Chocolate Fishies

Somethin' Different

2011-12-27T08:50:00.010-05:00

I have always loved the Waldorf curriculum for the archetypes presented to students meet them where they are developmentally. Rather than always sticking to the "classics," I try to find similar archetypes from other cultures to include in the curriculum I present to my students.

Having read some Maori Mythology, I always wanted to share these stories with my students. They had a fourth grade feeling to them, but I just wasn't sure. Over the summer a former colleague shared a blog post (You have to scroll down a bit!) with me & it was all the encouragement I needed!

I only had about 12 morning lessons and during this time we also started covering the eight parts of speech. Nevertheless, I enjoyed teaching this block very much. I would do it again! - Of course my memory card was full just as I was snapping the pictures of student work. Nevertheless, here's a wee taste

Maui Goes Fishing (Student Composition)

Maui Slowing the Sun

Pukeko

You might remember me announcing that I'm going to stop blogging. I obviously have addiction issues. I will probably go back into hibernation for a while once school starts again next week, but since the world is ending in 2012 I better blog 'til the very end - literally. :-)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T12:52:00.001-05:00

Nuriel received a doll stroller for her little doll. The doll (in gorgeous hand-knit clothing by moi) is not in the picture. Nuriel tossed the poor lil' thing out & then took a seat in her fancy lil' dress that was a gift from Grandma...

I hope that all of you are having a peaceful, lovely time with family & friends. Much love from our house to yours!

The [Wordless] Flying Agaric Mushroom Child

2011-12-22T17:28:00.001-05:00

Christmas Break

2011-12-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

Christmas Break! I'm out of town & obviously with internet access, so I decided to write a wee lil' blog post.

Nuriel is now 15 months old. She's been crawling for 5 months now & it seems to be her preferred way of getting around. She climbs stairs, pulls herself up, walks around furniture, opens cabinets, and takes the occasional step.I'm starting to understand some of the things she says, like "lights" & "outside."

Here she is taking a rest from crawling all over the front yard at my Mom's house. I've ordered her a lil' doll stroller for Christmas and I need to finish up a doll I've been working on for way too long! I'm a believer in small Christmas celebrations.

She loves to whack the snowman. I thought the hat would fit forever, but it's finally getting too small. All in all, we are well. I must admit, I'm just looking forward to two weeks of BREAK!

Just a Brief Update

2011-12-12T11:56:00.001-05:00

I miss this blog. I do.

I wanted to at least write a paragraph for those of you who have been following our situation for a while.

I have always known that Brent was Nuriel's father. No doubt in my mind. However, that's not enough for a court. I received the DNA lab report that establishes paternity to as close a level as genetically possible. I'm so happy for my girl!

I want to thank all of you who made a contribution to Nuriel's DNA fund & also thank you for words of encouragement. I so needed every bit during this time.

It's not over. But this is a huge step for Nuriel & myself.

And The Winner Is...

2011-12-06T12:18:00.001-05:00

Ericasue.

Please e-mail me your address. Thanks.

And The Winner Is...

2011-11-28T12:20:00.001-05:00

I don't know yet.
But I'll know tomorrow. :-)

Good Bye, Blog!

2011-11-18T12:51:00.001-05:00

I blogged for almost four years, first over at Coffee, Yarn & Nirvana, then here. I really enjoyed it. I've connected with lots of people. I like writing.

But... I'm not in a place where I can continue the blog & in many ways it no longer fits me. I don't foresee these circumstances changing anytime soon. My job, my teenagers, my lil' one, continuing difficulties in different realms... It's all keeping me busy; it's making things challenging.

Thank you for reading here.
May your journey be blessed!

P.S. - The Thanksgiving Giveaway is still happening. Enter if you haven't done so already!

Blogger Is Driving Me Nuts!

2011-11-05T07:34:00.003-04:00

In all honesty, I don't like change much. While I appreciate some of the new features of this draft.blogger the fact that I cannot comment on my own blog posts in annoying me. Someone told me that the problem can be fixed by making the comment box to come up as a pop-up. I thought, "Nice. I know how to do that!" - I know where that option used to be, but I can't find it anywhere now? Where did it go?

Without Words

2011-10-31T20:16:00.002-04:00

It's still hard to believe.

Phil & his students (including Noah) taking off for a balloon ride...

On Saturday we lost a great friend, colleague, Noah's former class teacher, a father to three girls, husband, musician, storyteller, 2nd grade class teacher...

Phil suffered a serious medical event at school on Thursday, his 44th birthday. He never recovered.

Two years ago, when Noah wanted to be Jimi Hendrix for Halloween at school, I wasn't sure if it would be an okay costume for a school event. Phil was not only fine with it, but in fact let Noah use his Jimi Hendrix hat. This year Noah once again wanted to be Jimi for Halloween in high school. Phil brought the hat to my classroom Thursday morning...

For Noah's 8th Grade Commencement, I had ordered him a tie. It didn't come in the mail in time.Phil always brought ties for the boys to wear to assemblies. I asked him if he could bring a tie for Noah. He did. After the event Noah wanted to give it back to him. He told him to keep it...

He was an amazing human being.

We are just devastated.

There You Go!

2011-10-25T12:15:00.001-04:00

I feel like the universe just keeps dumping crap on me.
I'm just so sick of everything.

And I'm tired of hearing, "It will get better."
I've been hoping for that & it's just getting worse.

There's my Ughhh Tuesday post.

Thanksgiving ~ Retro Rosie Shawl Giveaway

2011-10-23T17:06:00.002-04:00

Just a tiny way to give thanks... from our house to yours!

This pattern has always had a Retro feel to me. The yarn is a 100%Merino in reds & purples. The shawl is 56" from tip-to-tip and 25" from top to bottom-tip. I had a very hard time taking a nice picture. I suppose it will remain a bit of a "mystery giveaway." (A Thanksgiving giveaway with a Halloween feel to it. How about that?)

The Giveaway will be open 'til
Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 2011.

The usual Giveaway procedures: An entry for leaving a comment. An entry for following the blog. An entry for blogging about it. Please leave separate comments. Please make it easy for me to get in touch with you. Thanks. Good luck!

The Green Dress

2011-10-22T11:11:00.000-04:00

What I really need to do is block all the shawls that have been coming off my needles these past few weeks & months, but this procrastinator has completed somethin' for Christmas in October! Voila...

Rasmilla's Elvira in Swan's Island.

One skein from my stash.

I basically just knit til I ran out of yarn - or pretty close to it.

Nice dress for now - tunic for later.

I loved this pattern oh-so-very-much.She's such a funny girl!

Just Like Her?!

2011-10-18T22:31:00.000-04:00

It is apparent that Nuriel looks nothing like me. I have curly brown hair & brown eyes. My grandfather was African-American & my skin tone reflects that. Nuriel has blond hair, blue eyes & she's rather fair.

At one point during the postpartum period my midwife said that she looks like her Dad, but that Nuriel might reveal more of my inner qualities as she grows up. I always wondered about that...

Today a very young child said, "Nuriel looks just like her Mama." I had to laugh at first, because physically we don't look alike at all, but as I reflected more I thought about what my midwife had said. Children are still so much closer to the spiritual world. I think that very young child wasn't talking so much about the physical plane, but the spiritual one.

Of course that poses more questions. What does it mean that we are alike? Nuriel can be quite intense! :-)

Richmond Folk Fest

2011-10-15T12:57:00.000-04:00

We had a nice evening at the Richmond Folk Festival last night. The wonderful Celtic folk music put Nuriel to sleep for a nap & when she woke up, she was jamming in the Egro, loving the Reggae.

Any halfway health-conscious person would be appalled at the idea of eating deep-fried Oreos. Noah & Nathan pleaded and begged. (Not for long!) We probably consumed our weekly nutritional need of fat in just one Oreo, but I have to say, they were pretty good. (We're having veggie soup for dinner today!)

Isn't this just hilarious? It had me laughing for sure. It's an Art180 project on display at the fest.

The Days In Pictures

2011-10-13T10:34:00.000-04:00

A drawing by the artistically-challenged Waldorf teacher - Take one.

And two. (Not sure why this is so blurry.)

Gifts for the Gods by 4th graders.

Iduna by a 4th grader.

Skadi by a 4th grader.

Making Mead with my students using kefir grains.

Nathan made yummy apple-pie. Nuriel is ready to eat.

(She has her very own blog now. Since I mostly blog about Nuriel anyhow - Noah & Nathan don't like me blogging about them - I might shut this blog down and just try to keep hers up as a "baby book" kinda thing. We'll see.)

Another one from the State Fair. Crawl-away baby. She had so much fun. There was no way I could have kept her strapped into the stroller.

Lovin' to play with leaves & dirt & such.

October Already!

2011-10-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe. I suppose time to give the blogging world a sign that we are indeed alive. It's Virginia State Fair Time & of course we had to make some entries given the success last year. I won two third place ribbons this year, one for the green Icarus Shawl & one for Nuriel's Boheme.

