If You Ever Wonder...

It is almost always the older brother's fault.  Even though the boys are only 19 months apart and pretty much the same size "your sweet baby Mitchell", as he likes to refer to himself seems to take the brunt.  Yesterday it was a sledding accident.  My brother, Sam, (who is almost entirely responsible for the material I am coordinating to create a book series entitled The 9 Lives of Barnabas James based on the escapades he inflicted on our baby brother ) helped Breadwinner make a bucket for the lift to turn our slightly sloping pasture ground into a Olympic rivaling toboggan run.

Sweet Little's face apparently got in the way.  We iced, applied Arnica to the unabraded spots, and distracted him with home videos of his older siblings.  

I wasn't the least bit surprised at what I saw when I heard the boys holler from the other room today to come see what they could do.  You'd think he would learn to think twice.  Luckily I had the camera at the ready to get the action in sequence.  A few kids ago I would have ditched the camera and made a leaping dive to save my babies.  I've learned to play things out a bit more.  Life of hard knocks and all that...

He seems none the worse for wear.  Maybe he will learn something from this experience.  We did have a chat that perhaps it is best to sled down a hill on your bottom and not face first flat on your stomach.  Time will tell.  We'll see if he lets Big Brother influence his choices next time.  I'm pretty sure you can guess how it will turn out...

Room With A View -In Winter

It looked so peaceful out there this morning as the fog lay lightly on the land.  January is perhaps the most lazy month for our gardens.  We often wrap up harvest and preservation at the end of November beginning of December.  We have already received a cubby full of seed catalogs, but I hold off the picking and choosing until the deep dark coldness of February.  However, by this time the kids have been through them all with Sharpie markers making their own choices for Spring.  In March we prep the greenhouse and start seeds that need a little extra growing time in the south living room window.  The end of Sunny Toad Academy's Spring term in April usually coordinates with planting the rest of the seeds in the greenhouse.  Until then we enjoy the down time...

Amazing that such beautiful things start with just a seed.  What a mighty God we serve!

For the LOVE of ART

I have always found joy in creating and color.  In grade school I felt cheated having P.E. twice as many times as Art in every six day cycle.  I could run and sweat at home.  I wanted to draw, and sculpt, and color, and paint.  I might even have wanted to attend school if I could participate in said activities on a daily basis.  As  it was I could carry out every other agenda item just as well at home and with the added advantage of doing it from my mommy's back pocket.  I liked the painting and pottery best.  For some reason we didn't do much of these at school.  I am sure pottery was not cost effective, and painting with 20 little darlings probably just pushed Mrs. Craig too far over the edge.  I didn't get to paint at home either.  Mom probably figured Mrs. Craig was remunerated to be crazy so she didn't have to entertain such outlets at home.  That and we didn't have a pottery kiln.

Is it any wonder that all the walls in my home are different colors?  Have you seen the post with pictures of my kitchen?  Case and point.  What you may not know is that I am also living out the pottery portion of my childhood dreams although I too am without a kiln.  We do what we can with what we have and I use paper mache.  In this I can kill both the proverbial birds as I sculpt and then paint the resulting figure.

I usually get the itch in the winter.  Where would the challenge lie to execute such plans in summer and to let the kids be creative outside and then fill the kiddie pool with bubble bath to soak them clean.  When the days are short and cold to match tempers we mix things up with a little flour and water paste- always sure to bring out the sunny smiles!

Our projects usually match some theme from our studies.  The first large scale project was when Madigan was 5 and crazy for horses.  We followed the KONOS horse curriculum and at its culmination made Shetland pony size paper mache horse.  It had a pretty heavy duty armature and lived well until it was at last put down when it had been ridden hard and broken all his legs.  One year in order to preserve my sanity I molded eight bowls from a stainless steel set we received as a wedding gift.  They were painted inside and out  in Mackenzie-Childs fashion.  This allowed hours of therapeutic endeavor.  Another time I requested that the kids create some raised relief art for wall display on cardboard.

Yesterday we made insects.  We just finished Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  Thanks to my friend Lora for loaning us the book and turning us on to Apologia's sciences.  Her husband is our pest control guy.  Oh the irony!  It is a trip to watch the kids as they struggle to make with their hands what they see in their mind's eye.  This is one of the most fun parts of being a parent!

