The "M" Word

I came across the video below while scrolling through facebook posts.

It's about the evolution of the bikini. And it's about Modesty.

I was immediately intrigued. Modesty in swimwear is a phrase that I am very conscious of as a mother of three girls, but I don't have much to reference in society that upholds and supports it as a value for girls and women. Just taking a walk through Target after Christmas was eye-opening with the displays of swimwear prominently positioned for all to see.  Buying a magazine at the airport last week was tricky. Do I really need to see three behinds staring me in the face as I am trying to choose good reading material for my flight? That SI swimsuit issue is terrible. And yet, its right there for all to see. What's worse is three women thought it was ok to pose that way, in those "suits".

I wonder how mothers and fathers of sons handle this topic.

Anyway, I appreciate the message that Jessica Rey offers - I mean, this is pretty counter-cultural. The fact that it is even brought up and shared across the country is amazing, I think.

The Godly Truth About Bikinis - FINALLY Someone Gets It! from sharethemessage on GodTube.

I plan to show it to my daughters and know for sure that one will light up when Jessica references Ms. Hepburn as the design inspiration for her line of swimwear.

Here's some more food for thought.

Swimsuit weather is still a ways off in my neck of the woods, but it's never too early to start (or continue, in my case) the conversation about modesty.

Kate Spade Eyewear

In addition to similar DNA, their surname, and the fact they all live under the same four month old roof, what do these girls have in common?

Yes! They all wear glasses. Eye wear is the new thing in our household. (Aside: I don't ask the girls to pose for photos, other than to ask for a decent smile once in awhile. They do this on their own. Cracks me up.)

Notice The "Beauty Shelf" has a new item.

I feel so left out - of the folks in the family who need corrective lenses, that is.

One daughter wears them all the time, another most of the time, and the third just in school. I guess seeing the board from the back row is a good thing. I learned that she relies mostly on hearing her teachers read their notes rather than on reading them. Ahhh! Well, I can't be on top of everything.

One recent Saturday morning, we headed to Pearl Vision - After the three exams were complete, we took some time to shop. We walked out with a couple of new frames.

That morning I discovered I love Kate Spade eye wear. Really. We all kept pulling them off the display shelf and making a "try on" pile. The choices were all adorable. The color on the inside of the frames seems to make one's eye color pop.

These were my favorite.

The color and detail on the inside of the frames are darling. They make the glasses.

Now I get to see them every day on my lovely daughter!

I have been told by many people that my day is coming and maybe not so far around the corner. Cheaters.

If and when that happens I will definitely be shopping for a look like these. 

I figure if glasses need to be a daily accessory, embrace it - go cute. Go Kate Spade!

The Beauty Shelf

Back at it. Blogging.

Here goes.

In my days as a youth we rejoiced at the rare "snow day" when school was called off. With multiple new inches of snow came another wave of fun - carving out snow forts in the huge drifts, sliding off the neighbor's garage roof, making deep snow angels and on and on....

This winter my girls have the unusual experience of several days of "free" days due to extreme cold.

That translates into playing inside, reading inside, having fun with mom inside, spending money inside. A lot of inside. Actually, only inside.

Time to get creative.

Yesterday we took the day to clean the room, rearrange furniture, and create a "beauty shelf". It all started with a request to bunk their beds. It ended with less clutter, more function, and a cute room more fit for pre-teen girls.

We wanted to eliminate unwanted and unused items, make the space feel more open, comfortable, and functional. To do this, we needed an extra floor lamp, a shelf (to add to the two we already had) and a rug. This meant making a trip to IKEA. I discovered that it is possible to cruise through IKEA in less than an hour. We were there and back again in 50 minutes. Yes!

One addition to the room is what I call "the beauty shelf". I just threw the name out there. Izzy laughed. The name stuck.

Where before they kept brushes, glasses, and accessories in multiple locations and without any order, they now have one space designated for these items and one spot for getting ready in the morning.

This morning after the girls left for school, I added these four hooks.

They hold hair binders, head bands, rainbow loom bracelets and beaded bracelets.

The rings keep accessories visible and organized. I firmly believe that what can't be seen well, does not get used. Stuffed in a drawer or strewn across their dresser top, these were hidden and not easily seen. I think this solution will help keep their room a bit more tidy and their time in getting ready in the morning more efficient.

The shelf sits between their individual shelves which hold their reading lamps, books, and meaningful knickknacks.

I think they will be happy with the addition of accessories on the wall.

Maybe coming home to this new element will help with the adjustment of actually being back in school.

P.S. The hooks are from Target; came in a set of six. I purchased the rings as a set many years ago - can't remember where they are from.

