At the library

Life is good...

Last night we read The Turtle from Cynthia Rylant's lighthouse series. In it we learned that sea turtles cannot retreat inside their shells (Who knew?) so today we went to the library in search of more turtle facts.

Before that I tackled my closet. I have about 10 times more clothes than I thought and most of them are going into a giant plastic tub for repurposing. 

I also found boxes of decorations for 7 different holidays as I excavated a path to the attic. All 4 kids stood on a big tub to peer into the mysterious attic and there was much discussion about the words "above" and "between."

Then the kids took all the suitcases they found (also in my closet) and packed 2 weeks worth of clothes, shoes, and stuffed animals  for a "camping trip" they set up in the family room. 

When the trip wrapped up we went to farmer's market and danced to the music of 3 fiddles and a banjo. 

By 7:15 on Monday morning I had spilled a Costco-sized box of Honey Nut Cheerios on the kitchen floor and let Lovey out of his cage. Sweet Stella aided the Lovey rescue and the adorably footie-suit clad Zeke jumped at the opportunity to sweep the kitchen.

Nothing says Spring like getting out all the dresses Ema hid under the bed.

Matching elephant print skirts for Scarlett and Bodhi. Shhh... I heard the live Bodhi might be moving to another zoo.  Scarlett + this info would definitely = DEVASTATION! Fortunately, Bodhi has grown big enough to be relatively indistinguishable from the other adults. 

got out of the cold this morning with a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory. We actually got uncomfortably hot in the sweet-smelling orchid house. I have this fantasy that I'm starting pesach cleaning now so I'll have completed a room by room clean/purge/organize by April. Problem is I'm dead set on starting with my closet and I can't seem to get past the planning stage. 

Friends, I've re-set this thing so you should be able to leave comments now. I look forward to hearing from you!

front and back of a new little appliqued shirt for Zeke. Hardest part was not sewing the shirt to itself since I have a very simple machine with no special arm for these things. The front is the same fabric as the back, not sepia-toned as it looks in the picture. Can't wait for Mr. Debonair

to try it on in the morning.

                 playing letter magnets on cookie sheet boards

I finally have more energy today after fighting off a sinus infection and lugging around an IV pole dripping with Tim Horton's 1/2 coffee 1/2 hot chocolate for the first half of this week.

Todays startling observation: Trader Joe's has the only reliably good frozen corn. I knew that, but Scarlett really wanted "cown" and I really didn't want to shlep out to Trader Joe's, so I bought some at Kroger and it's just pointless yellow starch balls. 

I did make some tasty tofu "egg"salad tonight from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook.  Recipe (from memory, may be slightly different from book, but still good):

1 block of tofu crumbled through your fingers

1 tblspn chopped red onion

1 chopped dill pickle

a pinch of Tumeric for color

1 tblspn mustard

enough mayo to make the right texture

salt and pepper to taste

                                                                        Camera found

The camera is still missing. I am going bonkers without it. I'm about to go out to get a new one. We did so many fun things today. I got home from work a few minutes early and we took a walk around the block, ended up hunting for signs of spring. We found some sedum coming up, a few tulip leaves poking out of the dirt, and lots of slim branches sending shoots out.  As it got cooler out we pulled the cars out of the garage, shut the doors and had an indoor bike rink/basketball court/chalking surface. Kids ran in and out of the garage while I was fixing dinner-it was kinda like the backyard. Stella and I started reading the Felicity (American Girl) series since she is starting to study the colonial period in school. The book we read last night suggested an embroidery craft so Stella started it today. She's working on a blue heart in a basic running stitch, and she's already discovered how relaxing it is. The other three kids tried their hands at it as well. My fantasy! all of us sitting around embroidering together! Stella's snaggle tooth finally fell out last night and then she woke up this morning with a bottom tooth loose and it too was out by bedtime. She looks so cute.  Zeke has put in an order for a homemade Robin costume and Stella wants a t-shirt with a tooth applique to wear to school. 

Now that Tu B'shvat and Valentines Day are over, I'm really longing for summer. Meantime, spring cleaning is about to begin. A room by room purge and organize extravaganza...

