Part 2: The Big Birthday Present Post

I cannot believe W is 1 year old!!! Time seems to be "flying" faster than an airplane at this point. I frequently reminisce this time of year last year. What we were doing, how we were feeling, the weather, thoughts on just about a bit of everything. The only thing I am sure of is that I did not feel that there was crunch that I am feeling this year. Can you believe that in less than 12 days it will be December. I cannot!!! This week we are focusing on finishing up Thanksgiving crafts, than immediately moving on to Hanukkah, than straight into Christmas without a breath. Whew, busy busy little elves around here. However, I guess this does mean we will not be at a loss for topics to share in this little space.

Onto the topic of this post! The Birthday Boys gift:

I had planned on making a sweater for W, but while perusing the Fabric Store for a whole other project, I laid eyes on the jungle fever fabric. I needed to buy it and I needed to make something for the Birthday Boy out of it, as well as a little something for my girls. Oh me oh my how do I love this print, and how do I love how it all turned out!!! It was really simple as pie and totally rewarding! I love when the simplest idea is also the simplest to put together.

The more I sew the more I learn the little tricks of the trade that not only make things easier but gives it a bit of a professional, I did not do this at home trick. I used a product similar to heat and bond to attach the animal faces to the tees before doing a straight stitch around all four sides. The "Heat and Bond" allowed the animal patch to stay in place and not wrinkle or botch itself while I sewed it in place. I am now always always going to have "Heat and Bond" in the craft room.

To make the pants I used the Huck Finn Pant pattern out of Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing book. I am familiar with this pattern as I have made more than a handful of pants using this pattern and each time I grow a little more happy with the outcome. I am most happy this time, as the sewing went without a glitch.

As I was completing the outfit, I realized that the Birthday Boy was not really going to enjoy our gift. You know it was more of a momma pleaser than a kiddo pleaser. So, I threw together a few bean bags using the animal patch squares. T already shared a picture of him enjoying them, so I am glad that I followed through with the toy addition to the present.

And, here is the grand finale!!! I made this crocheted sweater!!! I am proud can you tell??? I am laughing as I am generally not big on the bragging issue, but dude I have been trying to crochet or knit something anything for someone to wear for about two years and I finally did it. Now mind you this sweater is constructed out of six rectangles that are half double crocheted and than simply sewn together. The sewing together was the hardest part for me, not too sure why, but whatever it is done and gifted and it fits! Now, I am just keeping my fingers crossed it makes it through a wash or two or three would be better.

Part 1 of the Birthday Post

Last week a year ago and my present last week mimic each other in the most unimaginable ways. I never could of guessed that I would be finishing up the projects that I had begun exactly year ago. My dearest friend was due to have her fourth baby in just a few weeks.
We planned on having her Mother Gathering what we thought was well enough in advance. My second kiddo decided to greet us the very day we had planned on having a Baby Shower so we were both ultra aware of our babies coming when they want to, but we were sure we had planned early enough that this would not happen again!!!
Her Mother Gathering was to be Saturday morning. I spent the week sewing a few things that I wanted to include in her Mother Gathering and preparing other projects for all of us to take part in during this celebration honoring her becoming a mother of 4.
Friday night as I lay my head to the pillow not a few minutes later did I receive her, "I am in labor", phone call! I still laugh to myself...Because you know we were ultra prepared and this was not going to happen again ;)
That night is one of the most precious memories I hold, meeting her son. It is an honor to have been in her circle of friends and family that supported her during her pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Thank you my dearest friend, you know who you are and I am so grateful to have you in my life!!!
We have supported each other through three pregnancies and been introduced to new ideas throughout each of our journeys. We were first introduced to the idea of a Mother Blessing or Mother Gathering just a week or two before we planned on having T's Baby Shower. So, there it began, a tradition of celebrating the journey into Motherhood as opposed to the baby to be. You can read and explore more of this concept on your own if you would like. I think this is a good place to begin.
For T's fourth baby I wanted to do something really different than either of us had done before. When you each have 4 children and lots and lots of friends having babies things can end up getting a bit repetitious. During this time I started reading blogs that ultimately kicked my sewing and crafting bug into high gear. I came across Amanda Soule's blog and bought her book Handmade Home, and this where the inspiration for T's Mother Gathering began.
In a Handmade Home, Amanda Soule's Memory Tree Quilt Art is compiled of her little one's outgrown clothing. In the celebrations I have taken part in it is common practice to bring an object or two or three that remind us of the Mother to Be. I decided I wanted to use the Memory Tree Quilt Art in our celebration honoring T.
I asked that each woman bring a small 4" x 3" piece of fabric with a story to share with the Mother to Be. I left it this open ended as I wanted the choice to be very personal and true to each person sharing.

