Crayon Cakes

I made these crayon cakes for the girls based on this tutorial at Whimsy Love. Instead of using a large muffin tin, I used a small, strangely shaped shallow muffin tin from the dollar store. I love the size--big enough to be a fun, chunky crayon, but still small enough for a 1 1/2 year old.

These are great fun. Like most of our other favorite art supplies, they're aesthetically pleasing in themselves--they're weighty and smooth, they make a fun clacking sound when they touch each other, and, as Bojey demonstrates, they're fun to stack. All of these things make them a great art supply for a 1 1/2 year old and a 3 1/2 year old--when the little chick is done drawing after five minutes, she can play with the crayons while the bigger chick keeps working.

Artistically, they can be used in many different ways: the flat sides can be used for rubbings or to shade large areas, the edges can be worn down to make a nice thick line (much more so than the skinny Crayolas)or, as Ninna discovered today, you can roll a crisp new edge on paper to make a very thin line:And of course, the hen loves them because they are a great repurposing project, and they're even fun to make. There's something very satisfying about reaching the point when all of the crayons have melted smoothly together. I'll definitely be making stacks of these for gifts in the future.

This post has been linked to Se7en’s Fabulous Friday Fun blog carnival.

Favorite Links from this Week

Since I find so much that I love on other people's blogs, I'd like to share some of the fun things I've starred in my Google Reader this week:

Miniature Fairy Garden on Childhood Magic. Check out the whole blog while you're at it. I love her home and how she homeschools her kids.

Craft: Weaving for kids at The Wonder Years. I'm really excited to try this with Ninna; anything that involves yarn and strips of fabric is right up her ally.

Fake Silk Screening/Dress Refashion at Making Do with the Not so New. She uses Sharpie marker to embellish a thrift store dress. Awesome.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Have a great spring weekend! We're starting ours off with a 20 degree day in Montreal :(.

Growing Beans in Glass Jars

I was inspired to do this after reading one of our favorite spring books, Seeds! Seeds! Seeds!, by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. The story tells of a bear named Buddy who learns, through various activities, about how seeds grow. At one point, he has a set of drawings of the various stages of a seed as it grows into a plant. His job is to put them in the correct order. I initially thought of making some pictures like that myself, but then I thought it would be much more fun if we could see this in action with a real plant, and thus this activity was born.

This is an incredibly easy spring planting activity that yields very quick, very
satisfying results. We simply filled glass jars loosely with soil and then added three or four dried beans from the kitchen cupboard (pinto and kidney) to the edges of the jar. We covered them lightly with just a bit of soil, and very gently watered them (since there is no drainage in the jar). After just a couple of days, we saw roots beginning to grow down the side of the glass. I had intended to take a series of photos to use to ultimately make a picture card series, but alas, I forgot. These photos were taken today, after they had been growing for ten days.

My initial plan didn't go much past the sprouting stage, but since they are doing so well, we may transplant them and grow them in our balcony garden to see what happens. I highly recommend beans for planting activities for kids because of the astonishing speed with which they grow. We have consistently been able to see progress just over a several hour period. After nap, the plants look different than they did at breakfast time.

And most importantly, is it just me, or does this bean plant look like some crazy alien bird?

This post has been linked to Se7en’s Fabulous Friday Fun blog carnival.

What Happens when Two Little Girls Play with Yoda

This morning, after I got home from dropping the chicks off with their dad, I walked into their bedroom and saw poor Yoda, clad in pajamas and stuffed into the doll stroller. While my kids have never seen the Star Wars movies (or any movies, for that matter), they are familiar with Yoda. I, being a little bit of a Star Wars nerd, and having at one point been a huge Yoda nerd, am the owner of many various Yodas. I've given away a lot of them over the years, but some still linger. Bojey begged me to take this one off of a shelf recently. She calls him "that guy" and carries him around like a baby.

So, so bizarre. I wonder how many other Yodas have been dressed in baby clothes and pushed in strollers.

