Composter

John built us a compost tumbler this year. It sits near the back door by our kitchen and has been so handy. We've been wanting one for awhile, but they can be pretty expensive. So, naturally, John decided to build one himself using one of these big barrels.

We've had other composting attempts in the past, but they never seemed to work out.  We had compost piles that were far from the house  - which mean we'd fill a bucket for awhile in the kitchen that got too gross, plus it would be inconvenient to carry it to the pile, so we'd often forget. I've learned that for composting to work for our family it needs to be convenient and avoid the yuck factor.

John's barrel by the door is pretty convenient. I don't keep a compost bucket inside, I just put scraps in a dish while I'm cooking, so I have to take it out after every meal.  This helps avoid yuckiness inside. Of course, the composter is still a bit yucky when you open the lid, but we try to throw in grass whenever it gets too buggy, and keep it rotated.

He built it so that he could roll a wheel barrow underneath it to empty the compost, and I think the height also makes it convenient for throwing things in. I don't have a step by step on his process or anything, but I think there are plenty of ways you could easily make something like this.

Yay for dirt!

School Resources

I've been saving up these links, but I'm so behind in school I haven't gotten around to using most of them.  I thought I'd go ahead and post these great pre-school school ideas here, so you (and I) can find these links. Sometimes I get bogged down thinking I could make all this stuff myself.  And maybe I could, but that's not really the point - I don't have too!

One page printable Itty Bitty books to help kids learn colors. I keep forgetting that my little one has to start at the beginning too...

Great lapbook activities based on Eric Carle's Brown Bear. (We actually put this together!)
More Tot books by the same blogger. 

Mini Mural Sets and Masterpiece coloring books, that I love love. I can't resist introducing kids to famous painters.

Sequence cards for math readiness.  There are tons of these - which is great.  It may seem like the same exercise over and over, but the kids still love doing it.


Birds nest helpers - such a cute springtime activity.  Gotta get my act together to do this...

Monsters

These monsters are friends.  They're hugging.  Aw

I adore when my kids make up projects by themselves.  They are always endlessly thrilling and lovely. We've been quite over-scheduled this year (have I mentioned that yet?) and so I've lightened up on our pre-schooling during the spring.  L has compensated by doing "school" projects on her own.

He doesn't see the sun, because it's behind him. That's funny, because it so big.

One day she sat down and drew a dozen full page size monsters.  When she finished John helped her cut them out and we taped them on the wall.  We cut some green paper to make a little horizon line, then she decided to add trees and clouds and suns (plural).

This monster is taller than the trees!  And the trees are so tall they touch the clouds!

I was so enchanted with how she drew their teeth and wings, how the clouds were like "white trees," and the trees were mostly trunks.  We kept the little scene on the wall for a few weeks, but when it was time to take them down, we taped her figures onto thick paper and stapled them into a book. She made them all quite big so it was hard to fit much on a page - but she enjoyed thinking about overlapping shapes and the new relationships the figures had to one another.

Do you know why I put the tape here, Mommy? Because I thought it might tear right there.

It cracks me up to see this book, with claws and wings sticking out everywhere.  I have no idea where to keep it, but I'm so glad to have it.

Rattle Tutorial

I started to make a rattle-y toy for my book, but then it got scrapped. Still, I spent quite a bit of time investigating the best way to make the rattle part of the toy and thought I'd share these thoughts.


 Make the rattle
Maybe, like me, you've learned the hard way you can't just stick a jingle bell inside of a plush toy.  The stuffing compressed around it muffles the bell.  My next thought was to stick it inside a plastic container to allow some air around it, but, to my surprise, the jingle bell rolling around inside the plastic egg became a muffled bell, and you could hardly hear the jingle of the bell.

a jingle bell rattle

So, for a jingle bell, I found that the best solution is to glue the bell to the plastic egg (or whatever container you're using.  I used the small eggs that come from those 25 cent machines at the laundromat, but you could also use Easter eggs, prescription bottles, tic tac containers, etc.).  So I used a strong glue to attach the bell to the lid of the egg - make sure the glue doesn't seep into the jingle bell and glue the little ball down!  When its dry you can close the egg and secure it closed however you like - more glue, duck tape, etc.  The result is a jingle bell that doesn't roll around and has plenty of air to make a nice jingle.

a bean rattle

If you just want a bean rattle, you don't need to glue anything in place, just fill your eggs part way with beans (or plastic pellets, BBs, buttons, etc).  Be sure to leave plenty of space so they can move around.  Experiment with different materials to see what sounds they make. Then close the egg securely as before.


Inserting it in the toy
First wrap the rattle in a little batting.  You can secure the batting around the egg with a little glue, or by whipstitch around it.  Stick the rattle in the fullest part of the toy, and be sure that you put stuffing around it on all sides. This helps it get lost inside instead of feeling like a hard lump.

Those are my tips.  How do you make a rattle?

short dates

We've been too busy this semester to schedule any real dates - but we've had fun nonetheless catching a few special moments.  Here's a little catch up.

