Waldorf pilot cap

There is nothing more fun than knitting for a baby. Well... there are not many things more fun. So here is a little Waldorf cap in those shades of Purple and pink Malabrigo Merino Wool yarn for my dear cousin's new baby. Just needs a card to be ready to mail.

Congrats to your family cousin.

Mr. J and his Icicle Adventure

The last two days with the mild snowfall, Mr. J has been on a mission. Looking for the perfect Icicle. He checks every car he passes including his bus.

Today he proudly found his biggest one yet hanging from the minivan.

He was so excited. Though this mamma has to keep an extra eye on him lately cause, he is too adventurous to pay attention in the parking lot!

This is so cute...

The kids want an Orangutan now. Why can't they want a dog?

Day Book- Snowy Day and Stainless Steel

It is odd for me to take so much pleasure out of sitting in my comfy chair. After being up for a bit today, going to the Chiropractor and the store (so can't wait for Sprouts to open up just down the road a bit), followed by making lunch for my kids, I was sore. In my early thirties, I shouldn't feel soooooo broken and old.

Thoughts in my head- Plastic free? Can I purge out the tupperware and go free of plastic containers. Well I easily could if I had all the money to buy an adequate supply of stainless steel containers for a family of six from The Life Without Plastic Boutique. Why does being natural have to cost so much? What I was looking for was stainless steel cup. With four kids, we so can't have glass, so I need a non-breakable option. But for $6.95 a cup... it won't be a big supply of them. At least, providing that they don't get lost... my grandkids could still be using them!

Outside My Window- Snow, snow...blessed snow! Big fat flakes have come down covering the landscape. Though the skies are grey. Which has me thinking warm blanket and the laptop, which kind of feels like a warm cat. Not so cuddly but definitely enjoyable.

What I am wearing. Knitted leg warmers, since what could find were my capri pants. Fingerless gloves made out of soft alpaca yarn, t-shirt covered by a fleece jacket.

In the crafty corner. Need to work on Prince Charming's Valentine's, Mr. S's Knitted sweater.

Parenthood: Discipline is not my favorite thing. We actually had to "ground" the three older kids. Apparently their behavior in church was awful. So we sent them to their room for the day. Yes, I used the term grounded. Are the two oldest just too big for time out? I am at a loss for one child's lies, the small amount of fighting that occurs, and the lack of getting things done.

Also did I mention that the secret it OUT! Mr. A and Miss C... know who S-A-N-T-A really is (thanks to cousin K!) and out came the Tooth Fairy, the House Fairy, the Easter Bunny and any other mythological creature that parents used for fun and enticements. And quite frankly, I can't wait till the little two boys catch the boat so we can be done with all. As fun as it is...its a chore. But now I have two additional helpers.

At least when I watch Supernanny I can be thankful... that my kids are NO WHERE NEAR THAT BAD and they are actually blissfully good overall. Not that the fighting and dishonesty aren't exasperating. But the are respectful to their parents, me more so than Prince Charming. In general they aren't willfully disobedient and they are easily and lovingly guided.

Things pertaining to homeschooling- Homeschooling is great...if, you don't bring up math. They read, they write... they aren't especially wanting to do math and I am at a loss for motivating them. I shouldn't have to bribe them. I WON'T bribe them. But I need to motivate them to do it. I put Mr. A into a Math tutoring program. Progress is being made but the tears and the all day to do it, drives me crazy. And other areas that they want to do or I would like them to do is being neglected. Perhaps we need to just focus on Math for awhile. I had hoped to start Saxon Math 5/4 in the fall with both of them, but I feel strongly that we need to have the math facts mastered as a strong foundation for them later on.

That's it for now.

Blogzine- One Small Change

I have been seemingly bombarded lately with a sort of revolution. People I link to in the blogosphere are sparking some remarkable changes in their lives and it leaves me wondering how on earth can we cut the ties to large scale manufacturing. Many are making changes. I was just reading on Fields and Fire (picture above from her posting on this) about her family's choice for this month to not go to the grocery store. What an immense amount of preparation that would take to do that. From gardening and food preservation, giving up toilet paper and going to family cloth. Yes... I said family cloth. People are saying "No to the Man." We use cloth wipes for cloth diapering, but going all cloth would be... a leap. Though we have been known to snag a cloth wipe when we were out of wipes in the bathroom.

