Kathreen

My dear friends, I'm heartbroken this morning having read the sad news about Kathreen Ricketson and her family while on their family road trip. Kathreen has been an immense source of support and encouragement and connection to me throughout my years of blogging and sewing, as I'm sure she was to so many. I worked with Kathreen on Kid's Crafternoon Sewing and a few guest blogs at WhipUp, but mostly she kept me searching for greater and more beautiful ways to integrate craft and family and life. Kathreen's work focused onbuilding community, which is amazing and generous and oh-so-needed today.

Here's a lovely interview she gave after founding WhipUp.

Stay informed at WhipUp to contribute to a fund for their children.

Flip Dolls & Other Toys that Zip, Stack, Hide, Grab, and Go

I have to say, publishing a book feels very surreal. I always feel a little goofy telling people I wrote a book - because, really? Did I do that?

Most of my contact with my editor Thom at Lark Crafts  has been by email, with a few phone calls and letters - but never in person. So, occasionally, I've wondered if I'm really like the guy in A Beautiful Mind: anxiously working on projects I can't show anyone, spending hours writing and editing, and mailing away my work in large cardboard boxes; only to one day discover that I've really been corresponding with spammers and all of my plush toys have been stuffed into a hollow log in the woods.

But then yesterday, the UPS man, who seemed to be quite real, delivered an advanced copy of the book, right to my door. And then I saw that Flip Dolls & Other Toys is available on Amazon for pre-order already! And let me tell you, its slick and beautiful, with gorgeous photos and bright colors, and a layout that makes me giddy.

Don't worry, you'll hear more about it soon. It will be officially released in August, and I can't wait to show you all the fun projects in the book!

Egg Drop Soup

It turns out everyone in our house loves Egg Drop Soup, and it's super quick to make. John and I are always up for a good soup recipe, but the girls are a little hit and miss - so I was thrilled that both kids gobbled this up. Here's my recipe:

• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1-2 TBSPs soy sauce 
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 cups dried egg noodles
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
• 1 TBSP tahini (or 1 tsp Asian Sesame oil)

Bring stock, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. My chicken stock is unsalted, so I used 2 TBSPs soy sauce, but you may want to use less. Stir in the egg noodles and simmer, until tender. Add the beaten eggs slowly, stirring constantly. Let simmer until the eggs are cooked. Remove from the pot from the heat, and stir in the green onions and tahini. Salt to taste. 

I used tahini in place of asian sesame oil, because I always have tahini - and it adds great flavor! The soup was done in 30 minutes, maybe, so definitely going to add this to the rotation.

Koulourakia

A friend of mine asked me to try his recipe for Koulourakia. And given my love for baking things in funny shapes, I've made these many times now. They're kind of like the Christmas butter cookies I grew up with, but not nearly as dry. Plus, they're super pretty with sesame seeds sprinkled on top, and they go nicely with hot coffee in the morning. 

There appear to be as many variations of this recipe as there are Greek bloggers. :) This recipe is close to the one I used, but this one is nice, too, with lots of pictures. I took some pictures to show how I twisted the shapes. A good recipe will make a strong dough that's not too sticky so they twist up quickly and nicely. 

Memorization Book

I saw this idea somewhere recently and thought it would be perfect for my dishwashing time. I've already been practicing memorizing songs and poems during the dishes, so when I saw the idea for a memorization book I thought it would expand my endeavors.

The idea is to write down lyrics or poems you want to memorize in a little book, then carry it with you and when you have down time (waiting rooms, check out lines, doing the dishes) you can pop this little book out of your pocket or purse and study. Keeping a small book close will make learning easier and more convenient.

Making and decorating it is the fun part, though. This is pretty similar to other books I've made on this blog, but with a cover glued to the outside. If you make the cover from card stock, the book is a little prettier and good bit sturdier.

1. Fold 3-4 sheets of regular letter paper and 1 sheet of card stock in half. 

2. Cut along the fold, and stack, so you have 6-8 sheets of paper. Use one of the cardstock halves for another book.

3. Fold the books in half again.

4. Sew with a sewing machine down the fold of the white paper, binding the pages together. You can use a stapler if you'd rather.

