Hanging Woodland Gnome Cradles!

I cant help playing with my children's toys! They are so enchanting!

The girls decided to hang these ones from their gnome's homes. Why didn't I think of that?

Good night. Sleep Tight. See you in the morning light. (That's our good night verse) We don't like to include bed bugs in our verse :)

I had to add tiny pine cones to this one. 

I had a hard time taking these photos with the children there. Little sister was very excited to rock  the babies to sleep. She is a very nurturing little girl. 

I couldn't help myself. I couldn't sleep last night and decided to make a few baby gnomes instead of fairies like we did yesterday. My girls seemed to really like caring for the tiny hanging bundles and since I still have a ton of goofed up eggs left, I couldn't say no to myself. :) Thank you for your comments about the hanging fairies! It means so much to me hearing what you think. Have a fantastic  weekend!

Hanging Fairy Flower Pod Cradles....

Shhhh. The babies are sleeping.

Today we got an awesome idea to use the felted Easter eggs that did not turn out the way we anticipated them to. We made some very easy and VERY cute Hanging Fairy Flower Pod Cradles! At I don't know if this was our idea originally but I have never seen them anywhere else. They turned out so beautifully and we're very happy to show them to you. Sometime this weekend, I'll do a tutorial on how to make them. Let me know what you think. And have a fantastic Friday!

I think they may be in love with these!

Rock a-bye Fairies,

in the tree top,

When the wind blows,

The cradles will rock,

Sleep little fairies,

Sleep sound and well, when the mama fairies cast a sleeping spell.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

My Picnic Blanket Featured!

http://sunnydaytodaymama.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/all-year-round-week-nineteen-7-summer.html

Enjoying some indoor play..

Little Sister is working hard in here cutting fruit and veg to make a big salad .She even got herself a pretty woven basket to put it in.

All this chopping must make a girl quite thirsty! And look how closely she keeps watch on her baby!

And a quite a bit of chopping is just what she did too!

We've never had trouble getting this little one to drink water.

I think Zoey must be in her unders because it's just to hot to wear anything else.  (:

 

Henley is comfortably watching from afar.

He sure is a cute little bunny.

Little Sis has discovered that my wool dryer balls paired with a seed pot makes a dandy ice cream cone! These things are what makes me so happy! Waldorf at work!!!  

Today we stayed indoors mostly because the air quality around here from all these Colorado wildfires is quite poor. (Something we are not used to living in the Rocky Mountains) Lil had fun cutting veggies and fruit and Big Sis pretty much read all afternoon. I didn't get any pictures of that because I didn't have the heart to disturb her.

Memories of My Mama....

It's not a subject I like to talk about often and when I do it's not pleasant. My mama died almost a year ago. Not a day goes by when she doesn't cross my mind. Today was just a day I am thinking about her a lot. I don't have many photos of her but she was very beautiful. I know she is up there in the sky taking care of baby angels and pets and gardens so I know she's happy. I miss her foot rubs and funny stories of when she was a little girl, I miss the leg rubs she would give me when I had "growing pains" the long walks picking berries and wildflowers, and sitting inside sewing and crafting on cold days. I miss bringing her breakfast in bed on mother's day and watching her face light up to see her grandchildren. All too soon someone can be torn away from you. Remember to cherish every single moment with your family. Remember to treat each other with love and respect and give hugs and kisses. Tell your children how loved and how beautiful they are and snuggle them way too much!!!

Mushroom Stitch Markers

Supplies needed: beading pliers, tiger wire, seed beads, charms, clamp beads to hold the wire together. Pretty easy, just pead up a 4 in. piece of wire with seed beads leaving an in. on each side to play with when adding the clamp bead. Add the clamp bead, clamp down and add your charm.

I chose toadstools I had sitting in my beading stuff.

I added rainbow glass beads on each side of my clamp bead just because I thought they looked neat.

Makes your knitting fun! Something pretty to work with.

Here's a great way to reuse your rescue pastilles tin when your finished with them! 

What are you working on today?

These are fun-guys!

( this moment )

 - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Goodbye Picture Tube!

