F-I-V-E

Our little guy turned five this past week! Here's some pictures from his birthday celebration.

A homemade race track cake. Very easy and fun to make!

A little hula hoop action - too funny!

I love this pic of my blue-eyed beauty opening his gifts!

What to Do on a Windy Day?

Fly a kite!

Loves of Autumn

Today is the first official day of Autumn. Not quite sure if we're feeling it yet as we had our air conditioning on today! But I know cooler weather is just around the corner and I wanted to start my favorite season off with a list.

A list of my Autumn "loves". So, here goes:

~Cup of steaming green tea with honey
~Rustling of leaves high up in the trees as they sway in the wind
~Soft, cozy sweaters that envelope you in their warmth
~Visting family farms for apple and pumpkin picking
~Apple cider donuts (yum)
~Cool, fresh air spilling in my windows and filling my home
~Homemade creamy tomato soup
~Decorated pumpkins
~Smell of apple cider and mulling spices
~Salty popcorn popped on the stove
~Deep, colorful sunsets
~Starry sky on a brisk night
~Leaves in bright vivid orange, red, and yellow
~Snuggling under the covers with a good book

Happy Autumn!

A Sunday Afternoon

Crisp, juicy apples. A free ride from Dad with the best view in the place.

Diamonds sparkling in the water.

All the makings of a great Sunday afternoon.

A Personal Note

Happy Monday Everyone!

I've added a new bag to my Etsy shop. It's a beautiful print from Heather Bailey with all of nature's earthtone colors.

On another note, we're just trying to get in a routine here in our house. When you work from home, it can be very difficult to separate your business life from your personal life. They are so intertwined as I steal minutes throughout the day to do certain tasks, make phone calls with my 4-yr old in the background and try to get dinner going while prepping for the post office.

I almost can't keep the two lives separate - they are both a huge part of me and both occur in the same place. I've just started surrendering to this concept.

So when my family is adjusting to a new schedule, my work feels the impact as well. It doesn't help that Camille is in her third week of school now and Jonas still doesn't start for another week. I call this the "inbetween stage". In other words, "semi-controlled chaos". Imagine if you throw a sick child into the mix already too. Yah, that was us last week.

We also had some bad news recently that our 14 yr old dog, Harley, has an aggresive form of leukemia. This is especially hard on me since Harley has faithfully been by my side since my single days, in my very own first apartment. He has been a steadfast piece of my life throughout many changes, a piece that has been easily taken for granted. He is such a good, loving dog that I'm struggling with this news.

So, I thought I would share what's going on in my personal life so you can see what "the person" behind Camille Star is living right now. Hey, who else can write a post that includes family news along with a picture of a new bag??! Thanks for listening and understanding.

New School Year

Camille headed off to first grade today! It's kind of funny how all of a sudden your child can seem so much older, more mature. Like it just happened over night, right!

Her day went really well ~ she got to see friends she missed all Summer, ride the bus for the first time, and get her very own locker. The locker was the bestest surprise (according to her!).

And yes, I've earned the right to be that "dorky mom" that takes the school bus picture. I know I'll only be able to get away with it for so long.

Here's to a new year!

Learning Experience

My kids have been learning a lot about money this Summer so I thought it would be fun to collect the different quarters from each state. Not only would it be like a great treasure hunt, it would help them become familiar with the name of each state and its spelling.

Only I didn't want to do it with a traditional folder that holds the quarters in specific slots (of course I've got to make things difficult!). I wanted the kids to actually see the United States map and where each state is compared to us, each state's size and match up its spelling. Visuals just seem so much easier, especially to a young child.

So I had been on the search for a great technique to teach all of this and thought a placemat or piece of fabric that actually displayed our map with each state spelled out would work out great. Now where to find this!

One of my great friends finally found this United States placemat for us at Walmart. And it's worked out great!
Now the kids get so excited whenever we get quarters and try to figure out which state it is and then try to locate it on the placemat. We just put some double-sided tape on the quarter and that's it.

It's been a great learning tool and I can't wait to see it all finished. Just thought I'd share something that's been working for us!


Have a wonderful weekend~

Time To Celebrate!

Hope you had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July! I don't know about you, but we were very much reminded of how blessed we are to have our freedom because of the brave ~ something we take for granted way too much. When it comes down to it, that's what this special holiday is all about. The message just sometimes gets lost amidst all the barbeques, fests, drinking, and socializing.

Our kids asked a lot of questions this year, but Jonas was way more interested in how fireworks are made more than anything else. Hoping next year he'll be pondering the signifigance of the holiday more, but what can you expect from an inquisitive four year-old that's got a mechanic's mind like his Dad's. :)

My sister and I got to spend a great morning together rummaging through a local flea market. I found some great vintage tableclothes that I couldn't pass up. Once I figure out how I'm going to repurpose them, I'll post pictures of my projects.

