Already 3!

Yes, my girl turned 3 last week ... it's sad and exciting all at the same time.

I decided that this special little girl needed a special blanket -- don't all little girls? -- so I set to work.  I had heard that rag quilts were easy to make (a little bit of sewing and some clipping, easy right?) so I did some reading, and started to collect some materials.  An old quilt that I had been hanging on to got cut up for the batting, and my pile of old receiving blankets became the 108 squares to make the top.  We were given so many receiving blankets at Isaac's baby shower (over 10 years ago) and I remember wondering what on earth I would ever use them all for.  Oh, silly, pre-children me!  They turned out to be very handy ... a sun shade, a nursing cover, a play blanket, a diaper change cloth, a cleaning rag, a toy, I even turned some of them into diapers a couple of years ago (post here).  So, into the pile they went (along with a couple of extra that I found at Value Village).  Well, after a lot of cutting, stitching, a sewing machine tune up (fyi, sewing machines need some tlc more often than once every 10 years), a midnight meltdown, and a TON of clipping, it was finally done.  

So worth all the effort to see that smiling face peeking out from under her new blanket!

The birthday girl and her horse cake ...

"Am I still this old?" she asked me the other day while holding up 3 fingers (a skill that took almost a week to master).
"Yes." I tell her.
"All the time?" she wonders.
"Yes, baby girl ..." I answer, then more to myself:  "... for as long as I can keep time from moving too quickly."

A Trip to Gaspereau Valley Fibres, Snakes, and a Clean Floors

Sound like an odd combination?  They are all related, I promise.

Gaspereau Valley Fibres has long been on my list of places to visit, but this week I finally made it -- and what a treat it was!  It is a beautiful, rustic space filled with lots of wool and yarn.  I wish that I had remembered to bring my camera to show you all how warm and lovely the space is, but I guess that you will just have to check it out for yourself!  The kids and I were warmly greeted, warned about the wonderful wood stove, and offered assistance.  After walking around for a bit, I asked for some help in picking out some yarn for my next knitting project.  I foolishly forgot to bring the pattern with me (I'm not sure if that has more to do with me being a new knitter, or just trying to get out of the house with 4 kids), but the staff person took me over to her computer, told me all about Ravelry, found the pattern that I had picked out, then was able to help me pick out the right kind of yarn for my project -- she was really great.  Meanwhile, the boys had been eying the wool, so they each picked a piece out of a basket of end pieces (she even stopped to show the boys how to break off a piece so that it was just the size that they wanted) for a project to be determined later -- Aidan said that he wanted to make a coat for his pet, hmmmm...

The next challenge was to figure out what to do with the wool -- I have only taken 2 classes in wet felting, so my skills and knowledge are somewhat limited.  Aidan's plan to make a coat seemed overly ambitious, so I Googled "wet felt animals" and found some simple instructions for a snake.  Sounded easy enough, so with Laurel down for a nap, the boys and I got to work.  I took the non slip mats out from under our rug (in my class we had used bubble wrap, but I didn't have any, so this would have to do) and laid them on the table with our other supplies (I'm not going to give a step by step of what we did, because that would imply that I had some idea of what I was doing and really we were winging it!).  The boys did really well at putting their snakes together (although, in retrospect, we wished that we had picked some different colours so that we could have had more defined stripes), but we did get a little carried away with the soap -- oops!  After a lot of rolling we had 4 great looking felted snakes and 3 very pleased boys. 

Well, after all this fun, the table was covered with bubbles, LOTS of bubbles.  And it just so happened that the floor in the dining room was particularly dirty.  So, I did the only logical thing ... I pushed all of the water and bubbles onto the floor (there really was no other option, right?  That's what I thought).  Well, you'd be surprised at the commotion that this caused in our house -- socks flying off feet, boys arguing over who would have the first turn cleaning the floor ... it really was quite a sight (just call me Tom Sawyer!).

So there you have it, a wonderful visit to Gaspereau Valley Fibres, felted snakes, and a clean floor.  I told you they were all related (I can't believe that you doubted me). 

Painting Self Portraits

A couple of weeks ago was Rembrandt's birthday -- I have this great book (Let's Celebrate Today: Calendars, Events, and Holidays Second Edition) that tells about important historic events and famous people's birthdays (today, by the way, is Beatrix Potter's birthday, and Peru's Independence Day, among other things).  Anyway, my plan was to tell the boys a little bit about Rembrandt, show them some of his paintings, then break out the paint ourselves.  Well, it didn't happen on that day, or the next day, or the day after that.  Before I knew it a week had gone by, then 2 weeks ... well, you get the picture.  But we finally got around to it this week.

