Tea Time

Heyas~

So last month some time, we instated a little daily routine in our household around the 3 o'clock hour: tea time.

We break out whatever light snacks are around, brew up some teas (Ella Rose included!) and just chill out around the living room table.

Today was mikan, walnuts, and cranberry-oatmeal cookie sticks

 It's just a great way to refuel and recollect ourselves for the last energy-expenditure of the evening (squeezing in some last-minute work for the day, preparing and eating dinner, readying the kids for bedtime, etc).

Some days, we've had tea time around 5 o'clock (oops) so it pushes dinner back a bit, but all in all, the family (William included!) really enjoys this midafternoon snack.

If you give it a try, tell me how you enjoy it.
Until then, Happy Tea Time~!

Purple Sunday

Hi, everyone!

I don't know if anybody else does this, but when Ella Rose and I are trying to figure out what to wear for the day, we tend to go by color. As in, "Let's wear all blue today!" "Okay, today we'll be red."
Well, can you guess what today's color theme was?

With a cameo appearance by William :)

That's right. It's your favorite color and mine: purple.
We hit up two special occasions in this purple get-up.

First was the Mennonite Fellowship -- a lovely group of people who made us feel so welcome and appreciated. I really loved the vibe there, but as my Resolution dictates, I'll be hitting up a different church every week, so it may be a while yet before I find myself there again...though they definitely made a great impression.

Immediately following, we attended our first-ever Gingerbread Decorating Party!
It was held by a lovely gal from the LBCC Live & Learn With Your Baby class. And boy did I meet some neat folks. So many researchers in the biological realm. Fascinating stuff these people are up to, and so modest about it too :)

Ella Rose's creation. It won "Best of Show" (j/k)

It was technically an Epiphany Party, where we ate King's Cake and I found the bean! That makes me Queen for the day~ ;)

All in all, it was a pretty cool day. A very active one, really!
And this week is looking like it will be as much, if not more so~!

Until tomorrow, take care and Happy Purple!!

What I'm Reading

Howdy all~

Just thought I'd share with you a book I recently got out of the library at the recommendation of my sister's beau, Martin.
It's called "The Undressed Art: Why We Draw" by Peter Steinhart.
Very intriguing so far -- the role of the artist, as well as art model, in the face of changing culture and technology. Fascinating~!

I thought today was the first day of the Winter Farmer's Market, but I was mistaken (it's next Saturday) so I rode the bus and then walked for an hour this morning. Very good for reading and thinking!

There was also a lot of napping in the house today. The two kiddos and hubby, not me -- also good for reading ;)

Hoping you are all enjoying this lovely January and reading some good books too!
Happy Reading to you!

Pillowcase Nightgown

Hey, everybody!
I'm posting before the sun goes down for once - wow!
So today I'd like to present my latest creation to you:

It's a girl's nightgown upcycled from an old pillow case!
The tutorial for it was found through Pinterest on this lady's blog.

It's for a little girl turning 4 today...but I'm afraid it might be a little large~? >_<
I am going to see how it fits on Ella Rose when I shorten the straps a touch.
That's always the thing about making clothes for little ones, right?
On one hand, you want it to fit so they can enjoy it now...but at the same time, they'll eventually grow into it so you could always justify that it's a "present for down the road".

Oh, well. We'll see how the little recipient likes it :)
Until then, take care and Happy Nightgowns~!

A Good Day

Hey, everybody~

Today was a chilly January day, with some work outside the house and some work in.

I was away (what felt like most of the day) for a Corvallis Newcomers Board meeting, and then translating the rest of the afternoon while Ella had her friend, Clara, over.

We still had time to take a break for Tea Time (will blog about that soon) and enjoyed some gluten-free ginger cooks that Clara and her mama baked. Yum!

The evening then wound down nicely, with some lap-reading and stair-climbing.

Dash is over his sickness and took care of the kids so much today -- thanks, love!!