I had also asked that each woman bring a bead to share with T. We generally close our celebration with a circle exchanging beads from the woman honoring to the Mother and the Mother to the woman honoring. We have in past gatherings made a bracelet for the Mother to wear during her labor. This bracelet is a reminder her of her support circle. Because T's son joined us before we were able to celebrate her becoming a mom to 4, I decided to adorn her Memory Tree Quilt with the beads as well as the fabric leaves.

A year ago I stayed awake into the wee hours of the night sewing a bare felt tree looking forward to hearing each of T's friends share why they chose their leaf with her. It was not for a few more weeks that we were able to celebrate, as W decided he was ready to look into his families eyes earlier than we had all expected.

This piece of art most definitely speaks more than a thousand words!

One of my most favorite parts of our gatherings are circling around the mother to be and sharing kind words with her from written pieces each woman has come prepared with. I asked that everyone come with a flower to share this time as well.

After T's son was born and we held this gathering. I decided it would be best to press the flowers each friend shared with her. I later used the pressed flowers and shared words to create and album.

While putting this album together a year later, I was able to relive the memories of her Mother Gathering and the days leading up to her son's birth.

It was a beautiful week all over again.

Mother Gatherings are a beautiful way to celebrate and honor a mother to be. I cherish both the celebrations that have honored me and the ones I have done the honoring at.

If you are familiar with me or read my previous entry on finishing up projects you know that it is difficult for me to let go if items I have made. It was time for me to exchange these gifts at W's one year birthday this weekend and watching my friend open these gifts was absolutely the most beautiful present to me.

xoxoxo

Where My Brain Has Been

I have one heck of a busy week. I cannot wait to lay my head to sleep tonight! I have not felt this tired in long time. I think the adrenaline of needing to meet a personal set deadline has kept my in high gear and now that it has worn off I am zonked.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was working on a few Birthday Boy gifts and Birthday Momma gifts this week. I am so happy to announce I finished all of them and felt the love running through my fingers while making them. I cannot wait to share with you what I came up with and where I got all of my inspirations! Just like the, Ahem' rugs, that will all have to wait for another post as we have not yet given and received these handmade goodies.

We joined a 30 Day No Eating Out Challenge for the second time. When we first signed on so to speak, I mentioned that we would be going out of town and probably not participate during those couple of days. Those couple of days squeaked up on us pretty quickly, like tomorrow. So, I spent A LOT of time this week preparing our food for the three days we will be out of town. My husband was originally going to go with us and I felt that we all could use a mini vacation with our level of extravagance...eating out being on the top of that list. Unfortunately, he is not able to come for a few different reasons and so I decided that we would stick with the 30 Day No Eating Out Challenge for our short trip out of town.

I made a pretty simple menu based on 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. I made sure to make things that could stick it out in a ice chest and could do without being heated. Making the menu was fun and cooking was more rewarding than I had thought.

Looking back on our week, we spent a great deal of time preparing for a few days out of town. I never thought I would need a week to prepare for a few days away before having 4 children. I am laughing to myself as I write this. A- Not one of my kiddos is capable of understanding how much it takes to keep things rolling around here and B- To be totally honest, I am not sure that I grasp everything that needs to get done around here, because if I did I would die from anxiety as it too much for me to even consider getting done. (If I clean, I do not craft, and If I craft, I do not clean)

Life is good, very good right now. My family has A LOT to be grateful for and I am so happy that "they" all make it possible for me to check off all of my "to dos"!!!

This weeks Highlights are:

-Lots and lots of laundry was folded and put away (We are a fimly of 6)

-Lots and lots of dishes were washed and put away after all of those meals were cooked that made those dishes dirty.

-Things were crafted from scratch and things were finished that had been in the to do pile for a year.

-A shower was cleaned and tow toilets were scrubbed.

-Classes were attended

-A car recieved and Oil Change

-Bags were packed

And we are off to begin a new week with adventures more than a few hundred miles from home. I am hoping they are more exciting than a few of the above highlights ;)

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Corners of Our Home

I am unaware of who might have been the first to introduce "Corners of Our Home", but I have come across a handful of fellow Bloggers sharing, a "corner" of their home, and I enjoy this little glimpse into their homes they share. So, today I bring you to a Corner of Our Home.

I cannot tell you how much time my husband and I have spent perusing Craigslist rental ads, finding the "perfect" rental home, called to take a peak inside, set my heart on it, only to come down from that excitement "high" to learn it was just not meant to be.

