Squatter

I took this picture to send to D this morning but never got around to it. Oh, she amuses me so. I could probably fill a whole book with photos like this one, her in our bed. Almost always squarely in my spot. From a very early age. The older two had their phases in our bed, but never to this extent. It is part exhausting, part hilarious. Or maybe just hilariously exhausting. Someday this will be in the rear-view; as will her fox jammies, the diapers, the nursing. As much as I desperately want my own bed, or heck, my own room, I don't want to forget her like this. 

Valentines

A quick post about our last weekend, squeezed in before the next one rolls around. I can't keep up! 

Friday and Monday off from school meant a chance for lunch out at our favorite place, with my favorite people...

...which Matthew was asleep for so he go this picture later - 12 weeks old here! 

I really love my new water bottle - bought with the goal of keeping better track of and improving my own hydration. Naturally, the kids all love it, too.  Hands off! 

Don ripped his PJ pants in a major way, and rather than tossing them I took them to the sewing room the very next morning and turned them into...

William PJ pants! 

And as neither of us gets very Valentines-y most years I thought this was pretty sweet...

D lined up camellia blossoms from the bush in our front yard along the walk and in a heart in the grass.  Gotta love the PNW for such a lush showing in February. 

And in conclusion, a whole bunch of lovey doves! 

Weekend Outing

An unusually warm day Sunday was perfect for a hike at the ocean and a bit of beach time. Every single one of us had a lovely time. 

That's all I've got for now. The only thing I've accomplished this week besides housekeeping and child care/feeding/transportation/entertainment was making ten of these: 

Or at least that's what it feels like! Looking forward to a long weekend to catch up on everything else. Back here again soon! 

Projects and More

 

The "and more" thrown in to account for all the miscellaneous-ness at the end of this post. But first, two recently completed projects, I can hardly believe it!  I made the world's easiest knitted hat for Matthew, with the same yarn used to make William a hat when he was a (slightly older) baby. It isn't really that cold here, but there have been a few occasions when I have Matthew out of the car seat outdoors and he's needed a cozy little hat of his own. And I completed it before he outgrew it, horray! 

 

In the sewing department, I made a quilt! I talked about it last time so I'll just show a couple finished picture and move on. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

And the behind-the-scenes shot: 

The only way to finish hand-sewing the binding was to keep it out on my "workstation" corner of the kitchen counter. That way I could sneak a few stitches in between everything else going on here without having to set aside time for it. I don't always have my hands free in the evenings quite yet, so accomplishing this in little bits was the way to go. 

After that I cleaned out my scrap bag and grouped bits by project - knits from shirts that could be remade into doll clothes, cottons that should be quilt blocks, and some other ideas from my very eclectic assortment. I'm making it a goal to use up as much of this as I can before we move so I can feel some thrifty satisfaction of using up some of my oldest materials before setting up my new sewing studio, wherever that may be, with only the new and fresh things that inspire me going forward.  

Like these:

Some of those pieces I've had for awhile, some I purchased last month...but I have a ambitious dream of matching twin-sized boy quilts. 

Oh and last one, I think this will be next:

This quilt top was finished years ago.  I'm positive I blogged about it. It is not the greatest thing I've ever made, but I do still love the fabric and the colors, so I'm going to go ahead and out it together with the backing and binding I already purchased. It'll be nice to see it completed. 

Now for a few unrelated pictures, just for fun. 

I'm not crazy about picture of myself, but love this one for the sleeping boy, and my beloved piano and favorite painting in the background. Incidentally, that's Amy's violin book up there, open to Go Tell Aunt Rhody. She's made some good progress with the violin in the last month - working the tunes out on the piano first seems to help her a lot. 

Just when I was about to give up on this project, we finally connected with a supplier and got our firewood delivery. We can now happily ward off the damp chill for the next month or so with our cozy little fireplace. Stacking it was fun, too.  William asked me why I kept smelling the wood. I told him it smelled like home. 

D and I grabbed a breakfast date with only the littles while the big kids were at school last week. I have yet to put my finger on it, but this place we go gives me such a sense of nostalgia. 

We had some heavy rain on Friday night, and here that often comes mixed with hail. So weird. But the kids donned their winter-outerwear finest to play in the faux-snow on Saturday morning. I can't believe it has been over four years since any of us has seen real snow. 

Later that day we made playdoh! 

And achieved far better color results by using our liquid watercolor paints instead of food coloring. It is possible I was more excited by this than the kids were. 

 

And now that I'm caught up I'll sign off with this sleepy smile and head up to bed myself!

