The Winter Creativity Bug

The kids have been filling the gray days of winter with lots of indoor crafts and fun.  Alena decided to paint her own arm instead of having Emma do it.

Emma set up a face and body painting studio for a few days in her room.  She earned a buck or two.

Alena performed in her first orchestra concert of the year.  She wasn't as nervous as she was last year, and really ended up enjoying the whole experience.

We've had a snowy winter (for Oregon), so Alena made a snowman that lived in our freezer for a week or two.  We let him go when we thought the snow was finished for the year.

 

 Little did we know Spring Break would begin with four inches of snow on the ground!  We made a slightly larger snowman.

It was so beautiful and sunny, I really didn't mind the snow in March.

In another creative moment, Emma dressed Savannah and our friend Joshua as a prince and princess, then dressed herself as a preacher and married them.  Henry is acting as best man.

Yet another game for Emma was setting up a cafe in her room.  She had a tiny table for two where Shonee and I enjoyed a romantic snack. 

 

You'll probably see a common theme starting:  Emma likes to set things up and dress up.
 

In fact, Emma and Savannah put on a fashion show for us last week.
Who knew my little black dress would also look good on a five-year-old?

 
This is a costume I made for Alena last year for Halloween.  It already fits Emma!

Emma striking a pose.

 

I hope this girl never outgrows her flair for the dramatic and the creative!

Today we had an art show in the living room.  I was especially impressed with this drawing of a helicopter toy by Savannah.  She looked at the toy, then drew it.  Ignore the scary eye sockets at the top of the page, and you'll see the dark blades attached to the body of the copter, with the tail going to the right.  The handle of the toy comes off the bottom with the pull string on the right.  She won the platinum medal.

We found paper dolls on the internet and mounted them on posterboard for durability.  The older girls spent an afternoon designing clothing for them from my scrap baskets.

I love the dyed to match satin shoes on this little number.

This isn't a creative thing, but Savannah lost her first tooth!!!

Montana bought, built and painted this WWII german plane on his own.

So much for indoor activities.  I am ready for some gardening fun with my kiddos.  If only the weather would cooperate!

Food Storage Room Stage One

We once had a tool room.  It had lots of workbenches and shelves and was completely crowded with all of our tools.  There were hundreds of little hooks in the pegboard that lined all the walls.  We couldn't actually build things in it very easily.  This is a picture before we put our tools and shelves in.  I'm sure you can imagine the chaos.

Then we had an idea, why not use that little insulated room and put our extra food in it.  Let's build some shelves, we thought.  Let's insulate the ceiling.  Let's put an air conditioner in the window for summer heat protection for all our food.
We've built one set of shelves, still have the other side to do.  Then we get to finish filling them up!  Whee!

As an absolute bonus, our new location for the tool benches makes cutting long boards a breeze!  Hooray for serendipity!

Big changes

This is what my kitchen sink usually looks like:

I have a drainer on one side, and dirty dishes on the other, waiting to be washed, rinsed, stacked in the drainer to dry, and then put away.

. . .

This is what my kitchen sink looks like today:

Our first improvement is right here, this lovely single basin sink and pull-out faucet will greatly facilitate cleaning those few items that won't fit into our next improvement:

A dishwasher! Ta-Da!

My Sister

I went to visit my sister today with my kiddos.  We try to arrange play days when school is off.  During the course of the day we chatted and she told me a terribly funny story about her birthday weekend.  I was laughing so hard my stomach muscles were cramping.  But it was awful too.  It was such a sad birthday to have in some ways.  Just a bad day that happened to come on what should have been a good day.  But she said there were bright spots in it too.  And at the end of the day, when she was writing in her journal, she remembered the bright spots.  She looked for the beauty.  And by today, she was able to laugh while she told me all the drama of it.  She has so much talent for so many things that I can't even wrap my attention around.  She makes simple things special and beautiful with her detailed touch.  She's an awesome auntie to my girls, and my boy.  She's always willing to have a sleepover party with them, and she makes it fun!  She is a remarkably talented woman and I look up to her, as I always have, and always will.  She's my big sister, and I love her.  Happy Birthday!

Recent Projects

I built these shelves entirely by myself, from the lumber store to the finished product.

They work pretty good as bookshelves, huh?

But the real purpose is to organize our shoes. I just smile every time I walk past this beauty. A shelf for every person.

I also decided I needed bigger couch pillows that offered more support. Voila.

I didn't realize how much like a Harry Potter jersey they looked like until they were done. Oh well. They are suede and really comfy.

Fun Times at the end of 2011

Some late season highlights: Montana the secret agent for Halloween, the girls thriving in gymnastics, pumpkin hunting and carving, camping with Grands, shooting clay targets

Highlights from the Holidays: Thanksgiving at OUR house!, our perfect tree, girls day at Grandpa's salon, Emma reciting poetry in public, our first gingerbread house kit, Cavalia with Dad!, Emma's favorite Christmas present - a fuzzy robe, Alena's sculpted giraffe
Thanks to everyone for helping us have a fabulous year! We're looking forward sharing this one with you, too.

Alena the colonial girl

Alena wanted to be a colonial girl for Halloween this year, so several months ago we picked out a pattern and bought it on sale. Then, last week, we went to JoAnn's and wandered the aisles together looking at all the glorious fabric. She chose the blue satin first, and then we had to search for just the right complement to it. We had at least 20 different bolts of fabric in and out of our cart, and then we spotted this lovely paisley and both of us just knew, it was perfect!

This is the bodice, we modifed the ribbon detailing to make it look more balanced. We ended up adding a modesty panel in the neckline, because it was too loose when she bent over (see below).

This is the detail on the sleeve, it is quintesentially 1800's.

The completed dress - note the modesty panel above the lace detailing at the neck. The pattern neglected to say that a petticoat of some kind is essential for the form of this dress to look correct. Luckily, we had a tulle petticoat in our dress-up box.

It's quite elegant.  I can't wait to see her in it, with her hair and makeup!