{the simple things} porcupine

Yep, it's me. I'm still here. A little exhausted maybe and busier than I would sometimes like, but still here. And yes, I know I was going to post party details. Some other time. Right now, I am lucky if I manage to even read a blog before my brain shuts off for the night. Writing a post? Oh, right, I was going to write...

About this little guy for example. The photos are from Sunday a week ago. The kids were running around the neighborhood and ended up discovering him on the street. We kept him in a box for a little while to make sure he was ok.

He eventually had some water, ate some oats and a couple of grapes.

Then he tried to get out of that box.

The boys had fun watching.

Although he was still fairly small, it's only September and we figured the reason he was on a little walk in broad daylight might have been due to the kids running around an empty lot. We put him back and told them to stay out of there for now.

He's cute though, isn't he?

Cheers,
Swenja

{the simple things / embrace the camera} family fun

How did it get to be September already? The air feels like fall, even though it's been really hot here this weekend. For us, September also means big brother's birthday. He turned 6 last Monday, and as a tradition we always take a family trip on their actual birthday and then do the party some other day.

Well, more on the party later, as I still have sticky floors, a ton of leftover cake, bunting and balloons all over my driveway and backyard to deal with.

So for today's simple things I wanted to share a few photos of our family trip. We went to a nearby park that has all kinds of animals plus a really nice playground, featuring a giant yellow slide as the highlight. First time my husband went down the slide with both boys, big brother commented that while he thought that was nice, he was done with it now. Little brother just smiled and screamed "AGAIN!!!!" at the top of his lungs, before turning around and running to climb up the stairs again. He couldn't get enough, and eventually big brother decided he might give it another try, too.

We've been here a couple of times before, but we haven't seen the latest addition to the playground yet: a wooden pirate ship.

They also have these large inflated pillows to jump on. This time it was little brother's turn to be skeptical.

Big brother loved these though and could have spent the entire day on them.

And then there are lots of animals to see and some they brothers also got to feed. Awwwww, isn't that cute?

This guy was just a tad bigger...

Every other time we've been there, we went in the morning. Since big brother has school now, we went after school and were at the park much later than usual. Maybe that is why we have finally seen the lynx. Big brother was quite excited, we have always looked for them and never before even caught so much as a glimpse. Now here he was, sitting there and eating dinner.

I didn't realize sheep could be this loud. This little guy came running along the fence after us. We named him Karly - after a song on big brother's favorite CD (for German readers: if you don't know the Mukketier-Bande yet, you absolutely have to check it out. It's music for kids that somehow manages to be only very mildly annoying even after listening to it a million times a day).

I'm off cleaning floors and eating some cake, but I promise to be back next week with some details of the party.

Happy Sunday!

Linking up with the simple things and Embrace the Camera.

Swenja

{the simple things} first day of school

This week's simple thing actually isn't all that simple. It's my older son, walking to his new class with his new classmates and new teacher, complete with the new backpack. All by himself.

It was a really nice day, sunny weather, a great church service and a pretty funny show the older kids in school put on for the first grader. He was so proud, carrying his new backpack and the Schultuete. They only had one hour of school the first day, but with all the excitement of the day, that was plenty.

I still can't quite get over the fact that I have a schoolkid now... Especially when the alarm goes off in the morning and I have to make sure he gets to school by 7:45!

Happy Sunday,
Swenja

Getting ready for school part 3: cards & decorations

Since the Schultüte is such an essential part of the first day of school here, I used it as inspiration for making cards and decorations. That, and I'm just lazy. You see, my son's new school has given out these large name tags for the kids to wear on their first day, and they featured a simple triangle shape with some crepe paper on top, tied with a ribbon.

I can do that. I mean, if the second graders can do that for their new first grade classmates, then I can do that, too. I think.

So I glued some card stock triangles onto plain white greeting cards, added some crepe paper and ribbon and some stamps and... done.

For his best ever girlfriend I added a colorful pencil to the card.

Since that worked nicely, I decided to go larger scale and make a garland. Yeah, a bit crooked maybe, but if you know me at all then this actually turned out pretty well.

I'm thinking they should be nice in orange with green tops for Easter, no?

Now, I only have to pick outfits, make a cake, prepare some salads, charge the camera batteries and oh, go get a haircut. If you'll excuse me...

Swenja

Getting ready for school part 2: the "Schultuete"

It's getting ready for school week over here.

Someone pinch me, please. My son is starting school on Thursday.

This Thursday.

My son.

Going to school!

He's gotten so big lately. So grown-up. And he's not even six yet! Half a year ago I thought it would be difficult, sending him to school being one of the youngest in class. But he's made such giant leaps since then. He still doesn't listen, outs his tee on backwards most of the time and can't eat anything without having the entire floor covered in crumbs. But he's gotten so much more confident, even taking the lead and not caring much if the others are older than him. He's gotten better at drawing and crafting, he's got his letters straight and occasionally even remembers where he put his things.