Already my family has made some small changes. Going more and more to handmade gifts, I pretty much shop the outer exterior of our grocery store, planning to move to completely homemade bread, we grind our own grains. But to avoid the store all together I think would be near impossible. I just can't have chickens in the backyard. Though I suppose we could go back to having milk delivery and they could deliver the dairy, but at a much higher cost. $5 a gallon for milk? Already, when I am not down with back issues, 75% percent of what we eat is from scratch. I mean I don't make my own tortillas and cheese and all but I guess I could make the tortillas. We use few box mixes. Though we do have food storage of canned food items, but we go to fresh and frozen first. I make most of our cleaning supplies, but I guess I could go further... laundry detergent. Food storage is a must for us. And let me just say... that it is tough to have a good garden in the Denver Metro area. Ours has just sucked... but we keep trying. Which reminds me it is getting time to start planning the garden.

Unfortunately I only have access to our farmers market during late spring and summer/early fall. So buying really local really only occurs then, but I am excited that a Sprouts will be opening up really near by soon, though it is already two months late in opening.

Our family's obsession with Little House on the Prairie would open this up for a neat experiment on this. Could our family use the store as more of a general store that stocks up periodically instead of once or multiple times a week? Though I think I would miss the advantages that a local store gives... fresh...live food. We aren't too successful with an outdoor garden, but what about indoor gardening? Simply fresh salad and tomatoes. It would almost feel like you would be with out the enzymes during the winter and I can't fathom that either. But it would be an interesting project to see if we could work the summer as a pioneer, as Ma Ingalls, preserving, storing and putting by for the winter with her little ones beside her. Instead of going out and butchering the family pig, perhaps a portion of a grass fed cow could be bought, nicely packaged and stored in the deep freeze, in addition to a stored amount of other meats, perhaps a fishing trip this summer to store and freeze the fish? I don't think I will be salting them down in barrels though.

And then there is canning. With a garden that doesn't typically do well, would the farmers market then become our garden to be canned and preserved? Sounds almost like a call to return to the Little House in the Suburbs Epic Adventure we were going to try. I think with the two older kids being older... it would be a fun adventure... says the woman in her big comfy chair and back problems. But since recovery is at had... Perhaps this could be done in place of Nature School this summer, with some exceptions. Some farm visits would be vital. You don't get a good picture of where things come from until you go.

Its a lot to think about. I detest the big box stores, but they are so budget friendly. And as a one income family of 6... some priorities are more important than others. We are also soon going to one car... not for environmental reasons, but because we are determined to pay cash for the next. Prince Charming's commuting car won't last too much longer. And really we are hardly using it, since he carpools with a friend. So as long as he can do that... As for me, I need to use the car on Tues and Fridays, though we were hoping to start going to a commonwealth school on Weds, but I don't know if we will be able to swing that and the Options School on Fridays, though food coop is on Thursdays, but I often get and equal amount of good produce and fresh stuff as I do the boxed stuff that is filling up our food storage.

One Small Change.... What will it be?

I like to use recycled cardboard in place of my chipboard. This idea comes from Dollar Store Crafts.

The skies could be endless with this craft.

This would be a cute, but simple Valentine's card. It is from CreativiT.

I am always amazed when a person can take a seemingly unrelated idea and turn it into something fabulous. I am pretty sure that is a CD sleeve with a cookie in it! I was all set to do the white chocolate popcorn for the kids to take...but now I so want to do this!

This is such a cute idea. I am definitely tucking this into my pocket.

I thought that this was pretty. Check out the paper flower tutorial.

Day Book

I have been productive in my comfy chair/bed this weekend. Too comfy as I keep falling asleep and now I can't sleep. I managed to knit a cute Waldorf Pilot Cap in lovely shades of pink and purple (malabrigo yarn-my absolute favorite yarn on the planet) for my cousin S's new baby girl. I will try and post pictures tomorrow. Cut out all the little triangles for a Happy Birthday Banner for my nephew's Birthday and I went to a three hour seminar through my chiropractor on Maximized Living, but all that being out and about was painful by Sunday morning and I missed church.

This next week I just hope to make all my Chiropractor Appointments, Mail off a stack of paperback swap books, baby gift, birthday gift, and a thank you card. Other than that, I am going to stick to this new food regime from my Chiropractor and focus on the healing and not that tube of chocolate cookie dough that is in my fridge. Prince Charming's fault!

I am thankful for Prince Charming and all that he is required to do right now when I can't but that is how marriage is. When one is down, the other picks up the slack. I can't wait to relieve the extra burdens from him, but I am so thankful to have such a loving husband.

Out my window... it snowed a little today. We really need more snow. It has been a dry winter.

Chair projects for this week. Finish the little sweater I started a year ago for Mr. S.

