Happy Earth Day

I like the idea of Earth Day. It makes me focus a bit of time out of the hectic day to reflect on how to treat our planet with more respect. This year Vince is leading our family in a major environmentally friendly effort -- riding his bike to work. When we moved, just over a year ago, we got rid of my little old Civic (the one that used to be Gran's) and went down to just one car -- our "blue car" as Eleanor calls it, otherwise known as the minivan. It has somewhat less desirable gas mileage than a Civic, however the thing can hold 8 people so we often stuff it full and take one car instead of two. So, Vince has been diligently taking the bus and riding the Metro to work instead of driving. This, in and of itself, is an environmentally friendly action, but the past couple of weeks he has stepped it up a notch and started riding his bike to work. I'm so glad that he enjoys riding and is willing to go the (somewhat long) distance in to his office. It is good for the earth, good for his health, and a good example in our family. Thanks Honey!

A Little Bit of "Real" Work

I went in to the National Museum of the American Indian yesterday (where I used to work before becoming a full time momma) to help with a bit of translation for a Visiting Artist. The program that I used to work with is called the Native Arts Program and it brings Native American artists from all over the hemisphere to do research in museum collections in various cities on the east coast. There are also a couple of other opportunities including a mural project and a symposium, but the core component is the Visiting Artist opportunity. It is such an amazing program, run by a great staff, and the artists that participate are always interesting and very creative.

This group of three was no exception. The woman I was translating for, Guillermina Ortega was from Veracruz, Mexico. Her installation work was based on feminine imagery and ideas related to ritual, fertility/infertility and healing. It was a lovely body of work and really fun to translate for her presentation.

The other two artists that presented were equally as fun to listen to. Cody Sanderson is a metalsmith who crafts amazing contemporary pieces in silver, gold and precious stones. I particularly liked his Rubik's Cube, which you can see here.

Angel Nevarez does works that are collaborative and very interactive. Many of his works are radio based projects, including the FM station that he and his collaborator, Valerie Tevere, set up on the Staten Island Ferry. My favorite from his presentation, was the Low Drone --as he described it, a transnational low-rider drone. Here is the website if you want to take the Low Drone for a spin.

There are many other fabulous past participants in the program, if you are interested to see a few more, there is a web publication containing information about many participants from the first ten years of the Native Arts Program, which can be found here.

Singin' (and Dancin') in the Rain

It rained here today. No, it poured. Cats and dogs. And, Eleanor loved every minute of it. A couple of weeks ago when it was raining, I pulled up Singin' in the Rain on YouTube for Eleanor and today while she was outside in the downpour I could hear, in her sweet little singing voice, "I'm singing in the rain, gloriou...singing...in the rain..."

The Dishwasher

I opened the dishwasher the other day to load it up (ugh) and I found the most delightful surprise:

Pillows and Burp Rags

I made some pillows for Eleanor's room and some burp rags for a friend who just had a baby. (Hmm, there must be a nicer sounding word than burp rag...)



The pillow inserts I have had since Eleanor was about three months old and I am just now finally getting around to making covers! I do like how they turned out though. It really has more to do with the cute Alexander Henry fabric than with my sewing but no need to dwell on that. I was going to put zippers in but got impatient and just stitched them up by hand so we could start using them. Plus, I don't really know how to put a zipper in. I don't think the hand stitching is too terribly conspicuous.



The three little burp rags are blue polka dot fabric and different colors of blue terry cloth on back. I re-purposed one of the little bags from Eleanor's birthday party (which never happened due to ear infections) as the wrapping. The colors are perfect together. Now to get to the post office and get it in the mail.



The weather is beautiful, cool and sunny, here today. We were all really sick with a 24 hour bug over the weekend so it is nice to feel good and have the weather nice too.

Library Books - week of April 14, 2008

We have gone through several library trips without documenting any of the books we've read. This is no good because, of course, now I can't remember which ones we really liked, or if I can remember them, I can't remember the exact title and/or author! So, I want to get back on track with this because there are a lot of really great books out there and some we may want to check out again when Henry is a bit older. Here are a few from our recent bunch:

1. the dot by Peter H. Reynolds
This is an amazing book about an encouraging teacher who gives a little girl named Vashti the confidence to create her own art. The illustrations are simple but effective. I think Eleanor likes it because she is really into painting right now and she has an art teacher who she she thinks is "sweet".

2. "Charlie Needs a Cloak" by Tomie de Paola
I love Tomie de Paola's illustrations. And, this book is not only adorably illustrated with adorable sheep and a very expressive shepherd named Charlie, but it also teaches how wool is made into fabric. There are also fun little things like the mischievous sheep and the little mouse to keep kids occupied from page to page. This also fit in perfectly with our recent play silk dying experiment, since there is a page in the book about dying the cloth.

3. The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz, illustrated by James Marshall
This is a funny rhyme about a neat freak family of pigs and their little girl who is lounging in the mud. After repeated efforts to get her cleaned up they all end up in the "muddy little puddle". This is a fun book to read but a note of warning, this may be where Eleanor picked up the word "nope".

I also added another to the train book list.

If you're happy and you know it...

