purple saturday

purple in my yarn stash

lorna's laces
a purple halloween
banana silk scarf

wishing you a lovely weekend!

erika

pink and red friday

strawberry smoothie

cherry tomatoes
we all need one of these!
my favorite tea
a bowl of cherries
red haired mama!
yours in vivid color,

erika

orange thursday

favorite scarves

amber teething necklace
peaches

can't live without it
a tasty alternative
colorful ironing board

yellow wednesday

bloom

cute dirty diaper storage

new toy
swinging fun
rope ladder
summer skirt
yours on this bright yellow wednesday,

erika

green tuesday

pretty green buttons
help in the kitchen
makes everything sweeter
for the birds
my bicycle
on the vine

on the needles

wishing you a lovely green tuesday!

erika

blue monday

pretty pin cushion

a favorite painting

ice cold water on a hot, hot day

new blooms

fabric for a new diaper bagbright blue in the kitchen

wishing you a cool, blue monday!

erika

speaking out

about cloth diapers~ i'm still trying to get used to hearing my own voice on the video! i am very excited about how our little news story turned out. cute babies in cute diapers, nothing better!

the valley bums in the news!

(click the link on the left with the little video camera icon to watch the clip!)

carefree...

esme' playing in the fountain at the capital city public market.

s-l-o-w going.

i still have not completed that new diaper bag i blogged about the other day. i think i lost my sewing mojo, if there is such a thing. but last night i got all the pieces cut out and my appliques ready so hopefully tonight when the little ones are all tucked in i can stitch away and have a finished bag by morning.

there are only a couple more days until my color week starts so be sure to stop by and visit on monday and join in the fun!

the decision that divides us

the girl who did my pedicure on wednesday was really great company. she has a little boy and little girl the same ages as esme' and harper so that occupied our conversation for quite a while. we also talked about relationships, pregnancy and eventually birth. she mentioned that both of her children had been Cesarean births. she then asked if any of my births had been Cesarean. no, all 4 of my babies were vaginal births. then i said something that freaked her out. it made her look at me like i had a third eye. we suddenly lost the connection we had shared through most of my appointment. what did i say to cause this reaction... homebirth.

she clearly thought this was absolutely crazy! did i have a midwife there? yes. what if your baby became stuck or in trouble? then i would have transferred to the hospital. was there pain medication available? no. she had a few other questions and i could tell that she really thought this was an irresponsible choice.

before i left the house to get my pedicure a newly pregnant friend was here and she left with a stack of natural pregnancy and birth books and my copy of The Business of Being Born. she is planning an out of hospital birth and hoped that she could calm the worries of her husband and family. her mom wonders why she can't have a natural, intervention free birth in the hospital. after all, this was the hospital birth she had had. while it is true that many moms have wonderful, natural hospital births it is often a struggle from beginning to end. it is writing detailed birth plans and getting your OB to read and honor them. it is hoping you get a nurse who truly appreciates and supports your wishes. it is making sure your partner and family are ready to be your advocate and step in and speak up needed, which is usually not well received by hospital staff.

one of the most common questions i get from people is why? why did i choose to have my baby at home? so here is my response~ i had a healthy, low risk pregnancy. i made responsible decisions and a conscious effort to take care of my body while my baby was growing inside. i made educated and informed choices throughout my pregnancy regarding my care. i was going to give birth, quite possibly the hardest physical thing i would ever do. it would be emotional, raw, and beautiful. the last thing i wanted at this special time was the fight of my life to make sure i was heard and that my wishes were taken seriously. i wanted to remain here, in the comfort of our home to welcome our new, little one.

ultimately i had a hard, rewarding, long, messy, emotional, miraculous homebirth~ and i wouldn't change a thing!

rainbow and coral

we had friends over yesterday morning to play in the yard and tie dye! guaranteed good, messy fun! i have to admit i got more visiting done than dyeing, but that is always fun too. i did tie some some little tees for all the kids and plan to get them dyed this afternoon. is there anything better than tie dye on a child? seriously, who cares if they get chocolate ice cream or blue popscicle everywhere!

