{Five}

Oh wait, not him...

Yes, this one. This sweet boy of mine is officially FIVE. Honestly I have no idea what to do with that number...seven, five and two...what ever happened to my babies?? But these numbers are awfully exciting and I really can't wait to see what they hold for my "babies". Bobby's birthday marks the end of our busy birthday season, although with such a large family, it never really ends. (That link runs over to a handy who's who on my sister's blog...while you're there check out her Home Tour series she's working on!)

{Ahem, that would be a "B" for Bobby, not an "8", I assure you...}

Explorer gear is my new favorite little boy gift idea! There is so much COOL FACTOR to be found! Ponchos, reflective heat "blankets", compass, lanterns, mini first aid kit, snacks, binoculars...the options are nearly limitless, and this time of year, very easy to come by! We wrapped it all up in a sturdy backpack with his very own stash of AA's and headlamp. I'm hoping to help him make a few field journals to tuck into the pocket and he'll be ready!

{trick or treat}

There is a chance that these are some of the worst costume photos you will see in blog land this year...the costumes however, are pretty fantastic (if I do say so myself!). Jenny requested a peacock...after a quick browse on pinterest I was sold on the idea of a tutu, it's just the basic "no sew" variety on elastic. We took several little feather bunches that were on sale (thankfully) at JoAnn's and I took them off of their wires and stitched them onto some sheer gold ribbon to be her tail. Bobby's spider legs are just halloween tights filled with plastic shopping bags, then strung together with thread (and by the end of the night at least one safety pin!)... Nomi (who is frequently called Domino by his sister) was, what else? A domino. And the cutest, plumpest domonio I've ever seen. My parent's house is in a great neighborhood for trick or treating, so we all meet up there and the cousins (and younger aunts and uncles!) all go together. It's also actually my sister's birthday so there are always at least a few birthday related things to do too. All in all it made for a fun (if chilly!) night, of fun for everyone. We don't make a huge deal about halloween, just good (not too scary please!) fun for all and a few days of much treasured candy treats. 

I'm going to be trying NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and post every day (ok, probably not Sundays) this month...we have travel plans later in the month so we'll have to take each day at a time, but I have missed this place and sharing with everyone over the past few weeks so it's good to be back, and I hope you'll join me!

~Mackenzie

St. Valentine's Day

This year, I found myself in need of a valentine for the first time in many years...despite Joe being gone for work I was determined to make the most of this oh so delightfully pink day. So I called up a sister and made some plans...because really I will take any excuse for a girls night! Olivia picked up "Crazy Stupid Love" and "The Help" from Redbox and brought her laptop with her (we have no sound on our current computer and no other way of watching movies)...and we got busy with a proper girls night in....

Gluten free pizza, thanks to the Bob's Red Mill mix, it was very good and I will certainly be using it again, most of their gluten free mixes have corn in them, which makes them not really an option for us, but this one is really really good. Yummy sauce, orange peppers, chicken breast and cheese finished off this amazingly yummy pizza. The movies were both really fun, I was so excited to finally see "The Help"! I read the book last month, and while I do prefer the book, the movie was really excellently done. 

 {Beautiful Sister}

 Next morning we had a festive breakfast of gluten free banana bread and freshly squeezed orange juice. The freshly squeezed juice is really something that just slipped in...Bobby LOVES oranges in all forms, and asked me so sweetly for a "Juicing thing to make orange juice", how could I say no? However he learned that despite being the biggest almost-four year old I've ever seen, his hands were not quite up to the task. So now I make us orange juice and oh my is it delicious! Three oranges meet their end every morning, we each sip our 4oz with delight, and I wonder how on earth I wound up squeezing oranges every morning. ;) I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this face...

I mean, you'd make that face orange juice too...

 {Roses for Miss Olivia}

Our breakfast table, due to all of the painting and room moving around we actually haven't had proper meals at our table in quite a while, so it was nice to get back to normal with a meal all together. Olivia was nice enough to offer some atmosphere with her 80's power ballads pandora station...my children were very impressed that I know all of the words...

