Mishi with a skateboard and lots of jewellery......
I took these photos yesterday of my ever-growing bigger girl. She's so little. She's so big.
She jumped when I asked her to dress up and pose for a few photos with Sam's skate jewellery. She brushed her hair, tied her ribbon and washed the paint off her arms!
It seems my camera has done something wrong with the resolution, but I love that image too much to not share it with you. And I want to have it here, for my memory, and her memory, when we look at this blog in months/years to come. {And I ask myself yet again why the model agency never found any work for this little one, who we had hopes of making us a fortune!}.
These bracelets are now available at our little online shop, ellie beck handcrafted, (though all made by Sam!). The necklaces will be through their final testing and production soon, and will be ready in time for the Gallery Market in two weeks. I hope they'll be in the online shop before / soon after then.
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Thank you so much all of you for your kind words and thoughts on my previous post. It's so good to have friends here who I can talk with, who will listen and share their advice and wisdom. I so want to continue this homeschooling journey, but know that I need to find the balance to make it work. Caged Tiger Mama is no good for anyone!
rosey garlands // rosey cheeks //
Last weekend we made some garlands with the petals from our roses. The roses were nearing the end of their blooming beauty, and some had begun to let their petals tumble onto our table. We thought this would be a great way of remembering the velvety roses and having some fun as well.
The garlands themselves were very simply stitched with a needle gently through each petal, and threaded onto some variegated embroidery thread we had. The kids decided that they wanted head garlands as well as one necklace for Ari - it matched his t-shirt better!
What fun they had in the garden. Running and giggling and being silly. They do love posing and playing up for the camera. And with lush green grass and vibrant colours as the background I just snapped and snapped as they kept on posing and moving and giggling and finding new props. I'm so glad our beautiful cat Lou-Lou made it into the photos too - even though he wasn't the most willing model.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I think these photos perfectly sum up what I wish and hope my Mother's Day to be. My beautiful babies enjoying living in the same place that my beautiful mama (and dad) raised me and my siblings. Exploring and discovering treasures in our forest. Sitting still and watching little birds with fascination and joy. Running and laughing and being children. And all the while making this mama's heart sing through the pure joy they are experiencing.
Oh yes. So it is. Happy Mother's Day to all you Mamas out there.
{and extra big hugs to all those of you who are missing your mama today}.
E xxxx
{about our home} ode to concrete
I took these photos a week or less ago, of our beautiful new walls being washed and cleaned in preparation for floor boards to be installed. {Mishi sure did have fun spraying the walls down, and any people who got in her way. I do think those gumboots maketh the outfit!}.
Both Sam and I whinged and complained about the making of these walls. Anyone who asked about the house building was met with the same "oh" and "ughhhh" about how horrible concrete making was. And indeed it quite is. Combined with the fact that it rained in between making, and often during mixing. And the concrete mixer broke one day, which meant we had to finish a section mixing it all in the wheelbarrow. And one day the wheelbarrow broke, so we had to carry it full of heavy concrete. Oh this really was a labour of love, that's for sure.
My hands still have the scars to show for it - the lime in the concrete isn't so gentle, even with thick gloves on.
We had to climb ladders and pour the concrete in ice-cream bucketful by teeny bucketful. This was totally a hands on job; made possibly more difficult by the fact that neither of us knew what we were doing.
But.... but.
Oh my. Look at those walls. Just LOOK! Aren't they something. Oh yes oh yes.
They are totally imperfect, with errors and mistakes on every single wall. But I love them all the more for that. For being able to look and not flinch, but stroke those walls that we worked hard on. Those walls that took us so much longer than they should have. Those walls that haven't broken this marriage - only made it stronger through our having to work together and solve problems and get the wall done before the concrete goes too hard, and fix the problems. And know you'll take the frame work off the next day with gaping holes, and more fixing work to do. Those walls. The ones that made us drag our feet every morning, and almost wish for rain as it meant we could stay inside and crochet a little longer....
Yep - I love them!
I love the way they are still now changing colour, with mottled shapes and patterns moving through as they go through the drying process. The way the concrete is going from dark to pale. The way the shadows catch across them throughout the day - in unexpected and wonderful and joy-inducing ways. I love the way they are so photogenic, even now in their rough unsealed state. I love the way we can stand there and say 'we made that!'.
There is floor there now, where this little one is standing. Glorious floor that I will show you next week. This morning Mishi wrote a special note to put up at her bed, to remind herself, 'every small bit makes a differents (sic)'. It's true. It's true. This home of ours is taking a long time to build, but as it happens slowly bit by bit, we are also building ourselves.
a + m
I am making some changes to this very old blog that I once wrote on about the kids. Have decided we will start using it again, though differently. I won't delete what is already there - but as the 'abouts' will change, I wanted to keep them here as a memory. And also to make me take the time to record those little creatures of mine more and more.
Was: 2009
Now: 2013
A is 8 1/2
He loves reading and can devour books in a day or so.
He is an explorer of all things.
He likes to invent and talk about inventing. Today he said 'if you believe it can work, then it can'.
He is sometimes shy, but is good at talking with adults and asking for help. He likes ordering at the restaurant, when he feels comfortable.
He says to me "mama can I ask you something", and I know he will want a cuddle. He is such a cuddly and affectionate boy.
M is 6.
She still likes fairies and things pink and purple. But she likes other colours now as well.
She loves drawing, and is very skilled at foxes and clothing and people.
She is writing and illustrating a book about some foxes.
She makes clothes for her Barbies and her dolls, using fabric or tissues, or wrapping paper, or even simply just washi tape.
She helps her brother sort the parts when they play Lego.
* The other blog may take a few weeks to get worked on, and start being regularly posted to. I hope that both of the children will be active on it as well. I will let you know.