angels among us.....

must be the holidays.....I have become quite smitten with these angels, and can' seem to stop myself! I made this little angel yesterday as a prototype for an upcoming show in Georgia, and really enjoy how she turned out. I plan on making about 8-10 for the exhibit, and hope to make more for the shop as well.
oh, and for those asking for the recipe from my previous post, here she is.....

1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 -3/4 honey (or brown rice syrup)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup 70% cocoa chips
a couple shakes of wheat germ
raisins
walnuts

1. mix butter/honey until creamy, then add egss and vanilla
2. mix dry ingredients, then slowly add to wet
3. stir in oats, wheat germ, raisins, walnuts (I also like to add a few shakes of unsweetened coconut)

4. place heaping spoonfuls on tray, and bake at 375 for around 11-12 minutes!

It took a couple of years of tinkering here and there, but feel I have finally found a cookie that is full of goodness for the wee ones and tastes pretty yummy as well :)

yummy all around....

With the onset of rain on a cool, gray day comes the inevitable..... some warm, gooey cookies to help make sitting in front of the crackling fire that much more inviting. The boys love to help bake, and these cookies have enough ingredients to give each of them plenty of turns when making a batch. I have substituted some of the ingredients with healthier options like honey, whole wheat flour, 70% cocoa chips, wheat germ and unsweetened coconut, and after a couple of years of tinkering with the recipe feel like we have come up with a cookie recipe that is both yummy for little tummies and good for them too :)

a tricky balance....

it's been tricky finding that balance......as the boys start gaining more independence, I find myself following their lead and looking forward to a bit of it myself. As I continue to explore this new medium with sewing, ideas are starting to flow and thus a strong desire to find that time to explore those ideas is getting stronger. Throughout the day I find moments yearning to just sit down and create, but understand that for now that good undisturbed time has to wait until the wee ones have gone to bed. (and with that comes a couple cups of coffee to make sure my body can make it past 9pm) After what seemed like several years of artist's block (initiated by pregnancy # 1), I feel like I am finally returning to the artist I was back then. I may not have the full days of creating with a cranked up stereo, but what I do have is the knowledge that I haven't lost the creative bug. As saddened as I am sometimes to see how quickly the boys are growing up, I know that I have something to look forward to that will inevitably help with those long days when both boys are in school....for now I just have to drink those cups of coffee and relish in the fact that ideas are starting to fill up that sketchbook!!

good enough is best....

At any moment of doubt while raising my first child, I knew to walk straight into the kitchen and head for the refrigerator. It's not was inside that lured me there, but what I had strategically placed on the door. "Why a good enough mum is the best mum" would stare at me after many a moment of frustration and worry. I was consumed with doing everything the "right" way (and please note the quotation marks!)...diapers were cloth, baby food was all homemade, television was never on........I was determined to raise my child how I felt was best for him. Not once did I think about how these choices would make me more tired at times, and thus more emotional and stressed than I would have been if I had just simply opened that jar of pears instead of spending forever steaming, pureeing, freezing and storing all of his food. I felt like a failure if I had to rush out and buy some disposables because I wasn't able to get all the diapers washed and dried in time. It took a friend giving me that article to show me that a good mum should feel proud of herself simply because she's doing the best she can. Several passes by the refrigerator door later, the light bulb finally switched on, and along with it came the realization that in order to be that good mum, it's o.k. and sometimes necessary to be a bit more relaxed when it comes to the way you want to run things in the house. Jump ahead to five years later (o.k, more like yesterday) and I realize I am in need of that article again. After being asked to provide a photo of myself for an upcoming interview about being a stay at home/artist, I started to think about who I have become. Two kids later, I have noticed that anxiety from early motherhood creeping back in. The television is off, the snacks are homemade, and I am getting tired again. I have to remind myself that in order to be a good mum, I have to take care of myself first...if I need to break my "rules" every now and then in order to make sure I can continue raising the boys in the type of environment I have created for them, then that's o.k. Do I feel good when the boys have a stimulating day of nature walks and bread baking? yes....is it o.k. for them to dive into a box of crackers and watch a little show while I take a much needed bath after being up all night dealing with my five year old's asthma?....yes. I am doing what I can, and that ia all I need to do.

oh, did I ever mention that the second child was fed mainly on jar food? (after dealing with four months of colic, there was no steaming/pureeing happening this time) And can you guess which child is the picky one and which child eats everything? Well, I must have been a horrible cook, as the jar fed child is now the one that eats anything I make for dinner....whereas the other one is "slightly" more picky. who would have guessed?)

o.k...just one more...

