Nothing comes without a cost.

T LOVES to play the piano. Alas, we don't have one. He is a menace whenever we go to my friend Y's house as he spends the whole time making music (the most aweful din to those of us who don't have his ear!) I have been keeping my eye out for a piano on craigslist and at our local charity shops as I have felt the time for K to start piano lessons is soon... it is such a beautiful skill to have. I haven't found one, that is, until today! 

I am flabberghasted as I'm sure you will be too! 

On our usual Saturday morning garage sale outing, what did we drive past with a 'FREE' sign on it? A PIANO! A beautiful, tuned piano. I was so amazed that someone would just put a piano on the side of the road for anyone to take, I had to knock on the door to check with the owner. I admit I patted my hair into place for the candid camera I was sure was hiding in the hedge. But, yes, no joke, the piano was free for the first person who claimed it! 

Still acting nonchalant for the hidden camera, we loaded it onto A Good Man's truck with the help of two early morning runners and set off for home, still a bit incredulous of our great find. 

At home, our neighbour helped us unload it (wow, piano's are heavy!). Alas, a in the process, A Good Man walked into the sharp edge of it's foot and dented his head! Blood... I thought it needed a stitch but he (afraid of needles like all good men are) assured me that all it needed was pressure, neosporin and a band-aid. 

Our new piano is in her new home in the playroom. K and T are making wonderful music as I write but poor A Good Man. He is wearing the cost of our piano on his forehead for all to see. He really is a good man!

T

Rain Dance

I interrupt programming to tell you about the fun we had when it rained the other day. It does NOT rain often here in Southern California. When it does, we quickly put on our raincoats and head outside. Mr T has only felt rain on his face about 3 times in his life and was very perplexed when it happened the other day. He squinted his eyes and tried to pull his head into his shell like a tortoise. At first he didn't know what to make of it and kept imploring me with his eyes to make it stop. But when he saw his sister twirling in her rain dance, he finally decided the wetness on his face was not going to harm him and joined her. They looked like shamans, arms and faces outstretched to the heavens. I smiled with pure JOY! 

When it stopped, for it doesn't last long here, we went up the road looking for puddles to jump in. We found a few measly ones and jumped them all out of water. I think puddle jumping might be T's new favourite activity.

                               *  *  *

Conversation with K this morning.

'K, please eat with your mouth closed.'

'But Mommy, this is how I eat!'

'Then people will think that you have very bad table manners.'

'But, Mommy, I say please and thank you!'

'Yes, people will think you are a very polite girl with terrible table manners.'

'But Mommy, we are all different and some people are allowed to eat differently!'

'Yes, K, you are right. Some people eat with good table manners and some eat with bad table manners.'

'MOMMY! You are being VERY mean!'

Playdough

As part of my 'getting my kids to play happily so that I can attend to some house-work' series, I would like to share our playdough recipe. It makes such wonderfully smooth and pliable playdough that keeps in the fridge for ages. I'm sure my children are not unusual in that, the nicer the materials they play with, the longer and more happily they will play. 

PLAYDOUGH

• 3 cups flour + a little set aside for kneeding
• 1/2 cups salt
• 2 tbs. cream of tatar (usually found in the supermarket spice section)
• 2 tbs. vegetable oil
• 2 cups boiling water
• a few drops of essential oil (optional)

METHOD

• Mix together all the dry ingredients. 
• Add the oil to the boiling water (add a few drops essential oil here; our favorites are lavender, peppermint or eucalyptus.
• Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, carefully (it is hot!)

Kneed, using a little additional flour until the consistency is just right (not too sticky, not too dry).

I sometimes divide the playdough into 6 balls and add a different colour to each ball. I try to use natural colouring (but often need the speed of food colouring).

A few drops of beet juice makes a soft pink.

A few drops of fresh blueberry juice makes a lovely blue/purple.

Tumeric makes a beautiful yellow (although it does have a funky smell)

Water from boiled marigolds make a gorgeous yellow/orange.

I make our playdough in advance as it takes about 15 minutes to make and we usually need it quicker that that!

