There might be ALIENS in this...!

We are about out to watch a history film for Bowery Bird when Kingfisher starts whining
 "Awww-No! That's BORING!"
His two sisters offer that it's really not. I have to leave the room for something (I don't think it was imaginary this time).

When I get back the movie is starting and Kingfisher leans in to me with an excited,
"There might be ALIENS in it!"
I check the title : "Colonial Life for Children; French & Colonial Quebec". Pretty sure there's not, but I don't say anything.

Halfway through Kingfisher turns to Bowery Bird "There are no ALIENS in this!"
I turn to look at her. She reluctantly meets my eyes and gives me a nervous twitter, then turns back to the Iroquios involvement.
End of movie he volunteers, "There were no aliens. But it was still good." as the credits roll.

Who knows? Maybe aliens would have helped things.

Plant, Animal, Story -First Field Trips of the Year

Three days of school and 3 days of field trips within the last 2 weeks! What a way to start the year! It's kind of a tradition now to go to Thanksgiving Point on their $2 Tuesdays (vs. $8) as soon as school's in session. This is into the Secret Garden-where inevidtably someone starts looking for the swing-eveery year, and it still hasn't shown up.

The Goldfish Pond.

 

Then the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival where we, with other school groups, heard Don Davis and his terrible thing that happened on a Sunday... Outside was another tent displaying quilts and even one by Don Davis who feels the two are closely tied. There was an example of a quilt with symbols from the Underground Railroad, and a fun quilt with shelves of characters representing fairy tails that we had to fairly drag ourselves away from.

    

And then the Hogle Zoo-this was the an animal that would stand still for me.

This one wouldn't--but we had a great view of him in the new Cannery Row exhibit of polar bear, seal and black bears. They look much happier than the animals there before. We paused for a few minutes to watch a giraffe bend all-ll the way down, a foot or two from a squirrel who sat frozen holding a walnut. I honestly thought he was just a statue when my kids first pointed him out. Neither was blinking--then suddenly he scampered down the rock wall with his loot. A wonderful trip.

B.Y.U. M.O.A. is F.U.N.

I love Brigham Young University's Museum of Art. But I think I really fell in love with it the night my mom and I went and laughed till we cried at the book Unlikely Pairs in the reading room with Minerva Tiechart's murals.
But wait, it gets better. We were admiring a crackled painting of an angel and my mom wondered outloud if it was really crackled-or just looked like it. "Just touch it mom-you can tell then" (I am wicked)
--AND SHE DID!! (she is wicked-er!)
Instantly there was a security guard behind us telling her to keep "20" away from the artwork Ma'am."
"Geez, I'd think you don't know anything about art" I mumbled--getting the incredulous mom face as she feined innocence then burst out laughing at my mocking. (she is an artist)
And the security guard followed us untill they closed...
Good times, good times.

So we've been going to the BYU MOA  Adventures in Art Workshop since the beginning. It is really perfect. Geared to 4-12y/o children are led on a 30 minute guided tour of one of their new exhibits. The programs really speak to their audience by asking questions and having lots of search-and-find experiences, usually with manipulatives involved.

My kids have learned about  texture in paintings then done a rubbings of an elephant's foot, tried on an indian headdress like the portrait behind them, and made clay genie lamps after a tour all about Islam.

I love to recommend it to others but find myself looking sideways to see who's nearby first, because-while it's really great-I don't want that many people going. I mean-then there might not be space for my kids.

Summertime Girl's Sewing Group

Mockingbird embroidering a red rose on her tea towel

 

I suggested a Girl's Sewing Group to friends because

1. I wanted my 9y/o dd to learn to sew on a machine

2. I wanted her to learn from better seamstresses than I

3. I'm addicted to starting groups, let's face it.

-andt was just a fun social something for us to go to in the summer.
Three other moms and I organized  a Little Girl (with 6-8y/o's) and Big Girl (with 9-11y/o's) group. We met everyother week in the afternoon this summer, alternating houses and groups--2 moms to a group.  The 6 Big Girls did projects on the sewing machine, planned by the host house while the 3 Little Girls did hand sewing at their other host house. The Little Girl host house also baby-sat the 11 younger siblings and older brothers.