Today was one of those days. I paid our rent a few days ago and eyed a new rental they had advertised in the office. All of a sudden, I felt those "we are moving" wheels turning. I had a deep gut feeling that moving was not a good choice as my husband and I recently vowed to stick it out here for at least 5 years. But, the wheels just kept gaining momentum. So much so that I drove to the property twice today. My husband and I recently have decided to run every big change by my dad, as we think we suck at making these decisions, because it is clearly impossible for us to be rational. We get so excited and run with it, we have the negative blinders on, and he does not. He seemed a little reluctant, asking a lot of questions, saying some things that we needed to really think about, and others that I needed to immediately toss out the window (no chuck out the window!!!) He came up with some real dosies today!!! Anyway, upon seeing the inside and chatting with our landlord, it is not for us.

I called my husband immediately after learning that the stars were not aligned for this move. The first words out of my mouth were, "We are indeed staying put for 5 years!" I than proceeded to go on a rant about how it is totally ridiculous that we have spent all of this time looking for the other places to live when we are blessed with a wonderful rental that fits all of us plus some (plus a lot of junk)! See, I totally suck at the whole being present thing!!!

I began this post quite some time ago, but placed it on the back burner as it never felt right when I laid my thoughts and fingers to the keyboard. Corners of our home called out to me tonight. I needed a reminder of why I do indeed love our home. (Could someone please bulldoze the apartments in back so we could have a huge backyard? Pretty please with a cherry on top!!!)

So here is a peak into one of the corners of our home:

A Place I Hold Near and Dear to My Heart

Our Bedroom, My Sanctuary

Our family spends a tremendous amount of time in this space. We generally end up with 5 of us curled up together on any given night, and if number 6 wakes early enough she joins in the warmth. Old man winter has descended upon us, so tonight myself and the four kiddos curled up together reading till each of them fell asleep in the shared warmth.

We inherited our furniture from our in-laws. The mirror was a gift from my mom and dad. I enjoy that most pieces in our room have a story to share.

These two pictures were in my dear friends living room when I first met her many years ago and now they are hanging next to where I lay my head to sleep. My sister donated her reading lamp. Our kiddos create a lot of art, I try to find small places to adorn our home with it. Here we have 2 of Coral's and 1 of Nishan's masterpieces.

My husband and I married nearly 8 1/2 years ago. xoxo We began our marriage spending a few days in San Diego courtesy of my Uncle. While walking down the boardwalk we spotted this artist painting. On our last day we happened upon him again and decided to buy two prints. Oh, how delighted I am we did! This has sorta become the thing we do when we take a vacation, although we do not take many.

I enjoy beginning and ending my day reminded of where "all" of "this" began.

And here we are beginning this journey called marriage and family together. Goodness, do I love this man!!! I am blessed that he came into Coral's and my life and I never want to forget that special day when we said our, "I dos".

This candle holder was a gift at a White Elephant party that I went to a few years back while living in Fresno.

4 children and 1 Belly Cast! This is my preggo belly with Zari. LOVE IT!!! When I first came across Belly Casting I felt that it was kinda cool, but it would just end up needing to be stored. Well, folks I was wrong!!! This means just as much to me as the Honeymoon and Wedding Day prints. Our room is absolutely where it belongs and for now I see it staying just where it is for quite sometime.

The most recent addition to our room (which really is not that recent at all) is our blanket. I want to call it a quilt, but I do not think it is actually a true quilt. I used vintage sheets that I bought on numerous trips to the Thrift Store and bought pre-quilted fabric for the back. My husbands very adamant request, he loves the diamond pre-quilted fabrics??? But really out of all things who am I to argue with that???

When I recently changed the decor a bit in our home and moved a few rooms around, this is what came about with our sanctuary. Right now it is my favorite room in the house, although the living room is a close runner up. My hubby came home and straight away hung the newly sewn curtains to hide more living room junk after hearing we were staying put. What I enjoy most about our bedroom is the warmth and freshness I feel when in it. I believe this is because most of the decor and even furniture has purpose whether it be for sleeping or for evoking emotion. I hope to one day create this throughout our entire home.
Thank you for coming inside and taking a peak! Next time I have an itch to move, I think I will invite you back in for a peak into another corner of our home.

Crack of Dawn Crafting

The past few morning we have been crafting up a storm. When I say mornings, I am talking as I hear the gurgling of the coffee pot. This means as I am pulling out the craft supplies while my eyes are seriously half way opened. The rest of my body is thinking it should most definitely not be standing vertical, but horizontal still sawing Zs. When your littles are calling to craft at this unheard time of day, I believe and coax you to pull out any diy kits that you might have tucked away. I think we may have busted through all of the ones I had hidden. There is no doubt in my mind next time I run across the 90% off clearance I will be picking up not just 1, 60 cent kit per kiddo, more like 10!
Nishan painted a bat while I sipped coffee and cooked breakfast. Did I mention that this is so worth the effort because kids are pretty quite with tunnel vision when you set paints in front of them.

