trees all dance

this moment

treesalldance — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:12:56 +0000

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Filed under: on my doorstep, this moment

Yarn Along

treesalldance — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:39:15 +0000

I decided to participate in Blair’s granny square afghan sampler so I could give my grannies some purpose. I’ve only done this square, need to do two more to stay on track for the week. The knit bunting is part of a gift I’m making for a friend. I’ll put the notes up on ravelry in a bit.

Unfortunately, I’m not doing much reading for pleasure at the moment. I’ve started summer school, and can usually be found reading my Art History textbook. At least it’s something I’m interested in!

Filed under: crochet, knitting, yarn along

Tuh-rare-e-uhm

treesalldance — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:10:07 +0000

During the Great Kitchen Counter Cleanup of 2012, I realized that this gorgeous jar I bought a few months ago never really had a purpose. I tried filling it with fruit, but the younger kids couldn’t reach it then and I always worried the lid would break. Filling it with sugar or flour wasn’t practical either because I have an ant problem every spring and it’s not vacuum sealed. Wren and I dug up some irish moss from the garden and bought a Pilea plant which has really cool textured leaves, and voilà, a terrarium. I really wanted to use a fern, but I couldn’t find one small enough. The pilea will have to be moved eventually, I think, because it will grow too big. In the meantime, I love it. A few pictures of the process are here and there is lots of terrarium inspiration here.

Filed under: craft, garden

Weekending

treesalldance — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:56:22 +0000

All last week, my eldest had been complaining of a few ailments which I just semi eyerolled and chalked up as him being his normal hypochondriac self. Friday morning, the school nurse called and told me one of his teachers thought he was a little off. And so, with gritted teeth, I said we would pick him up. Took him to the doctor and it turns out he has strep. Oh. I’m really in the running for Mother of the Year now, people. And so, my weekend started off with a bang! Our Saturday plans were thrown (happens often), since I now needed to keep the kiddo under quarantine for 24 hours. However, that didn’t prevent me from heading out to 619 Cantina with Darcel on Saturday night! The food was great, and the Olde Towne area is really beautiful, but unfortunately, quite empty on a Saturday. We plan to go back for a photo walk soon.

My Sunday was quite full and started with me having a fit because my breakfast wasn’t ready when I woke up. I’m not proud, but I actually am a shrew at times. Working on it. Soon after, I received some cards, and my gift from hub, the special edition of Domino! I was a huge fan of the magazine and have most of the old issues, so I flat out told the entire family that the mag was what I wanted. I hadn’t been able to find it, so I was thrilled. L won’t give up his source though. I also received a beautiful spider plant from Finch.

We decided to go down to the boardwalk which was wasn’t very crowded, surprisingly. We made our way over to the Monster Truck rally which hub had taken the boys to the year before. They love monster trucks. It was too loud for the baby (and me), so we left and decided to surprise my mother-in-law by visiting her. Doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but I have a…contentious relationship with my in-laws and before yesterday hadn’t ever been to their new house. L and the kids go there semi-regularly. I played nice and I know it made hub happy that we all went, and MIL happy that she could spend Mother’s Day with her family. We spent hours chatting, blowing bubbles, playing stick ball, eating good food and otherwise doing what families do. We all had a great time and came home and fell into bed. The end! How was your weekend?

Filed under: holiday, kids, mother of the year, on my doorstep, the great outdoors, trees all dance, weekending

{this moment}

treesalldance — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:43:27 +0000

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Filed under: this moment

Books about Spring

treesalldance — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:42:59 +0000

With Lark more interested in the outdoors this year, and my interest in seasonal rhythms, I put together a little list of picture books that would relate to the things we see and do these days. I always appreciate lists like these, so I thought I would share my own:

The entire Crinkleroot series. Learned about it via a local mama’s blog. The books are concise, informative, and filled with beautiful drawings.
Compost Stew
Beachcombing: Exploring the Seashore
Whose Garden Is It?
The Dandelion Seed
And Then It’s Spring
In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
Spring Is Here!
And the Good Brown Earth
Who’s Awake in Springtime?
Birds Build Nests
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons
That’s What Leprechauns Do
A Fine St. Patrick’s Day
Brigid’s Cloak

Filed under: books, feasts and festivals, garden, holiday, seasons, the great outdoors, waldorf inspired

Yarn Along

treesalldance — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:32:30 +0000

I was quite inspired by Blair’s granny square with a circle center tutorial, and have plans for the most adorable pillow with this sort of ombre rainbow feeling. The rainbow granny will most likely end up a potholder. The cream colored garter stitch bit is the beginning of a bunting I’m making for a friend. I’m picking up this book from the library today and I can’t wait to try my hand at yarn dyeing.

