Holiday Gift Picks & Ginormous Giveaway!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

- Oscar Hammerstein II & Richard Rodgers

It is hard for me to put into words just how grateful I am for the opportunity to try out some of the most creative and imaginative kiddie coolness on the planet or how honored I am to give away such gems on behalf of the generous souls who help nurture the playful spirit of childhood. It is my thrill to present to you these tried and true faves from Satch and I. We are certain they will bring your family much joy this holiday season! (Giveaway items are marked with a * )

Think-ets: Ingenious, creative, imaginative are the three words that best describe this game. Contained in a pocket sized tin (or pouch depending on the set you choose), this is highly portable, major fun. I actually keep it in my bag so we can play it anywhere. I brought it out in the waiting room during S's OT appointment, and it produced much laughter from the children as well as their parents. Inside the tin is a handful of interesting trinkets. The game can be played a multitude of ways and with various age groups. Our favorite is the "Story Telling Game". Ages 8+

eeBoo's United States Bingo: We are HUGE fans of eeBoo! eeBoo is well known for their beautiful, educational and high quality products. The gorgeous art is commissioned from beloved children's book illustrators. It should come as no surprise that many of their award winning products are sold in museum stores.

Their United States Bingo Game is a such a fun way for kids to learn about our country's states, industry and landmarks. Terrific for home or classrooms. *The generous people at eeBoo are allowing me to giveaway this awesome game to one lucky winner!

eeBoo also makes a wide variety of beautifully illustrated classic memory matching games that are a pure pleasure to play with. We have our favorites, as I'm sure you will too.

*Thanks to the generous peeps at eeBoo, you will have a chance to win their new Wildlife Memory Game!

eeBoo, we love you so!

Meta-Forms by FoxMind is an award winning game of reasoning and logic. The visual clues are intuitive and easy for young children to understand, yet it's challenging enough to entice adults. It can be played alone or with groups. In short, we LOVE it and highly recommend it! Ages 5 +

Family Funtime's Dinner Games: Terrific fun for family meal time. There are 51 game prompts in the form of recipe cards, neatly stored in a nifty tin. A wonderful way to add a bit of playfulness to your holiday dinner. Handy for restaurants and rest stop meals during the family vacation. We especially love the game "What's Missing"! Ages 3+

For kids who love to help cook, you should check out these cool tools by Kinderkitchen.

The Dog knives are designed to cut soft food, not fingers. The ears and the tail help keep your child's paws centered on the handle. We had the good fortune to test-drive these puppies and our son had a terrific time helping with meal prep.

Kinderkitchen is a division of Kuhn Rikon, Switzerland's leading manufacturer of cookware and cook's tools for over 70 years.

What's Gnu? by Think Fun: Played like their classic, Zingo, this game is a great way for early readers to practice spelling, and word recognition. There's this cool, soothing aspect to the sliding "letter-getter" that adds a little sensory touch to game as well. There are two levels of play. Ages 5+

Another great gift for early readers are the new Sight Words BOB books from Scholastic! I had the honor of interviewing this Mother-Father-Daughter team last Fall, when I discovered a set of their books at our library book sale. My son LOVES them!

*The Maslens, Kertells, & the generous folks at Scholastic are allowing me to giveaway a set of Sight Words Kindergarten and Sight Words First Grade!

Drum City by Thea Guidone has become one of my son's favorite bedtime stories. The rhythmic text and whimsical illustrations are delightful. I particularly love the bits of collaged text peaking out from beneath the images. Satch loves the expressions on the kids' faces as they march through the city banging their drums.

The book would make a lovely gift paired with a small drum like the one we have by Remo. The drum has a nice sound and is extremely sturdy. We bought ours when S was just a year old.


For the creative family or for families who would like to tap into their imaginations, I highly recommend MoMA's Make Art Mistakes! It's a sketchbook filled with fun, imaginative prompts & inspiring quotes to get the creative juices flowing - FEARLESSLY! Our favorite page, "Draw a shape then color OUTSIDE the lines"! This book is great for a family art night, yucky weather days, or to toss in the backseat for road trips.

And for the big people in your life, you should consider giving a copy of Patti Digh's latest treasure, "Creative is a Verb: If You're Alive, You're Creative".

If you wish to live your life as a work of art, this book will feed your creative fire!

I am honored to announce that my art appears on 156 and 187. *The generous peeps as Global Pequot Press is allowing me to giveaway a copy of this gem to one lucky reader!