Things That Make Me Happy # 24

Strolling around the Internet one day, I came across a blog post entitled "100 Things That Make Me Happy". What a great idea, I thought as I scanned the list, so Fridays are now dedicated to things that make me happy!

Things That Make Me Happy!
# 24  The Letter "P"

While this may seem a little obvious, after all my name begins with this most perfect letter, my thinking today is simply that many of the pleasant things that we did today, also start with the letter "p". While I cannot claim to have planned this occurrence, everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. The surprise of the theme, just added to today's happiness.

My Finishing Project -- Day 2

Window Frame Hand Prints

This window frame was one of the main reasons behind My Finishing Project week.  It has been sitting around without a purpose for way too long, and now I can finally say that I have done something with it!  I'm not quite finished -- I still want to add the names somehow -- but I am quite pleased with the results so far.  So, a fairly successful day 2!

25 years ago when my Mom and Dad replaced the windows, in what was then our new house, they saved all the old windows -- I come from a family of savers, what can I say?  It has been over a year since this project-to-be has enter our house, but I was never quite sure what I wanted to do with it.  I love the weathered look and was struck by the parallelism (I got this word from the thesaurus -- isn't it great?) of four openings & four children.

I got to work this morning taking out the three remaining panes of glass -- there is a  reason that this is called my finishing project!  Laurel's nap was just about long enough for this messy and potentially dangerous job -- fixing the ugly kitchen floor is a project for another week.

The next step was to cut the black form board (which I already had) to fit in the openings -- all a slightly different size, of course!  I also decided to add a strip of paper (which I had in my stash) to each section as a background for the kid's names.

Now the fun part ... the paint!  Well ... Laurel didn't think that this part was very fun.  In fact, by the way she was screaming, you would have thought that it was some kind of torture!  I had done a couple of practice prints for each of the boys, but knowing that we only had one shot with Laurel, we (it took 3 of us!) had to be fast.  I turned out pretty good all things considered.

Yeah, almost done!  Just working out the best way to add their names.  I'll have it worked out by the end of the week, so that I can claim this as a totally finished project!

Hope your projects are going well!

My Finishing Project

"There are two kinds of people, those who finish what they start and so on."  Robert Byrne

If your house is anything like mine, you have half done projects scattered around the house -- I'm not the only one, right?  I even have projects that I want to do that I've gathered supplies for, just waiting for "the right time".  The problem is that "the right time" never seems to find me.  There are always other things that seem to be more important, or there is not enough time to start something new, because you know that you will get called away to some emergency.  You know ... a missing piece of Lego (gasp!), or a zipper that just won't zip, or (my personal favourite) somebody did something to somebody else for absolutely no reason -- they were just standing there minding their own business -- and an impartial witness is required to pass judgement ... you know how it goes.  Before you know it, it's time to get supper ready and you need to clean the table off again because eating on the floor would be uncivilized (sigh!).

My point? ... um, I've lost it -- I've already been interrupted three times while writing this.  Right, My Finishing Project -- that's what I'm calling this.  My goal is to finish 4 projects this week that have been sitting around the house mocking me every time I walk by them.  I'm not going to tell you what there are yet (just in case regular life gets in the way), but I hope to have something to share with you everyday this week starting on Monday, with Friday reserved for "happiness".

I would love to have some company on this journey.  So pull out a project that you've been putting off and join me!  There are no rules, guidelines or even suggestions -- it's whatever you want it to be.  Please be sure to post a comment or send me a picture so that we can all celebrate our accomplishments!

Happy Finishing!

"He who begins many things finishes but few."   Italian Proverb

(I think that I'm in trouble!)

Baby Shoes

My Mom was a saver!  She kept old school books and report cards-- both hers and ours; cards -- Christmas, birthday, Valentine's, you name it; toys -- all carefully put away just waiting for grandchildren (she long wondered if that day would ever come); she even kept our lunch boxes!  Last summer, I went through a box of children's things that she had mindfully set aside -- homemade sweaters, baby blankets, the kilt that she thought was so cute (I didn't think so), and three shoe boxes.  Each box was labelled with my and my brothers' names and contained our first pair of shoes.

 

Here is a treasure that should be returned to their owners, I thought.  But, boys being boys, I didn't think that either of my brothers would have much interest in some old shoes, so I decided to make them more interesting.  Not wanting to bronze them, as was the old tradition, I searched for another idea.  I didn't find any ideas in my internet search, which surprised me -- what are people doing with their children's first pair of shoes these days?  So I came up with this simple way to display (or store if my brother so desires, but he better get them out when I come to visit!) the baby shoes.

