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.

I am playing catch up here…

We got a lot of snow on March 25th.  Over a foot.

Which gave the kids the opportunity to try out Jonah’s invention– the Rocket Chair.  It’s made from a broken dining chair and a pair of old cross country skis.  Oh, and a rope to pull it back up the hill with, of course.

Now for photos.  I think I’m done with the words for this post.

Lest anyone get the idea that we’ve enter into organized tranquility, I thought I’d post some photos of real life here.  The big table is no longer out of reach.  As you can imagine, this really complicates things around here.

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend.  I love it when General Conference falls on Easter weekend.  Don’t get me wrong, I love going to church on Sundays (all 3 hours of it) but the biannual break is most welcome, and when it falls on Easter it gives even more time for thought and rest and contemplation.

I try to be really positive here on the blog, try to make it a place where I can record my successes and hopefully inspire someone else out there, but I have to admit lately that I’ve been a bit overwhelmed.  There are times and circumstances that just  make us painfully aware of our weaknesses and shortcomings– and I feel myself in that place very frequently lately.  I am doing exactly what it is I’ve always wanted to do.  I’m the mother of a large family.  I get to be with each of those little children everyday to help them learn and to try to help them discover and reach their full potential.  I’ve been blessed with a view of the big picture, of what I want to create– I might even say I’ve been called to it.  I always knew it would be hard, really hard, but there are just some things I didn’t have any clue would be this hard.  Being a parent is difficult on so many emotional and spiritual levels I didn’t even know existed.  Throw on top of that other relationships, church responsibilities, and never ending mountains of laundry and sometimes I just want to say– “Sorry, I just don’t have it in me.  This whole thing you’ve asked me to do, Lord, is way more than I’m capable of.  Is there some other way?  Can it be easier somehow?”

And this weekend I realized I’m not alone in feeling that way.  Jesus felt the same way.  He knew what it was he was called to do.  He knew the beginning from the end, the essential nature of his role in God’s eternal plan, but still he said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.” (Luke 22:42)  Somehow, even with his infinite knowledge, the weight of what he was called to bear was surprising when he was actually experiencing it– more than he thought he could endure.  But, he knew it was his role to fulfill, his feat to accomplish, and so he faithfully said, “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. ” (Luke 22:43)

I know what I’ve been called to do does not compare in magnitude to what the Savior did, but it is important, even essential in some sense.  And, it probably can’t be easier.  I just need to trust in his will,

and draw strength from my angel(s).

So, did anyone out there follow the Celebrate the Boy month of February over at MADE?  Well, I, being the mother of many boys, certainly did.  I really wanted to get some 90 minute shirts made, but alas, they just ended up on that list.  You know, the list of projects I would really, really, really like to get to.  I need a laundry lady.  And a school assistant.  Then I could get to that list.

Then Meg contributed her Sweet Pea Pilot Cap pattern (gloriously, generously FREE here, just scroll down and look to the right).  No pattern drafting needed to get the project started, just easy pieces to cut and quickly sew together.  In a Saturday afternoon I had super cute, soft hats for my littlest boys.

Ian calls his his space-man hat and is rarely seen without it.  (He’s 3 and wearing a size large.  This hat fits my almost 6 and 8 year olds too.)

I love how it frames Hunters perfect chubby face. (His is a medium.)

The pattern suggests you use a walking foot and stabilizer to keep your knit fabric from getting all puckery, but I just couldn’t wait until after I  made a trip to the store, so I did these without either.  I did use a ball point needle and my machine has a special setting for knit fabric and can somehow sense what pressure the presser foot needs, so my hats turned out pretty pucker free.

I made a couple for gifts at a sewing date with RaeLyn borrowing her walking foot.  I’m not sure if it made a difference or not.

I guess I’ll have to whip up some more to decide for sure.

My little guy turned one a week ago. I don’t even know what to say about it. I love having babies. I love watching them grow… if only it took a little longer to go from a little squeaky lump of perfection to a running ball of chubby energy. *sigh*

He wasn’t sure what to think of the whole celebration. To be honest I think he was a bit scared of the candle. (Nothing like the excitement of this first birthday.)

When I saw the hat that Meg made for Finn a few weeks ago I knew just the handmade gift I wanted to make for Hunter for his birthday.

It’s the Stella Pixie Hat and the pattern is gloriously FREE through ravelry. I knit it up with a strand of Knit Picks kettle dyed sock yarn in Spruce and a strand of Pagewood Farm Chugiak hand dyed sock yarn in the Peaceful colorway. I spent my week of no computer or computer genius to knit it. I stayed up really late. I didn’t do the button neck band, just made about 8 inches of i-cord on both ends of the neckband so I can tie it. I think that makes it easier to make it stay on.