Can you guess the name of this insect?

Their insects will take a few days to dry.  They always use too much flour and water paste.  I will try to post a photo when they have been painted.  Sometimes the project molds before it dries and we throw it out and move on to the next.  The joy's in the journey not necessarily the destination.

Another Goodbye For Now...

January 14, 2011, early in the morning my Grandpa Ed's body was glorified and he joined the heavenly throng.  Last week we committed his body to the earth.

Riding the horse my dad made for my western themed high school graduation

 Grandpa was my mom's dad.  He lived to be 93 years old.  In the last couple years Grandpa has gone downhill as first his mind then his body felt the effects of dementia.  Up until then he and Grandma Dot lived in their home place 1/4 mile up the road from my girlhood home.  Across the gravel road from us was my aunt and her family.  Their only son lived a three-wheel ride down the dirt road across the section.  My earliest memories of my Grandpa include walking up the road for a visit.  The first place we went upon entry to the house was the "duck".  It was a ceramic bowl about the size of a basketball with a duck for a lid and it held tootsie pops.  Next stop was the bathroom where we got the rubbing alcohol from under the sink and cotton balls out of the glass pharmacy jar on the counter.  Grandpa would be sitting in his easy chair and we would proceed to soak the cotton balls in rubbing alcohol and use them to swab his bald scalp.  We never failed to be impressed by the dirt we could remove and Grandpa never failed to smile and cackle his signature laugh.

 Like many farmers Grandpa retired at 65 and continued to work around the farm, when he wasn't wintering in Texas or summering in Minnesota.  Although he grew up with a love of horses it was wheels that he used to get around in his beloved pasture.  Like clockwork he was out checking on the cattle.  As much as he liked to work he liked to play.  I have so many great memories at Cass Lake in Minnesota and Paradise Park in Texas.

Working cattle

At the lake Grandma Dot in her red sweater and Grandpa in a seed cap  -That's not a bear behind us- its my dad!

In Texas helping Madigan tie the hula skirt we just brought back from across the Mexican border

Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa with the kids taking a walk last summer

3 kids, 12 grandkids, and 32 (and counting)great-grandkids- This pic was the year 5 greats were born in a matter of months

The ice cream truck handing out treats to the great-grandkids at Cousin Camp

Perhaps most of all this final photo captures Grandpa's hell-bent-for-election spirit.  What it doesn't show makes me wish I had a video camera that day.  We were camping in the pasture over memorial day and he had come to say hello.  After chatting a bit he proceeded to cross the crick in the background to check the livestock on the other side.  He gave not a second thought that the water was so high he had  to rest his feet on the fender to keep them dry.  Seeing as how both of his knees were replacements he had to raise up his legs with his hands.  There was nothing to do but watch in amazement and pray.

  Up until the time they went into the old people's home they would of an afternoon show up at my door 40 miles from their home unannounced and gladly received for coffee.  A bit scary as Grandma admitted that Grandpa often couldn't remember the directions and she had to tell him where to turn.  When they left I was always sure to call my mom so keep an eye for their safe return.  

Another life chapter written another page turned.  This past week has been another of recollection and fond remembrances.  It has also led me back to the Psalms to balm my soul.

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2

January 17 Birthday Buddies

My first baby was born on July 8, 2000, which just so happened to coincide exactly with the day my dad entered the world 52 years previously.  On January 17, 2009 my dad's only brother came to share his birthday with his daughter's firstborn.

This is the only picture of the birthday buddies and was taken last July.  My cousin lives on the coast and we don't get to see her often enough.  This was our first chance to meet her little girl. When I got home that day I was very excited to download the photo and see how it turned out.  I was dismayed to see that I had failed to set the flash and the picture was too dark to make out the faces clearly. I knew that my dad wouldn't be around for another shot so I set about doing a bit of editing to the photo.  After playing around with the coloration and lightening I was pleased and very thankful to have a fine finished product to go along with cherished memories.

So, HaPpY BiRthDAy Buddies!  It is a fortunate girl that shares her birthday with her papa...

How to Shorten Jeans and Pants the Margaret Way...

