simply plain jane

what's quiltin' : biography of a quilt

2012-02-10T06:30:00.000-05:00

Quilting has become such an important a part of my life over the past few years. It seems I need to have something in the works at each of the various stages of the process. On the days that I wake up with my thinking cap on I enjoy the mathy planning and configuring of a quilt idea that has been floating around... but some days I just need to mindlessly sew strips together. I've gotten to the point where the words "road trip" are almost synonymous with the words "hand quilting"{I am thankful that my husband consents to drive!}. The hand quilting and sewing on the binding are more social and transportable parts of the process... But, perhaps my favorite companionable part of the process is having a few quiltie friends over to help lay out all the blocks before sewing them together. We arrange and then stand back to squint... are the darkest parts evenly distributed, is it balanced, should it be laid out in a different pattern? It sure is nice to have moral support as you think through all possibilities before committing to one. I didn't realize this post was going to become an ode to my quilting buddies, but I'm coming to realize that quilting to me is not just a lonely venture. Quilting has historically been a community event...it is deeply satisfying to me to share the experience.

This is a stack of string quilt blocks that is steadily growing. I have found that there are some days (usually the bad ones) when all I feel like doing is making string blocks. Just reach in the box of strips and sew straight lines... and then marvel at the lovely result-so therapeutic. The first string quilt that I made was for my cousin's wedding gift and I have been wanting to start another ever since. These blocks are for a throw quilt to go in our family room.

I started the process by choosing a color palette and cutting lots of strips (strings) in various widths.

I am using a paper piecing method that I learned from this blog tutorial. The block on the left in the photo above shows how all the strips are sewn down to a piece of paper (with the stitch length very short to make it easier to tear the paper off). The block on the right shows the back after the paper has been torn off.

At first I planned to make entire quilt top with diagonal string blocks... but then I got jealous of my friend's spider web quilt and decided that I wanted to incorporate the two together. I made the spiderweb block in the photo above and realized that it took a LOT of work... and it was too small.

This is a sketch of my first string + spider web idea. I was going to do a border of spiderweb blocks all the way around my square 60"X60" throw. I put the project on hold for a while because I wasn't thrilled and I wasn't quite sure why.... I gradually realized what was bothering me- I wanted to see the string blocks run straight to the edge and I didn't want it to be so symmetrical with the even frame all the way around. My mean old design teacher would've shouted his favorite criticism--"BUSY and BORING". Nobody wants to be shouted at- even in their imagination! So, then I came up with a more satisfactory design:

The sketch might be difficult to decipher (I certainly didn't draw it with the intention of sharing it with the world... and it got smudged)... but I'm loving the modern feel of the square shape and off center design. I am also thrilled that I have fewer spider web blocks to make ;-)

There's something exciting about laying out the blocks every now and then to get a feel for the quilt growing as the number of blocks increases...

And don't you worry about the spiderweb block that was rejected for being too small. He found a home on a pillow in my family room. It is kind of like a little preview of the quilt for the room.... I think I'm going to like it here ;-)

:: Expect more behind the scenes of quilting...what do you think? Are you interested in hearing and seeing the whole life story of a quilt or should I keep to abridged versions?... Are there any details you are interested in that I didn't mention?

February 9th

2012-02-09T08:10:00.001-05:00

Oh, they smell like spring and feel like butterfly kisses! I will be gathering a big handful of these daffodils- so eager to get spring started- before the 20 degree lows this weekend startle them with the truth.

raining love

2012-02-07T07:27:00.000-05:00

So, it's one week until Valentine's Day and here is a fun little way to feel the love. I am usually pretty cynical about this holiday- too cheesy, too commercialized... and in general I don't care for heart shaped things. But, this year I have made the choice to celebrate love. It is THE most important thing after all. My little children think that heart shaped things are extraordinarily wonderful... so all in all this little craft has been a hit.

banner of love

I used my 40% off coupon at Michael's to purchase this nice heart-shaped punch(Martha Stewart), then just dug up some old paint chips in the red family and an old book that wasn't worth reading. The kids had a big old time helping me punch the hearts. I took them to the basement and stitched through them on my sewing machine(using red thread) pulling extra thread in between each heart I sewed through... it makes a lovely, simple little garland.
If you are local and want to borrow my heart punch, please do! I'd love to feel like it was being thoroughly useful.

tutorial: applique blossom sweater

2012-02-06T06:18:00.000-05:00

photo taken by Deborah of Whipstitch
Fancying up a casual cardigan has been one of my favorite things of late... I love a cardigan- especially during the early spring-type weather we have had lately. It all started with the tree sweater pictured below. I had a lightweight sweater that fit well, I liked the color... but I hadn't worn it in years because it had developed some pin holes. Having something that was useless in its current condition gave me the freedom to get very creative...which reminds me- did you know that Michelangelo had his apprentices throw rags of paint at his surfaces before he started painting? (it is possible that this is a rumor, because for the life of me I can't remember exactly where I heard it... but as I'm pretty sure an art professor told me, we'll believe it, right?) The point is, even Michelangelo felt intimidated by a perfect blank surface. So, I had a ball appliqueing the heck out of my green sweater and started wearing it all the time... so much so that it started getting more holes... in places that a leaf wouldn't quite work to patch (think: forest arm pit... nope!) It was time to start with something new as my canvas...

This is a sweater I bought on sale at Target and went a bit overboard decorating... it is a little on the quirky side, but that hasn't stopped me from wearing it all over town.

My latest applique adorned sweater is the blossom sweater from the top of the post. Here is a little walk through of my process:

Besides your cardigan (my current favorite is the basic one at Old Navy) and fabric scraps(and needle, and embroidery thread, and your machine, etc) you will need fusible web-- I use Pellon brand 'Wonder-Under'. For a blossom similar to the one I did you will want to cut the Wonder-Under into a bunch of half moonish shapes in varying sizes... I used: 6 large, 6 medium, 6 small, and 3 tiny crescent-type shapes. I freehand these instead of tracing perfect shapes because I like a more organic style rather than stiff over perfect forms. I cut out three tiny circles for the center of the flower.
After cutting your shapes out of the fusible web you need to iron them onto fabric scraps with the rough adhesive side down.

Next, cut your fabric following around the Wonder-Under paper as your template.

Then, peel the paper backing off of your fabric pieces... this can be tricky on small pieces. It is hard to explain, but I hold either edge of the fabric and roll it and twist it until the paper starts to separate from the fabric.

Ah! The fun part... lay your pieces out until you have them in a configuration that makes you happy. Then, iron them down using some steam to to activate the adhesive(follow the directions on the package).

Now pull out a WASHABLE marker (test it first- it doesn't come out as easily as the water soluble markers you buy in the sewing section, but it has always come clean in my washer... and they are SO much cheaper and always on hand- if you have kids...) and draw some leaves. Remember: imperfect leaves look more organic and have character... if you want something that looks perfectly stamped out at a factory, don't bother with hand-making things!

Grab some embroidery thread ( I used perle cotton) and do a super simple running stitch over the leaf lines you sketched.
Did you know that you can sew buttons on with your sewing machine? All you have to have is a zig zag stitch set to the correct width (a button foot is helpful b/c it holds the button in place while you stitch it down, but you could probably manage without it).

Use your machine to stitch around your petals. This is easier to do if you lower the feed dogs and use a darning foot-- even the most basic machines are capable of this "drawing" technique. I am not a very neat person, but I don't let that stop me- instead I capitalize on the looser style that goes with my strengths and weaknesses. If I stitch a petal with a wonky line, I just go back around it and make it look intentional.
---- Now that you understand the process, the sky's the limit for all the many things you can applique with whatever design you choose!

I also like to add some decoration to the front of the cardigan... I love to add buttons, but I learned not to put them where the shoulder strap of my purse could snag and pull the button off--ooops!

[Using a stabilizing interfacing on the underside of the applique might make it more durable, but I prefer to keep the sweater flowy... I don't like the stiffer feel when I use interfacing, but this is a personal choice- up to you....]

If you make an applique sweater with this tutorial, I would love to see it! Leave a link to a picture in the comments...

tracing stars

2012-02-03T14:09:00.000-05:00

love emblem star from Anna Maria Horner's free pattern 16"X16"

" The moon mouthing its own name,
the stars tracing on the sky's slate all night,
the lake in a trance,
the sudden heavy rain that believes in the laying on of hands,
and the finch in the jack pine.

The wind fumbling at everything's buttons,
the brook working to tie itself into a half-hitch,
the June peaks tipped with snow, a pentimento of winter--
part of the world's incoherent letter, addressed to no one,
therefore useless and beautiful.
And the finch in the jack pine."

-Chris Forhan's Summary and Invocation

{I enjoy the beauty in this poet's language... but I disagree- the world is a letter, a love letter written to me, and to each of us and that is what makes it so breathtakingly beautiful.}

I took this patchwork block and hot glued it around mat board cut to size and have it propped up on my mantle... why do stars make me so happy?

Heather Ross Sewing Workshop in Palm Springs

2012-01-31T17:01:00.001-05:00

Well, here goes... I am going to give a detailed account of my trip to Palm Springs this past weekend. Feel free to skim through, this will definitely be long... but I know at least a few people who are waiting to hear all the nitty gritty.

travelling

I don't know about other mothers out there, but I feel like traveling alone is an opportunity for indulgence! I planned carefully for my hours of solo travel. With Anna Karenina playing on my audiobook app, I started making a litter of hexies... my first attempt. I used this tutorial and got my template from this free template generator (really cool-- endless possibilities!).
I had to make a connecting flight in Texas. While I waited in the line to board the plane I realized that a little question I had been pondering was already answered... You see, I am a really (REALLY) big fan of Anna Maria Horner... and while I knew that before the weekend was over I would have to come clean and profess my undying love, I couldn't decide if I should play it cool first and avoid coming across as a scary stalker (yikes!). Well, turns out my wardrobe choice for the day made my decision for me... I guess you can't hide the truth. As I was standing in the boarding line who do you think walked up to introduce herself with a smile on her face?... oh yes, it was Anna Maria herself (and her super cute husband---we are both married to bearded men... I'm telling you, similar taste;-). I was wearing an outrageous patchwork twirly skirt I made with her fabrics a while ago... She knew from a mile away that I was a big fan... no playing it cool... but hey, my unabashed admiration landed me a little spot on her blog!
So after giggling to myself like a preteen who just met New Kids on the Block, I finished basting my hexies all the way to California... and then met Deborah from Whipstitch and took a taxi with her and the Horners to the Ace Hotel.
Deborah and I hung out by the pool for a little while and met Gretchen and Heather, and a few of the workshop attendants. Then we had a little meet and greet and on to dinner. After dinner we had a few hours to set up our sewing space and get started on projects.
Unfortunately, though it was 2am east coast time when I settled into bed and I was completely exhausted-- sleep was not meant for me that night :-( The combination of some food poisening from the airport that hit around 1am, and the super cool hipsters staying in the room next to us who went in and out of their room every 5 minutes or so chatting up a storm, I didn't get a wink of sleep until the sun came up. 5 am was definitely a low spot for me... I cried a little and called the front desk begging for gatorade. But, the show must go on! I traveled across the country and had been looking forward to this for 6 months! I was weak as a day old kitten, but I made it out of bed and sewed up a storm.

setting up

Here is my little spot... the purple velveteen will be a perfectly fitted jacket soon.

breakfasting

This is the view from my humble little breakfast of toast... Don't worry I got to taste the deliscious pancakes the next morning as I ate breakfast with Heather's assistants Vera and Lesley and Denyse ( I am going to have to go to one of her quilting workshops, it would be so awesome to have her guidance through designing a quilt.)

too cool for school

pattern tracing tools

I must get a big sheet of carbon transfer paper to transfer papers onto fabric-- saves you the step of cutting out the pattern. I inherited a transfer wheel from my grandmother, but thought it was useless with the 8"X10" sheets of carbon paper I had.... the key is to use a large sheet of paper, something more in the 3'X4' range.

Denyse demo

Denyse demonstrated a string pieced zipper pouch... I learned a few very helpful tips!

making plans

Can I tell you how fun it was to plan out a lovely dress and be able to walk over and get Anna Maria's opinion about whether to use this fabric or that... so fun! I worked on a sundress using her Evening Empire Dress pattern as a starting point. I wanted my dress to be a bit more adjustable in the size ( I would love to have a good reason for needing a larger sized dress ;-), so I made the back bodice as wide as the skirt panel and will be adding 4 or 5 rows of channeled elastic across the back. Do notice the ribbon that I will be adding to the strap... Anna had a table set up with all her lovely goodies for sale. Her new ribbon is ABSOLUTELY exquisite!

