Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Last post before leavin' on a jet plane! Stefan and I are going on a vacation back to British Columbia for the next week, so it will be quiet here. * In the meantime, check out one of my favorite hair items ever! I love feathers and have been adoring this site for awhile. When I saw this wonderful DIY from Promise Tangemen I ran with it! * I made a super long one for a friend, a medium size one for myself, and a shorter one (so just about anyone, minus the Pixie Cuts!) could participate if they wanted. I've always loved this look, and they are super fun & easy to make . An old t-shirt, twine, feathers, a clip of some sort, and super glue and you're done! Who wants it? The one I'm giving away measures about 12 inches total, and you put the piece underneath your head, clipped into the roots. It has three feathers, one brown & white speckled, a thin soft brown, and a beautiful white with rippled accents at the bottom. Leave a comment and your favorite vacation...

Today, the first day of summer, we celebrate Lukka's THIRD birthday! How is it possible that I have a three-year-old? I don't know either, but what I do know is that I need to check into finding Never Never Land, because this is about as old as I want him. * Last Tuesday, we had an early Jazz in June birthday celebration with family. We like to keep birthday's small, cheap, and special. The felt crown that I made him can now be seen all over blog land and etsy, but I just cut two matching strips out, put the "L" in the middle, and cinched it with cute sailboat material and elastic in the back. * If you haven't noticed...Lu has a new toy...a big bike! He took to this right away and has been riding it every.single.day. (Yes, we got him a helmet.) He's a natural, and him, dad, and Arjax even took a bikeride in the pouring rain yesterday! I think the legacy of bikers in our family will continue! Every birthday & Christmas, we give each child " S...

Happy Father's Day, Stefan. * You hold me for safety. You give me adventure and joy. You help me figure out new and exciting things. You carry me when I need it most. Throughout the year, you're our favorite dad. We love you! XO

photocredit Stefan has been kindly letting me for the past two months, catch up on all the movies I've wanted to see throughout the last year. The Blind Side won Sandra Bullock an Academy Award, along with the film winning a few other prestigious prizes. It was one I had wanted to see because I love true stories. Normally I would roll my eyes at anything starring Tim McGraw (I really dislike the country musician turned actor thing that seems to be happening a lot these days), but I do like Sandra Bullock, and I'd heard a lot of other people thought it was good. The story is about a boy who is homeless, but able to go to an expensive Southern prep school so that he can play for the football team. Sandra Bullock's character invites him into their home, first for the night, then to be a permanent part of their family, as they have come to love and respect him as their own child. This movie is so touching and although some cheesy dialogue aside, is a very well-balanced movie...

I must have seen this craft book, Creative Play for Your Toddler: Steiner Waldorf expertise and toy projects for 2-4s by Christopher Clouder and Janni Nicol on my recommends section on Amazon, though I can't remember exactly. I check out everything through InterLibraryLoan before I buy it, to see if I like it, and I loved this book. I did end up buying it because out of the 20+ projects, I will probably make 15 of them, and I get inspired visually. To have it on my shelf I can reference over and over, is what works for me. There are sewing, knitting, woodworking, and no-sew projects for any type of crafter. These projects are also gender neutral, a big plus! The book has a lot of information about Waldorf, of which I haven't read yet, but look forward to. photocredit I love that all of the projects are very simple, but encourage big imagination, something Waldorf theory holds very highly. (See my Waldorf post here .) I had wanted to make Lukka a fishing game for awhile sinc...

I love to go garage sale-ing and bargain hunting. My favorite, though, are estate sales. I always try to talk to the family a bit, since obviously someone just passed and is a friend or relative of those running the sale. The stuff I love to find is usually quirky, mid-century objects in need of a new home. The other day as I was driving back home with the kids, I noticed an Estate Sale sign and did a turn around to go find it. I told the kids we were going on a treasure hunt and Lu soaked that right up. I.scored.big. These pictures are just a small fraction of what I got, but almost everything was 25cents, 50cents, or $1....and I spent $39! The top picture shows an old sewing stool I'm going to make over, some embroidery hoops, a tiny fraction of the linens/fabric I got (!!! my favorite!!!), a mint condition embroidery pattern book from 1963 (hilarious), a suitcase, and two unused Avon collectibles--a Japanese fish oil holder & some button soaps. :) The next picture shows ...

Surprisingly I've been knitting quite a bit this summer. Even though it's so hot out and a fast-paced motion mixed with wool isn't always appealing, I've also been watching lots of movies. Thus, I need something to do during them! I've been wanting to knit something out of my favorite baby knitting book, " Vintage Baby Knits " by Kristen Rengren for a long time, I just couldn't settle on a project. When I ordered my sweet harmony needles for my birthday, I snagged a few cheap skeins of Wool of the Andes in Iris Heather off KnitPicks. I knew this color & amount would be perfect for a wool soaker for the lady! Although I loved making this, I'm sorry to say it doesn't fit her quite right. (Yes, I know the diaper is way up high on her back, not normal, for whatever reason I was in a hurry and didn't want to adjust it.) The sizing around the middle was perfect, but I should have knit one more inch or two for the 'bottom' ribb...

