Mimi in art: part 1

I am very excited!!! I just emailed a fantastic artist about possibly painting a portrait of my darling Mimi girl. I hope she accepts and can bring my darling girl back through the world of art. I miss Mimi terribly all this time later and just really hope we can do this to honer her sweet memory. I will keep updating as I find out more...

Why not freecycle?

I love being thrifty! I think it is in my blood, my mom and dad love garage sale-ing and my mom is queen of the thrift store. My extended family is just as nutty about thrifty-ness so it is no wonder that the frugal bug bit me! Recently I have started using freecycle. If you haven't heard of freecycle it works like this. You go to www.freecycle.org and then you enter your zip code. The website will let you know how many freecycle groups are in your area and you pick the nearest one to your zip code. I believe that all freecycle groups work off of yahoo groups, so don't be surprised when you get directed to join a yahoo group.

The rules are simple: Offer first, then accept offers or post wanted offers. But definitely you start by giving something away before taking something else. I started by offering up some unwanted gardening supplies. A lady quickly responded to my add and we meet at the library where she picked up her new FREE treasures. Then I went on and accepted a few free goodies for our family. I picked up a big bag of little girls clothes that I gave to a friend of mine. Then I posted a wanted add for homeschooling items. These pictures are of the items another lady gave me. A large map of the world. In the first picture you can see Thomas put some green glass on Greenland. I was trying to explain to him that mommy found that glass on a beach in France, but he thought it should have came from Greenland...it is green after all! I have since hung it on a wall. Even Winston wants to learn about the world...ha!

She threw in a complete set of letters that I hung in the playroom at eye level for the little guy.

Looks cute and maybe he will start to recognize more letters.

Below is a picture of a very awesome calender she also freecycled to me. Everything has velcro so we can easily switch the dates and seasons and special holidays. It came with everything, I was surprised that none of the numbers or other small pieces were not missing. It is super nice! Currently it is hanging on Thomas' artist easel. I might buy some more velcro and hang the whole thing some where else down the road. But Thomas isn't really using his easel for art at the moment so its no big deal.

The point of this is to tell you how much fun being frugal is and how easy it is to find things you want without paying for them. Maybe a freegan lifestyle awaits us...

PS. It feels great to give as well!

Freezing spinach

We really love our green smoothies around here. They give us so much energy and they taste great. My only dilemma is that we never seem to make it threw the three pound container of organic spinach I buy from Costco. Its such a great deal at only four dollars, I cant resist buying it. Sadly I always end up throwing some away.

So I had the idea of liquefying my spinach and freezing it. Why not? This way we can throw a cube or two into our smoothies and I don't have to worry about it going bad or taking up so much space in the fridge.

It took full blenders and a little water to use all the spinach. Its amazing how little liquid you can get from so many bulky spinach leaves.

After blending I just poured the liquid into the ice cube trays. Once they are frozen I will transfer them to an airtight container.

My problem was were would I put the ice cube trays? Yesterday I went to Costco, can you tell that I splurged?

Aww, a spot on top of some bread. Yeah, no more wasted spinach!!! Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Step stool madness

I have been on a step stool finding mission for many, many months now. My requirement list was not super long. I wanted to find stools that were made of quality wood, sturdy, tall enough for Thomas to reach what ever he needed, and if at all possible be made in the USA.

I have looked high and low but every stool I come across tends to be missing something on my list.

Two days ago I spent the morning at a new friends house. When I walked into her kitchen I saw the cutest step stools I have ever seen. Her two stools were just like the ones I have posted here only one was shaped like a butterfly and the other like a flower. I gasped and quickly found out where she had found these gems!

Have you ever heard or a store called Home Goods? Turns out there is a Home Goods store just a few miles from our home. As soon as I left my friends house I went straight there to grab up a few stools for Thomas.

