I'm Hooked - Crochet Challange - Long overdue update!

Oh dear, dear, dear! Has it really been that long?
Fear not dear reader I have not been idle! (oh that was a 10 cent sentence!) I've been busy on my projects both crochet related and not. The kiddos are out of school and man, do they take up a lot of time! Plus my Mom and Dad braved the heat, tourists and politicians and came to the DC area for a visit. Add to that a super secret vacation for the family (muah-ha-ha-ha!) and you see why my blogging has been sacrificed. I know that these are really weak excuses but they are all I've got!

On to the update!
Isaac put together a skit for the school talent show this year starring himself as the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show! He shined if I do say so myself! You can see the video of him hamming it up on stage here.
As a special gift for the performance I designed and created a Swedish Chef Amigurumi. Isaac was very pleased and so am I!
After posting the initial pictures on Facebook I received lots of feedback for other Muppets to try. Miss Piggy has always been a favorite of mine and near and dear to my heart.

I have also made a couple other special gifts and commissions. One is an Emily Tiger based on the book Emily's Tiger. One of my favorites from Barefoot Books!This bride is for a friend and neighbor. If she sees it here....well I guess I should be happy she is reading my blog! :) I am working on a groom. I'll highlight him here soon!I have other ideas percolating in my brain and hopefully I can bring them to Amigurumi life! Watch this space for more crochet creations another kind of challenge!

Organs Should Be Happy

In September 1990 I walked in to my very first college dorm room. A very cute hat was already hanging from the end of one of the beds and I burst out with "Hey, you like hats, too!" OK so I wasn't the smoothest 18 year old around. But my new roomie was fine with that. Her name is Jen (Hey, my name is Jen, too!) and we became very fast, very close friends. We would sit on the floor and color, make midnight runs to the local gas station for snacks and yell out the window to cute boys below.
I think she told me about her diabetes on the first day, its hard to hide with the insulin and stuff. I really didn't care. She accepted me for who I was and I accepted her completely! As her health challenges have evolved over the years I keep her in my mind and heart and prayers.
Of course our lives have changed in other ways and now we are not geographically close at all. But there is this little piece of me that wants to be back on "The Hill" coloring and yelling out the window.
Right now my Jen is in Indianapolis waiting for kidney and pancreas transplants. This process is expensive! And so I am doing my little bit to help. Jen once told me, "Organs should be happy!" So I present to you A Happy Kidney! All proceeds go to Jen and her family. If you can't order one, please share the link with your friends!

I'm Hooked - Challenge Update

So this week I came up with two new designs. But both were pretty easy and simple. Both are now available at my shop on Zibbet.

With out further ado...

The truth is out there.......spooky music please.
Matt brought me a bunch of Lion Brand yarn from Maker Faire. One of the colors was this cool green. Too bright for Yoda, too yellowy for mermaids, it just seemed right for an alien to me.





It's that time of year again. What to do, get, make for the teacher to say "Thank you for not hanging my child out the window by their ankles." I was asking around the neighborhood kids for ideas and more than one suggested the iconic apple for the teacher. And so here is my offering.

Do you have an idea for fun and funky Amigurumi? Leave a comment or send me a message.

Two Book Tuesday (Whoops Wednesday)!! Father's Day Ideas!

Some of you may know that I live in a Geek household. Of course the biggest geek of all is GeekDad Matt! Today I want to highlight books to celebrate the Dads and Geeks in your life!

Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share
by Ken Denmead (Matt's fellow GeekDad)

I wish my dad had this book when I was a kid. I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through my children! Ken has collected amazing activities to share with kids. These activitiess are unlike any I have ever seen in a book! As a teacher and parent I have collected quite a few of a similar flavor with ideas for experiments, crafts and games. These projects are designed to spark kids imagination and get them really engaged in the process.

Some favorites from the book:
See the World from the Sky: Secure your mini digital video camera and launch it into the sky with the help of some balloons. I can't wait to try this one on our annual trip to the beach!
A Never-Ending Demolition Derby: Combine the awesomeness of RC cars and Legos and then let your kids go wild!
Crocheted Dice Bag of Holding: Come on, you knew I would like that one!

The kid in me loves the ideas and thinks they are coooool! The grown-up Mom in me is really impressed with the ratings for each activity for cost, difficulty, duration and reusability. OK, so obviously this one is great for Geek Moms, too!

