A Trip to Chicago... Burrrrr

Last week, the kids and I got to spend 6 days in Chicago visiting my family. My parents, my sister and her family, my grandma, and several of my aunts and uncles all live there, so we are always busy visiting family when we go. This time, the kids got to spend a lot of time with their cousins (my sister's kids) and it was so fun to see them all together. Makes me sad we don't live closer.
We saw a movie, went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, had fashion shows, went swimming, had a cousin-sleepover, ate too much food, played in the snow, and gathered with family.
It was great.
We almost didn't make it home until today, as the weather was so cold (-45 F, with the windchill), that we couldn't make our original morning flight out on Monday. Luckily, I was able to make it out Monday night, and make it to work on Tuesday morning.
Finn has been begging me to move to Chicago ever since we got home. I hate living so far away from my family, but feel so lucky when we get to go visit. Here are some photos of our time there:

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny of Small Things for this week's yarn along.

We are just returning home from a very cold visit to Chicago to visit my family. Burrrr. I brought my sockhead hat (what I have dubbed the tiny-needle-hat) along, and found a few minutes here and there to work on it. I am finally done with the ribbing, and onto plain knitting, which does make it go faster. But with these tiny needles, it feels like it will be years before I finish. I have a few knitting projects on my mental to-do list that I will probably start in the next few days, but for now, as I settle back in to normal life again, I will just try and plug away at my tiny-needle-hat.

What have I been reading? Well, I started Divergent on the plan ride to Chicago and finished it a couple of days later. I loved it. Very Hunger Games-esque. Can't wait to get my hands on the next 2 in the series. An easy, captivating read was exactly what I needed. I am also reading All the Summer Girls and Hands-Free Mama... all that plane riding gave me a chance to catch up on some reading!

I often feel like I should be reading important books: non-fiction environmental reads for work, or classic literature for my brain. And as much as I do like to read books like that, sometimes it is a lot of hard work. When I do reward myself with an easy, somewhat mindless read, like I have this past week, I realize how much I love it. I think my brain craves that escape from reality. So, I decided I need to read more 'easy' books. I am not giving up on the intense reads, by no means, but am vowing to make time for the bestseller list too!

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

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. Inspired by Soulemama.

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny of Small Things for another yarn along.

I finished up this cowl for me, just in time for my trip to a very cold Chicago this morning. Cowl photos will have to come next week! I am still working on my sockhead hat. I am going to bring it with to Chicago, since it is so small and portable, and hope to make some progress on it there. I always seem to spend a lot of time in cars while I am there, so I am hoping to get a few inches done.  These teeny tiny needles make the knitting seem to go so slow!

I am looking forward to choosing what my next knitting project will be. I love the moment of sitting down in front of my computer, browsing favorite patterns on ravelry, and then finally deciding on the winner. There is just so much possibility. A sweater for Phoebe? For me? I am trying to use up my yarn stash, but am also feeling like diving into something big. Hmmm. I will need to mull this over for a bit.

I just finished reading Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach. I enjoyed it. It wasn't completely captivating, but it was a good read. I have stocked my e-reader with a selection of books (all bargain books bought with a gift card from Christmas 2012) and have decided to bring that along on my travels to Chicago. That way I can read whatever sparks my interest on the plane.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

January Sun

Yesterday, I literally dragged my kids out of the house to go on a hike. The skies were blue, it wasn't too cold, and Todd was firmly planted on the couch watching football. I needed to move. The kids didn't want to come, but, of course, they had fun once they got going.
We went to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge for the first time. It was a great place for kids... flat, wide trails, and lots to explore. I am excited to go back again in the spring when there will likely be more birds.
Feeling so lucky to have had this pocket of wonderful weather in January. Winters here can be pretty tough, especially for a sun-lover like me, so I have to take advantage of every sunny day I can!

Gratitudes

Today I am joining in with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots for a Gratitude Sunday post.

This week, I have felt so grateful for this amazing place that I live in. On Thursday, my students and I headed into the woods. It was cold, and very foggy, and everything just felt magical. I love being surrounded by green, and love that I can find a dense forest just moments from town. Over the past two days we have had long stretches of sun, and today almost felt like spring. Honestly, that makes me a little nervous, as I feel like I am literally noticing global warming happening, but I was surely enjoying it in the moment.

I have also felt so proud of my Finn this week. He has been working so hard at school and he is so very sweet. He has been writing lots of letters to me and telling me that he loves me in every one. And Friday afternoon, at our martial arts class, he kept turning around and winking at me. Can I say that I was absolutely flattered?

And we have two more days of the weekend. What could be better?

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. Inspired by Soulemama.

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny of Small Things for another yarn along.

This week I have been working on a sockhead hat, using up some yarn from my stash. I have been keeping this as my on-the-go project and finding time here or there to knit a row or two. It's slow-going on tiny needles (which I am NOT used to), so I think I will be working at this one for quite a while.  I am also making myself one of these cowls. Two skeins down and one to go.... I hope to finish by next week!

