Imbolc or Candlemas

When I first stumbled into paganism and went overwhelmed by the many Sabbaths.. most of which I could relate...But Imbolc was totally new (see post from last year). But somehow this year it all make sense. It's as if the wheel of the year is now complete for me and can now start to spin without making a weird sound on Feb 2 or Aug 1st. I follow blogs from all kinds of blogspheres and I love how my favourite two, let's call them pagans and natural parenting blogs (not to say Waldorf) gets very similar. As I removed my permanent altar from lack of place, I'm itching to having it back AND install a nature table for my littlies. In this second floor apartment, I can wait to have at least a little bit of green of our own for Mariann to run.

At first it seemed weird to start thinking of springtime when I know there's still 2 months of cold weather ahead. One year we celebrated a marriage on a spring equinox in a snow storm.

Today was my mom's birthday. It's Papa's on Friday and my FIL the day after that. They went 7min close to have the same birth date!

Imbolc is one reason more to celebrate life. Life outdoor that is still sleeping again for sometimes. Life indoor; all that painting and modelling and crafting and nesting.

It's a time where I move things around and make changes in how I store my stuff. I'll give up some of it too!

Here's what we do/want to do, for the curious!

-Have a candlelight souper.

-Make and Eat apple crustard. Mariann loves to help

-Eat crêpes (Papa's making them!)

-Most likely listen to Groundhog day (with Bill Murray). We bought the dvd years ago to my FIL at his bday, pretty appropriate. Somehow we never get tired of it (once a year....) And every one feels like learning piano afterwards!

-Make a Brigid's cross and hang it somewhere (with pipe cleaners)

-I'll try making paper snowflakes with Mariann. See how this one goes... (she is pretty good with scissors now!)

How do you celebrate Candlemas if you do?

Play with your children

Merrick enjoys tea!

I often set up Mariann play things and sit with her. We make ourself some tea, give some to bébé budder and feed the doll with sippy cups.
Sitting with her for some minutes, using the stuff I made for her, kind of showing her how-to, allows her to play on her own afterwards.

Tea, eggs, chips, wiped cream, corn, pizza toping and chocolate

Nothing too elaborate. And nothing rigid whatsoever.
And then I find her recreating our play with Merrick. Or reading to him.
(or handing him a pencil....)

Sleeping giraffe, shh!

Lion plushes can breastfeed giraffes. I tell you.

right now, I AM:

Tired. It my first full day without Papa at home since the holiday break. It went far better that I thought, with the rough night I had (we, counting Merrick). Those teeth are breaking just yet, and it's pretty painful for both of us, since he copes with pain by biting mommy. Bitting hard! Every feed. I've tried various tricks who didn't really work, so I'm saying to myself that it will pass, I hope.

Mariann was so exhausting at super time. She totally drained us all. Oh well. It the picture above she's counting the narcissus flowers..1,2..2! (3 isn't there just yet)

So now I still have Merrick on my lap, convinced he doesn't need to sleep..but I know better, but he doesn't want to listen to me. Stubborn baby he is.



I've updated my shop with tons of cuddle baby, if you want to take a look. Mariann loves to help me for a photoshoot. But what she loves most was putting them to sleep. (So I couldn't touch them afterwards..)

As much as I dislike facebook, I'm going to build a group page for my shop, so I can get some viewing, then you all facebooky mamas could join it :)


::: right now I AM was initiated by the lovely Lisa, EarthMama. Join her (us) anytime!:::

How to make baby cereals

This little guy here, well. He eats a lot.

again, if you ever get tired of baby pictures, you just tell me...

He's been on 2h feeds since birth, with very little break for mommy at night.
And he's been watching our cutlery with interests at mealtime, ever more since those 2 little white things got out... So, we've started giving him solids. Avocado, apple, carrots... He loves it. He's very thrilled!

tonight's batch. grand-pa carrots! not organic, but surely locally grown and at least we know what gets on those...

Pediatricians tell us we need to start with rice cereals... I'll refer you to this article, which reflects my point of view.

Rice cereal has traditionally been the first complementary food given to American infants, but “Complementary foods introduced to infants should be based on their nutrient requirements and the nutrient density of foods, not on traditional practices that have no scientific basis,” Dr. Greer said in an interview.

"Rice cereal is a less than perfect choice for the first complementary food given to infants. Rice cereal is low in protein and high in carbohydrates. It is often mixed with varying amounts of breast milk or formula. Although most brands of formula now have added iron, zinc, and vitamins, iron is poorly absorbed—only about 7.8% of intake is incorporated into red blood cells."

This article about babyled weaning is great too, if you can read French.

That's why I went for avocado first, a good source of natural iron (amongst other good stuff) that will actually end up being absorbed.

But cereal is still good stuff, when not chemically processed.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. rice powder (brown rice ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.