This little fellow on his first St. Valentine's day...he really should have been asleep, but I think he could tell something exciting was going on because he kept fighting those long blinks...his favorite teething toy right now is this lemon, and it leaves him smelling delightfully fresh. I leave you with extra pictures of His Plumpness...hope you all had a great day yesterday!

 <3

It's A BOY!!

Dominic Karol was born on Saturday the 23rd!!!! After a very long week of trying every natural option (most of them several times over...) we decided this one just wasn't going to be born at home and it was time for the big guns... Two nights later we headed into the hospital for my old friend pitocin. Just shy of 12 hours of labor, and with only 12 minutes of pushing later, he was born into the hands of the person who is really The MIDWIFE for my family...having delivered several of my siblings and one of my nieces. (how cool is that??) I am surprisingly at peace with the change of plans...my wonderful midwives and I tried everything to get this little one to be born at home and it didn't work...I'm just trusting that for a reason unknown to me, this is just how it was supposed to be. I'm so lucky to have been able to transfer so last minute; I feel very blessed to have had such excellent care...and I can't wait to introduce this little guy to my other midwives! They have after all known him for 9 months now :)

Just an hour or two old here...just barely squeezed into the hat I made him!

He was another big boy, at 10lbs. 3.7oz. and 21" long. His head wasn't quite as big as his brother's though, measuring a "mere" 14 3/4" ;) Of the three though, his labor and delivery were by far the easiest! Joe and my mom were fantastic support and I made it all the way through without any pain meds!

I was delighted to find that my baby dreams were right on the mark when he was born with a full head of dark hair...however I have never been more surprised than when Joe announced it was a boy! This is the first time I've been able to hold one of my babies right away and it is a moment I will never forget. It took me about 4 seconds to name him and about 4 seconds less than that to fall completely in love with him. :)

My Mama was there all through my labor and delivery this time! She remembered I had wanted roses for while I was in labor and brought this beautiful yellow bloom in a tiny little bud vase for me...it made such a difference!

We are all home now, just starting to figure out what life with three kids will be like...the older two love him, and I think they will adjust well. My milk is coming in and with it the brain zapping hormones, so I'm sorry for how disjointed this all is...off to try to get some sleep and love on this sweet little BOY!! :)

Birthday Gifts:: A boy and his hat...

Anthony l-o-v-e-s this hat. He put it one when he opened it, and hasn't taken it off since...to the extent that he slept in it all night!
I made up the pattern for this one too, an improvement on the last hat (fit wise at least), and I think I have the pattern worked out now! I'll be sure to let you know when I get it posted! The yarn is Jelli Beenz, I normally wouldn't have gone for the acrylic yarn, but I got this yarn a few years ago when I was still scared of wool. It is pretty soft though, and he loves it, so it's all good. I'm considering making him socks with the rest of it, since I got 3 skeins and this only used most of one.
My doodle bugs reading new birthday books this morning. Aren't they just the cutest things? Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, my camera is MIA, so these are from my iphone...I need to get a better camera app!

WIP Wednesday:: A special hat

This is my current WIP (work in progress), a hat for my Bobby's birthday next week. He is out growing his current favorite, and since he about wont go outside without his hat on, I thought I'd make another before we had a problem. :) The colors are showing up allot lighter in this shot than they actually are, but you get the idea. What looks to be a light spruce green is actually quite dark, and the navy and plum fall into the same boat. I'll get better pictures once it's finished! I'm making the pattern up since I had some difficulty finding a plain, simple beanie pattern on ravelry that used worsted yarn and was free. I'm hoping to turn it into a pdf. file when it's done so that it's available should anyone else want to try it. Other things you should see finished for his birthday include a teddy bear, and his quilt. :)

Our May Crowning

Before we lit the candles (there are twelve for the stars in Our Lady's crown)

Jenny crowning Our Lady

I'm not sure if I have ever seen a May crowning that didn't first have the crown backwards ;)

One side...

And the other...

