Clare Corner

Nature's playground

2012-02-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Last week my mom and I took the girls to the Virginia Arboretum on a pretty day. Its amazing how you find a new spot of beauty each time you visit.

Anastasia chose visiting the arboretum over the park. Good choice my dear.Children climbed trees long before playgrounds were invented.

And what an odd winter it has been, warm and sunny and 50-60 degrees one day, and today it is snowing and a bit on the chillier side. Cozying up with some coffee and this FANTASTIC gluten free almond cake! The best thing in the world is a Saturday free of plans and commitments. :) Happy weekend to you all.

Handmade Birthday Part 2: Paintable houses

2012-02-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

So the other part of Anastasia's gift this year was a little dollhouse from Michael's to paint. They were labeled as "CD house" or something, so we are using them for the wrong purpose I guess. They were really fun for the girls to paint:

This was Anastasia's. They took a couple hours to do. Perfect for a cold January afternoon (which we haven't had much of this year). Oh, and I ended up having to finish the painting inside the houses because they got a little tired of painting.

I also added scrapbook paper to the back walls to give them a little pop. I made some couches for each house, and pillows and beds which I didn't get pictured.

And this is Isabel's:

I am very happy with how they turned out! I think they would make spectacular gifts for little friends too. :)

Are you sick of Lalaloopsy taking over my blog? Yeah... its getting a little out of hand over here. Annnnnd its snowing today, so I hope to get out the watercolors and come up with some Valentine crafts! :)

Handmade Birthday Part 1: Lalaloopsy Playmat

2012-02-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Anastasia has a new obsession: mini Lalaloopsy dolls. "Sew Magical, Sew Cute" is their little tag-line. And I kind of admit, I actually think they are super cute. They look like little rag dolls, have crafty hobbies, inspire originality, their boxes double as cute crafty-looking houses and they each come with a little friend that is a plastic version of something handmade. The "plastic version of handmade" is such an oxi-moron, and it bothers me a little to think of something handmade being recreated in a factory in China, and made of plastic. Plastic, of all things! But alas, I have caved. And well, I really have fun playing with them compared to Disney princesses. So to combat all things manufactured, I did create a handmade play mat, for these charming plastic rag-dolls that we all can't seem to get enough of.

I have to admit, I had a much better picture in my head of how this would turn out. I was a little dissapointed in the end result, but I have come to terms with it. I was really inspired by this playmat on Etsy, but I wanted to make it round so it could fold up easily like this tutorial. But in the end, I wish I had just bought the pattern on Etsy and made a little drawstring bag for it all. Of course, it would have helped if I hadn't waited until the NIGHT BEFORE Anastasia's birthday to do most of it. Good grief. Some people just never learn. The little trees have to be my favorite part. I found the idea for those here. They were so fun and easy and you can make an entire forest for a nature table in no time at all. In fact, the kids have played more with those than the playmat itself!

I like the winter part of the playmat the best. I made little mountains/trees from felt from a tutorial on Allsorts. I feel like they look like Dr. Suess-looking mountains personally. But I am leaving them up for interpretation by my little ones.

And this is the little garden with one of my favorite LalaLoopsies, and her pet unicorn. And you have to love the little heart stitching in the embroidery hoop. I mean, SERIOUSLY? I think its as cute as can be!

I also like how the beach turned out, with the seashell buttons sewn on. I wish I had made everything bigger, and straighter. In fact, if I make another playmat, I would make a big circle and applique everything on. I tried to patch it all together, and that was a big mistake! Nothing fit right, it still won't lay flat, and it was such a pain!! It my head it was brilliant, but definitely ended up being a learning experience. And sadly, no one really plays with it. But maybe someday they will find it at the bottom of the toy box and realize out how awesome it is. At least my children play with the manufactured, plastic version of handmade. Ha!

The Rainbow Cake Disaster

2012-02-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was me. (This was how Isabel started the story of Rapunzel, being told by her Rapunzel doll!) Anyway I saw THIS beautiful rainbow cake thanks to the wonderful, time-sucking world of Pinterest and I of course had to make it. My thoughts were that because it didn't look to difficult to decorate, and I stink at decorating cakes. And I HATE dealing with icing (other than eating it) and I HATE HATE HATE cleaning out those icing bags, and filling them, and squeezing them 100,000 times. Cakes are not my thing. So I thought, okay, this just requires 6 tiny colored cakes and icing stacked and slathered with more icing. Easy peasy, I can do this, right? HAHAHAHAHA. I was so wrong.

I decided to take the easy way out and buy a *gasp* mix for a white cake. Well. That was the first mistake. 1 mix wasn't enough, but I got 3 little cakes, so I made a white cake from scratch for the last 3 layers. Then I began slicing off the tops and stacking them. It was lopsided from the get-go, and just got more so. Then came the orange, second-to-last layer which was too thick and I sliced in half. It was a little crumbly (cake mix) but I got my layer of frosting on. Then came the red layer... and I set it on top, proud of my cake tower. And then it happened. IT CRACKED. Not just once, but EVERYWHERE. I tried saving it with frosting, but then it started crumbling! And as I spread the frosting down the sides, it caused more bright red crumbling. It was a big, red, crumbly, uneven blob. OH and it was 1am. What was I to do? Then, I thought, if I can get it in the pyrex, and frost it, that would work. Even if it falls apart, cake soup is better than no cake. Right? So I used a very thin plate, lifted the cracking, crumbling mess of a cake and slid it underneath, then slid it into my pyrex baking dish I assumed it fell apart. I made buttercream icing, but because I wasted so much with all the crumbs, I ran out of powdered sugar, so I just threw in some white sugar. I think that was bad idea number 116. Because it was over-sweet and gritty. Ugh. But it worked. And then, miraculously when I cut into it, it looked like this:

It was so pretty inside! Like a rainbow! All the kids picked the cupcakes, except maybe 2 or 3, who complained the rainbow cake was too sweet.

I guess so when you use 4lbs of sugar in the frosting. Oops. Oh well. Anastasia told me it tastes like rainbows and is sooooo pretty. I guess thats all that really matters at the end of the day. So the morals of the story are: Don't buy a mix. Follow the directions on the blog you are copying. Buy 10 bags of powdered sugar and 4 boxes of butter. Or better yet, go to the store and BUY AN ALREADY BAKED CAKE!!! So we can all live happily ever after.

THE END.

Rainbow Party

2012-01-30T07:31:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday Anastasia, my firstborn, turned FIVE. There is hardly any of that 6 1/2 pound baby left in this little girl. She still has the strong will she entered the world with, the beautiful head of dark, brown curls, and the same pout she gave us the moment she was born. Other than that, it is hard to believe she is the same little person. She has grown into a very imaginitive, very passionate young lady. She keeps everyone in line, and holds us to our word. She dances with grace that she absolutely did not get from her mother. She dreams about princesses and castles, asks about her prince, and wished to become a fairy someday while blowing out her candles. She is beautiful in every way possible. And I can't believe she is 5.

To celebrate her 5th year, she wanted to have a rainbow party. I am not sure if it was her idea entirely, or if she knocked it off of one of her friends, but either way I was thrilled not to be planning a princess party! And rainbows are so colorful and fun!

Not only did we have one rainbow party, but my mom also hosted a family party for Anastasia last weekend. So she let the girls decorate the cake with M&Ms in the shape of a rainbow! It turned out so pretty! (Much better than mine!)

Kieran's favorite part was blowing up balloons, and I had to take this picture of him looking like a little baby hunk. Can you believe his curls? It is a good thing he is so cute, because he is 100% trouble.

Anastasia helped glue cotton balls onto this free printable rainbow quote as part of the decorations. I would like to actually frame it and put it somewhere on her wall near her bed. Especially because she LOVES the Judy Garland version of the song. I also made an entire playlist of rainbows and color songs on Spotify. I was so busy at the party to even put it somewhere central to play, but I enjoyed listening to it all week.I think I had the most fun making rainbow decorations for this party! I made a little bunting out of scrapbook paper (that was on sale at Michael's for 5 for $1!!!) and I made a little "cloud" garland out of cotton balls strung on some embroidery floss. It was super easy, and cute. I also made a rainbow out of streamers that spread across the table. And my dad gave Anastasia a rainbow bouquet which added perfectly to the party!

For food we had pizza, salad, bread, popcorn with M&Ms (one of my favorite combos!), rainbow goldfish and a raibow fruit tray:

The fruit tray idea came from here and was probably the most popular food served. I think I ate the popcorn mostly on my own with a bottle of Sierra Nevada after the party. Yikes.

Because our house is tiny, and seating is limited the kids had a picnic on the twister mat in Anastasia's bedroom. I saw this idea somewhere, but I can't remember where. I am just happy not to have pizza sauce on my couch. At least not more than my kids left on there last week. We actually tried to play twister, but most of the kids didn't quite get it. They all fell down on purpose so they wouldn't have to play anymore. But the treasure hunt was (as always) a hit:

I had the kids follow the rainbow by finding color clues... a red ornament, yellow book, orange bathmat, etc... to reach the pot of gold.

For a craft I set out rainbow beads, scissors and string. I don't know that anyone made anything while they were here, but we have found beads all over the floor, and since the party many necklaces and bracelets have been made.

I think this is one of my favorite shots from the party, of Anastasia and one of her best friends, Zita. Notice the cake in the pyrex. It was a disaster. It was so bad, it deserves a post of its own. It has a happy ending, but I am about to swear off cake decorating forever.

We sent everyone home with a rainbow goodie bag that the girls helped fill and Anastasia gave everyone a piece of original art work. I made the little notebooks from scrap book paper and printer paper. I found the crayons at the Dollar Store for 4 for $1, and they had rainbows on them! I intended to make glitter rainbow playdough for everyone, but Anastasia's grandparents sent her 40 small packs of playdough for her birthday which saved me a little time, energy and money. I am sure I will make rainbow playdough another day!

The kids had such a nice time, and even though our house is tiny, we fit everyone in, had plenty to eat, and enough rounds of tickle monster to last a lifetime. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, colorful little 5-year old in my life for yet another year. :)

Snow Dough

2012-01-24T07:08:00.001-08:00

If you have not tried making "snow" or "cloud" dough yet, you should make it right now! I used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of canola oil for each pan (and added a few more teaspoons of oil until it clumped well. It is light and fluffy like flour, and then it can be clumped up into little balls or mounds, cakes or walls!

The kids played with this for a couple hours. Of course, their little princess dolls came by to play in the snow. It is nice to have pretend snow when the real snow is scarce. I even made Kieran Pie his own bowl of snow:
He really liked scooping it onto the towel. It isn't the cleanest activity, but flour is pretty easy to sweep up. And I imagine it is bettter than ashes. :)

Operation Occupy Toddler

2012-01-20T15:45:00.001-08:00

You might not know it, because this boy is so darn cute, but he is a TON of trouble. Remember how I told you he plays in the ashes? Well I solved that problem, but now he opens the woodstove door WHILE THE FIRE IS BURNING!?!?!?! I guess that is a bit safer than his other hobby of unplugging anything that is plugged in, and sticking his fingers in the sockets!!! Who does that? My perfect-baby-turned-terrible-toddler, that is who. So I am trying to find safer hobbies made from things we already have for him:First I made him a reading nook with a stacker and some nesting bowls. I put mason jar bands on the stacker for him, because they are easier, and he likes throwing the bands. The bowls are too much for him too, so I usually just hand him 2 or 3 to stack and fill with things.

Putting toothpicks in the pepper flake jar. This has been a favorite of all my children, and he will do it over, and over, and over again.

If you try this, watch your baby so he doesn't poke himself. I guess non-pointy toothpicks would be a better option...

My friend Sharon gifted Kieran with this box of animal magnets. What a great toy these have been! He plays with them every day. I would say this was his favorite toy this Christmas.

Simple containers and lids are also a huge hit! I raided the girl's kitchen for these items. Any containers with lids that are easy to remove are a great idea!

And I put little surprises of varying shapes and textures inside. He played with this for about 3 days quite a bit. I need to find new shaped lids and containers, and try hiding new things inside.

A simple bottle and pom poms. He had a hard time shaking them out, but the girls enjoy making "fireworks" pop out of the bottle for him. Then he cleans up.

This was waaaay to hard for him, but Isabel loved it! I used leftover pipecleaners with pompoms on the ends. I think the pepper container might work better as the holes are bigger. He did enjoy pulling them out.

I don't think an explanation is needed. this was simple, and he liked it.

Mostly he liked the egg carton. And then he liked throwing the pom poms. He is a little crazy but we love him anyway.

***I was originally inspired by ideas in this post. And there are more HERE.

***Also, for those of you mom's of little ones who haven't read this article, you must read this blog post, "Don't Carpe Diem". This is one of the most encouraging articles I have read in a while. Because sometimes blogs can be such misleading little windows into people's lives. And it is easy to wonder why my own life feels so imperfect and so hard when other people make it look so easy and blissfull. ALL THE TIME. I feel better to know, I am not alone!

***I am waiting for Nick to come home so I can outrun this snow storm and get to my mom's tonight, so tomorrow we can take the girls to a Princess Party to meet some "real" princesses. Excited is an understatement of how to describe my girls.

Its beginning to look a lot like winter!

2012-01-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well, at least indoors it is looking like winter! We have had the strangest weather this year. We have probably worn our coats 5 times, and today it was about 60 degrees! We have also had snows on these warmer days that look like blizzards, then leave a little dusting, melt, turn to ice at night, and leave the world a muddy wonderland. I am not complaining though. I HATE winter and cold. But I do love snow. So we decorated our nature table with wool snow, imagining it to be someplace in Alaska. I love the fairies, and their little cups of cocoa with whipped cream. I like how cozy and cold they look, and then I like walking outside into sunny, warm mud. Yet I still have this fascination with winter...

We made winter sensory trays out of those cheap dollar store baking pans, and all kinds of wintry items I had laying around the house. I was lucky enough to happen upon some really cute woodland, winter house kits made of foam (that made our entire table sparkle with stray glitter) for $2 on clearance at Michaels. Cotton balls, marbles, pom poms beads and other tacky glitter accessories made for hours of play for two little girls and their new obsession: Lalaloopsy dollies.

And because my adoable baby, is an even more adorable toddler (and unfortunately even more trouble) I made him a little wintry basket too. I included a felt tree, a wooden tree, pine needles, Christmas balls (made of plastic) a nut, a snowman in a bean pot, a pinecone, gnome, deer, sled, mitten, cupcake cup of cotton balls and a non-baby friendly glass jar of pebbles. He really likes pulling everything out and throwing it all over the floor. And can I just say that the jar of pebbles was a TERRIBLE IDEA. First he threw the jar and broke it, and then he put the pebbles in his mouth. He is in fact a BOY and failing the Montessori training. Hahaha. He did like the snowman best:

See?

He says cheese. And it is very cute when he does. It isn't cute when he gets into the ashes from the woodstove and covers himself with them. Then when he feels sufficiently camoflauged with the ashes, he throws them all over the floor. I think I just need to be a better house keeper and empty the ashes in the morning... and sweep the stove area 10 times a day. Or get my 4-year old to sweep it. She is obsessed with sweeping the ashes which turns the kitchen into a cloud of dust. And sometimes when she sweeps we play Cinderella and the wicked step mother. Can you guess who I get to play? :)

A Brand New Year...

2012-01-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

...and a whole new level of craziness begins. Isn't Isabel's "park" outfit the cutest thing in blogland right now? I love how ready she is for whatever adventure may come. Oh! And I made the net! Its fantastic right? We haven't actually caught anything in them yet... but they sure are cute (which is very important). I used the tutorial here (only I used cotton fabric instead of netting) and made them as favors for the stinkbug party. The girls use them more for carrying toys around.

We spent new years at my friend Tara's house down in Christiansburg. It was a 3-hour trip each way, but we had such a peaceful drive thanks to the car-dvd player system my parents gifted us for Christmas. I think it was for the girls, but I think Nick and I benefited the most due to the LACK OF WHINING the whole trip! Thanks Mom and Dad! Anyway, we spent new years eve making gingerbread houses and playing games. I had such a nice time reconnecting with our old friend. And our girls, and her boy ran around like crazy people. Good times!

Kieran is feeling much better, even if he is still a bit grumpy. Turns out he had Strep throat (which is caused by the same bacteria that causes Scarlet Fever)! Actually, shortly after my previous post, his temperature spiked to 104.5 and Nick took him to Urgent Care. They poked and prodded him, X-rayed him, took his urine in a very icky way, and then poked him several times unsuccessfully. I know they did their best, but they never looked in his mouth. I wouldn't be terribly angry about that, except Nick asked them if they were going to and the Dr. said it wasn't necessary. AND THEN when I joined them, I noticed him sticking his tongue out a lot and mentioned that he wasn't latching on while nursing, and seemed to be having a difficult time swallowing. I was thinking maybe he had some issues from his seizure, so Nick asked the doctor to look in his mouth, but he said it had nothing to do with what was wrong with him. So instead, we had to take him to the ER to get poked again! UGH. The next day we took him to our pediatrician (Dr. Hoebel who is AWESOME!!!) who asked right off the bat, "did he get a Strep test, because that is probably what it is!" And sure enough, he had a really bad case of Srep Throat. And of course the next day we all had it. So instead of champagne, we are starting our new year off with shots of pretty pink amoxicillin! Cheers!

I am so grateful it wasn't anything more serious after such a scare! And even though I often think living hundreds of years ago during a simpler time in history, would be so ideal, the reality is mothers lost their babies and children to things that seem simple to us today like Strep Throat. Even George Washington might have died of Strep Throat. I just feel so grateful for the same antibiotics and vaccines that often get a bad rep these days because I did not have to watch my baby die helplessly. Yes, we really do have it so good. And even though you can't see it in the picture above, Kieran is sleeping in our bed, on a huge pile of pillows, like the little pampered prince that he is. I love that boy. We are so blessed. :)

Christmas this year.

2011-12-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

We had a bittersweet Christmas this year. Christmas day was as magical as it could be. The girls awoke and were beyond excited, yelling "Happy Birthday Jesus!" And my heart melted. Christmas just snuck up and took me by surprise. Handmade gifts were dreamed about and not made. Presents were ordered and wrapped up at the last minute. Somehow, everything came together and the magic and wonder of Christmas found its way into our hearts.

