Tomtemama

Music, music, music.....

2008-03-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well, this week I'm participating in the unplugged project at Unplug Your Kids. The theme is music and I have a long video of Olivia singing a spring song that I wanted to share with you but I can't get it off my camera. Since it has taken me 3 days to even be able to attempt to get the video off my camera I have decided that I had better post some pictures of the jam session. I will keep trying to get the video up here.

Sitting in the 1st Spring Sun

2008-02-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Sitting in the 1st spring sun and watching you play,

Right now no one is as lucky as me.

I can truly see you for who you are,

~one a talkative, busy, animal lover

~the other a quiet, agile, explorer

Although I often dream of a home belonging to us

I wouldn't ever trade that for today (or any day) spent with you.

I have been really wrestling with my perceived need for a larger income so we can buy a house lately and have been considering getting a job somewhere. I have also been wondering if maybe I should just put the girls in school and increase the bottom line a bit. Really saying no to a free Waldorf education where Dada would be up the hall is quite hard some days. Today I was reminded of why I shouldn't do that :).

I have never claimed to be a good poet (or a poet at all for that matter) but this morning while the girls played around me and I sat in the sun I was moved to compose this. I thought I'd share it with you.

I'm it....

2008-02-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Amy at ...what I am..... The rules are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So in keeping with the rules here are my 7 things:

1) I was born in Sweden.

2) I have a serious addiction to reading parenting books and I think I need to stop because I am feeling too conflicted in my parenting.

3) Todd and I eat a snack almost every night.

4) Since I was a child I have had an obsession with the mail. I wait and I wait for that letter carrier to come. I'm even happy with a bill.

5) I LOVE salty and savoury food and could really take or leave sweets. I'll take a chip over a chocolate bar any day (Yummmm!)

6) The curtains in my living room are unfinished, cut pieces of fabric. As is the table cloth on my dining room table.

7) I often feel so busy and overwhelmed that I get stuck doing nothing when what I really should be doing is one of the many things that are overwhelming me.

I'm tagging......

Amanda at The Rowdy Pea
Carle of Our Holistic Life and Waldorf in the Seasons of Life
Emilie of The Little Nest
Mom Unplugged at Unplug Your Kids
Gypsy at Domestically Blissed
Sarah of In These Hills
and finally Taimarie of Small Wonders

Yay!! I'm no longer it. You are!!! I'm sorry if I double tagged anyone :-s.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2008-02-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

We had a nice day today. In the morning the girls received their gifts from Todd and I. They each received a Mama made heart necklace and knitted gnome with a felt heart needle felted on it's chest. They loved them.

The gnomes were dragged to the pool where we had a GREAT swimming lesson with no tears. I wish I hadn't spent half of last night worrying about that. After swimming we came home. We had planned a play date with some friends for after lessons but those plans were canceled as the Mama wasn't feeling well. I was happy to spend some time here cleaning and hanging out with the girls. We made a big meal (complete with pear crisp) and then they were in the bath and off to bed.

Olivia's gnome has managed to earn itself top billing as a friend in the bed tonight :).

I hope you all had a lovely day too.

Of Felted Balls and Swimming Lessons

2008-02-12T15:24:00.001-08:00

Today Olivia started a new set of swimming lessons. I know that I only briefly mentioned the lessons so I will catch you up........

She really wanted to take lessons. She has never really done anything with a stranger without me before (what most children experience when they enter pre-school) and she did not fair well when in the middle of her first ever lesson the instructor played a "bubble monster" game. After that we had a few lessons that started in tears. I offered for her to stop taking the lessons but she insisted that she really wanted to. In total there were 10 lessons by the end of them all she ever talked about was her swimming lessons. She LOVED her instructor and was so psyched to take more lessons.

Today she started the new set. She had been warned that there may be a new instructor and said she knew that and that hat was fine, although she would prefer to keep the same one. There was a new instructor and she started the lesson in tears again. It just breaks my heart to see her crying on the pool side. She knows that I would never make her stay in the lesson. She could have walked away anytime but she chose to sit on the edge of the pool crying.

At times like these I start thinking: Am I failing her? Do I need to just push her into uncomfortable situations so she gets desensitised. I know my mother, and most other members of our society, would recommend these things but they just don't sit well with me. In the end after I had spent a great deal of time worrying she was smiling and having a grand old time. I wish that I could just be the strong, self assured parent who never doubts herself but I guess no one is 100% sure of their parenting choices all the time.

