Swap crazy!

I made these little salt dough pumpkins for the fall nature table swap...and this is what we got in return!

This necklace was one of my very favorites! I wear it all the time and had to make more for the girls and a few friends! Something so simple but beautiful!

And these were the goodies I got from the Just For Moms Swap! ( I forgot to take pictures of the pretty washrags I crocheted!)

I am currently hosting a swap for toy animals and the packages are starting to arrive! I'm just putting the finishing "hairs" on the knit horses I am making and will post pics soon!

Next comes the ladybug swap, winter nature table and advent! The fun never ends!

I feel like our house has been like a revolving door of crafts lately! We are so lucky to be part of this amazing community online of ladies who take their kids playtime very much to heart! The items we have been getting in swaps lately have many times brought me to tears with their beauty and detail. My girls are so lucky to receive such amazing treassures and I hope when they grow up they realize how many blessings God has brought to us...even through their toys!

The day U-2 came to town...

I have been meaning to write about this for weeks now and never seem to find the time. My days are filled with crafts and school and crafts again and then sick kiddos in between... and yes, more crafting! But that is a whole other blog entry to write! Now back to the day in question...





My dear hubby had a once in a lifetime chance to go see U-2 with his cousin. So with a few days notice, our schedules flipped around and he set off to meet his uncle and cousin in Dallas for a incredible guys night out! Well somewhere in the mix they started talking about a kitten his uncle's family had rescued and how they really needed to find him a good home. Even as I write this, I can imagine DH's reaction and certain mood in response to that. "Noooooo" was surely his reply! lol As his uncle started telling him about this cat, who he fondly called Eddy, DH started to actually show interest! Meanwhile, I was at home chatting with his aunt and she was sending me pictures! I find it so funny how things seem to work out when they are meant to...This all took place on a Monday and by Sunday we were driving to Oklahoma city to meet them for the handoff!!!

















Since bringing him home, Eddy became Kobuk (named after the national park in Alaska and also a coffee shop ) and he has filled a terrible void in our house. I can somehow feel the energy has changed and it warms my heart every night when I look over and see Kobuk stretched out on DHs chest! I don't usually feel that one animal should take the place of another and I would still want Kaladi back if I could but I can't. Kobuk has healed a spot in my little ones heart that cried daily for her loss...and now she just can't stop talking about "Bobuk". She is totally in love and I am so content to watch them play!











For now and always I will be indebted to U-2 and I will remember the day they came to town...

I won! And still hopeful....

First of all, I want to send out a huge thankyou to MamaRoots for the adorable wooden monster I won on her blog! The girls are so exciting and already talking about the green things we will have to hide so dear Elder doesn't eat them! (He likes to eat green food but they just want to be sure!) I enter all sorts of contests but never think I'll actually win!

Awhile back I even won a darling necklace from Herbal Roots too! How cool is that? They are now offering a drawing for what looks like an AMAZING game! I am crossing my fingers ! While you are there, check out their monthly herbal 'zine. I just got my first one about Rosemary and it's wonderful! I am definately hooked and can't wait to try out everything with our fresh rosemary!

I am so inspired by the wonderful things people offer up for contests! I think I'll post one soon too so check back in the next few days! (I have one feeling under the weather so I'm not making promises on what day!)

Salmon Tears

Have I really resorted to this? Walking through the grocery store with tears in my eyes just ready to over flow? How lame is this!?!

It all started when the girls and I went on the quest to find acini de pepe pasta for our Sweet and Sour Maggot Salad that we are taking to a Halloween party tomorrow. After trying both the commissary and Albertson's we headed across town to Market Street. We walked in like any other shoppers, got a cart and headed towards the natural section of lotions, medicines etc. That smell hit me and I got a lump in my throat...now you are probably thinking I am crazy (I know Jason's aunt did when I mentioned something like this in Whole Foods one time) but there is this distinct smell that only a health food store has. I wish I knew what it was so I could bottle it! Is it something in particular or is it a combination of a lot of things mixed together? Nevertheless, that smell is what took me back to Alaska in my mind. Flashes of pictures were going thru my head...Natural Pantry, Carrs...Fred Meyers...Saturday market, Mountain Mary's....ahh.... (Yes I know that at least one person reading this thinks I am crazy, another probably is laughing and if I am lucky maybe someone can relate) Is there anyone that knows what this smell is and how I can get some to bring home!? :)

