Finally, Signs of Spring!

It's a trick, of course. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow--though not enough to stick, thankfully. Last year the ground was covered in fresh snow the third week in April, and my neighbor just told me it actually snowed in May last year, something I must have blocked from my memory because it was so horrifying.

Still--today was one of those days in Montreal that gives you hope that maybe, at some point, it might really be spring.

There were living things popping up out of the ground:
And much of the snow is melted; the snow mountains could last for quite some time:
There were bicycles, tricycles, chalk drawing, and hopscotch:
The stumps in the natural playscape are peeking out, reminding us of the fun to be had down there when the last of the snow finally seeps into the ground:
And there are some new signs of spring indoors. We made a $1.99 impulse buy today, a blue hyacinth from the nursery down the street:
And we have basil! The first signs of what will hopefully be batches and batches of frozen pesto:

Phew! I wasn't sure how much longer I could deal with winter! I know we'll still be back and forth, back and forth, but we're finally creeping toward the edge of the cold, dark winter. How silly I was when I thought to myself in the end of January, "well, this winter has actually gone by pretty quickly."

The Montreal Biodome

I haven't taken many photos in the past few days, and I'm a little distracted with multiple projects, but when I searched through my photos just now, I realized I had never posted anything about our trip to the Biodome. On the "field trip" day of Mama's Spring Break Camp, we had an absolutely wonderful time together, in all respects, visiting this unique attraction.

The Biodome has miniature versions of five or six different environments (tropical rainforest, etc.) You enter through a set of doors into the simulated environment, and the spaces are filled with plants and animals appropriate to that ecosystem. The interior climate matches, as well--in the rainforest, it's hot and humid--something I wish I would have remembered when I got dressed.

In the rainforest, more than in the other sections, the animals are really right there--like this bird the girls are watching up on the ledge:


Moments later, he was on the ground walking towards us:


Aaaaaaaand...cue the waterfall of tears, from Bojey. My children really hate strange animals coming at them.

What is this cute, sweet girl watching so intently?


Why, the capybara, of course. Can't say I find him all that cute, personally:



But this bird, with his giant, twig-like feet? Adorable!


We tried our hardest to find the sloth in the rainforest (one of my favorite animals of all time!), but the closest we came was this sign (with my sweet little Bojey peeking under it):



The aquariums were a big hit with Bojey. She would have sat there looking at them all day:

The Biodome's little guidebook is really nice and has a two-page illustration of each ecosystem, with pictures and illustrations of most of the animals. We went through it when we got home and circled everything we saw and saved it so we can look for the other animals next time.

Well that was kind of fun, going through those photos. I'm excited to go back to the Biodome now.

We Made our Own Lip Stuff

Do you call it "lip stuff" or "lip balm"? Or something else entirely? I've always, always called it "lip stuff," but now that I'm typing this, it looks really weird.

Anyway, lip stuff. I have to confess that I've been addicted to lip stuff since probably late elementary school. I've tried to go without it (usually because I've run out), and it always results in two or three days of my being totally distracted by how chapped my lips are, followed by a trip to the store to buy three more tubes to ensure that such a horrific thing never happens again. It's not dehydration--I drink a ton of water. I think it's just that I've gotten so used to using it.

I've always used store-bought lip stuff, but it has been on my mental "things to make" list for ages. Ninna's lips recently became really chapped from a combination of very dry indoor air and a bad cold. She refuses to use the kind of lip stuff I've always bought--Burt's Bees--because of the peppermint oil; she hates mint. The situation got so bad that I decided that she needed her own lip stuff, so, for the same reasons we recently made lotion, we made lip stuff.

This was so easy and pretty much foolproof! I know I say that about lots of things, like making crackers, but I'm serious--this is as easy as can be, and you needn't possess any special talents. The recipe we used was sort of a combination of the various lip balm recipes in Natural Beauty at Home, the same book we used to make the lotion.