Sadly, I didn't even know that there was an alternative to the (quite expensive for our budget) boxed cereal instant powder when it came the time to feed solid to Mariann.

I won't give fast food as a first food to my baby this time.

yum!

And I finally got around finding time making SouleMama's granola recipe.
It is really good for us. We're the kinds that have many little in-between snacks. (And it's cheaper!)

Hope every one had a great weekend. It's been an indoor weekend here. Really really freezing! -32°C with the winds. For US folks, it means -26F. They forecast -34F for tonight. So we've been in our pyj (woollen socks for the olders), eating hot stuff and drinking tea! It's great to stay home a little, but now I'm kind of itchy to get outdoor... But not tomorrow apparently, since it's still going to be really cold.

a lovely garland

Did you see GardenMama's latest post? Really cute. The perfect project to keep Mariann off of Papa's homework zone.



She's always thrilled when I get the paint out.
In order to keep it Valentine-y, I only got out the red and white.
Then we painted whole sheet of watercolour paper.



And she kept painting while I cut some hearts.
When I proposed her the glue stick and shown her what to do with it, she shacked with joy. 2yr olds are like that.



She had to make them smile :)

So it's the first time I decorate for valentine's day...It's pretty, isn't it?

for fun, and because I haven't done so a while, I'm linking to the DIY show-offs.

This post contains pink.

I've meant to make a batch of play dough for Mariann for some time now. Somehow it didn't get done before Yule and I was a little scare I'd screw it up anyway...but I was wrong.

It really is easy.



And SO soft! And it smells great.

The day before yesterday, I read this post at Sew Liberated. I used the recipe she suggested, adding a tea bag of field-berries in the water.

After 7 min (and some more time for cooling) it was good to knead, and felt awesome. I went hunting for sculpting stuff.


Maman made the family, Mariann added hats!

Mostly cooking tool that came with a set she was gifted, my pattern wheel, the zester (did I ever used it?) cookie cutters and popcycle sticks. I rubbed all that is wooden with olive oil, and put it all in this brown gift box. I don't have access to canvas by the meter so I pulled out the toy story mat.
We store the dough in that pyrex container.

I had nothing to purchase. I love a good free project.

Of course, Mariann loves it and played and played and played.
She also get everything back in the box once she's done. We didn't even have to ask. How great?

Now, I let Merrick introduce you my newest item in my shop, enjoy!

Have you ever made playing dough? I never bought store one, and don't intend to!

What I got for this week's yarn along

I've crocheted a wig cap for Victoria, at last!
I've used some lovely mohair (70% mohair/ 30% acrylic) and a size 5 metal crochet hook, following these instructions again, this time decreasing for the last 2 row. It fitted very snuggly! I didn't attached hair to all the cap like I did for him, instead I went around and in the middle, for a pigtail look.



And this is my week's reading. I love tattoos and tattooing. My first real passion, apart from drawing. This might be the only sacrifice I made when deciding to stay at home...

Hand Knit Hand Me Downs

Julie from This Cozy Life had an awesome idea:

"This group is a place to bring your outgrown, mis-sized, no longer wanted or needed handknits and crochet. Knitting for babies and children is such a pleasure but they outgrow clothing so quickly! Or, perhaps you made a hat or sweater that doesn't fit you like it should or are just tired of a hat you made two years. Well, bring all of your *gently used* hand knits here and find them a new home where they will be loved and treasured and get some new knits in the process! Rules: *You must knit or crochet. *No selling... at all. You will pay shipping costs on the items you ship out, no money is to be exchanged. *Hand knits or crocheted items only, no commercial, please. *When posting an item to give away, please include the size/age, fibre content and any relevant notes, including condition. *In order to insure fairness, please use random.org to choose the recipient when more than one person is requesting an item. How long you leave comments open is up to you. *Please include 'Offer', 'Received' or 'Closed' in the item title. *Don't forget to close comments on items already given away. *When an item is received by you take a picture and share it with us!"

Sounds great right?
I'm sure I'll have some stuff to offer soon. I'm a beginner after all... And beginner makes mistakes, right?

(hope you don't mind me posting a pic of your daughter, Julie!)

Accordingly, this very cute little hat is going to be Merrick's!

I'm very happy since by the time I'll be able to knit that well, he won't wear tiny stuff anymore!

So I'm sure some of you have some piece you just couldn't give away but still isn't useful around.

I'm giving those away.

I've been given those by my mom and they unfortunately are too long. Any other family member which it could fit don't like the colour. ( But I do! ) You can see the length on the picture.

They are (probably) made out of acrylic yarn. I say so because I've washed them in case they would shrink to my size (I have very little feet!) But they did not. And they are not itchy as well. So if you want them, comment (here or on flickr) and they are yours!

My first!

