Lasso The Moon

Valentines Day '12

We were so busy when it came time to make Valentines that I went the easiest possible route.

That's right.  Pinterest.  I know I'm not the only one.

So here they are.

Ethan's:

printable here.

Emma's:

edited here. printed here.

Breakfast:

heart-shaped toast and jelly.

pink lady apples sliced thin and cut with a cookie cutter.

pink cream cheese on a bagel.

eggs fried inside a bell-pepper slice.

Okay, some of these ideas were mine.  But not many.

Valentine's Day conversation:

Emma: (looks at me sitting with a big heart-shaped box of chocolates in my lap.) Mom, are you going to eat ALL of those?

Me: yep!

Emma:  All of them?! Today?

Me: I'm going to try.

Emma: *scoffs* Hmm.  You are not a saver like me.

Me: I guess not.

Emma: What are you going to do when you come home one day and think, "I need some chocolate," but you don't have any because you ate it all?

She's 7 years old, but she already understands that chocolate is a need.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

With Kids

Everything I do with my kids seems to take a little longer than it would take to do alone.  But having kids along is kind of like taking the scenic route.  It's not the fastest way, but the trip will be full of beauty and memories and dialog better that any you could ever write yourself.

This week I'm sewing with Emma.

It's a project for an article I was asked to write about sewing with kids and for kids.

It's taking longer than I had hoped, but every minute is beautiful, teachable, and memorable.

 

While we are working, we are listening to this audio book.  Sadly, it's a little over her head--especially the recent chapter involving the representative of the birth control movement--but I'm cracking up.  She did like the part where their dad made them play a record of French and German language lessons any time they were in the bathroom, bathing or otherwise indisposed, to cut down on wasted time.

My younger children are learning lessons, too. Esther is learning to crawl and pull up on things.  And Ethan is learning that "time out" is much more pleasant now that Esther can crawl and pull up on things.

Have a great week, and enjoy the scenic route.

linked to:

pieceful life

 

 

Making Snowflakes with Ethan

Ethan has been asking to make snowflakes every single day since he learned how. 

Now you can learn how, too.

We all need something we love to make.

 

Christmas

Whatever stress accompanied us as we approached this day, there is nothing I would rather do than watch the wonder of Christmas on the faces of my children.   The glitter, lights, and decorations seem to dim as we read the story of our Savior's birth.  We imagine the surprise of the shepherds, the determination of the wise men, and the hope of the Christ-child's young parents on this miraculous day. 

However you celebrate Christmas, I hope you get to do so with those you love.  Merry Christmas.

Big Day

First day of first grade.

 

Tough day for Momma.

Linked to:

 

Questions

Mom?

Can we talk privately?

If there was already one person on the Earth, why didn't God make Eve a baby?

If we all came from Adam and Eve, why do we say that Abraham is everyone's father?

If God is in Heaven, how did He make me?

Isn't it more like you made me?

If we go to Heaven after we die, and we wake up in Heaven, doesn't it seem like our lives are just a dream?

Mom, how do you know that our life isn't a dream?

--------------------

Six-and-a-half.  Nothing prepares you for it.

Saturday Morning with Ethan (4)

Ethan:Poor daddy has a sunburn.  He's so cute.
Me: You are such a sweet, loving boy.
Ethan: I love everybody.  But not bad people.
Me: Jesus wants us to love bad people, too.
Ethan: LOVE bad people?!
Me: That's right.  Jesus loves bad people.
Ethan: Did he even love those bad people who put him on the cross and made him die?
Me: He did.  Because really all of us are bad, and that's the reason Jesus died on the cross.  Because he wanted us to be able to go to heaven if we trust in him.
Ethan: Daddy, did you trust in Jesus?
*Daddy nods and smiles.  He's leaving this one to me.*
Ethan: Was it sad when he died on the cross?
Me: Yes.  Very sad.  His mommy was there when he died.  Don't you think she was sad, too?
Ethan: Yeah. Is Mary his mommy? 
Me: Yep.
Ethan: Mommy, look how fast I can get out of this bed.  But not as fast as Jesus.  He can do it faster than anyone.
Me: Oh, really?
Ethan: Yeah, and Mary can fly.  She's a fairy.

 

An Excellent Year

Although Emma's last day of school was a couple weeks ago, I thought I'd share the gift we made together for her teacher.  We could not have had a better experience this year, and Ms. P was one of the biggest reasons for that.

So I decided to make a bag for her with a bit of Emma's artwork on the front.

Emma made a picture for her and wrote a long note around the edge letting Ms. P know how much she liked her. I took the words, "You are the best techr evr" from this. 

The drawing is as close as I could get to the original, too.  I appliqued the colored parts and used my free-motion embroidery foot to do the outlining and lettering.

A pretty lining and handy pocket inside.

A bit of branding on the back.

I was lucky enough to be there when Emma presented the bag and the drawing to Ms P.  She loved it and said she would make it her official school bag.  Of course Emma was beaming at this. (So was I!)  Honestly, there is no way we could have thanked her enough for successfully teaching 22 6-year-olds for an entire school year.  This was just a small token.

Emma on her last day.

linked to:

homework, bcd, somewhatsimple, momnivores, F&J, MWA, HoH, picketfence, Joyfulstamper,

Ethan Joins the Sewing Class

In his own way, at least.  This is a vintage child's machine that doesn't actually work.  But that didn't stop him!  The needle is real, and that's all he needed.

The End Of Sewing I

These are from the last day of sewing class, late this summer.  We finished our final projects a little early in the class, so I let the girls make finger puppets of their own design.  I had not prepared anything, so I just free-handed a finger shape, and sent them to work.  Sometimes the greatest projects are the ones you didn't plan.  They were so great!  And it was fun figuring out the different designs with them as they worked.

Sara's butterfly is getting spotted wings.

Abby's monkey is all laid out and ready to sew.

I told Grace that she probably couldn't get her jaguar to look vicious.

I was wrong!

These are the final "Collections."  This one is Grace's.  I love how she stayed in the same color family for the entire class.

Anna's.  The puppet is a venomous snake of some kind!

 

Kelsie's.  She kept finishing the steps way too quickly, so I had to come up with more detail for each project.  And notice the bow on the panda puppet!  That was all her.

Sara's.  I let them design the embroidery on the sewing bags, and she was the only one to not stitch her initial.  That's a bug she found in her yard, complete with hairy legs. Love it!

Abby didn't have her bag the day we took pictures, but hers were amazing, too.  Since we finished the class, we took a couple weeks off, and then started another round.  This time I only have 3 students, but we are doing almost completely machine-stitched projects.  Hopefully I'll remember to take some shots of those soon!