On a brighter note I have finished the needle felted ball I was talking about in my last post. It is the first in what will, hopefully, be many such balls. Some of the balls will be intricate and some won't. Here it is, the first needle felted ball for my shop.

I hope you like it as much as I do. Oh and here's a sneak peak at what I will be listing tomorrow. I love this ball.

That is enough talk about my shop for a while. I promise to get back to posts about my regular life now.

Pssssst .....

2008-02-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited!

I'm back into the swing of things at Etsy. I am making an attempt to post something new every day, I have 2 new categories coming into the shop and I sold something within 20 minutes of listing it today (what a high!!!).

The new categories are upcycled toys and the other is needle felted balls. These new categories will be filled slowly but surely. I have tons of ideas for them.

I have added a Waldorf style doll (the one pictured above) made out of a felted sweater to the upcycled toys category so far and am still working on the first felted ball. I will post some pictures of the ball as soon as it's done. It will probably still be a few more days as it is very involved, you'll see. I have more ideas for more balls which I can't wait to get underway.

Just in case you're new to the term upcycling (as I was until very recently)Wikipedia defines it as:

".......the use of waste materials to provide useful products. Ideally, it is a reinvestment in the environment and embodiment of the notion that while using resources one is also contributing to them and their value. This is antithesis of the consume and waste concept in society. "Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.""

I'll hopefully be back very soon with some pictures of the ball.

What we do twice a week

2008-02-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

I have a confession.......

Twice a week when I take Olivia to her swimming lessons (the ones she hated and now loves) I let the girls play hide and seek in the lockers. I know that my mother wouldn't approve. Good thing that these spirited girls are mine and not hers. Who cares what others think, we're not hurting anyone.

Back into it....

2008-01-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

OK I'm back and I hope to be posting much more often now. I'm sorry but I think this will be one of those posts that I personally dislike in blogs; one with no pictures.

Lots of things have happened over that past short while. Todd and I have recently decided to become strict vegetarians (vegetarians who do not eat dairy or eggs), I have become far more acutely aware of our societies crazy consumption and why we should decrease how much we contribute to it and I have realised that if I'm going to make money as a WAHM (work at home mom) that I will actually have to make more of a serious commitment to my businesses. Phew.

Olivia has a number of food sensitivities that we try to completely avoid, including dairy, but what we eat when she's not around has not always been so dairy free. We had already cut our dairy intake down by quite a bit a year and a half ago when we found out about her sensitivity so this strict vegetarian choice is not a huge change for us. As a result of our conscious dietary choice I have accidentally made a New Years resolution to make sure that our family is eating a complete and nutritious diet. I feel really great about it.

Todd and I are comfort food lovers and as a result we tend to over do it on the grain part of our diet and under do the fruits and veggies. Not any more! We are both committed to changing this poor dietary choice and getting those vitamins and minerals. Also, we are working on lowering our fat intake. We fry too much and eat a lot of Earth Balance (our choice in vegan margarine).

During the holiday break I watched "The Story of Stuff" (www.storyofstuff.com). It is amazing. Todd and I have come a long way in recognising and eliminating our "need" to consume but this little video just made the reasons to do so so clear to me. I urge anyone who is reading this to watch it. It truly was life changing for me.

Since 2004 when Olivia was 1 I have been dabbling in the world of WAHM. That is when I started selling slings. I have never done any advertising or put any effort into the business and every tax year my income is in the negative, although every year I have become closer to zero :). This past year I started making toys and selling them on Etsy. Again, I have put little to no effort into this business. I realised recently that the reason I put nothing into these businesses is because I am afraid of failing. Is that silly or what? I recognise that I need an income but am too afraid to go out and get one. I have set a goal for a monthly income this year and am taking some steps to get myself there including contacting my local farmers and crafter's market to get a table there, something I have said I was considering doing since the first year I started making slings.

What have you been up to? I'm off to read some blogs and find out.

Naughty, naughty

2008-01-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been MIA for far too long. I hear by swear to be blogging more often.

It's funny how when I think that I am going to have heaps of extra time because Todd is going to be home that I somehow have less. At last we had lots of family time. In any case I promise to be back and to blog as often as I can.

Busy, busy.......

2007-11-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Faire at our local Waldorf Schoool is next Saturday. Eeek! I have signed up as a guest vendor and am frantically trying to get enough stuff made to make it worth my while to be there from 10 - 3:30 and miss out on all the fun the rest of the family will have. Also, although we are homeschooling the girls, we participate in the Parent and Tot classes offered through the school (at our house) and as participants in that program we are asked to contribute 24 items for the children's store.

