Purple Kappa

Today was even nicer than yesterday, so we decided to explore a park we hadn't been to before. It was about a 20-25 minute drive from the house, but Brian had a presentation for work that needed to be done through a phone conference, and it made things a lot easier for him if we were out of the house. So off to the park we went.

Lots of places for climbing and exploring. We had the place to ourselves--I think it was probably nap time for younger kids and the older ones were still in school.

It's good to find a climbing tree

This big hill was off to the side. No idea what it was there for, but it was good for running up and down.

Old cemetery across the street from the park. Some of the tombstones were dated from the 1850's. I don't know what the building is, but it looked as though it might be a modern structure rather than something historic, the materials looked very new.

Today the sun actually had some warmth to it, so we went to the new playground that isn't too far from the house.

I had plans to sit in the sun and read while the girls ran around and burned up some of the excess energy that's been shooting off in different directions while we've been sitting around at home.

But instead I was pushing swings and waiting at the bottom of slides--this park has a huge slides that really shoot you out at the bottom.

Ivy has a new pixie haircut--she wanted me to shave her head bald and this was a compromise. She really hates getting her hair brushed. Plus she likes to chew on her hair so it's always got these crunchy sticky bits. Short hair looks so cute on her, even if it means no more pigtails. The glasses are just some old frames of Miranda's with the lenses removed. Ivy very much dislikes being the only one in the family who doesn't wear glasses. She had an eye exam last year and tried to fake not being able to see very well.

But it was good to move around--the sunshine was a little deceptive and it was actually pretty cold. We lasted about 45 minutes and then headed back home.

Saturday we took the girls to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I haven't been with Brian in a while, usually I take the girls places like this during the week when it's not very crowded, but it wasn't too bad. We wanted to see the new Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton.

Right after this picture, the batteries went dead in the camera so you'll just have to imagine Ivy and Miranda sitting on the back of a stone bear, and an otter frolicking in the icy water, chasing what appeared to be a piece of bark.

I'm trying to get some new sewing projects started. This is what makes it hard--I think of several things I want to make, go to my cabinet and start pulling out fabric thinking oh, I was going to make a dress with this floral, I was going to make a tunic with the linen and trim it with that brown velvet ribbon, and I never used that brown stripe linen and before I know it, I have this huge stack of fabric that's supposed to be intended projects but I get so overwhelmed I don't do any. So I chose four pieces of fabric--trying to stick to ones that had been on the shelves for a while, but actually not actually meeting that criteria when I look over what I've chosen. Plans are for two little smock tops and three pinafores.

These are a couple of things I've actually finished. The gray dress was a pattern of my own I've been working on, combining a sort of kimono top with a full-skirted dress. It really is lovely and I adore the fabric, but I can't seem to get a good photograph of it so I can get it in my shop. The smock is not a color combination I normally would have chosen, but they happened to be sitting on the shelf together and I really liked how they looked. The color on the pocket is a little off, it's actually a linen that is very close in color to the green in the polka-dotted fabric

Little Coraline and Her Cat

The cat yawned slowly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said.
"No?" said Coraline.
"No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."
Coraline by Neil Gaiman c. 2002

The cat is finished as well. A much easier project than Coraline! I was worried Ivy might want a doll of her own, so was quite relieved when she asked for Cat.

Cat is made from black felt, with embroidered eyes and nose. He is sort of posable--his legs are thread jointed, which is sort of like button jointed without the buttons, which makes for a looser joint which works with this toy. He is about 8 inches from the tip of his ear to his toes. Coraline measures about 15 inches tall.

I feel as though my toymaking has taken a creative direction that I'm really enjoying. I'm considering focusing less on making clothing and more on this sort of thing.

She's a Peach, She's a Doll, She's a Pal of Mine

I've been working all day on the Coraline doll, and she's finally finished. Prepare yourself for some rather poor quality pictures, as I'm too impatient to wait until tomorrow until there is natural light, and it will probably be just as dark during the day anyway.

The face and body are made from an old cotton tshirt dyed with tea. The coat is felt, the stockings are striped fabric--the stockings are the only piece of clothing that can't be removed, I just used the striped fabric to make the legs. Everything else comes off. There is a little dragonfly clip in her hair made from a dragonfly button I found at Joann's. The key is an old skeleton key I've had forever, with a black button glued to the end.

The dragonfly clip is actually pink, but it caught the glare of the flash.

As I was making it I had to fight off obsessive thoughts of how the shirt was the wrong color pink, the coat was assembled differently, the head was a little big, but in the end I'm feeling pretty proud of myself and can't wait until Miranda gets home to see it.

Many thanks to Rio McCarthy at Tomopop whose numerous photos of the Coraline doll she received provided much of my inspiration.

