thrifted treasures!

new shoes for mama!

home decor weight fabric~ approx 2 yards
more fabric in the sweetest little print ever! i am seriously in love with this! it looks like i have about 1 yard. any suggestions on what it should become?
a twin size sheet that is going to be summer skirts for the girls and i.
a spool of pretty ribbon (29 cents!!)
a lovely pumpkin wool sweater that i plan to felt and cut up and sew a wool diaper cover out of.

and a cute new denim skirt~ it is hard to photograph an article of clothing while wearing it...

celebrating harper's first year

really?? a whole year has passed since we welcomed this sweet, little boy into our lives? it is amazing how quickly time slips by. baby's first birthday is always so bittersweet. i am already missing those days snuggling with a fresh from the womb baby. but i am also looking forward to the what is still to come. the first words, the new favorites, the slobbery kisses and tiny hugs. we have already been incredibly blessed... and this is only the beginning!

happy, happy birthday, sweet harper! the past year has been an amazing journey and i cannot wait to see where our journey takes us next!

xo, mommy

celebrating our mother's

this is me with my beautiful mom, circa 1974. i assure you she is still just as beautiful today, but i could not find a recent photo that she would allow me to post!

a beautiful day for a beautiful woman~

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

i love dirt.

i got the rest of my vegetable plants in the ground today with a little help from the kids. as you can see in the pics i still have a good size bed behind me that needs plants... once i pull all the weeds out of it *sigh* i think i will tackle that tomorrow and maybe put a little herb garden in. i have an herb garden out front and i love all the fresh, fragrant herbs that it supplies. i started an asparagus bed this year. i am not sure why i haven't planted asparagus in the past. tony grew up eating wild asparagus that grew on their property.

harper was pretty content on my back, but i suspect that the dirt was calling to him. it won't be long and he will be out there digging for worms right beside his big sister.
happy harper!
tomorrow for mother's day the kids and i are going to buy and plant flowers. i have my eye on a pretty little bird feeder at cost plus world market too. and esme' is planning a little backyard picnic and i heard a rumor about cake being served...

this baby carrier is a BabyHawk Onbuhimo. she no longer makes them but you can get Onbus from other manufactuers. or start stalking the for sale or trade forum at The BabyWearer and you might come across a BabyHawk Onbu!

feeling lucky?

as i have mentioned before we are avid babywearers. we carry our not- so- little guy everywhere. we have a carrier for every occasion. here is your chance to win your very own carrier. visit along for the ride for a chance to win an ergo baby carrier to keep your little one close to your heart. for more information on babywearing check out The BabyWearer forums.

and just for fun, a photo of newborn harper in our beloved BabyHawk mei tai.

that's better!

everything is back to normal here. esme' feels better. mama feels better. it has been a good day! we all have those days where we just feel crummy. the days when we can't deal with anything, or anyone. i can totally understand. after her huge public meltdown and a good cry followed by hugs and kisses and cuddling she emerged from her bedroom and ate her favorite peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich then put her barbie roller skates on and went outside. just like that, she is fine.

i think the whole tantrum would not have been a big deal to me had we not been in the grocery store. it is hard to deal with such things with people, strangers present. i feel like my parenting skills are center stage for all to see and critique. it feels so raw and exposed. then i wonder what people are thinking. are they smiling to themselves thinking about times that their own child has had a breakdown in the cereal isle? are they feeling bad for her and the thought of her being in trouble, because i have felt this way for crying kids in the store. or maybe some of them are thinking "man, what a brat!" here is my plea to you~ the next time you see that mama in your store give her a smile, a hand if she needs it, something to let her know she is not alone. it may be just the thing she needs to keep her sanity that day...

some day it is hard...

...to be a mama, and today was definitely that day for me! esme' has been, to be honest, pretty bratty for a few days now. that on top of little harper getting into everything is exhausting by the end of the day.

