winter

Bare trees and branches are about the only way to tell it's winter around here--at least this year. You know, I was feeling quite grumpy when we had that heat wave a week or so ago--about 10 days of 80+ temperatures, and I was so wishing to live in a place where "winter" is real. But (now that it is cooler and I'm feeling a bit more level headed) I've decided that the best course is to embrace the warm mild winters we have here in southern California. In truth, I know I would be a major cold weather wimp for most of winter. When I lived in Kansas I complained about how long the winter lasted and hated the snowy cold Easters. Also, I've been so caught up in Stephanie's thoughts and insights since her accident and since waking up from her long sleep. (Do you know her story? She and her husband were in a terrible private plane crash last summer and sustained some serious burn injuries. Now she is rehabilitating and blogging again. She's very positive and such an inspiration). Stephanie's post makes me realize that what we have in the here and now is such a gift. It would be so foolish to waste another minute being grumpy about the weather.

Winter nature table with flowers from farmer's market.

Dieter with his cookie.

"Just keeping it real" shot of the boys playing last weekend while I did the "photo shoot" of the cookies.

Faith's sandwich. Every day after school she's been making an "MB" sandwich (named for me because it is my "original" creation: dark rye, roast beef, Jarlsburg cheese or similar, lettuce, dill pickle slices, mayo, mustard).

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments and suggestions for creative movie nights. I really appreciate them and will check them out for sure. I especially loved reading Kristi's comment which challenged my assumption that movie watching stunts kids' creativity. I love being made to re-examine what I "know" to be true.

thoughts on pizza and a movie

Thanks everyone, for all your well wishes for Rainer. He did awesome on his first day of DI. He went for his usual "outpatient surgery" routine and was extremely brave. I stayed until he woke up and I nursed him then went to work. Ken finished up.

Two things: I like an easy pizza. Here's what we've been having lately. Homemade pizza dough made in the food processor (so fast and easy!), then jarred pesto followed by shredded mozzarella. So easy and really yummy.

About movies: we usually watch movies with the children twice a week. It's more than what I think is ideal, and I was reading in Beyond the Rainbow Bridge that children who watch more than 1.5 hours of TV/movies a week tend to be less imaginative in their play and just want to act out a script basically from the movie. And I do see that a little bit with Dieter. He is Land Before Time obsessed! We don't have/watch TV, so these movies are their only video time, and for better or worse we've fallen into this twice a week routine.

So I was thinking, on the second night (usually a Friday), why not watch something creative. Not a story, like Land Before Time or Jungle Book, but something much more open ended. So we broke out Kristen's Fairy House, a favorite from Faith's childhood. It's a very mellow video about a girl and her aunt who visit an island near Maine where people make fairy houses. Dieter loved it and I think we should always try to make something like this our second video of the week. We also have the Bali DVD from Little Travelers (which Angelina and her girls so kindly sent to Rainer when he was hospitalized last November). Good stuff, people. (I can't wait for the Iran edition to come out). I'm just thinking this will be better for the little ones and for us too. I can only watch Land Before Time or Spot or Thomas so many times!

If you have suggestions for "creative" type DVDs I'd love to hear them.

DI-2

Today is the first day of Rainer's second "delayed intensification." It's his last big round of chemo. After that, if all goes as expected, he'll be in "maintenance." Hooray! That means only once-a-month chemo (for the next two years). It's hard to imagine getting to that point--it's been a long haul--but we're almost there.
On this round, he'll eat a lot, get very puffy in his face, and get very tired and sick--but not as sick as last time. He'll get a reduced dose of the particular medication that made him so very sick. Still enough to get rid of those nasty lurking leukemia cells, though.
Happy first day of DI-2, sweet boy!

Ben's Birthday

Ben turned 16 today. We had a little family party for him. Just us, dinner, and presents.

The honey chocolate cake turned out great, with marzipan bees and all.

But the boys cared mostly for the cookies.

Happy birthday Ben. You are A+!

cookie of the week

I'm toying with the idea of doing a "cookie of the week" on the blog. I've been interested lately in using my cookbooks more. This "500 cookies" book is one I got for Christmas from Jacob a whole year ago and have never used. So on Sunday the boys and I broke it out and tried something new. I have all these leftover white chocolate chips from making the peppermint bark over the holidays, and of course we have tons of oranges from our trees, so these white chocolate and orange cookies were a natural choice.
The boys stood in their learning tower and took turns dumping the ingredients into the bowl as I measured them. They really love doing that, and I'm learning to be pretty mellow with that kind of help. I run the mixer and scoop out the dough. (And I switched them over to play dough at that point).
And they're yum! I very much like the idea of trying new cookies instead of the same old standbys. It's easy to eat these up in the course of a week because I pack them in the lunches.

Tonight I'm staying up late-ish with more baking. Tomorrow is Ben's birthday and I'm making his cake and traditional number cookies tonight. He has chosen an interesting cake from Nigella's Feast. It's a chocolate honey cake--sweetened with honey and brown sugar. It smells fantastic. I still have to glaze it and make the marzipan bees. Tomorrow I'll post a picture.

