Lovely (4/2/13)

I started out trying to capture a few shots of a typical Park Day with our homeschool group. I realized I have few photos, and fewer posts, about some if the most common, and significant, moments of our family life---such as our weekly excursions to the park where we casually hang out with our peeps and socialize (I dislike that word, but feel compelled to tip my hat sarcastically to the ever-dredged-up "homeschooling socialization issue"). I quickly realized why I have so few photos. Because our family and group MO is for all the kids to scatter to the Four Winds and do their own collective things while the moms create a central "home base" for the check in. And, as most of you know, getting candid shots of kids in motion rarely yields satisfying results. Perhaps I need to bite the bullet and just start setting up posed shots. (Sigh)

Anyway, my endeavors did result in a couple of moments I am very happy to have captured.

S and Sweatpea

Mel sharing lunch with her tot.

Gaggle of T(w)eens

These are some of the kids my kids are being raised around.  Not a bad lot :)

Spring View (4/8/13)

For just about a week each year, this is what it looks like as I wait for the light to change at our offramp.

A sudden explosion of blooms.

For just about a week.

And then, they're gone.

Costuming Ten---The End (4/11/13)

This is what it looks like when you did not alter your pattern correctly.

Ooops.

"Bugger" is what you say when you realize you don't have enough material to re-cut the piece you goofed up, and that you've wasted about an hour of sewing time prepping a piece you can't use.

On my way to the store to buy more fabric, contemplating how I was going to sqeeze an extra couple of hours of sewing time into my day so the shirt would be ready for Full Dress tonight, our actor called and let me off the hook.  He was sooooo grateful for the work I did on the vest and coat, and he'd heard from David about the botch, he called to say he was simply going to wear a white dress shirt and really did not want me to spend anymore time on the costume.  I graciously accepted the opt-out.

So, I am officially DONE the day before Opening Night!

My Favorite Part Of Homeschooling (4/10/13)

Our family is undoubtedly blessed to be able to homeschool, thanks in HUGE part to our Breadwinner Extraordinare and Education Rebel, my dearest husband David. 

We are super-duper-extra-blessed to be part of a homeschool group (more of an Extended Family, really) that completely rocks in every way.  We started out as a tiny little off-shoot of an existing rockin' on-line homeschool group that welcomes members from at least half the state, when KitMama tossed out a call for "local" families to get together for a weekly Park Day.  We started out with four families, and we have continued to grow over the past five (has it been that long????) or so years, and we are about twenty families now.  Some families are not so local and have to drive an hour or more to meet up with us, including KitMama since her family's move last year.  But, meet up, and support, we all do.

But regardless of location, what we all have in common is 1) we home-educate our children (and that includes a huge range of "styles" and "approaches", and 2) we all accept, support, and love one another.  And, our kids pretty much do the same.  Because, really, that's all they know.  It's deeply ingrained in each family's culture, so the kids all reflect that.

This past December, we had two brand-new humans added to our little group.  Sweatpea and Jude.  Both were born into lovely, wonderful, loving families, and both were intently anticipated by not only their biological families, but by their homeschool family as well.  Both arrived with their own dose of heart-clenching, breath-interrupting, world-rocking drama (I hate that word, but can't think of a better one right now).  And both are loved, accepted, and adored by *all* of *us*.

Our extended family knows all about "special needs" and "learning quirks" and "deeply individual individuals."  We are chock-full of 'em.  Sensory processing issues, life-threatening allergies, invisible life-threatening diseases, learning challenges, mental disabilities, Aspergers, the Autism spectrum ... well, we've pretty much got them all.  And, we love them all, because each kid is a unique human being that we love and appreciate for Who They Are.  And, when William was diagnosed with T1, that love, acceptance, and support were the bedrock of our family's "adustment" to our "new normal."

(Here's the part where I could get all gooey and mushy and go on and on about how wonderful we all are. But, I will restrain myself and get to the point.)

Jude has Trisomy 21.  More commonly known as Down's Syndrome.  And, in our group, she's just Another Kid In The Bunch.  Okay, a really sweet, adorable Kid In The Bunch.  Which many, many of the the other Kids In The Bunch are drawn to.  And want to hold and play with.  And are bonding with.  They're actually standing in line, asking permission to hold and play with her.

Thomas-N-Jude's Mutual Adoration Society

Hanging with the Gaggle of Girls



This is not extraordinary because a bunch of kids actually wants to hang out with a kid with Down's Syndrome.  Although, that in itself is pretty cool.