Nathan won a red ribbon (2nd place) at the Horse Art Competition. It's an awesome drawing. He is rather unhappy with 2nd place, though...

... which brings us to Zeus & Athena. This crayon/pencil drawing did get him a first place, blue ribbon. Yay!

I took a picture of this awesome cake from the Youth Baking Competition, also at the State Fair. What a great cake idea, huh?

This was Nuriel's seond State Fair, and her first time in a stroller! (Yup, you read that right!) The girl is getting too heavy for the Ergo. She did enjoy the ride for the most part, especially when she had an Elephant Ear to munch on!

She also likes to push her face against the hallway/dining-room French door.

I'll try to have another update soon. I just wrapped up a 4th grade Norse Mythology block & I do need to blog about that! Life is just so busy - always...

September

2011-09-18T10:03:00.001-04:00

That would be September, not in chronological order...

A package arrived in the mail. Some of the boys' "old" wooden toys a friend in Germany had been storing for me. Sweet, sweet memories!

I made the bear in second grade! That makes it almost thirty years old! The doll on the right was Noah's first doll when he was wee. The other doll I bought a couple of years ago for no particular reason. It will now be Nuriel's when she is old enough for it.

Nuriel had a birthday. She's one now. The owl bunting was made by a dear friend. So sweet. Some of you have heard of my picture dilemma on the birthday. It was a crazy day. I learned that having to prepare a birthday celebration that's taking place two hours after work while still needing to chauffeur kids back & forth after school makes it impossible to fit in a trip to buy camera batteries. It was a very sweet lil' celebration, though. Good memories, which is the most important part!

The nature table is looking more like spring, but we like it that way. The Koru maiden was made by Marie over at Softearthart. It will become more autumny soon!

Nathan had a birthday, too. He's thirteen now. I'm officially Mom to two teenagers.

Nathan used some leftover bass wood to cut out some owls. He's planning on woodburning details.

Enjoying the last days of summer...

Sweet Lil' Somethin'

2011-09-04T12:03:00.001-04:00

Kerchief for Nunu. Pattern here.

Knitsch. Heart of Glass.

I'm very happy with my Summer 2011 Knitting. I used a lot of stashed yarn. Nathan's hat is finished and provided some earache comfort already. Seven shawls are waiting to be blocked with two more very close to being finished... I currently have Rasmilla's Elvira on the needles. One more day, then back to school!

The storm. Yikes. It was a scary thing for me. I was at home by myself with Nuriel. Thank goodness the trees in the neighbor's yard decided to stand a bit longer. We spent two days without power. Lucky us! Some are still waiting a week and a day later...

(I decided to delete my earlier rant in case you're wondering why you're getting a dead link.)

Crazy, Crazy!

2011-08-26T23:17:00.000-04:00

An earthquake earlier this week, now a hurricane. Can it please just snow?

Noah & Nathan were supposed to come home from Atlanta tomorrow, but their flight has already been canceled.

Nuriel & I are hunkering down with some basic emergency supplies & I forgot the wine! What a bummer.

I don't like storms. I'm so freaked out!

Yarn Along Wednesday

2011-08-10T13:38:00.005-04:00

I'm joining Yarn Along Wednesday today.

I finished this, and then I went to some functional knitting yesterday and stitched up a Vanilla soaker. For some reason I totally got everything wrong. It turned out way too big. So big that (even after slightly felting it) it will not ever fit a child in diapering age! So, it's being felted in the washer now. It was a nice soft rosy hue and will make some nice heart-ornaments for the Christmas tree. :-) I did figure out why it got so big. I wasn't using the right version for the yarn I had. Duh, me.

I'm also knitting a green shawl using some Malabrigo Sock from my stash. And I have 5 (gasp) shawls waiting to be blocked. I finished The Silver Lining, I have a Rosie Shawl, and I used the white Malabrigo to knit three Shetland Triangles varying in size: Mother. Daughter. Dollie.

I'm reading Conception, Birth &amp; Early Childhood by Norbert Glas. I'm enjoying the insights he offers about child development. It's so nice to see all of this unfold for Nuriel. If I get around to it sometime, I'll share more.

If you haven't entered yet, the Mother Earth Meltdown Monday Giveaway is still open to entries!

A Lil' Giveaway...

2011-08-08T09:35:00.001-04:00

Remember the Mother Earth I mentioned the other day? Well, if you want a chance to win her, head on over to This Cosy Life for Julie's Meltdown Monday Giveaway! And I truly hope your Monday is meltdown-mania free!

Half A Kiwi {HINE is a girl}

2011-08-06T10:56:00.002-04:00

I had the honor of test-knitting this for Kelly over at knit.so.quaint. It's HINE is a girl, the extended version, which is due to be released soon. The pattern is one of those no-seams kind that I love so much. It's a top-down construction. It's a fairly easy knit, yet with the assymmetrical button-band & lace sleeves it has a quite sophisticated look. Since I would love for this to fit Nuriel for two cold seasons, I chose to knit the 18-24 months size.

I used Woolrae (8-ply). I was a bit hesitant at first to use a variegated yarn. I worried about pooling since part of Hine is knit back & forth and part of it in the round, but this yarn was a good choice for this project. I love how the colors blend & mend. I added Paua buttons. You must think I have an arsenal of Paua buttons. I don't. I put Paua buttons on a project for the time Nuriel wears it. When she outgrows the garment, I recycle the buttons for a new project and put some simple buttons on the outgrown garment before I pass it on to someone as a hand-me-down.

Kiwi pattern. Kiwi yarn. Kiwi buttons. On Ravelry the project is here. It looks lovely on my hine. It will make a nice 1st birthday gift.

Mother Earth

2011-08-04T14:01:00.007-04:00

How do you imagine Mother Earth? Is she old & wise? Young & adorned with flowers? I have different images of her in my head. They change with the season, with stories I hear & tell.

To me she is such an archetypal figure on the Nature Table. I've been experimenting with creating the different Mother Earths of my imagination.

This one is about 10" tall. Her body is needle-felted. She wears a hooded cape knitted on teeny-tiny needles using some Koigu yarn. Her apron has a simple grass - sky - sunflower scene needle-felted onto a piece of wet-felted wool-mohair felt. She is wise & old. Her hair is thus gray, with a lil' bun in the back.

I love how she turned out. How about you? Well, guess what. I'm not keeping her. This is a bit of a teaser. :-) On Monday I'll tell you more about all of that. Do check back in!

In the meantime, if you have a link to the Mother Earth of your imagination, the Mother Earth who lives on your Nature Table maybe, please do share a link in the comment section. I'd love to see her!

Nuriel's First Chocolate Fish

2011-08-03T18:24:00.000-04:00

This warmed my heart today...

Where did the other fishies go? [Answer: Noah & Nathan.]

Stretchy... Too bad it's blurry...

Yum.

Map

2011-08-02T16:27:00.000-04:00

This is a map. It's a gorgeous map ten 7/8th graders (Noah's class) drew & shaded by hand for the school's auction that took place a few months ago. It brought in a nice sum for the school. It's a stunning piece. I just had the opportunity to create some over-sized postcards for the students to have as "memorabilia." I thought I'd share. Amazing, huh? (You can click on it and enjoy a slightly larger view.) Noah is known for his small, neat handwriting. Amongst other things, he wrote the "Key."

A Metaphor For Optimism

2011-08-01T16:07:00.006-04:00

Ahhhhh. Looking for The Silver Lining. For a melancholic like me that's always a bit challenging.

In this post I mentioned having received a gift of two skeins of Knitsch Colorway The Silver Lining. I wanted The Silver Lining to become an Ishbel. I thought it would be a nice way to literally wrap myself with The Silver Lining.

Now, I tend to overestimate how much yarn I need for a project. I always have leftovers, but I wanted to use every lil' bit of The Silver Lining, so I did some research in regards to size. I figured if 1-1/2 skeins were needed to make a small stockinette/small lace section Ishbel, then I could get away with working a small stockinette/large lace section Ishbel... Right?!

WRONG! About a third into the CAST-OFF ROW (of all rows!), I ran out of The Silver Lining. You have to admit it can't get more dramatic than running out of The Silver Lining. (Sniff.)

Complicating the situation was the fact that I had been so confident about my 'yardage math' that I hadn't even inserted a life-line. (Aren't you glad that I 'just' teach 4th grade math? Algebra might be quite disastrous!) - Ripping back was thus not an option either.

At 1:45 a.m. I sent a message to "R."

"I ran out of The Silver Lining 1/3 into casting off Ishbel! I'm now trying to find The Silver Lining... in oh, so many ways! :-)"

Seven minutes later, from the other side of the globe this message popped up in my inbox:

"Oh ohhh. I might be able to send over a little bit of The Silver Lining. How many metres do you reckon? I had some left over from my Mum's Scalene."

