We've Moved

Please come see what we've been up to at the NEW (and hopefully vastly improved) Small Hands in the Big World site and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback.

The new site should load faster, be easier to search, and look better. What do you think? Was it worth the move from Blogger over to WordPress?

Learning WordPress has been much easier than I anticipated and I'm loving all the ways to customize my site. Uploading images doesn't don't seem to slow things down the way it did using Blogger and overall, WordPress appears to be a more sophisticated tool.

One disappointment was that importing my old posts hasn't been easy--they came out all garbled when I used the "automatic" import. However, I am transferring them over individually so everything will be in one place and you'll be able to easily search for projects or entries you may have enjoyed in the past.

Please come on over, take a look, and leave your comments. I love hearing from you and am so curious to get some feedback.

Thank you,
Liz

Fantastic Friday

Tomorrow is a big day. It's the last day of Kindergarten for my big kid ("graduation" is Monday), we go back to Jubilee Farm for our first Summer CSA pick-up, and (I saved the best for last)... it is my beloved Mother-In-Law's birthday!

Here is Baby Ellen with her Mom, she was sweet from day one!

I couldn't have asked for a better "second Mom" in my life. She is loving and supportive in more ways than I can count and not only do I love her as a Mom, she has become a dear friend. My kids are really close to their sweet "Grammy" thanks to all the time she has spent with each of them from the day they were born.

Another thing I love about my darling Mother-in-Law is how wonderfully gracious she is. She doesn't care that I'm often still in pajamas when she visits in the morning, she doesn't expect me to be "perfect," she doesn't give guilt trips. Thankfully I also think she will forgive that a) I copied her idea for her birthday gift gift (she made a Shutterfly shopping bag for her Mom and it is receiving rave reviews whenever Great Grandma uses it) and b) I waited until the last minute to place my order. Sorry, dear Ellen, please see your "gift preview" below. I hope you know how much I appreciate you and how much we all love you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Reusable Shopping Bag

View the entire collection of cards.

A Storm Like No Other

Transformed into frozen sculptures, every tree, plant, pinecone, bush, and basically all things outdoors were encased in a thick layer of ice. Tips of trees that once stood 40 feet tall were touching the ground as the weight of the ice bent them so severely.

Star Magnolia buds

Japanese Maple

I still can't believe that this very tall Paper Birch didn't snap under the pressure of all the ice

Barberry

 

The effect was stunning, really remarkable and like nothing I’ve seen before in the Pacific Northwest. While it was lovely to observe, it also proved to be extremely destructive. Our power was out for two days and thousands were out for longer. 

Lucky to have a gas hot water heater, gas stove top, gas fireplace, and plenty of candles, we did just fine during the blackout. Large quantities of hot chocolate and "winter warmers" (William's latest concoction of warmed milk + cinnamon + vanilla + sugar) were consumed. Even Mommy got her coffee fix after digging my little Italian stovetop espresso maker deep from a cupboard.

So happy for the chance to use his camping lantern

Cocoa by candlelight

William and his Winter Warmer drink

MANY games were played while we were bundled in blankets and warmed our toes by the fire. Cranium's Balloon Lagoon (out of print but available at lots of second hand stores) was our favorite.

Let It Snow... and Rain and Freeze

Local newscasters dubbed our recent storm “Winter Extreme” and “Slushmageddon.” Call it what you will, our days of snow and freezing rain was a brutal combination.

Like so many storms, it started as a gorgeous Winter Wonderland. A lovely dusting of snow fell on Sunday and we treasured the brightness and muffled quiet it draped over our yard and woods.

It wasn't much snow on that first day but certainly enough for sledding

Daddy gives Sara a boost

It didn't take long for our hill to turn to a slushy, muddy mess but that didn't stop our kids

The girl loves to lay in the snow

The boy loves to walk in the woods

They both love being goofy

More snow came on MLK Day (no school) and we spent almost the whole day outdoors. Bundled up in our coziest gear, we sledded down every vertical surface in the neighborhood.

Despite all of the fun we had on Monday, William cried when he heard that schools were closed on Tuesday due to road conditions; that boy loves Kindergarden. Later, it warmed up and rained, making the streets safe for us to get around. Considering the forecast, I figured we better get out while we could. Sara missed her morning preschool but made up for it by joining William all afternoon in his Kindergarten Enrichment program and I made a trip to the grocery store.

We woke to several inches (and more snow falling) on Wednesday. Naturally, more sledding ensued plus we made more snow angels, snowmen and snowladies, caught snowflakes on our tongues and tried to check them out under magnifying glasses after letting them fall on cold black paper. However, the unusually powdery small flakes didn’t show much shape under our magnifiers… later those flakes turned to freezing rain, driving all of us indoors for hot cocoa.

