Do Not Disturb

I need her to come do her homework, because we've been slacking and now's the best time. But I can hear her in the upstairs room using lots and lots of tape and don't want to interrupt the awesomeness she's surely creating. She is only 8.

Bee Be 8

Little Miss Bee has recently turned 8. She thought it would be clever to have a Bee Be 8 party (BB8, get it--after the little Star Wars droid?). She had the brilliant idea of adding a donut to the cupcakes to mimic BB8's body. And we totally stole this idea and had the kiddos make their own BB8's. 

Except we used Model Magic, not Playdough, and I think the kids really liked it. They turned out so cute. I personally really love for a birthday party to have a creative activity and and something active for the kids to do.
 

Which bring me to this awesome pic. Nate and the other kids all worked together to put on a pretty great obstacle course. The party goers learned the ways of the force and got a light saber from Yoda, were attacked by Storm Troopers with nerf guns, and had to conquer Darth Vader. It made me happy that all the kids were willing to help out with their little sister's birthday party.

Grace was especially helpful. She painted these cute BB8s on the faces of all 9 kiddos!

Start

I've been wanting to get back at this blog thing for awhile-mostly just for me. I'm pretty sure no one else is really reading this. I just have an urge to write and share and keep a record of my experiences on this planet, and so, here I am. I can't remember even really how to post pictures in a happy way. So it will probably be some time before the space is looking her best. But anyway, there you have it. I walked this morning. First, with Bee to school. Then up the hill toward home, and then I just kept going up, up,  up. Lucky for me the street ends in the mountainside, and so I just kept going and it was snowing lightly and, well, it was incredibly beautiful. I love being in nature. (Also,  I love being home. Those just might be my two favorite places.) When the weather is bad and I am out in it, or sending my children out in it, :) I often think of the Swedish Proverb that translated says: "There is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes."

Hello There

Wow! It has been a really long time since I have posted anything on this blog. But I'm feeling inspired by other blogs. And so, though, I'm sure no one will probably ever read this post, I'm going to write anyway. If for no other reason, than just to remind me how beautiful my life is. I really have a great life. And, just having moved to Boston, we have embarked on an amazing adventure. Today we went to the MIT Sailing Pavilion. It was remarkable. I have seen sail boats many times, but have yet to sail on one. Even today, I sat at the dock with Miss Bee who cannot swim, and so, cannot ride the sailboats at the MIT pavilion. But anyway. I was inspired by watching those who were out sailing, I mean really sailing--jumping from one side of the boat to the other to keep from capsizing, totally leaning out with the sail. It was a lot more active than I had imagined. Also, the thought of moving through the water and only using the WIND as power...that's cool. It reminds me of the way I felt the first time I made a doll from scratch, and entirely by hand. There's something about it that's empowering. I'm really excited to learn to sail.

Feelin' Good

I found this video as I was cleaning off my desktop this morning (man, does that feel good...what a huge mess it was!) Nate's sister posted it to their family website a long while ago. It's a great story! It too makes me feel all warm inside!

Love is in the Air

I really love Valentine's Day. It's just fun. I love the bright colors and the hearts. A few days ago, I loved pulling this crazy little centerpiece together--a bunch of random things around the house that reminded me of love and the big V day. And, if any of you actually lived by me, I'd love to invite you over to sit around this funny centerpiece and decorate heart-shaped cookies. I love decorating cookies.


Know what else? I loved making little boxes like this one for my kiddos and Nate, and filling them with tiny surprises. So sweet & so simple. I Love it. Love it. Love it! Yep, I guess it's evident that I'm feeling THE LOVE. Hope you are too. Happy Valentine's Day.

Help! Save Handmade!

Have you all heard of this? This is disturbing. Though I believe congress' intentions were good when they passed CPSIA, their law will essentially, unnecessarily, put many who make handmade items for children out of business. CPSIA was intended to prevent toys containing lead paint from reaching the hands of our children--a very good thing. However, the fees required to rigorously test handmade items would certainly sink Mom & Pop shops--a very bad thing, especially when so many are already stuggling to make it. I for one am up for doing what I can to help ammend this law. If you would like to learn more and help:

Sarah Jane said it all so well, take a quick look at her blog here.

And visit designmom's lovely short list of ways to get involved.

It really would be a tragedy if this law continued forward as is.