Churning Butter, Bamboo Style!

Come join the girls and I as we share memories, recipes and a little history behind K's name in the autumn issue of Bamboo magazine. It is such an honor to be part of such a wonderful magazine.

Churning Butter, Bamboo Style!

Photography with Children

These photographs are from this summer but they seemed to capture my daily photographic encounters quite nicely.




Ah, I step into my kitchen at just the right time of day to see father sun shining ever so beautifully through an old vintage canning jar of mine. Love those jars, by the way, I am always hunting for them. I had a thrift store score last week finding one for 95 cents. The way the sun made the aqua colored glass glow along with the bright yellow of the wildflowers - it was just a photographic moment I could not pass up. I had to run off and find my camera. Sometimes that's an easy task and other times not so much. I tend to leave my camera all over the house - depending on where I took a photo last. Luckily, this day I knew right where it was. I grabbed it and ran back to the flowers.


I snapped a photo, viewed it and made some adjustments in my camera then snapped again. The clicks of the camera alerted some one nearby and by the time I stepped back and snapped the next picture this is what I saw...


We're just grabbing an apple quick to snack on, Mama!

Oh ok, thanks for letting me know



Ummmmmm... I thought you were just grabbing an apple quick?



And that's how it usually goes around here.
My silly little hams.

I do receive questions about photography quite often and I am unsure how to answer them, honestly. I am humbled and honored that anyone likes my photography - it truly means a lot to me to hear that. I just try to capture the beauty in the ordinary things. I think the best way to answer is to send you over to Amanda's post here, again. She pretty much sums it all up. I read my camera's manual every week at least and try to take photos daily. I admit that the digital world of photography is far different from the film version, at least for me it is. I studied photography at the Atlanta College of Art many years ago - back before digital cameras were the norm. Oh how I miss the dark room and my film camera (it was broken in customs when we moved back here to the states after living in South Korea). Digital cameras have so many more options than the film ones, almost too many options in my opinion. It can be quite overwhelming in the beginning, especially if you are used to using film. Heck, it still gets overwhelming for me at times. There is a great little e-book put out by Kristen Duke photography entitled 'Say NO! to Auto' that I really recommend. It's quite helpful for starting out with photography and getting an understanding of all that you and your camera can do. I hope that helps some!

On a closing note, this yummy, yummy book arrived at my doorstep earlier this week. The girls and I have all been skimming and drooling over it many times a day. I am counting down the minutes until October 1st (when Kevin gets paid) so that I can go grocery shopping and start cooking from it. yum!



P.S.
Happy Michaelmas, everyone! We will be celebrating it all day tomorrow at school and at home. I'll be back with pictures of it all, hopefully! In the meantime, you can view our last three years of Michaelmas celebrations here, here and here.

P.P.S.
I typed up my Birthday Makings post last night in bits and pieces in between (still sick) Baby L's constant wakings to nurse so I forgot a couple of details. One of the more important one being what pattern K baby was made from. She is the Joy's Waldorf Dolls 16" baby companion. I chose to leave off the nose, though. It seems that every doll I make or buy that has a nose ends up getting ridiculously dirty on the nose or the fabric wears off there. I decided to forgo it altogether.

Photography with Children

Birthday Makings

*I had to snap these shots late in the day when the sun didn't come out so please forgive the photos*






Birthday sweater
You may have figured it out by now but I made K a mini shalom cardigan like mine. She was really excited that we have the same sweater, even if it's with different yarn. I hit quite a few snags modifying this adult vest pattern into a child sized cardigan but I think I pulled it off ok. I have detailed notes on all the modifications here. After all of my debating and fussing over that yarn - she loves it. The colorway actually looks quite autumny to me, now that I am seeing it all knit up. She has literally worn it every single day since her birthday. That just makes my heart melt.





