The Teddy Bear That Kept Getting Lost

Author Archives: Tammy

The Teddy Bear That Kept Getting Lost

Friday, June 26, 2009

I just finished making two more teddy bears for a woman whose daughter lost her teddy bear. The first time I met this woman was when I was visiting my parents in Virginia about 11 years ago. The little girl was six at that time and extremely despondent. Her beloved teddy bear had fallen apart from the necessity of being washed so many times. She needed that bear then, because it was what had helped her through all the brain surgeries and hospital stays she had already endured. I asked the little girl if she wanted her new bear to have an embroidered face, since the old one didn’t. She said yes and told me exactly what she wanted. I made it and gave it to her. She was ecstatic. The mother sent me a picture of a very happy little girl holding her new teddy bear. I never expected to hear from them again, but I was happy in the knowledge that I had helped the little girl.

About 4 years ago, the same woman contacted me again. We had moved since then and so had the little girl’s family. I was surprised she had found me. She asked me if I could make another bear for her daughter. The one I made had been lost in a move. Thankfully, I had made a pattern of the bear when I made the first one, so I told the woman it would be no problem. I made another copy and sent it off to her. Again, I thought that would be the last time I would hear from them.

About a month ago the same mother called me on the phone. Now the little girl has graduated from high school and is getting ready to go off to college. The bear has been lost again. Now the young lady doesn’t care so much about it, at least she said she didn’t. She doesn’t need the bear like she used to, but mom does. So the mother asked me to make yet another bear for her daughter to take with her to college.

Just a week before the phone call, I was clearing out some old stuff and came across the teddy bear pattern. I held it in my hand for some time trying to decide whether or not to toss it. Something told me I should keep it. I’m glad I did! When the mother mailed me the payment for the order, she enclosed a note requesting two bears this time. I called her yesterday to confirm that she received the package with the two bears in it. She had and she loves them. Her daughter’s birthday is this weekend and she plans to give her one of the bears then. I still have the first picture and asked for a new picture of her daughter with the new teddy bear.

One of my friends here was joking about how the mother is probably going to contact me again in a few years to order another bear for her new grandchild. I’ve already decided to permanently keep this teddy bear pattern. So I had to laugh when the mother told me on the phone that she thought she’d put the second teddy bear away for when she gets her first grandchild.

A pair of no longer lost teddies.

Filed in Art-&-Craft | Tagged teddy bear | Comments (2)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Museum

Friday, June 12, 2009

We had a very interesting day, which was so eventful that we feel like we were gone for a week! We decided to go back to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History so that Johann could see the third floor. Johann forgot his notebook, so we stopped at WalMart to buy another one, since that was closer than turning around and going back for it. We had to stop for gas. The pencils we bought at WalMart kept breaking. When we went through two of them trying to sharpen them for Johann, we decided to go back to WalMart and buy a mechanical pencil that would work. We got on the road later than we’d hoped, but, finally, we were on our way.

Then 500 feet before the exit for the museum our right rear tire blew out. Isn’t that funny? Twenty minutes later, Eric was able to get the spare tire off from the underside of the car. The mechanism that held the tire in place froze up and Eric couldn’t get the tire off. I didn’t expect anyone to stop and help us, but I did find it highly annoying that people kept honking at us and making wow–it–stinks–to–be–you faces as they drove by.

Eric got the old tire off by jumping on top of the lug wrench for each lug nut and got the spare on. The spare tire looked a little flat, but we thought we might at least make it to the museum on it. Wrong! The spare tire completely separated from the rim when we tried to drive away. Eric announced that we are getting cell phones as soon as we get home.

By this time we had been stranded on the side of the road at least 40 minutes. The only police car we saw on the road in that time passed us by. Wasn’t that nice? So we decided to hoof it. We walked down the slope of the exit behind us and found a tile company showroom. The ladies in there were extremely nice in letting us use the phone and the bathroom. They even offered us drinks and we took them up on a bottle of water. We called USAA roadside assistance. Thank goodness we had them to call!