Now, all kids in Germany get a "Schultüte" on their first day of elementary school. It's basically a giant, almost kid-sized cone-shaped thing, filled with candy and little gifts (for more details, see here). A photo of the proud new school kid complete with backpack and Schultüte is absolutely mandatory.

Now, there are really pretty versions you can buy. There are cheap and ugly versions you can buy. And then there are the ones you make yourself. Which can end up either pretty or ugly, depending on your talent.

And then there are preschool teachers. Leaving out these catalogs with all kinds of DIY sets at preschool. Of course the kids pick a design. So of course you end up making your own. In my case from a police helicopter set. And don't even get me started on having to hot glue this giant thing together or cutting out first the template, then tracing the template onto card stock and then cutting that out. Twice. Because little brother wanted one, too. You see, usually, the siblings get a silbling's version, meaning a smaller one. Just so they don't feel left out (and also so they don't fall over backwards trying to hold that giant monster). And of course little brother threw a major tantrum right there in preschool because he wanted just the same one. I did shorten his slightly though. But don't tell him.

Since we all know I don't do well with directions, I ditched the policeman template from the set and instead added some mug shots left over from getting the brothers' passports done a while ago. I think that makes up for a lot, even the crooked clouds and pencil marks left from tracing (yes, I know, you can place the template on the card stock backwards, then trace, cut out and turn back around. I did that the second time...).

Oh, and this is what's inside big brother's Schultüte:

Mostly small toys bought here and there, the DIY counting fish, a Playmobil beach volleyball set because for some reason big brother loved watching that during the Olympics, and a new lunchbox and water bottle I had printed with his name. And gummy bears of course. Nothing is ever complete without gummy bears.

So tell me, did you ever make or get a Schultüte? What was in it?

Swenja

Getting ready for school part 1: DIY counting fish

We're pretty busy getting ready for school over here. After setting up the new desk, this week it's about German traditions, decorations and some minor projects. Such as this one: DIY counting fish. I've seen these little guys around the web, mostly as little mice. They have a tail with 20 wooden beads that are supposed to help kids learning math.

Actually, I have no idea if they help learn anything. But I thought they were cute and an easy enough project to try. Besides, I had all the supplies on hand, even the beads.

But mice?

If you've been around here a little, you will know that my boys prefer cats and fish. Now, sewing cats sounded difficult. Fish on the other hand...

Drawing is not one of my strong points, and neither is patience. So I found myself a nice fish template, scaled and printed it and cut it out of the legs of an old pair of jeans, adding some seam allowance. So far, so easy. Then I decided to sew on button eyes before sewing the two parts together, which turned out to be a good idea (provided you place them a little lower than you think they should go, as you have to factor in the seam allowance).

Next, I strung 20 wooden beads on some thin satin ribbon, using always five beads in the same color. Placing the two fish right sides together, with the beads sandwiched in-between, I sewed around as close to the edge as I could. Word of advice: if you end up sewing a fish, don't leave the tail end open. I did the first time, and since the fish is at its smallest right before the tail, it was a nightmare to turn and even worse, close that opening. The next two I left the lower part of the belly open, which worked much better.



Still nowhere near a professional result and no, I don't have any good explanation of why fish would be  pulling 20 beads behind them, but hey. They're cute, they're sort of educational and they make nice enough gifts for the first day of school.

At least if you package them with cellophane bags, some fish stamped paper and leftover streamers from little brother's last birthday party. Oh, and did I mention they were free?

Happy sewing,
Swenja

{the simple things} more tractors

What can I say, little boys love tractors. At least mine do. Little brother is very excited about "the red trailer that can drive backwards, all by itself, mommy!". He's referring to the weight that the tractors have to pull over the distance of 100 meters, the weight moving forward on the trailer as they go so it gets harder towards the end. The brothers discussing the driving style and chances of winning of the next tractor... They're quite the experts these days.

Then we had an attraction special to this particular event. Little monster trucks, ready to ride for the brothers (for a fairly steep price if you ask mommy...).

Funny little red cars with three wheels...

And some historic tractors to look at. They know all the brands. Maybe I am taking them to these events a little too often? Hmmm...

Oh, and no, I don't always dress my kids in matching clothes. But I do prefer them wearing the same and brightly colored tees when I'm out alone with them - makes it easier to spot them among all the people. I have to be careful though, little brother threw a tantrum last week when he couldn't wear the same tee as big brother, since they obviously don't have all matching clothes.



Happy Sunday,
Swenja

{the simple things} caterpillar

"Mommy! MOMMY!!!!! Look, we found a snake!!!!!" big brother races through the yard, excited. Turns out the found a caterpillar on the lawn. Not quite a snake, but most definitely the largest caterpillar I have ever seen.