If you read my last post, you will see that I have dipped into something that will most likely consume hours of my "endless" spare time....this is the last one...I swear. (until kid's bedtime, where it will begin yet again....)

I couldn't resist....

A bit of procrastination to start sewing this evening led me to this......new found fame for my little one. After taking some snapshots of a recent trip to a wonderful trail, I knew that something had to come of this particular image of him. At every glance, I couldn't help but think "GQ", and with the extreme unlikelihood of him making the cover at the age of three, I came up with an alternative. (photofunia.com) well, now that I have gotten that important task out of the way, it is time to refill the coffee cup and actually get a bit of work done tonight. cheers!

Mummysam coming to Vida's....

If any one you find yourselves in the city this weekend, you must come by and see some mummysam creations at Vida's Market. Although I won't be there in person (busy little preschooler and kindergartner are keeping me a bit occupied these days!), I managed to send about thirty pieces for the show. There are so many great designers participating, and I wish I could physically be there to peruse through all the great things! Vida's Market is on Saturday, October 18th at The Greenwich Village School at 116 W. 11th St from 10am 6pm. Have a good weekend!

o.k....this is what managed to get done

Amidst the din of coughing and sneezing this past week (mostly on my part...) I did manage to putz here and there and just barely get this piece together for the upcoming hand.craft.it exhibition in Georgia. I bought this wagon over 6 years ago at a garage sale in Canada, and have been holding on to it since then knowing that it would be used at some point. Little did I think it would take that long to use it! I have made a couple of extra little guys, and will post them in the shop today. I am glad to be back, and will see you all soon :)

Be back Wednesday....

After a week that was supposed to be full of insane productivity, a family cold forced the week to be a resting one instead of a working one.....(oh how hard it is when you finally set some time and you can't have it!!!!) I did manage to finish one piece through it all, and am looking forward to sharing it with you all soon. See you Wednesday!

One mummy goes, and another one arrives.....

As one mummy leaves the blog world for one week to concentrate on an upcoming exhibition, another mummy takes her place. As I take this much needed time to prepare for the hand.craft.it show in Georgia this November, I thought it fitting to leave you with some images of the other mummy of the house.......and according to him, a very "scary" mummy at that. See you all in a week!

a print for grandad....

When my dad was visiting, he asked for a print of this little painting I had done of the boys....it turned out so nice, that I thought it would make a good limited edition printing in the shop(sorry, the photo quality isn't great, and it is just a section of the piece) I plan on producing 25 of these, and hope to post it after the wee ones are asleep.

oh yeah, that part....

As the leaves begin to fall and fires start to warm the house, the fun season with asthma also gets underway. My big guy was not too thrilled to see the plethera of meds come out of the closet, but the introduction of the elephant mask made it all new and exciting again (as excited as you can get.....I am sure the elephant novelty will wear off soon enough!) With every new season is a new hope that this year will fare better than the last...at least this year we have a "cool" elephant to keep up company :)

time for a break....

With the grandparents gone and the kids missing them terribly, we decided to get out of the house and venture as a family to a local farm for the day. Although mum and dad spent the day swapping turns to wait in long lines for the gourds and apples, the boys managed to enjoy pushing trucks in the sandbox and visiting all the animals. (note to self: never go to a popular orchard on a weekend at 11am....) The boys could take their minds off grandma and grandad being gone, and we could enjoy time together as a family.
It was a good way to end the weekend before the craziness of the week begins...
1. I have to send off all the goodies for Vidas Market tomorrow, and get new pieces ready for the handcraftit exhibition
2. I am attempting to forgo all boxed crackers and snack foods in the house and offer solely fresh foods and baked goodies. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now, and after seeing amy's post
I thought it was time to give it a try...My husband thinks I am nuts, and he could very well be right. I have always been somewhat of the grainy nerd, and with my eldest son giving himself the name "wheat boy", that should give you a bit of an idea. well, here goes nothing......we shall see how this one goes!

i've been a bit of a hermit.....

The hermit in me came out these past two weeks, as I had the wonderful opportunity of having mum and dad in town for a visit. Having not seen "grandad" for over a year, we found it an absolute must to absorb every minute that could be had. Although the persistent rain put a damper on all of our planned outdoor activites, the time easily filled itself with numerous story sessions, train track building, tent playing, trips to the coffee shop, car racing......etc. When you couple grandma's endless energy to play with grandad's incredible ability to bring life to any story you have a combination that would make it hard for any grandchild to say goodbye. Thank you so much for a wonderful time. Grandad, the boys love you tremendously and will always remember this visit. I am afraid I am in a bit of trouble, as my readings of Dr.Seuss will only ring sub-par compared to yours!