Children mentioned and pictured.

I made a tutu for the Zerker. A few people on facebook asked how I did it. It was super easy. Here is what I did…
Materials:
8-10 yards of tulle
Enough ribbon for the waist and a pretty bow. (I am waiting to cut the Zerker’s tutu ribbon until she is bigger….)
The tulle was by default 36 inches wide, since I folded it in half on the tutu it meant the tutu is around 18 inches long. I bought four different colors at 2 yards a piece. Tulle is pretty inexpensive. The stuff I bought was 50 percent off a 2 dollars a yard.
I cut the tulle into 4 inch strips, giving me many 4 inch by 36 inch strips of tulle.
Then I looped the tulle around the ribbon like this:

I made sure the colors were evenly distributed along the ribbon. The knots form a row of bulbs along the ribbon.

After I was done I took a quick picture of the finished project.

And today we had a photo session….

Children mentioned and sort of pictured.
A few weeks ago a friend pointed out a group of photos someone had on Flickr that were called MSCE or Make Something Cool Everyday.

This idea has been festering in the back of my mind…make something cool…make something cool…
if you read my most recent post, you know that I have been playing with Gimp and Inkscape. Gotta love free software (except that inkscape crashed on me like a gazillion times when making my show and tell picture).

I don’t have the time, being a new momma and a working momma and a fur momma and a wifey momma and all that stuff, to make something cool EVERY day…but maybe I can make something cool every few days…so here is one of my efforts…

I know it is sort of spooky. I love this picture of the Zerker…and I like making it a basis for something abstract…so I like this….if you don’t – s’alright – i still do! The album this is part of is where I will be keeping my MSC stuff…
i also thought maybe MSC would be a cool weekly sharing project with a mr linky and all…but I don’t know if I am committed that much to sharing and there are so many good sharing projects out there…well I am just not sure…what do you all think?

Don’t forget to see what the rest of class is sharing!

Today was gorgeous here in Indiana – warm, bright, blue skies with white puffy clouds….and today was the Race for the Cure! We had a great time.

Race for the Cure benefits breast cancer research and treatment. The majority of the funds go to the area doing the benefit. We aren’t quite at our goal, so if you feel like donating to a great cause, there is a link on the right side bar.

We ended up walking in the 1 mile family walk because Nadie was afraid that the Zerker would get too hot in the ergo.baby.carrier for 3.1 miles. They said we couldn’t use strollers on the 5K. So we just walked the one mile. It was very fun. So much that when I suggested we go to an uber expensive restaurant for lunch, and Nadie asked if we won the lottery, I said that I felt like I did – not monetarily, but love-wise – yes – with him and the Zerker….

um…that was kind of rambly…here is a video(i have great transitions)…

(sorry for the shaky camera – I don’t usually walk and tape at the same time and I pretty much suck anyways )

I have decided to embrace this as my year of Pink. I have been against pink for quite some time. I never really gave pink a chance. I thought – ‘Pink is a stereotype for girlie things – and girlie things make you weak – so no pink for me or my baby’…now? not so much. I bought a pair of shoes for me with pink in them. I am learning that Pink can be empowering. And Girls are girlie, but that doesn’t make them weak! I can be girlie too….and I can still be strong.

After the walk the Zerker was very tired!

We went to Shapiro’s Deli for some yummy food. I have dreams about their tangy german potato salad….

Go see what the rest of the class is sharing!

Children mentioned and pictured.

There is a little observatory that is not too far from my home. It isn’t really used for research anymore because the lights of the city take away from its effectiveness. Still, that isn’t the reason I think it is so cool.

The observatory was funded by Dr. Goethe Link. He was an amateur astronomist. I guess he spent a lot of time at the observatory. So while he did all that sky watching his wife, Helen, was collecting and cultivating different types of daffodils. She was a botanist and former Vice-President of the American Daffodil Society. Who knew a whole society exists for daffodils???? Do they let Jonquil lovers into their group?

Anyways, back in the 80′s the NYT did a story on her.

A path through the woods by the observatory leads to a field where her spoils continue to thrive. It is a bit of beauty and wonder in this messy world.
Daffodils are probably my favorite flower.
Today I took the Zerker there took pictures in her Easter dress.
It was beautiful.

‘For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.’

William Wordsworth

This past Saturday was Ring Day at SMWC. I left pieces of my heart at the woods. The Woods Ring is symbol of the bond between all of the women, from generation to generation that have been educated at Saint Mary of the Woods.

I found a post of the Ring Song on youtube from Saturday:

The Ring Song is an amalgamation of Tara’s Theme, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and The Bells of Saint Mary’s. It might sound strange to non-woodsies (that is what students from the woods are called) but it pulls at the heart strings of all Woodsies….It is sang at every wedding and every major event at the woods.
The ring is lovely, dark and deep….it is gold (and now I hear white gold is optional) and onyx with an SMW emblem.

My ring is tattered (NOT PICTURED ABOVE), it is loved, it is a connection to the people who helped me become me…it is a connection forever to anyone I meet that also wears the ring…
We also joke that it is a symbol of the guiding forces of the world…er… providence…

Ah….but we jest!

To all my woodsies out there – Be strong! Wear your ring with pride!

The Ring Song

Whose Woods these are, I think I know.
Her love will always be with us below.
Her ring we take, of us a part,
Encircling fingers young ’round her heart.
I pledge to her, a ring to keep,
Like Woods is lovely, dark and deep.
And I have promises and miles to go.
And I have promises and miles to go.

The bells of Saint Mary’s I hear they are calling,
The young loves, the true loves that come from the sea.
And so my beloved, when red leaves are falling,
the love bells shall ring out, ring out for you and me.