north bound.

we're all packed up and ready to head out to let the great northwoods and the sweet, sweet air work it's magic. the sun is shining, the kids are pumped(crossing fingers my little sick one improves as we head north)and i have a little somethin' special to take for my sisters, too.
i can breathe easier already. i'll be back here early next week with lots of goodness and beauty. (wish me luck i get home without any broken bones!)


have a fabulous weekend, my friends!

not yet.

last night, we walked out of swimming lessons to the night sky filled with big, fat, beautiful snowflakes(the photo doesn't do them justice!). they made us all smile. we are not yet ready to bid farewell to winter.

practice.

ok. so, i haven't been around as much as i'd like to. and i had hoped to be introducing my new and exciting etsy shop today, too. well, i'm sorry to say, not gonna happen. not today.

i've discovered that opening shop is overwhelming for me. postal rates and packaging. philosophy and creative process. returns and exchanges. delivery options and shop policies. and witty, creative wording to go along with it all. plus the photos of my products that need to be taken and the business cards that need to get made and on and on. i know that it doesn't have to happen all at once. and i know that it's going to take alot of trial and error. and i'm going to make mistakes and it will get better with time. but i just don't have it in me right now. give me a week or two. i'm working on it.

because here's the bigger picture. i'm having a hard time fitting this into my life. and my life is feeling rather rough right now to begin with. i'm having a hard time making this space a priority when there's so much going on. i wish that it were a priority. and not because i feel like it has to be but because i want it to be. i want to be excited to come here and process and create and communicate. i'm hoping that with practice, it will be. i need practice. practice fitting more into my already busy, crazy life. practice rearranging things to make life less stressful. practice making this work. it's just taking longer than i'd hoped(which, of course, is frustrating which, in turn, makes things more stressful which is frustrating and the cycle goes on...). i'm working on it.

the even bigger picture is that life has been just plain hard the past couple of weeks. but i'm trying really hard to see life in a better light. to see the good in it all. i'm working on letting go of things(both material and emotional)and moving forward. some days i feel as if i'm losing my mind. and some days i feel like giving up altogether. but i don't. i haven't quite lost my mind yet(although some might say that's negotiable)and i haven't given up. because i do have so much goodness and so much to be grateful for. it could be so much worse and it's not. and so i keep on keepin' on knowing that no matter how hard life gets, i have amazing, loving people to turn to and three wonderful, healthy children to love. so much good. so much thanks.

whirlwindy.

goodness, the past few days(ok...like 5 days!)have been a whirlwind of many things. some good, some not so good.

i had sick kids, some deep down, manic cleaning, a celebration of the start of the olympics and some crafting to go along with it. out of town family, in town for the weekend, lots of cooking(chicken dumpling soup and chili~yum!), more cleaning. valentines day and crafting to go along with it(thanks molly and rachel!)and welcoming the year of the tiger(honestly, all i did in celebration of this was a bowl of clementines on the table~for good luck. it's the thought that counts, right?). the weekend was followed by back to school, back to work, more cleaning and a really rough couple of days. and an amazingly supportive group of friends and family who i couldn't live without. how lucky am i?!(must be those clementines :) )

more details on the crafting and cooking to come...

a breather.

ummm...ok, i think i need to stop and breathe for just a second. i seem to be having a little bit of an ADD/OCD problem right now. in the past half hour or so, i've begun at least three different cleaning projects. i started cleaning the kitchen and moved on to cleaning out the fridge and then decluttering the countertops to cleaning out and reorganizing a closet. except i left each one unfinished when i got distracted by the next. all in a matter of a half an hour. does anyone else have this problem? i need a list, i think. i need to make a list and then focus on one thing at a time, right? that's what i'll do. ok...i'm ok now. thanks for listening to my crazy goings on.

is it really thursday already?

my goodness. it's thursday already and although i had many good intentions of being here more this week, i simply did not find the time. our house seems to be a revolving door of sickness this week(sounds as if many are). but i did want to share a couple of projects we've been working on lately.

luke made homemade valentine's for his class party this friday. it amazes me that he's never pushed for the pokeman or superman store bought ones. nope. he's cut and pasted and colored hearts every year and it makes this mama proud. this year he had a little extra help from mom. i remember seeing an idea similar to this last year at this time and can't for the life of me remember where i saw it(apologies to whoever i'm not giving credit to!).

for these super sweet little valentine's sketchbooks, we took sheets of red cardstock and cut them in half twice so that we had 4 pieces. for each piece of cardstock, i cut 5 sheets of plain white printer paper. first i cut 1/2 inch off of one long side and one short side making the full sheet 10 1/2 by 8in and then cut them in half twice. this gave us 4 sets of 5 sheets slightly smaller than the cardstock(tell me if i'm not making sense!).

putting the 5 white sheets centered on the red cardstock, i then stitched straight down the middle. after stitching them, they are easy for the kids to fold in half. meanwhile, luke was busy cutting hearts out of some cute paper which he then pasted on the front of each booklet. so sweet! he later added to's and from's and taped a pencil to the back of each. i think he and i both were quite happy with the outcome.