The general recipe looks like this:

**Two parts coconut oil
**Two parts grape seed oil, or almond oil, or another similar oil
**One part grated beeswax
**(optional) a tiny amount of extract for flavor (like almond, vanilla, etc.)

Basically, you just want all of these melted together. She gives instructions for doing this in the microwave, but we don't have a microwave, so I can't speak from experience on how that works. The other option is to use a double-boiler or a rigged-up double-boiler, in our case, since we don't have one of those either. You can melt it (as we did with the lotion) by putting the ingredients in a flame/heatproof bowl, and then putting the bowl into a pan with an inch or so of water. Bring the water to a very gentle boil/simmer. If you want, you can stir the ingredients with a small implement to help it along; we used the thin end of a chopstick.

It melts pretty quickly. Then you simply pour it into a clean, dry container and let it harden. We have a couple of empty metal lip stuff containers that I had saved for this purpose, but they conveniently went missing on the day we made it, so I poured it into a small jar. I've now found one of the containers, so I'm planning to scoop some the lip stuff into it since the jar situation is a bit awkward.

In case you're wondering about the texture, here's a creepy photo of my finger with some of the lip stuff on it:It seems to work well so far, and Ninna really likes it. I like it also, though I have to admit to missing that minty/mentholy feeling, so I think next time I'll add some peppermint oil or something similar to some of it for myself.

If you aren't convinced to try this by my claims about easiness, consider the economics. We used one tablespoon of coconut oil, one tablespoon of grape seed oil, 1/2 tablespoon of grated beeswax, and maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon of almond extract. And that yielded a ton of lip stuff, probably enough to fill at least six of those little tubes. I think a tube of Burt's Bees costs about $3 here [EDITED: It's $4, in fact. I just checked today.] I'm thinking that this is coming out to be pennies per tube. No more than 50 cents at the very most.

And the environmental factor! I'm a little horrified thinking about the twenty-some years worth of lip stuff containers I've gone through. I'm so excited to be able to eliminate that waste. Sorry Burt! No hard feelings, ok?

Making lip stuff requires minimal time and effort. We made it while cooking dinner, and my helper grated the beeswax, so I didn't have to do much of anything. It is true that you need to have the supplies on hand, but we frequently cook with grape seed oil, so that's always right in the fridge. The recipe I most closely followed actually calls for almond oil, but in my quest to do fewer errands and buy fewer things, I just decided grape seed oil would have to suffice, and it was fine.

Lots of people are cooking with coconut oil these days because of the health benefits. We have a container of it that I have so far only used very sparingly for these types of purposes because it is on the expensive side, but again, it's a relatively common ingredient to have around. The only "extra" thing might be beeswax, but if you buy a little chunk of beeswax, it goes a long way. Most of these recipes only call for anywhere between 1/2 a teaspoon to a tablespoon of grated beeswax.

Have I convinced you to try it? Have you already made your own lip stuff? If you have any recommended recipes or tips, I'd love to hear them.

Toilet Paper Tube Marble Run

My computer crashed this week, right as I was getting into working on an exciting upcoming project. I took it in to have it repaired and got it back last night. After getting over my excitement that the computer guy replaced the two missing keys on my keyboard for free, without being asked, I checked my email, and it was like Christmas. I got three emails about new editing jobs, a message from an old friend I hadn't heard from in awhile, a message from a new friend, and some very sweet words about my blog.

But none of that is really why I'm here. I'm writing tonight to tell you that we made something fun with toilet paper tubes. We save all of our empty toilet paper tubes to put in the hamster cage, but it seems we go through rolls of toilet paper far more often than we clean the hamster cage. The bathroom drawer that holds all of her supplies is literally packed to the brim with toilet paper rolls, so we decided to do something with them.

I remembered seeing a marble run on Made by Joel that, in my mind, was made of toilet paper rolls. I couldn't look it up since I didn't have my computer, but I figured I'd just be able to wing it. I've since learned, now that I have a working computer again, that his marble run was in fact made from a cereal box. So what's the deal--did I change the cereal box into toilet paper tubes in my mind, or did I see such a thing elsewhere? I have no clue.

