make. believe.

green bean teepee

2011-06-08T13:27:00.001-07:00

saw her bean pole teepee last year, and knew these little fort nuts would LOVE one. and since leif's favorite vegetables are "garden" green beans, i knew it would be a hit. we have lots of space outside, but also lots of deer visitors, and constructing a deer-proof garden spot is on a long list of projects. but we do have a little fenced side yard in need of lots of work (meaning we can do just about anything we want over there, and it will be better than what it is now). so we took advantage of a break in the rain and got busy. i gathered a few random long sticks, tied them up, and let the boys go crazy with the yarn bag. they pretended to be spiders, weaving their way in and out of the sticks and each other. everyone was busy working on different aspects of the project, and it felt so good to be happily creating something together. everyone came and went, of course, but for the most part, all three boys were enthusiastically engaged at one time or another.

we were on such a roll, we even stuck a few pea seeds in the ground...we'll see what happens. (by the way, for those of you who aren't local, we've had TONS of rain and unseasonably cold temperatures here, so that's why our gardening adventures may seem late...and why i'm optimistic, but not betting too much on a whole lot of success...it's the process, not the product, right?!?)

and when the inevitable rain paid us its afternoon visit, the boys enjoyed sitting at the window watching all the birdies feasting on the tiny critters we turned up.

what is

2011-06-02T17:04:00.001-07:00

it's 5:04.

normally, this is the time when little boys around here are herded away

from afternoon activities toward dinner (or are already pacing the kitchen like starving hyenas). but not tonight. finally, there's a break in the rain, and i'm licking these moments up like the last bits of cake. they're outside, making their own mud dinners, soups, and crazy concoctions. i can see a beer bottle, the ash bucket, a tool belt, and a nice pile of urgently green weeds. they're happy. i'm happy. and whenever the inside calls to them, there are warm cookies

waiting to lure them to the tub.

dinner can wait.

easter bunny day

2011-04-24T17:43:00.001-07:00

dear blog, it's been a long time. sorry i've neglected you. i'll do better (maybe). how about a little easter recap to catch up?

we had some special visitors (in addition to the easter bunny, of course) this easter....grandma holly and grandpa andy came for the weekend. after enjoying a much appreciated day of gorgeous weather on saturday, we decorated eggs that evening.

a close-up of eric's favorite "anakin" egg...he wanted to make sure this shot found

its way to the blog.

the next morning, the boys were tickled to find many of their stuffed bunny friends waiting patiently for them downstairs...quietly gathered on the rug, presumably invited together by the E.B. him- (her?) self. then, we dashed outside, managing to beat the snowflakes to the easter baskets on sunday morning.

back inside, goodies were discovered and devoured by all.

the day was rainy, but that seemed only to enhance sam's adventures...

seemed like the right kind of day for warm, yummy pretzels & soup, so that was easter dinner...

thanks, bunny...mama thinks this holiday is her favorite.

it's deja vu all over again

2011-03-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

these boys love to draw, there's no doubt about that. and they love to draw the same things over and over and over again. even when it's the same subject, the images do change over time, usually becoming more detailed, so that's fun to watch. sometimes, though, i think i'm going crazy when i look down and see a picture that looks exactly the same as it did some months ago, even though i'm sure i stashed (or possibly trashed...i know, GASP!) it away in a very safe spot...ahem. today was one of those days. leif made another of his football players, and even he remarked that it looked exactly like the old one (above). then, of course, he wanted me to find that old one, so he could make the comparison himself. i could probably do that with a little digging, but i can find these pictures more quickly.

at least today's round was a little easier on the nerves than that last time. these are just some of the rejects that caused us all a little...um...distress. the numbers, the hands, the face...they all hand to be just so. one of the challenges of drawing from a model, i suppose. but he cannot be deterred.

last time, eric and sam joined in the fun, too. eric's guy is in the middle...the tape used to correct a few small cutting boo boos quickly became "bandages" from a rough game. the guy on the right is a cast-off happily decorated by sam.

i think i'll leave it at that...wouldn't want to relive the trauma that befell us all when good 'ol number 16 became drenched by a spill....oy!

friend party, finally!

2011-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

are they here yet? what about now? now? NOW?????

last weekend, we finally had a "friend party" for leif...his actual birthday was only two months ago. sickness, busy-ness, post holiday no-more-celebrating-anything-ness...it all contributed to a little delay in the festivities. but, we finally arrived at just the right time, and (crazy, high-energy, six-year-old) fun was had by all. oh yah.

there were cool dino headbands,

balloon craziness...followed by nerve blasting balloon popping,

a little gift envy (oh, that one's so hard for me...),

and an awesome, daddy-designed dino cake!

oh, and yes...a pinata. giving an old ax handle to the above mentioned crazy six year olds? what a great idea! but, it was fate -- leif discovered it hanging from the ceiling at the local discount store. no way that thing wasn't coming home with us.

we didn't escape without a little snow and a lot of wind (i guess a january birthday just kinda sticks with ya), but we did make it outside for the pinata. just on account of that, i'm chalking the whole thing up as a success.

doodlebugs 3.11.11, green pepper clover

2011-03-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

did you know that a green pepper cut in half horizontally creates the shape of a four-leaf clover when you stamp it? neither did i, but the folks over here did. so we gathered up our little leprechauns and stamped the time away...

and painted, and drizzled, and scrubbed, and dabbed, of course.

for some added magic (and scent), we sprinkled green jello over our art just for fun. shaving cream? lime jello? no one can say we stink. ;-)

here is eric's masterpiece, encased in a layer of paint and jello so thick that green pepper wouldn't even think of rotting. here's to st. patrick's day, green paint, green peppers, and anything else that reminds us of spring!

you sneaky devil goddess, you...

2011-03-07T14:10:00.001-08:00

missy chase lapine, you're a genius, and i love you.

ok, so i've had this book on my shelves for around four years now, thanks to my friend, andi. geologically speaking, that's not too long, right?

well, the stars were aligned yesterday, and for whatever reason, i decided to give the crunchy chicken tenders a go. they were sooooo yummy, and for the first time in my six years as a mother, i plunked down a pile of chicken nuggets for dinner and felt not one ounce of guilt, but rather excitement. "better than mcdonald's!" eric declared. now that's a compliment. they reheated today beautifully...crisp and delish....i prefer them with honey mustard.

with "orange puree" left over, we went ahead and made some "thumbprint peanut butter cookies" this afternoon...a perfect recipe for a four year old chef. smashing cereal with a rolling pin? check. plunging your finger into the middle of a dough ball? check. stuffing chocolate chips into the center of said dough balls? check. what more could we ask for? "healthiness", you say? check, check and double check. with an ingredient list including whole wheat flour, carrots, sweet potatoes, wheat germ, whole wheat cereal, natural peanut butter, & canola oil, i'd say this recipe is the tops.

while adding ingredients, eric noted it looked like "a mountain in the ocean...like hawaii". oh, goodness, i'm in heaven.

so out went a plate of these babies this afternoon, and everyone declared "great!" (well, sam said, "gate!") and munched them into oblivion. they actually gasped when they realized there was a plateful of cookies in front of them, and i wasn't limiting their access to it. leif declared, "it's a trick treat!" "why?" i asked. "because it's a treat, but it's not!" you got it, kid! you know what the best part is? we weren't even sneaky about it...we cooked together, and the kids know what's in these goodies. isn't that "gate"!?!

doodlebugs 3.4.11, shaving cream trumps all

2011-03-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

well, little did i know, all you have to do to keep a bunch of youngins' busy is spray a bunch of shaving cream in front of them. they have a number of options under these conditions: touch it ambitiously, touch it cautiously, touch it with a paint brush, apply it to their faces, whack it and see what happens, apply it to their parents' faces, draw in it, stare at it with no touching, stare at all the kids touching it in the above ways, and/or any combination thereof. i had grand plans for letting them add paint to it and even potentially taking a marbleized print from it, but you know, plain old shaving cream seemed pretty fascinating all by its lovely old self. it was very interesting to see how many kiddos explored the shaving cream in ways that surprised their grown-ups. as in, "i can't believe he's putting that on his face!" (said by me, secretly to another mom). ah, art...it can be so freeing! i also had string painting set up, but only one little guy said hello to that station...i'll save it for another day.

so there you go...shaving cream. whoddah thunk it?

thrifty friends

2011-02-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

once upon a time, there was a little boy who fell in love with a stuffed animal at the drug store. he went there from time to time with his brothers and mama, usually to pick up prescriptions...not exactly joy to a child. his favorite isles were filled with colorful gifts, seasonal knick-knacks, and of course, toys. this particular creature hung with his friends at the end of the row, attracting the eye and begging for a cozy home. "put it on your list," the mama would gently say, noting how much the little boy coveted the creature while simultaneously thinking it didn't quite fit her idea of the perfect toy. several months went by, and always the same little guy called out to her son. satin wings in his favorite color, blue. one day, justified by the coupon in hand, the mama marched into the store prepared, finally, to bring the winged temptation home for her son's fourth birthday. enter "zlock", member of the webkinz gang...a "zumbuddy" to be specific. much to the mama's delight, this was no passing fancy for her son. he was thrilled to find him among his birthday gifts and has slept with him, loved him, and toted him on adventures ever since.

this adoration did not escape his observant older brother, who began to long for a little friend of the same species. oh, my! the collection fever had gripped them! now the family, it seemed, needed another zumbuddy.