As for my back... less pain, lots and lots of stiffness and aches. But significantly better. My TMJ is disappearing! I haven't been able to open my mouth this wide in years without pain or it popping and catching. Just loving my Chiropractor.

Blogzine-The Daily Chair Show

Just another day from my comfy chair. Still working on Prince Charming's Valentine's Gift. I need more ideas for low cost or free dates. Any ideas? I don't want to necessarily repeat the same date night over and over again, but the needn't be outrageous either.

I am much less grumpy today. Perhaps I am going through the stages of grief. I am grieving the loss of the last three weeks. Yesterday was anger and today is acceptance. I am sitting in my chair and I am ok with it. Working on my list of things for hubby to do so that I am not frustrated when I cannot do them. I am though starting to get tired of cruzing the web, so I really need to set aside some chair projects. Finish a Work In Progress knitting project that should finish. Books to read. Cause I think it can be depressing to see all these cool ideas and not get to make them.
Of course another banner/bunting. I just love them. You can buy this one from Cozy Memories.

Valentine's birds from Mrs Delightful.

Isn't this just phenomenal? Too bad they don't last more than two years. I would love to visit some of his work.

I love how this nature table makes its way up the wall. I would need to move mine. My problem is that I can't not decided how I want my homeschool room to look. Perhaps the nature table doesn't have to be in the homeschool room.

This picture came from The Magnifying Glass. With spring approaching I am starting to think about nature school again. Not that we couldn't do it in the winter, but we have been focusing on other aspects of their education right now.

I have no idea why this section is being underlined. Don't ask.

I love this layout and so want to "lovingly lift" the scrabble board idea on it. I saw this on the BoBunny Blog Here.

Amazing the things people are using to embellish with paper. My mom collects antique milk bottles and I thought that would a really cute decorated bottle. Maybe mom, we'll see.

These were done for Pink Paislee on Blankety Blank Blank.

It just goes to show how open you should keep your mind when it comes to altering items with paper.

Blogzine-What catches my fancy today?

Today, I am stuck in my chair... again (and if you read my earlier posts today, I am a bit grumpy about it). I didn't get very far on this blogzine because I got really side tracked by the first section of this, Project 52: Date Nights. I just turned it into my Valentine's Project for Prince Charming. It has given my chair time some purpose. So along with a lot of posting by me, I would like to work on the blog some, to clean it up and sophisticate it some. There with something to occupy myself, perhaps I won't be so grumpy.

I love a challenge. Let me rephrase that, I love starting a challenge. Finishing one might be another story. Project 52: Date Nights is a very worthwhile challenge, one worth fighting for. I have been married almost15 years to Prince Charming. And Date Night has definitely suffered. I know he is game for this, without even asking. I doubt I would scrapbook this (it would be fun, but I have other projects in process, but blogging about it would be easy enough). Perhaps this could be the best Valentine's gift for Prince Charming. A gift of 52 Date Nights all arranged by me. When you are blessed to married to Prince Charming, how could you not?

“The value of a relationship is in direct proportion to the time that you invest in the relationship.”

(Author Unknown)

Of course this endeavor needs to be consistent with my overall resolutions for the year.

All right for every date night that costs something we do three that costs nothing or can be incorporated into the food budget.

This post form Simply Modern Mom, the guest blogger had them all preplanned. That would make a nice way to present that to him on Valentine's Day (or two days before in my case). She has them all prepaid, which I can't do, but each week/month hubby gets to open up an envelope for the surprise date. What a fabulous idea. But planning out 52 exciting dates. It reminds me of the book **blush, blush** 52 Weeks of Great Sex. Each week the couple gets ideas for "spicing" up the bedroom. (Ok... done blushing).

in that article, Simply Said, Shauna from My Mix of Six, gives these ideas. I won't be sharing my ideas before hand, cause sometimes Prince Charming reads my blog and we wouldn't want to spoil it for him, no would we? But I will definitely be Lovingly lifting some of these ideas.

• Theater tickets. You don’t have to pay the big money, colleges and high schools have amazing productions as well.
• Free summer concerts in the park mixed with a Subway giftcard
• Dinner and the movies
• Temple trip. Just copy your recommend or put in a picture of the temple to show him where you’re going.
• A favorite fancy restaurant
• Morning hike followed by breakfast out
• Frisbee golf at the park with a coupon for dessert
• Country dancing or any other dancing for that matter
• Stargazing by a campfire
• Home spa with a massage and smoothies
• Walk through an art museum
• Bike ride with picnic
• One of each of your favorites. Steve likes sushi – I like chick flicks, so a night of both.
• Cards or a favorite game in the park
• Tennis or racquet ball
• Bowling
• Laser tag
• Night out at the library (Steve LOVES to read and I like magazines. It’s a quiet night BUT we are together.)