This is extraordinary because 1) these kids, both boys and girls, genuinely want to spend time with a child who is not in their same age group, and 2) it doesn't even regsiter to them that Jude is any different from them.

She is One Of Them.  Period.

And shouldn't that, in a nutshell, be what we all strive to work toward?

Take a couple of minutes to run over to Ginger's blog and see what she has to say about raising her daughter, Jude, and our culture's perception of people who are "different." 



Picture With No Message (4/9/13)

Message to come later.

In the meantime . . . isn't that beautiful?



Costuming Nine (4/9/13)

By planning ahead a bit, I was able to utilize most of my Park Day time in sewing buttons on the vest and coat today, so they are DONE!



Coat and Vest

 Now, for the shirt....


Shirt ready to cut



Costuming Eight---Calling In Help (4/7/13)

One of the nice things about living in a tight-knit and creative community of homeschoolers is, when you find yourself in a pickle, there's a pretty good change someone in the group will be able and willing to help you out.  Today I was helped out by a young lady in our group who knows how to sew.  And, sew, we did.

All cut up and ready to sew

I figured out the instructions, pinned pieces together, and N sewed up the seams.  And a few hours later, we had most of a vest finished.

Most of a vest

And, I got a jump on getting the coat put together.

Costuming Seven---Emergency (4/6/13)

Okay, so I only thought I was finished costuming.  Friday night I got a text from David from the theatre giving me a heads-up.  They had a "Costuming Emergency."

What is a Costuming Emergency?  That's when one of the actor's seamstress fails to make the costume by the deadline (which was on Monday), and is not going to be able to actually make the costume before Opening Night. 

So.....material and the pattern were dropped off, and sorted the pattern pieces and got ready to cut.

Then, checking the measurements of our actor to verify which size to cut, I realized our actor was larger than the largest size of the pattern allowed.  Trying not to panic, I called up my mom, who is an experienced costumer, and she explained the process for enlarging a pattern.

You can't simply add a few inches (seven to be exact) to the side seams of a garment.  You have add the inches to the body each piece, from the shoulder-line down to the hem.

I used plastic bags as filler to enlarge the pattern pieces.

And got to cutting.

It worked great!

Except for the pieces that were too wide for the fabric...

Hmmm.... I'll have to deal with that later....



Costuming Six - OPM (4/5/13)

Not "Other People's Money", which is a financing/business term.

"Other People's Machines", which is what you end up using when your own sewing machine is giving you fits and you really want to get a project done.  So, my good friend, Grace, graciously lent me her sewing machine so I could continue working on Costume Number Four; this one an alteration of an existing dress, plus the accessories from scratch.

Machine kindly NOT jamming

Also, I was using one of David's favorite machines ... his coffee roaster.  Just because he's out of town on business doesn't mean people don't still need their coffee.  So, I learned to roast, and roast I did.

Hubby's machine

So, after a couple of days of juggling sewing and roasting (and all that other household and homeschooling stuff), the Fourth And Final Costume is DONE! 

Last Costume....DONE!

It's not my favorite of the bunch, because I really had to do some inelegant jerry-rigging to get the neckline more modest. But, with the collar on you can't really tell. I'm looking forward to seeing "my" costumes on stage.  Opening Night is just around the corner, April 12th!

Something New (12/17/12)

Okay, two somethings new in one picture.

I've suspected for a while that William's vision was not great.  He seems to need to be awfully close to whatever screen he's in front of to see what's going on in his video games.  Then, when we attended Thomas' performance of A Christmas Carol at New London Theatre, I lent him my glasses so he could see something written on a whiteboard on stage, and he asked me if he could keep them for the rest of the performance.

So.... time to go in for an eye exam.  We do this every year anyway, to check for D complications.  Last year the opt doc said he was a bit near-sighted, but we mutually agreed to hold off of the glasses to see if it could be corrected by reducing screen time, forcing focus from a distance, etc.

Apparently not.

Today, we picked up William's first glasses.  He was really excited, because he's going to have one more thing in common with me. 

On the way home from picking them up, we stopped off at the library to return some books, and saw this machine outside the newly-remodeled building.

That, my friends, is William with his new glasses, standing in front of the new book-dispensing machine in front of our library.  I'd never seen such a thing before, and hope to see many more in the future.  Way better than soda, junk food, and video dispensing machines, no doubt.

