Barefoot Bamboletta for Adoption

So the time has come for me to let go of a few things to make room for new energy in our home. One of those things is my beloved Bamboletta doll that the lovely Christina Platt of Bamboletta custom made for me less than a year and a half ago.

I named her Kaisa, after a sweet little girl I had met the previous summer. Christina was so wonderful and accommodating to my laundry list of wishes.. gorgeous, lush brown and auburn hair, Asian eyes- but not too slanted, orange sweater since that was my favorite color... I remember it the list being long and detailed and Christina never complained once.

When Kaisa arrived at my home (along with her companion, Paolo, for Nico's big brother present), my eyes misted over... here was my own little girl to dress and play with!

Fast forward almost 18 months... Kaisa has sat lonely in a doll bed for months at a time. Sadly, raising 3 wonderful, magical boys has left me little time to play with Kaisa... and my three boys? Well, they have their own boy dolls they'd much rather play with. So after months of hand-wringing indecision, I've decided to put Kaisa up for re-adoption in the hopes that she will go to a family where she will be loved and played with as she deserves.

I've checked out the Bamboletta Fan Page over on Facebook and have been amazed at the passion people have for these dolls! Uploads for new dolls occur once a week and they sell out within minutes, leaving many parents (and sadly, kids) disappointed that a Bamboletta is not to be at their home just yet. Dolls do come up for re-adoption, but tend to go in minutes as well to the fortunate few that are online at the time of the posting. So I've decided to level the playing field a bit by putting her up for re-adoption here and randomly selecting a home for her from the comments.

Here are a few things to keep in mind...

• Please only leave a comment if you are interested in adopting Kaisa!
• One comment per person please
  
• I would like first- time mummies and "newbies" to have a chance to adopt her, so if you are already fortunate to have a Bamboletta in your home, please let those without one have a chance
• As an fyi- Kaisa a 15" doll and has been in a pet and smoke free home
• Adoption fee is $100 including shipping... Please feel free to enter if you're overseas, but I will have to ask a bit more to cover shipping internationally. Paypal preferred
• I will randomly select a family from the comment section on Thursday, April 1st at 8PM PST and post the winner's name. Please contact me w/in 24 hours (pablohoneysf at gmail dot com) of posting so we can exchange information.
• Please feel free to ask any questions with your comment
  

Thank you so much, I wish you all the best!

Adventures in Letterboxing

The boys and I had our first marvelous adventure letterboxing last week! Exploring, treasure hunting, playing detective while running out in the woods... really, what could be more fun for kids?!

The basics of letterboxing are that someone will leave a letterbox (waterproof container) somewhere (usually a remote or beautiful spot). Inside the letterbox are a logbook and stamp. As an explorer, you will carry your own passport/journal, stamp, inkpad and pen. You follow the clues on the map to find your treasure. I found our first map here . When you find the letterbox, stamp the logbook with your stamp and leave a note if you wish, and then use the stamp inside the letterbox to mark your own passport. We tried a very simple straightforward map for our first hunt. There are more involved maps that use Shakespearean quotes as clues!

Here are the photos from our adventure!

"hike down the trail about half a mile"

"cross the wooden bridge at the end of the lake"

"count the 9 Redwood trees"

"At the 9th tree, turn left and take 9 steps towards the lake and the treasure will be under the tree"

After finding the letterbox, we were excited to find a notebook and stamp inside the container!

...and the stamps of explorers before us

Matteo stamped his passport

...and our journey for the day had ended

There is so much fun to be had with letterboxing! The boys and I made their passports from old watercolors they had done. There are wonderful instructions on how kids can make their own stamps here.... and of course there is the thrill of adventure as my boys were able to play explorers that afternoon!

Happy Adventures to All!

{This Moment }

Inspired by Soulemama and all of you, I am posting a precious moment from our week

...during a hike, Matteo and Nico share a single sweet moment...

Happy Spring Weekend to All!

Waldorf Dolls- More Lessons from the Sage

Recently, I spent another wonderful day at the Berkeley Rose School attending another doll making workshop led by my dear friend Christine Schreier of the Puppenstube. This time the focus was on making 8" dress up dolls.

As she had done in the previous workshop, Christine had pre-sewn the doll bodies to save time during the class.

I loved all the different skin tones she had prepared and chose a darker tone for my "baby" waiting to be birthed!

This class had a special visitor, a very sweet father who wanted to learn to make a doll for his child . Christine told a story about another man who had attended one of her dollmaking workshops for Waldorf teacher training . This gentleman always had trouble with the handwork until Christine invited him to use a bigger needle which made all the difference! The man had actually wept with joy in learning that he had been using the wrong tools! Fortunately for our father in attendance that day, no tears were shed :)

It's funny how you can feel so attached to your doll as you are making him or her. As I was stitching the shoulder, I found myself whispering "shhhhh" as one does to soothe a child... I was so worried that my "baby" was in pain from the needle!

