Bird and Little Bird

One Down.

The first week of school has come and gone on its way. And, by all accounts, it was a good one. My girl seems to be finding her place in her new school, and came home each afternoon with news about cool and interesting things that had happened that day. There are gluten-free lunch options for lunch. There is woodworking. She learned that Texas gets to fly its flag at a different height from other states because of the fact that it was once its own nation. Goodness, there is a lot to learn in life.

For his part, the toddler misses his sister even more than I expected that he might. Here and there throughout the day he asks where she is, and when I tell him it is time to go get her in the afternoon, he makes a beeline for the stroller. This is a child who normally insists on walking independently everywhere he goes, refusing to even hold a hand. Hopping into the stroller for sister retrieval? An act of overwhelming love and affection to be certain.

Notes from Friday Morning.

The first half of our move to Massachusetts went pretty smoothly. Although it was apparently pretty busy, because I managed this one photo, and that appears to be about it. It is a picture of the living room of the new place, before we started filling it with stacks of boxes. As you can see, the floors are very shiny, which tells you that my children do not yet actually live there. But soon.

In the meantime, we have a big weekend coming up back here in Vermont. Dan is graduating from medical school on Sunday, an event worthy of my waxing philosophical at least a little bit. But right at this moment I am typing with one hand while trying to both nurse the baby and eat a sunny side up egg. This is actually pretty tricky business. So thoughts on the medical school journey later, I guess.

By the way, I made you all some printable and pocket-sized lists for summer library going. Fun, yes? You can find them over at Playful Learning.

Happy Friday, friends.

Hey there, Friday!

People! Friday is here, and that means one very imporant thing: this week has been nearly survived. Insert loud exhaling noise here.

Between the stuffy noses and the crying because teething is miserable and the househunting from afar and the tax refund check that is maybe lost in the mail? Well. What is that saying about just keeping your thoughts to your very own self unless they are nice ones? Right. But I did feel that I should explain myself if I was going to post a picture of my kid digging wax out of a candle holder with a coffee spoon. Which I found that I had to do because, basically, it was the only photo I took all week long. And really, it is kind of his favorite thing to do. If we are being honest.

But there are other bits of news worth sharing, too. I've been working behind the scenes on a handful of little projects and posts for other people's internet homes, and coincidentally, they all seemed to appear in their finished form around the same time this week. Here they are, in the event that you want to take a peek.

 

- I am pleased to announce that the first Sparkle Stories ebook has made its way into the world, and that I have teamed up with the ever wonderful David and Lisabeth to provide easy, practical (and yes, fun!) games and crafts to include in their books as they release them. This first book is full of some of our family's favorite Sparkle: a collection of stories from the Junkyard Tales series. You can find the book on Amazon here.

 

- There is a new post up at Playful Learning today. I think that it will be of particular interest to any of you fellow bird nerds out there because I made you some printable birder's notecards. So go print them already!

- There is an Alphabet Glue giveaway going on over at The Crafty Crow through Saturday evening. You can enter to win copies of the two newest issues of Glue, and there is a 20% discount code there, too- enter "crafty" at checkout through Sunday evening.

- I know that I mentiond it earlier in the week, but the red paper canoes tutorial on The Crafty Crow can be found here.

 

- And lastly, there are just a couple of days left to purchase the Learning Through Play ebook bundle. The kids' gardening resources that are included are fantastic, and are worth the price of the bundle just on their own. Also, it is about 28 degrees here today, so reading through those ideas on gardening with the small people is basically like getting a really cheap therapy session. Totally recommend it.

Some Weeks.

Some weeks, there are lots of tasks completed. You check things off the list, fall into bed in the evenings with a feeling of accomplishment, and a sense of having used your time pretty well, overall.

Other weeks are spent retrieving tiny socks from partially full tea cups that have somehow wound up on the living room floor, and encouraging the use of puzzle boxes as chairs because at least they are in plain sight, therefore minimizing the amount of trouble that can easily be found by circumventing adult supervision. You fall into bed in the evenings trying to remember your middle name and whether or not you ate lunch.

Needless to say, this week was of the latter, and not the former, variety.

Happy Friday, all!

And the Envelope Says...

Last week was, for various reasons, a bit of a blur. There was plenty of regular-life-themed business to attend to, and there was also the Super Cold to be survived, all the while still attempting to do things like feeding my children. And, of course, there was Friday. If you are a regular reader, you know what I mean when I say this, and you are probably just waiting for me to get on with it already. But first a mini-recap for folks newer to the scene: Friday was residency Match Day, the day on which fourth year medical students around the country find out where the magical residency computer has assigned them to go for the remainder of their training. Here at UVM, there is a ceremony organized for the purposes of opening envelopes and reading aloud program assignments. It is broadcast live on the interwebs so that friends and family can watch. It is a big deal in the way that things that make you so nervous you want to vomit usually are.

