moonpie is 10

This morning Birdy was up before I thought she should be.  It was still so dark out that I couldn't imagine starting my day.  I scooped her out of her crib and sat with her in the rocker to try to soothe her back to sleep.  Her cold little cheek found the warm spot in my neck and made a home right there.  You mamas know what I mean.  It's the best.

As I rocked my youngest daughter I watched my oldest turn in her bed and I couldn't help but marvel at time.  This day marks her tenth birthday.  But wasn't it only yesterday I was sitting in the dark rocking her sweet self to sleep?  Singing to her over and over "mama loves, and daddy loves, and everybody loves little baby...".  And really, for that matter, wasn't it just a few years back that I was celebrating my tenth birthday?  How can it be that I am a mother of a ten year old?

Gosh- I love her.  I love her creativity.  I love how funny she is.  I love how considerate she is.  I love that she still wants me to lay next to her in bed every night and rub her back and whisper about our day and the pony she will one day have.

She is my girl.  My girl that is quickly approaching womanhood.  She is my treasure and I'm going to continue soaking up every beautiful day that I have with her.  

Even the hard days are beautiful.  That's what being a mama for ten years has taught me.  

Happy birthday Moonpie!  I hope your year is rich in adventure and love!

my sister's birthday

Moonpie's birthday post card (I smudged her real name out)

There is this great picture somewhere of my older sister and I together- I am sitting in some sort of 70's baby carrier and she is sitting next to me in all of her three year old glory.  She is leaning towards me showing the baby blue eye shadow she so expertly applied to her lids, her sweet little face framed by her golden Tennille haircut.  This is one of my favorite pictures of us.  Her being such a big sister, and me just basking in all of her loveliness.
I love my sister immeasurably.  She's all the way out in California, and sometimes I get so homesick for her that it makes my heart hurt.  And if I could have one wish today it would be that I had a Scarry-esque apple helicopter so I could span the distance between us and share some ice cream with her on her birthday.

So,
to the one who taught me how to wear high heels with my Wonder Woman underoos so stylishly
how to read (as a 4 year old)
how to lay out on the trampoline (even though I would get really bored and start bouncing you)
how to pluck my eyebrows (against my will) and
how to see Jesus in every one I meet

To the one that let me sleep in your bed when I was scared
or lonely
or confused by what was going on in our home

To the one who turned on the Christmas carols every Christmas Eve and threatened that Santa would not come if we did not go to sleep
who taught me how to spend my money
who taught me how to give generously

To my one and only sister
my dear
my heart

Happy birthday to you.

I love you.

-m

my sister and moonpie, 4th of July

this moment {five}

this moment- inspired by soulemama...

no words.

please share your moments in the comment section.

moonpie celebrates- part 2

the decorations


I love to look at pictures of elaborate children's parties.  I am on OhDeeDoh all of the time checking out the beautiful parties going on up in there.  However, when it comes time to throwing my own party, I prefer simplicity.  Just like I prefer it in every other area!

A few weeks ago when we were at the library, I noticed an entire set of 1950's Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedias.  I grabbed a stack of them, setting them aside for party time.  

There is so much inspiration on the web for making things out of book pages.  Over on Dottie Angel I found heart streamers...perfect for our party and Valentines Day!  {{{I must pause to say...I am absolutely smitten with Dottie Angel.  I want to invite her to live in my little shed, however there is no moss to be found and she may not like it in the summers.}}}

These were very easy and fun to make!  We cut out hearts from the books and I just sewed 'em right up. I plan on leaving these up until March.  Or maybe forever.  I love them!

Next we set out to make a banner out of the pages.  Moonpie took over this job and wrote out S-E-V-E-N in glitter glue.  I stitched a length of binding across the top to make it hang.  I love for the children to be involved in all of the stages of the planning, and I think Moonpie did a lovely job on her banner!

Our bookworm cake was for sure the main feature!  The kids thought he was pretty cool!  I stacked him up on some of my old books and perched him next to our jars o' snacks.  The snacks were limited this year because we actually served lunch.  Moonpie dipped several pretzel rods into (fair trade) chocolate and Buddy helped roll them into sprinkles.  The rest of the snacks were basic- carrot sticks, clementines and plain pretezel rods.

For the goodie bags I simply ripped out a page of the book and glued it to a brown bag from Hobby Lobby.  Inside the goodie bags we placed a yummy earth sucker, a thrifted book and a secret treasure box with bookworm glasses attached!  These were the typical Groucho Marx glasses with the nose and eyebrows removed.  I attached  a little poem I came up with at the last minute and then almost burned the house down trying to make it look cool.  Moonpie was behind me the whole time saying "please be careful Mama."  "We really don't need to do this Mama!"  "Please don't burn yourself Mama!!!".