I keep our playdough in a ziplock bag in the fridge. When it’s time to play with it, I pop it into the microwave for 5 - 10 seconds. This takes off the fridge chill, making it pliable and not too cold for little hands.

I encourage playdough play when I need to cook. In the past, it frustrated me no end that my children would not play happily in their rooms at supper-cooking time but instead insisted on being in the kitchen with me. Now that I have made peace with this obvious fact and am not trying to fight it anymore, we all have a much more enjoyable, and productive, time. Setting up something for them to do while I cook supper, and getting them started at it, is part of the whole cooking supper routine. I am careful not to offer playdough too often as I don't want them to get bored with it. About once a week works best for us.

Both my kids love playdough, although they play very differently with it, not surprising considering that T is nearly 2 and K is 5.

It helps K if I give her an idea to start with. I will say, ‘OK, I’m going to cook supper now. I’m sure Tallulah (beloved bear) and Puppy are hungry too. Why don’t you cook their dinner?’ I get out her pots and pans and this starts an hour of imaginative play where she makes them all kinds of ‘food’ from the playdough, cooks it in her pots, sets the little table in the kitchen and serves her ‘friends’ dinner. I try to spark a new idea each time; birthday cake, tea party, fruit salad. I throw in an idea every now and then by I saying, "I need to peel the carrots before I cut them up into little coins." Within a couple of minutes she is peeling playdough carrots and cutting them into little rounds for her salad. Waldorf teachings say that children at this age learn through imitation. It has amazed me how true this is for K, she imitates so much of what I do and I can get her started on a whole vein of play by doing something in front of her. 

Here is K's recent birthday cake, complete with lighted candles and sprinkles.

If K is not in a cooking mood, there are other things she likes to do with it too. She loves making animals and a farmyard. She rolls it flat with a rolling pin and makes patterns in it using different things like forks, butter knives, dried pasta. She uses cookie cutters to cut shapes in it. She uses things we have picked up on our walks like sticks and pods to make a scene with it. The list is endless.

T, on the other hand, plays so much more simply with playdough and I do have to keep redirecting him back into it. He will sit for 20 minutes sticking crayons into a ball of palydough and taking them out again, amazed at the holes they have made. I need to re-roll his ball every now and then so that he can start over. He also loves to stick dried pasta shapes, sticks, wooden beads, string, stones, anything really, into palydough. Sometimes I roll playdough into little balls and he cuts them with his butter knife. He squashes them or fills egg cartons or bowls with them. I have to be more directly involved with him but he will play for 20 minute stretches on his own as long as I fuss over him every now and then. 

We love playdough in our family. It buys me some time to get supper on the table and does not leave me with such a terrible mess to clean up when all the fun is said and done. Any ideas you might have for playdough play would be wonderful as we are always trying to come up with something new to do. 

Enjoy and happy playdoighing!

Waldorf Play

It is a fact of family life that there are certain times of the day when we have to get things done. I love to play with my children and we spend a lot of time doing all kinds of projects and crafts and fun things together but the truth is; it is also my job to attend to the house (sigh!) My house is not spotless or perfect but, alas, the beds have to be made (most of the time), the house picked up (at least a little) and the dinner (actually) cooked. Ironically, and I’m sure you can relate to this, it seems to be these very times when my kids ‘need’ my attention most. I love being a stay-at-home mum but I find these ‘work’ times challenging. I end up not doing my house chores and feeling bad about my constantly untidy living room, unmade beds and microwave dinner OR trying to do it all over the din of unhappy children. This usually culminates with me getting mad and shouting and making everything worse.

