Graffiti Stage

A little known developmental stage...

When Olivia was about halfway through her 5th year she started writing and coloring on everything. She was learning to write her name and loved coloring so I had supplied her with plenty of paper, crayons, colored pencils and markers. At the time, Walter was still napping so she had "quiet time" in the playroom so I could accomplish something during the day. I gave her art supplies hoping to buy more time with more play options. She loved them and used them to "tag" all of her toys. We got into a cycle of tagging, removing art supplies, returning art supplies, tagging, ...
I thought she was bored so I tried finding more stimulating activities but she continued to find little pockets of time to venture into the underworld of graffiti artistry.
Fast forward to today...
She outgrew her illegal activities and now uses post-it notes to stick messages around the house. Cute, meaningful, love-filled reminders of all things important to an almost 7-year-old. BUT, Walter is now about 4.5!

He has now realized the importance of leaving a permanent mark on his dwelling. He prefers to write his name and draw windows on things around the house...including himself! 

Interest

I was just contacted by a local children's store (Bev's Real Kids). They wanted to know if I have wholesale pricing for my diapers because one of their customers recommended me to them! So exciting on so many levels! So overwhelming! So...unsure!

I am the only face behind this fledgling diaper "company" and the idea of having a bigger demand for diapers on top of the other (growing) demands of everyday life is a little scary. It seems that the answer is obvious...we'll see...

It turns out...

...bread really does need yeast to rise. Ok, I already knew that. But, I did learn that you have to include the yeast before you knead the dough.

The night before Easter, at around 9:00, I remembered that I had planned to serve cinnamon buns for breakfast. I have made them many times before and they are delicious and well worth the super effort to make them. Unfortunately, I took on this project after it was already too late. Being the optimist, though, I decided to just go for it. In the rush to get the dough rising, I forgot a few ingredients. Most importantly, the yeast. At about 10:30, when cleaning up the kitchen mess, I realized my mistake. Really wanting to save the cinnamon buns, I improvised. I mixed the yeast with a little warm water and tried to knead it into the dough, adding a little flour to counteract the extra water. Then, with fingers crossed, I went to bed to allow the dough to rise in privacy.

By morning, nothing had happened. I went ahead and continued the recipe. By the end, they tasted like cinnamon buns, but they were super dense. I suffered through eating more than my share. :)

Lesson learned: Don't take on more than I can reasonably do. And, don't forget the yeast!

First week of April

UPDATED! 3/9/10

Maybe if I make my to-do list public it will actually get done...

For the first week of April:
1. Make 3 diapers (two experimental and one normal)
2. Make more grandma buns for Easter dinner - DONE!
3. Make more tortillas (using new cooking method)
4. Sheatshirt project - DONE!
   I wanted to do this but, I'm not sure I like it yet.

5. Start cutting out denim strips for my blanket project - DONE! (well, started! :))

6. Dye Easter eggs - DONE!

That is probably enough for now, but I will keep adding to it, I'm sure.

New Skills

I was excited (and a little nervous) to teach Olivia how to sew. I have always loved to sew, but I think I learned when I was 12. She's 4. She did great!

My mom bought her a real adult sewing machine. In order to make it a little safer for her, I took apart the foot pedal and fashioned a cardboard tube to just the right height to keep her from pressing the pedal down all the way. The machine is still fully functional, but she just can't send it into hyperspeed.

Her first lesson was just to get her comfortable with the machine and to experiment with the different stitches and stitch lengths. After a few attemps, she got used to going in a straight line and applying the right pressure to the fabric. I was so excited to see her sewing. I really almost cried.

A sample of her work on one of my fabric scraps.

Just in time

I have been working on this project (off and on) for a few weeks. I followed the directions, as far as I can tell, but mine turned out smaller. Eh, I like it anyway. It helps that it is for a 1yo. It was certainly a test of my patience. I am not the most patient when it comes to projects. It came together pretty slowly, but definitely worth it. Now, I just have to fill it with treats and mail it to Baby Kate.

Redwood Rabbit

At Easter-time, the local newspaper hides four eggs, each filled with $1000 worth of local gift certificates, in different areas on the northcoast. As far as I know they have done this for quite a few years, but I have never participated. This year, though, I have caught the fever. Based on the daily clues, we narrowed it down to the paved dog trail at Sequoia Park. So, this morning we packed up a backpack full of snacks, water and the ergo (just in case Walter got tired) and headed out on our hunt.

We even packed the kids' headlamps so they could look in all the crevices. They had a blast! We were out there for almost 2 hours.

Refueling. Look at how dirty they got!

Walter was climbing up a stump to check for the egg.

In searching for the egg, Olivia started stepping on all the clovers. I told her to stop because that is where the Leprechauns live. From then on we started hunting Leprechauns, too. This is a picture of Olivia checking out a hole in a stump to see if it was the entrance to the underground Leprechaun village.

So, no luck today. But, maybe tomorrow's clue will help. We are heading out again in the morning.