Friday, November 25, 2011

I am thankful














for a walk in the woods with my family.

Monday, November 21, 2011

pow-wows and quilts



I've always felt a little ambivalent about the Pow Wow at Jane's school. It's really fun and it's the culmination of a long unit of study about Native Americans leading up to Thanksgiving. And the teacher in charge is really honestly wonderful...



On the other hand, it also takes place with this in our backyard, and that's something the kids could take part in without quite as much of a "dress up and make noises like these funny characters whose land and lives we stole! good times!" vibe. I'm just a jerk though. Obviously the kids are having a blast... 


The boys in Jane (Singing Fox)'s class made shields...


And the girls made papooses and cradle boards. Jane's main concern along these lines was that it must have been TERRIBLE to be a Native American baby because your diaper was made out of MOSS and that would be SO ITCHY.


Her class was studying the plains tribes mainly. Next year I may have to talk about the Matriarchy of the Iroquois... 


Ben didn't exactly have a blast, but he endured the whole thing pretty well, considering we woke him up from a nap to get there on time. We decided not to stuff his diaper with moss, for authenticity. 


He was a trooper, but he was also happy to be done pow-wowing.

Moving on! I listed some new quilts in the shop.


Sort of wonky log cabin squares.


  And a very simple, binding-less blue coin quilt. I think these are probably the last two quilts I'll get finished up before Christmas, since pretty soon it will be all Christmas crafting all the time.  I really love this time of year and it seems like it goes by so fast. I can't believe Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK!


Friday, November 18, 2011

amazing seiferts

Look at this video by the very talented Jeremy Seifert.

Made me cry and -almost- made me pack up the kids and head back to our Los Angeles family. Man I miss those guys.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

That's right ya'll! It's time for Christmas card photos! When I round up my protesting children, force them to put on hot winter outfits when it's 80 degrees outside and bribe them with ice cream for standing in one place and looking in the same direction... Does it feel like standards have fallen somewhat?




And yet we still can't do it. This might actually be one of the best shots. Certainly the most representative of the outing as a whole. I especially like that both Ben's shoes have fallen off due to his angry flailing, and his screaming has bothered Wren to such an extent that she's apparently sucking her thumb for the first time in her life. Jane is unperturbed but then she's probably planning to stab me again with her soccer trophy, which she insisted be in all the pictures with us. You can just barely see his head down at the bottom of the photo.

I hope you're all having better luck. And I think next year I'll just send everyone a picture of Ramona and the chickens. They're really my favorites anyway.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Friendship is Magic

For the non-Bronies out there, that is the name of the new My Little Pony series that my daughters routinely lose their shit over. Chase is also kind of a huge fan, and will happily chat pony character arcs and whether Applejack should really have all the responsibility of the orchard on her Little Pony shoulders.


Costumes were obvious to Bronies, everyone else was gently corrected by Jane, "NO I AM NOT A FAIRY I AM A PEGASUS! I AM A WEATHER PONY!!!"

And those wings are why parts of my house still look dyed chickens exploded.


Benno was Spike (Twilight Sparkle's dragon friend). He was happy and easygoing all night, although he did appreciate breaks from wearing the top part of the dragon costume. He also pulled up and stood unsupported for a looong time (and the first time) at the party we went to. Hurray Ben!


And here are our pumpkins. Wren designed a Very Scary Vampire pumpkin and somehow in the process managed to freak herself out enough that she ended up not wanting to look at it. And Jane requested (demanded) Hello Kitty and then I made it and then she dropped it on the ground. In that picture Kitty's face is held together with tape.

I feel like somewhere in that last paragraph this became a parable about motherhood? Meh. Anyway, I love Halloween because it's the non-family holiday. It's about your neighbors, that you never talk to, that have creepy couches on their porches but their light's on... do you send your kids to the door? Do you try that house down the street with all the decorations? Because those people were kind of dicks about your dog when you first moved in... you get to find out what kind of velvet painting your neighbor has in her living room, and who gives natural fruit snacks and who gives pennies (WTF?) and who gives full size candy bars (THE BEST PEOPLE THAT'S WHO).

Anyway if you're looking for me today I'll be at Target... buying some clearance candy. Because other than the initial "I made your whole damn costume" tax, my kids are not sharing.