Finally feeling well again...

But this just about sums up how we've felt the last week...

Christmas 2011

Though we are all sick (boo) we had a nice Christmas. 
Here are some shots of the chaos!

Gingerbread House

Like last year, our friends invited us over to their house to decorate gingerbread houses (vegan) and R was very excited about it.

Here he is...

Organic ham & goin' after ornaments

Well this organic ham better be FANTASTIC because it cost an arm and a leg... Also, I got all the ingredients for Eggs Goldenrod. Prelogar tradition and all!

Someone has learned to climb packages to reach the breakable ornaments... But it's pretty stinkin' cute.

I'll try to put up little bits and pieces until Christmas day.  Then we plan to skype you all.day.long.  :)

Oh and on a final note, today R said "Holy Crap".  Guess I should do a better job of watching what I say. 

Christmas Sensory bin

Almost ready for Santa

Stockings: check

Tree: check
Gifts: (mostly) check

Cute headband to prevent bed-head family pictures Christmas morn: check

Now to start planning that January birthday party!

Sunday update

As you can see, the Sensory Bin went over well.  He even shared it with a friend Friday evening (it was difficult, but he did it). 

We've been inside a lot with the weather turning colder.  We've started building "couch forts"...

Finally, my latest Waldorf swap items came.  This theme was "baby".  I made my nursing necklaces, if you recall.  Here's the goodies I got back.  I am especially excited about putting the little baby in someone's stocking...

Another Holiday Card Reject

Enjoy.

Sensory bin, take one

Here's my first attempt... bugs... a bit sparse but I want to see how he does with it before I go too crazy.

Preschool Christmas party

Today was the last day of preschool for this semester, so to celebrate they had a little party with the kids.  R's teacher had them give us presents and she also gave each child a little goodie bag with a book, a candy cane and some play doh.  It was all very sweet.

My pictures are a bit bad as I was holding a squirmy babe the whole time, but here they are:

 Here's the gift they made for us.  His name and the date is on the back.  What a sweet idea!

Longing for bread

So a year or more ago, I was inspired to buy a breadmaker.  My friend makes it almost daily.   It's always a hit at play dates and R and I LOVE IT!  We used to make it at our waldorf parent-tot and it seemed so easy...  Anyway after gathering up my ingredients and reading all the instructions.  I made my first loaf. 

It was not edible. 

So, I packed the breadmaker away and stored it in the deep recesses of my basement. 

The end. 

Except this season really is condusive to making bread... the warm oven... the smell... ahhhh 
Anyway, do you make your own bread? 
Do your kids help? 
How do you fit it in? 
Are we talking breadmaker or totally by hand? 
Help inspire me please!

Holiday Card rejects

Here's a few rejects from my attempts at "cute holiday photos"...

#2 is my favorite.  I think I should just give up!
Note: no one was hurt in the making of these photos.  No one even cried. 

I left the cabinet open for 5 seconds...

If you leave a cabinet open for 5 seconds, then most likely you will have mini-cheese ravioli all over your kitchen.  Wait, maybe that's just here?

Tonight's thrift score

Tonight I ran to the thrift store to buy more "soft pants" as that's all my little man will wear.  Basically he lives in fleece britches.  I had about four pair and find myself doing laundry way more often than I like (which is a lot considering how much laundry I do).  While I was there I found a couple treasures!!!

Four little wooden vehicles (please ignore Venus, she needed some attention):

and two plushies (one for each - R loves snakes right now):

All in a bag for less than $3

Check stocking stuffers off the list!!!

Crafting...

My “things to make” list…

·         Another batch of cleansing grains to give as gifts and keep…How am I almost out already?

·         Stockings for N & S

·         Embroider “R” and the year “2009” on the existing stocking… Did I really make it that long ago?

·         Make S a “hair clip organizer” to hold all the hair clippis she’s getting for Christmas

Once the holidays are over, I have to start crafting for the January birthday… Can my baby be almost 1???

·         Birthday Crown

·         Party favors

I'm also hosting an upcycled wool swap in January... I'm thinking... you guessed it... hats!

Dreary, Dismal Day

Today was no fun.  The weather outside was frightful.  Not a single thing was delightful.  Since we had no where we could go… it started to snow!  Okay, enough silly rhyming.  R was sick today.  He couldn’t keep anything down.  By afternoon he was able to hold in some ginger ale and he did eat a bit of dinner, but man was he a sad little dude.  He did enjoy watching lots of TV and playing several board games.  He seems to be on the upswing tonight… so I’m hoping he’s all better by tomorrow morning.

N sold his old snow tires!  I guess the sciroccos will not be seeing any snow this year. 

Garage update: Tomorrow, the HVAC guy comes to give us an estimate on a garage heater.  Then the electrician comes back to “hook ‘er up”.  I can’t wait to “move him out” to his “man cave”.  Oh, I’ll still let him sleep in the house, if he’s good.  J

Herb/Spice swap

My friend and I hosted this swap... we had 28 entries and my what a fun morning! I swapped 5 of my cleansing grains and 5 of my ylang ylang & tangerine lotion for 10 other handmade consumables. My favorites are Boo Boo Salve (already on someone's yucky fingernail), teas, bath tea, a rub that smells heavenly and some much needed Kava Kava. Here is a less than flattering picture of the goods:

 Too many to fit on the table, some had to go on the floor:

 Finally, here is a picture of me from today.  I realized that there weren't any new photos of me since I've been growing my hair out.  So here I am with a hairclip borrowed from Saff.

Handstitching

What I do when I have a sleeping baby in the car and it's not quite time to pick up the munchkin from preschool...

My newest obsession: Sensory Bins

Many of my "natural mama friends" home school.  While I am not interested in this being my children's only form of education, I certainly intend to educate them at home as well as at school.  So, I've been stealing their ideas.
My newest obsession is the sensory bin.  They are basically large plastic bins filled with a substance (rice, beans, sand, etc) and then a few thematic goodies are added to the mix. Themes can range from animal habitats to letter of the alphabet to specific holidays.

Here's why they are great for kids (adapted from A Purpose Driven Home.)

Fine Motor (placing small objects into small areas, using tongs or tweezers to pick up objects)

Transferring (moving objects from one container to another, i.e. pouring, scooping)

Matching (colors, shapes, objects, etc.)

Patterns (big, small, big, small or flower, butterfly, flower, butterfly, etc.)

Counting

Sorting and Classifying (into other objects such as ice cube trays, small buckets, egg platters)

Specific skill recognition & reinforcement (colors, letters, shapes, themes, etc.)

Sensory bins also provide for lots of imaginative play.

They are almost as fun to design as they are to play with!!!  Here's my kitchen counter with my recent dollar store goodies...

Next, I'm getting the bin and some "filler".  In this case, I've ordered popping corn.  When we are done playing in it, it will feed our local squirrels. 

I'm really excited about using this to keep R entertained while I cook or anytime I need a distraction during these cold Michigan winters.  (These are not baby-proof, so he'll have to play with his sensory bin on the kitchen table).  I'll post pictures before I let little hands dig in!

My newest hat!

Get it before I list it on etsy!!!