a little inspiration

 You: : Do dolphin shows all day long. : Love your cousin Kent. : Want to plant seeds. : Still love dirt. : Like finding worms in the dirt. : Can name robins & squirrels. : Have your first "bike" (tricycle) : Make "big house" & "road" with blocks. : Love to go outside! : Like to "dump" everything on the floor (please stop.) : Love giving kisses and hugs. : Like to "throw" (stop that too.) : Are really into books. : Are climbing the rope nets at the playground (with assistance.) : Have become gentle with the dog. : Want to go! go! GO! until unconscious. : Still climb everything. : Make us very very tired by end of day. : Love to take the bus. : Bite your finger nails. : Bite everything else. : Cook a me! : Make 3 word sentences. : Want to take "pict" (pictures) : Say cheese. : Help walk the dog. : Are super sweet. : Are a bunch of trouble. : Answer or make calls on anything that may be mi...

Did I really not write about this one?  Sometimes I really, really wonder about my brain. Anyway, here is another skirt made from fabric that came to the States from Haiti with us when I was little.  This is an interesting batik.  You may recognize it from other projects. The waistband is elastic in the back, shirred in the front.  It has pockets.  I drafted and made it one day when I couldn't get it out of my head.  I think it is pretty perfect for the sailor trend this summer.  It is shorter than I usually go but the shop is having that effect on me...

Wild Geese  

 You do not have to be good. 
 You do not have to walk on your knees  
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. 
 Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. 
 Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, 
 over the prairies and the deep trees, 
 the mountains and the rivers. 
 Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 
 are heading home again. 
 Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
 the world offers itself to your imagination, 
 calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-- over and over announcing your place in the family of things. © Mary Oliver.  

The current obsession in our house is the dolphin show at the National Aquarium .  We try to go at least once a week.  We bought a membership in September and I am sure it has paid for itself about six times by now.  Last time I went with the Bug I stopped the announcer lady in the hall and told her how much we (he) enjoy(s) the show.  I told her how we are in a 24/7 dolphin show at our house.   "Dawdaw Show!!" he happily announces and begins to clap.  Clapping is expected of the audience as well.  In fact, if you are not clapping he will take your hands and show you how.  As the announcer, he needs to be standing on a platform.  The edge of the bed, a box of diapers, a low wall or your chest will do the trick nicely.  He puts his arm up, indicating that the dolphins will now jump.  He waves his hand, indicating that the dolphins will now wave.  Clap, wave, jump, go fast, hit the ball- these are all important parts of the sh...

Today was about as perfect as it could be.  A trip to the zoo with friends, sunshine, running and laughing, dirt eating and perfect homemade pizza.  It felt so good.  I spent nap time cutting out a pair of shorts for the Bug and and suddenly it was nearly five.  After dinner he asked for a hair cut and sat still almost long enough to get his bangs trimmed.  Amazing. Things are moving so quickly with him right now.  Words come pouring out in new combinations every day.  We live in a constant dolphin show and I think every sentence ends in an exclamation point.   I have such a good time when I just let go and am with him.  I struggle so much against the pull to be elsewhere in my head.  The truth is- I never shut down and just exist in the present like I used to be able to.  I am nearly always planning, waiting, wishing. The other day I was at the bookstore with Senor and E and for the first time in a long time I was able to look a...

We have been going a mile a minute since the weather has turned.  Outside as much as possible and running, jumping and riding.  The Bug wore holes in shoes riding his rocket back and forth to the playground.  I've been feeling melancholy with the news from Japan and trying to keep focused on the here and now.  School is going so fast and offering so much information.  I am starting to wonder how much space is in my brain anyway.  I am feeling quite ambivalent about everything except crocheting and sewing.   At least with those things I know I really want to do things.  I even finished crocheting a tank top last night. One of the things I always go to when I am feeling lost or confused is Jane Austen.  Weirdly, I only started reading her books about three years ago.  I started with Pride and Prejudice .  I think that is how you determine which of her books is your favorite.  The one you start with is the most special to you....

I can tell Spring is imminent when projects are just spilling out of my brain into reality without being able to stop them.  Yesterday I started thinking of a skirt I wanted to make and by the time I was in bed it was done.  No hesitation, no pattern, no fear of mistakes.  Not that there weren't any mistakes, just that I didn't let them stop me. But, I don't have any pictures of that yet so let's look at the cardigan I finished a couple of weeks ago.  This was a very fast, satifying project that I had added to my que in ravelry in September 2009.  It took me all this time to work up the nerve to make it and it really only took two weeks of working to finish it (and I basically took a week off in the middle.)  So easy.  I am thinking of using the pattern and altering it into a dress.  Sounds cute right? And then there are E's new pants.   I got the pattern from Dana .  It was the first thing she put up for Celebrate the Bo...