My Daddy is a Pretzel
by Baron Baptiste

So once you have run around with your kids, come on inside and get centered with some yoga! This story puts the practice of yoga in the terms of everyday life, giving kids a great visual for every posture. A great story to just curl up and share or to open up on the floor next to your yoga mat.
Combine this with Yoga Pretzels, a deck of cards full of more yoga postures and activities for kids and adults to share.
Or if you would like to take your practice out into the world try the Yoga Planet deck to take care of the earth and people around you!

I'm Hooked -The Challenge!

I have issued myself a challenge! An Amigurumi Challenge! My goal is to come up with and develop a new pattern once a week.

Most of the characters that I make are my own personal designs. I do take existing patterns in books and online and then modify them for my own style and tastes. I am starting to think of myself as an artist. But this is hard. I have never thought of myself as such.

So now your part of the challenge.....

Give me some ideas! I have a few stored up from friends who have made requests and my own noggin has been working overtime!

For today I would like to introduce two new designs:

The Hula Dancer is my own inspiration, I had a lot of bright green yarn a friend had given me and I was thinking about a good use for it! I really like her, and if you have come here via Facebook then you know she has become my profile picture!

The Cat in the Hat was an idea from a lady at my knitting group! She commented that her young grand daughter might like it. I am not quite happy with his face and will need to keep working on it.

So now my friends it is up to you to keep me going with ideas! Leave your comments here or email me directly.

Girls Only Weekend

It is rare for me to have the opportunity to spend an extended period of time with just one of my children. But this weekend, Leah and I had a Girls Only Weekend! Isaac went on a special trip with his grandparents and my GeekDad husband, Matt was in California at Maker Faire!

So we started with making a list of things Leah wanted to do on her special weekend.
Hang out with other girls
Do nails
Eat spaghetti or steak
Eat ice cream
Read

We managed to do all of the things on her list! Although I opted for spaghetti instead of the steak!

In addition we spent alot of time snuggling, chatting and tickling. It was wonderful and magical and I am thankful for this time. She will be so big so soon and then who knows if she'll want to spend this time with her Mom!

Two Books for Tuesday!

I've decided to try something new.... Two Book Tuesday. Each Tuesday I will strive to share two favorite books, one for adults and one for kids. We are big readers in our house. Each day the kids are reading their own books, Hubby and I are reading our own books, and then each night we all get in our jammies and have a reading time. We read aloud from a book we are all interested in. This is my favorite time of day.
With out further delay, on to the books!

One for Grown-ups!
In His Majesty's Service Three Novels of Temeraire by Naomi Novik

I am just eating up this book! It is huge because it includes the first three books in this series, plus a short story as well. Captain William Laurence is serving in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Here is where the history takes a twist. In this reality, dragons are a integral part of the war. Manned by aviators who bond with a dragon for life. Laurence quite accidentally bonds with such a beast and names him Temeraire. Together they must leave the Navy to join the Aerial Corps, an all together different culture than the Navy.
The relationship between Laurence and Temeraire is amazing, they are comrades and best friends and so much more. Novik has created the most amazing characters in the dragons. Add to that the attention to detail to history (other than the dragons), military and social culture and it is truly engrossing. If you enjoy historical fiction, fantasy and a combination check it out.


And One for our Kiddos!
The Mouse Hunter by Alex Milway

This is a delightfully adventurous trilogy perfect for a child who can comfortably read a chapter book or sit through the reading of one. In this fanciful world people are obsessed with mice. These are not the mundane vermin of our world. No, in this world there are countless varieties of mice in every shape and size. Rich and privileged individuals collect mice as pets. Others use mice as domesticated help. Children are trained and employed as Mouse Keepers. This is the profession of our heroine, Emiline. Emiline sets out on an adventure of a life time encountering mythical, rare and simply unbelievable ice.
We recently gave the first two books to a good friend of our son and she read them both in a few days time and then began rereading the first one again. The children in the school and neighborhood that have read the book have a mouse hunting team and go on adventures to find mice in the woods.
The last of the trilogy is only available in the UK but we have ordered it! I can't wait to see the look on their faces!

Shhhhhhh! It's a secret!

I've been thinking about secrets alot lately. Why do we have them? Keep them? Tell them?

We've been exploring this theme at church as we prepare to welcome a new minister and confront any old history that the church has swept under the rug. It prompted me to think about family and personal secrets (not that any of mine are big).

In modern society we might keep pregnancies a secret, marital problems, health issues or parenting difficulties. Why? Family and community support are often the biggest pieces of our success in life and yet many people shy away from it. Is it pride? Are we trying to "keep up appearances" for the neighbors?