P.S. #2.  It's good to be back. Blogging.

Austen Fever

Emma. Harriet. Jane. Elizabeth. Marianne. Elinor. Darcy. Bingley. Knightly.

We are deep in the world of Jane Austen at our place. It was bound to happen. A house mostly full of girls and entering the junior high era...I am thrilled.

We've watched a few of the BBC versions of Austen's adaptations and started to read Emma and Pride and Prejudice, my favorite book of all time.

And, as a result, I find myself using words like keen, dashing, nonsense and phrases like fond of, at present, and I flatter myself, and quite shocking indeed.  At least if not spoken aloud, I am thinking in these terms more lately.

 Almost makes me want to buy or sew an empire waist dress.  Almost.  I don't think I could stomach it if when walking about I was stopped and asked, "Oh, when are you due?"  Which is bound to happen in my case.

I avoid empire waist clothing for that reason. I flatter myself that the style is just not that flattering on me.

In regards to Emma, I have seen at least three film versions of the story.  I am particularly fond of the BBC Masterpiece Classic version starring Romola Garai. I love her. She's Hungarian. She's gorgeous.

It could have something to do with the reddish hair, but I think she is a fabulous actress. Her expressions and ability to be youthful and mature when the plot requires are spot on, in my opinion.

I enjoy her performance and character in Amazing Grace as well. I am also beginning to wonder if the British are capable of making a film not starring Michael Gambon as well.  He's fantastic.

Come to think of it, when you see enough period British films you see the same gifted actors appear and reappear multiple times.  It's as if Maggie Smith is destined to play grandmotherly, snobbish old dames who zing one liners and steal each scene.  I mean, can you even picture her in pants?

At present we are knee deep into watching Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford - funny as heck and wonderfully, simply shot.  Gambon appears here too and his character contributes to one of the most heart breaking love stories in the plot. So far. We are half way through the film.  You never know with these stories. Money, scandal, disease, a glance from one to another.  They all force changes in relationships so quickly.

A confession: I've broken down into tears only once when reading a Christmas letter. Of all the ones we have received over the years, one made me just bawl.  We received in the mail  two years ago. A family acquaintance of ours living elsewhere and raising three daughters and a son updated us on their year.  They regularly had the privilege of watching their offspring join with the neighborhood kids and perform small impromptu plays based on Austen's stories.  They had recently performed Emma and roped in some younger guys to take the parts of men.
[Aside note: We had to bribe my brothers to be the "priest" and "groom" whenever we played "wedding"...man, it took a lot of coaxing for those boys to comply. Can't say that I blame their hesitancy when I think back on it. We were pretty demanding brides in those days.]

Why the tears?  I've so wanted that kind of camaraderie and play-making to be a part of even one of my kids' lives.  The current make up of the neighborhood doesn't lend itself to the kind of productions mentioned in the letter. But sharing these wonderful stories in these little ways with my daughters is rewarding enough.

Quite rewarding indeed.

July News By Boo

Dad and Me in the Badlands

Issue III

Sorry I haven't got on back to "Boo's News" recently, so many things going on. My family came home from a camping trip in the Black Hills.

But life has been good! Trips to the zoo and library with Pieta and Oliver, Oliver's first birthday and a fun family birthday party, planning for the Ferber Family vacation out East, and Baby Jack's birth (which took place in June; he's so cute).

I hope you all are relaxing in the shade, swimming and playing and having fun outdoors. I myself have been cooling off, reading and writing new plays. My sister has been reading, swimming, and looking at earrings. Littlest sister has been playing scuba diving and space ship with Luke, our next door neighbor.

News Flash

In my de-cluttering and cleaning I often find notebooks and pads of paper filled with creative stories, scripts, and letters. Our 11 year old is quite the writer.

Tonight she wrote a newspaper article or newsletter of sorts.

Here it is in full.

Your first issue is free. Subsequent subscriptions will cost you $1.99 each.

Someone is saving her money.

Eleven year olds have goals.

Maddie's Observation and News
Sunday, April 3, 2011

Hi there, folks. Lucky today we didn't get any snow as expected. In fact, most of the snow is melting after that uneventful storm.

UCONN and Butler play in the NCAA championship game tomorrow, Monday, April 4. Here is the team my family is cheering for:

Butler
Dad
Mom
Maddie
Kate

UCONN
Izzy


Dad spray painted our chandelier dark brown; we have been having problems with that lamp since Mom tried to lower it.

Kate, Izzy and I have been reading lots of good books: Kate, the Dear America series; Izzy, Her Bible with mom; Maddie, Black Ships Before Troy and American Girl books.

