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  • Recycled Art

    Yesterday the little girls and I made our first Valentines decoration.
    Yes, it's still January but I love to decorate for Valentines day. I'm not a jewelry person or care about flowers but I have lot of fun decorating for Valentines day.
    I mean it is about love after all and what a better reminder than to have hearts all over your house??

    When searching for things to do I came across a cool recycled project.

    Here is what our process looked like

    The view from our window while we worked

    Icecream while we waited for the paint to dry

    And then I lost the kids after the ice cream. Or rather they decided reenacting the Strawberry shortcake movie they watched the other day was better than gluing on painted egg carton pieces.

    So I finished things up

    And then I learned what happens when you forget to put the bottle of acrylic paint away.



    So, find some valentines crafts to work on over the next few weeks, just be sure to put away the paint when you are done.

  • Flashback to December

    Since I missed the month of December I'm going to flashback with some pictures. It was a great month with friends and family. This year it will be filled with joy and no last minute handmade gifts.
    (remind of this post if it looks like I have forgotten come Dec.)

    First there was Christmas Tree Day

    Christmas #1 happened the week before Christmas when our friend Rhonda came to visit.


    Zoe with her Miss Rhonda

     

    Then there was gingerbread  house construction in all forms

     

    We welcomed winter and thanked God for bringing us through one season and into another and for extra minutes of light in the day.

    Christmas #2 was ours plus gifts from my family down south.

    And Christmas #3 was up north in the even more frozen tundra with my husbands family

    What's this? An empty pickle jar? It's what I always...wait a minute this isn't really my gift..is it?

    Brothers

    Even our dog Mazie came with us.

    Greatgrandma with Z

    Father and son

    All the girls

  • On the Needles and in the Works*

     

    So, what have you got on the needles or in your crafting line up? Right now I have a Gryffindor scarf on the needles and am about to cast on for a hat (scroll down and click on "cabled" on the left margin) for my friend Rhonda. I also have one bowl of a set of felted nesting bowls just about finished. Once those are done I am going to turn my attention to a shawl for my grandmother. I cast on for a shawl weeks ago but couldn't figure out how to follow the pattern after line 22 and was not liking how the yarn was working up.

    I firmly believe that you can choose a yarn and start knitting with it only to find that it wasn’t intended to be what you started knitting. Are you following me? I imagine it is similar to what a potter or sculptor might experience when they begin working with their medium. They may have one thing in mind but the clay or marble may have something completely different that it wants to be. The same goes for yarn I believe.

    Then there are my sewing projects. Tomorrow night Emi and I will go to the library to start on these http://www.purlbee.com/fabric-window-valentines/. We are having a mommy daughter date and she wants to work on sewing. The library is the perfect place to go because it is first and foremost free, warm and who doesn’t like to work on cool projects while surrounded by thousands of books??

    I also have a knitting needle case in the works which , if it is going to get finished, is going to require that I find a hidden sewing room supplied similarly to Anna Maria Horner’s where I can sprawl everything out(yes I said sprawl) and get it all done. I am actually anxious for it to be completed because the outer cover is a pieced quilt square that my great grandmother made years ago. As well as having a few or her sewn and crocheted pieces I am also blessed to own her sewing machine, a 1950s singer that sews beautifully and is in desperate need for a room all its own. I must confess that in the years that I have had it it has not produced the same flawless garments that my Nana made. From the stories my grandmother has shared I know she was an excellent seamstress. Her talent helped to take care of her six children, that she raised on her own, in a time that was not really kind to divorced women.

    Then there is my small canvas and fabric artwork that is in process. I have one canvas done and the other is 90% there.

    I also finished a scrapbook project last night as well but am not able to share any photos just yet. Once the recipient of the gift has seen it then I will share.

    So, how about you? What creative things are you working on now?

     

    *Just to make things clear.....while I have all of these going I don’t get to work on them everyday and when I do my house falls apart and that is just fine. Life is too short to not be creative. I promise that a clean house is not what gets you into heaven. If it was I would be SOL!

     

  • Update on our Fab Five

    Since it is the beginning of a new year I thought I would get back to blogging with an update post on the girls. I hope to be a better blogger this year since I have discovered that I do have family members that read here. J

    I will start with the youngest and work my way up to the oldest, just to mix things up a bit. ;)

     

    Miss Z

    •  Loves to watch Cailou
    •   Likes to throw the wet clothes into the dryer
    •   Is a great jumper. She jumps on the bed, the couch, from one couch to another...you get the idea.
    •   Her favorite movie is Toy Story 3
    • She will sit and let you read to you forever or until your voice gives out.
    •   Sings her ABCs
    •   Loves to count things
    •  If she asks you for something and you say “surley” she will say “I not shirly."
    • Wants to keep up with all of her big sisters.

    Ace

    • Has been the only child in this house to cut her hair herself and it acutally turned out cute once I even it up in the back.
    •  Loves to jump off of everything. She may be a stunt woman one day. I think that would be really cool.
    •  Dresses, dresses and more dresses.
    •  Afore mentioned dresses are best if they spin
    •  Even better if the dress sparkles
    •   Favorite color is drum roll............PINK!
    • Loves to paint
    • Asks every night before we go to bed “What are going to do tomorrow.”
    • Must be able to touch your skin when she sits next to you.
    • Taught herself to do a backbend.
    • Tells jokes  a lot.

