hard!!".

Picasso Peg Game

2009-07-24T19:45:00.005-06:00

If you can get past the fact that I couldn't quite control the drill, you may enjoy these peg board games. I took a 3.5" x 3.5" piece of wood and modge podged on a color copy of a Picasso painting. Drilled holes the size of golf tees, and taught my children how to play what is possibly the oldest childrens game ever. I could also see these being really cool with a picture of the child, a castle in Europe...etc.

Here's to hoping...

2009-07-23T10:30:00.003-06:00

that these quiet books I've labored over for the past month do their job this coming Sunday. Originally intended to be part of book week, I quickly discovered that I could not whip these 3 books (one for each of my children) out in one late night as I had thought. Wow, I must think pretty highly of myself if I thought that. Anyhow, apologies to those of you who received round 1 of the quiet books, as I had not yet worked out all the kinks.

I had planned on making a bunch of these for the LDS humanitarian project. I have so many scraps that need to be used up. If I can get motivated, I still may do this for the humanitarian center, but seriously, it took me a month to make 3... I'm not sure if I could stay focused that long.

Some designs are my own, and some are from The Cute Book, since my kids adore all the little dolls in it.

Because it is summer...

2009-07-21T12:31:00.003-06:00

...we are trying very hard to not hear the words "I'm bored." (which are illegal in my house anyway...)

So we've been working on our "This is Salt Lake" books. Next four pages.

painting our "This is Salt Lake" pages...

drawing/painting/cutting out clothes for laminated paper dolls...

...and finishing up our camping chairs. Remember those from girls camp? You pack all your camping gear in them and they also double as a camp chair. I made the cushions for the top and I let the kids paint the sides.

Art Friday (again)

2009-07-18T23:02:00.004-06:00

I've been wanting to have a paint fight ever since Jackson Pollock day last year. Each dishsoap bottle has about 4 oz of washable crayola tempera paint, and 2 cups of water. Shake well, and start making artwork on your cousins. The kids couldn't believe I was letting them do this at first. But once they knew I was serious....some serious fun ensued.

Carnival

2009-07-15T19:38:00.008-06:00

Sometime in early June, M began handwriting invitations to what she was calling a "scooter party on July 15th", and began handing them out before she cleared it with me. But, as with most things with my kids, if I can roll with it, I will try. So the scooter party morphed into a carnival (with a scooter obstacle course), and went from a guest list of 5, to 8, to 20, to 40. Game ideas were presented to me weekly: "I know! I know mom, lets have a booth with 4 words, and 3 of them will rhyme and one of them won't, and the kids have to say which one doesn't rhyme!" M planned a good portion of it, and I got the rest of my ideas from this Martha Stewart Party.

For once I actually woke up on a party day excited. I was amazed that such a wide age range had a good time, even a few 13 year olds who asked me if I am doing it next year.

Fishing booth (thanks Jodi!)

Simple and cheap were my two rules for this party (especially with M's growing guest list) So for "booths" I hung dollar store tablecloths from the deck, and for banners, strung balloons.

Wonderful older neighbor kids (and some moms) worked the booths. In this popular game, kids had to spray away ping pong balls off of golf tees.

Bryan drew nonstop for 2 hours, giving each guest a caricature. And I must note that caricatures are among his least favorite use of his talent. But for M, he would do about anything.

Emily willingly provided her goats for the petting zoo portion. So cool. The kids loved this.

M's "Rhyme Time" game.

Bryan sketching...

Scooter obstacle course.

I tried to keep prizes non-sugary and cheap. These mustaches, from this amazing blog.

More prizes: Bookmarks I designed, and Scrabble zipper pulls (so cheap, so easy, and so cool).

I wish I would have had more time to properly arrange and photograph the treat table, but I was rushing around. For the snacks we had popcorn - M labeled all the bags, and drinks that were red, yellow and blue. I even had them arranged nicely, but never go to take the picture in time. I kind of have color OCD so you'll have to forgive this long footnote.

Kindergarten Wardrobe

2009-07-07T12:15:00.005-06:00

A few months ago, someone asked M if she was excited about getting new school clothes for kindergarten. Well, M had no idea that such traditions existed. I have, since that time, been receiving notes from M entitled "My Scool Clos", with a drawing of something she would like me to make for her. Most are dresses, and most include matching gloves. She points out details - "this is a scarf mom" and "these dots should be sparkles". I keep trying to explain that kids now-a-days (and for the past 50 years or so) are wearing jeans and shorts, but, she has her heart set on these. Hmm. I have a mere 7 weeks to make all these for her.

