Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Poor C probably thinks her Mama has forgotten about her belated birthday gifts.
But fear not little one - Just look! Your C Ingalls Wilder is so close to being done. Now let's see if I can actually finish it up for her. I am in the process of sewing on the pockets and then all I need to do is sew on buttons and block. For some reason I tend to lose steam when it gets to the tiny finishing details, which is ridiculous of me. They don't take long to do but I get this mental block and can't finish them.

How about you? What are you working on? Happy creating!

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Treasures (& memories) found

My family and I spent the weekend going through boxes in our garage (You know, those boxes that have been there untouched since we moved in almost three years ago). What a rewarding and much needed chore.



I found some of my favorite horses from childhood. (Was anyone else as obsessed with Breyer horsesas I was?) I even found my favorite books along with them. I can't wait to read them to the girls! I grew up on Marguerite Henry books but always had a love for her book Misty of Chincoteaguethe most. My mom encouraged this love by taking me on a trip to Chincoteague Island over summer vacation one year. I can still remember it so clearly. It is one of my best memories (Although seeing the real Misty stuffed was quite a shocker to me. In my young mind I thought that the story of Misty was very recent and that I would see her running in a pasture or something along those lines.)



K found my box of saris and needed to try one on. I told her that they were all adult size and way too huge for her but she was still very adamant that she needed to try one on. So I did my best to make it fit her and she was quite happy with the outcome proclaiming that she looked like someone dressed up as Mother Mary in a Nativity play.


Picture taken back home in New York by my Mom on her new fangled phone







But the biggest treasure of all was finding my Grandpa's prayer book that he carried with him during WWII (just in time for Pentecost, too!). I have been longing for it so much lately. (This kind of jumps into the 'journey conversation' I have been meaning to talk about. I have to say I am loving this journey I am on.) My Grandfather meant the world to me, he was like a father to me so I hold him very close to my heart. I have been thinking about him a lot lately with Father's Day approaching. He passed away on that day when I was twenty, so it has become a hard day for me. I'll never forget our last conversation. I was living in California at the time and he was back home in upstate New York. It was as if he knew his time was near because he told me to straighten my life up and go to college. He never spoke so seriously to me before and until then was always very light hearted in his conversations. When I got the phone call the next day that he was gone, I did what he asked of me - I owed it to him.

His prayer book is sitting on my desk next to me as I type this. Glancing over at it I now feel the need to shut down my computer and curl up with my sleeping baby and read.

Happy Pentecost and Memorial Day everyone!


P.s - In case you missed out on the beautiful weather set giveaway from Armadillo Dreams, I thought I would share with all of you that they have 3 day sale going on from 5/26 to 5/28 and everything is 25% off! There is no coupon code needed, they discounted everything up front. Makes it easy for everyone!

Treasures (& memories) found

Discovery (this moment in a series of shots)

La, la LAAAAAAA! Lights on.





Still dark and gloomy here, but on the bright side the gloominess brought about a discovery for Baby L - the kitchen lights. He pushed his big sister's stool right up to the counter (while snacking on fresh bread out of the oven) and after a couple seconds of contemplation and looking at me to see if it's ok he flipped the switch. I think you can see how happy it made him.

p.s Because I know I will forget this later... Out on a drive today K asked me how people can know the weather ahead of time and put it on the computer (we check the weather online). I paused to really think about it and replied with, "Hmmm. That's a good question, Beanie. How do you think they know?". She sat there silent for a moment and responded, "I think there are special people in the world that the sun fairies and rain fairies will only talk to, and they tell them what the weather will be. Then those special people put it on the computer". Ack, what an idea! I love that little creative mind of hers!

Discovery (this moment in a series of shots)

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The sun has gone back into hiding making it utterly impossible to take a photograph. After about 10 tries with multiple different locations and camera settings I decided to call it quits and just embrace the blur. So theres that.