Ahhh. What joy! I was able to settle into the feather-bed for some restful sleep after all & The Silver Lining is traveling via Airmail as I'm typing... :-)

And that's the story of The Silver Lining. I'm just so thankful & grateful. Now back to Mommy-reality aka a stinky, poopy diaper...

Please note: Comments are here to stay.

Comments?

2011-08-01T01:26:00.001-04:00

Last year there was a blog I read frequently & the blog author had this post about going "no comments." Back then I thought it was crazy. Why on earth would you write a blog and not give people a chance to say somethin'? Don't we all like to hear how beautiful our pictures are? What nifty ideas we have? Receive a message of support from someone who is also ~~at wits end with~~ parenting a teenager?

Well, life has changed. I often read blogs & feel like I should comment, but the typing of the response, entering all your personal "codes" and word verifications (Yes. It usually takes me two tries. I should be wearing glasses, but I don't. Those squiggly letters really annoy me.) just takes so long. I still enjoy reading blogs, but I've gone from frequent commenting to rarely ever leaving a comment at all.

And so my thoughts have gone back to that blog from last year & I'm starting to think going "no comments" might be a good idea for my blog, too.

What do you think? Please do leave a comment. Ha! It might be your last chance to say something. :-)

Hairspray

2011-07-30T10:17:00.004-04:00

We went to Dogwood Dell last night where this year's production is Hairspray. It was an awesome show. In one scene Tracy, having been sent to "Special Ed," asks, "Where do you go after Special Ed?" Someone answers, "Congress!" - I just had to laugh so hard. Nuriel was fascinated by it all. She managed to stay awake for a scene or two, then proceeded to sleep 'til the final. When we went to the parking lot, I had forgotten where I had parked! Noah was the one who finally found the car. I do have a habit of not knowing where I parked, but I've never searched for the car this long! Another sign that age aka wisdom is fast approaching!

Ten Months Old

2011-07-23T09:47:00.001-04:00

Nuriel is ten months old. Time surely flies. In this picture she looks so "grown up" to me. Maybe it's because she's growing hair? Or just the fact that she's playing in the dirt? She looks nothing like me. That's a fact. I'm not keeping a baby book with milestones, so before these things fade in my brain (better call it a sieve), here's what I do remember:

She started rolling over when she was 4-1/2 months old. Her first tooth appeared March 16th. I remember sitting at school with her, waiting for Noah to come out of Spanish class & feeding her a nibble of something. My finger touched something hard. Tooth! The funny thing is that she wasn't teething prior to getting those two bottom teeth, but she's been teething ever since... However, she hasn't gotten any more teeth. Weird, huh?

She started sitting up when she was about 7 months old. When she was about 9 months old, she started scooting around in a sitting position & doing 360 degree "spins." She also pushed herself around on her belly, but she was only able to go backwards & this caused some frustration at times. She started crawling right at 10 months and now she's all. over. the. place. - No kidding!

Her brothers have taught her how to shake her head as if saying, "No." She loves to take baths & play in the water. She eats what we eat. I'm not a fan of buying baby food. She especially loves rice & beans, yogurt, kiwifruit & blackberries. Oh, and paper! She loves drinking unsweetened herbal tea, too.

So, I don't remember much. But that's at least a lil' something for the record.

I really don't neglect the boys. They just don't like to have their pictures taken. They don't like me blogging about them. I'll have two teenage boys come September. It seems that they are on track with the teenage milestones as well... You know, sleeping in 'til noon & acquiring debating skills. ;-) (They are also very helpful when it comes to housework & helping in general & I'm not being sarcastic about that!)

Oh, and another note: I'm a bit in "avoidance" mood right now. So I blog about the craft projects that distract me & other mundane things.

Too Blogging Hot

2011-07-22T13:18:00.008-04:00

Today I simply want to say: I'm thankful for air-conditioning & refrigeration... and cold showers. Taking the heat index into account, it's 121 F here today, that's 49 C. It's hot. Back to drinking iced tea & chillin' under the ceiling fan.

(We keep the A/C thermostat set on 82-84 F. I know most people keep theirs on a lower setting. Anyhow. Sometimes the boys complain about the thermostat being set so "high." I just tell them to go stand on the porch for 5 minutes & then come back in. :-) Makes 82 F feel pretty chilly! )

Felted Oven Mitts Tutorial

2011-07-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

Some places in the world are in summer vacation mode, others on winter vacation, but everywhere, I'm sure, parents are looking for ways to do some meaningful, fun things with their children. I taught a summer felting camp for four to six-years-olds last week & I put together this little tutorial. If you decide to do this project, please do blog about it & leave a link here in the comments section. I would love to see what you come up with!

You will need: Wool batting/roving, two large trash bags, soap, hot water, scissors, embroidery floss & a sewing needle.

Here's what we did:

We spread out wool batting onto a large trash bag. If you want to be *really* Waldorfy, you would of course not use a black trash bag with these young children. ;-) I estimate that the batting was about 2" (5 cm) thick. On top of the wool batting, the children spread some colorful wool bits. They were all from my "leftovers bag." I told them to use their fingers to make nice, fluffy clouds. They then put them in random places.

When the piece was ready to be felted, I squirted soap on the top. I used Dr. Bronner's Pure Castille Soap. Why? Because I had quite a bit leftover from our camping trip. Yes, this project has "leftover" written all over it. Don't you just love that?! I must say I had never felted with that soap before & I was very pleased with the outcome! Then we poured a pot of very hot water on the top.

We covered the whole thing with another trash bag. I made sure that the surface wasn't too hot for the children to touch. The children then started rubbing, banging, pounding...

... and after a while we rolled the whole thing up into a giant burrito of sorts & did some more rubbing, banging, pounding. - Mostly pounding and then even...

... some stomping! Gasp. Lots of fun!

When we unrolled the burrito, it looked something like this.

We put the felted piece in a bucket of cold water & rinsed all the soap out. After this step, I would recommend doing the process of adding soap, hot water & doing the burrito-felting-poundy thing & rinsing one more time. It will produce a stronger felt!

Then Father Sun worked his magic & did the drying.

I used an oven mitt I had at home & traced a template. We cut out two for each oven mitt. (One left & one right to ensure that the colorful felt is on the outside of the mitt!)

Finally, we sewed along the edges with cotton embroidery thread, using a simple blanket stitch. The children loved this project & the oven mitts were very well received by the parents!

Felted Necklaces

2011-07-15T21:52:00.001-04:00

Felted with and by four to six-years-old children. (The one in the middle is a "giant, precious diamond" in case you're wondering... )

Some with few beads...

... others with more. All felted with enthusiasm & joy!

We started with "just round" beads & then the creativity of these wonderful children took over & they started felting all kinds of shapes. We then strung them onto a simple wool string. Voila. Simple, yet treasured!

Wordless Friday

2011-07-15T01:00:00.002-04:00

Well, not without a brief explanation. I'm all in favor of supporting local agriculture, but in our house kiwifruit is only local from New Zealand. And isn't she a cute lil' kiwi? ;-)

Window Stars

2011-07-09T17:14:00.004-04:00

Maybe a tad too much of a Christmas mood in July?!

Playing with shapes & forms & ...

... colors.

Nathan made most of them. They do look very pretty with the sun shining through!

Knitting & Reading (& Stashing)

2011-07-06T13:07:00.003-04:00

~ Inspired by Tonya, I've decided to join Ginny's Yarn Along for today! ~

I'm knitting a Shetland Triangle (Pattern by Evelyn Clark) with Malabrigo Sock from my stash. It's a very simple shawl. It was easy to memorize the pattern. It's giving me lots of time for meditation & reflection as I go along since I don't have to think about the pattern or look at a chart. It's a bittersweet knit. I purchased the yarn a long time ago, anticipating a special knit for a special occasion. This special occasion will never happen. I think you can put two and two together here. I pondered what to do with the yarn & decided to go with the original idea of a shawl. What I will do with it? - I don't know. Maybe Nuriel can wear it one day.

I'm reading "Maori Myths" by A.W. Reed in preparation for a 4th grade block. I always wanted to share these beautiful stories with my class, but didn't know in which grade to fit it all in. Inspired by a Waldorf teacher in Philly, I'm devoting a 3-weeks block to it this upcoming school year. I'm very excited about it.

This isn't supposed to be a blog about "Stashing," but a most lovely gift arrived from Rachel today! Yarn from New Zealand. That lovely yarn in the picture there & also chocolate & a very sweet lil' book. Thank you so much! I just *had* to mention it here.

Potato Sack Two...

2011-07-05T16:52:00.001-04:00

... or the knitting idiot aka me. In true Pisces fashion I've changed my mind about the "Potato Sack" - again! I [heart] it! Somehow it magically shrunk. I put it on the drying rack in the sun, which one should never do with wool. I was so frustrated with it that the possibility of the cats getting to it & having a nice playtime didn't bother me. It did not shrink all the way back, but enough to fit Nuriel very soon, as in as soon as I had planned, as in this Autumn.

