So, if you’ve read my blog for any amount of time you’ve probably noticed that often when I show you a finished project I say something like, “I’ve been making this in my mind for a long, long time,” or “I’ve been dreaming this up for a couple of years,” or something like that.

Well, this is no exception.

We were living in a tiny apartment in Alabama in the beginning of our summer of transition to Denver when a good friend sent me this link with exclamation points and excitement that I HAD to make one– it made her think of me.  And I completely agreed that I NEEDED one somewhere in my new house, whenever it would be that I got settled.  Since we’ve been here (for 2 1/2 years) I’ve been imagining those little birds in corners and bedrooms and had settled on just the place– a corner of the front room above the love seat that needed a little color.

But now that it’s made it is a little big and I’m afraid it would swing into the blinds or the bookshelf and be too much of a temptation for the climbing 2 year old to bat at.  At the moment it is hanging in the doorway between the front room and my art room, but I’m thinking today I’ll put up a hook over my drafting table and let the birdies live there.

I’ve been on a bit of a spring-cleaning/ redecorating kick lately with a long mental list of things I want to do around the house and this was one of those things on the list.  In a burst of spontaneity the other morning Jonah and I went through my scrap bin with bird pattern in hand and found pieces that were the right size, cut them out, matched them up, and whipped up some birds.  That went really fast– especially with his help stuffing them.  With all that built up momentum I gathered some sticks at the park the next day and started sewing birds to branches– only to have them hang upside down like bats.  I discovered I needed to put some weight in the bottom of the birds so they weren’t top heavy and to use screw eyes to secure string to the branches so they wouldn’t twist.  I dedicated the next day to ripping out tail seams and spooning in rice, then attempting  to hang and balance it all again– to no avail.

Finally, when Barry had a free night we tried it all again.  We found a few helpful things:

-Attach the birds to the branch with wire instead of sewing them on so they are easy to reposition.

-Thicker branches twist and roll less than skinny ones.

-We ended up using thin picture wire instead of invisible thread to hang the branches because it was more stable.

-Once we found the perfect bird positions we squeezed a little hot glue in to keep them there.

So, now it’s done and so fun to look at!  When my art room is all decluttered and organized I’ll need some photo documentation, so I’ll show you its permanent home then.

Do you see that up there?  It’s a THREE year old who just finished saying, “Take a picture of me, mama!”

This is what was happening behind me:

Birthday banner making by Logan, fancy letters and all.

Ian’s birthday was furry of kid-made goodness.  Now that I’m writing this I wish I had taken photos of the cards Brenna and Jonah drew, but I did get a picture of the Mon-mon they designed and made for him.  (With a little help from me.)

And it’s not just any Mon-mon– it’s a SUPER Mon-mon.  Brenna also made him the Birthday King all decked out with a paper crown and jeweled rings.

We had a couple of families over to share a dinner of pigs-in-blankets, macaroni and cheese, and carrots and dip.

Oh, and cake, of course.  Chocolate cake with pink frosting as requested.

We are so lucky to have this sweet, delightful little guy in our family.  I tell him every night I’m so happy to be his mama, and he replies right back, “I’m so happy to be your Ian,” and kisses my cheeks and chin and forehead.

(To see more pictures of the present opening click here.)

• Get up before everyone else.  Read.  Pray.  Do yoga (or go swimming).
• Take a shower, even if the baby has to come along.  (Naked babies are fun, after all.)
• DO NOT YELL UP THE STAIRS.  It does not make you feel happy.  Walk upstairs to say whatever it is that needs saying.
• Do not whine back to whiners.
• LOOK AT THE CALENDAR.  Your planner is your friend.
• Wait until after school to look at the computer.
• Read aloud.  And snuggle.
• Work on making something with a child.
• Work on making something all by yourself.
• Watch birds.
• Breathe fresh air.  Go outside, even for a second.
• Eat vegetables.
• Remember that there are people that live outside this house.  Talk to one (or some) of them.
• Give one hundred bazillion hugs and kisses.  (They are much more important than math.  Really.)
• Smile.
• Laugh.
• Sleep.

I’m printing this out and putting it on my bathroom mirror.  I’m needing the reminder lately during these days of not-quite-spring.

Speaking of spring– the new issue of Rhythm of the Home is up!

It’s full of creativity, fun, and loveliness– including the pattern for my sweetie birds.  Go check it out!

I swapped this:

for this:

(I swapped the toys, not the cute almost 2 year old.)

I was lucky to live in the same city as my swap partner, so she came over to my house to do the deal so I wouldn’t have to venture out so soon ofter having a baby.  She was so sweet with such a cute little girl.  I’m excited to have a new crafty friend.  Thanks Sadie!  I hope your girls like the doll.  My cowboys are certainly riding their horse.

(More pictures of the horse making here.)

The handmade toy swap deadline is today.  I got my doll finished last weekend while my body was getting ready to have a baby.  Here’s the play by play:

I’ll show her to you with clothes once the recipient gets her.  Don’t want to totally give away the surprise.