More Ramblings

Two days in a row! How about that! Back as promised to pick up where I left off last night. Which brings us to last week's rainy morning mission to our soon-to-close Macy's to scoop up some discounted Fiestaware. I won't drone on about the reasons for the quantities shown above, but will just say that I found exactly what I needed to round out my numbers and I'm overjoyed to finally have yellow dinner plates. 

Moving along to last weekend. Poor Amy fell at recess last Friday, after colliding with another kid at full speed and smacked the back of her head on the parking lot. She was okay...but not quite. A trip to the ER on Saturday morning confirmed our Dr. Google diagnosis of a concussion. Her chief complaints, reluctantly admitted, were nausea and dizziness. She was unfocused and really not herself. But all is well that ends well, and by Monday she was back to her usual perky self. I am so grateful for her speedy recovery of course, but also for the fact that Don was home to take her to the hospital and make that a positive experience for her. And she's pleased that she now has a good ER story to tell. 

On Sunday we all stayed home taking it easy and for me that meant an amazing morning of nearly uninterrupted sewing - I all but finished a quilt! 

I cut the 5.5" squares last January from a bunch of unrelated fabrics I've collected over the years - mostly fat quarters from Joann's. The whole thing measures 40x45" and just needs some binding and will probably serve as a quick playmat for Matthew. I thought I was piecing these rows "randomly" but apparently I can't be random to save my life - when it came time to arrange the strips I realized I'd used the same sequence way too often. Oh well, if nothing else this quilt has gotten me inspired to finish up a bunch of other half-done projects. I'm hoping to keep up the momentum. 

And here's just two, okay three, more pictures to bring it all up to date: 

 

Someone far too big for the rock-n-play, and someone just the right size: 

 

My little boy turned two months old on Wednesday! 

 

I'd say he's pretty happy with life so far :) 

Rambling Through Pictures

I can't seem to organize a cogent theme in my head for tonight's blog post, so I'm just going to use the "ramblings" of my title as both a noun and a verb, start with January 1st on my camera roll and grab pictures that capture a moment I'd like to tell about. I might make this a two or three part post; we'll see how it goes. 

 

New Year's Day. my boys both had on dark blue shirts and Matthew was flexing his newly-found smiling muscles sitting next to his big brother on the couch. William had spread his beloved "Buddy" blanket across them both. I snapped about a dozen pictures, trying to catch the smile. They were mostly blurry; W is making a goofy face in this one. 

 

Later the same day I finished an art-supply reorganization by testing out every marker in the house and pitching the ones that didn't work. I did this while sipping champagne, which made it seem rather like a decadent way to spend precious free time. 

 

Caroline and I hit a nice stride once the big kids went back to school. This set of spelling puzzles has been a favorite activity lately; she's pretty good at them. 

Sorting through my jar of coins has been another winner activity. 

 

And lest it seems like all wholesome, enriching activities around here, C has also spent a good deal of time with her very own Kindle. So have A and W. Philosophically, I'm not completely comfortable with my kids each having their own "tablets"... but for all practical purposes these have been a sanity saver. More on that another time. 

 

One more mornings with C picture - all her favorite things on her little yellow table. This was a good day. 

 

...Especially when we got to play at the playground after W finished school later on. These two have always been quite fond of each other and now they can really cook up some games together. 

 

Then there was this. I don't even know what to say. After dinner. Ditched the clothes. Found the potty. Brother crying. Yikes. 

Aaaand all those pictures actually were before the post of Matthew sleeping by the Christmas tree, so that shows just how behind I am! But it is late now so with any luck I'll continue this tomorrow night. TTFN! 

Asleep by the Christmas Tree

Tonight is the first D has been away in an unprecedented three-month stretch. We have grown quite used to his absences in nearly ten years of service. Being left alone with multiple children of very young ages is not new to me. But tonight I felt like it might as well be, after coming to rely so heavily on his company and help in all these many weeks. Trying to get the 7 week old and the 2 year old to sleep by myself tonight was downright ugly, as I knew it probably would be. We were all crying for a little bit there. But really, it was one bad hour and now all are sleeping peacefully. Sweet Matthew perhaps most of all, as he finally settled in  his cozy bed in the kitchen, with the vent fan on for a steady hum, and next to the warm light of the Christmas tree. 

Before I moved him and turned off the lights I paused, thinking how this was a scene that might never be again. The tree is dry and will likely move out this weekend, probably tomorrow. By next Christmas we will be in another house and Matthew will be far, far too big for sleeping in the rock-n-play. 

I know I keep saying this but this fourth child of mine has been a constant reminder of how fleeting these baby moments are, and how important it is to carve them in my memory forever.