MommyCoddle

Do You See the Similarities?

Do you see the similarities--the puffy sleeves, the pleats and swirls of the skirt? Okay, maybe it's just one of those proud mother kinds of things...One of the things I've been enjoying about Emma lately is how her artwork is changing. She's adding more dimension, taking her time, and picking up on little details she hadn't added before. Her big thing lately is adding clothing to her formerly naked stick-figure people. She's even expanding her repetoire to things like cats and sunshines and flowers. I love it.

I am heading out to another round of pottery classes in about an hour. I can't wait to get back in there and make some more buttons. I'm trying a new type of clay this time that should give me some different color effects, but still planning on making some more stoneware buttons. I'm looking forward to a little alone time in the studio at the art museum.

Meanwhile at home, I'm frantically working on laundry and housecleaning before we head to the Chicago suburbs tomorrow to spend some time at my brother and sister-in-law's place. I'm looking forward to getting away after some depressing developments this week concerning Dan's job search. More on that later.

I finally got an email out today with miniswap partners, so if you haven't received one yet, please leave me a comment or drop me an email. (ooops! I guess it would be helpful if I sent the email to the WHOLE list of swappers, not just A-L !! That darn address book with its two pages of addresses!!)

Second Time's A Charm...well, almost.

I gave this tshirt dress another try yesterday and I think I finally got it all figured out. I am so much happier with the "flounce" of this skirt (as is Emma). I love the style of these dresses with their high waists and poofiness. It really didn't take that long to pump one out, so I think I'll go ahead and make one for Mary next.
As a result of this miniswap I came across this blogger, who was making a similar dress using  vintage table linens for the skirt. We were able to comapare notes and it helped me get a better plan for my second try. I still have a few things I'd like to improve, especially at the point where the tshirt and  skirt gathers meet. I think it will also be better to use matching thread next time, since the contrasting color shows my shaky stitching in some spots.
Emma hasn't taken it off since it came off the ironing board for a final pressing. She even wore it to bed. But of course, at soon as she put it on the first time, she took a big swig of hot chocolate and spilled it down her front. of course. thank goodness for 'Shout!'.

Miniswap Update and a few details

Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far for the miniswap and for all your enthusiasm. I've really enjoyed peeking at everyone's blogs and websites. I can only imagine the kinds of treats our children will be receiving in the mail. And I think one of the neatest things is that the swappers are from all over the world!! I am going to try to get together a frappr map for everyone to sign, so we can see where everything is coming from.

We have now jumped over the 50 participants mark, so I'm going to close signups at the end of today. I am staying on top of replying to everyone's emails and adding them to an email list for communication. But please be sure to send an email to the mini swap address that is in the first post, instead of just leaving a comment.

I forgot to mention that I'd like to put together a flickr gallery at the end of the swapping, so I'm hoping everyone has the resources to do this? If you don't have one already, flickr accounts are free and easy to set up. Otherwise, if all else fails, I guess you could email a digital photo to me....

Also, some of you signed up your little ones. Once partners are passed out, you might want to contact them with ideas for your child. Or perhaps the package could also include some activities to use as your child gets a little older...just thinking out loud on this one.....

And finally, here is the HTML code if you want to include a button on your blog...I think this should work if you copy and paste it into one of your lists...blair, help me on this one??

<a target=_top HREF="http://mommycoddle.typepad.com/"> <img
src="http://static.flickr.com/26/90925396_2eba8ddfb2_t.jpg" border="0"></A>

Once the signups close tonight, I hope to have names swapped by the end of the weekend (as long as my girls keep taking these great afternoon naps).

Looking forward to the swap and seeing all the wonderful packages from your talented families.

Corners In My Home #3

  spare bedroom 
  Originally uploaded by mommycoddle.

A picture of our spare bedroom, looking a little sparse in this picutre...really it's nothing especially thrilling, but as the girl's and I were in there this morning I realized that it is filled with some meaningful items--an old boat oar Dan and I got at a little antique store on our honeymoon (how did we get that home?)...a quilt that Dan got me for Christmas which was accompanied by a wonderful letter that brought me to tears...(he made such an impression on the lady at the antique store that she was thrilled when I went back a year later to buy this for him--she was so glad it was going to someone like Dan)...a shelf overflowing with books (that's pretty much every corner in our house), including one of my favorite books, A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck...Dan's old typewriter, a christmas gift from me...and of course, there's M "reading" an old issue of MSL, a wholesale TAG catalog, and flipping through a book by George Will that she swiped off the shelf....

