Scissors

3.28.2006

When I worked at the children's museum one of my favorite things was helping kids use scissors for the first time. Often, parents would say "Oh, I thought he was too young." or "It always makes me nervous". I loved being the person who help them succeed at what could be a very frustrating experience.

My maddie is not quite two and has started using scissors. She runs up to me, paper in hand and uses her fingers to cut the paper; "cut, cut" she says. We sit down together and I make long strips of paper as wide as 1 snip with the scissors. I hold the strips while she manuvers the scissors from right to left hand (she can't decide is she is a righty or lefty)and then works them up and down, until snip and success. A little piece of paper. She gets so excited each time.

At the museum I would always get an envelope and put the cut pieces in, seal it and date it. The kids usually didn't want to glue them, the cutting was the thing that day. Madison is getting pretty good with the scissors and will soon not need my help. I have the envelopes with Anya's and Madison's first cuts. It seems a bit silly, but one day I will be able to open up those envelopes and remember how small the hands were that cut those pieces, and how for a time, they needed me to succeed at what could be a very frustrating experience.

Happy Birthday to my brother Mike.

It's Spring!

This is the way I have been feeling of late. Stuck in jar, reaching for the warm rays of the sun. So, today I decided that I was done with winter. I don't care what the temperature is, it's spring, gosh darn it! and I am going to start doing spring things. I wore capri pants (okay, i am really short and capri pants are only floods on me), Maddie wore new spring pants, and I used my new spring bag.

More rebellious spring things to come. .

Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls provided this adorable pattern for a Wee Bunny. Here is my attempt.




I made the back using a "mistake" block from the baby quilt I made for Annie 4 years ago. It seemed so spring like to me. The pattern was very easy and didn't take long at all. Check out her blog, lots of crafty goodness and you can see more Wee Bunnies here.

Favorite Cook Books

3.26.2006

I checked out amy at Angry Chicken and she was asking about favorite cookbooks. So I thought I would share mine.



The first one is the cookbook that was put together (thanks Colleen) for my sister Katie's wedding shower. Everyone sent in their favorite recipes, some old family ones and others favs from their homes. Each guest at the shower got a copy as the favor. I keep it out all the time to remind me of all the memories of family and food.

The second book is the Joy of Cooking. It was the first cookbook I ever recieved and was a gift from my dad. I don't use it for the recipes but more for a reference or starting point for my own creations. One day I hope to pass it on to my girls.

The cookbook I use the most often is really a magazine.
Everyday Food from MS. I love,love,love this magazine. It's like having a cookbook that adds a new chapter each month.



I usually pull all of them out and flip through while planning my weekly meals. There are always new things for me to try and great takes on traditional meals like tacos and meatloaf. In the all the dishes I have cooked from these there have been very few misses. Each month has a section on something in season, great for the farmers market, and the "weekend" meal always has great sides and desserts.

Happy Belated Birthday to Danny and Happy Birthday to Mike.

Happy Cooking this week.

I thought it was spring!

3.24.2006

We have been working to turn our windows into spring scenes.  I woke up friday morning to see a decidedly unspring like scene beyond my window.

We have only finished one window of four and Annie said "Mommy, do we have to do the grass and flowers again?" I guess it's time to move on to something else. Given the snow last night it seems we may be able to revisit welcoming spring for awhile yet.

We have a new baby on the block, welcome Mason. I made a veggie lasagna for mom and dad and knit a little hat for him.



I didn't use a pattern and I am having trouble with pointy hat tops. Anyone know how to knit a rounder top? Most of my knitting projects have been hats. I did knit one pair of mittens, 1 scarf and a cute poncho for Annie. I'll have to find pictures of those. I think it is time to branch out a bit. I checked this great book out from the library after seeing it on molly chicken I am thinking of making one of the projects in this book, annie would like a mousie mousie. Looks like I need new knitting needles.

3.22.2006

Lately, this is how life seems. Our days seem very busy even if we are not going anywhere. My jump back into the working world has been a bit of an adjustment for all of us. My hubby has been great at picking up where I have been leaving off and I send him loads of love for that. I hope it all evens out soon.

I picked up this book at the goodwill last month. I absolutley love it. Fujikawa's illustrations are so simple yet capture the complexity of childrens play so well.



