Walking in the Middle of the Road

This is a picture of Rolly's weaving. As Rolly has gotten older (he is ten now) I have realized that I am holding the goal of perfection too closely. We have not done enough crafts. One of the reasons is because I can hold to unrealistic goals of perfection.

In this case it is perfection of materials. The inner circle of mixed purple, blues and pinks was made by dying wool yarn in food coloring. We used a method shared from the Living Crafts magazine. Here is a link:  http://www.livingcrafts.com/blog/category/dyeing

That was a really great experience. However, the wool was thin and while I can do that once or twice. I can't do that with every ball of yarn.

The second layer was made with an inexpensive acrylic yarn I bought at Joann's Fabrics. I bought this yarn for a class of a bunch of kids. I don't buy this for myself and it was really difficult to buy it for others. But since it was for a class, I could not afford to purchase wool yarn for all of the children. This was fine. And the kids in the class did love it.

And for me, the experience was freeing. Because I ended up with a bunch of inexpensive acrylic yarn sitting around the house. Grandma doesn't personally care what we use in her gift, so this yarn works out fine.

It was super easy to finger crochet and it looks pretty. The light color was needed to balance out the darks in the center.

Boot Gnome craft

The rainy weather is coming! We were stuck inside far too often last year, so this year I purchased rain pants, a rain coat and rain boots for each of the boys. The first thing I noticed is that the rain boots were just being kicked off and thrown all over the place. So, I was inspired to do the Boot Gnome craft in my Enki Kindergarten craft book.

Basically the directions called for using a clothes pin and sewing a little cloak to go on it. Then you could draw a face on the gnome. Brother can sew and was more than ready for this craft, especially since he is seven and in first grade. Little Brother is only 3.5 years old and can't sew yet.



So, Little Brother glued on an underskirt and he glued on the wool roving hair. He chose the color of the cloak and thread, but I sewed up it and tied it on for him.




Brother decided he wanted his gnome to be old and added a snowy beard to his gnome, which is glued on.




Here's mine. I always make one for myself as well. Actually, I make one with scrap fabric when I am alone first so that I am familiar with the process. Then I make one at the same time to boys do.

So, I realize that the process of art is much more important than the product actually produced. Except in this case I really want the boot gnomes to be used to promote good care taking of the boots. Honoring the process over product philosophy, it really doesn't matter to me how they turned out aesthetically. Brother's stitches aren't even, Little Brother's gnome has hair all over him. It's just contained by the cloak. Little Brother used so much roving, it probably needs the cloak to keep the hair on! My issue is that the BOOT GNOME has to function properly and hold BOOTS.

My girlfriend made boot gnomes with her Mommy and Me class a few years ago, so I checked in with her. The clothespins provided did not hold boots either. So, it isn't just am a boot gnome making failure. But, I did have a bit of a tiff and I'm an engineers daughter so....



... we turned it into a wood working project. I sawed off the legs because I had to hold the clothespin in one hand and the saw with the other. I just used an old icky wood cutting board as my working surface. When my hand got tired of holding the clothes pin I realized I could hold it with a portable clamp, but that is still not appropriate or safe for kids.

Then I clamped the head and torso part of the clothspin on our woodworking table and Brother filed the bottom of the torso smooth. After it was smooth he used his manual hand drill to drill a hole in the center of each torso.

Into each hole we glued a pipe cleaner. We just used Elmer's school glue.



Allowing a day for the glue to dry, we ran the pipe cleaner through the hole in the spring of a clamping clothespin. And now we have a boot gnome that will actually hold the boots! We added an underskirt to hide the top of the clamping clothespin. The boys were very concerned when I was cutting off the boot gnomes legs. Phew! Happy Mommmy.

Spring Flowers

Spring is here! Brother loves to help decorate the house seasonally, so we made spring tissue paper flowers. We used eight pieces of tissue paper and glued them to a brown piece of construction paper. After they had dried overnight we fluffed them up. Now we have hung them on the braided crepe paper garland that frames our dining room window.

Crayon Cases

Since Brother is an older Kindergartener mixed with small amount of First Grade I decided to make us the crayon cases. They really help promote the led drawing sessions.




I really noticed that after I gave him the crayon case, he became much more interested in drawing by himself. And he is doing a really good job of taking care with his crayons. He brings the case to me as soon as he is done. I did buy him new crayons this year as the old ones were all broken in their basket.



I also made one for myself as suggested in the Enki guide. It does really help with the modeling for the led drawing.



I have some extra fabric, so I am going to make a few extra. If you would like one, shoot me an email. I probably will put them on Etsy as well.

