#1. Resurrect a lapsed blog.
As I told you last summer, I signed up for a Writing Fiction class at my local community college, rather than deciding what kind of graduate degree I want to pursue. I was very excited. And as you know if you've been reading me, to get warmed up and make sure I didn't embarrass myself in class, over the summer I did a free online course through Open University called Start Writing Fiction. I was concerned because I had never written a story before, not since I was a tiny little girl and wrote only a few sentences. Class started in late August, a little while after I wrote my last post for this blog.
At first I was really inspired, I had a bunch of ideas (mostly hare-brained) for short stories. I wrote one of them over the course of a number of weeks, but it turned out sounding stiff and bloodless. It was about a middle-aged character having a very quiet sort of experience. Even though the class I'm taking is at a community college and meets in the evening, I am the only 'adult learner' in there, the rest of them look to be 18-19 years old. I wanted to write something that they would like, since we have to read our stories aloud and have the class critique them. I scrapped my first story at the last minute (one week before my first 'workshop') and wrote another, a YA short story about teenage Wiccans. My classmates ate it up, although they misunderstood the story somewhat.
Once I survived my first workshop, I found to my dismay that all my ideas and inspiration had dried up, and I didn't know what to write. I tried writing another story, and started it twice but both times it sounded stiff and contrived.
Meanwhile, Ariel had told me about the Young Writer's Program part of NaNoWriMo , and I helped Primo sign up. He got really excited about it, and started writing character bios and story ideas. Soon his friends were signed up too, and even Radish asked me to help him make an account. I decided to sign myself up for the regular adult version of NaNo, the 50,000 word write-a-novel-in-a-month challenge. I figured there was no way I'd make it to 50K, but writing toward that goal would give me something meaty to bring to my second (and final) workshop for class. The professor seems to prefer unfinished 'first chapter of my novel' pieces over finished short stories, and the class, too, criticizes those less. Anyway, I took my most substantial idea and wrote an outline, put it aside until November 1st.
Today. I tried, this morning, to write from that outline, and the result was the poorest, most bloodless writing that I've done so far. I think I might scrap the whole idea and write 'by the seat of my pants' in a genre, rather than straight real-world fiction.
But for this evening, I'm finding lots of other things somehow more pressing or interesting than getting to work on writing fiction. There's this poor, neglected blog, for instance. How could I let it languish for one more day? :) Also, there's:
#2. File away the kids' homeschool work in their notebooks.
#3. Make a cup of tea, and some toast with jam to go along with it.
#4. Hmm, laundry. No reason to let it sit, just because it's Saturday night!
#5. Christmas shopping! Online, natch...
#6. Email. Oh, so urgent, these messages, must read right now...
#7. Get ahead on tomorrow's chores: plan meals for the week, write lessons for the week (including all-new 'Baby Lessons'! more on that in my next post!)
#8. Read-- if I can't write fiction today, I can still immerse myself in it. Specifically, a terrific book by Octavia Butler, Wild Seed. It's so interesting to read this book after reading about it and reading the first paragraphs, broken down, in Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm having one of my reading crises again-- I've stacked myself up with too many things to read, trying to find inspiration. I have an old favorite, Orson Scott Card's Maps in a Mirror out from the library for over a week, but untouched. And a fun, YA collection of short holiday stories called My True Love Gave to Me. Then there's the short story collection (Best American Short Stories 2014) that I don't have to read for class, but I feel like I should anyway (it was the 2013 edition that was mandatory for class, but I finished that). And the boys have several things out from the library that I want to read, and I have a few more on my NOOK, and don't get me started on magazines and non-fiction (I have three or four books about helping your homeschooler get into college which I haven't started yet).
#9. TV- and this one is ridiculous, because we only have the most basic cable and on a Saturday night there is *nothing on*, not until SNL and that's hours away.
#10. Make a list of some kind. Oh. Check.
I guess I'll be mad at myself tomorrow if I don't at least make an attempt to write something worth continuing (the 150 words I put down this morning is not it). But first, I hear Snorzy talking upstairs, more than an hour after I put him down in his crib. A few more minutes before I have to face the blank page!
