A His and Hers Birthday Celebration

We're in "morning after" mode here at the moment, meaning a slow moving, tired mama, lots of playing with new presents and cake for breakfast (with plans for leftovers for lunch!).

I think that the party went well for the most part. There were, of course, the usual assortment of mishaps...there was the neighbor who decided to come over and introduce herself an hour before guests were due to arrive ("so nice to meet you, but we're rather busy at the moment...", "oh, I'll just stay and chat for a bit..."), the full blender that I managed to accidentally turn on, sans lid...the frosting that outright refused to thicken, and a certain variety of cupcake; moist and lovely the night before, but glued to the liners by morning (one child actually returned his to me declaring that it "didn't work"), a pinata that refused to die, in a too small room with a too long stick, and a whole, whole lot of noise (quite a bit more then several of the adults could stomach to be honest). But there was also a lot of sledding and a lot of laughing, and a lot of friends that we haven't seen in a long time, all together at last. The kids had tons of fun and amazingly few things broke, so I'd say it was a success. One eight year old approached me at the end of the day, looking very earnest indeed, and said in a confiding sort of tone, "I just wanted you to know that this was probably one of the top three parties I've ever been to." So there you have it!

His:

Brownies and double chocolate cake in a woodland night theme.

I looked more into those India Tree natural food colorings and in my irritation at the price ($30 for food coloring? Seriously??), decided to get creative and come up with my own: blueberries, strawberries, bee pollen, and (don't tell the kids!) spinach.

Hers:

A bunny carrot cake with lots of fruit and cupcakes topped with "rosebuds" (raspberries and mint leaves).

The bunny cake was not my best work. I've made much nicer, but it was thrown together at the last minute (see "mishaps" above) and I didn't have enough frosting to do it right (and the frosting that I did have wasn't really the right consistency, again, see above.) and I never did find those toothpicks that I was going to use for whiskers...

I'll be back with another home made Christmas post tomorrow!

snapshot: the two of them

Mom and Màiri Rose
January 2nd, 2010

Tonight I'm....

*eating leftover frosting off of a spoon

*cramming for a set of birthdays that somehow snuck up on me

*trying to think through the details for the party this weekend, what to make, what to cook, what to buy...

~one year ago tomorrow~

*looking at old pictures

*sewing buttons on a sweater

*wondering where a year went

*or ten for that matter

*adding to an old Rainbow Bridge story and starting a new one

~yesterday-having a mini-celebration with visiting family~

*taking the time to watch them sleep

*feeling awed and proud and a little sad

*looking forward to the future, but hoping it will take it's sweet ole' time in getting here

*vowing to slow down for this next year, to live in the moment and cherish each one

*dreaming about who they will be next year, and tomorrow, and 26 years after that

*still amazed by it all, now and forever

The Second Robe

Same pattern as the first. After the trouble I had with Elijah's robe, I was hesitant to start an even larger version (Iain's), so I decided to make some adjustments on a smaller scale, while making Galen's.

~Galen and 'Burdock'~

Of the three, I think his turned out the nicest.


And, when all else fails, it's a great place to stash your sword...

Stuffed duck made from recycled sweaters by a local toy maker. Sword (a gift from my parents) by Isle of Man Woodworking.

Scenes

Little glimpses of everyday life.

2009

The First Robe

I made Elijah's robe first for two reasons:

1) With all of the crafting for my winter birthday kids (as in, everyone but him), I felt like I hadn't worked on anything for him for a while.

2) His light colored outer fabric made it out of the wash just as I was sitting down to sew (where as the darker counterparts did not possess such excellent sense of timing).


KWIK SEW 2705
view A

I purchased the cotton velour for lining these robes ages ago, when I found it at a good price through a co-op. The little kids Christmas pj's from last year were made of cotton velour and the older set were covetous of "fuzzy fabric-ed" garments of their own.

Now, the problem with buying the lining so far in advance was that I was them committed to finding a fabric to coordinate with it.

There is a part of this shopping trip that I didn't mention. The hour or so that I spent pacing up and down the flannel aisle, tiny fabric swatches in hand, muttering about horrible shades of red that outright clash with everything. The kind ladies working that day took pity on me and tried to help, but all the same, by the time Steve got back to pick me up I had the crazy-eyed look of a women on the verge of a break down.

And right then and there is where I did some letting go of my own and the kids learned about their robes.


The next level of letting go came with the fabric choices. I had something very particular in mind. For months on end, I had been picturing some very classic looking Christmas pajamas. Maybe something in plaid or pinstripes, perhaps some paisley, maybe, just maybe, some discrete and tastefully done snowflakes; none of which I could find to match this red.

What I did find to match it was several different overly bright, overly loud and, dare I say, overly tacky fabrics.

And I found this:
With snowflakes and polar bears and tress and (this was the clincher) red cardinals that matched the velour exactly. It wasn't at all what I had in mind, and yet it was very, very Elijah (especially the cardinals). When I showed it to him and he hugged the bolt, I figured it was the way to go.

Sewing the stretchy velour to the stiff woven gave me all kinds of trouble, but it more or less worked out in the end. And he *loves* the robe. I think it's been on him, every single indoor hour since I gave it to him. He hangs it by the door and the moment the snow clothes come off, the robe comes on. Every time I see him in it, I can't help but smile.

snapshot: burdock boy

Some yarn for the Mama...

Remember that dyeing kick the Goosey Boy and I were on a while ago? Well, this is *my* Christmas gift from Galen.


All his idea, I swear! Though, I will confess to only setting out dyes in the colors I had in mind for a particular project...pink, yellow and peach. It puts me in mind of a sunrise or the colors of a Waldorf kindergarten. I'm thinking about this yarn, my Wee Girl, and springtime, all mixed up together.

It occurred to me this morning that I need to track down this yarn (and these too), because Christmas morning is just around the corner. Last time I saw this yarn, it was in a heap like this, on the floor, a few quick pictures later and it was unceremoniously tossed into a box, a box which ended up?!? I'd imagine it made it to the house, so that at least narrows it down a bit...


We've got another little dyeing project in the works for tonight after the very little people are in bed (hmm...still have to track down the supplies for the one too!). This time it's *for* my little Galey-Boy and from his adoring brothers.

And now if you'll excuse me, I apparently have some box sorting to do!

home for the holidays

We're all here still trying to settle in, trying to settle down. Things are mostly going very well. I'm walking around the edges of a migraine today, which always gets me down, but I know that once the fog clears, life will be good again (I know that it's good now too, but it's also rather painful and blurry).



The pajamas are coming along, though sadly, I suspect today is going to be a loss sewing wise. I'm almost done all the pajama pants, I finished a bonnet (ideally I would love to add a bit of embroidery...), and one robe is complete, with the patterns traced for two more.



Maybe today is a day for baking? Maybe it's just a day for rest. I know that it's a day to step back, take it easy on everyone and see where we end up.

Into the woods....

and back home again...