A Three Hour Nature Vacation--The Montreal Ecomuseum

I never, ever envisioned myself raising kids in the city. It was never in my plan, but now that I'm doing it, I rather like it. I can see all kinds of benefits, and, though I didn't realize it before, I also understand how it can be easier to live green in the city than it is to live green in more suburban areas.

I do have my complaints about the city, though, one of which is that I miss nature. Montreal has lots of parks, most of which we haven't even been to yet, but to me, a city park still feels like a city park--a green space in the middle of vast expanses of concrete.

Luckily, we do have some fun natural places close by. Today we tried the first of those, the Montreal Ecomuseum. This was great fun. Animals indigenous to Quebec live in relatively comfy homes, and you can visit them 364 days a year to see what life is like for them in the different seasons. Being that we just entered spring, there was a lot of talk about animals coming out of hibernation, thinning fur coats, etc.

Here is Bojey watching the coyote:
Two wolves:
Bojey and our neighbor examining the red fox habitat:This little trip was both a nice respite from city life and yet another opportunity to discuss the changing season. If only Bojey hadn't fallen asleep for twenty minutes on the way home, eliminating, in her mind, the need for a nap, the day would have been perfect!

First Day of Spring: Butterflies Go Free at the Montreal Botanical Gardens

I wanted the first day of spring to be like a holiday. I realize that to some, this is nothing new. As my children get older, I find myself finding more meaning in the changing seasons and our connections to the natural world. Because it symbolizes newness and rebirth, and because those ideas are so personal to me at this time, I really talked a lot with the chicks about the upcoming season.

The night before the big day, Ninna and I did a ceremonial changing of the book basket for bedtime project. We sat down together and put away the winter books and then went through all the children's books systematically, deciding which belonged in the spring book basket. I'll post later this week to talk about what we came up with.

That night, at bedtime, I said to Ninna "Good night! I'll see you in the spring!"

Holy cow. I thought it was just a funny little thing, but her eyes became as big as saucers, and she started giggling. She was in awe of the fact that I could say that, as a good night phrase, and have it be true. The next time I would see her, it would be spring. I can tell you that I will be using that from now until the time my kids decide they are too old for it.

The next morning, when we were eating breakfast, I surprised the chicks by telling them that we were going to take a trip to the Montreal Botanical Gardens to see their "Butterflies Go Free" exhibit. We had a lovely walk through the greenhouses, which we'd never been to before. Then we entered the butterfly house. My kids loved it for the first fifteen minutes, and then they started freaking out! They didn't like all the butterflies flying near their faces. We followed the butterfly house with a trip to the Insectarium, (just what it sounds like), on the grounds of the botanical gardens. That was a huge hit with the chicks, and I plan to revisit it later when we're talking more about insects.

Some cool butterflies:

Ninna running away from butterflies after she has decided she has had enough:

A giant butterfly I photographed while my kids were hanging on me and yelling to get out:

Despite the winged terrors, it was a great weekend ushering in the spring. And since we live in Montreal...the beautiful 55 degree weather is gone, and it's now snowing. At least we can read about greener times with our spring books!

Living Easter Baskets--Wheat Grass is Better than Plastic

A couple of months ago, I saw this idea in a friend's copy of the Spatulatta Cookbook. They describe it as something you can make for a gift, but when I saw it, I immediately knew that we had no choice but to make these for Easter this year. How could we not?

I've always been opposed to using plastic grass in our baskets, in part for environmental reasons, and in part for aesthetic reasons--it's just kind of gross. For the past few years, I've shredded green construction paper in our shredder to make grass. It's nicer than plastic, but still not great environmentally.

This is a very easy project, and we did it with our playgroup. We opened a plastic grocery bag inside the basket and pulled down the sides (as if we were putting a trash bag in a trash can), filled the plastic bag with soil, and covered the top of the soil with a generous amount of wheat grass seeds. Then we carefully trimmed around the plastic bag and cut off the excess. We watered gently, and we've kept them under the skylight in our bathroom ever since. Every day we spray them with a spray bottle of water to keep them moist but not soaked.