Showing posts with label Snorzy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snorzy. Show all posts
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Rooting
Our month off from lessons is half over. When I mentioned that fact to the boys yesterday they groaned but I'm looking forward to getting back to it soon. Due to our weird homeschooling year, they've already completed one 10-week 'quarter', before we took our July break. I have yet to do my paperwork for the coming year, but that's par for the course-- I always send it in sometime in August. I don't know why I'm so looking forward to going back to lessons-- because we started back in May, there is nothing new to the work they'll be doing. For now, I'm happy with all the materials we're using (and beyond happy with History Odyssey, but that's a separate blog entry, or will be soon). Next year I'm going to look into Discovery K-12, a free online comprehensive curriculum that I just heard about from Ariel, homeschooling mama extraordinaire.
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Blooming
In two weeks we'll take another break from homeschooling, this time so that the boys can go to summer camp(s). In a perfect world they'd do all of their summer camps in August so we could stay on our 'three months on, one month off' homeschooling schedule, but over the years I've had to loosen up about that, so that the boys can do the camps they want to do (this year: Primo is going to one week of sleep-away Boy Scout camp, while Radish gets a week of Wayfinders role-playing day camp). Later in the month they'll do two weeks at a local town Youth Department day camp, not our own town but a 'better' one nearby. We'll start back to lesson in August, which means we'll have *four* months is a row 'on', before we take a break in December.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Change the Conversation
"If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation." I've been somewhat obsessively watching Mad Men lately, catching up on this series after Sweet Hubby and I took a loooong break from watching (we don't get the channel and have to wait for it to come along on Netflix). I find myself lying awake at night, unable to sleep, thinking about what's going on with the characters and what could happen next. I can't blame Mad Men for my insomnia, I'd be awake anyway-- I just think it's funny that after I go through the catalog of my own worries, I turn to those of the fictional characters I'm most involved with at the moment. Today I was trying to express to a friend what I find so interesting and escapist about this series-- and I realized (aside from the costumes) it's the relationship of the women in the show to motherhood- or rather their complete lack of interest in their children. Even the stay-at-home trophy wives in the show (with one exception) have very little to do with their kids, more interested in their clothes, husbands and affairs. It's not that there are no women on the show, or no mothers, or even no children-- there just aren't mothers who build their lives around their children, even while they are new mothers and the children are adorable babies.
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Late April Updates
Last week turned out to be one of those 'work on Snorzy's sweater' weeks, since Sweet Hubby was on vacation from work and we were too busy having fun for me to want to plan or execute a new craft. I'm totally okay with that because since I can knit only a few rows at a sitting, this sweater is going to take forever to complete! For this week, I'm going to sew a plastic bag caddy as my project. I found a bunch of tutorials on Pinterest, now I just have to narrow down which one I like best, and get to work.
This is our last full week of our April break from lessons, we'll get back to it next Thursday when May begins (can't believe it's already almost May! This year is flying by!). I've previewed most of the curricula that we're going to use, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the kids will like the new things. Primo will be using History Odyssey, which references Henrik Van Loon's Story of Mankind as a textbook. Last night I started reading reviews of SOM on Goodreads, and overall they were positive but some people criticized the book and said they would never use it with children. I've started reading it myself, but I'm not enough of a history buff to know if the history is accurate and comprehensive (I guess I'll have to get Sweet Hubby, history teacher that he is, to read it too).
I'm still in the 'product testing' phase of looking into starting a home baking business. I tried out biscotti but found them too fussy to make, with too much waste (added to that, I noticed that there is another small business that makes biscotti just a few towns over, and I think that not having an Italian name or heritage might be a drawback). Now I'm planning to bake some chocolate oatmeal cookies, costing out the recipe and giving it to testers to see if it would be a tempting enough product to sell in local shops. Lovely Mother suggested I make something pretty, but I'm not sure I want to sell quantities of things that have to be carefully crafted and fussed over.
This is our last full week of our April break from lessons, we'll get back to it next Thursday when May begins (can't believe it's already almost May! This year is flying by!). I've previewed most of the curricula that we're going to use, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the kids will like the new things. Primo will be using History Odyssey, which references Henrik Van Loon's Story of Mankind as a textbook. Last night I started reading reviews of SOM on Goodreads, and overall they were positive but some people criticized the book and said they would never use it with children. I've started reading it myself, but I'm not enough of a history buff to know if the history is accurate and comprehensive (I guess I'll have to get Sweet Hubby, history teacher that he is, to read it too).