If you happen to have a plethora of toilet paper tubes and would like to make a marble run, here's what we did:

Supplies

**Toilet paper tubes
**A tall piece of corrugated cardboard
**Glue gun
**Packing tape
**Scissors
**Marbles
**A bowl or other container to catch the marbles

Instructions

1. Cut the toilet paper tubes lengthwise. Make a second cut so that you are cutting off part of the tube--this will make it so you can see the marble when it's rolling down. I cut less than half of the tube off because I wanted there to be plenty of "side" to glue to the cardboard and still leave enough of a "wall" on the other side so the marbles wouldn't fall out.
2. Tape 3-4 of the partial tubes together, lengthwise. You could also use paper towel tubes for this instead, which would eliminate the need for taping, but I haven't bought paper towel in almost eight years, so we only have toilet paper tubes.
3. Using a glue gun, squirt glue down the length of one of the sides of your tube and press it firmly onto the cardboard, at an angle. Repeat this, alternating directions of the tube, until you reach the bottom (as shown in the finished product).

4. Stand it up, or tape it up, like we did, and put a container at the bottom to catch the marbles. You're ready to go! Once you're finished, you'll have to test it out and see if there are any flaws that need fixing. You'll notice that on the second tube from the top, I had to add an additional toilet paper tube because the marbles kept flying off when they got there.


I tried to take a video of this in action today, but my little video camera was out of batteries. I have to say I'm amazed at how much the chicks love this thing. I thought maybe it was going to be one of those things that kept their interest for a few minutes before they moved on, but the only thing that stopped them from playing with it was my telling them that we needed to eat dinner. They will sit there and squeal and scream, pouring down a constant stream of 2-3 marbles at a time.

The only downside to this is the marbles that inevitably end up all over the house. This is the sort of thing that I don't have much patience for. Stepping on a marble or a lego drives me nuts. This will be a good opportunity for me to work on that, I suppose...

Spring Equinox Celebrations

Despite the fact that we have snow showers predicted for four out of the next ten days (Oh, Montreal...), we are mentally plowing right into spring. The chicks were with their dad for the weekend, so in between working (both on editing and on a fun, upcoming project), a bit of socializing, and some cleaning, I got us ready for spring, starting with a super easy sewing project--a spring bunting:


I'm a little on the fence about the colors; I can't decide if it says "spring," or if it says "Easter," which is not exactly what I was going for. Maybe I'll leave this up until Easter and then switch it out for something else.

After the chicks returned, I sent them on a treasure hunt, using these clues:


Do you ever make treasure hunts? I love them. I always accidentally call them "scavenger hunts," but I don't think that's what I mean. I mean the type of hunt during which you read a clue that leads you to the next clue, and so on, until you find the treasure. I set them up for the kids every so often. I secretly have fun writing and hiding the clues, and the chicks, particularly Ninna, really love looking for them. Ninna still very much loves any kind of game that involves hiding and seeking/searching, so a treasure hunt is right up her alley.

When one of the clues sent them over to the kitchen table, Ninna excitedly asked if the new spring tablecloth was the prize. I thought smugly about how appreciative my children are, but then when the next clue sent them to their clothesline, she excitedly asked "oh, did you wash our pajamas?" I try not to laugh out loud at my children unless they're intentionally being funny, but I couldn't hold it in. Are my cleaning skills really that bad that she would get that excited about clean pajamas? I think I'd prefer not to hear the answer.

The treasure was neither a tablecloth nor clean laundry; it was a couple of new spring books I had been saving for this occasion. I put away the winter books from our seasonal book basket and replaced them with the spring ones, which now includes the "treasure" books:


And we planted our ceremonial first seeds:

The traditional planting period in Montreal is the long weekend associated with Victoria Day, which this year is May 21st-23rd. This means that the seeds that need to be started 8-10 weeks before planting day need to be started now, and we can start on some of the 6-8 week ones as well. I still don't have a concrete gardening plan for this year, so we just started with basil (which technically is not an 8-10 week seed) and impatiens from saved seeds, mainly just to get something in the dirt. The leftover bags of soil from last year were frozen solid in the garage, so we had to pick at them with shovels to get enough dirt to fill our (re-used for the third time) seedling containers.

