back from ohio

We’ve returned from our trip visiting family in Ohio, and have been settling back into our old routines. We had a great time seeing F’s family, and in fact, it turned into quite a reunion as more and more family members showed up. Otis and his 6-year old cousin, Dede, instantly fell into a great rhythm, playing amazingly well for the majority of the trip, which was really wonderful to see since they’ve never had much opportunity to spend time together. Some highlights from the trip:

snowballs in summer:

Dede and her family made 6 snowballs in February and packed them away in the freezer. Mid-July was the perfect time for those snowballs to come out, soften a little in the heat, and be tossed at the shed in the backyard:

3 cousins hanging out with Grandad and Vaba:

grocery stores so big that one can drive their children in enormous shopping carts:

visiting a dairy for ice cream and playing:

(Whose brilliant idea was it to fill a children’s play area with tons of kernels of dried corn that are almost impossible to resist putting in one’s small, tender mouth?)

Bee getting ready for her first swim:

verdict: hated it, then loved it. Looked irresistible in her first bathing suit.

We even had the chance to visit a dear friend, whose family farm is one of my favorite places in the world:

It is here that Otis caught his first glimpse of how magical fireflies can be.

It already feels like summer’s over, since summer session has started at Otis’s school and the weather’s been surprisingly cool here. We’ll have to pack in our last bits of summer fun while we still can. Have you been traveling this summer or staying close to home?

 

present idea: mix CD

One of the best presents I received after Otis was born was a collection of three CDs made by a couple of our friends who happen to be really knowledgeable about music. I am pretty clueless myself, and would probably still listen to Duran Duran if I could, so I like learning about other music. And I appreciate the time and thought that goes into making such a present. It’s like sewing or knitting a present.

We are attending a mini-family reunion of sorts, and I made copies of these two CDs for Otis’s cousin. One is good for sleepytime, and the other is good for all-around fun. We like he likes it. I thought I’d share it with you, too. You’ll recognize much of it, as I did, though I never thought of much of it as good kids’ music. And I’m not necessarily saying that Otis prefers listening to this over music about monsters and animals, but I sure do like it, especially the Asleep collection, which I would play when Otis was screaming in the car. If you have other grown-up favorites that are good for kids, I’ve love to hear about them.

Otis Awake:
Ooh Child – Nina Simone
Blackbird – The Beatles
The Lion Song – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Three Little Birds – Bob Marley and the Wailers
Cupid – Sam Cooke
Car Song – Woody Guthrie
Buckets of Rain – Bob Dylan
I Had A Good Mother and Father – Palace Brothers
Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor – Woody Guthrie
Paradise – John Prine
Joshua Fit The Battle – Elvis Presley
What The Deep Sea Say – Woody Guthrie
Loves Me Like A Rock – Paul Simon
Blueberry Hill – Loretta Lynn
Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding

Otis Asleep
To Know Him Is To Love Him – Dolly Parton
Love Me Like A Song – Willie Nelson and Kimmie Rhodes
Can I Sleep In Your Arms – Willie Nelson
How’s The World Treating You – Allison Kraus and James Taylor
Hobo’s Lullaby – Arlo Guthrie
Over Yonder (Jonathon’s Song) – Steve Earle
Birds and Ships – Billy Bragg and Wilco
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face – Johnny Cash
This Side Of The Blue – Joanna Newsom
La Noyee – Carla Bruni
Rene and George Magritte With Their Dog After The War – Paul Simon
Prelude No. 7 – Chopin
Gymnopedie 1 – Satie/Jean-Yves Thibaudet

See you next week!

 

go team!

Our fruit trees are slowly getting established, and we’ve finally been able to enjoy the, ahem, fruits of our labors. A smattering of donut peaches, a handful of plums, a thimbleful of blueberries, and the second year of strawberries, strawberries, strawberries. Every morning I see Otis peeking between the plants, hunting for his mid-morning snack. And now he’s indoctrinated Bee, happy to be her forager. I can finally see how my dream of an edible backyard is coming true.

Today, we made dessert as a team. F, now officially the baker of the family, made us some galette dough during a break in his bread baking. (I found this recipe via Smitten Kitchen, which I love). Then Otis and I picked all the ripe strawberries we could find and broke off a stalk of rhubarb. Some chopping and tossing ensued, followed by a bit of dough rolling, and by the time we were finished with our dinner, a warm galette was waiting for us to top with vanilla ice cream. It was a really satisfying project for us all. F and I have been talking about weekend cooking projects for the whole family, and I think this was the perfect one to start us off. I’m thinking about gnocchi or orechiette and we’d love other suggestions as well.

And this does not require the entire family’s participation, but I think I’m going to have to make this granola.