For music lovers, you MUST grab a copy of Brandon Campbell's new cd, "Ten from the Galley"! I can tell you first hand how addictive Brandon's gypsy jazz stylin's are...our respective families once shared a pond side cabin in Squam, NH so the mama-bears could attend an art-retreat. Every time I think about our adventures there - watching the neon sunrise paint the pond pink - standing motionless in the loon kissed evening air watching bats arabesque (so close I could touch them) making me feel as though I was flying with them, the art, the friendships, the laughter....when I think back at that time our families spent together, Brandon's music swirls around in my head like my own personal soundtrack, and let me tell you...that's mighty nice. Brandon's music stirs me in many ways. At times I want to grab a partner and bust out my Lindy moves. Sometimes, it makes me want to light candles and just melt into the night. It's haunting - it's hot - it's hip! *Brandon is allowing me to give away a copy of his new cd to one lucky reader, how cool is that?

 For the art lovers in your life, check out the work of Pixie Campbell! Pixie is one of my dear friends and yes...her hubby is Brandon. They are a talented, dynamic duo! Pixie is Native American of the Choctaw tribe. Drawing from her knowledge of animal totems, her beautiful and soulful work is both a reflection of her heritage and her love for the spiritual aspects of life. *Pixie would like to give away a fine art print to one luck commenter!

Once more, It is a great pleasure to share with you a few of our favorite things. It is an honor to introduce you to the extraordinary and generous people who create them. May this holiday season bless you with fun, laughter, creativity and a big imagination!

To win one of these 6 items listed above...

1. *eeBoo United States Bingo
2. * eeBoo Wildlife Memory
3. *BOB Books
4. *Creative is a Verb
5. *Ten from the Galley cd
6. *Fine Art Print by Pixie Campbell

simply share with me a favorite holiday moment.

You MUST specify which item you're wishin' for....

Also include an email so that I may contact you if you win. Comments must be posted by midnight on Friday December 3rd. The winners will be picked by random generator and announced on Monday December 6th!

Good luck and good tidings to you where ever you are...
Wendy

She's Got Skills!

"How did she get those coins under your pillow without waking you?"
"She's got SKILLS!", he exclaimed.

Satch had an exciting holiday weekend. When I picked him up from the meadow on Wednesday, he showed me that his wobbly tooth was EXTREMELY wobbly. He kept his composure while at the meadow, but the moment he sat in the car, he lost it.

Satch struggles with transitions, including those that are celebrated by most. We've read books about losing teeth and the various traditions around the world. We even made a fairy door in anticipation of this day, but Satch is really having a hard time with this.

Once home, we played some games in a feeble attempt to take his mind off his tooth, a few rounds of Go-Fish, Animal Rummy and a memory game called, "I Never Forget a Face" wherein the child from Scotland just so happens to be missing a front tooth.

After about 2 hours, I was feeling a tad frayed and just wanted it over with. I thought perhaps if the tooth were finally out, the teetering-tooth-tirade would end. I handed him a fruit twist. Naturally his tooth fell right out.  Instead of being relieved, or excited, Satch went ballistic..."THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE" he screamed on continuous loop.










Once he calmed down a smidge, we went upstairs to hang the fairy door....

We bought the door here!
Paint: Glidden testers in Robin's Egg blue and Marshmallow white.

He chose to hang it above our family bed. Before we stuck it to the wall, I wrote the date on the back with a black Sharpie and explained, "One day, you can do this for your children and write the date they lost their first tooth on this door, and even your grandchildren". This seemed to lift his spirits. You see, if you ask Satch what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll reply, "I want to be a Dad...I want 3 children...and I want to be with my family". I believe the thought of this wee door being passed down through generations helped settle his mood some. I snapped this photo of him on the way to pick up his daddy at the bus stop.

Satch woke up 'round 2 in the morning and discovered that tooth fairy came, and brought 2 dollars in quarters. He was so excited that he had a hard time sleeping thereafter. When he finally went back to sleep, I threw in the towel and got up at 4 am. Satch padded downstairs at 6 am excitedly recounting the predawn visit from the tooth fairy.

We spent a relaxing Thanksgiving at home this year, just the 3 of us, rather than driving back to NY. We had a crackling fire. We ate roasted Tofurkey with gravy, stuffed acorn squash, cranberry sauce and spinach tartlets. The boys made pumpkin pie for dessert. We noticed that our neighbor was home alone so we fixed her a plate.

The following day we went to Town Center and sipped hot cocoa curbside while the holiday parade marched by - a one hour festive romp perfectly timed so the lunch crowd could flock to the eateries for a post parade nosh and shoppers could hit the Black Friday sales.

 We returned home to recharge with left-over holiday feast before returning after sundown for the tree lighting ceremony and our first skate of the season. Satchel's first skate EVER!

