Easter

Easter. A Reflection of Spring. A Sign of New Life. A New Beginning. An Excuse for Celebration.

 I used to always want a lovely, yet cheap bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece for my table on a sporadic, yet fairly consistent basis. So, I decided that we now get some calla lilies. They were inexpensive, hearty, and absolutely beautiful. 

The boys dyed lovely eggs. 

Egg decor I made from scrapbook paper.

Carrots. :)

Easter baskets. This year, each of them received a field guide for when we take hikes, a personal book (the 2 older boys received camping guides and Dylan got a vintage Easter Golden Book.) Additionally, Lukey received a trivial pursuit game, Jared had a game of Set, and Dylan got lacing dinosaurs. The boys were also given some cool gifts from Grandma. Simple, functional, fun!

 On an egg hunt....Oh my goodness, Lukey was so wonderful and mature in leading almost the entire show. He made it so fun and magical for the littles. He kinda reminded me of me...really. :)

We just kept it simple without any frills, and it ended up being so....well, complete. We made it a fun celebratory day. We welcomed spring and the fertility therein, which is truly what Easter was historically recognizing. Really, we just made it our own thing and put our own twist on it, just like every individual family does. I hope you enjoyed your Easter, as well. 

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Happy Birthday, Dylan

My youngest boy turned 4 years old on the spring equinox this year. In fact, the actual time of the equinox and the moment he was born were only about 2 hours from one another this year. Sorry it has taken me so long to post...we get busy! I was going to go with a dinosaur theme, but I thought that would be too hard when making all of my decorations. So, I went with a mod, masculine spring flower theme, developed from scrapbook paper I have had for years.

On our mantle we have spring scene pictures, complementary flowers to the adjacent wall that I began the motif in the first place, and a matching flag banner. 

I have included some complimentary books and fabric on the mantle, as well, to tie the colors together.

This was the main wall art I created. It ended up being 5 feet across. I love how it turned out!! It almost looks like a purchased wall decal. 

Thereafter, I matched Dylan's cake to the theme...My goodness, those food coloring pens were a pain this year!

 Dylan's birthday ring, with some painted inspiration rocks, and a center candle that Jared made.

The morning of his birthday, I made a short stack of pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup. 

The birthday ring characters come alive....

Birthday cupcake decoration. Wow, that one was messy. 

 Make a Wish.......

His actual birthday was a school day, where they too celebrated his 4th birthday, so we kept it simple. However, I read him a birthday verse the night before and some on the day of. So, we made it special. The excitement happened 4 days later, when a few guests came to join the celebration. 

 Here, I made bags from garden fabric in my stash, and stuffed them with healthy treats and spring-inspired goodies.

Here they are, stuffed.

Presents.

Ooooh, Grandma's present was so exploratory right off the bat. 

 Just a little apron that Mama made......well, I painted it anyway.

This was the whopper. This time consuming creation turned out superb!! He loves it!! I made a road map from old green corduroy, blue corduroy, and dark wool felt. I hand sewed all of the streets and bodies of water. The blue fleece backing was machine-stitched, though. It even doubles as a cozy lap blanket. :)

Here is Dylan in action.

I did a vegetarian thing. Appetizers were homemade hummus and crackers/chips and a veggie dish my Mom brought, along with homemade soda (juice and sparkling water). The lunch was this fantastic tortellini salad I made and a green salad from Daniel's mom. Everything turned out perfect!

 Ah, yes, the kids. They had a total blast!

Everyone painted their pots for planting their own seeds.

 The girls stand back as the boys tackle the biggest boy.... ;)

 Make a birthday party wish......

Oh, by the way, this was a monster canvas he received from our friends and he painted it quite well, if you ask me. Teehee!

Happy Birthday, Dylan. Welcome to a new year of life!

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Springtime Reading

Spring is in the air. It is a fantastic opportunity to tune one's child in to the senses and the celebrations of the season. One way to do this is to collect several books over the years or visit the library. Checking local thrift stores and school book sales are other frugal, sustainable ideas, as well. Yesterday, I was browsing a favorite website of mine, Rhythm of the Home, and I discovered a fantastic list of springtime books for young children. Today, we just set up some of ours. They are so lovely.

(Notice the nests and robin eggs Dylan and Jared made today...super cool!)

Enjoy sharing the colorful illustrations and the innocent story lines with your children if you have them. These moments are priceless.

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Valentine's and St. Patty's Days

It certainly has been a while since I last posted. Doesn't mean we haven't been super busy, though. I guess I will start with a holiday summary.

Valentine's Day was busy, but mellow. Dylan had a party at his Montessori preschool and the boys and I had a teeny celebration at the park with my dear friend, Shannon, and her children.

Jared made these Valentines from cut up magazines and paper bags. We love to be resourceful!

Mommy helped Dylan to sew these select vintage Valentine images printed from the internet. We glued fabric to the back of each and then he sewed them...well, some of them. It got pretty tiring. :)

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St. Patty's Day was fun for all the boys. We dressed in green, listened to some Celtic music, smelled the scent of Irish stew in the crock pot, made some crafts, and just had fun. 

This vegetarian Irish stew was awesome!!

This was a fun fruit rainbow with a cloud and a black cauldron of gold, aka banana slices. I am glad I have a photo of it because the boys looked like a pack of wolves and the platter was empty within a minute.

All in all, we had some lovely celebrations and I am sure more to come. 

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Homemade Gifts

This past Christmas season, I made a few handmade presents for a few close friends and the boys. The boys saw me as I progressed through the process of knitting their warm hats, so it really was not officially a surprise. Plus, I have yet to complete Jared's.

 I started out with knitting a beanie for Dylan. I thought this bright green Andes Wool yarn from my stash would be complementary to his red hair. It turned out pretty cute.

 

I made this hat in Firecracker Heather (also wool) and black stripes. I would have probably done a black beanie with red stripes, but I had more of the later than the former. He loves it anyway. Besides, it unintentionally matches his snow jacket he received for Christmas. Perfect!

 Somehow, I still always make him laugh. Maybe it is because I myself am such a goofball. Yeah, Luke, hold it back....we can't tell you are not trying to crack up here....  ;)

 I decided to make some select friends and mothers some creative necklaces/ornamental decor for the holidays with supplies I already have on hand.

Talk about slacking......some of these I have not given to my friends yet. My goodness!

This gallery of orange pendants on hemp and a matching sunshine painting were given to my dear friend, Shannon, who quite apparently loves the color and sun-shininess itself. I painted this below out of impulse one night. Other than on the table the boys and I made, I have not painted anything for years. Though amateur, it didn't turn out too bad. :)

Love to create! Wish I had more time to do so at this point. But I am enjoying just being much of the time.....being a mother, being a teacher, being a chef, being a woman, being an active human being... 

Catch you later......

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