How have you ushered in the spring? Are you truly experiencing spring weather, or are you just pretending, like we are?

Self Portrait Saturday #19, March 19th, 2011: Sewing and Supermoon

Technically, I'm not sewing--I'm replacing the bobbin:


I recently moved the sewing machine into the dining room. I'm storing it on top of the art cabinet until I figure out a better set-up, but I'm so thrilled to have moved it. If I can see my machine, I will sew. If I can't, I won't. So tonight, I'm sewing some goodies for the return of spring, something for which I cannot wait (even though we still have snow showers in our forecast for later in the week...)

And here's the Supermoon, as seen from the front balcony:

To be perfectly honest, I'd never heard of such a thing until two weeks ago. It's worth viewing, definitely. There were several families out in the street looking at it. Very cute.

Good night, and see you in The Spring, y'all!

Homemade Granola, oh However Could I Forget about You?

And yet I do. I make a batch of you, and I sing your praises while we eat every last crumb of you, promising to make a fresh batch every few weeks until I'm senile. Then we move onto other foods, and the next thing I know, it's eight months later and I'm suddenly remembering how nice it would be to eat granola. And since store-bought granola is, as far as I'm concerned, priced out of reach of most mere mortals, this means we simply don't eat granola.

So now I have a solution. I've just made myself a new grocery-type list, only this one is not for shopping. In the spirit of continuing to move towards a "making" mentality and away from a "buying" mentality, this morning I started a second food list on the fridge for things I need to make sure I always have made. So far it only has three things on it (because I have a terrible memory and can't think of what else I make to keep around): bread, chicken stock, and granola.

Bread is a no-brainer since I make about 95% of our bread. Chicken stock is somewhat obvious, but I don't pay too much attention when we're running out--I just make it every time I roast a chicken. So I'll do a better job keeping up on that so there's never a need to reach for that last 1/2 square of bouillon I have in the cupboard. And now, granola. This batch made three big jars, but this time when it runs out, I'll remember to make it. As the weeks go by and I start thinking of things I make or would like to make to keep around (as opposed to making on the spot, for a meal), I'll add them to the list. Can I tell you how excited I am about this?

I realize that for many people, this is probably the most obvious thing in the world. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this on my blog, but cooking is a relatively new thing in my life. Sure, I thought I was cooking, but up until 2 1/2 years ago, I didn't even realize that humans actually made risotto from scratch or that they roasted whole chickens. I didn't know you could make pancakes without pancake mix. Feel free to laugh. In addition to cooking, the planning of cooking is also new(ish) to me, something I only started once I became a mother, but still need improvement on, hence my ridiculous excitement about my "to have made on hand" list.

For those interested, the granola above is an adaptation of the basic granola recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, one of my go-to cookbooks. Here's the general gist of what I included:

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup coconut
3/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
heaping 1/2 teaspoon ginger
heaping 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
heaping 1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup maple syrup
pinch salt

In the interest of making this affordable (still much more so than store-bought granola), I did the following:

• cut down the coconut from 1 cup to 3/4 cup
• used the tiniest amount of dried cranberries since unsweetened cranberries are not only hard to find, they're also expensive. I added just enough to get a little sense that they were there.
• used the minimum amount of sweetener, 1/2 cup of maple syrup (he calls for 1/2 cup to 1 cup). I made up for the lost flavor by adding lots of spices. It's still so delicious that I'm certain I can go even lower next time, so I'll perhaps try 1/4 cup and even more spices next time.
• used only 1 cup of nuts and included inexpensive seeds for the rest of the "crunch" factor

And now I'm dying to know--what foods do you make to keep on hand? I guess once we get into the summer, this will also include preserving of summer produce for the rest of the year. I got started with that a little bit last summer, and I'm so excited to do more this year.