*sigh*.

fast forward to today and a much needed thrift store fix. the mama brought the oldest boy along with her for a treasure hunting adventure. fabric scraps, books, yarn...the normal odds and ends began to gather in their cart. but alas, you will never believe who gazed upon them from the piles of well-loved stuffed beasts...yes, a zumbuddy, please and thank you. and not just any zumbuddy, but the exact one, zana, the oldest boy had chosen to place on his list when his zumbuddy envy bloomed.

well, hit me with a daisy. that's the magic of thrift stores, i tell you. and now the two zumbuddies are sitting happily between their adoptive daddies, wrapped snugly in their newly made "sweater" bags.

but that's another story.

doodlebugs 2.18.11, this and that

2011-02-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

what do you get when you put oil pastels, tempera paint, juice lids*, glue, and the "treasure box" in front of little artists? ...all kinds of cool creations!

*for these, i used the lids from frozen cans of juice with holes punched in them. i strung them with fishing line before the kids started working to ensure the holes weren't blocked by their little collages. to punch the holes, i used a crop-o-dile...a super cool, super strong crafty wonder.

snow, sleds, sweet potatoes & star wars

2011-02-20T16:00:00.001-08:00

on a whim today (thank you, joe, for your spontaneity...sometimes i just can't muster the energy), we headed up to the snow. nowhere special, just a roadside pile of the white stuff with just enough of a slope to keep the littles tickled. the timing was just right: warm sunshine & sam and eric falling asleep on the way. leif and joe got started first, while i took some pictures. woke up eric next so he wouldn't miss out, and the four of us got to play for a good while longer. sam finally woke up just in time for a stomp through the snow on mama's back. he was perfectly content, but i just had to go ahead and plop us both on a sled...even though that's not his favorite thing...i know, cruel. he giggled the first time, despite his initial protests, but the second time down was just too much for him. someday. anyway, we finished off the trip with a little snowfort construction while sam recovered with joe in the van.

when we got home, leif started peeling sweet potatoes for fries. after a day of sledding, fries are ok for dinner, right? the coolest part was that leif actually ate them...bless you, magical kid-assisted food prep...why do i hardly ever remember this trick?

the boys occupied themselves by parading as jedis, complete with fully equipped tool belts. for those of you (blissfully) unaware, please note eric's black-gloved hand, an unfortunate result of a duel with count dooku.

so there you go. how we keep ourselves entertained when the snow just keeps on coming.

doodlebugs 1.28.11, heart art, part I

2011-02-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

and so began our adventures with hearts at doodlebugs.

this time we used heart stencils cut out of tag board

and potato heart stampers to create our works.

we also experimented a bit with color mixing; everyone began with four blobs of white paint and a cup of red, which they could mix into the white.

the result was a lot of pink, red, and white magic with a few distinct heart shapes peeking through. i think they look sweet grouped together (see above).

doodlebugs 2.4.11, heart art, part II

2011-02-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

more hearts!

construction paper hearts, white glue, scissors & paper...endless possibilities. leif was the inspiration for this one, telling us about making heart shaped fish in kindergarten.

i love watching the youngest artists learn to use scissors...such a tempting and fantastic tool.

look how adept this little guy has become, and he's two!

next up, fingerprinting. this started out with a little demonstration of how you can make a fingerprint heart by making a little "v" with your fingertip, but of course, that was far too limiting for these innovators, and they went to town with fingerprints and handprints galore.

and when the supplies came together, the printing got even more creative. one artist even used his forehead and nose!

doodlebugs 2.11.11, heart art, part III

2011-02-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

today was week three of more heart art. there are just so many fun ideas for creating heart loveliness! fortunately, valentine's day is in three days and everyone can have a break from our heart fever.

we had three stations today:

first, there were "handy" hearts, where kiddos could experiment with different ways to make hearts with your hands, including fingerprints, handprints, and using the sides of the palm (pictured in my sample above).

second, we used a print making technique & traditional valentine colors to create 4 x 6 art works. we'd used the bottoms of cake & pie tins to do this before, but using the cookie sheets and taping off the rectangles was an inspiration i found here, via the crafty crow.

finally, the hearts created when i made stencils for a previous project were decorated with tissue paper collage.

as always, supplies crossed tables, allowing for even more creativity and variety with the activities. we were busy little cupids, that's for sure.

babies for sam

2011-01-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

little sam is very into babies right now. for some time now, he's claimed a cabbage patch doll from our collection as his special baby, which he calls "fren" (friend). this doll has been a member of our home since my baby shower for leif, when a good friend gave the doll to us because her own son had loved a similar one so much. poor fren has been floating, unattached, around our home ever since. no one ever quite attached to him, until now. i'm so glad he's finally getting some good toy love.

in fact, sam's love for both fren and a neighbor's visiting dolly motivated me to try to make a little doll for him for christmas, inspired by erin's cutey babe. i got a pattern and some supplies, and began the satisfying-in-a-strange-feeling-way-like-you're-creating-a-person work of making a doll.

this little baby is a bit misshapen here and there, but sam was ok with his lumps and bumps, so it's all good. he was not completely ready for christmas, so he arrived with a hat and a blanket to hide his lack of hair (and creepy thread bits coming out of the back of his head) and clothes.

when i get around to growing this baby a good head of hair and dressing him properly, i'll have to take some more pictures to share. meanwhile, i believe he's upstairs, dressed in one of eric's socks.

at any rate, sam now has two baby friends to keep him company. and thanks to grandma diana, he's also got a handy sling to tote them around wherever he goes.

doodlebugs 1.14.11, salty trails & watercolors

2011-01-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

this was a really fun discovery & process oriented activity, from Mary Ann Kohl, found here. we used white glue to make designs, then sprinkled salt over the design (we had a large baking pan over which we sprinkled, to catch and reuse the salt).

the set-up provided plenty of opportunities to practice other skills, like writing and pouring, too.

we primarily used droppers to dispense the liquid watercolor, which allowed for neat distribution along the salt.

we had brushes available, too, and that gave a different effect, especially if the kids scrubbed their image, like jean mentioned.

the kids really enjoyed watching the color travel along their glue/salt paths...it was fascinating watching the color move and mix with other colors. the salt is a cool tactile element, too. this one's a keeper!

fairy babe

2010-12-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

when i asked eric what secret santa gift he wanted to give a little girl in his class, he said "a fairy blanket". well, you can't have a fairy blanket with no fairy, now can you? so i started looking around for good ideas and fell in love with these little fairy babes the instant i saw them here.

i followed her directions (more or less), but had to adjust a bit because the wooden beads i had on hand didn't have holes that went all the way through. hmmmm...how to get the fabric to attach securely into the head with my beads? well, the first little babe was adorned with an obscene amount of glue. i felt the waldorf police hot on my trail, so i deemed her an experiment and got busy making more, trying new techniques each time. well, here's what i did.

i started with a 6 inch square piece of fabric (chosen by eric). i folded it in half, and stitched the two short sides, rounding toward the fold line.

this shows how it looks as you fold in the other two sides to sew them up as well. i had to play with this a bit...i'm a bit spatially impaired with even the simplest things like this, but picturing it as a little fabric wonton helped.

see? all stitched up and ready to stuff with crab and chee...oh, oh...i mean fluffy stuffing. these steps are pretty much the same as gingercake's (i think), but i left less unstitched fabric at the top because i wasn't going to be doing it quite the same way from here on in.

