A Decade

 

 

It's been a decade of motherhood, a decade of challenges and a decade of love. She came into the world on a rainy February night and changed my life. She wasn't an easy baby; she struggled to sleep (still does), had an diagnosed lip tie that made nursing miserable, she repeated got croup. But she was a wonderful toddler. She developed her language skills early so she was always chattering away (again, still does this) and she loved to sing songs. She developed her love of nature young. Teachers continue to tell me they are amazed at her extensive knowledge of the natural world. She feels deeply connected to the natural and magical worlds. 

I love that even though she is very tall for her age, she's still got her childhood innocence. She feels things very deeply and can struggle with managing all those feelings but I think she will be an empathetic adult. 

She loves to read and was delighted by the bag full of Magic Treehouse books her grandparents gifted her. She loves to create things. She got a sewing machine for Christmas and has been making small pillows for all her friends ever since. She also got a needle felting kit for her birthday that she's excited to dive into. 

She's a wonderful friend and student. She makes friends with ease and delights in showing them she cares. She has a curious mind and a good heart. We are so similar and butt heads a lot but we love each other deeply. She spent much of her first year of life snuggled up against my heart and a decade later I can still feel her there. 

Happiest Birthday my sweet A!

Corners

 

When we first started talking about selling our little house I felt a lot of resistance. I couldn't imagine finding anything that felt as "home" as that house. In birthed my babies there, we raised chicks, kept bees, cultivated that garden. It was home. Even though we were feeling very cramped in there the outdoor spaces kept us anchored there. 

Now we are trying to find our anchor here. We are putting personal touches all over the house. We painted, put up wallpaper, hung photos, refinished the floors but the work isn't done. I'm finding comfort in these corners of our new home that make me feel comfort and contentment. I'm hoping as we settle in more and finish more of the ongoing projects I can share more of our new home.

Art print from Little Truths Studio

Wallpaper from Wayfair

Easter Weekend

 

 

It's been a wonderful weekend. The sun was shining and we had lots of time with family. For a week before we have been working on special little things for this weekend. A has been painting eggs of all sorts, she made a wreath for our door, we planted some flowers seeds and I busied myself with stitching felt eggs and dying eggs with natural dyes.

I do feel bad that I didn't get to hand make something for my children's baskets. I decided to keep them simple. I got each of them a little story book, sidewalk chalk, homemade playdough with a spring cookie cutter, bubbles, a silly straw and I was so glad to find some organic, fair trade dark chocolate bunnies. Even with these fun little things, their favorite item this to play with this weekend were the baskets and the wool felt Easter eggs I made a few years ago. They have been hiding and finding eggs all weekend.

We closed our weekend with a beautiful and delicious dinner with my parents. My children love their grandparents so much so a dinner with them any time is special. We dressed up, used the nice plates and made all those amazing dishes that are too time consuming to make on weeknights. I'm looking at these pictures and smiling. It was such a lovely weekend.

His Second

I'm sure I say this every time one of my children has a birthday but I can't believe it's been a year already. Little F is two! Seems like it was not that long since I was curling up in the very bed he was born in, snuggling his sweet, rosy, tiny newborn body and inhaling that intoxicating new baby scent. There are still days when he in lying in my arms, quietly nursing and gazing into my eyes, that I can only see that little baby. Other days, he is such a big boy. He loves to be my helper, climb and run. He loves cats, trucks and being in water. He is A's biggest fan and loves his grandma to bits. I don't think I could possibly love him more.

Since he really loves his family most of all, we kept his birthday low-key. A, F and I went to the store and got him his favorite snacks for lunch (seaweed chips and cantaloupe) and got him a couple birthday balloons. He's been really struggling with an inflamed airway so stayed home in the afternoon. Grandma came to visit and F got to open his few, special presents. Mom and Dad got him a running bike! Grandma got him a special chair of his very own for camping and a sweet little toy. I think he loved the cards more though. A made him a very special card. She used almost all of her favorite stickers she had been saving. Little gestures of love like that fill my heart with so much happiness.

A Lot of Love

I love Valentine's Day. For us it is a day to focus on filling the love cup of those we love the most. Valentine's Day isn't about the romance or even the commercialism but it's about love. In our home, it's actually Love Day. Just days after A's birthday she was asking to get ready for Valentine's Day so we had plenty of time to do lots of little fun things.