Turns out they didn't have any flower or butterfly stools left, but they had several different cars and boats carved onto circular stools. Yeah, perfect for my little boy! I would have settled for flowers and butterflies but this was even better for us. I still cant get over the price, at thirteen dollars each for a solid wood hand carved stool. The only thing I compromised on was where these stools were made. Sorry USA you lost out on this one. These were hand carved in Thailand.

Thomas is now the proud new owner in four unique step stools. Two in the kitchen and one in a down stairs bathroom and another in an upstairs bathroom. I hope this helps him along the way with gaining Independence and feeling a little taller!

Used threads

In the past thrift stores have sort of grossed me out. I always feel dirty when I walk out of one. But lately I have found a new thrill in thrift shopping. It is sort of like a treasure hunt. If you take your time and see what is hiding in these stores you might just stumble upon something you could really use, and at these prices it is hard to beat. The entire out fit Thomas is wearing in these pictures, to include the Columbia hat and working kids binoculars came from the thrift store. All for under ten dollars. There are no stains or rips nothing missing just nice clothes that some child (probably) hardly ever wore. Thomas looks like he is ready to go on safari!

Wetlands park

Thomas and I went to the wetlands park a couple days ago. This first picture is of him after he fell into the water!

We found this great place, and we had it all to ourselves. We walked through this forest of watery reeds then crossed a bridge. Suddenly we were surrounded in water and shaded by giant trees. We lied down on a bench and watched the trees dance in the wind.

Thomas grabbed a stick and was excited about the possibility of catching a shark or an alligator.

For Thomas and I, it doesn't matter if its a hundred and ten in the dessert heat, we love to get out and explore nature!

I made Thomas some binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and painted them black. He was on the look out for new and exciting animals.

Busy morning

This morning came way too early, but the nice thing was that Thomas wanted to build his train set near the kitchen which allowed me to work and play at the same time. Yesterday I soaked and started the sprouting process for a bunch of buckwheat. I was hoping to awaken to see little tails growing on my buckwheat, but alas there are none yet. It took me a while to find a place to hang my bag of buckwheat, I was thrilled when I saw the microwave handle was the perfect height. After they sprout I will dehydrate these and they will be used in homemade raw granola.

Yesterday I soaked to sets of raw almonds. One set I soaked in just water, those are the ones on the bottom tray. The other set was soaked in 1/2 water 1/2 Bragg's Amino. Then this morning I rinsed the almonds and placed them in the dehydrator. The set that had soaked in the Bragg's solution got coated in Brewers yeast and Himalayan pink salt. They are suppose to be a cheesy treat when they finish dehydrating. The plain almonds will get chopped and put into the raw granola.

I made the mistake of placing a ripe peach and a ripe nectarine on top of a bunch of overly ripe bananas. This morning when I went to enjoy a summer treat I realized that the bananas had speeded up the ripening process of my sweet treat! I didn't want to waste my fruit so I decided to make a special treat. I chopped the the peach, nectarine, a whole vanilla bean and a couple hand fulls of Brazil nuts into a basic muffin recipe. I cant wait for them to cool so I can see how they turned out. I have never seen this combination in muffins before so I will see if there is a reason for this!

Here is Thomas' train set up. He finally had enough engineering and decided he needed to watch a little Dora. I am a sucker for his sweet little "pleaseeeee, mommy" so its on as I type this. Now off to my muffins...Yumm!

Our indoor swing

Here is a view of how the swing is screwed into the ceiling. We only used two screws in each anchor, and screwed them into beams.

"Wheeeeeeeeeee"

This has turned out to be one of Thomas' favorite toys. We bought it at an Ikea store in San Diego several months ago. When we first moved here I met a mom who has two sons. One is Thomas' age and the other was older. She home schools her boys and incorporates many styles into her teaching. Based on the way her home was laid out and the types of toys and educational supplies I am guessing a large part is Montessori.