I feel like most of my sewing time was devoted to figuring out the fitting process... making up a muslin for a different style bodice to a jacket I started last year and gave up on b/c the fit was just so wrong. Instead of the raglan stye sleeves the pattern called for, Anna and Gretchen (of Gertie's Blog for better sewing ) helped me draft a pattern for inset sleeves. Deborah from Whipstitch was kind enough to photo document (where as I devoted all my packing space to fabric instead of a nice camera and all my time to sewing--oops!)... I am not computer savvy enough to figure out how to post pics from her flickr into this post, but if you are interested, here is a link to a picture of Anna adjusting my muslin and you'll be able to find more pictures from the workshop in Deborah's photo stream.

where the hipsters who don't sleep hang out at night

here are a few shots of the lovely hotel...

beautiful beautiful, wish you were here

w/ Gretchen Hirsch

Gretchen is coming out with a book in the fall... and let me tell you- she knows her stuff! I saw the amazing dresses that will be in her book. She is definitely the vintage sewing expert and she can get a dart just right... in this picture I am modeling the bodice piece for my jacket-to-be... She helped me get the dart placed just right- I told her that no one had every made my bust look so good, and I meant it ;-)
you should definitely check out her blog.

w/ Anna Maria Horner

Anna was so nice to me(and extremely helpful!) ... glad she didn't call in a restraining order ... hehehe!

w/ Denyse Schmidt

photo op with the ever cool Denyse ( I, however look odd... i don't know what kind of smile that is?)

I was is such a mad dash to catch my taxi that I didn't get a picture with Heather Ross- the hostess with the mostess... bummer!

Palm Springs Airport

Ok. this is the view you have as you sit on a bench to put your shoes back on after going through security on your way into the airport... so lovely!

East of Eden

Here is a quote from East of Eden (some of my in flight reading)... I believe that creativity is SO important and I love how Steinbeck points out how it is inherent to humanity, what makes us different other creatures. He is correct that an idea can only come to one person and the group can't invent anything together, but it was very nice to be in a group this weekend extending upon each individual's creative thoughts.
Thank you Heather for bringing together a lovely group of people to teach and learn together in an incredibly lovely spot! And thank you Andrew for sending me as an excellent birthday gift (just as wonderful as a minivan would've been ;-)

palm springs update

2012-01-31T12:37:00.001-05:00

Jane, a photo by Whipstitch on Flickr.

Here I am in our hotel room in Palm Springs... with Deborah of Whipstitch in Atlanta. small small world! I am working on a mother load of a tell all post about my trip-- stay tuned!

some show and tell...

2012-01-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

I have been going through pictures and realized that I have so many things that I have intended to share here...

wedding gift wall art

One of the groomsmen from our wedding recently got married and I wanted to give them something special... He married an artist and their invitation had a lovely motif at the top. I made this 8X10 pieced embroidery based on the invitation design and put it in a frame for them.

warm and cozy

I finished Anna's sweater in plenty of time for the little bit of cool weather we have had... It is the little garter cardi - a free pattern through ravelry. I used Malabrigo yarn which is my all time favorite yarn.

before and after

I have been intending to give this craiglist find a makeover for 3 years now... after Christmas I finally got the impulse to get it done.

fly away!

Oh how I love Pinterest! I have the tutorial for this lovely simple project pinned. It is simple to make, but time consuming...

wing span

Instead of tying the wings around her neck the way the tutorial suggests, I made longer ties that wrap around and tie in the back... just didn't feel comfortable with something around her neck. I also put the feathers on a fabulous silk dupioni- never waste an opportunity for fabulousness ;-)

feathered friend

late night sewing

I have finally joined the crowd of people wearing the figure eight scarf from Anna Maria Horner's tutorial. I stayed up way too late piecing some of her velveteens and voiles (and a bit of silk)... I made my scarf a bit shorter and more narrow than her pattern... I think my dimensions are 15"X 65".

hand knits times two

Remember the sweater I knit for Anna a few years ago that she wore almost every cold day for two years? Well, it is getting a second life on cute little Charlotte (who was desperate for a nap and would not stay still for an instant)... yes it is the same exact color as the sweater I knit for Anna this year. I couldn't resist- goes so well with everything! It is too bad babies don't understand the importance of photography-- both girls were also wearing cute scrappy skirts... not exactly matching, but definitely coordinating.

merry christmas

And here is a little late Merry Christmas from us! and ... yeah, I wanted to show off my fabulous yellow boots. I kept looking for some and finally found them at Kudzu antiques in Decatur... they are great for brightening a gray day ;-)

Happy January

2012-01-19T08:19:00.002-05:00

Normally "happy" doesn't go in the same sentence as January for me. But this year is different ... The whole month has been changed by the fact that the last weekend is going to be AMAZING! My big birthday present is a trip to Palm Springs for a sewing workshop with 3 of my favorite fabric designers (yes- Anna Maria Horner will be there!!). Having that to look forward to has really changed the whole feel of the month for me....Another thing that has made a huge difference is the timer on our lamp that gradually turns the light on before we wake up has really made waking up to the dark winter mornings so much better that I find myself singing on the way to preschool!

Here are some other things that have made this position in our orbit around the sun bearable :

::Spending time in the basement turning these patchwork squares into...

...this lovely clergy stole for my sister-in-law who is undergoing the Methodist ordination process this year.

::finally completing this big girl bed quilt for Anna.... Not ready for said big girl bed just yet, though!

edit:: turns out it didn't matter that I wasn't ready-- she not only could climb out of her bed, but she figured out how to unzip her crib tent and climb out... then she figured out how to reach her hand around and undo the safety pin I used to keep the zipper secure... I had to give in-- she has been sleeping under that lovely quilt in her big girl bed for a week now (sniff sniff... where did my babies go?)

:: having my sewing space transform from this ...

...to this! Being organized is fun... sometimes...

::putting a few more things(ok, ok-- a few more chickens) on my collage wall.

:: sewing with my girlie right beside me( who am I kidding- that was special, but also stressful ;)

:: having my chickens come visit me through my sewing studio window ;). ... You may have also noticed how much I have been enjoying instagram !

:: receiving a package from fabric.com... And having my 4 year old son as excited about the prettiness as I was! Those velveteens are so delightful!

edit-- I have been blogging from my phone b/c otherwise I just haven't been making time for it... trouble is- the pictures are small and awful, but they aren't as awful if you click on the image and it opens in a separate window.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Welcome home

2011-11-27T17:28:00.002-05:00

We have been in the Alabama woods for a week... a wonderful family thanksgiving break. We have been welcomed home by our garden with a lovely carrot bouquet ---

...and by our chickens with a six egg day! We have six chickens but they don't each lay eggs every single day, especially not during the darker time of year.... so the getting an egg from each one on the same day is unusual.

Can you tell that I have now joined instagram? Now I too can have cool looking pictures of everyday things ;)
speaking of cool pictures, here is one my sister-in-law took with her phone while my brother-in-law was doing a family photo shoot for us... Even though the kids were being almost as difficult as a two year old and a four year old can be, we still have more great photos than I know what to do with! We are so proud to have t2photography as our in house photographers!

We have much to be thankful for... Even after a doozy of a year, our hearts are full of thankfulness... The good so far outweighs the bad!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2011-11-14T07:43:00.001-05:00

Look at my boy! He is morphing from a little preschooler into a boyish big boy. He has started to eat like a bottomless pit... I'm beginning to imagine how hard it will be to keep enough food in the house for him when he is in high school! I am waiting for him to shoot up several inches overnight and grow out of half of his winter clothes. He is holding his pencil correctly and learning about bullies and girls who aren't ready to be loved...all the lessons of pre-K. And the boy noises have increased. Don't know if I'm really ready for it... The goofy sputtery giggles and so many more crashes and explosions---constantly! Growing up without the constant noise of brothers has left me little prepared for this;) But, I am soaking up all the sweet snuggling and kisses.., I know they can't last too much longer.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Big boy

Itsy bitsy spider

2011-11-09T11:01:00.002-05:00

YouTube Video

{anna's skirt is a scrappy skirt-- not quite as fluffy as my tutorial, but plenty fun}

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full chicken report

2011-09-26T20:36:00.009-04:00

I just wrote and article for our community garden about our experience with chickens, so I am sharing it below... finally a good update!

this is Anna with Little Bird during week one!

Baby Princess is getting some loving as a teenager.... much bigger, but still no comb or wattles. Elisha told me the other day that the reason he loves her so much is because she is so yellow ;-)

our first egg! a lovely blue egg laid by our Araucana- Little Bird.

Little bird has lovely feathers and funny beard-like fluff around her face... this is typical of her breed.

Baby Princess is helping in the garden.

This is one of our Barred Rocks, either Glitter Rainbow or Henny Penny (Andrew wants to be sure you know that he didn't name any of the chickens ;-)

This is the home sweet coop... you can also see our two Rhode Island Reds: Sally and Kate.

So proud of our girls for laying their first eggs!

I think it all started with my mother... She brain washed me into thinking that you simply cannot have a kitchen without chickens. The chickens I grew up with were in paintings or on plates. Years later when I was registering for things to fill my family kitchen it was inevitable that the rooster plates and metal chicken would end up on the list. I little imagined that the sense of home I felt when surrounded by images of chickens in my kitchen would lead me to nurture a little flock of chickens in the backyard of my metropolitan area home.

A friend from Decatur told me about the Chicks in the City: Urban Chicken Symposium , so in January of 2010 I attended the Saturday morning workshop and decided that while I was pretty intimidated, this was something that I really wanted to try. Andrew and I spent the summer planning and building our coop and pen.
We worked on it here and there and finally decided that it was time to get some spring chickens just before Easter this year. At first we were hoping to get full grown birds so that we wouldn't have all the work of raising little bitties inside... but we finally decided that our chickens would need to be acclimated early on to life in our family with two small children and our dog. We bought our eight chicks from a feed and seed store in Roswell.They just happened to have a new shipment of the breeds we wanted at the time we were ready for them. We started with two Auracanas ( a South American breed that lays blue eggs), two Rhode Island Reds( a good laying reddish brown breed), two Buff Orpingtons (an English breed that is very friendly and lays consistently) and two Barred Rocks ( a lovely black and white checked breed).

All of our chickens are known as Dual Purpose, meaning they are good egg layers and have enough meat on them to be good for the soup pot when they stop laying eggs. Dual purpose breeds were in serious decline since practically the only chickens around have been commercially raised and therefore bred to be either enormous, fast growing, fat chickens for eating, or skinny egg producing machines. As backyard chicken enthusiasm has been spreading these dual purpose breeds are once again sought after.

When we tell people about our chickens they almost always ask if we are going to eat them... we hope that someone will benefit from our kindly raised healthy chickens when their job of egg laying is done, but we don't want to traumatize our children by forcing them to eat our pets. As it turns out this dilemma may be more of an issue for us than for our kids. It is amazing how normal all this seems to them since they have been exposed to the reality of the food chain from a young age. I overheard my son talking to his favorite chick, Baby Princess, when she and her flock mates were still living under a light bulb in our bathroom. He told her, "One day you are going to die and you'll get eaten up, but you have a happy life!" Speaking of being introduced to the food chain- my daughter's first sentence was "hawk eat chick"... a truth that she learned first hand! During our flock's first days outside one of the many neighborhood hawks got into the pen through a crack in the netting and left a little pile of feathers...well, we added more netting and thought they would be safe. The next day I heard my three year old son yelling down at the coop. He saw a hawk in the pen and went in after him. He was wielding a big stick trying to "teach that hawk not to get our chicks!" Thankfully, the hawk didn't get a chance to teach our son a lesson about threatening cornered animals. After the hawk escaped the pen we seamed all the overlapping pieces of netting shut and have not lost anymore of our remaining six birds. And now that our hens are full grown they have enjoying free ranging in the yard in the evenings... maybe the hawk decided that between our dog and our son, these chickens aren't worth the fight.

Although I was excited about having chickens, I didn't expect to feel so attached to them. Getting our chicks when they were just one week old fluff balls has really brought out the nurturing mother hen in me. People usually think of petting a soft dog or cat when they talk about how comforting pets can be... well, let me tell you-- having a warm fluffy chicken nestle into your arm and make sweet cooing chatter has been such a delight! And the entertainment is non stop... we love watching them busily scratch and peck around our yard in the evenings. Our dog got used to them early on and despite his bird dog heritage has become a chicken herder. Watching our chickens and our dog slyly steal leftover corn on the cob from each other was more fun than I expected.