little mushrooms

I've been wanting to try these little fabric mushrooms, and finally found the time this weekend. They were really fun to make and you know I love a quick project. The tutorial is here. I consider these a trial batch--just to get my feet wet. I'd love to make several more sets in different colorways.
The most satisfying part of these is making the little stems. I do have a tip for you if you try these: the original tutorial calls for putting a rock inside the stem to weight it. I did do that with the first one, but I found that lentils are easier to find and work much better--my lentil mushrooms are much more stable than the rock mushroom.
I do have a question for you crafters. How do you make a knot--at the end of the handstitching--that is hidden? The only way I know to end is to make a stitch and pull the needle through the loop of thread as it closes. But a bit of thread sticks out when you are done. Any hints? I think these would look more polished without any knots showing.
After making trees, rocks, pears, and now these mushrooms, it occurs to me that I like to make "nature softies." I'd actually like to make more. I'd love to try a stick or branch.
I'm also trying to come up with a new studio wreath. This is interim. It's loosely wrapped in linen and decorated with a soft bird, which I whipped up today while the boys slept (definitely should have been cleaning or doing laundry, but oh well). I'll probably make another bird in green and switch it out. Or do something altogether different if inspiration hits.
We ended up having four days of overcast and soft drizzle. It was a real treat. Sunday was sunny and cool, so I'm feeling much less grumpy and ready for the week. Happy Monday to all.

fabric covered containers

It was extremely satisfying to be able to make several of these little covered containers during just one nap this weekend. The tutorial is here.
This was very quick and easy, and I love how this project allows you to highlight small pieces of some of your favorite fabrics. These can be vases or hold art supplies. You could even cover a larger coffee can and use it to hold toys or blocks. The possibilities really are endless. (And what a great way to reuse some items that might otherwise get thrown in the trash or recycled.)


I've been getting home a bit early this week because of finals. It's been nice. Today I got a walk in with Ken and the boys. The little ones had fun showing me all the "sights" on their usual walk. I love seeing the neighborhood through their eyes.
It rained today! What a nice break from the heat and sun. Rainer obviously enjoyed the change as well.

little hearts

It is raining here right now and I am so happy and relieved. It's been unseasonably hot--in the 80's--for about a week and a half, and I've been very grumpy about it. There's no air conditioning at my school, everyone seems to freak out a little. It occurs to me it's not usually so hot at any point in the school year, especially not in January. So I'm happy for a little cool and rain.
And these hearts are putting a smile on my face. The boys fingerpainted over the weekend. I let them do just as many sheets as they wanted--a lot. They had fun. Those were some of the pictures I lost--of them painting and of all the sheets drying on the table. I cut some of them into hearts for a little vertical garland. We may do more for Valentine's day. Dieter is starting to get into cutting. I do need to get him some scissors other than these scallop ones though.
I'm tired today. I took a nap after work, which I never do. Maybe that's a good thing--to get some extra sleep every now and again.

work bag

So last night I was uploading all my photos from over the weekend and the computer froze up and I lost them all--over a hundred, including a couple shots of little Rainer that I thought were very good (he's so hard to photograph because he rarely holds still). Arrgh! Very frustrated, but I'm over it. Otherwise I would have posted last night.
I made this bag for work. The proportions are a little odd (it's tall!), but it actually kind of works for what I'll use it for. Or it could just be a general bag for outings, the beach, that sort of thing. I like this fabric my mom bought me on one of her trips. But Faith thinks it looks like "mom" fabric (in a bad way). Dieter thinks it looks like sea anemones.

I'm most excited about this little zippered pocket. I've never done one before--it was fun.

I worked today, so couldn't see the inauguration, but still am so excited about President Obama. Hooray for a fresh start.

two oranges a day

I am excited about a little assignment I have given myself. I still haven't gotten my new year's resolutions together (I've pondered them but haven't consolidated my ideas yet), but it occurred it me on Monday, why not commit to eating two oranges and a veggie packet every day? The idea being that although I may not be in dieting mode just at the moment, what a boost to my nutrition and health it would be to add those things in on a regular basis. And you know what? I feel like a freaking million dollars when I eat those oranges.
We are lucky because we have several orange trees on our property. Ken takes good care of them, so the fruit is sweet and juicy and totally free of any chemicals. And highly "local" too, of course. One thing I've been taking a moment to notice when I eat them is that although I usually crave bready items as a snack, the oranges are way more satisfying than I anticipate. And more filling, too.
I still do eat my crackers, though. The oranges are an add-on. Another simple pleasure this week has been the discovery (a long time in coming) that I can carry my crackers to work in these little spice tins. I bought them to contain snacks for the boys (like Cheerios), and it never occurred to me that I could fit a square cracker in there. But they fit perfectly! And now that is one plastic snack bag saved every day.
Rainer update: he is off the TPN and he is eating more. Yay! He saw the doctor today, and although he has lost a little of the weight he gained on the TPN he's held on to most of it. It's a great pleasure to see him eat. I know a lot of you are praying for him, and I thank you so much. It is working!

We are going to leave both little boys with my parents Friday night and go see a movie to celebrate Ken's birthday. Hooray! We don't get out much. Happy weekend to all!

The Best Toy

I am freaking out over these unit blocks that we recently took out of storage to give to Dieter for his fourth birthday. These are Jacob's old blocks that I bought right around 1993, for his birthday. Back in those days, there was no buying toys online--it was all phone orders. I found an ad in the back of Mothering magazine and called the guy who makes these. That is really kind of cool in a way. They have stood the test of time, too. They're just as fun and beautiful as they ever were.



They come in this little wooden wagon. I love putting the blocks away in this--it's thrilling how they all fit together perfectly into a cube. The wagon is big enough to push Dieter around in. Jacob used to give Faith rides in it--that's what she liked about this block set, although both really played with the blocks. I'm excited to introduce them to a new set of littles!

Low Tide

Saturday we took the boys to Carpenteria state beach for a special low tide. I'd never been there before--it was fun to go to a different beach and the tidepools really were interesting (but I really worried about all the poor creatures getting trampled on by the masses--that part was not fun).


Rainer wore my pink hat because we forgot his hooded jacket. I think he looked pretty cute in it.


Later we headed home and I made pizza. A perfect afternoon.