5. Apply rubber cement to the inside of the card stock and the outside of the book. Allow them to dry completely.

6. Mount the white paper inside the card stock so that the two gluey sides are touching. Press to seal the glue together.

7. Now start writing!

In addition to a few prayers and psalms, I've also been memorizing fun songs to sing with the girls. Muppets are a personal favorite. I think a book like this would be great for kids who are a bit older than mine, who can write a read. And I always love adding a new handmade book to the kids shelf.

So here's a quick Muppet song to sing while you wash your dishes:

This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,Almost unreal, yet, it's too soon to feel yet.Close to my soul, and yet so far away.I'm going to go back there someday.
Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls.Is that a song there, and do I belong there?I've never been there, but I know the way.I'm going to go back there someday.
Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,We'll both be completely at home in midair.We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.We can hold onto love like invisible strings.
There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?You can just visit, but I plan to stay.I'm going to go back there someday.I'm going to go back there someday.

A Bag for Ruthie

 

My sewing is sporadic these days, so its nice to put something together, and see it turn out well. My sister's dog Ruthie spends a couple of days each week at doggie day-care, and she was in need of a new travel bag. This bag is kind of like most of the other bags I make: square, box corners, pockets on the inside - except much bigger. Much, much bigger.

I also made her some dog toys from the left over fabric scraps. That's right, coordinating bag and toys. She's a lucky dog.

We made the Solar System.

The girls and I took another stab at flour dough crafts this week with a solar system mobile. I found several nice pictures of the planets and their relative scale, thanks to google image search, and mixed up some dough. This was a fun project for too many reasons:
1. Because my kids love anything outer space-y
2. Because we all love to get our hands into something
3. Because, unlike last time we played with flour dough, this time I used food coloring to dye the dough, so there was no messy painting involved
4. Because, I didn't have to buy anything
5. Because, it combined arts, science and math
6. Because, its so pretty!

My flour dough recipe came from an 80's Childcraft (the Make and Do volume) with awesome illustrations. We baked the dough for about 2 hours at 250 degrees. You don't have to bake the dough, unless you want to speed the process, but the idea is to dry it out with out browning it - so don't set the oven any higher than 250.

The school-y part was talking about scale and colors. We mixed colors, learning how to mix green, gray, orange and brown. Plus, we talked about big and small and all the sizes in between. Ours aren't really to scale (especially the sun as you may notice) - we had a limited amount of dough and cookie cutter sizes, but the variation in sizes was on the right level for their age group.

We flattened the dough and cut circles from biscuit cutters, jar lids, chap stick caps, and pen caps - all providing various sizes of circles. We added distinguishing marks - the red spot for Jupiter, the rings for Saturn and Uranus, water and land for earth, tails on the comets. Once they were on the pan, I made a hole in each by wiggling a straight pin near the top. After they were baked, I used this hole to hang them like ornaments from a tension rod.

Our actual discussion of science was integrated into the making. We talked about how close a planet is to a sun affects how hot it is, how tiny the moon is compared to the other planets, how Earth is the only planet people can live on, etc, etc. They are really into space, so most of this is repeated facts they already know - but of course, little ones like this like repetition. 

Ready for the oven. We made a (not to scale) rocket ship from leftover dough.

Earth and her moon

Saturn - the ring wraps all the way around, of course.

Jupiter with her red spot.

We all loved the finished product, and I hope it hangs in their window for a long time to come. At least until their old enough to do another one. :)

Printable Valentines and Valentine-y Baking

I love baking with the kids. Its fun for them, but its also a whole lot of fun for me - I enjoy explaining to them what each ingredient does, and math is more fun when it has a practical application. Plus, the girls get goofy and brave about wanting to try every ingredient. I warn them, "Baking soda doesn't taste good!" But they try it anyway, which is quite remarkable to me, and we have fun conversations about how each ingredient plays a different role. I reward them with a large chunk of brown sugar - and, of course, a finished cookie, too.