A movie review of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts: photocredit Stefan and I recently watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland . I just need to get out the fact that I LOVE the Disney cartoon Alice in Wonderland (1951) and therefore knew the story and the characters pretty well. A lot of them weren't there. Fine... since Helena Bonham Carter totally made the movie great. photocredit You may remember Marla, in Fight Club ? Well, Carter played a perfectly big-headded Queen of Hearts, with her co-star, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. The dialogue was hilarious (very dark comedy), the costuming was intriguing, and the story, finding courage within yourself and imagining the impossible, cute. The plot was a little strange. Alice has to kill a jabberwocky (the Queen's most useful tool in promoting fear among her subjects) and replace the Queen of Hearts with the White Queen (Anne Hathewa...

This weekend was busy. Tons of community events, time to play in the pool with some friends, and relaxing evenings mixed with good food made this a spectacular weekend in the city. There were amazing thunder storms every night, and it was cool (enough) in the mornings and late evenings to enjoy being outside. * This first picture is taken from the BryanLGH Kids' Health & Safety Fair. This is an annual event that is in the form of a bazaar, with games, prizes, and food, yet the message is loud and clear: be safe and healthy! Healthy foods are incorporated into some games, healthy practices, like wearing a bike helmet when riding a bike, or putting on a safety belt when in the car, are incorporated into others. Some small business owners were also presented, including a few martial arts academies, a Chiopractic Center, and even a new business I had never heard of, but was intrigued by, Behave'n (interesting concept for a company!) My only beef was the fact that pop was serve...

Rain. Clouds. Rain. More clouds! We've had a fun week of playing at the Children's Museum, rolling playdough, and chopping strawberries , but we were ready to get out and enjoy the sun! Yesterday we took the kids to Trago Sprayground for the first time this year. We started with a picnic, of course. The dinner consisted of: PB&Js, fruit, fruit, homemade granola, and more fruit. Yum! ( Weird quirk : I only eat fruit in the summer, the rest of the year it tastes weird to me. But boy, oh boy, do I eat a LOT of it in the summer...) The park is a new initiative in Lincoln to renovate the 'inner city' of Lincoln by putting in nicer family housing units, revamping the streets with beautiful construction and the stores that front them, and putting in a giant " Central Park " in the middle of it all, to be complete in Spring 2011. Needless to say, this small area of the park is a HUGE hit with all kids! It is a FREE sprayground that runs from 11AM-7PM everyday...

Remember last year , the great fun Lukka had picking strawberries? Well, we all packed up with Grammie again for another year's adventure in the fields of Roca Berry Farm . This one lasted a bit shorter than last, since I had to whisk Anikka away because I was afraid she was going to make herself sick! I think next year, when she's just over two, is a better age to start taking kids on this, because Lukka had a great time, didn't eat too much, and picked a lot of strawberries for our two flats (Along with Grammie's help, of course)! The tractor ride out to the field was probably the highlight for the Bug. He loves tractors. She got the hang of putting strawberries into the flat, but when she tried them, figured out she'd rather be putting them in her mouth. This is an early picture, clearly. Her clothes were C.O.V.E.R.E.D . Make no mistake, wear old clothes you don't mind getting stained/dirty when you go out to the fields! You will get strawberry juice on t...

Here are a few of my favorite things in and around blogland that I wanted to share. I will be having a wonderful weekend strawberry picking at RocaBerry Farm on Saturday morning, and hanging out with the family for the rest of the weekend. I'll be back Monday! * Can't wait to make myself one of these awesome DIY Feather Hair Accessories. I've always loved the look of them and this tutorial makes it look easy as pie! * What am I going to do with all those strawberries you ask? Well, other than eat them on the way home, I'm going to make some strawberry fruit leather (healthy version of the fruit roll up)! *Taking your kids to the beach this summer? Read this wonderful Simple Homeschool blog post, Stefani of BlueYonderRanch talks about how to unschool at the seaside . *Some very wander-lustful pics of the Maine woods. *One of the coolest new artists I've read/seen in a long time: Essimar . Excellent interview and photos here . *Always need the daily reminder o...

Check out my favorite children's nature blogs, The Magnifying Glass , where I am guest posting today talking about Arbor Farm's Tree Adventure !

This year's Memorial Day was a perfect 70+ degree day out, with minimal humidity, so we decided to spend as much of it outdoors as we could. In the morning, we took our dog, Arjax, (see below, water) out to the dog park, took the kids to the park, and then after naptime, packed a picnic and headed out to Holmes Lake shore. These kids love "the beach" and this time I actually thought to bring their suits, sunscreen, and water shoes! They dug, explored, poured, flung, threw, and played. Of course, everyone finds their own respective thing to do when we're there. Lukka loves to help Stefan throw the ball out in the water to Arjax, who then gladly swims out to find it and bring it back. Anikka is more of the tentative toe-stepper who then quickly looses her nerves and runs back to mom. Me ? I'm more of the laying- out, book & blanket type. :) * How did you spend your Memorial Day? BBQ? Pool? Click here for one of my favorite posts on Memorial Day, in picture...