Surprise, Surprise!

Look who decided to join our family Sunday morning.....

A week early (hooray for herbs),

and a full head of hair (a first in our bunch - herbs?)

weighing in at 9 lbs and 22 inches long

we present......George Thomas

More Potions - Laundry Soap

Hooray for really random nesting projects!

I know there are already a ton of super cool moms who have been mixing up their own laundry soap for years.  I'm not one of them because I was too lazy to grate the soap and a bit intimidated by the process so I purchased a kit.  But that was actually over a year ago and the poor kit sat all forgotten in my cleaning supplies.  It sat so long that the beautiful orange/lemongrass scent has since faded - but that didn't stop me.

The kit made about 2 gallons of soap and as we were mixing James noted "this is great - now we can trust there are no harmful chemicals and dyes in here".  We'll just have to test it's cleaning ability and if it's good I'll be hooked.

The dispenser was picked up at Salvation Army for $1.50 and the kit was around $5.00 - if that gets me through 80 l0ads it is a pretty good deal. 

My sister Emily also sent me a pdf of other homemade cleaners so I'll blog those as we try them out.    

First Fruits

It was almost a year ago that I got this Japanese felt fruit and veggie book.  I actually hoped to make a bunch to fill last year's Easter baskets but had no idea how long it would take to complete just one.

These little pieces were tucked away in sandwich size ziplocks and only pulled out on road trips and during movies.  Paul often chuckled at the randomness of the project and wondered how many real tomatoes I could have planted, harvested, and canned in the time it took me to sew that one little tomato.  I admit I don't have much patience for tiny hand sewing but I'm still thrilled with how cute they turned out.

So thrilled that they are now sitting up high out of the Henry's reach. He already lost the apple once but luckily Peter found it under the couch.  I'm going to move forward with a bunch more but instead do them on the machine.

These two were part of my nesting and clearing out old projects.  The other random projects I've been working on may be too boring to blog about.

You also may notice the beautiful backdrop to which these two pieces rest. Clara's little hands on my table top belly (which happened to be covered in my favorite maternity tie dye T).       

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.