Oh, and there was actually a third new thing, at the library.  The book return slot on the outside of the building talks.  It just about scared the pee out of me when I went to return something.  A talking book return really is one of the last things one expects.  Ever.

Happy Spring!

It has been a tradition since our first year in our current home to have the kids color eggs and have an Egg Hunt in the front yard on Easter Sunday.  Even as they continue to grow up and begin to doubt the existence of Fabled Beings, they still love hunting eggs.

This year, Cousin Banana Bear was hobbling on crutches, thanks to a broken foot.  But, with a bit of help from the boys, she managed to collect some eggs.

William, Banana Bear, Thomas & Michael: Ready for The Hunt

And, of course, the Egg Hunt presents a wonderful opportunity for noticing and capturing the usual signs of spring.

Tulips!

Hydrangia unfurling

Ornaments still in the Dogwood...okay, not exactly Spring-Like

Strawberries!

Just a few drops

And, what is Spring without Spring Rain?  We had a brief, but impressive downpour before all of the eggs were found.

Hunting in the rain

Rain and trees on windshield

Costuming Six

This is what I did today.  I sewed a lot of fabric together.  Again.  A lot of fabric.  And gathering.

A lot of fabric.  Really.

This is what I listened to while I gathered and sewed.

And also, this...

And this is what I had at the end of the day.

Done!  Almost!

So, I just need to do a fitting and sew up the hems.  And figure out how to make the sleeve cuffs removable.  Velcro should do the trick.

Costuming Five

I started the green costume today.  It didn't start well. 

I was told by the person who purchased all of the materials that the store was half a yard short of what was called for in the pattern.  Now, usually you end up with some left-overs when you cut a pattern.  Not this time.  We really needed that short half yard.

This is what it looks like when you don't have enough material for your patterns.  You tend to also get a little dropping sensation in your gut.  And  mumble something like, "Damn."

Oops.  Not enough material

Thankfully, I was able to find another bolt of the exact same fabric.

What it looks like when you do have enough material

So, I was able to get it all cut out and start sewing.

Pile to be sewn.  And yardwork that needs to be done, just outside the window.

A Good Day

Today William had his quarterly and annual endocrinology appointment.  Pediatric Endocrinology has a nice, new office serving Gwinnett, with all of the same lovely people we have come to know and appreciate.

Outside the new office

It was a good appointment, despite the dreaded blood draw.  William is now 5'1" and just a tad over 100 lb.  And, his A1c is the same as last quarter...7.7.  A good number for his age, though we'd like to get it just a bit lower.

A1c

Dr. Schultz was not able to recommend any changes to William's insulin dosing, since there didn't seem to be any pattern to his BG's.

No pattern

However, after a second gander, I was able to identify a subtle pattern, and went rogue with my own adjustment while we were waiting for lunch.  William has been participating in Pizza Hut's "Book It" reading program, and has reached his reading goal every month except one (December).  So, we went to lunch at Pizza Hut to redeem his prize.

Personal Pizza Coupon :)

Overall, a nice day....

Costuming Four

Yeah, I know, you're thinking, "I already saw this dress."  Well, this isn't that dress, this is a difference dress that looks just like that dress.

Not the same dress

So, why did I make two dresses that look the same for the same actress?  Well, because one of the dresses is going to look pretty much like this dress.  The other dress is going to get "distressed".  Pretty much trashed, to make it seem it has spent three months in a prison along with its sad wearer.

It will be interesting to see costumes I sewed up on stage.  When I see the one that has been to prison, I may cry just a little bit...

Costuming Three

Lots and lots of gathering

 This is likely the densest piece of gathering I’ve ever undertaken. Sixty inches of fabric condensed to a 30” waist.  Using a heavy fabric.  The gathering alone took almost two hours.  My hands and fingers ached by the time I was finished.  I cannot imagine how seamstresses managed all of those flouncy gathers before sewing machines were invented and became accessible to the average sewer.

Sitting there patiently gathering this waistband reminded me of my Mom.  When I was in grade school, living in the little four-bedroom house in (what was then) Sunnymead, California, my parents and two other couples – friends from the neighborhood – took up square dancing.  The ladies, of course, had to wear those ultra-poofy skirts that you see ladies wearing while square dancing, and my mom and her friends made their own poofy skirts.  This required an insane amount of gathering, and I remember these long, long lengths of fabric stretched across the living room (it wasn’t that large of a room) while the ladies gathered, and gathered, and gathered, until they were able to sew the poofieness to a waist.

