Recent Sewing

I'm in the middle of a sewing spree.  Pregnancy insomnia and needing nothing for baby but sweet Mama mades has got me going crazy!  I'm currently working on four quilts at once.  FOUR!  See, crazy.  And the other night, when my feet were hurting and I just wanted mindless sewing, I attacked the mending pile.  Logan was thrilled as his beloved "Mee Mee" had been sitting on my shelf for months needing a tiny hole closed up.  He was doubly thrilled when his monster and monkey came off the mending shelf too, patched and like new.  I don't know when this sewing craze will burn out, but I'm running with it while it lasts!
Here's a few things I finished up so that I could START this sewing craze;

Vanessa's Sprocket Pillow

 My sister in law picked out this fabric a YEAR ago!  I started this easy project and got it almost done and then it sat for a year.  It sure was rewarding to finish it and hand it over to her...finally.

 Rebecca's Embroidery Hoop State Silhouettes

I saw a similar idea on Pinterest, in the form of a throw pillow, and thought I'd try the idea out in an embroidery hoop for my sister in law who was California raised, and is now raising her family in Alaska.  There is a line from the heart to each state, but you can't see the line from the heart to Alaska in this picture for some reason.

A self drafted experimental outfit for Felicity

I made her the shorts last Summer.  They're just long shorts, with "long pockets".  She NEVER wore them.  This girl does NOT wear shorts.  I decided to make her a matching wrap type top to go with them, hoping the dress like top would entice her to wear the shorts.  It worked.  :)

The top was drafted late one night on a whim, by tracing one of her shirts as a starting point, and kinda making it up as I went along.  If I do something like this again, the neck needs to scoop lower, and the armholes need to be larger.

The back is left open instead of wrapping.  It ties at the top and is reversable.  I thought it would flap around funny, but though this pic shows it pretty open in the back, it usually lays really well.

I don't know what I think about this outfit.

Good start, or don't bother again?

The First Weekend of Summer

 A solar system was made...........

 ..........new bike hooks were installed (just like Daddy's).........

............ house paint was tested out and decided upon.........

 ......and we spent a WONDERFUL evening with my high school Ag teacher and her family, where I FINALLY got to meet her new little one (and she got to meet the belly).  I gave her newest little boy a quilt I'd made while pregnant with Felicity.  I brought all the fabric home from Maui on one of our pre kid days adventures.  It has sat on my shelf for years needing the perfect home.  I'm happy its finally getting some love!

At 24 weeks today, the children felt their baby sibling kick for the first time!

And the new season was embraced by bringing touches of Summer inside, and doing a few Summer crafts.

And I slept.

A lot!

:)

Kindergarten

Some how, it seems very huge to me, that Felicity is officially "at the table" for school with us now.  Monday marked her first official day of school!  It feels kind of funny to call it her first day of Kindergarten as we don't pay too much attention to grade labels around here, but, for the sake of journaling, that's what it is.  Felicity is now in Kindergarten.  I don't quite know how that can be!

This seemed like a bigger milestone than when Logan started his first official day.  Maybe because with Logan, I technically did homeschool preschool with him, so a bit of a routine was already in place.  But since then, my feelings towards that have changed and I like the idea of just letting kids be in those early years.  Letting them PLAY.  Besides, she has the benefit of jumping in to "do school" with her big brother whenever she feels like it.  Lately that's been more and more, which is what prompted this official start.  We plan to take October off for the birth and babymoon of this sweet one in the belly, and it made no sense to start schooling her in September, school her for a month, and then take at least a month off.  September?  That's just a date the school system uses.  Oh, its so ingrained!  :)

We started down ANOTHER new homeschooling path this week.  A path I've always wanted to try, since before I started schooling Logan, but one that I lacked confidence in.  Basically, we are doing Mama made unit studies.  Some direction, some unschooling, some paperwork, some "free" work, but all "organized" by me.  Funny how I feared my lack of ability in this area yet I pick a time where I'm throwing in the new aspect of now schooling multiple kids, while pregnant, to really finally go for it.  Well, all I can say is we've tried many roads (as you know if you follow this blog), and I'm just trying to embrace where we naturally go.  Logan is currently interested in the solar system, and of course, whatever big brother is into, the others follow.  So everyone is quite excited to be learning about the planets.  Imagine that.  We'll see how this Mama "organized" plan goes.

 It occurred to me that not only is Felicity old enough for Kindergarten, technically, Kian is old enough for preschool!  Again, how does this happen?!  But, like I said before, I really just feel like play is very important for these little ones.  They soak up so much without any effort anyways!  But he asked to "do school" so I made him up this little sensory tub so he could sit at the table with us and feel included, but still get that play in.  I didn't know how long he'd last with this and was shocked when he sat there absorbed for nearly two hours!  And he's learning right along with the big kids just by listening to what they're doing.  He knows all the planets' names and I wouldn't be surprised if he'll be able to recite them in order once this unit is done.

 I have to say, it was very sweet having them all at the table together, focused, and ENJOYING their work.

 As you can see, I have one proud Kindergartner.

And since she loves that label, we'll go with that.  :)

I'm really looking forward to schooling her.  I've felt distant from her lately.  She's a very independent one, and even when she's in need, she often won't admit it.  She's not one to seek out snuggles, for example.  Logan needs me to help him with school, and Kian needs me because he's still little, but Lissy hasn't seemed to need me for much lately, and I feel there's been a distance placed between us that I've been fighting to get back.  I think school will allow us time to fill that gap, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Our Week at Grandma's

We've been home for 5 days now, but I just wanted to post some pics of our trip.

We had a wonderful week at Grandma's.  We went to San Diego to visit GG, the kids were spoiled by their grandparents and two aunts, and they got in lots of cousin Alakai time, which is rare since he lives in Alaska.  I got in a big fabric shopping trip with my sisters in law and mother in law!  I was hoping to find baby boy fabric for a little quilt, but alas, there were rows and rows of pink and purple and only a handful of boy fabric, none of which I liked.  Guess I'll be turning to the web.  I still walked out with an armload of fabric though, of course.  :)  I stock up when I'm down there since we don't have too much in the way of fabric stores around here.  Our kids did amazing on the 5 hour trip there and back.  I was so proud of them. 
Here's some pictures from our week;

 A beautiful day at the beach.

3 kiddos were thrilled to splash most of the day away.

And though the picture kinda looks pathetic, Kian was very happy to just stand back and cheer them on.  :)

 Park fun

 Grandma and all her grandkids

 Watching trains with Aunt Nessa

 Fountain play

 Sweet cousins!

 Fascinated with Grandma's front loader.

 Rest time

And sweet goodbyes

12 Years and Fathers' Day

12 years ago today, I was just barely twenty years old.  Zac was just barely 23 years old.  We were both in school, both working, both very young, and both very much in love.

12 years ago today, we were married!

We were married outside, in nature, just as I'd always wanted.  We'd saved for a year, and zipped off to Kauai for the most amazing honeymoon (minus mai tais for me since I wasn't old enough to drink).  :)  That was the first of many adventures we've shared.  In the 5 years before we had kids, we visited Maui, backpacked Tahoe and Catalina Island, snowboarded as much as finances allowed in the Winter, and camped all over California.  Zac put me through school while he was in a 5 year apprenticeship program where he attended school two nights a week himself, while working full time.  I got an AA,  BA, and teaching credential.  And Zac graduated to a journeymen position and was instantly given foreman work.  And then the REAL adventure began.  We bought a house!  And we started to fill those rooms with babies! 

Today I celebrate Zac.  I celebrate the wonderful husband he is.  He is doting, selfless, and hardworking.  He provides for our family financially, and then comes home and provides for us all emotionally.  I celebrate the wonderful father he is.  He is concerned, involved, patient, willing, and positive.  He spends evenings searching the web for school ideas, and rest times watching documentaries with the kids.

He is simply amazing, and I thank God for this man.  He has so richly blessed my life.

(a few pics from our digital days, on)

Psalm 127: 3-5

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!