we are out of absolutely everything and friday is our normal grocery shopping day but i decided that we'd better go get a few things so we don't starve. so as soon as niko came home from school and finished her homework i packed everyone up and we went to fred meyer. usually esme' loves freddy's playland so when i asked her if she'd like to go play for awhile and she said yes i thought it would be great for her to have some time to play... away from mama! we went over and signed her in and then she decided that she did not want to go in... then yes she did, then no, then yes... then after she said yes for the final time she wouldn't go in the door that the nice playland lady was holding open for her. so i told the nice lady (who knows us pretty well) that maybe it was just too late in the afternoon for her. the nice lady said yes, she sure didn't seem herself, and we walked away. then the screaming started because of course, she had yet again changed her mind and wanted to go to playland, but i was done with that game and calmly told her no, she would be shopping with us. she proceeded to SCREAM, so we went out by the shopping carts where i tried to talk to her and explain why she would not be going to playland. still screaming. and when i say screaming i mean SCREAMING... you know where everyone in the building stops and looks at you. so when it was very clear that she would not be calming down i decided shopping was out of the question. so now, she refuses to walk out of the store. so i, with harper in a baby carrier on my back, have to pick up my nearly 5 year old SCREAMING child and carry her out and to the car. i was shaking mad, but i drove us home, sent her to her room and spent the next 20 minutes sitting in the bathroom (the only place to be by yourself around here) listening to her cry in her room for her daddy. because he is the good guy... the nice parent... the one who works full time so it breaks his heart to have to disipline her when he is home.

anyway, the kids had soup and pb&j sandwiches for dinner (2nd night in a row) and esme' feels a little better after some hugs and kisses and being held for awhile. but i am SO looking forward to bedtime tonight! and i might have to switch grocery stores for a few weeks until they stop talking about the worst tantrum in history at our regular store.

it's time...

to vote for your favorite Mothers Day Photo! there are some sweet photos, some heartwarming and some just silly fun~ a visual reminder of all that motherhood is...

could it possibly be?

i can't believe may is here already! it snuck up on me in a huge way! our family has a lot to celebrate this month. it is finally time to put all of our plants in the ground. i have been looking forward to this for weeks. i can almost taste the home grown salads, squash and pickles.

saturday is the midwife appreciation picnic at the park, but we are unable to attend. instead we will be enjoying ourselves at a good friend's birthday bash! i have decided to extend my support to our local midwives by donating a prize for their raffle. i am giving one of each of my products from inspired mama creations as well as some cloth baby wipes and a couple hand sewn bibs.

and, most exciting of all, we will be celebrating some very special birthdays this month. esme' is turning 5 on the 23rd and harper will be one year old on the 12th. in fact, my "due date" was may 1st, 2007. one year ago today. of course harper had his very own agenda and came out when he was good and ready! i can hardly believe how big my babies have grown. it is very bittersweet indeed.

the begining of a new month has brought my stash busting to an end. i knit my little heart out and i gifted many skeins of yarn and as a result my load feels a little lighter. i visited a local yarn shop today and walked out with only a pretty shawl pin and not a single skein of yarn. so, as promised, here are my knitted goodies from april~


simple shawl, knit from partial skeins of wool in my stash.

noro arm warmers~ same colorway, same dyelot, totally different anyway! very colorful though, i like them!
new shorts for harper!

a felted bag i made for a friend's birthday. the handles are a little crooked so i made a whole new bag. it left the house damp from the washer (it was also felted) without being photographed. the pretty hand painted yarn was also part of her gift,
a sweet little wrap sweater for a sweet new baby.

little mary janes for the same sweet baby!
a felted bird nest and eggs
and a couple big beaked birds to live in the felted nest!

little longies for harper's dolly. notice how the longies also serve as a shirt! they are a tad bit high waisted, i know...
a bracelet bag for esme' knit from leftover soaker yarn.


this was going to be another felted nest but i ran out of yarn. it is a hot pad/ pot holder/ plant cozy thingy...
a boring but very handy dishcloth.

and a zoom swiffer cover! love this!!

so, there it is! mid may i will put my knitting needles away and start fabric stash busting! i have some very fun projects planned. a crafty mamas work is never done...

fiber love!

i just dropped off this lovely pile of wool at a local fiber shop where it will be consigned. my house smells like wet wool and vinegar, but the pretty, pretty yarn makes it all worth while!!

if you are in the Treasure Valley area please check out Puffy Mondaes where you can find these handpainted and kettle dyed creations as well as many other fair trade and organic fibers.

my stash busting is coming to an end on april 30th so i have been very busy finishing up last minute projects. look for my month of april knitting pictures later this week!

belly, birth, baby...

and blessed beyond belief!

visit 5 Minutes For Mom for info on the Mother's Day Photo Contest and to see more entries.

read the story of harper's home birth here~

going green...