And my little loves enjoyed every bit of it.

My brother came into town last week, and we all went for a hike with my parents. It was perfect weather, and very peaceful. A welcome trip outdoors in the midst of preparing for Christmas.

Looking at these pictures now several days later, I feel a bit of sadness, at how things were just a mere week and a half ago, and how different they are today. A week later, a new year. Some things reamain unchanged, the mountains, the valley, the rivers, the sunrise and the seasons, always familiar and beautiful. and Faithful.

We spent Christmas day at my Mom and Dad's with my brother and our still-skunky dog. We had more presents, more food, I defeated all at scrabble, and the kids ate so much sugar they bounced off the wall. In more than one way, I am glad Christmas only comes once a year. And now it is over.

Unfortunately a few days after Christmas, our beloved cat, Pascal died. It was the saddest thing that one day he was balled up in blankets in a doll bed, or being dragged across the floor by his tail by an overly affectionate baby and then he was gone. We think he ate a mouse that had eaten rat poison. He was an indoor cat bent on escaping, which he did on Christmas night. We miss him dearly.

Last night another dreadful thing happened. Kieran awoke shaking, and then his eyes rolled back in his head he stopped breathing for a moment... as my heart stopped beating for a moment. For a few moments I thought my baby would die. I prayed my heart out, while Nick dialed 911. The EMTs came and informed us that Kieran had had a Febrile Seizure. I have never expirienced anything like this as a parent and I was so afraid. Thankfully it isn't as huge of a deal as it looked like at 5am. It is moments like these that we realize how vulnerable we really are and how great a gift life really is. And in these moments, when life is lost or spared I feel the true meaning of Christmas, ribbons and paper aside, the gift of life in the most likely of places. A babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. So vulnerable. So alive. So perfect.

I hope you all had a moment to appreciate the greatest gift of all this Holiday season, the gift of life. Because it isn't something we are owed, and tomorrow is never a guarentee.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens." Ecclesiastes 3:1

"the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away...” Job 1:21

Happy Christmas for ME!!!

2011-12-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

So can you guess what I worked, slaved, and saved up for?? Not a kitty...
Nor the cutest baby ever...

Not a tree with sparkly lights. Or the sweetie pie who didn't want to leave the tree at bedtime. I FINALLY purchased a new camera! A dslr, the Nikon d3100 and I am so happy with it! At first I felt a bit guilty dropping all that money on something for myself, but I think my only regret is that I DIDN't BUY ONE SOONER. I feel somehow, like I wish I had something so detailed to capture Anastasia's sweet baby feet, the wrinkles of Isabel's baby double chins, the tiny fingers of newborn Kieran. *sigh*

But Now I am ready for life, and all those moments that I want to see pictures of. I think it took about 1000 gnomes and 3 months of 3 am crafting to afford it. And I am so, so excited.

Funny though, how many accessories I suddenly have on my wish list, now that I used my (3 month) life savings to purchase something I really wanted. I am such a model consumer, don't you think? Anyway I guess I feel like Christmas morning came a couple of weeks early for me.

And look at our ballerina! I was so proud of her at her "friend and family" day for ballet! She was a little elf in "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and it was very sweet. She held that smile on her face the ENTIRE time. I was a ballet drop out myself, but ballet drives my little girl. And to see tiny ballerinas in their pink leotards and tutus are enough to melt even the most tom-boyish girls of us all. Especially when they parade around on their toes and giggle together. Be still my heart.

And afterwards I found that our local fast food joint, Spelunkers, sells candy cane milkshakes that are out of this world! It was a good, pink, ruffly, candycane evening indeed.

The racoon story

2011-12-08T20:14:00.001-08:00

Today my girls told a story together that went something like this:

Isabel: Once Uponsatime there was a girl who got sprayed by a racoon.

Anastasia chimed in: And she was really stinky and had to take a potato juice bath.

Isabel: And then the monster came and ate her and the racoon all up!

THE END.

they melt me.

Happy St. Nicholas Day to you!

2011-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Last night, 3 tiny pairs of shoes were placed by the hearth and the children went to bed without any trouble. And they awoke with jubilation at truffles and chocolate coins tucked into the wee corners of their shoes. I do love all the magic of Christmastime. Driving through streets of houses glowing with colored lights. Like little gingerbread cottages. I love how Christmas music jingles its way through shops decorated with garland and trees. I love Christmastime. :) And I love our dog:

I love her even though she decided to go skunk hunting at my parents house. Last week she killed a skunk that came into my parent's yard. Their whole yard stunk. And my whole dog stunk too. So Nick and I spent our Sunday afternoon bathing our dog and all that thick, fluffy, stinky fur. In some ways it was completely amusing. In other ways it was gross and stinky. Our poor dog had never seemed so happy about getting a bath. In fact, she HATES baths, but this time she knew too well, that she smelled HORRIBLE. Poor Leia.

So as much as I love Christmas, I don't like Christmas shopping. I enjoy picking things out, but I hate dropping cash on it. And of course my girls want the same things as last year, tinkerbelles, princesses and Barbies. I cringe at how hard I worked to keep natural, handmade and pleasant toys in our house to have it slowly taken over by girlie plastic bonanza. But it is all okay, I reason because they play with princesses and tinkerbell dolls more than anything else. Endlessly. And sometimes I imagine the $22 I could have spent on a waldorf-style dollhouse doll that would be played with less and the $5 I just spent on a plastic Ariel, and think of how many yards of fabric I could buy with the leftover $17. Or the book I have been wanting for months. The extra bill I can pay, or whatever else. That puts my mind at ease. I just try to keep the big things like doll houses and furniture wooden and natural. And this year I have been saving my money for something BIG. REALLY BIG (for me anyway) so even though in some ways I feel I am giving the kids a little less, or at least spending a lot less not ordering from my favorites, Magic Cabin and Nova, I feel that it isn't really all about what I want for my children, but what they want, love and are passionate about.

And I just peeked in on the girls to find them building castles with wooden blocks, for a mixture of princess dolls, playmobil, wooden animals, and some fairies I made, and I think that is the balance I hope to achieve. I don't know why I am rambling on about this, but I guess I just spent years on my high-horse wanting the best and the nicest for my children, and that horse just fell in love with a cheap little pony. Haha. I think maybe I obsess and care too much about my children's playthings but when I walk into Target and see the dolls with freaky eyes and wobbly heads and skimpy clothes, etc I cringe because I don't want toys to jeapordize the carefree innocence and beauty of childhood.

End ramble.

Remember Me?

2011-12-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

Its been ages hasn't it? Since I have written in this little space of the world wide web. Between broken cameras and computer issues, parties and craft shows, pumpkins and turkeys and everyday life with 3 littles I have slacked in my blogging. But I am back just in time for my most favorite time of the year! Since my last post, so much has happened:

Isabel turned THREE!

We were so ready for the "terrible twos" to be over, and we have embarked on the next year of our life with our crazy, funny, sweet Isabel. She never ceases to amaze us with her very quick wit, her great sense of humor, her budding imagination and how busy, busy, busy she is.

We celebrated with the only-ever STINKBUG BIRTHDAY PARTY!

We had a great big stink bug jamboree per Isabel's request! We had a stinkbug cake, decorations and antennas for all! And Isabel was the biggest stinker of all!!

Aren't we the best stink-bug family EVER?

We hiked at Lost River State Park...

where not all who wander are lost.

We had our first snow of the year....

just before halloween.

It was Beautiful.

Isabel was a cat for Halloween. And I mighty cute one.

Anastasia was a beautiful fairy.

Of course.

Kieran was the cutest owl in the world.

And he and Isabel had a boat.

They were the owl and the pussycat...

who went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat.

Kieran turned one.

I can't believe he is one. One. He was only born a few months ago it seems.

He took his first step at 364 days old. Can you believe he has been around so long?

I can't.

I am starting to miss the peaceful, blissful infant he once was.

He hasn't taken many other steps. He is a pro-speed crawler.

I am okay with that.

He can stay my baby forever.

I did really well at a craft fair at the Washington Waldorf School.

I worked so hard.

And it was totally worth the effort.

And the next day my parents gave Kieran a nice party.

And I forgot to bring my camera.

Then we went to Indiana for Thanksgiving.

We went to Chicago and they lit up the zoo with magic.

It was very magical, beautiful and perfect.

We spent a couple of days in the windy city. The weather was perfect.

We visited Annie and Martin on our way out and it was GREAT.

We also enjoyed spending time with family.

We stuffed ourselves with turkey.

Then we stuffed ourselves with pizza.
And we stayed at hotel on our way back...

and Santa Claus happened to stay the night there too.

We met him at the contintental breakfast.

That was magical too.

I hope you are all having a beautiful, festive beginning of advent! I look forward to posting regularly again!

Autumn Jumpers with Tutorial

2011-09-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I finished some fall jumpers for the girls. I found some cute corduroy at Joann's and had to make jumpers. I only had 1 1/4 yards, so I added a few other hues of corduroy.I am very happy with them overall, and may add some ric-rac to the bottom to seperate the two corduroys. It was very easy and while I began with using a pattern, I changed my mind and did my own thing.Here is a mini-tutorial in case you want to make your own. You will need about 3/4 yard of corduroy for a size 4T, 2 inches of thin elastic (I used child's hair ties), and buttons. And sorry about the irregular spacing in this post. I can't seem to fix it.1. First cut 8 Rectangles (sized 4t with a little room to spare):

2 Bodice + 2 bodice lining 13 1/2 inches for 5T Give/take 1/2 inch per size difference.

2 straps 10" long by 3 1/2 inches wide (adjust as needed)

2 skirt pieces totalling 20" (or desired length) x width of fabric (42") The bulk of my skirt was 14inches and the bottom was 6 inches. You could do the entire thing in one fabric and make one cut. Its totally up to you.

1. Add applique or trim to front bodice if you want.

2. Make straps. (I usually press the stap piece in half, and press the raw edges under and sew. Make sure one end is finished.)

3. Sew back and front bodice pieces together at one side seam. Do the same for linings.

4. Pin straps to back side of dress along the top edge (if you didn't add detail to the front, than either side can be the back). I pinned mine about 3 inches from the open side and the other 3inches from the seam side. Are you still with me? Make sure the raw edge is sticking out and sew lining to bodice along the top seam with right sides together.

5. Choose a side to be the button side and the other to be the elastic side:

6. I used hair ties cut into small pieces as elastic loops to hook around the buttons. Sew two in place along the side a half inch from top and 1 inch from the bottom. Sew other end of bodice right sides together.

7. Sew skirt top and bottom together (skip if you only have one skirt piece)

8. Sew skirt together at side seam leaving 3 inches open. finish the open edges by folding raw edge under 1/4 inch and sew it.

9. Gather skirt.

10. Pin evenly along the bodice.

11. Sew skirt to bodice.

12. Hem skirt.

13. Add button holes to front and add buttons to straps and side.

14. Put cute jumper on cute child and take 100 pictures of your handiwork!!! :) You are done.

Hope that helps someone, and makes sense! I should have taken more pictures! Sorry. Let me know if you have any questions and best of luck!

Fairy Rings and Other Whimsical things

2011-09-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

(photo source)

This week has been busy, whimsical and quite rainy too. The rain seems to make mushrooms grow everywhere. A walk in the woods over the weekend treated our eyes to a rainbow of colorful mushrooms. I forgot to bring my camera. And sometimes things are more beautiful when you aren't trying to get that perfect shot. Anyhow, I had never seen a fairy ring before. I don't even thing I knew they existed. And since Saturday I have seen 3! They are so magical, a perfect circle of mushrooms. I wonder if I might step into one, if it would take me to fairyland before I get caught trespassing on someone's property. I wonder. I have been lacking in crafts, school, projects and other picture and blog worthy things. Instead, we have been baking and cleaning and folding mountains of clothes. But I am so inspired by other bloggers' brilliant ideas and creative endevors. Like this adorable woodland party from Love the Day: I am contimplating a woodland party for Kieran this year, but trying to keep it very simple AND still adorably cute and autumny. Can you believe the cookies? I wouldn't be able to eat them, they are SO CUTE. Party or not, I also love these owl pumpkins from Better Homes and Gardens: It looks like you could even maybe, just maybe do something similar with little children and a box of nuts and seeds and sticks and the tiny pumpkins. I would love a little flock of these on an old branch this Halloween.

And I can't get over this georgeous wool coat from Craftykin. Really, I just want to make one for each of my girls, my boy, and myself!!! I think it is probably what Little Red Riding hood wore every day of her life.

And this embroidery hoom mushroom decoration by Pillipilli Handmade on Etsy is SO CUTE. I have been meaning to hang more emboidered items on my wall in all the little spaces where we are lacking in the whimsy department. And have you seen the Greenwhich layette from BabyGap? I love every piece of it. I don't own it and may never buy it as Kieran has a nice handful of items for fall, but he would be sweet and adorable in any of these items. And it is always nice to see foresty sweet items for little boys. Seeing as he is already in 18-24months, next year we will be into the less sweet toddler sizes.

Fall is upon us, and I love the cozy woodland projects and inspiration that are blowing around the blogosphere. Now onto pizza crust and popcorn and maybe I can sneak into my sewing room during Kieran's second nap today...

Just to make you smile...

2011-09-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

No explanation needed here. Only, take note of her self-inflicted mullet. Maybe I should
offer her hair-cutting services to some of our neighbors.

And Pasqual, our resident mouser seems to have killed a mouse. Or so you would think as he laid next to this fake one, looking all tired and proud from the chase.

And our little ballerina who loves to dance.

What a silly and beautiful life we live.

Apples and Cinnamon Play dough

2011-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't made play dough in a while. My kids weren't THAT into it last time, but to go along with fall, and apples, and cinnamon and pies, I made apple play dough and cinnamon play dough. I added rollers, pie pan, toothpicks, little butter knives and leaves to make apples: And everything stores nicely in a basket on the table ready for open-ended play. It was a HUGE hit. Almost as huge of a hit as washing dishes in the sink. But not quite.

I used the basic recipe from Playdough.org and divided the dry ingredients in half. For half I added about 2 tsps of cinnamon and then water to cook. For the other half I used steeped Celestial Seasonings Cranberry-apple tea in place of the water. I am unsure how well it will last, but I am storing them in jam jars with lids. I will let you know if it goes bad. I like the recipe overall because it is less greasy than others. My little mad scientist Isabel thought it would be fun to see what adding water would do to playdough while I was on the phone. It made slime. BUT I added a handful of flour and kneaded it in and it saved the day! Good as new aside from the colors being mixed together now. ha.

We had fun using toothpicks as Hedgehog quills, and they also make great candles for birthday cakes and pies. Sometimes its amazing what will work as playdough toys when you don't have a box of store-bought ones! Let the fall smelling molding and making begin!

H is for...

2011-09-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

So I decided now that we are back from our vacation, to get to work on "schooling" the kids, or unschooling, or homeschooling, or whatever you call it when you sing songs, play games, make cookies and have fun in some kind of organized fashion. It feels very official with new backpacks, notebooks and crayons for sure. And their rain boots just kill me. We are still plugging away with letter themes. Maybe by the time they are 18 we will be on the letter Z. I am not using any curriculum whole heatedly, or any particular philosophy as my singular guide. I like aspects of Montessori and Waldorf pedagogy and yet I like the organization of a more traditional education. I want to teach my children to read as early as they show interest so that is our area of focus with Anastasia at least, and we are working through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" which is working beautifully for Anastasia. It is short, I skip through a good bunch of the exercises that bore Anastasia, and hopefully by Christmas she will be reading. But if she isn't I am not going to freak out about it. I think that is why I am homeschooling. So my children don't have to fit into any mold, especially a government-run mold. That being said, homeschooling isn't for everyone, and that is fine too. I secretly wish my inner convictions granted me the freedom to send my kids away for 8 hours a day aboard that big yellow bus. That bus always seems to drive by my house when my kids are fussing and fighting, taunting me in that obnoxious yellow sort-of way. Imagine sending my kids off and knitting all day. But instead I make little boxes of sensory exploration:
This is our Apple Orchard Sensory Tray. We are learning the letter "H" this week, which is why there are Horses in it. Also included are apples (plastic and wooden), pails, baskets, Spanish moss from the $store, various wooden trees, scoops, pie tin, pom poms galore, blocks for fences and hidden in the bottom is a bag of cranberry apple tea for that yummy "apple" smell! And then I made a fall box, or as we call it, our Hedgehog box. Beans, silk leaves, wooden branch slices, wooden apples, wooden acorns, mushrooms, pine cones, pom poms (I am on a pompom kick!!) moss, scoops, cups for making fall beverages, wooden hedgies and hidden in the bottom is a bag of Chai tea for a nice smell. Opening this box smells divine!

I also made some Montessori inspired trays of activities. My real hope and desire was to come up with things to keep Isabel busy while I work on reading with Anastasia.

Marble spooning (the leaf dishes were in the dollar section at Michael's).

Pompom sorting with little tongs.

Counting leaves (this is a bit advanced for them right now).

Sticking with the "H" theme we read Hedgie's Surprise by Jann Brett and made Hedgehog cookies as our baking activity. I love the Waldorf concept of daily and weekly rhythm so Monday is our baking day. We sang Happy songs and did the Hokey Pokey and played Hide and Seek.

Oh, and can you believe how big and handsome this little man is? I can't stand how cute he is. He is such a perfect, happy, cuddly baby. He is the kind of baby that makes people want lots of babies. Only I know what other genes are in our pool... and that scares me. hahaha.

to Asheville and back again

2011-09-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Ooooooh we had a lovely time on our vacation. Asheville, NC and the surrounding area is just as beautiful and imaginative as anyplace I have ever been. We stayed in this awesome timber-framed cabin called Byrd's Nest nestled on a mountain in the quaint town of Black Mountain. I loved the house. I loved Black Mountain. I loved seeing my brother and meeting his girlfriend. I loved being with my whole family. And I loved this Coffee Shop too: The Dripolator serves some of the best coffee I have ever tasted, ever. And they had a cute little location in downtown Black Mountain right next to A YARN STORE. Oh, and that is not all. The streets are lined with pottery shops and antique stores, a fabric shop and a specialty tea and spice store. We spent a little money. And we drooled a lot! I felt so at home our cozy cabin in that little town I was ready to pack up and move there. And if everything fell into place I would do it too. But our life is here. Our home is here. Our friends and family and everything is here. But I did love it there. At least I have a bag of Dripolator coffee to brew here, in my home.

