Welcome Summertime!

Welcome Summer! It is mighty hot here in Portland. 

 We appreciate beautiful trees and the shade they provide. We are shady oasis seekers.

 

 We have taken to daily sprinkler sessions in the late afternoon. Goobie is fearless in water, my sweet Pisces babe.  

We have been visiting the parks in the morning to get a little outside time before the heat overtakes the day. My kids are really heat sensitive so we hang out inside during the hottest part of the day.

We have been finding fun things to do inside too. Did you know you can make play dough out of coffee?

and cornstarch dough is so soft and addictive to touch...

We have been enjoying the summer bounty at the farmers market. Some of us go for the honey sticks alone....

I have been eating a lot of what I call "Vegetable mountain" . Yum! Steamed broccoli,cauliflower and kale over fried red potatoes. I use Braggs liquid aminos and Chouloula to give a little flavor. Goodness, I am hungry.

 I am so thankful we no longer live in an upstairs apartment during the heat waves of summer. It was no fun, we never had an air conditioner. Our high ceilings really help with heat.

The other day while I was making lunch I got a paranoid feeling because things were a little TOO quiet....my kids make a lot of noise, they are all screamers..all day long.I found Nalah quietly reading a book in a cozy spot.It was really sweet. I snapped this picture.

I hope you are all staying cool and enjoying summer.

Ice cube painting....

Today at the little afternoon arts and crafts class that I teach every Wednesday we painted with ice cubes and it was tons of fun. I just used a little food coloring and water and froze it in an ice cube tray and added Popsicle stick halves for gripping. They worked best during the first half hour when they were still pretty frozen but the colors dulled quite a bit as they melted. It was still a ton of fun. A great summer craft for sure!

Illustration Sunday.... Guest artists

Since it is Mother's Day I though I would share the beautiful art work that I received as gifts this year from my two favorite kids.

*****Happy Mother's Day !!*****

Tiny tea luminaries.....

I was at a friends house a few weeks ago when I noticed a beautiful homemade lantern on their dinner table that her son had made in preschool. Since I teach a weekly craft hour with children and I am always looking for simple and beautiful craft ideas for children. I was so excited with the idea of making these sweet little luminaries in time for Thanksgiving. My friend also happened to have box of baby food jars that she gave me to use. Later I found a bunch of tea lights at a thrift store that fit in the jars perfectly.
All you need to do is brush a layer of glue onto the jar, then stick on pieces of torn tissue paper and then cover tissue with another layer if glue to smooth it out. Light and enjoy!
Warning they are incredibly addictive to make. I can't seem to stop making them. They are slowly filling the dark corners of our home.They glowed on our Thanksgiving table as we gave thanks for our blessings. As we near the Winter Solstice these warm little luminaries warm our souls and bring much needed light into the darkness.
These would make perfect gifts for family and friends from your sweet child.
Thanks for the idea Hope!
p.s. You can see more beautiful homemade lanterns here.

Knitted Gnome

Just wanted to share my knitted gnome from the Craftalong. The pattern as with all the other projects are from The Children's Year By Cooper, Fynes-Clinon, and Rowling on page 84.
It was made up of several knit squares sewn together to make the gnome. It was fun to see it all come together. There is a little bell a the top of the gnomes hat that I cropped off accidentally in the photo. This will be a cute stocking stuffer for my little guy.....

HomEmaDe MothEr's DaY!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my family. We spent the morning rock hunting on the river and then spent the afternoon working in the yard and hanging out in our new tepee(more on that to come). The weather couldn't have been more lovely. But best of all were the homemade gifts I got from Sophie. How sweet!