the model

Ask and you shall receive...







And I was so pleased to get these vintage shoes from my mom's stash. These would have been one of my brother's from the 60's...well worn, but so much nicer than the crap they sell today. I even got another, less worn pair in a larger size for future use.



Now, I'm going to try not to stare at these photos all day because I'm supposed to be packing, but darn, isn't he cute!?

Holiday Recap

A few quick tidbits:

The holidays were lovely. Finn was definitely into Christmas more this year, but was still a little overwhelmed, I think. Understandable, considering the magnitude of Christmas morning in our family can be overwhelming for an adult. We do "our" Christmas morning at my parents separately, before everyone converges for the big family Christmas morning . We set up at one of the smaller trees that my mom decorates. This year Santa brought Finn a new tricycle. He doesn't quite have the hang of it, but some of his older cousins gave him a demonstration.



He's sporting his Christmas jammies that I made.

Additional handmade gifts included two scarflets. One for my mom...



and one for my sister-in-law...



details on ravelry, folks.

I also made some lovely ornaments for the girls, details and photos to come.

And, I haven't forgotten the "share your treasured ornament" request from the Spice lady. I didn't do a full size tree this year, so I didn't have all of my ornaments out. There is one from my childhood, a Paddington Bear glass ball, that was always special because it made me feel special. Most of the ornaments on our tree growing up were my mom's, but this one was mine and none of my siblings had a similar ornament to claim as their own. It needed to be hung at the top of the tree so that it wouldn't get broken and this required my dad to hold me up so that I could hang it. I felt sooo honored to have my ornament displayed at the top near the star. I guess when you're the baby of 8 kids, it's these little things that make you feel special.

As an adult, I think some of my favorite ornaments are the ones that have been made by my sisters or mom. Here are a few from recent years:


this one made by my sister from an artwork postcard...



this one received from another sister this Christmas, made from a vintage paper spoon that came from the grocery store that my grandparents used to own...


and here's a little birdhouse made by my sister-in-law a few years back...
and the first of what I'm sure will become great memories, a puzzle ball ornament that I made for Finn this year.



It was made using the fabric from last year's Christmas pajamas and this year's Christmas pajamas. I plan to make one each year using his pajama fabric and he'll have ornaments on our tree that he can play with as well as a set of balls to take with him when he sets out on his own... a long, long, long, long time from now : ).

Tot update

I've had so many blog entries in my head which I haven't had the chance to create and now they seem to be either forgotten or irreleveant. But I have a moment so I'll try to remember some content and do a Finn update at the very least. In list form, the latest changes in the tot's life:

- Just one nap a day. Every day. Finally.

- Boy that he is, he's totally into boobs and trucks. Boobs for the milk, all...the...time...and trucks everywhere we go. All of you mothers of girls will have to let me know if they have a crazy obsession with vehicles at 16mos.

- His first molar. That was fun. How many more do we have to go through?

- His first words. He had already covered Mama, Dada, and uh-oh (not in my Webster's but whatever). Now he has added tickle (usually said at least 3 times in succession), ball, and kaboom (as in our tower of blocks went kaboom or, just as often, Finn went kaboom)

- His first haircut. For whatever reason, I was hesitant to go ahead with this, but he was looking shaggy more often than not and so one day I just did it. I'll share some pics. He could actually use more of a trim already, because I was fearful of cutting away too much of my baby.

This is him just before the big event.


The cut was the day before Easter, so since I slacked on Easter blogging, here he is with the new do in his fancy pants on Easter Sunday.


And because I think he's stinkin' cute, some more photos for your enjoyment.



The darling outfit is actually parts of two outfits. The sailor suit was made by my mom for my older brother and has matching blue shorts. However, the suit was too small for him, so I pulled out these lovely white shorts that happen to match in style and function. These too large vintage shorts were my father's and I'm told there is a matching white jacket somewhere. Really, we're not so poor that we can't buy him new clothes (or in this case, clothes that really fit). I just have a fascination with putting him in my dad's vintage duds and lovely little things that my mom made years ago. (Plus, it helps validate the pack rat nature that I share with Mom.)



He's very interested in reading up on The Beatles.



And because I can, here is what he looked like last year at Easter in another outfit made by mom for my brother, sitting in the same chair as above.

Mmmm....doughnuts

Okay, so I'm late. I'm asking you to just play along and pretend this was posted a month ago. For the second year in a row, Finn and I happened to be visiting Nana and PopPop in time for Fastnacht Day - aka Doughnut Day, Fat Tuesday, whatever you like to call it. We always make homemade doughnuts and lots of them.

Who doesn't love deep fried dough?



Even the little ones lent a hand or two.



A little girl after my own heart. Yes, I had an affinity for eating raw dough.



I said "had". Honest. Oh, you ask where is my kid? My kid was in the next room dumping toys on his face.



He does this all the time. Legos, puzzles, you name it. What can I say?

Soooo...now you want to see pictures of the finished product. Ha, are you nuts?! I like to take photos, but I like engorging myself on fresh from the grease doughnuts even more, so the camera had to be put down. Turns out Finn's alright after all. He made an eager appearance in the kitchen in time to chow on doughnuts just like the rest of us.

Foto Friday - Mom

Since Mother's Day is this weekend, I thought I'd pull out a photo of Mom for today's post. This one is about 10 years old and the scan may not look too great, but I thought of this shot earlier in the week when I was posting about quilting. These days she looks a bit different and the curtains in the room may have changed, but you can still find her here working on the latest quilt. I'm anxious to see what's in the frame when I visit this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, mas, moms, mommies, and mamas!