Good Little Things

Hanging on for dear life (to the weather)

 

So we finally made one, I still need to figure out what to do with the stuff I moved to make it though. I was very pleased to find these shadow boxes at my dollar store. They were $3 each, go figure. Still a great deal in my book. Alex is the main organizer of these things. He really enjoys collecting things and finding out what they are. Since the weather has been perfect here the last few day I have done very little sewing this week (except for the 20 minute skirt I sewed in my underwear while getting ready to go this morning) anyway this is going to delay my shop update a bit. I think I will work on this some during the weekend. Who knows, maybe it will rain and I will be stuck inside. Here in Chicago we sort of grab on to our lovely weather with two hands and hold on tight for fear that it can turn at any given moment, especially in the spring. We have very few months of the year where the weather is neither too hot or too cold. It reminds me of this poem I wrote a long time ago, I don't know if I ever posted it here, but don't laugh o.k?

 Oh, Sweet Eternity Goddess,

   Please incubate our Spring,

    Beneath gorgeous white petals of Winter.

       Let her whisper for Summer.

          After the rain floods your gown.

                   
 

 

views of the garden and some nice music that won't make you go crazy

Here are our potato plants which we started from some old potatoes that we had in the cabinet. I was a little worried about these at first because it took a while for them to come up. I am wondering if they are too close together. 

   

and our green beans which our growing on one of the stick tepees we made.

                             

I have found that while playing with the kids outside or in it is helpful to have some nice music going, it sort of helps to keep the mood "happy" if you know what I mean. At least I think it does,but I find that there are zillions of children's cd's that will do exactly the opposite, no matter how happy they sound. Its the sort of happy sound that just adds chaos to the day and drives me crazy, like having a marching band in your living room while you're trying to figure out what for dinner. I recently about this...and so I went to the library, and checked all the cds out by Elizabeth Mitchell and that was that. Finally music that Mama can enjoy too. 
 

enjoying the weather

After a long a very rainy spring we are finally having some warm days here. Actually it has been HOT like near 90 degrees. So the plants are growing and also the weeds which I am doing my best to keep under control. Our garden has been unused for many years and so was greatly overrun with weeds. This fall we covered it with newspapers and leaves and that has helped a lot. So we have quite a bit growing now and can't wait to see how it all turns out. Unfortunately I found yesterday that all of our lettuce had been eaten! I will have to see what I can do about that. Those darn pesky rabbits.

 On my way back to the garden I pass this lovely little peony bush. I added 2 more next to it this year but they are too tiny yet for flowers. I think these have to be my favorite flowers, along with Lilacs. 

 

 
  I am trying to figure out what the white flowering bushes I keep seeing around are, I am also seeing them in yellow. I will have to take some pictures next time I see them. Now that I found my camera that shouldn't be a problem. Which reminds me I need to make some kind of camera strap so I can keep it around my neck. 

Nature study

We've been enjoying lots of park days around here and finding lots of new friends some human and some not. This weekend we spent lots of time out doors with family playing games and celebrating. It was a great time. unfortunately my camera was dead. boo. 

 

 
  

The fuzzy caterpillar is named Charlie and currently he is in a cocoon in our kitchen. He is an Eastern tent caterpillar and is responsible for killing many different kinds of trees. The green one we put back where he came from. We are getting ready to start studying our new book Handbook of Nature study and following along with an outdoor challenge. This week we will work on Outdoor Challenge #1 

I'd like to find some old cd racks so I can make a nature display like this one. anyone else have pictures and ideas of how they put their nature area together? I struggle with having the things accessible so the older kids can arrange them, and keeping them safe from those in the house that like to dump things and take everything off of the shelves.

Vitalie took this picture of me while standing on the park bench. 

 
 P.S: In order to buy books I have been doing surveys on Opinion outpost where I can earn money to spend at Amazon.com. So far I have earned over $100 and used the amazon dollars  to buy the books we want. 

Winner!

And we have a winner!, Did you enjoy the anticipation? Ok, I won't make you wait anymore.

The Winner is # 128 Deb from Two Cheeky Monkeys! Congratulations! I will email you to get your shipping info. Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway. 

For those of you who didn't win, I will be offering new bags in my shop on Friday, some made from fabulous vintage table cloths! 

Giveaway Day!

I am sorry for posting this so late! I thought I had it set for the right time. Big OOPs on my part!

For my giveaway I am offering one of the new items in my shop.

It is a large cotton tote bag that you can take with you in the purse car or stroller.

 

It is so big you can fit many books, groceries and picnic items in it.  

 

I will also be adding these as a regular item in my shop. 

leave a comment here and tell me what your favorite place to picnic is or the latest book you are reading from the library. 

you can also gain another entry by subscribing to my blog. You can get delivered directly to your email box. Let me know that you did so and that will give you an extra entry!

I personally love to picnic out on the front lawn where we can watch things going by, but my second favorite would be the forest preserve. 

I am currently reading The We Generation from my library. It has been pretty interesting!

I will draw the winner at 9 am on Friday morning!

There are over 200 blogs participating in Giveaway day. Check them out 

I found these great upcycled envelopes here I hope I win!

evolution of space

I have been doing some redecorating around here with items saved from the trash and purchased from the thrift shop. Trying to make this little home fit all of our needs can be a challenge, so I try to make each corner useful and beautiful at the same time. I also try to make things accessible so we can get our ideas down quickly. I don't want our home to feel like a school but allowing the kids to have access to art supplies, dress ups and little corners for pretending is a must. It seems that in the past month or so I have found some things that have been floating around in my brain for a while. My next task is to find a way to display our bits of nature in a way that they can be seen but also not broken or lost. 

  

 

I found our new chalkboard sitting out on the curb about a block away from our house and the old school pencil sharpener at the thrift shop both in the same week. The pencil sharpener works wonderfully, if you find one make sure to mount it to some wood or in to wall studs. I have mine mounted to a bookcase.

 

a vintage school desk with storage

 

I spruced up this  book case with white paint and vintage wallpaper. I find that having toys displayed on shelves invites younger children to play with them more easily rather than being lost deep inside a toy box.

 
 Rotating wall art display. Much better than cluttering up the fridge. These are just office clips screwed in to a piece of sanded wood. 
 
 

 

Above our family book case I hung a collection of vintage plates, none of them costing more than $2 and the plate hangers were very inexpensive also. I didn't have any criteria for matching my plates, I just chose what I liked and they seem to work together in some way. 

Happy Mothers Day!

I didn't get the chance to write this yesterday, but Happy Mothers day to all the mothers I know out there. 

I am thankful for you and all the great inspiration I get from you. I hope you had a great day yesterday.

We had a great day in the woods yesterday and collected some great stuff for our nature corner. I stood by while I watched all but my littlest baby climb trees and navigate their way through the woods. Benny chose to throw sticks in to the lake instead. 

Recently there were some new babies born at Cosley Zoo here are pictures of some mothers watching over their babies.