merry babies

Birthday Week, #2

I didn't really explain on the last birthday post that I have a little policy around here--that too many presents at one time just isn't fun. So I like to spread out the fun during "birthday week" leading up to the birthday itself. This has worked especially well for Samara, since gifts pale in comparison to quality time. I made myself a deal that whatever gift I gave her had to include time spent playing with it. It's been so fun to do it this way! And I can hardly wait until her actual birthday--I'm so looking forward to playing with her gift from me (for me?!)...:)

 

We actually purchased this outfit for her for Christmas, but it seemed like one too many at the time (I was so trying to stick to my three gifts policy! So many policies around here...). Anyway, I saved it for the birthday. It's from Magic Cabin and she loves it. We spent all morning playing dress-ups--I found something I could wear over my big tummy, and then ilo and I got turned into all kinds of things.

 

It was all in the magic wand--by far the best part of the whole get-up. She didn't want to do much posing, but she did want me to get a good picture of the wand...and I managed a little of her as well. My sweet star fairy!
 
 

Mother's Day Weekend

It was a lovely Mother's Day here at the Bonner home! Matt took all the little ones on a date thursday afternoon to go shopping and left me to get a run in and have some quiet time--and that would have been enough of a treat, let me tell you!

But then we spent all weekend doing things I like to do:

a family bike ride...

to fly kites...

 

to help ilo practice his new-found skill of walking...

 

 

and then we watched Asa's soccer game in the cold wind, with a picnic...

 

and a win! 

 

and then we went out to Lake Thunderbird for a spontaneous cookout for dinner...

 

for which we stopped at the grocery store on our way there and bought everything we needed--dogs, s'mores stuff, weird chips, and veggies...

 

and then we mostly just ate s'mores...

 

because we had so much fun cooking them...

 

and then came Sunday morning, when I received breakfast in bed made entirely by my children (Matt was asleep!). This breakfast included root beer in a special glass rimmed with lemon juice and sugar (don't worry--they helped me drink it) and cereal and an english muffin and a sweet sign. And lots of help eating it, did I mention that?

And presents! Matt had taken them all the pick out something for me--Samara picked this lovely vase, below, from Birdie for me because she knew I liked it...Phin John gave me some of my favorite perfume (Ginger Essence from Origins) ...Asa picked out things from Target that he could afford (like yummy shower gel) since he wanted to buy me a gift all by himself!

 

 

It was truly a lovely mother's day--full of sweet moments with my family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ilo's new favorite toy,

besides his siblings, and the camera, and the remote controls, and the phones...and, well, a few other things...

He loves our Buddha Board and I love that he's painting already! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And I love how charming he is, and how sweet he looks, and how cheerful his disposition is, and how curly his hair is...

 

(This post was shared in case anyone needed an update on how much I love this little one. And in case you needed a recommendation for a great family gift--the Buddha Board is super fun!)

 

 

Happy Birthday to Dan and Shelby!

Our sweet friends, Dan and Shelby, have birthdays just a few days apart. We took a day this week and did all kinds of fun things to celebrate! The highlight for the kids was definitely making this sign--our driveway will always remind us of this project now, thanks to ilo crawling through spilled paint....:) 

It was so fun, though--anything on a big scale like this seems to be!

 

Phin John decided to make dirt cake as his gift--you know, chocolate pudding and whipped cream and oreos and worms. It's a favorite of his and he was sure Shelby would love it (and I'm sure she did)! He did all the steps almost by himself, which was so fun for him.

 

Samara and I made this little doll and "musicbox" for Shelby at naptime. Samara wanted to make her a jewelry box with the ballerina that pops up and twirls around (remember those?) but I couldn't quite work out the mechanics of all that, so we went for a ballerina and a pretty box. This was very simple to make, and Samara did most of it herself as well--the sewing is incredibly easy since it doesn't really matter how you get the felt top to stick together. The rest of it was just bending a pipe cleaner and sticking flowers petals on. I had to help with glueing the hair and the cap on--that took both of us, for sure! She drew a little face on the wooden bead, but I didn't get a good picture of it.

 

 

And then we had a tea party outside on the porch with Shelby and Hailey, with our dirt cake and lemonade!

 

 

It was lovely. My highlight was our final "present" for Shelby--we'd been working on a song to sing for her. I re-wrote the words to a sweet song so that they were all about Shelby and how wonderful she is and we practiced for a few days to learn the new words, and then we sang it to her! It was fun to try, although not perfect. Not even close. We wanted to communicate how much we love Shelby, and, well, I think that part happened! 

We do love celebrations around here--and we've got lots more coming soon! I think I should call this "birthday season". And a wedding, too. We love this stuff!!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy May Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 May baskets for neighbors!

 

Thank you!

Was there ever a boy more loved and honored on his first birthday? 

Look at this!

 

 Shelby and Dan and Hailey and  Lindsey made this beautiful garland out of crayon shavings and waxed paper. This photo just doesn't do it justice--it practically looks like it's got lights on it when the sun shines in!