Filed under: crochet, knitting, yarn along

(not) homeschooling

treesalldance — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:23:48 +0000

My semester is over, and I’m starting summer school in a few weeks. The kids’ school year is also winding down. Planning our “summer school lite” inevitably lead me to think about our school options and what would be best for the upcoming year. I started to bone up on my homeschool related reading and tried to subtly pepper my husband and children with questions related to school choice. I eventually asked the kids if they would like to be homeschooled. Two said yes, one cited being annoyed by the class schedule and the other, being annoyed (not bullied) by the kids in the class. I had to break it to them that annoying schedules and people are not just relegated to school. I know myself well enough to know that I can only do one thing at a time very well. If we homeschooled again, either my schooling or theirs would suffer. I’m not willing to let either happen.

Their new schools seem to be a much better fit or maybe I don’t have as much time to worry about the little things that bother me. Probably a combination of the two. For example, I felt one of the kids needed some extra help and I’ve been really impressed by the school’s willingness to take my concerns seriously. I know it should always be that way, but I’ve definitely had experiences where I felt I was not a welcome participant in guiding my own child’s education. Within a few days of my email to the teacher, I had a meeting with the classroom teachers, vp, and school support staff. It’s been really nice to not feel combative towards the school. In the end, we decided to let the kids continue in public school. We’re all (mostly) happy with the arrangement, so I see no need to change it, at present.

Filed under: homeschool, kids, school, trees all dance

Change of plans…

treesalldance — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:29:01 +0000

I planned to take the kids to the park on Friday after school, but frankly, I don’t enjoy it. I spend half my time on the playground being a helicopter mom b/c the babe is at the stage where she’ll step off a play bridge unaware of the potential broken bones, when all I want to do is sit down, read, and drink my strawberry limeade. Instead, I convinced the kiddos that new sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, and bubbles right here at home was the way to go. We bought double dutch ropes and I unsuccessfully tried to teach the neighborkids how to jump double dutch. DH and I stayed up way late and he played video games while I laughed/snorted at my favorite snark sites. I know, we are so exciting. I then overslept resulting in one of the kiddos missing a Saturday morning class. Oops.

{Like Lark’s dress? I made it for Wren some years ago.}

{Ava is practicing poses for her future career as some type of diva, the other kids are background singers, obviously.}

When I woke up, I saw a text from Darcel asking if we wanted to go to the beach. Dood, is there ever a time I don’t want go to the beach? We pulled up, and as she does any time we arrive somewhere green, Lark instantly assumed that Samuel (Darcel’s baby) would be there, and started calling his name. Adorable.

We were supposed to go to the Kite Festival on Sunday, but the laundry situation was really out of control. So, I Mean Mommed it and the kids spent the morning folding and putting away laundry instead. They survived. And the house no longer looks like a laundromat. Well, downstairs doesn’t, anyway. I continued my stupendous Sunday by taking out Wren’s cornrows. Maintaining her hair could be a full time job, for reals. By the time we were done, it was dark out and we got to see the supermoon which wasn’t visible the night before due to cloudiness. That moon was something out of a Grimm’s fairytale or a vampire movie. Cool, but slightly scary.

Was your weekend equally fabulous? Do tell.

BTW, these are all camera phone pics b/c though I resisted getting a fancier phone, I recently (reluctantly) did, and am now content to use it versus lugging my big camera all the time.

Filed under: feasts and festivals, home, kids, mother of the year, mothering, the great outdoors, weekending

…ing

treesalldance — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:02:32 +0000

We’re quite occupied lately with all our INGs. Running, (Ice) creaming, bubble blowing, sniffling, sneezing, gardening, car-pooling, volunteering (wheat!), tricycling, and swimming, to name a few. And most importantly, as always, we are laughing, learning, and loving.

Filed under: garden, kids, on my doorstep, seasons, the great outdoors