Halfway there

Yesterday we were halfway through Advent! And we're nearing the shortest day of the year, which is always a bit of a relief once we're past it.

I've been encouraged by how we've been able to observe Advent this year. David (almost 5 1/2) is able to participate more and take initiative, and his enthusiasm somehow soothes the usual loneliness and dreariness this time of year.

Part of why I didn't write this post earlier is that I wanted to include a few visuals. You may recognize some of our same old decorations from other years, but there are always some changes.

I enjoyed Callie's post about enjoying Christmas as an adult, and I have to say that many of the same principles apply for me, so here is our version.

-Starting early:

Going to all that work to get out/sort decorations (if they're mingled like ours) and arrange them, only to enjoy it for a few weeks? Nope, we have to be able to enjoy them for at least a month, in my mind! I also realized that Christmas decorations and "hygge" go hand in hand, and the lights and candles help bring some comfort in the winter darkness. So...the earlier, the better! This year I got everything out right away heading into the first weekend of Advent. It's not a strict tradition or organizational thing, but rather a way to survive and thrive.

Not Christmas morning yet, but tea parties are underway.

Little things

Got to get a July post up, not sure how the rest of the summer will go! As I probably say every year, just as September feels like a fresh start, summer always feels like a big deadline. Even though we normally travel for less than 2 months, it feels like I have to reach the end of my to-do list before we go away. If I haven't seen someone all year, it has to happen now even though it could happen in September. But now that we're leaving quite soon, I've abandoned all the lists and have focused my attention towards the suitcases and provisions across the pond.

Anyway, we did get a bunch of little projects done even if it wasn't as much as desired. A few examples are below. Little organizational fixes that will make life easier even if they're not anything fancy.

I'll do the fancier one first, though. This was hand-made by friends. I love being able to put up decorations that are made with love and not from IKEA. :)

I love seeing this as we walk in the door!

Next, some additional shelves for the floor-to-ceiling wardrobe. It was half-outfitted with shelves, and then there were a few sections with a rail for hanging coats. BUT it's a shallow wardrobe, so that would fit maybe 1 winter coat? Like it's made for someone's dress pants in their bedroom and not front hallway. Didn't make sense to me so we're putting shelves everywhere and hooks elsewhere in the entryway. The wardrobe also has cleaning supplies so it will get good use...not sure what to put on the top shelves, though!

Now each person has a shelf...reach in and grab
 your hat before heading out the door. Looks messy
 but it's out of sight. :)

Downslope and Kitchen Experiments

After the last time I wrote, everything came screeching to a halt as we got a family cold. Andrei felt very sick and David had a pretty bad case, too. David even now seems a little sniffly. I had my usual kind of malaise for a few days and the general feeling that I was fighting a virus, but no other symptoms.

It's been a very mild summer, and right now I am enjoying a terrific summer rain/thunder/hailstorm going on outside the kitchen window. Hopefully it will clear up in another 3 hours when I need to leave!

A blog friend recently did a fun post about some favorite foods and kitchen tips, and I thought I would share a few as well, including things that David is into.


In no particular order...

1) "Korean" carrot salad.

If you've been to Russia, you know this dish. It's the one that's sort of marinated, not the one with mayo. A little zesty, with coriander as the key spice. It's usually recommended that you use a mandoline slicer to get the right-size carrot pieces, with just the right amount of crunch. David loves it! It's good with onion, but we leave it out for picky eaters. We cheat and use a spice mix, but there are some recipes online, like this one: http://shesimmers.com/2010/08/russian-korean-salad-корейская-морковь.html

Apartment: D's room

Bummer: Lost about half the photos I had been storing up for this post. :/ It would have been cool to see the transformation, but I've got a few from when we first bought our apartment, so we'll start with that.

The former owners were semi-empty-nesters, and had tailored this multi-room family apartment to meet their needs, including a huge bedroom with matching furniture, etc. They sent the cable from their TV through the wall into the room behind it, which they were using as some sort of cloakroom/walk-in closet? Definitely not standard for Russian city life! But we'll see what happens if we ever become empty-nesters. ;)

Vladimir checking the space out

The shelves were ugly but came in pretty handy, and we were using that room as an office (the missing photos). We moved some of the shelves down to table level and I did a few craft projects there.

However, we ultimately decided this would be the best room for David (see below). We moved his furniture in there a while ago, but he just started sleeping there at night last month, when we had completed the next phase of the Room Switch.

Click through for the "after" view and some more photos...

Lenten Update

I haven't been doing much to prepare for Easter. Our church is having a series of sermons, but I tend to accompany D. to Sunday school during that time.

I dug out some old Sunday school supplies to make an Easter flannelgraph for David. It depicts Christ teaching, being arrested, on the cross, and appearing again to his disciples...yeah, I squeezed it all onto one board.

David likes listening to the story even though he doesn't understand completely.