The other day Madison was running through the house (spring where are you?) and looked exactly like the little girl running in the bottom right corner.



There is so much inspiration to be found in the pictures. I love the cute little dresses, great colors and wonderful facial expressions.



We have been doing lots more thrifting of late and the girls love picking out a couple of books each time. I usually choose a childrens book or two. I've been finding books that we had as kids; none survived all six of us. It's so great to share them with my girls.

Hope you have a wonderfully busy day.

What to do when a play date gets cancelled?

3.20.2006

Last week we had a play date/meeting that was cancelled. Annie was quite upset so I tried to cheer her up by bringing out the swimming pool and filling it with rice, pots and pans, spoons, etc. We usually do this in a big tub on a sheet, but I was not in the mood to clean it up. I used the pool figuring it would be plenty big for keeping the rice contained.
Oh, silly mommy. It was a mess but the girls had a great time.


I love the action in the picture. This is one of the girls favorite things to do. We miss our sandbox in the winter and Madison is really into pouring everything out right now. Her recent adventures have included squeezing toothpaste down the toliet, new bottles of shampoo all over the step stool, cereal, cereal,and more cereal (the dog won't even eat it anymore), unrolling paper towels, etc.
We are definitly in need of a warm up here. Spring where are you?????

On Second Thought.....

3.18.2006

I tried to update the other day and this is what I found after about 10 minutes...


Maybe, I really shouldn't start this blog. This is what the girls call "putting on lips". I adore Madison in these pictures she seems so proud of herself. She has officially hit the mischevious 2's. annie should know better but is doing such a nice job getting it on her lips.

I had wanted to write a post with some of the projects I have been working on with the girls but it has been a crazy sort of week. Annie was on spring break, can you believe already, and tuesday Madison had 5 staples put in after falling and whacking her head at an open gym. She is fine and no worse for the wear but it seemed to take a lot out of us. She was such a trooper during the process. How horrilbe to see your baby in pain.

We are feeling very cooped up around and have taken to bottling spring....




Have a happy saturday!!

A Bag, A Blanket and a Bird

3.13.2006

I have a friend in Oregon that just had a baby girl. She also has 2 boys and we keep in touch by email. (Alright, she sends pictures and I just enjoy them and send happy mental thoughts her way.) Well, I started out making a little blanket for Lucy, the baby girl.


I was completly inspired by this fabric. I don't know why but it reminded me of Erin in high school.


The blanket was so simple, fabric top, fleece bottom, sew, turn and edge stich. I had plenty of fabric left so I thought a little mommy gift was in order so I turned the blanket into a gift pack with what I like to call a "2 diapers and some wipes" bag. It is reversible and I used a pattern from this book I think it came out alright but the quality of my craftmanship was not great.

(I am now offically attributing this to my sewing machine. It is not that old and has served me so well and I do love it, but,it was only $79 and I keep thinking that one of those $1000 machines must sew so much nicer......

I started the softie at 10:00 pm, when I finished the bag. I used a pattern from this Japanese craft book I got for my birthday. It was almost done by 11:00 when I had to call it quits, hence the unfinished face.




Overall, I am quite pleased with the little set and can't wait to send it off to Portland for Erin and Lucy. I will also include photos and notes covering the last year of silence.


This is what transpired 18" behind me while trying to get these pictures.



Yep, that's the big bag of cheese.



Happy Belated Birthday to my Brother Dan, it was fun being the same age for 9 days again.

Reconstruction

3.10.2006

A few weeks ago I found this adorable skirt at the thrift store.



At a size 2 it was not going to fit me or anyone I knew, but for a buck it was too cute to pass up. I brought it home and was inspired to create a cute little dress for Annie. This was so simple, just take in the sides and make some straps. Annie loved it and I loved the quick result.



I don't have a zipper foot for my machine, so keeping in the zipper really helps. The ruffle is a bit funky but doesn't look as bad on.



I found this skirt on my next trip



It was more of a skort and had a shorts part so I was able to make a skirt and top. It was supposed to be for madison but was a bit big and she is more into the naked/diaper thing right now.I hadn't finished the hem yet. (Sorry about the picture quailty-I am going to figure this out soon)



This is the back with cute vintage buttons thatcame from grandmas button box.