Ok, so as if the awesome, crafty, deliciously caffeinated town of Black Mountain wasn't awesome enough, it is surrounded by WATERFALLS. As in, tons of waterfalls. Most of them are about an hour away, but they are there and everywhere. We decided to do a waterfall tour with the whole family. Our first stop was the above Sliding Rock. We were hesitant to stop because in all the pictures we had seen online beforehand, there were crowds of people lined up to take their turn sliding down the waterfall. But we stopped and it just so happened to be the off season and we were the only ones there!!! And it was FREEZING but possibly the most exhilarating and exciting and SCARY thing I have done in a very, very long time. It was so. much. fun. If you are in the area, and school is in session, you must do this. The water falling over the smooth rock creates a natural water slide, and it is pretty long and gets quite fast at the end before it shoots you into a freezing 8ft pool at the bottom. The kids were too young to enjoy this natural playground, but all of us grown-ups felt like little kids flying down the waterfall. It was definitely the highlight of our trip for me.

Then we went about a mile down the road to looking glass falls. This is supposedly a "perfect waterfall". And it is. It was very pretty, though we did not go over this one. I did jump into the pool at the bottom and tried to swim up to it, but the fall was so powerful it pushed me away. It was pretty for sure. After lunch and a couple hours in the van on very windy roads, we came to our third waterfall of the day which we were able to drive under:

Do you see the waterfall behind us? That thing that looks like rain is called "Bridal Veil Falls" and we drove FOREVER to get to the darn thing. And that was it. Water dripping over a rock that you could drive under. We all had a very long and good laugh. But I guess that is all part of the adventure. The adventure ended on a very pleasant note though.

The final fall we visited was "dry falls" and despite its name, this fall was wet and stunning and you could even walk underneath the falling cascades. It was definitely the most beautiful fall we saw on our trip and we ended the tour at a Brewery in Asheville for pizza and beer. :) YUm. Another highlight of our trip was Robert Lake Park in Montreat, NC. It was a nice little park built along a creekbed with creekside picnic tables and playgrounds built around trees. Our girls enjoyed splashing in the creek and we couldn't have asked for a nicer spot for a picnic!

We spent a day in Asheville looking through some artsy craftsy stores, and spent nights in the hot tub. We were creamed in a game of Cranium with my family and cooked out and enjoyed the views from the cabin and swang on a swing to nowhere. There were so many things we didn't get to do as well. On our way home we took the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked along the Linville Gorge and Waterfalls. The vastness of the gorge was pretty spell binding and somewhat frightening. It was a nice hike to break up our time in the car. It was so pretty in the forest, and quite magical. And I do love our home in Virginia, but North Carolina has its own bounty of natural treasures that I hope to explore more of in this lifetime. But like water over a waterfall, our life seems to be flowing by so fast. I blink and my baby is pulling himself up. My 4-year-old is taking ballet. My 2-year-old can count to ten. And they can cut their own hair all by themselves. And I could have cried while scooping up their curls from the floor. Yet it is just a part of having little ones. They are so much trouble, so much work, and such great big bundles of love and joy. Life goes by so fast, yet never gets old for the young at heart.

Buggin' Out.

2011-08-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

In a couple of days we are leaving for our vacation! We are heading down to Asheville, NC and we are all very excited! We have never been there before so as we venture in to the unknown with a van chocked full of kids, I decided to come up with some fun things to occupy them in the back seat. We have been meaning to buy them some backpacks for hiking/ballet/etc, so the timing was perfect to pick up a couple of these adorable Skip Hop animal backpacks. I let each girl pick one, Anastasia picked the frog and Isabel picked the owl, which coincidentally coordinates with rain boots that they each have. I took a picture of them, with their backpacks and rainboots as we went to a friend's house during the hurricane that I HAVE to post, but I can't right now. So sad.

For entertainment purposes, I picked up some cute Imaginetics playsets which we have had in the past and they have been loved and played with. I love the little fairytale forest! They fit nicely in a gallon ziplock bag, ready for the open road!

And nothing like some sweet Dover Little Activity books to keep the kids engaged in fun! I love how many different ones there are and you can coordinate them to your trip, or a theme of any sort. And for $1.50 each you can't beat the price! I think you can score them at Cracker Barrel too.

Last night I did a search for travel games, and found these awesome Auto Bingo cards!!! Did anyone have these as a kid? I remember we had them when I was little and it was so much fun to see who could get Bingo first! So yes, while everyone else brings DVD players and such, we are going to be those hokey parents who make their kids play Bingo and licence plate ABC's and they will roll their eyes at us and we will know we are doing our job. HAHA. Anyway, thanks to Amazon Prime, I should have Auto Bingo on my doorstep tomorrow morning. We will see!

Oh and I just love the Klutz books. I purchased a few of them a while back, including the Pop Bead Critters which are SO MUCH FUN! Unfortunately they are too messy for the back seat, but they make a great toy for sitting at a restaurant. My kids LOVE these. Honestly though, you probably don't need the book, you could just by a refill pack and get TONS of pop beads and put them in some plastic containers that are easier to manage. I also have the fold out castle which again will work well as a new toy for the cabin we stay at, but not so hot for the car. For the car we have the felt fun book for Anastasia and I bought some Body Art crayons for Isabel which is her favorite thing to do (draw on herself). Make sure you check Amazon for them because I found the castle there for $5 shipped!

Anyway, I also raided the dollar store and Target for stickers, flashlights, glow sticks, first aid kits, colored pencils, notepads, coloring books and found a couple more of my old Polly Pockets and I am working on some bendy "fairy princess dolls" that Anastasia has been begging me for... so I think we are set! I love packing fun bags for the kids, possibly more than they enjoy the fun of them!

*************************************************

And as we are heading out I am leaving my shop open for orders and I am having a little Sale:

Spend $20 or more (before shipping), you can purchase a leaf bedroom set for $6.00!

Spend $50 or more and recieve free shipping!

Spend $75 or more and recieve free shipping and a free leaf bedroom set!

Spend $100 or more and recieve free shipping, a free bedroom set, and 10% off via a refund or custom listing.

ALSO, if you are a returning customer, please convo me for a coupon code for 15% off your order (which can not be combined with the 10%off-- Sorry!)

Sale will last until September 3rd! Everything ordered between now and then will ship on September 5th! Hooray for sales! And gnomes also make great travel toys! They have accompanied us on many adventures! :)

A new, old chair.

2011-08-25T16:22:00.001-07:00

A couple months ago, I covered a glider that was given to me when I was pregnant with Anastasia. It was a bit worse for wear:

And this picture doesn't show all the icky stains. To make the cover, I took apart the cushions and traced around them with 1 inch to spare. I added some loops with velcro to the back to attach to the bars the same way the old cushions did. I also traced the arm rest the same way, but the way it was shaped made it especially difficult. I decided for a fact, I never want to be an upholsterer. I really didn't enjoy this at all. lol. But the end result was worth it. My chair which had been evicted to the porch due to its sheer ugliness, has been granted a nice cozy spot in my living room. And the resident furniture testers give it 5 stars:

On a side note, I did make 8 pints of salsa yesterday! Another project that could have been more fun, but wasn't. And I now realize what a spoiled housewife you must think I am! It might have been more fun if I had gloves on when I chopped the jalepenos. It might have been even more fun if I hadn't been crying while chopping onions. It might have been great if I didn't taste test STEAMING HOT SALSA without letting it cool first. Beer is apparently the secret ingredient. But not for the salsa, for the salsamaker.

And on another side note, our local Target is getting produce soon. I really just wanted some Breyers mint chocolate chip ice cream, half and half and lasagna noodles last night. They didn't have any because they are reorganizing things. SO I had to go to Wal-Mart. I don't care what people say, Wal-mart is more expensive than Target. And you waste more time getting from Point A to Point B. So you lose money, and time. And the people there are mean.

And can you tell I have been cooped up in the house too long? I seem to be grouchy. LOL. I shouldn't be, because we have had fun watching David the Gnome on Youtube while painting unicorns, mushrooms and dinosaurs. And what could be better than that? Yes. I must be becoming a spoiled grouchy housewife. :)

Harvest time

2011-08-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

Sooooo this was my biggest garden harvest EVER!!! Picked in one day!!! To many gardeners this is probably laughable, but I am SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! This picture was from last month though, and things have slowed down and died. I have some pictures of the kid's garden to share another day. Isabel harvested a pumpkin the other day, and loves it to pieces. It is currently on the small bookshelf beside her bed next to her special doll so she can always look at her prized, little sugar pumpkin. I love that kid. Even if she is a little crazy. We also picked 2 apple trees and made a couple gallons of applesauce, and now the pears are coming in. Between our first successful garden and the CSA share, we have more food than we can possibly eat... and then some! Today I am picking seckle pears and making salsa!! I do not look forward to fall and winter AT ALL. Summer has been too, too short.

I do look forward to cooler weather a little bit, so Kieran can wear his new hat everyday! Isn't it adorable?? I didn't make it, but I purchased it from Stella B Designs on Etsy, thanks to a heartsy deal. I am currently knitting him a pebble vest also. Can you imagine the cuteness with some little corderoy pants? I have to say, I do love fall fashion. Especially for little kids. :)

Here is a terrible, unflattering picture of the mermaid skirt I made. I made one for each girl and they are very cute and summery. They seem to have the right amount of twirl. I just wish I had some nicer pictures.

We have been to the farm several more times, and had a perfectly splendid day yesterday with beautiful weather in the 80s. They had a whole bunch of baby bunnies, we picked raspberries and I even knitted while the girls played and Kieran napped. It was lovely! And somehow, we completely missed the earthquake while we were there. Nick felt it pretty strongly at his work, closer to DC. There seems to be a significant amount of damage, and I am most sad about the castle in our old neighborhood (aka the National Cathedral). I am glad that not too many people were harmed. Other things we have been up to:

*Kieran is scooching at mad speeds. He looks like a little sea lion. He is adorable.

*The girls got backpacks today. Isabel wants to fill hers with stinkbugs.

*Speaking of stinkbugs, she is having a "stinkbug birthday" in 5 weeks, and I am stumped with decorations and cupcake toppers.

*Anastasia is starting Ballet in 2 weeks. She is walking on clouds thinking about it.

*I finally picked paint for my craft room, but have yet to get to painting.

*Made ratatouille in the crock pot yesterday. It was YUMMY and used loads of garden produce.

*I started making Kieran babyfood. Yesterday I made gingered carrots and pears, today was avacado with magoes and peaches. Lucky boy. I don't eat that well.

*My parents let me borrow their camera. Sadly I still don't have a cord that works.

*I am still in love with pinterest. I have no life otherwise.

*I found an empty water bottle at the farm yesterday, and I am filling it with beads and food coloring as a sensory toy for Kieran for our trip.

*Speaking of trash-to-treasure opportunities, I have been on a thrifty high lately. Vintage pyrex is my new vintage love.

*If I ever am to get salsa made today, I better do it now. Adios!

Inspiration.

2011-08-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

(picture from Pinterest)

Am I the last person ever to discover Pinterest? I have been making albums and adding pictures to them from all over the web. Albums of inspiring things like elvin cottages, fairy tale bedrooms, and dream craft room ideas. This week I am determined to clean, organize and paint my craft room. While my space is very small, I hope that I can add more functionality to the little space I have. Is anyone else obsessed with organizing with Mason Jars? I am.
(Photo credit)

Sadly my own camera is no longer functioning. It broke the other day and I am at a bit of a loss as what to do at the moment. I can no longer take pictures for my blog and shop, and most importantly, I will be missing a lot of "firsts" for Kieran, and all those other amazing moments in childhood that should be documented. I do hope to remedy this soon.

(Pinterest photo credit)

I don't have nearly as much space as this room, but I love the freshness and how organized it is.
(Photo credit)

I will need something to fill empty space on the walls. I love the idea of putting fabric in emroidery hoops for decoration. It is like a quilt made of bubbles on the wall. (Photo credit)

I must say this last room is the most inspiring. Maybe it is all the red or the inspiration board. Or maybe just seeing the word "make" inspires me to do just that.

Can you believe it is mid-August already? I had planned on painting my craft room long before now. Actually I bought the paint when we purchased our house... 3 years ago. It is about time I get to work. I apologize in advance for the lack of posting and pictures. Until a new camera falls from the sky it may be a bit dull over here. :( Thankfully I have some old pictures to carry me through for a little while, and I hope to use this time to develop the 3+ years worth of pictures that I have on my computer. And hopefully I will have a new craft room to photograph by the time I have a camera again! :)

100 Years.

2011-08-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we drove down to Dinwiddie County, Va to my family's ancestial church, St. John Nepomuk for our family reunion. This year marks the 100th anniversary of my great Grandfather, Charles Uzel, and his brother Frank Uzel's pilgrimage to America from Gernik, Romania. The church appears to be modeled after the Catholic church of the same name in Gernik, Romania. My great grandfather, his brother and their wives were all buried in the cemetary behind this small, beautiful church.

The church was simple, small and yet beautiful in every way. I felt at home in the pretty sanctuary built by my family. A very pretty statue of Mary.

The alter.

The infant of Prague.

The stained glass was also stunning.

St. John Nepomuk was a martyr and is a patron saint of the Czech people. He was drowned by Charles the IV for not revealing his wife, Elizabeth's confession. That is true honor. We had a very fun day at the reunion, seeing all my aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, cousin's cousins, etc. Anastasia had a blast with the other children, one little girl who was her age in particular. They danced, and played and moonbounced and blowed bubbles while we enjoyed delicious sour kraut, kilbasa, kalache and Czech Beer. Not to mention a huge building full of good company, family from far and wide who wouldn't exist if not for Charles and Frank's bold expedition across the Atlantic. Its wild to think of all the events in History that take place in a very particular way to lead up to the moment in time where we live our little lives.

I am so grateful to know our history that we may understand better who we are, and pass on the legacy that was started many years ago. I am flooded with so many emotions after a weekend with family who I see so little of now that I have my own family. It is hard not to come away a little sad that we are so far away from one another in this communication age. It is sad to think that others may not still be around at the next reunion as things and people change and move on to the next life. It is hard that in only 2 generations we have lost our Czech language and no longer know how to make a proper kolache. It is sad that I don't know my grandfather's gardening tricks, or how to make a bottle of my Uncle's blackberry wine or pickels. I don't know much about who my grandparents were, nor the amazing people who were my great grandparents. And yet when we all connect at a reunion, and see similarities and find that there are some things that are a part of us that could never be taught or passed on verbally. Hearing the stories and history and seeing pictures remind us of where we came from and shapes, in a small way, that who we become. And did I mention that there was not only a moon bounce, but also a Snow Cone machine at our reunion? They have become much more fun since I was little. I think Isabel had 10 snow cones.

Fairy Gowns and Hedgie

2011-07-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last week Kieran took a lovely nap that lasted hours, and I had a day with my sewing machine. It was supposed to be stormy, but it never rained so I let my girls watch a movie, and play quietly in my craft room while I made skirts and these darling gowns. I cut them out last summer... and I don't remember if I used a tutorial or a pattern or not. I must made a pillowcase dress to wear to bed. I wish I had purchased more of the fabric for a matching pair of pants for Kieran.

Not one of these pictures is spectacular, nor do they give you the full picture of how darling these little gowns truly are. The print has fairies and moons and stars on it. I am hoping that as summer turns to fall and winter, the girls could wear these over a pair of tight fitting jammies or long underwear.

Either way the gowns are long enough to wear for a few years or more. I think they each took a little less than an hour to make and could easily be made from a thrifted pillowcase or something of the sort. They look very Little House on the Prarie-ish to me! And of course they are the perfect attire for torturing small kittens.

I also came up with this little hedgie who has been living in my head for way too long. Kieran has been in love with stuffed animals lately, if only to find their tags and play with them. So a tag-toy was needed. It was a simple craft, yet I plan to make several more for my Etsy shop. I will probably space the ribbons out a bit more so they are more visually stimulating to a baby as well as maybe color-coordinate them with the fabric better. Kieran does seem to love his hedgehog friend, especially sucking on his nose. He may be nice to wet, and throw in the freezer for teeth relief. I just love making little lovelies for my children! And today I have peaches to process! Fun! :)

Summer. Sweet, Sweet Summer!!!

2011-07-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned what a fun summer this has been? Well it has been the BEST summer ever, for sure. My mom and I took the kids to a waterpark a couple weeks ago and we all had so much fun. Since I found my camera cord, and camera, and uploaded a month's worth of photos, I thought I would share our fun! Can I say that even Kieran LOVED the waterpark. He is definintely a water baby, and likes to float on his back and kick and splash. He has a lot of chub to keep him afloat too. haha.

I think Isabel might have had the best time of all at the waterpark! She went down every slide, over and over and over again! She is definitely the mermaid of the bunch... and the dare-devil! And seeing her go down these slides reminded me of how quickly she is growing up!

Anastasia's favorite part about the water park was making friends. She wasn't keen on most of the slides, and hates getting water in her eyes, but she seems to make friends wherever she goes. And that is the sweetest thing indeed.

Kieran is certainly a beach bum. 8 months is definitely a fun age for him. He is becoming more and more pleasant and happy, and I am finding ways to help him cope with his anti-social tendencies. I think the best part about having babies in the fall and winter, is enjoying their first summer when they are thick, cuddly babies with sunhats, chubrolls and big drooly smiles. It is the best. Until they are older and you can't have summer cookout birthday parties.

Like the cookout party and cake we had for Martin during the Schap family visit. Martin shot a skunk that was bothering Ben and Anna's hens during his visit. So Ben, who happens to be a very talented artist, made a skunk stencil for Martin's cake. The heart symbolizes our anniversary as it happened to be on the same day. The cake has a very "Pepe le Pew" feel to it, don't you think? Sadly enough this was one of 2 pictures I have of our friend's visit.