Applause!

It started as "Phunky Monkey." I changed it to "Potato Sack." I'm now changing it to "Pretty Potato Sack." (The PPS Mommy knit while PMSing so to speak.)

I know it looks like dirt. It really isn't! It's a 101-years-old wood floor. No kidding.

Meet Potato Sack

2011-07-05T12:02:00.001-04:00

You know, on Ravelry everything must have a name. I had originally named it "Phunky Monkey" because of the very colorful yarn. I've renamed it "Potato Sack." I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning (okay, 12:05 a.m.) to block this & the soaking made it huge. The yarn stretched out way too much. There's no way it will fit her anytime soon. Ughh. Arghhh. Well, I suppose it's a pretty potato sack.

I'm starting to think "birthdays." Nathan & Nuriel both have a birthday coming up in September. I'm knitting a hat for Nathan. He actually asked me to do so. I had a look on Etsy for inspiration for Nuriel. I found a perfect lil' doll with a knitted body for her. Price tag: $185. Now, I do want to say that I'm glad to see a doll priced at $185. If you've ever made a doll, you know that it's *a lot* of work. And I do believe we live in a society where handmade is undervalued. However, it is not what I can pay & it's so nice to make a doll for your child, so I'm making my own. I had some suitable yarn in my stash. I have some leftover doll-making supplies from a workshop I did last year. I'm making my girl a doll. Price tag: $0 - sort of. Here's that work in progress...

I'm going to crochet a cap for hair, using an auburn mohair yarn. - That's if my yarn snobby self can get over the 5% nylon content. (Help me, Mindi!) If not, the doll may just need to have a permanent hat. I'm undecided about what color to use for embroidering the eyes. I've also started using some purple lace yarn to make a mini shawl. It'll be a 12" doll, which is a good size for a small child.

Next Up...

2011-07-04T17:20:00.000-04:00

I'm knitting from my stash this summer. Oh, the yarn treasures I have accumulated over the years!
Work In Progress... Boheme (I have the free version from way back when, so my pattern might be outdated.) Unidentifiable yarn from my stash - a yarn that turns out being a bit too colorful for my taste. Nevertheless, it will keep her warm in the Fall & Winter months.I'm going to replace the diaper pin with some precious Paua shell buttons which I recycled from a sweater.

She's a lil' stinker, you know...

Meet Greengirl

2011-07-01T14:37:00.002-04:00

I finished something! Yay. Green is my favorite color & the color certainly suits my melancholic temperament as well. I bought this yarn last summer. Swans Island Certified Organic Merino - dyed naturally. Luxury! I was going to knit this shawl (and then 4 more shawls to meet the 10 in 2010 goal) during my maternity leave, but that never happened. So, here it is. I'm so glad I finished something!

80" (200cm - 2m, baby!) from tip to tip. 25" (63 cm) from neck to bottom tip. Fiercely blocked.

I'm loving the lace!

I usually give shawls away, but this one is for me!

Hello Blog...

2011-06-30T21:38:00.001-04:00

... it's me checkin' in. - It's still up & down for this Mama. These past few weeks have been tough. I thought the second year would be "easier" - not so. Father's Day was extremely difficult. I wanted to blog a note from Nuriel to Brent to honor the day, but I just couldn't get myself there. But, I've been doing a bit of summer knitting with yarn from my stash. I realize just how much sanity I get from knitting. It's so nice to have time to knit.

I finished an Icarus Shawl. It's blocking at the local yarn shop. I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow. It had been in my UFO pile for almost a year. It feels so good to finish something. I have so many creative ideas, but often I just don't have the time or the energy... So, not yay for beauty, but yay for finishing somethin'. In that spirit...

A Collared Pixie in Malabrigo Rios. It will be a gift for one of Nunu's friends. (If you see dust, please clean your computer screen. It's certainly not dust on my floor! My house is spotless. Ha.)

Erika Flory's "Little Red" in Woolrae. It will be Nunu's 1st Birthday Cape. Time sure flies. She'll be one in 2-1/2 months! It will also most likely be a lil' gnome cape for Halloween. The yarn colors are so vibrant. The yarn is so soft. And the lil' Matryoshka button is so cute, too. Back to knitting aka a moment of sanity.

A Girl & A Hat

2011-06-11T11:38:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm done knitting with this colorway now. I'm finishing up my reports for the year, but it's nice to have some time to pull out things from the WIP basket and add them to the FO side.

Mama, are you crazy. It's hot. Take that thing off!

Okay, I'll cooperate for a moment.

Nirvana!

2011-06-09T08:18:00.002-04:00

If we listen closely, the dead can have profound messages for us. I had such an enlightening moment with a clear message from Brent this morning. It was enlightening on a scary level. Please do read on. I'm getting very skilled at interpreting these messages. With a bit more practice I might soon be able to make a second career out of it, which would end all my financial woes forever.

Crazy? Yes, maybe, but do read on.

You see, Brent loved to wear shirts ironed to perfection - as long as he wasn't the one doing the ironing. I'm not much a fan of ironing clothes, especially not now that I'm on summer break. The iron had been sitting on the floor in the living-room for a week now; since Noah's 8th Grade Commencement a week ago to be specific. Yes, this reveals that there are other "issues" in my home that seep much deeper than not ironing clothes, but let's not go there right now.

This morning the girl got a hold of the cord. (No worries. I did unplug it when I last used it a week ago.)

And while exclaiming, "Mama, Mama, Mama..." without ceasing & in a rather intense way, she "did her thing" with the iron...

... and eventually even started taking her clothes off. Well, okay, just her hat! Nevertheless, today's message from Brent is profound & clear & shall permeate my meditations for the day and infuse them with deep spiritual meaning: "Iron your clothes!" is the message. Thank you, my love. I know the world is alright if you speak to me from your realm! :-)

Nature Study

2011-06-07T14:55:00.000-04:00

This was one of my favorite blocks this year. I told nature stories involving Nehemiah the Gnome. I had so much fun making up these stories containing tales about farming, nature in Virginia & also some pedagogical stories. Nehemiah lived up in the mountains of western Virginia & one day he dropped his hat into the lil' Cowpasture stream. He decided to follow the stream to find his cap. His adventures are many and eventually lead him to the James River & on to the Atlantic Ocean! I would love to have the time to publish the stories in a wee lil' book!

While I told these stories to my students, our daily review often involved them reading the story I had written & drawing a picture. - Yes, a bit unusual. ;-) Below are the book covers my students created!

Artsy...

2011-06-06T13:46:00.003-04:00

Looking through the books my children created in class is always *the* end-of-the-year highlight for me. Here are my two favorite entries from Nathan's book. His drawings are just amazing. He's only twelve!

Zeus & Athena

[copyright Nathan Thomas]

Prometheus

[copyright Nathan Thomas]

1 A.M. Insomnia

2011-06-06T01:22:00.001-04:00

When Brent left in April 2009, he wrote me a 3-page letter, which he left under my pillow. He told me about it at the airport. The idea was for me to find something when I got back home.

When Brent left in January 2010, he left me his favorite shirt under my pillow. I had already had it for a couple of months, but he wanted it back. He told me to look under my pillow when I got home as I was leaving NYC. It was the last time we saw each other...

I keep his letter in one of two books. One is a book he gave me as a gift & the other is for spiritual inspiration. I needed the latter book at school the other day. Before I left home I checked to make sure that the letter wasn't in there. Nope. Didn't see it, which would mean it was in the other book. Well, I got to school & was about to pass the book on, when I realized that the letter was in there after all. I sort of freaked. Well, I did freak. I loose things a lot, esp. keys, ATM cards & my mind. I decided to put the letter into my school-bag. Surely, it would be the safest place - right?! This evening I went to my bag to pull it out. I have the thing pretty much memorized, but I like to read it here and there & I hadn't read it in a while. I pulled the letter out of my bag & then I totally freaked out when I realized that - for some reason - the last two pages were missing. I only had the first page of the letter! I searched and freaked. I was sure it was lost. I thought I was going to go nuts, which is pretty impossible. I'm already pretty nuts these days. Nuttier than nuts... Yeap. That's moi!

In my true "I'm the queen of loosing things" style I had also misplaced one of Nuriel's handknit socks. I had last seen the sock in our bed (she sleeps in the bed with me) last night. I searched in the bed & under the bed... Then I lifted the pillow... and I almost bleeping fainted when the other two pages of the letter were under the pillow! I had not even kept the book in my bedroom! How weird is that?! (I also found the sock under the bed, after I had already looked there four times & not seen it!)

How did the pages of the letter get there? I'm going to go nuts... Oh, no... I already am! - And under the pillow of all places! CraZzZzeeee.