the boys filled her up with a bit of rice for weight, and then i topped her little body off with fluff and used the end of a paint brush to help poke it in.

here's her body, stuffed, with the little opening at the top. at the bottom of the photo is a piece of pipe cleaner, curled around a couple of times to coil down into that hole. i shot some hot glue down into the hole and then pressed the pipe cleaner coil down onto the glue inside the body.

next, i filled that little hole in the bead with hot glue and then stuck it on the end of the pipe cleaner sticking out of the body. i added a little more glue down around the bottom of the bead and

pressed the head down to make sure it was all good and stuck together.

eric chose a cotton fabric scrap for the hat, so i sewed it up like this and then turned it right side out and glued it on. this was tricky to do neatly while the glue was hot, so i don't have a good picture. gingercake used felt, and maybe a stiffer fabric like that would be a little easier to handle. i helped him draw a little face on. he said it was a girl, so she had to have eyelashes. he also said she was a fairy, so we sewed on some simple felt wings at the end.

sam, especially, was enamored with these little cuties and spent the entire morning covering up the first one with various blankets and scraps while i sewed. he was not a happy camper when i whisked away the one destined to be a gift, so i quickly sewed him another,

in this blue fabric he picked from the pile. he gave her lots of hugs and snuggles. good times all around. thanks, gingercake!

celebrating eric

2010-12-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

this kid is officially four today. although, apparently that's not in full effect until this evening, after his "family party". when he woke up, and i said, "today's your birthday! i can't believe you're four!" he said, "i'm still three. i'm not four until my party." but he said it with a little tinge of something melancholy...like maybe he wasn't quite ready to be older. i'm in no hurry either, so i said, "good! i don't want you to grow up too fast." and he replied, "well, i can't do that anyway." there. we're all consoled.

then he headed straight into his room and started to work on a puzzle. surely, keeping busy with something upstairs will keep you from aging too fast.

our day was spent playing and getting ready to take treats to school (more on that later). "this is such an exciting day!" he declared. birthday treats and your turn to share at school on the same day...wow...

by evening, he was pretty pooped, but not too pooped to turn four with his family. daddy home early, a few gifts, a favorite dinner, a turkey cake, and play time. he almost dozed off during dinner, but four is an energetic age, and he revived well.

clearly, the celebration was enjoyed by all.

happy birthday, sweet eric.

you are a peace-making, considerate, creative soul, and we love you to bits.

fingerknitting

2010-12-01T16:33:00.001-08:00

this is how it began. i had some old cereal that needed a purpose, and so we got out the yarn and started making little garlands of (fake) cheerios and dried apples for the critters outside to enjoy.

leif was interested in the yarn but not the food. i've declared this winter to be a knitting one...where we all learn together. the moment was just right to open up the computer, visit our beloved youtube and learn to finger knit. so that's what we did.

inspiration took another turn when eric decided he wanted to knit a mitten and a sock, but he wanted to do it fast. so these were his creations. i helped with the mitten shape, but the sock was all his. don't they look warm and cozy?

eventually, eric was ready to try his hand at finger knitting, too. sitting with him as he was learning was the sweetest thing. his soft little hands and his sweet voice as he said things like, "i'm really knitting!" and "this is real knitting" were so precious. tonight, as joe made dinner, i worked with him more, and he marveled at how his chains were getting longer and longer, remarking that he wanted to make a cozy scarf.

even joe was inspired by our yarn adventures, and he taught the boys how to do this while he cooked.

the concentration, joy, and ability these guys display while working on things like this is just amazing. it really seems to relax leif, and his pride and wonder at his own accomplishments are a joy. eric, at only 3, is so capable, and it opens my eyes to a world of possibilities.

thankful and infested

2010-11-26T19:12:00.005-08:00

who loves thanksgiving? we do!! yesterday was one of those minor miracles of timing and teamwork. somehow, despite raging eye infections, subfreezing temperatures outside, and a little don't-feel-so-well crankiness here and there, we managed to pull off a yummy dinner at a reasonable time with all parties present and awake. amazing. oh, and i even got a shower, so it was a special day indeed.

hear ye, hear ye! tell us what you're thankful for! eric: my toys, my food, and my family. leif: my family, lindsay and joe: our healthy family, sam: well, he kept that information private this year, but we can tell by his content nature he's pretty thankful for everything.

after dinner, i got to sit back in the rocker by the fire and just take it all in. watching the action in slow motion, full and happy. family all around in a warm house. we are so very fortunate...eye infections and all.

the good stuff

2010-11-23T09:28:00.001-08:00

play-dough is one of my least favorite kid activities, and one of their most requested activities...coincidence? i think not. what i hate about play-dough (the store stuff) is that it smells yucky, it lasts about a second before it gets all crumbly, and it makes a horrendous mess. i love the creative, artistic potential of clay and dough, of course, but play-dough? icky. i've been curious about making some of the homemade stuff, but had never tried...until today. hip, hip, hooray. i'm officially converted. this recipe from playdoughrecipe.org is awesome. it was easy & fun to make, did not have the stink factor, and stayed soft the whole time the kids played with it. plus, it was a nice hand warmer on this cold, cold day as we kneaded it.

we added food coloring to make our colors. here the boys are kneading it in.

we used old play-dough containers to stash our new, homemade supply. here, eric is officially hoarding a batch, which he is preparing to put in the truck to take it to the store to sell. you can also see a plate of his play-dough (old icky kind) noodles which he kept bringing me to eat. "it's kinda like a loop!" he said. "you give me the dough, i make the noodles and bring them back to you to eat!" yes, and now i can pretend to eat them all up without that remarkable stink!

when leif came home, he was delighted to find full containers of soft, fresh play-dough. he got busy right away with cookie cutters. if his poor little eyes hadn't been bugging him, i think he would have stuck with it a lot longer.

doodlebugs 11.19.10, 1st anniversary extravaganza!

2010-11-19T21:21:00.001-08:00

today we celebrated doodlebugs' one year anniversary! 34ish meetings, loads of paint, a good dousing of glue, many busy hands, plenty of smiling faces, and enough awesome works of art to fill a gallery... here we are! it also happened to be the 2nd birthday of one of our regular artists, so there was plenty to celebrate!

we made crowns with the paint daubers and fancy scissors,

we frosted & decorated nilla wafers with frosting & peanut butter (what kid doesn't love edible art?!?!),

and we continued our work on the "thank you" banner for the upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new playground.

we're still playing with the open format of multiple activities, and it seems to be working well for keeping everyone engaged a bit longer and stretching our creativity. here's to another year full of more art, different ideas, new friends, and lots of fun!

scenes from a birthday (mine!)

2010-11-12T13:26:00.001-08:00

for some, moving the paint from place to place is just as exciting as using it.

painting penguins, polar bears, and peach orchards.

soothing a cold. we're all under the weather.

eric's works, from left to right: a squirrel in a peach orchard. see the varying ripeness? ;-), a penguin diving into the water headfirst (because that's how they always do it, you know), and a penguin portrait with eric's signature across the top.

downtime. don't we all look energetic?

the map fascination continues.

waiting for the....

cake!

a happy, mellow day at home with family. just what this birthday girl wanted.

handprint turkeys with eric

2010-11-08T11:15:00.001-08:00

last year, about this time, i suggested making some handprint turkeys. leif was up for it, but eric lost interest after i traced his hand. the little turkey leif made has hung above his bed ever since (well, until recently, when an unfortunate jumping incident removed him from his delicate perch). sam loved that feathered friend swinging from the ceiling and was always eager to give his hellos at bedtime/storytime. so we'll have to make sure sam gets to make one, too. but today, it was eric's turn. while leif was at school and sam slept, eric and i got busy tracing hands, cutting out feet and beaks, and applying feathers. eric was pretty enthusiastic, making both a boy and a girl. he then wondered aloud about making a cow next. hmmm.... a cow.

well, we squished his fingers a little closer together, and voila! a cow - complete with black spots, horns (one got ripped off by the same turkey molester mentioned above), and a tail.

after leif got home and saw eric's turkeys, he set to work completely on his own to make one. i visited with a friend while he traced, cut, and glued solo style. i still didn't get to make one with sam...unbelievable! he'll be first in line to make the handprint santa, okay?