 

So this being one of my (many) areas of difficulty, it is what I have been working on. And, would you know it, I am winning! With a little forethought and preparation, and practice, of course, we have settled on a much more enjoyable course. Waldorf ideas and teachings have been a huge help. Waldorf insight encourages the parent/caregiver to provide the child with toys that have a rich sensory quality; natural toys that come from nature or are made of natural fibers, toys that have a rich tactile element. Waldorf ways encourage the child to play with toys that are open-ended and can be played with however the child’s imagination desires. Thus a shell becomes a playdough baby’s bed OR a sand scooper OR a golden coin, depending on what the child needs in his/her imaginary world at that moment. I have seen a huge difference in K’s imaginary play since embracing this waldorf philosophy. She has always lived in her imagination but I see an ‘unlimited’ quality that is new. Her play is not as ‘defined’ by the toy she is playing with and the length of time she spends in her imaginative play is longer. This, to a mom who needs to get things done, is a GOOD thing. Over the next couple of days, I am going to do a number of posts about the specific things that have helped keep my children happily playing during the times when I need to ‘work’ and I would love to hear your ideas too. As A Good Man has taken to saying, parenting is a work in progress and Lord knows I have lots to learn… ;-) But isn't it fun!

Mother Earth

Last Thanksgiving, K's preschool had a celebration. All the families were invited. They decorated the school with paintings and drawings the kids had done. It looked charming. On a wall, they displayed pictures the children had drawn, entitled 'What I am thankful for'. The teacher wrote a thanksgiving note from each child under his/her drawing. It was a lovely idea, a collage of what is important to our children. Some were thankful for their dolls, some their dads, some their mommy's soup. K's drawn picture was of a beautiful blue and green earth. Her dictated words said, "I am thankful for Mother Earth." This is my Mother Earth. She is my first attempt at a large soft sculpture and I can't believe how much I love her. It is amazing how she just came forth from the wool, she emerged.



I decided that I can't keep everything I make. I have to free the joy in passing my creations on, make space for new creations to emerge. I put her on Etsy over the weekend and she is going to a new home. She was my first sale. I am delighted and sad all in one. Delighted that someone saw her beauty enough to want her. Sad that she is no longer mine. I am so proud of her. Thank you, Mother Earth.

My new Etsy shop.

I have faced the obvious... I have become completely obsessed with needle felting. I pick up my needle and wool at every possible opportunity. I look forward to the little windows in the day when I can 'get back to' my creations. I get a lovely big needle felting hour when T has his afternoon nap and K her 'quiet time'. I can get a lot done in an uninterrupted hour! But most of my work is done after the kids have gone to bed. I am planning what I am going to make, what colour I am going to use, how big she is going to be, etc, even as I am bathing the kids. As soon as their lights are out at 7 pm, my felting stuff is on the table and I am at work. A Good Man is fascinated. He thinks he has never seen me quite so obsessed before, but then I remind him of the 'breast feeding' obsession and the 'sleeping' obsession and he shakes his head, remembering. He has become quite used to the wonderful sound of the needle punching through the wool as the backdrop to most of our conversations. I think he even enjoys the knowledge that he will find me in the lounge at 7 pm, all ears (no eyes, alas... OUCH that needle hurts!) eager for some company and conversation as I poke, happily, away.  I am no longer glued to the TV (usually whatever reality show was on!) asking him to 'shush' as what so-and-so was saying was really important. So, needle felting has benefited our relationship.

It has also inspired me to be creative with the kids. I see how much enjoyment I get from being creative with my felting and so have encouraged K and T to be creative too. We draw more, colour more, craft more. They love being creative and I love seeing them feeling proud of their creation. My felting has also taught K that handmade things are beautiful. She is my biggest fan and is genuinely amazed at the things I can make. She exclaims, 'Mommy' in an awestruck voice whenever I show her something newly finished. I love that she sees the value in something somebody has created, even though it isn't perfect. Needle felting has added a richness to my children's characters.

Still, with all the benefits my needle felting has added to our lives, I can't help feeling guilty for the time I spend on it. There is just so much stuff that I could be doing instead! Cleaning, cooking, admin stuff that I promise I 'will get around to!' Plus, there are only so many felted toys a girl and boy can have (trying to minimise excess, not create it!) My felted creations are piling up and I need an outlet. So, I did the obvious... I opened an Etsy shop! Not only am I now new to blogging, I am also new to Etsy. It's such fun. I am felting for a purpose! I am awaiting my first sale eagerly but just having an outlet for my creations is validation enough. I saw this morning that 3 people have marked me as a favourite on Etsy and I can't tell you how rewarding that is for me... I feel on top of the world. 

So, on with the felting with NO GUILT!

