Mothers Day!

We are rapidly approaching Mothers Day. What are you getting the special women in your life who can proudly call themselves a mother? I have been preparing for weeks. Knitting for days, organizing pictures for hours, and stalking internet flower shops for the best deal. This year I seem to have all of my ducks in a row.

For Martha:
Every year I order a copy of our family photo album and give this to her. Yes, an album of my family. Granted, the book is over $100 to be printed, and she enjoys bragging on her grandkids. :)

For Mary Ann:
A rainbow of hand knit washcloths. I know, more than anything, my mom values hand made gifts.


For Kelly:
A custom print 16x20 canvas of her grandkids. Photo taken by me @ the Nelson Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City, MO.

Silk. For play and art.

3 years ago, when I was pregnant with Isabella, I dyed a 6 foot long piece of silk. Why? Just because, I am cool like that. It has been used for so many things since. When Bella began to walk I would tie the silk around her waist so I could track her through the yard. She would have this long rainbow trailing behind her every step. The girls often times use it for fort building, it has been a parachute, and most commonly Rapunzel's hair. Unfortunately silk is somewhat delicate. After tons of use, with rips here and there, I decided to buy another piece to dye. This time we would do a family art project.

First I mixed up all the fiber reactive dyes with shaving cream in different colors in the baby jars I have been hoarding. (Thank you pinterest) I used Q-Tips initially as their paint tools, which we later added paint brushes to complete the job.





Next I wrapped my silk around some scrap wood that I built into a frame. Let the painting begin!



Tada!!!!

Newborn Hammock Photo Prop.

This saved me about $500 in photographer fees because, I did this myself. I simply made this hammock, tied it to a tree in the FRONT yard and snapped a couple shots! HERE is the pattern. ENJOY!

Baby sack.

These were my absolute favorite with all of my babies! I am not sure if this was the exact pattern I used, but it is VERY similar and FREE!

Isabella's summer romper.

Scrappy summer sunsuit. Helen's Sunsuit pattern. Modeled by Isabella 10 months old.

Mastering the Art of Fairness.

Is it possible amongst siblings? I would like to believe there is some sort of method. But, what do I know about sibling rivalry? Not much, I can assure you. I was an only child for 12 of 17 years in my parents house. There was no such thing. Aside from doing everything EXACTLY the same for each child, I don't think this will, or can be accomplished, nor do I think uniformity is the answer. Each child is an individual, thus the reason some things are different. In this particular instance, we are talking Valentine's. I made some really cute photo Valentines for Mia's classmates. (all 32 of them) Mia helped me peel the paper from old crayons, break them up, and melt them into multi colored heart shaped crayons to attach to her photo. On the photo it says "You melt my heart Valentine." Of course, I am SUPER proud of these, so is Mia. That is, until I made Sophia's.

Rewind a week. My Aunt (you know, the really awesome one I mentioned a couple posts ago) offers her Cricut cutting machine to me. Ecstatic to be getting it, I concoct a grandiose Valentine plan for Sophia. Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad idea. I have now spent 4 nights working on these. They are so pretty that I don't even know if I WANT to let her give them to her 3 year old friends who will surely just shove them down into their tiny little backpacks, not knowing the HOURS I have put into these things. But, I will. I will give these gorgeous cards to her, tied up with a pretty bow to distribute to all of her friends. (I enjoy the "wow" factor, but we will get into that on another date.)

Back on subject. Mia walks down last night. I am finishing up the card part of the Valentine. She looks at me and says "Where aren't MY Valentines like this?" I explain, "We already made your Valentines, remember, the ones with the crayons and pictures?" Nope, she was not having it. She wants some like THESE. THIS IS NOT FAIR. SOPHIA'S ARE BETTER. WAH, WAH, WAH. I am not down to duplicate the exact same Valentine for all of Mia's classmates, I just am not. I also don't really want to make a modified version of them because I don't know if Mia would even appreciate that because they won't be JUST LIKE SOPHIA's. How difficult this is..... teaching your children individuality, appreciating the work that she put into the Valentines that SHE MADE for her friends. Tough stuff. Ok, Rant off.

Sophia's:


Mia's:


Side note: The Valentines from my own brain came out better than that of pinterest.

Maverick Eats.

All. The. Time. It is exhausting. My mom tells me it is a boy thing, "they just like boobs" she says. Ha! How stereotypical! Regardless, it is time we get this boy off the boob and onto some real food. For weeks now I have been randomly attempting to feed him cereal, carrots, peas, and last night, butternut squash. Win! He actually ate it! And, your viewing pleasure: