My Sweet Babu

re-institution of the sunday dinner

As you know, I have been working to set up somewhat of a routine over the last month or so.  One thing I learned in school {as it pertains to the psychology of children} is that they crave routine.  They like to know what can be expected, that is why so many children's books are in rhyme and have repeating verses.  As much as they might tell us they would like to run a muck, in truth, they actually like the secure feeling that "knowing what comes next" provides them.  

As I wrapped up my crafting for the craft show a few of weeks ago, I was thrilled to actually see my dining room table cleared off!  I thought to myself "it would be so nice to start having a nice sunday dinner in here, as opposed to only eating in here on holidays!"  Growing up, when I would go to my father's house "every other weekend", we always had sunday dinners with my grandparents and 2 younger halfbrothers...as much as I disliked being apart from my mother, I really loved having the family gathered around the table for this meal.  Once again, my opportunity to rewrite my own history has presented itself.  Today, I am the one with a family of four, {soon to be 5}, and it is my mother and stepfather who will be comming over ever sunday for dinner.  It is so cool to be able to take your own best memories, tweak them a bit, and give them to your own children to enjoy. 

We see my parent's very regularly, but it was very nice to sit down for a sunday meal together.  It was also very nice to share the evening with a friend who happenedd to pop by and stayed for dinner.  We had some beautiful italian green peppers in our CSA this past week, so we decided to make a little pasta- sweet sausage and pepper dinner.  We had a wonderful peach crumb pie for dessert {from the local orchard} with ice cream, that I was going to photograph, but I just could not stop myself from eating it to get the camera!  Knowing that we would be preparing dinner, we were better about not overwhelming our sunday.  It was a great way to end the weekend on an relaxing note, with the work and school week {school in a couple of mondays from now} begining anew on monday morning.  I think the kiddos will enjoy this little tradition we have kicked off...who knows, hopefully one day John and I will be the ones eating sunday dinner at one of their homes with all of our grandchildren?

Cheers to family tradtions! 

a.  

Back to school shopping

Ok, I'm going to say it, {although I might deny it later if you ask me}, I really don't like the summer!  By the end of the winter, orfourse I am craving some warmth and time outdoors, but a couple of weeks into 90' weather, and I'm all set and ready for the fall!  You see, many of the summer activities we enjoy, we still enjoy well into autumn, without all of the sweat and mosquitos.  I like to think that I do a good job of "faking it" and keeping upbeat and optimistic through this season, but there are a few things that give me away.  One big one being shopping, or lack of shopping.  I'm not the biggest fan of summer time clothing.  I just never feel pulled together in shorts and a tshirt, and I would much rather spend money on a beautiful sweater that will last for years, rather than cotton items that are ready to become dust rags after several washes.  And then there is the bathingsuit thing...I just don't think that is fun for anyone!

Ok, I will admitt that buying little sun dresses for my baby girl is really fun, but on the whole, I don't buy much outside of a few bathingsuits and summer necessities for the season.  That being said, I am in my glory browsing and shopping for clothing for back to school.  Even if I am only buying tshirts, it feels good to be replacing the ones that have been worn {to death} all summer, with fresh ones that can be worn to school.  There have been some great sales {I love shopping the dicount stores for name brands!}, with the economy being how it is, and when I have ordered things online, I almost always have a coupon and a code for free shipping.  This not only helps to keep costs down, but keeps me from having to brave a store with 2 little ones! 

We have some of the necessities: new backpack, lunch bag, tshirts, underwear and sneakers.  There are still things to purchase: socks, shorts and jeans, and school supplies; and I am pleased to say that over the last week I have really done a great job at cleaning out the craft closet and the kiddos closets to prepare for the arrival of these new items.  And with our sharp, new back to school haircut in place, we are good to go out and enjoy the last weeks of summer; secretly counting down the days until the start of this new school adventure!

a.

writing our letters

Over the last couple of months, we have been working on writing our letters.  Tobin was always writing something, or asking me how to spell something...so, it seemed only logical to me that since he was showing an interest, I should encourage his desire to write...