'Twas May

2011-06-04T14:24:00.003-04:00

Being a teacher, May is always a crazy-busy month. Here are a few recent pictures. And hopefully I'll be blogging more frequently again now that summer break has arrived! Yay.

With my 3rd graders I visited a city garden, an Alpaca Farm, and spent three days camping at Sustenance Farm in North Carolina.

Nathan & Nunu crackin' up.

Nunu at Mayfaire. The dress, one of those hand-smocked treasures, was a hand-me-down from one of my students. I made her a lil' flower-crown with herbs & weeds from the garden. It lasted for a photo moment. Really, she just wanted to eat it!

Nathan holding the flag for his city-state Corinth at the Pentathlon. His strongest discipline was the javelin. It was a nice day.

Nunu heading to Noah's class play, dressed in a fancy dress a colleague brought back from a trip to India. It's supposed to be a neck scarf, but it looks cute on her head.

Noah as Isaac Newton in his 8th grade class play. Scrambled professor. So totally him! His dream-hairstyle. No doubt. Ha!

In Gratitude

2011-05-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

I have been silent & life has been busy. I do want you to know this: We have been overwhelmed with the love & gifts that have been coming our way these past few weeks. Words truly cannot describe how deeply I have been touched by your generosity and kindness. Thank you so, so much!

The end of the school year is a busy time. Amongst other things I took my 3rd grade on a "farm trip" these past few days... to a lovely farm in North Carolina. The farmer there, Harvey, is a great storyteller. One of the stories he told was, "The Begging Bowls." - I was very touched by it in my current situation. It is a beautiful story of receiving & giving. I shall type it up this weekend.I'll post it here.

May all of your love be returned to you manifold! Namaste.

What Is Going On?

2011-04-29T19:40:00.000-04:00

A month without blogging. Hard to believe. As many of you know life hasn't been smooth sailing in a while, but the storms that have popped up lately have made me wonder whether or not I will ever make it through this gruesome weather.

No functioning laptop at home; no digital camera. And I don't see replacing either in the near future as there are other financial priorities. We are struggling big time. I'm trying to stay afloat - financially, emotionally, spiritually... in many ways; in all ways.

Thus no blogging. I miss it. I like the connections I have made on this world-wide web. Alas.

I often get e-mails asking about this or that crafty endeavor, and by all means do e-mail me at chocolatelilies@gmail.com with any questions about prior blog posts. I hope to blog again one day, but it will not be soon.

Many blessings and much love to all of you!

3rd Grade Yurt

2011-03-29T14:07:00.002-04:00

The yurt with sheep was created by my students. The shepherd was created by me. The frame was created by the father of a student. Heirloom craftsmanship & cherry wood. The walls were needle-felted, then wet-felted & sewn together; some by machine, others with blanket-stitch by hand. The walls have scenes on them... Shepherd, sheep, trees, flowers & such. The wooden tag on the door reads: 3rd Grade ~ 2010/11.

It was our 3rd grade building project & also our auction art project. My students were very proud. The yurt sold for $400. It has a 3-foot (app. 1 meter) diameter & it's about 14" high. The roof was wet-felted using feet. :-) Fun times! We left it "rugged" rather than cutting it to a perfect circle.

Shepherd felted at the last minute, in true procrastinator style. The sheep each had a lil' tag with the name of the student who created it wood-burnt in. It was such a great project. My students worked so hard & we had so much fun.

(The pictures were taken with Noah's iPod & they are thus a bit grainy. The beauty still shows, though.)

Aotearoa Love

2011-03-23T17:36:00.000-04:00

I took that picture the other day. She covered up the North Island just as I pushed the button. It was sort of funny. I remember the silly reasons Brent gave me once trying to talk me into visiting the South Island first... Anyhoo.

I then decided I needed a more "politically correct picture." Too many dear people on that North Island! :-) Her cheeks still look badly chapped here, but I must say that her skin has improved dramatically since I've cut dairy from my diet. I love her so much. She's such a smiley girl.

The Teenager

2011-03-21T19:36:00.000-04:00

You know, the one who drives me crazZzZy at times. Well, good news. He received his acceptance letter to Open High today. I wasn't at home. He called me & he was crying. I thought, "Bleep." I knew the letter was coming. We actually anticipated a letter from Community High as well, but apparently they are mailing later this week. He was crying because he was happy! Open High receives about 200 applications & takes 50 students. As part of the application he had to submit 5 essays and go through an interviewing process.

I kept asking the spiritual world to prepare a path for the right high school for him & I asked Brent to work some magic from where he is... This is clearly the one!

Oh my gosh! I cannot tell you how relieved I am! I'm heading for the 1/2 bottle of Pinot Noir I still have in the fridge...

My blog post from earlier today can be found here, but I just had to share!

Spring Weekend

2011-03-21T11:27:00.002-04:00

Finally! Spring!

Even the cats are enjoying the sunshine!

I went crazy with the woodburning tool this weekend. I buy a lot in bulk & then store in jars. I'm loving the lil' tags from Tonya.

More woodburning. Nathan's peppermint.

And still more.We just planted this Rosemary bush. I love Rosemary. I hope it will grow & grow.

My sage is back. I couldn't be more happy! It's very special, you know... I'm afraid it will not come back one year. I'd be devastated. I'm glad this is not the year.

We started some seeds, although - in retrospect - the egg carton thing might not work? Starting off with tomatoes, mostly. (Sausage Tomato. We're not trying to plant sausages.)

I baked this yesterday morning. Nunu was up very early, so I decided to use the early morning time wisely. I'm so totally not a morning person!

Blueberry-Banana Bread

I kept telling the children to let me take a picture so that I can blog about it first. They insisted they only had a nibble. I must say, it was very good banana-blueberry bread. I freeze bananas when they are brown & then bake banana bread when there's enough in the freezer.

1-1/2 c. flour

2 tbsp. sugar (The recipe called for 1/4 c. I wanted to omit it altogether, but I was adding a cup of blueberries, and I don't know my baking chemistry, so I decided to add a little bit.)

1/2 c. pecans

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

***

1-1/3 c. banana mush

2 eggs

1/2 c. maple syrup (It's gotta be the real deal!)

1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. blueberries

***

Mix it all up. Bake at 350 F for 60 minutes. I baked it in a pie dish. It was obviously good.

This Woolrae was a gift from the lovely Rachel. I love the colors! Such a joy to knit. I making Nunu a Gnome Pixie Cape. The pattern is here. Of course, I was being an idiot and totally screwed up the gauge, because I *never* do a gauge swatch. I was at the neck-decrease when I realized it would be way too small in the autumn. So, I'm frogging. I suppose it will just give me more time to enjoy knitting with this awesome yarn. :-)

(I decided to delete yesterday's blog post after receiving a very strange comment. And I haven't forgotten about the "Grains" posts!)

I Keep Forgetting...

2011-03-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

to take pictures of the grain of the day. My camera doesn't work well with artificial light. I might just need to put them all in a weekend-post. :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T05:07:00.001-04:00

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

Sunday ~ Wheat

2011-03-13T20:52:00.000-04:00

I should have arranged these differently. It just so happens that I don't have all that much to add to this information. Wheat is associated with the Sun.

Six Months

2011-03-13T15:01:00.001-04:00

Nuriel will be six months old tomorrow & I'm finally (really) getting ready to mail out birth announcements. I made this gift for Rachel at All Fired Up! last Sunday & picked it up today. It's a plate & hopefully she will be serving many more Groaning Cakes...

The Grains

2011-03-12T13:04:00.003-05:00

(Watercolor painting by a 3rd grader)

I just wrapped up a two-weeks block on "The Grains" this week. I loved teaching this block. I covered 7 grains, the trade of both miller & baker as well as some basic information about windmills. I will attempt to blog about this for the next 7 days, covering the grains we covered in class. I will share some of the beautiful work my students did these past two weeks; work from all students. Hard to believe that on top of this, we also prepared for our class play, Joseph, during this time!

Each planet is associated with a day of the week. I did give my students an overview of this, although they will not formally be studying planets until 6th grade. The quality of the planets brings an understanding about the grains. It seems just natural that a watery Moon day calls for rice!

Here is a list of the grains we covered. They are all so very different. Some people switch millet & oats. They feel that millet has more of a female Venus quality than oat. I found the information here very helpful.

(A windmill ~ Crayon drawing by a 3rd grader)

I will hopefully have a blog post for the next 7 days, starting with Sunday. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did.

The Blanket

2011-03-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

Finally. A picture of the blanket my students made for my birthday. 35 colorful squares. So beautiful.

The Ideal Parent Me

2011-03-09T20:31:00.002-05:00

A few days ago Noah came home from school & told me that he needed to find someone he considers to be an "ideal parent" & interview them. The person didn't have to be his parent. He could even interview the person via phone... In my head I was already taking a deep breath & telling myself to stay calm. I was sure he would choose his father who gives Noah & Nathan loads of junk food & unlimited TV privileges & "gaming time," which makes one a perfect parent in the eyes of a child. But, I was wrong. This thought was still swirling in my head when Noah asked to interview me.