Giving Thanks & Making Merry

I am grateful for the many gifts motherhood has given me. In particular, the one where I get to revisit the playful parts of myself nearly forgotten. In those moments I realize that within me resides every age I've ever been.

The handmade gifties are finished! Hand balms for the teachers & assorted big people...

Recipe here.
Tins here.
Labels here.



































Table top bowling sets aka skittles for the littles...

Wood here.
Beeswax here.
Fabric here.
Beads here.














Wish lists are ordered (I don't do stores this time of year). The holiday postcards are designed & printed...

Calendar gifts for the Grands finished! Click on the arrow to see all the images. (Grandparents, no peeking!)

Now we can kick back until our annual Winter Solstice Party. I'll be posting my annual gift picks & ginormous giveaway next Monday because right now we should all be focusing on Thanksgiving. We have an unbeasty-feasty to prepare...S has requested stuffed Acorn Squash and Spinach Tartlets. The Great Robinsky will be making pie (I'm not keen on baking, except for cookies and boule). S will be serving up some of his homemade apple sauce.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Dawn Has Secrets

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep. - Rumi

The morning we brought up the sun marked another new beginning. It was the day you discovered your first loose tooth. You came barging into the bathroom while I was showering (picked the lock again) and crumpled into a heap of tears on the other side of the curtain.

I poke my head out and you lament, "I have a wobbly toooooooth...I think I broke it on a Lego!"

I smile and say, "It's not broken...you may be getting your new teeth...it means that the Tooth Fairy is coming".

Transitions can be difficult for you, newness can be unnerving...it's hard to predict which path you'll choose, joy or otherwise.

"But it's HORRIBLE!"
"But I don't want my teeth to fall out!"
"But I don't want new teeth!"
"But I don't want anything to change!"
"But I like everything just the way it is!"

We take you a local diner for breakfast to celebrate this rite of passage, your face still showing signs of earlier upset. When you cry your nose and forehead develop little red patches that linger for a spell after you've calmed down.

After breakfast you spot a gumball machine. First loose tooth - first piece of bubble gum. (Why not?)

"PINK!", you say, and I explain that you can't pick which color you get.

You open the silver door and a pink gumball rolls into your palm.






















"Isn't that amazing", you say, "you tell the machine which color you want and you get it". You bite it in half and we share it.






















At bedtime we read stories about wobbly teeth and we talked about creating a small door to make it easier for the Tooth Fairy. That night you wake me many times, as you often do during transitions. I have learned, during 5 1/2 years of being your mom, to roll with it. After you settle down to begin your dreams, I cannot go back to sleep. I begin my soft morning descent at 3:30 AM, dreaming with eyes open, wondering how I'll weather this long day. I rest my face into my bewooled hands and for one brief second I believe I smell my cat's fur.

The Sun Blazes For Everyone

just
so joyfully
as it rises
under the lashes
of my own eyes, and I thought...

What is the name
of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it
whatever you want, it is
happiness - Mary Oliver

I shuffle downstairs and into my studio at an hour when most people are nestled in their beds dreaming. I'm dreaming too, of course, with eyes open. My hands this time of year get cold easily. I slip them into woolens, fingers free to move, to touch. I get the coffee brewing, adding a pinch of cinnamon and cloves to the grinds then slowly make my way to each window, opening the blinds. Carefully. The floor creaks. I turn on the string lights in the studio and the room glows warm like candlelight, reflecting on the oak floor in small colorful puddles. The coffee is ready. The earthenware cup that you made for me warms quickly. The spoon makes a lovely tinging, like wind chimes, when I stir in a bit of sugar, raw and infused with vanilla bean. I sit and sip. Cup half full, I hear you padding downstairs.

"Good morning", you say, still smelling of sleep as I sink a kiss into your soft cheek.

"The sun is coming up", I say, "since most of the leaves have fallen we may be able to see it. We'll have to hurry though, no time to get dress, just our coats".

"What about Dad", you whisper.

"Let him sleep", I say.

"Mama, it's cold...look at the grass", you say softly. Frosty dew drops cling to blades like tiny pearls, their descent to Earth suspended in time.

"Yes, I know...we won't be long".

"Look there!"

"I see it!"

Tell Me

You do not have to be good...
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. - Mary Oliver

Even the most magical places, can be hard to navigate. I slip too sometimes, buddy.
Mama, can we make an experiment to find out how clouds float?

That Breathless Space

This is, I think,
what holiness is:
the natural world,
where every moment is full
of the passion to keep moving.
I've knelt there,
and so have you,
hanging on
to what you love,
to what is lovely. - Mary Oliver

I am hanging on to the banquet of beauty that we feasted upon during our weekend hike...