K baby
This was my first attempt at a larger waldorf doll. Every time I make a waldorf doll I think to myself NOW I understand why they are so expensive! You are probably thinking, this doll looks awfully familiar... yes, I know. It is a remake of her original beloved K baby she got on her first birthday. How can I make a long story short? Well, let's just say there was an incident involving the girls' special baby dolls and a certain rascal puppy of ours. Voices were raised, tears were shed, limbs were torn... it wasn't pretty. Anyways, I had to completely make a new K baby from scratch (I will have to do the same for C baby, too). I told K that her baby was going away to the spa for a week and that night night baby (who was put away in our simplifying effort) was sent to keep her company in the meantime. In reality I was getting rid of her mangled K baby and just making her a new one. That was no small task, let me tell you! Her original K baby was made by Joy's Waldorf Dolls so it was a lot to 'live up to'. It took me about a week to make her. She's not exactly the same as her original K baby but close enough to pass K's inspection of her. I held my breath when she was looking her over the morning of her birthday.





K baby papoose.
The pattern is from Growing Up Sew Liberated. I knew as soon as I received the book that I would be making these for my girls. You see, for as long as I can remember K has had a love of babies in papooses. Her love of them has been passed on to C, as well. C calls them papoosas, and both her and K are always asking us to wrap them up and carry them around like papoosas. It's oh so sweet! We have a couple of wooden figures of Mamas with their papooses that the girls obsess over, but the idea of a papoose of their very own to carry their special baby dolls in - OH MY! I secretly love the idea of the doll being pretty covered in it, too, so that it will hopefully stay clean easier.

The pattern was easy to follow. I had lots of fun picking out the fabric for it. I ended up using some Rapunzel fabric I had in my stash (a dress for K is in the works out of the rest of it). The light pink of that fabric paired with the burgundy of the corduroy reminds me of babushka dolls.
I plan on working on C's very soon.







Birthday dress
As soon as K saw C's bubble dress this summer, she wanted one of her one. That made choosing her birthday dress pattern nice and easy. The only thing is that I made K's birthday dress last month when it was still hot outside. Making a summer dress for hot weather seemed like a good idea at the time... Last September was really hot, as was the September before that but as luck would have it - this September was not hot at all. She really likes her bubble dress and has been wearing it with layers underneath but it doesn't quite work as well that way. The fabric is a soft, airy and buttery smooth cotton really meant to keep you cool on those hot sticky days. Oh well.



I thought shell buttons were very fitting for her sea themed dress.

The pattern only goes up to a size 5 but K is a tall skinny girl, so the width of the pattern was just fine but the length was a whole 'nother story. Remember how I made C's with the length of a size 5, yet it was still a bit short on her? Well, I went ahead and added 3" of length to the size 5 for K. I was nervous my modification to the pattern would mess with the bubble effect of the hem but it all worked out. As you can see it is a bit short, though. It's hard sewing surprise garments as you can't try them on in the process of making them. She is pleased with it either way.

Phew! Birthday making is over...until February, that is. Now on to Harvest Festival and Martinmas creations.

Birthday Makings

Rhythm In Our Home : Birthday Celebrations (for Little Ones)

I have received quite a few questions about our birthday traditions over the years. Since we just celebrated K's birthday and it's all fresh in my memory I thought I would focus on that for this week's Rhythm In Our Home installment. Our celebrations have always been what most would consider as 'small' forgoing lots of presents or extravagant parties, but that doesn't mean the child is neglected nor made to feel less special. I think it's actually quite the contrary. We celebrate the birthday child as a family and keep her at the center of the day. We typically don't do parties, although this year K requested one so we had a small one at one of her favorite parks.  

My favorite of all our birthday traditions is the birthday crown. You can see how I make them here. I really enjoy planning out and creating this special crown for the child's first birthday. To think I will soon be doing this for Baby L!!! 

 

Another little tradition we have for the girls is using my angel cake toppers from when I was a child on their birthday table and their cake. I love to see how excited they get over seeing the 'new' angel each year. I am not sure just what we'll do for Baby L with this tradition just yet... We try not to have too many birthday traditions as it can be hard to keep up with them every year for each child. For instance, last year we added a gift from the faeries for K's birthday. It was sweet and simple, the faeries gave her a geode to break open and a little note. As simple as that was, it was forgotten about this year which made me realize it was just too much to add on to what we already do. Our birthday celebration begins the night before the actual birthday. We put our special birthday pillowcase on our child's pillow before they enter their room. Even after years of doing this, it's still a fun surprise for them. Once they are tucked into bed we read this birthday book and recite a birthday-eve poem in lieu of telling a bedtime story.  

