This Morning

For the past week or so, Silas has been waking up at around 6:00 a.m. We always shoot for staying in bed until 7:00 and we are both far happier when we do. When the little guy wakes up fussy and crying it's usually a sign that he's still tired, which has been the case lately; rolling over and immediately starting to try to stand up. I think we're on a developmental cusp. But, today is a good day. In bed until almost 7, opening to a world of ice crystals when we pulled the shades, warm toasted quinoa porridge, and hot tea.

Yarn Along | Hats for Mamas and Babes

My Fair Isle hat just flew off the needles! Now I just need some snow and chill to go along with it. Seriously. Yesterday felt like a day in May. Neither Silas nor I wore jackets or hats. Crazy. But, I'm going to continue making hats in the hopes that we will actually get a winter this year. Today my plan is to knit my gauge swatch for a little hat for Silas using the leftover yarn from Steve and my hats. Family hats? Yes, please!

I am reading quite a few books actually, but in increments here and there. For the past month of so, Silas has refused to nap in the chair so I haven't had any long stretches of reading time in awhile. I have a half dozen or so books stashed around the house -- in the couch cushions, on the kitchen counter, in the bathroom, near the bed -- and I steal a sentence here or there. They're all parenting books, though, related to some of the changes that we're going through right now: Real Food for Mother and Baby, Super Baby Food, Feeding the Whole Family, The No-Cry Nap Solution, The Baby Book, Diaper-Free Baby, and the latest issue of Kiwi.

How about you?

Linking up with Ginny at Small Things.

Welcome February Sponsors

Happy February First! A warm welcome to A Life Sustained's newest sponsor...

Earthy Mama Goods

Kari is a crunchy mama living on an urban homestead in Wisconsin. Her shop is filled with Waldorf-inspired felted pieces and personal care items for women. Look for her profile and giveaway later this month.

And a welcome back to...

Big Sister Designs

Earthy Baby Knits

Thanks for your (continued) support!

First Drawing

This weekend we got out the crayons. I pulled some paper from the recycling box and set up a piece of cardboard to act as a table top on which Silas could make his very first markings. Steve (a teacher at heart, I swear) sat with him and very patiently modeled how to hold the crayon and press it to the paper. Then, putting the crayon in Silas' hand, he gently guided it. In typical baby fashion, Silas was way more interested in drawing on the cardboard than on the paper. In his defense, it did make a pretty cool noise when scribbled upon. He also really wanted to eat the crayons. But, he also laughed and smiled a lot and so did we. All-in-all I count our first family drawing time a success. As an added bonus, we now have a lovingly decorated tri-fold cardboard. Perfect for a puppet stage.

Weekending

This weekend we...

looked at bald eagles by the river, completed a little bit o' home maintenance,

visited the fish at the pet store, returned to our doughnut habit,

sewed some, had our first EC catch, 

danced, danced, danced,

enjoyed our first "family drawing time,"

and communicated for the first time by signing!

A big weekend for us, indeed.

Linking up with Amanda at The Habit of Being.

Sponsor Highlight: Little Friends Co.

Today we're highlighting A Life Sustained sponsor Little Friends Co.!

Catherine handmakes children's clothing, slippers and accessories with recycled and vintage fabrics. In her words:

Hi there, I am Catherine Callahan, mother, wife and creator of Little Friends Co. I create children’s apparel primarily made from repurposed materials. I strive to live simply with strong values and lots of love. My approach to life is simple, if you approach it with an open heart and an open mind the opportunities are endless. Some of the other things that I love are cooking, sharing a talk with a good friend, exploring flea markets and thrift stores and traveling. 

I am happily married to my best friend, Mark, whom I met in college. Together, we have three wonderful kids: two girls, ages 8 and 5, and our 3-year-old son. We live in a suburb just north of Philadelphia in Bucks County. We are close to the Delaware River…yes the one that George Washington crossed. 

Tell me about your journey to becoming an artist/maker of things. 

I am proud to have come from a creative family that respects working with one's hands. My aunt is a well-known bear artist. My uncle is a master carpenter in Canada. My other uncle was a wood carver. My mom sewed as a hobby. She made clothing for me and my sister as well as her friends. I remember sitting by her feet while she was sewing. I would play with the buttons and notions in her basket. Her mother was an amazing woman. In Finland, she raised crops and 7 kids. She milked cows, spun wool, knit, wove and baked the most delicious bread I have ever had. Through all the hard work, she managed to maintain a positive and humble outlook on life. I guess my journey as an artist, crafter and creator was inevitable. I attended Tyler School of Art where I learned to hone my creative skills and ideas. 

