A Space for Reece

As I mentioned yesterday, crafting has become a larger part of our life over the last few years, and the main reason is Reece. He loves creating.

Justin, as an artist, has an unbelievable ability to take a piece of rotting wood from the forest floor and create something so beautiful, I am continually amazed. I think Reece might get his artistic, creative side from Justin, well, maybe a little bit from me too. Wherever it comes from, Justin and I are eager to support Reece’s creative side.

We live in small home, and recently did some room shuffling to make use of as much space as possible. This little shuffled created a large room for Reece which we decided to separate a little bit with a wall. The reason for the separation was to create a bedroom and a play/craft/home school room for Reece. I wanted to create a space where we could play and create that didn’t interfere with his sleeping space, and this was the best way to do it.

In the play/craft/home school room we knew we wanted some kind of desk, an area to sit back and play and some shelves for organization. Take a peek at what we came up with...

I can’t tell you how much Reece loves his space. We only got his desk up last week, the same day Justin finished my craft table and since then we can’t get Reece out of his space and away from his “craft” table. He started calling it his “craft” table when we told him about my space and craft table. I guess he decided his desk was a place for him to create and that is exactly what he has been doing. Play dough, drawing, painting, building with blocks...you name it, he has been doing it at his craft table.

Justin and I hope this space offers Reece as much inspiration as our spaces offer us and we look forward to seeing what he creates in his space.

A Space for Me

I have come to love crafting. I have to admit it is something I did very little of before Reece was born, but as Reece has grown, I have found much joy in creating with him and for him. Over the last year or two I have picked up my knitting needles, something I have not done since I was a teenager. I borrowed a friend’s sewing machine. I have been chatting more about crafting with other mamas. I have attended more craft shows.  I have been searching on line and in bookstores for books on knitting, sewing, felting, soap making and so on. It has been a wonderful adventure and I am enjoying the learning process of everything handmade.

When I borrowed my friend’s sewing machine, there was one thing I didn’t enjoy...getting it out of storage, setting it all up, getting half way through a project and having to pack it all up again and put it back in storage. Over the holidays, I started to think of a way to carve out a little space for crafting in our home and I did it!

The Christmas tree was in the way, so as soon as the tree was moved outside, Justin began his part in the process, creating a crafting table for me.

Here’s the space before:

Here’s the space after:

Here’s the space all set up:

And yes, that is my new sewing machine, thanks mom and dad!!!!

I have said it before on this blog; I am a lucky lady to have such a creative husband. His artistic mind continues to amaze me, and the quality of his work is fantastic. I am so pleased and happy with my space, it is full of love and inspiration.

I have chosen to include, on my craft table, a painting of Reece’s and the needles Justin made me for Christmas, as both an inspiration as I work at my craft table creating and as a reminder of how much love we have in our little family.

And I also added my own little creative touch to the table with a little knitted band and flower to adorn my needles.

Now I need to narrow down the projects on my list, and decide which one to start with.

Everything Happens for a Reason

I know it is a bit of a cliché, but I really do believe everything, well, almost everything, happens for a reason.  While we may not be aware of the reason at a particular time, if we take some time, give it some thought, we can usually find a reason.

On January 3 I received an email from a mom of one of the other children in Reece’s music class. She wanted to know if I was still going to put Reece in music class and where, since the teacher we were currently signed up with had cancelled the class. This was news to me, has I had not received an email that the class was cancelled. I have to admit, I was a little sad, this is the second time our music class has been cancelled.

We started the Kindermusik program when Reece was four months old. It was a great program; got me out of the house to meet other moms, and both Reece and I enjoyed the class.  Last spring the Kindermusik teacher closed her school, so we went on the hunt for another class.  We decided to take the summer off and that gave me a bit of time to find something. We began the Music for Young Children program in September with a new teacher, at a new school. It was going well, Reece was having a great time and I was amazed at how much he was picking up and retaining from week to week. We were all set to go back; when the email came...class had been cancelled.

I completely understand the teachers reason, with only two students registered; it just does not make a class. I guess this is what happens to toddler and preschool programs...most children are in daycare, preschool or school, which leaves little attendance in daytime programs. Does anyone else face this problem?

So, on the hunt again, I was lucky enough to find another teacher who was offering the second session of the Sunrise Program with the Music for Young Children Program – yay!!!!!

You are wondering what this has to do with “everything happens for a reason” aren’t you? Well, two weeks ago, we should have been at music class on Friday morning, with the program that was cancelled, but instead we joined a group of like minded mamas for a new program called Oaks and Acorns.

