The Happy Scientist

It's funny that this last few weeks I feel like I have finally really gotten into my mothering groove.  Funny, and ironic--especially considering that in 2 1/2 months or so I'm going to be starting this crazy journey all over again--with considerably more chaos this time. No matter though, for the moment I am loving just soaking up the time with my almost-two-year-old girl. 

We have been spending as much time as possible out in the sunshine, which means all art & materials science projects have been moved to the porch until further notice. Or rain.

Sadie's science/art tray this week features droppers full of colored water, an assortment of brushes and measuring tools, cornstarch, baking soda and vinegar.  This girl will spend hours outside in the sunshine dabbling, dropping, mixing, experimenting...which kind of parallels how I feel about my parenting journey at this point.  After a lot of trial and error you have the Eureka! moment when all the pieces come together and make sense.  At least for a little while.

And any mom can tell you, it would be foolish not to treasure every. single. moment. of that little while.

Open Water

There really are no words that justly describe the relief and joy of seeing the Bering sea break free of it's winter straight jacket--the smell of salt, humidity in the air again, and the airy cries of sea birds. We've been spending most of our days out in the beautiful sunny weather, so please pardon my infrequent blog posts.

These days are all about black coffee mornings with sand in the boots, afternoon trips to the playground, and outside art projects. Simple pleasures.

My first Waldorf Doll...and maybe my last.

Sadie's 2-year-old birthday is coming up in a couple months, and this year she is suddenly wise to, and intensely fascinated by, all things birthday.  That means I have to actually get it together and throw her a party.  While we aren't generally big party people, and definitely not into showering a kid Sadie's age with a bajillion toys and thingamajigs, I did want her to have a special present. I have been admiring the beautiful handmade Waldorf-style dolls on Etsy for some time now--and I actually ordered the materials to make my own months ago (as a Christmas present) but at the time I was too busy, and morning sick...and Sadie wasn't really into dolls yet.

Fast forward 4 months, and Sadie is all about dolls, and pretend play.  So I decided I better get on this project, in case it was going to take me two months (it actually took me 3 days).  I used the Little Amigo doll pattern from the Sew Liberated book.  I love that book, by the way.  If you are reading this, and interested in making your own doll--Weir Crafts is a great online place to one-stop-shop for all your doll making needs. Anyway, this is what I came up with:

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out for a first attempt...and I have to say, there is a reason these dolls sell for upwards of $100.  They are truly a labor of love.  I had ordered some extra materials thinking I might make a few other dolls to sell at a local shop here, and I already know that isn't going to happen.  I might not love anyone else enough to make them a doll like this until the next baby turns two...or five:)

That being said, making this doll was really fun--a project I could barely put down. And I love that it is made out of all-natural, washable materials (wool, cotton and beeswax) with not a speck of plastic in it.  It is super cuddleable and I think it will be a good buddy for Sadie, especially with all the transitions we have coming up this summer.

Now, I just need to make the doll (and my increasingly taller kid) some clothes.  That project will probably take me the rest of my 2-month time allotment. Seriously.

A Color Palette for Spring

What with the warming weather and all its enticements I have been neglecting the blog lately in favor of more sunshiny pursuits, but let me share with you at least a few snapshots of the spring projects that are cropping up around here.

Porcelain buttons with impressed antique lace (or stamps). Pretty much all I've made in the ceramics studio apart from a bazillion bowls for an upcoming charity event.

Fabric pieced shower curtain. Idea blatantly poached from a notoriously overpriced and trendy catalog ahem, anthropologie. Made a couple months ago for a fraction of the cost--just forgot to blog about it, but still really liking it. It feels so springy! It is also Cash's new fave place to hang out--maybe he likes the way the colors compliment his golden tan.

Some new duds for Sadie--pants and shirt from Sewing for Boys (yes, I know my kid is a girl, but these are comfortable, kid-friendly patterns that let my busy girl move and climb and dance and play the way kids are meant to.) Also, some new tactile experiences.  Sadie is now allowed some limited visitation hours with the button jar, or the marble collection she inherited from her Great Grandma Louise. It is nice that she seems to have finally outgrown the need to put everything in her mouth...mostly.

And lastly, Loren's amazing caribou pho.  Over the last few weeks our family slogged through the epic springtime flu that seems to be making its way around the state. During the course, we ate a lot of soup. Not much good to say about the flu, but this soup deserves to have a blog post all to itself, it's that good. 

That's kind of it.  I guess until the dirty snow and mud give way to some beautiful tundra spring colors I will just have to enjoy these lime greens, vivid blues, and the satisfying rainbow of colors that spills out of the button jar without fail--all with a healthy measure of sunshine added in, of course.  Happy almost May!

Alaskans go on vacation to America!

