laeroport

their first museum pieces

My talented children. They created some artwork for an exhibit called "The Tallgrass Prairie And Me" at the Beach Museum.  We went by and saw their work on display yesterday.

Aidin had her first foray into watercolors.

They burn the prairie every spring, so her painting shows the scorched prairie after it has burned with new shoots of green grass coming up and billowing black smoke in the background.

Eliot had two pieces in the show; a poem

and a drawing.

I loved the way he drew the wind - that certainly is a factor out there on the prairie with very few trees to stop it.

I may wait my whole life and never have a piece of my work in a museum show.  I'm so proud of them and they are awfully proud of themselves.

a peek into the workshop

Since time and materials trump cash on hand this holiday season, here are two little things I've been working on and loving.  First:

This one is now done and I a.) wish it was for me, and 2.) wish they made the pattern in my size.  I hope someone else likes it as much as I do.

And second:

I've had that piece of floral sheet for years, hoarding it for the perfect thing because I loved it so much I didn't want to give it up.  I hope I am not alone in that boat.  This gift is not done, but I've been working on it in my odd quiet moments, like during my Girl Scout service unit meeting.  Those meetings are so much quicker when my hands are busy.

There is more, but they will have to wait.

What are you making?  And are you loving it?

mario magic

The boy's birthday party happened.  It was loads of fun.  And we all survived.

I think this may have been one of the cheapest birthday parties we have ever held.  We played Mario Kart.  That was it. 

We had two tvs set up in our family room, with two wiis, a total of six controllers, and two copies of Mario Kart.  We borrowed both the Mario Karts and one wii with two remotes.  I bought two extra knock-off wii remotes on Amazon for very little money.  Those two remotes were my biggest expense and we will use them for the foreseeable future.  Nearly everything from the invitations to the party favors came out of supplies we had on hand. 

The cake.  It was lemon, per the boy's request.  One cake mix.  Two thin 8 inch layers and then a layer baked in a pyrex bowl.  We still had the mushroom from Eliot's last Mario party.  I wonder where that star and red mushroom went....  The chocolate coins, while tasty, were really added to camouflage my lackluster attempt at icing.

Behind the cake you can see the goodie bags.  Red lunch sacks with a big M and a Mario mustache drawn on.  What would I do without Sharpies?  In front of each sack is a fake fur mustache with double-sticky tape, just waiting to attack some small child's upper lip.  Also in the bags were more chocolate coins (thank you, Aldi), a Mario music CD mix and a stuffed Mario star.

No pattern here - I just drew it free-hand and sewed it from yellow fleece.  I traced the shape onto the fleece, sewed the layers together, and then cut them out.  Much less fiddly sewing.  The eyes should have been satin stitched, but I ran out of time, and I know 8 year old boys don't care.

And to complete the whole Mario look - hats.  I used this tutorial and they went together very fast.  And were stinkin' cute.

We were happy, the guests were happy, our budget was happy, and most of all... the boy was happy.  That's birthday party success in my book.

Tomorrow.... peeks at Christmas gifts.  But only peeks.

welcome december

I walked into the kitchen this morning to find this outside my window.

It seemed like a good omen for the month. But then I am fond of finding good omens in life.

The advent calendar came out today and I spent a happy half hour planning our coming weeks of activities.  Pedicures, paper chains, The Nutcracker, an art show, taking in the Christmas lights.  Tonight we listened to music of the season* over dinner.  It was a good start.

Tomorrow, five little boys invade for a birthday party after school.  I'd better get some rest.

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*One day, when my hair is much more salt than pepper, I will cut my hair just like hers.

recap #11 - the girl's birthday

I think the other horrible time of year to have your birthday is May.  There are so may conflicts with end-of-the-school-year activities.  This year we opted to have Aidin's birthday party on the last day of school, which was a half day.  And for the second time, we had a Kit party (moving is good - you get to recycle some of your old ideas).

This party was an out-of-the-box Kit Mystery Game that I bought several years ago on clearance knowing Aidin would eventually hit that magic age where it would be perfect.  Evidently, 10 is that perfect age.

So her friends were invited for tea. In costume and in character.  Aidin, of course, was Kit.  I was Mother in my Grandma's 1930's apron.  Snacks of fruit salad and jam sandwiches were served.  The platter doubled as a clue hiding place.

