What? Another blog?

Ok, so I may be crazy, but I've started another blog. I really like doing this one but it is sort of personal (at least as personal as I feel comfortable with on the Internet), so I started a less personal one with some fun creative projects I have been working on. I also wanted to try out another blog platform (this one is on Blogger, the new one is on Wordpress), which I realize is kind of geeky but I enjoy learning the different ways things work.

So, without further adieu, here is the link to the other site in case you want to have a visit:
http://www.cygnetsmall.wordpress.com/

And, just to make this post a bit more interesting, here is a picture I love:

Happy Birthday...

dear Anna! Our friend Anna has officially moved from "baby" Anna to "big girl" Anna as she passed the one year marker.



I hope she enjoys the bean bags as much as I enjoyed making them. I got the idea from a recent post on my very favorite new(ish) blog, the Artful Parent. I did use rice instead of beans though -- she'll be able to put them in the freezer or microwave to soothe any boo-boos.

Art, for Goodness Sake

I have been feeling like I need to be more artsy around here lately. It all started out when I enrolled Eleanor in an art class with Paula, her new art teacher, several weeks ago. It is the most adorable thing -- six little darlings around a low table up to their elbows in paint, glue, glitter and joy. (Thank you to Cathy for the recommendation.)

Coincidentally, right around the same time, I came across a new blog that I am really enjoying called The Artful Parent. The woman who writes the blog, Jean Van’t Hul, seems to know exactly what questions I have, because every post is just what I need to keep (or bring) a little bit of art and beauty in our day to day existence. So, thanks Jean.

The idea of art in everyday life has also got me thinking about the Kuna. They really live artfully without even stressing out about it like I seem to be doing. They just naturally incorporate beauty, color and lovely forms into daily life. The most obvious example is the molas that the women wear, but even in small things such as the wirwir, a kitchen utensil that they use for making madun (a thick warm plantain beverage) the Kunas' artful ideals shine through. And, don't even get me started on their language -- I mean, a word like wirwir to describe something that stirs really fast -- it's fantastic. Anyway, the exhibit and book "The Art of Being Kuna" really hit the nail on the head with that title.

These various tangents have led to much more artsy experimentation around the house. This morning we tried a bit of painting, which I have been hesitant to do because of the carpet. However, as I have seen in art class, Eleanor is pretty decent at keeping it (whatever materials she is working with) on the table. So we gave it a go.



The results were very satisfying, Eleanor enjoyed experimenting with the brush, her fingers, a baby food jar, the textured watercolor paper and the paint. From what I have been reading lately, it is important to discuss the experience with Eleanor rather than the finished product, but I must say, the middle piece with the baby food jar prints, is quite visually appealing to me. In fact, I think I am going to frame it and put it up somewhere. And, my worrying was for naught, as no paint ended up on the floor.



(These pictures are sideways, I couldn't pin them up the way she painted them because there wasn't enough space. So, tilt your head to the right and you will see them as they were created!)

A New Obsession

I haven't been writing as much as I would like lately, due to the fact that I have been obsessively sewing. I have been using a book that I mentioned before called Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I just want to make every single thing in the book immediately and even as I sit here typing I feel my fingers itching to get back to that old sewing machine. The moments when both kids are asleep are so few and precious, like moments when I used to skate and would fly around the rink by myself free as a bird. I don't mean to sound as though I dislike spending time with my kids, of course I love being with them more than anything, it is just nice to have a moment to do something other than nurse, change diapers and deal with two-year-old tantrums.

So here are the things I have been working on lately. Yesterday, I attended a baby shower for a friend and was so pleased to give her a handmade bag, bib and burp cloth with some of my favorite California Baby bubble bath. I even made the tag to match from a coupon sent by Target that was the perfect color. Vince must have thought I was crazy -- as soon as the kids would go to sleep for the night, I would hole up in the laundry room with the machine, the iron and the book to sew. I think it turned out nicely:



Now, I am knee deep in my first (small sized) quilt. I had the most fun picking out fabrics but, boy, is it difficult to figure out which things will match when put into a quilt. I probably spent at least 45 minutes deciding which patterns and solid colors to buy, all the while worrying that Henry was going to wake up and Vince would be stuck at home with no milk. It all turned out just fine -- I got some fabric and Henry was still blissfully asleep when I returned. So here is the general plan for the quilt, I've gotten some of the panels together and am going to work on it a bit more right now!

