Happy First Day of School

For us, summer is not quite officially over (O doesn't start school until Monday) but it certainly feels that way.

We celebrated with a Back To School Feast last night.  The kids requested home made chicken pot pie, mashed sweet potatoes, and the vanilla cake from this cookbook.  It definitely tasted like Fall.

This morning, E headed off to a brand new school for first grade.  Hopefully ending a yearlong saga of worry and concern.  We live in a city.  (I think) a great city.  In a fabulous neighborhood.  Unfortunately it is a city with a reputation for really bad schools.  We believe (and know) that they are not all bad.  And that everything is relative.  And we really hoped that our neighborhood school would work.

When E came home from her first day of Kindergarten saying she never wanted to go back and that she 'hated that place' we were concerned.  She reported that the Kindergarteners had been yelled at at lunch.  We waited.  Then she came home a couple months later looking conflicted.  Finally, after some prying, she asked "How come it's okay for my teacher say "Shut Up" but not me?"  But she loved her teacher.  And she was not getting yelled at.  Then after the winter break, she started talking about being bored with her specials.  A kid who loves art and music.  But we had no other options and while she was struggling with the envrionment she was making some good, good friends and excelling in reading and writing.

Then late last Spring we found out that they had a seat for her for first grade at a local charter school.  A highly ranked charter school.  The only one in the country to sit on the grounds of an environmental education center.  And The Dad and I sat and breathed and acknowledged once again how amazingly lucky we are.

Then we spent the summer deprogramming.  When anyone would ask her where she went to school she would say: "I'm going to ___  Charter School.  Where they're not allowed to yell or say Shut Up or Boy or Girl."  As in 'Get out of my face, BOY' or 'Sit down in your seat, GIRL.'

She had her first day of first grade today.  For Art they went outside and picked a tree ('We each got our very own special spot') and drew it.  She had a fabulous day.  No one yelled.

While I am not breathing my sigh of relief quite yet, I am almost there.  And oh so grateful.

The Crayola Factory, Easton PA

One more little weekday getaway with the kids before school starts.

We've lived in Pennsylvania for almost three years now and had not yet made it up to the Crayola Factory in Easton.

Much more than a 'factory tour' (in fact the actual factory is located 7 miles north of the Discovery Center), this was a creative experience, a cacophony of color, a history lesson, and a playday.  Not to mention the hand-on Canal Museum occupying the top two floors of the building and also included in admission.  And of course, the on-site McDonald's where my kids experienced their first Happy Meal today.  Oh, the look on O's face when he peeked in the box - Look!  I think there's a toy in here!

Really, a good time was had by all.

When In Doubt, Get Them Out

We are in the home stretch, with two more weeks until the kids go back to school.

Blackberry and Raspberry Picking

It is still hot here.  E is starting to freak out a bit about going to a new school.  She will be attending a local charter school with an Environmental Ed focus this year for first grade - and hopefully staying through until 8th!  She doesn't do well with big transitions and is getting anxious about a new school, new teacher, new kids, and the great unknowns.  I am sure she will love it.  We just have to get her there.

Hopewell Furnace

The kids are starting to get on eachother's nerves, as well as mine.  I love them dearly and am surprised (and a bit sad) at how much I am looking forward to the start of school.

Fonthill

I have learned, though (took me long enough), that when the bickering, whining, fussing, etc. starts, we need to get out.  I have learned that to say "If you can't be nice to each other, we won't go to the zoo/pool/coffee shop..." is tantamount to shooting myself in the foot.  Because if they don't earn an outing, we ALL sit home suffering.  Whereas if we all get out and do something stimulating, adventurous, and or fun, the day passes easily and they are oh-so-much more enjoyable (the days and the kids).

The Mercer Museum

Needless to say, we have been getting out much more the last couple days.  And we are all soooo much better for it.

Have you gone anywhere fun lately?

Kids' Sewing with Liesl's City Weekend

I have to admit that I went to the Vermont Sewing weekend with grand (and knowingly unrealistic) visions of a bit of free fabric involved.  A girl can dream, right?

We did receive, in our little welcome bags, charm pack of Liesl's new fabric line City Weekend.