Now, I was expecting to be excited about fresh backyard eggs and I have not been disappointed! A few weeks ago I was looking in the coop to check on their water and food when I was startled to see a beautiful blue egg nestled in the bedding by the door. Since we only have one Araucana chicken left I knew exactly which chicken laid that first egg. I was SO proud of her. You would think she had performed brain surgery judging from the amount of pride that swelled my chest every time I thought of her! Within a few days at least three of our chickens were leaving a daily egg in the coop. The only time we can hear the chickens from the house is when one of them is cackling an announcement to the world about the miracle she is about to perform... I'll go down 10-20 minutes later and sure enough, there will a fresh warm egg waiting for me. Chickens really are wonderful pets; you give them your leftovers and table scraps, your weeds and grubs and a safe place to sleep and they will give you beautiful healthy eggs, nitrogen rich manure for your garden, endless entertainment, and they will even go to work in your garden eating unwanted bugs and roto-tilling your plots.

I just went to my first backyard chicken meet-up group and got an excellent book written for city dwelling chicken owners. City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Makers, Bio-recyclers, and Local Food Producers by Patricia Foreman is very informative and is great for gardeners. She gives detailed information about composting and all the ways you can put your chickens to work in your garden. It could be the only book you get because it covers all the topics related to small scale backyard chicken raising, start to finish. The meet-up group would be a good place to go if you are interested in starting and want some moral support along the way.

End of the season

2011-09-26T13:21:00.002-04:00

Oh! The delight of a late summer beach trip! We are taking full advantage of having young children who can miss preschool for a September beach trip... It was a delightful time. We spent time with some of my family ...

The kids wanted to be with Pops as much as possible. Aunt Mary was a favorite playmate as well.

We got plenty of vitamin d the last day;) as we made huge sand canals and waited as the tide came in to see who would win... E was so determined that he could build walls strong enough that the waves couldn't knock then down.... Needless to say- he learned an important lesson about the strength if the tide.

{anna's dress is based on the free heather ross sundress tutorial}

We had a glorious evening boat ride... Perfect golden light and well timed after an early dinner, so there was no rush.

{anna's hat is great elastic fitted hat that I created a pattern for based on a store bought one my friend had-- maybe i'll do a tutorial sometime??}

And Anna learned an important thing as well--- she learned to swim! Elisha learned a month ago, so it has definitely been the swimming summer! Don't they look like little tadpoles ;)

YouTube Video

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Little miss is growing up

2011-08-17T17:42:00.002-04:00

Check out the fairly outrageous Christmas dress she is wearing... I went to an enormous consignment sale and - let me say this, we are SET for the next season! I saw the little number she is modeling and just knew that it would satisfy her girlie twirly heart (not to mention her grandmothers and great grandmothers;) I should add however that we did garner some looks as went on our errands.... Because there was no way she was going to take it off after she tried it on!

I just finished sewing her book bag for school- oh my! Can't believe she is heading of to preschool in a few short weeks! She is uber proud... Even though her bag practically drags the floor!

I drew the design on with washable markers (copied from one I saw on etsy and pinned on pintrest- oh how I love pintrest!) then I embroidered it and washed away the markings.

Backside of book bag

I have been working on a quilt for Anna to use when she graduates to a big girl bed... While not EXaCTly helpful, I will always treasure the memory of her helping lay out the squares!

Here she is enjoying a wonderful summer rain... Wish we could have another one of those... Glad we thoroughly enjoyed dancing in the last one we had!
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garden birthday party

2011-08-08T14:38:00.002-04:00

don't know why it has taken me so long to post this--- e and a had a joint birthday party this year- along with their friend c... 30 kids in our backyard--- it was fun... no disasters ;-)when i got down lo to take their pic they decided that they should too...

we had some newsprint pots to plant seeds in.

log turned into a tea party spot ;-)

i made some tissue paper pompoms and fabric bunting... loving bunting right now!

more bunting... and initials for the birthday kids.

the bow tie was really easy to make-- i see many more in our future... there are lady bugs on it!
note the cast... luckily she was in such a boot phase that she didn't mind the permanent pink one ;-)... i had so much fun designing and making her dress... makes me so happy!

two and four... wow. how did that happen?!

263 circles

2011-07-19T13:02:00.002-04:00

263 circles have been hand quilted on our queen sized quilt,,,, now I just have the binding! I started this snowball quilt made with Anna Maria Horner voile and linen accents last summer. In february I was finally finished with all the cutting and sewing together each of the 140 blocks... By the end of the month I hope it will be completely finished and ready for a photo shoot;)

I finished the hand quilting on our road trip home from the beach...

I think my little bitties love the beach as much as I do- hurray!

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a few things...

2011-07-18T07:17:00.000-04:00

i made a few things for the auction at elisha's preschool---

this was a quick little scrappy skirt and a matching hair bow.
this is a simple drawstring back pack...
i let each child in his class draw with fabric markers on a square and then i sewed them together for the front of the bag. i let each child pick a flash card with a picture of an animal on it as inspiration (i think that helps them focus instead of just drawing scribbles... plus it is always easiest to draw something while you look at it instead of just imagining it...). the lining and the straps are made out of a cute green dot fabric that i got from ikea... i bought a queen sized duvet cover with the intention to cut it up- it was so cheap that it was worth just buying for the fabric.

hunting for eggs

2011-07-16T07:05:00.000-04:00

no, we aren't hunting for fresh eggs in our hen house yet... still a couple more months before we can expect those. i was looking through pics on our computer and realized that i should get some things documented....

easter 2011

it was a very nostalgic easter for me... for the first time my children had an easter egg hunt at my grandmothers house-- just like we all did every year! it was really sweet to watch them and remember what fun i had when i was a child.
i made that cute pink bow tie on elisha... really not very hard to do with the help of some online tutorials.... andrew felt like he was really making a statement by wearing a pink tie... he was curious about what that statement was. i told him it was showing how he could have fun and match his kids(my necklace and shoes were pinkish, so matched a bit, too)... made me smile when we got to church and 4 of his friends also had on pink ties or shirts ;-)

a winter wedding quilt

2011-07-14T10:45:00.002-04:00

for my dear cousin, who is considered the fifth sister in our family. she met and has now married, a man who shares so many of her loves... he is so right for her that multiple mutual friends told her he was the man she was going to marry before she had even really met him!they share many interests in common, but at first their basic design and color leanings didn't seem to have any similarity. this was quite a challenge for me.... but after mulling as long as their shortish engagement gave me leave to ;-) i decided on a design that merges each aesthetic... her loves of rich color and exquisite design is obviously present in the stained glass-esque (yes, that word is also one of my creation ;-) string pieced center. his simple modern aesthetic is nodded to with the more modern square shape of the throw and the gray framing blocks. i love how it is such a picture of the merging and complementing of their personalities.
i paper pieced the string blocks (my first ones to try-- loved making them!)... the gray is mostly linen.
the backing is a gray sateen sheet from ikea... and i hand quilted with gray dmc perle cotton and hand tied the centers of the squares with turquoise. i love to add a little home on wedding quilts ;-)

a poem i love

2011-07-13T10:27:00.003-04:00

i have been thinking about this poem lately and just pulled it out to read again. it still just hits me like it did the first time.

Kindness

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

Is it just me, or is that just right? I have been "catching the thread" lately and sometimes feel so overwhelmed by the "size of the cloth" the it is hard to breath... i am so grateful for the kindness that ties my shoes and sends me out into the day-- the kindness of my friends, my children, my husband, my God.

May days

2011-05-28T21:27:00.003-04:00

We have not disappeared....

We have been celebrating anna's birthday, putting a pink cast on her leg, chasing hawks out of our chicken pen, killing copperheads, going on garden tours, planting our gardens, celebrating otis' birthday, finishing preschool, having thirty children in our yard celebrating a triple birthday party, missing Andrew while he was in Brazil for a week, celebrating his birthday, celebrating Elisha's birthday, and so much more... The month is not quite over.
I have made some things... I'll be back and show them - here is a little something I made for e's preschool teachers- zipper pouches:

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cute chicks!

2011-04-05T14:44:00.002-04:00

this is a tutorial for a super cute little easter birdie-- mama with egg and baby chick:
i really hope i will get around to making one for e and a for easter... it would be just right for our spring of chickens... I have been placing phone calls to local feed and seed stores and farms to find six little chickies just right for us! hurray!i know what these fun loving little folk are going to think about our chicks....
but i'm not so sure how this old guy is going feel...?

Kitchen Christmas

2011-03-17T18:05:00.003-04:00

here are some better pictures of our kitchen Christmas----they uploaded in reverse order...Christmas morning--- it is a hit!! they made us a delightful breakfast ;-)
anna has been quite the little mama -- strolling her babies (and in this case- a dvd). she is wearing her the new dress up skirt i made {this is what happens when crinoline is on sale ;-}
a top view-- notice the fried egg... felt food was fun to make on car ride during holiday travel. i think the eggs turned out the best...

here she is in her humble beginnings ... we had so much fun in the basement making it... note: santa's helpers had plenty of milk and cookies to fuel the work ;-)

broccoli slaw

2011-03-08T10:58:00.002-05:00

have i told y'all about the broccoli slaw recipe from smitten kitchen?

we clogged our drain with broccoli around this time last year (i botched the recipe and put it all down the disposal... then the pipe busted and flooded our basement... and andrew had to pull up all the flooring.... single-handedly while watching the kids b/c i was deathly ill) and so i have been warned from making it again... but finally a year later i have made another batch--- yum yum yum!

old pics

2011-03-07T16:31:00.002-05:00

i don't know if i ever posted these lovely pictures.... i just love our 4th of july tradition with andrew's fam!
here are all the grandchildren at the parade...i have such a weakness for watermelons on little girlies!
sarah and thomas took some breathtaking pictures of anna while we were in the mountains on this trip...
oh! i just want nibble on the little cheeks and arms! thomas and sarah have SUCH a gift! check out there site-- t2photography.com

i have uploaded some "new pictures" ... as in everything from the fall and Christmas... maybe i'll start blogging again... hhmmm....

happy anniversary to us!

2011-02-19T10:41:00.002-05:00

today is our 6th anniversary... and it is as lovely a February day as the day we wed. for some reason i don't have any wedding pictures on our computer (at least that i can find) so here is a honeymoon picture. we had a wonderful time on the secluded cumberland island... we are really itching to get back. ...
I think i'm coming out of a grumpy hibernation-- this glorious weather should do the trick ;-) i can't promise that will translate into more blogging... it may just mean more living...

fall wedding quilt

2011-01-29T20:12:00.005-05:00

my sweet cousin faira (a fellow artist) married her buddy j in november. a wedding quilt seemed like just the thing they needed as they make their home together.
here is shot of the back... a little rainbowish action for my hippie couz who registered for more than her fair share of brown things... hehe... i teased her about this, but i can certainly appreciate all the beautiful shades of brown.
i really! enjoyed making this quilt for them. it felt more like a work of fine art than anything i have made in a while. the wonky star blocks were a lot of fun and i am very pleased with the dappled brown background.... i used a very random selection of brown fabrics that i had on hand-- cotton, linen, corduroy, even silk.
and here is the happy couple... just starting their life together... in a little bitty home(do you see it down in the corner?) with a big starry sky full of dreams.

http://moderndayquilts.tumblr.com/" title="Modern Day Quilts">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5010/5354189865_9d5234b011_m.jpg" width="192" height="115" alt="Modern Day Quilts" />

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

2010-12-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

We have been bustling here... I like to bustle through December. I've stayed too busy to leave any proof here ;) I have a few pictures, but they aren't the best quality ( on my phone...) I think I'll post them anyway b/c there is no time like the present...

I really hope I post more pictures of this darling thing! One of my favorite memories of this Christmas will be the late nights in the basement with Andrew making this little play kitchen... like I said, hopfully more on that later.

Do you know how happy I am about what came in that box? I love the little girly- don't get me wrong, but I am thrilled about the seeing machine that arrived in the box! I have made many many a thing on my old/ never been serviced singer, that cost less than $100... But I am going to be much happier and quicker and neater on this machine... And apparently sneakier. Andrew said that ge doesn't know when I've snuck down to the basement to sew anymore because he can't here my banging machine all over the house;)

What a fun white Christmas! I think it will be well remembered!

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Excuse me please...