When I have said my evening prayer, 

And my clothes are folded on the chair, 

And mother switches off the light, 

I'll still be ___ years old tonight. 

But from the very break of day, 

Before the children rise and play, 

Before the darkness turns to gold, 

Tomorrow, I'll be ___ years old. 

___ kisses when I wake,

 ___ candles on my cake. 

 

Then while I am waiting for them to fall asleep, I go to set up the house for the birthday child to wake up to. 

 

I cut out little shapes from old watercolor paintings and tape them to the ground to create a birthday trail for them to follow from their bed to their birthday table. This year I cut out leaves for K, C had clovers and last year it was hearts. I decide the night before their birthday as to what the shape will be. 

  

I hang up our cloth birthday banner somewhere in the house and set up their birthday ring and table. Since we moved into this house we have used our dining room nature table as the birthday table. We transform it to depict the season in which the child was born, as well as show the rainbow bridge story. It also holds their birthday ring, a picture of the birthday child as a baby, cards and gifts from extended family members and friends as well as the birthday cake. 

 

Speaking of gifts, we keep them very minimal and simple. My girls receive a birthday dress and sweater made by me and perhaps one or two other small gifts (this year, for example, along with her dress and sweater, K received a dog sledding book chosen by Daddy and a doll papoose carrier). We ask our families to keep the amount of gifts small, too. Our gift giving (and life in general) mottos are: quality over quantity and less is more. We really want them to appreciate and be grateful for what they are given. We would like to eventually add on giving gifts to others/charities on birthdays but we have yet to start that. Also we wrap our gifts in playsilks instead of wrapping paper.

 

Before I go to bed for the night, I finish the birthday trail by taping down the pieces in their bedroom and then I place the child's birthday crown on their pillow for them to wake up to. If their special baby is sleeping with them then their baby's crown will be placed on the pillow, too. If not the special baby will be waiting in the birthday child's chair with it's own birthday crown on. 

 

When the child wakes she will (usually) put on her crown and follow her birthday trail into the dining room. There her chair is decorated with a rainbow cloth and her birthday dress and sweater are wrapped in cloth and waiting for her on the table in front of her chair. She opens these first thing in the morning. The rest of the gifts are opened sometime that day. We don't really have a set time for that. 

 

At some point during the day we tell the child's rainbow bridge story. This is when we light the birthday ring candles. When the story is through we tell little tales of things the birthday child did each year of their life. So we would say: When K was one she took her first steps, then we would light the first candle on the ring. When K was two she... then light the second candle and so on and so on. There are different ways to use a birthday ring. We decided we would choose a new ornament each year that best suit our child. This ornament goes on the ring along with the old ornaments from the previous years as well as a candle for each year. 

 

We like to let the birthday child choose their meals on their special day as well as their cake (all within reason, of course). K, especially, love to plan out her birthday meals and go shopping for the ingredients with me.

  

Last year for K's birthday we had homemade apple doughnuts with hot apple cider for breakfast, homemade broccoli soup for dinner and then homemade apple cake for her cake. Years ago, we ate the cake after lunch to avoid sugar before bed but since we omitted sugar from their diet their birthday cakes are sugar-free and so we have them after dinner. 

 

 We also let the birthday child somewhat plan our day (minus this year as K's birthday fell on a school day). They decide if they want to stay home or go somewhere during the day. Last year C wanted to go on a family walk and the year before that K wanted to go play at Walnut Hill. They really enjoy this. 

  

Well, there I go saying way too much, again, yet I feel that I am forgetting to add things. If I think of them I'll come back and add them at the end of this post. I hope this helps to answer your questions and if not please don' hesitate to ask away! P.S. I wanted to add a great resource for birthday ideas is The Birthday Book. I bring it back out every year to flip through.

