Living in Harmony

Busy bees

AttachedMama — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:59:22 +0000

We’ve been doing a lot of gardening lately. I posted about it on my homestead blog.

5 yards of dirt ready to be moved!

Related posts: Unveiling My Garden Snapshot Sunday

Tourists!

AttachedMama — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:45:53 +0000

We decided to participate in the Be A Tourist in Your Own Hometown event this year. A great friend had some extra tickets and there were several places that we thought would be a lot of fun, so we took the opportunity.

We went to Butchart Gardens first, which to be honest were a bit of a let down. I have been to Butchart in the late spring and summer when everything is in bloom, and it is gorgeous. The beginning of March was very bare and there was very little to see. The Japanese Garden was nice though and Fiona especially liked all the fountains.

Moss bunnies

A 78 year old Sequoia

Stopping to smell the flowers

Catching a ride

Then we went to the nearby Butterfly Gardens, which were much more what we were hoping for. The sun was out and the butterflies were very active. Two butterflies landed on Fiona, which actually kind of scared her, and upset Meredith because Meredith had been hoping so badly to have one land on her! Oh well, maybe next year.

There was a station with microscopes set up to look at various items they had arranged. The girls both took a turn. I don’t remember that from last time we had visited, so that was a neat addition!

They had little hair clips for sale that turned colour out in the sun, but you couldn’t tell what colour they were until you’d bought them and brought them out. The girls loved them, but three of the first four were a pale orange colour. So we went back and got a few more. Meredith decided she should wear them all at once (there are more at the back!).

After the Gardens, we went downtown. Everything downtown had crazy long line ups though. Meredith really wanted to do the Harbour Ferry tour and said she didn’t mind waiting in line for it, so we got into line.

The boats only take 12 people at a time and they are out for a half hour each, so we ended up waiting for just over an hour. Meredith made friends with a little boy in front of her and they were able to pass the time pretty well, even in the cold wind that started up.

Fiona had fallen asleep by then, and I decided to keep my feet on dry land and went off to see what deals Roger’s Chocolate had for the “tourists” (free chocolate!) while Kris and Meredith did the harbour tour.

Meredith had been looking forward to a bus ride (so much so, that she’d packed a backpack specifically for the bus four days ahead of time (since we first mentioned the possibility) and had been counting down the days). Originally we were going to take one of the bus tours, but decided it would make more sense to just take a city bus. We were heading out to meet some friends for dinner, so I drove while Kris and Meredith caught a bus.

Despite off and on periods of cold and wind, it turned out to be a pretty fun day. As the girls get older, there are other events that would be fun to do as well.

Click any pictures to see them bigger. These are taken with a five year old camera that we gave to the girls to use as their camera, because I have two nicer, more expensive cameras. The two that are mine, that I take extremely good care of, are both broken. The old camera that gets dropped, thrown around, and used constantly, still works (mostly) perfectly. Go figure…

No related posts.

Another experiment: Float or sink?

AttachedMama — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:45:13 +0000

After we did our last experiment, Meredith asked if we could do another. When I asked her what sort, she said she wanted to fill up a bowl of water and put an apple in and see what happened. I almost tried to veer her in a bit of a different direction (I don’t even know why now), but then I reminded myself that the point of science and experimenting is to ask questions and then come up with experiments to find out the answers. She didn’t know what would happen if you put an apple in water and she had made up an experiment on her own to find out.

So instead, I asked her what she thought might happen, and she said she thought the apple would float.

She was right! Then she wanted to gather more materials and see what else would float and what might sink.

Close at hand, we found a magnet, a foam bead, a bag clip, and a penny. She guessed what each one might do, then tried them out in the water.

We then found some more materials, including a paper clip, a thumb tack, a piece of paper, an onion peel, and various other objects we found around the house. She also put a shot glass in the water and observed on her own that it floated, but that if she filled it with water it would sink. Fiona had fun with it too.

Afterwards, Meredith told me it was fun to ask questions and find out the answers. A true scientist!

She told me she wants to do lots more experiments, so we will likely try some others over the next several weeks.

Preschool science: Non-Newtonian fluids

AttachedMama — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:26:22 +0000

I have had this experiment at the back of my mind for a long time, but recently read about it again and thought it might be something Meredith would have fun with now (and get why it’s so neat).

Basically, you mix up two parts of corn starch and one part water (it works best to mix it slowly and with your fingers). You can add food colouring if you want but we don’t have any so I didn’t bother.

Once it’s all mixed, it becomes something not quite a solid, but not quite a liquid either. It pours like a liquid, but when you smack it with a spoon or try to stir it quickly with your finger, it is a solid.

The girls had a lot of fun squeezing it, letting it run over their fingers, smacking it with spoons, stirring it slowly and quickly, and just generally playing with it to see how it reacted to various different things. While I mostly just set this up for fun, Meredith ended up asking some pretty insightful questions about solids and liquids, and made some observations about how this corn starch mixture is different and similar to both other liquids and other solids.

They actually took it up to the bath tub and played around in the bath tub with it for a while too, pouring it on things and experimenting. Despite how messy it looks, it actually cleans up very easily with just soap and water.

