Halloween - 2014

As you can see, lots of good memories were made last night at our Halloween Neighborhood Party.  We start out each Halloween getting home from school around 4:15, excitingly donning on all the costumes.  At 5:00 we go outside, take pictures of everyone then leave as a group to walk through our neighborhood to meet up with the rest of the neighborhood for a grand potluck.  Each year is different and the festivities gets bigger each year, as mine (children) also grow so much from year to year.  But age doesn't matter at Halloween.  Young and old alike dress up in the most creative ways.  Everything happens so quickly at the potluck.  With all the excitement, its hard to soak it all up.

When everyone is our clan is full from all the wonderful food brought, we leave the potluck in excitement to go trick or treating.  The night air was perfect, a little chill to the air, enough to awaken the senses of the season's change.  We welcome the season's change, as we get ready for cooler days and cooler nights, shorter days and longer nights. We will spend more time inside, with our family, our routines will change, things seem to slow down yet deepen, oh how I love this time of year.

Five ~

Off and running, that describes Rosemary best.  She loves the out doors, to be free, run, and swing.  She turned 5 on Sunday and had a wonderful birthday.  Five amazing, transforming years.  Happy Birthday love!~

Ten years apart ~

When inspiration strikes, I run with it!  With a busy household that we have, those moments of inspiration are few and far between during the busy summer months.  A couple weeks back in July, we were packing the older three kids for a week long stay at a camp a few states away.  As I tucked each one into bed the last night before their big trip, I came to Jonmichael's room last.  I sat on his bed and asked if there was anything he would like me to do for him while he was away.  He said "Put Nathaniel in my room".  He has had his own room since I put the girls together, about 7 years ago.  I was pleased with his request, and was looking forward to the task of cleaning out his room, rearranging it and getting a crib out of our bedroom that had been there since before Rosemary was born. 

Before:
















After:










The Closet:








The room move went really well.  Both boys were so pleased as we all were with the change.

easy ~

Can you feel the quietness in this picture?

Yesterday was the most perfect day.  If I had to describe it, these would be the words I would use:  breezes, quiet, swings, blanket, knitting, calm.  What sometimes can seem like a day full of stress, can turn out to be a day of much needed respite - a day of ease.





Hanging outside with my two littlest ones turned out to be just that.

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week.  I want to pause and savor this moment.

My Herb Garden

Earlier in the Spring, Daniel encouraged me to clean as much out of the side of the house which had been a make-shift herb garden the past couple of years and redo my herbs.  I had a few herbal plants that were well established so I decided to keep them, prune them back, and work around them.  Those were my lavender, sage, mint, and lemon balm plants.  I decided to make the sage plant a focal point of the garden, and used some various sizes of quartz rock to line the bed.

I made a list of herbs I wanted in the garden and over the course of a few weeks, the seedlings were ready to be transplanted.





A month later, the herb garden is flourishing.  The lemon balm was growing so well, I decided to prune it back the middle of May and make my first herbal tincture.  My intent with this herb garden is to learn to use the herbs medicinally as well as for cullinary uses.  The lavendar blooms were harvested last week for our annual lavendar cookies we all love.













My list of herbs in this garden:

Lavendar
Tarragon
Valerian
Stinging Nettles
Chives
Oregano
Thyme
Comfrey
Sage
Basil
Plantain
Fennel
Cilantro
Chamomile
Mint
Lemon Balm
Dill
Rosemary
Calendula

Growing any kind of garden is an experiment.  I'm very excited about this one, hoping to learn more and more how to use these herbs.  I have hopes of making salves (Calendula, Comfrey), tinctures,  and teas later this season!

Happy growing season everyone!!

This year's garden

Our garden is coming along nicely this year.  I have to give all the credit for this garden to where it's due - my husband.  Each year we rotate our crops to a different location in the garden, there are more sunnier spots than others, but this year is looking very promising for everything we've put in so far.

This is what is currently growing:

Sunflowers
cucumbers
beets
parsnips
carrots
corn
beans
potatoes
onions
garlic
limas
peppers (red, banana, Jalepeno, Cayenne)
tomatoes
brocolli
cauliflower
cabbage
kale
zucchini
yellow squash

I think I'm most excited about the beans this year.  The bamboo tee-pee's are already getting covered with growth.  Last year we didn't have any luck with them, they just wouldn't grow.  New to our garden this year are the onions and garlic, and so far the broccoli, cauliflower and  cabbage are doing well and look healthy.  The squash plants have been blooming for a few weeks and we have our first squash growing this week.  We're looking forward to a bountiful harvest this summer.  I'll keep updating here as our garden evolves this season . . .  a record of this year's garden.

outside

From the very beginning of Spring, we have enjoyed being outside.  We eat outside, play, and garden as much as we possibly can.  Our garden is growing leaps and bounds, but I couldn't go forward with sharing about it without retracing the beginnings of it all - how our Spring began.