So, today he fixed me a cup of tea & he interviewed me.

(1) What changes occurred in your life that made you feel you were ready to be a parent?

(2) What made you decide to become a parent?

(3) What preparation did you have to go through to be ready for your child?

(4) How did you feel when you first saw/held your baby, compared to a few months later?

(5) What changed about you as you parented your child? (Did you change your mind about how to parent?)

(6) How did you handle the financial cost?

(7) What have you learned?

(8) What qualifies you to be a parent?

(9) What is your experience in parenting someone older?

(10) What are the top five skills a parent needs?

It was interesting to reflect on these things. This interview was an assignment they have been given during the anatomy/physiology block that includes the reproductive system. I'm so glad that the aspect of the responsibility that comes with having a child is emphasized in a Waldorf school. It beats the "this is how babies are made" talk so many students & teachers have to suffer through. In the end, you probably don't need to "learn" how babies are made; chances are you'll figure that out sooner or later. The responsibility part is much more important.

Yours truly,

The Ideal Parent

(You know that next time he complains about me being too strict, I will just say, "Really?! Remember, I'm an ideal parent in YOUR mind!" I'm gonna have to milk that for awhile!)

36. Gasp.

2011-03-06T20:01:00.000-05:00

My birthday was on Friday. Noah & Nathan made me coffee in the morning. I'm not a morning person. Caffeine helps! My students surprised me with a gorgeous crochet quilt. They made it! 12 third graders. 35 squares. I took a picture, but it doesn't do it justice. I must try again in daylight! They conspired with the handwork teacher. They held this secret for weeks! It is so beautiful. Each student also brought me a flower to create a bouquet & made me a card. I received a gift certificate to a local Cuban restaurant. The food was so good! It was a nice day. But yes, I still miss him...

36. Older than some; younger than others.

This One Fits!

2011-03-06T05:11:00.017-05:00

Indeed! ~ Same yarn & pattern as the one that didn't fit.

Knitted Sheep

2011-03-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

Our school's annual auction is fast approaching. My students have been busy working on the class art project, which is a dollhouse-sized yurt with 12 sheep & a felted nomadic herder (made by moi). The frame of the yurt, with a diameter of app. 3 feet, has been created & we will do the felting next week. Most sheep have been knitted by the students.

The sheep are waiting to be sewn up. I have woodburned each student's name on a small wooden tag. The tag will be tied around each sheep's neck. Wooden tags courtesy of Tonya over at Natural Earth Farm. Superb craftsmanship I must say! The students are using Peace Fleece yarn. It's so soft! (I don't want to show the names of my students, so I used the extra tags to make name tags for my family.)

And each student copied the pattern!

Bug Snug

2011-02-22T16:15:00.001-05:00

I saw this hat at Frontier Dreams, a while back, in this post & you know, with me, everything takes a while these days. I was not going to spend $10 on the pattern, though. I thought I would try to intuit myself through the pattern and then I found this Tante T pattern. I cast on 88 stitches and used size US 8 needles and Malabrigo. I knew it would be big, but I didn't anticipate it this big. I frogged the thing four times for various reasons. Perfectionism will be my end one day. Looks like Nunu's friend, Isla, will "borrow" the hat 'til, one day, Nunu's noggin will be big enough...

And I'm sending my love to the people of Christchurch today. What devastating news is coming out of that gorgeous place!

Belated Valentine

2011-02-22T15:50:00.001-05:00

Nunu's first ever Valentine from her friend Waverly.

Nope, not edible. Felt!

Nuts!

2011-02-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

Peanuts that is.

Nathan's drawing of a peanut plant.

Superbowl Sunday

2011-02-06T22:34:00.005-05:00

I finished a Mini Chic in Kraemer Alpaca. That was, without doubt, the highlight of the day!
The Steelers lost. Sniff. We wanted them to win, because the Packers beat the Bears & we like the Bears & the Giants & the Eagles around here.
I enjoyed a bottle of German Kristallweizen beer with a sugary Cola. Yummy. Just the best!
- I can't believe I haven't blogged in two weeks. Life has been crazy-busy. More on that later...

365 Days Later

2011-01-20T23:17:00.001-05:00

Nunu hanging out at Ellwood's Cafe with her Mama who treated herself to breakfast there this morning. Nunu marked this day with a gigantic diaper blowout. Her father would be so proud!

Yes, he died a year ago today. I'm sad to report that there was no ring at the door; there was no man with a suitcase telling me that this was all a grand joke & that he had spent the last year with some hot chick in Costa Rica... However, a fairy sent me an e-mail yesterday & blessed me with the gift of a James Taylor ticket! No kidding. Thank you, dear fairy. I feel so immensely blessed by your kindness. Much love to you!

Fire & Rain

2011-01-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

It's our song. I've said it a million times. I'll say it once more. I loved Brent playing the song on the piano & singing along. I missed the James Taylor concerts last year. And just tonight I realized that James Taylor will be in Richmond on March 30th! Exciting, huh. Well, yeah & then not. Unfortunately a ticket is way above my means. - Maybe I could not feed the kids for a week, huh? Hmmm. Just kidding.

On another note. The sickies have entered this household & I'm not liking it. How on earth did I end up with a Mastitis when I hardly manage to produce enough milk? That fever is draining me. Why is the teenager sick as a dog when he has high school application stuff to finish? Did I really have to chop this chunk out of my finger? Can this cradle c{r}ap please stop bugging my daughter?

It's only Tuesday, yet I wish I could take a pill & not wake up 'til next week.

I just miss him so bleeping much.

Ughhh Week

2011-01-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

I'm going to call it Ughhh Week. A year ago... This week is vivid in my mind. One day we made plans; hours later he was gone. Yes, Ughhh Week. Trying to keep the blog "clean." Other words come to mind, really.

Anyhoo.

A year ago. I suppose I should stop whining.

Yes, he left me a precious daughter, no doubt.

But you know, there are people who have the man and the precious kids. Why not me? Why? Why couldn't I have had both?

Birdhouses

2011-01-03T21:38:00.001-05:00

Voila! I wanted a manageable building project to do with my 3rd graders at school & I wanted it to be something functional; not something that collects dust. A parent kindly created kits for the students using this plan. They wrote their names & the year & added a little design which I then traced with a woodburning tool. Twelve third graders & twelve hammers & not a single band-aid used! I call that a success.

My New Year's Resolutions (Ha!)

2010-12-30T23:31:00.002-05:00

(1) I will stop removing empty toilet tissue rolls from the bathroom. It will be interesting too see the accumulation. After all, I am the only person who removes them from the bathroom. Stay tuned for blog posts filed under "Toilet Roll 2011."

(2) I will not join any crazy efforts like 52 knitting projects, mittens, or socks in 52 weeks or 11 shawls in 2011. (What are these shawl people going to do in 2076?)

(3) I don't want to loose weight. Well, I do, but I won't admit it. I can thus not fall short of my weight loss goal, because really it doesn't exist - although it does. (No, I haven't started drinking yet!)

Yes, 2011 has "slacker" written all over it already. Bring it on!

zZzZzzZz

2010-12-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

A snooze is precious these days & a snooze in Mama's arms is the best... Nuriel has (very itchy) cradle cap & it's driving both of us bonkers in different ways... I wanted to write a post to "wrap up" the year, but maybe not. In any case... Happy New Year!

Cloth Diapering

2010-12-29T11:40:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to write this post for a while. Finally! Here it is. Yes, a blog post about cloth diapering - in hopes that maybe it will help someone somewhere at some point to see this simple, yet effective system of mine. Feel free to chime in in the comment section. I want this to be a helpful resource.

Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers

from Little Sprouts.

Cloth diapering certainly has evolved since I last cloth diapered a child a decade ago. I think that many people take advantage of the all-in-one diapers these days, which is a very convenient system. At $25 a diaper it wasn't an option for me, though.

Infant-sized prefolds & pins & cute baby.

I'm using old-fashioned prefolds with pins and the wool diaper covers I knit & lanolized. I started with one dozen newborn sized & two dozen toddler sized prefolds as well as 5 wool soakers. It sounds... not much, but honestly - it's plenty! I had the yarn in my stash, so I spent about $100 total to get started. - That's very little taking into account that a pack of 40-44 non-chlorine Seventh Generation diapers runs about $12 and lasts for about a week. I'm not even going to address the environmental implications. Anyhoo.

This is a Peace Fleece soaker. Yes, it's big.

I actually like it when the soakers cover at least the belly button.

More good warmth!