More News

• Izzy's getting glasses for school
• Twins (MN baseball team) seems to be doing well
• Timberwolves lost against the Heat
• Golden Gopher men and womens gymnastics is going great; both made it to the championship meet!
• Staubles and Cunninghams work together by sharing a garbage can to save money and create compost, though smelly, very colorful.
• Mom and Dad have been doing prayer together regularly.

Bubbling Wizard's Brew

Well I got the inevitable summer time question the other day. "I'm bored. What can I do?"  I steered bored daughter to Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do and said, "Pick out a project. Go for it."

So, she chose this one.

 She got all excited and collected the necessary items. "Just one problem, mom. I don't know where we keep the vinegar." Right here," I say, "under the kitchen sink." It was next to the gin bottle filled with dish soap, also on her list.

What happened next was pure magic - all three joining in to watch the brew bubble, spill and swirl. As you can see, they soon discovered that adding more baking soda, then adding more baking soda yielded more bubbling and spilling. Notice the teamwork with Wizard #2 holding the book so Wizard #1 can easily read the instructions?  All their idea. I was only on hand to snap some pictures. I happened to be very distracted during this time while watching American tennis pro Andy Roddick go down in flames in the round of 16 at Wimbeldon. Darn. I really wanted him to make it to the finals and repeat the showdown with Federer, who left England for home early too as it turns out. So, maybe next year I'll get my showdown.

But, back to the teamwork. I practically expected the girls to circle up, put their hands in the middle, raise them high and shout "Go Team!"  They are known to do this while eating popsicles. It's really cute to watch the six kids of the hub do it altogether.

As I continue to watch Roddick die a slow death, I start to hear from the dining room, "We're mad scientists." "Yeah, let's be the kids from Nanny McFee."  And, "Let's blow up Saturn."  And, "Let's be those robbers who steal....."

Wait. What was going on in there?

Let's just say the imagination ran wild and we had swirling, giggling, and stories becoming more bizarre with each stir of the spoon.

Did I mention it's good to have a rimmed baking sheet for this project?  Well, they come in handy. Good thing I got one for Christmas or we'd have bits of Saturn all over the floor.

I wonder what will happen the next time I hear, "I'm bored. What can I do?"

Done With Being Fancy

We were walking into church yesterday. Let me back up. At about 10:12am, exactly 18 minutes before mass begins, we realize no one is dressed or ready in any way to walk out the door.  Izzy slept in til 10, which hasn't happened she was about two weeks old, so we were all thrown off.  So, we had our usual church scramble - combing hair, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, finding clean, pressed "church" clothes and matching shoes, maybe a sweater if the church is air conditioned. You never know what to expect.  Amazingly, we are walking into church just past 10:30, but still in time for the opening song.  Kate turns to me and asks, "Why can't we wear jeans to church?"  I answer in a calm tone (having had to answer this a thousand times already), "Because they are too casual."  She responds, "I like casual, I'm done with being fancy."  Well, I had to suppress a laugh because it was cute and unexpected, especially since I hadn't even mentioned fancy and purposely don't use that word, since I have never expected "church clothes" to be "fancy". We just can't afford that. And I can't keep that many nice clothes nice for very long.

But, I can't help thinking that Kate's statement wasn't just a protest for that Sunday. She is nine after all. And maybe making more of a statement like, "I'm growing up now mom."  Or, maybe we need to sit down and talk about words like "fancy", "casual", and "church clothes" so that the next time we have a clearer understanding of what is appropriate.  I feel like we have done that already, but it may be time to re-visit. Do it again. And if my experience as a kids tells me anything, we'll talk about it again, again, and then again.

Did you know that once I had to wear my school uniform to church?  Well deserved and very effective. I will never forget that embarrassing Sunday.

I am sure Kate will get over this one too. She looked great by the way.

Here's the nine year old on our camping trip.

Bye Bye, Europe. Hello, America! Or, the Best $5 Deal Ever.

Normally I would comment on the smile, the freckles, the uniform perfectly buttoned and belted. I would tell you about this 2nd grader almost turned 3rd grader who leaves the Medieval world of Europe and in three short months will study the exploration and settling of America.  I would tell you how proud I am of her - she blossomed in Reading and Spelling, persevered through Math, and collected over 120 stars for good behavior in the classroom.  I would tell you that her passion for reading, art and writing has spilled over to our dining room table where she sketches, copies funny quotes from books and shares stories from the day's work. It has made its way to her top bunk where she joyfully reads and explains the hard words to her doting 4 1/2 year old-dying-to-go-to-school-roommate.

