Sometimes when I have holed myself up making things, one by one the babes find their way into my den to poke around.
It usually ends with them making straight for the scrap bag to rummage around, cut and sew, and when Mama vetoes sewing, they sellotape instead.
I sometimes don't really know WHAT they are making (shhh), but whatever it is, they're really happy making it.
It's a very satisfying kind of work, one which I feel privileged to watch.
What can I say? I'm raising Nikon babies. An afternoon of *carefully* sharing Mama's camera (the mantra 'mind the lens, mind the lens, mind the lens' firmly of their lips) and a disk full of their views of the world, I have permission to show you some of their captures::
Geniuses, I'm sure you'd agree.
No, I am not biased.
A day in the life of a skein of yarn in our house. Quickly and enthusiastically balled up and on the needles before you can blink.
The recent cold weather had me thinking of winter woollens earlier than normal this year. Usually it isn't til mid September or later before I start scouring Ravelry for hat and mitten patterns, but here we are at the tail end of August with the first of the winter knits already off the needles! I like to think this makes me ahead of the game... hm..
And the photo shoot? The midget had very definite plans of standing with his flag. His England flag. He was very insistent about it and styled it in his own unique way.
And now, to stay ahead of the game, I still have a whole skein left to make mittens and gators - matchy matchy...
Such awful decision-making times.... yellow, blue, black.... *sigh* it's a burden, really.
Luckily, I have my very own button-chooser who likes to help his Mama by rummaging through the button jars and finding juuuuust the right one.
What would I do without him?
We've been lucky enough recently to have had some real summer days. Hot, hot sun. Perfect summer weather with no complaints from me!
Following on from the hot days are sometimes some rather muggy nights and in an attempt to aid restful sleep I made the babes some summer weight patchwork blankets for their bed, just in case it got too hot for their duvets.
I can't sleep without covers - the summer patchwork blanket I made for our bed last year does me very well on those nights when it's too hot for real blankets, and too cold for nothing, and with the same plan in mind I whipped these up.
4x5 12 inch patches, blanket back, sew right sides together, turn, and finish by stitching all around the edge and tying for good measure. That's it. Just real simple patchwork blankets.
And I can confirm the boys love them. And if nothing else it adds a lively splash of colour to their room
In an attempt (please understand the importance of that word 'attempt') to bring this household to order and instill some kind of method to this madness I have attempted ('attempted') to craft our way to organisation, the granny chic way. Which, I'm sure you'd agree, is the best way to go in matters such as this.
When it comes to organisation I will freely admit I'm useless, ney, pathologically resistant. I hate living my life to a timetable. I hate big clocks. I hate schedules. I hate committing to an agreed time, hate booking tickets in advance, hate having to write in a diary that three months hence I will be doing xyz in the land of abc. It's weird. It would be therapist fodder for years, I have no doubt. But I cannot live this way any longer!!
My goodness I am a homeschooling Mama winging it on a daily basis and now the babes are older we need structure, we really do. And so, like most things in my life, I have had to get a grip for the sake of the kids and try to get a handle on this mothering gig.
Enter The Board...
A doilified board isn't really a Board is it? I mean, it looks so harmless. Jazzy, but harmless.
I have it in mind to get all my brain onto flashcards and have them pinned up on The Board in the glare of full light of day to aid in this new found Mama Me; shopping lists, things that need doing, what we will be doing every day of the week in terms of learning and commitments, and best of all - meal planning and chores *falls over* yes, meal planning and chores. I think perhaps I may have over-stretched myself in this department.
But not just chores for me! Hurrah! I have also now included an organised way of including the boys in this torture too. Everyday they check The Board and get going on helping with the work of this home. And let me tell you - these boys of mine are GOOD workers masha'allah. They really are. I have been so impressed by their eagerness, commitment and quality of their work, and I can't tell you how much of a burden has been lifted off this tired mama's shoulders.
So far chores for them have included : vacuuming, dusting, monitoring the bookshelves, monitoring the toy baskets, monitoring the art and paper supplies, cleaning the kitchen cupboard doors and fridge, cleaning the bathroom sink, washing some dishes, putting dishes away, filling and emptying the washing machine, sweeping the floor, folding towels and putting their own clothes away. Have I missed anything?
So there you have it - the whole of my life in a doilified cork board. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I will crack this homeschooling Mama gig. Hopefully before my children leave home.
Remember the (garish) lounge pants of mine from last year? I managed to make the most comfortable pair of pants from two thrifted pillowcases. Well, here I have gone one better by making a pair of lounge pants from only one pillowcase - for the babes.
They humour me.
I cannot resist a typewriter in a thrift shop. I just can not. I know I'm not the only one. And just like others it's often the babes who have all the fun with Mama's thrift finds.
Right now? I think we're working on writing our name - this is important y'see - the first thing on the cover of any masterpiece is the author's name. Over and over again. Right down the page. Without spaces.
We're working on it....
Despite the begging, we have no pets. Unless you count my husband. And the pet mould behind the wardrobe. But apart from that no animal passeth here. And as far as I am aware my children have no knowledge of vets, nor had they shown any interest in vets. Vets just weren't in our vocab.
And yet, here we are in a 'vet phase'. It's unfathomable.
It's amazing to watch your children bloom. Had we a TV or sent them to school I would have assumed that this obsession had been inculcated by an outside entity, yet here they are blooming in their own peculiar way. As vets.
