taken by Jonah

Hunter likes cows lately.  Just about everything bigger than a dog that stands on four legs is a cow to him.  As soon as he gets a glimpse of one he moos and moos and says cow with his lips sticking out.  He really is the cutest thing that ever lived.

Since he hasn’t seen a cow close up ever before I decided today was the day he needed to have that experience.  There is a great park in Englewood (which is part of Denver) called Belleview Park that has a little petting farm.  Brenna and Logan took turns manning the camera because I was on baby patrol.

Hunter was pretty hesitant about being close to the animals.  He said cow over and over and mooed when the little calves they had were on the other side of the farm area from us or closed in a pen, but they were just too big for him up close.  He was wild about the chickens, though, and didn’t mind the goats and sheep.  He thought the pig was hilarious and laughed and laughed and tried to imitate the pig’s grunts and snorts.

The one who really had a good time was Ian.  He fell in love with this sheep and petted it there for about 10 minutes.  He didn’t mind when the white rooster tried to eat Buzz off of his shoe,

and he found a good friend in the bristly pig.

My animal loving Brenna had a good time too, and as we left she said, “I think maybe this is what I want to do when I grow up, I mean, those girls get are getting paid to take care of the animals.”  I guess being farm girls is just in our blood.  Animals just make life feel so– real, I guess.  I’ve never actually lived on a farm, but my mom grew up on one and when I was a little girl we visited my grandparents in the home where she grew up almost weekly.  I was always too self conscious to really say what I wanted or ask to help with the horses and be really involved in the workings of the place, but I would sit out in the yard and daydream about growing up and somehow inheriting that beautiful, perfect little place with its enormous sycamore trees and clothes line and peonies and berry patch and green pastures.  I really thought it was the most beautiful place on earth.  I had my wedding reception there.  Then the housing developments encroached on it and my grandparents had to sell it.  They moved farther away from town on lots of open land.  They made it beautiful, built stables and planted berries.  2 years ago now my grandpa passed away.  I remember a conversation I had with my grandma about selling that big place and moving into town closer to my mom so she wasn’t just out there all alone.  She said she’d like to, that she needed to, but that everything made her feel claustrophobic with their fences and little yards.  She said she was born a country girl and maybe she just needed the open spaces.

After that conversation I’ve wondered if maybe I was born a country girl too– if I have that yearning to live with space and trees and animals because my grandma passed it down to me– if it’s just in my blood…

Tonight I am…

tired from camping for 2 nights and a day.

thankful to call that cute baby up there my own.

amazed at the grandeur of the Colorado mountains and how being surrounded by them never gets old.

excited to let you know that I have a post over at the Rhythm of the Home blog.

looking forward to a restful Sabbath.

thinking about the miracle this country we live in is, and so thankful for it.

How is your weekend going?

Is it any wonder that Hunter’s first word, after bird, was Daddy?  He does have the best Daddy in the world.  I am so proud to be on his team.  He makes life fun and beautiful and joyful, this husband of mine.  He is a model of patience and love.  I want to be like him when I grow up.

We adore you, Barry!  Happy Father’s Day!

And happy Father’s Day to all of the Papas and Grandpas and Uncles out there too.  My life is full of wonderful men.  I love you all!

When I made this little batch of shirts for Hunter, Logan was insistent that he knew exactly what needed to be printed on this one, so I did what I could to make his vision a reality.  We got out my dusty gocco printer and the fabric inks, and just like that we were done.  It was one of those projects that made me wonder why I don’t do it more often– it was so quick and painless and made my Logan so happy and proud.

It is a rare thing to have something so potentially messy go so smoothly, but it sure is a happy day when things work out.  I think with a big brood of small people the more spontaneous projects are the ones that end the best.  For me, at least, when i plan and prepare I have way too much invested in the outcome to be adequately relaxed, patient and kind about the process.  Does this ring true for anyone else?  I need to somehow find a happy medium between the spontaneous and the planned so that there can be more happy collaboration between the kids and I.  How do you guys plan happy creative projects with your kids?

I made a couple more shirts for Hunter and just totally love them.  While I was at it I thought I’d show you how I put the binding on them because all of the tutorials and instructions I’ve seen make it way more complicated that I think it needs to be.  Instead of sewing it on then folding it over and sewing it all again, I make double fold tape, sandwich the edge to be bound inside of it, and sew it on all at once.

First I cut my binding fabric into a 2 inch wide strip with the stretch going along the length of the strip.  Then I get out my handy dandy tool to press the edges of my strip into the center to make my binding tape.  (I have a super cheap Dritz 1″ tape maker, but it looks like they don’t make them anymore.  Clover does, though, and they’ve got cute colors on them.)

Then it’s ready to be sewn onto my project.  With the folded side up I just line up the edge of the fabric that I’m going to bind with the fold on the left,

fold it over, and sew it on a little less than 1/8″ away from the edge.

I like to move my needle over all the way to the left so I can center my binding under my presser foot.  I gently stretch the binding as I sew and cut it to length once I’m done with an edge.  I also tend to have more binding underneath than on top, so I don’t have problems failing to catch the binding underneath in my stitches.  Then it’s all done in one step.