Taketombo

For Ivy's birthday party we brought some things to share with her friends. There weren't actually goody bags, as I never got around to putting them into anything so we just handed them out. One of the items was taketombo, which means bamboo dragonfly in Japanese. Taketombo are a traditional toy that is spun between the hands and released so it flies through the air. We had found plastic ones last year and discovered that the bamboo ones took a little more work to get the hang of it. They also needed to be played with outside, and away from other kids as the spinning bamboo blades can give you a bit of a whack. Not enough to really hurt you, but enough to say "ow!"

I found them on Ichiban Kan and bought a dozen of them.

The blades and handle were separated in the package, and from what I've seen on other websites the blade should then snap onto the handle. But the back of the package seems to indicate you spun the handle and then the blade would fly by itself. We couldn't get it work that way, so I just glued the handles to the blades. And now I have a bunch of extra blades so I'm hoping with some dowels I can make more.

Here is a video showing how to play with one:

Coraline

book cover from the movie tie-in book Coraline

Making up a song about Coraline
She’s a peach she's a doll she's a pal of mine
She's as cute as a BUTTON in the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline
When she comes around exploring Mom and I will never ever make it boring
Our eyes will be on coraline
The Other Father's song from the movie Coraline

Today we drove out to the one theater in the area that was showing Coraline in 3-D. We had bought the book in 2002 when it first came out--Brian and I both agreed it was pretty creepy and it was placed on the bookshelf for when Miranda was old enough to read it. When trailers for the movie started showing up on television, she found it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had some doubts about bringing Ivy, who was rather indignant at the idea of missing out, insisting she wouldn't find it scary. And she did fine. I agree with the author, Neil Gaiman when he says that he book is much creepier for adults than it is for kids, who tend to read it as an adventure. The same seems to be true of the movie. I think it helps that Coraline herself seems to regard what is happening to her as an adventure. She doesn't think it's weird that the neighbor kid presents her with a doll that happens to look like herself--well, she thinks it's weird, but in an interesting way and carries the doll around with her. Even discovering the Other Mother and Father with their button eyes doesn't really disturb her. When she is in peril, she's constantly trying to find a way to rescue herself.

At an hour and forty minutes, I wondered if Ivy and Miranda would remain interested until the end, but the movie was well paced and both girls were riveted to the screen until the end (except for a short bathroom break by Miranda, but we were sharing a large soda. And I had to go as well).

Now I want a Coraline doll of my own. With button eyes and blue yarn hair and a yellow coat. There is one that can be pre-ordered from Wizard Universe, but I'd rather make my own. Although how cool would it have been to received one of the magical Coraline boxes, especially this one with an exact replica (or maybe the real thing) of the doll in the movie.

Happy Birthday, Ivy!

Ivy turned six today.

Her grandparents brought over an ice cream cake (which reminds me, I think there might still be some in the freezer...). We also made a cake to take to our weekly lego group, and cut off a small portion to eat at home. Ivy wanted to decorate it herself--I didn't think it seemed right to make someone decorate their own birthday cake, but she insisted.

The blue blog is of course a baby Murloc. And the bamboo picks are decorated with tiny drawings of World of Warcraft characters that Miranda drew.

Our friends over at Sugar Boot and Weasel made her this wonderful mobile. It has origami cranes on ribbons, with little signs that say Happy 6th Birthday Ivy!. We hung it in her bedroom

But the best birthday present was having her dad home from the hospital. Brian came up Wednesday evening and is doing well, resting up and adjusting to being a heart attack survivor. It's good to have him back with us.

Halfway to Spring

Today the weather was a special treat, almost in the 60's. It was also gray, rainy and muddy but it was nice to get outside and not even have to wear a coat

We're trying to enjoy it now because by next week we'll be back to our usual February weather of cold and snow.

There's been a lot of waiting around here and not just for Spring weather. Early Sunday morning Brian went into the hospital with what turned out to be a mild heart attack. He's doing well, a catheterization showed no blockages so the medication must have done it's job of moving things through. But the doctors aren't quite satisfied with his blood levels so he's not home yet--we're still waiting to hear if he might come home today.

Unschooler Winter Waterpark Gathering 2009

We just got back from the Unschooler Winter Waterpark Gathering at the Kalahari Indoor Waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio (site opens with sound).

The girls had a great time, Ivy nearly wore Brian out with her daredevil excursions on the water slides--I think he finally has someone to go on rollercoasters with him (neither Miranda nor I like them). I'm not sure how many families came but I think there was close to 1000 people in our group. We had conference rooms as well, with different activities each day--henna painting, Pokemon cards, a craft and playroom, a teen-age lounge--as well as different discussions on aspects of homeschooling and parenting. We didn't socialize as much as I would have liked--generally after the waterpark everyone was so worn out we just hung out in the room. Which was okay with me, but with so many unschooling families, I'm not sure we took advantage of that as well as we could have.

sand art at the Carnival

Face painting and tattoos

The perfect winter activity--sitting by the fire in your underwear, eating ice cream

Dressing up for the Medieval Ball. World of Warcraft is kind of medieval, isn't it?

And now I have loads of laundry to take care off. I'm glad I got everything caught up before we left.