kirstencan

I definitely can't do everything...

My sister and I were just having this conversation about how we're pretty well-rounded individuals.  I think I pretty much am.  I am relatively successful at many things that I try - which in itself is a talent, probably, but I have no stand-out talent or ability.  This was my story growing up with music, dance, sports, and even in college.  As an Art Education major, I had to take classes in every medium, which means I have no real focus even in art.  Shoot, check out this blog - a little of everything.

But, holy cow, I am not gifted in the fiber arts.  Knitting and crocheting?  Does NOT come naturally to me.  Whatsoever.

My grandma (who crocheted, knitted, quilted, etc.) taught me to crochet at least 2 or 3 times while I was growing up.  And I'd promptly forget.  It just won't stay in my head.

But I did re-learn how to crochet last year, while sitting at dance watching another mom whip out dishcloth after dishcloth.  She taught me and was most helpful.  She even praised my very trapezoidal dishcloths.

But again, there was no dance this summer - and I didn't keep up my practicing.  I forgot.  Completely.  I don't know what it is about yarn, but I just can't remember how to work with it.

When dance started back up again - I had my hook and some yarn, ready to try while I waited for my daughter.  My friend was so patient to remind me how to do it again.

It is a very calming craft for me - and very portable, which is a plus.  I've been crocheting while at book club, outside with the boys, watching tv, and of course, waiting at dance.

And I've met with more success.  I have no grand ideas of shawls or hats (or following a pattern of any kind).  I'm pretty happy that my double-crochet trapezoids have become virtually square.  I'll feel extremely successful if I keep producing dishcloths.  I might at some point go for a scarf.  I'm sticking with squares and rectangles.

I even ventured into Walmart (for the first time in ... a year or two?) because it's the only place I know of to get the HUGE cones of cotton yarn.  I just wish I could get a cone of pear-green and white or something instead of stone blue and white, you know?

Anyway, maybe if I make enough of these I'll remember how to crochet for more than a week.  Because once I learned double-crochet, you know I immediately forgot the single crochet.

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My other thing I've never been good at?  Tennis. 

What about you?

Ultra fast baby quilt

Wednesday I brought dinner to someone in our neighborhood who had just had a baby girl.  I really really wanted to bring something handmade as a gift (I knew this particular mom would appreciate that), but time and energy were extremely short on this particular day.

But anyway, I very quickly (and quite shoddily) made up a small baby quilt from vintage sheets. 

I really love how the prints coordinate.  In fact, had I spent a little more time on it, I would really love this little blanket.  Just two squares of the sheets, cotton batting in between, and dotted bias-tape to bind (not proper quilt binding technique).  I sewed threw the quilt a few times randomly to quilt it. 

I am a little embarrassed by this wonky blanket, but it is SO soft, and I think rather sweet - especially rolled up with a couple more surprises in it.

Happy weekend!  Are you making anything?  Me, I think I need to clean out my craft closet so I can get to more of my projects!

End of Summer Random

I have a bunch of random rumblings in my head today - bear with me as I purge.

**At Old Navy recently, I spied a rack of STIRRUP PANTS.  Black ones.  Just like the ones I begged my mom (and Santa) for when I was 10.  It was the 80's and I was 10 - that is my excuse.  Anyone who buys them now has NO excuse.  Seriously??

**I found new stainless steel water bottles at Costco - loving them.  They are Contigo brand, BPA free, dishwasher safe and they were a great price.

(The ones in the back are the kids' Thermos Funtainer ones.  They've been in constant use for 2 years.  I finally called Thermos to order new straws.  I may still buy some new ones for them, too - Mom spied some kids' Contigo ones at Costco, too).

**Yard sale season is coming to a close - and I have a couple more finds to hunt for - most importantly some kind of wardrobe/armoire for the girl's room.   She could really use a place to hang up her clothes.

**I found a pretty good natural deodorant.  I've been a fan of the JASON deodorants (in the background - notice I try to pick them up at Target on clearance) but I picked up this Arm & Hammer one a few months ago at the grocery store and like it even better.  Just get the unscented.  Trust me.