I rediscovered the fantastic smell of almond extract last night when Scarlett asked about the smell of a pink lotion she found. Somehow that scent is going to inform my cooking and crafting this spring.

heart-shaped pancakes + chocolate chips = breakfast

curtains + coffee table = stage for a talent show

4 kids + 1 long weekend = 8 little hands peeling wallpaper

I fell in love with Valentine's Day this year. I don't want the decorations to come down. It's so uncomplicated. Camera's been out of sight for 2 days, so no pics, but I'm reveling in all the pink and the glitter, jonesing to get to Target in search of some clearance craft supplies for next year. 

Got OUTSIDE today! (I forgot there was such a place) Played "bop the balloon." (Basically goal is to keep the balloon off the ground) and took turns taking licks of Scarlett's candy ring. Does it get any better?

Jackpot 'o groceries at Big Lots from yesterday. It was organic city! (Dora chewy snacks and beautiful red sparkly valentine cookies are already tucked away in the cupboard) 2 fat quarters I got at Joann a few months ago. Just found them in under the Tupper-war going on on the floor of my car right now. The colors are so drab and well, ugly, that I just find them soothing. Little valentine ipod case for Janine for Valentine's day. I also checked out "The New Asian Market" on Sawmill rd. yesterday (that's actually the name of the place) Got some soba and udon noodles and a few new pocky flavors, but overall the place was a let-down. Crummy housewares dept. and really expensive rice. Kinda educational seafood section-lots of tails and heads and otherwise live fishes and things-maybe creep the kids out on a rainy day.

                    What'll I make after Valentine's Day? Little felt Matzos with felt chicks?

BOHDI is back!!! He grew about 4 inches while he was away and we had a great geography lesson following his Journey from a warehouse in Texas through 5 small town spots until he arrived at our house today. (see "track my order" at Amazon.com) The kids tracked him on our U.S. map and  imagined just what kind of transportation he might be using and whether he was in a box or being hand-carried.

The beloved Lala. Lovey enjoying a snack of construction paper. G & S posing as my 2 favorite alarm clocks ever. Tu B'shvat seder (For MUCH better pics (thanks Jennifer!) head on over to my facebook page and click on the album "tu b'shvat seder.") We used a kabbalistic seder I found online and coloring pages from torahtots. I delighted through a whole week of February weather planning this thing, thinking about the blooms and fruits, spring in Israel. Now it's still February...

But, enjoyed a great book on Israeli cooking in the process, awesome photos of making fresh phyllo dough, pressing semolina through a sieve to make authentic couscous, orchards full of ripe pomegranates...

This is frost on the INSIDE of our window people. On last week's snow day. Yes, I've heard of weather stripping, but I've never seen this before. My point? I've enjoyed the snow (better that the usual gray slush of Columbus winters) but I'm moving on. I've got early spring on the brain. 3 maple syrup festivals on the calendar over the next month, planning to go out to Stratford and help with spring chores, celebrating Tu B'shvat this weekend. Growing some fresh grass in a knee-high (thanks Stella!) Hey, it's spring in Israel at least.

Other than that I'm burning the proverbial candle at both ends as usual (How does she do it?) but liking everything too much to give anything up. Love the classroom aspect of teaching, but sort of buckling under the logistics, the IT stuff and the endless minor, but critical-to-students decisions. AKA- Is the midterm cumulative? How many pages should the report be? Hell if I know people, I didn't write the damn curriculum, I've barely kept up with reading it! 

Mom got her B-day gift yesterday so I now I can post the photo! It's a set of embellished cloth napkins made from thrifted sheets and the felty flower has a hairband stitched on back.

Found Bohdi's replacement on-line after a long search of "12" stuffed elephant." Scarlett ecstatic. 

luscious loot from Sew to Speak

Finally had to make a list of the projects I want to make 

close up of wood grain and hedgehog fabric-zakka, zakka! 

The picture of the Valentine pillow wouldn't import, but I'm working on 2 others to go with it so maybe I'll wait and capture all 3. Fell in love with everything on mayamade.blogspot.com yesterday and had a very rewarding trip to Goodwill looking for things to repurpose for the layered A-line skirt class I'm taking this week. Also preparing for Tu B'shvat seder this week...more to come on that!