Crafts from Grandma

2009-07-02T15:54:00.002-06:00

If there was ever a lady good at entertaining kids, and coming up with ways to make things more special for them, it's my mom. This year she came up with the idea to make the kids a pillowcase for the major holidays throughout the year. I let them sleep with it on just for the week of the holiday. I'm a bit behind...with fabric for Halloween and Easter still in the stash...

Book bag

2009-06-25T08:34:00.004-06:00

Today I am giving each of my children a new book that they've never seen before. I've been hatching this idea for months. I wanted them to each have a book that reminds me of them. For L, When you were small. I chose this one because L is totally silly, and this book has a sweet silliness to it. For M, The Red Shoes, because it is about a creative girl and her creative mom. Each book will be given in its own bag, with a coloring book (made by making copies of pages in the book, and stitching them together), and one interactive activity.

L's bag

M's bag

L's activity - color copies from the book, mounted on felt.

M's activity. One colored background from the book, with interchangeable skirts and dresses. (laminated).

M's coloring book.

This is Salt Lake

2009-06-24T08:58:00.004-06:00

Have you seen these books by Miroslav Sasek? They are so beautiful. And fun. Especially if you have a "thing" for Europe. So this week is Book Week at our house. (Yes! Another theme).

We are going to document our summer adventures to Salt Lake, M. Sasek style. We will be making our very own "This is Salt Lake." But first, take a peek at "This is London".

On Monday the children and I spent the morning in Salt Lake. Here are the first sketches, which I will then turn over to the kids to paint. To say that my drawing skills are rusty is an understatement. But it is what it is.

2009-06-23T00:16:00.003-06:00

A long, long time ago... I got a short haircut and went to Europe for 2 months. I went with around 30 other people, none of whom I knew.

Me in Florence, Italy

Of course I did make friends. Many wonderful friends. Many of whom have gone on to become really fantastic artists. One friend in that I made is Cass Barney. On this Europe trip, she was in the stage of life that I am in now. She and her husband were hauling their two little girls around Europe. I was fascinated by her because she was a mom AND an artist AND she was making it work. I remember visiting her studio, her two little girls painting at a small table. I paid attention. I knew one day I would need to try to make it work (being a mom and an artist).

In Spain, at a Flamenco dance.

Anyhow, years and years have separated us as we've each gone down paths that never crossed...until I discovered her blog 2 years ago! Ahh. Reunited friends at last. I am still fascinated by her for many reasons. I've always loved her work. And she's still making it work. And she is still bubblingly happy.

On her blog several months back, she announced a new project she was doing the required participation....and I participated. You can read about it on her site. Below is "my" painting. On her site, if you click on this painting, a pop up comes up that describes it. (No, I didn't paint it...I just shared with her an idea, and she came up with the painting).

Last Friday we went to the show to see the painting in person. The paintings are exquisite. All have great stories. The show is up at Kayo Gallery, until July 15th, I think. The painting means so much to me. Thanks for telling my story Cass.

Art Friday

2009-06-19T22:05:00.004-06:00

So, for Friday's throughout the summer, my sisters and I are doing an art day. We each come up with our own ideas of what we want to do. Today I wanted to focus on one of my favorites, Jim Dine. No suprise, it was his birthday this week, and I'm a sucker for celebrating other people's birthdays, regardless of if they are living or not. (He's still alive). And I believe I said I was retiring the sugar cookie as a teaching method, but the sugar cookie was bored in retirement, and was dying to get back in the game.

various hearts, like Jim Dine's various hearts.

Jim Dine painted metaphorical self-portraits with these robes. I really took the idea in college because I'd rather paint people's "stuff" than them because their "stuff" says so much more about them.

I tried explaining the concept to the kids. They painted their own self-portraits that were, uh.. not of themselves..physically anyway.

the next two activities are the work of my sister. so great.

art fridays

2009-06-12T23:34:00.002-06:00

Page 1 and 2 of the second installment of color theory books.

I got out some of my art postcards and we sorted them into emotions, based on their color use.

Printmaking activity that my sister Barbara planned. The kids did this for an hour.

