For more Wordful Wednesday posts click the little button and go see Angie.
We are so very much alike that we often are at odds with one another. I have to remember this daily, and sometimes hourly. She knows exactly what buttons to push because they are her own buttons as well. This is especially true each and every morning when I must wake her up early to go somewhere. She's just like her Momma, just ask her Daddy. ;)
You may have noticed my little March for Babies widget over there to the right --->
On April 26th I am participating in the walk that helps raise money for healthy babies and I need your help. Last year the group that I am now walking with raised $2960.83. It's an amazing amount for any group to raise, but we are a group of moms who joined together to raise money for a cause that we believe in. It is amazing to see what you can do when you put your hearts and minds into something. Please help us to reach and pass our goal again this year. This is the first year that I am walking with the group. If you are able to make a donation no matter how small or large I would really appreciate it.
Here's a funny little e-card to help persuade you...
***I've taken down the e-card because I think it's goofing something up around here***
I recently sold all of my carriers (or in the process of selling) except for my Kozy which is wonderful for heavier kiddos. Well anyone who knows babywearing knows that carriers seem to multiply and the idea of just one carrier is a difficult one. So I got a new carrier that will be good for E-Man as he gets bigger from the ForSaleOrTrade (FSOT) on TheBabyWearer.com. It's called an Ocah. It's a mei tai style carrier made from an Montreal organic cotton Hoppediz wrap. Let me just tell you, it's sooooo incredibly soft. I'm in love. And being a good woven wrap it holds his weight so well. I love that it has the wide wrap shoulder straps that I absolutely love. The straps are long enough that I am able to tie them Tibetan (like in first picture). Plus this soothes my itch for an actual wrap. :)
And I snapped this picture because he was all cuddling up to me being sweet. It wasn't until I uploaded these pictures that I found out exactly what he was up to back there. Lovely.
I've gotten a good bite from the craft bug again. I'm glad it's returned already since homemade Christmas somewhat burnt me out. I hit up JoAnn's for some excellent sales the other day and I'm stocked on fabric. I also have plenty of yarn for a few more projects that I'm working on.
First completed is another reusable bag that I gave as a gift. I almost love this too much to give it, but she loved it so it made it alright. :) The outside is Alexander Henry "Bolero" print *drool* with a coordinating bright pink lining.
All tied up and ready to go. :)
And I just finished up this awesome cabled crochet hat (pattern can be found HERE). My only issue - well other than I tried to get this hat started 3 times to no avail, 4th time's a charm? - is that I did not pay attention to the directions about what size hook. That and I probably made it a couple rows too long as it sits too far down in my neck in the back. Ah well. I'm definitely doing this one again. I've already started creating the matching scarf in my head. :) I LOVE cables. It's the whole reason I wanted to learn to knit in the first place. It's just too bad I couldn't get the hang of that. I think I'm going to revisit my needles though. So anyway here's my hat.
Also note that my original idea was to make it all brown with the pink trim at the bottom. I ran out of yarn. Oops. Once again...next time. ;)
And a couple on...
for my mojo. I go through this every now and again where I just lose my blogging mojo. It will be back, of that I'm certain, but at the moment it feels a bit more like a job to post anything. Ah well.
I do have a bit of exciting news though, well exciting to me. ;)
I've officially launched a play/mom's group as the organizer. It's a group for more naturally minded mommies. Around here I find these moms incredibly hard to find. I know they are out there, but I honestly don't know many. I thought this would be a fun way to get to know other moms with similar beliefs in this area.
The reason that this is most exciting to me is that as I mentioned about a year ago (and sadly not much has changed in this area), I've become almost painfully shy at times. Before I became a SAHM I was a lot more outgoing. It seems each year I lose a little more of that part of me. I feel I can relate better to kids than adults. While I know that a lot of SAHMs go through this, I personally have been REALLY wanting to change it just not quite sure how.
Until now.
In order to make this group a success I am going to need to step outside of my comfort area. I will need to be the initiator of conversations. I will need to pick up the phone and call around to different venues and ask them about arrangements for my group. I will need to take on some leadership to keep this group in check. And I'm so excited, and at the same time so nervous that it gives me butterflies, about it!
and over 300 posts on my "to do" - I clicked it.
And just like that I went from overwhelmed so much that I wasn't visiting anyone and wanted nothing to do with my blog to all is well in the world - well the bloggy world that is.
I feel a twinge of guilt about the posts I may have missed, but I figure that I will catch up and if I don't that's ok too. I picked up and started anew.
Does anyone know if there is a similar button for housework and motivation?
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the current state of the house and after our extended holiday breaks (K-Girl started back to school this past Monday and The Husband went back to work after being off since the 18th today) I'm feeling a bit of a holiday hangover. Things need done. I have no idea where to start and I'm lacking the motivation to just pick up and do it already. I need a "Mark all as done" button for this house, a chance to start fresh.
Today is K-Girl's half birthday at school. Since she is a summer baby they pick another day to celebrate in preschool. I love that they do this. I remember all my summer friends just getting jipped. For their birthday you bring in a special treat for the class. With the help of Kraft Food & Family and K-Girl we settled on these...
They are pudding ice cream cones. If you would like the recipe which is really easy click over HERE. They are chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, and crushed Oreo's for the filling. Sprinkle with extra crushed Oreo's for the "dirt" look. Top them with a smooshed marshmallow pressed in colored flower and add a gum drop (I used Dots) to finish. I thought they turned out cute.
The only thing I didn't really think about enough was transporting them. Then today of all days we have ice and rain. I accidentally moved them a bit too quickly on the way to the car and had a bunch of them fall over. Ah well, four-year-olds probably aren't going to care much.