Setting up play

I wanted to share with you how I set up play for Rosemary each morning.  Our morning routine can either run two ways, smooth or chaotic.  I prefer smooth.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Rosemary is learning "in", putting objects "in" things.  One day when I was observing her play, I realized that she was taking out the play kitchen sink (which is a metal bowl) and dropping objects down the hole.  I have since taken away the sink and left the "hole" permanently.  Each morning, I set up a few items on the shelf of the kitchen and within a few minutes of her coming downstairs, she makes her wake to her play kitchen and drops each of the items down the hole, that's part of her work and routine.  She's very sensory seeking, so the sounds the wood makes with this kitchen set suits her perfectly.











The rest of the morning while she's waiting for the bus to pick her up for school is spent playing with any other musical toys/objects in her space.  She is also very musically driven which has been a wonderful reinforcer for her.



Once everyone is out of the house except for Nathaniel, I set up different activities for him to engage in.  This morning, he spent most of his time working on building this tower.  I grabbed my video camera and managed to take some good footage of him doing his work.  The video is here.



This "setting up play" is always changing, always evolving, and always amazing to me.  Watching all of our children learn and grow has been one of the most rewarding experiences of being a mom and ultimately their first teacher.  I am always looking for ways to nudge them a little farther down their path of growth in this world, to give them just enough challenge to stay engaged and curious and to keep learning exciting and fun.

Springing forward

Hello everyone!  I'm so glad Spring is here!  With that being said, let's backtrack a little.  This has been one of the fastest winter seasons I remember.  With so many weeks of snow and school cancellations, my dental surgery, inconsistent schedules, abrupt illnesses, it sent my head spinning.  Here is a small glimpse into those weeks spent.





















Highlights for me this winter have been the Daddy/Daughter Dance, dinner out with my straight A student!, Nathaniel's play these days are so much fun, his self feeding is fun too!  Rosemary is growing leaps and bounds, is beginning to say a few words when prompted, she can now put items "in", which is something we've been working on for years.  She's learning how to self feed using her spoon which is amazing, she's as joyful as ever!  This season was a wonderful mirror into my own growth.  My lack of focus and planning is what stood out to me most over the last three months.  As the children are getting older, I'm seeing how much more I have to work on these things, not only to have a more functioning household, but to become a better model for them as a parent.

The season had a way of stretching all of ourselves in ways that are necessary for growth.  I've come out on the other side celebrating in the ways we all have changed and grown, and learning how to rejoice, even in the chaos of it all!

Refreshing

With all the snow and closed school days behind us, we are focusing on one thing this week, Spring, Summer, and gardening.  Our first step into that glorious manifestation was buying seeds, making plans and dreaming for warm sunshine.   Each year we make changes to the garden layout, decide what we're going to cut out of the plans or add.  This year we're adding more potatoes and have 6 rows already in the ground as of last week when the temps were in the 70's which is unlike this week where we're getting more snow and freezing participation even as I write this.  Such bi-polar weather we're getting this season, which has proven to really reveal and stretch my patience more than I'm willing to admit.  It's times such as these, that with this winter card we have all seemed to have drawn this year, that we grow, mature a little more and reflect that which nature has always been reflecting back to us, that we can be peaceful during a lot of chaos, we can grow during a lot of chaos, and we can have faith in the unknown and trust that all is well, even when it feels the times we're in are so tremultuous.   







So here's to the most sought after change in seasons I've ever experienced.  I honestly can't wait to feel the warmth and sunshine on my face that will stay with us for more than a day or two, and look forward to what's ahead, yet at the same time, trying desperately to enjoy the days we're in.





 

Elise is 8

{Taken at 3:30am Friday night.}

Elise turned 8 on Saturday.  What an exciting day for her.  On the simple side, there was no huge party to host or plan for, but a lot of love was exchanged that day.  Friday night I swooped the kids off to bed a little earlier than usual so I could finish her quilt.  I still had a little machine quilting to finish up and binding to sew on.  Hours later, it was complete around 3am.  Just so happened to be right around the time she was born eight years ago.  How synchronous was that!







She really loved her quilt.  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  It's a pattern that madebyrae published on her blog several years ago using Heather Ross' Far Far Away II fabric line.  It was one of those jaw dropping moments I had when I first eyed it and started making plans right away to make one for Elise, just turns out it took me awhile to get it completed.