The time flew so quickly that afternoon! We didn't get to finish the dolls hair, but I made a make-shift wig and will be working on a special hairstyle for my newest baby :)

When I brought this new baby home, Nico held her right away and immediately christened her "MamaLove"....

ahh, MamaLove indeed :)

Happy

It's been a tough stretch here this past week. Ivan has had a lot of stress at work, and was gone the past few days caring for his mother. This morning I just lost it and sobbed. The exhaustion of taking care of my beautiful, exasperating little boys... trying to keep a house clean... the relief of having our family all together this morning and finally having some time alone just opened the floodgates of tears and pent-up frustration...

I feel cleansed and want to think about the things that make me happy... won't you join me?

Sunday morning at the farmers market with the boys

freesias on the windowsill

Luca Bean's smile

the dress made from a vintage embroidered pillowcase on Andrea's doll

...and Hillary's invitation to root down and reclaim the feeling of being one with nature

What is making you happy today :) ?

Rainy Day Cupcakes

Sometime life is just great, REALLY great. Cupcakes on a rainy day GREAT.

The Inspiration Circle met this morning. I have to say, just in the nick of time. The school thing had been making me absolutely mental these past few weeks. All this time I had been spending in my head was starting to drive me insane. What I needed was face time with my friends and I got it. I love these women. They save me, they make me feel cool by association, they make me laugh... they rock.

Without further ado, I share with you photos of our morning and the fruits of their immeasurable talents and labor...

The immensely talented Emanuele shared her awesome felted Ebi sushi
Courtney started her Easter project for her lucky kids...

...an adorable nest!

Andrea works on her gorgeous doll
I was so incredibly happy that my blogging and real life friend, Nicola joined us for some knitting!

A rainy morning with cupcakes, crafty friends and a beautiful sleeping dog by the fire...
...really, isn't life great?

Kaia...sigh

Happy Weekend Everyone!

An Education

A great deal of my mental space and energy these past few months has been devoted to choosing an education path for our children. Matteo will be turning 5 this summer and will be ready to enter Kindergarten in the Fall. This has been a difficult journey for me. I have loved the principles of Waldorf education for years, have embraced as much as I can here in our home, but the reality is that we simply cannot afford private education for 3 children. I am in awe of those of you who homeschool. I learn and am inspired so much by reading your blogs, but I know that at this point, I don't have the temperament, patience or talent to give my children what they need to learn the quantitative ways of the world. Eileen wrote so eloquently about her reasons to become "Waldorf Afterschoolers" (love that phrase!) and I believe that is the model our family will emulate.

So, I have spent the past few months touring our local schools. Where I live, public schools are assigned to families based on a lottery to make sure that there is socioeconomic diversity at all the schools. Each family can list it's school preferences in the application. What I found at our schools was amazing parental commitment at every school. I learned about the commitment our community has to the arts by providing each student music instruction (either flute or violin) in the 4th and 5th grades. I learned that every student is served a nutritional breakfast every morning at no cost. I learned that while public education was initially not my first choice, it's a choice that I can live -dare I say- happily with.

I chose a local school close to our neighborhood for it's small size and the comfort I felt by knowing many of the families from our small, wonderful preschool are there. I loved the intimacy of the school and the warmth of the teaching staff. My second choice was a magnet school, one of the largest schools in the city, highly regarded for it's integration of the arts into all aspects of education and the diversity of the school population.

We got our letter indicating our assignment, and of course... we got our second choice.

I felt panicky, I felt scared... what had I done by putting this as a preference??? The school is so big! We don't have any close friends there! The school is across town, I'll have to drive him to school, because God knows I will not let MY BABY get on a school bus! Yes, I freaked out. I felt so pushed out of my comfort zone.

And then I took a deep breath and realized it's not about me and the lost feeling of control. It's about my sons and the amazing opportunities they will have at this new school. Every morning they will leave our home, dressed warmly, lunches packed and every afternoon they will return to loving hugs and kisses and the comfort of what they have always known at our home. That is what I can control and I will trust that there are angels to watch over them while they are away from me.

The school assignment letter yesterday made it all so much more real that my first born, the one who made me a mother, is not a baby anymore. I watched Matteo and Nico running ahead of me to school this morning. They like to play a game where one will run ahead, stop turn around throw out his arms to welcome the other in a running embrace. It brought tears to my eyes. I felt that these simple days of walking to school together, showing unabashed affection for one another are coming to a close and it made my heart ache.

There is an exciting world awaiting not just Matteo, but our entire family. I will get involved with this big, breathtaking school that the universe has ultimately chosen for him. I will help his teachers clean paint brushes, join other parents to work in the garden, I will be part of my children's educational experience. I will know that this anxiety and fear is normal and part of MY journey of being a parent.

Most importantly, I will remember that this about my boys and their wonderful journey together into this world we live in.

At This Moment

My precious Nico sleeps
tired by the day
he finds his favorite spot on the couch
pulls his favorite blanket up

and lets his busy little three year old hands be at rest

I love you, Nico Boy


Thank you all so much for your encouraging, supportive words about my last post. I'm still finding my way, but as Joy had reminded me through her own experience... I do still want to use this space to document my family's moments. Today such a moment sweetly presented itself...