miracles

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends,

and to the Great Spirit for all the miracles in our lives.

handmade love giveaway...

This winter colored Petite Bunting Baby is part of a giveaway going on now at: GardenMama. GardenMama has the loveliest, most inspirational blog, and is a sponsor to my Etsy shop WindstingArts. Thank you so very much Nicole, for your support.

seasons round exchange

My two favorite items sent away to my Seasons Round Exchange partner...

pinecone gnome

window star

our tree

2 week check-out

our reading...



Jonas has an obsession with this book. A wordless book, about the winding down of a day for a small child.

Eoghan likes this book, about two trolls who have a hard time containing their mischief. A young girl gently guides their behavior, and shows them the true meaning of Christmas. I like changing my voice to read the parts of the trolls. Very fun.

Every story in this book is delightful, but both Eoghan and I love, Oscar, Cat About Town the best.

up the hill & down the hill

early morning full moon

yesterday morning, from our home

and across the bay

beeswax in snow

Oh Eoghan, I love your art.

wound up

I have only dyed yarn using plant stuff, but recently I heard of dyeing skeins using Kool-Aid. I thought Eoghan would have fun with this, for his own first yarn. He knows how to finger knit and we will soon be moving on with his handwork towards knitting on needles. Up next: needle making, it should be fun.

dying to show you

2 week check-out

2 week check-out:

our reading...


Eoghan has really enjoyed these, in the Old Mother West Wind series:





Jonas really liked this book:

Bye-Bye, Baby: A Baby Without a Mommy in Search of One, Vol. 1

being noddy

Eoghan learning to use the niddy-noddy, a bit grouchy at first.

The transformation...

the niddy-noddy isn't that naughty.

Tying up his skeins to ready for the dye jars.

where we have been

I think stress has finally taken its toll on all of us. We have all been sick for at least three weeks, and E. was hit the hardest (as always). We all started out with colds or seasonal allergies, it really doesn't make a difference at this point, and then for E. it progressed to bronchitis (ultimately ending up in emergency last weekend). Jonas and I are is still ill as well, but better.

For me a constant stream of illnesses (flu, urinary tract infection, sinusitis, and now a very bad cold) has kept me from recuperating, and I know stress has been a major factor in all of this. Remember a while back when I said my mind was elsewhere? Well...I try to keep this a positive space for everyone, but it has all been weighing so heavily on my mind that I really feel the need to just let it out.

Remember our flat tire and bear experience in the pitch black? Well, that wasn't an innocent flat. Someone broke a blade off in our back tire, and not only that but also had to have crawled under our vehicle to put a blade into our spare as well. Two days later we discovered nails in our other back tire...flat again. Yeah, I was really worried. Police were contacted, but nothing. And work, well...it has been a source of stress as well. I stayed home all of last week, just trying to get better, and now we all do, but it just wont clear up completely. Ohhhhh.....

Okay, I hope to be in better spirits soon. If you have listened to all this, thanks.

2 week check-out

2 week check-out:

our reading...



This is the commemorative edition, a pop-up. So much fun! There are spectacles included in the book so once you get to the Emerald City, everything you see will be green. The pop-ups are amazing.


You may not like spiders, but you will love Sophie as we did. Her stockings are so sweet.


E. really liked Bunnicula, so we tried a Halloween picture book with the same characters. It was a fun spooky mystery.


A classic Autumn tale. J. was able to pay attention for the entire book, and loved all the actions he could play along with.


4 thumbs up from all of us. We love Roald Dahl, and this is our favorite chapter book after the BFG. The granmama in this story is the best.

Happy November

E.'s calendar art for this month...

look at who is still awake

Yesterday we followed their tracks, and it appears that they wandered out of the woods for a bit of a stroll on the road.

día de los muertos

Para nuestra familia...

...los queremos y extrañamos muchisimo.

today

enjoying

I hope everyone enjoyed a happy Halloween...

I certainly enjoyed this big nosed, buck-toothed jack-o-lantern by E.

The boys enjoyed showing off their costumes at the public library's trick or treat for books.

E's biggest enjoyment aside from really being in his element (being able to walk on all fours down main street and scaring every passerby possible), was snow.

Yes, the snow finally came on Halloween.

J.'s biggest thrill was riding shotgun in the fire engine (as he constantly pulled the cord for blasts from the horn). Our local volunteer fire fighters give the kids rides, inside the biggest engine. He could have continued all night and all next day.

tap tap tap tap...tap

Yesterday was E.'s last day of tap class, he really had a good time making as much noise with his feet as possible.