doodlebugs 11.5.10, open format

2010-11-05T13:07:00.001-07:00

today we went with a new plan to shake things up a little, to give kiddos even more choice and creative freedom, and to maximize time actually engaged in creating art. it was magic to behold! i set up three stations, and as soon as kids arrived, they were invited to get started at the spot of their choice (instead of gathering for an opening story).

one station included mini "canvases" (paperboard from boxes in the recycling with white paper glued on top...leftover from a previous project), glue, and the ever-popular box 'o treasures (all the fun, random bits left over from previous activities).

another station offered permanent markers (probably the #1 most requested material by my munchkins) and water colors.

the last station included tempera paint (could offer these every time and everyone would be happy as a clam) and large white construction paper.

it was fascinating to watch which activities children chose first, how they approached the materials with little to no direction given by adults, and how they decided how long to spend at a various spot.

looking to move on, i do believe...

and inevitably, materials started moving from one spot to another (with some help, of course). and that was what i loved best. the freedom the kids felt to switch things up, pick & choose, and create new combinations. love that.

here is an interesting progression from eric. after watching a little creation by my sister (pictured above, third from the left), he was inspired to create a series of his own. instead of heart cheeks, he opted for little guys with light sabers. he also tried his hand at some new shapes for eyes and mouths. pretty cool, eh?

three cheers for creative freedom! rah, rah, rah!!! (and thanks for enduring all the pictures...i just can't help myself!)

a timeline of insanity, part I

2010-10-28T14:19:00.001-07:00

5:30 - wake up way too early, worried about the freaky finger cookies scaring the dickens out of the little kiddies

6:00 - race out of the bathroom to comfort the screaming baby who's woken up fuzzy eyed eric and the "it's not morning yet!" declaring leif

6:15 - begin carefully covering the freaky black fingernails with a cheerful light blue frosting

6:16 - wonder what possessed me to make freaky black-fingernailed finger cookies for little children

6:30 - cook a relatively healthy breakfast to counter the onslaught of "food" containing obscene amounts of sugar, fat, sugar, and sugar.

6:45 - collect random items for costumes: mismatched gloves, safety pins, masks, helmets, etc.

6:46 - wonder what possessed me to make freaky black-fingernailed finger cookies for little children

6:47 - 7:38 - continue distractedly wandering through the house gathering everything from black olives, plastic spoons, paper plate pumpkins, a real pumpkin, slightly less freaky blue-fingernailed finger cookies, and a fire fighter hat to tiny carrots, heavy duty tape and a black cape.

7:42 - pack one star wars lunchbox with a somewhat healthy lunch to counter the onslaught of "food" containing obscene amounts of sugar, fat, sugar, and sugar.

7:50 - pile three munchkins, including one clone trooper, into the van for a 24 second drive to school in the rain to drop off said clone trooper.

8:02 - return home to dress two remaining munchkins (including one pint-sized anakin skywalker and one spur-of-the-moment fire fighter) and to raid the kids' dress-up drawer for myself (hello, "super kitty").

8:13 - construct a jack-o-lantern made entirely of tiny carrots, ranch dressing and black olives.

8:21 - paint black whiskers and a pink nose on my own face, at the suggestion of mini anakin.

8:35 - pause in bewilderment as mini anakin runs for cover away from super kitty, crying "take them off!" and "i don't want to see you!" and "don't look at me!"

8:42 - skillfully get anakin and firefighter into the van without looking directly at anakin.

8:46 - arrive at school dragging party goods, a dazed fire fighter, and a disturbed anakin through the rain and into the building.

8:48 - 9:00 - set up party snacks and games with another parent and teacher's assistant while 15 already jittery kindergartners await their sugar highs in the gym with their curler-clad teacher.

9:00 - 9:50 - tie on blindfolds, take pictures, adjust masks, chase candy-toting babies, open juices, rearrange pumpkins, laugh, encourage, cheer, hug, wave, clean up, and return tiny anakin (now distracted by candy eyeballs) and mini fire baby to van.

*sigh* and that was just the part before 10:00...

kitty play

2010-10-24T09:17:00.001-07:00

"mommy, if i say 'cheerios', that means i just want plain cheerios, and if i say 'cheerios with milk', that means i want cheerios with milk." and so it begins. plain cheerios are best served to three and one year old boys in a shallow bowl, on the floor, where proper kitties eat their food. if the kitty headbands are available, that is even better. meowing is optional, but extremely cute.

apples, apples, apples, apples, apples......

2010-10-23T14:23:00.001-07:00

apples, anyone? there are more than enough to go around. we've shared, dried, baked, made art with, eaten, thrown, juiced, stored, tasted, and photographed a few apples lately. my favorite are the dried ones. i think joe would go with apple crisp. sam and eric probably prefer them fresh. it drives me nuts that so many still go to waste, but i guess the deer are enjoying them, and we enjoy the deer, so that's good. the rest we'll just call compost and let it go.

doodlebugs 10.21.10, 5 little pumpkins

2010-10-22T17:06:00.001-07:00

today we headed in a more crafty direction, attempting some cute apple print pumpkins found here, at lindsey's awesome blog, filth wizardry. she found the idea here, as well. these cute little pumpkins reminded me of the catchy (yes, it's STILL stuck in my head) preschool finger play, "five little pumpkins". so instead of a book, we practiced that and then headed over to make our own pumpkins. knowing that waiting for the pumpkins to dry long enough to draw on them wouldn't work in our setting, i opted for offering glue and black beans for the faces. i also added some sticks and brown paint for making their own little gates for the pumpkins. as always, the kids' modifications were fun to watch. i forgot to bring my camera to group, so here you see from the top: eric's pumpkins near a log, sam's creation, and leif's 2 works, first on a gate, and then with an eric-inspired log. we skipped stems for now, but drawing them or gluing on real plant bits or pipe cleaners would be fun. now, how to get "wooo-ooohh went the wind and out went the lights, five little pumpkins rolled out of sight" out of my head?

making (a mess) cupcakes

2010-10-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

eric's choice from tuesday's internet search was a scrumptious looking cupcake with candy corns (one of his faves) on top. so today we got cookin'. i found this recipe for whole wheat chocolate banana cupcakes, and they turned out so yummy! in the end, eric decided a gummy tarantula was a better decoration and a few licks of frosting was all he really needed. the rest of us had more than our share.

eric and sam were excellent bakers, coming up with some unique recipe ideas of their own. nothing like a dijon, taco seasoning, corn, dry black bean, pepper, egg shell, nutmeg concoction to get your mouth watering, right?

making halloween

2010-10-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

leif is absolutely obsessed with halloween decorations. it's nothing new. last year we had a frenzy of decorating, and there were plenty of times over the course of the year that making more halloween decorations was a requested activity. so needless to say, now that halloween is actually upon us, the requests are mounting. leif was home sick this morning, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to gather around the computer, look for some ideas and start a list. yes, this time we opted for a list because 1) i cannot possibly remember all the jillions of things these two come up with during a brainstorming session, 2) it helps to cross things off as we complete them, offering some evidence that yes, we are completing things even though they're not all getting done RIGHT NOW as some of us would like and 3)leif felt it was important to make little sketches of things we saw so we (i) could remember what they looked like. and so it began.

first up: vanessa's bottle cap spiders (finally a use for all these lids i've been saving)

materials needed: various lids (we used plastic ones and bottle caps), google eyes (or other bits from the "treasure" box), pipe cleaners (you'll have to pardon the fact that we're not sticking to the traditional halloween colors...gotta use what you got!), white glue, and hot glue.

sam enjoyed collecting, stacking, and playing with the lids.

probably shouldn't play with them until all that glue dries...very sad.

next up: coffee filter ghosts

materials needed: coffee filters, cotton balls, string, markers

a google search will result in many variations of the same theme, but we made ours by stuffing a cotton ball "head" into the center of a coffee filter, grasping around the "neck" firmly, and quickly securing with a tight knot of yarn. if you wanted to jazz things up a bit, you could add some black or orange ribbon there, too.

awaiting their fate...

in the afternoon, with eric at school, sam napping, and leif having a little down time, i was able to cut out some cardboard headstones (here we go again with the cemetery!). leif gave them a good first coat of gray paint, and by the time eric got home, we were ready to "engrave" them. stay tuned for the final result.