The kids were fascinated by all these little squares and in a moment of desperation on Monday I sat them down on my studio floor and spread the squares out between them.  Then I let them choose, taking turns, one square at a time until they were all divied up.

O wanted to make a tail.  Attached to a belt that he can wear.  Which he's been fascinated with since seeing If You Give A Mouse a Cookie last Spring.

O lined his up in the order he wanted them and I stitched them together and then stitched them to some webbing for the belt.  One snap later and he was all set.  And beaming.  Oh, if things could always be that easy.

E wanted to make a barbie quilt.  She, who has been asking to sew with my machine for about a year, was determined to piece the squares herself.  After a little guidance in the beginning, she was quick to push my hand away when I tried to help guide the fabric.  "Mom!  I'm six years old.  I know how to do it myself."  And really?  By the end?  She did.

I backed it with some minkee and she was good to go.

Of course, the next time I went to use my machine it was kind of dead...  The result of the 6 year old foot on the pedal?  Or just too long since the last servicing...  Keep your fingers crossed.

O's New Sketchbook Shirt

In planning for the Vermont Sewing Weekend, I really struggled with projects to work on.  I had a couple of new skills I wanted to try out and practice but I couldn't decide on a big project.  I thought, with Heather and Liesl both there, that it would be fun to do an Oliver + S pattern in a Heather Ross print.

I had the Jumprope Dress pattern and had been wanting to make that for E, but I knew I was going to make her a zippered pouch for school while I was away and felt like I should bring something home for O, too.

I'd been eyeing the Sketchbook Shirt pattern since it first came out.  It looked similar to Heather's Kai Shirt pattern from Weekend Sewing that I made O in Spring 2009 and he loved.  Her pattern only went up to a 3T so I needed Liesl's pattern to make O one that would fit him now.

Luckily Liesl had one in her studio and brought it with her for me to purchase in VT.  Combined with some Mendocino fabric I'd had in my cupboard since back here, I was all set.

I love the way it turned out.  I did the inside button placket and the underside of the color in a complementary fabric and love the contrast.  The Oliver + S patterns are so incredibly well-written and detailed that even when I get stuck I can figure it out if I read a little more closely - rereading the last step and previewing the next step usually helps.

Thankfully, he loves it.  And actually wore it two days in a row, which says a lot.  There was a moment, though, where he looked down at it and back up at me and said "Oh mama, you forgot the pocket!"  I see more in the future.  With chest pockets.

Sewing Weekend at Blueberry Hill

I spent three days this past weekend in the mountains of Vermont.  Where it was chilly enough that I actually donned a fleece and slept snuggled under my covers.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the area, surrounded by lush green mountains and blue skies, the bulk of my time was actually spent inside a barn, converted into a sweat shop sewing center.

Wine and Cheese at the Tipi

I joined 14 other women to spend the weekend working with and learning from three fabulous instructors: Heather Ross, Liesl Gibson, and Kelly Wilkinson.  I was surrounded by creativity.  And I have not laughed so much in a long time.

Heather Ross and Ava

But really?  What I think hit home the most?  Being surrounded by so many like-minded people.  It reminded me of the high school summers I spent at music camp, when after the first couple days I was struck by how amazing it felt to be surrounded by strangers who I had so much in common with.  This weekend, people would stop to borrow scissors and ask "Can I borrow your fabric scissors?"  Really?  Other people have fabric scissors and paper scissors!  Really?  Other people hoard fabric!  And are afraid to put in a zipper?!?!  It was great.  Better than great.

My main project - The Sketchbook Shirt by Oliver + S (Liesl) in Mendocino fabric by Heather Ross

I came home motivated, too.  I watched garments being constructed from scratch around me throughout the weekend.  We sewed uninterrupted for hours.  I came home wanting to go fabric shopping and needing to end this summer long studio hiatus I have been on. 

Really?  It was summer camp.  And I can't wait to do it again.

Wrapping Sticks

 I don't very often see something on the computer and go rushing to try it, but a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon this post at Ohdeedoh, which led me to this original post, which led me to my studio.

