A New Branch

I think I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I like to branch out and try new things. This year I've been trying new handicrafts. I'm not into potholders, etc. because I need my time invested in a project to improve something in my life. I've never been into decorating my home and I've used the excuse that I just couldn't afford to do what I wanted so why bother. Also, we move so much it seemed like a lot of effort to have to pack it back up again before too long. Although there is a possible move in our future, I decided to go for it anyway. In the past year I have tried to add things to the walls, framed family photos, stuff like that. And after some reflection I realized that the money factor was really an excuse, it is the lack of skill that has been intimidating me. It doesn't have to be expensive. So I've had some motivators lately. My husband bought some bamboo knitting needles and a sewing machine for me for Christmas. This has been so encouraging, it was as if he said, "Just try!" So that's what I'm doing. I have many projects I want to try but I am learning to go slow so I don't get overwhelmed and discouraged.

If you read yesterday's post you know that I am a new aunt again and I want to make something special for Naomi Promise so she will know that even though she is my 5th niece from the Hooker family and the 9th granddaughter for my parents, she is just as much a blessing as my first niece.

Also, we have been having quite a time with our little Katy lately. She used to sleep in her crib every night but when Autumn arrived we moved Katy into our bed to pass the crib down to Autumn. Katy has been having a very tough time not having a bed of her own. It seems I have also dropped our bedtime routine during the new baby and move. She really needs something special, that is all hers. Eric has decided to build a toddler bed for her, I bought a new mattress and some sheets, and I wanted to make a blanket for her bed. I couldn't find anything that I thought was really cute for a toddler bed. It was mostly just character bedding that I'm not crazy about. So I decided to make it for her. I made hers first so I could work out the kinks on her blanket and not Naomi's.

Aside from the obvious, the little extra touches I added were to dye the lace trim in tea so it would have a more antique feel, I also embroidered (not very well) her name on the corner. It came together easily but was much larger than I anticipated and the lace trim was a bit of a challenge. I really enjoyed making this and I hope I've improved my skill so Naomi's will not have as many hidden mistakes.

I'll post pictures of the complete ensemble when Eric finishes her bed. I have more plans for her bed and bedding but will see what time allows.

I missed it!!!!

Every night for the past 2 weeks or so I have grabbed my phone as I head off to bed. I have been anxiously awaiting my sister's newest little one & didn't want to miss the call if it came during the night. So last night I grabbed the phone as usual but must have set it down before I made it to bed because I awoke to messages blinking and the phone ringing. Ugh! I couldn't believe the one night I forget. Ok, but enough about me. Here she is...


http://growinglittlewomen.blogspot.com/

We only make girls! Naomi Promise Hooker was welcomed into this world at 3:18 am this Wednesday morning. She is 9lbs 1oz and 21 and 1/4 inches long. And she is beautiful, if I do say so myself!:) Mama and baby are doing wonderful after only about 5 hours of labor in which time we had no power because of the rain and wind having knocked it out. But, I will have pictures and a birth story on my blog shortly. Just wanted to let you all know that she has made her arrival and we are doing well.

That was a picture from sister's blog, check out the link for more photos and then the email she sent out! I am such a proud aunt! Girl number 5 for their family. Just when we had caught up in the girl department. Oh well, Autumn is so happy to have a girl cousin her own age, well, Autumn will be the bossy one, she's got 5 months on Naomi, lol.

Congratulations Christina! And the rest of the Hooker clan...she is stunningly beautiful!

A completed Craft

I love trying new things, branching out of my comfort zone and trying to pretend I'm creative. I'm not really. Most, if not all, of my ideas are inspired from others. I am fortunate to have some crafty friends and have browsed many crafty blogs. There are some very talented woman out there and I am learning so much from them. This year I am delving into knitting and sewing, things I have never tried before. I also wanted to try embroidery. I am currently working on projects in each area but I needed something I could complete in a short amount of time that would leave me feeling accomplished. Follow through is really not my strong point. So today I decided to try an embroidery project, something simple but useful. Just a little background...