Daily things I love and don't love.

Daily things I love:

• being woken up by T and seeing that the clock says 6.01 am.
• my first cup of coffee.
• seeing T's excitement when we arrive at K's school to pick her up. The boy loves his sister.
• Singing T to sleep in my arms for his afternoon nap.
• my 'quiet time' while T naps and K plays in her room.
• Listening to K play... it's always so imaginative and dramatic.
• holding T's warm little hand in mine.
• hearing A Good Man's footsteps on the deck when he comes home at the end of the day.
• reading K her bedtime book.
• going into my beautiful, sleeping, children's rooms before I go to bed to tuck them in and give them each the last kiss for the day.
• getting into our gorgeously comfy bed at night.

Daily things I don't like:

• being woken up in the morning by T and seeing that the clock says 5.01 am.
• realising that I can't have my first cup of coffee in my favourite mug as I forgot to put the dishwasher on the night before.
• the struggle of brushing K's hair.
• the struggle of changing T's nappy. It would be easier if I was an octopus.
• realising that my wallet isn't in my bag when I come to pay for the cart-load of groceries. 
• cleaning my lovingly-cooked food off the floor.
• spilling.
• finding the dish sponge in the sink in the morning, soggy and covered in little bits of last-night's food. I have a thing about germs on sponges. This is when I curse A Good Man and say he isn't such a good man after all! 

Little Toadstool Gnome

I have been working on a new needle felting project. She is a little Toadstool Gnome.

She kind of came about through accident... She was going to be a little girl to go with K's Mother and Baby that she got for Christmas but I had trouble with her hair so decided to try a hat. K wanted a red hat that didn't look quite right so I added white polka dots... voila... Toadstool Gnome. She has sparked a whole thread of creativity. I am working on her sister and brother. All with little toadstool hats and pink blushing cheeks. I have 'craft night' tonight and am looking forward to finishing them. I'll post photo's when I am finished.

                        -x-x-x-x-x-

A conversation with K. We were talking about one of her friends at school is is VERY shy.

"Mommy, why is R shy, she knows Me?"

"Some people just take a long time to get comfortable"

"Oh."

"When someone is shy, we must try to make them feel comfortable, maybe that will help."

"I know, Mommy (great idea voice), when it's R's birthday, lets get her some soft pillows."

"OK?" (took me several minutes to put comfortable and pillows together.) Sweet child!

Antique Fair

My city has an Antique Fair every third Sunday of the month. It is a treasure trove. Gorgeous fabric.

Colourful beads.

Iconic art.

Glass bottles.

It is one of the things I love about living here; access to such beautiful things. Not quite the bounty you get when you live close to nature but a substitute if you cant. When I go, I have to exercise great self control. I want to buy EVERYTHING! I get particularly excited with all the shabby chic things; the distressed white furniture, the flowery fabric, the crystal chandeliers. I drool and froth and fawn. A Good Man loves the old tools, especially the ancient woodworking equipment. K's favorite are the glass and china figurines; cats, dogs, horses. She has collected quite a few and treasures them, playing very gently with them. They sit together on her 'special things' shelf. T loves the cars although it is a bit of a nightmare keeping him from touching the more antique, fragile ones. We know we have about an hour and a half before the wheels fall off and he becomes unstopable. Probably a good thing as this time limit helps to keep me in check.

It helps if I go with a list, a few things I am really looking for. Plus $2o to spend on something special. This Sunday we were looking for a cast iron, or teak, outdoor couch (to replace the one our resident skunk got) and a small tin wheel barrow for T. Instead, we came home with a gorgeous copper water jug, three cashmere sweaters and a lovely apron... OK, I'll admit, all for me and a little over $20, but not by much, really.

A Triumphant Day.

Yesterday was a day to remember, a triumph! A day that stands out from all the rest... why, you may ask? Because I felt like a really good mom, a really, really good mom! Could have been that my children were just very good, but no matter, I felt like I had done some good mothering. I've had my fair share of bad days, I'll tell you that, but yesterday you would never have known. It was one of those days when everything transpires to work out, go right, run smoothly. Oh, what a triumph! 