i've also been working on these but i cheated a bit. i'll admit that when it comes to projects, i sometimes get a little bit impatient. i skip steps and take shortcuts. sometimes i need a project to take up less of my time than it should and if i still am happy with the results, i'm totally cool with cutting out a step here and there. with these, i used felt glue instead of stitching them together. totally cheating but, it's worked so far. granted they're not quite done yet. i'm really hoping to finish them up today or tomorrow so that they're done for valentine's day. my girls have been very excited about them and are even more antsy than i to get them finished and in their hair(where i'm sure they will stay for a good 10 minutes or less!). i'll update once they're done and perhaps even put in a little tutorial on how to make them(the cheatin' way).

one other thing...i think i need to make these! lOve them!

for now though, i must get back to my little sicky girl. a long day ahead of movie watching and snuggling, i think. hope you all are healthy and happy!

the weekend.

ahhh, the weekend. there was some cleaning, some work, a little empanada making(yum!)with little hands helping. there was a walk in the cold, crisp air. a mama get away and a really good movie with really great music. there was time with wonderful friends and too much good food. there was not enough time. but time enough for lots of goodness. hope you all had a beautiful weekend too.

coming soon...a little crafting, valentine making and a new do.

looking forward.

there are days when i think it's going to be a crazy, hectic, give me a headache kind of day and instead it goes super smoothly and everyone listens and gets along. those days are awesome. they make me feel kind of like i really do have my shit together. kind of like i'm super-mom.

other things::
i'm looking forward to a productive but chill weekend at home. i have a long list of projects to get to, cleaning and organizing and a little bit of fun, too.

i want to try making some of these for the girls. so sweet.

because i have incredibly awesome friends, i get to go see this. and i get to see it here. (it's were all the cool people go, you know.) and although i'm not much of a movie goer...i've been so wanting to see this and can't wait!

i have plans to cook up some empanadas and perhaps a little something sweet(as soon as i decide what that might be)for hangin' with friends on sunday. a little superbowl get together of sorts, except we probably won't really watch the superbowl. maybe the commercials. that's what it's really all about anyway, right? well, that and the yummy food and cocktails and good people.

oooo...and maybe a snowshoe, too at some point. goodness, i'll need three weekends back to back to fit everything in! i'll let you know what actually gets done and what fun has been had as we go...:)

happy weekend!

hazey's little feet.

1243am. i couldn't sleep. my ears tuned in immediately when the nighttime silence was disrupted by my littlest one tossing about. i waited. she didn't cry or yell out. but i could hear her fervent search for a blanket and nuk. then the thUmp of her jump(this smallest child of mine never climbs down, only up. always she jumps). little feet pounding in a mad dash for the door as if she is expecting the monster under the bed to be waiting patiently for just this moment. a pause as the door swings open and gently closes(funny that she thinks to close it behind her). and another mad dash to mama's big bed. she climbs up in no time and snuggles in. chilly toes drawn to warm skin. safely wrapped in mama's arms, she's asleep within seconds. our nightly routine.

valentine.

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and because I'm single and have three little loves of my own, it is primarily a children's holiday in my book. Brown paper bags decorated and brimming with spiderman and princess and(hopefully!)some handmade valentines. Chocolate cupcakes with red and pink sprinkles. Cutting and coloring and pasting lots and lots of sweet little hearts. I sometimes forget that many people celebrate Valentine's Day in other ways. Romantic candlelit dinners. Boxes of fancy chocolates. Roses and sweet nothings. Needless to say, it's been a long time since I've had a special someone to call my valentine. And I'm ok with that, except...

Yes, except.The truth is is that I can't quite imagine ever having that again(did I ever really have it in the first place?) As a single mama with three young children, there is very little(if any!)desire to meet someone. If you couldn't guess, I don't get out much. The actual meeting of that someone might be a problem. And dating! Are you kidding!? I have no time for that nonsense. I remember (vaguely but with fondness)the newness, the excitement of that something that's just begun. But the awkwardness, the getting to know you phase. No thanks. Mind you, my social skills are sadly lacking since spending all hours of the day with mostly wee ones(this could make up an entire post of it's own!). Making that effort, taking that time is simply beyond my realm of possibility right now. 3 kids. they consume me. It's hard to imagine having room for more but at the same time, I can feel a space. Something missing.

Not long ago, I was venting a bit to a friend about how everyone I knew had someone. A husband or wife, a significant other, a partner in this life. And how weary I am of being alone, of having no one to talk to at the end of the day, of doing it all all of the time. This friend gave me a little pep talk and then said, "don't worry, you're ship hasn't sailed yet." Which, firstly made me feel very old and secondly, made me realize that although it hasn't sailed for good, this ship is definitely far out at sea right now. I'm cool with that. Because right now, sweet, sticky kisses, pasted, misshapen hearts and my little ones snuggled close are all that I need.

Perhaps someday...

a day with luke.

Over the weekend, Luke and I were lucky enough to have some time for just the two of us(thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). We spent a good deal of time here. We'd never been before and really enjoyed it(it was a bit overwhelming but super cool! Another visit is definitely in order!).

We did a little shopping, sipped some hot cocoa and ended the day visiting and having dinner with our fabulous family.

A very good day indeed.