One Hook Wonder

Minky Is The Devil

It slips and it slides.  It's difficult to pin 2 pieces of it together accurately.  It sheds all over the place once it's cut.  It's very difficult to embroider on. 

But it does make a nice soft bunny:

 

Introducing Bunny #1, who will make her way into Bean's Easter basket next month:

 

I had originally picked a different bunny pattern, but once I received it and looked it over, I realized that I'd rather eat a fire ant (slowly, and with relish) than sew up three of those suckers.  Luckily I came across the free pattern for this bunny here on Craftster.   I love how sweet and innocent she looks - like she's ready for lots and lots of hugs. 

The only thing I'm torn on is the face.  To me her face looks kind of bland; I'm thinking that I might need to go over the bottom of her mouth some more.  She's got a tiny smile under there - you just can't see it that easily.  Thoughts?

Good Stuff On A Dreary Day

Looking out at freshly mulched strawberry plants:

 

Feeling like there's finally an end in sight to our dining room project (drywalling starts on Tuesday!):

 

Watching the neighbors' horses come running because they know you have carrots for them:

 

 

And returning home for some of The Mister's blueberry crisp - made from blueberries that I picked last summer:

Spring Nature Table

Spring has sprung in a wonderful way here.  It's been gorgeous every single day lately.  We've been spending lots of time taking walks, playing outside, and working in the garden. 

Short Pants has been carefully adding to our new Spring nature tray each day.  He's had fun gathering wild violets and dandelions from our yard, and even brought some duck feathers home today from the park: 

 

I haven't gotten around to adding any bunnies yet, but I did get this little pipecleaner and roving sheep made:

 

Well, now that I think about it, I have been working on bunnies - just not any for the nature tray.  After all, we have 3 kids here who need bunnies in their Easter baskets (Boba will be more than happy to be left out in this case!).  Hope you're enjoying Spring as much as we are.

Cage Match - Rudolph Steiner Takes On Maria Montessori

I've found myself re-examining how we do things around here.  As I've said before, we're kinda sorta Waldorf people.  I love Waldorf's emphasis on nature, which has added so much to our family.  I also love the emphasis on simplicity, imagination, and open-ended toys made from natural materials.  Oh, and rhythm - you gotta love Waldorf's take on creating a rhythm for your home and children's lives.  I think in this age of trying to beat the ABCs into our 3-month-olds by Leap Frog WhatHaveYous that delayed academics ain't all that bad.  I feel very fortunate to have discovered Waldorf when Short Pants was still a toddler because I've seen the benefits right before my eyes.  I mean geez...learning about playsilks ALONE has been worth it.  Here he is acting at being a kangaroo with a playsilk tied on as his "pouch":

 

And take a look at his "joey" - a small silk tied into a square.  He played with these 2 silks for a good hour that day:

But...we're kinda sorta Waldorf people instead of just being Waldorf People for a reason.  I can't believe that fairies are real.  I can't tell my 3-year-old that gnomes create the weather.  I don't believe that dressing my little ones in earth colors versus pastels is really going to affect them fundamentally as people.  Now, I'm not saying that one can't or shouldn't believe those things - it's just not for me.  I just can't buy into the Total Waldorf Package. 

So I've started reading about Montessori Methods.  Guess what?  I can't buy into the Total Montessori Package either. 

Huh.  I think I'm just not a Total Package kind of person.  I think I'm more of the Build Your Own Package variety.  Kind of like Build-a-Bear, but with childrearing methods instead of stuffed animals. 

Short Pants and I normally do activites from a Waldorfy nature-based curriculum throughout the week, but I think in addition to that I'm going to add some Montessori activities as well.  He's been very interested in learning letters lately, and while Waldorf philosophy calls for delaying things like that till he's older, the issue is that he's not going to up and go to a Waldorf school one day.  It's good old public school here, folks.  Plus, I'm not busting out Nazi Flashcard Mom, know what I mean?  I ordered some sandpaper letters so we could follow the Montessori method of teaching letter sounds.  We've already started some practical life/motor skill activities, and he's really enjoyed them.  Friday he worked on sorting beans:

 

And then using some small pitchers I bought at Goodwill he practiced pouring them:

 

The Mister and I have both been working on catching ourselves when we begin to do things for him instead of encouraging him to do for himself.  I LOVE the Montessori way of showing a child that work is both necessary and good.  A lot of it to me is just common sense; I've always made an effort to include Short Pants as I go about my daily tasks - now I'm just reminded to even more. 

So, to wind up this long-winded self-indulgent blog post, I think that combining bits of both philosophies is what's going to work best for our family. 

It's amazing to me when I think about it.  I've been a parent for almost 14 years, and I still learn something new about parenting each day.  I still don't have it all figured out, and I never will. 

And that's ok. 