 

 

And here's the kitchen wall. I really didn't think about the whole sunshine-baby-in-the-middle-of-the-winter thing, but it is really too perfect. Our kitchen feels like it is exploding with color and sunshine! I can tell it makes a difference in our days when we're surrounded by cheer.

 

I mean, c'mon! This is my breakfast view!

 

  Julie and Chan couldn't make the party, but sent along their pieces by email...I love it! And Grandpa's up there a couple times...and the cute ilo bag says "mr. sunshine" on the other side, thanks to Abbey!

 

Asa made a concrete poem for ilo (which he just learned about at school).

 

I love the Billingsley family triptych!

 

This was my offering-- my first try at hand-felting a picture. It was fun, but the result wasn't quite what I was expecting. From far away it looks great, though!

 

Mom, Bethany, Hannah...

 

  

And a couple of my favorites (they all are, really!)--Matt's is....you guessed it....the binary sunset on the planet Tattooine. And Samara did that sun in the corner. I love it!

 

Samara and Asa also painted boxes, and Asa and Phin John (who was sure all ilo wanted was a ball for his birthday, which is about right) felted these tennis balls (there's another one in the rectangular box from Asa). We cut the balls open a little to put a bell inside and then they felted them like we felted the rocks a few weeks ago. This was so easy and Phin was right--it's ilo's favorite!

 

Asa made this book and it's just precious. It's a counting book and if I hadn't already put a hundred pictures on here, I'd show you every page...but here's my favorite page-- 5 people in our family, without ilo! Asa reused art from our art recycle pile which is why the pages look painted kind of funny. I think it turned out great. 

 

Actually this is my favorite page.

 

I made ilo a little play tent. I've been thinking about this for a while and decided this week to just do it. It's made of the least expensive (and most see-through) muslin, and it's as basic as a tent can be. I think some red running stitches on the side might perk it up a little, but I was looking for something simple and fun to crawl around in that wasn't an assault to our senses. This sure isn't! I thought I'd use dowel rods, but they were several dollars more expensive than mop handles, so I went with the mop handles, of course. Makes for an interesting top. Then I just used a little leftover leather twine from an old project to tie the top. It's super-easy to put away, too--you just pick it up.

 

 

So far, Phin John likes to sit in there and think.

 

 

 But honestly, the best gift of all has to be the one that arrived today. Aunt Carrie pulled together a CD for ilo of all his favorite people singing sunshine songs for him. It is totally impressive and had me crying after about two songs. It's got Carrie and Ryan and Adelaide and Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Bethany and Aunt Hannah and Aasne and Audun and Doug and Bethany and Creed and Lochlan and Beth and Joshua and Maddie...all singing lovely sunshine songs for our sunshine boy. It's beautiful.

 

 ilo, I hope you're reading back over this someday because we all want you to know--

We love you!

We're so glad you're ours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remembered

After I posted the other day that I hadn't sewn since Christmas (which is close to true!), I remembered this little project.

It was actually Asa's project--he was invited to a birthday party for a sweet classmate and friend and so I gave him $10 to spend at Target for a gift since it was the afternoon of the party when we decided he could go, and I had to get groceries...

She's had a few poems printed in the school newsletter and Asa was sure she'd like a notebook for poems. He picked out this notebook and then added the pens and the chocolate and kept wanting to add more and more. It was actually fun to help him sit there in Target and add it all up and keep it under $10. While he was doing this, he said, "Well, we can always make her something when we get home, right, mom? Do you think you could make her a doll?"

It's nice that they think I can manage stuff like that, isn't it? But I had to disappoint and tell him that I wouldn't be able to whip out a doll in an hour and a half before dinner. :) But he came home and got straight to work on this little tissue case...

 

 

and he convinced me that she'd need a little tote to keep it all in.

I don't remember getting anything like that from a boy when I was little, do you?

She loved it. Her favorite part?

The chocolate.

Sickness

Sickness is one of the fastest things to remind me that I can't possibly do all this on my own, this raising kids stuff. Thank goodness for a sweet husband and friends and a God who's able.

Ilo's been sick---a little RSV in the house---and the rest of us seem to have spent a few days here and there fighting it off. I hope we're coming out of it now; ilo's certainly starting to feel better and I'm expecting some better sleep in the next few days.

I was thinking today when I went for a run (which I hardly ever get to do these days!) that I'm a little behind on "fun time" for me. My "re-create"ional time has been minimal, and I'm so looking forward to getting a little time this week for some sewing--we've got a birthday in only a few days! I don't think I've sewed much of anything since Christmas.

We have been...

...enjoying each other. I took this picture through the front windows onto the porch swing. They'd gotten up from naptime and set themselves up on the porch...and left me a note on the kitchen table to tell me where they were (I was running errands, Matt was still napping with Samara). So endearing to me.

 

...playing---anything to get ilo to be cheerful, including careening around in the doll stroller. He loves this. I really should've gotten a shot from the other angle, it's much better!