Baby season is upon us, or so it seems. I have quite a few friends and acquaintences having babies over the summer and some of the girls' classmates are becoming big brothers and sisters. Such a special time. Right now I spending more time planning on what I will make for those new precious arrivals than anything else. However I did knit up a hat for one of the babies that just arrived, I am hoping to get it to her this week. The pattern is very sweet and if I have another girl in the future I will knit it up again in a heartbeat! (Rav notes here)

I just found Cutest Ever Baby Knits: Over 20 Adorable Projects to Knitat my local library and I already have many pages bookmarked. Those sweet strawberry booties on the cover are soon to be on my needles. I love newborn knitting, it's so fast, so dainty and so darn cute. I grabbed The Opinionated Knitterwhile I was there too, with dreams of knittng a baby surprise jacket for Baby L. Probably just a dream, though.

I will get on the KCCO button contest soon. I am excited about it!

Don't forget to enter to win a weather set from Armadillo Dreams while you still can!

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

The banana slug races

Remember my desire that I expressed a couple of weeks ago to explore new places this summer? Well, we started a little early. Nothing wrong with that, right? We traveled to Leach Botanical Garden over the weekend and I kid you not, we could have walked there. It is right at the foot of our mountain but just on the other side - the side we never go to. We were really missing out. Funny how some of the most amazing places don't require a trip but are right in your own backyard!

Leach was hosting a children's nature fair and it was all about bugs. This came at the perfect time as my little C has suddenly developed a fear of any bug that flies (even fruit flies!) and also spiders. I am not sure how these fears came about - we have always handled and gently played with bugs and taught the girls that they have their place in our world and are our 'bug friends'. I guess it's just something she needs to work through. C didn't mind the bugs at the fair and even enjoyed seeing the tarantulas (of course she screamed hysterically when we came home and a fly flew past her).

We enjoyed many bug crafts, folk music, birds (Baby L's highlight for the day) and an educational 'Ladybug' nature walk. Each child was given a ladybug backpack filled with fun goodies to use on the walk including a paint brush (to dig into the creek and paint the rocks and trees with water), magnifying glass, a bowl, an animal mask,a bug box and more things that I can't seem to recall at the moment. The girls were very inquisitive and listened so closely, hanging on to every word the instructor told them. They both quickly picked up on the edible plants around them and started snacking down. K even prepared a snack bouquet for the road. There was some disappointment and tears shed at the end of the walk when we had to return our ladybug backpacks but we got through it and now we have plan of making our own nature bags filled with similar goodies. I am thinking that Meg's pattern in Growing Up Sew Liberated might be just perfect.

I can't deny that the real excitement for the day was the banana slug races. That was the reason the girls wanted to go in the first place. Quite entertaining, I do have to say. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a slug person but I admit they are pretty cool. I foresee many banana slug races being held in our own backyard in the near future.

Without a doubt, we'll be heading back to Leach many, many more times this summer.

Don't forget there is still time to enter to win your own weather set from Armadillo Dreams! You can enter here.

p.s - Please excuse the mess as I try to clean up this blog of mine. It was feeling a bit cluttered with the two sidebars and so many links. I hope to be finished with this project by the end of the week.

The banana slug races

His and Hers

Last week Baby L and his cutie of a friend unintentionally wore their new vests I made them on the same day. Hold that thought for a moment - Did I ever even mention that knitting up her birthday vest finally inspired me to finish up Baby L's winter wheat milo with just the last step of grafting the top and bottom together? Things seem to be slipping by me a lot lately. Back to what I was saying - I just so happened to be lugging around my camera that day Eh, who am I kidding? I drag that thing around with me just about everywhere. so we ran outside in the (rather harsh) morning light to get a picture of them together. Have you ever tried to snap a photo of two one year olds together? If so I am guessing it looked something like this...







Am I right?



Even the squirrel in the tree above was laughing and taunting us.