 

present idea: craft kit for kids

A while back, I put together a craft kit for Otis that was filled with all kinds of crafting knick-knacks. It was a great way to organize and contain all the tiny little pieces that were becoming hard to keep track of. Happily, it was a big hit. He loves to pull it out to string together necklaces or to find that special something to add to his artwork, and it’s even better when he gets to do it with friends. It wasn’t until recently that it occurred to me that perhaps this would make a good present for other kids as well.

We got to test it out this past weekend when we celebrated our friend Amelia’s 3rd birthday. We bought a small plastic organizer (the kind with the compartments that you can change as you wish) and filled it with goodies. It was fun to search for materials, and Otis is pleased as punch to get a fresh infusion of supplies. Along with dyed pasta that we made for Otis’s birthday party (great tutorial here — the rubbing alcohol really helps!) and sparkly lanyard for necklace/bracelet making, we also included feathers, pompoms, pipe cleaners (cut down to fit), colored popsicle sticks, googly eyes, and sparkly and self-sticking foam shapes. Finding the perfect glue was a challenge – it needed to be liquid glue for the materials I bought, but it also needed to fit in the box! The piece de resistance would’ve been a pair of folding scissors, but I had no luck in that department. I love how self-contained the kit is. Hopefully, things are open-ended enough to provide lots of creative fun.

The birthday girl loved it and I was really happy to hear the news, since I was suffering from one of my usual bouts of self-doubt over yet another homemade present. I can’t wait to see her new creations. I’ve been making lots of sticker books for our friends, but I think I see a few craft kits in our future.

 

baking bread

Can you believe that F has baked bread every weekend since Mother’s Day? If you’re in the market, by the way, I would highly recommend a spouse who wants to bake bread every weekend. If, say, you find someone and they’re on a no-carb diet? I would strongly steer you towards therapy, separation, even divorce. Definitely the silent treatment.

This weekend, F baked a couple of old-fashioned white loaves and Otis insisted on helping out. F showed him how to knead his own piece of dough, though he mostly just pinched at it – though in his own immortal words, with accompanying hand gestures, “I punched it! I pinched it! I punched it!” Finally, F shaped it into a tiny little loaf and baked it for him. He was quite pleased with himself.

I personally believe that there is no better way to treat a fresh baked loaf of bread than to cut off a thick slice and slather it with peanut butter and really good honey, and Otis has come to believe the same. It’s become a ritual in our house to usher in the day after bread baking day with our own thick slices, and this past weekend, Otis had the pleasure of eating 4 tiny slices from his miniature loaf of bread, 2 with peanut butter and honey, 2 with peanut butter and jelly. He giggled with pleasure and really, who can blame him?

 

learning to read

The animals are still going strong in Otis’s life. Although he doesn’t spend much time playing with his small, plastic animals anymore, our lives, and especially our mealtimes, are consumed by animals. The kid can’t remember what he ate for lunch 5 minutes ago, but he can remember the minutiae of the lives and loves of all animal beings and he loves to discuss those facts at length. But I guess I shouldn’t complain, since the animals have propelled him to learn new things. He never really doodled much, and only started drawing once he really became immersed in the animals. And now the animals are his tools for learning to read and write words.

For some time now, he’s been copying animal names out of his books. We find pages and pages filled with lists of animals like this:

Sometimes they’ll say things like “Dinosaurs. Fun Facts! Did you know?” since he’s copying from his animals books and magazines. And slowly but surely, he’s moved on to sounding out written words and spelling or asking us to spell spoken words. We’ve discovered that it can be difficult to define hard and fast rules, and we sigh dramatically and roll our eyes towards the heavens whenever the blasted schwa comes up. But it’s fun for a couple of nerds like F and me, and we love to think about Otis reading as much as we did as kids, resorting to the classic tricks like Reading In Bed Until Your Mom Comes In To Yell At You For Ruining Your Eyes By Reading While Lying Down, closely followed by Reading Under The Covers With A Flashlight.

 

skirts!

I’ve made my latest lazy sewer’s discovery: elastic-waist skirts. I came across a free pattern from Oliver + S, who makes really adorable kids’ patterns. It’s not a pattern, exactly, but more like rough guidelines for how to make an elastic band skirt from a simple length of fabric. It was really fast and easy.

Here is it is with a Etsuko Furuya fabric that I love:

I think I used maybe 1/2 yard? It’s a great way to use a small amount of pricey fabric. Their directions call for using ribbon on the hem, which makes things fast, but I used my serger and a blind hem stitch instead.

I also made a variation:

Instead of sewing the entire width of fabric into the skirt, I first cut out strips to sew straps. This makes for a dress that is a less full. I used a longer piece of fabric (I happened to find a 7/8 yard remnant for $1.80!) and used a wider width of elastic. I added buttons and the straps to make it a jumper. The straps have a few different buttonholes so hopefully we’ll be able to use it as Bee gets taller.

