sistermama gets real

Storytelling dads

Because the kids and I have just driven 1,235 miles, I'm going to cheat and link to my husband's blog.  I've got to say, storytelling dads are pretty damn awesome.

Spring Sewing

 

Isn't this a sweet dress?  I found it at a thrift sale and while I haven't been this size since I was ten, I couldn't pass up the cheerful fabric.  I have to be careful when sewing and knitting to be "thrifty" that I don't end up spending more than the amount of a comparable new item.  This year I'm trying to focus on sewing items from repurposed fabric and using up what I already have instead of popping over to Jo-Ann's every time the sewing bug catches me.  

Lucy will usually only wear dresses and skirts, although leggings under them are fine.  This has much to do with the spinability factor, I suspect.  I chopped this dress in half, right about the waist seam, double flipped over the cut part and sewed it up to make a casing for the elastic.  It actually took a little longer than I expected, because the dress is really gathered at the waist and the unidentified fabric was quite resistant to ironing.  So, as per my usual, don't inspect the waist too closely - that's what t shirts are made to cover!

Good fit.

The wind up.

Passes the spin test.

Kindergarten Planning

Waldorf inspired homeschool kindergarten is so easy, most of the time I say "We're just living our little lives, people!"  We do chores, cook, walk outside, read books, paint, draw, craft, sing songs and play, play, play.  Every month I try to have a set plan for a "circle."  This usually consists of a movement game, verses, a finger play and then a few songs. I pick a few that are nature/season based, one or two that are just goofy and fun and then I have a few that are traditional.  It is important to me that we don't lose the children's rhymes and poems that are part of our cultural heritage and I'm happy that Jack and Lu can each already recite several Mother Goose rhymes.  For each month I also pick a fairy tale (usually from Grimm's) and a nature story, plus at least 5 special seasonal activities.  Add in your festivals and you have a great kindergarten year.

February has been pretty much a wash for us.  I'm feeling the winter blues heavily so I'm loading us up in the car on Friday and driving to Florida.  Thank goodness for family and friends in sunny places!

In anticipation of feeling rejuvenated when we return, I started prepping the end of February, March and April. 

February

Nature Story - Shingebiss (changing weird old racist "Chief" language, good essay about Shingebiss here)

Fairy Tale - The House that Jack Built  (obviously not really a "fairy tale" but this is easy for me to tell in the car and, with its repetition, good for Lucy at 4 years old.)

Activities - valentines, heart felt mobile, finish cardboard weaving, candle making

March

Nature Story - not sure on this yet

Fairy Tale - The Wolf and the Seven Kids

Activities - Crayon resist watercolors,  Blow painting, forcing flower bulbs, plus some Easter prep activities like felting eggs and growing grass in our easter baskets.

April

Nature Story - Demeter and Persephone from Circle Round

Fairy Tale - The Queen Bee

Activities - Not sure on these yet.  Hopefully most will be outside and chicken related!

Warm Ways with Wool

The title really should be Cheap Warm Ways with Wool.  God knows that if money is no object there are many, many wonderful ways to keep your kids (and yourself!) warm with wool.  Wool is an ideal way to keep warms since it is so insulating, yet breathes.  Plus even if it gets wet, from sweat, rain, puddles, it will still keep you warm.  And today's wool undergarments aren't like the horror stories you hear from your grandparents, these are soft and almost silky feeling. I would love if Jack and Lucy could each have two full sets of wool long underwear, but at about $70/set, that is just not going to happen.  Given, though, that I keep the house at about 60 during the day and 52-55 at night I do need a good way to be sure they stay warm, especially Lucy who won't use covers.   (Read more about the Importance of Warmth.)  I found good compromise woolens at A Toy Garden.  They aren't as thick as the "name" brands, but they are much cheaper.  Last year I bought Jack a shirt and pants, and Lucy an undershirt.  They still fit this year.  They are looking a bit dingy, but I'm thinking of dyeing them bright red or something. 

My first tip for wearing wool on the cheap?  Buy every decent used 100% wool sweater you find.  Once you start looking you will realize that thrift stores are full of these.  I stay away from Goodwills and Salvation Armies because I find their prices to be really high.  Your best bets are church thrift stores, church sales and garage sales (also, don't forget to ask relatives if they have any lying around!).  Don't be afraid to buy them if you can tell they have already been washed, I often felt mine up a little before using them anyway. 

If you have toddlers/preschooler this easiest first thing to do it cut off the sleeves and make some wool pants.

These leggings started off as a gorgeous J Crew sweater that my friend accidentally threw in the dryer.   If you can figure out how to press your foot down the sewing machine pedal, you can make these pants.  There are a few ways to do them, but I make mine like this tutorial.  Note though, that there is no need to cut up your "pattern" pants, you can simple fold them to achieve the same line.  Lucy has several pairs of these and they are good for both sleeping and wearing under dresses.   I also put her rain pants over them and they work great as snowpants.  She does wear cotton leggings or pj pants under them, as they would be too itchy without.   Jack and I both wish that we could find GIANT sweaters so that we could both have a pair.

Okay, now you have a sweater with no sleeves.   This make a super "big warmy" as we call it, great for blanket haters to sleep in. 

You can also save these sweater pieces for lots of great projects, like blankets, tote bags, skirts and my next planned item, slippers, using this pattern.

Jack stays warm much more easily than Lucy does, plus he loves the covers as much as I do.  I found a huge men's wool vest for about a quarter and decided to felt it down for him.  I ran it in the washing machine about 3 or 4 times until it was the size I wanted.  I have done this with number of sweaters to get them down to kid size.

Now I just have to find a cheaper way to keep our feet warm... we keep putting our toes through SmartWool socks, and I can't knit socks fast enough to keep up.  Must get working on those slippers.

winter : lonely

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark'd, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them--ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,--seeking the spheres, to
connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form'd--till the ductile anchor
hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

Walt Whitman

Not the year for bread

I was so thrilled when I stumbled upon these three books at an estate sale across the street.  I took home over $100 worth of bread instruction and inspiration for $9. I would have been happy with just one, but to find all three?  Yay!!!!

I have a bread block, maybe specifically a kneading disorder, but I'm not sure.  I think it may have something to do with whole grains as I can make a pretty passable loaf of challah.  As long as there is 100% white flour I manage okay.  But if my boule even looks at a sack of whole wheat I end up with a 3 inch high brick.  So forgetting that this is The Year of Good Enough, dazzled by ciabattas and sourdough, I started in first on The Bread Baker's Apprentice.   And by started in, I mean I read instead of actually doing what I was reading.  I felt inspired.  Homemade bagels!  Fresh bread every week!  I was a little freaked out about spritzing water in my hot oven after reading the glass shattering warning, but hey, I rent, it's not my stove! 

On a flour high I moved onto Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman and then I read this:

In short, to be successful, the baker must be able to think like a yeast spore, and sense things like lactobacilli.

And in that quick moment, my bread dreams died, at least for this time of my life. Because really, I have a lot more pressing things to do than think like yeast.  My latest mantra related to my Year of Good Enough is, "You work 20 hours a week.  There are lots of other things you could have done in those 20 hours."  Thinking like yeast is going to have to be one of those things.

I was going to say, well thank goodness Soulemama  has this super yummy bread, because we love it and it is easy and here is a BEAUTIFUL picture of it but then I made it yesterday and it was a flop.  I mean, my kids ate it for breakfast, but I did put butter and honey on it.   Try it yourself though, because it has come out much better many times, I must have done something weird to it.

Mother Earth News did just have an article on that 5 minutes a day for fresh baked bread thing.  I might give that a try next.  Do you do bread?  What works for you?