I ruined aka felted one of the covers when it accidentally landed in the wash. I find that Peace Fleece & Louet Riverstone are great soaker yarns! I'd never use Malabrigo Merino again! It's the prettiest yarn for all sorts of projects, but not functional for soakers. I rotate the 4 covers with each diaper change. I used the Vanilla pattern, which creates an awesome fitting soaker. My girl doesn't poop often (once a day or every other day), but when she does, she DOES! The soakers hardly ever get soiled. When they do, I (spot)wash them using Eucalan Woolwash. I lanolize them every other week or so using this product. I disolve the lanolin in a bit of lukewarm water, add some Eucalan, gently squeeze out the water, roll in a towel & lay flat to dry. I also splurged (Ha!) on this lanolin spray, which is a nice, quick soaker treatment when they can use a bit of lanolin. (It also is a wonderful way to give other woolens some tender, loving care.)

I wash stained prefolds on hot/cold & wet ones on warm/cold using a simple eco-friendly detergent and add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle. I actually launder wet diapers with regular laundry. I don't own a dryer, so I line-dry them. Sometimes people will say that they don't cloth diaper because cloth diapered babies smell like pee. I've found the vinegar rinse & drying them in the sunshine take care of that problem.

I *love* wool. The importance of keeping babies warm is unfortunately often overlooked today. Nunu pretty much wears woolen socks, a wool sweater & a woolen hat on a daily basis - yes, inside. We have our thermostat set on 58/60 F during the day, so extra layers are a must. It excites me that this cheap system leaves my girl wrapped in organic cotton and wool goodness.

Christmas Holiday Knittsie

2010-12-29T08:30:00.001-05:00

Does this look familiar to you? Nuri received one in pink from Peskypixie a while back. I really love the look of it on Nunu, so I decided to make one. Madelinetosh DK in Creme de Menthe. I love this yarn. It was a gift on the occasion of Nuriel's birth. The pattern is Mini Chic by Katie White. I made the 6-12 months size. Great pattern. Two more Paua buttons. Only one left from the pack now... The stinking armpits were driving me nuts, though. Just not as perfect-looking as I would like. Still unblocked. Pretty cute, though.

Christmas Simplicity

2010-12-25T21:29:00.002-05:00

Nunu dressed in her Christmas outfit all ready to visit friends on Christmas Eve. We had such a good time. Such a lovely smile she has.

And here she is with her first Christmas present ever. Yup. Kept it simple. A wonderfully crafted wooden teether from Finns & Flowers. I'm lovin' that shop! They got this to me super-speedy when I decided to do Christmas at the last minute.

Christmas dinner was unsophisticated, yet yummy, with wild caught salmon and roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes. For dessert a trifle. It was heaven. I gave myself some extra splashes of Sherry. My cheeks are still red. So, so good!

She's getting bigger by the day. - No, I'm not neglecting to share pictures of my boys. They just don't like being featured. She looks a bit like in jail... Co-sleeping it is, but she's quite content in the crib here & there during the day.

Merry Christmas...

2010-12-25T11:26:00.001-05:00

... from our home to yours.

Favicon Thanks...

2010-12-22T22:41:00.001-05:00

Do you see that lil' chocolate fishy up there? The wee lil' Favicon? Isn't he cute? I won the lil' fishy over at Striking Keys. And to win him I had to do *nothing.* I just liked Angela's blog a while back, but who wouldn't? She's hilarious & so organized. Thank you, Angela! I love my fishy & now that I'm Firefox-ified I can even see him!

Managing Tis Season

2010-12-21T15:33:00.005-05:00

"Managing" seems to be the motto this season. Managing as in... achieve something with difficulty: to succeed in doing something, especially something that seems difficult or impossible OR cope in a difficult situation: to survive or continue despite difficulties.

I managed to put up a few Christmas decorations. Nathan made the stars on the left & right. I made the one in the middle (so did my 2nd grade students).

I managed to put up a tree on a snowday. I was hesitant about putting up a tree. I even managed to buy the tree where Brent & I had bought one last year.

I had a few good laughs. It seems it took 20 picture snaps to get a decent, well-mannered one. (No, this is NOT the one!)

I made a pair of Turkish Bedsocks (using Koigu) for a very special person. I managed to get all my swap envelopes & the package out... albeit a bit late - but still scheduled to arrive before Christmas Eve. I also managed to bake a batch of coconut thumbprint cookies & we managed to devour them in less than 24 hours. I hid them from the children, but there was no one to hide them from me. Maybe I will manage to make another batch.

And Nuriel aka Nunu aka Noodle and I did a wee bit of Christmas shopping today. Her sweet lil' gift arrived in the mail and I got two things each for the boys. - I spent less than $60, but I bought things I know they will love.

Almost Christmas

2010-12-17T22:00:00.002-05:00

Nunu playing with her Christmas stocking.

I made it for Brent last year.

Feed Me!

2010-11-29T23:03:00.001-05:00

Who needs breastmilk if your big brother is willing to feed you some sausage, pancakes & eggs?

The First Advent

2010-11-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving... Can't help but think back to this day last year. Sigh... Well, one picture says it all & it's not even staged! Nunu is snoozing while I'm crafting some wool roving angels right next to her with my feet under the warm blanket. It's c-c-cold. They are for two ornament swaps I signed up for as well as a Ravelry Secret Elf kinda thing. I have always loved making them. It's almost like each one has a unique personality of sorts. She's a pacifier & thumb-sucking kinda girl. I was reluctant about the pacifier, but given that she spends mornings away from me I thought she needs somethin'. She has also found her thumb, though. The bonnet was an experiment. I love the green Koigu, but a bonnet is probably best worked using a solid color. It looks a bit like one of those British lawyer wigs - in green. Working on one more thing, which will need to remain a surprise for now... Happy Sunday!

Turkey Day

2010-11-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

All the beautiful children on Thanksgiving Day! We had a lovely, yummy day. Black Friday is not our sort of thing, so I'm giving some attention to crafting for the holidays & catching up in general. I'll have a post later this weekend to show you what I've been up to! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

So Far Behind...

2010-11-15T20:12:00.000-05:00

How far behind?

I'm wondering if it would be socially acceptable to send baby thank you notes & a birth announcement for a girl born in September with Christmas cards...

That far behind!

Lantern Walk

2010-11-13T10:19:00.001-05:00

Our school's lantern walk in celebration of Martinmas was yesterday. Nuri's first walk - attached to me in the Ergo carrier (which I *love*) & Noah's last walk as a grades student as he will be in high school next year. My students made simple lanterns using a sheet of watercolor paper. They drew on moons, stars, suns and shooting stars. I cut the shapes out with a paper knife and the students then glued colored wax paper over the cut-outs and finger-knit a handle for carrying.

Very simple lanterns, but they looked so pretty when lit! My students also insisted on making a mini version of this lantern for Nuri. Very sweet. I carried it for her, of course. I ended up not going with the idea my students had of attaching the lantern to a pacifier...

These are the lanterns Nathan's class created. Nifty construction, eh? I have no pictures of the walk as I tend to just want to enjoy the silent walking...

Origami Christmas Stars

2010-11-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

Nathan is saving up for an i-pod. He's selling these stars he folded from Japanese Origami paper in my etsy shop. They are coated with a hint of frost. They'd make a lovely somethin' on the Christmas tree. He can also add a clip, so they can be used as a gift wrap addition. He's taking custom orders. Go check it out!

Dear Mr. Who Had This Phone Number Before I Did...

2010-11-03T12:09:00.000-04:00

Please pay your bills! Bill collectors are calling daily. It's annoying.

And... Please stop messin' around with married women. The husbands who are calling are not happy campers & I am tired of explaining that I'm not even related to you.

Ughhh. Why do they recycle phone numbers? Honestly, I'm receiving more phone calls on my landline for "Mr. Who Had This Phone Number Before I Did" than for myself. A major nuisance.

Enough is enough. I've canceled my phone service, which unfortunately means I am also without internet for a bit. I shall return to blogging soon... when I have found an "internet only" provider. You know I can't stay away for too long... ;-)

Until then... Au revoir!

Insomnic Wondering...

2010-10-29T01:06:00.002-04:00

How do spammers know that a woman six weeks postpartum wants nothing more than some Viagra and a penis-implant?

I took a look into my spam folder. I should have taken a look much earlier. If only I had known years ago that a penis implant will help me have "cool sex." Cool sex? Don't we all want it to be hot sex? And I suppose I'd need the Viagra to make the penis-implant work?

Geez.

Do people really buy stuff by clicking on a spam link?

Hello. My name is Cadi. I bought my penis implant online...

Off to bed before I post more non-sense.

This Week

2010-10-29T00:05:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed a trip to a local farm with my class. We harvested some Arugula, and their large-scale salad spinner was actually a washing-machine. Funny to 3rd graders - as you can imagine.

A friend took some awesome photos of my daughter. She loves to hang on my arm like that & look into the world around her.

I'm also enjoying the crane mobiles that are approaching the finishing stages in the woodworking room at school. Looking forward to Noah bringing his home!

Where Am I?