We’ve never had to use the roadside assistance before. USAA is the best! They helped us find the nearest towing and tire places, called the towing company and told them where we were, and called a taxi for us. Eric went to the nearest ATM so we’d have cash for the taxi. Johann and I went to the museum. Eric waited with the car and met up with us at the museum later.

I’m so proud of Eric. The tow truck driver was smoking on the ride to the tire place. Pairing that with the stressful events of the day, Eric was the most tempted to bum a cigarette then than in any other moment since he quit smoking two and a half years ago and he didn’t. He waited nearly an hour for the tow truck and made the 15 minute ride to the tire place in heavy traffic. Once Eric paid for new tires and learned it would be a three hour wait, he got the mechanics to look up a taxi service, which they grudgingly did, and came to the museum.

Johann and I had already gone over everything we wanted to see and had done some shopping in the museum store. The third floor had a section on minerals and gems, an Egyptian exhibit with two mummies, dioramas with taxidermy animals native to Connecticut, and the Earth and Space section. We went back into the Darwin exhibit to make a few sketches of some of the skeletons there and watched the short film on Darwin, Dana, and Marsh again at the entrance of the exhibit. By 3:30 P.M., we were getting tired and hungry, so we decided to go sit in the Great Hall and wait for Eric. A few minutes later we saw him on the second floor looking down on us from the Discovery Room!

Johann and I pulled Eric in different directions to show and share with him everything he had missed while we were at the museum. Eric was a good sport, took some pictures, and walked around with us. Johann wasn’t truly excited or happy about our trip to the museum until Daddy was there. Except for the few times we got lost in what we saw and read about in the sections of the museum that were new to us, I was distracted with worry too.

Once we had made the rounds the second time with Eric, we walked to the nearest restaurant and got sandwiches and ice cream. The waitress kindly dialed the number of the cab service we’d used before. I was a little concerned when I noticed smoke from the engine coming out of the air vents. Somehow the taxi got us there. We got back to the tire place 10 minutes before they closed. The car was already repaired and waiting. The mechanic saw us come up and he met us at the door with Eric’s car keys. A day that could have been a total disaster turned out pretty well. So we took the scenic route to get to the museum. Thankfully, the rain stopped BEFORE the car broke down!

Filed in Family, Science, Shanti School | Tagged car, Museums, Yale Peabody Museum | Comments (7)

Rainy Day at the Museum

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Torosaurus latus bronze in front of the Yale Peabody Museum

Johann studying and sketching part of the Darwin Exhibit on evolution while Tammy studies the exhibit on Dana.

Johann and Tammy discussing Hesperonis crassipes

Johann was fascinated by the Hesperonis crassipes skeleton.

Another favorite, Moeritherium, a prehistoric mammal that Johann identifies almost as a friend.

Alas Poor Erectus…

Normally cold, rainy days are so dreary, but not when you get to go to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History! We desperately needed a family science immersion day to rejuvenate! Eric took the day off. I had hoped to get some yard work done, but that wasn’t going to happen with the rain. So we decided to buy membership to the Yale Peabody Museum and go. They have a reciprocity agreement with a lot of other science museums and centers. We have plans to go to all the ones we are interested in while we are still on the East Coast, especially the Museum of Science in Boston, so we now have two years to take advantage of the membership benefits.

At the Yale Peabody Museum there are three floors, but we only managed to cover the first floor, the Discovery Room for children on the second floor, and the gift shop in the four hours we were there. We will go back to see the third floor and view the Darwin exhibit again before it comes down August 23. Johann didn’t want to validate the parking ticket so that we couldn’t get the car out of the parking lot. He figured if that happened, we would have to stay at the museum overnight, maybe even indefinitely!

The exhibit “Darwin: 150 Years of Evolutionary Thinking” was very well done. There was information on Dana and Marsh as well, and it was very interesting to see the similarities between Darwin and Dana, who has been referred to as the American Darwin. Some of the correspondence between the two scientists was on display, as well as a map of the sea voyages each man went on as part of their path of scientific discovery.

