Calder & Company

State Fair Getaway...

~Every year we make the LONG drive to the State Fair.  I have been going to the state fair since I was a child.  I have participated in the state fair in many ways.  I have danced jazz and ballet as a school ager, took care of dairy cows (mainly picked up manure and gathered water), and entered baked goods--cookies and such. 

~When I told the boys that we were going to make our pilgrimage to the State Fair, they were mostly excited about the butterfly garden, and farm experiences.  We usually try to attend the first few days, and absorb as much culture as possible.  The fair seems to expand every year, making it harder and harder to see everything. 

The food, the heat, the animals, the agriculture and home-spun goodness:  all make for the perfect summer experience~

~the boys love this candy destination.  N. wants vanilla fudge and Z. wants taffy.  Actually, I think they mostly just like looking at all the variety of choices.  Changing their minds every second.

~So much about the fair is just about meandering around and stumbling upon unique opportunities, such as the ice carving above.  The grounds are so vast that it is hard to plan much with three little ones, so we just take our time. 

~It was the perfect ending to a sweet summer.  One more week until the schooling starts.  Adieu!

Pioneer Life: Set 2.

~When I told the boys we were going to work as a pioneer family the look they gave me was, "are you mad?"  I had to do quite a bit of fancy talking to convince them that this was going to be a good experience.  In the end, I don't think they really dreaded any of the work.  When we made the butter or hand-cranked ice cream, they were literally fighting over each other to start the process.  (Of course, after several turns, I had to intervene and take some turns).  

~The boys made some yarn projects when we needed to get out of the sun.  Both boys made yarn dolls and wanted to make more and more and more.  We sat on the floor of an old cheese factory, which was spotless and still retained all of the original cheese making apparatuses.  I think we could have eaton off of the floor it was so clean.

~One of Z. and N.'s favorite activities was (drum roll)....rug beating.  And boy was that rug dirty!  I guess it is a way to take out any extra energy or aggression for the day. 

~N. really celebrated all the mechanical mammoth machines (what a mouthful) in the print shop.  We went into town, and spent some time in the blacksmith shop, print shop, and fire house.  After spending some time in the print shop, I think that those newspaper fellows of the 1800's really were creative souls--designing the news really took some visual artistry.  N. ran around with his camera snapping all kinds of crazy angles of the machines and such.

 

~If lunchtime allowed, the boys quickly finished in time to play croquet.  I hadn't handled a croquet mallet since I was in my youth.  It was a treat to share such a fun game with my sons.  We have since dusted off some vintage croquet mallets and have been playing at dusk. 

~As you can se, all truly enjoyed the pioneer experience.

 

Pioneer Life: Set 1

~Since we worked as a pioneer family last week at our state historical park, I wanted to share some photos.  I had to prepare period garments as best (and fast) as I could to work our stretch.  The park told us that adult females wore floor length skirts or dresses and long sleeve conservative tops.  I was worried that it would be too hot wearing long sleeves all day in the heat, but we really did get used to the weather.  The shade and light summer breeze was heaven when dressed as a pioneer.

I found this fabric series that was entitled "civil war fabric" and used the Kwik Sew 3381 pattern.  This is a great pattern for a long skirt.   I made a size small and loved how the zippered waist turned out.   

~This is another skirt that I made (because I needed multiple outfits) with the McCall's 6140 apron--which really needed a pocket or two.  If time allowed, I would have made a matching top--because I really was really pleased with the fabrics after working with them.  I usually prefer more modern colors, so this was a completely new direction for me.

~Here is a bonnet that I quickly put together.  I would have made a much longer brim after day one working in the hot sun.

~The boys wore long sleeves with suspenders and hats.  Our first experience involved working on a farm and preparing meals in early 1900's. 

~Here the boys are making an apple pie which we later cooked in a 1905 stove/oven, which was very interesting.  Who says we need all the fancy gadgets to make great things? 

~Grinding up cornmeal and churning butter are perfect jobs for young boys who are brimming with boundless energy!

~The farm we worked on had chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep.  This day we were to clean and prepare the wool for spinning.