Midnight Suprise

2009-06-04T11:30:00.004-06:00

Last night, after I shut down my sewing machine and looked around me at the mess of thread and scraps of pink and blue fabric, I questioned yet again if all this work really is necessary.

I went up to the children's room and laid out their astronaut costumes so that when they woke up they would see the costumes first thing, and therefore know that today we were going to pretend we were off to outer space.

And then at 4 a.m. my question as to if this is necessary was answered. L got up to use the bathroom, discovering his costume. He put it all on by himself, but then came in to ask Bryan to help him with the boots. I slept through most of this, but I did hear Bryan say, "Are you serious? He's got it on." Bryan got up with a very excited Liam and helped him put on the rest of the costume, let him look in the mirror, and then put him back to bed.

Even if the costumes are never worn again, the 4 a.m. wake up from a happy 4-year-old astronaut was fully worth it.

And of course today will include astronaut themed foods (Capri suns, freeze dried fruit, moon pies, and some astronaut ice cream, if I can find it.)

2009-06-02T20:17:00.005-06:00

For day 2 of outer space week, we took it easy. And by that, I mean, we went to my mom's and let her entertain us. For starters, meteor ice cream balls:

Mom taking a nap with the newest alien, Judy. (Who showed up this morning. Last night when I was putting M to bed she said, "I hope Mork-" (yesterday's alien) "-brings back his sister." He did.)

And we went to the planetarium and saw the new Saturn movie. A delightful day. Now to get going on tomorrow. (It involves costumes.)

Family tree week concludes.

2009-05-29T22:57:00.006-06:00

Family Tree Shirt

2009-05-27T21:04:00.005-06:00

We have nearly cleared up the list of possible candidates for marriage. (This has been a big concern lately, especially when L took the crushing news that M and I were not options.) I heard M whisper in hushed tones to Mekella that if she could just marry L, then they could truly be sisters. Kella just says "I know!" and rolls her eyes. Thankfully L has chosen Maggie, from church. As long as they are not on the family tree, we'll take it.

For a good tutorial on the freezer paper stencils, go here.

Magnet Family Tree

2009-05-26T10:23:00.006-06:00

I like to work in themes (if you haven't noticed). This week is family week, where we straighten out misconceptions like "Uncle Legrand doesn't have a mom."

Family Tree: designed by Bryan. Printed in color, laminated. Movable family pieces: 1 inch circle pictures of everyone in the family, glued under a 1 inch round glass marble (available at craft stores) and glued to a magnet.

**Update: I said this could be a fridge-type game. However, my kids already have dropped several of the marbles, which CHIP and leave GLASS SHARDS on the floor. I discovered this as G had one just inches from her mouth. So, I now recommend forgoing the magnets and just using the marble pieces. Use it on a table, or find plastic marbles.

2009-05-25T15:05:00.004-06:00

In part because L keeps saying that when he grows up he will be marrying M, or me, we will be focusing on our family tree this week. Never hurts to see where everyone fits in so that you don't try to marry your cousin. Or your sister.

Bryan's side of the family, sugar cookie version.

2009-05-22T11:54:00.004-06:00

2009-05-21T09:59:00.002-06:00

2009-05-20T13:38:00.002-06:00

2009-05-19T13:46:00.002-06:00

2009-05-18T10:54:00.002-06:00

Josef Albers

2009-03-19T18:13:00.004-06:00

Today we celebrated German-born painter/designer Josef Albers' birthday. I had about a million ideas of things I wanted to do, but of course, not enough time to do them. So I picked the 3 easiest.

Dear Big Dirty Van,

2009-03-12T13:34:00.005-06:00

Let me tell you how it all began. You came into my life on one warm fall evening in Provo. I anxiously awaited a call from a cute guy named Bryan, waited for him to pick me up for our first date. And the guy of my dreams showed up... in an old blue minivan. "No matter," I thought, "it shows a lot of character to be a single guy and driving an old minivan - right?" And it did.

You trustily hauled him from Logan to Provo for an entire year, while we dated. Then we married. And you drove us to our honeymoon. Nevermind that we had to pull over several times up Little Cottonwood Canyon and give you a breather so we could make it. We loved you, because you were free and we were poor.

Years went by. Children came. They labeled you "big and dirty". You slowed down. Literally. You decided you did not want to go over 35 mph. That was ok - you still served a purpose, driving me to and from the bus stop for many years. Then I quit my job and Bryan took you over. Lovingly guessing when you needed gas (the gas gauge did not work) and taping red tape over your taillights which had long been busted. Listening only to one of the 2 or 3 stations you decided we could listen to. Hoping the seat belt would 'click' - because sometimes it wouldn't. We took you to the Trax station for Bryan to drive the 1 mile to and from work.