The miniswap is filling up quickly so sign up before I get too overwhelmed! Be sure to send an email to me with all your info: miniswap (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.

Join In On A Mini Swap

NEXT MINISWAP coming late summer/early fall....

(Sorry, swap is closed. There's been a great response. Hope to have partners out to you asap!)
Two things that I know (I know a little more than two, but anyhow):
1. I love swaps
2. My children LOVE getting/sending mail.

Since before the holidays, I have been toying around with the idea of putting together a swap among our children. I know how much my girls love to get special packages in the mail and not a day goes by that Emma isn't sitting at her desk writing letters to family and friends. So I thought it would be a blast to put the two together.
This is the first swap that I have put together, so bear with me if I miss some details or leave things out, but here's the plan: (thank you blair for talking through all this with me!)

• We are keeping the swap within a broad theme "To brighten the winter(rainy day) Blues"
• There is no age limit for the children that partcipate, however the idea is to have your children be included in the creating of swap goodies.
• We will swap by household. Keep in mind you may only include one child, but you might have to create a swap package for a home with three children. You do not necessarily have to create a package three times as big, just include a little something for each child and things to share.
• Do your best to keep all things "handmade or hand-me-down". You might go out and purchase a few small things or treats, obviously, but do your best to keep the majority of things within the H & H category.
• You need to be willing to ship overseas, so that anyone can be involved.
• Some random ideas of things to include: drawings, paintings, stickers, activity boxes, small trinkets, a zipper bag of art supplies, a pair of mittens or softie, directions and supplies for an art activity, a small handed down toy, glitter and pompoms, a postcard(or little map) of where you live (can we all include one of these?)
• Goal is to ship by February 25th, so that packages will be received around the last week of February to beginning of March.
• Interested??: email me: miniswap (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
• Include your name, the names and ages of your children that will participate and your shipping address.
• Once I see the interest that's out there, I will close the sign ups and randomly swap households.

Suggestions, more ideas, questions...send me an email or leave a comment!! And please pass it on, so we can get lots involved!

O These Girls!

This is how I found my children this morning in the kitchen after I got off the phone with Dan. Emma perched on the counter getting cereal bowls and asking Mary if she'd had her vitamins. Mary making herself at home with her paws buried in the box of cereal. Trust me, this is not the first time I have walked in on a scene similar to this one.
Breakfast was followed by a girly fashion show. Emma often disappears upstairs, only to come down in some outrageous getup for her big reveal. This one was pretty tame as her outfits go. Mary, of course, got in on the action too.
(and for the record, the red pumps are NOT from my closet!)

A Must Do:

Check out a new blog from a VERY talented crafty girl in australia.
Isn't that dress beautiful?

A little paint, a little thread

I sat down today to dowload pictures from my camera and 21 of the 29 shots were not taken by me. I am seeing a trend in emma's photography subject-matter: Henry and her sisiter. But it is funny to see the things she's taking pictures of--the dirty laundry in the basket, the piano, a closeup into one of her dollhouse rooms, henry, henry, henry....

*********

I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled about moving here to Wisconsin three years ago.  I had all those wisconsin sterotypes floating around inside my head--starter jackets and flannel, beer and brats, cheeseheads and nasal accents. Wisconsin definitely has its share of those things, but the longer we've lived here the more I've been pleasantly surprised by our little community on the lake. The art museum is one of those surprises. Last week I took the girls to a new installation called the "ARTery". It is a giant sun-filled room dedicated to giving children an opportunity to create their own artwork. The theme this month is dreamscapes and all the projects fit within this theme--from wild sculptures and bubble machines, to sitting inside a miniature house recording your dreams onto tape.  Emma had a wonderful time painting and creating a giant vase covered in pompoms, buttons and silky ribbon,and filled with pink, purple and orange tissue paper flowers. (okay, I got involved too, of course!) And Mary enjoyed sitting in a sunny corner on brightly  colored sofas looking through all the books (and tearing out the front page of one. yikes!)
      