More ideas here.

Let me just say that all this planning for a Happy Valentines for Prince Charming, is making me feel less grumpy, cause I feel like I am accomplishing SOMETHING. And boy am I enjoying all these ideas to date my sweet husband. Feel free to send any good ideas for date nights my way!

This came from a new blog/site I found, Make and Takes. Just the title caught my eye and I said, "oooooh.... that sounds like fun." I need some entertainment. This looks like a fun Valentines goodie. White Chocolate Popcorn

Oooooh that is something that I would enjoy copying. I am thinking that since we are going to be builiding a tree house this spring/summer that this would be an ideal paper for it. Mark that for the wish list!

Paper is from Karen Foster Designs. I found this and some other cute designs using this paper on 3 Dimensional Me.

Meet the Parents

So here I am in those glorious thirty-something years, homeschooling mother of 4, married to Prince Charming. We often forget that our friends have come from somewhere and are somebody's child. And I know my mother will find it annoying to have her picture near his, but hey... you got close to him a long time ago and quite frankly, despite my grumpiness today, I happy to be here.

So meet my parents. They are no longer together and quite frankly you could never imagine that they would hook up. A lot has changed in thirty-something years. My mom, a corporate woman, who works many hours, is independent, now married to her Prince Charming, beautifully stylish, cheerful, crafty, and full of many, many talents, and my favorite... her ability to listen and be non-judgmental, and she has sound advice. My mother! We talk a lot and she is very much apart of my life. She is a mindful Grandparent and has the perfect knack for spoiling the kids in just the right amount.


My Dad... well... is long-haired, black wearing, can be politically active (in a anarchy kind of way), book loving (though I am not sure how much he actually reads them), has a girlfriend whom I don't know but sounds nice, an intense interest in Native American Ceremony and philosophy, and my favorite thing about him is... he is community minded. He is often immersed (and I do mean total immersion) in community service often to those that are commonly overlooked by the rest of those who are active in community service. He doesn't give himself enough credit for all that he does do. His compassion for the homeless, inmates at correctional facilities, and helping the prevention of the spreading of the Aids Virus in an unconventional way is inspiring. But still, I hardly know this man. We rarely talk. His service to others has become more of a priority than his only child... but in some ways I really admire him and in other ways I just don't understand him.

Focus on the Healing... Not The Pain

Being laid up with a bad back sucks.... Yeah it just sucks. Its not like being on bedrest

My Gramdma (left) and my Mom (right)

Yeah I don't really look like her do I? You should

see pictures of my dad. Next post...cause the kids

are entertained, I am just sitting here

when you are pregnant. I could still do things, I was just not supposed to. Now... I just CAN'T do things and I am a bit grumpy (ok.... I am really grumpy). And to top it off...my best friend is moving. So if I say something rude, judgmental, off character, or whatever. I am asking for forgiveness in advance.

I am supposed to be focusing on the healing and not the pain. YEAH RIGHT. I just can't help myself and I just want drugs...take it all away. Back pain is not the same as childbirth (cause aside from this I have never experienced any other significant pain and when I say experience childbirth, I mean 3 out of 4 of my births were 100% drug free... yeah I have babies at home with a midwife...and I wouldn't change that) and this is definitely not pain with purpose. There is no cute baby when it is all done. Though I should be looking forward to the health and stability that having this corrected will bring. And at this stage in my life, that is definitely better than a cute cuddly baby. Not that we wouldn't welcome one if a freak accident should occur in that department. But we done as far as we are concerned.

So grumpily I sit in my blue recliner chair as it is painful to do just about anything else besides surf the web and try not to turn on the TV and I probably shouldn't have gone to Relief Society Meeting last night...but it was worth for some adult women conversation. And even though I shouldn't go to Roundtable tonight... I just want to get out of the house.

Did you ever have one of those days where you just wanted to scream... "I want MY mommy!"? Yeah...this is one of those days. Not just any mom, not Prince Charming's mom... MY MOM! California is so far away today. Hurry up and retire mom! And just to make matters worse... I haven't seen my mom in almost 2 years! WHHHHHAAAAAAA! Do you have enough guilt now, mom? I know... I am going next month if I am not completely broken (have some hope here Kindredmamma). March just can't get here fast enough. I would also settle for my Grandma too. But I am afraid this chaos would just wear out those Grandmas.

This mother just needs her mother.