Last Sunday we went to Georgetown, and took a walk, and some pictures. It was perfectly perfect weather. And we ended with perfectly perfect pizza. Here is the C&O Canal. We used to walk by here when we lived close to Georgetown. It is so beautiful and serene next to the bustling city. It was such a sweet trip down memory lane. We also enjoyed cookies and coffee from Baked and Wired which we visited several times when we were city snobs and partook in such luxuries quite often. It seems they have been very successful, and expanded quite a bit, offering tons of adorably expensive cupcakes for sale too. I remember they always had "doggie cookies" for sale, and I am happy to report, they still do. And their coffee is still awesome. I feel a bit like a kid in a candy store when I go into the city and enjoy the delicious food and fancy stores. I miss parts of the city life, and I love going back to places we enjoyed, but I am far happier being a country bumpkin.

On Saturday my mom and I took the kids to a children's are expo. They had fun making all kinds of crafts. Kieran made friends with himself. And that was really cute.

So yes, our summer is very awesome. I hope yours is too! :) Right now I have cupcakes cooling on the stove for Anastasia's half-birthday tomorrow! We are also heading out to our CSA farm so I have high hopes for a special day for her. Last week our CSA gave us beets. AGAIN. I want to love beets, I really do. I gave beets a chance, and I just don't like them. I never have and it is possible I never will. I needed to find a way to make beets taste like something other than beets. It seems that I may have succeeded by making CUPCAKES! They are chocolate, but they have beets, applesauce and squash in them. The batter was the best cake batter ever! Tomorrow I will take the yummy chocolate mounds of veggies and slather them with buttercream icing and no one will be the wiser. How exciting! And Anastasia will officially be 4 and a half! Wow! Life has taken on wings and is flying by. Can someone tell me where July has gone?

2011-07-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

So my cord that connects my camera to my computer is MIA. Oh how sad that is too as I have been sewing with wreckless abandon. We have been up to our usual dose of summer fun. Annie and Martin and their cute little girls came to Virginia for a visit last week. We really had a ball with them! Annie and I even got to steal away to a yarn shop and a fabric store... alone. Alone with Kieran that is. :)

We had our fair share of tribulation last week when our well pump broke. We have had quite a few water issues this year, so I am really hoping we are set for a while! Thankfully the plumbers were able to fix it right away so we only went a day and a half without water. It is amazing how much we take simple things like running water and flushing toilets for granted!

Sunday we made a spur-of-the-moment trip to DC and vistited the zoo! It would have been a great plan but half the zoo is closed due to renovations. We saw a sleeping sloth bear, an otter, some zebras, squirrels, a chipmunk, some horses and an elephant. Thankfully after Mass we went to Georgetown and enjoyed some cookies and coffee and a pleasant walk along the canal, followed by a "picnic in the van" of Armand's awesome pizza. It was a fun, fun day indeed. :) Also I noticed a Serendipity 3 in Georgetown that just opened. I am very excited to visit for a date, or a fun dessert extravaganza with the kids when they are older!

So much to blog about... so little pictures. :( Hopefully I can remedy this soon! July has been such a good, hot month!

Song for a Fifth Child

2011-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

(this picture was months ago, taken by my good friend Andrea.)

Song For a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hubert Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up the bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

(Lullaby, Rockaby, lullaby, loo.)
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

(Pat-a-Cake, darling and peek, peekaboo).

And out in the yard there is hullabaloo.

But I'm playing kanga and this is my Roo.

Look aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, Rockaby, lullaby loo)

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

********************************************

I guess this song works for the third child too... and brings tears to my eyes at the shortness of time. I think I will go snuggle my baby a bit more...

peek peekaboo, lullaby,rockabye, lullaby loo.

Lakes, pies, and fireworks.

2011-07-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

I had planned about 10 posts in my head this week. It seems like getting an actual free minute or two to write a post is not at the top of my priority list right now. Making pies is pretty high on that list though. We had a great 4th of July, celebrated with family, friends and a great firework show at a friend's farm. It was perfection! I didn't take a picture of anything except the pie. That shows you the priority level of such things. Our early apple tree is covered in apples that I need to pick. I will see what I can get this weekend, and then perhaps I will open our tree to anyone who wants to come get them...

Nick and I went out for our anniversary to Can Can Brasserie in Carytown (Richmond) on Sunday, and it was delicious. Can Can is a neat little french restaurant done in a vintage, 1930s feel. It was yummy, and a nice trip back in time. Our anniversary is over a week away but it just seems that it takes the stars aligning in just a certain way during a full moon on a Sunday while one of us is holding our mouth just right, for us to get out on a date. Alone. This has been our first date without Kieran in his entire little life. It was so weird. In a good way. Suddenly we were young and carefree again... and it is sad to think it will be another 17 or so years before the carefree part becomes "normal" for us... and then we won't be so young anymore. But then I found we talked a lot about our kids while we were out... and we went into all the toy and kid clothing stores in Carytown. So I guess, even though we enjoyed a night out, we kind of missed our lovely babies deep down inside. Quiet must get old after awhile, right? I forget.

We also took a little trip into The Jefferson Hotel. We had considered dinner there after our first 2 options didn't work out. For me, if the title of a dish is a paragraph long, it probably isn't going to be much of a meal by the time they put it on a plate. So, that is how we ended up at CanCan.

I made another dish-drain quilt the other day and I think it is entirely cute. I hope to make 2-3 more so they won't be missed when they take a trip to the washer. Overally, my counter is much cuter and they seem to be working well!

= Last week we went day-camping. We spent a day with my parents while they were camping, and we went home afterwards and slept in our own comfy beds. We were able to roast marshmallows around a campfire, swim in a lake and grill out, without having to toss and turn uncomfortably in a hot tent while getting eaten alive by misquitos. haha, and I do love camping. Right now in our life though, day-camping is a much better alternative. If anyone would like to give me a pop-up camper, that would solve a lot of problems. :)

Here was the lake. Isn't it lovely? It is a place called the Cove. I have never been there. It was pretty much in the middle of a place called Nowhere. Kieran is such a little beach bum. He loves splashing. And then he likes to stick his head into the water and drink it. He thinks pond scum is yummy. He is cute at least. Even if he is crazy. Isabel is our little fish. She has taken to the water that was a bit scary to her last year. It is funny, sad and beautiful how children change, and grow. Anastasia is our little social-bug. She makes friends wherever she goes and it really melts my heart, and reminds me that she will have friends who love her, wherever life takes her. All I have to say about this baby and bulldozer picture is that Boys will be boys. Okay, that isn't all I have to say, because just a few posts ago I was annoyed at the dumb bulldozers and dumptrucks on baby clothes. I like to keep things simple, sweet and less industrialized for my boy. Nick tells me I am turning Kieran into a gnome. He says I need to applique chain saws and guns onto onesies for him. So, at the campground, a giant bulldozer drove by us and Kieran was beside himself with joy, kicking and screaming in bliss as this loud monstrosity nearly ran us over. He loved it and I can't deny it. I thought he was too young for such machinery, but I have not seen anything compare to the effect of the bulldozer. I guess Nick wins. My baby is still my baby for now, but he is all boy just the same.

We swam in a little pond last week too with our playgroup at a farm. It was another lovely day in our "best summer ever" log. I do love Summer. Especially now that I have kids... and can live childhood all over again!

Red, White and Blue

2011-07-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

It has been quite patriotic around here. Red, white and blue are the colors of America. The colors of summer berries and whipped cream, candy and ice cream, mushrooms and lakes. Oh I love summer and all the red, white and blue that comes with it! We made a fun little tray:The theme was a red, white and blue ice cream and candy shoppe! Oh and it has been the most fun yet. The best part is that it is fat-free and won't give any one a sugar high! I also added an empty vanilla bottle for "smell" and some mint leaves for taste! The girls have been into painting their toe nails for the past month. Even our toes are proud to be Americans. :)

Oh, oh, oh, the best red of the summer yet.... tomatoes! These are little cherry and sungold tomatoes, and the first of the season! I think this is more tomatoes than I got from my garden the ENTIRE SUMMER last year. My black thumb is getting a bit greener...

Our nature/seasonal table is decked out in the American spirit too! What is more American than a waterfall with unicorns and mushrooms? hahaha. And of course Anastasia insisted the pink mushroom stay on the table. but America is all about freedom... so it stays.

My red, white and aqua DISH DRAIN QUILT!!! I made this the other day after seeing the idea and directions in my favorite new magazine Mary Jane's Farm. Nick gave me a subscription for my birthday, and I seem to find a million yummy things to make, gardening and household tips and neat craft/decorating ideas (And ugh, advertisements for fabrics I NEED!). And the style and feel make me feel like I am reading through an old victorian catalogue/scrapbook. Need I say more? YES. Because the June issue had dish drain quilts which was the perfect, simple craft to beautify my kitchen a little. My old plastic tray was the home of various forms of mildew and icky sulfer and other sediments crusted on. Now, my dishes can dry in style, with cute patriotic accents! :) For a few other dish drainer quilt ideas, go here , here and here.

Oh look, little patriotic pants! Well, that wasn't really what I was thinking when I made them. I had a little of this fabric left over that needed to be little light weight quick change trousers from Handmade Beginnings. He loves them. Anyway, we have had a busy week of swimming in lakes, meeting cows, eating watermelon, blueberries, first peaches and marshmallows.... oh so much fun! And more to come as this BEST SUMMER EVER continues! Unfortunately, today housework and laundry continues for me... But this weekend holds oh, so much promies! Happy Fourth of July (a tad early) to you all!! May it be free, fun and sparkly!!!

Happenings...

2011-06-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

Time is flying to fast these days! My little snuggle-pie is just beginning to scooch around. Too soon he will be crawling, walking, and getting into everything! How fleeting this first year of life is... with so much growing to do! It is bittersweet I tell you. I try to savor it between everything else. Last week we picked a bunch of these wild beauties: Our forest is full of black raspberry bushes! We picked about 5-6 pints. I am sure there are more waiting for me today! They are yummy on oatmeal and in milkshakes. The girls have been SO EXCITED to help pick them. As we pick them, the girls like to come up with new ideas of things to make from them. Isabel always picks milk shakes.

We decided to keep this little kitten as a "porch kitty". She is so sweet, and gentle with the girls, and has a really peaceful way about her. I planned to give her away, but I just can't part with her. We named her "Kahlan" after the heroine from Legend of the Seeker. She inspired me to continue reading the book series the show was based off of. So far it is great fun, and very exciting. And I have a cat to sit in my lap wherever I choose to read. I guess I am officially a nerd. :)

We had a lot of fun letting a jar of praying matis' go in our garden. My mom let me catch some from her garden (which is PRAYING MANTIS HEAVEN) for our own little veggie patch. My garden has already given us our first cherry-sized tomatoes. We also are still eating lettuce, radishes, kale and finished up our sugar snap peas, and we picked our very first green beans!!! There are little tomatoes, and little peppers everywhere, and my squash and cucumbers are growing quite well. The girls planted pumpkins and sunflowers which are growing too! Of all the garden's I have planted, this is the best one!!! I hope this rain and garden goodness continues! Also, we have a little toad who moved in!

This weekend we painted half of our kitchen which is HUGE. I have been wanting this done for years, and especially so after getting our floors finished! So hopefully the house progress will continue too. I have plans, plans and more plans! Where is all this time I am supposed to have as a stay-at-home mom??? Well, I wish you all a lovely, summer week! :)

Swiss Chard Summer Pasta

2011-06-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

I love June. June is so flavorful! While the swiss chard in my garden is only a whole 4 inches tall, our CSA box was packed full of it last week! So after eating it as a side dish, adding some to my pizza, I found THIS recipe, and made it my own. Super easy, super yummy!!

What you need:

1 box of penne
1 small garlic scape
2 green onions
1 medium bunch of swiss chard
1- 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes (or 3-4 fresh if you have them!)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup parmasagn cheese
and any herbs you love

Recipe:

1. Boil water for pasta and cook according to box.

2. Chop garlic scapes, onions and swiss chard (I even used the stems!) and saute everything except the chard leaves in 2 TB of oil in a skillet until soft. Then add chard leaves and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, sour cream, milk and parmasagn cheese and cook until smooth and creamy and heated through. Add salt and pepper (and any other herbs) to taste.

4. Serve over pasta and enjoy!

I told you that was easy! Now go visit your local farmer and make this for dinner! :)

F is for....

2011-06-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Farm Fairies

and Frogs.

oh.my. I have been having way too much fun with making sensory trays to go with our "letter of the week". So be prepared for more! Many, many more! And here is a little note on sensory trays, their educational value, and where to get started. They provide a lot of experimenting and creative play with new textures and mediums. Some people keep them out or ready to go for long periods, I usually just do 1-2 a week and save the items for something else later. :) Fun.fun.FUN!

Down on the Farm

2011-06-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

So this week we picked up our first CSA share at Great Country Farms! As you may already know, I love this place! It is packed with fun things for everyone, including a jumping pillow, putt-putt, animals, playgrounds, mazes and giant slides! Not to mention our box of fresh veggies, and herbs, and some cherries and PYO black raspberries! Yum. We ended up going a second time this week after our original waterpark plans with my mom didn't work out yesterday.

Even my cuddle-pie loved it with Giraffe squeaky toy in hand. We love Sophie, do you?

There were some adorable goslings at the farm who ate food right out of our hands. CUTE! And the mama goose just hissed at us. haha.

So much make-believe fun!

And this guy entertained us with a feather show! Isn't he great?

My goofy girl.

And they had cute, cute, cute baby goats!!!! I have a thing for baby goats! They were as friendly as can be and kept licking Anastasia to pieces. She has a way with animals. And so does Kieran apparently:

Is that not the cutest baby on the cutest blow-up cow? Like I said. Something for everyone. After our trip yesterday, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up bread, salad dressing and a kitten:

Only, the kitten wasn't on my list. She was wandering around hopelessly in the very busy parking lot. Anastasia has not put her down since we brought her home. We are planning on finding her a new forever home somewhere else...... but I kind of really want to keep her. She is the sweetest little kitty. Besides my dear Pasqual of course. Anybody want her??? No? Okay, maybe we will just HAVE to keep her.

Best day ever!!

2011-06-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today was awesome. We have been talking about visiting Douthat State Park for some time now, and finally decided to do it! We decided to visit Falling Springs Waterfall before heading to the park, and I am so glad we did. It was a bit of a drive, but worth every moment.

We arrived at the breathtaking falls, that were just off the road. You could overlook the fall that dropped 80 feet into a series of cascading pools below. Beautiful doesn't begin to describe what we saw. We did see some people at the bottom of the falls and I was instantly needing to be down, underneath the falling water. But the path looked long, steep, and like this:

Yeah. That was the path. I had to convince Nick that we had to go down there with a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 7-month old in the Beco... who doesn't always love the Beco. But I am a good persuader. And Nick wanted to hike down as much as I did, only he is a little more reasonable and just a little less crazy.

So, we went down the crazy rock scramble, and a very kind man (with a southern accent and missing tooth) helped Isabel and I over some tricky boulders. It was a short, rocky path and again, worth the danger we put ourselves in to walk behind the amazing fall.

Water fell all over and around us. It was astounding. Time stood still. Even Kieran enjoyed it. But who wouldn't? If you looked up from beneath the fall, it looked like this: And life doesn't really get any better.

Except that everyday I have these people to love under the falls, in a cave and everywhere...

And we finished our adventure, with a dip in the lake at Douthat. It was beautiful, fun, relaxing and refreshing.

I could have stayed there forever. I declared today a "daycation" and we plan to take more this summer. It is so difficult sometimes to leave the responsibilities of our little homestead, but coming back from a day like today renews one's spirit and strengthens the bond of our family. And while I have many favorite days, this was one of the best. ;)

Little House in the Big Valley

2011-06-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Oh me, oh my, how I love cherry pie!
It is that time of year again, here in our little house in the big Valley. Can you guess what books we just began reading? The Little House books of course! We are starting with Little House in the Big Woods. I don't recall loving these books as much when I was younger as I do now, reading them aloud to my daughters. But something is certain, these stories make me long for a simpler time, a slower life and a richer, more flavorful existence.

When my children grow old, I want them to remember picking cherries, making jam together and baking pies. I don't want them to remember how much time Mommy spent on the computer or talking on the cell phone or how many movies they watched when mommy needed a moment or two. In fact, after reading how cell phones are slowly killing us, I feel inclined to burn mine while simultaneously throwing my laptop out the window. Especially in light of our recent phone and electric bill this month, which could have very well have been more than Pa Ingalls made in his lifetime. None the less, I enjoy picking cherries with my sweeties.

This is the first year I had some little helpers. Sadly we lost half of our cherry tree this winter and my heart is breaking as I admit that my tree is probably dieing. I picked every cherry I could in order to make and enjoy pies and jam as if they are the last we might eat from this tree. We also asked our kind, elderly neighbors if we could have some of their cherries since they don't pick them. They told me to take as many as I liked even though my baby fussed his little head off during our visit with them. They also told me to watch out for the bear!! Apparently they had a bear picking cherries earlier that day and he was 6 feet tall or so they said. But the pies and jam beckoned me, and I went ahead and picked them that evening. As the sky grew dark I wasn't sure if I was more afraid of the bear, or a neighbor with a gun who might think I was a bear, so I hurried in before some unkind fate became of me.

So, hours of pitting later we have cherries in the freezer, cherries in jars, cherries in a pie and cherries in a strudel... and somehow, it still isn't enough! I am already planning my future orchard packed with cherry trees. Both girls helped with the pitting:

It is nice reading the Little House books, because Laura's story brings great importance to the seasonal gathering and preparing of food. My friend Sharon and I were dreaming the other day of how nice it would be to live like they did in Laura Ingall's day, and then our power went out last night for quite a while and you could say we had a little taste of that. Everything was so dark and quiet. We had a peaceful dinner and our house was too dark for the tasks I had lined up. So we went outside and played in the last hour of daylight. We talked to our neighbors who were all out on their porches too. The children went to bed quickly and quietly, reverent almost to the peace and quiet of a simpler life. I did miss my sewing machine and a little midnight Internet surfing, or even adequate reading light, but I enjoyed the pause, the slowness that seemed to keep my babies small and still for a few moments longer than usual. I could relax without worrying about a long to-do list. It was lovely. But I will say, there is also something lovely about a flushing toilet and a washing machine. I suppose I just need to find a healthy balance between simplicity and technology as we make out own journey, in our own little house in this great big valley.