I also just wrapped up another craft project that I will show you tomorrow ;)
So until then, sleep well and a Happy Evening to you all~

2013 New Year's Resolutions

Iiiiit's that time of year again.
Time to find a good excuse to "reinvent" myself in away - ha!
As usual, I have a whole list of things I want to accomplish this year.
But first, a review of how 2012's resolutions went:

[x] keep up on the news
[x] get more green plants in the house
[x] get pre-pregnancy body back (and then some)
[ ] read one survival-related book a month
[ ] watch one survival-related movie a month
[x] "beautify" the upstairs (curtains, etc)
[ ] master the cable technique in knitting
[ ] knit something for the baby
[x] wear scarf-shawls more regularly
[x] establish more community
[x] get Ella to sleep on her own (for real)


Yaaay! Not too bad!
But, as I did last year, I feel I should explain the ones that didn't get x'd:

[ ] read one survival-related book a month -- I started somewhat strong on this one...but then it petered out after William arrived. Go figure! Well, at least Dash got me a subscription to Mother Earth News, so that counts for something, right? Assuming I actually find time to read through the issues - zoinks!

[ ] watch one survival-related movie a month -- Dash and I actually had a "Survival Sunday" thing going on where we would watch a (somewhat) survival-related movie Sunday nights. Again, with baby #2 that has pretty much dissipated. A couple of movies over the past year that I recall us watching was "A Boy and His Dog" (questionable~) and "The Post Man".

[ ] master the cable technique in knitting -- how did this one pass me by?? I just need to sit with a friend who knows this and learn it. >_<

[ ] knit something for the baby -- can you believe I missed this one too? For shame! I knitted that wool soaker last last summer, but that can't count. Maybe I'll do (surprise, surprise) legwarmers! Then again, I am so stocked with wool yarn so something I felt might do too!

Besides that, I am pretty pleased and feeling like 2013's goals will definitely happen.
Here goes!!

[ ] read the newspaper(s) daily
[ ] be car-free at least 4 days a week
[ ] get Ella to sleep in her own bed
[ ] try a different church every Sunday
[ ] keep on top of things better (housecleaning, etc)
[ ] blog every day
[ ] make a garden
[ ] floss every night
[ ] get William out of diapers

This list is different from years past in that there is no mention of anything fitness nor knitting related.
Not to say those are going by the wayside, no no!

As the year goes on I will let you know if any of these things come to pass or completely go out the window
For starters, I am going to mark on my calendar with a little red dot every day that I have to use the car. Hopefully, at the end of this month, I will remember to tally them all up and report it here to see how that car-free goal is doing.
And I have posted these goals up on my billboard right in front of me and my laptop.

Well! Until then, g'night and Happy Resolutions~!!

Scootin' in the New Year!

Greetings, all!

Yes, I am back from the dead.
No, really I am so sorry for the long silence, but as you all know...I gave birth to my second child!
A son! His name is William León Dashiell and he was born on April 16, 2012 -- just two weeks after my last post here in March. A whopping 8 lb 15 oz, he's the spitting image of Ella Rose, albeit it larger and a touch blonder~?
Anyway, you can see for yourself below:

Here he is from the summer... Maybe 4 months old?

Yep, so wow -- 8+ months has flown by so quickly!
He's at the crawling and coasting stage right now, and all his other little "milestones" were pretty much in tune with Ella's -- sitting in his 4th month, crawling in his 6th. Except for the teeth, they came in at 8 months, whereas Ella's came in at 9 months. Oh, those teeth...ouch >_<

But anyway! Speaking of coasting, I did a little "crafting" today to aid him in his desire to walk.

It all started with a papasan base:

Found on the side of the road. Score!!

I attached some fabric to the bottom to make it glide smoothly, and then around the top for "grips":

Super quick and dirty...polished version coming soon ;)

Here he is in action!

I think he really likes it!
Back in our old apartment, Ella Rose loved using the base of our papasan to scoot around the carpet on, so this is the William version I guess. We'll see if he'll be walking in his 9th month too from it! :D
As you can tell, he's a pretty verbal little guy. "Mama" and "Dada" are his big ones, though he's been known to say "Pee-pee" too (yaaaay!)

Also! So it's a new year, and here I am writing on the first of January.
Can you guess why that is?
That's right! It's one of my New Year Resolutions!!!
So if all goes well, you should be seeing a post from me every single day. I'll try to do photos, but I will admit, I can see me just popping in for a quick sentence or two as a way to fulfill the daily quota ;)

Until tomorrow, then.
Tata and Happy Scooting!!