FALL THINGS from Smaller Blog 2009

Go check out the CONKERS game idea over on Smaller Blog.
An oldie but a goodie

strike a relaxed pose Joe

outdoor play on smaller

I am over on Smaller today. (talking about Conkers)

And I said if the answer is no/Can I change your mind

How to have a dollhouse with rowdy boys:

When my friend Dawn gave me this amazing dollhouse I was in heaven.
And I tried very hard to get my boys to play doll house with me.
We took action figures, playmobiles, and small spidermen and tried to play house.
I explained that we would play house and tuck the babies in
and cook a meal and decorate the home.

It has never really worked.
They seem to use it as a jumping off point or fortress for aforementioned plastic figures.
They won't play house with me.
They both have a doll and are very loving, but really want to bash things together instead of decorate tiny kitchens.
UGH.

So- we made a cool bookcase.
We decided to compromise.
I think it looks lovely and is practical.
I still have my dollhouse.

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Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun

A night out for Michelle's birthday. Lots of chatting, drinking, and dancing. A great night. We went to a random kind of strip mall pub to see a band we all know and although it was not the type of bar I would have picked- it was fun.

The crowd was wicked diverse and unrattled from the heat of the summer evening. If anything, I think folks were loving the sweltering weather as the bare legs were in show and most people were drinking cold cold beers.

I danced without one care. I think sometimes even in the middle of like yr most favorite song, even when you might be so transported away- you realize that you are dancing in front of others and panic comes. The moment were you forget how to dance, much like if you think too hard about going down steps you might fall over from brain synapse screwball firings or something.

But that didn't happen last night.
I was a dancing queen.

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In that tenderness I am floating away

We let the boy stay up late last night. We are pretty strict about our 7:30 bedtime round these parts, but there was something about the heat of the day and how it slithered into a remarkable evening that loosened me.

There was something about how patient he had been with mom and dad working all day at home. There was a good vibe and so we told him he could stay up to see the lightening bugs and stars. He fully appreciated it.

The fireflies were magical and his mouth formed perfect circles and his eyes were so very wide. Although it broke my heart that he could not remember last year's bugs.
These are amazing he said.
It also broke my heart that I have discovered he cannot remember our old house.
His old room. The place we started.
Were you really so little only last year Finn?

He could hardly brush his teeth or make it to his bed fast enough and he cried and cried simply because he was exhausted, but I didn't feel too bad about jacking up his circadian rhythm. He had a sparkly time, a perfect shiny night this summer. And I was a mama magpie swooping down and taking that glimmering moment and tucking it safe in my mind- safekeeping a memory for all of us.

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Lookin' for adventure/In whatever comes our way

We watched Jack for the day while his parents attended a wedding and our very prego pal Kate and her son also popped over for an impromptu 8 hour play date. Boys are so awesome. I really am so happy that I have two. I like the way boys play. I like the way they work things out pretty quickly nowadays and how grudges do not exist yet. I like how they love each other so fiercely and wrestling is paramount to the day. How fast till they are men? Quickly I fear.

I read this poem the other day and shivered:

My Son the Man

by Sharon Olds

Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider,

the way Houdini would expand his body

while people were putting him in chains. It seems

no time since I would help him to put on his sleeper,

guide his calves into the gold interior,

zip him up and toss him up and

catch his weight. I cannot imagine him

no longer a child, and I know I must get ready,

get over my fear of men now my son

is going to be one. This was not

what I had in mind when he pressed up through me like a

sealed trunk through the ice of the Hudson,

snapped the padlock, unsnaked the chains,

and appeared in my arms. Now he looks at me

the way Houdini studied a box

to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself be manacled

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God knows when/But yr doing it again

It is no secret that Finnian loves Bob Dylan.


He loves watching Dylan on youtube.



This morning (too early) he wanted to make a video. I said sure. The thing is with music that it makes a really cool bridge to chat about all sort of things with yr child. I don't think Finn is ready to chat about counterculture and all the references this greatest song in the world holds, but I sure tell him all about Bob Dylan and what a cool cat he is. When I taught kids about history I always used music as a large part of the lesson planning.

Finn's video is surely a four-year-old kiddo representation of the classic. It sure is hard to watch and not edited, but it sure makes me smile. Perhaps he won't love Bob when he is older, but he might retrieve some of these memories and hold them dear. He may be like me and have the music of The Eagles, my parents tunes, resonate through his adult brain and fill his mind with safe fleeting shakes. He may feel all the way down his spine when he hears Dylan in a bar someday that once, a long time ago, everything was easy and just right. He might.

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You have to believe we are magic/Nothin' can stand in our way

It is seriously bliss to go back and be able to suspend my disbelief with my kids. I love play. I love that I am propelled from my day full of business, bills, and a gyno appointment into the magical land of fairy chairs. I love that all the crud of the day, all the big person stress, can be peeled right off and thrown away for a couple hours as I pretend with Finn. Pretending is hard core in our world lately. The fairies are coming tonight and need a seat in the garden. We are going to catch one soon and bring him inside to live in Finnian's bedroom. We are going to be soft with the fairies and we might even dance in the grass with them. Mommy will wear a gold caftan and flowers in her hair. We are lucky because not every garden has fairies. Make a chair for yr fairies- If ya got some ;)


Gather the materials from the deep of the woods (AKA backyard)

Find four sturdy sticks to be the post and stick them in the ground to act as base

Use glue gun (OK- purists.. I am so sorry but I am kinda tired and don't feel like weaving grass:) to build up the chair form

Attach twigs, hay, bark, moss, etc to base and build up the chair to yr liking
Place it in yr garden and chant the magic words:
fairy chair
fairy chair
little fairy please sit on me
come into garden and you will see
the magic that is here for you and me

Oh, you're changing your heart/Oh, you know who you are

Jackson Pollock on a Chilly Thursday Morning:

Kids are drawn to a mess and hanging some paper or fabric in a tree and providing paint will work out just fine. He did not use paintbrushes but found yard objects like sticks and toys to create this masterpiece. Finn was vibrant with excitement and this is one of the major successes of the week in terms of art. I don't post all the art we try. Try is the word to linger one here. I sometimes find that I rush him and try and expose the world to him before dinner. Sometimes he does not like the lesson or art project I want him to like. He threw down an embroidery hoop last night with disgust. Not his thing. He also informed me that he does not like to paint with cars, he likes to make them go go.
However, JP splatter painting was a massive success and the neighbor man stood on his porch and smoked a cig and watched Finn do the art. He is the neighbor we really don't know much about yet. I think he thinks we are the Boho's of the neighborhood and he really hasn't interacted with us- but I swear I saw sparkles in his eyes at watching Finn. The backyard had a glow all over it that only comes from creative flickering. Here is a book for lesson expansion.

And flew away/Everyday/They flew away

Pretzel letters on a Tuesday morning:

1 1/2 cups water
1 packet of yeast
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

mix mix mix kids
small spoons stirring
flour a surface
divide dough
shape into letters or numbers
brush dough with egg wash
salt tops
bake 425 for around 10 mins

Easy letter recognition play
and yummy too

Well pick me up with golden hands

I have been playing for days...
playdate last night
playdate today with breaking porcelaine
playdate tomorrow with lil P
playdate with Dawn and coffee with Momo on friday
Once again, I am the most popular girl at summer camp
no seriously
i am so lucky and tired
kids gleeful
they needed this after two weeks of mom ill/funkadilly
thinking of St. Patrick's Day
will probably cut shamrocks from construction paper/make potato prints/eat green all day/drink some brew
would like to make this
how bout you?