where the soybeans roam

Some Projects- nothing like a bit of a distraction when trying to pack up!

2008-06-25T19:45:00.001-07:00

here are a couple of projects the kids and i have been working on the past couple of weeks - most finished but a couple still in the works:

the kids working on some sculpey creatures for our sea/seashore playmat

the playmat before being sewn up and backed - just a couple of cut up sweaters at this point

some of the critters: a loon and an octopus

lots of snails and a seal

a big ol' flying fish

sea cucumbers and i think Christian said the white blobs are ice

jellyfish and a fish

there were couple of these pencil and sketch pad holders made for some of K's friends birthdays and one for her for the road trip

a bunch of these picnic roll up placemats as gifts

and Klara made some beeswax candles with our friends Nora. she had a blast and is itching to make some more once we are settled into our new place

phew!! that was a list there - sorry about that. but now the sewing machine is all packed up even though the fabric has been already cut for a couple of other projects. they will just have to wait!! here's hoping you are all enjoying summer!

ephemeral dwellings

2008-06-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

our household is used to having up forts of all kinds but the introduction of moving boxes earlier this week has led to a string of forts that shift shape at least once a day. we are enjoying the changing dwellings (us big people too when we can fit in them) but the time is swiftly approaching when these boxes too will need to be filled with the remnant crud in our house and packed onto the van. but until then the architectural gurus will continue to construct new dwellings

For the Noisy Needlers

2008-06-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

The local yarn store here in town hosted a knit in at the farmers' market this past weekend. I joined in for a bit, but more excitingly so did K. she has been trying her hand at knitting the past couple of weeks - another great project for our upcoming road trip. The event reminded me of all the nice times in State College knitting with the rest of the noisy needlers.

for eelke

2008-06-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

ok, so perhaps she's not making elaborate graphs of our board game results yet, but she is making a bar chart of magnet colors on the refrigerator. the girl likes to visualize her data too!

fun with forks

2008-06-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

mustaches

funky sunglasses

mustache - beard combo

cartwheeling

2008-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

after watching K work on her cartwheels C decides to give it a go and a go and a go!
hi there all! we are experiencing a bit of the crazies here - packing boxes, thinking about our upcoming trip, and enjoying summer here on the prairie. Did I mention that last week we spent a night in our basement while the town tornado sirens blared? It was our first time experiencing more than just the tornado watch. we cuddled up with the sleeping bags and tried our best to keep out of the growing pool filling our basement. we hope you are all enjoying your June!

passed by

2008-06-03T11:02:00.001-07:00

we traveled to Springfield and New Salem this past weekend. We all had a wonderful time! Passed many barns along the way like this one. The beautiful buildings, expansive land, and brilliant skies are a true treasure of this corner of the country. I hope to post some more pics from our trip on flickr later today.

Rain Boots are the new Kazoo!

2008-05-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

what a funky sound they make.
two posts in a day - whoa! I wanted to make up a bit for the lack of posts lately. cheers!

"My Baby See the Pirate Doctor"

2008-05-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

I guess that explains a lot about my son's feelings about doctors - not so warm and fuzzy right now. Hi everyone! we have been struck down the past three weeks with some incredibly persistent crud. Although I think its days are numbered :) Crud or no crud, it's still big smiles (with lots of drool) around here! I hope you all are well

looks like we bought a house!

2008-05-21T05:53:00.001-07:00

(not) capturing the moments

2008-05-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

here are the moments I did capture on mother's day - the ominous skies on our trip to Allerton Park juxtaposed with the small window of time in the middle of the day when the clouds parted and intense sunlight poured down from the sky.

What I did not capture with the camera: miniman in the back seat of the car shouting "lookie my cracker hat!!" and upon turning around finding his face and head covered in peanut butter with- sure enough -a cracker hat! or the time snuggling with Klara while we read yet another book about the adventures of Lewis and Clark - her cold feet stuck between my knees and her head on my shoulder. But perhaps some moments are just best captured in one's heart.

out of touch

2008-05-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

how did I miss that Jason Schwartzman put out an album?
Makes me want to go watch Rushmore....

hello spring!

2008-05-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

we knew you'd arrive sometime!

and hello Jack (in the pulpit)! Miniman was fascinated with Jack in the Pulpits on this weekend hike and insisted on stopping at each one to say hi to the little jack hiding inside

Safe Return

2008-04-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Howdy! We are back from our house hunting adventure. Thank you for taking a look at the science blog - it is truly still in prototype form, but I am enjoying the process nonetheless and hope to get some more posts up later this week. but in the mean time here's a shot from the trip and hopefully later today I will post some more on the flickr page.
cheers!

