I'm not a professional photographer...

...but here's what I've been busy working on lately...

Matching skirt and headband set for two sisters who are friends with my dear sons.

Here's little sis, modelling the skirt.

An apron I made for a trade - my first time making a cutesy apron! There is much improvement needed, but I am quite proud of it :).

Aaaand welcome to the cutest item on my shop! I made one for each of my kids and some minis as well. Owls are so darn cute!

Just One Thing...

I was going to do a Quick Takes today, but I'm swamped. However, I did really feel that I needed to send you over to Elizabeth Foss' blog and read this article. It struck some deep chords with me and I passed this on to a few others who I felt really needed to read this today...it's worth the 5 minutes it'll take to read - What I'm Never Going to Tell You. Have a blessed weekend!

Projects

I have been on a major project kick over the last couple of days. Today is my birthday and I got to spend it however I wanted. It's nice having a husband who wants to make sure I'm having the best day ever (Thank you, Mr. ADM!). He cooked, cleaned and took care of the kids all day long. He's my hero and I can't imagine being married to a better man. Anyway, enough of the mushies. So, tonight, I decided to work on finishing up a hat and see what else I could make for my beautiful DAUGHTER. And possible ideas for my Etsy shop, since it's in desperate need of some items. I also was able to get my serger serviced. My mother-in-law gave me her old serger (she's a professional seamstress!) and it sat in my closet, collecting dust, until I was brave enough to locate a place that fixed sewing machines and not pass out from what it would cost me to have it worked on. My birthday money is going straight into paying for that and I am excited and quite a bit nervous to learn how to use it! But with a serger, my backpacks will be made with higher quality and I am hoping to start making my own fitted diapers as well. The possibilities seem endless!

In the meantime, I've picked up my crochet hook again and crocheted an adorable owl hat. It's newborn-size, so it doesn't fit Miriam, but it is so cute I couldn't resist. I also started crocheting some headbands because my daughter has been mistaken for a boy (babies look so neutral at this age) and I want to make sure that mistake rarely, if ever, happens. Plus, after two boys (who I love SO much), it's been loads of fun to make girly things! I've also been playing with felt. Everything that I've made with felt looks terribly homemade, but I still love it. I don't own one of those fancy Cricut machines that will cut felt perfectly, so I settled for a pair of tiny, really sharp scissors instead. Doable, but a ton of work. And I've also been having fun with ribbon. More to come on that...in the meantime, here's some pictures :).

Also, visit me on Facebook (AlmostDomesticMama) to see all my new pictures and get more updates!

7 Quick Takes - Projects, Oh the Projects!

Today I decided to theme my Quick Takes. I am the Project Starter. I love to create things and have an abundance of grandiose ideas that are constantly running through my head. Unfortunately, executing them to their finish is what prevents me from getting very far in my list of ideas. So, before I begin any new ones, there's a massive list I must finish first. Here are just a few of them:

 1. Pictures from Austria - This is probably one of my most embarrassing-to-admit projects. When I was in college, I studied abroad in Austria for a semester and was able to spend much of that semester travelling through Europe and discovering all different types of cultures and beautiful countries. Of course, I took as many pictures as I could, and that ended up being about 16 rolls of film worth (back when I still had a 35mm camera). I have about half of the pictures in albums and still have about half of them in their envelopes, waiting patiently to be joined with the rest. Place of residence: Currently, residing in the top shelf of my closet.

