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archer

Do you ever have that thing where your kid turns to you over breakfast and says "oh, you know I need a medieval archer costume for school tomorrow right?" 

sigh. 

I did NOT know that.

"It's a good thing I remembered today, hey Mom?"

Yes, yes its a very good thing that I have 24 hours notice on your need for a home-made costume. Whew. What a relief!

So with a quick bit of brainstorming before he got on the bus, he found the green sweatshirt lining from his spring coat and said "its easy mom, all you need to do is make an old fashioned-y looking hood and then snap it on to here or something. And Dad can make me a bow. You tell him before he goes to work, ok?"

So I made a quick stop at the fabric store between swimming lessons and a doctors appointment and then with the hour I had in the afternoon, I whipped up a hood and attached some snaps and voila, we have a costume!

Of course, what really sells the whole thing in the bow. Which Hubs did not make. He just happens to already have it. He's a bit of a bow and arrow enthusiast, so he had a couple lying around, and this is a little junior sized compound bow. His packrat ways certainly do come in handy sometimes. 

It should go without saying that we did not send any arrows along with him. Obviously. 

Here's a shot of his hood from the back. Its just made from good ole' cheap craft felt, and I tacked the point down so that it would not look too comically elf-y. I didn't use a pattern or anything. Just folded the felt in half and laid a hoodie on it and cut out a more exagerated shape with a bit of a point on it, and a longer, rounded collar. Since it was felt, I didn't really have to do any hemming, though I did fold it over and hem in along the face edge, just because it looked nice. And then I attached it with four snaps along the collar of the sweatshirt, so that we can take it on and off for playing. 

"See Mom, this way its a crossbow."

There is nothing more satisfying than making something for your kid that they really, really like. He was so happy with this costume. The camo pants were his idea, and of course, the bow really made it, but I'm glad he was happy with this little hood. When he came out of his bedroom this morning and saw it lying on his chair, he said "Yeah, that's perfect! That's just the way I wanted it!"Medieval Archers - now with new and improved camouflage and sunglasses! Not so historically accurate, but he sure is Mommy's Little Badass.

everyday beauty

So I've been doing this thing where I take pictures. I won't say that I am a photographer, because I'm just another person with a digital SLR and there's no need to get uppity about it. But my point is that I'm not always, shall we say, a huge fan of my life. On the bad days (and there have been some bad days lately) it can be hard to see the value in what I do. And yeah, yeah, I know "Moms are important", and I'm sure if I google that phrase I'll get a bajillion heart-felt, uplifting stories about the unsung heroes of early childhood. But my point is that it feels like a bit of a boring slog sometimes. So I'm trying to do what I do and look for the beauty. Trying to make some art. Trying to see beyond the whining and the poop and the endless making of food and engage my eye and brain and heart. So I'm taking pictures of things in my life that are beautiful. They are mostly still-life-y things, and occasionally will involve my kids. But my rule for myself is no styling and no staging. No careful choosing of backgrounds. No wiping of dirty faces. No asking anyone to do anything again while I get a shot. Just pictures of things in my messy life as they are. Like this beautifully smeared plastic-plate paint palette, courtesy of my four year old. 

 Though I will allow myself slight repositioning, as in the image below.Those little boots were set on the balcony railing to dry after a good soaker, late last summer. I angled the little one on the right just a bit, to get a more pleasing angle. And I might move something into a bit of better light. 

But sometimes the light is just perfect, right where it is.

I'm going to try to put up a post like this once a week. Though I'm not committing to a particular day. You'll just have to wait and see. 

SPRING!

The first day of Spring was almost a couple of weeks ago, and I meant to post these pictures then, but you know, life happens. Ridiculous cakes have to be baked, swimming lessons had to start, committee meetings were scheduled and I forgot. But then I remembered, and wanted to share. Because the calendar said SPRING! Ad how we have longed for, waited for, hoped for SPRING. And since the calendar said so, we went out into the world for a little walk to see if what was marked in that little box had changed the way the world looked. And lo and behold, it had!First things first, we had to go to the forest's edge and see if the snowdrops had come up yet. 

We had to really get down there and look hard...

You're close guys...

...turn around.

There they are! Not quite out in full bloom yet, but peeping their little tops up in a very hopeful way.

Then there was a quick stop by the fort for some general silliness. 

And then we set off down the still snowy path, a little deeper into the woods where the trees are keeping the snow around for a little bit longer. It was slippery and crunchy at the same time, and we had to be careful where we stepped. 

We found a dead tree, beautifully pockmarked with with woodpecker holes.

We had to look inside and see if there were any bugs left. Or woodpeckers for that matter. 

And we never forget to investigate the creek. We need to stand on the bridge and drop sticks into the water and see how fast the go from one side to the other (a game called Pooh Sticks for those of you familiar with Winnie the Pooh's adventures).

but first we needed to find some sticks. The Little Guy found a perfect, tiny one. 

And the Little Dude found a very BIG one. 

Because all that beautiful, lacey, ice along the edge of the creek…

…just HAD to be smashed.I can't even tell you what fun he had doing it. We went all along the edge of the creek with our giant stick, leaving a very satisfying trail of destruction in our wake. Oddly, it was also a very satisfying parenting moment, because it was good to see him combining all the physical skills of balance, aim and precision as he carefully managed standing on the slippery creek bank, wielding a long, heavy object, shifting his centre of gravity, and aiming accurately to break the ice. Its funny how a simple, unplanned activity can be as valuable than signing up for gymnastics!

Anyhow, the weather has continued to shift, with the temperature swinging up and down, and the snow slowly disappearing. Because its coming. Spring is coming. And we are very, very happy about it.