I got a last minute email from a friend on the Thursday night about this new program for baby’s birth to 5 years and decided to go, since our music class had been cancelled. And this is where “everything happens for a reason” comes into play. The instant I said hello to the two moms leading the group, I knew this was the place for Reece and I. Like minded mamas, trying to live a slow, sustainable life, interested in fostering a love of nature and the environment in their children.

The program is two hours long and we spend it outside exploring with the kids. Last week we tracked animal prints, we talked about trees and animal poop, and we went looking for porcupines in the trees. And yes, we spotted a porcupine and spent a huge chunk of time looking at it sleeping in the tree. We then began the hunts for quills and porcupine hairs, and we found some of those too! Reece and I had a wonderful time. He met some new friends, I met some new mama friends and we spent a lovely time with them enjoying nature and exploring. My heart and soul were happy.

Yes, that is a porcupine in the tree. Awesome!

One the way home, it dawned on me, that we were supposed to be at music class that morning. If the class had not been cancelled I would never had gone to Oaks and Acorns that morning. We never would have met the community of like minded mamas who are on the same path as us.

So, yes, everything does happen for a reason, a lot of the time, we just have to take time to see it.

On a side note, our new music teacher is phenomenal.

Have you ever been disappointed when something in your plans changed, but in the end it worked out for the better?

Days of the Week

Source

Lately, the days of the week are coming up in our conversations with Reece. He will ask “what day is it?” I usually respond with the day of the week. We might chat about what day it was yesterday and what day it is tomorrow, and that is it. Then the next day, the same conversation occurs.

I realized though, that the actual day of the week really means nothing to Reece. Much the same as the time, a week or a month has no meaning to him, the days of the week as we know them really don’t mean that much to him. So, we have decided to create different days of the week based on the activities we do each day.

This will give Reece some concrete information that he can understand about what day it is and will allow us to create a rhythm to our weeks.

Here’s what it looks like:

Monday will be called Skating Day

Tuesday will be called Baking Day

Wednesday will be called Music Day

Thursday will be called Crafting Day

Friday will be called Oaks and Acorns Day

Saturday will be called Market Day

Sunday will be called Family Day

We feel like this is a pretty good balance of activities outside the home and activities at home, while leaving lots of time for free, imaginative play. I have made sure not to schedule two activity days in a row, breaking them up with a baking day and crafting day.

So far, we are all enjoying it and we are only one week in. When Reece asks “what day is it?” the conversation doesn’t just end, it continues. He wants to know when we are going skating, who is joining us at the rink, what are we going to bake and so on.

By changing the name of the days of the week to the activities we do on those days, we have created a greater opportunity for conversation, increased Reece’s awareness of what each day holds for him and created a rhythm to our weeks.

I will keep you posted as we go along.

Do you create a weekly rhythm in your home?

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soulemama.

January Fun!

I hate to curse it, but we are having some of the best January weather ever!!!! It has been spring like here for quite a few days and we have taken every opportunity to enjoy it...walking, hiking, biking, playing, splashing in puddles, you name we have done it and had a blast.

Sadly, all great things do come to an end, and our typical Canadian winter is on its way to us this weekend. But no worries here, we enjoyed the wonderful taste of spring and honestly, we are looking forward to enjoying some great winter activities too! Here's hoping the cold weather means my brother's pond will finally freeze over.

Here's a peek at the fun we have had the last couple of days.

Popcorn

I am not much of an evening eater, give me a cup of tea (or three) and I am set. But sometimes, you just get that craving, you know the one, you want something....and on those nights a bowl of fresh popped, organic popcorn does the trick.

We do not own a microwave and I really don’t need another kitchen gadget hanging around, so a popcorn maker is not going to happen. So, instead we do it the old fashion way, on the stove top. And really what better way is there?

So, here’s how we do it.

Stove Top Popcorn

2 tbsp coconut oil (for popping)

2 to 4 tbsp coconut oil, melted (for topping, more or less depending on your preferences)

1/3 cup organic popcorn kernels

Sea salt, to taste

Nutritional yeast, optional, but really delish

In a large covered pot, melt the coconut oil and three popcorn kernels over medium heat.

In a small pot, melt the coconut oil to top the finished popcorn.

When the three kernels pop, take the lid off, add the remainder of the popcorn kernels, give them a little swirl in the pot to coat them with the melted oil and replace the lid.

Soon the popping will begin. There is no need to do anything, just sit back and let it do its thing. When the popping starts to slow, turn the stove off and then when it really slows remove the pot from the burner.

Can you hear it popping?

Allow the popping to stop. Let popcorn sit for a minute with the lid slightly ajar.

Add popcorn to a large bowl, drizzle with coconut oil, sprinkle with salt and nutritional yeast.

Enjoy!

Note: This makes one large bowl, or two small bowls.