The gnomes are my contribution. They are tiny. The little hand reaching out into the sea of gnomes in the bottom left of the last picture is 18 month old Tigerlily's hand. That should give you an idea of the size. As a child I remember that all the toys I truly loved were tiny, the tinier the better. So whenever I make toys I am always drawn to making the smallest things possible.

Once I've made everything I plan to take some pictures and post them. Wish me luck!

The one that didn't get away

2007-11-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier we were able to sneak the cutest kitty mug at the thrift store the other day without Olivia noticing. We were, unfortunately, not quick enough to get this one too. Isn't this little pig sweet? How could anyone get rid of this lovely little thing? For some strange reason Olivia refuses to admit that it's a pig...She insisted that we call it a dog for a day or two.

Yule is in the air....already!!!

2007-11-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, the big winter holiday around here is Yule. We celebrate for 12 days beginning on the eve of the winter solstice. Last year (pictured above) was our first year and it was fantastic.

The only draw back to celebrating for 12 days is that we exchange 12 gifts. We will be opening gifts from family on some of the days and we will be giving each other a poem on another but the fact still remains that we will need to give the girls about 6 gifts. We live on a very tight budget, so I can stay home, and try to not over consume. As the winter holiday approaches we always try to make a lot of things for the girls as well as find things in the thrift stores. We are off to a good start this year........

I have just learnt how to needle felt. Started out with these balls. One will be for Olivia and one for Tigerlily. I'm not sure which one will go to which girl yet.

Can you believe our luck? Not only were we lucky enough to find this mug complete with lid for $1 but we were even able to hide and purchase it before Olivia had any clue what we were up to.

Last but definitely not least, in my opinion. I made this gnome. Once it was just a handful of roving and look at it now! It's a stand alone gnome.

Todd and I made these while we were practicing our needle felting. They will be donated to Todd's school to sell at their Christmas Faire as a thank you for letting us use their felting needles and coloured roving. I will also have a guest vendors table there and am frantically trying to craft up some stock.

Thrifty, thrifty.....

2007-11-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

Today I got my self these lovely new mugs at a thrift store. Ours keep breaking and I was really hoping to find something I liked to replace them. I LOVE these. The fact that all 4 cost me $3 appeals to my thrifty side doesn't hurt but I really have a thing with anything that has hearts and little designs on it. I think it has something to do with growing up in Sweden.

I am going to try to make a date with myself to go thrifting once a week. I may even try to go alone. I never do anything alone and I think that I need something to do by myself. Plus, thrifting with a 4 year old and a 18 month old in tow can be very challenging.

Mystery solved.....

2007-11-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

I now know why I was feeling so slow yesterday. I woke up this morning with a painful nose and sinuses. Boo hoo. I'm sick. I've applied my peppermint halo to get rid of my headache, taken my vitamin C and I've downed my oil of oregano to try to speed up the healing.

Thanks for the comments about my last post. I live in Canada so Mandragore may work for me. I'm afraid to use the "other sellers" on Amazon for some reason (isn't that silly?). I have also asked the woman who orders books at our local Waldorf school to try to get them for me when she places her order for the winter faire. I'll see what she says and if she can't get it I'll get it from Madragore I think. Amanda, I do think that these books would be appropriate for Ivo. Olivia loves ours at 4 years old.

I'm so excited!! Tonight we are attending a lantern walk at our local Waldorf Preschool in celebration of the Martinmas festival. The festival celebrates St.Martin who is celebrated for tearing his cloak in two to warm a beggar on a cold night. Although we lean more toward earth centered religious views we celebrate this festival as a time for light in the darkness and a reminder to care for all people.

Tigerlily's lantern is a little worse for wear. Can you guess why?

Last year we lived in another town and attended a fantastic Martinmas celebration the likes of which I suspect I will never see again. There was a real horse there for crying out loud!! I am however excited to spend sometime in the dark with my family and friends singing and thinking of caring about others.

Fall back....

2007-11-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

Something about being an hour behind is really messing with my body today. The girls slept to 6:30 this morning which is when they would normally get up and so I got up then too (as I always do). Something about today is really making me feel sleepy. I can only imagine that it's related to the time change that took place yesterday. Is this a sign of old age? Can my body just not keep up? I have travelled from continent to continent all my life and never really suffered from jet lag but this must be how it feels. I am drinking coffee to try to catch up. Too bad it's decaf :p.

I'm aiming for a mellow afternoon. So far things are going well. Olivia is cutting (a new obsession of hers) and Lily is napping. Phew! This Mama is actually getting a bit of a needed break.