Introducing

2008-04-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Stay At Home Scientist

This has been on the back burner for way too long and I am happy to finally get the first few posts up. I hope to get a couple more up tomorrow before we head out west for a week. Please feel free to let me know what you think/ make suggestions/ criticisms/ whatever - just please know that your input would be very helpful!
thanks!

Growing Up Too Quickly

2008-04-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated C's second birthday. In the blink of an eye our baby is a big boy. And though time seems to have moved so swiftly it is hard to imagine a time without him in our life. Happy Birthday my sweet one - your sister, mama, and papa are so glad that you came into our lives.

monkey see monkey do

2008-04-02T12:07:00.001-07:00

changing of the guards

2008-04-01T18:33:00.001-07:00

Best place in the house to practice

2008-04-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

to be honest I think every indoor activity in our household unfolds in front of the windows. Welcome natural light!

searching for spring peepers

2008-03-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Beirut

2008-03-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

Contemplative

2008-03-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

That's been the general mood around here
Hi Folks! Sorry for the absence! the kiddos and I have been goofing off and just enjoying time together and trips near and far(ish). There are a bunch of pictures posted on the flickr site but I have really been neglecting this blog space - sorry about that! perhaps I should take that as a sign to retire the blog space and just post pictures for family and friends on the flickr site. Perhaps the blog is overkill... I have been mulling this over lately and am not quite settled on a solution yet. There has been a project I have been working on lately that I am hoping to introduce in a few weeks. Perhaps once that is up and running I will say goodbye to this blog space. But for now I will continue to try and post images for family and friends on this space.

the nurturer

2008-02-27T12:14:00.001-08:00

feeding his baby (sand)

rocking the babies

winter walk on the prairie

2008-02-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

who am i this time?

2008-02-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

casting shadows

2008-02-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

saving them for later

2008-02-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

wabash cannonball

2008-02-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

K plays in the string band

"in a weird way we work together"

2008-02-15T08:22:00.001-08:00

or so goes the valentine sentiment passed from daughter to mom yesterday..."in a weird way we work together"...the words have been echoing through my head the past two days-they echo through my head when i pass by miniman's animal tower - the hippo seems to be helping the bunny look out the window, they echo through my head when resolution to a conflict over something trivial seems to be heading towards a blowup but is then resolved with a silly joke or a tickle finger - in a weird way we work together. To be honest i was not sure how to take that comment at first. after a bit of reflection i don't think a better phrase could be spoken on valentines day or any day of the year for that matter - we need to work together we need to care for one another and know we can depend on others even if we don't always seem to fit together...
This morning the words resonate loudly as I hear on the radio about the terrible tragedy at Northern Illinois.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of all impacted by the event.

the "tea par-par"

2008-02-14T08:11:00.001-08:00

Miniman has become quite the gracious host and loves to set up tea parties for himself and his wee friends. I always grow excited to see who will be joining the latest tea party and what will be offered for food and drink. In this one he actually sat the guests on little furniture - usually the just lie down on a blanket surrounded by pretend food. It seems the tea party (and dexterity) is taking a new form. no tea at this party - just a jug of juice for all to share - this must be a close-knit group of friends :)

the gentle giant joins his wee friends for a bite to eat

a game of name that insect:

2008-02-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

yeah, i know it is not too clear but perhaps if you squint and stand on your head and spin around a few times....then it will pop right out at you :)

2008-02-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend!

early morning moments

2008-02-07T06:51:00.001-08:00

Fiddler

2008-02-05T10:57:00.003-08:00

SNOW!

2008-02-04T10:56:00.001-08:00

It's always dicey when you invite a pirate to lunch

2008-02-01T19:01:00.001-08:00

milestones

2008-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

Loss of the first baby tooth

2008-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hey Happy Weekend!
Thought i would be lame and just put up a video for everyone to enjoy.