A collectors box seemed the perfect way to display the shoes, but unfortunately, the box sizes were not intended for shoes, so it's a little smaller than I would have liked.  Then, I searched for a baby picture of my brother wearing the shoes and printed it out so that it would fit in the side of the box.  The background is shelf liner which had the added bonus of being peel and stick!

The wooden blocks were from our collection -- I don't think that the boys will miss three -- and are hot glued in place.  Voila, a baby shoe display!  I'm not sure that "impressed" would be the word to describe my brother's reaction when I gave him (or returned) his shoes, but I think that he is glad to have this little piece of his childhood to share with his children and remember the good times that we had as kids.  Now I just need to get to work on the other two pair.  Thanks Mom for being a saver!

Easter

 

Don't these little guys look great?  We left our egg decorating  to the last minute (ooops!), so we had to come up with something fast and easy.  These smiley guys were just the thing -- except the legs, I had to do all of those.  I love how they turned out!  Check out the Family Fun website for this and other great crafty ideas.

I was a little too slow to get many pictures of our egg hunt -- actually, I got lots of shots of where the eggs had been only seconds before.  Oh well, they all had fun anyway.
Happy Easter!

Earth Day

Earth Day dawned beautiful and bright.  I really wanted to plant a tree, but our little backyard is ... well ... little, so we opted for an equally important, but easier project -- starting our garden (all the while reminding myself that we will someday have more outdoor space to run, explore, grow more vegetables, climb trees, raise chickens, and whatever other outdoor activities we might choose -- ahhh, someday)!

The boys were eager to help out, but any project that involves dirt or the possibility of getting dirty is popular around here.  They took turns filling the egg cartons with soil, so it was a recycling project as well as a gardening adventure.  I did bring out a spoon, but I didn't actually expect that they would use it.  Surprisingly, they very carefully put spoonfuls of soil in each carton and meticulously levelled each one off -- it was very serious work.   Then, just as carefully, they planted the seeds.

Yes, they are really in their bare feet.  No it is not really that warm here, they just thought that taking off their socks was easier than putting on their shoes!

We decided that each boy could have a corner of the garden to care for and plant whatever they wanted.  They talked excitedly about what they would like to plant, how they were going to weed it everyday, and the great bounty that would be produced from their little corner -- I think that they are over estimating the size of their "little corner".  Maybe I should just divide the garden up and let them take care of the whole thing!

In true Earth Day spirit, we found and whittled some sticks to make plant markers.  Now we'll remember which plants are which!  We even made a couple extra to put in our garden when the time comes.

Dreaming of fresh home-grown vegetables.  I guess we better get the garden ready -- I think I'll start by asking all my little workers to remove the trucks!

Happy Earth Day!

Our Art Gallery

Welcome to our new art gallery!  This is the best new place to come to see art in all forms by some up and coming artists.  The collection is small at the moment, but will grow as these budding artist continue to produce some of the greatest new art that I have seen in a long time.  The gallery is currently a little short on frames and hopes to rectify the situation soon.

Each artist was invited to chose some of their favourite pieces to be displayed.  Some pieces were even produced spur of the moment as excitement of the new project grew.  There are also some older pieces in the collection, such as the nature frames.  These were complete last Fall and the gallery owner has been very remiss in getting them on display.  A picture of each artist was added to the frames to complete the look.

Subjects range from Star Wars to landscape pieces with a little pirate thrown in for variety.  So there is something for every taste and style. As the collection grows and evolves, the gallery hopes to incorporate art in different mediums for a more complete view of each artist's work.

Everyone is invited to stop by for a closer look at these valuable works of art -- except during meal times when it gets a little crowded in this room.  If you are lucky you might even get to talk to the artist!

Happy viewing!

Spring Has Sprung

The outside world is starting to bloom and things here at "6 Winters in Wonderland" are getting spruced up too!  I haven't done much posting this week, but I am hoping to dedicate more time to that in the coming weeks as we try to establish a more manageable routine. Also, now you can make sure that you never miss a post by having them emailed directly to you!  Or you can subscribe to have the posts added to your Google or Yahoo homepage.  Just look for the boxes on the right!

I know that in many parts of the country, there is still snow to be found, but in our little corner of Canada, there is very little remaining (except for the dusting covering the ground right now from this afternoon's weather).  The boys are playing in the dirt, -- or mud when they find it -- I'm hanging laundry on the line again and I actually saw a robin in the yard this week.  Spring is certainly well under way here!  So, in celebration of this, we finally took down the paper snow flakes on our dining room window and replaced it with this more springlike scene.

I know that it is difficult to see with the yard in the background -- anybody have any tips about taking pictures against a window?