Recently, I was sitting with an acquaintance and let down my guard enough to tell her "a secret." She replied quite positively that she and her family had encountered something similar. I was floored. We continued to talk and share information. It felt so good!

No, I don't want to walk around divulging every little thing about my life. But I do think maybe we need to open up and let our guards down a bit more often.

And NO, you nosy pokes aren't going to find out my secret du jour......at last not yet.

I'm Hooked: May the Force be with you!

In an attempt to join forces with my geeky husband, I present my latest amigurumi creations:Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Yoda. Come see them a lots of other new patterns at the Reston Market tomorrow!

A (belated) Mother's Day Poem

I love my children for their differences.

My 9 year old, Isaac is all analysis. How does it work? Why does it work?

Leah, 7 years old, is synthesis through and through! She is the artist and poet.

This morning Leah presented me with a belated Mother's Day gift, an acrostic poem using the word MOTHER.

My love lies on you!
Of All that I know I wouldn't be here!
The thing that we love to do can be done with you!
Here the robins sing to the others!
Eggs are what I'll make on your birthday!
Run with me on Mother's Day!

I'm not sure I "get it" entirely, but I sure do love it and her!

No, Really.....

I have always had a problem getting to bed. Not to sleep mind you. No, my head hits the pillow and I am off to dream land.
I have a habit of being distracted, or lured away by the TV, laundry, computer, crochet projects and of course my favorite books. And so I announce " I am going to bed" to my husband and then proceed to do anything but. So a few minutes later I say "I should really go to bed" and then I don't. Finally I end with " OK! I am really going now! No, really!"
That is exactly the way it has been with this blog. I sit down to write and the kids need help with homework, the cats need to be fed, or the dishes need to be washed. I get distracted and make excuses not to write and yes, someday I will explore this with a licensed professional.
So what is the solution? With sleep, my body will eventually take over and complain loudly that I am not making it a priority. My blog, not so much with the complaining. I must make writing a priority!
And so here we go again! No, really!

Sending Love in a Lunch Bag!

It just feels like I don't get enough time or energy to really tell my kids all the important stuff. We try and there are certain rituals we have that help the family connect as often as possible. One ritual that I have always cherished is sending a little extra love in a child's lunch box!

My mom used to tape stickers to my sandwich or thermos with little notes of encouragement or just love! I have continued that ritual with my kids. I am always looking for cute and unique ways to send a note. Here are a few tricks and products I have found to help me with my mommy job.

• I like to send notes I keep small note cards and thin line sharpies in the kitchen by the lunch supplies so I can quickly jot down a note. I have found awesome small note cards at Michael's in the $1 bins! Some even in the shape of crayons or with the kids individual initials on them!
• During one trip to Michael's I discovered Lunch Box Love cards by Say Please. These little notes have positive messages like "I love spending time with you!" on one side and fun facts like "Your heart beats about 101,000 times a day!" on the other side! With my Sharpie I add "To my sweetie" and "Love, Mommy!" or a little reminder about talent show practice.
• A big favorite has been Lunchology Lunch Bags. Personally I used to groan when my mom sent me with a brown paper bag, especially when I wanted the oh-so-cool Princess Leia Lunch box! But these solve the brown bag boredom in a cool way. Each bag is full of puzzles, fun facts or positive messages. The kids have definitely expressed their love for the bags on rainy and cold days when the school keeps them inside for recess. The puzzles or coloring pictures give them something different to do and are popular with their friends.
• Of course a big way to show love for my kiddos is to make food they want and will eat, not to mention is healthy and helps them keep up their energy throughout the school day. My daughter loves hard boiled eggs (sometimes I draw hearts or faces on the shell) and my son prefers things he can assemble instead of sandwiches. Paying attention to what healthy foods they like and will eat helps them have a positive day at school.

None of these little tricks and treats are hard or take alot of time or effort, trust me I would never put in too much time or effort! But they work well for this family. A honest disclaimer here, too: I do have my kids buy the school lunches at least once a week. The food has gotten alot better!

Blog reboot!

Its like looking in the closet for a pair of shoes and finding a box full of stuff!
So yes I have been a negligent blogger, and I am sorry. But a goal for 2010 (not a resolution...that word is jinxed!) is to do more writing. Some to share my passions, some to vent my frustrations and some just for fun. So keep me honest and on track, comment, facebook, tweet and retweet and spread the word.

