5 Stitches

Kyle calling family members to tell them about his experience, he thinks it's neat that he's 5 with 5 stitches.

You know the cry of your baby, and this was one of those cries that jerked me from the stove leaving dinner to cook on it's own. Kyle had slipped on the rug in my bedroom while he was running to hug his daddy home from work and hit his precious little forehead on the side of our bed. One look at the gash told me this wasn't one of those boo boo's Mama could kiss & bandage up. 4 children & I've never had to go to the ER, I had always wondered how I'd react in a situation like this, and all I knew was that I had to stay calm for him & the kids. I put my shoes on while his sister's and daddy hugged him and carried him to his carseat. I gave him reassuring kisses and we headed to the hospital which thankfully, is only 5 minutes away.

Kyle was so cute & nervous, asking questions of every nurse along the way, he had to know the what's, why's and how's of it all. It took 3 nurses to hold him down swaddled in a sheet, while the head nurse stitched. It was so hard for me not to scream with him crying "MAMA!" and all I could do was tell him I was there and it was going to be ok as I caressed his chin. I talked to him the whole time letting him know it would be over soon. He even caught the head nurse when she said, "only 2 more" and he just felt it shouldn't take that long, "I thought you said TWO more???" he asked. Before long it was over and the nurses joked with him that he was soooo strong it took all of them to hold him down, I knew he'd be ok when he laughed and gave his shy but proud face. I could breathe now, we made it through together.

And now he has lots of questions about the amazing human body, especially the bones that protect us...

He put this skeleton model together with the help of a diagram, while I read a book to him.


What does your skull protect? Your wonderful brain!
Brain Surgery, in the capable hands of my 5 year old...

Kyle is back to riding his bike and running around the yard, he fell & even needed stitches, but he got right back up and found the seed of equal benefit.

This is us, learning about Life by Living and asking questions....

Homemade Shaped Cake

So I know my boys' birthday's were in January...and I totally had plans for their party to be sooner than this, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I finally set a date for this Saturday and got to work! I thought it might be helpful to show how I make their birthday cakes, because it's super easy, not to mention low cost. First, I cut a simple shape out of paper like this...

I saw this rocket shape on Kobe's baby bib as I reminisced over his memory book.

Then I bake my cake using a 9x13 pan or a bit larger than the size of your paper. Use your favorite cake recipe, but add less oil for firmness that way when you cut your shape out, it will hold up nicely. Place your cut-out on top of the baked cake. You could put toothpicks around the shape to hold in place, then cut around the shape using a knife. Pull away the extra cake and eat it so as not to waste :0) After the cake has cooled, I then transfer my cut cake very carefully to a nice cutting board or plate. You can let the cake set in the refrigerator a little while to firm up for easier frosting.

Now is time to frost!! Use your favorite frosting recipe, I like cream cheese frosting mmm. Add some food coloring, remember those primary colors?! Piping does take some practice, and takes more frosting, but gives a great clean, textured look. Frosting spread on with a knife looks just as nice and tastes the same.

Here's Kyle's Rocket Birthday cake! He chose the colors. I notice my piping is going in all different directions! haha! But it's made with lots of Love :0)


I used Kobe's Paper Mache Planet as inspiration for his Earth Cake...
Their little eyes light up when I show them the special cakes Mama made them and that makes me smile.

Breathe & Be in Nature Together

One of the first warm day's of spring and we took full advantage! We packed our lunch and made our way to one of our favorite nature spots. I packed our nature journals and usually as soon as I begin to sketch they are right there asking for their own, but today they were too busy running and laughing with eachother.

and playing in the mud..which they pretended was quick sand We weren't the only one's basking in the sun...do you see him?

Kobe found this leaf floating in the creek with eggs Kyle found a beautiful treasure in the creek too...a tiny spiral galaxy in his precious hand

Maya is a self-proclaimed "nature habitat girl" and brought the net in search of aquatic life.
She found numerous pond skimmers like dragon flies. One of her 1st questions when we find any animal is, "What does it eat?" I say she's a "nature nurturer".
The creek was filled with cool running water, so refreshing.
We were all content to find a place to sit,

listen to and feel the water, breathe and just....BE

I feel so lucky this is part of my reality,

that I am able to spend an entire day hiking trails & exploring a creek bed.

I'm able to connect with nature and with my children.

A beautiful way to nurture our soul.

And guess what, we did it again the very next day!
I love that she still wears pigtails and is still interested to find a caterpillar..

Coin Collector

My Kobe is a collector, he pays close attention to detail and loves to classify things. You should see his top drawer, he collects all kinds of things, some I just wonder...why? His great grandfather, long time coin collector, introduced this passion to Kobe and it fits him nicely.

He uses his magnifying glass to find details like the date and state of each coin.

I thought he might like to study his coins on a deeper level, so we put together a folder with blank paper for him to record interesting facts. He used an atlas, globe and a map as resources.

Little brother was interested in big brother's project, he stayed close by listening and learning...and contributed in his favorite way...by counting.

It's rewarding for me to know my children have the freedom to pursue their interests in a meaningful way. And ofcourse it has me paying closer attention to my change in hopes of adding to his collection!

World Quilt

I went thrifting and look what I found, a National Geographic quilting kit for kids! Not to mention it was all of 99cents! Love the idea behind this, love this find! Megan seemed the most interested, so I gave it to her. Instead of individual squares, there is one whole top piece of fabric sectioned into squares by labels. The labels go from "This is My World", "This is My Family"... to "This is My Universe". The kit came with 2 pieces of fabric (top & back) and some fabric crayons. Megan sketched on paper and did a little research first.Little brother read a book while she designed her quilt, she was such a little mama taking time away from her project to help him with a word or two. We found great books about quilting at the library, some we had read before. The history and beauty of quilting is fascinating, the stories behind the squares are amazing & heartwarming! Our favorites that everyone enjoyed were..."Papa and the pioneer quilt" by Jean Van Leeuwen, "Patchwork Path: a quilt map to freedom" by Bettye Stroud, and "The Keeping Quilt" by (one of our favorite authors)Patricia Polacco.

When she finished her design, I set it with an iron. She's also working on embroidering a few details this week, then we'll sew the front & back pieces together. I think it's turning out so cute and wow it's taking us on such a nice unexpected journey! I absolutley love when learning happens that way! I'm planning to cut fabric for each of the children to make for their own. I can't wait to see what theme they choose. (It's even sparked my own interest in making a patchwork quilt from the fabric scraps I've been saving) I'll be sure to post a picture below when Megan finishes!