DIY Designer T's

Freezer paper stencils were on the top of our list for back to homeschool clothes.  I love the way this project drew out each unique personality and how happy they are to display it right there front and center on their growing bodies.

Since this project involves Soft Scrub bleach and an exacto knife child participation in this did not go beyond selecting the color T and drawing a picture.  To make this more of a homeschool project James was given the assignment of teaching us about the chemical properties of bleach and how it breaks down the molecules to change the color.  He read about this in my old Textile Science book and on wikipedia.

Here's what the science guy (James) came up with, quite witty.

William's aircraft obsession led him to this:

Our football enthusiast Peter had me working hard cutting out all the detail in this next design, he added the block M and winged helmet last minute.

Maryanna drew piles of pictures for me to choose from, this was my favorite. 

Clara's first drawing was of a unicorn giving birth (Peter's lesson about the mammals really stuck with her!).  I suggested she draw a baby unicorn instead so that's what she did.  I did save the original though.

Henry can't do more than a scribble that he usually calls "Thomas" so we asked Opa to draw one of his famous peanut head characters to represent Henry.  Last time he saw Henry his cheeks were still red and inflamed but now that he is healing I left the rosy cheeks off from the original drawing.  Thanks Dad!

And since I sometimes get carried away with projects George had to have one too....but he had no say in what he was to represent.  I chose this next message from Proverbs as a reminder to me.  He doesn't look happy but I think he likes it.

This one for me was only added on because I found the T-shirt for $.99 at Salvation Army and the design was quick enough to cut out.  I look tired because I am, all because I stayed up too late working on these projects but it was fun and the kids are very pleased.  I'm still trying to come up with a design that Paul would want to wear.

Here's a sample of the ones we did last year. And here and here.

My Little House Elves

As much as I mourn the loss of cleaning ladies from years past, I am grateful for the opportunity I've had to allow my children to share in the responsibility of household tasks.  Is our house clean?  not as in the days of the cleaning ladies and probably not as clean as yours, but it certainly looks a lot fresher on the day we get it done.  From the words of one of my best house elves...."the best part about cleaning all morning is relaxing in the freshness afterwards".

Marie Ricks and Don Aslett have been my gurus in training me to train my children to work.  I met with Don Aslett at his store in South Jordan and there he guided me to the best products and gave me the suggestion of dividing our microfiber cloths into 8 cleaning surfaces just by the way they are folded.

Marie Ricks, on one of her personal consultant visits, encouraged me to let each child have their own cleaning tools and allow them to personalize them.  That is what is going on in the pictures below.

When it's time to clean and hand out the assignments each child is eager to grab their very own cleaning cloth.  Also decorated were some pretty cool rubber gloves complete with watches, fingernails and blood dripping from them.

We try to make the cleaning fun and when it isn't fun we play music and try to get it done without too much whining.

As you can see from the first picture James takes his assignment very seriously.  He has the hardest of jobs including windows, mirrors and toilets.  William is the vacuum man and when he is through he is leader of the "Spotters" (spotter:  noun/ a little person with a damp cloth who spies spots, finger prints, and crayon on all surfaces of the house but mostly the walls, they then wipe and scrub what is spotted).  Peter is the sweeper, swifter, duster an mopper; Peter also refills toilet paper and replaces hand towels in the bathrooms.  Maryanna has the assignment up stairs bathroom sinks and vanity after which she takes on the job of a "Picker" (picker:  noun/ a little person who picks "stuff" off the floor and decides if it goes in the garbage or upstairs and downstairs piles).  Clara owns the downstairs bathroom sink and she enjoys shinning it multiple times a week.  Henry is given a mop and cloth and just follows the older boys around.  These jobs are a part from their daily kitchen jobs and house "zones" and are expected to be completed with great care.

As for me, I am the house master and float around with George on my back over seeing, encouraging, training, assisting and sometimes re-doing.  When I get the chance I'll do a quick run down of the tub and shower.  We are all sweaty by morning's end.

Cleaning day has been switched from Mondays then to Saturdays and now finally Fridays.  The reason for this is I like to have the house clean for the sabbath that way I'm more likely to rest.  There is a nice spirit in our home when it is clean and what better day to enjoy it than Sunday.  Saturday is now official family fun day or outside project day (notice outside the house and not inside messing it all up) and where we use to do field trips on Fridays we now spend the morning cleaning then afternoon with the local homeschool group.  Field trips have been moved to mid week as I recognize that training your family to have fun is just as important as training them to work.  So we try to do both.