I switched to natural (aluminum free) deodorant a couple of years ago - and they're pretty hard to find!  But worth it, I think.  Once when I wore regular antiperspirant for a day after switching - I broke out in hives!  That sold me.  Plus, doesn't it seem weird to stop your body from sweating?  Anyway.

**We saw Ponyo in the theater afew weeks back - fabulous.  The kids LOVED it.  It was more fun to watch the kids watching it than keep my eyes on the screen.  They are big Miyasaki fans, so seeing a Studio Ghibli film in the theater was a real treat.  And it was really good.  Very charming.  If you have a chance to catch it in the theater - go for it!  It's probably my second favorite after Totoro.

**We also saw The Fox and the Child this week (checked it out from the library) and that was very charming as well.  It's a beautiful French film that the kids really loved - and so we are studying foxes this week in biology.  I highly recommend both movies.

**I've been reading quite a bit - and while I might not make it through 'American Gods' (sorry Aaron - he's been trying to get me to read this for years) I have a few notable books that I've really loved.

Love, Aubrey was one of my daughter's library books that I just picked up - and then couldn't put down.  I really enjoyed it.  It's a juvenile fiction and so worth reading.

Also recently read The Hunger Games and its sequel Catching Fire.  Both are fantastic and so exciting - Princess thought so as well.

**I'm so sick of my kids' 'internet names'.  I don't regret using them, I just regret the ones I chose.  But it's been 3+ years, so it feels too late to change them.

**I am still taking photos for 365 - but have lost count and haven't uploaded for a while - I need to go sort that all out!

Okay, that's all for now - I think my head feels lighter.

What's random with you?

Preserving Peaches

Straight from our garden:  a beautiful, perfect, golden peach.

It's finally peach season.

With a wet spring and surprisingly cool summer, we were worried about our peach crop.  It's our favorite thing to grow in the garden (or eat from the garden).  Last year we got so many perfect peaches - remember the peach sock things?  We used them again.

(A couple of pears on top!)

Last year we froze a lot of our peaches - some as pie filling, some for smoothies, some whole.  This year I wanted to learn how to can them.  I was totally intimidated by that idea, actually, having never canned before.

But we had all these peaches just waiting, and my friends and neighbors were so willing to share advice and tips (and extra canning supplies!).  So Saturday was designated as Canning Day.

Princess was in charge of the sugar/water solution.

(Her name's not Sophia - that apron is a story for another day!)

The process was made easier by our peaches that peeled so easily without being blanched - thus saving us a step (and a pot!).

Aaron peeled and pitted, Princess sliced (Monkey played video games and Thomas was at Grandma's).

I peeled and then finished the filled jars. 

For several hours, this big pot was boiling on the stove.

The finished product:  28 quarts!  It truly was rewarding seeing all those golden jars lined up on the counter!

I kinda loved this - and I'm very surprised at that.  It was not nearly as hard or as messy as I was expecting.  I highly recommend it.

I cannot stress how much my daughter loved this.  She was a big help.  I'm pretty sure she was pretending she was in the Great Depression the whole day.  And when we were done, she counted her allowance money and paid me to order the canning kit* for her dolls.

And then she got some small jars and filled them with small pom pom 'preserves'.

*I saw this set in the catalog and thought: What girl is going to pick a canning set for their doll when they could get fancy outfits, salon chairs, etc.?  Turns out it's my girl.  That's pretty cool, actually.

Rain + Music

A nice moment the other day:  I was putting on some tunes to listen to while I straightened up in the afternoon - towards the end of Quiet Time.  I randomly picked Weezer.  My daughter said, "Huh, I'm surprised you didn't pick Belle & Sebastian - I have one of their lines stuck in my head."

*If they follow you

don't look back

like Dylan in the movies

on your own *

So that's what I put on.  And it was the perfect choice, she was right.  Especially as a really cool thunderstorm rolled in soon after.  We hadn't had rain in a while, and this was a gorgeous storm.

 

The kids loved watching the downpours and we listened to B & S for a couple of hours.  Perfect. 

Lovely.

Yes, I will choose that moment to remember this week. 