2010-10-27T22:01:00.000-04:00

I'm somewhere...
Trying to find my blogging mojo.
Well, my overall mojo.
Running behind...
Tired. Exhausted. Overwhelmed.
Rough days leadin' up to his 50th.
We had plans for that, you know.
Awesome boys. Sweet lil' girl.
Needin' moe milk.
That would be...
... neither cat nor cow. ;-)
Hope to see you soon!

Health Insurance Nightmare

2010-10-24T22:46:00.000-04:00

In August my health insurance company pre-authorized the homebirth. When billed in September, they refused to pay. In the letter they said that the services required pre-authorization. Geez! Thank goodness I had the written pre-authorization still in my desk. I filed an appeal via phone & reminded them of the pre-authorization they had given. They assured me that things would be taken care of; told me that the claim processor had probably just overlooked the pre-authorization; told me I'd hear from them within 30 days. I assumed that they had made payment by now. How naive of me to think so! When going through my mail-pile this evening, there was another letter from them. This time they simply say that they are not going to make a payment. No reason given. Really, huh?

It makes me so mad that insurance companies can get away with behavior like that. When you've just given birth, or when you are sick, the last thing you wanna do is fight with an insurance company. And my excellent midwife is still waiting on getting paid six weeks after the birth?! This is just wrong on so many levels! I've written up another appeal. How can they refuse to pay if they have pre-authorized the services? Seems Kafkaesque. Some poor caseworker will be getting some steam from me in the morning. I want the insurance company to make a speedy payment to my midwife! Send me some good juju, please?!

A Mellow Autumn Sunday

2010-10-24T19:34:00.002-04:00

A lovely day of doing... not much of anything. Well, I did take a nap. That's doing something - right?!

Thanks to Pixie over at Peskypixies' Blog (Callin' her Pixie because I don't know if she's an out-of-the-closet blogger when it comes to her name...) for the sweet lil' pink cardigan. It's a perfect fit. Such a nice extra layer now that autumn weather brings some chilliness.

Hangin' with the brother.

These Days

2010-10-23T00:42:00.000-04:00

I received this from Jennifer over at Little Kiwi Chick earlier this week. Isn't it just so cute? Well, it's lucky timing for you, because she is having a Giveaway for one of these treasures over at her blog. To enter simply read this blog post. You can also buy one in her Felt shop. She actually did double-duty on this one. She started one in blue & then made a pink one after Nuriel was surprisingly born as a girl. Thank you, Jennifer. It's already found a special place in our home.

On another note... The back-to-work thing went surprisingly well. Nuri was happy & easy-going on both mornings. Her caregiver is such a blessing. She had a sweet Moses Basket with a lambskin prepared for Nuri & carries her around in a sling. I could not possibly have a better childcare situation! My students were excited to have their "strict" teacher back. We're in a "Money & Measurement" block. Upon learning about bartering/trading, some of my students came up with the idea of trading their siblings... Gotta love inventive 3rd graders!

Plan B

2010-10-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day of my maternity leave. It's back to teaching my lovely 3rd graders tomorrow. And while I love my job & know that Nuriel will be in a home filled with warmth & cared for by a lovely person & that she will only be there for a few hours each day, I can't help but have a heavy heart & some tears this afternoon. I'll miss my spunky girl. This was not what we had planned together the night before he died. Nevertheless, it is what it is & has to be...

Three People - One Shirt

2010-10-19T12:11:00.001-04:00

First.

Then.

Now.

Thank You!

2010-10-18T21:13:00.002-04:00

I've been a bit at loss as how to thank everyone for all the loving, generous gifts & support we have received over these past few weeks. Some I have posted about; some are not tangible, but in spirit; others were eaten before a picture was ever taken; still others have been photographed. I could blog for a month about all the beautiful creations and thoughtful gifts and I would probably still leave some out... So, I want all of you to know that each & every gift has brightened our days & for that I thank you with all my heart. Maybe you'll see a picture of your gift here in the future, maybe not - either way please do know that we are so grateful for all we have received & we send love & blessings your way! ~ Namaste!

It gives me shivers to see my spunky girl without a hat. She wears one 99% of the time. I promise! You know, I'm a trained Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher. Warmth is my soap box. Such a cute picture, though.

Cat Milk Trifle

2010-10-16T23:24:00.001-04:00

It's pretty simple. We've been milking our cats. By Christmas we hope to have enough milk to make the pudding for the Trifle using "cat milk." The end.

Just kidding.

Some of you will find this strange, but here in the U.S. all raw milk I have ever purchased has been labeled with "for cats & dogs only." When we lived in Germany, the kids would go to the farmer to get our milk in a lil' milk pail. Raw milk. Fresh from the cow. When we lived in Chicago-suburbia, we encountered the "for cats & dogs only" for the first time. I remember just putting the milk in the fridge. I knew why it was labeled as such. Noah didn't read the label until he went for the 2nd glass & exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Mom!!! I just drank the wrong milk!" So funny! Even my kids thought it was weird that such labeling needs to take place. The government lets us smoke cigarettes, but we can't drink raw milk? Yeah. They are really concerned about our health, huh? Anyhoo.

Last autumn a family had gifted me with a CSA from Farm to Family - raw milk included. Brent thought it was the oddest thing that the milk had to be labeled in that way & we jokingly started calling it "cat milk." "A bit more 'cat milk' with my coffee, please?!" "Yummy. Cookies & 'cat milk.'" When Brent & I went to my Mom's house for Christmas, we took ingredients to make a Trifle - organic & from scratch. Of course we weren't going to let that "cat milk" go to waste. I remember Brent saying, "New Zealand Trifle must be made with 'cat milk'" when we prepared it in my Mom's kitchen. My family was bewildered, but they ate it. They probably thought the liberal use of Sherry outdid the potential traces of "cat milk" they might consume...

So, as I was just thinking about Christmas in one of my sentimental moments, I thought of "Cat Milk Trifle." We must have "Cat Milk Trifle" with Christmas dinner!

Signed,

A Naked, Depressed Fish Drinking "Cat Milk"

Pause & Breathe

2010-10-16T22:33:00.001-04:00

Two reasons for not blogging much these days:

(1) There's no denying I'm going through a rough patch. It's best to not blog daily when this happens. I have no intention to rename this blog "A Drowning Fishy." Ha.

(2) I feel like a "naked blogger" with my camera not letting me upload pictures to the laptop.

I will thus spare you the adventures of a naked, drowning fishy - at least for today.

If I Could Turn Back Time...

2010-10-14T23:37:00.002-04:00

It is still strange for me to be in places where he has been. Today Noah had a presentation at school & I needed to leave to nurse Nuriel. I sat down in the big hall where school functions take place. It was empty & quiet. And as I sat there nursing her, my eyes tried to find the spot where he sat at a festival last December. Back then the chairs in the room had been arranged in a circle. I remember sitting with my class on the opposite side & us making eye-contact a few times during some very beautiful moments. I did not know then that I was already pregnant with Nuriel. I could pin-point the spot where he sat almost exactly. I kept staring at it as if I expected a big cloud to show up out of nowhere, with him emerging from it... Needless to say that didn't happen.

Yes, grief has been hittin' me intensely these past few days. It's like a wave. Gotta ride it out. At least so far it hasn't had the intensity of one that sends you flying off the surfing board and makes you ache all over as your body hits the water... It's not one of the sobbing ones; it's more like numbness.

Edited to add: After hitting the publish button, I realized it's the 14th today. Nuri is a month old. Time flies!

Meet The Crazy Sane Family

2010-10-12T20:48:00.004-04:00

Early evening.

Noah is complaining about the laundry service. He can't find a shirt. Similar to the other night when he couldn't find a pair of clean shorts & I found three in his closet... I tell him he's welcome to do his own laundry if he has a problem with the service I provide. Secretly I hope he will choose that option. It would make my job so much easier! Anyhow. He finds a shirt after all & tells me to feed my attitude to the alligators. (My attitude? Gasp. Yeap. He really said that! Gasp again.)

Nathan is sitting on the exercise ball in the birthing tub & shooting little pellets across the living-room, using a bra of mine as a sling-shot, while reciting a poem of a drunken cowboy who finds himself on a hellbound train. - No! He didn't learn that poem as part of the school curriculum!

Nuriel is screaming. Screaming as in screaming. Her head is fiery red. Her mouth is open so wide & she's so out of it, she doesn't realize that the object of her desire (aka nipple) is already in her mouth! --- I'm (of course, as you can imagine) the calm center of it all. (Yeah, right!)

Do you smell a disaster brewing? I sure did! Because just a few minutes later we were leaving to attend the high school information fair & I really needed Noah to leave a positive impression.

Gasp.

Guess what?

He presented himself as a competent student with social skills & a fine vocabulary. --- Nathan did an excellent job looking like the younger brother who is already interested in his own high school education. --- Nuriel was the sleeping epitome of sweetness.

We are the Sane Family after all. You already knew that, right?