Photos By the Kids

I am not sure how, but the boys sneaked the use of my camera when they were outside in the back of the pickup. When I went through the photos, however, I discovered some pretty cool shots and perspectives. So, I compiled a few to share and changed them to black and white to add depth.

 Apparently, Dylan took this photograph. 

 The rest, I do believe, are Jared's work. Pretty shot!

 Love this! You can see Jared's shadow.

 ...And his reflection....

 ....Oh, a fallen acorn perched inside one of the crevices of the truck bed. Cool, Jared....Nice eye.....

Perhaps I will intentionally give him the camera in the future. He and Dylan come up with some pretty interesting work. :)

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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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A Visit From Lucy

My girlfriend came to visit nearly 2 months ago to allow me to meet her new daughter, Lucy, who was 8 weeks old at the time. Lucy was so beautiful and engaging. Her mom was really pleased that she slept so seamlessly both in the car on the ride up and all night long when they stayed over. I wanted to share a couple shots with you all.

From the moment they arrived, my little ones were absolutely intrigued by little Lucy. 

Lucy with Mommy.

A shot of the boys and Lucy was truly difficult with the low lighting of my house, my refusal to use the flash so as not to blind the baby :), and the fact that they all could not stop moving. This one turned out pretty good, considering. 

Fixing her gaze upon high contrast.

 This was another blurry shot as Mom was putting on her wrap, but I just love the look on her face.

 I am shown holding her as she stares up at the bright blue sky and the gnarly silhouette of oak branches.

Here are a couple of clear shots with the littles holding her. Clear shots....not from my camera, of course.  

Wow, somehow Mommy looks like a proud Jedi in this photo. Hahaha!

I hope to have more of these visits as she grows older. What a delight to have them over. I am truly grateful for moments like these.

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:: Moment ::

This moment, inspired by Soulemama. A captionless photo. A memorable glimpse. A Friday Ritual....

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Autumn Leaves

You have all heard of the cliche of making piles of leaves and jumping in them, or perhaps you have read children's books with portrayals of raking Autumn leaves and playing in them. Well, unfortunately, growing up in my suburban neighborhood made this annual ideal a mere fantasy. However, living in the mountains has offered our family several natural opportunities, such as Autumn leaf play, familiar to the children of yesteryear. We have so many trees, and thus leaves on the ground, that it doesn't take much raking to create huge piles for playing with and burying little children. We quite enjoyed this day. Plus, the boys even buried Mommy, which was warm, cozy, and just plain delightful to be one with nature.

These are merely but a glimpse of our leaf-play, but I thought I would share anyway. I really enjoyed their natural exploration and ultimate joy. What a good day!

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Celebration and Organization

'Twas yet another thrifty birthday for our blooming 12-year-old! We had a blast in the total simplicity of the day. Actually, much of the weekend, Luke was helping his Dad with the firewood for the approaching winter, which he found to be very fulfilling. He enjoyed laboring for his birthday...hahaha!

I made the above sign the night before, and apparently I was having difficulty figuring out how many index cards I would be needing... It was late.......  Below, I prepared chocolate pancakes with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. He wasn't expecting that. :)

A gift, card, and envelope made by Jared.

Yum!

He really appreciated the mosaic picture frame from his brother. Yay for the dollar store and a little imagination!

This photo turned out pretty darn good considering it was super early in the morning and they had a touch of bedhead.

This weekend, I also reorganized a few areas in the house. I finally returned Daniel's desk space to him. The shelf was covered in knitting and sewing stuff before.

Out where the craft corner was, I transformed it into a simple open office space, as it should have been a while back.

I took the other desk/table into the bedroom where the two big bookshelves were before I put them into the living room. This table sits next to my small dresser. This is now my sewing/craft table. I absolutely love it!!!!!

Over where my dresser previously sat, is now the wooden cart originally from the kitchen. It is great for extra nearby shelving.

Today, I was able to use my sewing table for the first time. I made the binding for 3 different quilts! The turquoise binding will be for the 36 Patch Quilt (I couldn't wait any longer for Amanda Jean's example, so I decided on my own finishing touches), the brown floral will be for the Autumn quilt I made last year, and the pink is for Liv's baby quilt, shown on my table above.