Fun little hair clips...

 

I am totally addicted to making these cute hair clips. I just wish I could make them as fast Nalah can lose them. She has some crazy bangs that are always hanging in her little face, but rips out ponytails and clips as soon as I put them in. I considered cutting her bangs a few weeks ago until I started making these. I have a ton of eco felt so I used that but once my embroidery skills improve and Nalah stops ripping them out and throwing them I will be ordering some wool.
This would be a fun craft-a-long party to do with other Mama's with little girls. Super quick and easy.  I love how portable this project is, no sitting in front of the sewing machine and you can even take a few supplies outside in your yard and craft in the sunshine.There are so many tutorials out there and I can find the specific one I used for the rose clip but if you just Google it there are ton of ideas out there! I found the rose tutorial on line and just made up the rest. I have a lot more ideas...

With the hot weather I have been trying to find new ways of getting my hair out of the way. My hair is literally down to my butt and it is too hot to wear down on super hot days. I am getting tired of the same old pigtail braids and pony tail so I have been finding some fun hairstyle ideas on Pinterest and Youtube.

Here is a braided side bun I tried last weekend. It turned out pretty well and lasted all day even after a pretty long hike. Know of any tutorials for super long hairstyles? Please share.

 

12th Anniversary Hike...

 

 Ben and I have a tradition of hiking around the many waterfalls in Oregon on our Anniversaries. One of the best Anniversaries we had was our 5th,when we got to hike the Eagle Creek trail to Punchbowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, just the two of us. Ben's parents were visiting and took care of Sophie for the day and the following night. In our 12 years of marriage we have gone on only a handful of dates so when we do it is really a big deal to us.

This year we took our little tribe to the Silver Falls State Park to do some hiking and have a picnic lunch. The picnic didn't go so well with the two littlest kids refusing to eat anything, despite my warnings of a long hike ahead ,but they were troopers on the hike and we had a good time. It was a good hike for the kids and me too actually with a 25lb baby on my back the whole time and a pretty steep hill to climb up at the end of the loop. We found a bench to rest at in the middle of the hike and took a nursing and diaper change break, we met another family with a babe Nalah's size who was walking alongside her parents who had no backpack carrier for her along with them and they were going another 4 miles! Oh my goodness, that is hardcore!! Living in the city my kids can't handle that kind of hardcore hiking, not even my 12 year old who complained most of the way back. Me,I was happy as a clam I need to find a way to get out more. I am determined to find a local hiking group I can join this summer so I can do some real hiking on a regular basis without dragging the kids along or having to brave it alone. 

I am so grateful to live in this beautiful state. Being very  limited on our travels since flying a family of five anywhere is so ridiculously outside our budget, I think we are very fortunate to be "stuck" here.

 

12 Years.....

( back in 1999)

  We celebrated our 12th Anniversary yesterday. I thought I would share a picture from early on just for fun. We have been friends since High school and started dating only after Ben left for college and I was still finishing up my senior year. We survived two years of a long distance relationship and talked of getting married someday. Well that someday was sooner than we thought after we found out we were going to be parents. So at the young ages of 20 and 21 we got hitched, sort of in a shotgun- wedding- hey- we- have- a- two- month- old- baby kind of style, but I really believe it would have happened anyway.  We haven't had the easiest life with several lay offs in the last few years and poverty looming over our heads, it has been really hard on us and has tested our marriage, but I believe we go too far back to let money issues destroy us. He has been my best friend for the last 14 years and I couldn't ask for a better guy and Papa for my kids. I love you Ben.

This moment..

A moment from my week to cherish and remember. Join along and share your moment with Soulemama.

At the Fair....

Oh mama, I kind of know how you feel, I can't imagine all those babies at once?? Look at her cute face!

There just really isn't anything sweeter than a baby pig. (this one is 2 weeks old)

Any day where I get nibbled by a baby goat, is a good day.

 Alpacas are one of Nalahs' favorite animals, you should see her at the Flock and Fiber Festival!

Where is Solomon?

There he is!

The best part of the fair was that Solomon, my little engineer, the little guy in my house who has been taking apart flashlights and pens and vacuum cleaner for years just to see how they work got to control a robot.

He also got to make the robot shoot out frisbees.

I think he was pretty happy about that. His pin says" I drove a robot."

Not to bad for a mostly rainy day!

Please help me help them!

Sending prayers to the families of those lost in the storms.

 I am scared to death of tornadoes. I have had reoccurring nightmares where I am surrounded by them. The long, narrow, twisting ones. The sky is filled with them and I just watch them surround me. Often times I am in my childhood home and my parents are both outside doing mundane chores such as mowing the lawn and hanging laundry on the line to dry. I am desperate to get them to come inside and down into the basement but they just act like it is no big deal and continue on with their yard work. In my dreams the tornadoes never actually get me, it is just purely the horror of the anticipation.

I started having these dreams when I was teenager after I witnessed the tragic accidental death of a friend. I am sure it is just my brains way of processing death and the inescapable nature of it. I wish these dreams would resolve, but I still get them, weekly.

I grew up in the Midwest where tornadoes were a very real threat. I have never been in one or seen one in my real life. To me they are just a surreal nightmare. But unfortunately they are very real. I can't imagine having to go through what so many people are dealing with right now after the recent tornadoes that have ripped across middle part of our country. 

I really want to help them.

I pledge to donate 25% of my HumbleLuna sales for the rest of the month of May(at least) to help the victims of the tornado in Oklahoma. I don't have money to give but I am hoping to raise money the only way I can at the moment.  I really want to help. Please help me help them!!

     Humbleluna

On the river....... again

 

I have been blessed with a lot of rock hunting time in the past few weeks. It can be very addictive, once you find a treasure it is hard to stop. I was able to get back to my spot on the Sandy River this weekend, it couldn't have been better rock hunting weather..sunny and warm with bursts of clouds and showers. Just enough rain to get the rocks wet and then the sun would come out and make the agates and the jasper glow.

I also found some treasure here in the city along the Willamette River. We often visit a park along the river to get our dog fix(we don't have a dog but want one badly). Nalah loves to watch them swim and play. The water level is high and the beach is scarce, but small colorful bit of jasper and agate have washed up pretty much into the woods.

I need to take some more pictures of my treasures this week so I can show them off!