The Hall of Dinosaurs and the Hall of Mammalian Evolution were amazing. Eric and I enjoyed seeing the wonder in Johann’s eyes and watching him soak it all in. We all kept thinking about the movie Night at the Museum while we were looking at the dinosaurs. Johann loved to see real examples of the animals he’s studied in his books.

Johann was also very excited to see everything in the “Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins” exhibit. He recognized the discoveries that were written about and the specimens on display from the documentary shows he’s seen on the Leaky family’s work. He took time to draw sketches and make notes. The Age of Reptiles mural and the Age of Mammals mural were incredible. Since Eric was permitted to take pictures without a flash, we are going over the pictures of the fossils and can even read some of the information about them again.

The Yale Peabody Museum has a good interactive exhibit about energy conservation right now. We also enjoyed the smaller sections where the Hall of Pacific Cultures, Hall of Native American Cultures, and the scale model of Machu Picchu are. The Discovery Room has a leaf cutter ant colony, a black rat snake, and poison dart frogs. There were drawers full of fossils, rocks and minerals, and various preserved spiders and insects that each had a magnifying glass and a please touch policy. They had a variety of stuffed birds and preserved butterflies for kids to see. There were lots of books out for kids to read and a display comparing eggs from different birds. Johann particularly liked holding the cast of the T.rex tooth and the coprolite.

There was so much to see and learn in every room we went into, that even though we spent four hours there, we still feel like we missed some of it. Where some of the homeschooling families use their vacation time to go to the Creationist Museum, we prefer to revel in places like the Yale Peabody Museum. Now that we’ve gone, we might just have to make a weekly pilgrimage there!

Filed in Education, Family, Science, Shanti School | Tagged Dana, Darwin, Museums, O. C. Marsh, Science, Yale Peabody Museum | Comments (2)

Picture Perfect

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

I was updating a friend about what has happened over the past two weeks. I thought I was bearing good news. We got dealt a lousy hand, but we stuck together and persevered. She did recognize that by letting go of what we had planned to do, the opportunity Eric now has opened up for us, which is a much better deal. But then she commented on how Eric sure likes to live life on the edge. I was surprised. Another friend marveled at how we can experience difficult times and still be in the present moment. She complimented us on how good it is that we enjoy life and what a happy family we are. Another dear friend told me today that my patience paid off and now I am reaping my reward, things are getting better for us.

Admittedly, life would be far less stressful if we had more things planned ahead and we were better organized, which are the two top items of our New Year’s resolutions list. Different choices might have led us down another path where we could be experiencing a lesser shade of difficult circumstances. Who knows? Sometimes bad things happen to good people and you just have to keep plugging along. The truth about our lives lately is that a great deal of it has been beyond our control. Or maybe we are just realizing that is how it really is, like Prof. B. said, and we’ve given up trying to control it or hide behind philosophies in order to deal with it and the fear of uncertainty that it brings.

My mother blames Eric for everything, which makes him a pretty powerful man. I didn’t know he was in control of the entire world economy! If we’re going to go that far, then we could also blame it on the fact that I prayed for wisdom, patience, and peace about a decade ago.

I saw a picture of an old woman in a magazine. She was dressed in colorful, but worn, clothes. Her skin was tanned and wrinkled from age and the sun. Her hands showed many years of hard labor. But there was a special glow in her that made her beautiful. All her wrinkles were smile lines that led the eye to the sparkle in hers. Something deep inside me said, “That’s what I want. I want to see the world with that kind of sparkle in my eyes.” She looked wise and happy. Be careful what you wish for.

In my naivete, I didn’t realize that in order to be wise, you have to endure a lot of hardship. In order to be patient, you have to wait a painfully long time for things and be tested without losing hope. In order to have peace, you have to face your deepest fears, the worst parts of yourself, and surrender. Now I know better, I just ask for help. Except, Eric thinks that’s risky too. You never know. At any rate, since I intend to live to be over 100, I think I’m well on my way to looking like that old woman in the photograph.