This is the way I put the binding and ties on our Sweet Pea Pilot Caps too.  I also bind quilts this way (with quilt fabric, of course).  I’m all for quick and easy.

When sewing with knits keep in mind that you need to use a ball point needle in your machine.  That way you don’t risk snagging runs and making holes in your fabric and it slides through the fabric much better than a universal needle does.

Now for the pictures with the shirt on my model.

“Hunter, go sit in your seat so I can take your picture!”

That works…

I’ll show you the other one tomorrow.

Being the fourth child to go through our boy clothes leaves Hunter wearing a stained onsie (or just a diaper) much more often than I’d like.  What I really want his summer uniform to be is a t-shirt (without crotch snaps) and a diaper– with some shorts to throw on when we need to go in public.

I’ve got the first set done.  I used an old onsie to make the shirt pattern ( you can find a good tutorial for doing that here) and whipped it up out of some creamy cotton jersey knit I had on hand and leftover cotton ribbing from Ian’s batch of tinkle time trainers.  It ended up being shorter on him than I had planned, so I just added a band of ribbing at the bottom instead of hemming it.  I like how it turned out, but I’ll still make the next one longer.

His shorts I made by tracing a pair that fit well.  With the pattern drafting and all I think they took me an hour.  I think I’ll be able to whip another pair up in half an hour now.  That is, after I make a trip to restock my supply of elastic.

Getting an adventurous toddler to stay still long enough to get photos of his new outfit is a challenge.  Thanks to the ants building a hill in the cracks on our front porch he stayed in the same place for more than half a second.

I love how babies squat– how their little toes grip the ground.  It’s the stance of concentration.  They can play like this for long stretches of time, but they’re at the ready to stand right up and hurry to the next thing.

Or look at things from a different angle.

In his everyday world this guy is the littlest one around.  He thoroughly enjoys being the big bad monster once in a while.  The ants, on the other hand, aren’t so sure…

I’m just popping in with some of  my favorite photos from the past week.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, dear readers!

A few weeks ago I had an issue of Home Education Magazine out from the library and in it was an add for Bare Books.  My kids kept eying it, then we saw posts at Soule Mama and Balancing Everything about the fun of filling them up, so I thought I’d order a box full to coincide with all the writing I hoped would ensue with the unveiling of the typewriter.

It looks like I will be buying bare books like groceries.

The day they arrived we cracked open the box and everyone got started.  Logan filled his up in no time with the story of “Tom and the Magic Roller Coaster.”

I can’t even tell you how much I love his uninhibited 5 year old drawings and handwriting.  He is fearless in his art making.

Brenna and Jonah wrote stories too.  After writing and dreaming all day long Jonah was so filled with pride in his work.  As I tucked him in he said, “Mom, I never knew I liked writing as much as I like reading.  It feels so good to write something someone else will read and really, really like.”  He’s still at work making sure his handwriting is neat as he goes.  It’s fun to watch their personalities magnified in their work.  I will definitely post more books soon.

I’ve got a board book of our backyard birds in the works for Hunter who says “buhr, buhr” with his little pointer finger constantly.  We have an Audubon calendar and he will stand beneath it with his arms stretched up making all the noise he can to get someone to lift him up for a closer look.

It’s been embarrassingly long since I last drew something.  It really feels so good.  (Here are closeups of the goldfinch and robin.) I’m almost finished with the house finches that are nesting on our front door.

They have 5 eggs now.

My front door is going to be a mess when they hatch!

The first thing I ever really researched and obsessed over using the internet was cloth diapers.  I figured it all out with help from many, many online cloth diaper users and sellers and makers, many of which aren’t around anymore, some who are under different names and locations.  My main source of information was the FAQs at the One Stop Diaper Shop (now Very Baby) and the Diaper Pin.  Anyway, back then I tried my hand at sewing some diapers, but it was a long process to get just one done without a serger or a snap press.

Just a few weeks ago Jessica came out with a one size version of her fitted diaper pattern with a snapless option, and since I do have a serger now I thought I’d give it a go.

I learned that serging around curves is hard.  It is definitely something that needs more practice and time than I had to give it.  I made 3 with stretch terry on the outside and velour on the inside.  (I don’t know what I was thinking with my color choices, though.)  My chubby baby likes to pull them out of the laundry basket and bring them to me so I’ll put one on him.

I’m a big fan of one-size diapers.  I absolutely loved my Mother Ease One-sizers when they were in their prime.  They lasted through 3 babies, but by the time they got to this guy they were scratchy and stinky. 

I’m not sure about the snappi fastener on these, though.  My climbing, running, climbing, dancing, climbing baby seems to get his diaper all wadded up.  If I could somehow find 2 days to sew I would get myself a snap press and push through making a dozen of these the real way.

I’ve also got another bum that needs covered.  We’re working on the potty learning here with Ian, but it’s a process.  I hate putting him in diapers, though, so I’m making him some Tinkle Time Trainers.  They offer more protection than the training pants you can find at Target, can snap off for messy accidents, but still feel like underwear.

I’ve got one done.  Let’s see how long it lasts today.

And let’s see how many more I can get done.