Then we made our Fourth of July cake. It definitely was a team effort: I made it, Doug baked it, and the kids decorated it. Gotta love it! The finishing touch was the sparkler candles!

We finished our night with a great display of fireworks. They really were beautiful. But what seemed most beautiful to me was all the people, all so very different and all in varying stages of life, brought together in community to celebrate.

No More Training Wheels at This House

We now have another "Official Bike Rider" over at our house! Jonas has given up his training wheels and now rides his bike. Don't you just love the shin guards? He says it's okay if he falls because they'll protect him. If only life were that easy, right?

This milestone has been very bittersweet for me. While I was super excited for him and the confidence he has gained over the last week, it's been hard to acknowledge that both of our kids are no longer babies, no longer toddlers for that matter. They are growing up right before my eyes. We always kid with them that we are going to shrink them down. But inside, I sometimes truly wish I could do just that and hold onto these moments a little bit longer. I don't want them to pass so quickly, so soon to be forgotten.

Now we've moved onto family bike rides and creating this new moment together. This has become our family ritual after dinner. The kids love it and can't wait to see which direction we're headed to. And in my head I'm thinking, "Can't we just stop time and not go in any direction? I vote for that."

Summer is Here!

Summer officially began at our house about 9 days ago. That's when the kiddos finished school and our routine went out the window. I was enjoying it for the first couple of days. Now I understand why some parents sign their kids up for a gazillion activities during the Summer!

But we decided long ago that our approach would be different. I used to feel a spirit of jealousy and competitiveness when other moms would tell me of all the activities their kids were participating in. "We're in soccer, t-ball, swimming, dance, and gymnastics." I used to think we were depriving our kids of learning new skills. But then I realized that we aren't in this "parenting and family" thing to see how many skills our kids can learn. And not to mention all the driving around to/from practices and the stress and overload put on the kids. We're in this "parenting and family" thing to teach love and character. To us, these are lifelong skills that are so much more important.

So our Summer is not filled with tons of scheduled activities. I believe our kids need to learn to entertain themselves through imaginative play. They need to have friends over to learn social skills, and they need to just have fun. Yes, I do have days when I'm lacking in the patience department and wish a camp would suddenly show up at my door and whisk the kids away for an hour or two. But I have to stop looking at the short-term and remember the long-term.

To fill our days so far we've been:

~ garage saleing (is this a word?). The kids love it and go prepared with their own zipper pouch of money. They're learning the different coins (dime, nickel, etc.) and their worth. They're learning to interact with others and the process of paying for your items.

~ running through the sprinkler and swimming.

~ gardening. The kids have loved planting our vegetables, watering them and watching them grow. We're enjoying our strawberries right now.

~ reading. We're joining our library's book club this week as well. This is great because they offer all kinds of weekly prizes for meeting your reading goal.

~ crafting. The kids are really into making cards for people. We use everything from ribbon to paint to candy on them.

~ playing at different parks. We have tons and tons of parks all within a half hour of us. I'm trying to pick a new park for us every week. It's free, fun and even better when we pack a picnic lunch!

~ bike riding. More on this to come in my next post!!!

I would love to hear other people's ideas for creative Summer activities. Please leave me a comment with your suggestions.

10 years later. . .

My husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this week. We've had a lot of family medical stuff going on that has really taken its toll. Now that everyone is doing well and healthy, we couldn't have picked a better time to celebrate. A time for us to reflect and share a special moment together.


So we headed to Door County, Wisconsin for two days. Our first weekend away from our kids (a big thanks to Grammy and Pop Pop). Our first real getaway in six years. We were so ready!


It was beautiful, and our timing couldn't have been more perfect. While we weren't there at the peak season for cherries or apples, we avoided all the crowds and simply enjoyed the peace. We took a 9-mile hike through one of their State Parks, ate at a fish boil (a super touristy thing), stayed in a gorgeous cottage right on Lake Michigan, and did lots of sight-seeing. It felt like we were dating all over again.

Can't wait to see what's in store for the next ten years!

Celebration

Our little guy has just turned "4"!!! He had a wonderful birthday on Tuesday. Of course, I made a special cake just for him. For those of you that don't know, I make a homemade cake for each of my kid's birthdays every year. Last year was Spiderman, check it out here. It's a tradition that I started with their first birthdays and hope to continue for many more years. They have so much fun picking out their "theme" for the cake and can't wait to see it finished. I like to include them in the process too - it's just too hard to keep it a surprise when they're home with me.

This year, Jonas picked a monster truck. Did I mention that he picked this out about two months ago and has dilligently reminded me of it every week since? So I attempted a monster truck cake. If I could get scored based on love and effort, I think I truly deserve an "A+". Just remember to keep that in mind - it's the thought that matters most, not the end product. And maybe a "B" for creativity - I thought the donuts worked out great as wheels!

The bumpers, on the other hand, didn't quite look right. Oh well!

It could definitely be better, but I think that my four-year old loved his special cake, designed just for him! (Please don't pay attention to all the clutter on the kitchen counter - we were in the middle of our party!)

Where Have I Been?

I've been here, just consumed with our garage sale this past week. Whew, it's now done and I am so glad to have gotten rid of lots of stuff! I can't believe how much we had laying around the house that we just didn't need or use - hiding in linen closets, stacked in our storage closets, and right in plain sight in our kitchen. Clutter drives me crazy (even though you can't always tell this if you step in my house at any given time)!

We also finally decided to get rid of our baby stuff - swing, changing table, even the little itty-bitty sleepers. It was hard for me but I knew that if we didn't do it soon it would eventually be very outdated. It's amazing how quickly they change models and upgrade baby stuff - just within 4-6 years our stuff already looked dated.

The kids even participated and went through their rooms in search of items to sell. They did pretty well (I helped a little too while they were each at school!).

So as you can see I've been preoccupied with many other things the past two weeks - my dad's surgery (which went extremely well and all of his cancer was removed), garage sale, one kid down and out with the stomach flu, Easter, and spring break. I'm glad things are starting to settle down and I can now put my full attention on restocking my Etsy shop. Thanks for being so patient and understanding.

I'm off to sew right now!

Our Waffle Maker Bit the Dust

Happy Easter Everyone!

Hope you are rejoicing in this special day with friends and family.

Our Easter morning started early at 6:30am (yawn). The kids had a blast finding all of the hidden eggs and tearing their Easter baskets apart. Then came time for our family's favorite breakfast ~ homemade waffles and sooce. I know you're probably wondering what the heck sooce is. It's a sauce we put over the waffles, a simple syrup you make on the stovetop. My mom's family is from Belgium and this recipe has been passed down from the generations above. A tried and true tradition that holds lots of memories from my own childhood. Enough said about sooce!

Upon turning on our waffle maker this morning, we heard a couple of crackles and then a foul smoke started pouring out from the bottom. When the sparks starting flying, we knew it was time to unplug the thing. It was very sad as this waffle maker has been a huge part of our family breakfasts for the past ten years. We received it as a wedding present and it's been a staple in our home.

How ironic that the thing blew up one month before we celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary. But it just reinforces that "things" don't last forever and they don't make the memories. We make the memories.

So we ended up having paffles (our attempt at turning this into a positive fun experience!). Doug used the waffle mix and made them into pancakes on the stove. The kids still loved them and gobbled them up.

I guess our search for a new waffle maker will start soon!

Easter Gifts

I realize Easter isn't until the beginning of April, but I like to start planning now for Easter baskets. I promise I'm not obsessive compulsive and I'm not that well organized. There's a couple of reasons for this.

1. I've found myself unprepared way too many times in the past and have actually learned from this mistake. I've discovered that when you have children (especially under the age of five), unexpected things do happen so you don't always get to do what you want when you want. I guess it's that whole act of "self-sacrifice" when you have children.

2. If I wait until the last minute all of the good stuff is gone and I'm stuck with buying junk that happens to be at the store I'm at during that moment. You know what I mean. The junk that falls apart within it's first couple of uses. The junk that they really could care less about.

3. If I plan in advance, my creativity tends to be at it's best. I have more time to think about my children's actual likes and interests - what makes them tick, what makes them excited. There's actual thought put behind each gift.

So here's what I've gotten so far:

~window chalk. This is in the Crayola aisle usually and is in the form of a roll-on stick. My kids love to paint on our patio glass doors and decorate all of our windows for each Holiday. I know these will keep them entertained while encouraging their artsy spirit.

~gum. My kids LOVE gum, which is kind of funny because my husband and I never chew it. They think it's the greatest so each kid will get their own pack of gum.

~Highlights magazine. My kids can't get enough of this magazine. We have a subscription (thanks to Grammy), but you can get a single issue at Borders. I'm a Borders reward member (which is free) so I get 30% coupons in my email once a week. They have even come out with a puzzle & hidden pictures edition that is really neat that I plan to use my coupon on. My kids like to do these in the car or at restaurants.

~books thanks to Scholastic. My kids always bring home Scholastic book orders and there's always several books listed for $1-$3 (plus there's no shipping).

~character & holiday socks. I've found lots of cute ones in the Target dollar spot section.

~art/craft supplies from Michaels. They always have 40% coupons so stock up on pipe cleaners, markers, glittery stuff, etc.

~and candy, of course!

Please leave me a comment if you have any other suggestions.