I am desperately searching for this book. We have Winter. Spring and Summer seem to be available everywhere but I can't find Autumn anywhere. Tigerlily loves the one we have and we would like to get her the other 3 in the series for Yule this year. Any suggestions?

Boo!

2007-11-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween and Samhain!!

Well yesterday was busy!!

I had to make a costume for Tigerlily. It took me most of the morning to decide what to do and then the rest of the afternoon to do it. So my little duckling was born. I know it's not great but I needed something to keep her warm and comfy. Sorry about the dark pictures but I was lucky I even got any pictures.

About a week ago Olivia decided that she wanted to dress up a snake hatching from an egg. The same rules applied regarding comfort and ease of movement.

Also, we celebrated Samhaim (pronounced Sawen) by taking some time to think about those of us who we have known who have passed away and may be visiting us today.

Toot, toot

2007-10-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my!! I was so flattered to read all the lovely things that dmillison had to say about my carrot babies on her blog. She sure has some lovely things in her Etsy shop as well and I am not saying that because she complimented me first. I really love her sock babies and to top it all off they are even organic.

I swear that I am in the middle of working on a big huge catch up post but I just had to sneak this in because I am so excited!!!

Long time...Long post

2007-10-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that I am unable to sit down and blog more than once a week right now. This is going to be a big post....sorry. As you will be able to tell from the pictures the weather here is cold. The snow suits may seem like overkill but when the wind picks up it is freezing here.

This Friday we attended our local Waldorf school's Halloween alternative. It is called the Enchanted Garden and it is so nice. This was our 3rd year. There were wood cutters, gnomes, bakers, little red riding hood, a flutist, and angels. Unfortunately, I have no pictures as my snapping away would have ruined the mood.

This Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch with some friends. We went on a hay ride, picked some pumpkins and Olivia and her friends went on a ride that was just for them and got lost in a hay maze (she's the one in the red toque).

Sunday we went to an event at a local organic pear farm. It was so lovely. There was live music, free organic food and tea, crafts for kids, a farm tour and a huge pile of leaves to play in. We all had a blast. We went for a little walk in the orchard and found some HUGE old pear trees. Many of them had gnome doors in them. Olivia was thrilled to run from one to the other tree to find more and more doors. We even found a chimney in one tree.

On Monday we went for our regularly scheduled nature walk. We had missed 2 Mondays due to sicknesses and man did we miss a lot! The leaves have all lost most of their leaves and it is beautiful. I am so happy that I get to experience this with my children and even more happy that I will continue to get to do so even when they are "school age". While their peers are stuck in stuffy, poorly lit classrooms my girls and I will be out in nature enjoying all the seasons to their fullest. Even on Monday all of Olivia's friends were in preschool while were out on this walk.

We took our usual route through the "deep dark forest" which was quite light with the canopy of leaves gone, found a wasps nest (or was it a fairy home?) hiding up high in a tree once hidden but now exposed,we found a HUGE gnome door at the foot of a tree,

sat on a big rock watching the river flow by and tried our hardest to catch leaves as they floated down. It was a really nice day.

I am now off to try to come up with a costume for Tigerlily for tomorrow..... Wish me luck!

Off to the nut farm.......

2007-10-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

I don't think that today could have been more beautiful. It could have been warmer but we really had a great morning together at a local nut farm. We were able to walk around picking up nuts and looking at them as well as enjoying each others company and seeing all the splendid leaves.

Look at this tree!!!! It took Todd, Olivia and myself holding hands to hug this one. It looks so sinister bare and gnarled against the sky.

Tigerlily carried this little hazelnut quite far.
These chestnuts made my day. the jacket is like a million sharp little needles and inside they are soft and furry. I always really enjoy finding chestnuts all huddled up together in there little homes. These ones are here in my home now. I just couldn't leave them behind.

What a weekend!!!

2007-10-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

This was one busy weekend!!! Late Friday afternoon Olivia's new MEC snowsuit arrived in the mail. When we put Olivia's on to try it out Lily wanted hers on too so the two of them paraded around like some sort of deranged colourful astronauts.

I am doing a trade with an MDC mama. She gets a wool stuffed, wool felt Mama and baby bear and I get a Boob nursing shirt. I spent quiet a bit of time on Saturday working on the cub. Here it is. Now I have to wait for the felt for Mama to arrive. Wool felt is so wonderful. It is sofft and strong. It is in no way comparable to that craft felt that is made of plastic.