by not driving! yesterday was earth day~ we did a little work in our garden, watched Ratatouille, again, and then decided to get out of the house and do some thrifting. we didn't get far from home, we only got to the nearest starbucks in fact, and my van started making an odd noise. the odd noise very quickly turned into a loud, impossible to ignore noise. we pulled into a parking lot and tony took a quick peek under the hood to find that a belt had come off. so i sat with harper and esme' in the van in the parking lot while tony took a taxi home to get his car (thank goodness we got coffee before the loud noise!) my van was towed so tony's car took us thrifting instead. i found several yards of cotton and cordouroy to sew clothes for the kids and just maybe something nice for myself. tony found a pint glass to add to his collection, and esme' found a dora the explorer scooter.

i spent the rest of the afternoon entering bloggy giveaways~ crunchy domestic goddess is having a great earth-mother giveaway at her blog, and you can find hundreds of fun giveaways at the bloggy giveaway carnival hosted by don't try this at home. good luck!

now, fingers crossed that my van repairs don't cost me a lot of green...

sick.

i made it through the yucky, blah week (see previous post) and just when i started feeling better and more like myself i got sick. i developed a severe case of mastitis in both breasts resulting in a full week of horrible flu like symptoms. i couldn't eat, i couldn't knit, i couldn't even read. that nasty infection took over my whole body. my dear, sweet husband took very good care or me and the house, as did my kids who drew me lovely pictures and picked me large bouquets of dandelions each day.

saturday was my first day out and about in a week. i was tired just an hour after leaving the house but it was really nice to be out in the sunshine again. and, i had the nice surprise of newly bloomed tulips in my front flower beds. i am thankful the kids picked the dandelions instead...

blah!

this is just kinda how i have felt for the past few days. i am hoping to climb out of my slump in time for the weekend. it is supposed to be nice outside~ 60's and sunny and very Spring-like. this morning i woke up to newly bloomed tulips in the front flower beds... and SNOW on the ground!! i must admit something in me likes the unpredictability of this season.

the highlight of my week was the creative family, a lovely new book by amanda blake- soule arriving on my doorstep~ i had pre-ordered it weeks ago and it couldn't have been delivered at a better time. i am in love with all of the projects and ideas in this book. if you do not already have your own copy, go, now and buy it! you will not be disappointed!

our first project from the creative family will be a book all about harper's first year, written entirely by his siblings. we are going to get it ready to give to him on his first birthday next month~

wordless wednesday! A-DORABLE!!

yes!

it is 11:50 am and so far i am loving April! it is cool outside, just the perfect temperature for light weight jackets and nice long walks. i am looking forward to blooming tulips, the very first sprouts in the garden, and eating meals outside. we have been getting our hands dirty in the garden this week prepping and planting. yesterday i bought a pretty wicker basket for my bike and went on a nice little ride all by myself. i am looking for a bike trailer for the little ones though so i can take them along too.

i am still stash busting this month... lots of Spring inspired projects!

a month of knitting...

harper's pirate booty pants

skull isle hat from son of stitch and bitch

wonder pants for our friend henry
baby surprise jacket for harper (um, yeah, this is the jacket that i started a looonnnggg time ago! but it is finally finished!)

felted wool bag with tattoo straps
little turtle knits pithy hat
ballband dishcloths

cotton soap saver sacks

little leg warmers for esme'

skully hat for my little brotherand a wool sheepy sack for a friend's new baby!

random, random...

i have been a busy mama this week! there have been several times in the past few days that i have thought about sitting here in my computer chair to blog, but the thought always escapes me as i rush off to my next project or chore. here is a quick update on what is new with me~

i attended a very special birth on Easter Sunday. my good friend and her
family welcomed a new baby boy into the world, peacefully at home. it was
the first birth i have attended since harper was born over 10 months ago. it
was a lovely thing to witness.

i have been knitting like crazy! i am still stash busting and loving it! i have not bought any yarn or knitting related items for 4 weeks now! i am only knitting stash yarn. only 4 more weeks to go... i can totally do this!

harper and esme' and i participated in earth hour last night... well, we kind of participated. it was right in the middle of our bedtime, wind down time. we lasted a good 45 minutes, then the night light and lullabies CD came out!

i dusted off my poor, neglected bicycle yesterday and got it ready to ride. my bike has been parked since i got pregnant with harper. i can't wait to start riding again! i am going to buy a pretty wicker basket for the handle bars first thing tomorrow.

our garden is ready to plant! i already have carrot seeds planted and several seeds started in the house. we are trying rainbow carrots this year. i just hope esme' can leave them in the ground long enough, unlike years past!

this is my latest knitting project, in progress. it is a cute little short sleeved wrap sweater for a little baby girl that a friend of the family is expecting any day now. i might even have enough yarn to knit a little hat... or booties... or both!

wordless wednesday! harper loves banana!