Why is it important to you to use upcycled/sustainable materials?
 

Both of my parents grew up on farms, albeit on separate continents. My father grew up in southwestern Virginia. My mother grew up in rural Finland. Later, her family moved to Sweden. Because of their upbringing, there was a certain frugality toward resources in our home. We knew things could be reused or repurposed rather than discarded. Resources there were used wisely. Basically, I was encouraged to be happy with what we had and to use what we had. I was also encouraged to use my creativity and to explore the outside world. I have always cared for nature, the environment and the future. 

What inspires you? 
 

I take a holistic look at inspiration. Everything in life is a lesson, especially mistakes. I strive to observe the world around me. I look at my children to understand what they see and how they see it. Their fresh eyes are able to see things in a way that adults sometimes can’t imagine. 

In regards to items I create, I am often asked how did I think of that. I generally can’t say. It’s usually an evolution, not an epiphany, that brings me to my decisions. For example, I took a fibers course in college. There, I learned the principles of working with wool. We learned how to dye, and turn wool into felt. In one of my classes, I made a hideous wool cape. It lives in my attic to this day. Later on, I had a cute vintage sweater that washed in the wrong load. It shrank and turned to felt. I didn’t want to throw it out so I decided to make mittens out of it. The mittens looked like potholders so I never wore them. They live in the attic with the creepy wool cape. Both were lessons learned which I put in my back pocket for a later time, but I went on with my journey.

Many years later when I had my first daughter, I was dissatisfied by children’s slippers found in stores. They were either too puffy and commercial or too cold and leathery. I thought “what if they were made some out of something soft and warm?” Wool came to my mind. I remembered that old sweater that was washed in the wrong load. I decided to make slippers out of another old sweater. Here I am years later making them for other people’s children all around the country and world. I truly love what I do.

Catherine is generously offering to one lucky A Life Sustained reader their choice of a pair of slippers from her shop! 

Just leave a comment on this post to be entered in the random drawing to win.

Get two additional entries! First, you can follow A Life Sustained through Google Friend Connect. Second, you can add Little Friends Co. to your favorites on Etsy. Be sure to leave a comment for each "extra" so they can be counted. Comments will be closed on February 4 and a winner will be announced in this post shortly thereafter.

Thanks Little Friends Co.!

Weekend Review: Our Secret Territory by Laura Simms

Unlike its cousins Literature and Song, Storytelling has not yet received much in the way of critical attention. Artist, educator, and humanitarian Laura Simms does her part to remedy this by weaving together her personal experiences as a storyteller with reflections on this art form and fairy tales themselves in Our Secret Territory: The Essence of Storytelling (Sentient Publications, 2011).

The very definition of storytelling makes this a difficult task. By its nature, stories exist in the moment and are a result of a collaboration between the teller and the listener. You can write down a story, but it becomes something different when you do. To read a story is an entirely different experience than to hear it told. This attribute is also what makes storytelling such a powerful tool in compassionate problem solving. As the story is created in the act of its unfolding, the listener is able to draw from the generalities to take what they need in order to deal with their own specific situation. For example, Simms was given the task of telling a story to a group of troubled young girls. She had an inkling that jealousy was a root cause of some of their acting out and called upon an appropriate tale. Through it, the girls were able to get an objective view of their situation and their own actions. It also gave them the opportunity to see the possibility of a positive outcome. In the presence of story community is created, making it an incredibly powerful tool for linking individuals together to enact social change.

As our culture moves ever more quickly to a state of constant and instantaneous communication, we seldom make time for or find the value in endeavors, such as oral storytelling, that meander. But this art form, present in every culture through all time, has survived the ages for a reason. It provides crucial moments of human connection, which brings us to a state of empathy. Simms shares the story of meeting her adopted son, Ishmael Beah, a storyteller in his own right and author of the heart-wrenching memoir of a former child soldier, A Long Way Gone. It was through story that they he was able to cope with the atrocities of his childhood and to begin to heal. It was through story that they were able to find a common ground and to begin to build a relationship based on love and trust.

While it may seem anachronistic for one to have storytelling as a vocation, Simms demonstrates how storytelling has and should continue to endure and why it is a cultural element that we should all embrace. It is nothing less than a key part of our very humanity.


This review was first published on Blogcritics.
My review copy was provided courtesy of Sentient Publications.