Linked to Science Tutorials at The Homeschool Coop

I’m famous!

AttachedMama — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:12:49 +0000

Okay, I’m not really. But I was interviewed for The Homeschool Co-op site. I’m really feeling like I want to start blogging more again. There is so much stuff I want to write down and remember and blog about and I don’t. I’m going to try to blog at least once a [...] No related posts.

Toddler Mei Tai

AttachedMama — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:44:52 +0000

I have been meaning to make an advent calendar this year, but procrastinating. I finally sat down to do it tonight and realized I didn’t have all the material I need. The fabric store was already closed, but I had all my sewing stuff out and a chance to sew, so on a bit of a whim I decided to make Fiona her own mei tai. Meredith has one that her aunt made her a couple of years ago, and Fiona loves it. She’s started to become really interested in wearing her own baby around. We’ve been improvising, but she needs her own!

So that’s what I did tonight instead of making an advent calendar. I kind of followed this pattern, but also used some of the directions from some larger mei tai tutorials and the dimensions are different. I also had some charm squares and wanted to experiment with making a bit of a patchwork design.

I’m mostly really happy with how it turned out. I will give it to her for Christmas so I don’t know how it will fit (I think it will be really big, but oh well). The straps are much wider than on Meredith’s. I also put the shoulder straps at way too big of an angle sideways, but didn’t really realize it until most of it was sewn together. Next time, I would put the straps much more upwards. I have more material, maybe I’ll have to make another.

It’s reversible. On the other side is another fabric that goes with the blue. It doesn’t match the charm pack at all but I figured since only one side would be showing at a time that wouldn’t matter.

Toddler Science: Smell

Sleeping

AttachedMama — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Some older photos for Wordless Wednesday of some strange or awkward looking sleeping positions my kids have had!

My new hobby

AttachedMama — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:13:23 +0000

It has been less than a week of blogging every day and I’ve already had to cheat once and barely made it a couple of times. I don’t think I’ll make it the whole month, but at least it has gotten me back into writing. I do have a whole bunch of posts from over the summer that I would like to publish. Mainly just pictures and comments about our day-to-day life. I may end up just posting those each day.

I thought I’d post a couple of pictures of one of the things that has kept me really busy and away from blogging though. Woodworking! I made Meredith a bed. I used this plan. It really wasn’t as hard as I’d expected it might be and she loves it. I think it looks really nice in her room, though it still needs to be sanded and finished. Once that’s done, we’re going to move it into the smaller den area of her room and turn the bigger room into her play/living space.

Long term, if it holds up well, we’ll likely turn it into the top part of a bunk bed (hence the footboard and headboard being the same height). I also made this which we will hang above the bed once it’s in the smaller room so she can have books readily accessible.

No related posts.

Baby scrapbook

AttachedMama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:03:00 +0000

I have set some goals for myself as far as scrapbooking. Meredith’s is still not done. Neither is my wedding album. I’ve since started digital scrapbooking, which is easier and more realistic with children, because I can sit down for twenty minutes and get a bit done and not have to worry about set up or putting things away. So I’ve been working on Fiona’s which is digital. I actually started it over a year ago.

I would like to finish all three of these, though I’m not sure what a realistic goal is. I can finish a spread in one session of working if I get a good chunk of time, but that doesn’t happen a lot. A full double spread a week is probably realistic, which means over a year to finish what’s left on all three of them. Anyway, here are some of the ones I’ve been working on recently for Fiona’s (click for bigger images).

I might change some of the backgrounds and/or paper still, but I’m just glad to be getting something done! I am using this “My Sweet Baby” collection to do the book and bought a cute scrapbook I’ll eventually put the pages into.

Waldorf Doll

AttachedMama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:20:00 +0000

I plan to make the girls each a Waldorf doll for Christmas. I am ordering the supplies this weekend, and hoping they will get here in time that I can actually get them done for once! I want to also make them wooden furniture for the dolls. A friend of mine recommended trying out this tutorial first to get a feel for doll making, so I tried it out tonight.

I’m pretty happy with the way the doll turned out. I just used scraps I had laying around, so it’s not a “true” Waldorf doll using only natural materials. But it is stuffed with wool and it is soft and cuddly. As soon as Fiona realized it was a doll (as I was getting the head sewn on), she wanted to play with it, so I rushed getting the head sewn on a little bit and it ended up a tad crooked, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t have a long needle for embroidery so the face was a bit tough to do, but I’m happy with how she turned out. Stuffing the head wasn’t as hard as I imagined it might be (though this one is only one layer of “skin” so I didn’t get to try making a nose) and the entire thing start to finish only took me about an hour.

Fiona was so enamored by it that I didn’t get any good pictures, so this side ways, fuzzy one will have to do. She took possession of it as soon as I’d finished sewing on the head (I barely got the needle out of it!) and before I had a chance to do the waist tie, and even nursed to sleep holding tightly to her. Meredith asked if I could make her one, but specifically requested a bigger one. Good thing that is the plan for Christmas! The tricky part will be finding time to make them with no kids around. She also has a handmade doll from her aunt that she used to play with a lot that I think I may dig up again.

No related posts.