Fall

One morning last week when it was wet and gray and I was feeling a bit miserable, I decided to pack up Eliza and head to our closest metro park, Blendon Woods. There were a lot of wet leaves to glide through, I had a wandering toddler as my hiking partner and we saw wild turkeys in the parking lot. Three things that made staying miserable, pretty much impossible. Even on rainy days there is still so much I love about fall.

Homemade pants

I made Eliza some pants a few weeks ago. This was my attempt to take some pictures of her wearing them:





Really, it's much easier to just lay the finished product on the table and photograph, but what fun is that? The pattern is from the book Growing Up Sew Liberated, which I love. In case you couldn't tell from the action shots, this is how the pants look when sitting still :)

Storytelling

The other night as I was finishing up reading Eliza her bedtime stories, I started to tell her some stories from my childhood and some stories about my dad. Although we do talk about my dad and David’s dad quite a bit with her, I had yet to tell her an actual STORY. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to say, I just knew I wanted to tell her a story from my childhood about my dad. I had a hard time thinking of something actually. I wondered, is my memory that horrible?? So I started to ramble about how my dad walked me to my bus stop at Hubbard Elementary School each morning and how he would hold my hand and then later, in middle school, he drove us to a different bus stop, in the parking lot between Thompson Recreation Center and what is now Fifth Ave School and we would wait in the car for the bus to come. I reenacted how there were a couple of nasty speed bumps (or were they potholes?) and we bounced in the recliner together. Then I rambled about how my dad would often get us lost on road trips and tell us he was taking the scenic route although I could not remember any particular trip or details.

Finally I started to remember how there was this time when I was about 13 or 14 and I went to the car wash with my dad. I don’t remember which car wash we went to or any other details like that, but this time as we were pulling out to leave, the horn started going off by itself. Maybe water go into the horn, who knows, but it wouldn’t stop. I mean it was BLARING and people were staring at us. We ended up driving home south down High St. right through OSU campus. I doubt this really bothered my dad much, but I was a teenager and completely mortified! I remember I ducked down in the passenger seat so no one would see me, I was so embarrassed!! We drove all the way home with the horn screeching. It stopped right before we parked in front of our house.

I guess if you ramble long enough you do remember something.

There I was telling Eliza a story, not just a detail. When I stopped, Eliza said: “More.” It was as if we had just finished one of her favorite books. It felt really good. I also almost cried of course.

I told her the story three more times. We eventually pretended to duck down ‘embarrassed’ when I got to that part. We scrunched down in the recliner and covered our heads. At the second or third telling she asked, “You washed the car? In the bathtub?” She was nodding to me like she really only asked this to confirm that this was the correct answer.

I really love the way toddler brains work sometimes. “No,” I told her. “We went to a car wash.” I went on to explain a car wash with minimal details and told her we would go to a car wash next week so she could see one.

Fast forward to this week. Finally, after two days of asking, I told her we would go to the car wash. I told the story a couple more times and then she asks me,

“Is Papa Carl gonna be there?”

And there it was, the first time where I had to in some way explain his absence. I wasn’t expecting it. I cried a little. I hugged Eliza and explained that no, he wouldn’t be there and we could take a picture along with us. We copied a picture (above) of my dad standing in front of a train engine and Eliza carried it with her most of the day. It was a little heart breaking and sweet and it is just how it is. But as hard as it is sometimes, it feels good to talk about him and remember...and above all else just tell some stories about him.

Every kid needs an apron!

Eliza is all about helping us cook lately and I decided it was time for her very own apron. There is just something so sweet and nostalgic to me about a little apron. I made one for her yesterday afternoon from this tutorial. It was nice and quick too, a perfect nap time project.

When I finished it, I tried to get Eliza to wear it straight away, but she wanted NOTHING to do with it. I guess she is at the age where I could make something for her and she doesn't like it. I hung the apron up though and today when she helped me get some things ready for dinner, I asked her to go get her apron and she ran to put it on herself. So I guess, for now at least, she still likes the things her mama makes. I hope it stays that way as long as possible! Here are a few more pictures of the apron:

I'm Open

Made in a Treehouse is open once again. I opened yesterday around 1pm. I am so excited to be open and making things again. Please stop by and take a look...grab some lovely Wee Wonderfuls dolls for a loved one in your life, or yourself. That's cool too :) I hope to update the shop a couple of times a month so don't be a stranger!

Exciting News

Isn't this doll above just the SWEETEST?

We call her Lulu...I made her for Eliza, but pretty soon YOU can have one too! I signed up for a cottage license to sell Wee Wonderful designs and I'll be selling dolls just like Lulu in my shop starting August 1st!! I hope to also make some more owls and a few other things, as time permits. Help support my sewing hobby. Buy one...or two or three...starting in just two weeks!

Space

I created this little corner for Eliza in our living room recently. It isn't much, but I am really happy with it. I bought this little shelf at a yard sale. It isn't exactly my style, but I like the challenge of trying to make things work anyhow.

This is pretty much it for Eliza and her toy sprawl. Not too bad, really. One of my goals as a parent is to not have my living room become Toy Palace.

Something I've noticed now that I am only working part time and in my home so much, is I am more interested in having our living space flow for grown ups and kids. It isn't that easy...especially when I don't want to spend any money. I am trying to find small ways like these to improve our space and make it work for everybody. I am hoping as I get better at being at home with Eliza all the time, I will find ways to improve our space and little by little things will fall into place with the house. I stumbled across this e-course recently on creating playful learning spaces and I think something like that might be pretty interesting. I could definitely benefit from some professional guidance I am sure!