Earth Babies Blog

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Lee-ann of ALTT Creations specialises in needle felted teddy bears and critters using New Zealand Corridale wool roving. The techniques used are a combination of wet and needle felting. Each individual teddy and critter is loving and patiently created, this is evident in the colourful personalities of each of her teddies/critters.

ALTT Creations is a family business, and each member contributes to the creation of each critter. There is the mommy ALTT, who is primary designer and creator; there is daddy ALTT, who is assistant designer, quality control, and critique; and last but not least there are 2 junior ALTTs who are quality control and critiques.

To win this beautiful characterful felted rattle specially created for our Earth Babies readers leave a comment below and tell us what you would name him.

name me and ♥ me

To view her critters & teddies visit her portfolio
Become a fan on facebook
Lee-ann sells premade or custom orders contact her at alttcreations@hotmail.com

LOOK OUT FOR 2 COMPETITIONS STARTING THIS WEEK FOR NEW EARTH BABIES PRODUCTS

Anyone can enter so share with friends.

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*South Africa only

What is your fall-back sure-fire get the kids to eat recipe?
email it to us at admin@earthbabies.co.za and stand a chance to win Enchantrix bubble bath for the kids.

This is a favourite meal for Yvonne’s (Concious Living) children.

Bacon & Vegetable Quiche

2 Tbsp butter/marg/oil
1 packet bacon (250g) rindless, chopped
1 large onion
1 cup spinach, torn/shredded
1 cup baby marrows, chopped (Yvonne suggests grating it)
1 cup carrots, grated
1/2 cup flour
5 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup cheese, grated
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup milk
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat up oil in large pot to very high heat.

Add chopped bacon on onion, fry until browned.

Add spinach, marrows and carrots, stir fry for 2 minutes only to develop flavour.

Remove pot from heat!

Add flour and mix in well.

Add all remaining ingrediants and mix well.

Pour into large glass dish (bear in mind that it will rise slightly due to baking powder) and bake in oven preheated to 190deg C for +/- 35 minutes (or until browned on top)

Earth Babies is on the move!!!

- Hopefully onwards and upwards but for now simply to different provinces – Barbara will be moving to the Port Shepstone area in the first week of April and Sally will be moving to Cape Town mid April – Earth Babies stock will be moving with Barbara.

a) As a result order processing and parcel sending will be on hold between the 1st and the 16th of April to allow for packing, unpacking and settling of home and business.

b) The collection in Pretoria option for parcels will no longer be available as of the 1st of April.

c) Future distribution will take place from Port Shepstone.

d) It will be possible to organise product viewing of the whole range on appointment in Port Shepstone and Johannesburg and then from May in Cape Town. Note however that you will not be able to buy stock directly from all venues as for now this will still be kept at a central point (namely Port Shepstone).

Strange topic for a ‘baby blog’ I suppose BUT babies, become children, become adults. What we teach them now is the basis for how they approach people in the future.
This contains lots of questions and I hope I get replies as I dont intend them as purely hypothetical. I am really curious how others see it – beyond the group I have discussed similar things with in the past (I tend to disagree with the approach of the majority).

What is your take on children being aware of colour? How do you approach it with your own children? Is recognising someone’s colour discrimination?

I think we are taking being Politically correct about colour way too far – I cannot tell you how many times people try claim that children “dont see colour” – Of course they see colour, they just dont care! But as adults trying to navigate the maze of rules as to what is ‘allowed and not’ we try to tell ourselves that they don’t see colour. Now if they can see that a boy has a blue shirt, or a girl has blonde hair – why would they not see that that skin colours differ?

What are we actually teaching our children by trying to make them stick everyone in one colourless box? Do YOU want to be colourless?

The whole colour PC issue is going the same way as the feminism movement, where in my opinion they lose focus of what is important. If we ignore colour we lose sight of all the wonderful unique attributes of people and actually I feel create a nation less tolerant of differences in culture ‘as we are all meant to be the same’. I WANT my children to recognize racial differences and learn to accept them. How do we expect children to learn about different cultures and respect them if we are teaching them in the first place not to recognise or acknowledge those differences?

For me respect is based in acceptance, and tolerance and not in being the same. Equality is based on respect and acceptance of others and not on overlooking differences.

Waldorf Doll:

Description from Wikipedia
A Waldorf doll (also called Steiner doll) is a form of doll used in Waldorf education. Made of wool and cotton, using techniques drawing on traditional European dollmaking, its appearance is intentionally simple in order to allow the child playing with it to improve or strengthen imagination and creativity. For instance, it has no facial expression. Its legs and arms are flexible, allowing natural postures.

Technique: Traditional Waldorf dolls are made from cotton interlock knit fabric and wool stuffing. They are often entirely natural. Typically the trademark long hair of a Waldorf doll is made of mohair or boucle. Some doll makers use alternative hair material such as: Wool, Rayon, and Cotton. The facial features of a Waldorf doll vary with the maker. Most Waldorf dolls have small suggestions of noses, their eye and mouth colors are generally varied with each doll.

A while ago I wrote about change and how i cope (or dont) with it – well the last lack of blogging is evidence of my inability to cope with change – especially that type of change that leaves you hanging and not sure what next.
I have been very demotivated and scatterbrained and totally lost focus the last while but have decided it is time to “ruk myself reg” and get posting again.

Too Much Coffee Man - Shannon Wheeler

Change Meaning and Definition

(v. t.) A passing from one phase to another; as, a change of the moon.
(v. t.) To alter; to make different; to cause to pass from one state to another; as, to change the position, character, or appearance of a thing; to change the countenance.
(v. i.) To be altered; to undergo variation; as, men sometimes change for the better.
(v. t.) Any variation or alteration; a passing from one state or form to another; as, a change of countenance; a change of habits or principles.