Our only mistake was planting them too early. These photos were taken today, ten days after we planted them. They're going to be up to the ceiling by Easter, so we'll have to trim them. The good news is that there is plenty of time now for anyone else who is crazy enough to grow grass in an Easter basket to grow some in time for the upcoming holiday!

Since there was no way to hide this project from the chicks, and since I wanted them to be able to plant their own baskets anyway, I told them that instead of the Easter Bunny bringing baskets, we will leave out our grass baskets and he will fill them while they're asleep. I figured that explanation was as (il)logical as any other plan the giant globe-trotting (but silent, because bunnies are quiet, as Ninna reminds me every time we talk about him) rabbit might have.

I am seriously so excited about these baskets, and if all goes well with the filling and the egg hunt, I plan to do these every year.

How We Fill our Seasonal/Weekly Book Basket

We're all big readers in this house, including the smallest chick. The living room shelves are brimming with kids' books, and we have more piles in every room. This means that there is never a shortage of reading material, but it does mean that some books tend to be overlooked due to the abundance of choice.

To solve this problem, and because I strive to help my children connect with the changing seasons, I keep a stack of books separated in our "book basket." I've been doing this for about a year, and it's a huge success. We keep the book basket in an easily reachable spot conducive to reading (on the radiator behind the couch), and those books are in constant use.

I choose the books based on two different sets of criteria:

1. Seasonal books (these are switched as we move into a new season)
2. Books that fill one of the other thematic requirements I came up with because I'm a little anal that way.

After I go through and find all the books about the upcoming season, I choose one book for each of the following topics:

A. An alphabet/letter book
B. A number/counting book
C. An arts/crafts book
D. A science book
E. A physical activity-related book
F. The current issue(s) of any kids' magazine(s) we receive
G. A poetry book
H. Any books we have related to upcoming events (like holidays, trips, etc.)

Here's a list of what's in our winter basket, which will be rotated out on Friday in anticipation of spring.

For the winter-themed books:

**Snowballs, by Lois Ehlert. This is a fun board book about decorating a snow family with all kinds of unusual accessories.

**Winter Friends, by Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick. This very simple but sweet board book of photos of birds, squirrels, and deer visiting snowmen has captivated Bojey this winter.

**The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (Beginner Books(R)), by Dr. Seuss, of course. This sequel to the original, better-known Cat in the Hat book is much more insane than the first (which is pretty crazy itself as far as I'm concerned). It falls into the "winter" theme because it takes place in the winter, opening with the two children shoveling snow. The Cat returns to cause mischief which culminates in his getting spots all over the snow in front of their house.

**Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen. This peaceful, slow-paced story about a child and her father who go owling at night in the winter is a hit with Ninna.

**The Snowman (Picture Puffin), by Raymond Briggs. This story was new to us this year, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it. It's a wordless picture book, drawn in a style similar to a comic book, about a child's magical fantasy in which a snowman comes alive at night. It's very, very sweet.

**The Mitten 20th Anniversary Edition, by Jan Brett. This retelling of a Ukrainian folktale is great, but the illustrations are even better than the story itself. Brett tells a side story in the margins that coincides with the central tale, and she gives us a hint on every page of what's to come next.

**Annie and the Wild Animals, by Jan Brett. Illustrated in the same visual style as The Mitten, Annie and the Wild Animals tells the tale of a little girl who tries to find a new pet from the woods when her cat disappears for the winter.

As for the other themes, here is what we've been reading:

An alphabet/letter book--The Four-tongued Alphabet, by Ruth Brown. I wish this were still in print, but unfortunately it's not. I found it at the Salvation Army (where I've bought approximately 2/3 of our kids' books). Each page contains a wonderful illustration along with the chosen word in English, French, German, and Spanish. She uses more unusual words to illustrate many of the letters (L, for example, is "labyrinth.") I really love this book.

A number/counting book--My First Counting Book, by Lilian Moore. I personally find this to be kind of a run of the mill counting book, but the kids seem to like it.

