mamaroots

When the bathtub whispers . . .

I have a natural love of taking baths, it whisper to me everynight!  Something about soaking in hot hot water each night that I love!  Maybe I was a mermaid in another life!

One of the fun spots to visit at The Womb Room is the Giving Tub- it is beautiful old clawfoot tub that has welcomed some babies (The Womb Room is in a house that use to be a birth center) and embraced a mama getting a belly cast during a blessingway.   Though this old tub is honored with these roles- it by far loves it's main job of being a "Giving Tub"- a place to give and take.  It is usually full of goodies that have been lovingly donated when someone is done with them- and if you listen closely and speak tubian it lets you know to take anything in there that you can use!

It has had some wonderful donations, I filled it up with kids books recently that we were moving out of circulation, it has had wonderful maternity clothes and baby goods.  Recently it was filled with a couple of boxes of amazing goodies all the way from Tennessee!  A generous and sweet mama donated the most beautiful handknit baby goods, some diaper and other sweetness that made some local mamas so happy!

Big thanks to Jenn for her kind donation- she is wonderful crafter on that I connected with via Etsy- check out her tree branch buttons- I personally have bought several and love them!  How cute would these look in Easter Eggs!

Thanks also to my talented friend Amy for taking the photos when we had tea!  Think how beautiful the world would be if we all spoke the language of the giving tub!

Tree of Happiness!

Yay- I got nominated by Syrendell for a Tree of Happiness Award- what a great way to make a smile on this rainy day!  Thanks so much for the kindness!

So here are 6 things that make this willow girl happy!

1-those quiet sweet moment of kissing my boys just one more time before I go to bed after a late night of crafting!
2-my new CD Ijust got in the mail of Renee and Jeremy- It's A Big World and watching Silas listen to the lullabys on a full tummy of hot chocolate!
3-Syrendelle's Sprites- goodness these are devine!
4-An amazing e-mail from a friend that just gave me chills!
5-A fresh new amazing book called Sparrow Girl
6-The amazing new blogs that I discovered today thanks to this neato baneato award!

So I am nominating these blogs next:

Papillion Sky Photography- so great to see your friends doing amazing things!
DuckyKnits- talented fiber artist named Chimera- makes the sweetest creations
Molly Reads- love her book reviews and a sweet mama I have had the pleasure of meeting

Pass the syrup!

All set for you is the next "Once Upon a Table" story table project- Runaway Pancake.  The boys and I sat on our wood floor and gave it a good test tonight- who knew rolling a little wood pancake would be so addicting!

I hope you enjoy it- I included a recipe in this one!  I do apologize for the fuzzy quality of the photos in the pattern, my pdf converter makes the document all wonky- I promise I am looking towards getting and learning adobe this summer- on my list of things to do!

Let me know what you think and if you have any good pancake recipes!  We love our weekend pancake breakfasts!

 

Shrove me a plate of cakes!

Am I the only one that finally noticed all the free pancakes on Fat Tuesday?  A little late, the synapses in my brain finally started connecting and I did some research on the history of Pancake Day  .  Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is also known as Shrove Tuesday- coming from the word shrive- confess all sins.  Festivals included rivalry and eating foods like pancakes originally because many of the ingredients like fat and eggs where traditionally restricted during Lent. 

Hmmm- cool huh, but of course I had to find the pagan roots and according to a couple spots I found, it is historically based on an Ancient Roman Lupercalia festival that honored the God Lupercus, a pastoral God connected with fauns and satyrs.  Also this is that transition time between late winter and spring- infused with fertility and life being reborn- I can just imagine the folks opening their doors coming out of their winter abodes and taking to the streets in joy and wonderment of the coming spring!

So it all makes sense now why I had the biggest urge to make this months "Once Upon a Table" story project about pancakes- I am glad I followed my instinct though it did not make sense until yesterday for me!  That is some serious past life stuff working through me!  You may remember me featuring a newly found book that cracked me up called "The Pancake That Ran Away" by Loek Koopmans on my old blog- I just kept going back to that book the whole month and finally settled on doing that as the project.

I finished the project last night and will be finishing writing the pattern and taking pictures today, I will try to have it posted before bed tonight!  Till then eat some pancakes for me!

Monday in pictures

such a big thanks to my friend Amy for showing me the mosaic maker!  Today in pictures:

1-Our nature collectors made by a local mama hanging in our window- can't wait to put in some daffodils and dandelions!
2- Jasper's mission to make us hand squeezed mandarin orange juice for dinner tonight- he got a cup and half- tasty!
3- Root Children journal making for the storytime reading Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed today with friends
4- The incredible compliment from sweet Devan that made her own storybook after the Root Children we did with Reading Renick earlier this month- I see book writing in her future!  She brought it to share with us today.

