knitting at night

i started knitting in bed...
it's great, not that i get a lot done, but it just feels good to get a few needles done before i go to sleep.
in the same few moments watching thea falling asleep.
the socks are soon done, i'm on the home stretch with the second sock a few more quiet hours... i'm already dreaming of wearing this wonderful wool!

snow person

what a wet cold day....
it snowed it rained and it was lot's of fun! yes the kids stayed out for a couple of hours to build some snow man!and what an indian is running around in the back of the house...

meanwhile i enjoyed some quiet with thea, a cup of tea and preparing a few cups of hot cocoa for the "snow kids". when they were ready to come indoors, all soaked and steaming from running and working so hard, it was the best to sit down with them and listen to their stories.
i could take a few more snow days indoor.....

neighborhood bikes

we walk around the neighborhood a lot. this is one of the houses we pass often, this time it just so happen, that i had my camera in hand...
i like the bikes, it is such an encouraging sight. to me it looks like we are pedaling into the right direction with this. it reminds me of bikes not bomb's also located in our neighborhood. it reminds me of bikes not cars, especially in the everyday urban environment. it reminds me of the little city we left over 10 years ago. it reminds me of spring! this just a few thoughts of mine as of today january 29th 2009

standing on "dreadlocks"...

from a friends mother's mother we got six skeins of very old wool....
i didn't know what to do with it, but elias knew! he was then totally into finger knitting and so he worked his way through all six skeins. we ended up with a big canvas bag full of a very loose rope of sort's (i totally missed taking some photos, but i hope you can imagine). what were we going to do with this loose rope of sorts?
then the idea jumped into our heads to try felting this "rope" of sorts and see how it would come out. after three wash cycles it looked like the above product. tighter and a felt warm feel and kind of "dreadlocks" look to it. right then and there elias decided that he wanted to get dreadlocks. he is a bit up set that it would take time to let me grow and even more so with his straight hair, it would take a lot of work.
never the less we were all excited about this big ball of woolen dreadlocks and decided that knitting those dreadlocks up into a bath mat or something would be perfect.
that's it, the little bath mat is now being used and all are falling in love to stand on it. i have to say it is a great feeling to stand on "dreadlocks"!
(elias took the photo of his feet on his own)

running errands

going to the library and grocery store is done at least twice a week in our family. it's a good walk and we enjoy getting new books, as well as a refill for the fridge...
the kids are my little donkeys, they carry i often tag along with thea in the moby.
the grocery store has little healthy treats for kids who are shopping and i some times treat myself to a cup of tea or like this time an espresso-latte after a bit over an hour we are usually happily arriving back home. storm into the warm kitchen and enjoy some tea. it's a good thing to live in town, no car no bus just a bit walking.

more orange

i got focused on orange yesterday and just could not stop it to see more and more orange around me....
here we i have a few more.
one of my favorite fleece blankets, we got this one for elias, so it is one i'm attached to, as it is so bright and cheerful. a big bag of oranges, i didn't plan to buy them in such a quantity, but i could not resist the temptation and i'm sure they will be gone before i blink twice. elias got the idea of working with soap stone set in his head, we will see what is to come. i'm very happy to see him exploring a new medium. and at last, there is our little bunny, he is doing his task well, playing music for thea to entertain her! and of course i could not resist to show you the orange reduced, a daily stumble upon. i call myself lucky every time i see this kind of lable in my shopping basket...

orange

it ended up to become an orange day, unplanned but very clearly as i filed through the days photos!

after lunch elias enjoyed a moment with thea. he really wanted to finish reading "what's the big idea ben franklin" as it has been an assignement for the past two days.... amos finished it yesterday and we wanted to discuss the book today.
he also likes the rocking chair and holding thea is one more treat. i was happy about it, then this made it possible for me to quickly clean up around the kitchen.

the goal of the day was, to use up one of the three butternut squash.
i didn't want to make soup with it and i'm aware that the kids are not very fond of the sweet vegetable... this made me surf the internet for some kind of recipe with the main ingredient being butternut squash. i found a galette recipe at epicurious and tried it. it worked, the kids liked it a lot. i did not have any leeks in the house but substituted the greens with dinosaur kale out of the freezer (from the csa box in october). i especially liked the sage in the pastry.

lego maze

joel comes up with the most simple and amazing games for the kids. here they built a lego maze with duplo blocks. got a cotton ball and a hand full of kids on site!
starting at a given place of the maze and blowing the cotton ball to the designated finish. with the kids there were different rules being implemented. 1. each child has it's spot to blow from, 2. each child gets a turn to blow the cotton ball through the maze, 3. two kids play together, 4. just what ever rule you come up with works fine. this provides about 1hour of fun if not more!