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We won't be talking about yesterday morning - when I was still in my bathrobe, having a semi-frustrating phone conversation about Thomas + church (it's always something) and Thomas put his shoes on and ran down the block.  Luckily I didn't have to chase him down - Princess was outside in her roller skates. 

Roller skates, people.

And no, I got no pictures of that one (still on the phone) but it was a spectacle.

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Yeah, let's not talk about that morning.... how about stripy socks?

I love me some stripy socks - and after seeing this photo, had my mom on the lookout for the knee socks at Costco - thanks, Mom!

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Stripy.

Socks.

Much better.

Hello, freckle knees!

Cushions and cupcakes

My daughter's horse-loving friend had a surprise birthday party last weekend - a good excuse to play with fabric to make her a gift.

Since she was getting a room redo (and finally her own room!) for her birthday, we decided to make her some cushions.  The horse is a freezer paper stencil (inspired by this appliqued one) that Princess helped me paint - the fabric is a blue-green  silky, taffeta-y... stuff that I'm pretty sure I thrifted.

The smaller pillow is Heather Ross horse fabric mixed with scraps my MIL gave me from the quilt she made for me.  Didn't I mention that she gave me a whole bag of scraps from that quilt including several quilt blocks?  Well, she did (woo!), and I cut a couple of the blocks up to make this pillow go together super fast.  No plan, just improv'd, but I love how it turned out.  The horse fabric is on the back as well.  Both pillow covers have simple envelope closures.

(This is why I always have a few spare inexpensive IKEA pillow forms stashed away in my closet!)

I also volunteered to make cupcakes for the party - since the birthday girl's mom was swamped trying to get rooms re-arranged and redecorated in a hurry.  I decided to try rolling out and cutting shapes from starburst candies.  I'd heard of that somewhere...

I think they turned out cute - but I don't know that I would do it again.

I'm just glad all the candy and candy residue washed off my counters!

Birthdays - another excuse to do something creative (even if it's not for your own kid!).

How we're doing workboxes

Alright, here we go!  This is how we're doing our school boxes (we're not calling them workboxes - most kids don't get too excited about the word 'work'!).  The original idea for them is here - she has an ebook and a whole program.  I should mention that I did not read this book.  I saw the idea on various blogs and just kind of knew how it would work best for us.  Once I had the idea in my head, I could figure out the rest myself. And I'm not usually big on people telling me what to do...heh.

So, I showed you our cabinets already, but this is what we're using (IKEA  Trofast ).  You don't have to spend as much to make this program work, most people use inexpensive shelving + plastic shoeboxes, but since ours were going in our dining room (we don't have a School Room) I wanted ours to look a little nicer.  I figured if this system didn't work out it would still be useful storage.

Above:  Monkey folding washcloth napkins (a Montessori/motor skills idea)

Each night, I fill the boys boxes with one activity per box.  Actually, sometimes two.  The idea is for one complete activity in each box - with everything they need to complete it (pencil or scissors, glue, crayons, etc.).  But they also recommend 12 boxes per child and we're only doing 7, so occasionally I'll put two workbooks in one box.

When the boys are ready to go in the morning, they pull out box #1.  They can remove what is in it (if it's just a workbook or cutting page, etc.) or take the whole box out and take it to the table or rug.

Above: Playing with Star Wars figures and a balance scale

When they have completed box #1 (and many times it's an open-ended activity, so when they are tired of it - we've also tried using timers for some of them) they return the box, take off the #1 tag to stick on their schedule, and move on to box #2. 

What I really liked about this idea is that it's very visual.  Many kids (esp. Autism spectrum) do better with visual clues to what is going on in their day - which is why we've done picture schedules and calendars in the past.  It's easy for the boys to see how much school they have accomplished and how much they have left before they are done.

I also like that it fosters independent work.  The boys still need prompting sometimes, and some boxes require help from me - but we are working towards being much more independent and accountable in our schooling.  And they are so proud of themselves when they finish a box.