I am using cloth diapers on Autumn, I love them, they are so adorable and I really don't like dressing her in onesies or anything that covers up those cute diapers. So I purchased some white t-shirts for her from Walmart. This was so boring, like she wasn't dressed, just hanging out in her jammies all day. So for my project today I decided to dye 4 of the t-shirts yellow and embroider a simple design on the front. Nothing complicated, just simple and cute. So here's what I did and how I did it if you are interested.

First, I love natural dye's so I didn't want to buy a boxed dye. I decided to soak the t-shirts in boiling water with Turmeric and vinegar. I let them soak until the t-shirts were a bit darker than I wanted. Then I washed them with a small amount of bleach to soften the color. They turned out great, the color of butter. Can you tell from the picture?

After they were dry I stuck them in an embroidery hoop & drew a simple design on the front of the t-shirt. I found the design of this ice cream cone on a piece of fabric and it looked simple enough.

Next, I chose my thread colors and started stitching. I don't know much about embroidery stitches so this was just a stitch I had in my head that I wanted to try. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

The girls decided to join in, Abby has drawn her design on a t-shirt and Erin has picked out her design but has yet to draw it. I will post theirs when they finish.

But in the meantime, here is the finished product.

Voila!!

A Redwall Feast

Winter

Hey ho, hey ho, now comes the snow,
as in draws early night,
outside the cold day slips away,
indoors the logs burn bright.
Long icicles hang from the trees,
like winter's daggers drawn,
whilst winds sing cruel dirges to
sad fields of stubborn shorn.
Hear that rattling windowpane,
wriggle, snuggle, in your bed,
watch the pictures embers make,
pull the cover's o'er your head.
We've food aplenty, warmth for all,
so let winter's snows preside.
Outside each day we'll sport and play,
and then at twilight, haste inside.

This is from The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques. We decided to hold a feast and invite some friends, what's a feast if you eat it alone? Abby and Erin did it all on their own, well, I did help chop up a few veggies but other than that they get all the credit and the glory...

Here is the menu:

In case you can't read that, it says:
Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup
Veggible Molebake
Honeybaked Apples
Cheerful Churchmouse Cherry Crisp
Summer Strawberry Fizz
Hot Mint Tea

So while the girls worked hard to prepare the meal this is the help they got from little sis Katy, that is Daddy's guitar case if you can't make that out.

Abby works to put together the Cheerful Churchmouse Cherry Crisp...

Our guests arrived around 1:00 and the festivities began. It was a girls feast, no boys allowed. Just this one time only though, next time they can come. We were very busy with babies so my picture of the entire feast did not turn out well but this gives you a general idea.

And of course, since the girls planned, prepared, and enjoyed the feast, the only thing left was the clean-up which they did cheerfully.

After the feast, playing ensued. There were Indians in the front yard, and backyard now that I think about it and knitting and fellowship for the moms. The food was delicious, good job girls, the company was fabulous, thanks for coming, and there were a lot of sweet memories for all...


And I couldn't end this post without mentioning that our little Autumn turned 5 months old this weekend.

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

I know where my cowboys have gone...out of town for the weekend!

It was a boy free weekend. So what is a girl, or 5 girls in our case, to do? We had a fabulous girly weekend. Saturday we decided to have a Redwall Feast, to be held on Sunday noon. More about that later.

So we mapped our day, Joann's craft store where we bought all sorts of fun stuff to further our new handicraft, knitting. As well as a few other goodies to try some new sewing and embroidery projects. Then off to our favorite local coffee shop, The Drowsy Poet, for 3 Wynken, Blynken, and Nods and a 20 oz Poe. In Starbucks language that translates to 3 hot cocoa's and one venti cappucino. From there we drove to our favorite local bakery for grain, got lost, found it, it was closed so it was off to Walmart. We shopped for all sorts of yummy things for our feast. Back at home the girls made pasta for dinner while I started finally putting stuff on the very bare walls.

We played Hullabaloo & Scrabble, knitted, talked, enjoyed Hot Tea & Chocolate Cake and just genuinely enjoyed the quiet. Of course, that was only for one night, I could not have gone much longer without the yipping and hollering of 2 boys and a daddy.