Some Winter Fun!

You might have noticed I haven't been around much updating my blog or adding new bags to my Etsy shop. I've been playing hooky!

We had some family visiting us from the East coast this past week. So we spent lots of time eating, hanging out, eating, playing outside, and well, eating! But seriously, we had lots of fun and enjoyed sledding one day. The sun actually came out while the ground was snow covered so the weather couldn't have been better.

The kids had a blast. I was a little sad as Camille no longer wants one of us to sled with her. She sleds at school a lot and considers herself a pro now. In fact, she made it quite clear that we were "holding her back". It's so subtle how kids slowly let go of your hand until a specific moment confirms it.

Yikes, I wonder what's next?

Fun in the Snow

We had a snow day yesterday with 6+ inches of snow. So while Camille and I made dinner, Doug and Jonas shoveled and played outside. I'm not sure which one had more fun!

We checked on them out the window and found this:

A human snowman!!!

Get Me Outta Here!

This happens to me every year, seems more so this year. I'm usually fine with Winter until mid-January rolls around and then I've had enough. I reached that point a little early this year. I'm done. finished. the end.

We've had a house of sickies here for the past three weeks - first it was Jonas with a flu bug for 7 days over Christmas, then it hit Camille just in time for New Years. And it stayed with her, so we went to the doctor yesterday and it's now bronchitis. As if that's not enough, we've had two huge snow days during this time (one of them is today) and freaky cold temperatures (below zero). I am officially done with sickness, with snow, with winter (can you tell I'm in whining mode right now?).

Where's the sunshine?? I need some to warm my bones, lighten my mood, and fill me up. And what do you do with a 3yr old and 5yr old everyday for three weeks? Help!!!

So if you notice I'm a little stir crazy, please just chalk it up to my seclusion. I know this will pass but I did need to vent.

So thanks for listening (or reading). I know many of you out there know exactly where I'm coming from and have been experiencing the same thing. You can empathize. And for those of you in sunny, warm climates, it's not fair!!! :-)

I'm really officially done complaining now. I promise. Pinky swear.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It has been raining the past two straight days. . . uugghhhhhhh. How do you keep busy and have fun in this kind of weather?

Anyone for a game of Bozo Buckets?

Please, please tell me you remember this game or am I really that old and outdated??

Field Trips

I always thought that once my kids got into school, I would have so much more "me" time (I know, it sounds pretty selfish doesn't it?). Boy, was I wrong! I seem to spend more time in my car and volunteering at their schools than anything else.

It's given me an opportunity to see a side of my kids that I normally don't get to see at home. To see how they're growing, maturing, and interacting with friends. Sometimes it's nice to step out of your normal routine and look at things through a different lens.

Camille asked me to go on her class trip to the pumpkin farm last week. I couldn't pass it up. One of my earliest memories is of my mom going on a field trip with my class to the zoo.

This may not seem like a big deal, but you have to know that I'm a middle child (Jan Brady syndrome, enough said!) and my parents worked a lot when I was younger. They were young and trying to make ends meet. So when my mom volunteered after hearing me beg and whine for awhile, I couldn't wait.

Inviting my mom into this new world of mine with new friends was so exciting to me. It was very important to me that she be a part of this too. It's like when your boyfriend meets your friends for the first time and you hope everyone gets along and everything meshes together perfectly. Okay, not so good of an analogy but you get the idea!

Everything that day was perfect ~ I got to ride the bus with my mom, I didn't have to share her with my sister or brother, and we now had a special memory that we shared together.

She was in charge of me & a small group of kids ~ we had to stay close and eat lunch together. There was a boy in our group that had opened his packed lunch to find a mayonnaise and cheese sandwich and a full ear of corn on the cob. Who would pack this kind of lunch on an 85 degree day? This was just not a good combination after walking around the zoo all morning. The sandwich smelt awful and my mom had to get rid of his lunch. My mom and I could not stop laughing about the whole scene for days. We shared this moment and the day together, uninterrupted, as corny as it was. 29 years later (yikes!) and I still remember this like it was yesterday.

So when I volunteered for the pumpkin trip I could only hope that it would be as special for Camille and create a fond memory.

She didn't even want to sit with me on the bus! She was too busy sitting with a different person each way. While this normally would have made me a little said, I couldn't help but be proud of what a big girl she's become. She's come out of her shy, timid shell and is making new friends. It made my heart swell that she didn't need to rely on me or use me as a crutch.

The pumpkin farm was a mudpit. Did I mention how muddy it was?? Oh, and that it was 40 degrees. We all survived though and laughed a lot about it (that was our mayonnaise sandwich moment).

I love, love, love that she invited me into her new world and shared her new experiences with me. I wish every parent could get an opportunity to do the same. I think it means more than we realize sometimes.