the 44th president!

there is really nothing to add, look at him and be inspired!

we watched the inauguration of our new president, barack hussein obama. it was great and i'm glad we were able to do that. especially as the kids are americans and we are moving to switzerland this year. i hope it will stick to them for the next decade! there is change in the air....

snow on sunday

the windwheel is not turning, but loaded with snow.

the chairs are not in use, but loaded with snowed

the kids are not in swimsuits not even barefoot, but running around the house all bundled up (except naomi, she refuses to wear mittens).

eisblumen am fenster

eisblumen sind so wunderschoen, ich staune immer wieder von neuem ueber dieses kleine naturwunder!
diese eisblumen sind an unserem buerofenster zu finden. yup, es ist sehr kalt draussen und wir sind froh nicht allzuviel zeit in der kaelte zu verbringen. fuer einen nachmittagsspaziergang um elias vom ballet abzuholen mussten wir uns einpacken fast wie im hochen norden... doch ich genoss es trotzdem, denn die sonne zeigte sich von ihrer besten seite und es windete nicht.

im haus drinnen bin ich fleissig am stricken, ein weiteres paar socken fuer mich. die wolle ist so angenehm und den ersten socken nahm ich noch heute abend von den nadeln, morgen geht's an den zweiten!

cookies and therapy

it was a cold afternoon yesterday, very inviting to do some baking... and that we did. we came up with those black and white cookies and had a lot of fun making patterns.
it was a quick baking and then a fun afternoon snack! together with a cup of tea, sitting down and enjoying the work of our hands.

joel took thea to the orthopedist, as she has a mild case of hip dysplasia. thea seemed to enjoy the outing with dad, an early morning on the bus to children's hospital. i was so glad not having had to go out into the cold, all bundled up, thea in the moby under the winter coat.
it's very cold around here, and how glad we are for the furnace doing it's work in the basement, having the radiators all warm and a favorite place to rest on...
so here we go, the hip dysplasia is mild and should outgrow with some physical therapy moves, like the one shown in the photo.... february 20st is the next check up. lets get those muscles stretched and strengthened!

dinner with amos

amos reached his end of year goal with the piano.....
i promised him to have dinner at a local cafe, and so we did last night. just he and i at ula cafe. it was a quick walk over there and we both enjoyed to be outside in the brisk night. we were discussing what we would order, i was going to get a good bowl of soup and he was circling around what kind of sandwich he wanted, and if dessert would also be part of the deal.
they were out of soup, but amos didn't mind, as he was soon set on the black forest ham sandwich. it took me a bit longer, i was disapointed, but decided to get the roast beef.
a freshly squeezed orange juice for amos, water for me.
we both enjoyed the meal, there were not a lot of people in the cafe, some good music playing and we just quietly sat and munched. amos went by himself to get the "real vanilla bean" cup cake, he came back to the table so happy. i loved watching him, i think that was the high of the day!

one more birthday gift

how wonderful it must be!
yes naomi is feeling very very lucky, she got one more package from the ups guy yesterday! and what a package, it came from a grandma-friend of ours. she could not have given naomi anything more special then those twin dolls. upon arrival they were named, claudia and stephan. (yes you two will get a cick out of this, i'm sure!) it was great to see her so involved with her new babies, dressing, undressing, flying above her head into the living room, going to school, playing jump on the stairs, etc.
there is one more aspect to this, our grandma-friend also got a double stroller for her....
this is a bit over the top for me, but naomi feels even closer to dreamland.
i guess i just have to make due and put her to work with it. we will soon go shopping with her pushing the stroller and all the groceries in the bottom netting... yes that's a good outlook even for me.

yes it's done! elias insisted on finishing the cap last night, as he wanted to wear it to go in bed!
it's been a great step for him to start and finish this knitting project within a few days. and i have to say, it is rewarding to finish such projects quickly with some intense moments of graditude following the hard work.
he is already planning to knit a cap for a friend....

knitting

elias is knitting again! i'm excited that he caught up with it once more. wanting to knit a hat, we picked out some wool and figured that he would enjoy a round needle for a new challenge. he wanted to take it along for his ski trip, and came back with about 1inch knit on the bus ride. he got all into it, could almost not stop yesterday evening and picked it up first thing this morning.
we also got to change wool and purling.... the newest addition is now reducing stitches, a lot for three days. but as long as he is instisting on doing so and wanting to learn all the new things i love to teach him.
i will be posting the finished product soon, as he will finish sooner then i excpected and all the other things are put aside. it is such a great moment, to be mom to a knitter!
by the way, i started on a pair of socks for myself...