 2. Homeschooling Basket - I am beginning the homeschooling journey this year with my oldest, Matthew . We are doing a very relaxed-style since it is still preschool, but I am putting together a morning basket, filled with books to read and a few activities for the boys to do to learn their letters and our faith. Thanks to a few pioneer homeschooler-friends, I am doing a modified version of their morning basket and I am excited to begin! This may be a continuous project as books will come and go as we learn new things and go through our liturgical year. I just hope I can find a decent amount of books! Place of residence: Living room floor

 3. Bows, bows, bows! - I have begun making little girl bows and my next project is making a couple Rapunzel bows for a friend's daughters. They are travelling to Disney World in a week and are in love with the movie Tangled. (It so happens to be one of my new favorites as well!) So, the ribbon is here, the pretty extras have been bought, and now all I have to do is locate my clips. That is going to be the real challenge, which leads me to my next project... (Oh, place of residence: my closet...dun dun dun)

 4. My Closet (and the Boys') - Closets are one of those areas that tend to just build up with random stuff and all of a sudden, one day you wake up to find that you don't even recognize half the items in there. That also happens simultaneously with the fact that you NEED a specific item of clothing and it is nowhere to be seen by the naked eye. My closet has officially become that. Filled with clothes (both mine, Mr. ADM's, and Miriam's now), suitcases, boardgames, Legos, our emergency bags, books and LOTS and LOTS of unfinished projects of mine, along with recently adding all the toys we are getting rid of in our upcoming resale (so the boys don't see and decide to strew them everywhere), let's just say, it's no longer easy to maneuver anything in there. I've begun this one over the last couple of days, but this is a week-long expedition. And then there's the boys' closet. Ugh...to put it mildly. But I need to locate my bottles, which probably are actually in storage, which is like another massive closet, except with extremely heavy bins that only Mr. ADM can carry. No need for a place of residence...they are a residence.

 5. Craft Items - Mr. ADM just gave his Legos to the boys. Now, you have to understand that there are enough Legos for about 20 children to happily play with and have no need to fight over any particular piece. Really. He had them organized in little plastic bins by piece. He thrives off of organization. I do not. Neither does a 4 and a 2 yo. So, he dumped them all into a community bin, which leaves many empty little plastic drawers. And that's when I pounce and take them for my own. Now, I just need to locate all my craft supplies (in my closet) and put them into their individual bins. I am excited. And giddy. And slightly overwhelmed. Place of residence: Currently, my closet and our living room.

 6. Rosary Roses - There is a lovely blog, I might have posted here before, that has this wonderful idea of how to teach your young children to pray the Rosary and participate when praying by crocheting roses - one for the Our Father and ten for the Hail Marys. Wonderful idea! (I know I said that already.) I was going to have it done by last Easter. Then, by the time this baby came. Now, I am not even sure where the beginning of my project is located, so I must start over again but I am determined to have two sets done by Christmas! Place of residence: Unknown, but I blame my closet.

 7. Our Daily Routine - I really do not thrive off of chaos, but neither am I terribly organized, as you can see. My goal is to have a daily routine that we follow. I know I will feel more put-together and I know my children will too, as at least Matthew, thrives off of routine. I have it written down and starting Tuesday (after the long weekend), I will be following it. And because I put this here, I will be holding myself accountable somewhat. I am excited and hoping that by having a routine in place that all the above and more will be finished as well. :)

For more 7 Quick Takes, visit HERE!

She's Here!

A little late, as always, but I'd like to announce the newest addition to our family...




Miss Miriam was born on August 2nd in our home. Her brothers have been nothing but overjoyed at her presence and love to give her kisses, sing her songs, and "pet" her head. She's been such an easy-going baby (minus diaper changes and when she is REALLY hungry), and we love her to pieces!

A summarizing post

I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 months since I last posted! Okay, I can, but I cringed when I logged in and saw how long it has been. We've been busy here in this little household of ours. Mr. ADM lost his job and is currently studying to become an actuary and I am currently a ticking time bomb, waiting for #3 to enter the world! Those two (little) happenings, along with a whole host of even tinier happenings and I just plumb forgot about posting on my blog. But, here are a couple pictures of us updated - my brother of M8 Studios - took these wonderful pictures :)!

7 Quick Takes volume ???

1. I'm excited to, at least temporarily, get back on the 7QT wagon again. It's been awhile, but in the last couple of weeks, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers 7QT. They've made me chuckle and even caused my husband to laugh!