I grabbed a bunch of embroidery thread, tempted the kids with "Wanna do a project outside?" and headed out.  They searched for sticks, I tied the knots, and they wrapped away.

E made some of hers into magic wands with tassels on the ends.  O got all into overlapping colors.  And I think I enjoyed wrapping my own as much as they did.

 (Ignore the brown, sun-scorched grass!)

Really, embroidery floss (or yarn), sticks from the yard, some sunshine, and a good hour of summer vacation occupation. Love it. 

On Vacation

As you may have noticed by the silence around here, summer vacation is in full swing.  While we actually took a short away-from-home-vacation recently, most of our vacation days take place right here at home.

Most days consist of some combination of a visit to the pool, popsicles, some bickering/whining/or crying, reading books, playing outside, and making up some new pretend game.  The kids have gotten into a bit of a groove, but I have to admit there seems to be a lot less time for me to get anything done.  I am enjoying this time, though, and while I would love a little more 'me time' in my days, I'm okay about not getting into the studio or posting here on the blog.  Amazingly, I'm actually getting more cleaning done, too!  Our computer and my studio are up on the 3rd floor which is pretty much off limits to the kids during the day (it's where The Dad works from home).  Since the kids aren't up here, I'm rarely up here now, too.  Some of my time downstairs while they play has been delightfully occupied by some good reading I haven't done in a while.  Magazines, books...  It's been really nice.

This week the kids are at camp.  Between drop off and pick up for O's half day camp and E's full day camp I have about two hours to myself and 2 hours with O.  The little recharge for me has been great and the kids are loving their camps - Pirate Camp for him and Farm Camp for her...  Just right for mid-summer.

Camping on the Summer Solstice

We managed to kick off summer with an overnight camping trip to a nearby (2 hours) state park.

While the kids were a bit more squirrelly than usual, we had some fabulous outside time including a 2 mile hike along a trail sprinkled with wild blueberry bushes.

We still haven't backpacked with them, but I think that day is finally coming.  So far we have only car-camped, selecting sites along the edge of the campgrounds that back up onto the wild of the park, a trail, or stream.  I have to say that I have been spoiled by being able to bring a pillow (and all you can fit in the trunk of your car) with me - it makes for a much nicer night's sleep.

The kids are much more independent out there now.  And while bedtime is still a chore, gone are the all-night nursing marathons that kept them quiet and rested but left me ready to go home at 5 in the morning.  O is now requesting to poop in the woods and after this past trip (with multiple wildlife warnings everywhere we looked) both are well versed in what to do if they encounter a Black Bear.

I love that they are so comfortable out there, spending hours playing with a headlamp or hammock instead of the couple of toys brought along.  And I believe that the squirreliness and unexpected whining we experienced last week will lessen with 'practice'.

I'd like to do one more year of the car camping, moving to a 'cart-in' site next time, and then do our first backpacking trip as a family next summer.  I have visions of a hut-to-hut trip in the White Mountains before a true backcountry trip.  Hmmm...

Counting Down

It's amazing how quickly we adapt.  O has had his cast on now for 5 weeks and I forget what it was like before.  We've gotten used to accommodating.  He's gotten used to lugging it around.  We've gotten used to the once-a-week bath and he's gotten used to only having a couple inches of water in the tub.

But last weekend our swim club opened for the summer.  And we all began to anticipate the cast coming off next week.  So we started counting down.  And then I realized that the countdown to the cast removal coincided with the countdown to the end of school (for O at least, E will go for a week longer) and the true countdown to summer.

There is so much I want to do this summer.  Not so much of the 'let's go here and do this' variety - more of the 'Here is what I want to do better' and 'here are the experiences I want the kids to have'.  I've been reading Simplicity Parenting over the last couple weeks and loving it (and how much it is just the right time in my life to be reading it), slowly incorporating some pieces into our lives (and so happy to have some things we do already reinforced!), and looking forward to a new rhythm to our days when school is out.  So with this countdown (6 days!) I feel like I am counting down to a true transition (or two) around here.  I'll post more here to let you know how it goes - and to keep myself accountable!

Thanks for checking in.