the very flowers that bend and meet

Rooming: Denali & Ocean; Part 1

2011-01-11T18:00:00.029-05:00

Denali (4) and Ocean (10) share this westward-facing room upstairs. Luckily, thanks to a lot of symmetry, the layout works pretty well. I love the colors and wood tones in here, and it showcases some of their favorite things without being messy or cluttered.
Denali's bed is on the right, and Ocean's, the left. The large antique dresser is for Oshy, and hopefully, he will hold on to it and pass it down through the family; it is certainly worthy!
Denali's Scottie-dog shelf always makes me think of someone sweet like my Grampy, cutting it out and putting it together for whatever special reason, unbeknownst to me.
My dear sister-in-law gave me the old Beatrix Potter print a long time ago, and I've always adored it.
On Ocean's side is a little frame filled with vintage political pins. My mother saved it from going in someone's trash! I love the colors, and that it's simply a quirky collectible. :)
On the dresser, there is a vintage display case from my Dad, with some old fishing trinkets, a horse and set of bears that my Dad once played with as a child, a beautiful Bison from my mother-in-law, and of course, some super-special sports trophies and such...

Mr. TEN

2011-01-05T00:54:00.039-05:00

10 years old! Where did that come from?! He requested subs for dinner and a strawberry cheesecake. Done, and done. Denali dressed up the table with some Mario figures (from a chess set). We ate dinner and opened gifts. He opened a very light, very long box...to find inside, four tickets to see Jimmy Eat World in February! We sang 'happy birthday' and he blew out his candles...but one came back, so he blew again. Then, two more. Blew, again. Trick candles! Oshy is the perfect person for something like trick candles. Trust me; his birthday just wouldn't have been the same without them! After a bit of cake, we began a game of Monopoly, only it's a limited edition Nintendo-themed version. It was the most fun I've ever had playing Monopoly, and even though poor Tyler was sick and sleeping in the bedroom, we somehow managed to keep the game going until the very end. It lasted for over two hours. Ocean's first roll was a 10, and he won the game with tons of cash and all but two properties. He was very happy, indeed. Denali kept himself busy by asking us every five minutes when would we be done, scooting himself in the desk chair from one side of the house to the other, and begging for more cake.
Happy Birthday, dear Blue Eyes! Mama loves you.

Of January Past (2010)

2011-01-01T23:15:00.028-05:00

::2009/2010 School Photos::

2009-08-17T10:04:00.001-04:00

Ocean is 8, and entering 3rd grade. He loves baseball, archery, fishing, being outdoors, survival skills, and playing guitar.

Harmony is 10, and entering 5th grade. She loves reading, drawing, long division, being crafty, gardening, and swimming.

Here's wishing Harmony and Ocean, and every other wonderful child out there, a prosperous, progressive, and fun school year!

The Hillman Family Room of Learnin'

2009-08-10T10:04:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Hillman Family Room of Learnin'! I am so excited to share this space, because it is very special to us. We get a lot of use out of this space, and I think you will see that in the photos! I didn't clean up before I took these, but this is how it really is. Also, pardon me for taking my photos at night...

Our school room is our dining room, but we were fortunate to have enough space to include a seperate desk area. We used some drawer units and topped them with a piece of granite (thanks, Hubbs!). We hung inexpensive bulletin boards and
lights above, with a dry board to the left. We also use the wall space for hanging maps, etc. You can see below we are studying the skeletal system with that oversize chart.

We also use the big, comfy dining table (thanks, Nana!) for crafts and games. The bookcases
hold school books and plenty of supplies, while the drawer units are each labeled per subject or material; a drawer for Science, one for crayons, and so forth.

We also do our machine sewing (thanks, Meema!) in this room. Our cat, Oliver, wants me to mention that his favorite spot is that window seat, especially if there is sunshine involved. This room is right off of both the laundry room/office (where I am now), and the open kitchen/living room. It is a very communal space, and we just love it.

I hope you enjoy the tour!

Can You Spy the Cardinal?

2009-06-19T00:52:00.000-04:00

~It's Been 33 Days~

2009-05-24T01:05:00.000-04:00

And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down....

2009-05-21T00:59:00.001-04:00

~The Hillman Family Garden~

2009-04-30T01:38:00.000-04:00

yellow squash

corn

more corn

sprout!

the beans are sprouting!

pretty tomatoes, all in a row

tomato

first fruit

rosemary

oregano

thyme

blackberries!

We're halfway done with planting...we plan to finish by the weekend! Some melon, peppers, and other yummy things like lettuce will be popping up soon!

::heartwood::

2009-03-19T01:40:00.001-04:00

"Heartwood is wood that has died and become more resistant to decay as a result of deposition of chemical substances (a genetically programmed process). It appears in a cross-section as a usually colored circle, usually following the annual rings in shape. Heartwood is usually much darker than living wood, and forms with age. "

We cut down the beloved tree today. I loved this tree. Even tried to save it after that year of hurricane-after-hurricane. 2004. The year we married.

Papa is here!!! Papa Bear cut down the tree today, and all 3 Baby Bears helped do all the work. It is so nice to see the roofline of that side of the house now! I love it. My favorite part was the kids discovering the heartwood that actually looked like a heart!

::ATC Swap::

2009-03-11T01:59:00.000-04:00

I signed Harmony and Ocean up for a little (actually, huge; it ended up being something like 900 kids!) artist trading card swap in February, and they each made five cards to mail out. They have each received four so far, so they are both waiting on their last one to arrive. It was so much fun! They also started a few new pen-pals in the process.

(This is Harmony's set)

(Here is Ocean's set)

Lots of Love

2009-02-14T22:39:00.002-05:00

Harmony and Ocean started their little valentine crafts by carving some pink soap bars (idea from Blue Yonder) into some sweet little heart shapes. Let me tell you, the dining room smelled good all week. I couldn't get enough.

Denali's valentines were really sweet, too. I cut some hearts out of cardstock, folded them in half, and let him do his own thing on the inside, using a red crayon. Then, I took a red washable ink pad and (with a wipe nearby) inked his tiny fingertip and pressed them down, overlapping, into little heart shapes. He loved doing it!

I set all kinds of crafty stuff on the table early one morning, and the big kids just went to town making all sorts of lovely greetings...

The night before Valentine's Day, while the kids were in bed, I cut out some construction paper hearts and wrote little sentiments on them, then taped them onto some cotton string and hung them around the house, so they would find them all in the morning.

I hope everyone found a bit of love somewhere in their day!

::Mussel Beach::

2009-02-09T00:18:00.000-05:00

The Good-Ship Wood-Chip

2009-01-22T01:39:00.001-05:00

These things warm my heart.

A Sun-Day Fun-Day in Pictures

2009-01-20T00:31:00.002-05:00

One stitch at a time

2009-01-05T01:17:00.000-05:00

We learned how to use the sewing machine! How exhilarating! We love it! (Insert many jumps for joy and various giddy dances.) I made two tote bags so far....Mind you, these are the only two things I have ever stitched on a sewing machine in my life, and they are far from perfect. But they haven't fallen apart! I must have done something right!

I wanted to make the straps on my apple bag much wider, but I wouldn't have had enough length. I actually lined them both with a white cotton duck and the apple bag even endured an entire day at Disney. Yay!

From my heart to your hands

2008-12-27T14:26:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of the things that I had crafted and gave as gifts for the holidays this year:

Boards, bikes, and cowboys

2008-12-25T23:21:00.000-05:00

Gingerbad House

2008-12-20T00:56:00.001-05:00

Ugh...this was insane. I'd like to say "never again", but....Well, it will have to be some variation and maybe actually worth the task of making everything homemade. We used one of those kits from the store and, well...

My, my , my, was this thing a disaster. Only in the physical sense; otherwise, the kids loved it and relished the whole experience. But I curse that icing, and all of those hard little candies that rolled aaaaallllll over the floor. I did, however, think it was splendid that it actually (finally) held together so that they were able to decorate it, because, of course, after the anguish of assembly, that is, after all, the best part.

Sunday is Family Baking Day! I'm so excited! We have a rather extensive and ambitious list of goodies to whip up; gumdrop-mushroom cupcakes, chocolate peppermint cookies, Mexican wedding cakes, Hillman Gingerbread cookies, peppermint bark, Kolaczki...

I'm so grateful that we will have the whole day set aside for making a mess and filling the house with the sweet yumminess of bakery. "I'm in the milk and the milk's in me! God bless the milk, and God bless me!"

Let It Insta-Snow

2008-12-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

We made a batch of this Insta-Snow the other day; this stuff is so cool! We mixed it up in a great, big bowl and took it outside when it was actually nice and cool...the weather right now is sucha bummer!! C'mon, Winter, pay us a visit!!

You can't really form it into a snowball or anything, but it's addictively soothing to just run your fingers through it. Of course, the kids loved sprinkling it on each other and tossing it around. Hopefully, in late January or sometime in February, we will be making a trip to northern Georgia to stay at a cabin in the mountains to see some real snow.....

finding my place

2008-12-18T01:38:00.000-05:00

Aahhh...I'm much more comfortable here. Something felt out of place over at typepad. This; I like. Anyway, I think finding a place to compose all of my silly little thoughts and crafty ideas and family-life will be a nice outlet for this jam-packed brain o'mine.