I've been working on him for (what it seems) weeks, here and there, when I could. And now he's done. And he's for sale.



A LOT of 5 mins here and there. Slowly building a face, a body, then attaching both (Oh, the relief of my daughter when she saw both piece attached, screaming "He's repaired! He's repaired!")



His lovely outfit was up-cycled. His hoodie was made out of a scarf and I'm going to start hunting for more of those to make something similar for Merrick! His pants come from the hand-me-down stash of no-more-fitting jeans. He also have cotton socks that neither Merrick or Mariann had the time to wear. He can be undressed and dressed and undressed again, and his clothing can be machine washed! How convenient?



He was made without a pattern, and came up rather slender, so I had to make him a popping navel to balance it off!



I love him. I think my FIL would have kept him if I let him.. (I plan on surprising him with one on his birthday..shh!)

Of course, he's made with almost all Natural, Organic materials. He is made out of fair coloured interlock cotton knit that is certified organic. He is stuffed with pure wool, according to the Waldorf tradition : a firm head and soft limbs and belly. The wool makes him warm to the touch :) I love to hug him, I really do!

The only "fake" material is the hair: 70% acrylic/30% alpaca. But it is really soft!

I'm really proud, and exited, and a little stressed. This is my first big doll for sale!
I wonder if all the work will pay off. I wonder if my selling price is too high. I wonder if my pictures are good enough...



Toya (that's how Mariann says "Victoria") wanted to be in the photo shoot as well!
She's still bald but her crochet wig cap is done and I will attach her some hair soon.


... I wanted to see if there was interest in a Waldorf doll "snow suit". I'm really glad I got one: It saved her from dirty calcium snow in the streets, several times!



...So. Here's my big thing for today. Ah, the worries! I really hope someone will love him enough to want him home! He's filled with love and I really enjoyed making him. I'd love being able to say I can bring some income home, too.

So, again, here's the listing for him.
If by any chance you love his style but was looking for other features (different hair or eye colour or a smaller doll...) I'm open for a custom listing or two via alchemy :)


I had a little friend with me during the photo shoot :D

Hope you had a great weekend everybody, and I wish you a nice week!

What makes me like a blog

I wondered.
There's some blogs out here I keep going to. They share the same day-to-day things, baby faces, pictures of little faces than others...but the overall feeling when you enter the page isn't the same. It triggers happiness somewhere in my brain, and makes me stay for a post, some pages, or the whole blog (it happened. Often.)

So I give it some thought, and here's the result:

1.White background + minimalistic layout + favorite projects in the sidebar (love this one when stumbling on a blog for the first time!)

2.Lots of colors, posts full of photograph and joyful header

3.Crisp pictures. The persons not just threw a pic here and there: She carefully chosen it and wants it to help telling her point.

4.Content! A story, a craft, a journey :) Stories behind little dresses, what fabric and were you got it, what pattern you used and how much you little likes to wear it!

5.Like-minded people. We have something in commun; Natural parenting, Willing to make a change, Crafts, Arts....

6. Rythm. What makes me come back to a blog is getting to know the person writing and wanting to know what she's up to.

So, I don't know if the women who asked me the question, long long time ago, still read my blog. But I finally answered!

right now, I AM:

...Loving how those 2 are slowly, but surely, becoming best friends.
Mariann loves to "read" to her little brother, she makes up stories according to the images. On this picture, she was telling something about Buzz flying on Bullseye...
They entertain each other really well, they are really sweet to watch and listen. Mariann often give hugs and says "I luff you!". She patiently gives him back his rattle each time he drops it; she will even share her favorite toy of the moment with him if he start getting grumpy!
Off course, she's a 2yr old, sometimes she really doesn't feel like sharing. But most of the time she does. And it's awesome to see!

Yarn Along!

I'm a tad late, I haven't been here at all today...
But look at this!

not too bad for a first time?

What is it? you might ask... Well. I don't know. I've just looked at how to knit a knit stitch and went on. I've cast on 60, somehow ended up with 140+ and decreased at a point. And then I went on...
It's probably end up being something that warms my neck!

As for the yarn... It's just some random 100% Acrylic stuff from a big store. Nothing fancy!

I'm playing along with Ginny and the rest of the little gang...

I have to say: I love having something to occupy my hands in any occasion!

Protraict of Merrick

This, according to Mariann, is Baby Bother Meyick.

And this one, still from Mariann, is Papa. Happy Papa.

I guess every mommy of a 2½ yr old is proud of her baby's scribble... Well, I had to show you those, as I have no one around to compare it. I think she's really skilled. Drawing is her favorite past time, she sit next to me while I blog or sew, or next (but mostly on) Papa when he does homework (and possibly draw on the homework as well).

