Good Morning

It's too bad we can't all look this awesome upon awaking.

What He Did on His February Break

Calvin, not surprisingly, had an assignment to write about something he did for February break. As I picked him up from school the following Monday, his teacher told me he had a very exciting response. I wondered what he wrote/drew about...

Was it Monday: the pirate themed birthday party he attended or the basketball/pizza night with 3 other families?
Was it Tuesday: the picnic at the playground, in which it was [barely] warm enough to eat outside and bring our bikes? Or the puppet show at the library during which he was the only kid hugged by a marionette?

Was it Wednesday: the trip to Castle Island to play at the playground and fly the dragon kite with some friends, and then the stop at Flour bakery on the way home?

Was it Thursday: a trip to the pool with Laura and Squiggles followed by hamburgers and fries?

Was it Friday: ice skating for his very first time and getting the hang of it quite quickly?

No, he wrote about none of those things. Even though we had a great week and tucked happy and wiped-out kids into bed every night, Calvin chose to write about... Sunday: a game of Star Wars Monopoly, in which he won against Bryn and Peter. It was a big deal.

A three-hour quilt? A THREE-HOUR QUILT?!?!?!

The PTA sent out a request for help with piecing together some quilts that the kids had made squares for. They claimed it would be straight lines and "easy." Feeling guilty about the sewing machine in the corner gathering dust, I volunteered.

Surely, I, who had watched and even helped (a very little, I now realize) my mother make hundreds of quilts, could make an "easy" "straight-lined" quilt. And besides, it's for The Children!

The person in charge of the project assured me it was a 3-5 hour project for an experienced quilter. I multiplied that estimate by 3 and figured I'd be done in a couple of days.

And then the squares came.

NINETY of them, along with 2 inch strips of black fabric, which was to be the "sashing," a term I had to google to understand. And with that understanding came the deeper, sinister understanding that this was not going to be a 3 hour quilt, or even a 15 hour quilt.

Long story less long- I've learned a lot since Feb. 4th when I naively volunteered, and have finally completed my first (and quite possibly last) quilt. Thank heavens for youtube and facebook and Laura (who lent me her straight cutting rotary thingy), and Ellen (who gave me thread when I ran out on the Sabbath) and my mother, who laughed at...I mean walked me through the whole process and convinced me that I really did need to safety pin baste the crud out of the quilt sandwich. And use bias tape for the binding.

The result:



The "shipwright" square was my favorite of the squares. They were free handed by the third graders.
See Mom, I really did do applique and mitered corners.

Personal Ads- Valentine Edition

Let's just be friends! Loves mystical arts, mystery, and helping and/or balancing animals. Reads incessantly, but isn't beneath a muddy game of soccer or a forage in the woods. Hates onions, mild winters, and velcro in her hair.

This boy loves to tinker. Will make you a robot from your recyclables. Need a meal? He cooks. It will have rainbow sprinkles in it. Loves to snuggle to a good book, especially if it features monsters.


This lovely lady is just looking to hang out. Upside down. Likes talking to her woodkins doll ("sister"), hiding the wireless computer mouse, and eating blueberries. Will jump on your back when you're not looking. Hates napping, shopping carts, and long-sleeved shirts.

Love is in the Air

Our kids' school is "food-free," meaning food is not a part of classroom celebrations of any kind. So they won't be sorting conversation hearts from jelly hearts from cinnamon hearts this February 14th.

It seems tragic to us with fond memories of such cavity festivals, but they don't know the difference and think all the fun of the holiday is in creating the perfect Valentines. I happen to agree.

Bryn Hatches a Mess

I asked Bryn to get an egg out to make cookies. She decided the egg would be better served by roosting upon it and was honestly shocked when it cracked under her weight. I love what goes on in her head.

Squirrelfeeder

Calvin made this bird-feeder in kindergarten. He was adamant that we save it for the birds by scaring all the squirrels away, until he actually saw a squirrel eyeing it with sad hungry eyes. And so the squirrel ban was lifted and the squirrels in the land rejoiced.

Here's a video. It's not super entertaining, but my kids like to watch it.

That One Time when it Snowed

Ivy-dontics

Ivy visited the dentist for her first time today. Tonight at dinner, following her raucous rendition of Frosty the Snowman, she shared her dental experience with us:

Ivy was surprisingly compliant and chipper in the dentist's chair. But as we were leaving the dentist's office, she looked at me with wide eyes and said, "It's pretty dangerous in there!"

Microfun

In the vein of giving gifts to others that you secretly want yourself, I gave my kids a microscope for Christmas. We broke it out tonight.

After disappointing glances at the prepared slides that came with the microscope (apple, onion, and leaves of various sorts), we forayed into the fun zone and collected hair, eyelashes, dust-bunnies, fabric, and a sequin to examine.

Calvin spotted a wee spider in the corner, which I caught (sorry spider- but this is for science), and slapped onto the stage. Then I called Bryn over, who is quite "cautious" around bugs and such, so I was nervous about her reaction.

Bryn said, "Wait, let me get this straight. You caught a live spider, smashed it onto a slide, and now we're going to look at it at 400 times it's usual size???" I nodded. She smiled and said, "Best Mom ever!"

Now I just have to figure how to get melted heart onto a slide.

p.s. the spider was awesome- think Shelob from Lord of the Rings