Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Yarn Along: Some recent baby knits

I am joining along with Ginny today for the Yarn Along.
Nalah does not like to wear hats, and she is very good at pulling them off , even the hats with ties. I needed a hat that she couldn't get off and I found this adorable pattern on the Pickles website when I was browsing on ravelry and thought it would be perfect for my little hat hating baby goose. I just knit it up with some yarn from my stash,mostly Patons wool.
( Please forgive the blurry photos, my camera is having a hard time with the dark Oregon winter lighting.)
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The cowl part of the hat tucks underneath her jacket.
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This has been a great solution for riding in the backpack. Before, when we were out walking she would take off her hat over and over again and I would have to stop and take her off to get to tie her hats back on, it was a pain. Now I don't have to worry about her taking off her hat.
I also finally got buttons on the vest:

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I am currently reading the Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book and a few parenting books on sibling rivalry. 
Also reading Dry By Augusten Burroughs. I really enjoyed his other book, Running With Scissors   ( a very disturbing memoir of his childhood) so I checked out a few of his other books at the library.

Monday, November 26, 2012

New at HumbleLuna...and a Giveaway!

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*Happy Cyber Monday*
I have added a few new pairs of Fleece pants to my shop in the last few days sizes 2-4T. Please stop by and take a look. These little whimsical pants are super cozy for this time of year and are great for hiking, camping and playing outdoors year round, especially if you live in Oregon like I do :)
I am working on adding more in several colors and sizes or boys and girls from 12 months to 4T, so check back often.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a custom pair for your little one, you pick the size and colors.
I will pick a winner on Sunday. Please leave your e-mail so I can notify you if you win. If I don't hear from the winner in 48 hours I will chose another.
Thanks so much!

Friday, November 23, 2012

This Moment..

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A moment to cherish and remember, inspired by Soulemama.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

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****Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!****

Friday, November 16, 2012

Thursday, November 15, 2012

A day at Sollie's school

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Once a month at Sollie's school parents sign up to bring the snack for the class and have the opportunity to spend the day at school with their child, today was our turn. I was a bit  worried how this was going to work out with Nalah along for the ride but it worked out great. She was in awe of the kids and didn't make a peep the whole time, I was impressed and relieved (during the tour we took this summer before we enrolled Solomon we actually had to leave early because she was screaming, glad this worked out better).
It was fun to see Solomon in action at school. I really enjoyed seeing how he interacted with the other kids and his teachers. We had a fun day and it was beautiful outside.
I keep thinking back to Sollie calling it "his school"  when he was a little babe when we would walk past and see other kids playing. It made me smile.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Yarn Along

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Hello, joining Ginny this week for the yarn along. Not that I have time for knitting ;)but a hat for little Nalah Penelope is in the works with some stash yarn and left overs from this sweet cocoon.
  I just finished a beautiful book called Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson. A touching book about an unlikely friendship between two women . This book was heartbreaking but also uplifting and tender. In all honesty I bought it on a whim from a thift store because I liked the cover ( I can't help it I'm a visual person) but I really truly enjoyed this story. It is a good winter read.
                                     While I am at it I  thought I would share a few  more recent knits. Ben and Sollie in their coordinating hats. Ben's hat was his annual Birthday gift and Solomon needed an upgrade(he is growing up so fast!)I found the perfect yarn for Ben at the Fiber festival this year, There was a time he asked for a dark blue hat with flecks of brown and green..taaa daaa. I found the perfect hand spun skein just calling out his name... I used the wee bit of leftovers from his Papas hat plus some  green Patons wool to make Sollie's.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Day hiking with the family...

I have a problem. I live in a city and I am NOT a city person. Therefore I am often plauged with wanderlust for the good outdoors. Living in such a beautiful part of the country there is not shortage of mountains and rivers and lakes and even the ocean but traveling costs money and burning a ton of gas for a day trip isn't always within budget.
Lately I have been looking closer to the city to get my nature fix and have been happy to discover a few little hidden gems.

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 I recently discovered that there are some great hiking spots around the City that we have never been too. I thought we have exhausted all of our semi urban hiking spots in the last 10 years of living in Portland but there are several spots SW of the city that are quite charming for a family day hike. I think we have avoided that area because it is  not fun to get to..located off of a spiderweb of interstate and highways..kind of stressful and not my idea of a relaxing day, but once you get through all that these spots are really worth it.
The first hike in pictures above is Cooper Mountain Nature Park. My family really enjoyed this park. The trails are the perfect distance for families with small children, they all loop and you can chose between a smaller loop and a larger loop depending on the mood of your little tribe. I love loop trails for hiking with children, I think it encourages them to keep going rather than to want to stop and turn back. My kids always start off really enthusiastic and end up burning out quickly. This park also has a neat play area for kids right off the parking area which is a bonus because some times my idea of going to a park and my four year old's idea of a park are quite different, so this is a perfect compromise. I was hoping we would see the resident bobcat, no such luck but we did find little poop piles he left behind.
Another really beautiful spot lies in the middle of a pretty congested suburban area so I was reluctant to visit. Tualatin Hills Nature Park is quite large and quiet with diverse habitats and beautiful trails going through swamps, towering trees and meadows. There are several raised wooden pathways that go right through wetland areas so you can easily spot wildlife. We saw several varieties of frogs and I was excited. Frogs are everywhere in Wisconsin here I grew up, but I have only seen and heard a few living in Oregon. I am sure that is because in live in the middle of the city, not because Oregon doesn't have frogs. We didn't get a chance to explore this entire park in one morning so I look forward to going back again to see more. There are some smaller trails that are better for foot travel but most of the park is paved paths that would be perfect for bringing a stroller if not to push your kid but to carry all your snacks and baby/kid paraphernalia.
Here are a few photos from our day at Tualatin Hills Nature Park:

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Monday, November 5, 2012

8 months old, my sweet baby goose....

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Here is a little update on Goobie Rue:

Our sweet little baby, we love you so, so much. You are a light in all of our lives, how could it be 8 months have passed already?
You make us laugh all the time with the way you love the cats so intensely that just spotting one of them sleeping outside in the sun or watching them as they eat their food causes you to literally shriek and jump with joy. Milo loves you back and doesn't really mind that every time he gets close enough to you to give you a headbutt he walks away minus one tiny little fist full of hair.
You also love music and you love to dance and listen to us play the guitar. You also like to play the guitar yourself and you sing while you do this, very sweetly. Your favorite song is twinkle twinkle but this is a new favorite.
You also LOVE bath time, my Pisces babe. I am thinking we may start swimming lessons together soon. We used to always take baths together but your a big girl and have started taking them alone in your little tub.
You have become shy with strangers and like to be with Mama and Papa best of all.
You eat a little bit if solid food but still are not very interested, you have tried carrots and squash and green beans and peas and sweet potato, you eat just a few bites but smile and make MMmmmm noises.
You can crawl short distances and scoot around quite well. You have been sitting up well on your own for several weeks.
Your fist word was a breathy hi, but your fist clear word, no doubt was" Papa". You miss him dearly when he is away at work and when her returns on Fridays you light up and Papa parades you around in his arms for the rest of the weekend. You wake up on Mondays wondering where he is and calling out for him. We are pretty sure you also said Sister.
The first thing you do when you wake up is try and sit up to look over at your big brothers bed to see if he is awake. Solomon can make you laugh like no one else ever has, a deep belly laugh. I can force it out when I tickle your fat little legs, but Sollie doesn't need to do much to get you to laugh. He is your best friend.
You still like to be held all the time but are starting to play a little on your own for several minutes at a time. It cracks me up when you dig around in your toy basket.  All I see is a little fuzzy brown head hunched over making a racket, picking out certain toys, tasting them then chucking them across the room and digging around for a new toy. I think you look like a little hedgehog when you do this. I think hedgehogs are your spirit animal ;)
You are finally cutting your first teeth, two on the bottom.
You hardly ever sleep. Your a terrible napper and only sleep at home in your bed for only short periods of time. When you sleep at night you keep one hand on Mama the whole night and if I try to get up your eyes pop open. You don't like to be alone. 
You still hate getting dressed. Shirts and coats are the worst. You don't like hats, so I have to tie them on, but you still get them off. Same thing with socks.
You like crowded places and loud music. I bet you would love the mall, but you have never been.
OMSI and the zoo are your favorite places to people watch.
You like to go places and get really bored sitting at home.
You have a boyfriend, his name is Pheiffer.
You are so very,very loved.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Green Lantern, a strawberry and a missing ninja...

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We had a great Halloween, so much fun! Solomon has been waiting since last Halloween for the day to come and is already asking again how long he has to wait to do it again:)
Solomon was very particular about the details of his costume so much so that I was still working on it the day of, making boot covers and sewing a quick symbol on a t-shirt. whew! I am still happy he is okay with being a handmade super hero but he has high standards this guy.  He chose his costume himself again this year although he changed his mind and wanted to be Spiderman after we bought all the green fabric and was a really mad little guy for about 40 seconds after I told him.."too bad". He was happy again when we found the perfect Green Lantern ring to go along with it.

Nalah is my little strawberry. I made her pants and booties and her hat is one I made for Solomon's first Halloween when he was a mushroom. It works quite well for a strawberry. Nalah loved being out at night being around lots of people, the highlight of her evening was when she spotted a cat sitting by a jack o lantern. She is an animal lover, too bad she didn't see the dog in the superman costume :)

We also had ninja in our crew. A pre-teen ninja who was too busy hanging out in her room with her friend to be photographed  with the little kids but she promised to let me take a picture of her in her costume this weekend. I know her Grandparents will want to see her in it. Her friend went along as a knitting ninja. They scored lots of candy and had so much fun.
 It has been pouring what seems like non-stop for days but the rain stopped on Halloween night and it was very warm outside, I even saw a few stars in the sky...a perfect Halloween night!