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~Cleaning the wool by hand in tubs was quite arduous, but the boys always enjoy getting their hands in water.  After it was washed with soap and water, it was dried in the sun.

~After working on that batch of wool, we had another batch of wool that had been dyed and needed to be carded.

~Not only did we work this day, but we had fresh butter, pie and played games whenever we had a spare minute.  The boys favorite game was the spoon and egg races.  Since the park was open to the public, there are always people wandering through your workspace.  I think the boys and I were tired from the heat, sun and duties.  It was a good time all around, and gave the kiddos a visual to the life of a pioneer boy.

Spaghetti and Meatballs.

~When I found this spaghetti and meatball fabric, I knew I had to make a garment for the boys.  'Spaghetti and meatballs', is the all time favorite (and most requested) home-cooked meal at our house.  We make it even more in the summer when we have fresh parsley and tomatoes.

~So this is a size 2T pattern number 3079 from Kwik Sew.  This pattern does have numerous pieces (as do all button-down collared shirts), so that can be overwhelming.  I would suggest cutting out a few of these, and making it an assembly line type process to speed up the execution steps.  I have made at least 5 of these shirts.

~So here is the spaghetti and meatballs shirt meeting the water hole.  Some days, I have to just let them roll in the mud! 

~The boys are involved in gobs of summer sports and activities.  This day, it was golf and more golf.  Mainly they like to work on their "short game" and use the golf ball washer!  Oh, and I forgot about how they like to talk about all the stray golf balls and tees that they find, and bring home.  It is quite a treat for them to find all this "free" stuff that people lose or discard on the golf course.  I still come-upon old, broken tees in N's pant's pockets when doing the wash.  He does love them.   

May all your dreams come true.

~Yes we have yet another birthday to celebrate at our house, my oldest is turning 8.  He wanted an "alien spaceship" cake for his birthday.  Above is my favorite cake recipe entitled "Citrus Cream Cake".  It has pudding and sour cream in the mix, and stays moist for a week!

~The boys are the chief cake designers in our house.  (Of course they eat most of the decorations while working!)

~The birthday boy usually gives me a bunch of choices to 'attempt' to create a family birthday cake.  This year he wanted a 'football field', 'chess board' or an 'alien cake'.  Z. liked the alien theme, with visions of candies he could use for the designs --it was an easy choice for him.

~The boys had great fun 'staging' the alien scene.  Z. even cut off one of the alien's heads so he could make it appear to be peaking out of the ship.  Oh boys.

~Our newest dinnertime bell.  Which, they want to use it all  the time.

~I get caught up in the whirlwind of celebration, and then I become retrospective while I lay in bed in the morning (during the quietest time in our house)...How have eight years gone by so quickly? 

~Overall, our boy of eight had a super day, and is looking forward to his list of goals for age eight.  His number one goal is to get a dog with blue eyes.  All right then.

~We are on a week of 8's, as I just cut out '8' pairs of shorts for the boys...

Geodesic Domes For Kids.

~Making Geodesic domes with Nana (she has the best ideas).  All you need are paper plates, rubber bands and creativity!  What a good visual for some "geodesic math".

~According to Wikipedia, a Geodesic Dome is: a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles (geodesics) lying on the surface of a sphere.  (Epcot at Disney is a good example). Whew!  That's fairly straight forward---alright then.

~It was hard to tell if the boys preferred creating a design for each plate, or putting the structure together with rubber bands--they truly seemed to enjoy all aspects of the process.

~Here is C.C. after trying to vigorously escape the boys with squirt guns.  As you can see on his back, they are just to crafty.  Perhaps he needs to stow the rubber galoshes and use his "fast shoes" next time.

Mondays Musings.

~Nothing gets me back on track like my regular Monday routine.  I find that I am more productive (and organized) when I have structure to my day.  My best days start when I have time to fill the coffee percolator the night before (wishful thinking). I mainly drink decaf or I make a 30/70 caffeine/decaf mix for days I need to be more lively--which lately has been most days.  (note taken)

~~Recently, Z. has been learning about "time-lines" at school, so we wanted to create a time-line that he could relate to.  So together, we made a time-line starting from birth and ending at present day.