Lillitha chose a Menorah that kept her busy for a whole 2 mornings!!!

Have you ever tried to keep the youngest of 4 out of the mix? Well, this little firecracker will not be having any of that!!!

Nishan opted to help out with the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread this morning.

He does not hold back, he was right there taking in the whole experience every step of the way.

I really enjoy our mornings together. I know I mention this a lot and focus on it a lot, but how we begin and end our days is somewhat like the domino effect in our household. Some of my fondest memories as a child are my mornings with my father and my evenings with my mother.

My mom gave the kids a Thanksgiving Turkey kit. My first and very judgmental thought was, seriously??? Gimme a break, what fun is there in a kit that really does not give a lot room to use ones imagination?

It was one of those way to early mornings for me, when I decided to throw it on the kitchen table. All of my kids enjoyed this one. It was something simple, exact, and yet time consuming. Nobody complained, and there is a bit of variation to each of them. Either way, it did no harm and they had fun. Fun is the key word here. I am not sure that my cheap self would pay full price, but definitely would load up at the 90% off time.

Coral is my eldest and a perfectionist and sprinter all at the same time.

Nishan loves to just get things done, not a lot of messing around in the craft area. Lillitha takes her time while always giving it her personal flair.

Zari loves glue and a lot of it. After she floods each of her pieces with glue she creates a mountain of art.

Our Indian Corn Necklaces are coming along at a snails pace. The kids loved the idea, but had a really hard time stringing them.

Coral roughed it for awhile until she decided a bracelet was good enough.

Nishan opted to make an Indian Corn building. He was testing out his Architectural Skills, to see if they were hereditary or not.

Lillitha was carefully laying out her pattern for me to bead, while Zari grew angrier and angrier that she could not have ALL of the corn to herself.

Our mornings were full of time well spent with each other. I look forward to my eyes being pryed open and questions of what we can make today even if it is some ungodly hour and I went to bed just a few hours earlier. However, it is a good thing I think my kids a really cute ;)

We kind of hit a lull in our day, in between breakfast and lunch. I was standing around feeling a bit overwhelmed with things I really did intend to do, when I said, "Screw it, you guys wanna dye eggs?" Of course the answer was an exuberant, "YES!!". Yes, we dyed eggs in the middle of November with 1 of the 10 Easter Egg dying kits I bought last year during the 90% off sale. Man I love those!!!

Coral patiently waiting for her egg to turn the perfect hue.

Nishan says, "Peace Out, Yo". Yes, he did ask that I caption his picture with that.

Lillitha thought it might be nice to match her hands to her egg coloring.

Zari is a little dazed and confused about how she will be using the very things I keep well out of her reach every morning.

Look, Look, it is Hello Kitty riding a bike on our kitchen table!!!

And, now here friends have joined her...

I really enjoy watching my children create in our home. We had a ton of fun with our diy bargain kits. I would love to hear any simple and inexpensive ideas you have fun with in your homes!

Instead of a big fat post I give you Gratitude

I am so tired right now that everything I want and intended to share in this space today is just not going to happen. So, in the near future there may be a stream of some very "Fat" posts!!! I still need to share Coral's twelfth birthday rugs, all that I am racking up my little creative room this week (which I am dying to share), and a bit about what we did today. Stay tuned folks as we are having a ton of fun around here right now!!!
Tonight I leave you with my night in Gratitude:
~My dear husband working his Heine off the last few days. xoxoxo
~Some very good snuggles with each of my kiddos separately throughout the day. Ohhh, how I do not want those memories to be so fleeting.
~My dad and I chatted twice on the phone today :)
~I met my "Gift To Do List Goals" and did not let the rest of our lives slip.
~We are committed for the second time to the 30 Day No Eating Out Challenge and making it happen thus far.
~Jason and I ate dinner alone in our own kitchen last night while the kids were at a Birthday Celebration. It was so wonderful to be able to finish sentences and have complete thoughts.
~I have begun take my morning shower and night showers. Two things I love to do for myself. It gives me a few minutes with my own, uninterrupted thoughts to begin and end each day.
~I am so delighted that my family and I are feeling for the most part in a good rhythm with each other. These times come and go and while they are here I hope to really relish in them.
Good Night, I could go on and on and on!!!! These are the things that are in the for front right now. I now we live beyond well in the grand scheme of life, but it really is the small things that seem to pass to quickly.