By letting her having access to all my dry art supplies all the time, and never saying "those pencils are for grow-ups, here's your wax crayon" we let her develop a skill that she truly enjoy. She can focus on the paper(s) for a whole half of hour. She can sit and paint for that long as well. Not only is it a good break for mommy (because, believe me, she can be quite noisy and active as well!) but the calm and silence it provides benifit her so much, I can clearly see it. Oh, and she's so proud!
"Look mommy, it's Santa Claus!" she said, handing me a circle full of dots, with hairs all around...

And this is Merrick tasting avocado. Instant love. He got impatient when I reloaded the spoon. He hate a lot! What a great (and tasty) first time eating solid!

{This moment}

{this moment}

a wee tiny part of this week... Imaged.

I'm feeling nostalgic

I'm pointing you my header. It doesn't really make any sense to put that in January, thought. But It's my blog, I'll do what I want! I miss the peace of the house we lived in last year, that was Papa's grandparents.

Behind us; 3km of fields and a some woods that was all us. In front of the house (header picture) The Saint-Laurent. How peaceful and relaxing!
Sometimes we could see beautiful Snowy owl, in the middle of summer, in the middle of the day!

It's been a year and a half that we moved here; no yard, cement everywhere, a scrap cloth line and a tiny balcony. But what irk me the most and that very little light enter the apartment. I feel so bad I have to open the lights in the middle of the afternoon to see what I'm working on!

But what really makes me miss the house is how free we were.

Here's the thing; after 1year and a half, our neighbour below decided they were pissed of earing Mariann walking. You know, like any 2 yr old does. They hit the ceiling whenever they can.
Mariann walking at 4 pm? 2 hits.
Mariann jumping? 3 hits.
Merrick waking for a 7o'clock feed? 2 more hits.
Laundry machine starting? 2 more hits.
Mariann replying to their hits, thinking its a game? HITTING FOR A WHOLE MINUTE like their life were in danger. And scaring a 2 yr old. Bravo.

Papa went to see them. They tried not replying the door like they weren't there (?). Papa insisted. And told us what he thought of that...

Next day, they attempted to mess with us by putting loud club music... I heard one door open, some knock on their door, their door opening, then slamming shut, then another door closed.

See, there's 2 apartment below us. Unfortunately for them, their attempt to piss us didn't really work on us, but it did piss the other guy on their floor level.

I say, If you can't tolerate other people little noise, or the way apartment are badly insulated, rent a whole house just for you.

*breath* Really, the view we had from that house's window were amazing.

Yarn Along : I actually have something to show!

I've been wanting to learn to knit and crochet for a long time now. Being around knitters (in the cyberspace) really boosted my will! And Ginny's yarn along helps a lot in doing so...

So I did it! I crocheted my first doll wig cap! All by myself, yay! Okay, I got help from this video and this other one and that awesome tutorial/pattern. And now I'm at the point of attaching hair to it... Pretty time consuming, but it looks so great already :) I'm using yarn I found in a store here, the most natural I could find... So it's 70% acrylic/30% alpaca. Once attached, I separate the two plies, which makes super soft curls :) Now I need to buy pink thread to make this little boy a body!

And the book behind? It's The Knitting Experience Book 1: The knit stitch by Sally Mellville. It has beginner project with lots of explanation on what to use to do what. Very great! I got it this holiday. Apparently I kept saying I wanted to learn! hehe!

11 Goals for 2011

1. Learn to knit
2. Cut on meat eating
3. Cut on cow milk, totally if possible (a hard one, I'm emotionally attached)
4. Fill my etsy shop with organic doll goodness
5. Don't buy any cloths for me or the kids, make them instead
6. Furnish our (upcoming) house with previously loved furniture, preferably unpainted wood
7. Still breastfeed on December 31st
8. Produce the majority of our veggies
9. Make our bread
10. Be more patient
11. Enjoy every moment!

What are your goals?

12 months have passed...

June

I can truly say I've evolved in those last 12 months. I've matured a lot, and made life choices that are sometimes seen drastic, but for us it's just that we want what's best for us and our children. What kind of mother wouldn't want the very best for its child? The best conditions available? Not only for the child's health, but for the parent as well.


July


I'm tired of being in a "city" (it's not a huge city... we see the big saint-laurent river ahead and it takes 5 mins to reach a farm; 30 and you're in the wood) but we don't have a yard and we're surrounded by noise and very little green. And yet I'm exited to get into a big city.. were we will hopefully have our own house, with a yard, a garden, and yet again hopefully some co-op to make our choice more easy to live...


August




This blog took a wonderful turn, and I'm thankful for all the ladies up there who writes theirs. And a lot of thanks to those who read mine.

I feel the way we chose isn't the easiest, but the best. At least for us!

Happy New Year everyone!!

(I planned this post would be much, much longer. But... I've decided to simplify, in 2011. And it looks like it's starting now!)

lots of love,
Andréann.