This is our humble apartment size under-window-garden-yes it is meager, but we made the most of it and the kids LOVE harvesting!  The picture in my header is Ahshua harvesting

summer

Saying goodbye to summer this year is somewhat bitter sweet.  I am genuinely a lover of fall and early (before bitter cold) winter.  I love the holidays and layers of clothes.  I'm an indoor girl.  But this summer was really fresh for me.  It was the first summer in a lonnng time that I wasn't pregnant or with an infant or nursing.  It was really awesome having a big family that could get around as a unit, without me lagging or being left behind.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE infant stage!  Not so much the pregnant stage as I was spending a lot of time near the toilie.  But I think I am finally at peace with moving on from that stage of life for us.  This has been hard in coming, especially since my sister and friends all around me are either pregnant or having babies.  But even longer in me has been the desire to adopt.  And this desire has begun to resurface and take over.  But saying goodbye to a season of your life that has brought you SO much joy isn't easy.  But I have to say that I am truly enjoying transitioning to the next stage.  Thus the whole bitter/sweet. 

Here are some pictures of summer ...

"ugly doll"

I call this an ugly doll-no association with the brand of dolls bearing that name.  I just think it's ugly.  But cute.  Beau thought it was Burton-ish.  Nikki had me make a bright colored one for Mali and so I made one like it for Noah afterward.  (The one in the picture of Ahsh on the side with the brown body)... maybe I'll put pictures of it on here later.

felt food

I decided to make some felt food for Noah for his birthday... this was the starting piece

Craft Blogs

So Beau has been encouraging me to post my "projects" on here... the problem is, I really want to shy away from trying to impress with the blog thing.  I like to make things (including blogs) pretty, but I don't want anyone to get the idea that we have the perfect home or I'm a perfect homemaker - there is none, and I'm far from it. I just like to add appeal to the aesthetics in whatever environment we happen to find ourselves - which right now happens to be chaos and down to earth reality!  Beau has been going to school full time since before we were married, and though our time at Multnomah is almost up, there are many years of school still to come. Anni is entering middle school and all that entails.  The boys are 19 mo's and almost four... And we are all shoved into a 900 square foot townhouse.  But I'm not complaining.  Yes I would love a more comfortable house and a fenced in yard, but God knew what he was doing when he paired Beau and I because I've never felt dissatisfied.  This has been on my thoughts again recently.  A few times while looking at places and prices (I helped Shana and Adam find a place while they were on their way up from Florida) I got a bit anxious for the perfect house (We will be moving in Dec/Jan), but last night Beau mentioned that we may just have to do an apartment when we leave, and I realized I was okay with that.  We make do where we are.  I love to create and so do my kids.  Yes the place gets a little overcrowded sometimes (especially with my furniture endeavors)  and I have to endure nasty looks (not really) from my neighbors when the projects in "my" lawn start spilling out on their side... But really we've been blessed with an incredible community of neighbors who willingly and usually happily lend us cups of sugar..and flour, and eggs, and butter, diapers...and whatever Annica show's up on their porch for, and who are willing to give rides, lend cars, babysit, do dinner or just come be mom's together while the kiddies play...  All of this being said (and this is why I don't write much with my blogs, I have a tendency to ramble, rabbit trail, and go on and on when I talk in any form), I have been very inspired by some of the crafts on these home mama blogs and on flickr and so decided that I will try, as unpretentiously as possible, to add my projects now and then

Trip to Seaside... Catch-up starting last spring...

Noah got impatient while I was taking his pictures (imagine that), I pacified him with the promise that he could take mine when we were through.  He was really proud!

I really love these... I was telling Beau the other day that I didn't have any pictures of me and Noah together since he was a baby...

These pictures were really fun, mostly the boys were doing what you would expect to be doing at a big red barn-throwing rocks!  ... Here are a few of the shots... I actually didn't p.s these...

I am throwing in this picture, because I happen to love it!  It was taken on a family walk in the "Narnia" neighborhood!

I went up to Bremerton to do a shoot of houses for my brother's online portfolio.  It was on a weekday, so dad had to work, and Annica was in WA.  I have seen this barn every time we head up to my parents and I finally got a chance to stop and take some pic's by it... some really cute one's of the boys that I will post after p.s'ing =)

So I am not much of a writer (that's Beau's job!) I'm much more a lover of the visual arts, anything I can make with my hands; but I thought I would start this blog to record family moments, crazy projects, pictures etc..  I thought I would start it last spring apparently-I'm starting now anyways