This is a photo taken towards the end of my triumphant day.

It started with a really peaceful early morning bottle/hot chocolate/coffee in bed. We smiled and hugged and sang 'Incy Wincy Spider'. K and T then played in the living room while A Good Man and I chatted about this and that. Everyone got dressed happily, no fight over 'unspinny' dresses nor itchy socks. Everyone ate their breakfast happily without throwing it on the floor. We all got into A Good Man's truck and set out to get the beautiful cross-section of eucalyptus trunk I had persuaded/begged the tree feller to leave in the park for me. A Good Man declared that I had 'done well' to find us such a treasure and we happily discussed where in our garden we would put the gnome table and stump seats he was going to make with it. The kids will have a gorgeous picnic spot once it's done. A Good Man then took K to play with her friend while T and I went to our waldorf-inspired Maple Cottage. It was, once again, magical. T and I picked K up for lunch and she came happily, without hiding from me or threatening that she'd rather be in their family than ours. We all declared our lunch yummy. T went straight to sleep for his nap. K played with her small kitchen while I tidied up my big kitchen. K and I then made playdough using a new recipe that turned out to be our best playdough ever. She played with it in her room, cooking her dolls a feast while I had a little time to myself (computering). T woke up happy. We filled Tuggie, our splash pool tugboat (yes, 80* here in SoCal) with water and K and T splashed around, painted and then watered the flowers for an hour. K taught me that the best way to water a garden was to do it with utter joy. 

A Good Man dashed in from work to kiss us all goodbye as he dashed out to training (he coaches sport on Tuesday and Thursday evenings). Everyone was happy with the supper I served. We all delighted in the bubbles I blew at bath time. We enjoyed our bedtime story. K and T went to bed happily. No one called me back in for more water/another song/just one more kiss. I could get ready for a crafting evening with my two special friends. 

I took this colourful photo of my friend, Y's, wool roving.

We crafted for 2 wonderful hours. I am making Mother Earth for my, first, nature table. She is coming along nicely. I think I am going to give her a bun in her hair and make a wet felted earth for her to hold. I'll post another photo when she is finished.

A Good Man came home just as we were wrapping up our crafting. My friends went home, we got into bed. I sighed contentedly and felt like a good mother and... 

I lay awake... 11 p.m... could not fall asleep... 12 p.m... got up, read... 1 p.m... 2 p.m... finally!

Perfect is just out of reach, always! And I'm happy with that... what would I have to aspire to if a perfect day was actually perfect? 

A Tea Party for all!

Thought this was so gorgeous, just had to take a photo. It's a tea party and every one is invited; gnomes, fairies, babies, ballet dancers, reindeer, trees, fairies. Some have clearly eaten far too much and are needing a rest on the bunk beds. Others are looking for something to wear in the closet. Some have brought presents and flowers. There is a naughty cat on the table. All waldorf inspired... 

Silky the sheep.

My newest creation. A little wooly sheep, needle felted with love. She is sweet. K has named her silky and I heard her this morning asking her gnomes and fairies if a sheep could join them... was very happy to hear the answer... Yes! Welcome Silky.

Peppi Le Pew

When my mom was here when Mr T was born, she said we lived in a game reserve. That coming from a person who lives in Africa where game reserves abound. She was amazed at the wild animals she saw in our mid-city home. We have a security light above the playroom (Granny's room when she is here) that comes on in the night when it senses movement. It would wake my mom up at all hours. She would jump out of her bed and peer through the window, amazed at what new wild animal had come to visit. Her favorite viewing was the night she was awoken by the light to see a line of animals waiting their turn to eat our cat, Beamer's, food. The pecking order was this; the raccoon was eating the food, behind him waited the possum and behind him waited Beamer. 

