i'd recognize these feet anywhere!

there's just something about these little feet that i love so much. i know them so well.... Mayden's left foot has that second toe that sticks up and has made me nervous since the beginning! then Cameron comes along and has the same thing going on with BOTH feet! i guess my kids will just have weird toes and if that's the least of their problems i think we've made out okay.

i love to think about where these kids will go in life on these feet. will they set foot on different contents? will they dance at their weddings?

as long as they follow their dreams these will remain happy feet!

Jaedyn's video debut

little miss happy made her first Aunt D produced video the other day so without further delay, heeeeere's Jaedyn!

Mayden's Eye (week 3)

yay for outside time this week!

right now; in ten

i've been inspired by Soulemama this morning..... so this is my right now in ten pictures & words

~outside~

~wishing~

~avoiding~

~ambition~

~self~

~snacking~

~later~

~warm~

~safe~

~break~

this blog brought to you by Sesame Street!

Cameron's new favorite spot

i think this began around the holiday season when i just couldn't take it anymore... Cameron is a pretty needy/whiny kid and is constantly asking to be held especially when i'm busy in the kitchen. it never fails. and well, Dada is not an acceptable replacement apparently soooooo i'm either stuck with a very fussy boy under my feet or holding him (and we all know one handed cooking can only go so far). the solution: letting him sit on the counter and he LOVES it! ((it only took me a year to figure this out))

please note the different outfits (indicating different days)

the best part of being on the counter??.... being able to reach the cookies and play with the water, of course!

the list

The Know-it-all

Dumbing Us Down

Buddhism for Mothers

The Poisonwood Bible

Learning All The Time

A New Earth

Handmade Home

The Unschooling Handbook

A list of books i read 1/2 of last year. i get so excited about new books, i mean i love new books.... but.... i have a bad habit of starting a new book even if i'm currently reading a book (and even if i really like the current book) i'm hoping to get to a few of these books this year and hoping that my 1/2 book list isn't even longer next year :o)

book #1 (of 2010)

Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

so even though i didn't technically make reading a book a month a resolution again this year, i'm still going to try!

another Chris pick. it was good but really nothing to write home about. i think i could have easily put the book down mid read and been okay with it. it was however a good story & a very easy read which helped me actually finish this one. --i haven't finished a book since last July so this is monumental! i might need a whole separate post for all of the books i got 1/2 way into and abandoned last year.

Mayden's Eye (week 2)

we saw a lot of Danica & Jaedyn this week (3 times in one week!) so naturally her photos reflect that ... that and the junky cereal her dad bought her. love!

this just in.....

yesterday we all got much needed hair cuts (& waxing) from Aunt Neeka. i promised myself i'd leave Jae alone with the Camera but then she just gets so stinkin' smiley and i have no choice! so i couldn't resist posting this one last picture.... what a doll!

Jaedyn update!

i thought maybe far away family would appreciate seeing Jaedyn again now that she's 8 weeks old. she's changed so much in the past few months.... really alert, very smiley & babbling away! we see them about once a week and love every minute of it. Jaedyn has a really mellow, relaxed personality and is such a joy! Danica is doing great, nursing 100% of the time and has all but decided not to go back to work next month. YAY! more time for cousins :o)

homemade holiday goods: food edition

i try to do some sort of homemade food with our gifts each year. this year we tried granola in the crockpot! i combined these two recipes and it turned out very good (i thought!)

this is what i did:

• 1 container (16-ounce) old-fashioned oats
• 
  
• 8 ounce sliced almonds
• 
  
• 1 cup dried
• cranberries
• 
  
• 1 cup dried raisins
• 
  
• 1 cup light-brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1 1/2 stick(s) unsalted butter
• 
  
• 1/2 cup(s) honey

melt butter and add all ingredients into crockpot. mix well. turn crockpot on high and cook covered (vent lid w/ chopstick) for about 3 1/2 hours stirring often. the longer it's in there the more you should stir so it won't burn.

i added a lot of butter because i wanted it to be more of a clumpy snack granola rather than a lose cereal kind. even with 1 cup of butter it wasn't as clumpy as i would have liked. you really can add any kind of nuts or dried fruit you'd like, it will all work!

overall super easy & the kids loved helping.... we plan on doing this treat again!

Mayden's Eye (week 1)

i'm starting a new thing here called Mayden's Eye. from time to time May will pick up the camera and take a couple of pictures. so long as it's the point & shoot camera i have no problem with this and find it really fascinating to see what she takes pictures of.

sometimes you get gems like this:

and other time you get this:

this will be interesting... be on the look out for more weekly!

we found the BIG ice!

unfortunately the geese know about this spot too! yuck... but the kids had fun!

homemade holiday goods

every year i try to make some of the Christmas gifts we give to others. this year i did a little but next year i hope to do even more (yes, i already have an idea of what that will be!) and eventually i hope for Christmas to be 100% handmade by us or at the very least handmade by someone.

fleece wreaths!

i came across this idea in the 11th hour from this website. thankfully they are really easy to make and i had a ton of scraps just waiting to be used. i still have tons so i'll be making more and probably a garland for our tree or windows next year. they are great little add-ons for gifts and the best part is because of the jingle bells they could be an ornament or cat toy -- you decide!

Freezer paper stencil shirts!

i had made a few of these during the year and my mom got a great deal on plain shirts somewhere earlier in the year so i had a bunch of shirts already laying around. it's a very simple process... print an image from the computer, trace it onto freezer paper, cut out stencil, iron stencil to shirt, paint, allow drying time, remove freezer paper -- DONE! below are a few of the shirts i created as Christmas gifts.

baby, it's cold outside....

it's been under 30 degrees consistently since last week (i know some of you think the 20's would feel lovely right around now) recently we've heard tell of shallow water freezing in the field next door and people ice skating on it. well, May & i decided to take a walk thru the frozen field to see if we could find any place to ice skate (with our shoes). we were able to find a little ice, but we'll scout out the other side of the field tomorrow because we think there is bigger ice over there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahhhhhh sweet reward!