Thursday, January 27, 2011

A gift fit for a Princess

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.


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Going Ons...

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.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sickity Sick and stuff...

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! :)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

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

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!!! :)




Saturday, January 1, 2011

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

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