Then today Bryan showed up to the trax station, after his 1 1/2 hour commute. You were not there. We don't know where you are, and we are a little sad you were stolen. But we do have a small amount of satisfaction knowing that whoever took you, for whatever reason.... they aren't going anywhere very fast. In fact, I hope they took you on the freeway. I hope they tried to get you to go over 35 mph. And they will have learned that if you go above 40....the van...just....might... threaten to blow up.

Michelangelo

2009-03-06T13:39:00.006-07:00

Today is (was?) Michelangelo's birthday. Naturally, we had to celebrate in some way. We started with coloring our own Delphic Sibyl...
...which we then hung on the ceiling of the kids' bedroom...

And for dinner... pizza, of course.

I em sad

2009-02-19T23:50:00.003-07:00

Remember this?
Last week I asked M to illustrate an event in her life. I told her it could be anything. This is what she came up with - the story of when she tried to sew something and it didn't work:
That picture is one of my most favorite possessions.

Mom makes a crappy monkey

2009-01-21T21:01:00.004-07:00

I pause the photo story to tell the part that has no picture. See, that monkey is sewn and Liam wanted it right now, so I opted for a glue gun to put the thing together in a matter of minutes instead of a matter of 30 minutes. Problems quickly became apparent to detail oriented Liam who could not "stuff" the monkey's legs and arms because the glue seam eats up too much of the space. So the monkey I made Liam could only have his belly and head stuffed. Way too sub-par. Liam proceeded to lose it, for about 45 minutes.

Secret Pal

2009-01-19T22:23:00.003-07:00

I found this while working in the art room last night:
"Dear Pam, I am your secret pal. I am a girl you might know. My name I will give you a clue."

**Today I actually received the note. It was placed by my sewing machine, with a gift of a few pieces of fabric. I love having a secret pal. M then informed me that she hoped she would wake up to a note from a secret pal. I'd better get on that.

Self Portraits

2009-01-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

In the grand tradition of self portraits, (and by that I mean that because I was the only readily available model for myself, I have loads and loads of drawings and paintings of myself), today the kids worked on self portraits.

A tutorial: how to get your batman cape to fly out properly

2009-01-12T00:01:00.002-07:00

When you join the family...

2008-12-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

... you get your very own monkey stocking.

Seriously, more art parties???

2008-11-17T10:13:00.003-07:00

I'll admit it would appear that all I am doing is planning art parties for my kids. But it's just that I have this book that tells me artists birthdays and I have a one track mind and it's all I can think about lately....

So last Friday was Monet's birthday. This is a Monet Water Lilly painting...

Since one of Monet's themes was painting the same thing, but at different times of day or different times of the year, I sketched out our house, copied it, and then had them color it like different times of the year. (This also brought out a discussion about seasons - note the flannel board - which by the way, did you know you can get all those cool old flannel board story pieces at the distribution center..?)

Bottom left is a picture of a sugar cookie decorated like a Monet water lilly.

And this lovely girl went into labor just as we were wrapping up Monet's birthday party...
I don't have pictures of him yet, but she named him Theo, after Vincent Van Gogh's brother. A nice namesake.

Jackson Pollock Day

2008-11-11T12:01:00.005-07:00

Ok it wasn't really Jackson Pollock Day, it was more like Jackson Pollock half hour. I had the kids watch a youtube clip of Jackson Pollock painting and told them we were going to try to paint like him. We adjusted his painting style for the 3 - 5 year old group, putting paint in old dishsoap bottles instead of flinging it with a large brush. The kids loved it.

Halloween

2008-10-31T22:56:00.003-06:00

Such cute kids. The best part is their chubby cheeks sticking out under the masks. And how 'bout that sacked out Robin? Actually, she was sick most of the day and cried a lot...

Meeting up with neighborhood kids to trick or treat; Bryan in his Clark Kent costume.

Visiting Great-Grandma

A few local superheros: Batman L, Batman Ryan M., SleepingBag Man Jeff, Batman Garrett.

After trick-or-treating party (thanks Lisa!!); G and I reading Lonesome Dove in between trick or treaters.

Birthday parties for dead people.

