merry babies

I Don't Want To Forget

I had that overwhelmingly grateful feeling today as I messed around with my littles this afternoon. I don't want to forget these days! And the truth is, I already do. In some ways, I am so sad I've missed sharing our lives here, since I'll never be able to remember where we've been and what we've done. More than that, though, I'm afraid I'll forget the regular old days, the mundane, the moments that happen every day now, but will pass in the next season.

 

So I dusted off the camera and tried to snatch a little of what I felt this afternoon. It was beautiful-- my lens wasn't able to really get it, but my heart is glad to be here remembering...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samara was playing with her little Calico Critters animals--she still hasn't ever really played with a doll. But animals?! Oh, my.

 

 

She and Asa had art camp at the firehouse this afternoon, which may have inspired everyone else to head for the paint...

 

 

Everyone seems to wander over to Mr. Jim's yard with a "Mr. Jim said he needs to help planting something...!" They just chat at him until I call them back. It's a dreamy place to be, Mr. Jim's garden. Tonight he gave me "trimmings" from his giant oak leaf hydrangaea and some other giant purple flowering plant--"for the table". So sweet.

 

 

 

I don't remember a title

Or the point to this series of pictures, but since they're here, I'll offer them up, with a few comments.

 

Wearing a head band from my childhood--thanks again, Mom, for saving so many great handmade pieces!

 

New rollerblades...so fun! They wear them all the time these days (June)--we are so glad we got them.

 

 

 

 

Lots of felted rocks this January by everyone. I was hoping to follow through with something like this (dream big, right?) but I didn't get to...so beautiful. Still hoping...the stones will be here waiting forever--that's what I love about felted stones. They last.

Unlike my commitment to blogging. (laughing!)

Christmas Crafting

We are starting to get into the swing of Christmas crafting--it only took me a month to clean up the art room after the Halloween rush...

Samara and I made these a couple of days ago:

 

 

Thanks to my cousin Jessica for the pattern and inspiration--aren't they cute? We can't decide what the shoe is--Phin says it's a boat, Samara says it's a sleigh, Asa thinks it's for Renne...

 

 

Samara designed the Santa herself--she felt like the dollhouse was missing that piece of Christmas. Of course!

 

 

I made her dress the other day and we both love it-- from this pattern. The knit fabric is so soft! Here's the only picture I really got of it:

 

 

I think this photo requires a few comments. First of all, I think Ilo is trying to model like Samara. Hmmm...not quite. And do you see the hidden child in there? And yes, this is life at its fullest and most fun! Wow!

It's nice to be back on the blog--I've been sad to miss updating our far-away family this fall. And I'm making no promises that I'll be back here much! These days are such precious ones that I've got to give them all my energy and attention. The computer's feeling a little lonely, in other words. But here's to a season full of love and laughter and a touch of wildness!

The Buzz-off Report

How can it be weeks ago already? Well, here's the long-awaited report...

 

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!

 

We spent the night before celebrating (they made it to $1005!) their goal and preparing for the party--we made loads of little bags stamped with a "B", filled with candies and popcorn. And we washed and combed their hair very carefully so that it wouldn't be too bad the next day! And we stayed up late talking about how this whole process has worked its way out...

 

 

And then people gathered...lots of people. The yard was teeming with small children! We were all so excited and so totally grateful to see so many of our friends and family come to be with us.

 

 

Our sweet friend and long-time barber, Shane, came to "do the honors". He did such a great job in the midst of all the celebratory wildness!

 

The boys were so utterly brave--I was pretty worried about whether they'd be able to pull off going through with the whole thing, but the night before we talked and prayed about it and I could tell they had already "cut" their hair in their hearts--it was a done deal. Yay! I slept better than I had in weeks! Nothing to worry about.

 

We have some of the first few moments of buzzing Asa's hair on video and it is just priceless--there was so much cheering and clapping and just general partying going on the whole time. Fun! The boys really enjoyed it. We'd made a dance mix (Friday by Rebecca Black, Party in the U.S.A by Miley Cyrus, Aunt Hannah's Famous Dance Mix...!) and played it out the garage windows, and a friend had loaned us their giant bouncy play toy, and there was root beer for everyone and it was awesome!

 

 

While Asa got his hair buzzed, my sweet friends Abbey and Sarah helped me put Phin's hair in tons of little hair ties so that I could cut it for Locks of Love.

 

 

It was such lovely hair--I'm so happy some little one will get to wear that hair again!

 

So is Phin John.

 

 

And the final result?

 

 

 

 

Here they after after the party, with Lisa Perry, the regional director of the Food Bank's backpacks program. She so sweetly came to support them!