She would have been more delighted than I am at our new guest; a skunk! A Good Man and I awoke one night to an almighty stench, that with all our windows and doors shut! The next morning, Carmen, who watches T for me, informed us that we had been visited by a skunk. A Good Man and I were wondering how the smell could have come into our room with all the windows shut when K decided that perhaps he had found a hole and stuck his penis through it... A Good Man and I were floored speechless by this explanation as we have never used the P word in our house, preferring instead the gentler 'willy' version. Plus, the visual of her series of events was all too much to take seriously... we moved quickly on as all good parents would. Our skunk friend came again a couple of nights later and claimed, with his spray/penis, our outdoor couch, the slide and the curtain on the gazebo. Luckily I have been able to wash it off the latter two but, sadly, the couch didn't make it. And then a couple of nights ago, on their way home after a fun night of crafting at my house, my friends saw him on his way here! They said he looked too sweet, like he thought he was on very important business... 

I wonder if he looked as sweet as T did for Halloween this year... was it a portent of things to come?

Waldorf Inspired!

T had his first waldorf inspired class today. It was magical. Miss Lisa's has created such a wonderful setting. You would never know you were in the middle of this huge city! She has such a big back yard with so much space. I am green with envy. It is almost entirely enclosed by beautiful tall trees. There is a wooden play house filled with hats and rakes and aprons. There is a garden, growing carrots, tomatoes and other veggies, a water pump, a swing... did I say I am green with envy because it is more like super, deep, emerald-green!

When class started and she wound her way around the trees chanting, 'Every body follow, follow, follow...' T's eyes almost popped out of his head in amazement... don't quite know what he found so surprising? He listened intently to her story at story-time as if he understood just what she was saying and was so excited to go through the rainbow bridge at the end of class until he realised it meant it was time to leave, when he got very mad at me for not taking him back. We can't wait for our next lesson.

Little Mister Muffet

We have a cobweb that hangs down from the ceiling above our bed. It has formed a ball at the very end of it that has turned darker than the rest (dirt?). We noticed it 3 weeks ago. We noticed it because T kept pointing at the ceiling one morning as he was having his bottle in our bed, saying 'pider huuuh'. It was K who first saw he was pointing to the cobweb and we now see that it looks exactly like a spider coming down its web. It's now our morning ritual to sing 'Incy Wincy Spider' as we have our bottle/chocolate milk/coffee in bed. I had to show it to the cleaners yesterday with instructions NOT to sweep it away as we WANT it there. What they must have thought?!

A Hand-Made Christmas!

Our Christmas was surprisingly wonderful. I say 'surprisingly' as I expected it to feel somewhat empty. We usually have Christmas at Kromme in South Africa with the rest of my crazy-big family. I was apprehensive for Christmas at home this year as it would only be the four of us. No Grannies, no Grampa's, no Aunts, no Uncles, no cousins, no customary Christmas hordes... just our little family of four. As it turned out, it was very full indeed. In fact, amazingly full. I learnt that all you really need for a fabulous Christmas is love and little children and the rest will follow.

It all started with my new interest in everything Waldorf, ignited by the charming school K attends on Tuesdays called Maple Village. December 13 was the Winter Village Faire for which I found myself unexpectedly, heavily, involved. At the first Faire meeting I took on the wind-chime craft for the Faire as well as making some wool roving creatures to sell in the Faire shop. I hadn't done needle felting before, or made wind-chimes, but how hard could it be, right? Little did I know how intricately and naturally beautiful everything waldorf needs to be... 

My wind-chime craft took tens of hour to prepare as I roamed our cityscape looking for 'just the right' natural materials to make them with. Then came the cleaning, drilling, tying knots, threading... I worked like a crazy woman and loved every moment! As for the wool roving creatures, they started a creative process within me that I have SO enjoyed. I am being creative again and feel so fulfilled.

Here is a photo of the wind-chime.

A Good Man and I worked out that I drilled 650 holes! Each child who chose to make a wind-chime at the Faire, picked their materials from baskets and I helped them to string their wind-chimes together. They were a great success, loved by all and I am sure quite a few Maple Village Loved-ones received a wind-chime for Christmas.

I made 6 fairies, 5 pod babies, and a bark-gnome to sell in the Faire shop and, would you know, most of them sold despite their 'waldorf' (exorbitant) prices. The Faire raised over $1500 for the school and everyone involved was very pleased indeed.