Invention at Play

One of the things we like to do around here is take our bare feet on a wander. Today we wandered over to DC and the newly renovated National Museum of American History! We hadn't been since the museum reopened and were eager to check it out. Unfortunately so were a whole lot of other people (DC + Federal Holiday + 4th of July weekend = CRAZY CROWDS!!) We fought through the crowds anyway and were thrilled with the changes as well as a few old favorites that did not change!

One new exhibit that was extremely rewarding and fun was the Inventions at Play area! This interactive exhibit was broken down into several different inventions (sailboards, kevlar, robotic ants...) some useful, some playful, and some just interesting. Each area talked not just about the thing, or discovery but the inventor. What was their story, what were they like as children? Now try something different with whatever inspired this particular person. Then there were areas devoted to inspirational toys, nature inspriation and problem solving! The kids and the parents were blown away! We had so much fun that we can't wait to go back when there are a few less people in town!


Right next to the invention area was the Spark!Lab! A hands on area for kids to get down and dirty with inspiration and invention! Isaac and Leah were drawn to different areas, but they were equally engrossed and hard to seperate from their activities. There were Lab Docents who hold hourly presentations. While we were there they were about to start two different presentaions, one about DNA and one about CO2. Again this area deserves more attention than our short visit allowed!

Living Barefoot is about inspiration, imagination, exploration, creation and making connections. These exhibits presented these values beautifully. See all the Blums having fun and getting creative!

So take your toes on a wander. Where do you go for inspiration? Exploration? Share! Or come out to DC and visit us and we will show you our favorite places, too!

Finding your Identity

Overheard in my home while children are watching Phineas and Ferb: "Buford gives wedgies to people he calls 'nerds.' We call them cool, smart people!"

My 8 year old son proclaims loud and proud "I am a GEEK!" He knows his dad is a geek (officially GeekDad). He knew his mom was a Geek even before I knew, I denied my geek mom status too long!

Friends and family members have expressed concern that his pride at being a member of the Geek tribe will draw trouble, bullies, and teasing.

My question is this:

Should I discourage him from proclaiming his Geekness?

Honestly the status of the geek label has changed since we were kids. Geeks rule the world! They keep all our technology toys and tools running. Even Barack Obama is a geek!

We are not just Geeks in this family. We have other hard to explain identities as well. The kids and I are Unitarian Universalists. My husband is an Atheist, who was raised in a Jewish household. I was raised as a Catholic. We are an interfaith family to the max. Does discouraging him to feel true to his self identity send the message that we shouldn't be the people we want to be just because other people disagree. Let's be honest, this is the root of so much teenage angst!

You know what? I never would want my kid to feel bad about who or what he wants to be. So I'm gonna let him be our fabulous, wonderful geekling!

What do you think? What would you do?

Avoid the Summer Slide

I love the site, readingrockets.org! A few tips from them on keeping your readers reading!

Many children, especially struggling readers, forget some of what they've learned or slip out of practice during the summer months. Try these strategies to help your reader improve her reading during the summer and beyond.

It's hard to keep up a reading routine in a season packed with distractions and diversions. These suggestions will fit into a busy schedule and make reading fun!

Six books to summer success

Research shows that reading just six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right – not too hard and not too easy. Ask for help selecting books that match your child's age, interests, and abilities. Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate kids to read, so find out what's available in your area.

Read something every day

Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Find them throughout the day:

• Morning: The newspaper – even if it is just the comics or today's weather.

• Daytime: Schedules, TV guides, magazines, online resources, etc. For example, if your daughter likes the food channel, help her look for a recipe on the network's Web site – then cook it together for more reading practice.

• Evening: End the day by having your child read to you from the book he is currently reading (one of the six books, above). Have him rehearse a paragraph, page, or chapter before reading to you. Rereading will help him be more fluent – able to read at an appropriate speed, correctly, and with nice expression.

Keep reading aloud

Reading aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read books your child can't, so she will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This will increase her knowledge and expand her experience with text, so that she will do better when she reads on her own.

Do it yourself Summer Camp!

Do you have summer camp sticker shock? I do! $300-$400 for one week of Day Camp! WOW! We just can't do it for both kids. Luckily Gramma and Grampa are giving one week to our 8 year old as a Birthday Gift and I found a budget Girl Scout camp for our 6 year old. But that's only one week of activities for each kid. The rest of the summer will be filled with free trips to town pool and playgrounds, zoo and museums!

A group of Moms in our neighborhood have taken a different approach! They are holding their own summer camp for their kids. Each day a different family is in charge of activities. Kids gather at the host house for a hike, art project, game, or cooking activity! They are holding one this week for Pre-schoolers while older siblings are still finishing school. Later in the summer there will be another circuit for the elementary school crowd.