 

 

Aren't they incredibly handsome? OK, you don't have to answer that. The truth is that I think they're amazingly handsome, but oh! my heart just bursts to look at them because I know their hearts and I LOVE THEM. I'm beyond proud--grateful is more like it. Grateful that I get to be their mom, that I get to do this life with them.

It's so much fun.

 

And the final check I sent to the Food Bank yesterday? 

$1447.23

Amazing.

7 kids will get backpacks of food every weekend for the entire school year because of their effort.

 

Well--and this is where my grateful heart just overflows into tears--it's really thanks to you all, our sweet community of friends and family--who support us and love us and love these boys and put your money where your heart is. We feel honored as a family and so, so grateful for your generosity.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

Swinging

Where have I been? How fast the time is flying by these days, full of fun, full of life, full of cooking and cleaning and playing and snuggling and talking and reading and piano and soccer and schoolwork and singing and dancing and laughing and laughing and eating and cooking and cleaning and playing and...well, you can probably imagine.

Here's one of the latest activities that I am so enjoying:

 

 

Sitting on the floor, watching Renne delight in swinging! I made this last week--I've had a wooden swing plan in mind for awhile, but I saw a swing like this online and since I'm lacking the tools to bring my original plan to fruition, I went ahead and made this one.

 

 

It's super-simple, isn't it? I think I might take it apart (which is really easy) and cut the dowels down a little bit and re-drill holes in them to make it a little bit smaller, although everyone who has been swinging in it likes the (larger) size. I sewed it carefully and completely so that it would be safe, and it seems to be able to hold an adult (me) safely! 

Here's what it usually looks like*:

 

 

 

Or like this:

 

 

Isn't that fun! This was really easy--two naptimes with supplies we had on hand. If you're interested, I'll tell you how I did it, although I bet you could figure it out. It's supposed to go out on the front porch, but I'm not sure it's going to make it out there--too much fun to watch Champions League Soccer and swing at the same time...

 

And as a side note, I think our trapeze is possibly my favorite toy we own. It never gets old! I highly recommend it if you've got the space.

 

*As an addendum:

It has been pointed out to me that this doesn't look very safe. I apologize if it concerns you! Without boring you with all the details of how this was made, suffice it to say that it feels safe to us. We certainly wouldn't want any harm to come to our little Renne-bird! 

Second Day of School

Samara started kindergarten on Monday.

It felt like it should be such a big deal, but since she's going to Gingerbread, where she's been going for years, it was pretty normal and easy to do what we've always done. She was ready to go, that's for sure!

She got her cone, and we all got a little something, too--ilo got a new toothbrush and spork, I got a necklace (that I might have purchased for myself at the Dust Bowl Arts Market), and Matt got a t-shirt I bought for him a few months ago. Christmas for everyone! As a side note, I love her undies from MiniBoden. They are the best I've ever come across, including Hanna Andersson.

 

 

 

I wrote our family's verse (Romans 15:13) from last week's family retreat on the inside of this armband leftover from her birthday party, which just happened to match her new skirt for the first day...!

 

 

 

Samara with her new, and already favorite, Teacher Nancy.

She drew Nancy a picture a month ago and wrote "I love you" on the picture. The day before she gave it to her, she said, "Is it okay if I give this to Teacher Nancy, since we haven't started yet, she won't know if I love her or not?" I told her I was pretty sure both she and Teacher Nancy already loved each other and so it was fine.

And another side note, as I was snuggling with ilo before naptime yesterday, he said, and I quote directly, "I'm sorry, mom, but I'm going to run away to Gingerbread."

Poor dear's got to wait at least a year! That just makes a mother's heart feel good. And a little concerned. And, well, grateful that he bothered to apologize before he did it. :) And then a little concerned.

First Day of School #1

Last week the boys started school! First and third grade. It's amazing to me to have such big kids, moving so quickly up through the school years. We've been busy around here, having our family retreat and getting ready for school. I know I'll want to remember next year what we did, so I'm going to start catching up the blog...how else will they know? I am pretty certain I won't remember very well...

 

 

All the kids totally remembered the first day of school cones, though--wouldn't you? Look at those things. It's like Christmas. New underwear, new socks, new pencils, swedish fish...the list goes on.

 

Here they are, wearing their Bonner family tees for this year, with their new lunch boxes, heading off to school! (And heading to fabulous teachers--they both got great ones this year that they're so excited about!)

 

 

 

I had fun making these shirts--I took a picture of our neighbor's grass, and printed it up on iron-on sheets. For the back stamp, I carved it using these directions. It was so easy! I'll have to post soon what everyone else did when they saw how easy it was....