 

getting back into sewing

Thank you for your supportive comments and emails about my hair. Since I’ve cut my hair, I’ve exchanged hair stories with just about every woman I’ve encountered, and I’ve heard many sympathetic comments that were just so right, in the vein of It looks great, but I know how you feel. It’s interesting how our identities are so closely tied to our hair, and how we express ourselves through our hairstyles.

Anyways, a change of subject. I’ve actually been spending some time in my studio, which you may be surprised to hear since I’ve been quiet about it. A couple of days a week, I wake up with Bee and then head right to studio, leaving F to get the kids ready for the day. I love the quiet couple of hours that I get and it feels like a productive time. In the beginning, though, I found that I just sat here and looked around, not sure what to do. I think the collages, for now, are done. I don’t feel inspired to pick up my scissors and paper, and I just need to take some time away from it. It might be a short time, it might be a long time, I don’t know. It feels sad, like breaking up with an old friend, but maybe I’ll feel more inspired when I return to it.

Instead, I’ve been sewing. My lovely new sewing machine had been glaring at me accusingly for some time, its optional functions glowering uselessly, and I was staring back blankly and guiltily. Finally, I just had to make something, anything. I started with this:

Kind of silly, but it was extremely satisfying to make something fast and easy, that I finished in a couple of hours. I used a tidbit of a piece of fabric that I’ve been hoarding forever, and I love seeing that little splash of color every time I reach for my scissors. There’s definitely something to be said for making things that serve to personalize and beautify a space. It got things moving, and I felt inspired to make more. Next I moved on to this:

Another silly and extremely easy project. Have you ever heard that you can tell a lot about a woman by looking at her purse? I hate to think the conclusions one would come to by looking through mine — it’s usually filled with crumpled receipts and napkins, scattered bits of money, multiple snacks and occasionally, an old New Yorker. Sometimes, my wallet isn’t even in there because I took it out to do something and forgot to put it back in. This cinched snack bag is one attempt to tackle my little purse problem. At least I know where to look for wipes and pretzels now.

Now I’ve been sewing as much as I can. I’m having fun figuring out some of the different functions on my sewing machine and serger, and projects are actually getting finished. I’m using some store-bought patterns, but also trying out some variations. I took a pattern-making class a million years ago, and I’d really love to get back some of those skills. But for now, I’m concentrating on the sewing part.

I’ve been thinking about how getting into the practice of sewing was, for me, like the process I went through when I first started making collages. It took me a while to get into it, felt slow and unnatural in the beginning, and then things started to feel good, and more creative. I’ll share more projects soon.

 

what we’re up to

Bee:

Trying out a babysitting share with her best (and only) friend. They are too cute together.
She’s started using a little bit of sign language and perhaps only amusing to me, when I ask her a question, she’ll often respond with a brief little nod to mark her assent.

Otis:

Wants to be a zookeeper. He talked relentlessly about going to the zoo to see the alligator feeding. We fought the crowds on Memorial Day, waited and waited, and finally witnessed the grand event, only to find out that the alligators eat pellets of food. Otis walked away and said, in a rather accusing tone, “You told me they feed them chickens!” In a return to grade school mentality, I exclaimed, “It wasn’t me!! It was Fifth Aunt Grandma K!” After finding out the truth, I’ll also point a guilty finger at F. I don’t know what they were thinking.

I don’t know if you can see the sizable scab on his lip and nose where he fell down while racing with F. I guess it’s about time that he discover the exquisite torture of picking a scab. I know this is totally gross, but there are members of my family (who shall remain anonymous) who loved picking at my scabs when I was a kid.

me:

wah.
In recent months, my hair has started to gray. Since I don’t want to dye my hair nor become one of those crazy Asian ladies that holds onto their long hair way past an appropriate age, I thought it might be time for a change. The hairdresser, who was somewhat nervous, was pretty cautious until the very end, when she declared I needed some “texture” and proceeded to cut a bunch of hair off the top. So instead of the long layers on top, she changed the shape of the haircut and I ended up with somewhat of a helmet head. I came home, felt crummy, and told myself that I’d feel better after a good cry but I couldn’t even cry! What’s up with that?? I cry during commercials, I positively wept when I watched The Notebook (on the airplane, even!) and I can’t even cry over a bad haircut? It’s not bad, I guess, but rather just not what I expected. And as the hairdresser kept saying as she finished up, “Short hair grows really fast!” and “Just put some cream on it and it’ll be fine!”

 

a year of bee

2 days old

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

seven months

eight months

nine months

ten months

eleven months

today: one year

If Otis weren’t giving her some sort of strange head massage, you’d see how pretty her hair looks. For her birthday present, we gave her a beautiful boar bristle hairbrush which I hope she’ll keep for a long, long time. I derived an obscene amount of pleasure from brushing her hair this morning.