And finally, here are some pictures of my latest (unfinished)sewing project. I am trying to duplicate some dresses that the girls got for Christmas. Basically they are made by cutting off a tshirt and attaching it to fabric with a gathered empire waistline. They are adorable,but my first try did not quite work. I am a wing-it kind of sewer and I didn't cut enough fabric to get all the gathers that I wanted, and I don't like the staight lines of the skirt. I will have to improve for my next try. Luckily, I found the tshirts for two dollars and the fabric is from my stash. I added the ribbon in the back to cover up a little mistake. This is one of the projects my girlfriend and I were working on. Next time I think it would be wiser not to BEGIN my sewing project at 10:30 at night.    
(sorry for the poor lighting, I was taking these in my laundry room.)
                         

LOTS of catching up to do...

I cannot tell you how many times, in the last few days, I have pulled up to the computer to write a new post--only to be called away by crying children, telephone calls, or a dog scratching at the door to go outside.
For the last several days I have had a close girlfriend from college visiting. We've stayed up way too late, laughed til mascara streamed down my cheeks,and gotten crafty together. It was a wonderful time, but I'm still recovering from it all. I must be getting old--staying up past 10:30 is just too much for my body to handle.
Mary has also come down with a cold in the last few days. And I'm starting to think that my children have some sort of gene for a sensitive gag-reflex. Both girls are/were pukers, especially when sick. If I dare to let them cry too long they make me pay. Thankfully, Emma is no longer at this stage, but Mary is really letting me have it this week.  If I include my dog in the count, I have cleaned up "nasty-ness" seven times in the last four days. I have washed Mary's crib bumper so many times that the seams are now frayed.
But, we're moving on and Mary is slowly improving. Although at this point she sounds like she's been hitting the cigs for the last 23 months of her life.
I have some pictures to post from this week, but for now I'm going to post some that Emma has taken. She has discovered the joys of digital photography and this afternoon she was wandering around the house snapping shots. She even knows how to switch the camera over so that she can view all of her pictures. Isn't it amazing how quickly our children become comfortable with technology?
So here are some of her shots from today. She is having trouble keeping her fingers off the flash, which I think accounts for the orange. Either that or my battery is running very low. I think her taking digital pictures is the modern day version of me running around with a tape recorder when I was little--dramatically reading advertisements in the newspaper, singing along to We Are the World and Keith Green on the record player and recording the sound of the toilet flushing while giggling in the background at my ingenious sense of humor.

(You're allowed to wear outfits like this when  you have a high fever and snotty nose.)

(Dan has to watch the game standing up because the TV is so small)

(I love how she photographs things that are important to her, like her dollhouse.)

( I asked her what this was...she told me she took off one of her doll's clothes and took its picture. Should I be concerned?)

More pictures to come soon from me, this time. And hopefully some shots of a finished sewing project and a cleaned out craft cupboard.)

Self Portrait Tuesday 1.17--Family History

This is a photograph of my grandparents farm in Maryland. It is a place filled with unlimited memories from childhood until today. This home was once filled with fifteen children, but now it sits quietly covering the head of only one, my grandmother. It still gets is grand share of visitors--family, friends, neighbors...
I really can't begin to write about all the memories that I have here. They are so dear to my heart and such a part of me...this house has seen so much, and still holds reminders of its busier years....

I used to love staying here when I was little...making the two hour trip in our orange volkswagon bus, remembering that when we passed the fairgrounds we were half-way there, sleeping in a bedroom tucked away upstairs with my older sister, in beds with canopies and bright blue and green floral wallpaper. I used to love to look at the books on the shelves and giggle at the yearbooks from days gone by. Squeaky staircases and worn floors, deep window sills and walls of photographs.
The ring of the bell every day at noon, calling anyone who cared to join, for lunch. Soup on the stove that tasted so good, homemade croutons and a plate filled a few different cheeses.  If I looked close enough I could see remnants of dinner's leftovers floating in the bottom of my mug.
Two long, dark-grained wooden tables with sets of benches in a dining room of sorts. A wall-sized map of the world that was useful for many a conversation. Canaries flittering in a cage by the window.
Rooms and halls overflowing with antiques and pictures and family and history, rich with history and stories untold.
Summer sunday dinners when any family in the valley gathered the farm. Tables covered in faded cloths, coolers of lemonade and ice tea, salads and hot dogs. An after dinner game of knockout or a round of softball in the Jersey field. And the faintest memories of instruments being picked up and plucked and strummed, lulling those present into the cool of night, basses and banjos, guitars and sweet voices.