2010-12-05T22:17:00.001-05:00

...while I indulge in a WAR EAGLE! I've been humming my Alma mater all day... We were thrilled to get invited to the big game...

I didn't realize that it had been five years since I last went to an auburn football game. What an awesome one to see! When we got home we started watching it again on dvr... And that is really something coming from me b/c in general I am not much into watching football.

I made Andrew stay until they played the Alma mater after most of the crowd was gone...
I'll end my football post with a quote from a friend who went to the university of alabama, "I hate to say it, but this year God is an Auburn fan." I'm glad to say I believe she's right!
Bodda getta bodda getta bodda getta ba. Ra ra ra sis boom ba. Weegle weegle war eagle, kick 'em in the butt big blue!

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Dress up

2010-11-03T08:16:00.000-04:00

Halloween is a fun time to dress up... I want to try and extend the fun. We should play dress up more often!

We made this Thomas the train costume after church... Yes, I waited until the day of to ask e what he wanted to be. Maybe I wanted a design challenge... Maybe I wanted to avoid multiple mind changes...
The big box made walking up hills tricky for e... So there was a lot of "I think I can, I think i can, I think I can."

We had a monkey costume (you may remember our cute little boy monkey from two years ago), but e insisted that a had to be the strawberry. This picture reminds me of a picture if me in a watermelon costume when I was a couple years older than her. The red with black seeds and how her knees are locked back... Aw! And let me tell you- she was a pro at trick or treating... No one needed to teach her what to do!

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Fallish

2010-10-04T21:48:00.001-04:00

Ah! Such fallish weather we are having...

Can you see the pansies and parsely in the background? (and perhaps the beloved red shoes?)

The wind was blustery as we did some fall planting this weekend... I say- just the perfect occasion for some hand knits ;) looks like anna's earflap hat is too small... I better get knitting! ( and her sweater is a pinwheel sweater I worked on over July 4th weekend)

Our little guy was a great helper...when he was helping fill pots with dirt he said," mama, I love to do stuff just you and me, just mama and Elisha!" it made me do happy ( and also made me stop listening to Jane Eyre in my earphones... Hate to miss his sweet words! ... Consequently, I just finished it... again, for probably the 5th time... But it was so wonderful... Ah!)

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love shack

2010-09-24T14:07:00.002-04:00

innocent crush house blocks
Originally uploaded by simply plain jane

... so i really couldn't watch all those new fabrics spin around in the washer and dryer with out playing with them first... so i cut 2 inch strips off of each of the fat quarters and had a date night with my innocent crush ;-) i may pay for not pre-washing the fabrics first, oh well...
i have been really loving house blocks lately as i dive head first into quilting. for a while i felt like all this sewing was a detour from my ceramic work and painting that i had to take while my children were young.... but i'm beginning to realize that it has developed so naturally from my artistic interests all along. one of the reasons i love ceramic art is because of its functionality. i love the idea of people using, physically interacting with my artwork... that seems to give it so much of a life beyond the original creation of the piece.
i love that a quilt has such a physical presence, so many ways to experience it, places to use it... and of course people to love it... i love that it is something that can have such a long life, such a story to tell. i love to think of the generational aspect of a quilt's life. we have some quilts that have been in my husband's family and i love the connection i feel with his great aunt, whom i have never met. by studying her fabric choices and the stitches her hand's made i feel like i know her, perhaps in a more intimate way than i do my own great aunt....
i know that i am rambling, but i have wanted to express my defense of quilting and fabric arts. sometimes i hear a voice in the back of my head telling my that i am not really an artist... my friends from the art department that went on the get MFAs and show in galleries are 'really' artists and i am just wasting my degree. i know that is ridiculous, i just need to remind myself sometimes. seriously- anyone who has seen the quilts from gee's bend shown in a museum next to abstract expressionistic paintings cannot deny that they most certainly hold their own... and i personally would argue that they have a depth that i often find lacking in "professional" art.

but, back to these darling house blocks. isn't the image, the idea of a home...especially an imperfect one, such a comfort? i'm always drawn to them...

(if you click on the link under the picture you can see some close-ups... my computer isn't cooperating with me right now, so i can't post them directly)

I'm smiling today...

2010-09-22T17:26:00.002-04:00

...As I think about my darling little ones...
....And how much fun we had this morning at the botanical garden together...

....Just us... No stroller, no diaper bag... Ok, I did have a little bag with my credit card, my phone, a sippy cup, and a pouch sling that was hardly used.

Here they are trotting along to the children's garden for storytime. I think this is one of my favorite pictures to date!

This little pile of fabric waiting to be washed is making me smile. I got a fat quarter selection of Anna Maria Horner's newest line of fabric- innocent crush... It wasn't supposed to be in stores until November but a shop (whipstitch) here got it in yesterday... And I am thrilled that I obsessively had them cut and hold the fabric for me b/c by the time I got there some of the fabrics had already sold out!

I am also smiling because I have two children exhaustedly napping and I am heading to the basement to work on a very special quilt for a couple who will be forming a new family as they wed in a couple of months...
Anything making you smile?
-
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fluffy twirly scrappy skirt tutorial.... finally

2010-09-21T18:58:00.000-04:00

i forgot all about doing this tutorial for y'all! i have had the lovely pictures just waiting... and i think i had notes on exact measurements as well.... but, as this particular project was done during the flooded basement/ studio upheaval period of time, that i still remember with dread... well, those measurements are long gone. so instead you get to make this a couture garment-- made to measure ;-) which is best b/c my sizing isn't standard anyway...

the best fabric for this super gathered skirt is a light weight fabric such as cotton voile. i used anna maria horner's little folks. if you do a search for supplies on etsy.com and look for voile you should find some you like. i have made this skirt a variety of ways... but the basic idea is to decide on exactly how fluffy and long you to want it... get a skirt that you can measure to start your figuring.

*you will decide the length from the bottom of the waist band... add extra in for your seam and hem allowance (i used a hemming foot to make a narrow rolled hem, so only added about an inch for hem allowance)... i made a lining and let it hang about an inch longer to add interest.

for the skirt on anna(the skirt in the tutorial process pictures is actually a different one from the one on anna- sorry for the confusion- the one in the tutorial is a newborn size gift i made later) i cut my "scraps" 8 inches long and between 4" and 6.5" wide to add variety. i used 13 different pieces. this is an area where you can really personalize this skirt. you can use one fabric for the whole thing, alternate between two or three prints, or use a wide variety like i did...

*place your "scraps" in the order you like best and then sew them together to get your top layer panel. then cut a lining/under skirt the same width and if you choose, an inch longer. the finished width of the scrappy panel of anna's skirt was 59"... made a VERY fluffy skirt!

*pin the two layers together, both front sides facing up, and sew two long gathering stitches across the top edge. i do this by placing the fabric with the edge at the edge of the foot and making one line of stitches with the needle in the far rt. position and the putting the fabric back where it started and doing another line with the needle in the far lft. position.

* next cut a rectangle of fabric for the waist band. the width of this rectangle will be determined by the width of elastic you choose and the length should be long enough get the skirt on easily...you can measure your baby at the widest spot (her big ole diapered bottom) and probably add about 4-6 inches to that to make it easy to fit over said bottom as you pull the skirt up. the waist band piece on anna's skirt was ~ 27" long.
* lay the waist band fabric over the skirt panel(s) with right sides facing each other. gather the skirt fabric so the the edges of the skirt meet the edges of the waist panel.

*fuss with the gathered fabric until it is evenly distributed along the waist band and pin it together.

* sew the waist band to the skirt.

* press that seam open and the fold the waist fabric over toward the inside of the skirt to make a channel for the elastic... again the width of this channel will depend on the width of your chosen elastic.

* pin fabric so that the edge is folded under and extends just beyond the previously sewn joining seam. (don't know if that wording makes sense... study the picture?)

*sew with the front side facing up so that you can make a neatly hidden seam right along the joining of the skirt and waist band. i go slowly and check the underside frequently to be sure the folded fabric on the underside will be caught in the stitching.
* run the elastic through the waist band channel.

* now you will fold the long panel in half with right (front) side facing inward to close up the side of the skirt.

* sew the waist band closed catching both ends of the elastic in the stitching.
*sew the the top layer closed separately from the bottom layer. this is very tricky to do neatly and completely. all i can say is- try the best you can and know that i am not a professional pattern designer! there may not be a correct way to do this ;-)
* once each layer is sewn closed, all you have to do is hem the bottom of both layers! i highly recommend a hem foot!
ta da!!

once again-- this skirt is different from the one anna is wearing at the very top of the post. it was a newborn size that i made as a gift. it is significantly less fluffy... and as i mentioned before, i lost the measurements... sorry!

i also want to add a note about the waist band fabric. i did anna's with two layers of voile. i scrunches up a lot and i would have preferred it if it had been quilting weight, or voile lined with quilting weight... i have since made a skirt out of old jeans and i made the waist band channel for elastic out of quilting weight with a lightweight interfacing ironed on to help it keep its shape.

*** ok--- please post pictures (or links to them ) in the comments if you actually use this tutorial... it may be poorly done, but i did try and would love the reward of seeing other creations! ;-)

tucked in

2010-09-15T10:04:00.001-04:00

i did get his quilt finished for his 3rd birthday! he has been sleeping under it since then... hurray!here's our little fellow puckering up... duck in hand, in his red big boy bed... and don't forget to note the quilt... you know, the one i made out of 300 squares and hand sewed all the quilting (through denim backing even!)... and no, it did not turn me off to quilting, or even hand quilting... i'm slowly making my way through a queen size now... but i can tell you-- no more denim backs for hand quilted pieces!

Girl band

2010-09-14T17:35:00.001-04:00

On a whim (and based on an idea my sewing buddy had) I whipped up this little head band for Anna today.

She was so generous to sit still while I photographed it... I could tell she was excited to be posing for a picture ;)

All I did was cut a piece of elastic to fit around her head, then I cut a strip of fabric about 4-5 inches longer... Mine was a bit wider than 2 inches b/c that is what worked with my width of elastic. However, you can make it whatever width you would like...
I folded the fabric and sewed a tube... Turned it right side out, ran the elastic through it, then pinned each end of elastic to each end of the tube of fabric. Next I stretched the tube long as I sewed a long wide zig zag stitch down the center. After that all I had to do was connect the ends... And of course embellish if that is your taste;) I put a felt circle with a couple of buttons layered on top to hidden my closure. Finally, baby fine hair out of fine looking baby face!

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ok ok... i'll update

2010-09-13T21:42:00.003-04:00

i realized that i hadn't uploaded pictures from my camera in a while... i guess it had been four months! here are some pictures from the big three and thirty bash we had for our boys.it is rather rare that we are all in a picture frame together... hoping for everyone to be looking at the camera and smiling is an awful lot to ask ;-)
elisha definitely enjoy being king for the day... his crown was a big hit... and so was the cake...
what our birthday cake lacks in beauty and cuteness, it makes up for in tastiness. the day will come when elisha will ask for a cake that looks like ___ , but until that day comes we will all be enjoying a cream cheese pound cake to celebrate !
it was such a wonderful evening... so many friends, good bbq, above mentioned pound cake, bubbles, and for the older birthday boy- pbr and horse shoes. it was a big kick-off... getting used to summer nights...

... andrew and i just sat outside after putting the kids to bed. we enjoyed some blue bell homemade vanilla with cut up peaches... it was a bit chilly out to be eating ice cream... my my we are rounding the curve in the season circle...

my sister has been giving me a hard time about updating my blog.... so here's to you sis ;-)

please and thank you

2010-08-30T16:43:00.002-04:00

here are a few pictures from the spring when my computer wasn't cooperating... my goodness, how the summer has changed my littlest one! here she is at her birthday party-- all hail the may queen! she has certainly become aware of her powers... she will tell you "more" and just lately "thank you" as she beckons you to give her something... elisha did the same thing with his "thank you"s... it was mostly preemptive at first... either while giving you something- assuming you will thank him for it ;-) or thanking you ahead of time for what he wanted you to give him. it is so fun to have anna learning how give and take works... and that "thank you" is such an important part of the process !
it is so funny to see her in this dress... while she is still a rather slight little thing, she has grown... this dress fits her more like a shirt now... indecent without bloomers ;-) her hair has grown too... very decent pigtails if she doesn't pull them out.
this was a picture from easter ... the dress she is wearing was one my mother made for me!

old times... first kiss

2010-08-04T20:35:00.003-04:00

we had a great time at the lake with my college room mates and their families. it is so nice when you can pick up where you left off... it had been two years since we were all together. one thing i think is really fun about growing up is seeing my children respond to the children of my "childhood" friends. the fact that they get along so well seems like proof of our friendship ;-) which leads me to the second part of this post's title-- anna got along really quite well with sarah's son... she was diving into her lap to pet the 19 month old fellow's hair, then rubbing his arm... and then she was kissing up a storm! he is a cutie and i guess her inner little mama thought he might be one of her baby dolls come to life. but all the same, i am going to have to teach her not to be so forward next time ;-) sarah has pictures and more details of the weekend on her blog:

http://zackandsarahbarker.blogspot.com/2010/08/roommate-reunion.html

click over to see pictures of anna's wee prince charming... and elisha riding the tube behind the boat! (i actually teared up thinking about how he is growing so fast)

2010-07-18T15:22:00.001-04:00

Don't know why I haven't shared this picture yet... Our littlest gardener was very difficult to clean up...

