Wednesday, May 23, 2012

the current chaos










  • between matt's recent adventure (more photos of that here soon)..... and my "commitments" (designing and sewing 30 something costumes for the alice in wonderland performance)..... we have been very busy... but with the performance coming up this weekend it will be over soon (whether i'm ready for it or not).
  • i was recently asked how i've been getting so much sewing done.... and my answer was "by neglecting everything else... my house looks like it was hit by a hurricane and we have had cereal for breakfast and occasionally lunch more often than i would like to admit."
  • i couldn't have accomplished any of it though without the help of two amazing grandparents across the street (thank you so so much!) and one of my fellow level one moms who has taken on a huge share of the sewing.
  • my dining room table has been covered in fishnet, interlock knit, paper twists, pellon peltex, and heat n bond for so long that i'm kinda scared to see what it looks like under there.
  • a while ago i was so stressed out and i swore i was never going to do this again.... but i'm already thinking about changes i will make for next year.... i have learned quite a lot about "show business."
  • i must admit i feel a little excited and giddy about fitting the dancers and watching from backstage... it is really just fun and exciting and amazing the way it all comes together.
  • ok.... i really need to get off of here and get back to sewing... but i promise i will be back soon....

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

on mother's day









I had a wonderful mother's day. My family worked really hard to make me feel loved and appreciated, and i felt very loved and very appreciated. I love them all so much. The first few photos are of one of my mother's day presents from matt. Last summer i told him i would like those laurel bushes cut down so that we could see the beautiful field over there and let more sunlight in. Well, he cut them down for me, and i already love it. Another thing that we decided on last summer was to pull out the garden fence and make that area into more yard space and put in a few raised beds somewhere else. So he pulled out that fence, and leveled, and mowed... and it's wonderful. The candle and hand-print are some of maiko and layla's presents. I just love them. Each of their classrooms had a mother's day tea party and they were so excited about it... i think that excitement melted my heart more than anything. On mother's day they both made me multiple drawings with notes that said "i love mom." So sweet. That last photo is a poem that layla made a few days before. It took my breath away. Can you believe she wrote that all by herself? With a container of word magnets? She's only five! I just think it is so beautiful. I told her that i was very excited to have a poet in the house. She just looked at me and said "what's a poet?" Oh.... well.... i suppose it is someone who makes beautiful art with words. "Oh," she says. 

happy mother's day.

Friday, May 11, 2012

some very simple blankets







Fleece blankets.... so quick and simple to make..... and so cute and warm. The brown blanket was made with a yard and a half of fleece and two packages of blanket binding. You simply pin the blanket binding along the edge of the fleece overlapping the binding edges and then sew 1/4" from the edge of the binding all the way around. The "monster" blanket is so simple it doesn't even require sewing... just a simple double knot. For the tie blanket you need a yard and a half each of two coordinating fleece fabrics (a yard and a half makes a nice square blanket). Then you simply line up the two fabrics and make cuts around 5-7" all the way around and tie them together in double knots (one strand of top fabric and one strand of bottom fabric). I recommend starting your cutting at the corners (i made a little diagram above on the orange paper). It isn't essential to do it that way but it makes for a nice even transition the whole way around. These blankets are some of my favorites to make because they come together so quickly, it's pretty much instant gratification... gotta love that!
 Let me know if you make one!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

friends







These girls are really beginning to play well together. It makes me laugh when from the other room i hear layla's words coming out of eislee's mouth... "No sweetie, you can't play with that." Eislee really looks up to layla right now... and i feel that layla is setting a good example for her. In my opinion they are a bit too absorbed with the idea of "lipgloss" but i suppose there could be worse things. With all this "girl time" though... i worry about maiko a bit... he gets left out fairly often right now. Oh, and how he adores eislee... but he is just second fiddle in her mind.... or third... or fourth fiddle i suppose. Although, it does seem like it's all constantly changing. Who is currently enjoying whoever elses company at the moment. This wonderful may sun and more and more time spent outdoors has really brightened all of our spirits. So wonderful.
happy may.... happy sun...

Saturday, May 5, 2012

our flock






our little flock is growing up, and we are all very excited about it. we love having such a mix of chickens. it really makes it fun naming them when you can actually tell them all apart... and the really fun part is all of their eggs look just a little different. we got four new chicks just the other day that lay dark brown eggs and they are also each a different breed. they will bring the size of our flock up to ten which is really about perfect. we were thinking ten to twelve (we go through a lot of eggs). i'm slightly embarrassed to admit that i put in a order for ducklings..... did i really say no ducklings this year? well, i didn't mean it.... obviously. at the end of this month we get four wild flying mallards and i am so excited! we have had flying mallards in the past and what we thought were mallards that couldn't fly.... but come to find out those ones were actually called reuens (not sure i spelled that right) and they look just like mallards only they are huge and can't fly. you can't even tell the ducklings apart. now, we absolutely loved our flying mallards and are so excited to have more. maiko has also been begging me for one little yellow duck (a pekin). they grow up to be big and white... just like the duck in this book. i must admit i can picture a big beautiful white duck wandering around out here... hmmm.... we will see. i must warn you i'm pretty weak when it comes to saying no to farm animals. i even asked matt what he thought about a big white duck living here.... he just looked at me, shook his head, and laughed. do you think that's a yes??

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

around the house : : the changes

















our first day back was spent almost entirely out of doors and it felt so right. lots of exploring and digging in the dirt. i wish i could say soil but unfortunately what we have is dirt... yes, there is a difference... we have a shallow layer of dry dirt and then rock... very difficult to work with.
 can you believe how much everything has changed? suddenly there is so much blooming and emerging from the ground. it's all so exciting! the sunshine encouraged me to add a few new things... i can just picture that beautiful purple clematis climbing all over that old drain pipe.... like i said.... exciting. 
my youngest is very excited about her recent experiences in outdoor exploring. she just loves testing the hardiness of the plants that i'm putting in the ground. she also thought she should help the tulips drop some more petals... yes... quite a little helper.
do you have any blomming, planting, or emerging going on?