Sunday was Todd's birthday. I made him a HUGE breakfast of scrambled tofu, hash browns with green onion and red pepper and veggie sausage links. After that big rock was sitting in our tummies we went for a family bike ride downtown for coffee. Getting there was so hard on me. I couldn't figure out why it was so much work then Todd noticed that my rear tire was almost completely flat. We filled it up and then it was smooth sailing.

After the coffee we had a quick lunch and then just hung out until supper time. We had a pizza party (whole wheat crusts and soy cheese) and then this pie. The filling is made from tofu, honey and vanilla and was so good. My parents came to the party too.

Now I have a sick girl hanging on me. I guess that this weekend was a little too much for her to handle.

Just a little walk through the neighbourhood

2007-10-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well tonight we heard a funny noise outside. Todd looked out the window to find an excavator knocking down some trees and an embankment. Off we went for a walk. Olivia was scared of the machine and Tigerlily just wanted to play in the lovely smelling dirt. It is in the picture behind Olivia look for the lights and you will find it.

We walked a little further along to look at the trees they had cut down up the street. They had mowed down a HUGE old tree.

Todd was just standing there looking around when he found a bird house that had been knocked down. We have taken it home and he and Olivia are planning to spruce it up for the birds in the spring.

Why are all the trees being torn up in our neighbourhood? Well, there is a new bike path going in. I have mixed emotions about this as I am sad to see these amazing trees being knocked down but at the same time this path may encourage more people to bike instead of driving. I guess I'll just have to think about it for a while.

Today is lovely!!

2007-10-08T12:51:00.001-07:00

Well today is thanksgiving up here in Canada and we are having a lovely day off. This morning the girls and I took Todd out for the nature walk that we take every Monday and now Olivia is off to spend some time at my mom's house. We had our big meal of seitan, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, dressing and gravy last night so there's no pressure to cook something big today. We can just enjoy this extra day together.

I forgot my camera this morning so there are no pictures of the walk but maybe I will be able to get something up here soon. I personally dislike reading blog posts that don't have pictures. I promise to get better at remembering to take (and download) pictures so I can post them here.

Also, thank you to those of you who left me comments. I can't believe that there are people out there that are reading this!!

Happy thanksgiving!!!

Someone payed off my student loan :o

2007-10-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it!!! It happened at the beginning of June and I only just found out yesterday. Todd and I have been saving up to pay of our 2 smaller student loans leaving us with his one big loan to contend with and we had just saved enough to pay my loan off. I called the student loan office to confirm my loan total and the woman told me that it was zero..nada...zip. No loan. She said that it had been paid off in full in early June. I sure am happy and wishing I knew how this happened. I don't know anyone who would pay it off.

So yesterday I went down to the bank and payed his loan off instead. I'm ecstatic about the fact that we are about 6 months ahead of where we planned to be in terms of getting rid of these loans.

Thank you universe!!!!!!

The fall is here!

2007-09-26T10:42:00.001-07:00

These are the pictures that are currently on our seasonal blackboards. We made these boards in the summer while Todd was home from work by painting 2 MDF boards that are 4' x 2' with chalkboard paint. Now he is in charge of adding art work to them as the seasons shift. I wish I was able to do some of the drawing but I just don't have the talent or experience. Since I took these pictures he has added a squirrel to the daytime (leafy) tree and a little mouse is also hiding in the roots for Olivia to find.

It is our intention as a family to mark the seasons in our home to really emphasize to the girls what is happening out of doors. Another tool we are using is a nature table.

Olivia really got into the chalk painting as well. She is really into playing with the table. She has a mouse that she pretends is a squirrel gathering nuts. Tigerlily is really into taking the squashes down and biting and dropping them. Maybe next year she'll be able to use the nature table a little bit more creatively. The strange faceless person is a person that Olivia made at the Parent and Tot class we attend that is offered through our local Waldorf school (the one where Todd works). This is the closest thing that to school that our girls will ever experience if everything goes according to plan. The little person is still a work in progress but she really wanted it up there. We bring found items from nature when we are out and about and bring them to the table when we get home. We've had a nature table for a while now but this year Olivia really gets it. I love watching her playing with and collecting things for the nature table.

My first entry.....

2007-09-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I've hummed and hahed (how do you spell that?) about what to write in my first ever post. It has been almost a week since I created this blog and have not written anything because I feel that the first entry had to be spectacular. I've just had to accept that it will not be spectacular or else it will never get written.

So here it is. My first post. It's much less spectacular than I had imagined it to be.