These little boxes were my most favorite element.  John worked 2 days on these getting them ready.  And I love the way they turned out!  Our children have already stuffed theirs with treasures, and I'm hoping Moonpie's buddies do the same.  John was pretty relieved that we only had 4 children over.  I can't imagine how long it would have taken if there would have been more!
Here's to having a husband that puts up with all of my over ambition!  I think he's my enabler because he always says "sure, we can do that".  That's right.  It's all his fault!!!

And that was it.  Very simple.  Very manageable.  Just the way I like it!  As in most things in my life, it is more important for me that my children be a part of the process than to have a perfect picture at the end.

***one last thing- before the book police come and hunt me down.  These books were going to be thrown out, living in a land fill.  I was more than happy to give them a second chance at life, sitting on the shelf of child concealing treasures of the heart.  And yes, turning some pages into hearts.  I know this isn't for everyone, it was actually rather hard for me to do.  But I feel like it was a worthy use of what essentially was going to be trash.***

Moonpie celebrates- part 1

This year, instead of a big party, Moonpie opted to have a birthday lunch with a handful of friends.  We have learned from past parties that she overwhelms easily in a large group.  Oh how I understand this.

Ages ago I saw a post on Oh Happy Day! about some invitations that she had created for a bookworm themed birthday party.  I tucked that idea in the back of my head, hoping that one day one of my children would like the idea of a bookworm themed party.  When I mentioned this idea to Moonpie, she loved it!

This left lots of room for activities we could do.  I dusted off my elementary school teacher brain and set to work on some games!

They all attempted to make bleached letter t-shirts (inspired by Ashley Anne).  I say attempted because I used natural bleach.  You know, the kind with no chlorine in it.  Mmm-hmm.  Genius!  When we pulled the shirts out of the drier a friend said "hey, what happened to my letter?"  Good question!

We hunted for eggs in the backyard with words inside of them.  After all were found the kids pieced the words together to form sentences.  Some of the sentences were scripture and some were quotes from children's books.

We played sight word bingo, using gummy worms for markers.  They appeased me by sitting through one game.  Then they couldn't resist the urge to eat their gummy worms!

We then, of course, played pin the worm on the book.  This was Moonpie's idea and she created the whole activity herself.

My favorite part of the day was when we sat down to eat lunch (alphabet soup, of course!).  I started a discussion about favorite books.  I loved hearing them talk about the books they treasure most.  One child stated that she just couldn't think of her favorite book because there are so many good ones.

I couldn't agree more.

they say it's your birthday

Well I tell them to just hush.  That it can't be seven years already.

But then I see you, making eggs for our breakfast, reading the card I made for you, trying to navigate the emotions that come with growing, and I know-

-I know-

that it is so.

You are seven.  You are tall

and strong

and compassionate

and funny

and creative

and smart.

Oh so smart.  I can't get over you.

Today as we heap presents upon you, know that it is a meager attempt to show you what a gift you are to us.

It is my joy to share this journey of growth with you.  Since the day you were born, we have been discovering this world together.  I am blessed to have a fellow sojourner such as you.

Happy birthday my girl.

the gifts...

We had such fun celebrating Buddy's birthday yesterday! Thank you for your well wishes for him!

There was some home made love being shown here yesterday and I wanted to share.

Buddy finally got his robot, the one he picked the fabric out for last year (he received 'Spaceboy' for Christmas). He was more relieved than happy, I think, to finally get it! Robot man was promptly tied to the back of the monster truck trike and taken for a ride around the house!

And now on to the stars of the birthday present show. Moonpie made him a race car track with four race cars ("because he's turning 4, mama"). She left it blank so he could color it himself. I was so touched by her creativity and thoughtfulness. Truly, the most perfect present for the birthday boy.

And then- the nesting dolls! Buddy loves to play with nesting dolls at his Grandma and Grandad's house, so I thought to get him his own set. I found some plain wooden ones on Etsy, and John painted mustaches and wooly eyebrows on them! Buddy loved them! Who wouldn't?

for the birthday boy

Hey Buddy-

Guess what...

I love you more than you love blueberries.

And you know as well as I do-

that's a whole lot.

Happy birthday

my big ol' 4 year old!

crafty love

whew! we have had a busy, fun morning of crafting. we are gearing up for celebrating the birthday's of two of my precious nephews and, of course, valentine's day!

i have a jar that i keep broken crayons in for crayon recycling. i've been so inspired by all of the people around the blogosphere making heart shaped ones for valentine's day! we decided to make some this morning for a valentine party the kid's will be having at church.

i set out some stamps for buddy to use on his, and i was pleasantly surprised to see that he preferred placing the heart across the entire stamp pad and pressing down. my first extinct was to tell him to stop, but when he pulled it off, it made the most beautiful stained glass effect. we decided that was the best method, and continued in that fashion.

i learn so much from my kid's. like in this instance, the letting go, seeing what happens, crafting from the gut- what freedom!