A Home for a Fairy...

2011-06-04T07:04:00.001-07:00

We have a very big, old tree in the middle of our yard. It is enchanted I am sure. If you look really closely you might come across a brand, new, shiny fairy house:

Anastasia and I worked together to create this little house for the fairies. It was SO MUCH FUN. Anastasia was beside herself with glee and already has plans for her new fairy friend when they meet and become best friends. I explained to her how dangerous it is for a fairy to befriend a human.

We used little furniture and sweater scraps to cozy the place up. And spruced up the outside with hydrangas. I think a fairy would be very happy to live here.

First thing this morning, Anastasia wanted to go outside and see if any fairies had moved in. We tiptoed very quietly, and were terribly dissapointed that there were no fairies to be found. But they had been there! And they left us a letter and a gift of gathered food from the forest!!!

Little snips of lettuce, tiny snap peas, blueberries and cherries. Yum! We had a little feast fit for fairies this morning! And here is what our letter said:

"Dear children,

Thank you for the beautiful house. Please enjoy this fairy food we picked for you from the forest. I am Anica, a tree fairy. I fly around helping trees, painting leaves and using sap to repair hurt trees.I am very busy and its important we don't get caught by people. The bed was so soft and the flowers so pretty. I especially love the shiny pebbles. We fairies love shiny things you know. Thank you again, so much.

Love,

Anica, fairy of the forest"

I do hope we here from her again soon!

Pasqual and things...

2011-06-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

Woah. It has been hot. Really hot. We went to the arboretum with our playgroup yesterday and vistied the little pond. It was 98degrees. The tadpoles that the girls loved last month have all turned into frogs. We caught snails instead. :) So this is our new companion:

It is difficult to photograph a fuzzy black cat. He is sweet. Very, very sweet. And as a bonus, he doesn't poop and pee on things. Sadly little orange, pee-cat had to go. The final straw was when he just randomly peed on Kieran's blanket. WRONG MOVE PEE-CAT. The shelter didn't want him back even though I signed the paper that stated I HAD TO BRING HIM BACK TO THEM. It was a bit of an ordeal. What did the lady at the shelter tell me to do? "Make him an outdoor cat because he is better off taking his chances with the busy road." Well what are shelters for exactly? Anyway. End Rant. It was a sad day because the girls loved Pumpkin Pie (Pee-Cat) Puff sooooo we had milkshakes and visited Petco to look at the cats for adoption there. That is where we met a very furry black cat named Blake. We filled out an application and now we have a perfect cat who walked out of our clock:

And he walked into our lives and I hope he stays here for a very long time.

I love black cats. We named him Pasqual (pronounced Pas-cal) for one reason or another. It suits him well. I hope you all stay cool this week, and keep your puppies and kitties out of the heat and in loving arms! :)

Remembering.

2011-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." -Ronald Reagan

We spent our weekend with a little, annoying cold. Between sniffles and soup we enjoyed our freedom. Freedom to eat watermelon as messily as we like...

Freedom to splash as big as we want.

Freedom to enjoy the sunshine, the shade, the life we live.

Freedom to be as cute as we want.

Freedom to watch our children grow in the safety of our own homes.

Wishing everyone could know this freedom. Especially thinking of those in North Korea, Syria,
Pakistan, Lybia, and the many other countries suffering from political unrest. I don't understand it, but lately I feel so spoiled. Spoiled by mountains of laundry, and 3 needy children, my morning coffee, my big back yard. My small, simple, life. Spoiled, loved, and enjoying the peace and freedom that so many lost everything for. Thank you Grandpa Rivers. Thank you all who serve or served. May you never be forgotten.

PS- This post is a day late, as blogger has not been working for me.

Nature-Inspired Attire

2011-05-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

Last week was yet another busy week. Life is seldom not busy with a house of 3 little ones. That being said, I did accomplish my first real sewing project since Kieran was born. Kieran was lacking in the pants and sweatshirt area of his wardrobe. I was able to take a lone trip into Joann's and fell in love with the above green home-decor denim... so I made pants.

They are the "Quick Change Trousers" From Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginings book (which is worth every penny!!!). I made them in size *gasp* 18-24 months! I made them a little shorter, but I think for the next couple pairs I will use Meg's alterations to accomodate the extra cloth diaper fluff. That being said, they are freakin cute and fit like a dream. I also did not fully line them because I wanted something light enough for summer yet they are wide enough to accomodate some leggings underneath for cooler weather (if my sweetie pie stays little that long *sigh*). I just lined the bottom about 8 inches for a cute cuff. I also omitted the little bottom patch.

I also scored 2 sweatshirts at Target for $2 each. I love when their clearance makes it to 75% off!!! Sadly they had lame things like "Pro Athlete" on the side. Enter cute applique of a mouse on a turtle... because that is far more manly than "Pro Athlete". Don't you agree? (I am picturing Nick rolling his eyes about now). And my other appliqued item of the week:

I had cut out the "Hank the Stump Pattern" from Lollychops out of corduroy about a year ago, and started sewing it to a 3-6 month onesie. I never finished so I ripped it off, and during our weekly craft groups I finally finished a little stumpy onesie for my little nature child. :)

And look who carved their initials on the tree? hehe. I am framing this once Kieran outgrows it.... I LOVE IT. Anyway, I have more pants to make this week... among other projects brewing in my brain. But today is a bonafied clean-the-house-and-make-another-batch-of-jam day!

This week...

2011-05-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

... we did a lot of gardening (and excersaucing). Peas, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, peppers, kale, Swiss chard, sage and thyme were all planted. We are harvesting lettuce and herbs from years past already... and it is raining for the next 6 days so I am hoping this will be a good year!

...we enjoyed our sweet kitten... and thought we might have to re-home him after he confused Isabel's bed with a litter box. It was bad. "Nature's Miracle" and diligently keeping him out of the girls' room has been working well. It is just adorable how Anastasia takes naps with him... they are the best of friends.

...we played some chess with the cat...

and wore a very appropriate new shirt.
we climbed trees.

We enjoyed a beautiful day at the arboretum with good friends (and some mud, sticks, water and tadpoles as well!) We tasted sweet strawberries for the first time...

and the third time. And turned them into yummy jam. 28 jars of jam. We did a few jars of Rosemary-Strawberry Jam as well which turned out heavenly... especially on a slice of homemade bread.
We took a lot of pictures of a very cute baby who is now eating a lot of sweet potatoes and rolling over and scooching around. It surely won't be long before he is mobile so I spend a lot of time cuddling and squishing. Too soon he will want less of that. Oh this bitter-sweet motherhood.

Whew, it has been a busy week. The warmer weather brings so much change and beauty. Popsicles and ice cream. Snap peas and strawberries. Iced tea and lemonade. Grilling and salads. Flowers and green grass. Oh, sweet spring stay forever so I can savor you and my little ones a little longer this year!

"D" is for...

2011-05-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Another day... another tray! This is our dinosaur land. I also added some Cadbury mini eggs to add a level of "taste" to the tray. I would also like to add our leftover Gingerbread playdough to make volcanoes and things...

I raided my mom's garden for the ferns and other plants, and we found the moss on a walk. There are beans and blue water. I did it all in a cheap, plastic plant tray and the dinosaurs were found in some Easter eggs. So basically everything was free for me! :) That makes me very happy indeed.

The girls have been very into dinosaurs lately. It is funny how they play though, all the dinosaurs are nice, and there are even princess dinosaurs and they marry prince dinosaurs. And the t-rexes play very nicely with the brachiosaurus.

This week is proving to be a busy one for us, but I hope to make some paper plate diplodocus' and in a perfect world, some dino-egg soaps would be in the mix too! :)

Celebrating

2011-05-02T13:56:00.001-07:00

It isn't quite my birthday yet... but we celebrated with my parents this weekend! :) It was nice day with a few of my favorite foods: shrimp, scalloped potatoes and a turtle cheesecake:

My dad made the cake for me, and my mom decorated it with Violas! It was beautiful and yummy and I still have some in my fridge to enjoy when the kids are in bed! :) And just because, here is another adorable Kieran picture. Cutest baby ever, right? He was really fussy after a short nap at my parents, but enjoyed watching Milo and Otis with his sisters:

LOL. I was once a parent with standards including not letting my babies watch tv. Yeah. right. Anyway, "Milo and Otis" got us a game of Scrabble which I successfully lost. but I love Scrabble. And I love my new cast iron dutch oven! Thanks Mom and Dad! Now on to starting My Bread in it...

"E" is for......

2011-05-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

Easter!

We are slowly learning our letters and last week we did activities, songs and read books about "E". We learned about etiquette and electricity. We made eggs to eat, and glued egg shells to a letter "E" made of cardboard (and this did not work so well). We went on an Egg hunt with eggs full of pictures that begin with "E"s and then glued them in little books. Unfortunately my camera battery charger was still MIA, but thankfully it was found by my wonderful husband a day before I was going to order a new one! I am so naked without my lil' camera.

I also made this Easter sensory box with little chocolate eggs hidden in it... like a little, mini Easter Egg hunt. I was able to shoot pictures before it was destroyed after I charged my battery. I included paper Easter grass, egg shakers, little bunnies and chicks, lemon balm and dandelions and even some lettuce leaves from the garden! I covered the bottom in shredded carrots. What fun!

"E" is also for Extraordinarily Cute Baby. Oh. My. Word. He is my cuddle pie (but don't tell him, because it makes him mad when I call him that). Anyway. I was able to get in my garden today, and plant a few things and now we are on to learning the letter "D". Happy Monday!

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-26T07:35:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! What a joyful time of year this is! Christ has risen and Spring is here! The sad thing is, my camera battery is as dead as dead can be, and I have lost the charger so there is no hope in that rising again anytime soon. Thankfully I took a couple of pictures before church on Easter and somehow there was a tiny inkling of juice left in the battery to load them on the computer. So, we had dresses and Easter bonnets with frills and bows and pretty white sandals and......

....a new kitten! I am so happy to FINALLY have another cat!! His name is "Pumpkin Pie Puff" at the moment. Anastasia named him "Pumpkin Pie", and Nick and I call him "Puff". He might just be one confused kitty for a while but he sure is a cute little purr ball and seems to love being cuddled, snuggled and loved. My girls just adore this little fuzzy puff. He never gets a break from being adored!

I did not have time to make dresses this year, and gave myself a free pass to go buy some. Not only that, but the girls fell in love with the "princess dresses" at Burlington Coat Factory and I felt that anything I made would not compare to the poofy, ruffly pink dresses they had hanging in all their glory, like bluebells on the dress racks. They were in love. We went to church and then spent the day feasting at my parents house. We had an egg hunt and enjoyed a good bit of time outdoors soaking up the sunshine. And while Easter crafting was not a huge priority this year, we did boil our chicken eggs (poking a hole with a pin in the bottom, does in fact make them easier to peel!!!) and pulled them out of the pot and into mini-muffin tins for the girls to paint with crayons. It was so much fun and much easier (and less messy) than dyeing them. And they turned out more vibrant too!

And last week I made an Easter discovery tray for each of the girls: There were things in the tray to engage all of the senses, including carrots, arugula and dandilion greens to taste, eggs to shake, lavender, mint and lemon balm tea, flowers in a babyfood jar vase, glass pebbles, wooden eggs and small smooth stones. They enjoyed arranging items and sipping their tea and garden veggies. :) I might make a new one this week! What fun.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter with eggs, candy, and most of all celebrating new life and the hope and peace that it brings to your soul. :)

Spring is here!!!

2011-04-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

The diapers hang in the breeze, the forsythia is on fire, the hens peck around looking for worms and other goodies in the fresh green grass. Is there a single season as lovely as Spring? We had terrible storms and flash floods on Saturday. Thankfully nothing here was damaged, but the River is super high. The ground is nice and squishy and muddy. We are inside playing with homemade lavender playdough and it smells so calming. I love Spring. And baby goats:

This is Hyacinth's baby, Petunia at a couple days old (that was over 2 weeks ago!) Can you even stand how cute she is?

And this is Tigerlily and her baby, Daisy. She has the cutest stripe going down each side of her. They are so squishably cute.

But I have my own bundle of squishable cuteness:

This romper is HUGE on him but I picked it up brand new at Goodwill last week for $3. Only downside was the BULLDOZER on the front. Really? A bulldozer on a sweet, plaid baby romper. Ok, honestly Kieran is wearing 18month clothes now (at 5 MONTHS!!!) and the romper was 24 months so maybe a 2-year-old would be in love with the bulldozer on his romper. Kieran? Not so much. So I appliqued a chipmunk onto it. Now it has the cute forest child feel, not the industrial, mow-down-the-forest feel. :) haha.

I just added a new icon for Heartsy. If you haven't signed up yet... DO IT. I am in love with these silly deal sites now, and hope to do all of my Christmas shopping through them. And Heartsy features all handmade/Etsy shops, so you can get a great deal on handmade goodies. I bought a voucher for some cute, cute soaps. Did I ever mention that Isabel's favorite Christmas present was a lollipop soap I found in a $ bin at Michaels? She carried it everywhere for days and they begged to take baths for weeks to play with the lolly soaps. Sooo I hope that cupcake and petit four soaps will also be a big hit! :) AND if you sign up through my link and buy a deal, you and I get a $5 credit for future voucher purchases! Yay! Many of the items featured are for jewelry, which I don't wear much of, but I have seen a pretty vast variety of items and hope to see some nice artwork to add some life to my house. The walls are kind of boring around here. :P

Oh well, off to work on the nature table...

Pickin' Marshmallows

2011-04-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

See this tree? It is an ever-so-rare Marshmallow Tree! :) Nick went out to the hills on Saturday (aka, west virginia) and after a long week, I had another day with the 3 little ones all to myself. I was bummed about missing a ballet because I forgot about Nick's trek to the Mountains of no return... so instead I took my littles to Great Country Farms for their Marshmallow Harvest and Egg hunt!

The kids were elated to say the least. They could care less about the Easter Egg hunt, but happily plucked the plump mallows and Peeps off of the trees:

Is that not the cutest idea ever? I really think that it would be fun to turn our blossoming cherry tree into a marshmallow tree too someday. WARNING: Below is another superfluous picture of my cute, cute pie boy (I figured I would warn you in case you are sick of seeing him posted every post... but how could you? He is DARLING).

Little baby Kieran enjoyed the harvesting from the coziness of his stroller. The day was cool and overcast, but made for less crowds and A LOT of mud. Isabel was layered in mud. But the great thing about harvesting marshmallows, was the warm fire with roasting sticks. I could have sat there all day roasting fluffy sugar puffs. But the girls had were busy stomping in puddles and jumping on jumping pillows, and feeding animals. IMPORTANT stuff like that. But after the fun, and mud, and damp, cool, Virginia weather we needed to go. And because our poor bushel of marshmallows were wet, we stopped to get a few baby peeps...

And made little hot chocolate ponds for them to swim in... where they met their demise in a slow, melty kind of way. It was truly a melty-mallowy kind-of day. I hope my girls remember picking marshmallows and sipping peep hot cocoa when they are teenagers and think I am lame. Because "once upon a time" I was a pretty cool mom.

*Apparently "melty" and "mallowy" are not real words. Who woulda thought?

A New Life.

2011-04-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we had our hardwood floors in our kitchen and living room, and connecting hallway re-finished. It has been long overdue, but I must say, I couldn't be happier right now!!! We have lived in our little house almost 3 years, and one great thing about our house (and a major selling point) was that it has hard wood floors. Unfortunately they looked like this:

And the hallway was stripped but looked like this:

And our living room was covered in carpet when we bought the house, so we had no idea what to expect until AFTER we signed our life over to the mortgage company. It was pretty beat up and stained, and just really, really gross:

But we are optimists. We saw the beauty even though we looked at the yuckiness for years. YEARS. How did I live like that? All that HGTV we watched could have never prepared me though, for what we came home to last Friday:

The hallway: And the beginning of the kitchen. Oh the kitchen.

Look at that old heart pine! I nearly cried to see such a pretty room that had been so abused and ugly for so long. We had been going back and forth about doing them ourselves, or paying to have them finished professionally. We finally chose the latter and I couldn't be more grateful to H&H Hardwood for making our blah house, into a beautiful home. Our house feels clean and less overwhelming and I am so happy about that. I love sweeping these pretty floors. Like all the time. I am OBSESSED about sweeping every crumb. Its sad really. And I am really excited about mopping! I bought a new mop for the occasion. I don't remember the last time I mopped our floors. I am being serious. It has been MONTHS. And the worst part is, my children eat off the floor sometimes.

And see that rickety table? It is from Ikea, but we bought it off Craigslist when we bought the house. It wobbled a lot. When we moved the high chair, it could barely stand on its own. The highchair was holding it together! So Nick has been talking about building a table, and for the past few weeks he has been busy making one. He brought it home on Sunday and it is just stunning:

This was his first furniture project and I think it is the prettiest table I have ever seen! He made it out of re-claimed barnwood but you can get all the details here on his blog. It compliments our floors and adds a whole new level of life and permenance to our home. I just LOVE it. And more-so, I love the man who made it, and all the heart he put into it.

And, now that it is no longer a secret, I can say Nick is now a partner with Mike of the Strong Oaks Woodshop (barnwoodfurniture on Etsy). So now all of you can buy an awesome table like mine! ;) I must say, that all of these changes really make me feel like we have a new house and a new life. Things feel like they are finally coming along for us and our life in our little house in the country. And speaking of changes, this little guy is getting bigger, and cuter every second: I mean, how can I make a blog post about anything without posting a picture of my cuddlekins? Oh my is he cute. And he just woke up... so I better get him back to bed. So that is the newest news here! Hope all is well in your corner of the world too.

Free Shipping....

2011-03-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

We are finally re-finishing our wood floors this week! We will be gone for a few days, so for this week only through Saturday April 2nd, I am offering FREE SHIPPING on EVERYTHING in my shop!!! Everything should ship before Monday April 4th... for free! This includes custom orders so place them now! (Does not include stackers though, sorry!) Hurry, hurry!

Wow....