Sunday we got up bright and early to prepare for our party, our guests were arriving around 1:00...

More about that in my next post, for now I need to dig out that Paula Cole CD.

A Lovely Afternoon

Today we woke up earlier than usual & straightened up the house in anticipation of company for an afternoon tea & visit. Life happens and they had to cancel but that was okay. I realized the house was clean, tea was made, we were knitting, and my girls had just received the Redwall Cookbook in the mail. If you aren't familiar with Redwall, it's a series of books written by Brian Jacques similar to Chronicles of Narnia using woodland creatures & no humans. I haven't read them but had enough confidence in the recommendations I received to feel comfortable letting them enjoy these. Anyway, I found the cookbook from the series on Amazon marketplace for a decent price & bought it for them. They were so excited & surprised when it arrived in the mail today. So we spent the afternoon browsing the book, thinking up menus, now we have to put a grocery list together. Our plan is to make a Redwall feast for one meal over the weekend. Although I did sneak away for a long chat with my best friend, he apparently had some time to talk while he was driving between job sites. I love talking to him, he just brightens my whole day. I do mean my husband in case that wasn't clear. If we do end up feasting on Redwall delicacies I will take pictures & post, I'm very proud of my 2 oldest chicks, they have blossomed into wonderful cooks, chefs, bakers, etc. I also had the fabulous luck of finding some healthier, local, more economical food sources and made a friend in the process. So it has been a very nice, relaxing day with my babes.

What will I think?

You know how it goes, you sit down to just check your emails & 3 hours later you realize the house is trashed, your baby is running around the house without a diaper, what is that smell, where are the boys, what is that noise & has anyone finished their schoolwork, it's bed time for crying out loud!!! OK, maybe you're not that bad but I have had those moments. It's sad but true. But something occurred to me this weekend that made me pause...what am I doing with our time, it's not just my time, it's our time, mine, the kids, my husbands, our time. I don't know how much time God has allotted for us, I won't know until it's gone, do I have 3 more hours with my babies? 3 more weeks, years, what? I just don't know. What will I think when the time is gone? When they have moved on, will I look back & think of the quality time I spent on the computer, phone, (place time stealing distraction here) or the time I spent with my chicks. God gave them to me, he's letting me borrow them, they are seeds to be planted, nourished, watered, loved and placed in direct sunshine. I struggle with this, being easily distracted, and I want them to know that there is no distraction more important than my family. So for my New Years attitude adjustment for Jan, I am working on more time away from the computer & more time with my babes. We had such a nice weekend and I know how much we are able to accomplish in a day together when we are focused on the important things. Even chores & school are fun and fulfilling when you tackle it as a team. So I am taking time to focus on my team. The girls & I are learning to knit, the boys & dad are building bunk beds & a toddler bed with more projects lined up beyond that. The boys are learning to help in the kitchen while the girls have cooking basics down so we are experimenting together. The Little's just bounce from person to person surrounded by love & warmth & are always under foot, exactly where I want them. If we are to learn at the foot of Jesus I want my little ones to learn at the foot of mommy and daddy & NEVER feel they are in the way! So, what will I think when our time is up? Thank you God for the glorious gift of watching my babies grow and for every second that we had together because it was well spent.

Bonding

After a fun and busy morning, I was so tired by this afternoon that I decided to take a quick snooze while I was nursing little Autumn. But how could I nap with those big blue eyes staring so intensely into mine. She is such an angel. I propped her on the pillow beside me to just watch her, she decided to watch right back. We made faces at each other and exchanged smiles and giggles for well over an hour. I don't know how to put into words what I experienced during our quiet time together. I feel the same as if I had just finished a heart-to-heart with my 10 year old daughter.

I know her a little better now. I was feeling a bit guilty for leaving while the older kids were working on their studies but now I realize that the time I spend with Autumn is just as important as the time I spend with the others. It was a wonderful afternoon, I feel so close to her right now and to make it even sweeter she officially reached for me for the first time & wrapped those chubby little arms around my neck while she was trying to suck on my face but I like to think she was giving me a kiss. I'm so grateful for my precious gift of time with my littlest lovey.