2008-10-25T21:15:00.004-06:00

I'm always trying to come up with new ways to teach my kids about art/artists. My most recent idea is to have "birthday parties" for artists, with artist themed games, food, crafts, etc. Today is Picasso's birthday and seemed like a good place to start.

The cake:

Pin the hat on the Harlequin; Painting after learning about Picasso's Rose Period.

Making collages; I cut up pictures of their own faces, tossed in a few Picasso-esqe shapes, and let them glue.

We also attempted our own light drawings.

Annual Halloween Party

2008-10-18T21:34:00.004-06:00

This past weekend it was time for our annual Halloween party with the Boston's and the Pond's.
(see Jessie's kind review of the party here)

The kids make it more and more fun every year, this year being the first year the donut eating truly happened with hands behind backs. Henry determined to finish without hands even when everyone else was long gone.

Of course we had a craft - the kids made halloween cat shirts.

I attempted some coffin-shaped brownies, thanks to inspiration from Martha Stewart, however, mine look kind... not professional. Oh well. I guess I am not a pastry chef so that is ok.

Todd did pretty well in the donut eating contest, but then again, he was the oldest contestant.

And not related at all, today I left Bryan and L alone together for 5 hours and I came home to find they'd pretty much been scanning their faces the whole time.

Beat those flowers!!

2008-09-25T00:31:00.003-06:00

Gather flowers from your yard. Or discreetly take them from your neighbors. Lay them on some unbleached muslin.

Cover them with some more muslin (or wax paper)

Give your children a hammer and ask them to hit the flowers with it. Or maybe you should do it. From this point of view, this activity doesn't look safe.

Peel back the muslin, scrape off what is left of the flowers.

Make a sketchbook for your children and cover it with your new flower fabric.

Art Show

2008-09-20T19:30:00.004-06:00

Tonight we had a family art show. A few drawings were sold, some treats were eaten, all to the backdrop of nice jazz music. M's artwork dominated the show, and I'm glad to say, most of them sold.

Enjoying of lemon cookies.

Some of Milli's submissions.

The whole show.

Liam had one entry.

Greta and I reviewing the work.

Greta's submission. It's called "footprints". Note there is only one set. (please say someone out there gets my joke).

Bryan's entries.

Lemonade!

2008-09-16T21:12:00.001-06:00

Egyptian Day

2008-08-14T14:47:00.002-06:00

Sugar Cube pyramids.

A little mummification. **As a side note, we hopped on the internet, typed in "mummies", and got the kids good and scared. oops. I thought they'd show them wrapped! Not decayed!

Awww.

Blessing Day

2008-07-06T18:35:00.007-06:00

Today Bryan blessed G during church. I wish I could comment on the actual blessing, but as I was wrestling with L the entire time, I only caught bits and pieces. Good bits and pieces, but still, not the whole thing. She did really well and didn't cry or anything.

After church we had our families and a few friends over for yum yum mexican food (we have a lady. A tamale lady. Do you have a tamale lady? If you don't, you can borrow ours.)

She barely fit into her dress (I couldn't quite zip up the back). The bracelet on her right hand was made by good friend Cathy.

Of course G got held a lot.

And most of the grandkids were in dress up the entire time.

4th of July

2008-07-05T13:41:00.003-06:00

Getting all decked out for the parade.Liam making sure he loaded up on candy, even going so far as to yell at the floats, "fro me some! I NEED it!!"

Milli and Kella on the float in the parade. (Milli declared this part as a dream come true.)

Liam playing with sparklers.

Excerpts from Family Home Evening

2008-06-30T22:15:00.003-06:00

Tonight Bryan thought it would be a good idea to teach the kids some emergency preparedness stuff. We covered the basics; 911, fires (Milli suggested that to put out a house fire we run outside, grab some snow, and throw it on the house), and strangers in the house.

Bryan teaching the kids about escaping from fires:

Childhood

2008-06-16T21:28:00.002-06:00

I find myself re-creating my childhood in any way that I can. It must have been a good one. When I was a little kid, for much of our entertainment we would slide down the stairs on a super slickery pad that my dad made. He sewed a super slick cover for it so it would go down the stairs all speedy like.

After much coaxing, pleading, and promising to be safe, I talked my dad into making one for my house. All the kids love it, of course. I even went down once, for old times sake. Not the best idea. However, if you weigh under 50 pounds, it's a great idea.