At this point in my likely unnecessarily longwinded explaination, some of you astute readers are probably starting to wonder why, if Friday was two days ago, and we know what was in the envelope, I don't just tell you what it was already. So, I will. We are going to...

Cambridge, Massachusetts! Indeed, somehow the eighteen year old kid sitting next to me in Environmental Studies wearing flip flops and a hoody has now turned into a thirty-four year old almost-doctor who has landed himself a residency at Harvard. Go figure. Of course, if any of you out there have knowledge of the area around Cambridge, I would love to hear it. We know a couple of people there, but are otherwise pretty much clueless when it comes to almost everything else. 

But apparently, one of us is going to be a doctor.

Sunshine in Winter.

February in Vermont is a strange animal. I wrote about this fact a bit in the introduction of the latest issue of Alphabet Glue, which is where I generally warehouse my thoughts on seasonal living and parenting. The thing about February, you see, is that February is a month-long moment of realization: Oh, wow. Winter isn't even close to over yet. This news can be hard to take, especially on the days early in the month when night still begins around 4 p.m. and the temperatures are often below zero.

But I am finding that mid-February often brings that salve for the soul that can be so absent in the earlier days of winter: sun.

 

It is actually pretty amazing what a bit of good sunlight coming through the windows on a cold and snowy morning can do. For all of us.

And, somehow the weekend is here again. Which helps, too. There will have to be some obligatory household oriented behavior, to be sure. Things like floor mopping and laundry tackling. Washing and drying kid mittens for the fifteen billionth time this winter.

But I'm also hoping to find some time to do a bit of writing on a top-secret project I'm working on with Dawn. And to knit a few rows on the Tea Leaves. The baby will eat dried figs and chase the cat, very likely all at once. The big kid will read about Jane Goodall and help a friend give her pets a bath. We might bake cookies.

Happy weekend, all.

 

Weekend Notes.

It isn't so much a question of what we did around here last weekend as it is what we didn't do.  Goodness, what a busy couple of days we had.  But busy in all the nicest ways, really.  We welcomed Dan home from a trip out west, Mariam had her first orchestra concert of the year, we had friends for dinner on Saturday night and stayed up far later than we probably should have.

Our friend Matt came into town from California on Sunday, and though he is here for work-related purposes, we took advantage of the free time that he did have and went for an afternoon walk down to a favorite beach on Shelburne Bay. 

We filled our pockets with especially lovely rocks and searched for beach glass by the shore.  Annie 2.0 found some kind of crayfish-type fellow.  He was long dead, but still in very servicable condition for observation and investigation.

Mariam received some solid instruction on the fine art of rock skipping from Matt, Mark and Annie 2.0.  She is already a much better rock skipper than I will ever be.  I consider that good news.  The skipping of stones, after all, is one of the more satisfying idle-time activities available out there in the wide world.

A couple of other notes today:

:: Mariah lives in an area where the recent storm caused significant damage to many, many communities.  She is generously donating all proceeds from Playful Learning e-courses through the end of this coming weekend to the recovery efforts, and you can find out more about how to sign up here.

:: David and Lisabeth have a free Thanksgiving-themed Sparkle Story up on the Sparkle site and are also offering a special Martin and Sylvia sample pack all week long with proceeds going to Heifer International.  Heifer is an amazing organization, and we always love Martin and Sylvia around here! Check out the details and find the free story here.

Notes from the Week's End.

Yesterday was the harvest festival at or favorite local historical farm.  We go every year because honestly, I am unable to resist the call of roasted corn on the cob and warm caramel apples.  I am a reasonable person, afterall.


There are plenty of things to say and do at the festival but somehow, Mariam spent the entire day running in and out of the hay bale maze with her friends from school.  Which was fine with me.  I was able to sit in the grass with Zak and talk with friends and eat my apple in relative peace.  Not a bad Saturday, really.


And, we met this guy.  I wonder what he'll do now that our very cold winter is on the way? A good question to pose to my resident researcher, I think. 

A few other weekend notes:

* nido is having a three year anniversary sale! It's today only, and everything in the shop is 20%.  Definitely check it out if you are a sewer or a knitter.  Phiona has impeccable taste and everything in her shop is lovely. I'm headed over to the brick and mortar shop this afternoon to say hello and to pick up a little shot cotton for a couple of new shirts I'd like to sew.  You know, in all of my free time. Ha!