So this morning I took it upon myself to take some photos of it on her bed where I think it looks lovely.  I'm sure as soon as she's home from school, it will be pulled off and carried around from room to room as it has been all weekend, it makes such a lovely warm companion.

Now she's got a quilt of her own.  She's such a special, sweet little girl.  Happy Birthday Elise!

Braces and a haircut

Monday was a busy morning.  Lena got her braces put on and Nathaniel got his first haircut.

Both are monumental moments for a mom, and for a preteen, and baby for that matter.  I made her a promise that I'd share with her a picture from when I had braces.  Its pretty cool to see that cycle reoccur within our own family.  All of our kids are growing up.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time. 

We have two in braces now, and probably three to go, its funny how in some things we're not even halfway through yet in some respects, like paying for braces.  One day at a time, that's my mantra. 

I am here to enjoy today.  Kinda like this little guy!

Mending

Today was finally the day that I picked up that heavy torn bed skirt off my bedroom floor that had been lying there for months looking at me every time I came into the room.  It belongs on my oldest daughter's bed, and became torn after many climbs onto the bed by our sweet Rosemary who loves to play on her sister's bed.   Mending is not my favorite way to spend my creative time.  I'll put off sewing a button for months until I can't stand it anymore, or either I'm nagged to death about it - which is the more likely scenario.  I wish I was better at the quick jobs and the long jobs as this one is turning out to be.





Mending doesn't give me as much satisfaction, but it's a functional job isn't it?  So I spend this morning mending and appreciating my decision to get just one more lingering job done around the house today and knowing how much better I'll feel as Lena's bed looks more tidy and my room . . . has one less thing cluttering it up.

There are some jobs that require baby steps . . .

Our halloween

Hello all!  We had a wonderful Halloween this year!  We had friends over and celebrated Daniel's 40th birthday.  We had a much needed relaxing - family - fun - and friendship, no stress kind of day and evening.  Yes, much needed indeed.














Hope yours was wonderful too!  Have a exciting, adventuresome, creative weekend!

First day of school - 2013

Today was officially our first day back at school.  Or should I say school(s)!  We're in three different schools this year and four buses.  Yep, this is a family that loves challenges I say!  After the last bus came and went and once back inside and dishes and kitchen were cleaned, I found Nathaniel busy with his block activity, he loves putting things into containers.





Seeing him play like that made me think of this moment from 7 years ago when I got back home from taking my now 6th grade middle schooler to Junior Kindergarten for the first time.

First day of school - 2006




I remember there was this strange quietness in the air as the siblings who are left behind got lost in play.  I can now feel my heart sink a little lower in my chest.  Its not often that we stop long enough to sit in these moments, there is so much hustle and bustle going on in our homes that sometimes its hard to feel the tenderness.  These little ones are growing up so fast.  Hopefully the butterflies went away quickly for everyone who was a little more worried than usual this morning.  Its all so normal.  I'll sit and anxiously await each of their arrivals this afternoon.  I'll hear their stories, laugh with them about their day, share a snack and enjoy our reunion for the evening.  The first day back to school . . . its glorious I say! 

First day of school - 2006



First day of school - 2013 - today!

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week.  I want to pause and savor this moment. 

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week.  I want to pause and savor this moment. 

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week.  I want to pause and savor this moment. 

Portraits of my children

Whenever I can capture the essence of my children with my camera, I am delighted!  There are times when I view my world as through a camera lens, I can see the pictures before I ever see them on screen or paper.  It can be frustrating to me when the camera isn't seeing what I see for whatever reason, the lighting might not be strong enough for the camera, or it might be too strong, or the pictures come out blurry from the movement of the child.  These days, it’s rare for me to be able to capture that special millisecond of time because of all of the demands, but it certainly is special when I do.  Sometimes it comes from a child calling my attention, other times I happen to be a part of the action and can see the photo unfold right before my eyes. 

I love portrait photography.  It tells a story without words, it has emotion, it has meaning.  It’s like carrying that one moment into eternity; that one moment that gets frozen forever.  It’s that special. 

Last night I had one of those moments.  The story goes like this.  Elise comes up to me telling me about this bee costume she made, I look up from the computer and know instantly to go grab the camera.  She had cut and pasted bee antenaes and wings, found the perfect yellow shirt from her drawer, attached a stinger, she had thought of everything.  Out the door we went to get the right amount of lighting and click click click.  The photo I was most proud of was captured towards the end as we were wrapping up our little session.  She happened to look up at the sky and there is was, that was amazing.  Intuitively, I had an a-ha moment and snap, I got it.  Now I have a wonderful little memory of these 5 minutes spent reveling her little homemade costume, and grateful I took the time to make a big deal of her creativity.