Monday we got home from a wonderful trip to the Pacific Northwest.  It was kind of a whirlwind trip, catching up with many, many loved ones and dear friends, most of whom we hadn't seen in years.  I can't even begin to describe how lovely it was--not just to share a meal or cup of coffee and hear what people have been up to/ or are scheming in their respective lives, but because it is a gift to have the kind of friends and family that you can just sit down with and it's like no time has passed at all--yet there you are touring their farm, or meeting their new baby, or grown up kids who you remember as just tots. A real highlight of the trip was surprising my Grandpa at his 80th birthday party--it was a mini family reunion of sorts and a real treat for Sadie to get to meet great grandparents, great aunts & uncles, and many cousins (don't even ask me to figure out the proper terminology or number of times removed they are, that just makes my head spin) from my side of the family.  It's been too long.

Sadie was delighted, immediately upon arrival, to see grass and trees--both of which she wanted to count.  Since her numeration only really goes to three, can I just say it was good to see 3 to the 456th power of green?  A very welcome break from the vast white springtime landscape we left behind us in Nome. Even our rental car was comically green--about the same color as Sadie's new shoes.  Remarkably, the weather was very fine for Oregon/ Washington at this time of year.  Shucks, we even got two sunny days in a row out of Seattle!  When does that ever happen?

Sometimes, being the bushed Alaskans that we are, we just drove to a whole foods market and stood in awe at the jaw-dropping variety of things you can buy in one place.  And for cheap! But plenty of other adventures were had as well. Many miles were driven in the green rental car, we slept in a 100 year old barn in Sequim, logged a lot of walking miles in downtown Seattle, listened to street music at Pike's market (though Sadie's favorite person there was definitely the cat rescue guy and his two silky, besweatered tabbies).  Zoos and Aquariums were visited, snowing cherry blossoms were admired, and good food was eaten at every occasion, and thanks to my friends Rachel & Jon I will now be dreaming about the Jade Bistro's chilli noodles for the remainder of my pregnancy.

That was the other highlight of the trip.  Going to our 20 week ultrasound appointment to see that our little baby rock lobster is growing right along as he/she should, and everything looks good and healthy.  We even got to see that baby in 3D this time--which was remarkable, if just a tad creepy.  We couldn't be more thankful or excited, and it is crazy to imagine that in about 4 months now we will be getting to meet this little person earthside.  Wow.

The only downside of our trip was that we brought home an epic bug and I have been sick, sick sick this week and having a horrible cough & head cold for over 7 days while pregnant, well.... it's no bueno.  Loren fought off his cold and seems to be on the mend,  but now Sadie has had a fever and cough for 3 days.  The moral of the story... don't come over to our house for a while, unless you want to get the plague.  We are off to check in with the doc tomorrow, to make sure everything is okay, but it's my guess that it's nothing that a little more time, caribou bone soup, and popsicles can't cure. Oh, and raw garlic--I could write a whole other blog post on all the bizarre home remedies we have tried out this week in our desperate attempts to get well, but right now I need to give some snuggles to my sick girl who has now added thermometer to her vocabulary.

sifting sand

I read somewhere that if you can keep the day pleasant till 10 am, the rest of the day will make itself.  So when Sadie dragged out the giant "miscellaneous" art bin at 9:45 this morning, saying "oht, oht! MAMA OHT!"  I couldn't think of any reasonable excuses for not setting her up with a project...something a little different compared to the markers and crayons that have been our staple project for the last several weeks.

Enter...colored sand.  Sadie has been big-time into colors lately, not just labeling them, but mixing them.  What better way to integrate the senses of sight, sound and touch, right? (and taste--this is my kid who puts everything in her mouth after all.  Happy to say though, after one try she abandoned that one)

 This girl was like a mini maestro conducting an orchestra of sand mixing and "dir dir diring" (that's Sadie speak for "stir." She really got into this project.

As you can see... it required intense focus, and precise scientific measuring (hence the measuring spoons).  After a while, all the sand got pretty mixed together and Sadie told me with a big smile that she was "plowd" (proud).  It's her new word.  It kind of melts my heart when she says it.  We used the now multicolored sand to make a sand table to practice doodling letters and shapes in.  Good times.  And you know... starting the morning off with a good focusing project really does make the rest of the day go better...even if the project involves a little vacuuming up afterwards.

Catching Up

It's been a crazy month, hence my recent absence from the blogosphere. Lots of things going on around here: teaching pottery classes at the college, a trip to the big town for doctor's and dentist appointments, the ripping up old and putting down of new flooring in most of our house.  Packing our stuff into boxes, moving it from room to room, and finally unpacking it. To add to that I have been watching a new little one, most days.  Then of course, last week was Iditarod madness, which came with all the excitement and busyness of a houseful of family and friends, a few late nights and early mornings, a trip to UNK, and lots of admiring of the beautiful four-legged athletes.  Today the house is relatively quiet, and all the excitement has died down to a dull roar. Sadie and I are catching up with a cup of hot chocolate, and I am blogging while she reads the Sesame Street news.  That's our March Madness in a nutshell.  Hope all is well in your worlds.