** edited to add a couple of shots from the front yard "cemetery" **

after a few days of lively ghost and spider play, they were all rounded up and made into orderly little decorations. boo!

harvest art

2010-10-16T16:09:00.002-07:00

today was the last farmers' market for the season, and doodlebugs was there to host a little fall art fun for the kiddies. knowing that the air might be crisp, there would be no convenient access to hand washing, and that we'd have an array of ages, these were the activities i chose --

mini yarn pumpkins (looks like jen found the idea here) and

nature art.

the pumpkins were super cute (although they required more assistance than i usually like to give -- in the interest of creative ownership, of course). the nature art was much more open ended, and the process was exciting to witness.

this little girl used her dried seedpods like a little glitter shaker, releasing all those seeds to dance across her glue.

this young artist wasn't confined by the boundaries of the canvas, letting his elements leap off the edge.

outdoor art with creative souls...what could be better?

doodlebugs 10.15.10, leaf rubbing resists

2010-10-16T16:09:00.001-07:00

when gorgeous leaves are this abundant, you just have to do art with them, right? today we did crayon leaf resists with watercolor. i didn't get to the library to find a book, so we really stretched a literature connection with chicka chicka boom boom. letters fall from trees and so do leaves! tada! i told you it was a stretch. anyway, the kids had a good time, and their work, as always, is lovely to behold.

eric, sam, and i experimented a little with different types of paper before group. we finally settled on this construction paper because it was thin enough to get a good crayon rubbing, yet thick enough to handle the watercolor. we cut it into strips (6"x18") just for a little variety and to make it somewhat banner-like.

here, eric's incorporating his leaves onto a tree.

the tree theme continued at group where he drew "chipmunks" frolicking about on his leaves.

here, he said, "see? the chipmunk is rainbow and the acorn is rainbow, too...isn't that funny?" now go get yourself some leaves before they're all icky and make some leafy art of your own to smile about.

ago

2010-10-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

my poor computer is absolutely paralyzed by the burden of our zillions of pictures. to give it some relief, i've been trying to clean it up a bit, freeing memory wherever i can. tonight, just as i sat down to delete, these were the first files i opened.

halloween, 2008

a three year old boy who wanted to be a "green and purple bull, with orange and yellow spots" and an almost two year old pooh.

it goes so fast.

my brother, my canvas

2010-10-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

you know, sometimes artists need a break from their usual work surfaces. sometimes, your little brother happily agrees to be decorated, especially when star wars is the theme. and so, here we see eric covered in a variety of characters, from han solo (forehead) to general grievous, obi wan kenobi (both on the belly) and others unidentifiable by mama (arm, leg & cheeks).

and there you have it. body art by leif. any other volunteers?

doodlebugs 10.1.10, bleeding tissue paper design

2010-10-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

inspired by the torn-paper-water-colorey-swirly goodness of the illustrations in the book, Now It Is Morning, by candace whitman, we tried our hands at a little bleeding tissue collage. we began by using large brushes to cover pieces of scrap mat board with a 1:2 (ish) ratio of white glue to water mixture. next, the kiddos chose from a bright assortment of bleeding tissue paper. ripping the paper allows even the youngest artist to participate. they layered the paper on the wet surface, smoothing it down with their gluey brushes. it was fun to watch them experiment with the layers, noticing how the colors changed as different papers were layed on top of one another. there was a bit of frustration at times when the tissue paper didn't lay flat, but the kiddos rolled with it, sometimes allowing the paper to bunch up and become three dimensional and/or watching with interest as the paper began to disintegrate with all the loads of gluey water they applied to make it stay.

you have to start somewhere...

2010-09-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

where have we been? well, ever since leif began soccer in july, life has been on fast forward. we went from soccer practices and games to a beach vacation on the oregon coast. after stopping at home for a couple of days to regroup, i took the boys on another adventure to our former hometown in washington. we swooped back home in just enough time to start school, and life just hasn't been the same since. toss in a couple of visits from the grandparents and starting up doodlebugs again (after a brief summer hiatus) and there's a lot less time for blogging. some of it's due to pure time crunch, some a deliberate abandonment of the computer, truthfully. there are just so many stories to tell and challenges to unravel.

normally, when i feel overwhelmed, we head to the woods. so that's what i'll do tonight.

we'll go back to july and a lovely visit to a nearby pond. while the younger boys snoozed in the car, leif and i hopped out to explore. we found a butterfly on the gravel where a forest service rig had pulled out & "rescued" him by putting him on a nearby plant to "recover". leif delighted in the close observations, and i delighted in his sensitivity and gentleness. when sam woke up, leif was excited to share with him.

eric soon joined us, and after a snack, was ready to go. i don't think i'll ever tire of watching these little ones from behind. there's something about it that makes me feel like i'm peeking in on their adventures...witnessing their escapades more from their perspective or from that of an outsider, rather than a director. someone once asked me if taking so many pictures makes me feel like i'm missing the moment. but for me, it's quite the opposite. it makes me more present.

sam carried that little flower all the way around the pond with him and kept it nearby when he started something new at the water's edge. this was a perfect little sopping spot to stick in sticks and dabble toes.

the big boys use this spot for racing "pods" (leaves). they follow them along the little seep to see who wins. sometimes they crash them up demolition derby style to see which leaves can still race despite all the holes and tatters. it's serious business, i tell you.

doodlebugs 9.10.10, a welcome back with holes

2010-09-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

doodlebugs is back! after a short summer break, we're gathering the group together again for another year of artsy kiddo fun. it's going to be fun to watch as the littles get older and to see how their work grows and changes.

today, we experimented with negative space and tempera, using large paper that had holes cut out of it. we had a super cute little book, "look & see: let's count", to use as our opener, which used inwardly spiraling holes in the illustrations.

eric began painting "the ocean" and later added green "land" and yellow "sand". fun to note -- we'd just returned from the beach.

cool to see how this little guy defined his holes by outlining them.

the "hole" thing was a ball (snicker)!

doodlebugs 9.17.10, liquid watercolors

2010-09-24T21:24:00.001-07:00

ooo-weee! so excited to finally be playing with these awesome liquid watercolors and droppers. i first saw these used by jean with her little munchkins and added them to our list of things to try. we had so much fun squeezing out those wonderful liquid drops of color. there were literally moments of paint flowing right off the edge of the table, but everything cleaned up really well. when we practiced at home, the boys were enthralled by how the paint ran across the paper in lines and played with picking up the page and turning it to watch the paint change direction. lots of "roads" were made. they also noticed what happened when colors ran together, creating new hues and paths. at group, it was interesting to watch the varying comfort levels with this medium; some were pretty cautious with such a free-flowing paint, while others were content to create watercolor falls, pouring the paint right from the little jars. we read the itsy bitsy spider as our opener because of the bright watercolor illustrations and the catchy tune. definitely one we'll have to try again!

doodlebugs 9.24.10, treasure trays

2010-09-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

anyone who knows me well knows i like to save things. just ask my mom about my corner cupboard full of fancy disposable party ware from preschool. although i don't recall for certain, i'm sure i just couldn't bear to throw away those perfectly good, perfectly lovely plates. anyone remember those steel tins the internet companies used to send by the ton, containing junk mail cds of their programs? well, i couldn't bear to throw those away either. they were so cool, and i was just sure i'd find something* to do with them. well, i've carted them around with me for years. and today, they found their new homes...dotted throughout the county in the hands of enthusiastic young artists. today, those little ones filled those tins up with glue and treasures to their hearts' content.

instead of reading a story to begin, we looked through an assortment of "look and find" books from the boys' bookshelves. this got us into "treasure hunting" mode.

next, we filled our "treasure trays" with glue in whatever fashion we felt necessary. glue, glue, marvelous glue! we love to make oceans of you!

then we began carefully selecting our favorite treasures from the pile 'o bits and creating our designs. i set aside one golden sequin for each child to hide somewhere in their creation -- their hidden treasure. sorry, i don't have a good photo of that part, but if you could see them in person, you'd be able to hunt for them, just like in the books we used.

in the end, we had bright, sparkly, interesting collections, all nested together for display.

*to prepare the trays, i spray painted the outsides of the tins (the backs or bottoms of the trays, as pictured above), where the advertising text had been. then i used my super-dooper crop-a-dile to punch holes along the top edge. finally, i strung some yarn through the holes for hangers.

been a while...