How do you handle change, does it throw you, excite you, simply take it in your stride?

I don’t do well with change. My gut reaction to any change is to fight it with everything i have till I can fight no more and then i will accept and move on – makes no sense why not just skip the fight part!?

Change makes me feel unhappy and unsettled (even if the change is in fact a good one). Some people find my reaction to change specifically positive change difficult to understand (aversion to negative change is kind of acceptable) – but merely the fact that because something around me has changed means that I HAVE to change how i do or relate to things and this is what is unsettling. I did not ask for the change, hardly ever expect the change and yet with no warning, request or support I am meant to accept it and go with it.

I think I am getting better about change though as I have in the past few years had quite a bit of practice.

My little family is again on the brink of change – we will be moving sometime in the new year. The glitch is I don’t know where too – we are still waiting to see where hub will work next and the chances of it being here are minimal. Despite not knowing where the change will take us I am a little excited about it.

But I have come to realise that though this kind of change does not upset me like it used to other change still knocks me spinning. A friend of mine has in the last months gone through many changes in her immediate circumstances and the roll-over of these changes though I have tried my best to be supportive have thrown me and I have realised I have been fighting them trying to keep things as they were because it is what I know and feel safest with rather than simply accepting and moving along with them. They are not bad changes simply things that were to me unexpected and different. I had let the years of knowing her create a little box and the idea of that box changing form threw me – I and others I think need to let go, forget, accept and love.

I lLike these quotes and tips (if you follow the link to next page) on dealing with change and stress – think I need to remind myself of these.

“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.”
Lin Yutang

(got this by email a long time ago)

Drooling: How teething babies wash their chins.

Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

Family planning: The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster

Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn’t appreciate the strained carrots.

Full name: What you call your child when you’re mad at him.

Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right.

Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

Impregnable: A woman whose memory of labour is still vivid.

Independent: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.

Look out: What it’s too late for your child to do by the time you scream it.

Prenatal: When your life was still somewhat your own.

Prepared childbirth: A contradiction in terms.

Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.

Show off: A child who is more talented than yours.

Sterilize: What you do to your first baby’s pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby’s pacifier by blowing on it.

Storeroom: The distance required between the supermarket aisles so that children in shopping carts can’t quite reach anything.

Temper tantrums: What you should keep to a minimum so as to not upset the children.

Top bunk: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.

Two-minute warning: When the baby’s face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.

Verbal: Able to whine in words

Whodunit: None of the kids that live in your house.

Whoops: An exclamation that translates roughly into “get a sponge.”

On Saturday past Sally and I thought it would be fun to take part in the 5km Walk against Breast Cancer held at the Johannesburg Zoo.

We pre-registered, I thought this would make things easier in terms of just being able to show your registration papers and going in vs standing in lines to pay on the day. And I have to admit the promise of a goodie bag for pre-registrations also appealed. (Ironically it would have been much less stress and faster to have simply paid on the day)

We took our kids (brave Sally took 4 – her own and 2 friends) with because it was at the zoo, would be a fun family day out (I had done the same distance with the kids before at the Pretoria zoo so knew it was doable as the animals kept the kids entertained and motivated) and we would be supporting a worthwhile and close to home cause. I kindly invited husband dear along as it was going to be nice to do as a family …. bliss.

Sadly the reality fell a bit short of our ideas and intentions. There were 1000’s on 1000’s of people that attended. We got stuck in very slow traffic around the zoo, ended up after lots of driving around having to park 3 blocks away on a pavement and walk to the registration area.

Sally was already in the lines to get their entry tickets and bags (thanks to her beautiful pink hair, we found them in the masses quite easily). The sign in process had been divided into groups according to your surnames and Sally was right at the back of an incredibly long 3 person deep line for A-D’s.

We pushed, maneuvered and probably pissed people off with our 2 kids and a pram through the aimless milling crowds to first go to the toilet (desperation called) before searching for the end of the line of our own long line of 3 people deep j-l group. Thankfully our line was not as long as Sally’s and we were well ahead of her.

More than an hour+ later – about a half hour past the walks starting time; after some crying and moaning (mostly by the children) and a placating sucker each for breakfast we got to the front of the line to pick up our little pink tickets, have our names checked off their list and get our goodie bags which basically were Avon & Justine Marketing material, an old edition of Shape magazine and a T-shirt each (not even in the size requested in the preregistration) we were done – amazingly at the same time as Sally.

Once inside we realised that the walk did not even take place within the relative safety of the zoo but was actually out on the road, we decided that we had done our part (the hardest part) for charity and were going to simply take the kids around the zoo than torture them further – they were already tired and miserable a 5km walk would not go down well.
The kids had fun in the end, was a nice enough morning BUT next year I will pay my fee and NOT go to the walk. Maybe when my children are all grown up and out of the house I will brave that experience again.

Breast Cancer Walk at the Zoo Fail
Female to Female

Today I was given a compliment, one of those I want to remind myself of often over the years to come as it was positive, lifted my spirits and is the first ambiguous compliment that i have received that had a more positive than negative effect on me.

This got me to thinking of how children don’t at first seem to need compliments to validate themselves, this only comes later as society pressures, disappointments and failure cause self doubt to creep in.

If I tell my children they are beautiful, so very clever, handsome, special, gorgeous they accept it as if it is a given there is no modesty just a simple “Ya I know!” … I love this about them and sometimes wish as adults we could maintain that same sense of self love.

The compliment I received today was from Laura (Harassed Mom) who said ‘I am like an unopened jewellery box’ … nice hey Ü! Thanks Laura it is honestly going to be that little sentence I say to myself when I feel self doubt as just the idea puts a smile on my face and a lift in my spirits.