Great Giveaway

My friend Tree over at The Enchanted Tree is offering a great giveaway. She is featuring EcoMom. EcoMom is offering a $15.00 gift certificate to the winner of the giveaway. I took a look at EcoMom's store and she has some great environmentally friendly items for sale. Stop over and take a look.

One thing that I am really interested in is the book The Kid's Garden.


Her description of the book is: "40 fun outdoor activities and games Written By Whitney Cohen and Illustrated By Roberta Arenson Get outside and grow with some child-friendly fun with gardening! Kids’ Garden includes forty activities and games and an eight-page booklet that contains information on gardening tools, year-round plant care and garden safety. These step-by-step instructions are enhanced by colorful collage artwork on each double-sided card and they create a fun and easy way for budding green-thumbs to plant, investigate, learn and experiment. Ages 8 and up" Sounds like something my son would love.

Stop on over an sign up for the giveaway. While you're at it check out Tree's online store.

The Joy of Boys At Play

We try to go to Park Day with our homeschool group. It's a great way for the kids to get together and play. And the moms get to relax and chat. The other day the boys had all brought their swords and light sabers. They had so much fun fighting with each other. At one point one of the little ones, a just about to be three year old, decided he wanted to play with the big boys. It was so cool watching them. When the boys were sword fighting the rule is that swords only touch swords and not people. Well the little guy didn't quite understand this rule. So he frequently hit the other boys pretty hard. Now usually if someone gets hit too hard they retaliate and hit back. But these kids were so good with this little one. No matter how hard he hit them, they would immediately fall down dead. Then the little one would squeal with glee that he beat up the "big guy." I watched as this scene played out over and over again. I was so proud of the way these kids all let this little one "kill them." Instead of making fun of him or excluding him from their game. They played right along with him and "let" him win.







One of the kids noticed a cicada on the side of a tree. Of course this brought all the kids over to see what it was. An impromptu science class ensued as one of the moms explained how cicadas stay under ground for 2 to 17 years before the stick their heads up. She told the kids that he had probably just shed his skin and was now crawling up to the top of the tree so he could sing for the rest of his life. Immediately the kids started looking around. They found his skin on the other side of the tree laying on the ground. After that everyone was very careful not to go around to that side of the tree and disturb the skin.

You have to love homeschool kids and their thrist for knowledge. I love Park Day.

We Survived Second Grade

Well, we finally survived second grade. We kind of had a late start and our learning was somewhat sporadic last fall because I was so sick. But after the holidays we finally were able to get going. Dakota finished Science and Social Studies really quickly. But then Science is his favorite subject. And second grade doesn't have a lot of Social Studies in it. It took until the end of May to finish Language Arts. But Math... Math was so hard to stay focused on. Dakota loves math but he still had a hard time staying focused. Focus is an issue for him anyway. I finally told him that he had to finish second grade before his birthday. So his birthday party was Wednesday night. Finally about two hours before time to leave for his big birthday party at Medieval Times, he finished the last lesson in his math program. He was so proud of his accomplishment that he immediately asked how to upgrade his account so he could start third grade math. He did well on the first lesson. He is excited to continue on with Time4Learning. I think this is one of the best programs out there for little computer junkies like Dakota.

We are not going to do a lot of school work over the summer. Maybe just a lesson or two a week. He is also going to continue playing some of the online games that we have found. We will also be taking classes every month at Historic Speedwell and at Beczak Environmental Center.

Other exciting news for our family is my granddaughter, Baby Ciencia. We really have to stop calling her that. She's not much of a baby any more. Ciencia will be starting Preschool this fall. It seems like such a short time ago when I held that tiny little newborn in my arms. She was less than an hour old when I first saw her. Now she's all grown up and ready to start Preschool. Wow, where does the time go. They are all growing up so quickly.

Well, time to go try to cool off in this incredible heat wave.

Kathi

It's A Boy

Eight years ago today a baby boy was born in a country far, far away. His tummy mommy knew she could not take care of him. She had eight other hungry mouths to feed. And she had already buried three babies. She didn't want to bury a fourth so she contacted a lawyer who helped her make an adoption plan for her baby. Back in New Jersey, a couple was waiting and hoping to adopt a baby. They had been waiting for over two years for the right baby to come into their lives. It seemed like that phone call would never come. One day though, the call did come. "We have a healthy baby boy who is looking for a forever family. He is 19 days old." Although this couple had kind of wanted a girl, they decided that this baby was meant for them. Soon they began what would be another long waiting period. Waiting now for the paperwork of two different governments to be approved. In October, to celebrate their fifth anniversary, the couple flew to Guatemala to meet this little baby boy. They played with him, cuddled him, learned what his little habits were, and fell in love with him. On December 9, 2002, they got the call that their adoption was final. Daniel Garcia Zalazar was now their son. A few days later, they flew again to Guatemala. But this time it was to bring their new son home.