I hope they enjoy them and that my K-Girl enjoys her special day at school.
You all know we did a handmade Christmas, but I wasn't able to show you too much for fear of people finding out. I thought I'd take a moment to share some gifts.
I shared with you the throw that I made for Mam-Maw here. I also made one in different colors for my mother-in-law...
I made my father-in-law a set of a hat and scarf (crochet). That scarf is so thick! Definitely a warm one. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would.
My Husband admired the hat that I was making my FIL and so I thought I would make him a set too. I only ever had enough time to get him the hat finished. Mind you I had to work when he wasn't around. I'll have to work on a matching scarf for him sometime.
Next up is a rocket ship that I made from this tutorial (which was linked up from Sew Mama Sew). I decided to bring the difficulty down a bit to forego the rocket man this time. I had the pieces cut out and everything beforehand, but this beauty was assembled Christmas Eve. Have I mentioned that I'm a procrastinator? Have I mentioned that must change if I want to hold on to any sanity that I have left at this point??? It did turn out really cute though.
Oh and remember this post about my madness? I'll post incase you aren't a clicker...
You see the reason why I was really crazy was the fact that I not only did ONE of these babies, but no in fact the kids and I did TEN of these. It was their Christmas present to their grandparents, aunts & uncles, and great grandparents as well. They were very well received. I do think they came out very cute. :)
Etsy also came into play of course. Oh how I love Etsy!
I got some of these mugs w/ these bowls to match for my mother and stepfather (which I almost loved too much to give them away). Really the pictures don't even do them justice. They are gorgeous. I would buy again from Twisted River Clayworks any time!
We got this Barbie bag for K-Girl and filled it with clothes from All4U ( Here, Here, Here, & Here ) and some bedding and dresses from Aunt Tiff. K-Girl loved this. This should speak volumes - She took her Muses from Barbie Diamond Castle up to her bedroom and stripped them out of their beautiful dresses and put them in her handmade Barbie dresses from Etsy. Take that Mattel. ;) It was then that I knew we did alright. The Barbie Bag is just great though because she did end up getting the two main dolls from Barbie's Diamond Castle and the three Muses. The bag has two larger pockets on one side and three slightly more narrow pockets on the other. It is PERFECT for her to carry around all her Diamond Castle Barbies.
E-Man got this natural wood toy train set from Woman Woodworker's Natural Wood Toys which is awesome. It's the perfect size for him and I love that it hooks together with little twine (or something similar) loops. It's very well made.
Not exactly handmade, but we also did a nice family photo arrangement in a frame for my father and stepmother and another was a reusable bag full of grocery items and a gift card for more groceries to my bachelor and broke brother. I found a nice cookie in a car mix that in hindsight I could have put together, but ah well. I found it in an Amish made store and it was very nicely done. So that was perfect for Nanny who has quite the sweet tooth.
But we weren't perfect - but there is always next year. K-Girl wanted a Barbie Diamond Castle for Christmas and Santa brought it to her. We got E-man a Little People construction w/ blocks set (this & this). Both are still good on some level because they do lend towards using their imagination, right? ;) They also each got a DVD, two hand puppets (imagination, right?!), and a pack of M&Ms because you must have M&Ms. Other than that from us they got two outfits.
My goals for 2009 Christmas is that I DO NOT procrastinate and I start much earlier. I would like to do a completely handmade Christmas and I REALLY would like more handmade gifts for myself. And by more I really mean any. ;) We shall see. But for choosing to do handmade with little over a month to prepare I think it was a success. I'll end with a question to those of you that may have participated in a handmade Christmas...
How do you get your kids to really get excited about the handmade over the mass marketed stuff? I feel as if I would have gone 100% that they - especially K-Girl would have been VERY disappointed.
And...
If elves make all of Santa's toys then why is it that poor ole Santa needs to buy into the commercial products so much? It doesn't seem quite right. Maybe it's just unreal expectations for an 18 month old and (especially) for a 4 1/2 year old.
Either way, I loved the preparation for this Christmas so much more than others past. I'd so much rather be rushing to finish sewing up the last toy vs. out in a packed mall to pick up a last minute gift.
and the wall won.
Running full speed out of the kitchen, through the dining room, up to the playroom - she wasn't looking where she was going and never made it past the dining room. She ran right into the doorway and it floored her. We honestly thought she had just fell, and then thought she pulled a bug on the windshield move, but once the bruises started to show we realized she perfectly caught the corner. Can't wait to see this one in the morning. Poor poor K-Girl. She was not blessed with grace.
If you're looking for my resolutions you can check out these two posts...
My Personal 101 Things in 1001 Days List
and
Our 101 GREEN Things in 1001 Days List
Although I'll be working on these lists until Thursday, August 11, 2011, I hope to make a large dent in both lists in 2009!
I saw this idea over at's Rachael's place who got it from another blogger. I thought it was such a great idea that I just had to borrow the idea as well. So here is 2008's year in review with pictures. I had to cheat though with May and have two pictures. Picking between Mother's Day and a First Birthday is difficult. :) It is amazing how much the kids have grown in a year. Also, if you'd like to revisit any specific month to see what was going on in our lives, you can just click on each month to visit the archives for that month. Hopefully 2009 will pass slightly slower. Does anyone else feel that 2008 just sprinted along? I want to be able to take a breath and enjoy 2009.
Wishing each and every one of you a safe, happy, and most of all healthy New Year.
Yes, I'm totally cheating and linking up this post. You'll forgive me, right? ;)
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