I'm still in the 'product testing' phase of looking into starting a home baking business. I tried out biscotti but found them too fussy to make, with too much waste (added to that, I noticed that there is another small business that makes biscotti just a few towns over, and I think that not having an Italian name or heritage might be a drawback). Now I'm planning to bake some chocolate oatmeal cookies, costing out the recipe and giving it to testers to see if it would be a tempting enough product to sell in local shops. Lovely Mother suggested I make something pretty, but I'm not sure I want to sell quantities of things that have to be carefully crafted and fussed over.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
April Update
We are on our 'April Break' from lessons right now, and I think I agree with Radish that this is the best of our three annual breaks, because it falls in the spring. The idea of taking a break in changeable April is that we can pick up and run out the door whenever the sun comes out, instead of having to finish math or some such.
So, you might think that since we're on break, my craft challenge projects must be humming along. Um, no. Last week I did *nothing*-- just couldn't get inspired to make anything. This week was in danger of being more of the same, and derailing my challenge, until I had a conversation with Lovely Mother about crafting and inspiration, and remembered that 'when in doubt', I can always work on Snorzy's rainbow sweater. I was stuck on that one, once again, this time just because it was time to switch from the trim color to the main color.
Once I worked a little on the sweater (and I mean a *little*, I picked it up near the end of nap time so I had about 5 minutes before I heard Snorzy crying), I got out of my rut and the next thing I knew, I had two ideas for sewing projects. I can thank my friend Jen F. for the first one: she repinned one of my Pinterest pins, from my Sewing board, and I realized this is what I want to make, next week! It's a 'shirt skirt', made from a men's XL t-shirt, from the blog Sew Like My Mom (I feel like I've made something from her blog before, but I can't think of what). This skirt involves shirring and elastic thread, two things I've never done/used. Here's my sweet spot for sewing projects: things from tutorials that don't require paper patterns, about which the writer of the tutorial says something along the lines of "this can be made in an hour!", yet which also involve techniques or materials that I've never used. This project hits that spot.
Also, I was reading the free magazine from Hannaford supermarket, Fresh, this morning while on hold with the phone company about our lack of dial tone, and found inspiration there, too (it comes from the weirdest places, and at the unlikeliest times)! I haven't looked up a tutorial yet, but I know I've seen them-- for a cloth bag to hold plastic bags from the store until we can take them to be recycled. Dull, tiny, simple, yet useful and will reduce the clutter in the house rather than adding to it-- fits the bill for my craft challenge.
In other news, the Big Homeschool Buy is done and delivered-- I had to move books around to different bookshelves to clear out a shelf in the dining room for all of this coming year's homeschooling materials. I'm excited about some, intimidated by others, and realizing I need to take some time this month while we're on break to read, and write some lesson plans. The best part was that the boys spontaneously picked up a few of the books each, read a little, and declared them good. The one I'm currently the most intimidated by/excited about (yes, both) is a unit study called Microscope Adventure. It's like nothing we've used before.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Challenge Update
For this past year, I gave myself an unofficial challenge (unofficial because I wasn't yet blogging, to make it official ;), to finally figure out how to make a delicious, light cake. I'm a bakestress, and know my way around cookies of all types, yeast breads, quick breads and muffins, rolls, and many other confections. Somehow I just couldn't wrap my head (or hands) around baking a cake that didn't turn out dense, heavy and unpleasant to eat. My challenge then: learn how to bake a good cake by the time Snorzy's first birthday rolled around. Up until late in February I didn't think I would be successful-- throughout the year, for every occasion and sometimes no occasion, I baked cake after cake, following all the advice I could find online and in books. Still, each of my cakes turned out a bland brick. Finally, I had a partial success with the Birthday Chocolate Cake from The Mom 100 by Katie Workman-- I made it for my father's birthday on February 19th, and it baked up perfect at first, and then got a little heavier when I put it in the fridge.
For Snorzy's birthday I made Zoe's Cupcakes from C is for Cooking (the Sesame Street cookbook), after a friend came over for dinner one night bringing those and they were the most delicious homemade cake I've had *ever*-- and from a kid's cookbook no less! I think the secret to baking a tender cake for someone like me who just doesn't naturally have the touch with cakes is this: lots of dairy. I used whole milk plain yogurt (the recipe called for a full cup, and this in addition to butter, not instead), and they came out soft and pillowy. I also re-visited the chocolate cake from the Mom 100 (speaking of dairy, it calls for both sour cream and whole milk in addition to two sticks of butter) being even more careful to get all my ingredients room temperature and not over-mixing (my downfalls as a bakestress are absolutely over-mixing and over-baking), the cupcakes turned out lovely underneath but with overdone crunchy cookie-like tops, despite the fact that I baked them for 1 minute less than the minimum time given-- I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer. Overall, I was pleased with my progress, and now I believe that I can bake a yummy cake whenever one is called for (though I still would like to learn how to make a perfect butter cake, without all the added dairy).