That much black dirt is a hard to get out of super fine baby hair.
(I need not mention that this was done on daddy's watch ;)

Location:tiny gardener

defeating dragons

2010-07-13T07:53:00.001-04:00

Elisha has been very busy exercising his 'pretend' skills. He has been taking many boat rides on various vessels...

And he has been beating off dragons, monsters, and 'naughty' people.

I had a quick trip to goodwill and picked a couple classics on VHS... Elisha was delighted. Since we couldn't watch them right away, he just looked at the pictures on the front. He had an awful lot to say about that that that man, that guy on the white horse who fights dragons.... I told him it was prince charming, and isn't it nice to have a prince charming around... Somehow throughout the afternoon Anna became 'prince charmy' and Elisha did a great job protecting her from all sorts of bad people with horns and dragons. I tried to explain that a prince is a Boy and a PRinCeSs is a girl, but to no avail... It was so amusing to see Anna so oblivious of her role while Elisha was protecting her... Even after supper he would run in the room where she was and say," it's ok prince charmy- don't fuss."

Purple harvest

2010-07-09T22:04:00.000-04:00

- those are black eyed peas ... Their shell turns purple when they are ready to be picked... We'll be able to pick some more this weekend... Hopefully have enough peas for each of us.
What's growing in your neck of the woods?

We are home makers: part 1

2010-07-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

This post is the first in a series... We have been making a few homes around here. The first one I want to share is still a work in progress ... It is a home for our chickens.

Maybe we can't call them "our chickens" if we don't actually have them yet... But Andrew has been hard at work getting us prepared for when we do get them.

Oh yeah- I guess Andrew isn't the only one who has been working hard on the coop ;)

(what do you think of my fun new photo toy- the 'hipstamatic" app on my phone? These remind me of the polaroids my grandmother would take)

Fruits of our labor

2010-07-05T23:05:00.000-04:00

We have spent a lot of the past couple months gardening (obviously not blogging)... And tonight we had dinner of our harvest: the pasta had roasted squash and eggplant, the caprese salad had tomatos and basil, and even the flower arrangment had zinnias-- all from our garden!

It is so fun to take a little tour in the garden and see how things are coming along... The cantalope and watermelon getting bigger and the black eyed peas getting longer and the corn getting tassled. Elisha likes to ask if he can eat a basil leaf or cherry tomato when are there together ... Funny how he thinks they taste better outside directly off the bush ;)

(I think my blogging will pick up again now that I have figured out how to do it from my phone! ;)

234th

2010-07-04T21:20:00.001-04:00

We have spent the past few days on this porch... And it has been delightful! Family ( lots!), homemade peach ice cream, and me knitting sweaters- this is becoming our 4th of July tradition.

Mmm...

Happy 234th birthday USA!

down in the dump

2010-06-11T08:35:00.002-04:00

we have been having a tough week here. i think some of it is just the natural trough after the high of birthday month... and speaking of birthdays -- my two children, who are now officially a year older, have decided to do various things they must think are indicative of older children.

anna is a climbing maniac. every time i turn around she is on a kitchen chair about to climb onto the table, or climbing up the outside edge of the stairs-- you know, the part i can't baby gate her away from! she has also decided that she is old enough to use a fork and spoon by herself. for a while now if she had anything utensil-like (a pretzel stick for example) she would try to use it to scoop up food... the past few days she has taken it to another level. i gave her some pasta salad, the perfect finger food = macaroni noodles, kidney beans, chunks of cheese... she refused to eat it. i thought she must not be hungry, so i put her down.... next thing i know she has climbed into elisha's booster seat and is trying to eat his leftovers with his fork!

elisha has decided that big boy three year olds don't need diapers or pull-ups during their naps... that hasn't always worked out so well...but the worst is that he isn't really even taking naps at all. he is repeatedly coming downstairs... i'm at the end of my rope. and i'm realizing that i feel entitled to a few hours of free time every afternoon. i don't know how to make it with out that time... i kind of want to quit my job... but i kind of can't.... something's got to give and i know that it is my attitude. and then maybe i will be able to train him to at least stay in his room for an hour rest time...i have to accept that the 2-3 hours i used to get, while wonderful, just wasn't meant to last forever. excuse me while i pout a little... on another note, remember that wonderful side effect being 3 had on e? he was obeying w/out fussing b/c he was a big boy 3 year old... well that has gone out the window this week. apparently 3 year olds are their own boss, they yell "no" to their parents when told to do something... maybe the naughtiness is related to the nap boycott...

these things are enough to make life a bit hard around here, but there is something else that is weighing our hearts down right now... we lost andrew's dear mama mae a week ago and while we rejoice at the thought of her dancing in heaven, we just miss her so much that it hurts. i'm having that heavy chest hard to get a deep breath feeling right now... but maybe later i'll share some of the interesting questions e had about it all.

happy birthday to my big boy!

2010-05-28T22:32:00.002-04:00

isn't three so old! elisha is such a charming three year old... i could tell that he wanted to act like a three year old... which to him meant saying "ok mama" when i told him to do something he would normally fuss about. he pointed out how he wasn't fussing... how he was being a big boy... it was so pleasant... for the 3 minutes that that game lasted ;-)

he is such a sweet, fun, funny little person. we feel heavily blessed to have him in our family...

my my, little man- you and your stick-up hair certainly rocked our world three years ago! we like it.

(the top picture is elisha laying on the quilt i made for his preschool class project for the school auction... in case i don't do a feature post on it later: i had each child do a drawing w/ fabric markers onto a white square and then i quilted it together with other fabrics. andrew became quite attached oddly enough, and bought it at the auction ... i'm still not sure if he really likes it that much, or just wanted me to feel better about all the time i spent making it ;-)

i really do have lots of posts waiting... we have been going ninety to nothing with birthday celebrating {sorry andrew and otis- i didn't do birthday posts for y'all!}, getting our garden planted, and quilting... speaking of-- i'm off to keep working on the big 3 & 3-0 party i'm throwing for my guys...

my things have found a home...

2010-05-06T15:16:00.005-04:00

in this precious shop! Green Pomegranate is in VIrginia Highlands (a neighborhood in Atlanta) and they just opened another shop in Serenbe. The woman who owns the shop noticed anna's tiny red shoes when i came stopped in back in january. she asked where i got them...did i sell them... did i want to sell them. apparently she has been looking for baby shoes to sell in her shop and hadn't found any that suited her. she loved my designs and so we went from there. i told her that making all the shoes myself was not an option--- luckily she employs a few seamstresses and is having them make the shoes. i spent some time perfecting my pattern and then passed it off and then i just had the fun part to do- pick out fabric!

below are some of the girl's shoes-- aren't they so cute displayed on a cake stand!

the shop is focused on re purposed fabrics... "The mission of Green Pomegranate is to honor the handiwork of our mothers while nurturing the future of our children."

here are some of the boy's shoes ;-)

sorry for so many pictures- i just think the shop is so very cute... and of course the shoes are too ;-) it breaks my heart that anna can't wear my handmade shoes anymore... all that walking doesn't bode well for fabric shoes!

happy birthday dear anna

2010-05-01T22:03:00.002-04:00

happy birthday to you! we had a delightful day celebrating the glorious morning one year ago that brought us our little anna... what a blessing she has been! here she is pushing her new grocery cart(thank you nana and papa!) with her baby doll (who is indeed wearing a matching dress)... i made the doll in 5th grade and she loves it... she'll kiss across the room to her ;-)

i plan to have a lot more coverage of the party later... i can't get the pictures to upload here ...hhmmm the fact that this one is here is sheer luck ;-)

happy may day!

nesting... a year later

2010-04-26T20:15:00.003-04:00

well, since i felt like i was in labor for a week (although when it really happened it was rather short) i kind of think of this as birth week for miss anna... and i am nesting all over again to celebrate ;-) ...busy making lots of fun things for the upcoming birthday girl and her celebration. i'm sure i'll at least have a few things i'll get around to sharing. and i do have the pictures taken to post a tutorial for the fluffy skirt in the previous post (2 posts ago)... i just have to get it written up, and that certainly won't happen before the birthday on sat, so don't look for it;-)

i will try to get a fairly detailed birth story up to celebrate... and i finally have pictures to show you of an exciting business development i hinted at a while ago... you'll have to wait ;-)

off to work again!

big brother/sister advice...

2010-04-15T12:40:00.003-04:00

.... from a two year old (oh no! in almost a month he will be a three year old!)

over breakfast this morning elisha and i were talking about a friend of his who is about to get a baby sister.

here is our conversation :

me- "elisha, soon claire is going to be a big sister... did you know that she is going to have a baby sister just like you do?!"

e- just kind of nods and smiles while devouring his yogurt.

me- "can you help her be a good big sister? what will you tell her when you see her?"

e-" i say- claire, just hug her."

me- "is there anything else she should do?"

e-"kiss"

me-" what about if the baby is sleeping?"

e-"be quiet"

well, i think that about sums it up... don't you? maybe e should write a handbook ;-)

i hope that makes you smile.... i'm still smiling and it's past lunch!

"spin baby anna"

2010-04-09T08:56:00.002-04:00

i know you saw this skirt in my previous sweater post-- but it deserves it's own! when i first put this fun fluffy skirt on anna, elisha told her to spin ;-) he knew that it was the perfect twirling skirt! she isn't even walking on her own yet, so i think spinning may be a ways off.

"hurray! i love my new skirt, mama!"

the fabric i used for the skirt is from anna maria horner's newest line - "little folks"... it is a light weight, super soft and silky cotton voile. i also made a little hair bow... the fabric gathers beautifully, so the little gathered and twirled rosette on the hair clip was so fun and easy to make. shoes she has on are unfortunately the last ones she will probably get "mama made"... she is just too hard on them now with all her escapades. the sweater she is wearing is so precious... i need to get up some pictures that show off the details in a better way. it has cable knit owls around the yoke. it was so darling, that i was motivated to learn how to cable knit-- not as hard as i imagined (with some good friends on hand for moral support ;-) the pattern is "owlet" and i will definitely be making more... anna will have one in every size !
here she is on the go... she is into everything these days! i really want to do a tutorial for the this skirt... of course, i have become motivated to do this while our basement (ie. my workspace) is a pipe bursted, dehumidifier leaking, laminate floor peeling mess! oh, dear!

potty learning- what we've learned

2010-04-03T10:43:00.003-04:00

not sure why i feel like blogging about this today...

this pic has been posted before last january, and i know e will be so embarrassed later- but i like to have pictures on my posts, and this is the only one that fits the theme ;-)

sorry to those who don't have kids... you may want to skip this.

i know a lot of people with children elisha's age are at least thinking seriously about (aka: dreading) potty training... and probably those w/ younger littles, too. i think most parents dread potty training almost from the moment they birth their babies. it can be exhausting, frustrating, and messy... but it is also very exciting too! goodness knows, we have been changing wet undies here and there for quite a while so, while the weather is warm (the BEST time to start) here are some of the things we have learned (with the disclaimer that i realize there are many different child/parent teams, and different things will work best for different people-- and some people are amazingly blessed to have children wake up one day asking for undies and never have an accident....but don't count on it!)

i think it is best to approach the whole thing like we do walking, eating, and all the other things our children gradually learn to do on their own--- meaning: it is a process. you don't have a marathon weekend where your child starts out immobile on their backs and ends up walking. their are many steps in between that take a lot of development to master, not to mention help (remember holding their hands for so long as they learn to walk independently?) training our children to ignore the feeling of eliminating and being wet/dirty for years and then all of a sudden expecting them to recognize the feeling of needing to "go" and doing it in a new place, a new way, is a LOT to ask... and can be very frustrating for both of you. my approach (and i don't claim that it is convenient) is to try to at least keep a little awareness along the way- cloth diapers and changing frequently has helped, but also keeping a little potty around and letting my babies (anna as soon as she could sit supported) sit on them from time to time. i try to do it at a consistent time, like right before and/or after naps/bedtime... and most importantly-- when i KNOW she needs to go... you know what i mean. if your baby is around you, you usually know when she is starting to poop. why on earth do you want to sit there and watch her get used to doing it in a way and place that you will desperately be trying to tell her not to a few months/years later. do yourself(and your child) a favor and time the time to grab her, say "hold on a minute, let's poop in the potty instead", and then rejoice in not having poop smeared all over her little bum. wiping a potty with clorox wipes is a lot easier that getting poop out of all the crevices of a squirming child. even if you don't "catch" every poop, at least they will be familiar with the idea and the feeling of pooping as they sit on the potty.

having a little naked bottom outside time while the weather is nice can be really helpful to let your child/baby become aware of the feelings of eliminating. talk to him about what is going on (try to act nonchalant if they poop in the grass ;-)... remember- easier to scoop off of the grass than clean poopy undies later ;-)... notice their "cues"-- sometimes your child may do a little dance or get antsy, or just pause and look off in the distance before or during eliminating--- notice this, it will help when you get to the next step of undies inside and getting them to the potty in time. and again, talk to them about everything. help them learn how it all works, point out what they are doing. if you don't like the idea of baring all for the backyard to see, get some cotton undies and watch for wetness streaming down their legs (they don't take much space in the wash) or just put them in a long shirt.

the official recommendation from pediatricians is to put children on little potties because they will feel more secure with their feet on the ground. we really like the "baby bijorn little potty" it is only about $10... i like potties to be all one piece-- they are easier to keep clean. ikea sells a simple one piece potty for $3. it is a cheaper option (maybe to keep in the basement, outside, or in the car)... but it is a tiny bit higher than the bjorn, so not as good for little bitties... and it tips over a little easier and the bowl shape causes a little more sloshing when carrying to the potty. if you want to high end potty for $20 you can get the "babywunder deluxe" clear potty... again nice one piece, but clear, as the name implies. sounds weird or gross at first, but is great because you don't have disturb the child to see if there has been success, and you can communicate with them as they go, b/c you will sure of what is happening in there ;-) it is shaped like the bjorn , so it is shorter and more stable.

now, a word about pull-ups: i cannot tell you how many times elisha has explained to me that "pull-up: it it it like a diaper" i try to tell him to pretend they are undies and to keep them dry-- but you can't fool the little guys! they are good on occasion ( a stomach virus! or long car trips, or times of absolute need for dry clothes, but you will still be able to take them to the potty) ... but in general you are just using more expensive diapers.

my last tip for the day is: don't ask your child if they need to potty-- just say " its potty time, let's go give it a good try on the potty." what do toddlers love to say? "no"... they are usually not going to choose to stop what they are doing to go potty, just get them used to taking potty breaks. another thing we have learned is that sometimes needing to potty makes kids fussy... so they may resist using the potty most when they need to go the most... strange, i know. but that is another good reason to give babies a chance to pee or poop before bedtimes... a lot of times they will go to sleep easier if they have an empty bladder and a dry diaper.

if you have read all of this, you will find it very helpful and well worth the effort!

around here

2010-03-20T20:57:00.002-04:00

:: i am quilting up a storm... the quilt top for elisha is almost pieced completely.

:: anna will walk holding one of our hands and will let go and balance on her own some.

:: andrew has been clearing vines and brush from our yard like a pioneer (and hopefully will come out unscathed by poison ivy- his arch enemy).

:: otis has been chasing squirrels like mad and hounding the chipmunks in the wood pile (while they, no doubt are laughing at how incapable he is at catching them).

:: our dear elisha--- well, he has been running rather high fevers off and on since thursday evening... asking to go night night at 6:00!!! ... refusing to eat most of the time (until he discovered pediapops)... having his first Saturday visit to the dr. where he not only had a 104 degree temp. but also threw-up curdled dairy {we learned the important lesson that diary doesn't mix well with fever... the fever causes it to spoil in ones tummy --- learn from our mistake!} he doesn't have strep or mono or chicken pox... not really sure what kind of virus, but we are now fueled with pediapops and he seems to be on the mend... stayed up until his usual 8:15 tonight.

:: the crib in elisha's room--- empty! he took his first nap in his big boy bed this afternoon... he took a break from his illness to sing and dance, capering about while we put it together in his room this morning. i looked everywhere for our video camera to catch the excitement on film, but it was nowhere to be seen. he said, " i a big boy, sleep in a big boy bed, but not a very big boy, i still need some people on my bed, (as he got 'chick' and 'lamby' and of course, 'duck' out of his crib and put them on his bed before i had even put the sheet on) and bwee bwee (his paci).

:our house-- a complete and total wreck... who really needs a clean house anyway?

the long overdue knit sweater(jacket) post

2010-03-15T21:19:00.003-04:00

way back in the summer i started what felt like an incredibly ambitious knitting project... a sweater! but as it was a tiny baby sweater, and the easiest pattern the knit shop sold (just flat rectangles that you then seam together), i felt like i could at least give it a good try... and maybe finish it by winter.

i think the best thing i did was choose wool that i adored. i LOVE the malabrigo brand and especially the mineral red color of this sweater. it isn't your typical baby sweater, but it was something that i was excited enough to want to finish... and the wool was so beautiful and soft that it made the process so enjoyable.
i love that when anna wears this sweater i am reminded of the warm afternoons during our family's 4th of july trip to the mountains... i sat in the rocking chair on the porch and knit away while andrew's parents rocked my baby to sleep on the swing... i remember knitting in the car on the way home... and getting home and realizing that one of the sleeves fell out of the car 1.5 hrs north of the city when i hoped in the backseat to nurse anna... and i remember thanking God when andrew's parents found that lost sleeve on their way home ;-)

in our culture clothes can be so... disposable, we can get them for cheap and then get rid of them when the style changes... but i have really enjoyed the few pieces of clothing that have been expensive in the time invested in making them. so many memories are associated with the article before it is even worn... then it is worn more often b/c it is already a good friend. i may sound a bit crazy speaking of clothes in this manner, but i know some of y'all are nodding your heads!
when i made this i thought of it as a sweater, but now that we have gone whole winter and i have only just washed it for the first time ( after been worn almost every single day!) i think of it as a jacket... you don't wash jackets as often as you wash sweaters ;-) and as it is a fairly thick wool for a baby in the south it has been a wonderfully warm outer layer over whatever she has worn... and with our long cold winter this year-- it has been welcome indeed!

* i will highlight the skirt in a later post--stay tuned ;)
a sweater that just buttons at the top works well for sitting babies w/ chubby bellies and big diaper bottoms. since i'm her mother it is my job to think she is the cutest thing i have ever seen--- right?
ta da!

flannel love

2010-03-14T22:55:00.003-04:00

thanks to the warm weather that is (i hope!) just around the corner, this dress will be hanging out in the closet for a good while. if you are in our area you may have seen enough of this little dress to know that it is one of my favorites! it is a simple "scrappy skirt" sewn into a onsie.( i made the mistake of using a Gerber onsie-- they are just plain crappy) ... the fabric is sooo lovely and snugly. it is anna marie horner's new line of flannel --"folksy flannel"... you may have already heard me mention her name... we aren't friends... yet.... but i'm sure it will happen! i just can't say enough about how thrilled i am with her fabrics and book(s). i will be showing off more things lately made with her fabrics soon.i didn't get a close-up of the dress, which is a shame b/c you will just have to believe me about how cute the tiny orange house applique is on the front. and you should also note the lavender rick rack along the hem... i love rick rack! the shoes are also from anna maria fabric- her home dec. line "drawing room"... i did make them... and with her busy crawling she is destroying them :-(

our yoguru

2010-03-04T11:01:00.001-05:00

here is another breakfast scene. elisha could live on yogurt alone... but we try to keep him to one a day. and i just got the chobani? brand of greek yogurt at sam's... so healthy!

he had 'donuts with daddy' at school tuesday morning and daddy was so surprised -- he said that elisha is so quiet and shy at school... those of you who know him well probably share our surprise!

i am painting a big boy bed for ole e... i finally found a jenny lind spooled twin bed and am painting red... now if i can make some major progress on his quilt... my goal is to have it finished as a 3rd birthday present at the latest!

tooth 2, month 10

2010-03-02T10:53:00.002-05:00

happy ten months to you anna! and happy (well, mixed feelings right now i'm sure...) 2nd tooth... speaking of, we have enjoyed the homeopathic teething remedies that have chamomile-- they are good for calming!this is a familiar morning scene... winter may not offer as many hours of sunlight, but we are so thankful for the heaping dose we get through our window during breakfast-- a great way to start the day! and we are so pleased with our hook to the table high chair-- very space saving!
late as usual- here is a moment captured on anna's 9 month birthday.

my own

2010-02-14T11:39:00.000-05:00

it may not exactly be a haiku (don't have time to count syllables....)

crawling baby fights diaper changes,

thinks it is Armageddon.

Bordeaux's butt paste good for hair?

that gives you the general idea of changing table life around here ;-)

happy valentine's day!

more haiku

2010-02-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

"great to be mama.

one crucial thing you miss, though:

closed-door pottying."

"hyper-exhaustion

sounds like an oxymoron

unless you are two."

one of my very favorites!--

"when she was my mom

she said no sweets before lunch.

hypocrite grandma."

2010-02-10T09:51:00.000-05:00

"so very thankful

mascara, play sand, and ants

are all nontoxic."

and i really love this one--

"organic panic:

air, food, water, clothing, toys;

it is all deadly."

"keep hands to yourself,

try not to breathe at daycare (nursery),

a germy minefield."

--haiku mama

2010-02-08T09:48:00.001-05:00

"interest waning;

how do you up the ante

for solo pooping?"

"yay! the perfect time

to strip down naked and scream-

when mommy's on phone."

--haiku mama

simple mom strikes again

2010-02-06T20:29:00.003-05:00

i used to read the blog "simplemom" all the time... but for some reason (maybe i got craft blog obsessed?) i stopped. well, i just clicked over and i thought the latest post was right on! head on over there for some good reminders for stay at homers {http://simplemom.net/your-parental-permission-slip/}.. let your house be a mess and let them play by themselves sometimes - it fosters creativity (playing alone that is... although maybe the messy house does too ?.... here's to hoping something good comes out of it ;-)

little bits

2010-02-06T09:45:00.001-05:00

"time to prune back toys:

they grow up walls like ivy,

infiltrate crannies."

"it's been two full days.

shoes are nowhere to be seen.

can you flush sneakers?"

"o, lovely naptime.

you are better than birthdays

with the gifts you bring."

---haiku mama

more of the same

2010-02-05T09:31:00.002-05:00

"awake so early,

small boy rises with the sun.

can't snooze a baby."

on the note... of exhaustion:

"note for new mama:

falling asleep during sxx?

it's forgivable."

----Haiku Mama

hope y'all are still enjoying these little funnies... i am!

we are heading down to the basement... these days i make something are by far superior... and i am in need of superior right now! i have 300 5inch squares to cut out for elisha's twin sized quilt... as i am assuming that at some point he will want to sleep in a big boy bed (if you see a spooled -- jenny lind style twin for sale please let me know!) i am 1/3 of the way through w/ the cutting.... then i will have the sewing to do!

i am also wanting to get a darling sweater with owls along the top knit up for anna while it is still the correct season for sweaters (it will be short sleeved -- quicker to knit and easier to wear in a southern early spring) and of course i have about a dozen other projects on my list.

what do y'all do on a rainy day?

haiku

2010-02-04T08:30:00.002-05:00

"forty thousand pounds:

how much stuff one baby needs;

afternoon car trip."

"hands clenched, smile subtle-

planning world dominations or dreaming of boobs?"

--- from Haiku Mama

haiku mama

2010-02-01T17:12:00.000-05:00

i have this clever little book-- haiku mama(because 17 syllables is all you have time to read)... it is just a funny little gift type book... but i find myself quoting things from it throughout my day. i thought i would schedule some posts with a few verses from the book to entertain y'all when my blogging is infrequent. i imagine that most of the people reading this are deeply entrenched in parenthood and therefore will be as amused as i am... if you are not-- sorry.

especially those first few months i thought of this multiple times a day! ------

"sniffing newborn's head,

a primal urge takes over-

try not to eat him."

entertaining firstborns

2010-01-31T17:00:00.002-05:00

the benefit of having two children is starting to really kick in! i have been working on dinner and my new crawlng/ pullling up baby is not here fussing at my feet, crawling after me as i move across the kitchen... trying to pull up on my legs, desperate for attention... no no- she is squealing with delight as her brother knocks things over w/ his cars! i guess it is double the trouble double the fun ;-)

hats off

2010-01-30T16:25:00.001-05:00

here are our new hats... anna's is crazy and fun and of course i couldn't get the size right! it is a tad too small. but isn't the crocheted edge so fun ;-)

the funky flower button will hold the strap in place so she can't take it off

and here is my cloche- a fun 2o's style hat. a fun pattern to knit... my first hat that started at the top instead of the rim... tricky st first, but overall a great way to work. the pattern is "belle cloche" . i found it on ravelry.com .... if you are a knitter/crocheter of any sort you should really join ravelry (free)... i don't know why i resisted! you can search for patterns by yarn, gauge, free, top rated, ease.... anything! and you can see picture of other people projects. i highly recommend it. and it cracks me up every time i got to the home page and it says "where my stitches at" ... i know ridiculous that i find it so funny...

anna passing 8 months

2010-01-29T12:15:00.000-05:00

she is almost nine months... so it is about time i posted her 8 month pictures. her hair looks quite red in a lot of these pictures. sometimes in real life it looks that way to- how fun!

loving her daddy

waving

and some more waving... see what i mean about the waving!

finally in the ground

2010-01-28T12:04:00.002-05:00

i planted bookcoodles (sp?) of daffodils paired with hosta in the fall... but i just never got around to getting my tulips in the ground... until today. is it too late? i don't know yet!

in other news-- anna is crawling. she has been so different about it... elisha had this desperate need for speed and she is very calculated and elegant about it ;-) and she'll stop to wave every so often, to show you how thrilled she is with herself. as fun as all the new stuff she is doing is-- waving is still by far her favorite! she waves to the pretty things in her room all the time... a very friendly lady!

and along the same lines... she has also been pulling up. on occasion. that occasion being the middle of the night accompanied by much crying. needless to say- i am exhausted!

andrew and are making plans for some major backyard landscaping. we have been reading all about creating "rooms" in your yard... and reading a wonderful resource --"the backyard homestead"

i drowning under all the ideas i have for things to sew/knit/make... i have taken pictures of the anna's and my new hats; when i upload them i promise to post.

i am also working... as in maybe at some point getting paid for at least some of the designing i have been doing! more on that later ;-)

dirty hippies?

2010-01-16T21:10:00.003-05:00

in highschool i remember thinking hippies were so cool... the tie dye, bell bottoms, long hair and beads. the grown-ups informed us that they really weren't so great-- there was a drug culture that was undesirable... not to mention, they were just plain dirty and smelly. while in college i didn't go the drug route, but i did go to enough concerts where i was surrounded by a thick fog of illegal smoke to decide that the scene really was not for me.
well, here i am all grown up (i guess- since i 2 kids, i must be?) and realizing that i am still very much drawn to those dirty hippies ;-) i have just followed a trail of links from a blog i read and am so interested in this whole "no-poo" thing! http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html here is an interesting article on it.... i need to figure out how to link things, don't i?
not only am i considering tossing out the shampoo... i am also attending a "chicks in the city" symposium on raising urban chickens. and andrew just bought me a book that i am so excited about : The Backyard Homestead- producing all the food you need on just a quarter of an acre! our gardening has not been super successful thus far, but we have great hopes. and the huge three sectioned compost bin andrew built over Christmas should make a big difference on that front.
as i am blogging away from home, you will have to make do with no baby pics :-(

these are the days caffeine was made for...

2010-01-14T10:59:00.004-05:00

these have nothing to do w/ the following post... just here for those who only come here to see the kids... you know who you are ;-) (doesn't anna look like the gerber baby?)

we have been hit by a stomach virus. i was sick all sunday night and as weak as a day old kitten on monday... which is not a good thing when you have an 8 month old to nurse and carry around and a 2.5 year old to keep up with. andrew had to stay home from work to watch them until noon and then my dear mother graciously entered our contaminated home for the afternoon and monday night. oh... i thought i would be the only one... maybe it was just food poisoning... but no! tuesday night mama back home was sick as a dog and our little e was as sick as he has ever been. we were up from 2 am on... and he wasn't able to keep anything down until almost 2pm. i was almost ready to take him to the er to get fluids. so far anna has only been fussy and a few especially smelly dipes... and andrew felt queasy for a day. i pray we are in the clear! last night i was up every other hour with one or the other (sometimes both)of my babes as e was still feeling poorly and anna hungry(apparently a mama recovering from a stomach virus w/ no appetite and distracted by caring for another sick child isn't a good food source during the day.

i started the day about as grouchy as ever... but thanks to a cuppa the earl (grey) i am now swimming out of our sea of contaminated laundry and dishes ... not to mention the goodwill finds i picked up hours before getting sick. it was perfect timing to have picked up a handful of new movies from goodwill-- some old classics that are now new favorites ... the original charlotte's web, madeline, swiss family robinson, an a couple more richard scary videos (i love still having a vcr!)

if you are still with me...

i promise i will post some picture of the latest projects. i really want to share-- i know i am so behind!

baby, it's cool outside!

2010-01-12T15:42:00.003-05:00

here are some pictures of warmer times ;-)

i just saw this on pottery barn's website... i really like it. i think i will make one next year.

i finally took the ornaments off of our tree today. what do you think about me admitting that ?;-)

it takes me a little time to get my feet on the ground after Christmas. we usually get a few house projects done that week between Christmas and new year, but then new year's day always knocks me on my butt. it really is a bit dramatic how my whole system all of a sudden says " HIBERNATE". january is dark and cold ... and we have had a few tragic deaths in my family during this particular month in the past. all in all-- i feel a desperate need to get under the covers and stay there for a month at least. well, w/ two littles around here-- that ain't happening.

we are staying in a lot, trying to keep warm... and i am knitting a lot... just seems right.

merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T10:21:00.002-05:00

i am bustling this holiday season... i decided to make just about every single one of the gifts we are giving this year--- along with the handmade cards we sent.... crazy, right? actually, its the making of things that keeps me sane. i know that staying up til midnight some nights is taking it's toll on my sanity, but in general i am so much happier on the days i get to make something with my hands.

at the moment the biscotti is in the oven and my embroidery basket is full of cute little fabric bird pieces. i have several things in process on my knitting needles. i have a patchwork soccer ball half sewn for e... and a few project e and i have been working on together.

all that to say... sorry for the long absence once again...

i hope that your holiday is blessed with things that make you happy--- most of all the knowledge of God's gift of love He sent us in his son!

2009-11-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

we are heading to the woods for thanksgiving week and then after that, anna and i are heading to the big apple to visit my sister ( i feel very brave to be attempting such a trip!) all this to say- i am taking a bit of a blogging leave and letting you know ahead of time.

just wanted to leave you with a picture of a less picturesque moment here: i am being covered in stickers while feeding anna while trying to knit at the same time-- ridiculous!

happy thanksgiving!

my atelier

2009-11-21T20:24:00.001-05:00

i am beside myself to present you with my studio space! we are now using our basement for more than just storage and beer brewing. i finally have a home for all my creative endeavors-- and believe me, i know how very blessed i am to have such a space! i have two wonderful work tables from ikea-- one of which is height adjustable. that feature comes in handy now for cutting fabric, it doesn't hurt your back as it would to stand over a standard height table for long periods of time.... for now fabric is my medium (easy to pick up and put down at a moment's notice or baby's cry, as the case may be). later, when children are in school and i have longer periods of time to myself, i know i will get back into pottery and painting- and this space will most definitely accommodate such pursuits. i read a fair amount of a fascinating book while in college ; "the poetics of space: the classic look at how we experience intimate places" was an interesting delve into the different kinds of spaces and how they influence us. well, i am loving how my studio down in the basement-- in the belly of the house... one quote from the book about cellars : "there, secrets are pondered, projects are prepared. and, underneath the earth, action gets under way. we are really in the intimate space of underground maneuvers." well- these days there are an awful lot of "projects being prepared" in our basement (cellar).notice hints of a play area in the foreground... and children's play area, that is... the whole thing is a "play area" for me ;-)
here is my space-- arranged in a "u" shape, great for sewing, cutting and ironing ( which i have lately realized is so very important in sewing)

and here is the excellent sewing book by my favorite fabric designer that has taught me so much about sewing! and has some very fun patterns.... i highly recommend it!

------ on a side note, when i was looking back through "the poetics of space" i found a nice quote--"Over-picturesqueness in a house can conceal its intimacy. this is also true in life." how true how true!

mama made

2009-11-17T15:18:00.001-05:00

indulge me in one more shot of anna wearing the pumpkin hat... what a pumpkin!
here are some red shoes i made for her... like all of the shoes i make, they are lined with wool, so they are cozy, warm, and breathable... and above all--- fun and funky! i have a longstanding love of red shoes.. i even had my bridesmaids wear them even though their dresses weren't even red ;-) ... so of course my little lady needed some her size.
and here is another pair of cozy mama made shoes. ( also note the cute rick-rack hem of the dress )

now, let it be known: i may make a lot of things, but my house is not very well kept, and my car is a total mess... and i don't ever watch tv.

speaking of food

2009-11-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

here are the classic " first food" pictures. she had a lot of fun discovering all the sensations of broccoli, and some of it actually made it into her mouth!

she also ate some baby food from a spoon, but where is the fun in that?

speaking of food: the blog- "smitten kitchen" has a delicious recipe for pumpkin bread pudding... it is very easy and very yummy!

6 months (and a half)

2009-11-15T15:05:00.003-05:00

here are some of the pictures i took of anna on her six month birthday. now she is halfway to 7 months-- oh my! she has really turned into a different kind of baby: sitting up on her own... eating solids... and i know y'all will think i'm crazy, but sometimes when she is crying she'll cry "mmm" and i really think, since she hears Elisha saying it all the time, she is crying "mama"!here is my happy girl wearing the first dress i have made (i learned that following a pattern is easier than making up your own! ;-)

a mother's reprieve

2009-11-03T20:50:00.004-05:00

what helps me put my brain back together the best of all after a day of mommy madness?

i'm sure everyone has the own recipe for coping... i have to say that i have lately found a delightful combo. i am really enjoying knitting hats while listening to jane austen... i love to read (and austen novels best of all) and knitting is so nice and calming... the repetitive nature helps release stress- i'm convinced. maybe b/c i am in a phase of life where my 'multi task' mode has to be on most all of the time, i now find that even when i am having "down time" i feel the need to multi task... it isn't enough to just enjoy one thing at a time...

ps-- the pic is of anna's sweet head in my first hat... the pumpkin hat is a bit big this year, but that just means she can wear it for years to come. the wool is soo wonderfully soft! it is purewool from Uruguay. it is a risky buy b/you have to wait months... literally months for it to arrive, unless you want to pay for fed ex shipping instead... and most of all you have to pick the colors from photos online which can be deceiving--- and their dye lots are extremely variable. but if you love the look and feel of minimally processed wool and you don't want to pay double digits per skein--- this is the way to go!

pps- i'm still working on that slide show issue-- any flickr folks feel free to give tips... or anyone w/ a free slide show host-- i'm very open to suggestions. and as anna was actually just 6 months, i'll need to get that slide show done too!