I am super tired and was feeling like I hadn’t done anything today– like it was one of those wasted days– but now that I’m sitting down and thinking back over our day I realize it wasn’t half bad.  School didn’t go quite how I had hoped.  Laundry is clean, but not folded.  The kids were bored, so I let them all have extra computer time, but didn’t get around to helping anyone make their first blog entry.  There are dirty dishes in the sink because I couldn’t fit them all in the dishwasher…

But I came downstairs this morning to find this:

a table set with a table cloth and real dishes and spread with hot pancakes and scrambled eggs.  They made them ALL BY THEMSELVES.  There was cheese in the eggs.  The pancakes were made from scratch from a recipe in a cook book.  All the dishes they used were stacked neatly by the sink.  There wasn’t a trace of egg shells on the counters.  Amazing.  (That, and poor Brenna has broken out in an itchy rash from head to toe–a reaction the Amoxacillin she’s taking for strep throat. )

I think they were feeling bad for their poor, humongous mother who couldn’t even walk by the end of the day yesterday.  I ran errands all day and I guess all that being up on my feet helped the baby sink even deeper into my pelvis and pinch a nerve in my left hip.  Even this morning I wasn’t able to put much weight on my left leg without it hurting really bad or just giving out all together.  I need crutches or something.  It’s ridiculous!  There have been stretches of time when it was all just fine, but then I feel the baby move and I’m a cripple again.  Geesh.

So, there was a lot of sitting on the couch for me.  I knit and got a little further on my doll.

Now she’s a head with arms.

So what I hung out in my jammies all day and nearly everything on my list of things to get done went out the window?  I have an 8, 6, and 4 year old self sufficient enough to make a real breakfast.  I got to snuggle and enjoy my little baby, who won’t be a baby much longer, and watch him coo over and hug and kiss and feed his Boy and his Baby (an old doll he found over the weekend that Brenna never played with, but he has grown completely attached to).  I got to sit on the couch and watch my kids draw and play legos while I sewed and knit.

It’s all okay.  It wasn’t a wasted day after all.

Yesterday I impulsively signed up for this handmade toy swap.  Like I need to add a time consuming toy to my list of getting-ready-for-baby crafting that I want to get done in the next few weeks.  I decided to get right on it because, really, I wanted an excuse to make another doll.  It is so fun to see them come to life. Here’s today’s play by play.

First, there’s the head form.  This isn’t a totally kosher Waldorf doll because the materials aren’t completely natural– I’m using panty hose instead of cotton tubular stockinette because that’s what I’ve got laying around here.  It’s stuffed with wool, though!

Gotta cover that crazy looking lump with skin.

and give it a face…

Ahh, there she is!

Also, February 10th the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act goes into affect.  You can read all about it here, but in a nutshell congress passed a law to protect our kids from toxic chemicals in massed produced toys from China and didn’t think of all the ramifications of their new regulation.  Now ANY product marketed for use by children must undergo third party testing, which is fine for huge mega companies, but for moms sewing cloth diapers in their homes, or artists selling clothing or toys on etsy, this will essentially put them out of business.  Hopefully the powers that be will see the light and make some exemptions for small businesses.  It will be a sad day when the ONLY options we have for buying toys are those mass produced, lifeless plastic things…

Did a week and a half really just go by since my last post?  How did that happen?  I better get on the ball and finish posting about our handmade Christmas gifts before it is way too far past Christmas.

For weeks and weeks before Christmas Logan would say, “When I get the teddy bear you make me for Christmas then… (fill in the blank with things like “I’ll always wrap him up in my mimi.” or “you can make him a little dresser and fill it up with jammies and a swimming suit.”)   So, I had to oblige.  Brenna has been totally attached to Buttercup for 2 years now, but the boys had no mama-made toys to snuggle.  I haven’t got that swimming suit made, or any clothes for that matter, let alone the dresser, but they are the perfect night time snuggle companions.  Here’s where I found them this morning:

Jonah’s Teddy

Logan’s Chubby Wubby

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!

 In honor of our twittering friends that are finally returning to our yard I made these little birdies for my kids for Easter. They are felted wool stuffed with wool batting with Barry-engineered copper wire feet.  I also got this book.  It has been hiding in my closet and I can’t keep my hands off of it when the kids are in bed.  It is way, way cool.

Snow has been fluttering down here all day, but still thoughts of rebirth and renewal are at the forefront this weekend.  My mind has been so full of mental clutter.  It seems like the “We’re moving” thoughts are bulky and distracting– taking up so much space, sucking up my time in thoughts of getting the oven fixed, researching carpet prices, finding a match to the white paint on our baseboards and doors.  And while these things are necessary and even exciting in their own way I’m excited for tomorrow, the Sabbath, the most important Sabbath.  I am thankful for the time to focus and reflect on what life is really all about.

It seems the things I read, the lessons I learn from my children, the conversations I have with friends, the sad, painful experiences of loved ones in my family highlight so much what this season of rebirth is all about– love.  Pure, selfless love.  Knowing, believing, seeing that we are all of infinite worth, of infinite potential, full of infinite beauty.  That is what Spring teaches us–and that no matter how bleak and gray and cold the winter is, no matter how dark and deep we are buried, there is rebirth.  The little green shoots will poke their heads up again.  Blossoms will bud, meaning fruit will grow.

There is an infinite source of good, of peace, of renewal, of love.  The sun will always rise, there will be warmth and growth, because the Son did rise.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!