Brought to You by the Internet

Here are some of the fun and/or inspiring links I've recently starred in my feed reader:

**Amazing felt food inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar at No Big Dill's Once Upon a Thread series. The whole series is worth checking out. Each day, a very talented blogger shares a project based on a beloved children's book.

**Bathtub Puffy Paint How-to at Chalk in my Pocket. I am certain my girls will go crazy for this. I just need to get some white bar soap, and we'll try it.

**Zombie-Creating Fungi Video at Huffington Post. OK, I realize this is not even remotely, tangentially, or in any way related to the topics of this blog. But this video is crazy! It's only about three or four minutes long, and you get to see how an airborne fungus turns ants into zombies. Mind-control fungi. Just what you need to be watching on your Friday night.

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And here's the link to my most recent post at Simple Kids which went up on Wednesday. I wrote about some ways in which single parents of small children can make it through the witching hour unscathed, but the tips can be used by non-single parents as well, of course. It even comes with a free PDF download for the nerdy organizer/planner in you!

Happy Weekend!

Jaimie

A Very Simple Harold and the Purple Crayon-Inspired Art Project

On the art day of Mama's Spring Break Camp, the chicks and two of their friends did a collaborative drawing project that seemed to really engage them. I first read them Harold and the Purple Crayon, one of our favorite art-themed stories. I then ripped off a long piece of easel paper and taped it to the hallway floor, setting out crayon cakes and beeswax crayons for drawing.

I told the kids they could draw a world just like Harold did with his crayon. I really had no idea if they would find this even remotely appealing, and I also had no clue if the collaboration component was going to work. I had thought of the project about an hour before and just taped down the paper and hoped for the best.


I'm happy to report that not only did they have fun, but they were very serious about the project and all four of them actually discussed, the entire time they were drawing, what their plans were and what they were making. Ninna drew roads, Bojey drew a lake, our little friend in the Dorothy dress drew some people, and our other friend drew...something I can't remember. Whatever it was, he worked very hard on it!

Here's the finished product:

Have you tried any collaborative art projects with your kids? Were they successful? I'd like to try something like this again, but I don't want to push it. I think it really takes a lot to be able to work together on a creative project like this--I know adults who can't or wouldn't want to compromise their ideas, so I can imagine how challenging this can be for little people. On the other hand, since the experience was so nice, I'd like to give them the opportunity again.

Mardi Gras Masks

Inspired by the always-wonderful Filth Wizardry, though ours are a bit more...basic, if you will ;).

A Window into Another World: a Fun Addition to your "House Play" Area

A very long time ago, probably at least a year and a half ago, I painted a pretend window for the chicks' closet. The doors are removed, and they use the bottom half of the closet as a play area. For a long time it was Ninna's "office," but as Bojey became old enough to play, and the office somehow lost its appeal, we moved the doll bunk beds and doll high chair in there, and it became more of a "house" area.

I had intended to sew curtains for the fake window the following week, but instead, I sewed them today, about 18 months later. But nonetheless, they're done! And here's the window, in all its curtained glory:
Ninna, who, like her mother, cannot wait for spring, remarked that "it's always summer in that world!" If only it could be so on this side of that window.

If there were a tutorial, it would look like this:

1. Using your severe lack of technical skill, paint a window frame and behind it, an outdoor scene.

2. Eighteen months later, lay on the couch during nap time and send your 4 1/2 year old into the other room to search through your fabric stash for the right curtain fabric, hoping you are buying yourself a 10 minute nap. Be greatly disappointed when, exactly 27.5 seconds later, she emerges proudly carrying her top three choices.

3. Sew a simple curtain.

Aaaaaaaaaand there you have it. The chicks seem to be very excited about it. They closed the curtain before bedtime. I guess it was letting too much sun in...

Fingerknitted Headband: An Easy Preschool Project (with Some Parental Help Involved)

Last Sunday we went to the fifth birthday party of a very sweet little friend of ours, and Ninna wanted to make her own present, preferably something finger knitted. So far the only "official" thing she's made (not including the many, many lengths of cord) is a hot pink jump rope for my dad (dad...it will be on its way in the mail ;). We decided that she would make a headband for this gift.