Tuesday

Phew it rained last night! We have a metal roof and it was so loud it seemed like we were sleeping - or not sleeping- in a tent. Since we didn't get much sleep last night, everyone slept in really late this morning, pushing our entire day back. We still walked in the rain. Brother wore rain boots and splashed in all of the puddles. Since there are 2 long hills on the walk, we spend a lot of time with "running river" flowing down the hill besides us. He splashed down running river looking for worms for me to save. We pulled a lot of worms out of the river today!
Brother joined in circe today. I think this is one of the benefits of being in a co-op. I used the same circle as the co-op circle, which is actually designed for younger kids. But he enjoys it, and since he has seen all of the other kids participating in circle at co-op, it is carrying him at home. For story, I am reading "The Queen Bee" from the Enki Folk an Fairy Tales. He really sat quietly for the entire story, afterwards commenting that "he saw pictures of the story in his brain." Then he holed himself up in his room building with blocks for the next hour. He has a really big plan and has asked me not to clean up his room tonight.
This is the first time Brother has gone in his room and shut the door leaving Baby on the outside since Baby has become old enough to realize what is going on. Baby was sad, but brother needed his alone time. While Brother was holed up his room, Baby and I made granola. I gave him whole almonds, covered them with a dish towel and then gave him a wooden mallet. He had a lot of fun pounding on the nuts. He also helped stir the whole sticky mess together. We both have our hands on the spoon and I sing a rhythmic little verse (that I make up on the spot) so that he can feel the movement he needs for the stirring. It was very sweet, and we hardly ever get time alone together.
Before Baby went to nap, I read him a couple board books. I am trying to start giving him the same as I do for Brother, but on the appropriate level. I figure I might as well start now, I want him to be willing to give Brother and I alone time as Brother's work becomes more intensive in the next few years. I am laying the groundwork for it now.
This afternoon we worked with bee wax for a bit. Brother is creating a bird and would like to save it for him to work on next time. After it is done, he would like me to incorporate it in some stories.
Tuesday afternoons we babysit Brother's friend and her newly adopted brother.
Tonight I read the first chapter in The Burgess Bird Book for children. I used to read Brother a chapter book every night, and I want to get back in that habit. Since Baby is under 3.5, I am not concerned about his absorbing inappropriate stories yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!

preparing for May Day

We are going to a May Day celebration Friday evening. Brother and I are making Jingle Knots from the Enki Craft book to use as anklets. Basically, it is tying a row of knots and then attaching a bell. He is still in the mechanical stage of the project and can get a knot about 1/2 the time. I think the numbers on the board confused him as well. I'll have to try this craft again in a month and see if it clicks for him then. He was very concerned that the anklet would not be ready on time without my help, so I finished it up for him. He was happy and we all had jingle bells ringing on our ankles for the celebration!

Wednesday - the meaning of Circle?

Today was supposed to be a park day, but our friends are sick. So we are doing things here instead. Trying to make it a normal day - I tried to do circle. The kids were running around the livingroom playing circle anyway, so I figured, why not jump in. Well, I met with Great Resistance! So, after the kids ran away, and I was angry, I sat to rest in my meditation spot, which is on the livingroom couch. Then I realized - what is the purpose of circle? To bring the family together and to get morning rhythmic movement. But, if there is Great Resistance and I force it, am I bringing the family together? No! So, I offered Brother the choice of a walk or a circle. He chose walk, and we all happily took a walk together. 

FWIW - I love circle. So, I will have on prepared just in case. 

It was snowing BTW! So, part way through the walk, Brother asked for Spring Songs. So I starting singing Spring is Coming from our circle. He loved it! He thought it was so funny singing spring songs in the snow! We also squeezed in our fingerplay. My only issue is that he will not be doing naval radiation if we just take a walk. So, I need to ponder that issue for a while. 

Our long term craft project is the sail boat from the Enki Craft book. I know, it's in the Autumn section, but we are making it now so that we can sail it on Lake Whatcom with Oma and Opa this summer. When we started the project at his friend's house (with his friend) last Thursday, he had no interest. I was thinking he might not be ready for this craft yet. But I got it out today and put it in the kitchen on our little wood working table and he was very intent on it. He did A LOT of sawing. I think he is ready for it, but he may need some reminding. On the other hand, he set a goal for himself of finishing that cut, and he did! I know he wants the sail boat this summer because we talked about it last year. But I also really feel like it is important that we make at least some of our toys and that I don't just go buy him a sailboat. I see a huge difference in the soul quality between purchased toys and home made toys, for him. 

Tuesday - Craft Day

Circle was really rough today. I carried it, but barely. After that, we all went outside to play. It was pretty sunny and warm. We spent quite a bit of time in the garden clearing the black berries. 

For story we read the story from our Enki book - The Singing Snake. Brother laughed the whole time through! It was neat to hear him think something was funny and really laugh about it. I don't think he laughs a lot other than during wrestling time and night. It's not that he is not a happy kid, but in some ways, he is really quiet and deep.

Brother's butterfly is the one closest to the window.

Today's craft came from our Enki craft book. It uses the wet on wet paintings from 2 weeks ago as wings and a stick as the body. Brother loved making it and is very proud of his. It was really interesting watching him trace around the wing template. I could see where it became more difficult as he crossed his midlines. The paper was really thick for cutting, and his hands lacked some strength. Although, he is much more accurate with scissors than last year. He was able to punch 3 of the hole punches, which was a hand strength issue again. But, he had no problem with the sewing. A couple times when he was cutting, I gave him a little push to not give up. I am trying to strike a balance, to teach him that when things are tough, he shouldn't just give up. But again, remembering "Process Not Product".