stop animation made by kids is awesome!

Here are the kids at work at their new favorite pastime– making stop animation videos. Last Sunday Barry downloaded a trial version of boinx iStopMotion onto the old lap top, gave the kids a few instructions, and they’ve been at it all week. They started with paper cut outs, then moved on to animating their toys. I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to watch their creations. I am so surprised by how fun and creative their little movies are– all without any adult help or input. Today Barry sat down with them and used iMovie to add sound to one of Brenna’s favorites. Here it is, I hope it makes you think my kids are as cool as I think they are!

an envelope neck shirt and green shorts for inspecting ants

Being the fourth child to go through our boy clothes leaves Hunter wearing a stained onsie (or just a diaper) much more often than I’d like. What I really want his summer uniform to be is a t-shirt (without crotch snaps) and a diaper– with some shorts to throw on when we need to go in public.

I’ve got the first set done. I used an old onsie to make the shirt pattern ( you can find a good tutorial for doing that here) and whipped it up out of some creamy cotton jersey knit I had on hand and leftover cotton ribbing from Ian’s batch of tinkle time trainers. It ended up being shorter on him than I had planned, so I just added a band of ribbing at the bottom instead of hemming it. I like how it turned out, but I’ll still make the next one longer.

His shorts I made by tracing a pair that fit well. With the pattern drafting and all I think they took me an hour. I think I’ll be able to whip another pair up in half an hour now. That is, after I make a trip to restock my supply of elastic.

Getting an adventurous toddler to stay still long enough to get photos of his new outfit is a challenge. Thanks to the ants building a hill in the cracks on our front porch he stayed in the same place for more than half a second.

I love how babies squat– how their little toes grip the ground. It’s the stance of concentration. They can play like this for long stretches of time, but they’re at the ready to stand right up and hurry to the next thing.

Or look at things from a different angle.

In his everyday world this guy is the littlest one around. He thoroughly enjoys being the big bad monster once in a while. The ants, on the other hand, aren’t so sure…

ready for take off

On Thursday when I checked our nest there were only 3 babies left. I think they’re so funny with their beady eyes, yellow “lips”, and tufts of fluff.

Today there were only 2.

As soon as I snapped their picture one flew away. I bet by tomorrow the nest will be empty.

It’s funny, when it was supposed to be spring here in March, and then April I was really mourning being away from the magic of our amazing yard in Ohio. I missed feeling like the world was just teaming with life, like the earth was in celebration at the coming out of the sun. Spring in our suburban Colorado neighborhood just can’t compare. It’s been late in coming, but there’s also the generic feel of our yard. No towering maple trees with dozens of goldfinches. No red buds. No kid made cities of forts.

But, these little birds reminded me that nature is everywhere– even in our neighborhood of arid postage stamp yards. It may be different here, but still the miracles abound. I know there are millions of birds, and I know it seems silly, but I couldn’t help but feel like just when I was missing them most, the birds found me. Their nest was built, the eggs were laid, the babies hatched, and now they’re flying away. It all happened so quickly we had to pay attention or we would miss it. That’s how life is. We can live and grow and thrive in a protective grove of trees or on someone’s front door. Really, no place is perfect. Just like I know that this house, in this neighborhood is where I need to be, our front door wreath was just where those finches needed to be. The ins and outs of our front door certainly weren’t ideal for this little bird family, but watching them has sure brought us joy, and made me feel that connection to the natural world I so needed.

Isn’t amazing how quickly it all happened?

an impromptu camping trip

Thursday evening I told Barry I wish we had planned a camping trip for the long weekend.

Friday morning I was packing the cooler and Barry was loading bikes onto and into the back of the van. The whirlwind of packing, helping Brenna figure out how she could go from a state of no clean underwear to a state of clean underwear, last minute grocery shopping, and all that must be done to get a family of 7 reading for a camp out made us question our sanity, but once we got there it was all worth it.

Our lungs and spirits and entire bodies were filled with a breath of fresh air.

Our feet were refreshed (or nearly frozen, depending on how you look at it).

Our mountain bikes are dusty.

I even went on a real mountain bike ride– my first since we lived in Albuquerque nearly 7 years ago. It felt so good. I’ve come to the point in my life that there is no shame in walking the steep climbs with too many roots and rocks. I’ve decided that is the perfect place to be. I ride my bike to feel my body move and watch the birds– not to prove I’m a cool, tough girl.

Our tummies were filled. Our toes were warmed.

Our collection of random pieces of wood has grown.

Discoveries were made. (Like Logan’s friend the Pleasing Fungus Beetle.)

It was just what we needed.