I've run across many blogs featuring Easter "gardens" with a makeshift tomb covered by actual grass. I'd like to gradually gather the supplies to make something like that, maybe next year. Right now we have some onion and garlic tops growing as a yummy spring project.

On the decorating front, it's still a little bit of dilemma. Bunnies and chicks aren't relevant enough, yet crosses aren't really garland material. I think I might do some palm fronds or something for the front hallway, and then add a Resurrection message as the holiday approaches. Come to think of it, this would be a really good place to stencil a Bible verse or other uplifting message. Hmmmm....

Christmas/Valentine's decor, soon to be replaced!

In Bible study we are discussing the Ten Commandments right now, and I guess in a way it's an appropriate introduction to the Resurrection: realizing how impossible it is to measure up to God's law, and our need for salvation.

Fiascos in Felt

I love the way finished felt projects look, so colorful and pretty and homey! I haven't quite mastered the medium, though. I seem to do better with paper, but maybe I will conquer felt in this lifetime!

I started making a felt Christmas storyboard for David last year, and lost momentum. So I took it up again this year.

My requirements were:

-representational, but simple
-big and sturdy enough for David to handle
-removable pieces that could be moved around


Problems and Troubleshooting:

Last year I cut out some figures but found them too floppy. Maybe if they were smaller it wouldn't have been as much of an issue. This year I finally fortified them a bit.

Didn't trim the edges.

Not all felt is created equal...it doesn't necessarily stick to other felt (without adhesive), and depending on the thickness might also need a pretty strong glue to hold together permanently.

Removable angel toupee.

One year later: another attempt

Funny story: I had all these unfinished Advent projects last year that I photographed and was going to write about, just to say...here's what I tried to do and didn't finish. I had even titled the post "The Advent That Wasn't." But it never even made it into my drafts folder, apparently. Or else it's there and I'm blind...anyway, here's a little Advent inspiration (or examples of what not to do)!

The postcard garlands that wouldn't stay up...

The Jesse Tree that didn't turn out to be very fertile...

A tipsy angel.../closest thing to a "Christmas Tree"

Felt figures I never finished cutting out...

The unfinished Jesse Tree symbols...

The scene of the "crime"

The lack of candle holders...

The toddler who didn't go to the Christmas Eve service. :)

Playing Around

"Come in!"

The Food Chronicles

I decided to look at what our family was eating to see if I could make some changes.


Breakfast: Omelets

Lunch: Homemade soup (chicken or pork w/ veggies using homemade broth), + sandwich (1 piece of rye bread with a slice of cheese or leftover roasted pork/chicken)

Dinner: Various kinds of meat+rice/pasta/potatoes +salad or other veggie

We have tea after every meal with a small treat of some kind (ONE piece of chocolate or ONE cookie). And snack on fruit or homemade croutons, etc.


Verdict: I know that I don't eat enough of some things, like fruits and veggies. But it's hard to believe that with 90% of our food made from scratch we could be way off the mark. People keep talking about the evils of grains and sugar and it's hard for me to believe that having a few slices of bread or a few cookies per day would be ruining my digestion.

A lot of women in the fitness discussion groups I frequent seem to talk about "real food" and "Paleo" all the time. So I decided to check out a new e-book written by a woman I'd run into before in the blogosphere. She blogs at http://trinaholden.com/blog/.

Your Real Food Journey: A Gentle Guide to Steady Progress (by Trina Holden)

-My Thoughts-

Even though I am not sold on the "real food" movement, I really enjoyed this book. Yes, I rolled my eyes about all the "staying close to the source" and buying local everything and finding a raw milk source and whatnot. I wish someone would put out a book like this for urban life! And the dessert section is frustrating...I don't know where to buy sugar substitute or eggs that can be consumed raw.

But aside from the shopping side of the equation, Trina definitely has a knack for making things sound doable, and she assigns some simple tasks for those who like their checklists.

Here are a few sections of the book I found applicable:

1) Bone Broth

Making my own chicken broth seemed like a no-brainer. If I make soup, I use homemade broth, but I don't actually make it that often because I don't have stock vegetables on hand like onions, celery, and carrots.

"Your Real Food Journey" suggests: use bone broth in almost everything as a substitute for water; use it to boil your rice, pasta, etc. Again, that wasn't a new idea to me, but I'd never purposed to do it regularly. The life-changer was that she mentioned simmering just the bones. No soup veggies needed, just cover the chicken bones with water and some vinegar and simmer away for several hours. Then you have some broth you can use the next day for cooking your dinner. We eat chicken so often that I could definitely see myself doing this a lot.


2) Cultured Foods/Homemade Yogurt

Fermentation is a part of the Russian food culture, and I could see myself getting into it. "Your Real Food Journey" claims that fermented foods have special enzymes that can aid your digestion if you include them in every meal. Kefir and sauerkraut are the main ones around here, but the book has recipes like "Gingered Carrots" that sound edible as well.

