mamaroots

winners!

A quick update before I head out on some beautiful water:

Winner for the Herbal Roots August Issue is: mommy2cc-

August is a fun month- Mullein and the critter is going to be a dragonfly, I can't wait to make some in August.

The winner for the book The Little Word Catcher is Melissa-

If Melissa and mommy2cc would e-mail me your contact information I will get you both your give-aways- thanks so much for participating, my e-mail is willow@mamaroots.com

Thank you everyone so much for sharing all of your stories with me- I enjoyed reading each and everyone of them!

Have a beautiful Friday!

little comic fun

Can I bug you a little more with some bug tales?  The first official adventure of our family comic this summer is complete.  We introduce you to "Slug Pouch"- super hero wish granting slug.  The character came from Jasper's imagination and has evolved in our summer days from all of us.

The boys and I have all be contributing to different parts of Slug Pouch.  What started in our words came to our hand work.  I cut him out, the boys sanded him and shared in the painting- half orange and half blue. We found a piece of leather to make the pouch, and then I found this comic page template to print out for the boys to create the first comic adventure.

I think that is best piece of advice if you would like to take your story crafting to the level of hand crafting- there were lots of times I would ask "do you want to work on Slug Pouch" and many times they would say no- then there were days they would say yes.  All said and done, here and there Slug Pouch took about 3 weeks to do.  I think it was well worth the wait and I rewarded the boys with a special treat just like the first Slug Pouch wish granted- I had these stashed in the freezer about a week earlier when this element came into the story- frozen Reeses PB cup- a fun treat that the boys found in the pouch.

I hope the comic continues to grow and the pouch continues to grant wishes for us this summer.  We are still having fun with slugs- we found one today all the way down in the Ozarks, as soon as the boys saw him the picked him up and said "hello Slug Pouch- are you following us?"

Don't forget tonight is the deadline for the 2 give-aways happening right now- I will announce the winners tomorrow.  

Have a great night, keep your eyes pealed for Slug Pouch in your neck of the woods- if you do have a Reeses for us!

catching bugs

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the book "The Little Word Catcher by Danielle Simard and illustrated by Genevieve Cote.  I was of course drawn to the illustrations first.  Picture books are my favorite genre of children's books both as a parent and also as a book buyer by trade.  I have enjoyed Genevieve Cote's other illustrated works, but this book has equally strong story of a little girl dealing with her grandmother aging and forgetting words.

I really enjoyed the childlike view of the world and problem solving to help her grandmother.  It is not often that you can find books that approach this subject manner in a creative manner.  My grandmother suffered from mental delusions most of her life before she passed.  Looking back now though she functioned pretty well though just had mental delusions and perceptions that were hard on different members of my family.  Some of my fond memories of being with my grandmother before she continued to decline with her mental health was growing up catching butterflies and moths.  The boys and I saw a beautiful Luna moth the other day just randomly and it reminded me of my grandmother.  I was happy for the memory of her and the Luna moth reminding me to catch the memory and share it with my boys. Kudos also to a lovely picture book that took to that memory place.

Thank you to Second Story Press for sending a copy of the book to review and I am delighted to share it now with one of you.  Leave a comment between now and Thursday at midnight and I will draw a winner to send the book too.  Tell me a favorite memories of your grandmother or of chasing butterflies!

And that is not all- leave another comment to get entered for the August issue of Herbal Roots Zine- I will draw a winner on Friday also.  August is mullein and yes one more bug- dragonfly!

Yes one more chance for a give-away will start Monday at Herbal Roots- be sure to watch for your chance to win a wooden praying mantis!

Extra entry with both the Book and Herbal Roots Zine August issue by becoming facebook fans of both

mamaroots 

Herbal Roots Zine

Good luck- be sure to let me know if you are signing up as a fan and leave me a way to get a hold of you for the drawing.

Saturday's Silly Slugs

We have been invaded by silly slugs at my house!  I caught a few in the garden and they asked to be adopted so we did a photo session with these slimy fellas and they are now up for adoption!  That is the thing with those slow moving insects- they are much easier to photograph!

Seriously though, we have much inspired by a fun incident I had with a slug in the yard and with key components to a story/comic character that Jasper created called Slug Pouch- you haven't seen anything like a super hero wish granting slug before- he is currently on a mission of wish granting and has promised to let me take his picture tomorrow! 

You know how much I love books and found a harder time finding a good slug picture book to recommend.  I did just get the boys "Some Smug Slug" by Pamela Duncan Edwards which has some fun alliteration with the letter S and if you think your kiddos can handle some natural predator/prey interactions the ending gets your attention!  I found this lesson plan on-line if you are looking for more structured way to read this book with your children and ways to expand.