Monday, I finally had enough! I have been discussing with the Mr. for a while about getting rid of the TV. I said last week that I wanted to just cut the cord on the thing! The only reason why I had decided not to were for my own selfish reasons. I only allow my kids about 2 hours of viewing time per week but I still think that's to much for any of us. I determined this after the 2 year old started singing commercials. I don't want my kids to be walking advertisements! I don't want them growing up and identifying themselves with  various brand names and cartoon characters. I want them to have their own minds! I want them to develop their own opinions about the world and to aware of the things that really matter. But I had this fearful thought lingering in the back of my head....."What will I do after the children are asleep?" Collapse on the couch and do what? What am I to do with the children when I become ill and need a break? The more I see how deeply impacted these children are by the repetitive nature of these advertisements and adds the more I worry about their future of becoming conscious consumers. I
n the midst of all this, I'm staying up until the wee morning hours to watch reruns of ridiculous shows about dysfunctional families. Waking up exhausted and feeling like another unproductive day would go by because I just didn't have the energy to be Mama, I decided I'd had ENOUGH! Maybe it was sleep deprivation? Maybe temporary insanity! I went and got my favorite pair of craft scissors and I cut the cord on the TV, threw the plug into the trash and took a great sigh of relief! So far so good. Not a complaint to be heard.(yet) Is this extreme? Maybe so. But maybe, just maybe, it will be the best thing to happen to our family! Do I think it will benefit all of us? 100%! I've gotten quite a bit of judgement the past few days for this but that's okay. I can't see a ton of people going to cut their cords on their television sets because of this post, but maybe other families out there have decided to tune out of television. What has it done for your family? How has it benefited you?

Fun with Food....

Radish mice riding on a cucumber train

We got these ideas from a great blog. I'll post a link at the end of this post. We also used radishes for the  wheels.

The beetle toasts were my favorite.

We came up with the smails on our own. At least to my knowledge. 

I love the yellow from the pepper. So sweet and delish.

We go this idea from a blog I love! Are they not adorable? My children loved them! The link-De Gulle Aarde! I couldn't fond the post for the radish mice but its the same blog. Have a fantastic day!!

A day for Daddy.....

The geodes turned out very nicely!

And the "wish flag" did too! Daddy loved them both!

The girls made their Daddy some egg geodes and a few "prayer flags" which we're calling "wish flags" because they have wishes written on them. Big sister even made a lovely mandala to add to the gift box we recycled for the geodes! We'll post tomorrow to show how he liked them! What beautiful things did you get for your dad?

To my soulmate, 

Thank you so very for being such a loyal, hardworking, fun and loving father! Thank you for being my best friend, for all the wild flowers you bring me, for the best coffee every morning, helping me through my mother's death this past year, doing the housework when I was too exausted to do it. Thank you for making me laugh, teaching me how to use power tools, how to change the oil in my Volvo, and giving it a wash almost weekly, for the warm snuggles and the soups, the best hamburgers on earth, and for loving me back. Thank you for putting up with me when I may not be the most pleasant person to be around (which is a rarity:) and, most of all, thank you for making my dreams of being a mama come true and giving me the 2 most beautiful girls!!! I love you and I hope I don't mess up your steak tonight.

                                      With all my love

                                                Raychel

Little Aurora Shrug.....

I love the way these colors fade into each other so gracefully. This was just an afternoon project, no pattern, size 8.0 mm bamboo needles and knitted the entire thing in garter stitch. 

I'm never able to capture the colors of anything accurately but at least i managed to get Lil' to try it on and stand still for a photo! 

I have a ton of this yarn and finally decided to knit something out of it. Nothing fancy, just Rainbow Wool in Aurora. I love, love, love these colors!!!

This Moment....

Inspired by Amanda Soule at Soulemama.com. By the way Amanda and Steve are both phenomenal writers. Amanda is the editor of the new and very fabulous Taproot Magazine!!!

Work In Progress....Striped Sweater Vest.

This sweater is giving me such a headache! I've had to take it off the needles twice already. I am giving myself a break and starting another project. Maybe I'll pick it back up in a day or two. I am using a wool/bamboo blend which is so soft but I'm worried it wont come out quite as nicely as plain wool.

The High Park Fire.

 I have never witnessed a wildfire this close before. The mountains where I've grown up, hiked, camped, lived, picked wildflowers in, gazed at the lights of the city from, this place that I love so dearly is burning! I am very saddened by this. Yes, it is part of life but it's sad to see. All I can say is that I'll pray for the folks who have already or are in danger of loosing their homes and ask that you pray too.