I quickly feel in love with the way she had arranged their home. The main living room attached to the kitchen and informal dinning area had no televisions and no furniture other then a small breakfast table. The whole space was for the kids. I LOVED it!!! In the center of the room they had this swing and a set of hoops to hang from. She told me she got them at Ikea. The next time we were near an Ikea I had to pick us up some. You can see in this picture Thomas has got some pretty mean balance skills that I he has learned from this and his balance bike as well. There is a pic of the bike on previous post.

Here is a pic of the hoops (not sure what you call them) that we will hang when he is a bit older, maybe next month...lol! Also in the pic are the papers from the swing so you can see the name. These were so cheap, but are very sturdy and seem to be high quality. We paid (somewhere around) twelve dollars for the swing and the same for the hoops. You have to buy the mounting brackets separately and they are only a dollar or two. Cheap, quality, fun!!!

More toddler views...

I found this plain little coat rack at Savers for a buck.

With the inspiration all my homeschooling mamas are giving me, I knew I needed a special place for Thomas to hang his stuff. As well that it needed to be at his level.

This is one of Thomas' s spaces in the living room. I found that great basket at Savers also. It was under two dollars. When I saw it I knew it would be perfect for all of Thomas' little cars. It is shallow, sturdy and wide. I also added a pretty painting we had just sitting in a closet and hung it for Thomas to enjoy. Its a painting of a small boat and a house near the water. On the other wall I staggered a couple family pictures. The pictures include all (except the two new babies) of Pats immediate family (very large.) Thomas is so sweet, he goes over and gives everyone kisses and will play his guitar and sing to them. I would never have guessed that would be his response. Priceless!!!

Along the lines of keeping things accessible for the little guy I have moved Thomas' favorite and most requested foods to a shelf low enough for his reach. Not that shelf height would stop him, he is a climber! I place left overs in small containers and he can just grab one and go, he yells at me when I heat his food, so why not.

I have posted a similar picture before but here it is again. The new thing about this is that I have moved his crackers from the locked pantry into his shelves so he can just grab what he wants.

Stoneware pottery

Two days ago Thomas and I went thrift store shopping. I have a long list of things that if I ever come across at the thrift store (and for a reasonable price) I will buy. There only seems to be one descent thrift store around here and it is a Savers store. They have an enormous collection of children's books for only .69 cents each. I always seem to score big when I am looking for new books. I actually found Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece there! They also have so much more. This time I was ready to find some great things to add around the house for Thomas. After reading some more online about Montessori I wanted to find some pictures, mirrors and esp. some child size mugs and breakables. I found the mirror and several mugs that were the perfect size for Thomas' little hands.

I stumbled upon this pretty green, earthy looking clay tea pot with lid. So I decided I would get that for him along with any little mugs I could find that would match closely enough in color and texture. Which is how I discovered the thing I am going to start collecting... Stoneware pottery!

Stoneware pottery looks beautiful. Its very natural and organic feeling. The three mugs I found are all different patterns and sizes but go together beautifully, more beautifully then a perfectly matched set. I wouldn't want any two alike! I am going to keep my eye out any time I am at the thrift store for new pieces to go with this collection. I will be looking for plates and bowls as well. But I am guessing those will be harder to find. Who doesn't like a treasure hunt?

I don't plan on keeping these mugs for myself. In fact one has most definitely been claimed by Thomas, although they are all for him. Its the tiniest one, that I am guessing was intended to be an espresso mug. He is so proud of him self drinking from it like a grown up, yet knowing it fits him most perfectly!

So now out with the old and in with...well...the old!

My next project

I spent a few minutes on ebay this morning looking for good deals and inspiration. I was searching for Montessori education supplies. I stumbled upon something (not sure what it is called) and decided I could make it myself and probably improve it.

What this person was selling was a set of felt sheets and several trinkets. Each sheet of felt was a different color, there were six sheets total. There were five trinkets to go with each sheet of felt. Thirty trinkets total. Each set of trinkets were the same color as the felt.

Example: Five blue trinkets plus one blue sheet of felt.

They had the sheets of felt all rolled together and tied with a string. All thirty trinkets were mixed together. So my assumption is that you lay the felt sheets out and let your toddler/preschooler place the matching trinkets on their matching felt.