My memories of this place could go on but for now this is all I'll share. I love this place, the feel of this place. I want my home to feel like this--comfortable, well-lived in, well-loved, with evidence of life and family and history seeping from the walls and windows, the photographs and furniture.

I try to take little memories of this place and bring them into my home--making soup on the weekends, and remember my new dining room table? Sometimes I walk in to my kitchen and it strikes me--"it smells like Meemu's kitchen." And I love it and breathe it in and wonder what's on my stove that's capturing this fragrance--a swirling of scents--bacon and tomatoes, chocolate chips cookies and grapefruit.
I planted two boxwood bushes outside my front steps. Each time I walk by and catch their smell, I'm reminded of a place that I love. That's why I planted them.
I love going back to visit. Even though it's a little quieter now, and the sheep barn is now just a shed and there aren't calves in the stalls or a jersey cow that needs to be milked or a giant crab painted on the bottom of the swimming pool or a crowded kitchen at dinnertime, I still love this place. I love what it was that I didn't see and what it was that I did. And I anxiously wait to see what it will be...what memories will be made here for me, as an adult, and for my children.
It is hard to be so far away but that's the beauty of a picture or a memory or a smell, or a handed-down trunk or a scraggly bush in my front yard--each bringing me back to a place that I hold dear.

*more spt here*

Change Is Good

I finally made the big step and upgraded my typepad account. I was getting bored with the predesigned templates and wanted to do something that was a little more 'me'. I have been playing around with different banner images and this one seems to be the banner du jour. Who knows, it might look different tomorrow. I also changed my blog name from 'mommycoddle' to 'mollycoddle'. Mollycoddle is the name of a small business I was trying to run out of my home for the last few years. But for now, I've put that on hold until I decide what I want to do with it. So, in the meantime, I thought I would take the name back and use it for my blog again.

I made this needle book today out of dire necessity. I can NEVER find an embriodery needle when I need it. I stash them all over the house--in little dishes on the window sill, tucked into my dresser scarf, pinned on my chest (then left to go through the wash). As you can see, I could only find two today for the picture, so I'll have to do some searching for the rest. I made it with a stash of wool felt, floss and a cloth covered vintage button that I got in a package from Cassi. Now, I just have to keep from losing this needlebook.
I wanted to pink the edges but I couldn't find my pinking sheers. I wonder why:

This is my craft cupboard that still hasn't recovered from Christmas projects. I've even removed all the fabric to an upstairs closet. I think this may be a good project for me this week. Hopefully, I'll have an 'after' shot to go with this one, later in the week.

Someone else is taking advantage of the cupboard as well...I keep 'losing' Henry, only to find him in strange little hideouts, like my bag of yarn, or the bin of dirty laundry. Obviously, from this picture, you can tell he's adjusting well to life in our home.

Corners In My Home #2 and more...

This is a favorite corner in Emma's room. Of course before I had little girls running around in my home, I never thought there would be a pink room under our roof. But pink it is, and it is all Emma. We just did a little rearranging of her room over the weekend. Acutally, to be more accurate it was a GIANT clean-fest. Her room was a mess. It feels so cosy in her room now. I just love it.
More "corners" folks here.  See the flickr page for more detailed notes on this picture.

I am sitting in front of a giant to-do list, that I'm slowly scratching through. Tomorrow we are headed out for a day trip to Illinois to visit my brother and his wife and son, and to check out the work Dan has been doing. (painting my brother's recently purchased house) I might as well be going for a week with all the packing I'm doing. It is pathetic, I know. And of course, I have lots of important things to do on my list like do a load of laundry and pack up diapers, but I decided to whip up a batch of granola for my brother instead. It was an easy recipe gathered from a few different places--mostly my sister and a little google search. I embellished this time with some wheat germ, cinnamon and vanilla in the mix. Once it cools I'll add some raisins and pack it away in a glass jar. And of course, save a little for myself!