An arts/crafts book--I Design: Sullivan Topic Series Level 2, by Anne Adden. This book is unreal. Also a Salvation Army find, published in 1972, it is the most amazingly, delighfully 1970s thing I've ever seen. I have no idea of the intended age, but I'm going to guess it was written for middle elementary. Ninna adores this bizarre, conversational walk through what a "design" is, covering abstract design, patterns, and more. It's so great. I'd tell you to buy it, but I probably have one of the only copies left in the world. It was published by the Behavioral Research Laboratories in Palo Alto (the small suburb in which we used to live, coincidentally.)

A science book--Ant Cities (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2), by Arthur Dorros. Whenever possible, I try to choose books that connect to upcoming events or things we are doing. We're about to order the ants for an ant farm we've had sitting in the closet for a year, so it's a good time to learn about ant colonies.

A physical activity-related book--Little Yoga: A Toddler's First Book of Yoga, by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway. Ninna loves this simple book of basic yoga poses. I think it's pretty good. My only complaint is that the authors chose to use cute names for the poses rather than using their more commonly used names. I would much prefer to have had the kids learn the correct names from the start. Other than that, I have no complaints. The drawings are simple and the poses chosen are certainly age-appropriate.

The current issue(s) of any kids' magazine(s) we receive--Ladybug Magazine arrives in our mailbox every two months, and Ninna reads them until they're falling apart. I think the stories are hit or miss, but there are enough good ones to make it worth it. There are also often games, decent poems, and cute illustrations. There are also two comic strips, which I like because it has introduced her to a type of narrative we hadn't read before. The final page is always a tear-out project of some sort. We also keep our back issues of Babybug Magazine and Wild Animal Baby from the appropriate months in the book basket. Both girls read these over and over.

A poetry book--If Not for the Cat (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards)), by Jack Prelutsky. Each Haiku in this book is written from the perspective of the animal picture accompanying it. It's great fun, and I'm proud to say it was signed by the author to Ninna at her first book signing when she was 1 1/2 :).

Phew. That was more books than I realized were in there! I just love our book basket, and it has become such an important part of our daily reading. Although I imply that I might actually switch out the books on a weekly basis, I usually do not. The seasonal books stay in for three months, and I aim to change out some of the others every couple of weeks.

Friday, Ninna and I will exchange the winter books for the spring ones. I had so much fun writing about those books that I may just have to write another marathon book post this weekend!

Bath Toy Bag from Mesh Vegetable Bags

This might be a little crazy, or maybe it's a lot crazy. It's a slippery slope when you enter crazy-land, and you start doing things like making bags for the bath toys by sewing together empty mesh bags from onions and avocados. We really did this.

I've been saving the empty mesh bags for awhile, and suddenly the other day it dawned on me that it would be so much nicer to store the bath toys in a drainable, waterproof bag than it would to store them in this slimy Rubbermaid-type container we've been using. So a few nights ago for bedtime project, Ninna and I sewed this bag. Of all the bedtime projects we've done, and there have been many, this was the one about which she was the most unbelievably excited. She was my ever-present partner during the entire making, and she was so excited to go into the bathroom and try it out when we were done. She was even excited the next day for the chance to open it and dump the toys out into the bathtub.

This was an easy, albeit somewhat irritating project. The mesh holes kept wrapping around the sewing machine components as the "fabric" pulled through, and the nylon thread broke a few times. The actual shape is pretty wonky and uneven, but I figured it wouldn't matter since it was just going to be stretching out to hold a bunch of bath toys anyway. To make it we did the following:

1. Removed all tags, bindings, and metal findings from the bags
2. Cut them into flat pieces to become our "fabric"
3. Sewed them into a bag shape on the machine using transparent nylon thread
4. Hemmed around the top
5. Sewed three cords at the top to tie at all together
6. Laughed at how totally absurd it looked

After we replaced the Rubbermaid bin with the bag, the bin sat on the counter overnight. I wondered what we would do with it, and in the morning, when we embarked on planting our first seeds for this year's garden, I realized it would be the perfect bin to fill with soil for indoor planting on the dining room table.