And, in the middle of my remembrances, I snapped my gathering threads.  This is my biggest fear in gathering, snapping my gathering threads.  Because, once that happens, you kind of have to start again.  I didn’t cry, but I did let out a “Son-of-a-bitch” loudly enough that Thomas heard it upstairs and came down to see if I was injured or under attack.  I was still sitting there, stock still, staring at the rupture in my universe when he came down.  “Are you all right?”.  “I just snapped my gathering thread.”  “Oh.  That sounds bad.”  Bless him.

As it turns out, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  I already had one half of the skirt gathered and pinned in place, so I basted it onto the bodice to avoid losing it.  As I prepared to rip the whimpy threads from the other half, I realized they had snapped pretty close to the end of the line, so I was able fasten the broken pieces in place, and continue gathering up to that point, which turned out to be about 2/3rds of that side of the waist.  Gather, baste, secure.  So, just about 1/3 of the remaining side needed to be re-basted, gathered and secured.

The treasonous bit of skirt

 

I did manage to get it fixed and all basted together in time for Joycelin to come by in the evening for a fitting.  Thankfully, it fit nicely, and no major nipping or tucking was required.

 

No, this is not Joycelin

Producing

I am reading “You Are Not a Gadget” by Jaron Lanier, a tech philosopher, which asks questions about how technology influences human thought and behavior.  I just finished reading "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, which made me think more deeply about design and how it impacts an individual’s experience of a product.  I have also been sewing costumes for about a week.

Reading Jobs led me to take more time and care in creating these costumes than, perhaps, I would have otherwise.  I have chosen to turn it into an exercise in being more engaged in the act of creation (or in this case production), allowing myself as much time as needed to complete something, and allowing myself to stop when I was “finished” for that session rather than pushing to reach a particular stage of completion.

Today, now, I am thinking about Lanier’s assertion that the majority of internet and device users (people) have turned into “gadets”; parts of the internet that consume and repeat content, rather than create or produce new content.  That is basically what FaceBook is; a platform where a few random bits of stuff are recombined into a funny picture or saying, and everyone who sees it “consumes” it and repeats it.  Personal content is limited to what one is doing or something someone else said or pictures taken of an event, but this does not seem to be the majority of posts coming up in my newsfeed.

Which brings me back to “FaceBook killed my Blog”, something I have heard from a number of people, including myself.  It is far simpler, faster, and more convenient to post a few lines or pictures on FB than it is to sit down and compose and post to our family blog.  I woe of this fact, and promise myself I will get back into the habit of blogging our family history as it unfolds.  I even take pictures that could contribute to a blog entry. But I never get around to writing any of these posts, and it has been months since I posted anything.  I have become a consumer, rather than a producer, of the internet.

Which then brings me to this idea of a continuum:

*Creation

*Production

*Maintenance

*Decay

*Destruction

Where on this continuum do I fall each day?

“Create something every day”.  Or, at the very least, “Produce something every day”.  Is that so hard?  And, do my tech tools and devices support that?

My laptop certainly is not a seamless tool, as two of the keys are missing, it is infested with viruses and browser hacks that bog it down, and the battery life is that of a gnat.  My digital camera (which I paid a lot for) is cumbersome, as I have to plug it into my inefficient laptop to download photos.  I can now use my iPhone to take photos and post them directly to my blog, but then I still need to get on my laptop to type up written content.  (I know, "bitch, bitch, bitch.").  I think Steve Jobs was right in his insistence that tech products should support creativity for the user.  But for now I’ll just have to fumble along with the inefficient tech stuff I have, and remain determined to revive our blog and create/produce new content on a regular basis.

Wish me luck ;)

Art-ist

William has been taking a fabulous art class at one of our lovely local art centers, The Hudgen's Center for the Arts.  He has been taking a course in illustrating and cartooning with Mr. Bill, a professional illustrator who William has taken a seminar with before.

Today was the final class in the semester, and this is the end product of William's efforts.

Original cartoon by William

After designing and drawing out the cartoon scenes, he used water color to paint, changing background color to lend to the "feel" of each scene. 

Mr. Bill says William is ready for the advanced illustrating class, but we're going to try the basic drawing class this semester.  Next semester, we'll probably be back with Mr. Bill.

Costuming Two

Time to get sewing