This week I have been mostly reading Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach. It's a fictional story about a Ecptopia, the former states of N. California, Oregon and Washington who have split off from the U.S. to form a new, eco-friendly nation. It was written in 1975, so some of the futuristic things he writes about now seem quite silly (like picture phones that plug in to t.v. sets-- but really, who could have predicted skype in 1975?), but it is also scary to realize that all of these issues he is bringing up in the 70's are major issues that we are faced with today. The chapter I am currently reading is about Ecotopia's non-polluting sources of energy- to me, it's crazy to think that in 1975, we had the technology to use solar energy and wave energy, but yet almost 40 years later we still rely so heavily on fossil fuels.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Weekending

This weekend was pretty un-exciting. The husband had surgery on Friday morning, which meant that he was basically couch bound all weekend. And with the stormy weather outside, the kids and I didn't venture far. And I realized how much more messy the house gets when you are there non-stop for several days...
I love to go places and explore, and typically, at least one of our weekend days is filled with adventure. So, it was pretty hard for me to sit around almost all weekend. However, I did manage to get some stuff done from my to-do list: some work for my class, starting a free on-line permaculture course, playing with my new camera lens, and some explorations in the kitchen. The big winner of the weekend was this lemon tart. I must say it turned out pretty well! I have never made any sort of tart before, but have a soft spot in my heart for anything lemon, and this was a hit with the whole family. (My korean-style spring rolls that I made for dinner on Sunday were not such a big hit.... at least with the kids).

How was your weekend?


Joining in with Amanda from The Habit of Being.

Gratitude Sunday

 

 Happily joining in with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots for a Gratitude Sunday post.

This week I have been feeling so incredibly grateful for my children. Kids are hard work, and a lot of the time I don't think about how amazing they are..... I work to get through the days without any major incidents, try to make sure they eat enough vegetables, and somehow sneak in a few minutes of time to myself. But, when I take the time to stop and watch and appreciate these little beings, I just can't get enough of them.
Finn is such a sweet sensitive boy. When I am feeling down, or Phoebe is having a mad-at-mama moment, he always comes to my side to let me know that he loves me. And then, in that moment, everything is better. Really, it is. And Phoebe is just so silly and cute, I swear I could just eat her up.

What are you grateful for this week?

Chasing Ice: A Review

 

It's been a long time since I have written up a review of any of the documentaries I have watched. I guess I just haven't been super impressed. But as soon as I saw Chasing Ice, I knew I had to spread the word. In short: it is amazing.
The documentary is about James Balog, an amazing nature photographer that I just can't get enough of. His latest work has been doing time-lapse photography to capture the glacier melt that has been happening at northern latitudes, and this film is his story of making that project come to life.
James installed cameras throughout Greenland, Iceland, Alaska and Montana and has set the cameras to take multiple photos each day. He collected photos over several years, and linked the pictures together to give time lapse images of how the glaciers have changed. The amount of movement, and melt, blew my mind (and I teach about global warming!).
James is trying to show the reality of global warming in a way that everyone can understand. As James points out in the film, numerical data and climate models don't mean much to the average person, and a line graph certainly doesn't instill fear into most people. But, watching huge glaciers melt before our very eyes.... well, that, to me, brings a whole new urgency to the issue of climate change.
I decided to show this film to my class this term. It speaks to the importance of global warming, but through the beauty of photography, and I found myself tearing up at several points throughout the film, both at the beauty of the images James was capturing, and the terrifying fate of of our glaciers and our future.
This is one to watch. If you have Netflix, you can watch it instantly.

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. Inspired by Soulemama.

Handmade Holidays

I just realized that I never blogged about any of the finished gifts for my Handmade Holiday 2013! So, here they are, a little late... but maybe they can inspire some gifts for birthdays throughout the year.

I made a few different sets of handmade ornaments this year, the first was a state-of-Oregon ornament and the idea came from this blog.

 I also made some Waldorf-inspired gnome ornaments. Some had their own pouch.

Phoebe got a hat and legwarmer set for her doll.

All of the my young girl nieces (and Phoebe) got a glittery tutu for themselves and a matching one for their doll. Each set was a different color. Phoebe has loved hers.

My mom got a beach bag as she spends a lot of time in Florida

And, my favorite gifts were the coaster sets I made. These are so fun! I will say that it does take a bit of practice to get them right.... I definitely had quite a few do-overs during the process. You can find instructions here. I used recycled tiles from our local building re-use center. I made some nature-inspired tiles and also made a bunch with pictures of my kiddos on them. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of those before I sent them off. Oh well.

There were also lots of cowls, more hats, and some pajama pants for the kids. I just never got around to taking any pictures of them. I am sure you know how it goes...

How did your handmade gifts go this year?