Monday, August 31, 2009

when you need to cook dinner...


and she just won't let you put her down: Move her seat and books into the kitchen and that will give you 1o minutes, next get her help in washing the potatoes and leeks and finally give her the packet of frozen berries to dish out where she will eat more than gets in the plate, clean her up while dinner cooks.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

an average kind of day







and the little moments,
humble though they may be,
make the mighty ages
of eternity.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

weekend snapshots

:: new shoes for mama-along with some other goodies found at secondhand shops
:: little girls playing at big girls
:: fresh eggs excitedly brought inside from chicken lover
:: letter from one sibling to another-how this swells the mama heart

:: flowers collected from roadside by my flower girl

Hope your weekend was full of loveliness in many forms!!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

co-operation leading to much fun




Today my guys were having a little difficulty with getting along (more than usual). I could feel my patience coming to its limit and not wanting to let mount mama blow I tried to think of a game where perhaps we could learn some co-operation skills: a play would be perfect especially as we have some very dramatic personalities around here. They had to choose a fairy tale from one of Zachs fairytale books we'd been working through, they had to choose roles and props, work out lines etc. SO here's The Billy Goats Gruff Walcott style. Such fun for the remainder of the day and plans to do another one.

love mail

all this in one day!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

gratitude

Don't you just love the way when finally asleep after several grumpy hours they just snuggle up all cosy like that and look completely adorable...and seeing them so peaceful fills the heart with such enormous love you would go through countless grumpy hours for the gift of knowing this
wild and precious being.

Monday, August 17, 2009

weekend snapshots

:: Breakfast- maple syrup drizzled over grapefruit

:: creating- a four in one camera, video player, telescope and magnifier with a box full of film all ready to go

:: Beautiful outdoors- story time with lots of friends

:: resting (and reading) - amidst the leftovers of play

:: SDO- a new project started with the help of Missy

:: family night- watching the second series of Roman Mysteries and enjoying fruit dipped in chocolate sauce.( agave syrup mixed with cacao powder)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

thinking & doing


Sewing:
For so long I've been thinking of sewing this or that and when the time comes where I might have an hour I kind of freeze up, can't decide on what to sew, what fabric to choose and on.. After the funk of this last week I became a little desperate to make something ..anything.
I always think a little better with the least amount of noise so when my husband took the children out- I suddenly got moving. My hands cutting, sorting through materials and my head keeping out of the way. My new sewing machine given as a generous gift by my mil, was smooth and humming along without any naughtiness and it was all just right.
I went to bed that night saying to my husband sounding very much like my children- Look did you see what I made?!
Well I havn't finished it and this next bit will probably take me forever but just maybe if I keep a basket by the lounge or the bed I might pick it up and do a few stiches here and there you know in between feeding the six of us and cleaning up after all that eating and reading the twenty or so books Bella brings me to read to her at rest time ( and other times), and reading the Hobbit to the elder two which I'm trying to just keep to one chapter a night but Oh I had forgotten how good it is.
So here it is my first ever little quilt... for a very special little someone.

Friday, August 14, 2009

out of the funk and into green skies







This week we started out doing the normal week that is us.
Jobs, breakfast, morning time together and then the older two get to their weekly lists and I juggle between Zach and Bella and tidying up and you know all the other stuff.
As the week wore on I was quiet... not the good kind of quiet but the drifting off kind of quiet, it took to towards the end of the week for me to connect with the funk I was in but on Thursday in stead of going to our weekly art class we stayed home and got out the watercolors, some monoprints the children had done and made happy with some colour.
By the end of this session the color on these paintings was lifting my voice from its quite place to the colorful exuberance and all there is to love that I saw in the kids paintings so I hung them up around our lounge windows and as I've been looking at them I give thanks, smile and am glad for the moments around here where we can just be, the children around here who help me out of funkiness into green skies and speckled orange suns.

Monday, August 10, 2009

in the garden













We spent most of the weekend enjoying the beautiful weather- gardening, finding new hideaways, making new places to play, eating and giving leftovers to the furry friends . It was refreshing and gave me much inspiration for some summer gardening...definitely some veggie plots this year.