2. SUNSHINE!!! It's been one of the first gorgeous days of spring here and the boys and I soaked it up this morning. We went for a walk, where I had to convince aka force Mark to take off the crocs that were way too small and hurting his feet and switch them up with some flip-flops that he loved before he found his crocs. The boys discovered dandilions and picked a few and enjoyed walking and the few trees that are in our apartment complex. And of course, we blew bubbles as well :).

3. I rejoined my Catholic women's study group a couple of weeks ago. I had started out with them last fall when they were doing an ENDOW study and enjoyed it thoroughly (both the materials and the ladies). However, with all that had been going on this winter, I decided not to continue on with the next study. I didn't realize how much I missed the conversation and support until I went back for a book study. We are now reading This Tremendous Lover by M. Eugene Boylan, OCR. It's supposed to be an amazing book (I've only read the preface), but I'm looking forward to delving into more spiritual reading.


4. Speaking of spirituality, Mr. ADM and I are also planning to go see a premier of There Be Dragons, a movie about the Spanish Civil War and St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei. I actually do not know much about the saint or Opus Dei, but I am very excited to see this movie and plan to learn more!

5. There's a homeschooling conference coming in a week to where I live. Mr. ADM is not terribly convinced that we should attend, mostly because it costs money and because our oldest is only 4 yrs old. Tell me why we SHOULD attend, because I REALLY want to go! ;) But really, are there benefits for going when my oldest is only pre-school aged?

6. Days like today make me want to paint my toenails.

7. I worked like a madwoman yesterday afternoon to organize and rearrange the boys' room and closet to create a little nook for Matthew to have some quiet reading time while Mark naps. Here it is (the nook is in the closet) :)...


For more great Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Doing It by the Book

Mr. ADM and I have had many a conversation regarding sibling relationships. We want our kids to have close relationships with each other. So, this week, while at the library and browsing, I happened upon a book I had been interested in reading for sometime - Siblings Without Rivalry. It's a great read and I managed to get it all down in one sitting last night.

As I was reading, I'd summarize each chapter for Mr. ADM who was playing video games next to me (our kiddos were in bed). He was intrigued, impressed and optimistic about trying out some of the suggestions in the book. This is not the normal Mr. ADM who is all practicality and common-sense and very much not a fan of any psycho-babble books I bring into this house (except Dr. Ray, of course).

Today, Matthew had a meltdown. It involved his glass of chocolate milk, the gallon of milk, and his grandma (my mom) and a clashing off all the above. For some reason, this greatly upset Matthew to the point where he burst into tears and wouldn't stop crying. The crying part, I get. The crying for 10 minutes straight over spilled milk, I was little confused about. Grandma even apologized profusely and tried to give him hugs, which would almost instantly work for any other situation. Not today. The boy would not be consoled.

Much to my amazement, Mr. ADM whipped out our newfound, psycho-babble skills and started out.
Matthew: **SOB* (crying and crying)
Mr. ADM: "Are you upset?"
Matthew: (in between sobs) Yeeeeeeessssss.
Mr. ADM: "I bet that Grandma accidentally knocking your milk over must have hurt your feelings."
Matthew: (in between more sobs) Yeeeeeeessssss.

Mr. ADM then looked at me helplessly. We finally distracted Matthew enough to get him to the table to eat lunch and he was as good as new once we got him in his seat. Mr. ADM informed me this evening that he tried and then he forgot what came after the first step. I applauded him and informed him that I, too, drew a blank so that's why I stood there and watched. I guess we have more reviewing to go over before we try this out with the boys fighting... Hope you all had a blessed Palm Sunday!

How about a fresh perspective?

Natural Family Planning. It's a practice, a lifestyle, so to speak, that is very unknown in our culture and society today. And for us, Catholics, it's even rare to have heard much about it that's positive. Mr. ADM and I are working with an NFP (natural family planning) instructor to give our second talk on this subject matter to engaged couples who will be getting married in the Catholic Church. As I've been thinking about how to make our talk so much better the second time around, I happened to see this blog post, Simcha Fisher's Why Doesn't the Church Just Make a List?, on a few of my friends' Facebook pages. And it is a really superb article on certain aspects of NFP. It opened my eyes and really made me see a whole different side.

