Filed under: life
Despite the frantic pace of the past few weeks, the Christmas Eve and Christmas celebrations were lovely. We had some fantastic food, and wonderful company. Now we’re taking some time off before the New Year picks us up and spins us around again…
I’ll post some photos tomorrow. I hope everyone who reads this has had as beautiful a holiday as we did.
Namaste.
Filed under: creativity
boys doing things their own way
Originally uploaded by Pranamama.
The boys, ofcourse, have their own ways of assembling ornaments, and Peter’s favorite way is to eat popcorn while the rest of us work.
Filed under: creativity
J creates order amidst chaos…and is unsurprisingly, the most productive of all the elves.
Filed under: creativity
Handswen Ornaments. Peter’s first sewing project.
I think when Peter told me there were only a few days until Christmas I thought he was exaggerating.
Why do I feel like it was just Thanksgiving yesterday? All of my plans for a completely homey and home-made Christmas – thwarted! I’d like to say it is compltely due to life with ellabella and her latest growth spurt – both physical and mental – that occupies every waking moment…mine and hers, but it’s not her fault. I haven’t made lists, and haven’t checked anything twice…Everyone gave me a “pass” last year and was surprised I could pull out the tricks to make a great Christmas Eve dinner party, but mothers of toddlers, especially actionpacked, force-of-nature toddlers, not tiny babies, are the ones who truly need a pass.
So I wasn’t going to blame her, but I started thinking about how I have spent the last 4 weeks. Since Ella has learned to run, I have lost 7 lbs. I am not dieting. I am running behind her, picking up toys, magazines, tupperware, crayons, you name it. It’s not completely exhausting, but close, and she is *so* funny that I lose my breath laughing. When she’s not funny, though, she’s resisting sleep, which means I’m missing sleep, and staying up late (my most creative time of the day) is an exercise in futility, because, not only did I not get a nap during the day (oh yes, “sleep when he baby sleeps” is alive and well even at 14 months!) but I have to squander that creative time on organizing. I can do almost any household chore with Ella, she can unpack the dishwasher, help move wet laundry to the dryer, even cooking isn’t impossible, but I cannot organize any space while she’s awake.
I hope Peter’s in the mood for big brother-ing tomorrow, because he has a snow day and I need him to entertain (chase, pick up after…see above) his sister so I can get some crafty goodness finished in time to give!
We DID make ornaments this year, but the pictures are still in the camera. J was the most productive of all of us!
I hope you’re more prepared than I am for the holidays.
Ella and I went to Ikea last night and purchased the storage and seating for my sewing room. The storage is coming ia home delivery, because getting those bookcases (soon to be fabric-cases) onto the cart with an almost-30-lb. baby strapped to the front of me was hard enough to get to the check out counter!
We picked up a futon and PINK corduroy slipcover, along with a matching PINK rug, a purple floor cushion (which looks like a zafu, but not nearly as firm) and a purple throw. Assembling the tiny storage containers of wood is going to definitely be a for-pay job for Peter. He should know how to use a hammer at age 10, anyway.
Tonight I assembled the futon with a little “help” from Ella and Peter. They were both *so* excited for me to get it finished. Ela just sat up there, looking far too grown up. Peter asked if he could sleep on it!? (Not tonight) He was talking about how great it will be when I’m sewing and he’s watching a movie or playing a video game in there and then can just stop and sew with me 
He made his first ever sewing attempt, and seemed to find it relaxing, so hopefully there will be more co-crafting.
Ella decided that my pink chair is hers, and moved it to the living room (still not attached to the swivel base, thank goodness, just the plastic seat portion) and sat there often throughout the day, “reading” and slouching. We also did some drawing with colored pencils n large paper, which seemed to be entertaining for her. Not as entertaining, however, as rearranging the pantry:
Filed under: life
Today we had a wonderful breakfast after I opened my presents (yippee!) and then stopped at the Detroit Institute of Arts (Ella’s first time)
We returned and Peter and I sewed for a while while J and Ella napped.