Happy Birthday to Sara and to my mother-in-law. There are so many March birthdays.

More craftiness to come...

Corners of My Home

3.09.2006

This is a little deal to record the corners of my home. As I was lurking around at some blogs, I kept seeing posts about the corners of peoples homes. I love the idea of recording those places or moments in our home that are meaningful. If you would like to see more go here.




This is Annie's little corner. I love this spot in our home. No matter how dreary it is outside it is always bright and cheerful in there. One of my favorite times of the day is naptime. For the obvious napping reason, but also because I lay with annie and read her books. She always listens and loves to have a chat about the day or other things on her mind. If she is in the mood I lay with her until she falls asleep. I love being able to listen to her sleep again, as I did when she was a baby. I had to get this corner in now because my baby has decided that she no longer wants her bed in this corner and it needs to move "to the middle of the room". Darn her having an opinion of her own.

Snow in March

3.07.2006

Sunday it snowed. It was such a nice slow snow. Everything was covered in white and it looked beautiful It was great because we had nowhere to be. I didn't make it outside with the girls until today. It's a good thing we did because it is now raining and the snow will be gone by tomorrow. It seems Mother Nature knows tomorrow is spring.

Here are some pics of the girls in the snow.







The top picture is from our walk by the pond. I love bundling the girls up and taking a walk through the snow. I did it more when it was just annie. Now they fight and take a long time to bundle.

Before kids, Autumn and I would head to the forest preserve on cold snowy days and I would enjoy the solitude and quiet, Autumn would leap through the snow like a deer. I have this big ugly down parka aka BIG UGLY that would keep me so warm. I would fasten the hood and not be able to hear anything but my own breathing.
Now, I bundle up the kids, snacks, blankets, hats and mittens (that will not get worn) and trudge around the block and the only thing I hear is "Mommy, can we go home" and truthfully I love it. Some day I'll be all alone at the forest preserve again wondering when annie and madison are going to have babies so I can trudge around the block with them.
This may have been our last snowy venture of the year. Madison is at the age where she can't quite manage in boots and snow pants, next year she will be off and running.
A little craft stuff tomorrow. And soon creating with the kids....

playing

3.05.2006

I would really like to be able to send people other places from my site so here goes a try. Check this out.

Dusting Off Old Projects

All this new crafting inspiration has reminded me that I have several projects that have been sitting for a very long time. How long you ask? Well, there is Annie's baby quilt, she is almost four, that still needs to be finished and I have yet to start Madisons' quilt (she will be two). So I pulled out the fabric for her quilt and started looking for some inspiration.

Here are the fabrics.





I think I need to add a fabric or two and then get started. The fabric is so traditional that I think I am going to shoot for a more contemprary quilt. I'll keep you updated on the progress. I am also going to try to machine quilt this time (opposed to tying).

I also have curtains for Annie's room and fabric for dresses for the girls. That should keep me busy.

Happy Birthday to Me

3.03.2006

Today I am 35 and today I am offically a blogger. This first post is seeming very overwhelming. I keep thinking I need to explain why I want to blog and I think it all boils down, Why Not? So here I am with things to share and maybe a few people who want to see them.

I have been a stay at home mom for the last 4 years. I have 2 beautiful children and a sweetie of a husband. One of the challenges of being a full-time mommy has been my feeling of a lack of accomplishment. No matter how many times I mop the floor it still needs to be mopped again and their is always another diaper to change, a nose to wipe and lunch to make. I often feel like a hamster in a wheel. I know that my happy well adjusted children are the greatest accomplishment anyone could ask for, but it is so intangible. Others notice how they grow or change, but to me their growth is so tied to my own existence that I need pictures to remind me of how they were.

I have always been crafty and creating. Over the last few months I have dusted off my sewing machine and found joy in the clicking of knitting needles. I have found much inspiration from several websites and blogs that I will share-( when I learn how to add links). These sewing and knitting projects have given me that sense of accomplishment I have been missing. After going from one craft blog to another for the last few months I've decided to start my own. I thought it would be fun to chronicle a year in our lives. A year of crafting, by me and by the girls; a year of outings and adventures, a year of accomplishments as small as getting out the door with our hair brushed and as big as potty training. I hope you find some enjoyment, amusment, or inspiration.