Birthdays

We have a couple of really important birthdays coming up here in our little family. I am looking forward to two very simple celebrations of the soon to be four and the soon to be three year olds here in this house. In Heaven on Earth, there are some excellent suggestions for birthday celebrations. I have also recently picked up The Birthday Book again--it has been sitting on my nightstand untouched since the summer. Some ideas are brewing but just not ready yet. I think the following elements are a must:
{free play time}
{yummy food}
{simple activity}
{birthday cake}
{presents}
{goody to take home}
Over the summer, I made birthday banners out of patterns from this book for all three of the babies. H also got his birthday crown a little early (for Halloween). N has one in the making and little C will get his right around summer time. Ahh, crafting in the New Year--what fun!

Home Sewn Baby Toys

I remember a year or so ago when I read Amanda Soule's The Creative Family thinking that homemade baby toys had to be about the silliest way that one could choose to spend very precious crafting time. I too remember feeling this way when first hearing of people hand knitting socks (and truthfully, I kind of still feel this way about socks).

Over the course though of the past twelve months (much influenced by our 10 months in Portland, Oregon, I am sure), I have come to love the rough around the edges homemadeness of nearly everything in our home, but especially on the bodies or in the hands of our small children. So simple. so sweet. so utterly innocent.

I made a couple of these cubes and filled them with 2 parts bamboo filler and one part rice. I love watching it in the hands of our littlest one.

Christmas Crafting

Christmas night was the first time in two weeks that I felt I could actually breathe. I put so much pressure on myself this year to make all of our Christmas gifts that the moments leading up to our big day felt a bit harried. I rarely got out of sweat pants, did much less cooking than normal and was more irritable than usual. This must be avoided next year. Must start crafting earlier than November.

I did get some nice time on the couch nursing or snuggling a sweet, sweet, smelly like milk baby who thinks knitting needles are pretty fun to play with.

So now that everything has been knitted, or sewed, or embroidered, I can move on to birthday presents (N's in January and H's in February). This year, I think I will save myself the pressure of hand-making their presents and instead support others that do. Thinking of this for N and this for H.

Winter Nature Table

Our Seasons Round Exchange package has been sent and received. My partner Nicole made us the loveliest gifts.

We got a beautiful felt angel. She is so etherial. In order to keep her on our nature table, I stripped branch of its dried leaves and hung her from it along with our window star (also from Nicole).

In addition, we got a perfect felt dove, a beeswax ornament and a postcard, all of which are residing on our new winter nature table which is, as always, a work in progress.

Quotable Sunday

At this time in my life

A feeling I can't control
is creeping up inside my soul and growing
What is it all about
Wouldn't knowing help me to work it out
I can't be afraid of thunder
At this time in my life

Carole King

Yes, Folks

I am now knitting sweaters and hats for... corks.


These are seriously addictive. I made three for my swap partner, Nicole, and then I kept going. I have even named a couple of them--Trumper and Bumper (names that could only be dreamed up by my toddler). The pattern is here.

Winter Woolens

Folks, I think I may have a problem. Well, that may be the understatement of the year and I would pluralize it--make that problems, but I am specifically speaking of my obsession with our winter wools. I LOVE them. I love everything about them--their dreamy color, their funky European fit, their wooly wooly smell. When I say I love everything about them, I mean REALLY everything.

I ordered them this year from Nova Naturals. I haven't put the long underwear on the older kids yet but the baby wears them every night. Having had two other babies that remained consistently chilly, I just love sleeping by a baby who is cozy and snugglely and warm.

The price was a hard pill for me to swallow initially, but they are really worth every penny for us. I have been careful with the care of them and hope that they will see their way through a few seasons. Warm warm warm. Wooly wooly wool.