bug love

We've had some big butterfly love this past summer. If you've been following my blog you would have read about it here, here and here. My ds has spent every day in our front yard watching the milkweed we planted for caterpillars which will of course become butterflies. He has caught (and released) many butterflies over the summer and is completely head over heels. He asked me if we could take a trip to Mexico this winter to go see the Monarchs where they migrate. What a wonderful idea that would be. Where is that emergency trip bank account when you need it?

On two different occasions while gardening, I found these petrified versions of the Monarch butterfly and a huge moth. I've never seen such a beautiful moth around these parts, the markings on the wings are so unique and creative. I want to eventually put them in a window box along with other bugs we find.



My son's enthusiasm for butterflies got me thinking about how to preserve his interest in this metamorphic creature and I came up with this. This "prototype" is the first version and it's a bit rough looking. I made it quickly so that I could just get my ideas in a completed stage before I forgot them. Writing them down doesn't always work for me.
 


I still have to finish putting on antennas as well as eyes and maybe a proboscis. I re-purposed an old corduroy (fine wale) skirt of mine as well as some existing cotton fabric in my stash.



I can already see room for improvement on the design and even in the fabric choices but that's what prototypes are all about right? My son has claimed this one for his own and wants me to make others.



As for future butterflies, I can see how some Kaffe Fassett fabric like this, this or this would really be great as butterfly wings. Goodness, it is a shame I don't have some of this fabric in my stash already. I just might have to go shopping this long weekend. See you back here on Tuesday.

is it over?

I fear we may have seen our last warm beach days of the season.  The weather is cooling down and though it makes for great sleeping at night, it is settling in far too fast.   I have some pictures of our last trek to the beach and while I am sure we will visit it again, I doubt very much that it will be in bathing suits.  I'm crying already.

 

It's a twin thing. (What exactly are they doing there?)

This next photo is of the girls and I on the beach, sorry it is so blurry.

 

My wonderful boys making one of their last summer treks into the water.

Even the monarch hung around for some photos and inspiration (to follow later).

  

That's it for now.  I've been working at a few new & unfinished projects (has it really been that long since I've worked on this one?) this week, none of which are ready to be shown but hopefully I'll have some crafty pics soon.

what I learned this weekend

1. Two sets of busy hands can make "quiet time" quite adventurous.

2. Make sure the dresser (which is bolted to the wall & has magnetic drawer locks) also has no knobs that could be used for climbing.

3. Throw out old diaper cream that was way up high on a shelf just in case one of the monkeys in the house scales the dresser in mischief.

4. Always check in on the wee ones after a particularly hard day.  Two little busy people look peaceful & angelic when they finally fall asleep.



I love them.

sew seventies

I came across this vintage 70's sheet awhile back. It sat in my sewing stash until yesterday waiting paitiently in hopes of being given another life, another purpose.
 


I love how my children spur on creative ideas for me. Their days are filled with adventure where they collect various items to play or imagine with. Along the way they have collected a few, very cherished items that seem to go everywhere with us, which makes their little hands so very full. 



At tote is a practical solution and a round one is just fun!
   

I decided to give them a bit more room in this tote by making it round. The added bonus is items are a lot easier to see & more accessible in a round bag for my oh so busy toddlers.



I'm calling this tote the "catch-all" but have yet to decide on the spelling. I was thinking
of something funky like "katchall" or "ketchall", but I don't know. What do you think?



I gave the "ketchalls" to miss A & miss J today when they woke up. The immediately smiled and filled them with toys to take downstairs. 

Ahh, it is nice to be making something again after weeks of craftlessness. Dare I hope to do more this weekend? 

self portrait tuesday

I was playing with photo shop and putting some funky finishes on my picture. I really do need to take a course on how to utilize this program, there is just so much to learn. I love the effect of this "poster" finish.