5th birthday

we celebrated naomi's 5th birthday yesterday! yeah, what a great event for our big sister! over the past few days, she was telling everyone that it will be her birthday on sunday. and here we are, it's sunday morning, a big brunch for the girl and she was enjoying the candles lit especialy for her. all snowed in we had a very quiet day made some music and did some phone calling to grandma and other special people. after dinner we had the community over for cake. i made a cake with lots of dried fruit, apricots, figs, prunes and pecans. a real winter cake, there were some mini peanutbutter cups on the top, just for our little chocolate lover...
she was happy and her eyes were glowing when she discovered the art box i put together for her. right away there had to be some art making, creating, stamping, cutting and glueing. i love her creativity, her urge to make things. the first thank you card was created and written right there on the spot, isn't that great!

yesterday night

we enjoyed a really nice cheese fondue! wow it was so good with a yummy loaf of country white from the neighborhood bakery. all five of us were very happy and it was fun too. joking like asterix and obelix, when they were having fondue on their adventures to switzerland.
soon enough we will undertake that adventure too, within a year, we will be living there. over there in the heart of europe, i don't really know what i should think about it. it's exciting though, a new adventure taking place in our lifes!

this was elias creation for a friends birthday gift. a mix of hot coco, which he put together in a jar. he often comes up with these very creative ideas. the three candy canes where the regular friday candy...

in regards to why they are called friday candy:
our neighbor is a candy distributor in the area and has his rules about giving them away to the neighborhood kids. just on fridays the kids can stop by at any time during their working hours and ask for candy. they will get some, what ever they have around, lately it has been lots of candy canes. there were some more creative ones as well, blue "gummy" snakes, candy watches, m & m's in all kinds of colours, and lots more. then they also have to say thank you...
the boys are not thinking of it every week, but naomi is very eager, already on monday she is questioning me about how many days there will be until friday, or even better "is today friday" ?

in the mail

in the time "in between", i got around to order some ribbons and fabric scraps from jcaroline creative, how wonderful to have the goodies now in the house. i have no specific project in mind, but it is very inspiring to think of a quilt or just some little linen zipper bags with the wonderful ribbon to decorate it. we will see what will happen. i know already, the pink ribbon with the sea star on it, will be used to wrap naomi's birthday present...

meanwhile the snow fort behind the house is growing... even today with temperatures in the low 20is the kids wanted to go outside. naomi refused sternly to put on her winter boots and mittens. i gave in and let her go out into the cold the way she wanted, except her hat and scarf had to be worn...
there is some more snow in the forecast for tomorrow evening. elias is already longingly looking up into the sky, but he will be skiing tomorrow all day, that will make the waiting go by in now time!

tape game

elias could not resist the rainy-snowy-weather, he had to go outside and make the best of it! build a cool snow fort. his friend came over and together they spent a good time in the super wet weather. i have to say i'm glad he enjoys that so much, it's a treat for him to go outside at any time. and he is creative with what ever he meets out there.

meanwhile amos and naomi came up with a roll of masking tape and ideas i never thought of.
first naomi taped "a person" on the floor, then it became "a robot" and ended up to be "a sculpter". during any given time of the project it was also "a game" follow the leader, chase, and any given numbers of hop scotch variaties.
a great game to play dressed already in jammies and bare foot, as our kitchen floor is heated!

the coconut

it was such an entertainment!
yes we got a coconut and the kids were so eager and enthusiastic about opening it up and trying the milk and meat! using all kinds of tools, starting with elias new pocket knife, giving up and trying the power drill. all eyes on it, waiting expectantly for things to happen...
there were different attacks on the coconut taken outdoors, with hammer and throwing it on the ground from up high, letting a big rock fall on it etc. all of those attempts did not work. only the drill did it!
the coconut milk got poured into a glass and then the nut got hammered into smaller pieces, which then got cut up with the pocket knifes.
at the end all of us got some wonderful fresh coconut meat and a sip of the milk, which the kids did not like at all...
as you might can imagine, it was a great spectacle and we realized once more, why there is no tv in the house.
thank you s for providing the coconut, i guess you didn't expect to bring so much fun entertainment into the house, but it was just the best!