As I was reading this last night, my head was filling up with all sorts of great things to say that we missed the last time around. Then, today, she wrote this for the NCRegister which talks about God's will. Wow. Please, take some time to check out both! It'll be worth the extra 10 minutes!

Oh, Etsy!

Mr. ADM is 100% convinced we are having a girl. Okay, maybe 99.9% convinced. But convinced nonetheless. So is Matthew. When we mention the possibility of having a boy, he shakes his head fiercely and says, "No. I am having a baby sister and her name is..." Mark doesn't understand much of this whole baby-business yet.



With my pregnancy reaching its halfway point (wahoo!), Mr. ADM has begun to not only let me start buying a few girl items here and there, but has been the one to suggest it. Yep. Regardless, I don't know any families who have more than 4 kids that are all the same gender, so I figure my chances are pretty high at eventually having a girl. These items will not go to waste! Because we are on a budget and I don't want to go overboard anyway (well, I do, but I also want to be practical), we've bought her clothes gently-used and I have only picked up one headband and one set of barrettes. That doesn't mean I don't sometimes daydream on Etsy. So, I thought I'd post something a little fun and show you a little of what I've been daydreaming about...

Adorable felt hairbows by SweetyBaby.

Diaper bag by Hot Mama Handbags.

Adorable little dress/pinafore by Petite Pinafores.

Colorful tutu by Trinity's Tutus.

Adorable tiny shoes by Fiesta Kids Boutique.

Let's not forget a cloth diaper, of course! By Woolly Bums.

Making a House a Home

Mr. ADM and I have moved 6 times now in the 4 1/2 years that we have been married. I joke that I'm a nomad, to which I usually get a shake of the head from him. Mr. ADM was born and raised in one single house. His family never moved while he was around. His first move was to college, 2 hours away. Then, he met, fell in love with and married me.

I grew up moving. I've lived all over the eastern half of the United States. I even spent a semester abroad in Austria. I can't say I love moving around, but I'm used to it. I never imagined I'd be moving around so much in my adult life, but I am not completely surprised either. The good part of all of this is that we have stayed in the same general area, but we're both hoping that this will be our residence for the next 2-3 years.

With all this moving, one can see that we've also yet to actually own any place we've lived. And with renting, it is not always easy to personalize as one would like. I have certainly had moments of frustration and impatience to owning our own home when trying to make our place unique and truly "ours." We just recently moved into our new apartment. In fact, it's been just over a month. We love where we live, but it's been a slow move. Since Mr. ADM is a teacher, we have always moved in the middle of summer in the past. This particular move was not planned but something we had to do, so mid-January it was! With Mr. ADM being the organized one in our marriage and two little boys in combination with part-time work AND an exhausting pregnancy, things did not get unpacked and organized within a matter of days. We still have a couple boxes that need to be emptied, but we've finally whittled down to only 2 :)!

My point? We've had bare, blank walls staring at us for this entire month. And it's not something we're accustomed to. The one thing we've always been allowed to do is hang pictures. Until this move, I never really realized how much pictures can personalize a space. Mr. ADM was busy hanging pictures, crucifixes and a few other items all afternoon and once he was finished, he had a huge grin on his face. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to me, "This finally feels like home."

What ways have you turned your house into a home?

Is It REALLY February already???

I can't believe it! It's been almost 3 months since I've last posted! My, how time flies!

Just a short update to let you know we've been busy! I began working part-time in December. We moved (again) in January. And we're still unpacking. And catching up with laundry.

I went to the doctor and found an ob who does homebirths and so we're hoping this little one makes it to 37 weeks so I can experience my first homebirth!

Updates to come...and some thoughts to ponder as well.