Cooperation!

Well, the visits from the 'rellies' commence tomorrow.  The past week has been a bit trying with me focusing too much on other things and letting my mothering slide a big bunch.  Today, I tried to take a different tack and insert humor when I could, and whadya know, it worked.  The checker at the co-op even complimented me, and helped me in a moment of not so much grace, when Gus started consuming something before it was purchased.  I would have liked to have shared with you the nearly final kid image of the evening (before the discussion of who would sit where for storytime) in picture format, but I will just have to paint a word picture, because by the time I got my camera out of the car and into the house and defogged, the moment was over.  

So, here it is:   After doing as much of the mopping of the kitchen floor as she could possibly do by herself,  Ella joined Gus and Lucy, who had been miraculously peaceful and quiet during the mopping, and when I came upon them Gus and Ella were doing a new puzzle that Gus got and Lucy was combing Gus' hair.  Hmmmmm.  Peace through grooming, I guess.  It makes sense since they're such a bunch of monkeys anyway.  

 

In lieu of the grooming photo, I would like to share this one.  The kids are thrilled with the new washing machine, mostly because of the box.  It doesn't have a good place to be permanently so we have to fold it up behind the couch and bring it out when we can.  It is good to remember that they DO know how to share and cooperate!

OH and please check out this video about STUFF

Recent Craftiness

As the days get colder, we spend more time inside, and therefore have to find more things to keep our hands and heads busy.  I would say that 'handwork' and 'crafts' are two of the major subjects in our learning at home experience.  Robert is working on a huge paper-crafting project and so the kids have started doing a lot of those as well.  At first I sort of freaked, because I thought they would stop making their lovely homemade paper projects.  The truth is, it hasn't slowed them down any.  Now they use the stuff Robert downloads as fodder for their own creative inventions. We go through a lot of paper!  Also, growing out of my own desire to

 attend some sort of 

'stitch and bitch', I started a '2nd Sundays Handwork Circle' at my house.  It may be getting in way over my head, but I hope it will be fun.  Lucy started making a patchwork project, which she says is going to be a quilt for me.  And I made my very first quilt, using some directions from Amy Karol'ls Bend The Rules Sewing

I made it for a friend and it was a totally rewarding experience.  I especially enjoyed making bias binding with my new Clover bias tape doodad, and then finishing the quilt by sewing the binding onto the back by hand. 

Goodbye, Fall.

I awoke early this morning to the peaceful sight of fluffy snowflakes falling.  I do not have a photo of them, because by the time I got out of bed, they had all melted.  Nevertheless, the children were very excited.  Gus 'dressed warm for snow'.  We went out for an 'explore' at about 11:00 and there was absolutely no snow to be found.  Maybe if we went up the mountain.  We spent the rest of the day inside, doing cozy things.  Lucy and Gus built an entire village, or country maybe, which seemed to be closely related to Japan.  There was a train that led between the 'temple' and the 'tea house'.  Ella was odd one out today (which is unusual) and ended up spending most of the afternoon in her room, making some gifts for her brother and sister (!).  Then we started in on the December arts and crafts with some foldy stars from.  Very satisfyingly mathematical, they are.  I really want to find directions to make Julestearne or however you spell Christmas stars, which I learned to make in Denmark but forgot.  Before we launch whole-heartedly into winter, I will share a few more photos from our fall.  Each year, we watch as the European Beech tree that's right in front of our house turns lovely shades of yellow, then orange, then brown.  Then, one day a wind comes up and the leaves are gone.  We did have one day of jumping in the leaves before the rain made them too soggy for much fun.  I included the jack-o-lantern photo to remind myself that it was quite a momentous occasion this year:  each of the children carved almost all of his/her own pumpkin, sharp knives and all.  Only Gus needed help getting all the 'goop' out of his enormous pumpkin.  I guess we can check that one off the big list.