The boys were keen to *cover* the window with flowers, birds, trees, butterflies, ponds, bugs, worms, bushes and other Spring items, but I managed to convince them that it might be a good idea to leave some open space so that we could still see out the window -- it was a close vote!

  

Here is the tree with it's many leaves all hanging, for some reason, on the bottom of the branch (the few on the top were my addition).

The tree also houses a bird's nest, complete with bird who is sitting on some pretty nice eggs.  Looks like we are going to have some more birds soon!

Here are some other little birds who are busy building their nests.  My, what strong little birds to be able to carry such large sticks!

And the flowers are in full bloom already -- my kind of garden!

The boys (except Owen who sat at the table and happily cut paper into little tiny pieces) worked all afternoon one day on this project and additions have been made throughout the week as well.  They already planning to add more birds when the eggs hatch, more flowers as the season progresses and have great plans for additions and subtractions for the fall and winter too -- they have it all thought out!

It is definitely looking more like Spring both inside and outside of our house.  I hope that the same can be said for your house!

Mama's Little Helper

This is my life right now.  If I can't do something with one hand, or while balancing someone on my knee, or with someone attached to my leg (or sometimes both legs), it simply doesn't get done.  Don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint, but it is challenging at times.  Other times, I just have to accept that certain things are not going to get done and be okay with that.

On this particular day, Laurel's input was extremely important because I was making a new diaper for her.  She is dangerously close to outgrowing the infant sized diapers that we have -- I'm really surprised that they still fit at all -- and the toddler ones seem WAY too big.  So I made one in an in between size to see if it would work.  (I meant to take a picture of it after I was done, but forgot.  Today she wore it and you definitely don't want to see it now!)

I found the pattern in one of my favourite books called "Handmade Home" by Amanda Blake Soule.  I love that it uses thrifted or repurposed items to create something new -- our new diaper is made from an old T shirt and a receiving blanket!  She has an amazing blog too where she writes about finding the joy in the simple everyday things, her latest family adventures and crafty creations.

This is not my first project from this book.  I have also made a picnic blanket from materials found around our home plus a couple of bed sheets from Frenchy's.  It started out as a wedding present for a friend, but when I found out that she was expecting, it was going to be a baby shower gift, when the baby was born, it was going to be a baby gift, when Christmas came, it was going to be a family gift ... well, you get the picture ... but I finally finished it and was quite pleased with the results.

All rolled up and ready to go!

Lots of interesting project to try, but now that all my little helpers are asleep, I'm off to finish some of the two-handed tasks that were skipped today!

Sew What!

 

This is what I gave the boys for Christmas this year.  Yeah, I know, "what is it?" was their reaction too. I had great hopes of making them each an apron for baking or crafting or pretending whatever their little hearts desire.  I got the pieces cut out, but didn't get any farther -- thus the very unimpressed reaction.  It is now March and I'm still looking at the pieces, so today I decided to actually make an apron!

I decided to start with Isaac's and got to work while the boys were playing outside and Laurel was asleep.  Here is the pattern that I used.  I picked this particular pattern because rather than having to tie it in the back -- a difficult skill for any youngster -- it uses velcro!  The decision to start with Isaac's was also part laziness.  Because his was cut from an old shirt, I used the button strip and button holes as the straps, thereby saving myself some time.  I also left the buttons on, and that might be laziness too, but I prefer to think of it as added decoration!  After patting myself on the back, it didn't take too long for it to come together.  After some finishing work -- done under 4 pairs of watchful eyes -- here is the finished product.  Hooray, one down and two to go -- I'd better make it three, by the time I get them all done, Laurel will be ready for one too.

Isaac was very pleased with the outcome and immediately decided that he needed to sew something too; and Aidan, not to be outdone, joined in.  They have been asking for some time to learn to sew, so I guess that today was the day -- so much for getting any more aprons done.  

Isaac picked out some hockey print, flannel material that had once been pajamas.  He wanted to use the sewing machine, so after cutting out his squares and pinning them together (the thing was solid pins when he was done!), we started sewing.

Meanwhile, Aidan had chosen red felt for his project and took great care in cutting out perfect squares.  He also opted to add some buttons on his.  So, after making a pile of buttons and some brief instruction, he started patiently sewing.  I thought that he would lose interest after 2 or 3, but he put 7 buttons on and even threaded the needle by himself.

When the projects were done, it was proudly declared that they would be pillows for their pets (stuffed animals).  They were both so pleased with the results and I was amazed that they did so well.  Guess who will be doing all the mending from now on?  Yeah, I know, it will probably still be me.  Oh well, I'm sure their future wives will thank me one day for teaching them this life skill, right?