After FINALLY finding the pasta, and another variation of my chai tea "(heaven forbid they keep the same brand in stock!) we headed to the torture zone otherwise known as the fish counter. The girls and I stood there ooo-ing and ah-ing over all the sights we saw. J loved the crablegs (although she won't eat them) and R was tremendously interested in the clams...I however was scanning the beautiful selection of fish for little signs that read "Wild Caught, Product of the USA and (my favorite) Alaskan!" They had puny looking halibut on sale for $14 lb and some very pretty salmon (farm raised and color added !#%+~!) but what really jumped out to me was the Alaskan wild caught Cod on sale for $3.99lb! Now I know that this fish doesn't measure up to real Alaskan fish in any way shape or form but here in Texas I have to be happy with what I can get! So, we bought enough for dinner and went off to find something to compliment it. I even broke down and bought the little package of Cajun Salmon Spread "(color added-what a crock!) to complete the Alaskan themed meal! We were walking thru all the beautiful colors of apples and their nice (at least for Texas standards) selection of organic veggies, when THEY started....the tears just came on me without warning. I promise that I wasn't wallowing in the state we are in...those days of truly hating everything associate with Texas are few and far between now and even as I stood crying in a supermarket I wasn't thinking about hate or disgust but just about how much I truly want to go home...

I think my yearning for home (AKA Alaska) gets worse this time of year because I know that the seasons are changing there and that it is so vastly different than here. I think of all the comforts that I can't have...like waking up to the silent wonder of a first snowfall, wool sweaters to cut out the wind and the festivals and bazaars that are soon to follow. And I know that in less than a year, I am going to have to leave even here, a place I have hated so much but have grown to be content, and start all over....again...

My question to whom ever may be reading this is....Are you ever really happy and in love with where you are? Having traveled around all my life, I don't know what its like to grow up in the house my parents brought me home to, graduate with the friends I went to high school with or even get job in the town I went to college...I have lots of places I have lived but only one that was really truly home. I am lucky for that I know but still heartbroken at the loss.






Sometimes I feel like Susan, Lucy, Edmond and Peter the very first time they stepped thru the wardrobe and into Narnia. There is a beauty that can't be described. Alaska is my Narnia. I have seen Eden in the water, mountains and trees of Alaska but I still wonder if it was real or just a dream...



This was the view from our deck...it's what I think of every time we watch Narnia!

A double give-a-way!!

I first saw this blog post this morning and haven't been able to stop thinking about it! It's so exciting! Downinthemeadow is having a give-a-way at Gardenmama ! I have been watching her toys for sometime now and drooling over the gnome and animals she makes! lol You really should check out the sites! I know I'm glad I did and now I'm just crossing my fingers to win!

A new community

I can't even begin to discribe how fortunate I feel to have this amazing support system thru my online communty of "friends". These aren't friends in the typical sense, I have never met them in person nor do I even know where many of them live...I do however get a view into their daily lives and for the most part share a common thread~natural parenting. I love that I get to see how they not only school their children at home but also make food that is nurishing to their bodies and toys that are awakening to their souls. When I feel like the world is a bit overwelming, I can easily find a friend that is going thru the same thing and their blogs are just the pep-talk I needed!
On top of everything else these mamas are doing they are crafting for swaps and even having give-a-ways! I am inspired by them and hope others check out their beautiful lives, children and crafts! Here is just a small sampling of the amazing blogs I check on a daily basis. My days are so much richer for having "known" them. Please check hem out!

One of the first blogs I ever read was MotheringNature and her strength is such an amazing tribute to her husband and beautiful children. She is one of my heroes...

I am inspired in a new way of learning (which is limitless) at Earthschooling

And last but not least, my favorite place for crafting ideas is WeeFolkArt

New found friends ....Check out these give-a-ways at GardenMama and SoWabiSabi !!!

Flower Children

"Hey Mom! The flower children were here and left mushrooms all over our back yard!"

I made this one!

I love hearing things like this from the girls...they really are learning about nature and using their imaginations along the way. Simple fun! It's great! No sooner had I gone out in the yard to check out the mushrooms and Janie was yelling that we needed to get our new flower children and take pictures of them with the mushrooms! So we did!

This one is from Syrendell

Isn't it great!?

They really got into posing the flower children and Janie loved getting to take pictures of them!

Here's a picture of all the treasures we got in the Flower Children swap...what a fun package to get!