This mystery game really just followed along with the script.  As a veteran of YEARS of playing mystery games, I was rather disappointed that it was so completely scripted, but it was probably better for girls this age.

They traipsed around the house finding clues and discussing them and ended their mystery in the back yard.  Eliot stood in as Will with help from Dad.  The Hobo Jungle was found under the backyard crazy tent I made out of some cotton net fabric, an old pop-up basketball hoop, a piece of bamboo and a chain.  Classy.

It seems the best part for the girls was the mad dash to Aidin's room after the game was over.  Out came the box of dress-up clothes and it was hard to get the right kid back in the right costume when the party was over.

We ended with cake - but no presents.  In the spirit of Kit, Aidin asked her friends for food donations.  We took 48 lbs of food plus a check down to the local food pantry a few days after the party.  My generous child was pretty thrilled with that.

Everyone left with their teacup and saucer and the same Kit cd mix we used the time before.  I still love that playlist.

And with that we've reached the end of November, and I'm as caught up with this blog as I'll ever be.  Amidst the uncertainties of life, I'll try to stay present here.  Thank you for checking in, for your friendship and support.  It is good to know that I'm not just talking to myself and the crickets.

xo ~L

recap #10 - the boy's birthday

Eliot has his 8th birthday party on Friday, and I've realized I haven't posted about his last birthday party.  So here goes.

It is so difficult having a December birthday.  It is hard to find a time when friends are available to come to a birthday party.  Many times we have moved Eliot's party with friends to another month.  It helps spread out the gifts, too, so the boy is not inundated with presents in December and then hits a present drought for the rest of the year.

So we had his party in March.  At the bowling alley.  It was chaos.  But fun.

Yeah, the whole party was like that.  Boys running wild.  But there was some bowling.  Eliot even made two strikes.

He wanted a Pokemon party and for that I had help from my friend, Stephanie, who passed down some leftovers from her son's Pokemon party - plastic table cloths, banners, nametags shaped like pokeballs with pokemon on the reverse side, and pokemon bingo - which was very much appreciated as we waited for parents to pick up their kids (see the above reference to boys running wild).

The bowling alley had a "no homemade cake" rule, which was annoying.  But Eliot liked his store-bought cake.  He was very specific in wanting the pokemon Ho-oh on his cake, breathing out fire from the candles.  The lady at the grocery store bakery wasn't so sure about "Ho-oh, go!", but she did it anyway.

I whipped up some very simple, unlined tote bags for the goodie bags. The fabric and bias tape handles all came from my stash. I cut up one of the plastic tablecloths and used it as an applique, which turned out to be some tricky sewing.

We stuffed the bags with some pokemon cards, pokemon marbles, and a cd of some of Eliot's favorite songs interspersed with pokemon music that Tim found on-line.

And speaking of goodie bags, I'd better get to work on the ones for this year's party.  Back tomorrow with Aidin's birthday recap.

give and give back

I'm a little bit bah humbuggy about holiday gifts these days.  In this tight economy, the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday mad rush of consumerism makes me angry.  Which is why I'm making most of my holiday gifts this year, or buying locally when I can.  But there are things that I cannot buy locally or make myself (I sadly cannot write wii code), so I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite holiday shopping sources that give back.

Amazon, via Monarch Watch:  Monarch Watch is one of my favorite organizations.  Their mission: to provide the public with information about the biology of monarch butterflies, their spectacular migration, and how to use monarchs to further science education in primary and secondary schools.  They are concerned with the loss of monarch habitat and establishing backyard waystations along migration routes.  Over the years their funding has dropped, but, in addition to purchasing items at their annual plant sales (I have for years) and via their shop, you can also support them with every amazon.com purchase, if you link through their amazon portal.  Scroll down and click. So easy.  And so appreciated.

(at last spring's plant sale)

Montessori Services:  For the little people in your life, you can't beat gifts from Montessori Services or their sister site, For Small Hands.  We have ordered so many things from them over the years from drinking glasses and vegetable choppers that we still use every day to woodworking tools to gardening tools, their products are well made and sized perfectly for the tiny hands that just want to help out. And this time of year, if you specify your local Montessori school,* the school will earn credit for free materials.