I was totally excited for our first Big Girl project and had the directions for our pennant outlined on a chalkboard.  I started to go through them and at "Step 2-trace around your template" I quietly hear behind me "I'm bleeding."
I thought it was a joke--we weren't doing anything yet.
"Yep, she's bleeding." another girl confirmed.
I turned around to see a 9y/o with a pinking rotary cutter in one hand, and a deep cut in the other. They had to have been in my home less than 10 minutes!

On another day I saw my friend jump back and I heard that 'composed mom voice' as she cleared her throat and told her daughter, "Um, the next time someone is helping you closely, you probably want to tell them when you are going to start the machine..."

...so I would recommend Safety instructions before anything else...

But by the end of the summer the Big Girls Group had made:

bookmark with raw edges

1. Cloth & ribbon bookmarks
2. 18" doll fleece sleeping bags
3. Pendant banners
4. Handmade Pillowcases with (far too many) pockets

pocketed pillowcase in progress

 

The Little Girl Group made:

1. Red-thread embroidered tea towels
2. Crocheted necklaces and bracelets
3. Bean bags/hand warmers
4. Sock-dolls with curly yarn hair and button eyes

Mockingbird's doll made of socks and baked-yarn hair

It worked really well. By the end of the 3rd project 9y/o Bowery Bird would ask to sew. I'd bring out the machine and set it up, and she would be sewing on her own before I realized it.

At the end of the summer we had a simple party and the girls displayed of their our finished projects on a table outside.

  White-tailed Kite, a friend/relative of the girls, generously gave us a full bag of gorgeous scraps for the girl's projects. Then at the party she had gift bags for each girl with more scraps and notions--her mother even made each girl a crocheted pin cushion! It really made the girls feel special to have their own supplies.



Girls going through their loot & trading pin cushions.

In fact, Mockingbird, who dragged her feet to every group meeting and grumped as she finished her projects the day before--promising to "Never sew again in my Whole Life!!" proudly took her bag home, pulled out all the pins, and buttons, and swatches--twice. Then the next morning demaded we cram her entire bag in the stroller to bring with us all the way to the park just in case she wanted to work on her new project more...

Next summer we will start with the basics (safety, sewing tools, stitches, etc. ), focus more on quality than quantity, and perhaps have the Big Girls teach the Little Girls so we are all doing the same projects--Oh, and a service project would be nice.

Cure for the Common Lunch

I got really tired of sitting down to Math (30 min) after luncheon and hearing "I'm hungry."
Really tired.

I decided packing a lunch like 'regular' kids might help.
So this year I bought 5 insulated lunch bags, and made sure we had enough little Tupperware containers for sandwiches, a fruit/vegetable, and dip/yogurt/pudding stuff. I know this is what most people do--it had just never occured to me before since my children are home and can sit down to a nice hot homecooked meal-right?

 

I also took 2 hours and made 7 reusable snack bags from scraps with Bowery Bird. (That Summer Sewing Group is already paying me back!)  I used a tutorial from Cotton Bottom Mama. My friend, White-tailed Kite has an Etsy shop and sells these and other fabric bags--with much better craftsmanship, I assure you.

Snacks keep surprisingly fresh in the double-lined cotton bags, are environmentally friendly of course, and easy to wash after turning inside-out. The kids love having their own bag of the day.

I knew we would zip through snacks if I let them, so I started filling 20 snack bags a week. Variety is the spice of life, so I actually set aside some for the future, after I measure out the serving sizes from a bulk bag of things like:

• sesame seed cheddar cheese sticks
• yogurt covered and regular pretzels
• granola bars
• peanut butter cracker sandwiches
• caramel popcorn and peanuts
• fruit leather
• plain and chocolate covered nuts & raisins
• homemade granola bars

I keep all the baggies in a big bowl to choose one from daily when they make their lunches--so the shift to all cloth is gradual till I make more.

Every morning after breakfast I have out a sandwich station, snack bowl station, and fruit & vegetable station. They have to let me check their lunchbags to make sure there isn't a fruit leather and 5 tangarines in there (true story). It is their responsibility to fill their lunch bags enough to last till 3pm when they can have a home-baked snack from under the cake dish. They can't open their bags till 11 o'clock when we have lunch, but can eat as little or much as they want after that point. Oh-and vegetables have to be eaten & bags emptied cand put on the counter before they can have that cake-dish snack. .

Lunch is sooo much more relaxing now, as is the rest of the day in regards to food stuffs. Saved me a mess o' time & energy and also makes us ready for whatever the day brings.