Stuff That I've Been Finding

I found these fabric wings made by Feather and Bone (via DesignMom) -- I *LOVE* them and really want to make some for every kid (and maybe an extra set for me).

I saw these bunkbeds on Apartment Therapy. They would be perfect for Dietrich -- He wishes he lived in a tiny little room all safe and snug. I always did too. I think it would be especially cool to have beds like this when all three boys share the same room, that way if they really needed some alone time, some tiny place that was all their own, it'd be there.

I found these awhile back also on Apartment Therapy. They are just plastic animals spray painted bright colors, glued on jars. Easy, inexpensive, would be fun to store art or sewing supplies in.

Same thing but glued to candle holders for cakes and such. Neat (-:

Girl's coat from Crewcuts (J.Crew). I love it. I wish it were heavy flannel instead of wool but otherwise it is pretty near perfect.

I love the English children's clothing line Hucklebones. This is one of their dresses.

I found these hair stars on the blog From Me to You. They are from Rodarte's runway show during this past week's New York Fashion Week. So pretty.

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Atticus the Fearless Draw-er

I've been collecting these drawings for awhile now. When Atticus first began school every piece of paper he brought home had a drawing on the back of it. I was surprised, amazed, happy to have these brought home day after day. I love that Atticus finishes a sheet of homework at school and flips it over to make a story in pictures. Hooray. As the year has unfolded, he still does this though not quite as often. But sitting to draw (or do his take-home homework) is still one of his first choices of activity -- up there with sitting to read or wildly wrestling with his brothers. Three sensible, balanced favorite activities, I think (-:

He made a friend cry. Accidentally.

A dragon

Happy boy and girl (prince and princess) with a snow owl and polar bear and a house with a Santa hat.

This is my favorite. One day he brought it home on the back of a piece of schoolwork. I asked what it was. He said it was from a day dream he had that morning. He dreamt that he was lying in bed asleep when he smelled something funny. I asked good funny or bad funny. He said, definitely good funny. Then he said he opened his eyes from sleeping and there was a very pretty girl lying next to him. I asked, she smelled funny? He said, yes, girls smell different than boys. Like how, I asked. Different, maybe like lemons. Anyway, he said, the pretty girl was lying there and we smiled at each other. We were happy. Then we got married. That was his day dream. That is so so wonderful.

A robot

This is actually a drawing from our neighbor girl Gigi. She and Atticus used to draw each other pictures and write short notes and run them down to each other's mailboxes. Since they started school, Gigi has made some close girl friends in her own grade (she's in 1st) and hasn't been as interested in a friendship. I am thankful for the fun they had sharing drawings though. Even in kindergarten, there has been many heartaches and learning how to forgive and understand friendships. It is weird being a mother seeing shadows of what your child is trying to figure out. Today he wrote a letter to a friend at school with a drawing of a boy crying and a girl standing next to him. It said, You made me sad. On the back it had the girl's name with the word, Meanie, under it -- Atticus had erased it and put, You made me sad, from Atticus. I asked him what happened. He said that their friend Caitlin had decided to sit next to him instead of the other girl and the girl was angry and said Atticus was now her enemy and they would never be friends again. He was upset that she said it and thought all three of them should still be friends. We talked about forgiveness and being kind even when others are mean. And what jealousy means. And how to cheerfully try to include others even when they are angry or upset. It is definitely confusing. Sigh. Kindergarten. Ai ai ai.

Four different monsters: What I like best about this is that Atticus assigned himself a project to try drawing different kinds of things. Like 4 different cars or 4 different houses. This is part of the series.

Castle

This is a self-portrait as silly elastic man.

"Played with Deke" is the caption he wrote for school. I like that it is a super hero in a cape taking on a giant hand protecting a princess.

This is Atticus and his dad going to a baseball game. Pretty awesome pants and beard for Brad, eh?

Atticus sitting drawing at the table (see the pencil/marker/pen tray with the marker bucket) to draw while I keep him company ironing clothes.

This looks like some kind of tribal dream painting, right? The stars, the bird flying, the strange head of the bigger guy reaching out to the smaller guy...weird.

Inside Dietrich's Head

Dietrich doesn't draw very often. When he does, what comes out always surprises me. He'll have jumped to another stage or add things he never tried to draw before (and often never does after that). It's hard to find patterns with his imagination that comes out on paper. This drawing was during church a few weeks ago. There is an octopus, a jail and some people with a throne. Most of his drawings are really a sequential piece of work where Deke tells a story as he draws the various components on the page. I love how he creates so differently than Atticus. They are each so very much individuals.

 

This might be my favorite drawing-story he has done. It was also in church -- a different service. It began with some people walking in a garden, in the front. Then we find out it is the garden around a castle. Then it begins to rain. A knight appears with a sword. Then the rain stops and the sun comes out. All is well in the kingdom.

These were some pieces of paper-work-art Dietrich made up a couple months ago. It involved ripping lengths of paper and glue-ing them on in patterns. They had so much texture. He made quite a few -- many which were later dismantled by Lincoln. These two examples survived on my camera.

  

This is a drawing of me. He did this quickly and under duress, because I wanted him to do something constructive. He wanted to do circles with his Razor scooter very fast around the dining room. He made two pictures and was excused to his scooter.

These next few were from before Christmas...for awhile he had this neat way of drawing humans which depicted everyone with wings. I like that.

 

Alien with his ship

First time he wrote his name all by himself. Now he does it frequently though still unsure of himself. He knows how to write all of his letters, but doesn't venture any writing unless he sees it written down in front of him. He doesn't like guessing. 

 

 

 

For Charity

We have a friend named Charity who knitted this so pretty pale pink baby hat for Thea Belle when she was a newborn. It is so perfect. I love it. I had it stored away when I found this rag doll for Thea's Christmas gift. It is from Pottery Barn Kids. It had a knit hat on it originally. I snipped it off (it was only sew tacked down) and re-tacked Thea's baby hat on. It fits exactly right. So soft, just the right color. Hooray. I found this dress for Thea Belle at Target. It's a bit too big for her right now, but I bought it for spring/summer. I love that it looks vintage and handmade and is my favorite colors. Thank you, Charity!

This is what Lincoln was doing while I took Thea's picture.

Guarding the bedroom door...

Just in case...

you never know.

Piggy-tails...awww....

Thea Belle's first piggy-tails! (-:

Yes, she kisses everything, even animals in books.

   

Carded Spies

So you know when chic bloggers show their family crafts and sewing projects and the photography is so cool and their kids look excited. I am coming to you with no illusions. And a sad ending. The boys, Dietrich actually, said they all needed these billfolds to keep their I.D.s and spy cards safe. I had some craft felt squares sitting in my bedroom next to my sewing machine. They were supposed to be for a sewing project with Atticus but it hasn't happened yet. I cut four rectangles and another 4 contrasting colored narrower rectangles. Then I sewed down the middle and around the side and bottom edges of the smaller rectangle. Then I cut little half circles to make getting the cards out easier. It took about 15 minutes -- 10 minutes longer than the attention/interest-span of the three younger kids (Atticus was at school). Then they were excited for about 5 minutes and all but two of the wallets (that keep randomly floating up to the top but never because they were being played with) are lost. So sometimes I wonder...Anyway, this was a serious attempt at getting a picture of them, but the kids had other ideas.