Easter Sunday

For whatever reason Blogger wont let me rearrange the pictures today, so you will be getting them in reverse order. :) So first, thanks to the great free pattern at Wee Wonderfuls, I was able to make these two cute little guys for the kids. I used scraps and they turned out so very cute! I made Anthony's like they said too, but I thought that Jenny's was cuter with the "back seam" as a "nose". I stitched them by hand so that they wouldn't be woken up by the sewing machine...I certainly need to practice more, but I had a fun time working on them.

(Jenny has named her bunny "Snack")

My sweet babies all ready to go to Mass. I actually kept Anthony home (I went to the Vigil) because of his cold/cough but Jenny went with Joe. She was very excited to get to wear a necklace that was given to me for my baptism (when I was about her age). Just a teeny tiny gold cross, but she felt very fancy! Anthony sat so nice and still for his haircut yesterday! He likes doing everything "just like Daddy" so he was very excited to show me how nicely he could sit. These two are just the best. :)

A Random Collage of Recent Pictures

My sweet boy, with his funny new teeth. He loves the yarn winder that I got for Christmas, you see,what could be better than something that makes balls?? The yarn is Malabrigo and oh so yummy. I will be using it to make myself these gloves, and this cowl. I joined a Ravelry group that's theme is knitting something for yourself every month. It looks like I'm not the only knitter who is always putting off our own projects. :) I'm so excited! I'm starting small, with just a few days worth of actual knitting, because I'm also working on some birthday gifts for Joseph. :)

There's also sewing in my future! I will be making the green and black prints into skirts, and I'm still deciding about the pink, it's so pale I might save it for Easter. I have a length of white on white print for a petticoat too...I'm in such bad need of skirts, I'm so excited to finally be getting some! :)

These next few are of our tree and of some of the ornaments I made this and last year... the cinnamon and applesauce ones are from this year, and the stained glass ones I made last year. The other stars I've gotten from Ten Thousand Villages.

In this one you can see a bit of the fabric strips I tied to the tree, I love how it turned out, so cute and cozy!

The cuties. :) Their great-grandmother got them both rain coats and rain boots, which will be perfect as soon as the snow switches to rain in a few months! We are making a major effort this year to spend between 30 minutes and an hour, at least, outside everyday...These will let us go out and play even when it's wet. :) I'm excited because I was even able to find a source (Land's End) that doesn't line their raincoats with fleece, so I don't have to worry about little Anthony's face. :) And aren't they just too cute?? :-D

This was taken on Christmas Eve, after they got their special Mama-made pj's. The pants are made from the flannel that is on their shirts. I am so pleased with how the appliqués turned out! I used a double sided iron on adhesive, and then zig-zaged around the edges. I LOVE this picture of them, especially because it captures Anthony's "Cheese" face. ;) As does this one, lol...

We put Jenny's hair in rag curls for Christmas. They worked so beautifully, but on our way to dinner it was raining so heavily that between the car and my in-law's porch her incredible curls completely deflated. It was fun though, and I think we're going to do it again soon-ish.

Then on the crafting front, this is the hat I made for my dad's birthday gift. The men in my family have um, rather large heads, so finding ready made hats can be a bit tricky. This was a fun, quick knit with bulky yarn on size 10-1/2 needles. And it fits and is loved! :-D

And these are just two silly pictures taken during desert tonight. :) I made vegetable soup for dinner, with brownies for desert. Anthony ate two bowls (and every last bean!) of the soup, and devoured his brownie. :-D I love it when he likes what I make! Jenny is rather harder to please. She is so good, and tries everything, but she has a very strong gag reflex, so if I make her eat more than a taste of something she doesn't like she throws up....SO NOT WORTH IT! She did try everything though, (*ahem* and only threw up a little bit...sigh, she just can't do chunky soups or potatoes of any kind. Odd isn't it?) and she loved her brownie. :)

She's so silly, it's absurdly hard to get a picture of her these days, since she's so eager to see the picture that she moves before the shutter closes. ;) The knot on her head was the prize for nose diving down the stairs at my parent's house...one more reason I'm grateful for a one level house!!