2010-09-22T13:49:00.001-07:00

i guess i've been away a while. two short vacations, the beginning of school (that's a whole other post...or 10), a computer that simply refuses to deal with 21,000 pictures (i know, i know....), and visits from grandparents have made computer time a (welcome) challenge. it's ok...i needed a little internet fast. i was beginning to feel overwhelmed by input, ideas, words, pictures, lives, families, and plans other than my own. things are settling down, and there's definitely plenty to talk about. so thanks for bearing with me...we'll be back soon.

music, arts & cars

2010-08-07T21:40:00.001-07:00

so today was our little town's annual summertime shindig -- the huckleberry festival & kruzer's car show. i had the pleasure of putting together a few art activities for the kiddos. we set up at the local nursing home on their patio, surrounded by flowers and friendly faces. our projects reflected the festival's themes of cool old cars and music. we made:

our shadows move and groove so buddies could trace us,

toy cars crash, bash, and race through paint and across our paper (although some of us had plenty of fun just crashing in the plate on a mini demolition course...who needs paper, anyway?),

our finger & leaf prints into huckleberry bushes, ripe for the picking,

banjos (inspired by these guitars) to strum along to the groovy tunes,
and prints using this technique, but with old records instead of pans.

one of my favorite parts was seeing all those beautiful works of art fluttering on the fence.

i spent most of friday assembling all the supplies, and it was a bit rocky to have my attention so divided & directed away from the boys. but they managed to busy themselves for a time with some of the extra materials. eric used paper, a hole punch, and some string to make a cape. leif made a cardboard laptop, including an assortment of drawings paper clipped to the screen. and sam, well...he had fun trying to sneak off with scissors.

by the end of the day, we were all tuckered out. but judging by the amount of paint these kids wore home, i'd say fun was definitely had by all.

pool balls and butterflies

2010-07-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

we are all really enjoying eric's art around here these days. his figures have such a unique expression to them. i snapped these one day after the big boys had played on a pool table. eric's drawings that afternoon incorporated the pool balls (made with a circle stamp we have) into the pictures. he even wrote some numbers on the sides, with a little guidance from leif. not sure how the butterflies figured into the story...i'll ask him and get back to 'ya. i think that might even be tinkerbell down there on the bottom of that second shot...hmmm....there may be quite a story here.

drawing, drawing, everywhere

2010-07-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

so, i guess it's a little like training a puppy. how does it go? put the paper where you want them to pee, right? well, anyway, sam's drawing enthusiasm spread throughout the kitchen the other night, so i was obliged to follow with paper. wouldn't want to dampen his creativity, now would we?

sticker stories

2010-07-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

were this to hang in some well lit art gallery, i would love to eavesdrop on the passersby as they tried to interpret it. even better, i would like to watch as eric explained to them, in his oh-so-squishable way, exactly what he intended as he created it. since neither scenario is likely, i'd love to share his narrative for him. this colorful bundle of stickers is a bird's eye view of a basketball (or was it soccer?) game. all those fruity square stickers are players, with center court delightful marked by a bunch of happy balloons. looking closely toward the top, you'll see two cutie little girlies guarding the goal. at the bottom: evidence that dinosaurs tiptoed across the court.

these little fairies are gracefully running (dancing) about, passing the ball with perfect sportsmanship and skill.

one of my favorite parts is the "scoreboard" at the top which, eric explained, is being fixed at the moment...hence the screws.

i just love listening to the stories these munchkins tell while they're making art. the story-telling process is such a huge part of what they're doing with their hands. and if you weren't listening closely, you just might miss it all.

surprise!

2010-07-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

checking through my posts this evening, what lovely comment did i discover? some words of kindness all wrapped around the notice that an unknown friend had placed make.believe. in her top 15 blogs. how fun is that? i've often thought, as i hop around through blog land, how cool it is that we can connect with each other in so many amazing ways. i've learned oodles about too many topics to list, and the things i see and read have become a driving force in my daily life and in shaping the chattering inside my brain. i'm just tickled to have connected in this way with another kindred spirit, to have put something of my own out into this web world from which i have taken so much. and now, it's my turn! here's my list of 15 blogs i love (in no particular order)...topics include family, art, life, parenting, etc. they each speak to me in some way to the person i am & wish i was...

1.http://embers.typepad.com/
2.http://www.soulemama.typepad.com/
3.http://naturalparentingcenter.typepad.com/
4.http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/
5.http://paintcutpaste.com/
6.http://locallocale.wordpress.com/
7.http://talkfeeleez.wordpress.com/
8.http://www.karenmaezenmiller.com/blog
9.http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/
10.http://bohophotography.blogspot.com/
11.http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/
12.http://dinastamps.typepad.com/
13.http://laughpaintcreate.blogspot.com/
14.http://www.kerismith.com/blog
15.http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

and 7 interesting things about me:
1. i have two cats, fife and melique, both named after the same lead singer of a band i never really listened to.
2. i sometimes get obsessed with finishing things, which is funny considering i hardly ever finish anything.
3. i decided to quit teaching to stay home with my children while listening to a dr. laura (of all people) radio show on the way home from a camping trip one summer.
4. i began researching homeschooling options/philosophies because my 5 year old insists (as he has since he could speak) that he will never go to school...i'm trying to be a "take it one day at a time" kind of person about this subject...
5. i love paper.
6. i have well over 20,000 digital pictures on my computer -- overwhelming and wonderful.
7. maybe someday i'll be a doula.

thank you, gianne...you made my night!

a teeny garden

2010-07-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

when you buy a rambling old house that needs tons of work on a sizable lot, there's plenty to do. when you add three young children to that mix, there's plenty that's going to take a long time to do. most of the time, i'm ok with that. a practice in patience, right? well, we've got all kinds of plans for this place, but i just really wanted to get some stinkin seeds into the ground just for fun. manicured landscaping, preplanned gardens, researched species, deer-resistant plants, winter hardiness and all your bedfellows, be darned...we're going to throw some stuff into the dirt, add some water and see what happens. the boys enjoyed plunking their seeds in, covering them up, and beginning the wait. stay tuned...we'll see what pops up.

doodlebugs 7.9.10, leaf & hand print trees

2010-07-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

scrolling through the usual blogroll the other day, i came across this via the crafty crow. although the initial description of "kids' crafts" gave me the shivers, i'm sure she didn't mean it that way. ;-) looking past that, i thought the trees were pretty cool. for art group, we did our own version using tempera paint and real leaves. in their usual innovative style, the kids all came up with quite a variety of ways to approach the materials.

opting out of the handprint trunk, eric chose to use a small sponge to make the trunk and glued on the actual leaves, rather than using them in paint to make a print.

leif also created a sponged trunk and did use the leaves (heavily laden with paint) as stamps.

sam was pretty interested in the rest of the kids, but did let me get his sweet little handprint on paper.

and there you have it, young artists' handprints enveloped in leaves. gotta love that.
we read the giving tree by shel silverstein as our opener. i'm a softie, and i always have to choke back the tears on that one.

please and thank you...

2010-07-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

we certainly spend a lot of time on various art projects around here, and sometimes, i even get to do some, too. :-) granted, it's not enough of the just-for-the-sake-of-the-art type...it's most often some purposeful, useful thing, but i'll take what i can get! in this case, it was the invitations and thank yous for sam's birthday party. the photo above shows the front of one of the invites. i used scraps of fabric for the birds' bodies, so they were all different. the back included the info for the party.

leif wanted to join in the fun, too, so he drew his own birdie pattern on some paper, and then we cut his creation out of some fabric of his choosing.

there were more birdies to make to say thank you. this time, a little ink, water color, and an old stamp did the trick. i think i like birds as much as sam, so these were super fun to do.