I finally finished my neice Sophia’s birthday outfits. The first is an ottobre outfit from the autumn issue (4/2007) which includes a keyhole T-shirt and a modified version of the leggings from the same issue. I used a plain red rib from JoAnn fabrics with an adorable knit print from the Joy of Sewing co-op.Instead of an elastic waistband, I made a nice wide contrast waistband out of the orange fabric. It folds down to provide more wearable months as the baby grows, and a very comfortable waist for big toddler bellies. I used the serger to finish the edges with a rolled hem. I don’t think it looks too terrible for my first try:
hem edges:
Ella in her cousin’s outfit:
Peter made a star ornament of felt (picture to come) and I finished up Sophia’s dress out of some echino “Bird on a Ball” and dots from the chloefabrics yahoo co-op.
Front:
Back:
I used my wonderful new serger to make the french seams and after I climbed my steep learning curve they turned out rather nicely. First I made a narrow hem with wrong sides together, to avoid any strings or unraveling; then did a three-step pressing; and then I encased the narrow hem inside the new seam, wrong sides together:
After dinner at Shiro, Ella lounged with Daddy for a bedtime story.
J connected the stereo so I can plug in my new 80gb ZUNE and listen to all our music in the Sewing Room.
Now J and I are watching “Freaks and Geeks” (one of my birthday gifts – the entire series on DVD)
I also drank some wonderful tea all day in my new flower brewing mug from my parents in law. It was a good day. I like being 36.
Filed under: creativity
i want to, need to sew, and yet i’m so (sew) exhausted at the end of the day, i simply cannot. if i cannot muster enough for the shift key, clearly i’m spent! maybe it’s because poor peter has been home sick for a few days, or because ella’s 5th tooth finally broke and she’s hit her stride RUNNING, but i just cannot go to the basement sewing room again tonight.
though, i sure didn’t mind spending 2 hours (in which i could have handily completed the latest gift for sophia – my own design inspired by my japanese craft book) reading blogs.
how could i resist reading kuky ideas’ wonderful blog, the following links to disdressed’swonderful blog…where i thought for many long minutes how i could possibly test her beautiful new pattern and squeeze ella into the test size (3-6 months – not going to happen!)
i’ll bet the book Craft, Inc. sitting next to me right now has a whole chapter on staying away from your laptop if you want to actually MAKE something…
of course, how would i know that i wanted to make thesewithout my daily dose of the purl bee? don’t tell anyone, but i’m going to make them out of craft felt and beads in my stash and regular old embroidery thread. cretin, i know.
i should enjoy ella sleeping and join her. *yawn* progress tomorrow, i promise!
look at those soft feet!!!
So, I have been vegetarian for more than 15 years, and I had never tried Tofurkey before. I guess it always seemed so expensive, and I figured I could make something better, myself, anyway. I couldn’t resist when there was a whole big box of one on sale at Trader Joe’s for $8.99. I have to say, it’s pretty good! Peter, Ella, and I all like it.
It won’t be replacing our holiday meals any time soon, but it’s a viable evening meal, and leftovers were abundant for lunches over a few days.
With Peter in the ER last night (mysterious infection) and none of us sleeping until midnight (not even Ellabella) today was a lazy, sleepy, day. I’m glad there was a simple meal to be made. Tomorrow I’ll tackle the seitan for other recipes during the weekend. Since my birthday is arriving soon, maybe J will let me cook?
On the creative front, my lack of sleep did wonders for my clothing ideabook. Again, perusing The Art of Manipulating fabric for a bedtime read, I was thoroughly inspired.
Tonight Peter asked for a headband to make a simple pokemon-trainer accessory for himself and Jack. He was thoroughly impressed when I whipped one up within minutes. Even tired and cranky, I love making wishes come true, especially easy ones.