a few more pics from Washington

2008-01-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

k explores a cave

miniman on the prowl for splash rocks

For Eelke and Lidewij

2008-01-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Recognize the puzzle? It travels with us all over the place. This picture was taken after Klara had already been working the puzzle for at least half an hour and Dietmar finally convinced her to let him have a go. Klara has developed some new versions of the game as well. no longer is it just solve the 3x3 puzzle but there is also "solve the pig-shaped puzzle", "solve the window puzzle" and "solve the "bughead bugbutt" puzzle. There's no end to the fun - thanks again guys and we are so happy to hear that you two are finally together on the same continent (and even the same house) again!
puzzlers at the old town cafe, Bellingham

out the window
Old town cafe Bellingham

favorite quotes from the trip to the West Coast

2008-01-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

miniman: "Hi Pooples!!" this is how he greeted everybody he met (or did not meet) on the airplane or in town
miniman: "Bench... oh bench" this was his first made up song. he sings it all the time now whether on a bench or not (must get the creative songwriting from his sister)

squiggle bean (the nickname seems to have resurfaced): "I am sure that all of the coffee shops here are having babies right now"

wow! she pretty much summed up the trip with that one!

happy Wednesday to you!

Does this count as meat?

2008-01-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

breakfast at the old town cafe in Bellingham WA

The Life Aquatic

2008-01-22T04:57:00.000-08:00

Bellingham, WA

I heart hybrids

2008-01-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

i give you the cheetah knight!

this is how most mornings are spent - miniman picks out a very interesting combination of clothing articles from the dress up box (for me as well - oh yeah!) and then we play with the trains - who could ask for anything more?

been a while..

2008-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hi there - sorry for the time gap since the last post. We have been on the road for a while and are now settling back into the daily rhythms of home life. Here's one of my favorite pics from our travels (more to come over the next few day)!
cheers!

the countdown

2007-12-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

both kiddos are very excited about the advents calendar this year.
each day is filled with a fun activity or two that we can all do together.
on the list for today?
-go for a walk in the park and collect sticks to add to our stick pile (which are used frequently around here for forts, houses for fairies, wands, whatever you can imagine)
-make a paper garland
-and - Breakfast for dinner!
have a wonderful weekend everyone!

decking the halls

2007-12-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

K's yarn and popsicle star

painting by miniman - cutting by mama

did you remember...

2007-12-06T08:14:00.001-08:00

to leave out a shoe?

happy St. Nikolaus day!!

miniman feeds the thankful tree

2007-11-27T11:45:00.001-08:00

sunday road trip

2007-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Since moving in this past summer we have been trying to explore this new state we call home. This past Sunday we ventured out once again for some birding, visiting ancient civilizations, and of course to see how many Lincoln statues or Lincoln references we could spot along the way. perhaps it was still the hazy feeling in my head and body from being sick -or perhaps it was miss K's insistence that we listen to "Lincoln and Liberty" over and over and over as well as (re)read the Lincoln biography from the library ("Abraham Lincoln" by Amy L. Cohn. it is a wonderful book for young and old. check it out!)- but I felt absolutely haunted by the giant man today. on our way home we passed by New Salem and glimpsed a large statue of Lincoln on horseback bent over reading a book. my favorite one so far!

"hurrah for the choice of a nation!
Our chieftan so brave and so true;
we'll go for the great reformation,
for Lincoln and Liberty too"
-from the Carl Sanburg's "the American Songbag"

exploring over 12,000 years of civilization on the Illinois River

a peek back in time layer by layer

the kiddos set up their own village along the river. this discovery room at the museum was incredible!

catching snow outside the museum

birds spotted on our outing:
-red tailed hawks
-american kestrels
-a barn owl
-great blue herons
-two snow geese (yes the white dots in the photo below)

the trip back home: miniman fell asleep holding big sister's hand. her take on it: "he's so cute when he's asleep! oh how my heart just grows for him!". the girl has got a way with words!

Belated Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

A happy (albeit belated) Thanksgiving to you.
a couple of posts today since i have been a bit absent. we have been hunkered down trying to shake off strep throat but are on the road to recovery!

on Thanksgiving proper we wandered around in a patch of woods not too far from home and played with leaf boats and built dams in one of the small streams.

the morning after:
we decided to thaw some of our berry pickings from the summer to eat on pancakes and use as facepaint.

the art of tritrophic ineractions

2007-11-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

some b&w prints of Maria Sybilla Merian's work + salvaged window = a happy wall

still can't believe this is Indiana

2007-11-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

we crossed the border for a hike two weekends ago and were pleasantly surprised.
In the middle of flatville lies a gorgeous landscape carved out by ancient glacial melt rivers.

warmth

2007-11-14T07:59:00.001-08:00

some mittens for K ready to go out and play

a scarf for miniman. since i can only knit small projects due to the pains and numbness in my left hand I am trying to so up as many of the warming winter items this year. The inside layer is made up of scraps from felted sweaters similar to Josh's and then used a piece of fabric from the scrap box that I got for christmas from Reprodepot last year. Then I just quilted the two together with a zig zag pattern.

