Here are some little cuties Ingrid drew this morning. She’s using two books that Grandma Pam gave her, one for monsters and one for fairies. It’s a good way to pass such a rainy day.
Archive for January, 2011
monsters and fairies
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Our handmade holidays
Sunday, January 30th, 20112010 was the year that I learned to sew, and that Andrew learned to use the laser cutter, and so it was only natural that we ended up making almost every gift on our Christmas list.
Andrew and I have been together almost 10 years, and one happy coincidence for our relationship has been that we both love to create things. We love to challenge ourselves. We dream about our projects, we obsess over the details, and we spend all our free time making them. We enjoy our accomplishments for a brief time and then we’re on to the next dream. It’s no wonder that Ingrid loves to create too.
So this year I challenged myself to make almost every gift on my list. Partly because of my love for sewing but also because I’ve become increasingly turned off by the materialism of it all. It’s almost a challenge itself to see how little we really need in order to be happy. Living in an RV for the past two years has certainly opened my eyes to that. I am also mindful of what I want Ingrid to learn about the holidays.
I love sewing because it exemplifies this very idea. The more I sew, the more I see the beauty of the simple things. The way two fabrics complement each other and invoke a certain mood, the way my machine sews such straight and even and perfect little stitches, how smooth and crisp the fabric looks after pressing. The closer I look at the details, the more vast and infinite the beauty. And when I’m making a gift for someone, each step is a little act of love.
I’m pretty sure Andrew doesn’t feel this way : ) I’m pretty sure he just enjoys playing with tools, the bigger the better!
So anyway, here is our gallery of handmade gifts. I loved each and every one of these gifts, and if I wasn’t so excited to give them to the loved one, I would have been sad to see them go. That is why this gallery is partly for you and partly for me.
doggie jammies
Saturday, January 29th, 2011Ginger and Otto have been waking up with their fur ruffled some mornings. As soon as we open the door, Otto dives onto Ingrid’s bed and curls up into a small ball and Ginger sits in front of the wall heater, her face 3 inches away from it. She’ll stay there for a long long time. I hate to think they’re having terrible nights because they’re cold, so I made them some doggie jammies from some leftover fabric.
I found a bunch of ideas for doggie coats online and greatly simplified them so that I could sew them quickly. Sorry puppies, no waterproof layers or fancy piping for you! I used fleece because it’s super warm and soft, and because you can leave the edges raw = less sewing. And because I happen to have tons of it that I want to get rid of.
Otto slept in his new coat last night and he did not whine nor scratch at the door this morning. Andrew says I am jumping to conclusions, but I think his new jammies made a difference. I just finished Ginger’s so she should be having a warm night tonight too. Here’s a pic of them in their new jammies.
homeschool 2011
Saturday, January 29th, 2011We are off to a good start for the second half of first grade.
For History, we are still using our Usborne Encyclopedia of World History and loving it. Currently studying the death of the dinosaurs and the rise of the mammals. After we read our brief lesson, Ingrid goes to the recommended links and plays various games. Yesterday she played a game where you unearth fossils by picking the right tool. She also played one where you are a curator and get to choose which fossils to showcase in your upcoming exhibition; this one had you write a few words about each exhibit. So she is learning not only History but also some computer skills.
Math is a subject we do everyday. We are just starting first grade Math and still using the Horizons series. Ingrid completes 1-3 lessons per day. Unlike Kindergarten, the first grade curriculum includes tests. Ingrid loves taking tests and asks me everyday how many more days until the next one. She doesn’t like Math, but she grasps the concepts pretty quickly and she likes having “homework” because she knows her friend Moises has it too. Sometimes they sit on his doorstep and do their homework together.
This year we’ve started Science in a more structured way. Aunt Jane sent us some girl scout science kits over Christmas and ever since Ingrid has been begging to do more. The one we’ve done so far from the girl scout kit is Clouds. For this experiment, we made some clouds in a glass jar using ice, a match, and hot water. It was awesome! All three of us watched the clouds forming; it was so fun we repeated it several times. We also learned about the different types of clouds and what they mean for the weather. Very cool. So I ordered a Science experiments book and we’ll do 1-2 experiments per week. Last week we made a volcano using a plastic jar, baking soda, vinegar, and red dye. Also very cool.
The last major subject we study also everyday is Reading and Writing. Ingrid has turned into a bookworm. I wasn’t sure it would happen because she seemed so much like Andrew, who is not crazy about reading, and plus I haven’t really read many books myself since Ingrid was born. But anyway, she loves books and magazines and Andrew has now introduced her to comic books and she loves those too. She reads by herself throughout the day and also before bed. I read aloud to her at night too. We just finished The Last of the Jedi, Book 1 and we’re heading to the library to get Book 2. Our next big book is going to be The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of my favorite books growing up.
As for Arts and Crafts, those are spontaneous and ongoing. I pretty much let Ingrid follow her inspirations and when she finishes we go back to homeschooling. There is no set schedule but we always seem to get everything in without stress. We took several weeks off around the holidays, but the funny thing is that homeschool didn’t really stop. There was always something going on where she was learning. Last night as I made some fleece coats for my doggies she picked up the the measuring tape and began making Friend Bird a top and tie. She measured and cut, sewed it up and is pretty happy with her result. I heard Friend Bird asking Andrew this morning if he could go to work with him today : )
This is Puff, Ingrid’s new dragon. He has big wings that extend over the edges of the table, and actually, he transforms into a table when we need one. He and Ingrid fly all over the world together with their baby Sunny Bunny Taco.
Rock star Ingrid
Friday, January 21st, 2011She was born from a Fairy doll making kit that Cecilia gave Ingrid for Christmas. She and her friends have been filling our house with their loud singing for about a week now. They are very cool, and they can even do the splits! Their names are Ingrid, Hayley, Sara, and Rock Star Ingrid. Ingrid made them all by herself, even drawing the little faces with her pencil.
They came with a paper fairy tree house complete with shutters and little pieces of paper furniture. Ingrid made 3 beds out of cream cheese and butter boxes lined with different colors of fleece. Since there wasn’t enough space in the house for the beds, she had to build an addition made of cardboard, taped to the original fairy house.
Here’s a photo of the fairies, and if I can get Andrew to do it, we’ll post a video of the fairies’ first ever video!
