yarn along

a post of my latest knitting project and read in a yarn along hosted by ginny.  

 

my needles are warmed up from lots of holiday gift making and are in full speed not wanting to stop.  i have been busy making things non-stop.  on the needles now are a pair of elf slippers for my friend's little one year old girl from this pattern that i found on frontier dreams.

i made a pair for myself first and am loving them!  the apartment gets cool in winter and with the tile floors my feet get cold.  now i can wear a pair of slippers around that aren't too hot - i love wool for its wonderful temperature regulating properties.

i am crocheting a little mario doll for ezra that our friend rahul found online here.  rahul comes over every friday night to study with michael.  we usually have dinner together first and then after dinner rahul spends a little time on the couch with his computer playing super mario brothers and ezra watches over him.  he has come to love this little mario character through rahul and so he found this pattern for me to make him one.  i love amigurumi dolls and am really enjoying this process.

and here are some pictures of the finished matryoshka dolls i posted about on the last yarn along.  the pattern is by susan b. anderson in her book, "itty-bitty toys."  these were super fun to make as well.  i think i am addicted to making toys.  i love how quick the pieces knit up and the meditative qualities of stitching the parts together and embroidery details.  now i'm looking forward to seeing others projects over at small things.

pippi longstocking

i love stumbling across ezra's drawings.  

me:  oh ezra - this is wonderful!  tell me about it.

ezra:  that's pippi!  

me:  of course it is!!!  

(i should've seen that without having to ask)

bubbles

 on friday afternoon after a long week of being couped in the house with a virus and croup, ezra decided he wanted to go outside on the deck and blow bubbles.  we hadn't done this in probably a year.  so i went to the closet and got out the little bit of bubbles we had left.

 they weren't working so well.

 but he persisted in trying to blow them out

still it wasn't good enough and we needed to get more bubbles.  i suggested we go to the store but he still wasn't feeling well enough to leave home.  but, he wanted more bubbles!!!  so i looked on the internet for a homemade bubble recipe and we were in business.  it was way too easy!  ezra mixed them up himself.

 this better work

 and boy did it!  

 my serious little bubble maker

 sheer bubble bliss!

this moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.   inspired by soulemama

yarn along

a post of my latest knitting project and read in a yarn along hosted by ginny.  

i am enjoying my first john holt book, "learning all the time."   having read so many great homeschooling blogs over the last year and a half, i was led to this book by several of them.  i like what i've read so far and am finding myself in total agreement with holt about teaching reading and writing to a youngster and how we do it all wrong in school - having been a first grade teacher for 8 years and always feeling that the teaching methods were inherently wrong.  how many times i had to confuse my poor students with our spelling lessons about a certain spelling rule only to find an exception to the rule minutes later.  this is just one small example though.  i think the big picture is more important and that children need be taught reading and writing in a loving environment filled with words that have purpose in the real world.  children should be read to and see print in their everyday lives put to use so that they are inspired to learn themselves.  of course we all read to our students and had print rich environments in our classrooms, but i think the missing element in most of them is the LOVE.  maybe i'm a total hippie.  but, i wholeheartedly agree that children can be set up for failure in a classroom environment where the levels vary so much in ability that the kids who haven't caught on yet are only discouraged by their apparent lack of ability shown side by side with their reading peers.  it was one of my greatest struggles as a teacher to witness the effect of this  disparity in my students and see how wrong some of things we were instructed to do as teachers was.    

okay well onto the needles....  i am making a set of matryoshka dolls for my friend's baby who arrives to st. maarten with her mama in 2 weeks time!  the pattern is from "itty-bitty toys" and i am using some leftover yarn from a dress i knit for the same girl.  i know she will love it and am so excited to see them both!

rainy day

ez and i are both a bit under the weather.  outside it has been raining on and off all day and the view from our windows looks like we are in a dreamland.  of course we kind of are in our current state of existence.  i love when the outside matches my inside.  we spent the afternoon painting new pictures to decorate the house.  ezra tried something new today.  after watching me draw percy for him to paint, he drew james with pencil first and then painted him.

we listened to a friend's native american flute cd that he didn't ask me to turn off, instead he just said, "this is a sad song" and let it play.  hmm.  i like this boy who tries new things.  i'm excited for the year ahead and the developments that will unfold.  as i am writing this, ezra pulled the guitar over to the couch and is now strumming and singing along.  a big smile is on my face.

  

new year's day

 

we began this new year taking our family to the airport to return home after two weeks of birthday and holiday celebrations.  but, instead of saying goodbye we said see you in 4 months because in that time we three will be on our way back to our hometown.  we are at the beginning of a year of much change ahead and i am starting to mentally prepare myself for the uprooting and state of limbo we will find ourselves in come this spring.  today we sent home our counter top oven and two boxes of toys with my family to help us with the big haul of our belongings that we have to try and fit into 7 duffle bags.  the first challenge ahead is to live without using an oven for four months, but with my body craving raw foods i am not worried about letting the oven go.  note to self - fried food is something you really need never eat again.  not that an oven is required for that, but i'm ready for some raw fare to detox some of the unhealthy indulgences i partook in over the last two weeks.  my blender and food processor are here to stay!  so my main new year's resolutions are the usual - eat better, be healthier, in mind, body and spirit.  enjoying the moment is always a good place to start. 

this evening i stopped to take in the views out of my living room and kitchen windows.  it is easy to see why i will miss this place so much.

 wishing you all a happy new year!

 ~2011~