we set some of the crayons aside for my nephew quinn. he is turning two, and this boy LOVES to color. moonpie made him a little bag for his crayons (on her very own sewing machine-that post soon to come) and a book of coloring pages.

i was first inspired to make these little coloring books when my grandmother brought back two hand drawn coloring books from amish country. i fell in love with the simple line drawings of farm life on those pages, and wanted to replicate that feel. it is clear that moonpie is the resident artist in this home, so she has taken over the task of our handmade coloring books. she put so much thought into each of the drawings for her little cousin. i just know that quinn is going to love it!

quinn also loves books and shoes. check out these great vintage wooden shoes (and books) i found for him at our thrift store:

and here's what we cooked up for baby jack. he turned the O-N-E this week, and i can hardly believe it. i was honored to be in the room when jack was born and can't get over that it happened a whole year ago. he's getting his very first pair of monkey britches:

and some bean bags in coordinating stripes. my favorite thing about these little bags is that the alternate fabrics i used are all from jack's great-grandmother's fabric stash. i hope he enjoys all of the textures and squishy barley that his big cousins poured in for him.

we are off for the weekend to celebrate!

now we are six

When I was One,

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new.

When I was Three,

I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five,

I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

A.A. Milne

happy birthday my moonpie,

my treasure,

my dearest dear,

forever and ever.

this one goes out to the one i love

photo credit: clover carroll

on my list of things to be thankful for, you're off the charts!

happy birthday my love!

3 years of sunshine

buddy's birthday biscuit (covered in homemade whipped cream!) on his bday plate!

today is buddy boy's third birthday!

buddy knows how to live every minute to its fullest.

he is full of hugs and laughs.

my boy has the sweetest spirit about him.

he loves his sissy and he loves playing with the big boys!

our life with buddy is loud and full of love.

he pushes the boundaries of his fears, overcoming them, and i'm so proud of him for that.

his name means 'together in harmony'- and that is our prayer for our boy.

that he be a peace maker

a light in this world.

deciding he's had waaaaaaaaay too much cream!

happy third birthday my sweet, sweet sunshine boy.

moonpie's five

today is moonpie's fifth birthday. it seems unreal that she can be that old. yesterday she told me "tomorrow i'm going to be this tall" standing on her toes. she's also been telling me lately that i won't be able to hold her any more, because she'll be too big. little does she know that i'll be like that creepy old lady in love you forever, driving across town, crawling in her window when she's an adult, just to hold her. our little moonpie, called that by her daddy, "because her face is round, like a moonpie", he'd say. seems like every year that little moonpie face is getting slimmer, ushering us toward womanhood.




moonpie is an old soul- an 80 year old woman trapped in the body of a 5 year old. "mama, come outside! the sunset is amazing!" she hollers to me. she teaches me so much. how to appreciate the journey. how to watch out for tiny 'newborn' acorn hats before they are crushed underfoot. she is the ultimate chicken wrangler

and my hero

but most of all, she's my girl. my creative, responsible, book lovin', wiser than her age, girl. and i'd give the moon and and stars for her to know how big my love is for her. that i didn't know how gut wrenching and vulnerable love truly was until the day she was born. she introduced me to that new kind of love- that mama bear love that is so intense it can be frightening.

so here's to you, my little one...happy birthday!

2 whole years of loving buddy...

buddy turned 2 monday! my sweet boy...he is sunshine rolled up in the cuddliest blanket. he is funny and tender and wild and snuggly. it is my joy to be his momma. it doesn't feel like time has flown by with buddy, 2 years feels just about right because we spend all of our time together. i have been blessed to see every step, hear every wonderful word and see his brilliance unfold. every day has been full since he has come on the scene, and that's just the way i like it.

this picture is of buddy's birthday breakfast using his special plate. last year a friend and i got together to paint plates for each of our children that can be used for special times like birthdays, or anything- like being nice to a friend at the park! buddy's plate has a star perched on a hill. rolling across the hill are the words 'be light'. on the back of the plate i wrote the scripture 'you are the light of the world. a city on a hill cannot be hidden'. this is my daily prayer for buddy. that he can share the light that is in him with the world. as he gets older we can talk about this verse on his special day and what it means, what it looks like when you put action behind it. but for now i pray it over him as he sleeps- 'be light, be light'. and i already see such evidence of this in him. he is my smiling man, and it is contagious!

i'm big on creating and passing on existing heritage with our children. on each child's bday we have the breakfast of their choice and look at pictures of their birth. this is a relatively new tradition (since my kids are only 2 and 4!) but i love it and look forward to it. i hope that as they grow they will begin to anticipate birthday breakfast. there are no gifts, just a time to celebrate our love as a family for that person. to celebrate buddy this year we had almond biscuits. these are amazing and when served with strawberries and cream you have a dessert (which we did for dinner later that night)! you have to try them: oh drat- i leant out the cookbook. i'll have to post the recipe another day. trust me, you can't live without this recipe! : )