4th festivities

2010-07-04T16:54:00.001-07:00

our celebration for the 4th of july was a day-long affair involving homemade flags, random guys in chicken suits, monstrous amounts of candy, well orchestrated naps, sparklers, and a truly wonder-full night of fireworks viewed from atop the van (well, the big boys were up there, anyway). it was busy and hot and fun and crazy (like lots of our days). it was a really good day.

and walking down to the parade that afternoon alongside the wagon, i had to marvel at those three heads, all in a row. three sun hats atop those fuzzy-headed boys of ours. it usually strikes me most when they're all lined up like that...we have three sons...how did that happen? not that part -- the part about how we arrived at this point in time when we can plop our three munchkins in a wagon and pull them all downtown. wow. the days all blend together sometimes, and then these moments hit you...as though you're seeing a snapshot of your life through someone else's eyes. maybe that's one reason i collect these photographs like breadcrumbs in the forest...someday, they'll lead me back to this beautiful life...the one i have today.

embarking

2010-07-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

here i go. i'll let you know how it goes.

doodlebugs flashback, 4.23.10, an earth day creation

2010-06-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

i wanted to do something for earth day at art group, so i was so thrilled to find this over at the artful parent.

i had this lovely book from the library with pointillistic (is that a word?) illustrations, and thought i could gather some round objects from the junk drawer for the kids to make large dots (ok, so it's a very loose interpretation of pointillism. ;-) it was a good way to focus on reusing and recycling, though, and it all just seemed to fit.

first, we used glue sticks to attach torn pieces of newspaper to mat board scraps.

then we stamped our hearts out, making a variety of different circular shapes.

of course, when paint is involved, we simply cannot resist the lure of swishing and painty gloves.

doodlebugs flashback, construction paper faces

2010-06-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

this week, we were inspired by this book to create some unique faces of our own. it was fun to use a book of photographs, rather than an illustrated one, for a change.

after we talked about how crazy and wonderful it is that each person is totally unique (the kids seemed quite perplexed, yet pleased about that),

we played a little pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey-ish kind of game. ours was pin-the-feature-on-the-face, and each artist got the chance to come on up and place a construction paper shape wherever they wanted. next time, i'll have to bring some picasso works in to share, as well.

it was great fun to take a little break from paint and to go crazy with all kinds of scraps and shapes. very neat to watch all the faces take form with such variety and freedom. and i should also mention my art-group-leader-oops as a little reminder to us all... one little guy was working away on his face when i strolled over and noticed two small pieces sort of sticking out of the side with something else attached to those. in my hasty appraisal of the situation, i assumed something had accidentally gotten stuck to his face, and i "helped" him pull those pesky stragglers off. he patiently waited, and then politely informed me that was his face's body. OH MY HEC!!!! red alert! what was i thinking??!?!?!? fortunately, i almost always remember to keep my "helping" hands off other people's art...jeezaloo....

doodlebugs flashback, 2.19.10, tissue paper stained glass

2010-06-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

following this lovely lady's lead, i just had to try these. she's the queen of "stained glass" and has many great ideas for creating all kinds of cool, sun-catching art. this day, we just used some simple shapes cut from tissue paper. of course, the kiddos were excited to cut their own shapes, too. even our littlest artists got in on it, and sam seemed quite interested in the stickiness of the contact paper...forget about those silly little pieces of paper. we used colored masking tape to finish the edges, and presto! cool stained glass works of art.

we read

this is a very cool book you can "read" from any direction & a really good one for learning to "see" art and appreciate various interpretations. depending on how you look at it, the appearance of each image changes. the kids loved piping in with their own creative ideas, and
the bold, graphic images were a nice parallel to the tissue paper shapes/colors. this book is so awesome it may be showing up again for some other projects. ;-)

still life

2010-06-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

one of our junior botanists in training recently decided he needed to draw his prized bouquet so it would "be like a picture and [he could] save it forever". i was busily going about my own work, so i wasn't paying much attention to his. when he finally shared, i was awestruck with his creation. moments like these make me
a) so tickled i just sparkle inside
b) really wish i could share them with my dad
c) so glad i have a camera at my fingertips and
d) feel sheer wonder at the things these kiddos come up with.

what i love to see

2010-06-19T17:14:00.001-07:00

looking through the bazillion pictures i snap helps to remember all the wonderful little moments of wow we have in our days. like everyone, i spend some time caught up in the shoulds, coulds, & woulds, chattering away inside my head about all i'm not accomplishing. collecting all these photos is such a nice way to stop and say aaahhhhhhh..... life is so good. and if you're in need of a little aaahhhhhhh, too, you should take a moment to read this...a pretty fantastic reminder that within every moment is another chance. a chance to make a change, find a new perspective, appreciate a little more.

* can't sign off without leaving the link to those fantastic pretzels. they'll make anyone's moment waaayyyy yummier! found 'em through jean's "the artful parent" site :-)

doodlebugs 6.18.10, watercolor & crayon resist

2010-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

while perusing this book from the library, leif and eric noticed that the illustrations looked like watercolor. a closer look (above) reminded me of crayon resist, and so we decided to give it a try at art group. as a side note, the title bothered me a bit, and i even considered pasting the word "different" over it before reading it to the kids. censorship didn't seem like a good answer, either, so instead, i opted to talk it over with the kids at group that morning. we talked about why the other dinosaurs might have called archie "ugly", how that might have made him feel, and some of the other ways they could have described their observations of their different little friend. it was a nice little chat, i think, and dovetailed right in with appreciating art, however "different" it may be. ;-)

the crayon doesn't show up too well in these photos. although white has the most dramatic effect (it's a "secret" that doesn't show up until you watercolor over it), the kids were definitely drawn more to the colored crayons. i even got to try this one but neglected to take any pictures... this is an oldie but goodie, and one we do a lot at home. a google search of "crayon resist" yields all kinds of cool projects to do with this technique...loads of fun things to try!

doodlebugs flashback, 5.28.10, black & white contrast

2010-06-11T21:23:00.002-07:00

we used the book, "round trip" by ann jonas as our launch. the book is a beautiful, unusual one i remember from childhood, and i'm always excited to share its surprise with other kiddos.

on the way there and on the way back...

to begin, i taped two 9x12 pieces of construction paper together, one white and one black, to use as the substrate. then i collected all kinds of black and white collage goodies to glue on top.

i encouraged the kids to turn their work different ways in order to view it from different perspectives, just as we did when we flip the book over at the end.

when leif asked why we didn't also have black glue, i was delighted to be able to "fix" that problem by running out to the van where i just happened to have a little black food coloring on hand (sometimes it pays to not clean out your car very regularly). once the black glue was in play, more inspiration struck, including writing with it.

this one captured everyone's attention for quite some time. the materials? the contrast? just the mood that day? a nice little trip.

doodlebugs flashback, 2.26.10, free painting with tempera & glitter

2010-06-11T21:23:00.001-07:00

this fabulous book (another one gifted to us by my sister, book finder extraordinaire) inspires all sorts of artsy goodness. it's got a sing-song, rhyming text and bright, whimsical illustrations just dripping with movement and color. so for this group, we let the kids loose with tempera and glitter (for added magic) for a little "free" painting. by the way, this book is definitely the one you need on body art day...we may have to revisit it soon on one of these sunny days!

attempting to do photographic justice to the "mountains" of glitter. totally uninhibited use of material...love it.

...for the love of process...no fear.

decided to include a little tribute to sam, the napping wonder baby.

the wonder of hands.

every single time we do this group, i leave:

*with more appreciation for what art is
*with more respect for children's ideas
*promising to be more patient
*wishing more families could experience this process
*excited to share this world with others
*thankful.

doodlebugs 6.11.10, butterfly smash art

2010-06-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

for this activity, the kids painted on some pre-cut construction paper butterflies and then folded them in the middle to "smash" the paint together, creating a symmetrical design on both sides.

we had scissors, too, just in case they wanted to give cutting their own butterflies a try, which of course they did!

we just had to read an old favorite, eric carle's "the very hungry caterpillar", as our opener to this one.

a little stroke of genius came when they decided to paint the outsides of their butterflies brown to resemble cocoons... love it.

gettin' wood

2010-06-01T19:40:00.001-07:00

i had my first official "gettin' wood" adventure last weekend. for years, i've been hearing all about how joe used to have to go out and get wood when he was a kid. now that we own a house with a wood-burning stove, our little guys will be able to tell the same stories someday.
we'd tentatively planned a camping trip for that weekend, for joe's bday, but it was a tad too cold and wet for us. so we decided to just head out for the day...

the rain has been hanging on around here, but little did we know we'd be able to catch snowflakes on our tongues.

while joe did this,

the boys did this...cuddling in the back of the car, protesting their frozen toes and begging for more marshmallows to roast.

i managed to lure them briefly to this cozy little spot under the trees, but the warm fire soon called them back.

sam fared best of all, asleep even with the snowflakes landing on his face.

as we drove out in the falling snow, my jaw dropped to turn a bend and come upon this next view...

that's may for 'ya.

our new (to us) easel

2010-06-01T19:13:00.001-07:00

driving past the thrift store the other day, i saw an easel just waiting for us! a quick u-turn and five dollars later, it was ours. i wanted a wood one, but this one will do, and the boys are pretty excited about it. the little trays in front are perfect for holding our no-spill paint cups, and i like the idea of just being able to let the whole thing sit out, just waiting for inspiration to strike. we've painted just about everywhere...the table, the floor, outside, on the wall, in the tub, on the sidewalk, you name it, but i always wanted the boys to have an easel. it was quickly set up outside, and everyone gave it a go.

we were all pretty tickled to see sam crawl on over and stand right up to do some painting of his own. he was even balancing for a moment or two, too preoccupied with his artwork to notice he wasn't holding on to anything!

leif whipped out a few flags, to make his own "avenue of flags", just like the one they set up at the cemetery for memorial day. flags...that reminds me...stay tuned for a post on that, too!

memorial day

2010-06-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

remembering.

living.

more celebrating...

