Pregnancy Potions

The kids have been calling me Professor Slughorn with all the herbal potions I've brewing up this pregnancy.

Since the 12th week of pregnancy my daily routine included 1-2 cups of red raspberry leaf, and a varied combination of the following herbs:  alfalfa, oat straw, nettle, dandelion, and rosehip.  Each of these herbs are rich in vitamins and minerals and help support pregnancy.  

Now that my due date is creeping up on me I have increased my consumption (with hopes of avoiding week 42) and from the recommendation of a midwife prepared some herbal tea ice cubes to help me through labor.  This was a an extra strong brew of red raspberry leaf (3x the regular proportions) to which I added 1/4 cup of raw honey.

I am still new to the world of herbs and have only started this routine with this pregnancy.  I will report though that aside from the stress and strain of moving, I have felt just as great this pregnancy as I did with my first two.  I have not experienced the same leg cramps, heartburn, varicose veins, digestive problems, and fatigue that was associated with previous pregnancies.  Perhaps it is the herbs or maybe my diet changes (no gluten, or refined sugar) - maybe it is the kefir!  Perhaps it is a combination of them all, either way I feel very blessed and recognize my good health as a tender mercy.  

Yoga kids

The Athleta catalog was headed for the trash when Maryanna exclaimed "look Mom - a yoga book"!

It entertained the girls for almost 45 minutes. It entertained me as well! Watching the girls try to replicate the moves using pillows as props and fall down saying "that was a really hard one".  

The interaction between the two was especially amusing.  Clara is barely three and has already developed the annoying habit of correcting people, even her parents.  Maryanna is fearless and doesn't think twice about attempting physical challenges, even inverted yoga poses.  Clara sat studying the catalog while Maryanna would grunt twist and fall all the while Clara saying "you're not doing it right, you've got to keep both legs in the air".

If I wasn't feeling so immobile I may have joined them but I think I got a pretty good ab workout just laughing on the couch.      

Felicity's Dress

Okay, now the dolls officially have 1 outfit and 1 nightgown (plus 6 pairs of plastic shoes from Target).  I hope that is enough to entertain them because sewing doll clothes is not the relaxing kind of sewing I enjoy.

This one is a variation of a McCall's 18" doll pattern and the fit was overall too big.  Next time I'll stick to the original American Girl pattern downloads or just wing it with my own crude doll pattern drafting.

For all the pains of sewing this little dress I have to admit it was fun to do it with Maryanna looking over my shoulder giving me design suggestions and clapping with joy each time a small detail was put into place.      

Kirsten's Dress

Poor Kirsten has been stuck in her chocolate stained, candy cane streaked nightgown for almost 2 weeks now. Santa picked her up at a garage sale so it was my job to provide her with all her clothing, unfortunately the stomach flu prevented me from getting any done and under the tree in time for Christmas.

This dress is a knock off of what a brand new Kirsten would be wearing out of the box.  I got the pattern here and did my best to match the fabrics.  The boots are from a Target pack and were impossible to get on so I had to cut a slit down the back.

Clara loves having more doll clothes but asked "now are you going to make me a matching pioneer outfit".  I said no because I ran out of fabric but she returned with "that's okay because now you can make us matching purple clothes just like the catalog".  I don't know about that - I like sewing but I'm not sure I have the patience for sewing little doll clothes.  I still have a dress for Felicity staring at me in my WIP pile. 

More Favorite Gifts

The kids completed their State quarters collection this year so Santa thought it was time to start a new collection.  Here William is studying all the President dollar coins he needs.  Santa left this book along with small pile to get him started.  Now have both grandparents on the look out and request these cool collectible coins whenever change is being offered.
 

James only had one thing on his wish list - Lego Education Mindstorm expansion pack. He reminded me of it every time he was especially helpful.  Here he is lost in the world of robotics and has entertained us with a walking camel like creatures, and an alligator that walks and opens its mouth.  One creation takes about 45 minutes to build and another 30 minutes to program.  While working on his creations James has quoted Thomas Edison "making something is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration".


Above is a little refurbished doll bunk bed for Kirsten and Felicity.  Handed down from my sister's children, Santa's little helpers carefully sanded down the original white paint and stenciled flowers then sprayed  it with shiny apple red paint.  Those same helpers were busy well into the wee hours of Christmas Eve sewing the bedding, a foam mattress covered in  blue and white striped fabric, floral pillows and luckily there was some leftover patchwork fabric on hand for the quilts - that made it quick.


Henry loves his wooden slide of which Maryanna cried out "Oh, I remember we saw that at the recycle center"!  I'm pretty sure that is exactly where Santa picked it up.


Of all the children Peter had the most extensive wish list and even requested a billion dollars.  Santa brought him $60,000,000,000,000 (from Zimbabwe) - quite impressive.  However we recently discovered you really can't do much with it since $35,000,000,000 only buys you one egg.  He recently said "next year I'm asking Santa for my own nail clippers because I can never find any".  That sounds like another great stocking stuffer!

Happy Homemade Christmas - Homeschool Binder

Paul and I always make or write something for each other each Christmas.  This is what he made for me this year, a homeschool binder.

For the past six months whenever he read something interesting he'd clip it then write a few discussion questions for the kids and I to work through.  The topics range from science, current events, economics, arts, general interest, religion, and sports and it looks like it might take us at least six months or even a year to get through them all.

I don't have an exact plan on how we are going to incorporate these into our day but it maybe that I read them to the younger kids, let the older boys read on their own then write out their own thoughts and answers and be ready for a group discussion by dinner time. Or it may be just the thing to hand over to one of the kids as soon as I hear them say "I'm bored".

This was a great gift for me, something I certainly never even thought of compiling. As for what I made Paul, it was nothing spectacular, in fact it was basically the same thing I made him last year just different pictures.  

Happy Homemade Christmas - Fleece Socks & Painted Alligator

This was To: James From: Maryanna

What I did:
-bought the fleece
-spent way too much time making the pattern work (it may have been worth it to buy the pattern after all)
-sewed the the socks

What Maryanna did:
-helped me cut out
-traced my foot for the pattern
-put some Legos in a bag as a "homemade Lego set"
-told me sewing was boring after 2 failed samples

James likes them although he said they remind him of baby booties


This one was To: William From: Peter

What I did:
-took Peter to the store
-got him an old T-shirt to wear for painting

What Peter did:
-Painted the alligator
-wrapped it himself

This was quick and William loves it!