All this by way of saying-- I can rise to a challenge, even when I don't do so well with it at first.
After a good start on my craft challenge, here have been my contributions to it for the past few weeks:
1. skipped, trying to believe that 'making' the list of curricula we'll use for the year really counts as making something
2. cast on and knit the first few rows of the right, front panel of Snorzy's rainbow sweater-- another case (as when I finished the back panel) of using my challenge to motivate a dull little piece of a project that otherwise would have caused me to stall
3. used my craft time to send all the pictures in my phone to Walgreens so that I can print them and 'make' photo albums-- I don't know what other people do with their pictures, but I feel like I need an actual, paper photo record of every important moment (and some cute, less-important moments) of my children's lives
So now, I'm determined to actually, factually, un-ironically, make something in the upcoming week, start to finish, using yarn or fabric or art supplies. Wish me luck and a visit from a muse, pictures to follow.
For Snorzy's birthday I made Zoe's Cupcakes from C is for Cooking (the Sesame Street cookbook), after a friend came over for dinner one night bringing those and they were the most delicious homemade cake I've had *ever*-- and from a kid's cookbook no less! I think the secret to baking a tender cake for someone like me who just doesn't naturally have the touch with cakes is this: lots of dairy. I used whole milk plain yogurt (the recipe called for a full cup, and this in addition to butter, not instead), and they came out soft and pillowy. I also re-visited the chocolate cake from the Mom 100 (speaking of dairy, it calls for both sour cream and whole milk in addition to two sticks of butter) being even more careful to get all my ingredients room temperature and not over-mixing (my downfalls as a bakestress are absolutely over-mixing and over-baking), the cupcakes turned out lovely underneath but with overdone crunchy cookie-like tops, despite the fact that I baked them for 1 minute less than the minimum time given-- I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer. Overall, I was pleased with my progress, and now I believe that I can bake a yummy cake whenever one is called for (though I still would like to learn how to make a perfect butter cake, without all the added dairy).
All this by way of saying-- I can rise to a challenge, even when I don't do so well with it at first.
After a good start on my craft challenge, here have been my contributions to it for the past few weeks:
1. skipped, trying to believe that 'making' the list of curricula we'll use for the year really counts as making something
2. cast on and knit the first few rows of the right, front panel of Snorzy's rainbow sweater-- another case (as when I finished the back panel) of using my challenge to motivate a dull little piece of a project that otherwise would have caused me to stall
3. used my craft time to send all the pictures in my phone to Walgreens so that I can print them and 'make' photo albums-- I don't know what other people do with their pictures, but I feel like I need an actual, paper photo record of every important moment (and some cute, less-important moments) of my children's lives
So now, I'm determined to actually, factually, un-ironically, make something in the upcoming week, start to finish, using yarn or fabric or art supplies. Wish me luck and a visit from a muse, pictures to follow.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Big Buy
Every year around this time we get a tax refund, and it's time once again to make our big homeschool purchase. The project of deciding what books and supplies we need for the coming school year has been consuming all of my spare time for the past week and more. It was a little more work than usual; in the past I've mostly just ordered the next book in each of the series that I've liked over the years. This year, though, I felt a need to make things more challenging and comprehensive for Primo, as he goes into 7th grade. And after six years of trying to put together something on my own for science that I can be happy with, I'm going to cave and try a textbook-based curriculum for Primo. I think I've almost settled on what we're getting (for all the boys and all the subjects) after *many, many hours* researching various curricula, previewing books through interlibrary loan, reading reviews, and taking stock of what we already have (and what sorts of things I buy and then find we never use-- that's right, I'm talking about you, art supplies). This may change a bit, there's no hurry to order since we won't start our new school year until May 1st. Here it is then, for anyone who is curious:
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Pyramid Bean Bags
I'm feeling a little more inspired around the craft challenge this week, since my lovely mother sent me a big box chock full of colorful, patterned fabric remnants from her stash, as well as a bunch of spools of colorful thread. This week I used some of that bounty and made these pyramid bean bags, as a birthday present for Snorzy (I made a second set at the same time for a little friend, so each set has 5 bean bags in two different fabrics). I found these on Pinterest as 'pattern weights', which would also be useful next time I sew something with a pattern since I hate pinning.