The set on ebay was not super high quality. The felt looked nice but the trinkets were cheap plastic toys and things. I am going to collect things that are more natural and maybe even put a nature theme to this. No plastic here! Maybe I will get a sheet of brown felt and gather sticks, pine cones, bark, nut shells and other similar items. My other colors might be green, orange, red and any other color I think can be found in nature. That should be funner and lead to further discussion then cheap plastic trinkets.

I will post a picture as soon as we get this going...

Toddler design

You might wonder what it is like living with a toddler, but have you ever considered what a toddler would say it is like living with a couple adults? I am really starting to focus on Thomas' perspective and what it must feel like to be three feet tall,have limited speech and have virtually no control over his own life.

I love how people come into your life and plant seeds of inspiration. I have had the joy over Thomas' little life of meeting some great mommies who have introduced me to different types of education and child rearing philosophies. When Thomas was little the focus was on attachment parenting and although that is still how we parent I am thrilled to move onto the next phase and bring in a Waldorf and Montessori approach to teaching and parenting our little guy.

I wanted to share photos of the areas in our home that are dedicated to Thomas.
This is a picture of a nook next to Thomas' play room that I have dedicated as his nature zone. There is a basket full of pine cones we collected on a nature walk, a stick Thomas found and LOVED and a bird house. We will add to this as time goes on.

Here you can see his Art easel/hat rack, book shelf and table with chairs.

Here is a few inside his closet. I transformed an old shoe holder and sweater holder into a place to keep toys. This is where most of his plastic and older toys live.

On the other side of the closet is his dress up zone. I have hung his costumes on nice wooden hangers and placed gloves, goggles and other small accessories into a small basket. On the wall next to the closet is a small mirror. I hope to get a full size mirror for him down the road.

Here is a clip board with paper and pen I hung near the door, in case Thomas has sudden inspiration on his way in or out. Maybe he will leave me a sweet message. Recently he drew me a circle and told me its name is Patrick (daddy's name)

Here is another shot of his book shelf, I have all his wooden puzzles and thinking toys on the bottom two shelves. The books and CD player are slightly higher. He can easily access all the items.

Here is our comfy reading rocker...need I say more.

Thomas is no longer interested in building trains on the table, he prefers to do that on the floor in the living room. So I flipped the train table top over to the plain white side and he uses it as part of his kitchen. He has a carton of wooden eggs, an old glass milk jug, some bamboo spoons, glass salt and pepper Shaker and some other odds and ends. Next to the table is his new- to him (bought off craigslist) kitchen. Hours of fun!

In the living room we have given him an area on the end table to keep his books. I hope to add a bean bag chair in this area soon.

Here is his wooden balance bike, we let him cruise through the house on it. A favorite toy of Thomas.

My pictures are not in order, so here is a close up of his nature zone.

As you can see I hung a mirror at Thomas' eye level. How special he must feel now that things are down on his level! I just caught him making silly faces in it tonight.

Here he is sporting a new short hair cut for summer, dressed like a skunk playing in his kitchen.

Skunk boy pretending to cracking an egg into his creation.

These are faux stained glass that we (more me then we, really) made to make our windows a little prettier.

More prettiness....

I found a neat clay tea pot and several clay and glass mugs at the thrift store. We want to encourage Thomas to use breakable everyday items, rather then stifle his growth. This will hopefully teach him, patients, tenderness and appreciation for the items we own.

Yesterday he wanted to drink and eat from bowls on the floor like a doggie and today he wanted to drink like a little gentle man. How sweet, and ever changing!

Thomas will be three in exactly one month! What a sweetie pie! I have to add my new favorite website as a link on here, I hope if you have time that you will check it out... http://mommylife.net/archives/montessori/ A special thanks to Tiffany for telling me about this site and encouragement to learn more about Montessori, and to Lisa for your constant Waldorf inspirations. Also to Angela who is always inspiring me with your craftyness