It's so much fun to see the world through my children's eyes! Recently Isia told me, "Mama I love you so much. Like bananas and ice cream with sprinkles." Love it. What better way to remember their unique phrases then a cup designed for someone they love best? I made this cup for Father's Day, but I could also see it as a great birthday gift for a Grandma or Aunt, a fun Mother's Day gift, or a thank you gift for a special baby-sitter. The possibilities are endless- and the results are always as unique as the answers!

I don't think selling two properties, our home & our rental, with two little ones in tow has been a bad decision- but it's definitely been second-guessed a few times these past weeks. We've been treading water in a sea of contractor appointments and inspection negotiations, wondering whether the end's near. It just might be (fingers crossed).What does all of this have to do with puppets? Well, should you find yourself waiting on hold for the next representative, or for the next contractor to appear, these are the perfect antidote. Quick, portable, and easy to sew. And, when finished, a great distraction for toddlers who need their Mama just as the representative finally answers the phone.

Since our first ventures into busy bag activities didn't entertain her for long, I've been waiting for Isia to get interested in the busy bag activities she already has before setting out to make more. I hate to jinx myself, but she's really been enjoying her busy bag buttoning lately. Perhaps it's time, I thought, to introduce one more activity. And what's better than an activity for kids with Two options for playing & learning?

This has not been a week for big projects, or much blogging. This has been the week of working on the house. Such as re-caulking all if it to increase it's staging appeal. All the cracks created by our 1915 house settling- who doesn't get a few wrinkles in 98 years?- are no longer there. Althouigh, between us, I kind of miss their company. This has been the week of repainting our front door to a dark, charcoal grey to up it's street appeal. This has been the week of trading time with friends, who graciously watched the kiddos so that I didn't have to worry about wet caulk & little fingers. (Which means we'll have a full house next week as everyone trades in their time, exactly how I like it best.) I tried to find my flow during all the caulking & painting, listening to good music and getting absorbed in the work-at-hand as best I could. It didn't quench my creative spirit though, but this little work-in-progress helped.

Have you ever lost time while drawing a picture, kicking a soccer ball, or perfecting a dance routine? Than you've experienced something called "flow". The pioneer of "flow theory" is Mihály Csíkszentmihályi whose research began with a curiosity of what enables artists to get lost in their work. He realized that this was an experience that most artists shared, and sought to uncover the conditions needed to bring it about. He came to realize that flow isn't limited to artists- that everyone has the capacity, and necessity, to experience flow in their daily lives. Since few people can spend their days solely in creative pursuits, he proposed ordinary activities could develop into flow opportunities if one is able to get immersed in them. That all daily activities such as repainting a door...


...or renovating some railing offers us the chance to find our flow. And perhaps a brief moment of creative bliss too.

It's a different way to look at our day to day world isn't it? Who knew that washing dishes or sweeping the floor held creative potential? It's also a great exercise in staying present. A task that is never easy, at any stage of life. In a continued effort to seek our bliss, I'll be sharing pictures on Instagram...

While I don't want to give up on big projects altogether, it's definitely nice to sit down and be able to create a simple project all-at-once. This is only one of the reasons that I Love this project. Another reason is you can use any papers you already have, and a variety of papers at that. And not just paper either... but I'll talk more about that in a second. They're also easy enough to create with kids, which I plan on doing soon. In the meantime, here's a peek into mine.

We were having one of "those" mornings today. I had to defy gravity and sing every silly song I know to get my children's wriggling little bodies into their clothes. Then they kept crashing into each other- quite often on purpose (ahem). So our morning routine, usually twenty minutes, took almost an hour leaving us all ready for breakfast... and perhaps a new start to the day too. I sat them down with some yogurt and decided that what we really needed on this discombobulated, grey-skied day was pancakes for breakfast. And not just any pancakes- Rainbow Pancakes.

As I was sharing earlier in the week, here, we have quite a few "why's" floating around our house these days. It's a handy barometer for me to see what Isia's interested in. Her latest passion is geckos, spurred by the amazing exhibit at our local children's museum. In this exhibit there are over a dozen geckos, each species hiding in their own habitat. It's like a living "Hidden Pictures" for kids! So we've been spending a lot of time there lately, searching for the geckos and learning more about these fascinating creatures. Isia's been especially enthralled with the fact that they can lose their tails. Throughout the day she'll say, "Mama, geckos lose their tails. I just don't know why they lose their tails!" We'll then talk about why they do, self-defense, and she'll be satisfied for a bit- until the question pops up again later. In order to help her understand geckos better- and give her a tactile way to explore her question- I decided to bring a gecko into our lives.

When Isia gets upset about something, her focus locks entirely on the desired outcome. She forgets how to reason, how to articulate, sometimes even how to talk. I understand her steadfastness very well- she gets it from me. When she was about a year old, I began working with her to find her "volcano breath" in these moments. When I see her getting upset I'll say, "Please take a volcano breath." She'll look at me, breath in, then breath out reaching her arms over her head and releasing them in a wide arc back to her sides. It doesn't always work, few things do, but sometimes it's just the reminder she needs. A release and a pause before the storm. It took me over twenty years to find my own volcano breath, and sometimes I still have to go looking for it. I was especially grateful for it this holiday season.

I've been re-instituting vegetable soup days as the temperature drops. Those days when I clean out our veggie drawers and use up everything I can find, served hot with a block of buttered cornbread on top. I love those catchall soups: no two are every alike, and it's always a treat to be able to make something simple from what's at hand. So I am creating a catchall of simple and easy gift ideas for you today. New ideas that use what you might already have on hand. Enjoy!

Picture courtesy of www.Saltwater-kids.com

Confession. I've had create an earring hanger on my list for, well, over a year now. I saw some beautiful ideas on Pinterest, but they all involved leaving my house for this or that. And the only thing that's motivated me to leave my house lately is fabric shopping. I want to be at home crafting and listening to holiday music in my cozy wool socks with a pot of tea at hand. Has this image of perfection actually happened lately? Not really- more like little bits of hurried elving here or there while a little one is happily playing or sleeping- but maybe someday.