The very clear and easy tutorial is here, on a blog called Five Green Acres. In order to close these up with the beans (I used split peas) inside, I had to use a blind stitch. I have tried to do a blind stitch before, but this time I found a good tutorial here, at Positively Splendid (the directions are for a pillow, this was the same idea but in miniature), and really managed to do it well. Next time we finish a box of tissues I'm going to convert the box into a little storage case/bean bag toss game to go with these. Then I'll be all set with a handmade gift for Snorzy's birthday! I hope he'll like them, I think he will if Radish's reaction is any indication-- he couldn't stop fooling around with these until I put them away.
The very clear and easy tutorial is here, on a blog called Five Green Acres. In order to close these up with the beans (I used split peas) inside, I had to use a blind stitch. I have tried to do a blind stitch before, but this time I found a good tutorial here, at Positively Splendid (the directions are for a pillow, this was the same idea but in miniature), and really managed to do it well. Next time we finish a box of tissues I'm going to convert the box into a little storage case/bean bag toss game to go with these. Then I'll be all set with a handmade gift for Snorzy's birthday! I hope he'll like them, I think he will if Radish's reaction is any indication-- he couldn't stop fooling around with these until I put them away.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Pesky Inch
I wasn't feeling inspired about the craft challenge this week, so I decided to allow myself to use it as an incentive to finish something that had been plaguing me. While I was pregnant with Snorzy, and before I knew if I was having a boy or a girl, I bought a few skeins of really lovely Lorna's Laces yarn, rainbow colored. I started a sweater, knitting the back first, which had to be knit to 14 inches high. For awhile I was going along well, knitting two rows at a time, once or twice each day (any more and my hands hurt me). Somewhere along the line, though, I ran out of steam and put the project aside. It was a good thing I changed my mind about making it size 6 months to one year, as I originally intended. Thank goodness for smart knitting friends like Ariel, who suggested at the outset that I size the sweater up quite a bit (I ended up with the 3T size) both so that I could knit it slowly, and so that Tiny Baby (as I called Snorzy before I knew him) could wear it longer. The unfinished back panel has been dormant for months, while Snorzy himself is creeping up toward one year old. I just couldn't get myself to knit the last inch and a half of the panel.
Here it is, about 12.5 inches, just needed a few more rows to hit 14 inches and allow me to put this dull plain knitting part aside to work on front panels, sleeves, etc.
Ten minutes of knitting interspersed with resting my hands and rolling a hot rice pack on them, I finally hit 14 inches and can move on to the more interesting parts of the project (this will be, incidentally, my first sweater). Now, where did I put my stitch holders? :)
Monday, January 27, 2014
Cold Snap
One fun thing about this prolonged stretch of cold weather is that we were able to get around to an art project I'd been meaning to do with the kids: an ice chandelier, as seen in The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art (one of my favorites for unusual art projects). Primo made the frame by himself (not visible in the picture below, unfortunately-- the kids were the photographers), and we collaborated on a set of colorful ice cubes and a circle, all with small objects (natural and man-made) trapped inside. We hung it about a week ago, and it's been interesting to see the cubes melt and change, *even though* the air temperature hasn't risen to even close to 32 degrees all week. How is this possible? Our hypotheses include heat from the cars passing on the street, and sunlight shining on the ice.
Once again I felt a little 'under the gun' to make something for my craft challenge. I had the idea to make Snorzy a felt board, but didn't know what to use as the base (without buying anything). Then I realized we had just thrown a white board into the recycling bin. I had one of the kids retrieve it, and used it to form the basis of a felt board (with a blue sky and a slight hill made of green felt). I found that staples wouldn't stay well in the cardboard back of the white board, so I reinforced it with duct tape. Not pretty, but hopefully it will hold up. Next mini project: making some felt shapes for Snorzy to use with this board. No rush, he's still at the age where he's more likely to put the pieces in his mouth than on the board. Maybe I'll save this as a birthday or even Christmas present. The important thing is that I *made something* this week, other than the chandelier (with the boys) and various baked good ('Samoa' Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake).