Laterne Laterne Sonne Mond und Sterne

2007-11-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

St. Martin's Tag

my bus spotter

2007-11-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

klara's pic

2007-11-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

perhaps i should just always hand the camera over to her

a little expedition

2007-11-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

after a few days recooperating from strep throat we decided to make a small excursion to a lake not too far away from home to do a bit of birding. the original plan was to head north east to see the sandhill cranes but nobody quite had the enrgy for that long journey (but hopefully next weekend).

may i present

2007-11-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

the little prince (with big sister and grandma in the background) and....

viking girl

i hope you all had a wonderful holiday

linger for a while...

2007-10-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

there's a moon over my street
tipping back like a silver chair
and the sweet smell of dogwoods
is bringing summer in the springtime air
and the kids on the sidewalk
drawing faces with crooked smiles
we're all out on the front steps
can you linger for a while?...

aggie's making ices
and there's a party on mary lou's stoop
seven games of hopscotch
there's a thousand things that we could do
this block seems like a universe
everytime i see you smile
spring just turned into summer
i hope it lingers for a while...
-Dan Zanes

well, Spring is not turning into summer, but the changing of the seasons and the cooler weather alway make me feel a bit nostalgic and melancholy. fall always seems like such a vibrant transitional time - trying to hold on desparately to the long days of summer full of days exploring and playing long into the night, yet there is also the blanket of night that falls earlier and earlier with each passing day - just begging to be met with a hot drink, a warm blanket, and a pile of family members paging through book after book. fall always feels like such a contemplative time - especially this year. I am missing the familiarity of our old home and friends, missing the spectacular fall foliage of central PA (perhaps the gypsy moths nixed that this year?). but at the same time i am slowly accepting this new, flat territory as home - even if it is a temporary one.
as time passes here a new rhythm emerges - we meet people, make friends, form bonds, discover the surroundings and fall in love with the sky (i must say the cloud formations are magnificent and the storms as well!)...but still wish to linger in the past too.

long time no post

2007-10-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

that was quite a hiatus from posting. sorry about that - we were in Germany visitng family but are now back home.
It might take a few more days before I can put up some pics from the trip because the camera computer connector seems to have been left on a pleasant spot along the Rothaarsteig trail..ooops! should have a replacement in a few days. until then here's hoping your fall foliage is spectacular, there are plenty of puddles and streams for little boots (and big boots of course!) to splash in and a mug of hot chocolate or gluhwein waiting for you in the evening hours.
cheers!

craft week take five: cup+paint=miniman art

2007-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

craft week take four: more gifts that just flew the coop

2007-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

craft week take three:

2007-09-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

up and away - to welcome new babies into the world

craft week take two: klara's hand sewing

2007-09-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

she asked last week "when can i start a sampler?". thank you laura ingalls wilder!

craft week take one

2007-09-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

just thought i would post some pictures of crafts and art projects happening in the house this week. this first one is of two dolls made for klara's scchultute, which she got on the first day of school. on the left may i present Ronja, k's favorite person to dress up as and pretend to be. the shaggy headed dude on the right is the little prince. he seems to have already lost a few hairs- where'd i put the glue?

papa's helper in the lab

2007-09-19T19:31:00.002-07:00

this child of mine, the one with over a million silly faces has been helping her papa the last couple of weekends run some fly behavioral experiments in the lab and loves it! she helps look for the behaviors of interest and track the flies who are "behaving" rather than those doing the fly equivalent of sitting around scratching their butts.

(many hairs) cut

2007-09-19T19:31:00.001-07:00

i know i'm lame...