It's great to have a houseful of little house elves........just have to be careful not to toss them a sock  - Ha!

  

  

Paul's guest post

I forgot to post notice here of the essay Paul wrote in celebration of the family on Chocolate on my Cranium.  Cocoa had contacted me several months ago to participate in this event but the stress of trying to heal Henry had worn me down to being uninspired.  

Late at night while I was too tired from cooking everything from scratch Paul stepped in and took the assignment.  He is not a blogger but just a natural writer  - he does it for fun and as part of recording our family's history.  Either way I think he needs to write more because it is always a joy to read, even as much as the old high school love notes.  

So check out his post and all the other great contributions in this great celebration of the family.

What's for Breakfast? Lunch? & Dinner?

The good news is Henry's skin has been healing.  The bad news is as soon as we veer from his special diet his skin flares up again, so bad it bleeds.

Meal planning is always a goo idea but for me it is now essential.  Beyond lunch meat and hot dogs there are few grab and go food options for us.  But even meal planning is a challenge - I stare at a blank page and wonder what in the world to plan as there is little overlapping of what these kids should eat and what they actually will.  But I plan and prepare gear up for the presentation and stand firm against the crying, whining and insults.  

Sometimes a few of the kids will eat no more than one bite.  But Henry is happy and hungry for just about anything and typically makes rounds around the table until he's finished what the others have refused to eat.  Despite his allergies, he looks very well nourished.

The above meal is homemade falafels, golden beet salad with basil, sauteed spinach with feta and yogurt sauce.  Henry does not get the dairy so I served a few small dishes of warm chicken broth for him to drink or dip his falafels in (what toddler doesn't love dipping?)

Today is meal planning day so I thought I'd make a list of what's worked in the past:

Lettuce wrap tacos

Roast chicken

Lamb Kafta meatballs

turnip carrot salad

falafels

buckwheat porridge

Quinoa salad

Pot roast

Any ideas?  Anyone?  Anything without wheat (or other gluten grains), nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy, nightshade veggies, citrus fruits, corn or soy?

  

Moonlight Canoeing

It's great to get out on dates! as much as I love being surrounded by little ones nothing beats time away from the routine.  Paul's parents have been fantastic in stepping in, taking over the diapers, dinner and dishes so we could literally leap out the door as carefree as teenagers.

Here we are canoeing at Argo pond where what was most enjoyable to me was the fresh air, gentle paddling of the water,  the solitude of the dark and Paul who did most of the paddling.  Since I wasn't helping much with the paddles anyways I spun around just to talk about nothing and everything at the same time.  I repeatedly sang him the song "Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe" but the tune was unfamiliar to him and he repeatedly warned me about our uneven weight distribution and unsteadiness of our canoe, this would allow for no kissing.  But there was enough laughter to make up for that.     

The event was advertised as a "Floating Bonfire".  The bonfire was a little over rated.

In the darkness we paddled our way towards a familiar laugh and literally bumped into some friends.

We picked up some spicy noodles on the way home and determined to make more dates happen.

When planning dates we've learned to be careful in choosing the activity or even what we talk about, avoiding anything to the tune of menial "to do"s.  

One of our dates was unforgettably named "the moldy bread date" all because I made the mistake of first requesting to stop by the store to return some moldy bread (Gluten Free bread is expensive enough to make a worthwhile return).  I got side tracked and started grocery shopping while Paul became increasingly more hungry, he picked up a sandwich from the deli counter.  When we entered the planned restaurant Paul admitted to being full from the sandwich. I was still hungry so we stopped at another grocery store where I picked up a snack.  We sat in the parking lot and talked about what to do on our date but nothing came of it except another stop to a grocery store for a red box film, I think we both fell asleep during it.

On the other hand here is a short list of some of our favorites:

- seeing Fiddler on the Roof

- going to a Kundilini Yoga class (Paul couldn't keep a straight face there)

- Years of Wonder lecture

-  hiking

-  garage saling

-  biking

-  Family History library

-  Music and the Spoken Word

Interesting dates keeps life fun and keeps us laughing in their memory, days, months and even years later.  Maybe it's the planned date or maybe it's just the one I chose to date but, Alison likes this!