We stole some time away on Friday to do a little anniversary celebrating. We took in a dinner/theatre show where the actors are also your servers. It was an entertaining evening and to top it off my hubby had our two very dear friends join us as a surprise. What fun!

It is always a bit tricky finding time to get away when you have young children. I have felt acutely aware of it since our twin girls arrived (almost 3 years now). They are busy, busy girls, much busier than my boys were at their age. This fact alone shocks me. As challenging as raising twins can be the benefits are incredible. When we arrived home the wee girlies were still wide awake doing circles around my mum. I settled them in for a nights sleep with some book reading and cuddling.




They love story time. They intently listen as we read our own version of what is going on in the pictures. I try to keep my story time with them during the day. I'm still fresh and don't mind too terribly the repetition that comes with reading to toddlers. Plus evening time reading is usually reserved for my youngest ds; we are almost done reading the first Harry Potter book out loud. Yahoo! 

from anniversary to birthday

I'm still trying to figure out how I let my hubby talk me into getting married two days before my wedding.  I wonder if he had an angle? In theory it is probably easier to remember the anniversary & birthday when they are so close together.  At the very least they take up enough room on the calendar so they are bound to draw his attention.  Well, whatever the motivation, it is my birthday today. I'm not sure I want to admit to how fast the years are passing, but let's just say I was born in the 60's *eek*



I love this picture, I was a flower girl for my big sister's wedding. I was 5 years old and at the time I think I felt like a princess in this dress. My sister even saved the dress for me and I put it away for the day I would possibly have a daughter so she could see how funky the 70's were.

So how will I be spending the day? I think I just want this day to pass like any other, with not too much celebratory fussing and instead plenty of time with the kids. My two sons have been at their cousin's house for the past two nights so having them back is wonderful. They and their sisters' will bring a very steady dose of reality to my day starting with "what's for breakfast mum?..."  Off I go.

happy birthday to me...
happy birthday to me...

for Paul

Today is my 14th Wedding Anniversary.



(Oy! We look so young!)

Lots has happened in the past 14 years; lots of laughter & good times, lots of challenges & hard work. Quite a few new things have joined our two-some: four kids & a mini-van (it's impossible to separate them), our home, a dog, fish & hamster (the latter occasionally renewed when the situation arose); and still so many dreams unrealized.

Did we have any idea what the future held for us on this day way back then? I don't think so. Yesterday I was feeling a bit in the dumps and got to being all too reflective about the past 14 years. At the best of times such reflection needs to be done in a careful light remembering that marriage is a marathon not a sprint. 

Today I celebrate:
14 years of marriage experience & understanding
14 years of knowing my husband,



14 years of committed loving,
14 years of growing as an individual,
14 years of friendship,
14 years of intimacy, 
Thank you for loving me these past 14 years. 

withdrawal...

Some friendships just pick up no matter the distance or where you leave off.   Even adding more children to the mix doesn't seem to phase things too much.   The conversations may get louder out of necessity, but there remain those quiet moments when all the wee ones have worn out with activity.      
We've just finished up a week of holidays with friends, visiting from Chicago.  It was a wonderful time of catching up over good food and family fun.  We even managed a couple of evenings out courtesy of my mum who babysat a brood of 6 children.  What a trooper! 
The children, all so much bigger had countless hours of playtime, whether we stayed close to home or wandered off to the parks and other places.

Yesterday we were sad to see our dear friends go, but after extending their trip already for an extra day and the ever looming jobs calling the men-folk to work on Monday morning, it was inevitable that our fun was going to end.  I fear we may all be in withdrawl this week.

super swapper

Rachael of Tinkerblue is the Super Swapper.  Quite awhile back we were partners in the Potholder Swap.  We were supposed to make a potholder and include a recipe.  Rachael forgot to put the recipe in her package so went ahead and sent it about a month back with another slew of goodies.  Her bunnies are way too cute along with the other items she included in the package.  Rachael: thank you, thank you, thank you.  You are the best swapper ever.