I like all the different bugs through out the short picture book,  it coincides with my buggy place I am in currently with toys.  Tomorrow I am making the praying mantis to go with the Herbal Roots monthly give-away.  These little critters have been a fun challenge to make!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for some more of our buggy adventures and some fun give-away news!

black and blue

Are you tired of seeing blackberry pictures out there in blogland yet?  Really, can you ever be tired of seeing these beauties?

I have no great recipes to share today- just some pictures of our berry picking adventure yesterday- seems like just plain old eating straight from the bucket suited us just fine!

 
 

monsterly

shew- it has been a few days of a little monsterly acting boys.  I definitely stand by the notion that parenting is the most challenging thing I have done with the best rewards- but some days . . . .

One tool that I pull out of the parenting tool box to bring back the peace is stories- it grounds me and it grounds them.  The other night it was dear old Tale of Mr Tod next to a chiminea fire along with some props from inside.  It went along well with our watching of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Last night I broke out a good book for those bumps along the way, Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour by Susan Perrow- the stories are arranged by different challenges along the way and I usually open it up to chatting with the boys after the story.

What are some of your tools?  Today I think we will be making our own story and I am thinking those monster teeth might go into hiding again for a while hahaha!

moon pads for Haiti

During my last Wyld Womyns Retreat, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who had traveled to Haiti after the earthquake to help with the women giving birth.  It was amazing to hear of her travels and to find that she is returning to Haiti and taking students with her.  We found there to be a need for cloth menstrual pads- especially post-partum.  She said that often the women are given the worst rags of the household for bleeding.  The Crafty Mamas decided this would be a great project for us to help with.  Last Thursday was our first gathering to develop a pattern and cut up fabric.  We decided to make the pads a bit bigger with 2 inside layers.  

For ease of making and use we went with a basic all in one pattern, flannel exterior and recycled towels on the inside.  Our goal is to meet once a week between now and September when the group is headed there- we are hoping for a couple hundred if possible.

If you are interested in helping with the project here is a couple ways to help.  Locally- any mama wanting to join contact me and I will give you directions and times to my house.  You may also want to follow The Womb Room facebook page for the weekly reminders.

We have several layers of old towels that we cut up but are in need of flannel.  If you would like to donate flannel for help pay for some flannel e-mail me and I can guide you on how to donate.

   

Lastly if you would like to actually make some pads and send my way to include in the box here is the basic pattern and instructions for making them.  There are pretty quick, start to finish.  If would be a great way to involve your children too.  Jasper helped me with the logo and is wanting to do some sewing also- I did have to laugh though because he thought we were sewing pads that were actual moon shaped- good opener for the discussion of how mama's bleeding cycles mirror the moon cycle- may by boys be ever so knowledgeable in the ways of women's cycles and birth- they will have some lucky partners some day!  Thank you so much if you are able to help in any way- 2 down, many more to make! 

If you want to contact me for more information on how to help you can e-mail me at willow@mamaroots.com

Download Moon Pads Pattern 

slug-ers

Slugger numero 1- my baby boy finishing his first year of t-ball- yep that put us at the ball field 4 nights a week this summer but luckily I am a mama with crafts that tow easy!

Slugger numero 2- an awesome little fella that found my foot when I was hanging out some play silks to dry- too funny since Jasper has been entertaining us with slug stories all weekend- oh my just you wait to see the comic in development!

 

T is for terrarium

A wonderfully lazy Sunday was spent sleeping in, eating breakfast at lunchtime, and going shopping for terrarium supplies.  Foraging bags in hand and we head to our favorite shopping land- the creek- awesome customer service and prices, but you have to learn to speak creekease!

We found a lovely mix of pebbles and moss.  In the vein of not wanting to spend anything we skipped the charcoal step and just decided to go with the 3 layers.  A good way to spend a family day once you throw in the nachos and World Cup viewing!

  

Favorite Fungus

A little delayed for Favorite Fungus Friday- but here is my pick for the week- the mmmm chanterelle- we happen to have a small batch that grows in our back yard that provides us one small harvest each summer- they were pretty big this year.  I was pleased to see this beauty show up at story time while reading some Elsa Beskow- Children of the Forest.

I had a question come up from a great gal about what our favorite field guides to use.  I wanted to share some of my favs.  I happen to love the Golden Guides for their size and info- great for road trips.  You may remember the old school blue covers on them- most of the covers have now been updated.  These are great!

I also really really like the Pocket Naturalist Guides by Waterford Press- I used these in the woods and also for inspiration for new products in the shop- they are thin laminated guides- great to throw in your bag or well your pocket!

One last series that does very well for me at the bookstore where I work is the Take Along Guides from NorthWord press- this is a link to one of the guide that having boys they love- but if you look on the right of the website it lists out many of the other guides in the series.

Hope that helps on your many adventures out in the wild world- we are hoping for a little morning trip to a creek and gather goodies for making terrarium- something we have been meaning to do for a long time.