And since I feel like sweet Mary has been getting the blog-shaft lately with all this birthday and kitten posting, here's a favorite picture taken at bathtime the other night. This little girls melts me to the core.

O Henry!

Emma has an obsession with cats. For as long as I can remember she has wanted one, but we have always put her off because of some allergies in our extended family. When she visits a home with cats, or sees one when we are out on a walk, I have to literally peel her away from the animal. She has a collection of probaby 15 stuffed versions that we've been using as substitutions since this obsession began.
But this weekend, the day that she has been waiting for (i've been waiting for it to, by the way) arrived.

We adopted a kitten from our local shelter and presented it to her for her fourth birthday.
Henry spent the first two days in the downstairs bathroom adjusting to life in our house, and to our giant yellow lab. I rarely saw Emma for those first two days. She was busy setting up house for her new kitten--food dishes, toys, and rearranging the placement of the litterbox and his bed countless times. She only emerged from the bathroom for an occasional snack.

But now, life is beginning to get back to normal, normal with the addition of a scampering, purring, carousing kitten. Henry and Tripper have made peace with each other, in the sense that Henry just really doesn't care about Tripper. And Tripper is smart enough not to show Henry too much of his muzzle after a big boxing of the nose.
So, I'll leave you with way too many pictures, but I just couldn't narrow it down to any less...and a final shot of Emma's birthday cake. She requested a cake of HERSELF. Ugh! After the arm almost fell off and the head deattched at the neck, I was ready to trash it. But patience and motherly endurance to give my four year old the cake she wanted won out! And she was thrilled, which made it all worthwhile.



So happy birthday to my sweet little Emma. I can't believe that you are four years old. And I can't wait for the wonderful year of four that is ahead, with all the newness that it holds. I love you--your big eyes, goofy laugh, and sassy dance moves. I love our snuggles in bed... songs about  pretty little horses, doodle bugs and Jesus... playing with each other's hair... painting nails...getting up to our elbows in art projects... gentle kisses and messy smooches... and I'll even take your occasional attitude because it's just all a part of what makes you, you and makes you mine. xo.

Corners In My House #1

I read a post today that Amanda had written about a favorite corner in her home, one where her children played and created; one filled with lots of memories. It has inspired the idea of 'corners in my house'--a time to share special places in our homes that bring warm memories, favorite places  that make home a special place.
I loved the idea and decided to join in....so this afternoon when I took my camera downstairs to find my favorite places, I realized that I had just created a new one...
An old sewing table pushed against the wall, waiting to find a new location after some furniture rearranging; a beat-up stool purchased in college at  an auction in the middle of a field on the eastern shore; some brown craft paper, a jelly jar of water, some poster paint and a creative four year-old. The perfect nook for a little creativity.

Then, an hour later, the table had a new purpose--take away the paints and paper, add a red vintage step stool, a tray filled with peanut butter toast, apple juice in cups with straws and heart-shaped ice cubes, and a little sister. And now another favorite place is created.
(I know these pictures seem the same, but I love the details... in the first one, the conversation between the girls. Emma was explaining to Mary how to drink from a straw. In the second, I love Emma refilling their glasses with the pitcher from her play kitchen....so humor me for including both.)

There's a growing 'corners' group here on flickr.

2006...

I'm finally getting the chance to sit down and think a little bit about the new year. I love the turn of a new year and the feelings that are evoked with this passing in to another year. There seems to be a general trend away from resolutions these days, which I can understand. Come February, many of these feelings of freshness and newness have fizzled with the dreariness of winter and the hurry of daily life. But I don't think there's anything wrong with reflection and inspiration and hope for the future. So here are four things I will be moving towards in the new year:

1. To give these two possessions more attention: my Bible and my journal.

2. To improve my posture.
3. To  look back on December 31, 2006 and say I am healthier today than I was a year ago.