crafting..

Lately I have had the great joy of becoming friends once again with my Singer Simple sewing machine. Now that I have a sewing machine I have been making even more things for my home. There for a few years with my husband deployed all I did was hand sewing... a wonderful time consumer. In high school, I remember making my own skirts, bags, even shoes... I was a little strange. Now I am probably even more of an oddity, I make my children's clothing, and many of my own. Toys, blankets, diapers, wash clothes... so much of it now is handmade. I was amazed when I came across people doing this and making books about the things we maternal folk love so much. I was so pleased with the ideas this encourages, that I bought Amanda Soule's newest book, the Handmade Home. I love to support women as they follow their hearts, whether that be in their home or their career.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Shoulder bag made for C's first night at Children's meeting.

C's Quilted pillowcase for her birthday.

Little Elephant puppet toy for the kids.



Toy blocks for babies.

Wash clothes for babes. These will need some friends in a couple days.

fasting from house searches....

My husband and I made a pact that we would take a break from house hunting untill the end of August. I did not realize how much of my time I gave over to simply running through the searches once a day. Realtor, criagslist, Howard and Hannah, Remax, da, da, da, da,da... amazing how many of those there are to filter through. But we seem to get to this point every three months or so where we have travelled out to a house after house only to be let down and deside just to step back for a bit and give ourselves some breathing room from the whole concept of house and land. So here is to staying home and relaxing with babies as opposed to running house searches!

House Hunting....

Our househunting today consisted of driving 45 minutes out of town, tromping around a tiny plot of land with a falling in house on it and making the long trek back to our downtown spot... I have to admit it gets frustrating putting all these miles behind us just to see a let down, (even if the property was gorgeous). But I am reminded of what Edison said :I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Not helpful, but encouraging... so, more encouragement

This, This, and This

better luck later!!

no good at blogs??

So I am not surprised to find that I am no good at blogs. I have spent a year having babies, caring for babies, taking classes, moving, and switching careers. No wonder I have not been blogging huh? On top of these small endeavors, we did our first *tiny* garden, I began making the majority of our families clothing, and we have continued our hunt for the perfect home for us. I started this blog to chronicle our search for home, independence, and a return to the simpler life of years passed, we are making our changes.... slowly. Right now, we still live in downtown, not an ideal location for raising children (or chickens... downright impossible). But we want our kids to grow up knowing how to care for themselves, how to mend and cook and grow. So here are a few pictures of training our children, with what we have for the time being. (the picture above is of our small, but very much appreciated, vegetable crop. This was my pride and joy pumpkin... love love love it!!)