Bringing the Light

So I generally have a rule with cutting out toys on my saw . . . not cutting after 9:00 pm- mostly because I am a bit tired and like all ten digits on my hands and also because my boys are asleep and I don't want to wake them up.  But rules can be broken right? 

I should preface this by saying family storytime is super important in our house- each night we take turns all curling up on Jasper's bed or Silas' bed and reading.  Likewise Jody and I take turns reading to the boys.  We go through phases where we just read picture books the boys pick out, Jasper sometimes reads to Silas (super sweet!) and then there are these beautiful times where a novel is so lovely and engrossing we can hardly wait to cuddle up.  We started reading The Tale of Despereaux in January and last night we finished it!  I loved the entertwining stories, throughout, the engagement of the narrator to you as reader.  Maybe it is because I recently saw the movie Slum Dog Millionaire- but I found several similarities between the character of Jamal and Despereaux.  Their love for a character was their central driving force on their "quest" to escape the dark and be showered in the light of their love.

Needless to say we all greatly enjoyed it!  So as I read the last words "Stories are light" I felt this unbelievable connection with sharing of the story that got us through many nights of dust and change with our own home as we came into the light.  So as we shut down the lights and tucked them in, I went down and shut the door to the room where I work with wood and cut out 2 sweet mice and made my boys, my story boys that I raise and craft every day their own Despereaux's.  They were holding their own wood needles that they are learning to sew with.  So at 12:30 last night I am sneaking these freshly made "miceys" as Miggery Sow would call them into their mailboxes.  Bringing the light- to our family- thanks Kate DiCamillo for crafting such a great story to swirl and inspire us during Jan and Feb!  Oh and it took the boys exactly 67 minutes after waking to find them!   

what do ewe think?

I had the pleasure of hosting an author signing this week with nationally known animal rights activist Karen Dawn for her new book "Thanking the Monkey"- she was a pleasure to meet and I enjoyed listening to her talk.  As I was listening one of the things she talked about caught my ear- she asked if anyone noticed that most animal rights activist will no wear wool.  I have not heard of that before and as a toymaker that seeks natural materials such as wool my interest was peaked-

She mentioned that the wool is usually taken in the winter when they need their warm coats the most.  So I am starting to do some googling and more research, but what do you think?  Wool is a staple in the Waldorf tradition-  I am just starting to research this but was hoping to find some "slow" farms that respectfully treat and nourish their sheep- let me know if you have found any and I will keep you posted as well .  I know my initial reaction when I see the process like an assembly line- yikes!

welcome and giveaway!

I often joke with my hubby that when it comes to technology that I know enough to be dangerous and frustrated but somehow I am able to figure it out!  A little bit of a delay but finally it is ready!  My desire was to merge my website and blog into one spot.  I started mamaroots several years ago when my oldest son was just a baby.  I have always been a crafter, but it really was motherhood that allowed me to focus my crafting and desire to make things.  Originally I was going to name my company "roots" but in talking with my good friend Lisa and talking about how it needed a little something more and then mamaroots was spoken- it has been with me ever since.  Now that baby that inspired my company is up to my collar bone when he measured how tall he was last night and my second son turns 4 in just a couple months, but mamaroots it still just as much a part of my life.

So welcome to my new site- it will still look and feel like my original blog, but with the added bonus of extra pages that were similar to my website.  I hope you enjoy it- I am excited to share it with you.  Because I loved my first 2 years of blogging at blogger and think it is fun to see the evolution I am leaving www.mamaroots.blogspot.com  up as an archive-

For the fun part- this is the first in a couple give-aways to celebrate my new move.  As you may know, my last name is Willow (with hypenated hubby last name).  Willow was actually not my last name by birth- but it was a name I gave myself as a teenager while I was discovering my spirituality.  I played under these 2 willow tree sisters my parents planted at the farm where I grew up.  On a good rainstorm it was the perfect spot to play a favorite game of pretending to be a beaver!  As I grew, I still found myself often under these willow trees and knew that they were in integral part of me.  A few years later circumstances led to me being able to legally change my last name to Willow- I can't imagine myself without my tree!

   

My first giveaway to you is a blooming pregnant mama sculpture from the Willow Tree company.  I really like that simplicity of this companies creations, not to mention their name!  They leave the faces without features very similar to the Waldorf tradition I craft in.  This sculpture is called Cherish and I have one at The Womb Room that was gifted by my sis in law and I have been saving this one for a special time to give-away.  This sculpture represents the roots of me, my name, my crafting, and my company- I would love to share it with someone.

All you need to do is leave me a comment here and you will be entered in a drawing.  Enter before midnight on Sunday Feb 28- I will draw the winner on March 1.  Good luck!  Let me know what you think of the new site!