2011-03-26T19:39:00.001-07:00

Did you think I fell off a cliff or something?? Its been a couple weeks! I am still here! We have been busy (when am I not?) and we got sacked with the tummy bug of doom the past few days. Its been bad. Real bad. As in worst. diaper. ever. bad. And "Isabel throwed-up on my alphabet book" bad. But a little gingerale and pepto and lots of snuggling and naps and we seem to be getting over it. And isn't my baby ADORABLE? He really got extra cute this week. Or maybe he seems like it after the very UNCUTE things I have been dealing with. Oh, and speaking of cuteness...... I can hardly begin to describe how cute baby goats are!!! We sold the sweet goats to our neighbor, and visited the fresh babies today. I could have died. Nick is glad they made it to their new home before the kids came, or you can bet I would have never parted with them. Good thing I have a baby to squish and cuddle, because I really want to sneak over to Sharon's house and squish her baby goats. And I don't thing ANYONE would really appreciate that. *Pictures to come!* I promise. (I hope).

And it is almost April. Almost Easter. And my gnomey eggs are getting snatched up pretty quickly!!! So go get yours now! I am saving up the money from my sales for a new camera!!! My old one is fine. I love it. But I want to venture into the world of digital SLRs. Scary, and EXCITING!!! I also want to announce secretly... that I am going to have my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY (Besides that jar of jam a while back...)... so stay tuned. :) All these promises. We just started our garden this week with lettuce, peas, herbs, beans, swiss chard, spinach, chives and some tomatoes and peppers indoors. So I need a compost pail!

I will say this is shameless advertising at its best, but I thought I should share some sweet deals. I just signed up for Mamapedia and bought a couple of their daily deals for EcoMom and Klutz. At Eco Mom you can get a $40 gift card for $18 (if you type "Spring10" at checkout) and score this stainless steel composting pail for $20 out of pocket. (ETA: Shipping is pretty high, but is free for orders of $50 or more.) Among other items like natural, wooden toys and cloth diapers and yummy looking soaps. :) I bought 2 gift cards. And for Anastasia I am getting this from Klutz:

Can you imagine how she will love it? I am stocking up on items for our trip to the midwest in May, and I think this will be a nice "toy" to play with when we get there. Not sure it will work well in the car, but there are plenty of other neat things to choose from. :)

Well enough about that, I better get to bed, but here is my grateful list today (I am aiming for 200 by Easter now... I sort of fell out of habit. shame. shame.)

31. Good health. (Especially after bad health.)

32. Good friends.

33. Fuzzy baby goat babies. (I kind of really want a goat again.)

34. Kitties (Pretty Please Sweet husband of mine?)

35. Spring

36. Snow (but not now. Not in March. NOT after the FIRST DAY OF SPRING. Boo.)

37. Little baby plants. And how green and happy they are.

38. Time. Every last bit of it. I wish I had a little more.

39. Folded, put away laundry. (even though there seems to be a shortage of it. but isn't it so lovely?)

40. Shamrocks. I wanted a shamrock today and I found one for .99c at the grocery store. It was providential indeed.

41. Corned Beef and cabbage. It was so yummy. I love St. Patrick's Day!!!

42. A toasty wood stove (especially when Spring decides not to be Spring anymore.)

Did I mention snow is in tonight's forecast?

43. Facebook. Blogs. INTERNET! WINDOWS TO THE WORLD. when my babies are sick. I cheated a little this week.

44. Kieran just woke up... better get him back to sleep... before he gets mad.

---TO BE CONTINUED---

44. (For real) he fell asleep before I left my chair. I love that he does that because the girls never did.

45. My new bed. (And the future bunk bed of my little ones because Anastasia has claimed the couch.)

46. My husband's new side project!!! (Its a secret right now!!!!) So now we can afford a kitty.

47. Lent. (absence makes the heart grow fonder......)

48. Spellcheck. (I was Homescooled... Thanks mom! :) (TOTALLY kidding.)

49. The roof over my head and the ones I love, especially in light of all those that lost their homes, families, friends and children in Japan.

50. Prayer.

Friday...

2011-03-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

(sunset picture taken the evening before Kieran was born!)

Today my mom and I took the girls to the Richmond Children's museum in Short Pump. It was quite fun, especially for 2 little girls who are already asking when we will return! There was much to do including a castle and a water table to play in and a train to ride. It was a bit underwhelming compared to the museum located in Richmond. But when you are 2 and 4, there are very few places that aren't exciting and magical.

So today I continue my list. Starting with Monie and BopBop (my parents named by my children! lol!!). If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here... nor would my adorable little children. And we wouldn't have spent today having fun at the children's museum. Nor would we have listened to my sweet baby cry angrily in the car for 25 minutes. ha.

21. Monie
22. Bopbop
23. FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
24. Sleeping children in the car. (especially in traffic on the way to Richmond!)

I am grateful the apple wasn't poisoned.

25. Fairy tales. And how real they sometimes are.

26. Sunsets (which are, in fact painted by fairies. Ask Anastasia).
27. I would say Sunrises as well... but I don't care for mornings enough...

so 27. Cinnamon Rolls (dessert last night!)

28. Meat. (How is it I love meat the most on Fridays during lent? It seems all the better when you can't have it!)

29. packages in the mail (is there anything as exciting as packages in the mail? Except maybe the 7 packages the UPS guy left on my doorstep from Amazon last week!!! Thank you coupons!!!)

30. Coupons. I like coupons A LOT. Especially when they mean free/cheap baby items from Amazon -AND- when you get payed by the grocery store to buy something. Martin's payed me $1 to buy creamcheese the other day. Awesome. And my mom gave me 7 more Amazon coupons today!!! :) It has been a good day. And its Friday! Happy weekend all!!!

40 Days of Gratefulness

2011-03-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

(photo taken by my talented friend)

Its been a busy winter. Most of the business taking the form of three little cutie pies. Babies are especially cute and especially more work. And lent began yesterday. What did you give up or decide to do for the next 39 days?? I have given up Facebook except once a day, and am trying to give up more of my leisurely internet time and trading it for quality time with my children. Its hard when I am stuck at home for days on end... with no one to talk to. The internet keeps me connected and in the loop. Maybe I should write more letters or make more phone calls. Or visit more friends. Maybe. But more important than what I gave up, is one small thing I want to do. I want to list 10 things each day of lent I am grateful for. 10 new things each day so that by Easter I will have a list of 400 things that I am grateful for. I forget all these little things that are such an integral part of my life and happiness when I focus on the "have-not's" and wants.

So today (I am a day late) I am listing 20. Last lent was an especially trying lent (I guess it is supposed to be like that). I found out that I was pregnant with Kieran, and being that I was trying fairly hard at that time not to get pregnant, I had a pretty wide range of mixed emotions. Of course 1 year later, the real live Kieran is in my arms and I couldn't be happier! So, I start my list with Kieran.

1. Kieran.

2. His sisters of course. :)

3. And my husband most importantly (and without him, I wouldn't have the above things to be grateful for!).

4. cloth diapers with owls on them (see above picture on handsome model)!
5. Washing machine (for washing diapers and the other 2 loads of laundry I do each day.)

6. Tide original powder (for cleaning my diapers like no other.)

7. Honey for tea when we are sick (the 9 bees that I have found in my house today... not so great)

8. EGGS!!!! (3-9 per day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

9. my sweet, sweet (dumb) hens. And Anastasia's tender love for them.
10. my goats that I am selling.
11. my sweet, crafty neighbor who is buying them.
12. my smelly, wet, dog. (wish the smell was not part of the deal!)
13. Naptime. (This should count for 30 grateful things. I LOVE naptime even when its on the kitchen floor). lol.

14. rain (even though I am soaked from dragging the smelly, wet dog inside).
15. Sesame Street (on days with lots of rain like this one.)
16. Hide and Seek (the girls just learned this game today!!)
17. Umbrellas and rainboots, (it was so fun to play in the mud for a little while.)
18. Princesses (only because Anastasia loves them so much.)
19. Sunglasses. And sunglasses on princesses on a rainy day.
20. Toddlerhood. (and the fact that it only happens once in a lifetime!) haha.

What are you grateful for today? There are so many little things that make our life beautiful. Its so easy to overlook them in the midst of the chaos. :)

Angry face

2011-02-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

I console myself that every family has one of those children who can't keep out of trouble. Isabel is ours. I woke up this morning to completely reorganized condiments. Cream and coffee grounds in the coffee pot. Sugar in the honey pot. Farina cereal ALL OVER THE FLOOR. Not to mention the ashes she dumped everywhere the other day. And all the other things she does that I try to forget. Sometimes I want to be angry. I tell her that I want to yell at her, but instead we make angry faces at each other. And we all laugh. I know she is curious and can't sit still... I am so thankful that she sleeps or I would be a basket case. More so than I already am. I love my little mischief maker to pieces, but somedays its harder than others. ;)

I know.

2011-02-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while. I am getting worse and worse at keeping up my blog. Not sure why!? With 3 little ones, my craft and typing time is few and far between. We have been spending time outside with the 70 degree days we had last week. And Kieran had his first swing ride last week! I think the picture says it all. :)
I decorated the seasonal table for Valentines Day. It adds so much warmth to the once cold wintery scene I think I want to keep it up until March! Over the weekend we did our taxes and I am now seeing finished wood floors, painted walls, a new bed, and so much more in our near future. And there are plenty of bills to pay. ha.
And our Valentine gnomes we made (tutorial here) are so sweet and festive! Wish I had made many, many more! I think a Christmas versions would make splendid gifts! Lately I have been selling my used cloth diaper stash on Diaper Swappers. I am borderline addicted to buying more used and new diapers.... I even sent Nick to Babies R Us to snag free magazines (American Baby and Baby Talk) to get Amazon coupons that can be combined for really, really, cheap brand new diapers. Lets just say I am set for a while. I imagine someday I will be *saving* money on cloth diapers. lol.
Oh and look at my little lovey boy. He was pooped after our Valentine party. I can't stop staring at him and he can't stop smiling. I am worried his whole face is going to turn into a great big smile! He has become such a happy little guy for the most part. I kind of feel like my life is on pause because I don't want to miss anything. These sweet baby days go by so, so fast....
I hope to start adding some Easter gnomes to the shop later this week. Kieran and Isabel are suffering from a sniffly cold and it is making them a little less pleasant these days. I hope you are all having a lovely week.... :)

Be Mine...

2011-02-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

We have been working on Valentines this week! I am super happy with how sweet they turned out! I printed the adorable Woodland Valentines from Ink Tree Press (And look the CUTE CUTE CUTE Woodland Nursery featured on her blog and THIS Little Red Riding Hood dress!!! Not to mention that I want everything in her Etsy shop... but especially the gnome growth chart!!!) (Wow that was a lot in parentheses!)

So we printed the Valentines and Isabel glued them in the middle of my precut-and-hole-punched cardstock while Anastasia "sewed" the Valentines with ribbon. I tied the bows. It was quite the family project! I was inspired by these lace-up Valentines at Pearlie Pink!

And I love, love, these gnomey Pinecone People from GardenMama!! Her whole blog is inspiring... but these gnomes just melt me! I hope to prep these for our little Valentine Tea tomorrow. :)

And if I had air dry clay and glitteer, we would have made a whole bunch of these clay bowls from Ordinary Life Magic for all the loves in our life... maybe we can do an Easter version because I am just needing to make some!! :) The blog world is so inspiring and full of lovingly creative projects for Valentines Day! It isn't to late to whip up some love! :) Anyone else feeling the need for some Conversation Hearts right now???

I wish you all a sweet and happy Valentines Day spent with the ones you love most! And I wish you quite a bit of chocolate too! <3

Princessy Party Favors...

2011-02-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

Nothing is as sweet as leaving a party with a little souvenier. I always think of favors as a little "Thank You" for our guests. I know it will be lovely when the girls are a bit older and can make their own little "Thank you" favors. So I made little peg princesses and paired them with dove hearts in a zip-lock bag with a favor tag again from the oh-so-clever Paper Glitter. I am really happy with the princesses and how sweet they turned out. I made them all in pink to avoid any conflicts with different hair. Perhaps some of these lovely maidens will make it into the shop? My only issue is that I did these in a bit of a hurry, and the hair was a bit complex, so there was glue EVERYWHERE. but hopefully the little princesses overlooked the imperfections and found themselves enjoying some imaginitive play.

The treasure hunt lead us to lolli pops and heart necklaces... because afterall, what makes a princess a princess, is what is in her heart. ;) For the necklaces I just used my favorite elastic rainbow cord and some heart charms that I purchased ages ago at Michaels. They were originally used on necklaces that my Maid of Honor and I made for the 4 flower girls in my wedding. I have been holding onto them a while.
And another plug for the cute Princess Party kit. I would have never come up with something so cute and clever as PAPER NAPKIN HOLDERS. but I love them. It was nice to have everything rolled up for each guest to hand out with cake. Cute. cute. cute. The cutest cute you can get for $10. :)

Princessy Party x 2

2011-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find with children you do things you never thought you would do? I was one of those kids that was into nature, bugs, frogs, climbing trees and anything related to the such. I pretended to be animals, forest children and fairies occasionally. Princesses were not my passion or strongpoint. I hated pink for a very long time. And now I am consumed by pink and princesses. I did not try to encourage this love of royal maidens but I am not one to suppress the passion of my eldest daughter. So I have officially embraced the castles, tiaras, pink dresses and all other things "princess". I know soon enough the tutus and tiaras will be ditched in favor of the latest fashion trends, the curls will be straightened and those precious smiles smothered in lipstick. And I will miss all the ruffles and lace.

After having the grandparents in town and Kieran's baptism, I did not really plan on having a party for Anastasia. I thought of having 1 friend over to have a princess day or something, but I wasn't going all out, or inviting a crowd over to celebrate her turning 4. My parents stepped in to do a family party for her and my neighbor and I combined efforts to throw a party for both our daughters, taking the burden off of me significantly. Yet I was able to partake in, and embrace all the fun. And look at the amazing cake my mom made:

I think this cake turned out FANTASTIC!!! It is such a shame we had to cut it up and eat the deliciousness that it was. She used the Wilton Castle Cake kit from Michaels. She said it was much easier than the roller coaster cake she made my brother and I when we were younger. She set up a treasure hunt to find the Queen's jewels (modeled in the first picture) that were guarded by a royal cat (the cat was actually sitting next to the treasure box, and played his role quite well). She also set up a princess and the pea game where the girls found out they were real princesses indeed and recieved flower crowns. Then we followed a trail of dragon's jewels left in the snow to a special surprise (princess dresses).

After we came back in, we found that the dragon had laid eggs all over the living room! thankfully they were full of candy and not baby dragons! :) And we of course had presents which included real ballet slippers and a ballet dress, a bride doll and belle and Snow White figurines. I also found my old Polly Pockets that I had as a child and saved for my own children. I have over 30, and decided to start giving them to the girls at special occasions. They have been playing with them non-stop!! They just don't make Polly Pockets like they used to.Anastasia was completely in her element as Princess of the party. And then on Monday my neighbor and I had another "Princess in the Forest" party. And Kieran of course was not left out of the fun: This is how I found him when I came in from loading the van. He is totally thrilled. :) Poor kid is completely outnumbered. For the friend party I purchased and printed a Princess party set from Paper Glitter on Etsy. The kind lady who owns the shop sent me a brown and blonde set for the two party girls. It was super easy-peasy to just print, cut and tape the entire party decor. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the decorations, cake, and cupcakes except this one lonely cupcake:

We read "The Princess in the Forest" by Sibylle Von Olfers and did a treasure hunt with games and tasks along the way. The tasks included finding a pea under a pillow again, walking like a princess with a book on their head and courtsying, guessing items inside of "dragon eggs", and getting out of the witches spell by answering "Princess Trivia" (which I will share later). My friend Sharon also made these adorable felt crowns for the kids to decorate (modeled by my little prince so royally):

We gave the children pretend jewels, felt butterfly stickers, and sequins to decorate them and they turned out amazing. If I did this again, I would probably get more felt stickers and some of the stick-on jewels so the children could wear them right away instead of waiting a while for the glue to dry! Everyone had a great time but I am really glad I have until October for another birthday to plan! I need a break! Isabel was pretty party-pooped too:

She just crashed before the party was over. hehe. :) My original party idea was to do a Snow White party with apples and an enchanted forest... but like I said, I have been too busy for a whole DIY and clean your house and bake and arrange, and decorate party. And this was perfect anyway.

*Remember the fairy party I did last year? That was so much fun too. With another girl, I see more fairy parties in the future!!!

*And check out this Little Red Riding Hood party... I was so going to do something like that for Isabel, but she was so into birds so a bird party it was.

*I am not usually into commercialized character parties but this Disney "UP" Party is to die for!!!!

A gift fit for a Princess

2011-01-27T09:31:00.001-08:00

January is a difficult month for a birthday. Just after Christmas I have to plan a birthday and come up with a meaningful gift or two on little funds. This year proved even more challenging with a 2 month old, guests the week leading up to her birthday, and a baptism and party a couple days before. Time, money, and energy were in short demand but I came up with what I think was the perfect, magical little gift for my 4-year old.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon these darling dolls at the Plow and Hearth Outlet on our way to Charlottesville last week. At about $17 a piece for Kathe Kruse dolls, it was a steal! I did add wings, and a skirt to the funny little hula girl (with curls like Anastasia) to turn her into a fairy.

I purchased a pretty photo storage box from the craft store along with some paintable garden chairs and faux flowers. The chairs will be a painting project this week. I also painted some little mushroom cutouts in red, puple and pink (Anastasia's favorite colors) and sprinkled glitter on the modpodge that I used to finish them for a magical effect. I had the perfect Cicely Mary Barker fairy fabric (produced by Michael Miller) for a very dramatic, garden fairy bed. I just cut 2 rectangles large enough for the dolls and sewed them together inside out, flipped it to the right side and stuffed it with wool and sewed the opening shut by hand. I did the same for the pillows except I closed it with the machine. I also just used a bigger rectangle for the blanket-- same concept but with no stuffing. I love how victorian and pink it is! :)I could totally see having more boxes like these for other toys like My Little Ponies, and the like. You could easily paint a little scene on the inside and glue paper, flowers, etc, add stickers and other furniture or accessories. And I love how it all stores in a box (the chairs will barely fit as well!). So a self-contained fairy flower garden... perfect for imaginitive play. Well, my friends, that was my magical gift perfect for my new 4-year-old! Happy Birthday Anastasia... may 4 be a very enchanting and memorable year for you.

