Legos on Ice

Yesterday I pulled open the freezer,looked down and did a double take when I saw our ice cube tray. Each little section had a lego mini fig frozen in the cube of ice. I guess the boys have moved on from lego/water play to lego/ice play! Chris popped a few out and took some shots.

The Aloha Bag

My latest: The Aloha Bag. I bought this fabric when we were in Hawaii last week. Initially I wanted a Hawaiian print, but didn't find any that I liked so I went with this pretty tropical batik. Then on the flight home they passed out these little packets of Macadamia nuts. I found myself staring at the packaging and then it hit me! A tiny humbug bag!

One Year Ago Today

July 7, 2008


July 3,2009

Hawaiian Dreams

Hello! It's me again and we're back from paradise. Two weeks in Hawaii - one week on the big island hiking in Volcanoes National Park, watching sea turtles in the bay, swimming in view of the incredible coastline, experiencing the Kapono tidepools with the coral gardens - big sky and big weather. And the other week on Kailua beach on Oahu - fabulous house with private pool and spa, the warm emerald green bay for body surfing, the coconut palms and tradewind breezes, the tropical fish, the hammerheads, the ting geckos popping up -- I've never experienced anything like it. It's the stuff of dreams. Pure tropical fantasy vacation.

Of course it wasn't all perfect. Chris passed a gallstone and lost his glasses on the beach. And driving on Oahu is crazy because they don't mark the roads very well. We spent a lot of extra time driving back and forth across the island. One time we had just driven over and could see Kailua and then after yet another screw-up, we were heading back to Pearl Harbor on the other side of the island. But then finally we'd land back at the house, settle in poolside for an iced beverage on the beautiful stone patio - or on the white sand beach. It was lovely.

New Humbug Bag

I made this one as a gift for one of our preschool teachers, but Chris photographed it for me before I send it off tomorrow. The funny thing is that as I finish each bag, one or the other of the boys grabs it and wants it. "Oh, I love this one, Mama. I'm going to use it to store some legos..." I think each of them has about 3 bags now!
And speaking of bags, I bought some new patterns off Etsy from a shop called Keyka Lou the other day and I'm so excited to get started! Besides being darling and reasonably priced, here's what she says in her profile that sold me:

All my patterns are designed to be simple to complete in 1-3 hours, so they are great to have on hand for making gifts or just a quick weekend afternoon project in between all the other stuff you have to take care of in life.

I'm starting with the Bubble Pouch (pictures below), but I also bought the Small Satchel and the Easy Envelope Clutches.

In the bath

Playing with their legos in water is their latest thing. Usually it's in the sink, but sometimes the mini-figs find their way into the tub as well.

Camp For a Day

During college I spent my summers working at Camp Sealth, a large residential summer camp on Vashon Island. So I was really excited that this past weekend they had a family day with all the traditional camp activities available. We took our relatives who were visiting for the week, packed a picnic, and headed out for a day of camp. Just being there in the place where I made so many summer memories and good friends, and laughed the hardest I've ever laughed in my life - it made me more than a little nostalgic. Plus it was so fun to see our own kids experiencing a taste of camp. They loved it!
Here's Grampa Tommy with Ember on the Boata Dock.


An abandoned hummingbird's nest with four tiny, perfect eggs.


Yogi waits to get his craft project ironed. He made a fuse beads square.

On our hike back from the archery range we spotted a Western Tanager in the distant trees - a bird I've rarely seen.

Cuties

And here are the kids who were messing around under the light box.

Tah-Dah!

Chris made a light box this weekend for photographing the boys' lego creations and I had him snap a few shots of my little hum bug bags. Recognize the fruit fabrics? I used scraps from the napkin project I did for Christmas presents. Aren't they cute!

Checking In

Hello there. I'm just checking in since it's been so long. And while I do feel a little guilty, I'm also enjoying the time that not blogging has opened up. Of course it's not a lot of time, but instead of spending those precious few minutes a day writing about what we're doing or what I'd like to be doing, I've been doing more!

I recently got a Fluke ukulele which is the most fun I've ever had on a musical instrument. After years of struggling with my guitar and never having much success, I got the uke and suddenly I can play! And it's so small and light, I can take it anywhere. Seriously, it's a blast! Here's a utube bit of someone demonstrating the flea - same company, but a little smaller than the fluke.

And I've been sewing. I'm finally making the little "humbug" bags - a little twisted zippered bag that's darling and useful and perfect for all my little scraps of fabric and for gifting. Here's a short tutorial - although I bought this pattern for making it a tiny quilted bag.

And I'm on a do-it-yourself kick these days. Thinking about turning our yard into an edible landscape, an urban homestead. That won't happen this year, but maybe we can start small and make it part of our homeschooling journey. My sister's yard and what she's able to grow is AMAZING. Well, in terms of being an urban homesteader, she's way ahead of me!

Anyway. I'm not throwing in the towel entirely for this blog and I'll try to keep photos posted, but I'm easing off a bit.
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