2009-10-31T15:37:00.003-04:00

here is one of the 5 month pictures i took of anna ... it is almost time for 6 month ones!! i haven't found a slideshow site that i like... i'm going to give flicker a try. you should be able to click on the click and see the other pics:

important announcement

2009-10-30T15:28:00.003-04:00

i am interrupting this extremely long blog break to inform you that you should rush to publix to buy their pumpkin pie ice cream------ it is soooo delicious!!! even has pieces of pie crust and whipped cream mixed in..... super yummy!

i have many reasons for the long blogging break... i don't think i will go into all of it. but, i would like to thank those of you have told me that you have missed my posts-- it feels good to think that anyone at all enjoys reading this stuff ;-)

i will (on my new working computer--thank you dear husband!) have more posts to follow--- i promise! part of my absence has been due to some mia (manic in action) behavior... which i can account for in pictures perhaps...

on a side note: does slowly inching backwards count as crawling?

while a good question for life in general- i was actually thinking of it in very literal terms... that is what our dearest anna is doing these days... along with sitting up by herself and eating tastes of our food (and at the moment a lovely hot pink organza ribbon ;-)

now as e has said all morning while driving off in his police car (that he calls a fire truck) " bye bye- i'll see you later"

conversations w/ a 2 yr old

2009-09-23T16:45:00.002-04:00

here is a glorious moment from one of our many road trips this summer... both children asleep- at the same time!

now on to my post topic:

i feel the need to document some of the funny conversations we have at home these days. elisha is changing so quickly that i know his wording and thought process is constantly maturing.

today he was eating his morning cereal and the converstaion went like this-

e- "baby anna has bones?"

me-"yes she does and so do you"

e- "isha has teeth"

me- "yes, you do"

e- "baby anna no have teeth"

me-" we can't see her teeth, they are hiding under her gums... but they'll come out so we can see them soon"

e- "baby anna mouf dark"

i guess it is the same idea as blacked out teeth ;-) very observant fellow!

this afternoon after his nap i put him in a new pair of pants(well- new to us) and they are a bit big so that they will fit him throughout the cold weather to come. he grabbed the leg and said, " mama, these no little!" to which i asked him if they were too big.... he said, "yep"

super fab- you gotta do this!

2009-09-03T16:47:00.002-04:00

i can't wait to do this! i'm thinking that anna will be more into this than e-- but who knows. if you have older kiddos than mine -- get started. here are two links to this project... it so simple and so wonderful! i saw the link on simplemom.com ... if you click on the tutorial link she shows pictures of another version that is super cute as well!

www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/nesting/2008/02/diy-dollhouse.html

http://sweetsweetlife.typepad.com/sweet_sweet_life/2009/08/my-favorite-and-my-best.html

i am trying to peek your curiosity by not telling what this project is... so cute! i'm dying to play w/ it myself!

2009-09-01T13:22:00.002-04:00

this little bit hung out w/ me this morning while...

this little fellow went to his first day of "school"... maybe i wouldn't feel so sad about it if i called it parents day out... but it is officially pre-school. book bag, pick-up line, lunch and all! i am somewhat torn about it... but i keep coming back to the fact that he is loving it... and i think i will too-- a chance to give anna one on one time, run errands... and make use of my new studio space in the basement.

--fashion trend for the fall: it's all about the accessories... lampshades, hair bows .... ;-)

while the boys are away...

2009-08-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

the girls will... throw a baby shower... and watch a low budget jane austen film. andrew took the boys (e and otis) to visit family and play in the woods. and i helped host a delightful baby shower for my good friend sara- we are thrilled about the little boy in her tummy!

yummy!

anna helped sara try out her sling

anna and her friend lilly were chatting in the corner... anna was quite the social butterfly ;-)

here are some the flowers...

and here is what they looked like before i had fun with them

duck... i love you

2009-08-15T19:49:00.002-04:00

i only have a minute, plus my brain is trying to recover from being in the car all day w/ my 2 yr old and 3 month old-- they were great... but still. really what made me crazy was the running hyper fellow getting his pent up energy out after the car ride (we have been at the beach). after all that i could handle i stepped outside to catch my breath and check on our garden (lots of zinnias and gobs of basil were picked). elisha came out with me and found one of the "baby duck" toys he has. he then came inside saying "big duck, where are you... where are you big duck??" it was such a pitiful voice... after i handed 'big duck' (his beloved bedraggled can't-sleep-without friend) to him i realized that the pitiful voice was baby duck. elisha was pretending a sweet reunion. big duck and baby duck were hugging and saying, "where were you? i love you... i miss you" i'm still smiling!

why

2009-08-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

why have i started hearing "why" all the time? isn't my just now two year old a little young to have started asking 'why' ALL the time!? i want to say "because" or "because mama says so" every time, but i know that this is how he learns, so i am trying to garner some patience.... oh boy! i have how many years of this???

i love goodwill

2009-07-31T14:34:00.003-04:00

yes as in "peace on earth and goodwill to men" ... but also the store! i was reminded of what a treasure trove it can be today. i was just stopping in to get some wool sweaters to cut up for some projects i have been working on (perhaps you'll see those later ;-) then the bottom fell out-- there was no way i was going back out to the car w/ both kiddos in the deluge... so we just milled around. i think that is what you have to do @ goodwill (or tjmaxx etc) to find the buried treasure. i did get a couple wool sweaters and then i found lots of new organic cotton tees in baby/toddler size. one of them had the cool plant print you see in the picture- but the rest were blank, just wait for a cute applique... and only $1.50 each! in fact each item you see in the picture was $1.50 or less!!! that is two carved wood trivets- so cool and we have been needing some. the little chair is just so fab... it is my dream to have one my size and all i can say is - i am so glad i have a little girl who will love to put her dolls in this chair, b/c i would feel silly playing w/ it by myself. i really like the green glasses a lot-- so many of ours have broken that i was really needing to restock- we'll i got a set of ten for $8... not bad!

don't be fooled by the picture... we found many more treasures. we got a handful of good family night movies- black beauty, the old black and white classic 'shaggy dog', hamlet w/ mel gibson, a national geographic special on trains-- e will love it! and since our dvd player keeps breaking they are vhs-- a minimal $2 each. we also had fun looking through the children's books as it poured down rain- and walked away w/ some great ones... we got a copy of "goodnight gorillia" , and a really cute one called "chicka chikka boom boom"- about alphabet letters- i highly recommend it. elisha is loving letters these days and begged to read the book a second time before his nap. we got a few really wonderful "vintage" books i love the artwork and one is about creation and just great-- and did i mention-- only 75 cents!

and the fun didn't end @ goodwill; my little toddler loved being a helper by wiping off all our treasures w/ lysol wipes. of course, i wiped everything off too(especially after noticing that the woman checking us out had on latex gloves...) and now need to clean the two baskets i got-- i think i'll spray them off in the shower.

another nice thing about all our purchases- they are getting a second (or 3rd,4th...) life. i like that.

this weekend...

2009-07-29T17:20:00.002-04:00

... i'm looking forward to :
kabobs on the grill
enjoying a clean house
and a clean car (notice the optimism)
dancing in the kitchen (it has been too long)
perhaps finishing a few sewing projects
maybe seeing monet's waterlilies
having an family old movie night...

what are you looking forward to?

where has the month gone?

2009-07-28T16:10:00.002-04:00

yikes! this little one is almost three months old!! and i haven't even edited and posted the pictures i took on her 2 month birthday! i may or may not get a slide show posted... but i hopefully will at least get pictures taken on her 3 month b'day.... i'm hoping to do one every month of her first year-- we'll see if i make it ;-)

yes- her diaper cover is one that i knit for her-- i was thinking i would finish it as a "labor project" -- something to work on during early labor, so you aren't paying too much attention to contractions until you have too... i thought i would finish the binding on her quilt too(also pictured) as it turned out there wasn't time for that... i did work on them during that last week, which could count since i was having contractions off and on and obviously must have gotten some of the "work" of labor done b/c once things really started up (and woke me up) it was less than 6 hours until she was born--- and during that time i was trying to stay asleep... or at least rest in bed b/c i thought it was going to be a LONG day... and then i too a shower and then started to rush to the hospital and then as soon as the doc. saw me i started pushing ! so as you can imagine, i had to find time over the next weeks to finish my "labor projects" i am still planning to write out anna's birth story for those interested in every detail (who haven't already heard them all from the horse's mouth)... and for those of you who aren't interested i do hope you will just skip over it ;-) it may take until her first birthday to get it all written out though-- we'll see....

she puts up with it!

2009-07-26T14:39:00.000-04:00

he is a good big brother- oh, so helpful... brushing her hair...

"gently" shoving the paci in her mouth...

and of course putting a car on her when she seems unhappy-- notice how confused she is by this last one ;-) mabe if she were male she would get it!

it's a wrap

2009-07-25T14:45:00.003-04:00

we have now spent a good part of the summer just like this-- me knitting, anna enjoying her ride/nap in this wonderful baby carrier. you can buy a stretchy wrap like this one @ www.mobywrap.com or you can do what i did and make one. i promise this is as easy as it gets! you jst buy jersey fabric (~60 in wide bolt) that is ~97% cotton w/ a bit of lycra in it. you will need 5.5 yards, but you will get three wraps out of it. you simply cut down the lenght of the bolt to divide it into thirds-- see, you don't even need a sewing machine. now if you want to add a bit of pretty to it- then, you cut a ~ 14in square of fabric to add to the front middle. you can find instructions for use on the moby website- and probably youtube as well. it may seem tricky, but i promise after a couple of times it will be a breeze!

sponges

2009-07-25T14:33:00.002-04:00

well, i tried a new kind of sponge-- but it only further convinced me that i am sold on the
brand i normally use. yes, it is a pain to have to go to william sonoma to get kitchen sponges, but well worth it. i buy a pack (i think ~ 10 come in a pack) of the smaller size and it probably lasts the better part of a year. they are so thick, so durable-- even when washed in the dishwasher a couple of times each week. i keep two in rotation, one is being used while the other is being cleaned in the dishwasher. it is great to know that the things you are cleaning with your sponge aren't gettting dirtier than before b/c of the nasty hidden germs in the sponge!

desperately...

2009-07-22T08:15:00.002-04:00

missing my dear friends from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. if you haven't read it and made friends with them as well you are missing out. it is a charmingly delightful read- wonderful for book lovers esp!
i HATE reading books that end... which basically means my relationship with a book always goes south in the end. maybe i should read War and Peace so that i can at least delay the ending for a good long while ;-)
maybe i'll wait a few months - maybe even a year and then reread it... i have a handful of books that i regularly reread-- i just start missing the friends i made while reading them!

p.s. - let me know if you get to know the members of the guernsey island literary and potato peel pie society as well!

why i can't keep up w/ this blog...

2009-07-15T13:53:00.004-04:00

between mothering this little thing... and this slightly bigger one...

i have been not only buying fabric as i mentioned in a previous post, but finally getting some order to my stash. i researched ways to organize fabric stashes online and then headed off to the comic book store to get the cardboard pieces that you back them with if you are a comic book collector( very interesting folk- i might add). i folded each piece of fabric around the boards making mini bolts and am sorting them in drawers. now i can see all that i have and get to it so easily! (ps- i have a drawer devoted to bird fabric ;-)

and one of the fun things i have made w/ some of said fabric is a little bag for knitting. it is lined w/ silky material so that the yarn slides off the ball easily but doesn't roll out of your lap. it has been so nice to have my yarn and needles for the sweater i'm knitting in one little bag that i can carry with me-- i can knit while keeping an eye on e!

the pretty green one is for my sweet cousin who knit baby booties for a... and the lovely pinkish knitted bit is a preview of the sweater i'm knitting for the little lady.

little lady

2009-07-10T08:41:00.002-04:00

here is our little lady after church a few weeks ago... and yes i know it is ridiculous for her to wear bracelets, but i couldn't resist! i remember loving to look at the tiny jewelry box mama had with baby jewelry in it- the tiniest bracelets . as silly as it is, i think it is the very fun right of every mother to play dress up with their babies... it is pay back for changing their dirty diapers ;-) the lovely dress was made by her grandmother nana.

this is anna meeting my grandmother-nana. to avoid confusion we have told my children that she is grand nana, or gran nan. however, ellisha has started calling her " weegee weegee" b/c that is what she says when she baby talks to them. it is so cute... she has always done it when she sees even just a cute picture of a little one. Elisha thinks it is so funny, and i think it is so funny that he has picked up on it ;-)

around here

2009-07-09T22:11:00.003-04:00

anna has made it through her second "wonder week" (i'm telling you- get the book!) she was needing to be held constantly-- i had my moby wrap(that i made) on for 8 hours last week and she was in it almost the whole entire time! but now she is taking a two- three hour afternoon nap-- in her crib and just hanging out in her bouncy seat alone for long periods of time... well, not totally alone- she has made a new friend. notice the lion that now hangs out w/ her. they have become fast friends... she makes faces and coos to him. i kind of feel sorry for her though b/c i don't think she realizes that he isn't loving her back ;-) it is so cute to see her meeting this little guy that elisha enjoyed looking at and talking to when he was her age.... and it has also been cute to see elisha come and make the little lion roar at her. there are some hazards associated with having a two year old brother, but i think the fun out weighs them for her. this is anna in he first back carry. i'm wearing her in a "gypsy mama" cotton gauze wrap that i got at the consignment sale for $20. andrew helped me get her there. i had things to do without her in front of me and she had no desire to be left alone, so this was the compromise... and she quickly fell asleep.