With my creativity thus sparked, ignited and kindled, I decided to make, yes MAKE, all of K and T's christmas presents! Very ambitious of me, I know, especially since I am NOT a very 'makey' person! Can't sew, can't knit, can't paint, etc. But as I was SO enjoying my new hobby of needle felting, I set about with gusto and was constantly amazed at what I could create. Needle felting is THE BEST! I can create almost anything. Not perfect by any standard, but gorgeous to my eyes all the same. I find the process thrilling; starting with an idea, choosing the colour of roving and then poking it with my needle until it has taken the form I desire, a life all of its own. I even love the noise it makes as the needle goes through the wool into the backing behind. I also love the second part of this creative process, that of finding things from nature to compliment my creations; acorn hats, seed pod cradles, fairy wings, wood, bark. A Good Man has given up rolling his eyes at what I come home with and even K can't walk past a nicely gnarled stick without picking it up and deciding to keep it 'for a project'. I love that we have rekindled our love of nature. Silly how we need a reason, ours being 'finding stuff', to get us out into the wild.

What a sense of achievement when each gift was completed and ready to wrap. I would be lying if I didn't admit to a nagging fear that my children would open their presents on Christmas morning and I'd see a flash of disappointment cross their faces as they beheld my masterpieces, my 'mom-made' masterpieces. Not the bright, shiny plastic toys of before. But, with a fair amount of priming, both children delighted me with their appreciation of what I had made. K kept exclaiming, 'MOM!' in amazement. She loved everything and I am so proud of her. She has played with her 'felted toys' for many hours since. Sometimes I go into her room and see her felted toys having a wonderful adventure. Sometimes her Barbie's and felted toys are mixed together, having a glorious tea-party or I see that her Polly Pocket princesses are eating woolen, felted food! Oh, to be a character in her play world...

This is a picture of K's Magic Faraway Tree, her gnome family,  their felted food and their toadstool house.

Here is a photo of K's Mother and Baby and their house, painted so beautifully by K.

Here is T's magnetic fishing rod and little goodies to catch with it.

Here are T's balls.

T especially likes his felted balls. The Fishing Game is a little ahead of him for now but I'm sure he'll get into it in the near future. Truth be told, T is car MAD. We have put his cars, all thousands of them, into a basket that lives in the living room. First thing he does when he gets up in the morning is go his car basket and pick two favourites for the day. He drives them along the floor, walls and even his dad's head when he is getting a ride on his shoulders. We are constantly amazed at the gender difference in our two children. Our girl is SO girly and our boy is SO Boyish. Nature definitely takes the cake in our gender debate!

We topped off our Christmas with a delicious Christmas lunch with our dear friends, 5 fellow ex-South African families. 

I love that our Christmas wasn't excessive and endeavour to always remember that the best gifts are still hand-made!

Happy New Year 2009

Hello. This is my very first entry! A very fitting time for it too... New Years Day 2009.

I am writing this blog for a number of reasons, the most important of which is to share our days with you guys, my beautiful family who are speckled all over the world. I have been thinking a lot lately of how I lament the fact that I feel all alone here in America. And I realize that by 'all alone', I mean 'without you'... I am NOT all alone at all! I am in the midst of a beautiful life. I have felt so sad that we are not growing up surrounded by grandparents, handfulls of aunts and uncles and heaps of cousins, like I did. But, it is time I let this sadness go. I think it will help a lot if I have a place to share our days with you... even if it can't be in the flesh, we can share our special moments all the same.

Another reason for starting this blog is to have a place where we can come to remember. I have been unsuccessful keeping journals, baby books and even photo albums and I am hoping that this will be our memory keepsake. What fun we have looking back at the old photos and how much more fun it will be knowing the stories behind them.

I had a very happy 2008 and am immensely thankful for every experience it brought. I tried to be mindful that every moment was special... to be grateful for. I tried to be thankful for what I have. I tried to see that what I have always wanted is here, all around me. Wow, what a difference this mind-shift has made. I have been truly happy! May this consciousness take root in who I am and become a part of my very existence.

I love you guys and miss you deeply but I am filled with happiness all the same. What a gift it is to realize that the two can coexist.

Happy New Year :-)