Aren't hummingbirds amazing? How do these little guys stay warm in weather like this?!

The hummingbird feeder was frozen solid the following morning. When I went out to retrieve the feeder and warm it up, I noticed a shiny thick layer of ice atop the snow and ice coating everything. This is when things started to get interesting…

Rob returned from his morning run (no, this dedicated runner doesn’t let ice or snow or freezing rain stop him) with reports of transformers blowing and flaming power lines down across the street with neighbors hollering “TURN BACK!!!!” as he calmly jogged along. Not that it stopped him from going again the next day, even he admitted, “yeah, it really wasn’t a good morning for running.”

The kids loved walking on top of the snow with their feet only breaking through every fourth or fifth step with a satisfying crunch. And the big sheets of ice were great fun for them to shovel, lift and break and even taste…   

Sitting on a snow bench

He means business

Ice Lanterns (propped three small sheets of ice together and added a votive candle) would have been beautiful at night but so much snow and ice was falling that the flames were quickly extinguished

Sledding on the slippery icy surface would have been thrilling but it was out of the question with the cacophony of thunderous cracks and snaps coming from the woods around our house. We weren’t about to head anywhere near the woods or anywhere with power lines overhead. Crushing weight from the ice was taking everything down.

It didn’t take long for our flickering lights to darken to a total blackout. Silence… no fridge humming, no computer “thinking,” no Pandora radio, no heater blowing, just quiet. Well, all quiet except for the kids shouting their very animated reactions to everything suddenly turning off. 

To be continued (when I'm not rushing off to pick a kid up at preschool)...

Gets 'Em Every Time

Regardless of the weather, all I have to say is “Scavenger Hunt!” to get the kids interested in venturing outdoors.

When they were younger I would make the lists for them and draw pictures for clues since they weren’t reading. They still aren’t reading but now they create their own lists complete with pictures.

I write the words for my 3 year old and she draws the pictures. She added a happy blue version of herself (lower right with wild curly hair) and said "Look! I on da list! We have look for Sara out there!"

My Kindergarten boy carefully sounds out the words and gets the letters on his paper, wonderful practice activity, by the way.

No, we didn't go out in search of bears, he is writing "berry"

They thought I was fooling when I suggested we search for ice but they humored me and wrote it down anyhow. Then, despite my encouragement otherwise, they put on their light jackets (Sara only had on a sundress to start with.... sigh) and we headed outside.

Ice was the first thing they found and of course they wanted to crack it. Fascinated by the bubbles frozen inside and the cracks from the rocks hitting the ice, my budding scientists peered into the bird bath. When they were looking closely, they noticed something special:  rainbows! They were delighted and Momma was impressed.

It's hard to see but several colorful prisms of light appeared in the fissures

Wonderment over the rainbows was quickly replaced by determination to crack that ice. William decided rocks weren't doing the job fast enough so he ran off to find something more serious.

What is it with boys and tools?

Behind that ice there is a grin

We trekked into the woods behind our house, William with his handy hammer, Sara in her sundress and Mom following with her camera (wearing a warm coat and scarf, by the way, it was freezing)!

We didn’t find everything on the list (all of the spiders are tucked in for the winter so no webs were to be found) but we walked in the woods, chased each other, and ran around so much that none of us got cold after all.

Growth and Hope

Two amaryllis bulbs + two pots + expanding soil = two curious kids eager to track the growth of their chosen bulbs. Cuckoo Grandma brought these fun gifts for the kids; Sara chose pink and white while William picked the bright red one. Little did he know that the red variety blooms later than the other… at least we hoped that was what was going on as we witnessed her bulb shooting up quickly (sometimes an inch a day) while his quietly stood by.

We measured Sara’s bulb a few times and recorded our findings but our little scientific experiment was overshadowed by William’s disappointment. I explained that this was part of the process and sometimes bulbs and seeds sprout at different times and sometimes they won’t even grow at all but to not give up on his bulb yet. When glorious blush-colored flowers as big as Sara’s head proudly started opening, I knew it was time to take action.

Upon closer inspection (ie. yanking the non-performing bulb out of the soil) we found considerable root rot. After plucking off all the soft brown bits we left behind 4 or 5 nice fresh white roots, said some encouraging words to the red amaryllis bulb, buried it again, and hoped. Two days later we were still hoping but on the third day we saw a glimmer of life! One of the sprouting leaves looked slightly taller and a new green tip was also starting to show. I am so happy to report that in one day William’s bulb grew at least a half inch and has continued at a remarkable rate. It is now a promising 7 inches tall and we’re still enjoying the gorgeous pink flowers of Sara’s plant. Now William explains to everyone (as I have been saying in an encouraging tone this whole past month since planting), that once Sara’s is all done, we’ll have pretty red flowers to look at so it’s cool that his was slower. Phew! Close call.