    Emi

    • Lost her bottom two teeth last month
    • Is anxiously awaiting for her top teeth to come in.
    •  Just learned to tie her shoes.
    • LOVES to craft
    • Is  copying words from books onto any piece of paper she can get
    • Signs her drawings and paintings. 
    •   Loves to be read to.
    • Loves to dance to country music videos
    • Adores her older sisters

    Sisi

    • Will be a teenager this year!
    • Is hard to find sometimes because she is either wearing a camo jacket or is wrapped up in her camo comforter.
    • Is a gamer that likes Sims and Virtual Villagers
    • Loves card games
    • Is now 4’10.5” and is super excited about that
    • LOVES Mt. Dew
    • Wants horses one day
    • Listens to country music
    • Is a U of Michigan fan
    • Is a faithful friend
    • Is reading the Percy Jackson series

    Aly

    • Loves to watch Colbert, John Stewart and Bill O’Reilly
    • Has a great sense of justice
    • Is reading the Percy Jackson series and Mae West biographies
    •  Loves camo
    •  Wants horses one day
    •   Wants a truck
    •  Dyed her hair black
    • Loves country music
    • Still loves photography but on her terms
    • Is a faithful friend

     

    And all of them challenge me, in a good way, to be a better mom and friend. I am grateful to them for all the joy, insight, and honesty they bring into my life. I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for them.

  • To Do Day Two

    Yesterday went pretty well until about 2pm and then I wish I could just erase the day and fill it in with a much better day. It wasn't horrible just well, not great. So today is a new day and in spite of the afternoon yesterday I did get some things checked off my list.

    The one I am most proud of.....

    1. Make yogurt in the crock pot---DONE

    Yay me!!! It acutally worked. At 12:45 last night I cautiously dipped a spoon into what started as a half gallon of whole milk to find that I had yogurt!!! For roughly $3 I go two 32oz containers of plain yogurt. That is less than half of what I would pay for it at the store.

    Today I will pick up a new ice tray so I can freeze some of it to use as starts for the next batches. This great tip came from El at Fast Grow the Weeds

    Supper would have been a success if everyone could have waited to eat until 10pm. Apparently plugging in the slow cooker is a good idea when you want it to cook the food. I had actually plugged in the can opener which does nothing in the way of cooking the food in the slow cooker.

    So cue the mission impossible music(I actually used to have that as my ring tone)

    1. Wash all sheets and towels--only two loads left----DONE

    2. Sweep kitchen floor----

    3. Put fabric in new storage bag---DONE--paid the 5yo to do this.

    4. Switch littles clothes from summer to fall/winter---in process

    5. Run the dishwasher for 1st load---DONE

    6. Put away all clean clothes----DONE

    7. Start laundry for me, husband and---in process

    8. Sweep and mop laundry room floor

    9. Vacuum living room

    10. Clean master bath

    11.. Clean bedroom----DONE

    12. KNIT some

    13. Use the rest of the milk to make uncanned condensed soup from this book

    14. Collapse in exhaustion.

  • To Do List

    Today's entry is brought to you by the tornado that went through my house yesterday, the day before, the day before that and well, you get the idea.

    The following list covers today and tomorrow.

    1. Make yogurt in the crock pot---DONE

    2. Get supper in the crock pot(different than the one with yogurt in it)--DONE

    3. Wash all sheets and towels

    4. Sweep and mop kitchen floor----DONE

    5. Put fabric in new storage bag

    6. Switch littles clothes from summer to fall/winter

    7. Run the dishwasher for 1st load---DONE

    8. Put away all clean clothes

    9. Start laundry for me, husband and littles

    10. Burn finger on the crock pot(not really a to do but it happened)----DONE

    11. Sweep and mop laundry room floor

    12. Clean living room----DONE

    13. Vacuum living room----DONE

    14. Clean master bath

    15. Scrub main bath tub----DONE

    16. Clean bedroom

    17. KNIT some----DONE

    18. Use the rest of the milk to make uncanned condensed soup from this book

    19. Collapse in exhaustion.

  • An epiphany

    I read this paragraph tonight and had an epiphany. Imagine a world where this rang true for everyone. Bold part is my emphasis.

    "It's not a question of whether you're smart. The question is, How are you smart? Give yourself credit for being a skilled skater, or being able to set tile, or easily connecting with people in a supportive way, or taking great photographs, or knowing how to fix leaky plumbing, or playing the guitar, or writing poetry, or being an effective salesperson, and so on." Wes Beach director of Beach High School

  • While I was away......

    I turned this




    Into this more times than I can count.


    We painted some



    There were abstract art creations

     

    Our family grew

    Her name is Jasmine and she adopted us. She is not short on love.

     

    And we said goodbye to our last 1yo and hello to our last 2yo.

     

     

     

    Life is good!

  • This Moment

    Inspired by Soulemama


    A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

  • My Friend Lori

    is THAT mom

    (since you can't post I will).....Lori is THAT mom..

    -the one that takes her girls to gymnastics practice after gymnastics practice and uses her time to work at the gym so that her girls can follow their passion.

    -the one that travels to every football game that her son is in and records it and works on stats to help off set costs just so her son can follow his passion.

    -the one that has driven all her older children from here to the ends of the earth so they could see friends, go to a job interview, get to work, come home from work.


    -the one that has baked and cleaned endlessly for three open houses so far.


    -the mom that enjoys having someone go with her when she grocery shops.


    -the one that has stood up for her oldest when others have attacked her unfairly.


    -the one that goes to the park when it's cold for 3hours straight so her kids can play with friends even though it means that no matter how many layers she wears she is going to be cold.


    -the one that loves her kids unconditionally and has let them learn in freedom and be who they are no matter what others think.

    -the unschooling mom of 7 who inspires this unschooling mom of 5 with all that she does and is doing for her family.


    She is THAT mom and so much more.