The Going Ons...

2011-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

Oh isn't he beautiful? My littlest Saint. He was baptised on Sunday and there is something about a baby dressed in white recieving his first sacrament. Oh he was handsome. and can for a moment I pause and love him to pieces before he grows up... because someday he will have big manly feet. And I will miss the kissable baby toes and this picture will make me cry. He is 16 pounds at 2 months and demands to be held, and rocked and loved ALL the time. He is such a sweetie with all his drooly smiles. Last week Nick's parents came to visit. We had all kinds of adventures, including my own misadventure with a nasty case of food poisoning. Thankfully Isabel and I were the only ones who suffered and we are much better now! I will be thinking twice before ordering beef out again. We visited Monticello (which we called a castle to keep the girls interested) and Gettysburg and several other spots. As nice as it is to have company and not do much cooking or cleaning for a week, its just as nice to get back to normal life. But today was far from normal as my eldest turned 4!

She is growing into quite the Princess! And the snow fairies brought her quite a bit of snow for her birthday! I finished projects, and a very un-blogworthy cake in time for a small family celebration on her very-birthday. I have to say my firstborn has really become a little girl, leaving behind much of the toddler she was a year ago. As you can see, her felt crown and princess dress were quite a hit. I kept things very simple... and Anastasia was very greatful for her gifts. As I was putting Kieran to bed she snuck into my room and hugged and kissed me and said, "Mommy, I love you, and thank you so much for my gifts." So sweet and unprompted, I do indeed have the lovliest princess of a daughter. :) And she has offered for me to come live in her castle with her prince, and her 5 babies where she will take care of me and wash all the dishes. Am I blessed or what? I do believe so. Even in the moments that I can't see the blessings surrounding me.

I hope you are all keeping cozy and enjoying the love and laughter of those you love most.

Sickity Sick and stuff...

2011-01-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Its been an interesting week or two. Nick's parents are in town and have been treating us to meals out. And then I got food poisoning... the worst sick I have ever known. Isabel seems to have a milder version. And last week Isabel took my camera battery out of the charger so I have no pictures to take and that makes me feel a bit naked. And Kieran is a home body and doesn't care for all these lovely adventures as much as he cares about being in his cozy home by the fire. Anyway... time to make and package gnomes. I will be back to this corner of the world next week! :)

In case you weren't sick of them yet....

2011-01-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here are even MORE pictures of my cute little boy! Here he is modeling those overalls I knit I while back, you know before he was usurping all my time. :) I love them. And him in them. And his wiggly little legs are hardly still long enough for you to notice how much longer one leg is than the other. I think these are the cutest thing I have ever knit! Anyhow, its been a good/crazy/cranky/happy/fussy/lovely week. All in one. Life is so interesting these days and its amazing how much fun a trip to the library can be! Actually, we haven't been to the library in 5 months thanks to fines and an alleged lost book. Not to mention the cranky librarians who believe charging you fines and denying you their crummy books is somehow their way of bringing justice to the world. So we switched libraries this week, to one closer to home with kind old lady librarians. We are happy. And across the street is a little cafe for a little cup of tasty coffee and lots of overpriced cookies so I am seeing little kiddie dates in the future! :)

Today my mom and I went thrifting, and I was so happy to come home with lots of new clothes for my little guy (who is on his way out of the 3-6 month stuff already at 7 weeks!) . I am finding baby boy clothes to be harder to find. I mean come on people who make baby clothes, babies don't like football, baseball or big scary dinosaurs or monsters! And what is it with dump trucks? Who in their right mind finds dump trucks to be cute??? I personally have a problem putting a dump truck on my baby. They are big, loud, stinky, slow and fling rocks at your windshield on a highway. And if it doesn't have any of the above, they put a dog on it. I like dogs, but too much is too much, you know? Thankfully there are a few things out there acceptable... and I hit a little jackpot today. Too bad there weren't many sweaters for me to turn into cute little gnomy hats...

Anyway, we are finding a little rythm in the new year! Its going to be a busy month with family visiting, Kieran's baptism and Anastasia's birthday. Its all very exciting... but how am I ever going to keep up with the laundry??? lol. I hope the new year is treating you all with kindness. And if you are local, I wish you snow!!! :)

We'll take a cup of kindness yet...

2011-01-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

Last night we didn't make it to midnight. I took a sip of wine before Kieran needed me and I fell asleep. When I awoke to join Nick, he had fallen asleep, and I felt it wasn't really worth losing sleep over the new year. Lame? yeah... just a bit. But with a newborn and two small children, what more could one ask for? I am so overwhelmed by my new role, and things that I could once do with ease have become a monumental task. I was reading in my new family cookbook, how my great, great grandmother worked in the fields all day and cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner over a wood stove, helped slaughter pigs and milk cows... with 8-10 children. I can barely pour a couple bowls of cereal. And I wonder if she was up all night sewing, and mending as well. All I know is that I feel far from my great, great grandmothers greatness tonight, as I finish my glass of wine that I would have had at the dawn of a new year. And I look at these three wonders and remind myself that what really matters is the heart. How much we lived and loved from year to year.

Today Anastasia stood at the table at my parents house and sung her own song. A song she made up by herself and sung with her whole heart for my family and I laughed and cried, and my heart melted as if it had been cold for a good long while. So I bring in the new year with but one goal, to live, and love, and pray with my whole heart, and not hold back as a little four year old has taught me yet again.

"Well Hello World, How you been?

Good to see you, my old friend.

Sometimes I feel Cold as steel

As if I'm never gonna heal.

I see a light. A little hope. In a little girl.

Well Hello World.
-Lady Antebellum

Merry 7th Day of Christmas!!

2010-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Can you tell how thrilled Kieran was about Christmas? This described his attitude the whole day. He doesn't seem to care much for social engagements. SO I am very late with my "Merry Christmas" but thank goodness there are 12 days of Christmas. We have been having a cozy and relaxing week with Nick home from work. The weather has been spectacular! We had snow, and now its 60 degrees. Really, who could ask for more!?With each child Christmas becomes a little more magical! It was funny how long it took the girls to remember it was Christmas morning, and to check to see if Santa drank his milk and ate his cookies and left a few packages behind. But the excitement for them to see the tree filled with presents when there had been nothing the night before brought so much joy to my heart! It reminds me that the first gift of Christmas was a child. And every child added to the world seems to make Christmas more exciting and beautiful.Isabel loved her cat toy, which was her one desire from Santa, and Anastasia got her Tinkerbell doll and friends which she immediately shared with Isabel. I think they were really most excited about these lollipop shaped soaps and the bath they took with them:Isabel carried hers with her all day on Christmas day in a little zippered pouch. So so cute. Sadly I didn't get enough good pictures! We spent the day at my parents house and enjoyed a delicious meal! And I made pies! Our neighbors stopped by with gifts and holiday cheer! We also got to spend a couple days with "Unka Andy" (my brother) who came in from Montana and blessed the girls with a very exciting book about poop: So we had a little bit of everything this Christmas! My sweet husband gifted me with fabric, and music and some of my favorite soaps! We have been enjoying cookies and coffee by the hearth reading our lovely books from Santa. Wednesday we went out and enjoyed a day of walking through old town Occoquan and drove into DC to our favorite pizza place, Armands and took the kids to see the Zoo Lights at the National Zoo! It was great! Now we are back to relaxing before another big weekend. It is a much needed rest after a lot of preparations for Christmas! And tomorrow begins a whole new year, another chapter of our very full and beautiful life! I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Now I must get a bandaid for Isabel, calm my fussy baby and figure out some sort of dinner to accompany my peanut butter balls (aka buckeyes!) yum!

<3 Clare

Gingerbread Playdough and things...

2010-12-21T10:52:00.001-08:00

It has been a rough past week. Rough I say. The kind of rough that makes you wish you could trade places with someone for a day (or week!). On Monday we had to go to the Ear-nose-throat doctor to have a bead removed from Isabel's nose. It went smooth once we finally made it in. I worked super-duper hard on my Etsy shop, making and packaging and shipping. And my littlest ones got sick. Kieran had a fever and slept for a day. He and Isabel and myself have been completely sacked by a cold. And then with orders, custom orders and a healthy Anastasia who has not stopped BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS, all I could do was give up and make some gingerbread play-dough. It was a fun activity. I made each girl a ball, of each color and they each got their own cookie cutters and a container of fabric scraps, yarn and buttons for decorating. And they were happy. I saw the idea for Gingerbread playdough somewhere last year and thought I was a genius for coming up with the decorations... but of course I was beat to the idea by Melissa at Chasing Cheerios. Anyhow, I loved her idea of using yarn for icing!! How much fun! And look who is 5 weeks old:

He outgrew all his 0-3 month items and was 12 lbs at his appointment at 3 weeks! Woah! He is a big boy! So we seem to be on the mend, and I am trying to clean the weeks worth of mess that has accumulated and really wishing for a clean house for Christmas. Kieran is still stuffy and that is making him a little bit miserable so I feel like I am in S-L-O-W motion. Most of my handmade gifts are going to be late, and honestly I am okay with that. I just want to make it until Christmas with my sanity intact and a bill of good health! Happy elving everyone! :)

A Handmade Holiday for Children

2010-12-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have visions and dreams of a completely, or mostly handmade holiday. Every year I spend months gathering ideas... and give myself 2 weeks to do EVERYTHING on my list. Well the good news is, there are 2 weeks until Christmas to finish those projects... or if like me, you don't have time, there is still a bit of time to purchase through most Etsy shops!! I personally think the above Fairy and Snow Fairy playset above would make an adorably perfect stocking stuffer! (I am only slightly biased!) Right now they come packaged in a little organza bag, ready for play or display! :)

Or how about some homemade snack sacks? My good friend Wendy makes these darling little treat bags and sells them in her brand new Etsy shop, Momma's Little Lunch Bunch!! I ordered my own custom set with a different fabric for each of my wee ones! And I have to say they are very well made and so, so, so much cuter in person. They will most likely find their way into some stockings... and be filled with treats and candy! Oh how I love Christmas morning!! And how perfect they will be for filling with snacks for trips in the van. The trick to 3 kids is to be organized! This is just one more step in that direction. Or if you are handy, make your own!

On my list of things to make are some Hudson Hats for the kiddos! I haven't even started and am hoping to have time this week, with bulky yarn, to do so! Ugh. But I have a hat for Nick and a pair of longies on the knitting needles... which haven't been picked up in a while. If you can't knit, my friend and neighbor Sharon makes ADORABLE gnome hats (seen above). Made from really soft, wool yarn!! How sweet are those? Can you imagine a little family of children running around so sweetly in those on Christmas morning?

Another goal for me is to make an apron and chef hat for each of the girls. I love the above one from Mon Petit Poppet's Etsy shop. I am hoping to use the pattern from the Sew Liberated book, and find a place for a couple of apron hooks in the kitchen. And it would be perfect to pair it with a sweet, child-size set of cooking tools, wooden spoon, mini-whisk, etc. I know it would be loved to pieces. If you are a seamstress, there is also a tutorial online here. Other ideas for the girls include the wooden castle Nick is "supposed" to be building and I want to buy an unfinished stool from Michaels to paint like a mushroom. Obviously. It would be perfectly paired with some small round pillows with a big flower appliqued on it. If you can't picture it... I MUST make it, and will share pictures when I finish. It will be perfectly adorable set up under the Christmas tree with a tray of wooden food!! Now all I need for Christmas is MORE TIME. My plan is, if this all doesn't work out, I will just make little or big handmade gifts for the 12 days of Christmas... that is my creative way to make up for my year of procrastination!

And Kieran really wants one of these mushroom teethers. He didn't ask, I just read his mind. I do that a lot. But really, have you seen a cuter baby toy? And it isn't made in China so I don't have to worry about him eating lead... it was handmade and in the lovely shop Maya Bella. And it will match his mama-made onesies perfectly! Oh, Santa, please bring one to my little boy. Its all he really, really wants. And some socks too.

Of course I hope to make some fairies, furniture, and princess bendy dolls for Anastasia and Isabel to go with my last mushroom stacker that didn't turn out so hot. There is a wellspring of patterns at Wee Folk Art, most of which require a few basic skills and many, many toys on Etsy. I still have a slot or 2 open for custom orders that can ship via Priority by next Friday if you are in need of a last minute stocking stuffer or gift. :)

So what are you making for Christmas?

About a Boy

2010-12-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

They don't tell you how different baby boys are. No one tells you how they eat more and pee more and pee completely OUTSIDE of the diapers. They also don't tell you how to respond to your baby boy peeing across the room on their big sister. Ha. And there was a lady who worked at the hospital who after we told her we had a boy, said, "aw, well maybe you will get a girl next time." WHAT? We told her we had 2 at home... but who says that? Boys are great. No one mentions how cuddly and sweet baby boys are and how much he already loves his sisters and of course his mama. Mama's boys are so ANNOYING... unless you are the mama. :) And no one tells you how even at 2 1/2 weeks they are far less emotional and dramatic than their sisters. And let me also say, in all my life no one prepared me for this: Can you just see the sugar plums dancing in their heads? *sigh* So I have learned a few things these past 2 weeks or so. And my girls have had a brief 2 and 3-year-old appropriate anatomy lesson about the difference between princes and princesses. And a very exciting thing was discovered when Kieran's umbilical cord fell off last week, he in fact now has a belly button. Anastasia went ahead and let EVERYONE know that. "I have a baby brother now! And HE HAS A BELLY BUTTON NOW!!" Oh, the things that are wonderful to know when you are a couple months short of turning 4. So, something else I learned about boys... when they grow up, sometimes they are right about things. Things that seem scary and overwhelming when you are a mom of 3... things like completely re-arranging the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. This is half of our little woodsy kitchen. Nick moved the fridge which was just beside the counter with the kitchen aid... and our little kitchen seems 10x bigger and I have lots of counter space for holiday baking! It was a great idea... but I was quite grumpy that Nick was rearranging things when we should have been decorating our Christmas tree. I am glad he had the vision. I couldn't see it...

So I can't believe how slowly time is quickly passing! Every day seems quite long yet weeks go by unnoticed. Today I pulled out the Playmobil Advent calenders... and I have a long list of holiday crafts and handmades to make before Christmas... 24 days left! Yikes! Hope you are all having a lovely time of preparing and enjoying this "most wonderful time of the year!"

Three is a crowd!

2010-11-24T06:49:00.000-08:00

Our friends brought us dinner on Sunday. Not only did they drive over an hour to bring us delicious food and cookies, but my friend Andrea Read took these amazing pictures of my children! She said she is still getting established, but I think she has such an artistic eye that she really doesn't need much establishing! And she just so happens to be Kieran's God-mother (or will be when we get him baptised here soon...)

And so I am thankful for my three little children. After Anastasia I could never imagine any more children or loving them half as much as her, but now I can't imagine my life any other way... and it seems my heart grows bigger and has more love to give each and every one of them. I was told by my friend Regina who also brought us food and has 8 children, that when you have 3, your life really slows down. This seems to be very true. Everything must be carefully planned and not crammed and suddenly I have time to really focus on the little people in my life. For that I am thankful.

And I am thankful for this little red head... her beautiful locks and smile... even when she drinks out of the toilet and turns simple hand-print turkeys into a paint your entire naked body project. Speaking of hand-print turkeys... it is very hard to do with a newborn. Actually, impossible would be a better way to describe it... and its very messy.

Now off to finish a custom order so I can take the kids outside and tend to the animals... Maybe I will put diapers on the line... maybe we will get the laundry put away... maybe we will do some Thanksgiving crafts... and make our pies as a family of 5... Maybe. But I am not counting on doing everything and that is just the reality of life with 3 children. No more super-mom. I just have to get by and do all things with love and that will be enough. I am thankful for that too.

Kieran Nicholas

2010-11-17T16:41:00.001-08:00

Our new little baby boy has arrived! He came early Sunday morning, November 14th at 6:09am. He is our biggest baby yet weighing 8lbs 6oz. He is oh, so sweet.

Kieran made his debut after I had had irregular contractions for about 4 days (starting on Nov. 10th, his "Due Date"). I would get fairly regular contractions for a few hours everynight, only to have them stop suddenly. I tried every trick in the book to get them and keep them going. Black and blue cohash, long walks every day, pineapple, kiwi, pizza, spicy food, and lastly nipple stimulation. Not sure if any or all of those worked, or he was just meant to come on the 14th. Either way I was getting really frustrated as each day the contractions gained intensity and I started fearing I would be at the hospital, or feeling really large while having contractions on Thanksgiving. Thankfully after a few hours of really irregular contractions on Saturday night, they evened out and were intense at 3-4 minutes apart. I woke Nick and we arrived at the hospital around 3am, where my parents took the girls to their house. I have to say, after 2 pictocin-induced babies, the contractions really didn't seem all that bad, so when I went in, it was so exciting to find out I was 8cm!!! 3 hours later we met our first baby boy! :)

I have to say my first natural birth was by far the most peaceful and the most exciting! And quite a bit more painful, but the recovery has been way smoother. And little Kieran is a very peaceful, healthy baby and has two very adoring sisters. So all is well over here and it feels good to not be waiting anymore. I am already working on gnomes and things... because I can only sit still so long! Be prepared for more baby pictures than you can stand! :) Hope your week is going as well as mine!

Falling Leaves

2010-11-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Fall is such a colorful season. We have had a very long autumn this year it seems, and with bouts of 60 degree days, one can hardly complain. I have been trying to take walks everyday, with hopes of inspiring a little one to make his way into this world. These contractions are getting REALLY old. Thank goodness for the beauty of fall colors, and local gardens to enjoy.

Is there anything more magical to children than water? It attracts them, inspires them and I really just can't keep them out of it. It keeps us alive. It is a part of us. We have been enjoying the last warm days where we can play in the water.

And there are leaves or fairy boats, or blankets for bugs, or a small piece of a big pile for jumping in. Leaves are the best part of fall. And pumpkin pie.

It is somewhat amusing that we had to wait until fall, and cooler weather to spend adequate time outdoors after a terribly hot summer. I am usually a spring and summer person, but I have never been so happy to see fall.