Advent Adventures: Face Painting

Silliness runs in our family, primarily on my side. I'm afraid mess-making is another thing we’re known for. In honor of Cuckoo Grandma’s (my Mom’s) pre-holiday surprise visit, we pulled out all the stops. 

William became a superhero: fire and lightning man, to be specific. Sara became a blue kitty. Then Cuckoo Grandma wanted to join the fun as a clown. She is such a good sport.

Like so many of our activities, face painting started out tame…until it wasn’t any more. Itching to get their hands on makeup sponges and brushes with the face paint, the kids talked me into letting them “just paint something small on my cheek.” 

Um, William? I'm pretty sure that's not my cheek

Nice! I'm all set for my audition for Braveheart 2

Advent Adventures: Ice Skating

One forgets how many muscles in it takes to balance oneself on ice skates… that is, until one goes ice skating. Sore ankles aside, the Friday before the holiday break was the perfect day for an ice skating play date at Castle Ice in Renton. A busload of teenagers was leaving just as we laced up our skates then we practically had the whole rink to ourselves. For $21, we rented skates for me and my two kids (ages 5 and 3), and two walkers to help them get around on the ice (unfortunately those are only available to children or I may have rented one too).

William started out run-slipping on the ice, swishing his feet forward and back in short fast strokes but not getting very far. He was frustrated that he couldn’t go fast immediately yet when I tried to suggest he try pushing off with his feet at an angle, he insisted I let him do it the way he wanted to do it. Come to think of it, my own wobbly skating didn’t make me look like a very credible teacher…. smart kid. Eventually he decided the walker must be slowing him down and despite a few slips and falls, he did great on his own.

Sara didn’t want to set foot on the ice last year so I was thrilled when she dove right in this time around. She was cruising with the walker in no time but lost interest after about 40 minutes and decided to experiment with knee-skating, laying on the ice, and finally licking the ice. That’s when I helped her find a cozy spot to sit while the rest of us finished up.

I could tell you my pictures aren’t great because I used my point and shoot, the lighting was bad, and everyone was moving too fast but frankly, I was too busy trying to not massively injure myself to pay much attention to the photos.

Apparently an outstretched tongue helps with balance

Look at her go!

Me and my big kid... too cool to take skating advice from Mom but still willing to take a picture with me

Advent Adventures: Gingerbread House Play Date

Technically they aren’t gingerbread houses, they are actually made from graham crackers, but it’s the same idea. What is so great about this variation on the theme is that the kids not only have a chance to be creative with the candy decorations but they can also use their imagination to build whatever type of structures they want.

William's house with garage

Since there would be six kids making their own little scenes, I pre-made a LOT of graham cracker right angles. To do this, I mixed 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar and heated it to about 250 degrees, the point at which it will harden to a firm state when cooled. Next, I dipped two sides of graham cracker halves into the hot mixture and affixed them in a right angle then set them on a parchment lined cookie sheet to cool. I also made some right angles of one fourth of the graham cracker and left out plain crackers from the box so the kids would have more materials to work with. Ice cream sugar cones are another great addition to the construction mix. They make great trees (even when they break along the top, they can be broken into a smaller tree), chimneys, castle turrets, or ballroom dancing buildings (yep, that’s what William decided they were on one of his creations).

Admiring her park with a slide, climbing wall and skate ramp

Another good tip to prepare for a bunch of kids to work on these at the same time is providing cardboard or mat board to build on and preparing multiple bags of frosting for “glue.” (Recipe here.) Taping the back of the bag so the frosting is less likely to squish out onto small hands is also important (one squished out mess still happened despite my efforts – it helps to go around and “fix” each bag from time to time, pushing the frosting down as if it’s a tube of toothpaste).

This activity is even cool enough for Super Girl

...and easy enough for her little sister (almost 3) along with Spider Man's supervision

Once the young architects have built their creations, muffin tins are a great way to distribute all the candy and goodies they can use for decorating. Fill as many as you have so there is less reaching across the table which inevitably results in trees toppling as things get bumped.

Mostly candy filled our tins but it was fun to add some unexpected pretzels and bunny crackers too. One friend made a wreath using the pretzel and trails of bunnies all through the yard of his scene. The options are endless. Leave it to the kids to come up with some really cool ideas.