Aloha 2011

This fall was so busy! Dear husband was fortunate to travel to Sweden twice for work.  He brought back our little miss 2 Elsa Beskow books in Swedish - Sol-Aggett  and Tomtebobarnen. In November we took a vacay to visit relatives on Kauai and a little side trip to San Francisco.
For my food adventures, check out my food blog at: http://www.veggiebytes.com

Here's some happy photos from the trip.

Knitting at Poipu Beach

Ms. K catching a serious wave at Brennecke's Beach

Raft made of driftwood and coconut fiber found at Lydgate

Shaka while snorkeling

Rainbows of sunshine in Alakai Swamp

Window in the woods

My favorite part of the trip was the 7 hour roundtrip hike along the Alakai Swamp trail.  Even when I lived on Kauai in my early 20s I never did this hike.  I was so proud of my daughter and she never complained, especially with the promise of cone sushi when we were done.


Here's some projects I completed at the end of last year.

Yoga Bags
We had been doing more sweaty hot yoga this fall and I was tired of bringing a bag that could not be washed easily, ie. backpack.  So we had a bunch of yoga t-shirts that we never wear anymore and I made them in to washable yoga bags.  It takes less than 10 minutes to make one and only 1 line of sewing!
Take a T-shirt, cut off the sleeves, and cut off the neck band (cut more if you think you would a larger opening).  Turn it inside out and cut off the hemmed bottom.  Then uses a simple stitch and sew the bottom closed.  If you would like it sturdier you can zig zag or overlock the edges.  If you have a serger you could do this in one step.  I also like to reinforce the corners.  Instant yoga bag to carry towel, extra clothes, and all the sweaty stuff back and can be thrown right into the laundry.

Wool Felt Seasonal Tree
I have been wanting to make this for a while.  The goal is to have a wool tree picture that can be changed with the seasons.  Ours is still looking like fall as the trees here in Central Texas still have leaves.  Winter will be quite easy to make as I will remove the red and gold leaves and place a blanket of snow on the ground and purple mountains.

 See the next post about our winter break and holiday :)

 

Birthday Wrap-Up

A couple weekends ago my daughter celebrated her 7th birthday. I realized this year when I turned 35 that we will both be going through our seven year changes together. I'm not really sure what that will entail but like Life itself, it is sure to be interesting!

Happy 7th Birthday!
Yellow arugula flowers are from the faeries.

Here are little glimpses into her special day(s). We celebrated on her actual birthday and also had an ice pop/slip and slide party with friends.  This year we were also able to enjoy the company of 2 other girls with the same birthday!

Gifts from mama

Thanks to some special friends who had Waldorf toy/book sales,  I got these great Kinderkram wooden castle walls and the LMNOP book (perfect for starting 1st grade!) at a great price.  Our school store had this great swing-a-round...perfect for faeries to have fun on.  The The Land of Long Ago is another beautiful Elsa Beskow book.  It just happens to have a little girl in it named Kelly who goes on a fantastic adventure.  My little one got a great kick out of having her name in the book. 

Pounce and Sneaky

A new friend made this cute set of felted animals.  There is a little rodent named Sneaky and a cat named Pounce.  Pounce likes to bounce and sneaky is really fast!

So Beautiful!

This is one of the most beautiful handmade gifts my daughter has ever received.  It is a flower matching game.  Each wooden coin has a flower etched into the wood via pyrography.   The detail is amazing.  A talented mom friend did this all herself!  It came in a cotton flower print bag.

Other notable gifts:  Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.  The Jabberwocky was one of my favorite poems as a child and to share the silliness with my daughter is fun..."twas brillig and the slithy toves...."  She also has been initiated into the American Girl franchise via her grandmother and got the girl of the year, Kanani (she's from the isle of Kauai).  With our trip to the island to visit family again in the fall, there will definitely be some interesting adventures with this doll.  I think any doll play should be encouraged...they will only stay little for a short while.

At her party, I made lots of food and it all was eaten before I could take photos.  There were summer rolls with peanut sauce, BBQ tofu, grilled eggplant, red & blue potato salad, garden salad, and of course the ice pops.   I used this great stainless steel popsicle mold for many of the pops. I took these photos after the party as so many were left over.  I also wanted to enjoy the fun of being with everyone instead of walking around with the camera.

Kiwi Strawberry

Orange Mango   &  Acai Berry

Chocolate Sundae & Root Beer Float

Since I'm not a great baker I decided to leave the cake to the professionals.  Here's my post about it on my other blog: www.veggiebytes.com

I want to thank everyone who has celebrated these seven years with Kelly.  All of you have created special memories for her.  I truly appreciate those of you who have taught me how to preserve the innocence of childhood, keep the magic of the world alive and nurture her love of nature.

Crossing Over

This is a bit late but still worth celebrating.  My sweet little girl finished her 3rd year in Waldorf kindergarten.  Here are some photos from her crossing over ceremony.
I attended the previous celebrations and always cried happy tears to see the children meet this milestone in their lives.  I was prepared this year for my own little girl to walk slowly over the bridge and only had big smiles for her.  We will treasure this innocent time and always be thankful for the beautiful foundation built to help support her growth for the years to come.

Almost forgot to go over the bridge :)

Smiling over the bridge

Gentle handshake

Thank you for a wonderful 3 years

Happy Easter!

A little Spring Bunny wanted to wish you happy Easter!

Ravelry info here

Daffodillies

daffodils, a photo by lalitaliving on Flickr.

A friend gave me these beautiful sunny daffodils and my daughter has been singing this song:

Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
birdies build your nest,
weave together straw and feather,
doing each your best.

Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
flowers are waking too,
Daisies, lilies, daffodilies,
Now are coming through.

Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
All around is fair,
Shimmer, glimmer on the meadow,
Joy is everywhere.