On the horizon...

Many things to get to today, but I have a to-do list for this blog as well! Coming soon I want to write about the "greenest" way to cloth diaper. This came about after viewing this segment on Good Morning America by Dr. Greene himself.

Also on the list, a want to try and get a video up on how to wash wool. I get this question over and over again. I know it seems intimidating to wash wool for the first time, but it's really easy.
I've never attempted video online though so please bear with me on this one! I'd love to get up a video of one of our cloth diapering consultations as well. But let me start small first!

I just installed (okay - Jeff did it) Photoshop Elements 6 on the computer in attempts to start keeping my pics organized and hopefully make some cute digital scrapbooking pages. There's no way I have time to pull out supplies and pictures to scrapbook by hand, so this digital scrapbooking might actually be something I can do. Plus, it will be so cool to edit pictures for our website. The book says it can even edit out wrinkles....very cool.

What else? Maybe some peeks at homeschooling, new books I'm trying to read and some crafts we've finished. We're trying to plan a vacation for this Spring too. I'm torn between visiting family and an educational trip (D.C. and Williamsburg, VA) vs. a trip to the coast in a beach house for week. Okay - so maybe I'm really not that torn.... ;).

Happy Weekend!
~xo, Lisa

Dying Wool

So what was cooking in that pot in the previous post? Wool of course! "What?", you say? Yes, we were dying wool on the stove. Wool is an animal fiber and takes dye nicely. Kool aid dying is a favorite method to change the color of wool and very easy to do.

First, pick your colors. There are many websites/blogs that will give you good visuals on the colors that each "flavor" of kool aid produce. You will need several packets - depending on the amount of wool you will be dying in each batch. If you want a lighter color, then use less - use more for darker colors. If you want a tie dye effect - use less and see what fun project turns up!

Gather your materials: wool (fabric or yarn), kool aid packets, big pot, and spoon.

Wet the wool in the sink in lukewarm water while you dissolve the kool aid in the pot. Put a few cups of lukewarm water in the pot to mix with your kool aid packets. When the kool aid is dissolved, add more water (you will want enough to cover the wool once it is in the pot). Add the wet wool to the kool aid mixture in the pot. Set the pot on the stove and turn on high (like you were going to boil it). As the mixture heats, be sure to stir often and turn the wool around. You will notice the wool taking color and the water in the pot will turn clear. When the water is completely clear (this usually happens before the water actually boils), turn off the stove and remove the pot from the heat. Let cool. Do not remove the wool from the pot until the water is cool - room temperature cool. Once cool, take the wool from the pot and rinse it under luke warm water. You can wash the wool at this point with some wool wash too. We like to use Sudzndudz liquid wool wash. Squeeze the excess water from the wool and lay flat to dry on a towel or rack.

Viola! You've just dyed wool with kool aid! Perk - your kitchen gets to smell like pink lemonade or maybe kiwi strawberry! :) Oh, what fun project will you create with your new wool? Diaper covers? Wool pants for a little one?

Here's a stack of wool we dyed:

(top pink lemonade, middle grape, bottom was a mixture of black cherry, strawberry and pink lemonade)

Some yoga baby pants I made for our Sweetness - perfect for winter diapering and bedtimes:

I like this pattern but next time I might size it down as the pants came out a little larger than the size chart suggested.

I should be catching up on my bookkeeping, but this was so much fun I wanted to share it with you!

~Lisa

Yummy!

Guess what I got for Christmas from my sweet hubby?! Chocolate Lollipop fabric! Anna Maria Horner's fabric is soooo beautiful and I've been eyeing this fabric for some time now but it wasn't available through my local quilt shop. Truly, I'm a novice seamstress but throughly enjoy knitting and sewing and it helps put a little bit of calmness into my world. And sometimes just a little bit is all I need! HA!

So I found this sweet german dress pattern (Farbenmix pattern):

There's an American store you can buy the pattern from - http://www.banberryplace.com/. Not expensive at all and they shipped it really fast.

So this is what part of my Christmas present turned into:

Front and back views:

This dress is really easy - trust me - if I can do it any beginner could too! The directions (which there isn't much of) took me a while to understand but once they clicked it was simple.

So for something to put under the dress I'm cooking it up now -

Happy, Happy New Year! Cheers!

~xo Lisa

Surrounded by love

Did you ever wonder how it feels to be surrounded by love? How about five girls who love you and you them more than life itself? My little blessings & me....

Merry Christmas

Wow! Another year is coming to a close. What a year it has been too! Time to look back, reflect and be thankful for an amazing life and year. Looking forward to a wonderful year ahead in 2008!

We have a new baby coming.... not my own (got you there didn't I!) but my closest friend is due in June. I can't wait and I'm so excited for her and her family! We'll surely be getting lots of new baby snuggles and spoiling the new little one with soft goodies.

I'm thinking (& praying!) about bringing my twins home to school with us this coming year as well. Sometimes just the thought of them all in the house together overwhelms me, but I'm feeling led to do this with them. Changing their hearts and bringing them back home to learn will surely be a good thing. Busy...but good.

It's time to add the finishing touches to our Christmas. There are peanut butter chocolates to be made (an annual tradition here) and presents to wrap for all the children. Hoping for a few colds days to cuddle by the fire place in some strong arms too.

We'll see you again in 2008! Merry Christmas!

xo Lisa

Firsts

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful - relaxing and eating....what could be better?! I spent time reflecting on last year as well. You see I was hugely pregnant last Thanksgiving, past my due date and waiting for labor to begin. Lucky for my Mom (who is always in charge of Thanksgiving dinner), our baby waited through dinner but decided to come early the next morning. How nice to let Mom get all nourished before the labor marathon, right?

I'm sure all women look back at their births and when that first birthday rolls around it makes it all so nostalgic. The first time you notice a contraction, the first time you tell your husband "it's time", first time you hold that precious miracle in your arms and the first time you gaze into each other's eyes. Then all the "firsts" of that first year! I love watching my girls grow and the first year is filled with wonderment as a baby looks at the world for the first time. The first year has flown by for us this time but it never fails to be a wonderful time even though it is not our "first" time around.

So Happy Birthday to our little Sweetness! We can't wait to see what the world has in store for her and we feel so blessed to be her parents.

Family - ahhh....

Normally when I take all my girls to the grocery store with me we get all sorts of comments from strangers. Most of them, well....they just aren't very nice. We get a lot of "Are they all yours?". Of course they are, but I have yet to come up with a snazzy come back to that one besides the "Oh no, I just picked up a few on my way here!". We've even had a few "OMG! - They can't be all yours?!" - well then who's are they then?! lol

Today we decided to snag Grace and Jessica from school on our way to lunch, we've just been missing them now that Mel is homeschooled full time. We needed to stop by the grocery store. I sort of keep up a guard and am ready for the comments now. So in the produce section are several older ladies doing their shopping. I try by best to keep my broad under control and out of the way - sometimes it's easier than others. One of these ladies catches my eye and I can see it coming - but she is smiling so that was a good sign! She asks "Is this your family?". "Yes, it is.", I say. "What a beautiful family you have", she says. Ah....that was so nice. My family. Yes, they are all mine and my beautiful family. That was so refreshing and helped to put my mind and heart where it needed to be today.

Halloween is over but the candy remains. Need I say more??? Allie has a huge sweet tooth - she's in heaven! The girls had a blast trick or treating this year and some surprise friends showed up to go around with us. Allie was too cute racing door to door in her princess costume. She calls herself "Princess" these days.

From the top - Grecian Princess (M), Fairy (J), Witch (G), Lil' pumkin (A), Princess (A).