Feeling Rather Self-Congratulatory

I did it. I sewed something. A Woodland Elf Hat for Eleanor! I have been reading the lovely blog Angry Chicken, which lead me to the blogger Amy Karol's wonderful new book Bend-the-Rules Sewing, which in turn lead me into a crafting frenzy. I can't tell you how excited I get when I look at the cool things that she and all of these other (primarily) crafty women are making. It seems that many of them are also mommas, approximately my age, with kids close in age to Eleanor and Henry -- it feels almost like an electronic connection to some long lost friends.



Anyway, back to the hat that I am ever so proud of. I had a bad time last week when I found that some sort of little worms were eating my sweaters. They even got to the cashmere sweater that Vince gave me for my birthday last year and it made me cry. So when I found that the pattern for the Woodland Elf Hat can be made with a sweater, I decided to turn my sorrow into joy. I got out the old sewing machine -- a hand-me-down from a childhood neighbor named Eleanor as well -- which wasn't working, and with sheer will and determination I read the manual, cleaned the lint, oiled the gears, and got it going.



Now our Eleanor's ears will be toasty with this soft and sweet little hat. I decided that I like sewing with a machine too, it is relatively fast (even for a beginner like me) and it can be quite precise. In fact, I like it so much that Eleanor, Henry and I went out in the pouring rain yesterday to get a few supplies for other projects at the fabric shop. It is probably a good thing I had the two of them demanding most of my attention, otherwise I might have spent a LOT of money!



By the way, I don't have any clue how photographers get child models to do what they want. Trying to get a shot of this darn hat was like trying to brush Eleanor's teeth -- nearly impossible!

Oh Goodyblog, What Have You Done?!

I was reading GoodyBlog today and came across this cool and incredibly addictive game: freerice.com. As you play the game, "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program," according to the FreeRice folks. Pretty cool. And addictive -- Vince and I have been playing all night.

Crazy Halloween Costumes Thanks to Thingamababy

I wanted to share these funny posts from Thingamababy, another parenting blog that I often read. This blog is written by the dad of a little girl who he calls Little Miss. I was laughing so hard at these costumes and the author's commentaries I thought maybe some of you might enjoy them as well:
Demented Infant Costumes: Octobaby and Carriage Critter
Twelve Unfortunate Toddler Halloween Costumes
Twelve Embarrassing Halloween Baby Costumes

Contests on blogs remind me of...

I won a contest for Eleanor and Henry! Yay! The good folks over at Z Recommends randomly selected my name, along with several others, from those who entered to win a giveaway in celebration of 500 readers on their RSS feed. (I didn't know what a RSS feed was either, they have a good tutorial on their site that explains it here.) I am so excited, the CD is called Tidal Wave of Song and is done by Kid Pan Alley. It looks like it is right up Eleanor's alley (no pun intended) -- lots of fish on the front cover.

As I was reveling in my glory, I started to think of the movie The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. I have thought about this before when I have seen giveaways on blogs, but it made me giggle as I found myself so pleased about the CD. The movie, based on a book, which I have not read, by the same name. The storyline follows a mother who raises a family of 10 children by writing jingles in the 1950s and is based on the true story of Evelyn Ryan. Now, I am certainly not going to be able to raise our family on one CD -- nor do I face some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges that faced Mrs. Ryan -- but the thought of the modern day giveaways on blogs is definitely reminiscent of that story. I can imagine the giddy feeling she must have had when she won the various contests, especially the big ones. By the way, the movie is great and definitely worth watching and I imagine the book is a good read as well.

So, a huge thank you to Z Recommends for the CD -- we'll let you know how Eleanor likes it when it arrives.