It seems like it was only yesterday that this story took place. But it was eight years ago. That sweet little baby is now 8 years old.

Today I have been thinking a lot about that mother in Guatemala. I don't even know if she is still alive. She would be 50 years old now. That's pretty old for the poor in the mountains of Guatemala. But she's on my mind today. I wonder if she is thinking about the baby boy she gave away. If she is, I just want her to know that he is a happy healthy growing boy. He likes knights and rockets oh, and legos. He loves math and science, but he hates to read. He rides a two wheeler and he got a scooter for his birthday.

Thank you Marie Elizabeth for giving this beautiful baby boy to me. He is the greatest gift anyone could have given me.

Today my baby boy is eight years old.

I Finally Sewed Something

I made myself a new top this week. I have been having a block about sewing anything for a while. But I finally decided I really wanted this top so I forced myself to do it. I saw this top a few years ago. It reminded me of tops we wore back in the 60's and 70's/ I filed the picture away and thought I would make it some day. Well a few weeks ago I decided to make it and what do you know, I could not find the picture. I looked everywhere and could not find a picture like it anywhere. Finally I found it and decided that now was the time to make it. So I sat down and figured out how to do it. The funny thing is, after I finished my top, two of my hippiesew friends found patterns for the same top. Oh well. It was fun figuring it all out myself.

I used 45 inch wide material. This I measured the length I wanted my top to be. I like them long so I cut the fabric 30 inches. You need two pieces that length. Lay one piece on top of the other so the folded pieces are on the same side. On the side that is not folded cut a half U shape out of the top corner. It should look like this.


The half U is about 3 to 4 inches across the top and about 8 inches long. (This should probably be only about 4 inches long. The way it is my bra shows a bit.) This makes the armholes for the top. You can certainly vary this depending on how you want it to fit.

Measure across your chest armpit to armpit. I ended up making this about 2 inches smaller because it made the neckline too open for my tastes. Cut a piece of two or three inch wide lace to this measurement. Then gather the top edge of the fabric on to this lace.



Do the same for the back.

At this point I finished off the armholes with double fold bias tape. This part does not show at all so you could serge it or hem with a narrow hem. THen I sewed the front and back together at the side seams. Your top should now look like this.





Next I cut the "wings" in a large rectangle. I cut two pieces about 14 inches by 36 inches. I hemmed the 14 inch sides with a narrow hem. Then I folded the long edge to the outside and sewed the lace down on the top and bottom.

Lay the wings on top of the top so the lace of the wings is directly on top of the lace from the front.



Stitch the wing down in a square just where the lace from the wing covers the lace from the top.



I just made a square but I remembered that back in the day we made a square with an X in the middle like the above picture.

Do the same for the back and the other end of the wing. Then repeat the process for the other side.

Hem the bottom and you are done.



I hope this explains the process. I've never written a tutorial before. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. Measurements can easily be changed. They are subject to the size of the person you are making it for. I made it very full because I don't like tight fitting clothes. The bottom is almost 90 inches around. I love my new top and can't wait to make another.

Wheat

Dakota had a play date today with his friend Natalie. They had a great time playing in the sprinkler and inflatable swimming pool. Then they sat on the patio and drew pictures with the sidewalk chalk. Dakota discovered that if he got the chalk wet he could make really thick designs with it. Then they took paint brushes and drew them across the chalk designs. This blended the colors. Dakota found that with yellow, blue, and red; blue is the dominant color and will take over the whole picture. After a while they decided to wash the whole thing away and start over again. Dakota decided to make a "hippie" t-shirt on the side walk. He did a great job of tye dying the chalk.

Eventually we went inside where Elen was putting the finishing touches on the pizza. Little did I know that she had made the crust herself. Oh and the sauce. But she had also ground the wheat to make the crust with. I have never seen anyone grind their own flour. In fact I have never seen what wheat looks like before it is ground. All I know is what flour looks like when you buy it at the store. So Elen brought out several different kinds of wheat. We talked about what each kind is best used for and we tasted all the different kinds of wheat. It was great to experience all the differences in flavor and texture. After a wonderful lunch of fresh homemade pizza and fresh baked bread, Elen showed us how to grind the wheat in to flour. I was amazed that 3 cups of wheat turned in to 5 cups of flour. Elen sent a bag home with us. Tomorrow we will bake bread with it.

I wish I had brought my camera with me. I would have loved to have pictures of all that we did today. It is amazing all the things kids can learn on a simple play date.

Check out this great blog

Aquarian Bath is hosting a give away for CNS Stores. You can win a $60.00 gift certificate. Check it out at http://aquarianbath.blogspot.com/ While you're at it check out her great Etsy store for some super natural products. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AquarianBath

Stop by and check them out.

Kathi