Once again I felt a little 'under the gun' to make something for my craft challenge. I had the idea to make Snorzy a felt board, but didn't know what to use as the base (without buying anything). Then I realized we had just thrown a white board into the recycling bin. I had one of the kids retrieve it, and used it to form the basis of a felt board (with a blue sky and a slight hill made of green felt). I found that staples wouldn't stay well in the cardboard back of the white board, so I reinforced it with duct tape. Not pretty, but hopefully it will hold up. Next mini project: making some felt shapes for Snorzy to use with this board. No rush, he's still at the age where he's more likely to put the pieces in his mouth than on the board. Maybe I'll save this as a birthday or even Christmas present. The important thing is that I *made something* this week, other than the chandelier (with the boys) and various baked good ('Samoa' Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake).
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The State of Things
I'm living in a state of distraction this week, from two causes:
1. poor Snorzy is under the weather, with a bad cold that leaves him whining and demanding my attention (and somehow it's made his nap more of a hit-or-miss affair than usual so I don't have that almost guaranteed hour or more to get things done on the days that we're home all afternoon)
2. I had an irritating letter from the local school, questioning the quarterly report that I sent in for Primo. Calling the coordinator for homeschooling in the district yielded a 'don't worry, I'll call the principal about it, you don't need to re-submit anything', but at the same time the whole situation has left me shook up and unhappy about homeschooling here in a state where we have to do a lot of reporting to the local district.
Even so, I managed to get in under the wire (on Monday) with a very quick little project so that I wouldn't lose steam in my self-imposed craft challenge. I made a sewing machine mounted pin cushion, to give me a handy place to stick all the pins I need to remove as I'm sewing something big like the sheet from the week before.
Last night I was searching Pinterest for middle school homeschooling ideas, and found something called CNN Student News, a ten minute news report with comprehension and discussion questions in an easy-to-use format. Happy doesn't begin to describe it, I've been wanting to do 'current events' lessons with the kids since we started homeschooling, but even our little local weekly paper always has stories in it that I'd rather they didn't see. This morning we read the questions, they watched the video, then they took turns answering the questions and we got into a little bit of discussion about some of the news items. They loved it, and so did I! There's nothing like finding a new homeschooling resource, and successfully implementing it. Joy!
1. poor Snorzy is under the weather, with a bad cold that leaves him whining and demanding my attention (and somehow it's made his nap more of a hit-or-miss affair than usual so I don't have that almost guaranteed hour or more to get things done on the days that we're home all afternoon)
2. I had an irritating letter from the local school, questioning the quarterly report that I sent in for Primo. Calling the coordinator for homeschooling in the district yielded a 'don't worry, I'll call the principal about it, you don't need to re-submit anything', but at the same time the whole situation has left me shook up and unhappy about homeschooling here in a state where we have to do a lot of reporting to the local district.
Even so, I managed to get in under the wire (on Monday) with a very quick little project so that I wouldn't lose steam in my self-imposed craft challenge. I made a sewing machine mounted pin cushion, to give me a handy place to stick all the pins I need to remove as I'm sewing something big like the sheet from the week before.
Last night I was searching Pinterest for middle school homeschooling ideas, and found something called CNN Student News, a ten minute news report with comprehension and discussion questions in an easy-to-use format. Happy doesn't begin to describe it, I've been wanting to do 'current events' lessons with the kids since we started homeschooling, but even our little local weekly paper always has stories in it that I'd rather they didn't see. This morning we read the questions, they watched the video, then they took turns answering the questions and we got into a little bit of discussion about some of the news items. They loved it, and so did I! There's nothing like finding a new homeschooling resource, and successfully implementing it. Joy!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Crib Sheet
For my second project of my 2014 craft challenge, I went with something both simple and veeeeery useful, a crib sheet for Snorzy's bed. I had made three flannel sheets for his cradle before he was born, but the cradle lasted only until he was about 4.5 months old before he was too big for it. Such a bummer to have to put aside those handmade sheets!
I did a little research (hello Pinterest, yes I'm talking about you again) and came up with three or four more projects that I'll do for this craft challenge. However, many of them are toys-- if I could do anything in the world I'd be a toymaker-- and I began to worry that my craft challenge is going to result in spoiled kids (especially Snorzy) and a house full of extra...stuff. So in resistance, I decided my second project would be something that I would have had to buy anyway, if I didn't make my own.
I was excited to hit Jo-Ann fabric and pick out something cute, something with critters on it, maybe in flannel...but all the 'diy crib sheets' direction I found online called for fabric of either 44 or 45 inch width, and sadly all the cute, nursery prints and flannel were 42 or 43 inches wide. Why is that? Maybe I could have done better at fabric.com or something, but I was looking for nearly-instant gratification here, so I settled for some lovely aqua quilter's cotton (44 in wide).