* Amanda has reopened her Etsy shop! Those of you who read her blog know that her photographs are beautiful, and now you can hang one on your very own wall.  I like this one, myself

* Speaking of Amanda, she shared this post about the current issue of Alphabet Glue last month, but somehow I totally missed it until now. Love.

* Speaking of Alphabet Glue, don't forget that all this week when you download Volume Six, Seven or Eight, I'll send you a free copy of Volume Three. 

* And also speaking of Alphabet Glue, I'm working away at finishing the new AG website (yes, finally!) and I'm wondering if anyone has photos of projects from the magazine that they might like to share with me so that I could post them there?  If so, I would love to have them sent my direction! You can email them to me at [email protected]. 

The Week That Was.

This last week...

- The summer edition of Rhythm of the Home went live.  Being that I work there now and all that, I figured it would probably be in good form to submit a piece for publication myself.  Click here to view my article on self-evaluation for young writers and to download a handy little PDF file with a checklist that you can use at your house (or in your classroom if that's how you roll).

- Speaking of magazine launches, I've said it before and I'll say it again, your support for Alphabet Glue is amazing and humbling and I can't thank you enough.  I can't believe that this project that I love so much is also getting so much love from so many cool and interesting people.  Your emails about how Alphabet Glue is becoming a part of your family lives or classroom routines completely rock my socks.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

- On the kid front, results are back from Zak's blood work, and I think we have nailed down a couple of the big dietary no-nos for the little guy (which, since he is still nursing, actually mean no-nos for me...).  In an effort to make light of an otherwise frustrating situation, because that is what I do, I'm offering a free copy of Volume Seven of Alphabet Glue to the first readers who can correctly guess what the mystery allergens are.  At this point there are two confirmed and one potential.  The confirmed ones are easy (and there is a big clue in the posts here on the blog from the last month or two).  The third is weird and difficult to guess.  Be the first to guess that one and I'll send you all seven issues of AG.  

- I did an interview with Cassi from The Crafty Crow for the Rhythm of the Home blog this weekend.  You should really pop over and take a look.  She gave some very thoughtful answers to my questions, and even if I didn't already think she's totally the best (which I do), I would now.  

- So many families signed up for the Read Aloud Book Along! The positive response has been fantastic and a bunch of you have already started reading.  We have, and we are really enjoying the book so far.  If you want to sign up, there is still plenty of time, I think.  You have all month to read the book (or books since we've chosen two). Get the details here.

- Also on the kid front, we think that Mariam was getting a bit of gluten contamination in something that she had been eating during the week last week.  By Thursday, she was pretty much in tears for hours at a time over essentially nothing.  We thought that maybe she was just over tired, but then she started complaining of joint pain, which is always her telltale sign that she's gotten something she shouldn't have. I know how vigilant we need to be, I do, but sometimes I'm still caught off guard.  Ah, the learning curve. 

 

The Week That Was.

This week...

- I felt certain, about ninety percent of the time, that I was supposed to be doing something important but couldn't remember what it was.

- The groundhog, apparently announcing his readiness for spring gardening to begin in earnest, showed up at the front door on Monday morning.  I declined to invite him in.

- It is possible that April 12th, 2012 will go down in infamy as the day that my family ate approximately one billion snickerdoodles.  Vegan and gluten-free, yet somehow, they were still awesome.

- This is wildly self-indulgent and completely lame, and I know it, but I got sucked into reading a bunch of my old blog posts last night after the kiddos were asleep.  It was kind of like reading a forgotten diary that I'd stashed under the mattress or something.  This one made me giggle.  And, this seems like a lifetime ago, but is a total favorite.  That student is in middle school now, but we still exchange occasional (and hilarious) emails.

- Zak started showing serious interest in eating real people food.  So early! But his intentions are clear when he lunges at my plate during dinner and ends up with the edge of it shoved into his mouth. 

- The lovely folks at Sparkle Stories (who live just up the road from me, actually) started offering trial subscriptions for only $1.  If you aren't a Sparkle family already, you should totally become one.  We especially love the Junkyard Tales and Martin and Sylvia stories.  David and Lisabeth are incredibly talented and their stories are a great asset for the mindful parenting toolbox, let me tell you.  If you want to try out Sparkle Stories, you can go to this page and enter the code SPARKLEFRIENDS to get the $1 deal.

- I don't know how many of you have already seen Heather's post about food and healing, but if you haven't read it yet, take a few minutes to do so.  I guess it is no secret that I am spending a lot of time thinking about the family diet these days, so it was really interesting to read about a family that is farther along on the journey than we are right now.  And comforting too.