As far as homemade yogurt, she suggests using some whey, which I'm pretty sure I could find in the supermarket here. The dairy section in Russian grocery stores is huge, and that includes cultured products. Hopefully I will make a yogurt attempt one of these days. If not, I can always just buy some kefir. Homemade is "better," but sometimes baby steps are necessary. Extra dishes have to be factored in!


So those are a few projects I'd like to try. As far as cutting out foods/food groups, well....the jury is still out.

Child-Proof Crafting

...It's not the crafting that's child-proof, it's the RESULT!

David was napping (gasp!) one day recently, and I decided to finally tackle a project that had been in the works for the past 6 months or so.

Lacy Earring Holder

Ever since we moved in 1.5 years ago, I'd never really unpacked my jewelry. The previous owners of the apartment left behind a vanity table with plenty of drawers for storage...pretty, but not practical for having a toddler in the house. For the first several months, the vanity table was used for diaper and baby clothing storage. :)

Then I decided enough was enough and moved the baby stuff out, but jewelry and make-up didn't seem like the best items to be within reach, so I still couldn't move them in. So I was looking for ideas to put my jewelry HIGH UP.

I really liked the idea of using a picture frame. I saw some examples online. Some involved stretching wires horizontally across the picture frame, and others required stretching a lacy material or netting across the frame so that you could stick earrings through the holes. I like that joke about Pinterest that it helps you use "things you have around the house (just making a trip to 3-4 different stores to supplement)." I did try to make do with plain old materials not suited for the purpose, and that's part of why it took so long.

I bought a cheap-o frame at IKEA, and then Andrei spent a long time getting it to the right color. Then I wanted to use up the lacy scraps I'd found lying around, but it was this narrow strip, so I couldn't stretch it across the frame properly. I tried to stiffen it up with starch and that was pretty much a bust. Then I ended up trying to close the gaps with thread. This is all by way of saying that if you look closely, the final result is far from perfect. Those seams just jump out to me when I look at the photo. But I'm still happy with how it turned out. An acceptable creative solution and not too unattractive.

But when I went to fill it up with earrings, I found that I didn't have that many dangly (sp?) ones after all. What I do have a lot of is NECKLACES. What to do with THOSE? I actually bought a few pretty hooks but I'm not sure when we will actually mount them somewhere.

In a moment of desperation I threw a bunch of knick-knacks on top of the vanity mirror and dangled the necklaces down. It looks a bit silly and is far from stable. But now the necklaces are at eye level and aren't lying in a box all tangled together!

And it all brings a bit of color/personality to the bedroom.

Improvised Necklace Holder

A Very Pinterest Christmas

I joined Pinterest pretty recently. I had always sort of avoided it, but then one day the following observations made me want to give it a try:

1) Google Image search drives me nuts.
2) I always have tons of browser tabs open because I want to have all the ideas right there.
3) My hard drive tends to get cluttered with folders of images of projects I want to try.

Pinterest could definitely use some fine-tuning as a search engine, but for certain projects it is great. I think it works well because it is used by people with similar interests, who use the same key search phrases. This isn't to say that it doesn't return those extraneous results (people named "Christian" who make art, instead of "Christian (themed) art").

Anyway, I could probably go into a lot of detail about the pros and cons, but so far I am finding it really useful, especially when it comes to Advent and Christmas.

I still have way more ideas than I will ever use! Last year I didn't even get out most of the decorations. We had just moved and had an infant, etc. This year I will get out a different set. David is old enough to admire the decorations, but not old enough to keep his hands off. I have some hands-on materials with him in mind, though.

So we are starting to get underway here with that, and I will definitely post photos if/when anything gets to that point. :) Here's my Advent idea "board," for anyone interested. http://www.pinterest.com/elizabeth3806/advent-for-toddlers/

DIY stuff

Life as we know it has halted, for reasons which I'll explain another time.

But in the craziness I have still managed to sneak in a project here and there. I tend to hoard craft supplies, and this has increased since we bought an apartment. Also, the fact that we don't have a recycling center nearby means that I save glass bottles and paper/cardboard containers. I love repurposing them and feeling like I've simultaneously satisfied my creative streak and justified my hoarder tendencies.

Anyway...

While the image above is no masterpiece, it's a quick fix I created to make mealtimes a little less messy. Our grown-up nice placemats are in a dirty laundry pile somewhere with stains I don't know how to remove, and I want to look for a different color anyway.

I took some contact paper that has been through 2 apartment moves with me, and cut out an image to go inside. Like I said it isn't the prettiest, and probably isn't long-lasting, but having a few of them on the table makes things look neater. It's also something that could work for holiday decorations, with some brighter colors. Or making boxes look fancier (which is another idea on my list).

I figure maybe some of you creative people could take the idea and run with it...

P.S. I mostly did this project while David was stuck in his high chair chewing on something.