Filed in Family | Tagged tammy | Comments (0)

Johann’s Birthday Party

Saturday, May 23, 2009

zooplankton = wonder
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

Making plankton.
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

Let ‘em float!
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

A menagerie in Marzipan.
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

13 choices for Which Critter is Best.
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

A beach combing scavenger hunt.
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

Taking inventory of the scavenger hunt.
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

Dolphin Batik Tote Bag
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

Party Favors for all!!
Originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

What a great day! Everything went well, we had beautiful weather, and everyone had fun. What more could we ask for? Johann wanted to have an ocean–themed party, but when I started planning activities, I quickly realized there was no way we could do it at our house with our space limitations.

We looked at a number of places around town and finally decided on Project Oceanology at Avery Point. They have fantastic oceanography education programs for kids and I thought that maybe they did parties too, so I checked their website. Since their programs are for 4th grade and up, having a party there was a great opportunity to do something for younger kids.

Johann chose the party option entitled “Plankton Pandemonium”. Emily was the young lady who did the activities with the kids and she was great! She got a sample of plankton and put out petri dishes at a number of microscopes so everyone had a chance to see the plankton. There was also a video of plankton the kids could watch. Then the kids made their own “plankton” out of mesh fabric, coffee filters, yarn scraps, feathers, pom-poms, etc.

Since Project O is in a two–story building with an open staircase, once the crafting was done, we held plankton races. All the kids went upstairs and when Emily gave the signal, they dropped their plankton creations. There had to be two heats, because of the number of kids there, and then a tie breaker race. Because plankton have to float to stay alive, the winner of the race was the one who’s plankton stayed afloat the longest.

While Emily prepared the second activity for the kids, we had cupcakes and ice cream. Johann loved having Happy Birthday sung to him. Once he blew out his number 9 candle on one of the cupcakes, I put the platter with all the marzipan cupcakes on the table. All the kids had the roundest, big saucer eyes I’d ever seen! Some of the moms asked me if I was in business making cake decorations and that I should be if I wasn’t. One said the marzipan was too beautiful to eat. Eric explained what each creature was and then everyone chose what they wanted. We chose invertebrates that the kids might not have seen before, to show them there is much more in the ocean besides the high profile fish and cetaceans everyone is familiar with.

Since the weather held, we were able to do the scavenger hunt at the small beach near the Project O building. The kids divided up into teams, got their plastic bins, checklists, and beachcombing guides, and jumped right in! Once the teams had everything on the list that they could find, Emily discussed each item with the kids, explaining more about the animals and answering any questions. Eric said it was a good thing that we had the outdoor activity right after the sugar rush of the cupcakes and ice cream! All the kids had loads of fun exploring on the beach.

Then it was time to open presents. Johann liked everything he got. They were surprised when we gave out our party favor gifts. Eric, Johann, and I dyed the blank tote bags using Eric’s copper dolphin chop and soy wax. We got each child their own copy of The Ocean Book, Aquarium and Seaside Activities and Ideas for All Ages, a small all–weather notebook for writing down observations, an ocean creatures pencil, and an orca eraser.

In answering questions and compliments, I explained to the moms why we chose Project O and why we did everything we did for the party. Johann said he loves the ocean so much that he wanted to share that with all of his friends. And since this is the first birthday party he’s ever had for friends, we wanted to make it extra special. Johann thanked us for the party on the way home in the car. He said it was the best day of his life.

The adults learned just as much from the party as the kids did. An audible “wow” came from the group when Emily told them that phytoplankton is responsible for most of the oxygen we breathe. We helped instill a new appreciation for the ocean and the organisms that live there. Hopefully from now on when the kids are at the beach or they think about the ocean, they will look at everything in a whole new way.

Filed in Family, Oceans, Science, Shanti School | Tagged avery point, birthday, food arts, Johann, marzipan, project o, tammy | Comments (6)

Eclectic Echoes

Author Archives: Tammy