I love when things work that way. I truly believe that the amount of "stuff" in our little house is more than enough to meet all the material needs of the three of us for years to come. I realize that sounds idealistic, but I see it on a daily basis. That's not to say that I don't ever choose to buy anything, but it does mean that I try harder and harder as time goes by to really question whether we need to buy a certain thing. I could have easily stopped at a Babies R Us and grabbed a $10 bath toy holder. But why? I already brought in enough "stuff" to handle this need when I bought the veggies, and to get really technical, I actually already paid for this as well, given that the cost of the bags is built into the cost of the veggies. And by making this bag, I then freed up a bin that could be shuffled around in the musical chairs game of our possessions.

I love repurposing, and I find that the more I do it, the more obvious other repurposing possibilities become.

And now I'll sign off from crazy-land, where I now not only sewed plastic onion bags on my sewing machine, but spent 521 words telling you about it :).

EDITED TO ADD: If anyone else feels compelled to make one of these, send me photos and I'll post them. I'd love to see someone else make this craziness.

Kid-sized Clothesline

A few weeks ago Ninna asked me if I would make the girls a clothesline. Given that I love and romanticize clotheslines (and can't WAIT until I can use mine again), I happily obliged. One piece of Salvation Army yarn later, the girls were good to go. I can't express how intensely this keeps their interest. Ninna will put all the doll clothes up, and then it will start to rain so she'll have to take them down. Then one of her kids will spill food on her clothes, starting the whole laundry process again.

I highly recommend this activity. The opportunities for imaginative play are immense, and clothespins allow them to practice certain fine motor skills. And of course, in my way that is going to one day drive my children crazy, I took the opportunity to talk about the environmental implications of using a clothesline. I've gotta sneak that in whenever I can, which seems to be about once an hour these days.

We're Back! March's One Small Change (Three Days Late)

Phew!

Pneumonia is really something. I had no idea. Pair that with two sick kids, and I couldn't even do laundry or cook, so blogging went on the far, far back burner. I'm happy to be back! I go to bed extremely early now, so I'm going to have to try to post quickly right before bed.

I was supposed to announce our "One Small Change" progress and March goal on the first of the month, but I couldn't really get back to the blog until today. Our progress wasn't so hot during February. The laundry situation got so bad that my neighbor downstairs helped me by doing four loads in both of our washers in one afternoon, and clearly, we had to use the clothes dryer. In order to catch up, I've used it a few more times. And the composting has been about the same as January--not perfect, but not a total failure. I'm not going to beat myself up about it because there's really only so much you can do under those circumstances!

I had to think for quite awhile about what change to implement this month. I wanted something that was not only a true change--something we weren't already doing, but also something I could be excited about. I was clueless for the longest time, and then I finally realized what I wanted to do: for the month of March, we will make a concerted effort to begin eating seasonally.

I was going to say "eating seasonally AND locally," but I think that eating locally is inherent in eating seasonally. It's part of the point. If you can eat what is in season where you live, you should be able to get it where you are. Obviously there is nothing growing in the winter in Montreal (except maybe garlic? Is that right?), but by the time next winter rolls around I hope to be an expert in eating seasonally and we'll figure out how to store the heartier produce and buy what is in cold storage in Quebec.

This is going to be a tough one for us. We already buy organic. It's a challenge, and it means that I've spent about $20 on clothes for myself in the last six months, but it's worth it to me. I consider it to be a long-term health investment, especially for the kids and their tiny, sensitive systems. But just because I buy organic doesn't mean we eat seasonally. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my kids have eaten kiwi almost every day for two months. I don't even have the first clue where they're coming from, but it's not this freezing cold place where we live.

I'm going to have to think long and hard about what this means. Does it mean that I can't eat imported fruits and veggies at all? Do we have them as a treat? This is certainly going to be a project. It's not really a small change, not at all, actually, but it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time. So March will, I imagine, be the beginning of a long learning experience.