 

Beyond just practicing the alphabet, we practiced writing our full name, address and phone number...things that it would be important for him to know for a variety of reasons.  This was a great exercise for him to work on independently during the quiet moments when Sophia was napping, {giving mama a quiet moment to take a shower!}  As the summer went on, we included other words that are used often, worked on some numbers and did some other fun activities found in a variety of activity books. 

 

Tobin is the kind of kid that really derives a great sense of pleasure from doing well at a task, what ever that may be.  While some might have a negative opinion of doing exercises like this, I feel that it was really good for us!  We did these activities for as long as they were fun, this was not boot camp!  What I found was that when I was able to make more of a game out of whatever we were working on, it was more likely to keep us both interested for longer.   I think we both had a great time doing something that will only serve to help him as he goes into kindergarten this year. We mastered some things, touched on some time telling and mathematics and overall, had alot of fun learning...

 

More than anything, I enjoyed being able to show Tobin how much his work has improved over the last month or so that he has been practicing.  It is really amazing!  I hope that he is just that much more confident as he enters kindergarten, because of the work he has done.  I am so proud of how much he has accomplished, and I believe that he is really proud of himself too.

I love this little monkey!

a.

 

printing T's

When I began daydreaming about the possibility of printing some items for the craft show and my Etsy shop, I was only thinking about the embroidery bags I wanted to create.  However, one afternoon as I was walking around a craft shop, I saw some adorable little baby onesie t's and thought to myself, "well, if I'll be printing bags, I might as well try this too!" 

Although I had a bunch of ideas for designs, I tried to narrow it down to just a few, to make things more simple.  Once we had drawn and traced our design onto freezer paper, we use an exacto knife and a wooden cutting board {to protect theour table} to cut out the image.  Prior to ironing the freezer paper onto the shirt, I placed cardboard underneath the prevent paint seepage, but then found that using freezer paper underneath {shiny side up} also worked very well. {When ironing, the paper on the inside adheres to the shirt, making the transfer to a drying spot easier than cardboard, which can slide and shift.}  Some say it is best to leave the freezer paper on the shirt until after the paint has dried, however, we chose to peel it off while the paint was wet, then set the t-shirt aside to dry.  By doing this, I was able to reuse the same piece of freezer paper a few times without having to cut out an new image!  This made me very happy!

After that, we just followed the directions on the paint we purchased.  We waited a day, then ironed, then waited 3 days, then washed, then ironed again...To me, this was both annoying and exciting {I'm not patient!}, but well worth it, as all of my images stayed on perfectly!  I am very partial to my sea horse design and am pleased to give credit for the gnome to Erin Ellen from http://applesforpoppyanne.typepad.com, who had printed a similar one for her baby girl.  That is really the coolest part about making these t's; you can redraw something that you see to make it your own, or design whatever you can dream up!  I wouldn't say that this is a kid project, although I'm sure my big boy would be capable of painting a bit, with some help.  I must admit that is was really nice to have John home when I was printing these to give me a hand with the peeling of the freezer paper after the paint had been applied.  I think that this would be a great little project to put on your "rainy day ~to try list"...next up for me is to get printing some of these boring, plain maternity t'shirts I have sitting in my drawer!  

Happy printing!

alison 

Nesting the bedroom

I have had a serious craving to finish up, or freshen up our bedroom.  We have beautiful bedroom furniture and a comforter that I just adore, but when it came to the walls, well, there was something missing...  This was because when we rennovated our home a couple of years ago, in order to keep costs down, we did as much of the work on our own as possible.  This included priming and painting the walls, ceilings, closets and woodwork in the space that was more than double what our living space originally was!  Oh, it was such a labor of love!  When it came to paint, I chose one beautiful color {since our kitchen and family room are one great space and also flow into the downstairs hallway and stairwell}, and have loved the way the lighting in the different spaces of our home has given each wall it's own depth.  This was not the case for the bedroom.