The dramatic skies that train our eyes upward...















You and chums, so eager to join us on our journey, howling like wolf pups atop boulders, then quietly almost reverently pausing to absorb all this loveliness...

all this love.

Untrimmable Light

I want to believe I am looking
into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing-
that the light is everything-that it is more than the sum
of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do. - Mary Oliver

"Mama, someone told me that God is a man who lives in your heart and I think that is 'ree-dik-lee-us' because a person can't live inside of your heart...he would have to be so small...smaller than a gnome even."

I know, it's confusing. I haven't talked to you about God yet because there's not one answer. There are many answers because people have different beliefs. I wanted to wait until you were older so you could decide what you believe.

Can you see God?

Not with your eyes, but you can sort of feel God...and that is what makes it even more confusing.

HOW?

Well, you know how when you see something wondrous...

Like a butterfly?

Yes, you know the way that makes you feel...

Yes.

Well, I believe that is when you are feeling God...when you feel wonder, happiness and love.

Did God make everything?

I don't know. Nobody really knows for sure, but many people think so. I want to think that God is a creator and made all this beauty happen.

Then God can't be a man because creators are women (laughter)...babies come out of women not men (laughter).

Lets talk about this another time, Okay?

Okay, Mama.

Mama?

Yeeeesssss

I think all animals are special...even chickens.

Me too, buddy, now go to sleep.

Bless This Year

"Never harm
Nor spell nor charm" - William Shakespeare

We bless this year for all we learned,
for all that we loved and lost...

Nothing is ever easy or simple in the lives of those affected by SPD. Even fun things like Halloween can pose challenges you've never dreamed of. Now that S is somewhat over his SPD tactile defensiveness, I was curious to see how he would respond to gutting a pumpkin - he still won't touch the goop. "It's yucky", he said. I, on the other hand, rather like squishing it, though the coldness turns my fingers white and stiff.

S wanted to make a cat pumpkin in honor of our amazing cat whom we deeply miss. Represent! It's Samhain, after all, time to celebrate the lives of those who have crossed over.

Our giant bird silhouettes were a huge hit (top photo) with the neighborhood kids, especially the gang that plays in our home and is familiar with all the birds nests that don our mantel and S's nature shelf.

A witches broom on the door to honor our soul sisters of the 1600s who suffered a horrific fate at the hands of ignorance and hysteria. Again, Represent!

I hid a boombox under a pile of leaves so that when the children approached our cauldron full of candy, they would be serenaded by the soulful sisters of Rising Appalachia - "Sandy Boys" on continuous loop, flickering paper lanterns lining our walk, and pumpkins aglow.

S seemed to tolerate the Halloween costume a bit better this year, though he did want to take it off several times. I said nonchalantly, "Costumes are what Halloween is all about, they're not always comfortable, but we just deal with it". So, he dealt with it. He seemed to enjoy all the compliments he received on our homemade Anglerfish masks, his favorite fish.

There were a few scary trick-or-treaters that sent S running behind a tree terrified. I asked one to remove his mask for a moment to remind S that it was just a costume. These scary costumes did not seem to bother any of his chums though.

It brought back memories of when he was 2 years old...we were at the bookstore for story time and someone was there dressed as a puppy. The sight of the giant humanoid pup sent S into a face first, duck n' cover, dive to the floor in terror. It was heartbreaking to see all the tots running over to hug the puppy character, while my son was trying to become one with carpet - petrified. I felt so badly for him.

While most kids grab their sugary loot and run, each time S approached a door, he would cautiously take one piece of candy. If there was an assortment, he took extra time to choose. Several times our neighbors encouraged him to take more than one piece. It was hard to keep up with his friends.

We kept trailing behind because S wanted to stop on the sidewalk and look at all his candy more closely. We reminded him that he could look at them afterward in the house when he would have more light. S was hoping to receive some gum. He's been obsessing about gum as he's never had it. Now that he's gotten past his SPD oral defensiveness, his brain is seeking this input. He's chewing on his sleeves, straws etc. S seems to have a subtle way of helping us help him. Like when he became fixated on a vibrating toothbrush. We bought it for him, and as it turned out it was the perfect input for his sensory diet. So, I'm thinking we should buy him some gum.

Once home, he emptied his pumpkin pail on the dining room floor and began organizing his loot. He had a difficult time deciding which piece he would eat that moment, which pieces he would keep, and which pieces he would give to the sugar fairy in exchange for a small toy. He giggled excitedly and said, "I'm rich of candy!"

Little does he know how sweet he is, and how rich my life is because of him.

Bless this year for all that we learned...