20 minute Valentine's dinner

the guest list

the party planning committee

L's painting of "Mommy and Daddy kissing on their wedding day"

3 minute anniversary date photo

Spring flower gardens

The girls were talking about flowers, and so we spent a day buying and planting flowers and seeds. I especially looked for flowers that would go from seed to bloom in a short time.  We used: Nasturtiums, Marigolds, Zinnias, and forget me nots. 

We also made a big pot look like miniature garden. It seemed timely with easter, and I really wanted to make a tomb and stone so it could be a resurrection garden (like this, this, this, or this), but we never quite got there.  Still we planted it with succulents and flowers, then made a path of moss and set a rock in the middle. The girls talked about what they might do in the garden if they were small enough to walk in it: pray, think think think, smell the flowers.

Of course, I did have to pull their dinosaurs and dogs (who are small enough to walk in it) out of the garden several times the first week because they enjoyed jumping on the flowers.  The seeds have grown really well, and their getting quite tall now.

No blooms yet, but we're keeping an eye on them.

Spring Dresses

I saw this crazy simple lovely shirred skirt tutorial a month or so ago, and while I still haven't made one for myself, I thought that it would work so well with the pajama pattern I had just made for the girls.  But instead, I decided to lengthen the top and make it a dress, making it flare out a bit at the bottom.  I did about 10 rows of shirring. Again it was super simple, and it looked so lovely with a little sweater.

I think Lou's dress turned out looking more pajama like, but I think it's because the fabric is a bit thin.  Anyway, it would make a great night gown, too, right?

And then I made bloomers, cause let me tell you teaching a 4 year old to keep her skirt down is rough (let's not even mention the 2 year old).  Again I used the same pajama pants pattern, but made them really short. I used some stretch lace around the legs to make them snug around the legs and add a little frill.  Unfortunately, you can't see the lace at all here, because by the time I took this photo they'd been running around through the grass like crazy, and I feel like a bad mom when I make my kids stand still for pictures too long (not to mention pictures of their bloomers).  But anyway, you get the idea.

I realized as I took these photos that this will be our last summer here at this house, which is oh so bittersweet.  Such lovely memories here.

Buy this bread book, already.

I've been making so much bread lately. I love the 5 minutes a day bread book more and more every day.  Most of the time I use the basic dough, use half wheat/half white, and just bake simple loaves.
We eat it with honey, hummus, or roasted garlic.  Or plain, or sandwiches.  It's so convenient and so yummy.  The olive oil dough is our next favorite/most frequent, but I'm launching out into brioche now, so I'll have to get back to you on that soon...

Spring Pajamas!

I have to preface this post with the disclaimer that I don't usually make clothing patterns - and the main reason is that I really don't know how to convert something from one size to another.  Still I like to sew clothes when I can, and I can't help but love the simplicity of this style of shirt.  So anyway, don't think of this as a pattern so much as a how-I-did-it-maybe-you-can-too.

These pjs were made during a few stolen hours one  Saturday, when I was supposed to be sewing for the book.  I saw this very pink flowery fabric and it suddenly dawned on me - this would be perfect for light spring pajamas! - because, I don't know why, but they love to be extra girly at pajama time. 

I realized (while taking the picture of my unwilling models) that these clothes are a whole lot like the doll clothes patterns I've posted before.  And because that's true, I haven't bothered to draft the pants here.  If you need help, check out my doll clothes pattern, or have a look at Soulemama or Rookiemoms. I always trace a pair of pants I already have.

The shirt is basically a raglan shirt with a really wide neck. You add elastic to make it a normal size with a ruffly kind of look.

The size I drafted below is what I'm calling a 3T. I enlarged it for the older kid, and it seemed a little too big, so then I had to take it up.  So it seems like if you're enlarging you need to add less width than height?  Does that sound right?  Anybody know?

Well, anyway.  The dimensions I used are below, with instructions for the shirt in the photo.  It's super easy (just the way I like it), I made both sets of pjs in only a couple of hours.

And coming soon,  I turned this same pattern into a spring dress set...

Self-Portraits

In college I started a habit of taking a snapshot of myself at significant milestones.  These were the days before digital cameras that do all the work for you, so most of these pictures turned out blurry, dark or cropped funny.  

I continued doing this after John and I started our family. Thankfully, digital cameras came along, so most of them are at least in focus.  But another important difference is the change in my sense of "self." Today, I get the camera ready, but before I snap the picture, we all smoosh our faces as close together as possible and say, "cheeeeeeese." 

I was thinking of this today, as I pored over our silly photos. I am so grateful to be bigger than just me, to be a part of a family. Its far too easy to take this for granted, and makes me all the more aware of all my various close friends and that bond, too.

Family Portrait on the day we closed on our house!

We still have busy-ness in abundance - but I'm tentatively back to blogging.  Watch for a few patterns and tutorials this spring/summer, and plenty of house building updates!