I did choose a gold color for the bedroom first, but it was just horrible for this space!  I was so disappointed!  Luckily, I had a "go to color", which we had used in our living room years ago.  I LOVE this color and was pretty much kicking myself that I had not just gone with this color first!  I felt that a silver accent {for picture frames, etc.} would work better that the gold that we had.  I dug out the old silver frames that we had used in the living room when it was painted this color and took the pictures and glass out of the gold ones that were currently in the bedroom and spray painted them silver.  It was such a small thing to do, but it made such a big difference!

My husband's birthday was the perfect excuse to look for a new piece of art work for above the bed, and adding more photographs to the walls definately has us heading in the right direction.  Everyone loves the new color and I find that we are all spending more time in this room than we had prior to the painting.  I still have a few things on my "to do" list for this space, but they will come together in time.  In my attempt to simplify my life, I'm pretty happy that I have a couple of paint colors that I really love and am sure to remember the names of.  Over the winter, browse some paint chips and bring some home to see what colors look good in your lighting, {this was the problem with the gold, I picked it out in the store without checking it at home}.  This way, when you are feeling the urge to nest, or just freshen things up, you'll have some colors handy to get your project started!

a.

thoughts on school

Usually, I am the one getting ready to go back to school during this time of the year.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am that I graduated from graduate school last spring, allowing me to focus on my big boy, Tobin, who is begining kidergarten this September!  I'm not exactly sure who is more excited, me or him?

You see, I have always kept Tobin at home with me.  The fall after Sophia was born, we decided that he would benefit from the social interaction {without me} that a private pre school provided.  He took to it like a fish to water!  He will always be the oldest in his class {because of when his birthday falls} and I felt that he was ready for being a part of a school.  Now, it seems that there is a trend {or a choice is being made} among many of the mama's who read similar bloggs that I do, that homeschooling, or unschooling is the thing to do.  I must admit that I toyed with the idea for half a second...  Then one day, I asked Tobin, "honey, how would you like to stay home with me to learn, instead of going to school?"  to which he replied, "but mama, I want to learn at school with all of my friends!" 

I must say that I am very fortunate to have a school that I am very happy with, becasue of where we live and the members of the community who live here.  Perhaps if the circumstances were different, I would feel differently and make different choices.  For now, I feel that traditional school is the way to go for us.  For one, as my big boy gets older {ahem, BOLDER}, I think it will be good to have a 3rd party {i.e. teacher, not mama} to reinforce what I am saying at home.  Second, I feel that it will do him good to learn to be a part of a class, community, team...basically, what will be expected of him as he grows older and participates in society.  Third, I think that we all do well when we have a little time to ourselves to do different things.  It seems that we are better as a family when we have a little space and then can reunite and discuss our day over dinner or during family time.  Last, I really respect and get the whole unschooling concept, but I think that past a certain age, I would begin to worry if my children were being challenged appropriately?  Let's face it, we are not woodworking and doing advanced arithmatic every day, or even every week!  I like to think that there is some unschooling happening in the hours after school has ended, when he comes home to me and we are free to bake and craft, or just go to the park if that is what we choose.

I know the road ahead will be a bumpy one at times, but I believe that would be the case regardless of what type of education one chooses for their child.  In the end, what is most important is that these little ones know that they are loved more than anything and that they will always have the support to deal with whatever challenges come thier way, whether it is now, as a teenager or as an adult.  I want to say "right on!" to all the mamas who home/unschool, you guys rock and do a great job.  However, I also want to give a huge high five to all the mamas who choose traditional schooling for their little ones.  I feel that in additon to all of the love, patience, etc. that you read about as being ingredients in "recipies for unschooling", we are also adding a tremendous amount of selflessness and faith.  Selflessness, in that we are giving up our sense control of the elements {to some extent}, but that we have faith that we will be able to handle a variety of challenges as they come our way. 

Whether it is unschooling or traditional school, I believe that some of the most important lessons we can model for our children is a desire to share and a willingness to learn from others.  As much as part of me would love to keep my "baby" home with me forever, I know that Tobin is going to love his new school and will do wonderfully there.  I suppose this is the bittersweetness of being a mama; the internal conflict between the joy you feel for the exciting adventures ahead and the sadness that accompanies change and letting go.  I am so happy to have a forum of like minded souls to share some of our experiences with!  The countdown to September 9th is on...     

a.