This Moment | At the Library

Playing along with SouleMama today. In her words: {this moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

(In the interest of full disclosure, this moment is actually from a week or so ago. But, it's been so gray and dreary here, that we wanted to remember the sunshine!)

Solid Foods

 

So, we are now fully in the thick of solid food intake, as well as the resulting challenges at the other end. Without going into too much detail, the following things have have been indispensable this week: flax oil, prune juice, warm baths, abdominal massage, and our chiropractor. It took quite the collective operation to get things moving.

I'm having a challenging time keeping up with him, as far as eating goes. He loves food and he's just independent enough to want to do it all by himself, so I find myself racing around the kitchen to find appropriate finger foods for him. I've been reading Super Baby Food because every mama and her cousin raves about it. So far, I'm unimpressed. She has some good things to say. She's a big proponent of an all organic diet, which I can get behind. And her whole schtick is that homemade is better and cheaper without being much more work. True, true. But, some of her advice I just disagree with completely (not breastfeeding at night, for example) and the overall tone seems rather alarmist. Apparently there are 19 different ways your child can die in her highchair. Who knew? I'll keep reading it though, because I do need some meal ideas.

The book I've found most helpful so far is Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck. Her writing style is incredibly approachable and she makes her baby food choices based on a balance of science, tradition, and common sense. She causes some raised eyebrows because she is a proponent of things that people with a lot of letters behind their names often frown upon. But, so are we, so it works out alright.

But, I am definitely looking for finger food suggestions for an almost-one-year-old. His loves: egg yolk, pears, buttered whole wheat toast, squash, any cheese, and banana. His less-than-loves: avocado. 

Silas' Blanket

Silas was just over three months-old when I cast on this blanket. The pattern had been chosen and the yarn purchased months before when he was still in utero. I love knitting cables and I liked the wordplay of this cable blanket for my little Cable. I'm corny like that. I didn't know he was a boy when I chose blue. Blue is his papa's favorite color and it just looked so soft and perfect for a baby. There are at least a full two repeats of the pattern that I knit incorrectly -- almost half the blanket, really. I was nestled into my nursing nest on the couch during those rows, trying to knit without disturbing the (finally!) sleeping baby I was just getting to know. My mind was elsewhere. The weight of my new role as a mama and this tiny little person who depended on my completely. I was unable to keep much in my mind, least of all counting stitches. 

He's too big to swaddle in it, like I had envisioned. But the texture of the fabric is perfect for his searching hands that need to open and close around something as he falls asleep in my arms. The tiniest of pinches. I'm glad to have them on something (anything!) other than my skin. I hope that it will become a source of comfort for him, a refuge, as my own childhood blanket was for me. My little bug.

Linking up with Ginny over at Small Things.

The Organic Family

Awhile ago I won a copy of The Organic Family Cookbook in a giveaway hosted by Erin at Tiny Twist Creative. I've been meaning to post about it for awhile, but, to be honest, we gobbled up all of its creations before I had a chance to photograph them. But, the soup that we made the other night was so delicious (and so pretty!) that I had no excuse. It was a creamy butternut squash soup, which alone is pretty good, but what put it over the top were the little extra touches: the sauteed mushrooms and the Parmesan crisp. Normally, we bypass garnishes because we're in a hurry, but these were definitely crucial to the dish and were really no extra work to prepare. The mushrooms were a perfect savory counterpoint to the sweetness of the squash and the crisp melted into a decadent glob of cheese at the bottom of the bowl. Yum.

This really is a great little cookbook. It focuses on whole food meals for the whole family using seasonal and organic ingredients. It's very kid-centric, which I love, but it doesn't sacrifice taste because of it.

Thank you Ani for writing such a wonderful cookbook and thank you Erin for giving it away!

Weekending | Rocking Chairs

Papa took Silas out of the house on his own for the very first time.

They went to the bookstore and the coffee shop while mama stayed behind

to work on projects. It was the first time in almost a year that I've been in my house alone

and the first time in his life that my son has been out of the house without me.

The rest of our time at home was spent

making oatmeal,

buzzing around the house with our new push walker (love!),

the obligatory laundry and dish catch-up,

and Silas discovering a Silas-sized rocking chair, just for him.

It was my mom's when she was little, I believe, and she had

it recovered in the 70s when her kids were little. Now,

Silas loves to climb up onto its seat,

put on his biggest grin and rock and rock and rock...

Linking up with Amanda at The Habit of Being.