The first thing we did was make some special mailboxes for little love notes. I found a kit that had everything we needed. A did the decorating for both her and her brother. In the spirit of the day, A had wanted to make treats to share with her friends at school. I didn't want to do any food type treats so we did felt butterflies that held a Valentine pencil. She had so much fun she made enough for each of her classmates to have two, plus her teachers and her friend next door! F wouldn't be excluded though, he joined us at the table and made some very sweet heart pictures. Finally, A had asked for something sparkly to decorate her room with. Instead of indulging in glitter, we made Borax crystal hearts then hung them above her bed. They were easy and fun. We stuck the hearts in the borax solution before bed and when she woke, A found they were covered with glistening crystals.

The night before Valentine's Day, I filled each child's mailbox with little love notes. I used fun stickers, wrote notes like "I love your laugh" and "I love your hugs", left little poems on paper hearts "I loved you before, I love you still, I always have, I always will".  They each got a Valentine's pencil for writing their own love notes and a Valentine's straw for a special treat (hot chocolate!). I found some organic dark chocolate hearts at the grocery store so they each got one and I whipped up two little love mice from some Kisses.  My sweet friend dropped off a book for each of them. It was a wonderful morning of reading love notes, sharing sweets, giving hugs, doing favors and spreading joy and love.

In the Playroom

In our home we only have 3 bedrooms. When we learned we were expecting our second child I thought we would have the perfect number of rooms. However once we added another small person into our lives I found the bedrooms became cluttered with playthings. So about a year ago I decided I'd rather have my children share a room for sleep and have a room devoted just to play. It has worked out very well for us. Not only do we have almost no toys in the rooms we sleep in but they have space to play that they didn't before.

Play is so essential to child development. I will be the very first to admit my house is a mess. I work part-time, I have two high energy children, I have little closet space in the my house. However, I always make time to clean the playroom. I just feel that if that room is messy it limits how they can play. I want them to play as much as they can. They are building essential skills and that's important to me.

I have a preference for open-ended toys. You won't find battery operated toys here. I prefer no plastic but A has a small basket of My Little Ponies that I don't protest. We also allow lego blocks. Though we also have plain wooden blocks that get used often. We have a large basket of dress-up as well as our colorful playsilks. The playsilks get used almost more than the dress-up!

Even before F was born, I had a child-size table set up in our home. It's where my children do their artwork, crafts and practice writing. I've strung a line up for A to display her favorite finished pieces. Her art shelf is stocked with several paper types, paints, block crayons, pencil crayons, stickers, playdough and their supplies, flower press, a bead box and her craft basket. In that basket I've added some yarn for finger knitting, wool roving, buttons, washi tape, lacing cards and any other craft bits I find.

I have a book addiction. It's true. I'm a sucker for books. I've been really striving to limit how many books we own. We live so close to a good library that there isn't much reason to store the books in our home. The books for the children that I've felt are special enough to keep are housed in the playroom. Along with puzzles and small hand games, most books are found on the lower shelves.

Finally, my favorite part of the room. Their wooden kitchen was made by their dad. We have a shopping cart from Plan Toys and a child sized broom. Most of what is in their kitchen though I've found second-hand. We did get a few ceramic tea cups from Ikea but the rest I've found at thrift stores or consignment shops. One of the things I love about the wood kitchen is that once a month we give the kids rags with a bit of beeswax polish and they help us polish and care for the kitchen.

The Fifth

My girl is five! This week we celebrated her fifth trip around the sun. Birthday's are always bittersweet. When decorating or planning I like to look back over the past year. I always forget how quickly they change and grow. I'm proud of who she is becoming though, she's got a wonderful heart.

A was lucky. She got two parties this year. We celebrated on her birthday with the people who love her most; her family. We had her favorite dinner and a cake of her choosing. We also gave her her few special gifts. For her birthday this year I knit her a horse friend. She's been telling me that horses are her favorite so I knew this was the perfect pattern. I'm so glad she loves it.

For her party with her friends she requested a swim party. She told me she wanted to be a mermaid. So we planned a party at the local recreation centre. I tried to do an under the sea theme for my little mermaid. My talented friend made starfish cupcakes and I made little starfish buddies for her friends. She had so much fun. Two hours didn't seem long enough. I guess we can say that birthday weekend has been a big success!

The beautiful letters hanging over A's birthday display were printed from here.