Henry is clapping. Or, at least, he is padding his sweet chubby hands together. No accompanying sound yet. It does give him a huge grin though. We haven't caught it on film but will keep trying.

Sleep Henry and Smile

Henry is sleeping fairly well these days. Though there are still moments when he has to be carried around until he finally gives in. Grandaddy is especially good at handling this particular situation.



The good news is, though he still wakes us at night, when he does wake up for the day or from a nap, he is usually in such a good mood. Makes me smile to come into the room and see his cute little face light up.

Imagination and Play

Eleanor has a fantastic imagination. I may have mentioned this before but I think it is so fun to see what she comes up with. I never know exactly what she is thinking because most of the dialogue is under her breath, but I am sure there is some good storyline. Here are a few examples:

Easter Peep taking a ride in her truck.


Putting Henry's shoes on Peter Rabbit while wearing her orange hat.


Pretending to take a nap, all cozy and warm.


And, this one could be my favorite. What started out as one of Momma's good ideas for keeping Eleanor occupied (bowl of rice, another bowl and measuring cups to play with), quickly turned into a new floor covering for our kitchen. Also, somehow as a part of this game, she decided that she should try and put rice in her sock.

Smelly Kool Aid Play Silks

Eleanor and I (emphasis on "I") decided to dye some silk scarves for her to play with. We saw a tutorial on the Artful Parent blog, and since I've been excited to try all of her projects because they all look wonderful, we (again, read "I") decided to do this one right away.



I went to Safeway and bought all the colors (flavors) of Kool Aid they had, seven in total. We followed the instructions to soak the scarves in hot water with a splash of vinegar and mixed up the dye. Eleanor enjoyed smelling the packets of Kool Aid and stirring (splashing) the water/vinegar/powder.



Once we got everything mixed, the tutorial calls for microwaving the scarf in the bowl with plastic wrap over it for 3 minutes. This smelled terrible to me. I don't remember ever having such an aversion to the smell of orange Kool Aid, maybe I've never smelled it before, but boiling it in the microwave filled our house with a wretched and nauseatingly sweet orange, plastic laden funk. I am serious, I can't ever remember being so averse to a smell even when I was pregnant! Anyhow, we made it through that step and I think the silks turned out great. I do wish we had been able to find a color that would make blue though. Eleanor seems to be enjoying them, even if they do still smell like Kool Aid.



Maybe next time I'll get really fancy and use onion skins and blueberries to make natural dyes. I bet they would smell nicer.

Quote of the Day

"Hippomopotamus."

(Notice the extra "mo". So cute when she says it.)

Quote of the Day

"Nope."

Need I say more? Well, maybe just a little to drive the point home...

M: "Do you want to get down [from my lap where you are wiggling uncontrollably]?"
E: "Nope."

M: "Do you need a diaper change [because I can smell that you do]?
E: "Nope."

M: "Would you like to get dressed now [because we really need to get moving in order to make it to music class on time]?
E: "Nope."

Ahh, being two.

The Kitchen

I've been feeling especially crafty lately -- just wanting to make anything and everything for Eleanor and Henry that I possibly can. I saw a pattern on the blog forty-two roads for a cardboard kitchen and decided that it would be perfect for Eleanor. I had no idea what I was getting into.



The woman who made the kitchen originally and created the pattern must be running for mom of the year. Or engineer of the year. It is an incredibly well thought out pattern and a very creative re-use of corrugated cardboard but I just couldn't make it to the finish.



I must have put 20 hours into the thing and this is as far as we got:



That said, I kind of like the way the uncovered cardboard looks. Eleanor enjoys it, though maybe not quite as much as I think she should for all the hours of woman-labor. At any rate, the good thing about it is, if she gets tired of it we can just collapse it or recycle it. So, I am on to the next project -- a Waldorf doll for Eleanor. More on that as it comes together.

At a Crawl

Henry is almost crawling. He is, as Uncle John once said, "on the launch pad." He can get from a sit into the crawling position and rock a bit before he puts his belly down and legs up. Won't be long though. Vince is very encouraging to him; I, however, am slightly more nervous about him getting into things and moving around the house at a rapid pace. Keeping an eye on two babes will be slightly more work than just one.



In addition to the almost-crawl, Henry is able to pull himself up if he is near a pair of hands or a couch. This, I imagine, means he is close to the creeping and pulling things off of all sorts of low surfaces. Time to re-babyproof.

Green and Yellow

Eleanor was painting the other day and I was talking with her about the materials she was using. She was squishing the paint around in her hands so I asked her how it felt. "It feels like green" was her answer. Obviously.

Street Names

Eleanor continues to amaze me. For a while now, she has been able to identify and name the street that leads into our neighborhood and also the street we actually live on. Well, now she is naming other streets that we frequently travel. I suppose kids will pick up anything that they hear in some form or another but it still makes me proud when we turn and she correctly says "This is Massachusetts!"

Two Footed Jumping

Eleanor managed her first two feet of the air at the same time jump this morning! This is a piece of developmental trivia that I did not know -- kids have to learn to jump with two feet at once. Before this, they sort of gallop. Anyway, our girl has moved into the world of two-footed-at-the-same-time jumpers.