vandalism

That is in fact the guilty parties shadow cast on the board next to the woman.

As I re-enter the room Zora shouts out “Otis drew a gina (vagina) on the park!!” Otis starts trying not to smile and giggling. At this point I ask did you? Or course followed by more laughing and “mama I just like to smile!” talk. This is the child who built an x-ray machine out of an empty box and a tennis ball tube. Then drew several pictures of vaginas that looked like a circle with the diameter marked from the center. Can you see it? Put the pieces of paper inside the box and would call people over to say, “Look the x-ray machine is printing something out!!” As you reached for the “copy” he’d laugh and laugh “it’s a vagina AGAIN!!!” Vagina’s are so funny for Otis right now , the more I try to tell him that he shouldn’t be drawing vagina’s the more he is drawn to do it. This brings me to the private embarrassing story Danny told me about his little brother. When his younger brother was around eight to ten he drew a picture of a person with boobs and a penis, he wrote “MR.NeeNee.” This got passed around to all the siblings, Danny and his older brother would be at the dinner table and say “hey why don’t you tell mom about Mr.NeeNee.” They teased him to no end until finally mom found it and laughed at it anyway. Danny still laughs to tears when talking about Mr.NeeNee, he’s a grown man. So I’m a bit concerned that all this silliness is going to go on for far too many years for my mental health. God bless America finding my six year old watching my daughter sleep with large eyes saying “I just have to look at her vagina so I know how to draw it!!” So much giggling I find myself fighting back giggling. So today we were at a park with a lot of other kids, I sat and chatted, sewed, and talked to other parents. During this time Oatie found some pens and pencils and began drawing on park equipment. That’s right folks, vandalizing park stuff. So Otis didn’t just draw a vagina, he drew a whole woman with huge boobs and nipples. I took him back to the park to wash it off; of course it didn’t even fade at the hands of Mrs. Meyers and a rag. I chuckled to myself; he drew it on the kiddie equipment in a gentrified upper crust st.paul neighborhood. The shock on their keened feet and khaki shorts will be priceless. The big smile the woman is wearing is classic it just screams “I’m so friendly and naked!” We came home and had a talk about how that was vandalism and that’s not okay, it would be like tearing up a library book. Super serious important stuff was really considered and he seemed to get it. There is a graffiti artist here that’s moniker is “boob poop” I’m assuming this person is old enough to get large amounts of spray paint and stay out late. So over fifteen right, that the age you can sort of roam free? If I don’t nip this in the bud now its spray paint and Wutang clan at loud volumes. So we get home and I show Danny the pictures alone in the kitchen and we chuckle, sharing in our own silliness about it. Then Danny looks at me all serious and says “it looks like you lying on your back!” and starts laughing to tears. I’m surrounded by children.

wish soup

I use a lot of different circulumn stuff for home schooling but the earthschooling.com one is really cool. She has recipes with stories. So today we told a Persian fairy tale then made wish soup and made wishes over our soup before we ate. I'm so thankful to live across the street from the co-op , we just throw on shoes and get the missing apricots!

new table runner and center piece

My pictures tell me I need a new camera! I made the embroidered table runner and let me tell you over the years with several sergers my 910 viking RULES! It changed to rolled hem in minutes to make a nice edge on the runner. I also wanted to make note the center piece , I found this glass bowl with two candle holders on the side of the road. Usually I add seasonal things to it , for winter a needle felted snowman on top of a scrap of blue satin. So for home school group we planted grass in egg shells and I thought what the heck! Added dirt to my center piece and grass seed and it grew! Amazing and long ,the kids are cutting it and watching it grow back. Blessings on the blossom!

st.patricks day

I just wanted to add a note about this day , every year we built traps for those silly little leprechauns and every year they out smart us! Oats and Hammy took two empty oatmeal containers and made some fancy traps even. While struggling to get out one leprechaun lost a shoe , he had to leave it behind and some wonderful golden chocolate coins. What a good sport they were this year.

We went to the big parade downtown and to landmark center for the Irish dancing , story telling , crafting and people watching.

Home for our corned beef and cabbage!

As the years go by with homeschooling it gets easier because I remember where to go and what to do. The two st.patrick's before this were a rush to find the right crafts to do the stories to tell and this year I went to bed early and let Danny organize everything!

Danny sewed that little shoe out of scraps of leather I had , pretty good for not sewing too much! He carved a walking stick too but I can't find it now!

advent presents!

We have been making most of their presents this year for advent.. so far so good , we "cheated" two days and gave a small flash light and chocolate coins from the co-op. Here are a few of the things we have made!

I have been really inspired by resurrection fern http://www.resurrectionfern.typepad.com/ for ideas

One day we gave them a wool basket full of pom pom's. It was too big for the pocket on the advent knome calendar so I made a small map and hid it out in the yard. They are turning them into flying fairies , necklaces etc.

Danny took a thicker stick and made these super cute little knomes!

Gingko leaves for the second of advent! This is completely a one of a kind poppa project. Then as good homeschoolers we read about gingko leaves!

Last sunset of November

Today we had a very peaceful day , if you asked me two years ago I may have said boring or depressing because the lack of doing or moving. Sitting in our quite little house telling stories and doing crafts would have sounded tedious. But this day was great , we did out circle time , baked together , colored amazing pictures. later on we met a friend at the nature center and took a hike. It was a prefect day for me and the kids. As I was getting ready to make dinner I looked out the window and saw this beautiful sunset on the last day of November. We took a quick jaunt down to the park at the end of the block. I took a couple pictures went down the slide and ran home to make turkey and rice soup!

advent spiral and zora's birthday ring

Finally on the first of December our advent spiral is fully done and ready. After a trip to a wonderful shop called wood from the hood. The project this man created is to reclaim trees that must be cut down from city yards. Hence wood from the hood , he then turns it into boards of useable lumber. I was lucky enough to grab a couple nice pieces and turn it into an advent spiral for our family. On the last birthday ring I made for our family I drilled the holes to fit the small candles and not for the brass candle holders that are two dollars and change a piece. This advent spiral I accidentally drilled the holes 3/4" to hold the brass holders. I will not buy ninety dollars worth of candle holders!
So I had an idea , I went on our usual walk in the woods and brought home some branches , bought a 3/4" dowel.

Then cut "coins" of both , the bottom being the dowel I made a bit thicker coins The branch coin on top is a bit bigger than the dowel.

Then glued the branch coins onto the tops centered. I just used standard wood glue , but I bet something like gorilla glue would work great too.

The next day I drilled holes to fit my candles. Zora and Otis helped me rub beeswax oil mix into them. Viola!

A low cost great looking way to make candle holders for an advent spiral or birthday ring.

Also I have included a picture of Zora's finally finished partially full of new candle holders birthday ring! This is from a great log a found on a walk a block from our house. My husband just laughed when I came home from a evening walk huffing and puffing with a log in my arms. He said "only you would come home carrying a giant log!"