~~Z. picked out most of the photos and then created the captions.  I had the final creation laminated so he could display it in the abode.  It was great fun reflecting on the order of events.  I tell him all the time to stop growing, but he just keeps on growing...slow down time, slow down.

~On the kitchen front, lately I noticed that C.C. was finishing his food extremely fast.  So after some keen observation, I found out that it was being hidden down his back...hmm...those boys of two sure keep us on our toes.

~I am still working on few sewing products, and have some newly designed Calder & Co. fabric coming in the mail.  Anxious to work on some new knit items for the boys. 

Milwaukee Art Museum.

~Our family took a visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum recently, and it is just fabulous.  It has so many great pieces of art, and it is very child friendly. 

~The boys were really ensconced with the "infinity room".  The room gives the feeling that you are stepping into space, which is perfect for young minds.  Of course N. was too busy pointing out all of the light bulbs that were expired.  Good grief.

~The museum loaned N. a replica glove of some field armor (of Michel Witz,the Younger 1525-60).  Children are then encouraged to look for the piece of art that they imitating.  It was perfect for N.  He thought (and acted) like he was invincible and ready for attack while we strolled throughout the exhibits with his medieval armor. 

~Most museums would cringe at the thought of a 5 year old with a steel projecting arm thrusting wildly about, but not the MAM.  If I recall correctly, on a previous visit, Z. wore some fur that correlated with a wooden bust.  It was great fun for him to locate the sculpture.

~On one visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art when the boys were a bit smaller, I wanted to give one of the boys a drink from a cup while touring the museum (hey they were screeching a bit).  We were quickly huddled by three security gaurds (I think we were even around the elevators). 

I thought, holy mackerel? 

I get it.  I am sure there are parents who would not watch their children and thus they could damage the art.  Especially after I recently heard that a student was at the Met in New York and bumped into a painting of Picasso's and decreased its value by 65 million.  Yikes. 

~So I am grateful that the Milwaukee Art Museum is child friendly will even give the children drawing tablets at the door.  Thank you, MAM.

~Of course the architecture of the building is new to me every time we visit.  It was designed by a spanish architect and can be seen here.  N. especially likes the freedom he has to slide down it's smooth surfaces.

Going d..o..w...n....

Oh boys.....how I love their adventurous nature.

Self Portraits.

~I find it very important (and interesting) for children to create self portraits.  There are so many different mediums to use...pencil, ink, marker, yarn, beans, fabric or scraps of torn paper.  The list goes on and on, which makes for endless combinations.  We have had many discussions about the eyelashes that they made on their portrait, or the size of their bodies (or lack there of).

 

~Here is a life size boy portrait (art from school).  He must have something to say?  Or yell perhaps?

~Smaller versions are a-plenty.  If I recall this one was made while waiting for a meal at a restaurant.

~My sewing room portrait made by my oldest son when he was 4.

~These portraits have stimulated many discussions between the siblings.  Example: "Are those legs or your neck?"  Hmmm...those are some of my favorite sibling interactions.

Tom Turkey-or is it?

Our family decided to disguise Tom Turkey this year in hopes he could evade his fate.  Can you guess what the boys came up with?

N. made the final call, but the unanimous decision was...{drum roll} 

'Bruce Waddle' also known as 'The Bat-Fowl' who hails from Gobbler City". 

I was really thinking, "How am I going to create a cape to fit over his feathers?".  Ok.  I will work on that part...

I love to see the boys minds work together when planning a project.  The process is great fun.  They came up with all kinds of scenarios for the new superhero.  I don't think he would get very far in DC comics, but you never know...

At least once a week on the way to school in the morning, we have to stop in the middle of the road and wait for the wild turkeys to cross.  Depending on how much time I have budgeted that morning, I find myself thinking..."hurry up, Can't you move any faster?"  Other times I think, "How did those Spring hatch-lings get so big?"  Nevertheless, the boys always want me to go as slow as I can so they can observe...

We know the bitter cold is en route, so we are trying to get outside this week.  Every day.  As much as we can.  Observing the changes in nature.

More sewing series next...