(Above:  Monkey playing with pop beads)

The first time I switched the boxes it took me quite a long time.  But since then it doesn't take nearly as long.  I just make sure that each boy has at least one box each for reading, math, and fine-motor/handwriting activities.  The rest are various educational/fun boxes.   We do history, science, and art together, so those aren't in the boxes.  I also try and put a fun box after the box the boys will think is the most hard, and a fine-motor warm-up before handwriting (playdoh, popping bubblewrap, mazes). 

Above: Monkey painting a huge gorilla in a jungle.  He loves when he finds painting materials in one of his boxes.

For the most part the boys are loving it.  It's definitely made this school year easier - even with the prep that has to happen.  Some days we have to take more breaks than others ("One more box and then we'll go outside and swing!") but it always ends up okay.  Most days the boys are done with their boxes by lunchtime.  After lunch I read out loud to them (right now it's the first Harry Potter book) and then they do Quiet Time - where many times they listen to an audiobook or music while they rest/read/play quietly - and then they are free to do what they want for the rest of the day (and usually spend a good chunk of that outside).

Above: I carved (quickly and badly) some teddy bear stamps and had the boys count and graph a pile of counter bears.

Monkey especially is loving school.  He tells everyone he meets that he's in Kindergarten now (he was ready).  The first Friday after we started school I was telling them that since tomorrow's Saturday, you don't have to do school - and Monkey was really bummed about that.  He really is loving this (and of course I told him he could still 'do school' if he wanted to!). 

This would be a great system to use while kids are off-track or during the summer, too.  This is not a system I see using when the kids are bigger (although some people are using a similar idea with just big envelopes or folders that could be useful) - but for now it's great.

Above: The Exploring Box.  It has tweezers, clothespins, beans, lentils, funnels, pom poms, pipe cleaners (wait, where did they go?), and an ice cube tray.  They can count sort, clip, etc.  I'll probably be changing this up sometimes - the boys love it.

I've been writing down what's in the boxes every day, just for me.  The photos in this post are some of my favorite boxes that we've done so far.

Here's a typical day's boxes (actually, this was yesterday's):

Monkey:

coloring book

Ed Emberley thumbprint book

Brainquest workbook - phonics section

Kumon glue page (I love Kumon books).

Tangrams

Bob books #4, 6

Kumon Alphabet games book

Personal info card (say/sing phone number 3 times at least)

Thomas:

Explode the Code workbook

pop bubble wrap

Handwriting without Tears workbook

Playdoh

speech homework

Kumon Simple Addition

Kumon Easy Telling Time

Dick and Jane

(and both boys learned more about elephants for science).

......

This didn't cost any more than our usual curriculum.  I sat down and made a list of ideas of what to put in the boxes.  Once you start looking around, though toy cabinets and game closets, you'll find tons of ideas of how to fill the boxes with things you already have.

I saved my list of box filler ideas as a PDF - click here if you'd like to see it.

Here's a post with lots of workbox links - this is where I originally read about workboxes.

Okay, I hope this was helpful, or at least interesting!  Sorry it took such a long post to explain!  Something crafty for the next post, I promise!

If you have any questions about what we're doing here - feel free to ask - I'll answer any questions in the comments - since now Typepad isn't letting us reply directly to comments via email... at least not easily...

Have a great weekend!

Signs and stuff

Getting ready for this school year, I found myself making lots of charts and signage.  I actually got stuff laminated this year.  Crazy.

Here's a getting ready sign so we were clear on what had to happen before the boys got going on their boxes.  This won't be up forever - just for a while.

These blue and green charts in the corner are the boys' schedules.  On it I put little squares that say what we have to do today (library, speech, lunch, snack, history, quiet time, etc.) and the boys add the numbers from their boxes when they're done.

I had to buy a whole bunch of velcro dots...

Any kid would like a cool new organizing system, right?  Princess needed something, too.

For her I made pockets:

Inspired by these (much cooler ones), the top two pockets are for her school assignments for the day, plus exercise, any jobs I want to give her, piano practice, etc.  The ones on the left are To Do, and the ones on the right are Done.

The bottom pockets are for extra things - so that when she has free time or I give her an 'extra' or 'your choice' card she doesn't always pick the same things - she can see what her choices are.