 

 Please remember - this is just our family rhythm and what works for us at the moment. This isn't meant to be hard and fast rules on how rhythm should go in every one or any one's homes. I just thought to share it because I receive quite a few e-mails asking about our home rhythm, and I also just wanted it documented for me to remember when they are older and on to another rhythm. Thank you, again, for joining me in the rhythm fun! Here is the linky list. If you have a (new or old) link you would like to share about your family rhythm, please enter it below so that we all may see. Then please link back here in your post. I look forward to seeing your inspiration! Thanks friends!

Rhythm In Our Home : Birthday Celebrations (for Little Ones)

In Threes

Hello there! Boy have I missed you all! I didn't mean to disappear on you all like that. Trouble came knocking at our door and just like they say: it came in threes.
First our van died just as we were on our way to pick up Nana and Grandpa, then we all got sick and then to top it all off Kevin's job cancelled the air card internet service.


The van is now working fine, thanks to a helpful neighbor and new friend (silver lining), we are all on the road to recovery with Baby L's sickness lingering the longest and the internet?? Well, I am trying not to dwell on the internet issue right now. You might remember how we had to cancel the internet last year because we could no longer afford it, and that I have been using Kevin's work computer when he comes home at night to do my blog posts and general internet work. That can no longer happen since his job cancelled it for everyone. They didn't even inform him. Granted, he had the week off. We didn't know why the computer wasn't working all week, though. Kevin called one of the guys he worked with and found out what happened.

I could go on and on about this but I'd rather not. I am really quite foolish being upset over something like this, huh? We had to sign back up for internet service at out house on Saturday and we have it covered for four months. After that, I do not know. We really can't afford an internet bill. Wouldn't I be selfish and burdening my family to try to keep the internet for me to continue my blog? I had a small hope that maybe I could keep it going with sponsorship. I am not one to promote myself or anything like that. It took me a long time to even put up a sponsorship button on here so I am not so sure that would work out. sigh I truly love recording our lives on here and sharing with all of you, not to mention the community and friendships I have thanks to this little space. As silly as it may sound, I tend to look at old posts and reminisce quite often. It's such a reminder to me of the good yet crazy times. So the thought of not being able to continue this is upsetting to me. But, again, I am trying not to think about it right now, we have four months to figure it out. I also must remember that everything happens for a reason, the mystery is to find that reason. In the meantime I will just continue praying an answer will present itself to us. Blech, I am just so over dealing with/talking about such small, silly issues.

You know what, that was just far too much whining. Perhaps we should just forget about that last paragraph, ok?

But no matter what bad happens, there is always the good to even it out. I must always find the good!!

Fun with Nana and Grandpa visiting all the way from New York




Another trip to Tillamook to tour the creamery...





and play at the beach.



My God, look at that sky! There is so much beauty around us each moment of every day. We just need to stop and see it.





Until a wave took C by surprise and she did a face plant into the sand getting soaked from head to toe. This resulted in a very cold and upset C. Thankfully she had Daddy and Grandpa to comfort her and bring her smile back.





Cake decorating with the girls.




For those of you that asked in the last post this is the same cake recipe. It was the carrot cake recipe from the Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book
We 'frosted' it with cream cheese and topped it with edible moss and wooden toadstools made by the ever so talented Tricia at Prudence & Virtue. (If you haven't checked out her store and/or blog before, please do! She is a true sincere soul and I love all that we have in common. I have more to share on her later...) I did not get to partake in it due to the cream cheese but I am hoping it was good. The girls liked it at least.

A small birthday party at the park with friends.





complete with frog catching at the creek!






Some of you may have noticed Baby L along with big sister K over on the Living Crafts blog last week. My friend Fiona released a beautiful and oh so deliciously warm baby hat pattern (older child version here) modeled by my personal favorite models... I may be a bit biased, though. The hat is such a great knit. Baby L has been wearing to since he was about 2 months old and it continues to fit now. The pics up on LC show him wearing it at 3 months and 6 months.



Phew, that was a lot to show and say! I guess that's what happens when I am away for a week. I hope you all had a great week. We are looking forward to continuing adjusting to our new rhythm and celebrating Michaelmas this Thursday.
See you here tomorrow!

In Threes