We watched him for quite a bit. He was pretty fast, but since he wasn't really sure what to make of the two boys staring at him, he decided he's better not move at all and test their patience.

Needless to say, he won. So the boys got a bit braver, trying to touch him gently to make him move. I only let each one touch him once, and then we decided to leave the poor thing alone. Or at least watch from a safe distance.

Eventually he was gone.

Any critters you encountered this week?





Happy Sunday,
Swenja

Kids' room update: a desk for big brother & a kids' library

Sometimes, home projects just come together easily. You start with an idea and things just seem to fall into place from there. We recently did some re-arranging in the brother's rooms, reason being that big brother starts school in two weeks.

Wait, did I just say two weeks?

Yikes.

(Note to self: get organized for school. Urgent!)

Where was I?

Right. We needed a desk for big brother's room. Yes, I know, everyone keeps telling me they're going to end up doing their homework on the kitchen table anyway. That is fine with me, but I can't have all school material, papers, books and such on the kitchen table all the time. That would simply drive me insane. So, he needed a place to put things.

And perhaps a place to do homework should little brother start to bother him at the kitchen table. Not that the most charming 3-year-old ever would do that. Ha.

I knew we wouldn't have much space available, so the little pretend shop they have had to move to little brother's room, who is the one mostly playing with it these days anyway. Here's a before shot of that corner of the room:

So far, so good. But the part I kept struggling with was the desk itself. These days everything has to be ergonomic and adjustable in height and such. Might be a good idea, but... I just happen to dislike most of these desks. And the ones I do like are crazy expensive. Besides, I also refuse to buy a swivel chair. I don't even want to picture what little brother would do with that. Nope, no swivel chairs and adjustable desks for me.

One day I happened to look at the two Stokke chairs we have. Then it hit me. Of course! Who needs an adjustable desk when you can adjust the chair? And the best part: it doesn't swivel. No wheels. Perfect.

From there it just came together perfectly.

We ended up getting one Alex drawer unit and two legs as a base for the table. The drawers should provide plenty of storage for school supplies, at least for the next few years.  For the tabletop, I didn't want one of those white ones, or more precisely, I didn't want to be wiping off pencil marks every day. Because I know that they'd drive me crazy.

For my office I have a large white countertop as desktop, which is really easy to care for. But still white. Instead, we went with a solid wooden kitchen countertop for desk, and it just so happened that the smallest width sold fit perfectly without having to be trimmed. We have wooden countertops in the kitchen, and they are pretty indestructible. Perfect for big brother!

We hung two Ribba picture ledges over the desk for display and also to alleviate some of the differences in height between the desk and the dresser next to it. Now I have to resist the urge to go and put these ledges everywhere in my house, I love them so much. Even the smallest things look like treasures displayed here.

It took me well over a month to find a chair on eBay. Buying a new one was not in the budget, but we ended up really lucky with a blue one for 35 EUR - yes, it has lots of scratches, but I am sure it'll get a few more soon.

We set the rooms up when the kids were away with their grandparents for a week (a week!!! Oh, bliss...). Big brother was so so so excited to come back to his new room. He's been sitting down at his new desk, practicing letters every day.

Since we were moving things around anyway, we also ended up getting a library for the brothers. I keep losing track of who has which book and where it belongs, so we took all the books out of their rooms, except for the stash they have next to their beds. All others go into the hall between their rooms.

I've actually stolen the idea from one of my favorite bloggers, go see her schoolroom here.

Holding all the books are two narrow Stuva frames that are hung directly on the wall (no legs required, which makes cleaning in the narrow hall much easier).

On the wall so far are Laura Knight's International Phonetic Alphabet and an old alphabet poster from my husband's elementary school that my mother in law had bought a while ago. There is still some space left in between and I can't wait to add some more prints.

Now I only need to get organized for the first day of school!

Any advice?

Swenja

{the simple things} fat cat

This is a snapshot from yesterday. My big fat black cat fighting with a very dangerous piece of grass. Looking at that photo, I'd prefer not to be a mouse. Or even a piece of grass. I mean, I knew that cat was a little, uhm, different, but oh my. She's one crazy cat.

Not that she would ever go and catch a mouse. Nope. After all that would mean she would have to get herself over the fence. And I don't see that happening. If you don't believe me you should try picking her up. Not that she likes that. But then again there are not so many things she likes.

She does like my husband. She obviously likes to eat. Every day around 9:30am she waddles around the house meowing, looking for some attention and cuddles. Then she goes off again, sleeping. She sleeps on her back, with all four paws in the air. She's a pretty cat, but the word graceful does not necessarily come to mind. Oh well. There is something to be said for cats with personality, don't you think?





Happy Sunday & meow...

Swenja