I smiled as I remembered Amanda's post on her little animal doctor, as I had already thrifted a doctor's bag with a similar plan in mind.
Stuffed to the brim with "real doctors things, Mummy!", stethoscope, otoscope, penlight, thermometer, face masks, empty medicine boxes, some sticking plasters and bandages, I then set about making a lab coat - in this case a (thrifted) woman's blouse with 1/2 length sleeves - by adding huge pockets and applique medical sign with wool felt.
The play it has instigated has been a joy and a privilege to watch. The animals that have been saved! Oh my! The hearts that have been checked, the temperatures that have been recorded, the plasters that have been, erm, plastered. A lot has been learned by the questions this play has raised. White blood cells, vaccination, germs, health, blood, the questions never stop.
And I hope they never will.
These two boys of mine are the reason I do so much, and the reason I learn so much.
They learn through play, and I learn from them.
I have actually only one UFO in my stash - and if you have been reading me a while you will recognise this as the handsewn quilt I pledged to make for my eldest son. It has been sitting mocking me for over a year. A year. This is simply terrible, but given that every stitch is handsewn I think totally understandable, right?
But I cannot stand it any longer. This quilt must be worked on!
I have taken it out of the dark corner I tried to hide it in, and am flaunting it provocatively within eyeshot, hoping that at least the very sight of it will remind me to at least keep at it.
Here's hoping. And do keep nudging me on this occasionally will you?
In a way I cannot really describe I feel completely whole.
The first day the midget fell sick he spent all day whimpering in pain, wheezing, and basically trying to break my heart with his hound dog eyes. It was pitiful. After putting him to bed whimpering, and wanting to do something to make him happy, I set about making something I've had in mind for a couple of weeks now after a friend gave me some wonderful bits of fabric - a tool belt.
This little one loves powertools, and Bob the Builder, and screwdrivers, drills, and anything manly like that. He already has a toolbag which I made some time ago, and which he takes everywhere, so I thought that there might be a good chance that this handyman belt would be another dressing up hit.
It was a relatively straight-forward make; facing was cool tool fabric, corduroy backing and batting for extra sturdiness, with a strip of elastic sewn at serveral intervals for tools to go through, finished with a thick elastic band for the waist.
And yes, he loves it masha'allah. He has only taken it off to goto bed, and seems proud of the fact that his Mummy made it especially for him at night when he was sick to make him happy (he keeps telling people this fact over and over again).
It's a simple make which reminds me once again why I make the effort to make things for my babes - nothing gives you a feel-good factor like seeing your child happy because of something you have done. A tangible object which symbolises so much unspoken love.
For some time there have two people who have lost out on the Mama-made goodies since the knitting took off and the machine took a rest - the boys. And not making stuff for them got into a bad habit, so one afternoon last week I rectified this neglect by quickly rustling up some goodies for them.
The first were these little 'snuggle sacks' as my eldest calls them - patchwork bags filled with stuffing and lavender to used to cuddle into at night to aid restful sleep. Every other night I put a drop of lavender essence on the felt pocket to help them drop off. Yeah, right. Gimme the chloroform... but they swear it helps them sleep, and they love the snuggle sacks because it helps them feel relaxed.
Score.
Another task was to rustle up a cushion similar to his brother's with some embroidered work for the youngest. To my shame this is of a picture that my youngest drew when he was 3 and which I traced and embroidred in MARCH waiting to be turned into a pillow. My bad. Oh well, it is done now, and greatly appreciated and cuddled.
What is it? Pah! Be off with you! Can't you tell?? It's Postman Pat with Jess inside his red postvan. duh. I loved this picture so much, and the animated way in which he told me all about his sweet drawing that it was a natural contender for turning into something a bit more long lasting insha'allah.
It has also made me realise there are few more drawings awaiting some mama-magic sitting in my sewing corner, and I don't want to wait a year this time before they are ready!
This time of year the house can smell a little stale - windows are hardly opened, and things can get a bit funky.
Here is a simple project for the children to make with immediate results :: push cloves into any citrus fruit and then place in a ceramic holder - the air is naturally deodorised within minutes without any artifical gunk. Our sitting room really smells lovely and inviting.
Try them! Will give you a good ten minutes peace as they make them!
1:: Making
2 :: Baking
3 :: Bonding
4 :: Chillin'
5 :: Knitting
6 :: Sitting
What was your weekend like?
I'm all for organisation. And keeping my job as Mother and Buttwiper easy? Yup, I'm all for that too! These recent whip ups are like a two-for-one deal in this respect - organisation and easier life.
Imagine, if you will, a world where civilisation has yet to evolve, where animal instincts reign supreme, where testosterone rules unchecked and where Jim Jams are thrown with gay abandon every morning to get tangled in the light fixtures. Welcome to my World.
Fed up with finding clothes and PJs shoved into every nook and cranny, and fed up also of having to restructure drawers and wardrobes after the babes have hurricaned through (new word) looking for clobber in the morning before they hit the means streets (of the back garden), I decided some structure was called for. I came up with these clothes sacks with the idea thus:
Every night before bed I would put the clothes they were to wear the next day into each monkey's own bag, for them to find and wear without my aid or intervention (or riot act needing read) the next day. And each day I would place their PJs neatly into their own bag for them to find that night. A simple idea, no?
And so far we have lift off. Cute bags with goodies shoved inside are always a big hit in this house. And it's a win-win situation - they get a bag and clothes at the ready, and I get my house back.
We'll see how long it lasts, shall we??
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