And lucky for a little boy who will have his little birthday when the leaves are in their full glory! Now if only he could have that birthday sooner, rather than later. ;)

Nesting!

2010-11-08T10:35:00.001-08:00

I have been nesting like crazy over here. Really, really crazy. I don't hardly recognize myself! I cleaned under all the couches, beds, cribs, and was on my hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor last week. I have been organizing baby clothes, finishing up projects I never imagined I could finish before the baby came, and knitting baby pants in my spare moments. Oh, and did I mention of have 2 kids and an Etsy shop that has a lovely flow of holiday shoppers now? So even though I don't blog much now, I haven't stopped being, and making and crafting and doing fun things with my kids. Instead I have been packing bags for the big night, finishing up the last baby projects, preparing the moses basket, and placing all the little gifts he has recieved (the above burp cloths and little boy doll) in special spots.

I have also been bitten by the cloth diaper bug. I am addicted to buying soft, natural little nappies to swaddle my newborn's behind... I might have too much as Isabel is well on her way to being potty trained (she only uses diapers when we go out now!). But at least I won't run out! I have some Sunbaby Pockets (cheap ebay diapers that work really well), Tiny Tush one-size cotton and hemp fitteds and quite a few prefolds. I am in the process of knitting and making some wool covers as well. Who knew diapers could be so much fun!

After reading this article about "Mother Roasting" on Rhythm of the Home, I decided to make and buy a few luxury items for those lovely post-partum resting days. I decided to buy a scarf to use as a belly wrap and made the bath tea. I bought some of my favorite soap (the Mama Bar) and my friend Marie gave me one of her homemade lavender candles as a shower gift. I also bought a 1/2 lb tub of Shea butter from ebay. If you haven't used Shea butter, you are in for a treat! It is so thick and moisturizing and supposedly helps with stretch marks... not sure if thats true or not... but just so you know. And I made this quilt:
Well, it isn't the best picture, but I picked up a charm pack of "Wee Woodland" by Keiko for Moda. I love how cute and foresty it is. Not sure about the flowers and the pink thrown in there, but I am sure my little boy will be secure enough in his masculinity to handle it. Overall it looks very boyish to me. And this is why my old Moses basket didn't last:

These things make the best boats! I have to hide it in my closet until the baby comes... and then it will be his sacred little nest of blankets and a sheepskin. And a beautiful, blurry moment from my life:

We moved the girls into the same bed! We really don't use the crib around here and Isabel had to get out of our bed! She was keeping me up at night, and I was so uncomfortable and there is NO ROOM for another baby! So I had read that sometimes kids sleep better in a bed together, and since it is almost winter, the timing was perfect! They are so cute all cuddled up in there each night and they rarely wake up and come into bed with us (which was really becoming insane!). So now we all sleep, and the kids look really cute.

So yeah, that has been my life in a nutshell... in between bouts of contractions that never seem to amount to anything, and all this nesting I finally have a moment to blog! Hope you are all having a nice Monday. Hopefully next time I post I will have baby pictures to show... but I am not counting on it as all my predictions have been wrong! I am starting to feel like a time bomb...

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much fun! I finally finished the costumes on Saturday. We had a bit of an adventure friday night after a couple hours of pretty intense contractions. They went from 10 minutes apart, to 7 minutes apart and once we hit 6 minutes apart, we loaded in the car for the 40 minute drive to the hospital. WELL. Once inside the hospital, the contractions just stopped. I had maybe 3 the entire time we were there... and well, after being monitored for nothing, calling my Dr, and atleast meeting some nice nurses... we were sent home. We were home in bed around 1am, and exhausted. My mom had the kids, and so at least on Saturday I had several hours of quiet and peace (and a bit of soreness and tiredness) and I finished the costumes. Maybe the little guy knew that I hadn't finished the costumes, and how much I wanted to take the girls trick-or-treating. Maybe he was not coming into this world yet because I had forgotten to pack the camera, and there would be no first pictures of the little guy. Maybe he knew how long last week was and how tired we were. I don't know what the false labor was all about, all I know is that it wasn't meant to be... and we are going to have a November baby for sure! :)

Isabel didn't understand the whole halloween thing, but she had so much fun filling her bag with candy! I wasn't sure she would keep her costume on as she kept ripping it off beforehand when we were *trying* to get pictures. No matter. She was perfect at trick or treating, even though her hood fell off and everyone mistook her for a princess.

Everyone knew who Anastasia was. She wore her gown with such royal pride. Also note her lovely trick-or-treat bag that I came up with a couple hours beforehand. Hooray for craftyness when you never got the halloween buckets out of the attic! Anastasia was going to be Snow White. I bought the Snow White pattern... and she changed her mind. Oh well. I didn't really use a pattern, so I am really happy it came out as well as it did! I did use a peasant dress pattern for the top, a little less risque than Belle's shoulder-less dress, don't you think? lol. I would have prefered a more generic princess, something NOT Disney or cartoonish, but I want my kids to feel free to be who they want to be. I am glad I have another year before another round of costume planning. BUT I do know little baby boy will be a gnome.

So now that I rambled on, and also just cleaned my house, I am going to head to bed. I hope you all had a lovely Halloween! And if you haven't become a fan, I now have a Little Red Whimsy Fan Page so please check it out!! Hope you are all having a lovely November, and don't forget to vote!

FALL SALE

2010-10-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick Little Red Whimsy update:

All fall items are reduced $2 or more!

Place an order for $20 or more this weekend and receive a free gnome (my choice, sorry!) and wooden acorn (while supplies last!). No coupon code neccissary! This is also for custom orders of $20 or more placed between now and Halloween!

Trying to find homes for all these autumn gnomes... because Christmas is creeping up so quickly! :)

Pumpkining

2010-10-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

It seems that everything has been revolving around pumpkins here the past few days! And my belly is starting to closely resemble the "Great Pumpkin" just in time for Halloween. I am just hoping it less resembles the great pumpkin by Thanksgiving. Oy. On Sunday we were invited to a Pumpkin Carving (painting) party where we saw all of Anastasia's friends that she "missed so much". Food and toddlers and paint make for lots of messy fun.Yesterday we finally went to the Pumpkin Patch. Sadly, our weekends have been so packed and busy preparing for winter, and a late-fall baby, and the like that we weren't able to go as a family this year. Yesterday we went to Great Country Farm with our friends Stephanie, Stella and Charlie. Our group was supposed to be bigger, but it rained on our drive out and most everyone except us cancelled. Thankfully the clouds broke and we had a perfect, warm, day at an empty, fun pumpkin patch!
This pot-bellied pig, Elmer, won my heart. He was the cutest pig I have ever seen. As in, pick up and snuggle cute. Really. And I am not a pig-person.And can I just confess a bit here, I broke the rules and jumped on this pillow:

It said it was for 12 and under. But that is only if you get caught right? I didn't really jump being 38 weeks pregnant and all (not that anyone is really counting or anything...) but it was kind of fun lightly bouncing. It was definitely the girls favorite part of our day! There were many animals (none as cute as Elmer of course) but I was too busy keeping the kids from getting their fingers eaten to photograph them all. But I did get these cuties on the Hayride: Holy cow they are cute. It was a fun day, and the kids slept well, and I got Chinese food on the way home for dinner. And this evening I made Butternut Harvest Soup, Pumpkin Bread and we carved the pumpkins:It was a bit too close to bedtime for Isabel, but I think the girls enjoyed it. And this is how they turned out:Nick always makes the neatest pumpkins! His is the mountains and bats and moon one in the middle. I carved a little face for Anastasia on the right, and an owl (that you can barely see) for Isabel after she went to bed.

Don't you just love pumpkining? Now I just need to make a pie! :)

In case you didn't see....

2010-10-22T06:09:00.001-07:00

I made my first Gnomey Nativity Set-- NOW IN MY SHOP! It is also discounted $10 due to a bit of a mess-up on my Shellac job. I am so proud of this little set. I hope to have several more available before Christmas... but you know how it goes with 2 little ones... and an even littler one coming soon.

My lovely friend Sharon needle felted the manger and sheep to complete this set and they just add so much! Check out her Etsy shop, WoolenWhimsy for the cutest little hats, hair clips and bags. She can also do custom items for you! :)

I think the elfish looking shepherd is my favorite. Or maybe the 3 Kings...

Can you imagine what song went through my head as I made these?

I am so in love with this, I hate to see it go... but I am sure I will have one gracing our nature table before long.

ALSO, have you noticed my other sale items? Autumn Gnomes and Fall Fairies are on sale until the end of the month! So get 'em while they're hot! I am running low on some of the hat sweaters so what you see may be all thats left! But Christmas gnomes and Sugar Plum Fairies are dancing around in my head! :)

We are finally well. And little baby boy is happy and healthy and the excitement to meet him is building! I am looking forward to another beautiful fall weekend! Happy Friday everyone! :)

Just Soupy.

2010-10-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Things are calming down around here, mainly because we all came down with a cold. On Friday evening, the girls and I came down with runny, sneezy noses within an hour of each other. Poor Isabel has been sacked the hardest, battling a fever last night, and a bit today. I was hoping today we would all be well, that the girls could run around outside in their party dresses for me to photograph, that I would be taking pictures of some new things for my shop, and that I would have finished all my custom orders, and would be making a baby quilt. Instead I am tending to all my sicklings, including Nick who is home sick on this overcast Monday. Thankfully I am feeling much better today, and able to handle all the tea and soup making and little -feverish-child snuggling required of a mama. Until we are better... have a lovely week! :)

The Very Busy Weekend

2010-10-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun, and very busy weekend! On Saturday I had my much-anticipated table at our local "Festival of Leaves" with my neighbor and it was a busy day! It was a lot of work for the amount of sales I ended up making, but I used my funds to take my family to the Maryland Renaissance Faire.

It has been about 4 years since my last trip to the Rennaisance Faire, so it was really exciting going back, and taking our little "princessies" (as Anastasia fondly calls princesses). Unfortunately it was very crowded when we arrived around 2pm, but calmed down after we took a little break, got the stroller and enjoyed some Italian Ices (my personal favorite faire food!).

Nothing could compare to the wonder on Anastasia's face when she got to ride a pony and talk to a "real" princessie. She was also so thrilled when a tribe of leaf people walked by and handed her an acorn. That acorn is now a sacred treasure.

It was really nice making the day pretty special for our little girl with her big imagination! I was also thrilled to score some new pottery at a little shop with inexpensive pottery! I wish I had bought more!! Nick was happy with his hard cider and an italian sausage sandwich.

And yesterday was a recovery day. A few friends of mine hosted a shower for me and another mom who is also having her third child. It was nice to recieve 2 of the things I had yet to make, burp cloths and receiving blankets. So now I just need to buy some diapers and make some wool pants and covers and I will be all set for the little guy!

Isabel's Birthday!

2010-10-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Isabel turned 2. We had a nice family party at my parent's house. Just her style with bird decor and undivided attention of doting grandparents, uncles and aunts. We tried to make it really special for her, and I think we succeeded. :)Nick and I thanked God for our Isabel... and that she made it to the age of 2! lol. Our poor accident prone daughter frightens me sometimes with her ability to hurt herself in new ways everyday. But she is tough and resiliant. She is a sweet girl with a big heart and a great sense of humor. She loves making us laugh and is not afraid to try new things. She is very smart and wants to know how everything works. We love out Isabel, and we are so glad she had such a lovely birthday!I was having slight regrets about spending four hours of my life on her cake this Saturday. The colors weren't what I was hoping, but Isabel was completely enchanted by it. She kept opening the fridge and asking us to come look at her cake. I think it was entirely worth it now. And the girl's dresses turned out fantastic. I didn't take any great pictures of them, but I will. Someday when its sunny and warm outside! :) Isabel had so much fun opening presents until her sister hit her in the eye with a book. Poor girl. She can't avoid injuries even on her birthday. She also is obsessed with candles and cakes and sings her own version of "Happy Birthday" that goes, "Happy to you you you (Mommy)" everytime someone lights a candle. She was mezmorized by her own cake, and was in little toddler Heaven when everyone sang to her and her getting to blow out her candles.

Nick surprised her with 10 balloons. Balloons are another one of her obsessions. Really, it couldn't have gotten any better for our sweet girl. :) Now I hope and pray she makes it to 3! :) Anastasia already has lots of plans for her 4th birthday which is now the talk of the day!

Happy Monday! I must now get back to cleaning up the carnage from all the party prepping, etc...

A Series of WIPs

2010-10-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Painting, Stitching, Knitting, Sewing, Glueing, Pasting, Planning, Sketching. I feel as though my life is a series of "works in progress" right now. My entire house is reflective of all the incompleted projects coming together over the next week. The above picture is the top of my microwave: painted stools, tables and mushrooms ready to be sanded a bit and packaged into little sets.

My once-clean sewing room is littered with fabric and trims, scissors, glue and pins as I am cutting up and sewing "Tweet" dresses for Isabel's birthday this Sunday. I am dreaming of finishing them, and little doll dresses in coordinating colors, and possibly a birthday crown? I am so over-ambitious which is probably the reason most of my works are only "in progress" these days. I think I need a maid and some employees who work for free.

These watercolored apples and number "2" in all their blurriness are sitting beside my kitchen sink. The apples are for the "Festival of Leaves" and I am hoping to find away to stand that 2 on top of Isabel's cake... WITH a bird on top. Hmmm:

I sketched out my cake idea... and its amazing. BUT I am not a cake decorator. Its not my talent or gift or even something I really love. My best laid plans get completely smothered by icing of the wrong consistancy... cakes that fall apart, and flowers that are usually funny looking blobs. I hope THIS TUTORIAL helps me a bit. A multitude of sins is covered by a few spoonfuls of buttercream frosting. That is why I make cakes. For buttercream frosting. YUM. And the decorations have been bought... Now just to figure out a nice centerpiece! Unfinished bird houses, mossy rocks (super cute from the $ store!!), spanish moss, felted birds, and leaves! oh my! I set them out on the kids table hoping they will have fun with them while I sew... which is really what I should be doing right now...

Buttons

2010-09-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Do you remember playing with buttons as a child? I remember my mom had this big round tin of buttons and it was like opening a treasure chest! I picked up some little pill boxes for each girl and gave them a scoop of buttons to examine, sort, and play with. I remember some friends of mine had button collections and I am thinking of starting some for the girls. It seems like a simple little pleasure to hand out a couple buttons for a job well done or to find a small pouch of buttons in a stocking on Christmas morning. Either way, the girls enjoyed playing with buttons for an hour or so while I got some sewing done yesterday.

I cleaned most of my craft room this weekend and brought the girl's table in so they can do their own crafts like Mommy. Since I have less than 2 weeks before the Festival of Leaves, I have a lot of crafty cramming to do and I thought this might make my life easier and their lives more interesting. Now they can paint, play with buttons, do puzzles, glue, cut, etc. right next to me! I just started putting together a little toddler sewing basket. Check out this great one HERE. Its fun to share my creative passions with my children and bestow on them the same love for all things crafty while working on little gnomes and things for my shop!

Well, I have goats to move to the woods and diapers to hang on the line before I start some more "crafty cramming". Please share any open-ended craft projects you do with your children!! I hope to have 3 projects lined up each day for them while I work. :)

Birthday Madness!

2010-09-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is the second weekend in a row that we have had a little birthday party to attend. Its always fun to watch the girls and their friends. This weekend's party was at our local National Forest and was quite enchanting and sweet.The hostess had make-your-own-trailmix for the kids, little banners hung around the pavillion, a nature walk, and little pumpkins to take home. OH, and mushroom cupcakes. But really, what do you need to entertain children in the middle of the forest?Isabel was quite enchanted with the cupcakes. Her little birthday is coming up this weekend and I have been busy thinking of ideas for it. Have you seen this little Woodland Fairy party? I just had to share because it is SO SWEET. I am thinking some choclate nests will be in store for Isabel's "tweet" party. I am hoping to complete my goals for my Etsy shop today so I can work on their birdy dresses (and matching ones for the dolls). We are just doing a small family party this year due to the craziness of my life right now, and the inconsistant energy levels associated with being pregnant, lack of sleep. And honestly, even if I wasn't preparing for a festival and completing custom orders for Etsy, just keeping Isabel out of trouble is a full-time job. She really defines "terrible two"! lol Today she already tried to flush a hand towell down the toilet, moved a kitchen chair across the room and broke into a bottle of bubbles, dumped her bowl of oatmeal on the table, a basket of colored pencils on the floor and pooped in one potty, in the hallway, and again in the bathroom potty, and somehow covered herself in Poop!! I guess it is Monday afterall. I just CAN'T WAIT for naptime! Hope you all had a nice weekend and are surviving Monday....

2010-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

We have been terribly busy. Maybe you guessed that already, but really, I try to simplify my life but it seems that things are starting to snowball instead! Last week though, Anastasia spent the night at my mom's house, and we met afterwards at the Glen Burnie Gardens in Winchester. It is such a magical garden with waterways and fountains everywhere. And look, I am getting big!!!

Its hard to believe how fast this pregnancy is going, but I am getting to that big-uncomfortable-always-tired-yet-nesty phase. 2 Months left. I could use about 4 months at this point. But I can't wait to meet the little guy, and see his sweet face. He is possibly the most active in-womb of the 3 and I have had the worst heartburn as well. Not sure what all that means, except that he is a happy, little, living baby, and pepcid is my pill of choice these days. Nick and my brother were both big baby boys... so I wonder if I should expect the same of this little guy. So many unknowns, and so little time left to wonder!

I have been working a lot on custom orders lately, which is great!! I just hope I have time to stock a bunch of items for the Festival of Leaves that is in 3 weeks!!! I finished Anastasia's waldorf doll... and I will post pictures, I promise... when she gets some clothes. I have 3 patterns, including a princess pattern (thanks Wendy!!!!) so that is no longer my excuse for naked dolls. This is the first doll Anastasia has really liked and played with... and Isabel drags hers EVERYWHERE... almost as much as her blankie. :)

Anastasia's recap of the garden: "We went to the garden with Monie and saw the fish and toads in the water." Actually we did see some frogs, and even as big and pregnant as I am, it was nice to know I haven't lost my frog-catching skills from my younger years:

He didn't stand a chance. :) Now... back to those orders...