My printing job wasn't too great--on paper, this looks pretty good and you can see the "OmidO" (for MaryBeth) in the middle of it, but the tee shirt printing was a little rougher.

 

 

Aren't they cute? After school we had a little photo shoot for the whole family. The grass reference comes from Isaiah 44:

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, 
   and streams on the dry ground; 
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, 
   and my blessing on your descendants. 
⁴ They will spring up like grass in a meadow, 
   like poplar trees by flowing streams. 
⁵ Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; 
   others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; 
still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ 
   and will take the name Israel.

This is the prayer that Matt and I are praying over our kids this year--that they will "spring up like grass".

 

 

We threw on the self-timer and got ourselves some great family pics--here's the team, folks, ready for the new school year!

Last night

I had a lovely visit with a lovely friend. And while we chatted, I worked on this little project:

 

 

We've been using this board all summer with penciled in names, but it needed a little something more. As Asa said this morning, "Oh, that's much better, mom! Now we can really use it!" 

I'm sure you can tell what it is-- a place to keep your glass all day so I don't wash every glass in the drawer at the end of the day. It kind of works, if I start it off well in the morning. But now that it's decorated, I'm sure it will work perfectly!

 

 

You can tell that I stopped before I finished--the markers are still on the table and when I get another few minutes to chat with someone, I'll finish it up.

 

 

I quite thoughtlessly copied ideas from this journal I've been messing around with this summer--couldn't have been easier, perfect for focusing on a conversation, not on the project. I used a jumble of markers from my jars--terra cotta paint marker, silver metallic pen, etc., and a scrap piece of wood. If I'd had a bigger piece, I'd have put my the rest of us on there, too, but I had to pare it down to the major glass-using culprits. 

 

Notes

I am inundated with notes these days. 

From one person.

She loves me very much and is showing me in all kinds of ways--but mostly through the written word. I snapped a pic of the pile of notes I got a couple of mornings ago--the one in the middle was the last one.

Shoot! For every 10 notes she gives me, I realize I need to be giving her one. At least.

So, I responded and have been trying to keep it at about 10-to-1...and I've been trying not to save all of them, all the time. They're just so charming, and many of them very creative, but how many should we really keep?! I'm feeling that age-old issue creep up again, as it so often does...how can I get rid of more clutter? So I'm privately paring down my collection, hoping she'll never care, right?

 

 

On the subject of notes, Asa made this one today for his friend Will, and I thought it was fun! He found the idea in an old kids pop-up craft book. They're hanging around right now, riding bikes all over town. So fun.*

 

*And hot. Current temperature: 104 degrees

Wedding fun

Our family had the privilege of being involved in two weddings this weekend. What fun! I got to do the flowers--along with my trusty best friends--for both of them. There's just nothing like some tunes, some Growl (that's coffee, folks), best friends, and a room full of flowers! And I got to do that for two mornings in a row!

 

 

Kelly's wedding was vintage-hip, so we used pink garden roses to accent...they were perfect. The silvery-gray stuff came from Grammy's poolside ground cover (thanks!!), and the doily was one Kelly's mom passed along to me a while ago. That was actually pretty fun--she gave me a bag of old doilies and fabric scraps and stuff their Grandmama didn't want any more (I just love it when people do that!). I've since made a couple of dresses out of the scraps, and used the doilies for various things. But I still had a few--and they got used for Kelly! How fun!

 

These are all the bridesmaid's bouquets, stuffed together.

 

 

 

The boutonnieres (yes, I checked the spelling :)) were fun--peach hypericum and more of that ground cover stuff. It was some kind of juniper and smelled fabulous, and lasted well...we used raw silk strips (from scrap fabric I had around) to wrap them all.

 

My sweet girl watching the bride's processional...I loved this little moment, and am so glad I captured it...what was she thinking?

 

Kelly's dress was fantastic--I wish I could show you all of it, but I'd rather have her permission...and she's on her honeymoon! It was mysterious and regal and vintage-y...

 

I'm not sure I could use the same words to describe these guys--it was 102 degrees, and so they could barely manage to stay looking, um, nicer than usual. They were ready to strip down and swim in the pond as soon as possible! Sweet Samara Grey, though, managed just fine--she is wearing a dress I made that afternoon, after a moment of inspiration, using linen I had sitting around and a few more of Kelly's Grandmama's doilies. The pattern is based on the one I made for the wedding for Saturday, so it was quick and easy.

I think she looks lovely in yellow. And she is so fun to be with at a party!

 

 

But I thought she looked especially lovely beaming with joy as she danced with her Daddy.

Don't you agree?!