2007-09-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

instead of some images higlilghting the past week how about a whole bunch of images from a single day?

miniman botanizes

trying desperately to carry all his sandtools to the playground

a rice cake moment

checking out the acorn top - will it fit on my head?

not just a painting but also a scratching post

digging time with his pal Izzy

klara checks her teeth for renegade pieces of spinach

"bee bee bee bee bee!!" - miniman loses it trying to point to every bee

dance breaks are a must in this family

Sunday outing for Raspberries and Herbs

2007-09-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

little helper

big helper

miniman loves ladybird beetles

grasshopper

Mist Netting and Bird Banding

2007-09-10T06:17:00.001-07:00

saturday morning we all piled on our bikes and rode off to watch scientists from the Illinois Natural History Survey band birds. Klara was absolutely taken! Looks like we will become regulars on the morning Audubon birding hikes this fall :)

removing female cardinal from mist net

banding and measurements

magnolia warbler

magnolia warbler

Klara gets to release on of the magnolia warblers

kids + map = adventure

2007-09-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

gearing up for a family outing. who's got the map?

a dynamic duo

2007-09-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

we pass this every day on our walk to the schoolyard and it always makes me laugh

a bit of self reflection

2007-09-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and the little guy is sleeping and klara is at school. don't i have anything better to do with my time than take silly pictures in the mirror? sometimes it is the best medicine when life feels too serious!

Now we know who Abe is voting for

2007-09-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

1stSeptmeber: more letting go

2007-09-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

gathering leaves for Pill-Pill before heading to school

this was not the first "pet" for klara. she has had plenty: multiple snails all named Whiskers, ants, fruit flies - the girl even took the meal moths in our old place in PA under her wings and referred to them as her pets. Yes, we did get plenty of strange looks when klara told complete strangers all about her pets that competed with us for our flour, rice, and cereal. but this pet was different - it was bigger than any other pet she had before and this pet almost looked like a real pet with its soft body and big head. this pet was "Pill-Pill" the tomato hornworm discovered in our garden last week. klara took to Pill-Pill like bread to butter. upon returning from school yesterday klara found her latest pet to be a bit umm, under the weather. Little did she know that this caterpillar she took into her care had been harboring parasitoid wasp larvae inside of it. their white fuzzy coccons were discovered covering the back of Pill-Pill after arriving home from school. It broke her heart. that is until she realized that she would now have dozens of mini wasps as "pets". perhaps it is time for a fish.

31stAugust: Letting Go...Holding On

2007-09-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

klara's first day of kindergarten:
in the morning with her Schultuete (school cone) on her head of course!

posing with papa. kidnergartener or not she still looks like a "mini me" version of her papa

the walk to school

in the schoolyard

beginning of class

mini man begins his day of utter confusion. the poor chap looked for big sister all day and called for her. there were many visits to her room and his "viewing window" to look for a sign of her. Miniman, you were not the only one feeling like something was missing today

August30th: Manduca aka Pill-Pill

2007-09-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

2007-08-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

butterfly with false head

bumble

28thAugust: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

the slugs have won! after providing many evenings of tasty greens our salad has finally been defeated by the slugs -tko!

27th August: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

"making beans"

26th August: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

heirloom

25thAugust: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

melon for randa

24th August: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:39:00.002-07:00

spiral

23rdAugust: Around the Garden

2007-08-31T07:39:00.001-07:00

morning glories

Wed22August: Waiting to Unfold

2007-08-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

as the start of the school year creeps up upon us a certain member of our house is on the verge of bursting. She can hardly contain her excitement. as we pass her new school or stop to play on its playground she takes in every climber, painted map on the blacktop, every step between the sidewalk and the front door of the school. this gal is itching to be a kindergartener.

Tuesday21August:watching for dogs

2007-08-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

19August: a morning with paints...and brushes

2007-08-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday16th: between siblings

2007-08-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

it's tender moments like these that make the not so easy moments melt away and seem so insignificant

14August: Gifts from the Garden

2007-08-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

13thAugust2007: Rock a bye baby

2007-08-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

instead of eating the playdough today, miniman formed a rudimentary cradle for his little doll.

Sunday10thAugust: Wooden Men on the Prairie

2007-08-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday11August: Warren Dunes

2007-08-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

Friday10thAugust: Warren Dunes

2007-08-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

klara leaps with the gulls

Thursday 9thAugust: A True Sandwich

2007-08-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

miniman takes on sand as his newest "dip". sometimes he ate it the oldfashioned way - getting down on his belly and sticking his tongue right in (sans bread or veggie) mmm mmm good!

Wednesday9thAugust: Getting Silly with Photobooth

2007-08-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday8thAugust: Dinner with Grandma

2007-08-12T18:19:00.001-07:00

WEdnesday1August: Welcome Grandma!

2007-08-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

31July: oh the joys of yogurt

2007-08-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

Monday30July: Monkey see...Monkey do

2007-08-06T17:51:00.000-07:00