 

...appreciating---gifts! This bag was hand knit for me by my sweet friend, Bethany. Isn't it amazing? It's hanging on display in the kitchen at the moment--there's no way I could use it yet. I so appreciate the effort and time and love that went into this.

 

 

...and also appreciating--gifts from our friend Mary Beth! She just returned from a trip to Kenya to visit her family, and brought back the most perfect gifts for ours. Yes, that's a slingshot above! Dangerous, but oh, so fun!

 

And a little doll named Millie for Samara...

 

 

 

 ...and Kenyan fabric for me, to use and to share. What fun! I think that was all I needed to carve out a few minutes in the craft room. Well, that and the birthday coming up...

 

 

 

 

Thank you.

Your response to "Our response" has been so totally sweet. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for supporting my little ones, and me, as I try to parent well. I'm so, so grateful.

We've had lots of fun getting ready to mail out our packages, although it turns out repetitive work is not that easy for three-year-olds! Asa, the entrepreneur that he is, is a champ at this stuff, though.

All three older kids signed their names to all the cards, although we had to take a few breaks to rest in between...can you tell this is hard?! (I love this picture.)

 

But together we finally got all the orders packed up and mailed off today! Yay!

We also took a little stack of the notecards over to our favorite local store, Birdie--Katie has kindly offered to help us sell a few, with all the proceeds going to Compassion as well. All the kids and I trooped over there this afternoon to hand them over; it is a real privilege that my little ones have an opportunity to see their work bring fruit like this. I'm so grateful to Katie for her willingness to do this!

 

Asa wasn't just content to stop with the artwork--once he got started, he was sure there were other ways to raise more money. Since I shot down the lemonade stand, he branched out on his own to a "backrub store" named Vins. The living room has been like this for two days, and he's made about $2 so far (of my money, of course!). Yep, those are waiting chairs, and books to look at while you wait, and his own massage chair, and chocolates...

 

and the signs...oh, my word. They've been making me chuckle for days now. Where in the world do they get this stuff?

 

 

 

 

  

 Aren't you sad we can't offer this service through etsy?! 

So far, they've raised $78 through our etsy sales, and with the $2 Asa made with his backrubs, we're up to $80. And to my little ones, we've raised a fortune. I'll wait a few days to make our donation to Compassion International, to see if we sell a few more notecards, but we are really pleased with where we are right now.

So, thank you. We appreciate your support of Haiti through our meager efforts, and encourage you to continue your support in any way you can. If you haven't heard yet, there are lots of other folks doing things like this--check out this etsy store option for another fun place to make a difference by donating or purchasing!

 

 

 

 

 

Handmades by the boys

This might be my favorite handmade thing this Christmas:

I got the idea for these somewhere online and can't for the life of me remember where or when or anything about it--there was just an image in my head of a memory match game like this. I just spent some time looking for it (in hopes of giving credit where credit is due) and didn't find it, but---My word!---there are a lot of cool memory match games to be made out there! This is one of those projects that can just go any direction (paper, photos, fabric, leaves...)

Anyway, here's what we did:

I came across a branch that had fallen across the alley on my way home from walking Asa to school. I put it in the back of the car and took it to our sweet friend Dan who cheerfully cut it into these little slices. Asa spent the better part of an afternoon sanding them off and planning his designs. A few days later, he drew all the designs on the pieces and made sure they matched. A few days after that, he and Matt fired up the wood-burning tool and went at it. That part turned out to be an adult activity, so Matt ended up finishing them on his own. You can tell--towards the end I found a Steelers logo (Can you find it below?!) pair...:)  I'm not sure that was an original Asa design...

 

Then I made a little bag for the pieces out of this fabric I've been waiting to use for years--it's so darling, and I have so little of it (found it at the Goodwill Fabric Weekend in Pittsburgh back in the day--remember, Em?!). This seemed like the perfect thing, though! The kids have enjoyed playing with it, although building with them seems to be the most likely activity. Still, it's so fun to have these. I kind of wish I'd found a perfect branch--this one was down because it was dead and full of, you know...Next time I'll find some perfect cherry tree someone's about to cut down, right?

 

We had some painting going on, too--this (painted after Christmas, actually) was for Elsa from Asa--he said he thought Carrie could hang it on her door and put a sticky note on which side was true (when she's sleeping or awake). 

 

I received this lovely little gnome from Asa, in a box covered in no less than three poems for me, and while he was getting a little help from Grandma Merry, she made me a little red riding hood. Isn't she darling? The little wooden figures are so easy to use--and I just saw them for the first time at Hobby Lobby last week, for those of you in Norman. 

 

Grandma Merry's birthday was right before Christmas, and Asa painted this for her:

 

I could hardly let her leave with it--I love it! The red-winged blackbird, and the cardinals--my favorites (and my mothers!) And what an interesting sun. Asa's really into making his "artist mark" on everything, which is why this one got several of them.

 

 

 Grandma also received three gnomes and two tops for her birthday--the larger two from Asa (see the pocket?) and the smallest one from Phin John (who really wanted the buttons on there--can you see those?). I wanted to keep these, too--they're so darling!