How to wear a dull color

I wasn't sure how Maryanna would take to the shirt I dyed for her, it's not easy to wear Mao suit blue when you are a 5 year old girl.  Independently she paired it with a pink fluffy skirt, polka dot leg warmers, red cowboy boots and of course a silly smile. I believe she pulled it off, in fact she nailed it.  Just for fun and just for one day I may let her dress me in whatever combo she pleases because I'm all too comfortable in my dull colors.

In other news........we spent the day on Friday at the Henry Ford Museum.  There was a great traveling exhibit with all sorts of over sized games and we practically had the place to ourselves.

Someone stopped to ask me if this was my class and I cheerfully responded "this is my family".  Did I ever mention how much I enjoy field trips with this little crowd?

The boys love the paper airplane testing tunnel.  We spent enough time there for me to slowly and comfortably nurse George on a bench near by.

We all love this cool old bus and no matter how many hours we spend at this place there never seems to be enough time to see everything.  And we always leave with William's camera memory card full.

Late Night Dying

I have to confess why I had I so little patience for yesterday's craft activity, the night previous I stayed up way too late tub dying the above pieces.  It's not that it takes so long but the only good time for mixing dyes is when all the kids are sleeping and I wanted to be sure to have it all cleaned up before they woke up.

I want to document them here to remember what I mixed and see how different fabrics in the same dye lot each take to it differently.  I'm happy with the neutral color but admit all together they look drab - kind of like the color of Mao's suit. But there is a enough variation to the style lines to keep them alive.

Here's what I mixed, enough for 1 1/2 lbs of fabric:  2 TBS dharma's procion pewter, 1 TBS better black and 1/2 TBS Wedgwood blue.

The first piece is an airplane embroidered barefoot dreams baby top that had suffered from too much spit up.  It's got a whole new look now and I especially love the way the original stitching pops out.  George wore it today with some chocolate brown footed knit pants for a cool baby color combo for fall.  I would have taken a picture but he spit up on it before I got around to it.

The second is my wear your baby poncho.  I finally got the guts to dye and I'm happy I did.

I can't believe it is getting cool enough to actually wear this again!  It is made from a super cozy organic cotton berber fleece so that alone will get me throwing it on at will.  Here I am  just heading out to retrieve the morning paper.  And here is a close up of the neck.  I think I'd like to make another one with just one neck hole opening because I actually do sometimes go out without that cute baby attached to me.

The last two pieces were just thrown in last minute because I couldn't bare to let any dye go to waste.  One of them was my favorite white T that got pitted out from frequent summer wear and the other was a stained top of the girls.

This was a quick satisfying project!  I just don't recommend it when the kids are up.   

Junks and Crafts

Last week my friend Kristen took us to the local Scrapbox for the first time.  This is a great and dangerous place for people like me who like to scavenge. I came home with 2 brown paper bags full, one with junk and the other fabric.  Paul saw the two bags sitting at the front door and asked if he should take them out to the trash.  He couldn't help but chuckle when I responded "no, that is new trash - I just bought it".

Peter, age 6 and our biggest junk collector, couldn't wait to get started on today's project.  He decided it might be fun to do it outside so he dumped out the junk bag into a pile in the backyard, but it was hard to get inspired by such a heap.  Even inside and organized on the toddler table I was questioning that bag I filled at the scrapbox.  I was experiencing the same itch I get Christmas morning when all the packaging is everywhere.  The kids could tell I was on edge because they were super careful not to knock down any junks.

September is animal month so this activity was to build an animal.  To take the edge off I suggested we all look at animal books for inspiration and discuss what makes different animals unique.  Maryanna and Clara lack the same scientific interest that the boys share.  In fact the boys are very nervous that their sisters "are behind" so they started drilling them on animal classification right there at the junk table.  With a straight face and all the authority of a wise teacher Peter announced to the girls....."Mammals don't lay eggs, they poop their babies out".  The older boys bit their lips not knowing how to respond but I couldn't help but belt out a genuine belly laugh.  We were all laughing and it was enough for me to give the green light on scissors, glue and serrated knives.