And I think the fact that I genuinely enjoy that time together means something to them. They can tell when I'm having fun, and it makes a difference. It's something to be remember as a parent. Anytime we're having a rough day, "Let's make cupcakes!" quickly turns things around for all of us.

So I decided to make some fun baking themed Valentines, in honor of our baking time and our love of chocolate... and okay, my love of puns, too. They're pretty bad, but oh so good, too. Here they are:

Cookie cutter: I ❤ you.
Cupcake: Be my cupcake.
Donut: I like you a hole lot.
Cookie: You're one smart cookie.
Brownie: You scored some brownie points.
Lollipops: I'm a sucker for you.

All six valentines fit on one page. The pdf includes both a color and a black/white version in case you'd like to color them yourself. Printing on card stock will make them more like store bought valentines. Just, cut them out, and write a note on the back. Of course, they'd go nicely tucked into a basket of cookies, but that's up to you. :) Download the Valentine's here.

I'll be coloring some with the girls and try to get some in the mail in the next week. Looks like I'll be explaining puns to them, too - that should be fun!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. I think you're all smart cookies.

Wendy Wilson and Dog Toys

We got a new puppy this past fall. She is quickly finding her place here, as if she was always meant to be. I'm not exactly a dog person - I've had to learn how to train here. But I'm glad I did.

She is all puppy now, and chews on everything she can get her teeth on, including the bucket full of stuffed animals the girls have. So I decided to make her a quick stuffed toy or two. I made it from two layers of sturdy canvas, hoping it would last a little while. I just folded it over and zig zagged around the edges. Plus, I tucked a treat inside the stuffing, hoping she'd smell it and go for this toy over the kids' animals.

So far, she hasn't broken through it yet to get the treat - which I'm actually kind of surprised about. Maybe one layer of canvas was enough? I don't know how long the treat inside will stay good, so I was hoping she'd tear into it in just a few days. We'll see.  

How can you say know to that face? Anybody know how long the chewy puppy stage lasts?

Chicken Love

We've had chickens for many years now, but mostly they're John's chickens. I like to watch them, and occasionally throw some corn at them, and (of course) eat the eggs. But John has always been the one who takes care of them. 

But this winter, I was home without him for about a week, and so, for the first time, I took charge of the daily chicken chores: feeding them, letting them out, collecting and washing the eggs, locking them up each night, and with the freezing temperatures, replacing the frozen water in their jug each day. 

Each morning, they clucked wildly around their frozen water dish until I came to replace it. And when I let them out of the hen house, they charged me like a pack of feathery velociraptors hungry for cracked corn. At night, I'd slog out through the dark and the freezing mud to lock them in away from predators. I woke up in the night to google chickens in freezing temperatures to make sure they'd be okay.

These aren't difficult chores, but they are absolutely vital to the dear little chickens. And there is a rhythm to these chores, that settles you and softens you, and re-connects you to the external world that central-heat-and-air so often hides from us. I have been grateful that John did all the work... but now I wonder if I wasn't missing out on something?

Love begets love, and today I love these chickens.

Happy New Year!

The holidays are so often a rush and a whisper - a whirlwind of busy-ness and a call to peacefulness.  Ours has been a bit paradoxical, both lovely and lonely. And I am eager to hold on to the lingering lovely moments that we have before our routine returns, to hold on to them and plant them into our routine.

I made an absolutely beautiful loaf of bread, but didn't bother to photograph it until it was almost gone. Yet, its beauty persists each morning as we eat another toasted slice. 

And despite our abnormal schedule and irregular appointments, we are still pouring two cups of coffee each morning and washing the dishes [most days]. This is beautiful, too. This is life and it persists despite our disrupted routines.

I have no idea what is in store this year, what projects we will undertake, what joys and tragedies we will face, but I am going in with my eyes wide open. I am determined to make this a year of love and not argument. I am looking and looking. Wishing you much love and beauty this year!

"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty... 

And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also - and this is not always as easy - with regard to groups of people or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. 

Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. 

Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live." - Met. Anthony Bloom

Christ is Born!

In fact, Christ is born all over our house, in a variety of manger scenes finally being completed! My favorite certainly being this little doll in the wooden manger John made. He's just a bit too long, but still I think he looks rather comfy on his bed of hay.