Seeing as Ninna likes to be on top of things (she had already finished making three cards for our friend days before the party arrived), she promptly sat down and knitted a pink cord. Here's what you need to do to make the headband:

1. Have your child finger knit a cord, longer than you think it needs to be. If you don't know how, there are plenty of clear tutorials and videos online. It's a great, simple handwork skill for small children.

2. Cut a piece of elastic a few inches long. I went with 1/2 inch wide elastic--not too wide, not too narrow. This isn't designed to be visible; it just helps keep the headband on and helps to stretch it over the child's head.

3. Sew one end of the cord to one end of the elastic. You could do this by hand, I'm sure, but I generally use the machine whenever possible, and I also like to obsessively reinforce things like this. I used a wide zig zag stitch and went back and forth over it somewhere in the vicinity of 650,000 times:



4. Wrap the half-finished headband around your child's head to gauge how long it should be, and then remove it, holding the other end of the elastic to the cord where you'll need to sew.

5. Sew the other end of the elastic to the cord in the same obsessive manner.

6. Trim the excess knitted cord.

7. Trim the corners of the elastic a bit to round the edges, smoothing the transition from elastic to cord.

8. Take photos of your child in the headband while telling her you can't get enough of her dimple:
And if it's a gift, why not make your own wrapping paper? Here's Ninna making hers:
We were both really happy with the way this turned out, and I have several fun ideas for variations to try in the future.

Book Talk: Art-themed Children's Books

You've seen Picasso's quote, many times, I'm sure: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

Not only do I wholeheartedly believe this, but I would consider it to be a significant concept at the core of my approach to parenting. I've had kids' art books on my mind since last week, having chosen some to read on our "art" day during Mama's Spring Break Camp. For small children, I'm much more interested in storybooks that put the child in the position of artist than those that serve to "educate" children on who's who in the world of dead masters. I certainly believe those have a place, but I think they're best saved for children slightly older than my own. The following three books allow the child to envision him or herself as the artist in one way or another, and all are highly recommended by our little family.

Norman the Doorman:

Written by Don Freeman, of Corduroy fame, this story, as far as I'm concerned, is at least as charming as his better-known works (which I do also enjoy.) Norman is a mouse who lives in the basement of a museum where he has set himself up with a home and studio inside of an old knight's helmet. He "works" as the doorman for mouse visitors to the museum who view the extras stored in the basement, but he's an artist by night. The story follows the adventures that ensue when he anonymously enters the museum's sculpture contest. Norman's position as both the underdog and an "unofficial" artist encourage the reader to identify with him.


I Am An ArtistThis simple picture book serves to expand our idea of what it means to be an artist. Each page begins with "I am an artist when..." followed by a statement such as "I look through a sun shower for a rainbow." Without explicitly saying so, it explores the possibility that being an artist is as much about perception and experience as it is about technical skill--an idea that holds much value for small children who simply don't have the coordination or practice to produce what might be considered "great" pieces of art. The style and color schemes of the images encourage repeated observation.

Harold and the Purple Crayon


I almost feel silly even mentioning this book because I'm sure you're familiar with it, but who knows--I know even with all of my experience studying English, there are plenty of "classics" I've never read. Harold and the Purple Crayon is very special to me as it is a component of some of my favorite memories from elementary school. They happened not in the classroom, but in the library, sitting between the shelves reading whatever book had recently caught my attention. I distinctly remember looking over and over at this book--the simple purple line drawings are as vivid in my mind as they are on the page today. Harold, for the uninitiated, is a boy who draws the world of his imagination with a single purple crayon. What you may not know (I didn't until a couple of years ago) is that there are several other Harold stories as well, and they're available as a little anthology.

We have other stories that are art-related in some way, but none that quite do what I think these stories do. I'd love to add more to our list of favorites. What children's art-themed books do you recommend?