(super old picture of Eliot at Raintree)

The Greater Good Network Stores:  Choose your cause, from the Rainforest to Breast Cancer to Child Health to Veterans. buying through the Greater Good Network helps two-fold.  First, you are helping the cause that you link through, by providing mammograms or immunizations or purchasing land to be preserved.  Second, you are helping artists and craftspeople around the world, many of them women, support themselves and their families through their trade.  There are countless beautiful, unique, handmade items to choose from for the home, the garden, or to wear.

I've got five minutes left today - so Happy Cyber Monday.  I hope your shopping dollars do a little giving back.

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*If you don't have a local school, I suggest Raintree Montessori in Lawrence, Kansas, or Rainbow Bridge Montessori School in Cotati, California.

hiking the Flint Hills

I meant to be here a week ago with these pictures, but between computer glitches and my head exploding with thoughts of Christmas gifts, it didn't happen.

So today while I drive east to celebrate Thanksgiving with our cousins, here are a few photos from our hike last Saturday. 

This three mile loop through the Konza Prairie has quickly become my favorite thing about Manhattan.  As you walk along the trail, you can imagine yourself as Laura and Mary rolling along with Ma and Pa and baby Carrie and their bulldog, Jack.  The sky is so big and the trees are so few.

Although the wind was blowing about 30 miles an hour, we had a beautiful morning for our hike.  It was 65 degrees at 9:30 and only a few fluffy clouds in the sky.  Glorious sunshine compensated for the wind.  Quite a contrast to last year's cold and grey Cub Scout Day on the Konza.

 

And in true Kansas fashion, 20 minutes after we got home the sky clouded up and that strong wind turned cold, making us all the more thankful for our splendid time out on the Prairie.

it's (black) Friday night again

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful celebration yesterday, surrounded by those you love.  This was the first Thanksgiving in 14 years that we haven't hosted both families for dinner.  It was a pleasant change to just bake a few pies and mash some sweet potatoes, and not worry about anything else.

Our biggest reason to give thanks was having Tim's mom with us.  Three full months after she first entered the hospital, she finally got to sleep in her own bed Wednesday night.  What a blessing.

Another blessing, spending the evening in one of my favorite places, my brother's farm.  This was my grandparents' farm until they passed away 11 years ago and I spent a good chunk of my childhood taking in the same scenery, the same sunsets.

Tomorrow we have round two of Thanksgiving with two more dinners with cousins on both sides.  I guess I'd better get to work on the round two pies.

Friday nights are too busy to blog

We've had a busy week at chez laeroport.  Science fair preparations, the science fair, Cub Scout pack meeting, delivering Cub Scout popcorn, a Girl Scout meeting that I planned and prepared, organizing extra cookie pick ups, selling Girl Scout cookies in our neighborhood, collecting troop cookie money to deposit, planning a birthday party, and celebrating the school's 50th birthday.  It's been busy.  And tomorrow we have a pancake feed, a hike, and an out of town guest.  I'd better clean up a bit.

But we only had half a day of school today.  Eliot went to play with his friend who is homeschooling this year while Aidin and I snuck off to the donut shop for a snack and a round of Scrabble.  Yes, they have board games and a piano and bikes to rent at the new donut shop, as if the donuts were not enough of a draw.  You understand why it is our favorite place in town.

(My dad's name is Larry.  He likes peanut butter and jelly.  Perfect.)

And Scrabble is now the hot item at chez laeroport.  Target had Scrabble this week for $10, so while I was there scoping out Christmas and birthday gifts I picked it up.*  Since Wednesday afternoon we've played at least four rounds with the kids, not keeping score, just trying to make words.  And Tim and I have played two abbreviated games between trips to school to volunteer.  He smoked me both times.  ::grumble grumble::  Who me, a sore loser?  Pfft! ::grumble grumble::

Happy Friday - or if it is already tomorrow by the time you read this - Happy Saturday!  I'll be back tomorrow with (fingers crossed) some nice pictures of the Flint Hills in autumn.

* I picked Scrabble over Banagrams because a.) I'm cheap that way and 2.) I think the board will help keep us from getting CRAZY!