We did manage to wrangle them up for a split second, but then they were off again and of course in opposite directions! Such sweet baby love.

Stay tuned for a fun giveaway tomorrow.

His and Hers

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Boy am I keeping calm this week. Beautiful weather and entire days spent outside - ah, this is the life! I have really slowed down in the knitting department, but I'm cool with that. I seemed to have lost the motivation and lack the inspiration to pick up my needles. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think it's good to step back every now and then.

I did work a bit on my bird boy's pants while soaking in the sun but they are already proving to be difficult due to insane pooling. I am now alternating between two skeins of yarn using both ends... still pooling. Hmmm, maybe it's time to pick up the last details on C's belated birthday pinafore. I only need to knit the pockets now.

I have a proposition I would like to run past all of you. A couple of weeks ago Anjig suggested making a KCCO button to spread the word. I love this idea but I am so ridiculously unacquainted with computers, so how could I do this? I am lucky to be able to pull off posting pictures on a weekly basis! I know you guys are much more computer savvy than I am, and I bet you have an idea of my style from visiting here. So I am thinking of hosting a contest of some kind to make a button for our weekly KCCO posts (and yes, you'll need to tell me the html code and what have you so I know how to post it and share it :p ), and offer some kind of fun prize to the winner. What do you think? Would anyone be interested in doing that? I'll have to think more about it and what kind of prize(s) to offer - maybe craft related? (if any small businesses are reading this and would like to contribute please e-mail me, I would love it!) It's just something I thought I would throw out there... and now I feel silly and insecure for bringing it up. If you all leave me comments telling me I've gone mad, I'll understand. It would just give me a good dose of humility, which (in my eyes)is a healthy thing to receive.

If you would like to link up and share your current works in progress please leave your link below. It can now be either to your specific blog post or Flickr photo. There are no rules, only that your link is current and something about a craft project (of any kind) you are working on. Don't forget that there is now a KCCO Flickr group for you to share your crafting photos at anytime.

Please remember to link back here so that others who may want to join KCCO can find us.

It's as simple as that. Remember your post can be from any day of the week, it doesn't have to be today. We all love feedback so if you have a moment please leave a comment on some of the KCCO posts you may visit. I know your comments really motivate me! Now please share and inspire us all!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

To sum it up

You'll have to forgive me but I still can't get enough of those sweet baby feet.









These past few days have had their ups and downs (poor Kevin was sick which meant I was looking after four children *ahem*), but the sun has been shining and clearing up any dark clouds that may pass in our lives. It's actually even warmed up enough for us to eat outdoors and even have our first popsicles of the season. We chose to make our own version of creamsicles which is just orange juice (fresh squeezed if you can) and plain yogurt mixed together and frozen. I made Baby L his own orange juice popsicle but it was much too cold for him. He liked the first bite and then started screaming. We quickly removed the popsicle from his grip and put him in the bathtub with warm water. Good feelings returned! After that we stuck with strawberries as his treat, and you can see the evidence of this all over his shirt in the picture above (along with dirt from playing outside).





C, Baby L and I went out on an impromptu garage sale trip after we dropped K off at school on Friday. I saw a sign on the way home and just couldn't refuse! We came home with a bookwe have been wanting for awhile now as well as this wooden crate. I have been searching for crates like these for a couple of years now with no avail. Well, if I wanted to spend $50 on one then I could find a few, but I am more in the $4 price range (like this one was). The only thing is that this crate is deeper than it is wide so I am not sure what to use it for just yet (Kitty picture is to give you a better idea of the size). What would you do with it? I would love to hear your suggestions.







Mother's Day was very sweet. I think K and C thought it was like a birthday (how cute is that?!), and they set up the birthday ring for me. Then after dinner K asked me to light a candle and she held it and sang 'Happy Mother's Day to you' to the tune of 'Happy Birthday to you'. Yeah, it's safe to say I was a puddle of mush.
I hope you all had a beautiful weekend!

To sum it up