So, has it really been since December 11th that I last posted?  Sheesh!  I’ve been so caught up in creating stable scenery for the ward Christmas pageant, a husband with Strep throat, sleepless nights with puking children (and parents), other intestinal problems of which I will spare you the details (they’re not pretty, let me assure you), gestating of course, and last minute holiday preparations and gift making, that it never even crossed my mind to make a blog post.  There have been several days that I didn’t even take a glance at the computer.  So, now I’ll play catch up, posting this week about the handmade gifts we gave this year.

These are my favorite, and the last ones finished.

I have wanted to try my hand at making waldorf dolls for ages and ages, but Brenna has never been much of a doll player and it always seemed frivolous to just make one for myself.  But, this year I decided I’d make some for Brenna and Ian whether they’d really like them or not, just to indulge myself.  I ordered my pattern and supplies, and then got underway.

Good news is, they are some of the favorite gifts this year!  Ian’s Boy has been a constant companion since it was unwrapped.  He snuggles him, sleeps with him, feeds him, and just carries him around.  Brenna has left me little thank you notes all around and on Christmas day she kept telling me, “I just want to keep telling you thank you.  I can’t say thank you enough times.  I love her!”

So, I was up late on Christmas Eve stitching and trimming hair and finally realized that clothes just weren’t going to get made by morning.  Barry had been saying the entire week that I shouldn’t stress myself out and just give the kids naked dolls.  So, that’s what they got Christmas morning.  But– the nakedness didn’t last for long.  Look what I got for Christmas!!

A sewing machine and a serger!!  Can you believe it?  I’m still in shock.   I quickly got to work and made some panties, diapers, and clothes.

Brenna even knit a hat, and made a coat and mittens for Julie so she wouldn’t be too cold here in Colorado.

I just can’t even put into words how excited I am at how well they’ve been received.

But, this isn’t all.  We were hard at work on some other hand made gifts as well.

Stay tuned!

making… bread with my littles.

laughing… at Ellie helping Brenna fold the laundry.

loving… that 15 minutes of quiet scripture study has become a consistent part of our daily routine.

using… my craft space just a minute here and there– right in the middle of the action, just like I had hoped.

It was one of those days I just needed.  Not totally smooth and predictable, I think it will be many, many years before I have a day like that, but the time flowed and we flowed with it, and I’m happy.

I sat out on the deck in the perfect autumn weather and made something.

A lot of beach combing happened this summer in California.  A little by me, during the weekend I visited Barry, and quite a lot by Barry.  I came home from my trip with all the nooks and crannies of my suitcase filled with rocks and shells.  We had even found a starfish washed up on the shore.  I thought I could take it back with me and dry it, but boy was that a mistake!  Even in two ziploc bags it spread the most horrific smell to everything near it– and turned to flattened mush.  I put it on the roof at my parents house to dry, but it remained stinky and just not cool at all.  Bummer.

But, I still have treasures to spare.  I braved a trip to Michael’s yesterday with the kids in tow to find some shadow box frames, and I found some in the Martha Stewart crafty stuff– in my shade of green, even.  I grabbed my box of shells and sticks and sand dollars, went outside with my glue and paintbrush, and it felt so good.

I stuck the finished arrangement in a cubby in my new art-room-in-leiu-of-a-dining-room.  I’m making progress in there.

It’s in plain view of the front door, so if it’s going to be a mess, it’s got to be a cute mess.  I finally got to the box of very gingerly wrapped bird nests, rocks, seedpods, eggs, and shells today.  I wonder what the packers thought…

There was some other random junk in the box too.  I had some help finding a place to put it.

Fresh blue eyes, big as saucers.

4 months today.

I’m getting my body back! Shrinking out of clothes. Thankful for the newness. I really feel like I get a new body with every baby. It feels so fresh and miraculous to step out of the new baby fog. The mist thins gradually– and then, “Oh! I recognize you!” Only, it seems better, more miraculous. Stronger.

Thank you body. Thank you for my babies. Thank you for recovery– for discovery.

Could anything be cuter?

It makes me so sad when people are negative about motherhood. It is so beautiful. As the my bagger helped me out to the car yesterday at the grocery store she kept saying, in her Vietnamese accent, “Oh, why do you have 4 kids. You must be so tired all the time. Clean up this mess, clean up that mess. No sleep.” I just smiled, kissed the baby I was wearing and said, “But they’re so fun. They are so good…”

Sure, I’m often tired. Sometimes I’m at my wit’s end with a screaming 2 1/2 year old who wants Superman fruit snacks for breakfast. But, when that 2 1/2 year old looks at my wedding picture he thinks I’m a fairy. Now, doesn’t that make it worth it? Someone thinks I have magical powers!

The joys of this day:

-watching interpretive dance in my very own living room

-mud pies and muddy toes

-4 sets of big blue eyes

-nursing a baby

-big sister attempting to change a diaper

-crazy curly hair

-soft baby breath and skin against my cheek

-a bike ride in the cool breeze

There are ideas swimming around in my head that probably won’t ever get to come out as art. There are a lot of clothes in my closet to don’t fit.

But, look at that little human up there. There really is nothing better than being his.