A few ideas for camp activities:

• Go on a nature hike: We live right up against a county park, so this one is easy for us. In addition to looking for real wildlife, that might be startled by a herd of munchkins tromping through the woods, hide small toy animals in the trees, brush and along a path. Just be aware of poison ivy!
• Water games: Have a good old fashion water balloon fight, water bucket relays, squirt bottle target practice. And who can forget Slip and Slide!!
• Obstacle course: Jump from hula hoop to hula hoop, jump over mop handles, ride bikes through plastic cones!
• ART!!: My favorite! Paint outside on large pieces of paper, have fun with shaving cream even paint on each other and then go to the water games!
• Have a sleep over: OK this one scares the poop out of me! More than one or two extra kiddos sleeping under my roof is a bit crazy! But if you have ambition and bravery, pitch a tent and roast some marshmallows. Goooood Luck!

I LOVE this idea and will be gathering a group of kiddos for fun and activities around our house. You can do it for a solid week, or as a playgroup style, meeting once a week at different houses!

Put on those creative caps and beat the bad economy by doing it yourself!

Home is where you read your books!

The move is done! We are here in our new house, boxes are being unpacked, photos and pictures are being hung on the walls, various and sundry things are being lost and then found, ahhh the joys of moving.

One of the very first things we unpacked was books, books, books and yet more books! I have oohhed and ahhhhed over forgotten titles and old favorites, and in the next breath cursed the pure volume of books in boxes, boxes, boxes and yet more boxes.


One book which was actually not packed and not unpacked but carefully transported from old home to new home. That book was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , the book we are currently reading as a family. I have written before about chapter books we read as a family. Now though we have realized the importance of this little ritual more than ever.

The very first night we slept in our new home, we made sure to clear away a few boxes and read a chapter. It helped keep us grounded in our theme for the move, same family, new location. It helped us all feel at home and calm down after the anxiety and excitement of the big move day.

Here's the thing, that's what our story time does for us every day. Every day we get together as a family and share a book. We cuddle and listen, gasp, sniff and giggle, all together as a family. I love this time of day! I love sharing this with my family.

So when friends tell me that they "don't read to their eight year old anymore, they are too old" or "don't think a six year old can enjoy a chapter book" I just tell them it works for us. This isn't a cause or crusade, its just our family!

Getting Over Parenting Panic!

"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." - Dr. Spock

When I discovered I was pregnant with my first child one of the first shopping trips was to the book store. So many books to choose from, I grabbed 3 or 4 and made sure What to Expect when You're Expecting was in the pile! I even bought one for my husband about becoming a dad. We settled in and began to read. I felt like the more I read the less I knew. These books made me feel like I was completely unprepared for this adventure. I didn't eat right, exercise correctly, heck I didn't even sleep on the proper side of my body!

PANIC!

My ObGyn tried to calm me down, and tell me I was fine and on the right track. Oh but the books, the books said otherwise! And then I discovered web sites and magazines...I was even dumber than I thought! The worst was the discovery of the medical reality shows about women giving birth, I had no idea so much could go wrong!

My mother and mother in law tried to calm me down by pointing out how they never had to worry about half the stuff the media was shoving at me. What did they know...my generation is just lucky to be alive!

I do remember the day (actually night) that the dependence on the books began to fall away. My little boy, arriving several weeks early but healthy, was finally home. He did not like his bassinet, he cried and cried. Every time I put him down he cried. My husband kept telling me that a friend of his had said his baby would only sleep in the car seat carrier. How absurd! The books said nothing about that! What does your drinking buddy know that my precious books can't tell me! Another sleepless night went by, and another. OK I'll try it, I conceded...but I'm calling the doctor in the morning to make sure its safe! It worked!

As time went by I threw those books out and depended more and more on my instincts. I can't tell you how many friends of mine feel like they don't have those instincts. That they could never throw out their books. As my kids are now 8 and 6 (and the 8 year old no longer sleeps in the car seat- FYI!) I still need to take a minute and rely on my instincts from time to time. It doesn't make me the most popular Mom all the time, but it does keep me happy with my family and my parenting decisions!

I was inspired to write this today by this awesome article in the Washington Post! Check it out!

Mom's That Rock the Business World!

Inc.com highlighted 5 Moms Who Built Great Companies and Barefoot's own Nancy Traversy is on the list! We've known she's great for a very long time. Read about Nancy and the other 4 wonderful business women.