This is my mom.  She has been sewing since she was a teenager.  She was self taught as her mom didn't sew.  She can do most anything with fabric and thread.  Her Bernina sewing machine is only slightly my junior.   Needless to say it has seen a lot of action.  Relatively recent history has seen her employed as a seamstress.  The following tutorial is a process she created while employed with a large department store in  alterations.  It maintains the integrity of the original hem on the pants.  That means the frayed or finished edge the supplier worked so hard to create stays intact.  They didn't like her idea probably because it was too easy and there were not enough steps involved.  More likely would simply be that it was not their idea...

I find the idea a stroke of genius!  Max got a new pair of jeans yesterday.  They were a bit too large.  With the handy elastic and buttons now found in almost all childrens' pants the waist was not a problem to cinch in.  With "Margaret's Way"shortening the pants was not a worry either even as I started the whole process twenty minutes before we all had to be out the door on our way to Wednesday night church!  What I liked best was that Matt was flabbergasted as to how I shortened the jeans.  It put a spring in my step that after almost 15 years I can still surprise him!

1. Measure how much the jeans need to be shortened.  Remember the jeans are folded over so if you measure 1'' you are really shortening them 2''.

2. Put in a needle for heavy weight fabric.  I used a 100.  Sew along the edge of the old hem.

3. I cut off the excess fabric because I didn't want to make my serger do that.  I totaled my first serger making a denim quilt.  If I had been shortening a light weight pant I would have just run it through my serger.  My mom admitted that sometimes she doesn't even trim the excess or topstitch.  If you think you ever might want to lengthen the pants again skip this step.  I figure Max will tear holes in the knees before he gets too tall for these.

4. Here you can see the serged white threaded edge in the interior.  Mom also maintains you can sew anything if you have white, gray, and black thread.

5.  Here the hem is folded down and I am topstitching.
 I used brown thread because it was already in the machine.  I use brown for almost anything.  I got 4 cones of Maxi-Lock brown thread for 97cents a cone awhile back.  It pays to use quality thread.  It pays even more if you can get your quality thread inexpensively!  Cheap thread is just that, cheap.  It gives off a lot of lint and is hard on your machine.  I just had my machine in to the shop for a tune-up and he said it was so full of lint it looked like mud.  It took me a couple days to realize this is probably because I use brown thread almost exclusively lately!  Hence a lot of brown lint.

6.  That's it!  Super easy and it looks great.
Thanks, Mom!!

Only the best will do for you...

For our last two babies Aunt Missy and Uncle Mark have given them blankies made with minkee.  Minkee is super soft micro fiber.  It is a relative newcomer to the yard goods scene.  It wasn't around much in any quantity until early in this century.  The babies enjoy their blankies so that they go down to sleep quite willingly.   As a rule they are not allowed to be taken out of their beds and are something to which they look forward.  My thought was that if a blankie is nice a minkee sheet on which to lay would be otherworldly.  Here is how I made a minkee sheet to match the pillow case I made for Christmas. 

1.For a sheet that will fit a mattress designed for a crib or toddler bed cut a 51''x27'' piece of minkee.        

2.Next from a coordinating cotton fabric(because it is more cost effective than minkee) cut 2 pieces 51''x7'' and 2 pieces 27''x7''

3.Finish one edge of each piece of coordinating fabric.  I usually just serge the edge, but you could do a narrow hem.  

4.Sew the cotton and minkee right sides together.  5.In the upper and lower right of the accompanying photo you can see what appears to be square notches.  Sew these edges together right sides together.  The lower right one has been done in this photo.

5.Cut 4 pieces of 3/8'' elastic 14'' long.

6.Pin the enter of the elastic strip to the corner seam.

7. Stretch the elastic as far as you can both ways and pin.

8. Serge or zig-zag elastic to edge of fabric and you are done. (It is a good idea to give the elastic a little stretch before you pin it in place.  Let's just call this climatization.)

Here is what the finished product looks like.  This is obviously not the pink and purple princess sheet shown here.  I have been waiting to write this post when I had a photo of the finished product.  Unfortunately when I have time to post the princess is usually napping on the sheet and I know better than to wake a napping princess!  Shown here is Merritt's sheet and quilt I made him for his first birthday last month.  I loved the turtles and colors so much I made him coordinating bibs.  He is a copious drooler and we go through a lot of bibs, but that is a post for another day...