when all of our friends went home, socialized and tired, and much more colorful than when they arrived, i got to slip out for a couple hours for a pedicure! my wonderful husband gave me a gift certificate for christmas and i wanted to save it for summer sandle weather. i realized last week that hello... summer is half way over already! so now i have pretty orange-y pink toes that make my $2.50 old navy flip flops look so much cuter. it was a lovely day!

my week... in color!!

we are very fortunate and get to go on a family vacation this summer! we are all very excited and thankful for the opportunity. our trip will include stops in jackson hole, wyoming, yellowstone national park, the lewis and clark caverns, and polson montana to visit grandma and grandpa. tony has some other fun things planned for us in between. we are leaving next week so i am already scrambling to get laundry done and make sure everyone has everything they need for the trip. packing for a trip like this is absolutely exhausting, and we will inevitably leave something important behind, but it is all worth it. the last time we went to yellowstone i forgot to pack my shirts. we were gone for 4 days and i only had the t-shirt i was wearing. thank goodness one of the nearby towns had a k-mart! when we returned home i found all my shirts intended for my suitcase, carefully folded and sitting on the bed. and just this last winter we went away for a long weekend and the bag containing all the clothes for myself and the baby was left behind. i told tony that if i had known that i would be wearing that outfit all weekend i would have been a little more selective when i was getting dressed!

so, while i am gone in an effort to keep my little blog from getting lonely, i am putting together some fun color inspired posts! each day of the week will be dedicated to a different color. i will post photos from around my home, my sewing room, my garden, my knitting bag, anywhere really, that include that color. my color week will be next week, monday through saturday. i would love to have you all join me!

monday~ blue

tuesday~ green

wednesday~ yellow

thursday~ orange

friday~ red/pink

saturday~ purple

leave me a comment so i can come and see your color week photos!

he is cute... and patient!

this is what you can expect when you have 2 big sisters with nothing to do. okay, mom was in on it too!

teeny, tiny comb over~

wanna be mohawk~ hmmm, we might need some egg whites for this one!

and here you can see he has just had enough and is calling for help.

what the heck is the number for the save me from my torturous female family members hot line??

re do

we are getting ready to do a much needed home make over, mainly in our kitchen and dining room. our home was built 50 years ago and the updating never seems to end. but it really is a lot of fun! i have spent countless hours online looking at dining sets, area rugs, paint colors, refurbished kitchen cabinets...

i really want a dining set with a bench seat like this~

and i am really loving this rug~ and the red walls in my dining room will likely need re painted. i kind of like that coral in the photo above. we have lived in this house for 6 years and there have been no less than 3 colors painted on our dining room walls. i have loved them all, i just like to change it up... often. we are also tearing up the carpet in the dining area. who the heck installs carpet in a dining area?? not someone with 4 kids, 2 cats and a dog, i can assure you! we have had a couple clues that there may be some pretty hardwood under there, if which case the carpet in the living room and hall will come up as well. although i have found many perfect pieces of furniture and accessories online we are really going to try to get everything we need used, discounted, thrifted, etc. hellooooo, craigslist!

and another re do... new hair! i was wearing my hair in a little ponytail way too often so i got a new little cut and some color on thursday. i LOVE it! cute, easy, and no more perma~pony hair.

i can't stop!

i am sewing another bag today. a new diaper bag this time. i bought some pretty amy butler fabric and have been daydreaming about how i want this project to look for awhile now.

i also ordered some cute little sew in labels from a shop on etsy. they will be perfect for the little bags i have been creating.

that's all for now... i'll stop by and post pictures very soon!

mama's new bag!

this was an "ewwww! my bag is so filthy" last minute project. i decided this afternoon while at the grocery store that i needed a brand new bag... like right now!

this is joel dewberry sparrows leftover from my onbu.

fully lined with nice, big pockets and a magnetic snap. it is the perfect size for all my everyday stuff. i will definitely be making more of these and a few may even pop up in my shop very soon!