Countdown To Spring

Short Pants has been very excited about the fact that Spring is so near.  For him it signifies some really important things:  more chances to play outside, working with me in the garden, and going on long hikes.  One thing he's been super excited about is the story of the Root Children sewing their new clothes and transforming into Flower Children.  Last year I never got around to making Flower Children for the nature tray, so this last week I took a night to craft some simple ones out of wooden people.  I know I saw the inspiration for these in either an etsy shop or on someone's blog, but for the life of me can't remember who to give the credit to.  Here we have Snowdrop, Wild Violet, and Dandelion (ok, technically not a flower but I like them so there):

 

The plan is to have a Flower Child replace a Root Child every other day till Spring.  Last night Snowdrop came out and waited for discovery by one eager little boy.  Friday I'll be transforming the entire tray for Spring (I'm hoping to make some sheep and bunnies before then), but this is our late winter nature tray currently:

 

Mother Earth has started her garden by putting out some onions and potatoes, and the ladybugs (whose corpses I vacuum up on a daily basis) have come out to play, but King Winter still reigns and 2 of the Root Children still sleep.  A small part of me can't believe that I just typed that!  Next thing you know I'll be wearing hippy skirts, wool socks, and sandals!

On a sad note, my sister and brother-in-law lost a friend to cancer yesterday morning.  She was a young mother of 3 children.  Please keep her husband and babies in your thoughts.

Eleven

How did this happen?  The 7 lb. 1 oz. baby who cried incessantly her first few weeks has seemingly grown overnight into a Twilight-obsessed preteen.  Happy Birthday, my sweet girl.  I love you and always will:

 

 

And because every girl, no matter how fast she's growing up, needs a birthday crown:

 

 

You People Just Love The Big Asses, Don't You?

Really.  I've never seen so much adoration for the big booty.  Oh, and to the person who googled "pita big butt magazine" - what in the hell were you thinking?!  You are seriously not right.  And by the way, what does it mean?  We've had some wagers going on here, but I doubt any of them come close to the truth.

I got a spiffy new camera the other day because Short Pants accidently broke mine.  While I wasn't pleased to have to pay for a new camera, I was kind of pleased to end up with a better one.  We are of the We Don't Buy New Electronic Gadgets Just Because They've Come Out With Much Better Ones breed here in the One Hook household. We are more of the We Will Continue To Use Electronic Gadgets From 1987 If They Still Work kind of people, much to my chagrin.  I have been praying for our television to break for years but that thing just keeps trucking along. 

So anyway, since I have a fancy new camera I've caught the "I think I can take great pictures even though I can't" disease.  Pretty soon I'll be wearing a beret and smoking little brown cigarettes if I don't watch it.  Short Pants and I spend the afternoon trying to clean up the garden, so here's some snapshots of the end of winter:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And look!  Snowdrops both outside:

 

And in:

 

And a beautiful baby just because:

Big Butt Bunting

Yeah, I know you're wondering.  Last November, as you'll recall ('cause I know you memorize every single post) I made Pita Pocket a doll for Christmas.  Due to its...err..curvy nature, we dubbed it Big Butt Baby.  Cute, huh?

You have NO IDEA how many times my blog is viewed due to that page.   It appears that Google is happy hunting grounds for everything from "big butt" on.  Who in the hell are all these people looking for large asses?  Anyway, I figured in interest of raising my stats, I'd just title everything "Big Butt whatever" from now on.  Maybe I can get someone formerly interested in big butts interested in crafting.  We all have to do our part, you know?

Moving onto the big butt bunting - ta da:

 

This is in Short Pant's (and one day Pita Pocket's too) ocean-themed bedroom.  It was very easy and I really like how it turned out.  According to Waldorf suggestions, their bedroom should be painted a soft color, such as a peachy pink, but we painted the room 4 years ago before reading that, so until Rudolph Steiner rises from the grave and offers to repaint it for me, this is how it's staying.  I like how happy and colorful it is, and I think the boys do as well.  As I've said before, we're only kinda-sorta Waldorf peeps. 

I hope everyone enjoyed good weather today.  It was a bit over 60 here today, so we played in the yard for a bit and then headed to the park.  Bean and Short Pants threw about a billion rocks into the lake, and Boba made a weird boy video to post on YouTube.  We also walked around the petting zoo and said hello to the goats, chickens, and deer.  This weekend it's supposed to be an amazing 75 degrees, so we're planning on a hike.  Yay!!!

Busy Bizzy

Doctor's appointments, dental appointments, fencing lessons, guitar lessons, girl scout meetings, orthodontist appointments, playgroups, blah blah blah.  Now that you know where I've been, here's a quick and rather boring scattering of thoughts:

Look!  I've been working on a project for Short Pants's room that will hopefully be done soon:

 

I'm planning to have it completed next week.  The rest of this week has to go towards planning and sewing Bean's birthday crown.  My girl will be 11 on Sunday and I can't believe it. 

Also for (hopefully!) this week is putting some onions out in the garden.  Is anyone else drooling over seed catalogs like I am?  I can't wait to start planting.  The Mister and I are purchasing a freezer for the basement, so I'm really looking forward to being able to store more garden goods this summer.  And flowers!  Who else can't WAIT for flowers?!

February's charitable contribution was a small donation to a fundraiser that my sister and brother-in-law are putting together for a friend.  It's one of those contributions that you hate to make, you know?  She's a young mom of three.  Please send some good thoughts out to her and her family.