Here's what they made:

Clara's Horse

Peter's Hippo

William's Squid

James' Jelly Fish

      
And Maryanna who was more interested in making a new playground for her Calico Critters made a quick and simple Butterfly

We discussed gilding them with spray paint but the kids were unanimous in their decision to keep them as is.  Now where to put them and how long do we keep them on display?  Maybe we should talk to Cathy about selling them on ebay......... after all she says there is value in everything.  And about that new playground equipment for the Calico Critters.....I give it a good week of lots of play and wear.

Fun Mom Workout

    

This was fun because it made me smile.  This was work because it made me sweat.  Let's just say it was a fun workout, a mom workout.

I suppose I'm feeling a little guilty for my lack of athletic achievement these days.  It seems all my sisters and friends are training, racing and working out but I still haven't found the time and can't even manage the amount of sleep required for such activity.

One of my sisters was thoughtful in sharing a detailed program on how to get fit, she's doing a triathalon.  I got tired just reading through the reps and responded instead with the program I've been following.  Here it is:

Wake up and nurse the baby (good calorie burning activity)
Shower as fast as you can (if you have time)
Wrap the baby on your back for resistance
Collect all the dirty laundry and carry it down two flights of stairs
Dance in the kitchen while you prepare breakfast
For added resistance you my want to also pick up a crying 30+lb toddler and bounce him on your hip
Carry one kicking screaming child up one flight of stairs to her bedroom
Run down quickly to assist the rest of the children
Repeat once or twice - until the misbehaving child calms down
Clean up kitchen - squatting as you help unload and load the dishwasher (20 lb baby still on your back)
More squats in the laundry room as you switch and fold the laundry
Rest and Nurse the baby
Take all the kids and dog to the playground - pull the wagon
For variation you could walk to the library instead and pull the wagon full of books and kids up hill
For lunch lift a 10 qt soup pot to the table - lunge over the dog
Load all the kids in the van - reach way over to buckle them in
Load a few kids in a cart and baby back on your back for grocery shopping
Push cart around gradually adding more weight
Load groceries into van - reach way over to buckle them in
Unload groceries - put them away as fast as you can before the kids start getting into them
Back down to the laundry room - more squats, less resistance this time because the baby is not napping on your back
Change crib sheets because of a nap time blow out - feel the resistance of those annoying super fitted sheet working your arms
Prepare dinner once again lunging over dog - toddler can add resistance by grabbing onto your legs
Chase all the kids to the couch for scripture reading
Drag a few up to the bath
Wrestle a chubby wet toddler into his jammies
Cool down with books and cuddles
Collapse on the carpet and leave all the dirty dishes for the next day's workout

This may vary day to day but following such a program will guarantee you back in your "normal" clothes in about six months after giving birth.  You may not look like an Athleta model or even as cool as your friends and sisters but go ahead and give yourself a break because sometimes mothering is all the workout you need............at least that is what I'm telling myself to keep from feeling guilty and instead just have fun with my kids.  

Food on the Go

We are heading into a new homeschool year but that doesn't mean we are going to spend the year at home.  On the contrary!  What I love most about homeschool is the freedom to go out on adventures with  my children on a weekly basis.  Here we are at Greenfield Village with our friends.

In the past I would simply pack a pile of sandwiches, bag of apples and little baggies of other snacks but we are now restricted because of Henry's allergies.  I tried serving them cooked cauliflower and cooked beans out zip locked baggies but that didn't work too good.  So I picked up 3 of these Goodbyns as a means to store and serve our food on the go.  My sister Mary already blogged about the pros and cons here.  I'm still trying to figure out what to fill inside them.

Above I packed pears, bison sticks, dried bananas and raisins, cooked cauliflower and quinoa salad.  That is enough for two children.

Here are our restrictions:
-dairy
-eggs
-wheat/spelt
-oats
-millet
-nuts
-seeds
-anything processed in the same facility of nuts or seeds
-nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers)
-citrus/acidic fruits

Basically Henry can eat meat and cooked veggies.  I tried packing different lunches for the other kids but the little piglet always seems to get into them.  At home we eat a lot of soup.......any ideas for what to pack for lunch?  Any ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner at home?  I'm about to order one (or two) of these so we can have soup on the go but I'm wondering what others do for food on the go for a small crowd.