I was able to bang this together in very little time, from remembering to prewash the fabric this afternoon just before going to pick up my niece D from the high school so she could watch the boys for me, (pause, find other things to do while I wait for the fabric to come out of the dryer) to ironing, cutting, pinning and sewing the corners just before I had to bring D home, to after dinner and nursing the baby finally finishing the last bit and putting it in his crib before bedtime tonight.
Next up, toys! (maybe)
here I am, sewing the casing for the elastic (thank you to my photographer, Primo):
And here is the finished result in Snorzy's crib. Other handmade items in view: bunny lovey (mine) crocheted blanket (made by a good friend, Jen F.)
I did a little research (hello Pinterest, yes I'm talking about you again) and came up with three or four more projects that I'll do for this craft challenge. However, many of them are toys-- if I could do anything in the world I'd be a toymaker-- and I began to worry that my craft challenge is going to result in spoiled kids (especially Snorzy) and a house full of extra...stuff. So in resistance, I decided my second project would be something that I would have had to buy anyway, if I didn't make my own.
I was excited to hit Jo-Ann fabric and pick out something cute, something with critters on it, maybe in flannel...but all the 'diy crib sheets' direction I found online called for fabric of either 44 or 45 inch width, and sadly all the cute, nursery prints and flannel were 42 or 43 inches wide. Why is that? Maybe I could have done better at fabric.com or something, but I was looking for nearly-instant gratification here, so I settled for some lovely aqua quilter's cotton (44 in wide).
I was able to bang this together in very little time, from remembering to prewash the fabric this afternoon just before going to pick up my niece D from the high school so she could watch the boys for me, (pause, find other things to do while I wait for the fabric to come out of the dryer) to ironing, cutting, pinning and sewing the corners just before I had to bring D home, to after dinner and nursing the baby finally finishing the last bit and putting it in his crib before bedtime tonight.
Next up, toys! (maybe)
here I am, sewing the casing for the elastic (thank you to my photographer, Primo):
And here is the finished result in Snorzy's crib. Other handmade items in view: bunny lovey (mine) crocheted blanket (made by a good friend, Jen F.)
Friday, January 10, 2014
Wipes Box Toy
For my first project of my 2014 craft challenge, from this blog post, as seen on Pinterest: I made a baby wipes box ‘toy’ for Snorzy, with fabric squares that he can remove again and again. Maybe making this was a little bit stupid, since none of my three kids ever did the ‘pull every baby wipe out of the box’ thing, maybe I’m just encouraging bad behavior. He drives me so crazy anyway, though, in that he hardly plays with toys but instead looks around for anything he can get his hands on that he *shouldn’t* play with. I think I wouldn’t even mind so much if he pulled real wipes out of a current box of wipes, if it would keep him sitting still for five minutes and not pulling on electrical cords or knocking over my things.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
Craft Challenge 2014
I’ve decided to make something every week of 2014, starting this past week (I’m writing on the 10th, but I swear I finished the first project on the 7th!) I have a Pinterest board or two filled with things I want to make ‘someday’, but the other day I was looking at my ‘Snorzy’ board and was horrified to see several cute, simple things that I meant to make for him for which he is *already* too old! Ever since I had to virtually give up knitting due to hand pain, it has been hard to always have a project on the go—it’s so much easier when all you need is two sticks and some yarn. I find that once I get started on a project it’s not hard to stay motivated and finish in good time. It’s just the beginning that is the biggest obstacle for me. So many of the things I do as a homeschooling mom are either consumable or never-ending (cooking, laundry) or have such far-reaching consequences that I don’t get a satisfying ‘ahh, I’m done’ feeling (teaching the boys lessons, manners, how to live in the world). It’s nice to have something to point to at the end of a short period of time, about which I can say, “I made that”. Hence, this New Year’s challenge: I will ‘make something’ – complete some kind of multi-step craft project—every week of this year for a total of 52 projects by year’s end. We’re several days into the second week and I don’t have an idea on tap yet, so we’ll see how I do at sticking with this challenge. I’ll also have to figure out the rules for myself as I go, in regards to big projects like quilts—can I count each part of the process as a mini project? But I give myself permission to count *very* simple crafts, as long as there is more than one step involved—for instance, see my next post, on my first project of this challenge—a Wipes Box toy for Snorzy.
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