I've lost my third arm!

Phew...see I was right my friends I have been being sporadic! This however is a good thing because it means I am making great progress on the packing front. I have to say, minus feeling a bit icky last night (bad food maybe?), all has been well!


Last weekend we painted the children's new room. Craig and I have decided to room our son and daughter together for the next three years. In our new home we have 4 rooms. Two of which are small and the other two which are huge. One being the master and the other being the "room over the garage" aka FROG. 


The major factor leading into this decision was the sheer size of the bed sets we have for the kids. Since both were given to us free of charge,  you better bet we are most definitely going to use them and save our pennies. However, due to their dimensions and the dimensions of the other two rooms, the full sets will not fit into the smaller rooms. Fortunately they do both fit in the FROG with ample room leftover! Score! 


Personally I really quite like the idea of our kids rooming together. It is almost like we will have a traditional nursery room (as seen in classic movies like Mary Poppins and Peter Pan) where all the children, regardless of sex, share a room until their teen years. Plus Deirdre is ecstatic about it. I am sure there will be some adjusting but I am not worried. as with all things in our home we just flow with the rhythm and make do one bit at a time. No need to fret unnecessarily. 


So after making that decision, I began dreaming up an idyllic Waldorf "nursery" room for them. Trust me its going to be a lovely room, I promise to show you when its done. However the FROG had flocked wall paper in it. When Deirdre first saw the room she said it looked like a bear cave! Off the wallpaper came, and last weekend we painted  (as well as sanded and primed) the walls and ceiling. The color I choose was "Free Spirit" by Olympic. Olympic is a zero VOC paint with a green seal. Since this paint was going in the kids room my conscious would not allow me to not use a low VOC paint. 

I truly adore this color-plus its gender neutral and peaceful. Perfect for the kids. I would love to have posted before and after pictures for you but alas I HAVE LOST MY CAMERA. I know... I know. It really is my third arm. I have torn my house asunder looking for it. I have reopened boxes. It is nowhere. 


The only conclusion I can come to is that I left in my car and it was stolen- or- that it is so far lost that if I do find it won't be for a long long time. And if it is truly misplaced, tehn that would be very odd for me since I always keep it in two places. Next to the computer or in my purse. Seriously. So after a week plus of not having it and tearing everything apart, I am going to cave in and get a new one. If I do find the other one at some point I will just sell it or give it to my little brother as present. Luke tends to get my hand me down cameras anyway- and he loves it ;) 


I was thinking about getting nicer one than I had, however I really love my Nikon CoolPix. I seriously get awesome photos with it and it only cost me $90. We will see though. I will be getting one before Saturday so I can photograph the move. 


We will see though. Please keep us in you thoughts and prayers through the move. I am one stressed cookie! 

Bonne Nuit, Nicole 

~Old un-shared photos form 2 weeks ago~

A Homemade Easter!

Dressed Up!

Yes I know, its about a month and a half late! I have a good excuse though. We recently got a new computer (yay) but all my Easter photos we on the old one, thus the delay. It is not much fun to blog about homemade Easter baskets if -well- you have no pictures of them, right? 


OK so here are the finished results! 

Jonas' (Left) and Deirdre's (Right)

Deirdre's up close

Jonas' Up Close

So happy! 

Very Excited- He knew exactly what to do! 

Bunny

Sharing the wealth

Ah so yes. Many hours of love were put into making these baskets. They both were old and ugly thrifted wicker baskets that needed a lot of TLC. I sanded and painted them yellow with a shimmer finish. Then I made matching peach and green Peter Rabbit basket liners. I stole the idea from the new pottery barn liners, which were a ridiculous $25 each, and made my own version! All together the baskets and liner cost me $15. Yes thats right $15. For the paint, fabric, baskets, and all! 

As for the contents the only things that I bought outright new were the chocolates, modeling wax, and crayons. So they are not 100% homemade, but I am sorry, I can't do that just yet and nor do I want to. I love Lindt chocolates and I am not interested in making crayons or wax. So there ;)


The books are all used that I got in a thrift store for 50 cents each. They were in brand new condition. I think my best finds were all three of the "Pat the Bunny" series books as well as two vintage Beatrix Potter hardback books. I know right, perfect for Easter time?

Now for my pride and joy, the knitted animals! For Easter I knitted 2 bunnies, 1 lamb, a chicken & chick, a duck & duckling, and a goose. I also sewed 2 tomatoes and two strawberries   It took me a few days to a week per animal to finish. I used The "Knitted Animals" book by Anne-Dorthe Grigaff. She is an awesome writer. Her instructions were clear and easy. As a beginner I really appreciated that. I also learned the rest of my basics from her gradually by using all the different patterns. Truly a must-have for knitting play animals for kids. 

So at any rate I feel it was a huge success and personal victory for me. I set out to have a handmade Easter, and I did it. My children watched me knitting all those weeks before and were so intrigued and excited. It warmed my heart to hear my daughter asking to learn to knit and requesting em to make her more "babies". All the oohs and ahhhs from her as they came alive on my needles were very encouraging! 

After the easter basket opening was all done she remarked, "Mommy, I love it when you knit things for us. They're soo "pree-cious"! 

Ah so that my friends if why I felt/feel it is important to have homemade holiday and gifts- when one can do it. They come from the heart and instill a sense of appreciation of effort as well as dissuasion of consumerism. A win-win in my book! 

Daily Verse: (Today it is a favorite quote!)

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”-Pablo Cascals