I made the head Waldorf style - although I just did it from memory, and I'm sure I didn't do it quite right. The body was just sort of a stuffed tube that the head was stitched onto, and the swaddling clothes stitched on permanently as well. We'll keep him around for the 12 days of Christmas before hiding the baby away for next year, when we will marvel again at the baby who comes to bring peace to the world. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

American Lussekatter

I might as well say "Lucy Cats" since there is nothing Swedish about my bread. I saw lots of talk about St. Lucia day, and since I love an excuse to make shaped bread, AND I loved Kirsten as a kid (and in fact have her tucked away in the attic. Shhh! I don't want to tell the girls I have her until they finally sit through one of the books!) I thought we should have a little last minute St. Lucia day celebration, too. 

At first, I dreamed of the girls letting me sleep in, and then waking me, dressed in pretty gowns and bearing fresh-from-the-oven sweet bread and hot coffee, to serve me breakfast in bed.

But then I woke up and decided a tea party was a better idea.

Unfortunately, I had already started mixing the ingredients before I learned of the vital (and rare and expensive) ingredient saffron. Even more unfortunately, I realized too late that I didn't actually have enough flour to turn this batter into bread. So I stuck the goopy mess in the refrigerator. Yes, this is how I roll.

The next day, I added some flour and cinnamon and a few other entirely non-Swedish-tradition ingredients and braided up this bread.  I intended to shape them all into the cat shapes (sort of a cross made of 2 S's), but it was messy and the kids were yelling, and so I quickly braided the rest into a Lucia crown, and threw them in the oven. 

It was quite ill-planned - nevertheless, we sat down to our tea party with sweet bread, cocoa, candles and a little reading from the end of the Kirsten book. (spoiler! It's St. Lucia day and guess who gets to be St. Lucia!) The girls loved the story and (surprisingly) the bread, although the cocoa was a touch too hot. It's amazing how sticking a candle into your food can get everyone in a festive mood, and plenty of sugar glaze will keep everyone quietly licking their fingers while you read. Yes, it was a good time. 

Herod in His Raging

I'm overwhelmed by sadness today.  I had never heard this beautiful Christmas hymn until yesterday, which tells of the innocent children Herod killed in his search for Christ. It is unfortunately so fitting. Peace to you all.  

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh,

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Space Stations, and Meteorites and Holy Nights

We've enjoyed being outside with the girls and especially watching the sky with them. Its very dark at our new house since we are far from any street lights, which makes the star gazing absolutely amazing. Seriously.

This week has been especially fun, with all the organizing credit going to John (okay, and the folks at NASA, too). John signed up for Spot the Station, a free program by NASA that will send you text or email alerts telling you when the International Space Station is visible in your area. John has been spotting the ISS for a few months now, but this week the timing was at the perfect time in the evening when we could all bundle up and sit outside together. It was very cool to see and to think about the astronauts on board (the NASA website is also very cool). Space stuff is always a little mind boggling to me in all of its paradoxes: far away but visible, empty but infinite.

Left to Right: Windows, Space Station, Jupiter

I know you're amazed at my crazy photography skills. Yes, that dot of light is impressive. But seriously, it's fun to watch and it passes over fairly quickly, so check it out if you can.

Last night, we bundled up for another adventure - watching a meteor shower! The peak time was at 3:00 AM, but there was no moon or clouds, so they were visible for most of the night. We took the girls out from 7-8PM and made a cozy bed in the back of the truck and watched patiently. We probably saw two dozen shooting stars, and the girls were thrilled with each sighting. You can keep up with what you can see in the sky each night at EarthSky, although John says sometimes you have to google around for meteor showers and comet sights. He got up again at 3 to watch at the peak time, and said he saw 75 shooting stars that were brilliant! I'd say that was worth losing sleep.

It seems fitting to marvel at the stars during the Christmas season.  It reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas Carols, O Holy Night. I prefer the version with the coffee commercial, but I couldn't find it, so here's one with a scene from the Nativity Story. Happy star gazing to all!