I took my little elf for a walk, but he moves so fast the majority of my pictures turned out like this:

He must scrunch up his nose, squeal in delight and try his darnedest to run every second he’s outside. Unless he finds something to examine.

Then he’ll slow down for maybe a second.

He’s worn it near constantly since his birthday. It must pass the itch test because he doesn’t try to pull it off.

Or maybe he just knows how cute he is.

So stinkin’ cute I can hardly stand it.

We’ve had some balmy near 60 degree weather, so our little toddler has been trying out his new skills.

He didn’t want to have anything to do with me holding his hand or helping him up when he fell.  The shoes, the dry grass, the uneven ground, the rocks, they were all a whole new set of challenges to be conquered.

Guess who won…

I’ve been really quiet in this space all through the holidays.  Christmas came and went.  New Year’s came and went.  And even though it hasn’t been recorded here yet, there was a lot of making and playing and singing and sledding; lots of attempted steps, wobbly steps, exhilirating steps, confident steps; and lots of just being.

Now it’s time for a fresh start.

If you haven’t noticed, my website is all fresh and new!  I’ll have rotating links to various cool things over there to the left along with my (hopefully growing) list of project how-tos and patterns.  Cool, huh?

I’m also changing my name.  Well, the name of my website stuff.  “Seedpod Books and Art” was coined many, many years ago when I got the idea to make and sell handmade books online.  I wanted just seedpod.com, but some guy “owns” it and wants a ridiculous amount of money for it, so I had to come up with something to tack onto the end of that seedpod.  Since I was planning on selling books and art, that’s what my name became.  That was before blogs or etsy or any of that stuff (2001 I think).  Eventually I discovered craft blogs, became totally addicted ( my first regular reads were Jessica’s old Very Mom blog, Wee Wonderfuls, and Loobylu) and morphed my lonely little website into a blog.  Now it just doesn’t feel like the whole “Books and Art” thing fits anymore.  It really hasn’t for a long time, but the mean guy still wants thousands of dollars for just plain seedpod.com.   We thought seedpodcraft.com was workable– so that’s it.

In the time I’ve been writing here I’ve gone from 2 kids to 5.  I’ve lived in New Mexico, Ohio, and Colorado with some short stops in between.  I’ve bound books, made paper, spun yarn, painted, sewn, designed toys, printed, made silver jewelry…  This has been the place to store my treasures.  I’m happy to have it.

So, here’s to a new year and a fresh start.  Let’s hope I can go at it with all the joy and enthusiasm he does:

When Brenna was  tiny I was very idealistic about Halloween.  I saw it as a little microcosm of life– that she could be anything she wanted, and I would help her get there.  Silly, I know, but the dressing up and making was so much fun.  As each new child has entered our family that whole idealism has, well, gone out the window.  Now it is a last minute scramble to get the costumes decided on and all the stuff gathered up.  Halloween ranks right up there with Christmas on my kids’ list of favorite holidays.  At least once a day, ALL YEAR LONG, Logan tells me what he’s going to be for the next Halloween.  I guess there is some magic in the thought that he really can transform himself into anything he wants.  This year he settled on being a pirate:

Jonah was an alien:

Brenna was leopard:

Then there was Buzz– which has been Ian’s everyday uniform on most days lately:

And for the third time we had a little dinosaur.  I made this hood and tail when Jonah was a baby.  Logan was only 3 months old his first Halloween, so he was too little to wear it, but Ian did, and now Hunter:

(Barry took these pictures in the church parking lot during our Trunk-or-Treat.)

The only sewing I did this year was make Brenna a tail and ears to pin on to her sweats– the rest was just paint and hairspray and a good dig through the dress-up and recycling bins.

We lit our Jack-0-Lanterns and did a little Trick-or Treating around the neighborhood too.

I’ve really needed updated photos of my kids for my mantle since, well, I think the last time I had pictures taken was 2 years ago.  I’ve got lots of snapshots of course, but I needed portraits.  The thought of making an appointment, getting everyone clean and dressed and somewhere on time has been giving me hives.

 I have big windows and lots of natural light in our family room, so yesterday I hung a big brown sheet at one end of the room and snapped away.   Most of the pictures I took turned out like this:

Out of focus, fake smiles, silly faces, or Ian in the Buzz Lightyear costume he found in the dress-up bin about a month ago and hasn’t taken off since (I had to bribe him with chocolate chips). Click here to see the out takes bigger, if you’d really like.

But the beauty of digital photography is that I could take LOTS of pictures.  I decided to go with black and white pictures so it didn’t matter what color the background or clothes were.  A few clicks in iPhoto, the Costco photo printing center, and $8 later, I’ve got these lined up on my mantle:

Not bad for a day’s work.