2010-05-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

happy birthday, joe! (only one exclamation point, just for you...)
we love you.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.29.10, printmaking

2010-05-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

well, in case you haven't noticed, i visit this blog a lot! so many wonderful ideas there. she'd used plastic box frames for her printmaking, but i didn't have those. so we made do with what we had...the bottoms of plastic plates, then glass & metal pans (the hardness/strength of the pans stood up better to pressing down on them, giving a much better printed image). brayers would be nice, too, but don't have those either, so we used sponge brushes instead. they worked fine, i just asked the kids to use a light coating. they used q-tips and fingers to make their designs. first, we did a trial-run at home.

this was the after-math.

then we were ready to go for art group. after the kids make their design in the paint, they lay a piece of white paper on top of the paint, press all around, and voila! they turned out awesome. i cut black paper slightly larger than the white paper to make a backing that gave it a little frame effect.

yes, that is batman leaning over to fetch more supplies.

the book we read, "bread and honey", didn't address printmaking specifically, but addressed a bigger art concept...being yourself, doing work you love, and not worrying about what other people say. the boys cracked up laughing the first time we read it. go get it...you'll see why. love it.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.22.10, collage

2010-05-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

we love, love, love collage. i love collage because i save everything. they love collage because it's so fun, interesting, and can really help them build a story. for this art group, i remember being inspired to gather up the collage goodies by all the action i saw going on here. i forgot to write down the book we used (argh...no writey, no rememberey). anything about shapes, colors, collections, etc. would be great. we used felt pieces, little puff balls, string, and shaped buttons.

lately, leif's collages have been heading toward realistic-land, where there are buildings and places he's been. hotels and denver top the list. eric's are often factories of some kind. i don't have photos of the boys' work that day, but i remember leif finding a bear shaped button, which he used to create a build-a-bear store (he'd recently visited one). eric's was a cemetary-playground (doesn't that sound like a great combination?). i remember a teeter totter he'd created with a button leaning against a puff ball. we did some more collage work today (no photos i can post yet). eric's was a sandwich factory. i loved hearing him count all the stations where various things happened to create the sandwich. it must have triggered a memory of a previous noodle collage he'd done because he started to explain how the sandwich factory wasn't as complicated. leif used marker to add some "roads with guardrails" weaving around his buildings. i just love the stories they tell as they create their masterpieces.

the celebration continues...

2010-05-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

can't get enough of celebrating this little one's first birthday! yesterday, we extended the celebration with a few friends. we headed to the nearby park for a little lunchtime snacking, some cake & ice-cream, and some happily received warm weather.

attempted some henna tattoos to mark the celebration...

and made a mango-orange mousse cake (oranges are one of sam's favorites)...yum!

sweet.

doodlebugs 5.14.10 brush motion

2010-05-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

for this art group, we used the bold illustrations of "like likes like" by chris raschka to inspire the motion of our brushes. this book is full of painty goodness, as well as a nice message about feeling included and finding companions with whom we feel comfortable.

we noticed marks that seemed to have been made by "side to side",

"round and round",

and "up and down" movements of the brush & decided to give it a try. great directional language & cause and effect practice for our little artists!

first, we folded a piece of printer paper into thirds, so we could practice saying the words and moving the brush each of the different ways. then, following the lead of the book, we chose colored construction paper to work on, putting our new moves into action.

of course, everyone knew just what they wanted to do from there, modifying as they saw fit to suit their artistic impulses. :-) this was a nice activity to focus on process, but we all ended up loving our products, too.

doodlebugs flashback, 4.16.10, shadows & sidewalk chalk

2010-05-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

this project was soooo fun and very special because our moody spring weather actually cooperated with us! we've been drenched in rain, snow, hail, sleet, and wind this spring with a few warm days here and there to tease us. we really needed sun for this one, and we got it (it clouded over later, making us feel even luckier)! we read i have a friend (bummer, amazon's listing has no image...i'll have to get a picture asap) by keiko narahashi. a beautifully illustrated, dreamy book about a boy whose shadow follows him through the day.

the kiddos posed themselves and then parents traced their shadows on the sidewalk. then they decorated themselves, making all kinds of cool creations, both realistic and fantastic. very, very fun.

doodlebugs flashback, 1.15.10, string painting

2010-05-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

painting with string...a fun way to work with line, i thought. we read art, by patrick mcdonnell. a wonderful book about a little boy, art, who loves to draw and dream. perfect. it talked about lines that zig, zag, and really get wild.

well, our little artists got wild, too...never afraid to try anything. and once they discovered the paintbrushes i meant to hide, well...forget about that silly string.

they discovered what happens when you drive your finger through the paint...

what happens when you splatter the paint from your brush, and...

what happens when you fold the paper in the middle and squish the paint together.

one of my favorite moments: one of our little ones leading the big kids in her rendition of our "open shut them" song that gets us ready for story time. oh, the places these kids take us!

doodlebugs 5.7.10, fantastic birdies

2010-05-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

sequins, feathers, markers, and imaginations were all a-flutter this morning, as we decorated paperboard (old cereal & pizza boxes) birdies. we've been bird crazy around here these days: watching & identifying birds at the feeder and in the yard, drawing birds galore, and making this little favorite animal of sam's the theme of his birthday.

we had this book from the library, and it seemed like the perfect partner for a doodlebugs bird extravaganza. this one kept the kids (the small, chubby-cheeked ones and the taller, hairy-armed ones) quite engaged for a while, even continuing to play with them and fly them around afterward. when we got home, the boys stuck crackers in the trees for their birds to eat (those crackers disappeared so fast with a little help from the artists!).

little man turns the big 01!

2010-05-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

cannot believe the day has come and gone...one year ago, i had a new little babe in my arms, my mother's and sister's hands to hold, two older brothers curiously investigating the wee one, and joe's adoring wonder at his newest son. the time flies so fast and full, and now our family of five seems to have always been this way.

**forgot to share: the last page of sam's book (3rd picture up) is a collaboration between leif and eric; from left, leif drew himself, wearing a star wars shirt, holding sam. then eric drew himself (love his "picasso" head), also wearing a star wars shirt. the black circles to the side of his head are his ponytail, inspired by obi-wan kenobi's hairdo. eric also included the tiny "anakin...far away".
**sweet birthday crown inspired by this lovely**

doodlebugs flashback, 12.4.09, cool colors

2010-04-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

after a little break for turkey day, we got back to work...picking up with cool colors. just gotta use water for that one! we had little jars of super diluted water color paste and plopped ourselves right down on the floor to paint. our challenge was to collapse a coffee filter by getting it wet. i've done this with older kids in the classroom, and it will leave a nice circle shape with little white streaks here and there where the coffee filter wrinkles and less paint gets through. well, the little ones were less inhibited, and there was water everywhere. no matter...they had fun, got to talk about cool colors in a very tangible way, and ended up with some very damp masterpieces. i'm going to have to rack my brain and come back to post which book we used...can't remember and didn't write it down (mamabrainitis).

doodlebugs flashback, 11.20.09, warm colors

2010-04-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

the focus that week was warm colors. it was a perfect time to take notice of the beautiful fall colors around us, so i asked the kids to bring leaves they'd gathered to group. we read pumpkin soup, another of those great auntie jessica books i've mentioned before. its illustrations are rich with oranges, browns, and yellows...cozy and warm.

we used the leaves to make prints with tempera paints.

we were up to our elbows in juicy paintyness!