Some of the cards have more detailed lists/instructions, etc. under the title.  Eventually this board will be put up on the wall above the boys' schedules - but I was out of hangers when I finished it.

Here's where I keep the extra pink tickets and the boys' blue/green cards that aren't in use at the moment.  Just a two-pocket pencil case that's in my School Notebook.

Behind the case are copies of kids' schedules, as far as which subject is usually which day.  The back of the binder has MY chore chart (I used one from here) and in the front cover is a list of ideas of what to stick in the school boxes.  That really helps when it's 10:00pm and I need to restock and my brain is not at it's most creative.

I also made personal info cards for the boys to memorize their address and my cell number, etc.

Here's another new sign for this year:

Ideally, the little kids in our circle can't knock on our door when the stop sign is on our front door.  They go to year round school, so I figured this was a good idea for when they're off track and my kids are doing school.

So far it's not been very successful though...

And now I think I'm looking completely more organized than I actually am...

Next up:  How we do our school boxes - if anyone is interested?

Latest Thrifting Finds

This years yard sale finds have picked up, finally!  Here's some of what I've found in the last two weeks:

A red wagon - $2.  Because all kids need a wagon, right? I don't know how Radio Flyer does it, but they make kids play extra cute.  So. Darn. Cute. 

Even the bigger kids love the wagon (here Princess and a neighbor had just rode it down the neighbors' steep(ish) driveway).

A handful of vintage (or vintage looking?) Christmas ornaments and an old shadow box.  I will do something cool with that box, but I don't know what yet...

(I love how the soldier ornament above has a guitar - and speaking of guitars...)

A kid's guitar ($5).  The boys especially are thrilled.  Thomas made us put on 'No Cars Go' so he could play along - also he likes to 'play' and sing 'We're Not Gonna Take It' to much applause.

Monkey tried to jam with his sister during her piano practice.  Then we showed the kids School of Rock, after which the boys tried to crowd surf off the couch.

Lately I've been trolling the classifieds for another train table.  Our train table in the playroom is rarely used for trains anymore.  Usually it alternates between Playmobil and Lego bricks.  The sides of the table are awesome for keeping all of those teeny pieces in one place and not all over the house.

Often now one boy wants to switch what's on it while the other boy wants to keep the Legos on the table.  Monkey really really wanted to play Playmobil recently, and when Thomas wouldn't agree to cleaning up the Legos, Monkey asked him  to help him lug the huge Playmobil box up the stairs to his room.   We used to be pretty strict about keeping toys out of their bedroom - to keep it nice and calm for naps.  But they're beyond naps now and I realized that having a play table in one of their rooms might be a good idea and could possibly help with Quiet Time.

Long story short, I've been in the market for a train table.  Most sell for about $40 in the online ads.  I found this one on Saturday for $10 at a yard sale!  Woo!  That's a better deal than our first train table ($25 also thrifted)!

The roundhouse you see on there was included.  The boys are loving that, even without a turntable to attach it to the tracks.

So yeah, right when I show you Thomas' room - we go and change it.

I've gotten a few other things:  a bookcase we were needing, another globe, books and some other stuff, but these are the highlights.  I've been trying hard to not bring unnecessary 'stuff' into our house, so I've been turning down quite a few good finds. 

This really had been a slow thrifting summer for me (anyone else?) but my luck finally turned!

Fieldtrip Friday - Art Museum

This year one of my school goals is to take the kids on more field trips.  It's easy to get lazy about that.  While we get out quite a bit, my goal is for a planned field trip (at least) once a month.  That's a pretty easy goal, but it will make sure I'm thinking ahead.

Last Friday we headed to one of our local (and free) art museums.

My little sister works here, so she gave us a special VIP tour and led us to a room with lots of tables and chairs (and paintings) so we could draw.

Princess fell in love with a bronze colt in the sculpture garden.

She sketched it while the boys ran amok.

 

After a picnic lunch outside, the boys sketched some more and everyone played tag.

 

A successful first field trip of the year!  Next time I would like to take just the girl with me, so we can go a little slower through the galleries, and talk about art.  And sketch - me, too.