Sewing for Cherubs

Signs of Fall

It's hard to believe that the summer is already halfway over! We're trying to soak up every last bit of summer fun, but also stopping to notice and appreciate the little signs that fall is on its way. For example, the back-to-school sewing is underway:

And I have noticed that my children, perhaps sensing that back-to-school is inevitable, have started to seek out more learning experiences. Earlier this week, Superman and The Princess decided they wanted to learn how to play chess. I looked around the house for a competent adult to teach them, but unfortunately The Bossman was at work, so I was the only candidate. Did I mention that I've never played chess before? Talk about the blind leading the blind. Lucky for me, we have a well-worn vintage copy of The Busy Day Book. And by vintage, I mean left-over from my childhood!

So we soldiered on and learned together. And you know what? Those two have been playing chess together ever morning since. I'm not quite sure if they're doing it right, but we all learned something new, and that's what matters.

A Little Fun, A Little Work

What have we been up to lately?

A little of this...

A little of this...

A lot of this (See the yellow gamepiece that is way back there in last place? Yeah, that's mine)...

And there was this, proving that anything here that doesn't move gets covered in fabric scraps...

Which resulted in (among other things) this...

 

The summer is flying by and I'm trying to take advantage of every moment. So if my blog posts are a little spotty and infrequent these days, now you know why. Hopefully you're busy with your own fun and work! Thanks for reading.

Biscuit Teamwork

This morning, like most Saturday mornings, I baked something special for breakfast. Today it was whole-wheat biscuits, using the old faithful tried-and-true recipe from the Flying Biscuit cookbook. 

When I make biscuits, I like to set aside some of the dough for the kids to play with. They like to practice rolling and cutting the dough, and they make "biscuit cookies" and decorate them with sprinkles. Today I captured some sweet pics of The Princess and Superman working together. I'd say the kitchen is a great place to make memories, wouldn't you?

 

Folded Fun

We had some fun with origami this morning. It was The Princess's idea, and a quick Google search turned up some great instructional websites.

The little green fellow is a frog who hops when you press down on his back. The white toy is a "Monkey and a Mountain". The small piece is the "monkey", and you insert it into the mountain, and then wiggle the mountain to make the monkey climb all the way up and out of the top.

Check out this website for instructions on these and many other projects, and soon you, like me, will be wondering why we spent so much money on toys, when all we needed was some paper and imagination.

Black Apple Doll, Take One

The Princess has been asking me to help her make a doll, and has been waiting patiently for - well, I'm too embarrassed to tell you how long. Yesterday we finally got our shot. My thoughtful husband took charge of the boys for the whole afternoon so we could have some uninterrupted craft time.

 

Now, I may know how to sew, but this was my first time ever making a doll. We decided to try out Emily Martin's Black Apple Doll, using the free pattern and tutorial which you can download at Martha Stewart's website.

I can't say enough good things about this pattern. The instructions are very clear, especially because there is a video clip you can watch if you are a visual learner like me. I made two modifications to the directions. We used fabric markers instead of paints to draw the face (easier for my 7-year-old, who drew the face all by herself). I also had her draw the face before sewing and stuffing the doll. I thought it would be easier to draw on a flat surface.

This pattern is easy enough for your child to be able to help from start to finish, and it's a great opportunity for your child to learn a few techniques. And the end result is pretty darn cute, even if you make a whole lot of beginner's mistakes like I did. For example, much to my embarrassment, I sewed one of the arms on upside down. I was going to rip the seam and fix it, but The Princess insisted I leave it that way because "It looks like she is waving", which made me very happy indeed. I made a few other mistakes, but I'm not going to point those out to you because, well, I've got pride.

So now I present to you our first attempt at the Black Apple Doll, christened "Laura" by The Princess:

 

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that both of the boys now want their own Black Apple Doll, too. I think it will be a fun challenge to make this doll again in "boyish" versions.

Happy doll, happy Princess, happy Mama.

Cooking Lessons

My kids have always enjoyed helping me cook and bake. We have made a lot of memories together at the kitchen counter over the years.

Cooking together teaches your children basic kitchen skills, which are so important. But that's not all! With just a little creativity, you can turn a cooking project into a math, English, or science lesson. Math concepts such as counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions can all be explored in the simple process of mixing up a batch of cookies. You can have your new reader dictate the recipe to you (double-check for accuracy, of course). You can talk about the temperature of the oven and what's going to happen to the goodies when they go in there, and why. The possibilities are endless.

Today, the boys helped me make a simple batch of Rice Krispie Treats. Not only did they get to count out six cups of cereal, pour them in, and help me stir the sticky stuff, but we also had a quick science lesson about the states of matter. As I melted the butter and marshmallows on the stove, taking them from solid to (sorta) liquid, I kept the boys at a safe distance and tilted the pan so they could see what was going on inside.

 

They were fascinated, and I am hopeful that this "cooking lesson", along with many others, will help them in school someday!

Block Art

A couple days ago Radar was working with blocks. I thought he was building towers, but he called me over to look at "the cat I made", and this is what he had done:

I thought it was a very creative way to work with blocks! He followed this up with block pictures of his sister and brother and this "alien":

Now, I may be a bit biased, but these pictures remind me of Keith Haring's work. Maybe I have a budding artist on my hands?

What To-Do List?

With the kids off from school today, and a reprieve from my usual driving-to-and-from-school-and-activities routine, I was looking forward to accomplishing lots of tasks around the house. However, I quickly discovered it wasn't going to happen today. After the third or twentieth interruption to fix snacks, pour juice, and resolve property disputes, I just decided to abandon the to-do list and take some time to bake biscuits (with extra Valentine sprinkles) with my sweet little interrupters.

 

 

 

And then we went roller-skating. Oh well, the to-do list will still be there tomorrow.

On Two Wheels

The training wheels came off today...

A little help and encouragement from Dad...

FREEDOM!

For the Budding Fashion Designer

I love it when I get word-of-mouth toy recommendations from other moms. It means a lot to me when I hear that a real mom and her real kid have put their seal of approval on that toy. So, with the holiday season fast approaching (yikes!), I have one for you.

This week my daughter and I have immensely enjoyed playing with her new Barbie idesign which I got myself I mean her for her birthday.

With the Barbie iDesign, you dress Barbie and her friends in your choice of outfits using see-through plastic cards that you layer to create a unique look. The whole set can be stored neatly in a small binder (good storage is a big plus for us moms), and is easy to take along and play with in the car or on a trip. You can also turn this into interactive computer fun by plugging in a card swiper (included) and swiping your clothing choices to build an outfit on a virtual model. You can create several outfits and then stage your own fashion show. There are also some computer games included, which are challenging enough that my daughter needed help, so I got to play too!

Having an obvious interest in the world of fashion, I am getting a real kick out of seeing my daughter play with this toy. Perhaps most interesting has been seeing her, ahem, "rapport" with her models as she stages her fashion shows. She has been saying things like "Come on girls, I haven't got all day" and "Yes, Summer, I know it's just HORRIBLE when everyone else has their outfit and you have to wait."

Hm, I think she'll get along on 5th Ave. just fine some day.