But I won't tell you that today.

Today I will share with you one of my best $5 purchases ever. And its being modeled here by said 2nd grader almost turned 3rd grader above.

Five years ago, Daughter #1 (my 4th grader almost turned 5th grader) and I were braving the international (super fun) crowds of IKEA probably looking for a lamp or measuring shelves or something.  We entered the kitchen gadget area and spotted these backpacks. Now what they were doing in the kitchen area, much less at IKEA, a furniture store, I have no idea.  But, since Daughter # 1 was an almost Kindergartner I scooped it up; the price tag was $5 and I did not want the hassle of searching for a back pack anywhere else. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  And let me tell you...I was RIGHT.  In use now for 5 years and counting (that's $1 for each year), this backpack has been weighted down, kicked around, stuffed for sleepovers, dragged across concrete, passed down to the next kid, dragged some more, kicked, flung, you get the picture.  Except for a little fraying here and there I think it has a good two years left.

 That is, unless Daughter #3 my almost turned pre-schooler decides that this twice handed down backpack is just a wee bit to blue and green for her.  She's into pink and purple these days.  Oh, and very excited for the Kindergarten year to begin in 15 months, or about 450 days.

Should I have her start counting down now?


What's your best $5 deal?

Trying to Imitate the Best

It turns out parent/child music classes offer more than I thought.  I noticed the amazingly cute wardrobe on this little girl during our six week session and through inquiry and the huge label on the back of the clothes found out about Matilda Jane clothing.  Much to my surprise (no, not really) I found the clothing online and the expensive price tags attached.  The real reason I choose not to buy a dress is they can only be purchased through Trunk Shows (similar to an Usborne Book Home Show, which any of you can host and I will gladly do for you anytime).  No, I confess, it was mostly the prices.  Even though I have been known to splurge on occasion, these prices were out of my range.  But, I fell in love with the clothing.  Like Izzy fell in love with ironing.  Only mine was a deeper love, like with the actual fabric and knotted straps.  So, I decided to try to sew one dress that even came close to the vision of these.

With Mary's tutoring and just plain taking over at certain points, I was able to piece together something that I can proudly call my first sewn dress.

 My Izzy. 

(Please try to ignore the rusty hand rail and weird residue on the front door. One of these days I will have a camera that blurs the background like the one above with cute Matilda model girl. Man, will that come in handy!)

In the last year I have also become acquainted with fabric designed by Amy Butler and have frequented Treadle Yard Goods to purchase fun fabrics.  Amy's fabrics helped bring Matilda's inspiration to life.  Thanks, Amy. Thanks, Matilda. Thanks, Cute Girl from Music Class and Big Huge Label on back of cute girl's dress.

P.S.  Notice how the blue fabric at the hem of her dress is strikingly similar to the background of this blog?  I salivate when I see these blues.

Learning from the Best

Izzy and I spent a Saturday recently with Aunt Mary. Our goal was to sew and learn all the tricks of the trade.  I especially needed the reminders about measuring, marking the line to cut, etc. I never have been good at being exact.  With Mary at my side I was able to successfully sew my first dress. More on that later.

Izzy was successful in making her very first pillow case and blanket for her doll.

She found that "sewing" meant lots of preparation before the actual stitching.  She's handles a scissors well.

As well as an iron. In fact, in as much as a four and a half year old can actually fall in love with something, I think it is safe to say that Izzy fell in love with ironing and has asked to do it since. Thank God! At least one person around here enjoys it.  Train 'em early I say.

And the finished product!  A bitty blanket and bitty pillow for her bitty baby (whose name changes like the wind).  

Well done, Isabel. Thank you for the generous giving of a whole Saturday, Mary!

Raising Girls and Helpful info

Listened to this interview and found I agree with a lot of it. I have always been bothered by words printed on the butt of girls (little little girls') clothing...this is only one small point of the author's book, but speaks to something much bigger in our culture.

Investing in our children's "spiritual core" is so important. I've been thinking about specific ways to do this in our home.

• Reading about heroic, holy, strong women and girls
  
• Talking about modesty and pointing out what is and is not modest
• Providing lots of opportunities for open conversation about what is going on in their life and what they think about it
• Responding immediately as a mom when they ask a question, express the desire to spend time with me
• Encouraging their own prayer life
• Encouraging them to write down or capture their memories, what is important to them
• Allow for good one on one relationships with other strong and wise women (encouraging Kate to play tennis with Aunt Jill, for example)
• Help them think through decisions and using their free will to make the best choices based on the unique individual they are

There are lots more....any other ideas out there?